A Locavore's Kitchen Gadget Wishlist

This post is a bit hard for me to write! I spend a lot of time reducing, reusing, and trying to re-purpose; I'm trying to get out of the habit of buying new things just because I want them. However, as I have gotten more into cooking for myself, canning fruits & jams, and eating seasonally, I'm discovering a few kitchen tools that would expand my capacity to eat locally and in tandem with the seasons. If you've had any experience with these tools, I'd love to hear feedback and thoughts! 

Mortar and Pestle

I had never used one of these guys until our buddy Paul moved in to our house this past fall. I had jars of herbs like whole clove and coriander that were just sitting around, unused; I didn't know what to do with them! Now that I've had the use of a mortar and pestle for the past 6 months, I will definitely need to get one when Paul moves out; especially since I'll be harvesting lots of coriander and other herbs from the garden.

Presto Pressure Canner

This one has been a long time coming! I've been canning for nearly 4 years. I love canning fruits, but there's only so much jam a person can stock up! A friend lent me her pressure canner, and it was great to use in the end of summer- I canned up sweet corn from the end of the season, and  the last round of green beans fresh from the Farmers' Market. I need to stop holding the borrowed canner hostage :) While I am all for sharing, and really appreciative to have borrowed it, I could use a pressure canner of my own.





Family Grain Mill Hand Base + Grain Mill 

As I mentioned last week, I'll be splitting a full share of a CSA called Stone Soup Roots and Grains! Part of my share will include (over the course of Sept-March):
- 30 lbs. wheat berries
- 12 lbs. rye berries
- 12 lbs. oat groats
- 6 lbs. dried corn


Wouldn't it be totally awesome (in a completely geeky way) to be able to hand grind my own flour that was grown and harvested less than 100 miles from me? Call me silly, but that's just downright romantic! 

10" Cast Iron Skillet

Again, this is a story of "I didn't know what I was missing until our roommate had awesome kitchen tools". Cast iron skillets are a) really efficient  b) awesome c) durable. I also love the idea that they're low-tech and that people have cooked in cast iron for hundreds of years. I think I'm a convert, people!

Pasta Maker

Ok- I don't really need a pasta maker. This one is more of a guilt please. But I am a fan of the hand-crankiness of it, and with all that hand-milled flour I'll be processing, there's gotta be some pasta making that will happen, right? This particular model is also a meat grinder and a mincer. I think the idea of grinding meat and pasta in the same tool is a bit gross, but I guess I'd get over it if I needed to. You can laugh if you want- I'll be over here swooning over the thought of handmade pasta.

What's your favorite kitchen tool or gadget? Any suggestions for me?

Simple Banana Bread recipe

Banana Bread is delicious! I always forget how good it tastes until I have some. Then when I do, I revel in the taste, until I forget again and then discover it anew. This time around, I had some over-ripe bananas that seemed past their prime- Banana Bread is a great, healthy dessert to use those babies up!

This particular recipe is surprisingly low in sugar and butter- awesome! If you're feeling adventurous, add a little cinnamon, or nutmeg, or even some walnuts. This is just plain and simple, wholesome-tasting goodness.

Simple Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar (brown or white will do)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 
• Grease a 9x5 inch bread pan
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda & salt. 
• In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. 
• Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. 
• Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. 
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
• Bake in oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. 
• Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, aka gobble it up while it burns your mouth :)

Serve and Enjoy!

Dark Days Challenge Week 9- Homemade Crescent Rolls

Something I've always lusted after, food-wise, is Crescent Rolls. The only ones I've really ever known are the Pillsbury pop-and-peel kind. They always seem like some sort of weird chemistry experiment to me- the container needs to be popped, and then you peel out this weird chunk of dough that is perforated?

I love them all the same, but wanted to find a healthier, homemade, SOLE (Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical) option. So here it is!

Homemade Crescent Rolls

Ingredients: (Makes 32 rolls)
3 1/2 cups flour
source: Westwind Milling Co., 50 miles
2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
source: Mexico? I need a better source for this!
1/3 cup water, warm
source: ya know- the tap
3/4 cup milk, warm
source: Calder's Dairy, 50 miles

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

source: grown in the US of A

2 eggs

source: Baer Poultry Farm, 50 miles
1 tsp salt
source: far away, purchased from Ypsi Food Co-op
4 tbsp butter, softened

source: Calder Dairy, 50 miles

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix flour with sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add to the flour mixture. Add eggs and milk, then mix everything together. Add the butter and knead the dough until it is smooth. Cover with a clean towel and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm area, until doubled in size.

2. Punch down dough and divide into 2 equal parts. Form them into balls. *If you don't want to make a million crescent rolls all at once, now is the time that you should take one of the dough balls, wrap it in plasticwrap, and then wrap tightly in aluminum folil and freeze!*

On a floured surface roll each part into a 16 to 17 inch round, using a

rolling pin. With the back of a spoon, spread about 2 tbsp of very soft

butter onto the dough round. Using a pizza wheel, cut the

round into 16 triangles.

3. Start rolling each triangle into crescents, starting from the outside edge of the triangle. Once rolled, place on a greased baking tray with the tip tucked down and under the roll. Repeat rolling with the rest of the triangles. Let them rise for about 20 minutes. Melt additional butter and brush the tops of the rolls with it.

4. Preheat the oven to 400F. Bake for 14-18 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Let them cool on a wire rack few minutes before serving, or just shove them into your mouth right away, which is what I did.

Homemade Bagels

Our roommate Paul is sort of a renaissance man- at least in my opinion! He bakes, he cooks, he has a record player, he plays an instrument.. you have to admit that he sounds pretty cool, right? Anyway, the reason I'm bragging about him is that he makes lots of homemade goodness that I get to try. Last week, he made BAGELS!

Let me just say- This family loves us some bagels. We almost always have bagels on the countertop, and they can get expensive! My favorite local ones, Barry's Bagels, which taste like smooshy semi-cooked chunks of dough (in the best way possible) are $3 for 4 bagels at our local co-op. When Paul made these homemade bagels, they were amazing; they even looked bagely! He was nice enough to make a batch with me, so I could learn.

Today, I made a batch all by myself; I'm going to share the recipe with you, because they are easy to make, and I want to bestow the skills of bagel-making upon everyone who reads this blog. Best of luck- tell me how your bagel-making experiences go!

Paul's Homemade Bagels

These are onion bagels- mm!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I use 1 cup bread flour and 2 cups white wheat flour)

1 1/4 cup warm-hot water

1 tbs olive oil

1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar (to activate) & 1 tbs sugar to sweeten

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

1 egg white

3/4 cup wheat germ

Directions:

• Add the yeast and 1 tsp sugar to the warm water, and stir briefly.
• Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes- a 1-3 inch foamy layer should develop if yeast is properly activated.
• Once the yeast mixture is ready, pour it into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the cups of flour, mixing in between each. Add the salt & sugar.
• Next, flour your countertop and place the dough onto the surface, kneading it for 5-10 minutes. Once it gets to the right consistency, it should just barely stick to the surface when you pick it up and drop it.
• Spread the olive oil on the inside of the mixing bowl, and then place the dough in the bowl to rise.
• Cover the bowl with a towel, and place in a warm, dry spot for 25 minutes.

• While you're waiting for the dough to rise, You should get the remaining steps ready:
• Fill a large pot with water, and set it to boil
• Crack an egg into a small bowl, and leave only the white
• Stir the egg white for several minutes until it is foamy-looking
• Fill another small bowl with the wheat germ, and set aside
• Place your baking pan on the counter so it's ready
• Pre-heat the oven to 400 degree
•  Roll each piece into a 4 to 6-inch log. Join the ends and place fingers through the hole and roll the ends together. Repeat with the remaining dough. Now you should have 8 un-cooked bagel shapes!
• Take the bagels (4 at a time) and place them into the boiling water, for 1 min 30 seconds on each side. 
• When all the bagels are done, pat them dry. 
• Dip them on one side in the egg whites, and on the other side into the wheat germ (this side becomes the bottom of the bagel)
• Place the bagels evenly spaced on the tray, slide the tray into the oven, and set the timer for 20 minutes! Bagels are usually done in 22-23 minutes, but check them at 20 minutes just to see how they're doing. When they're browned a bit on the top you know they're ready!

Enjoy!

I got a new camera, so you get pictures of bread and kittens, and a painting I did this weekend :)

bread making for dummies (aka me)

Bread seemed so easy to make the first several times.. I started to take it for granted, and now I'm gettin' sloppy! Made some bread today and I think I heated up the milk too much- the bread hardly rose at all, but I'm pretty sure I put the right amount of yeast in.. hmm.

So I stuck it in the oven anyway, and now it looks sort of like a ciabatta loaf:

But it tasted good! Tomorrow I'm going to make another loaf so I can have bread for the whole week!

Adventures in bread-making!

Today I was struck with the sudden urge to make bread. I guess this just stemmed from the fact that I love bread, and I also got inspired while reading, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". In Barbara Kingsolver's family, her partner Steven Hopp makes all the bread that the family comsumes. I think it would be really rewarding to make all of the bread that you eat- it's such a staple in the American diet- sandwiches, on the side with soup or salad.. and it's also delicious!

I began my bread adventures with King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour. We have local flour at the Co-op but I wanted to use King Arthur because it had a bread recipe on the back, which I needed, since I was doing some impulse baking! I also got some dry active yeast (yeast is intimidating if you've never baked bread before!), some of Kroger's organic milk, and I had all the rest of the stuff at home. Here's the original recipe I followed:

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread (from King Arthur Flour)
Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cup milk
2 Tlbs butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup rolled oats
1 packet dry active yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups King Arthur Bread Flour
 
 

mmm... yeasty.

 
Manual Method: In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead the dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) till it's smooth. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and allow it to rest for 1 hour; it'll become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk.

    

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and shape it into a log. Place the dough in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, cover the pan (with an acrylic dough cover, or with lightly greased plastic wrap), and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, till it's crested 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes of baking. Yield: 1 loaf.

Bread!!!!

Overall, I think my first loaf turned out surprisingly well! It didn't burn, it wasn't under done, and it had a perfect, quinticential bread shape. Mike even commented,  "I'm impressed that you let the bread rise for all that time, instead of sticking it in the oven after 20 minutes. Good job!" I'm glad that following the directions is an impressive feat for me. :)

I decided to make a second loaf and freeze it, since I was on a bread making kick, and I was eating the whole first loaf immediatlety haha. I used the same recipe as above, but with a little twist of my own-

Olive Oil and Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cup milk
3 Tlbs Olive Oil
4 Tlbs Rosemary
4 Tlbs McCormick Italian Spice grinder (or any Italian spice blend)
3 tablespoons honey
1 packet dry active yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups King Arthur Bread Flour

Obviously, this is a very similar bread, but it was a vague attempt at Olive Oil and Rosemary. It also turned out pretty good! I would have added a bit more olive oil and a bit more Rosemary next time, but it was pretty delish. I froze this second loaf because I didn't want to each 8 servings of bread in one day. Well.. I did want to, actually, but I shouldn't.
 
My mom had offered to give me her Bread Machine, but I don't think I really need it- making bread by hand took a bit of time, but it was rewarding, and not at all as tough as I thought it would be.
 
Another Homesteading skill= accomplished!