Cakes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soda Pop Bread (for Jenifer)

Easiest
2 cups Self Rising Flour
1 12 oz can of soda

Still Easy
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 12 oz can of soda

Whole Wheat Still Easy
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 12 oz can of soda

10 Grain Still Easy
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal
(7 or 12 Grain also work)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 12 oz can of soda

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a loaf pan or an 8x8 baking pan.

In a medium bowl mix all ingredients just until combined. Turn out into prepared pan and bake 30-45 minutes until pick inserted in center comes out clean

Add Ins
up to 1/2 cup white or brown sugar
up to 1/2 cup Grain Cereal or Cornmeal
up to 1/2 cup of any type of nut
up to 1/2 cup of any type dried fruit
(cut larger fruits into small pieces)
up to 1 cup of cheese
small onion diced
small tart apple diced
small diced peach
Up to 1 tablespoon of any herb or spice or combination of herbs and spices.

Let your imagination run wild!

Eat This?

 

Kristi's ^

 

Karl's ^

 

Chloe's ^

 

The White's ^

Fig Pizza?

 

As unlikely as it may seem, the idea for this was brought on by a find of Meyer Lemons at our local co-op. Having never come across one before I had to buy one, but having never come across one before I also had no idea what to do with it. A search came up with Meyer Lemon Pizza on Weekly Dish (Which I am at the mo' madly in love with and reading from end to end.) I didn't have all the ingredients called for but decided to force the issue by making whole wheat pizza dough. The co-op had more lemons but the jalapenos at Schnucks were, erm, nasty. Black mission figs caught my eye and below them walnuts and click, click, click my brain assembled a fig and walnut pizza.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (Enough for two pizzas)

2 cups warm water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon active dry yeast (2 packets)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat bread flour (may need slightly more or less depending on the humidity)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, dissolve the sugar in the water. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and wait five minutes. Mixture should be bubbly or "scummy" looking. No activity means your yeast is dead either by suicide/old age or homicide (too hot of water) and you will need to start over. If all is well stir in one cup of all purpose then the salt and olive oil. Add the remaining all purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of the whole wheat bread flour. Mix to combine adding more flour as needed to form a soft but not sticky dough. Using the dough hook "knead" for 10 minutes. Turn out of the bowl, form into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled. Punch down and cut dough in half. Wrap one half and refrigerate for 2-3 days or freeze for 3 months. (Let it thaw in the fridge at least overnight before using.) With the remaining piece make Fig Pizza

Fig Pizza

Whole wheat pizza crust or crust of your choice.
18-20 dry Black Mission figs (or the type of fig you like best) destemmed and cut in halves
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup honey
Large sprig of rosemary roughly chopped
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese shredded or grated

Preheat oven to 475. Spread pizza dough on a lightly greased baking sheet as thinly as possible. Mix the honey and rosemary together and warm in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. Set aside. Drizzle the crust with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt over. Scatter the figs and walnuts evenly over the crust then drizzle with the rosemary infused honey making sure to get some on every fig. Bake for 10 minutes remove from the oven sprinkle the parmesan over the top and bake a further five minutes. Mmmmm

We served it with cider vinegar marinated chicken breast that I grilled and a field greens salad with onions and tomato. 

A few days later I found decent jalapenos so I made the Meyer Lemon Pizza. Fantastic! (Even better the next day, cold.)

A few new cakes...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Stew in Mustard Cream (Crock Pot Baby!)

I once watched a show on (possibly) the Food Network where this woman put Colman's mustard in Beef Burgandy to give it an "English" spin. Since Karl asked if I had an inspiration for this dish...that could have been it (a little.) Mostly it was my brain putting bits of this and that together and stirring it around. this is what it came up with.

Chicken Stew in Mustard Cream
Weight Watchers Points 6

Meat
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbl paprika
1 tsp each salt and pepper
Butter flavored cooking spray

Veg
1 pound potatoes peeled and cut into large chunks
1 pound carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
2 large onions peeled and cut into large dice
8 oz button mushrooms cut into quarters

Sauce
1 10 3/4 oz 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can full of dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc
3 Tbl Colman's Mustard Powder, or other not as good as Colman's mustard powder
6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
1 Tbl salt

Mix together the flour, salt, pepper and paprika in a zippy bag or largish bowl with a lid. Add the chicken and shake well to coat. Heat a flat griddle or largish skillet over medium heat and spray sorta generously with pan spray. Lay out the chicken pieces in a single, uncrowded layer in the pan and spray the tops with a liitle more pan spray. Allow to cook without touching for 3-4 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and crisp. Turn each piece over and continue cooking in this manner using a little more pan spray if necessary until all pieces are lightly browned and crisp. (Cook in two or more batches if needed.) Set aside

In a medium bowl mix together the can of cream of mushroom the salt, Colman's mustard powder and garlic until well combined. Slowly add the wine and mix to combine.

In a crock pot (baby) place a small amount of sauce in the bottom. Add a layer of vegetables (My crock pot is one of the smaller round ones so I use about a third of the veg here. For the medium oval it would probably be half and the larger oval would use all.) Top with a layer of chicken then a layer of sauce. Repeat until all veg, meat and sauce have used ending with sauce. Cover tightly and cook on high for 4-5 hours. Not as preferable low 8-9.

I would bet this could also be done in slow oven (300 degrees) in a tightly covered roaster for 2-3 hours.

Serves 6

Chicken and Noodles

This is a plan ahead recipe. You could very well poach chicken breasts in fat free chicken broth, however the gelatine obtained from boiling a whole chicken adds considerably to the lush mouth feel of the dish.

The night before...

Chicken and Stock

1 whole chicken
Water
2 Tablespoons Salt
1 tsp black pepper

Place chicken in a large dutch oven or stock pot. Add the salt and pepper and enough water to fully cover. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half until chicken cooked through. Carefully remove the chicken to a colander placed over a large bowl. Allow to drain for 10-15 minutes. Add the drained stock back to the dutch oven. Place the chicken and the stock (separately) in the refrigerator to cool overnight.

The next day...

Whole Wheat and Spinach Egg Noodles

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour for dusting rolling pin and work surface
8 oz of baby spinach "sauteed" in 1/4 cup of boiling water until wilted, cooled
3 egg whites
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons salt

Place the flour in the bowl of a kitchen aid mixer add the salt and mix to combine. Place the egg whites and spinach in the bowl and mix with the dough hook on speed 2 until combined. Check the consistency if too dry add water a tablespoon at a time until dough forms itself into a ball. Mix on speed 2 for ten minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl cover it and allow it to rest for 10-20 minutes.

In the meantime, remove broth from fridge and skim off all of the fat. Remove the breast meat from the chicken and add it to the broth. Bring this to a simmer and go roll out your egg noodles.

Divide the noodle dough into 3 pieces. Dust your work surface lightly with flour, roll out the dough to desired thickness and set aside on a cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining two balls of dough. This is stickier than regular egg noodle dough. You don't want to make the dough too tall in proportion to it's width because instead of rolling the dough over itself you will fold it in half and cut into noodles. Repeat with all three dough sheets. Immediatley unfold the noodles and drop into the simmering broth. Turn up heat and bring to a boil boil for 5 minutes stirring occasionaly. Turn down heat and simmer a further 14 minutes.

Serves-8
Points-6

Thai me up and eat me!

I'm in a hurry but I'll at least get the basics.

Thai Beef Skewer
1 lb top round cut into thin strips
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
2 Tablespoons of cilantro finely minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger grated
zest of half a lime
3 jalapeno rings finely minced
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup fish sauce (wimps can use soy)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
couple shots jalapeno pepper sauce (optional if unavailable)
1/2 cup oil.

Mix everything together except the meat. Pour into a zippy bag and add the meat. marinate 15 minutes then thread on skewers. Broil or grill until done.

Honey, Lime and Cilantro Slaw
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 mayo
zest from half a lime
2 Tablespoons cilantro finely chopped
12 oz package coleslaw mix

In a large bowl mix first five ingredients until well blended add coleslaw mix and stir to coat.

Peanut Sauce (for Peanut Noodles)
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup fish sauce (or use the wimpy stuff)
2 Tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger finely grated
3 pickled jalapeno rings finely minced
2 Tablespoons chopped peanuts

Mix it all together and do with it what you will.

We mixed it with 8oz of freshly cooked noodles that we drained over 4 oz of bean sprouts (Lightly cooks the bean sprouts thataway) and garnished with chopped peanuts, grated carrots and chopped green onion.