Quickie Yeast Bread

Yum

In winter, I bake a lot of bread. Because I have a fabulous track record of failing about 50% of the time.

The upside to this is all the birds who call my garden 'home.' (They get to peck away at my rejects.) Since fewer birds are migrating south these days, they're quite delighted when I screw up.

Dry air messes with my breads. High altitudes do, too. Yeast breads rise much faster at 7,000 feet. When bread dough rises that quickly, the flavor doesn't have adequate time to develop.

Here are two hot tips for tackling high altitude bread baking. And, a breakthrough recipe. I really loved the flavor of this one. So much so that the little birdies will go hungry this week.

High Altitude Bread Tips:

• Never let your bread dough double in size. Check after 30 minutes and punch it down. If your bread dough is rising like crazy, it's okay to punch it down twice (vs. once at lower altitudes.) 
• Salt is your friend. Worry about your sodium intake with other recipes. Salt is a yeast retardant and a cook's blessing when it comes to high altitude bread baking.

Light texture. Great crunchy crust.

Quickie Yeast Bread Recipe:
~ Stir 1.5 tablespoons dry yeast into 2 cups of warm water. Let it rest for a few minutes. Until you see some foamy action in the bowl.
~ Add 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 cup light vegetable oil to the yeast/water mixture.
~ Stir in 2 cups of bread flour.
~ Sprinkle flour on your counter top. Rub a bit of cooking oil onto your hands to avoid the stickies.
~ Plop the loose dough onto this floured surface and knead 2 more cups of bread flour into the dough.
* Depending upon your elevation, you might want to add one more cup of flour to this recipe. Judge this by how elastic your dough feels. We don't want the dough to feel stiff.
~ Rub your dough ball with a little bit of oil. Place it back in the bowl, in a warm spot, and check it about 30 minutes. Punch it down.
~ Shape it into 2 loaves. Let it rise again. Bake @ 400 (F) for about 30 minutes.

* Bread flour, which is higher in protein, contains a little bit of barley flour. This helps the yeast work properly and provides a more delicious texture.

The I Say, You Say, Kielbasa Bake

Roasted Veggies with a Delightful Sage Seasoning

A birthday dinner (mine) with the girls last week inspired this roasted veggie concoction, created by my oldest and dearest friend, Haze.

Do you futz with recipes? I always do. For me, that's half the fun of cooking. No matter what the recipe tells me to do I'll doll it up to suit my fancy. The funny thing about this is my super silly double standard... I can't resist re-doing a recipe. But, if people tell me they've messed with one of my recipes, I get mad! :)

And, I'll bet Haze does, too. So, I thought I'd let you have her original recipe plus notes on all the ridiculous changes I made to it. Which just might inspire you to make some changes of your own..

Whatever path you choose, I can pretty much guarantee your family will love this.

Roasted Veggie and Kielbasa Bake
* Chop veggies into bite-size pieces. Chop brussels in half. Cut Kielbasa into 1/2 inch slices.

• 4 cups brussel sprouts
• (I did 2 c. brussels and 2 c. broccolini)
• 1 large red onion
• (I did shallots, sweet onions and elephant garlic cloves)
• 16 oz. Kielbasa
• (I did 32 oz. turkey Kielbasa)
• 2 Yukon potatoes
• (I did 1 Yukon and 1 sweet potato) 
• 2 baking apples
• (I did 3 Granny Smiths)
• 6 carrots
• (I used 3 carrots, not chopped, and 3 parsnips, not chopped)
• 2 teaspoons dried sage
• Haze! Aren't you proud of me? I did not mess with your sage! :)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Spread out these goodies on a cookie sheet. (You may need two.) Drizzle with 2-3 TBS olive oil. Roast @ 400 (F) for about 45 minutes.

* Kielbasa is a very flavorful Polish pork sausage. I opted for turkey kielbasa - not to lower the calories - so we could eat twice as much and not feel guilty. :)

** This recipe takes a good half hour of prep work but it's well worth the effort. The sage-y aroma coming from the oven inspired some seriously grumbling tummies. And, the whole thing disappeared in the blink of an eye, the second she placed it on the dinner table.

Edamame: My Mean Green Appetizer

Edamame: I'm so lazy I buy them already shelled.

Edamame is a prettier name for soybeans. And, I'm a soybean nut. Shunned them for years because they looked like peas and.. Boy! Do I hate cooked peas.

I began purchasing frozen, shelled Edamame a few years ago at the supermarket and it quickly became a side dish staple. I roast 'em, stir fry 'em, slip them into casseroles. I pretty much try everything under the sun with soybeans ~ with no complaints. (Hey!)

So why not a dip? It's quick. It's yummy. And, it's also very different. You know what that means... tons of compliments!

* Toss this mess into blender, or food processor, and voila! Super tasty with New York Bagel Chips.

Edamame Dip ~ Oh. So. Easy.

• 1 bag frozen, shelled edamame (It's maybe 12-14 oz., available at most grocery stores.) Microwave the bag (per bag instructions) and then let it cool.
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions (including the green stems.)
• 1 tablespoon roasted garlic (The Spice World jars you see at the market. Fresh, chopped garlic cloves are tasty, too.)
• 1/2 cup chopped, fresh Italian parsley.
• 1/2 tablespoon miso (I use the dry powder from miso soup. Miso is soybean paste.)
• 1 tablespoon chile powder.
• 4 tablespoons olive oil.
• 1/4 cup lemon juice.

* Salt, pepper, and wig out this recipe with garlic and cayenne 'til the cows come home. I hope you enjoy it.

Soybeans may look expensive, but they are super filling, compared to other veggies: 11 grams of protein + 9 grams of fiber in 1 itty bitty half cup.

Autumn Apple Pot Roast Recipe

We've had the most delightful autumn weather this week. Deep blue skies and gorgeous, colorful leaves greet me at every turn.

It's remarkable how our tastes seem to change right along with the leaves. Abandoning salads in favor of hearty, heavier meals.

This idea was inspired by an email I got from a new Park City resident, who dolled up one of my recipes with apples.

Hmmm... I thought to myself. I've got apples coming out my ears! Two trees laden with fruit that I've been picking every other day and... feeding to the horses. 

I guess it's about time we humans enjoy this plentiful harvest...

Autumn Apple Pot Roast ~ Crock Pot Recipe

• 1 - average size pork roast. Or, beef chuck roast (I tend to buy whichever is on sale.)
• 3 or 4 - chopped shallots (Or, a half average size yellow or white onion.)
• 5 or 6 - garlic cloves, chopped into bits (I tend to go hog wild with the garlic...)
• 2 - tart apples, sliced into wedges
• 1/2 - cup applesauce
• 1 - 32 oz low sodium beef broth
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• Dash of celery salt and/salt and pepper to taste

IMHO you don't need to be very exact when you're tossing goodies into a crock pot. I let this simmer for about 6 hours. It was sweet and tender and really quite delightful.

Buon Appetito!

Vipeteno Knodel

Knodel: A South Tyrolean Delicacy

Have laptop, will travel. Last month, I had the great fortune of living and working in the northern most part of Italy. In the picturesque town of Bressanone, a hop, skip and a jump from the Austrian border.

I arrived expecting spaghetti and such but quickly discovered South Tyrol has a cuisine and culture all of it's own. Their fabulous foods are a blended bit of Germany and Italy. A big highlight for me was this little goodie, the Knodel (a potato and bread dumpling). It's so popular the neighboring town of Vipeteno holds a festival to celebrate it's goodness.

Suffice to say it is to die for. So, when I came home I attempted to re-create these on my own, serving up an authentic, South Tyrolean meal to a few good friends.

Knodel Potato and Bread Dumplings
* This is an American's bastardization of the Famed Vipeteno, Italy's Knodel
1.5 pounds raw white potatoes - peeled and grated
1 bag Idahoan Ramano Cheese Potatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 cup boiling skim milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons roasted garlic

1/2 - 1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (enough to give the dumplings substance for molding into small balls.)

How To: 

~ Pour the boiling milk over the raw, grated potatoes and let this set for about 5 minutes.

~ Mix in the Idahoan potatoes packet (just the dried potatoes, don't add liquid.)
~ Add the flour and egg and stir it up.
~ Make small, ping pong size balls.
~ Poach in chicken or beef broth for 15-20 minutes.

* I served them with a topping of browned butter, breadcrumbs and green onions with pork tenderloin and everyone went bonkers.

Doll them up, South Tyrolean style!
Add other ingredients, prior cooking...

• Prosciutto bits
• Parmesan
• Spinach
• Or... turn them into dessert with chopped, dried apricots. (I tried this in Vipeteno and it was quite delightful.)

Homestyle Hiking Bars

I'm not a picky eater until it comes to 'health' food. Then I hate everything. (At least that's what my co-workers say.) Last week, I attended an event called Outdoor Retailer. It's a huge trade show where every protein bar, energy bar, faux food company imaginable happily gives away free samples of their goodies. In high hopes you'll love 'em.

So I tried them all. (It was either that or go back to the trade show booth and do the work they pay me to do.) Tried 'em. Then tossed 'em after just a couple nibbles. I don't get that... why packaged protein bars taste so awful and cost so much when it's so very easy to make your own. Homemade energy bars take about 15 minutes make and you don't even have to bake them!

This is a very forgiving recipe. Doll it up with whatever strikes your fancy ~ such as different nuts, dried fruits, almond butter instead peanut butter, or a favorite type of cereal. I'm thinking Count Chocula would be quite yummy! But, then I'm not terribly committed to the health movement. :)

Homestyle Hiking Bars
Cook for just a couple minutes, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, right before it boils:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sugar 

Stir in:

• 1 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pour into a mixing bowl:

• 1-1/2 cups Rice Krispies
• 1-1/2 cups Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal
• 1-1/2 cups craisins
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
• I sometimes add 1 cup chocolate chips instead of the peanuts

Mix it altogether and voila! You've got an ultra tasty trail bar that makes Cliff Bars taste like tiles off the kitchen floor. Spread this gooey mixture into a brownie pan, no baking required! Let them cool. Then cut into bite size bars.

Enjoy!

A Simple Sassy Soup

Are you a chickpea fan? Also called garbanzo beans, everybody loves them in hummus. I love them in soups and stews because they reflect tomato flavors so beautifully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm celebrating an anniversary! Ten long, lovely years of being self-employed and working from home. Started out as a marketing consultant, evolved into a freelance writer.

This lifestyle is not for everyone but it certainly suits me. Of all the things I could (and probably should) miss about an office environment, there's really one. Lunch.

I really, really miss going out to lunch and letting someone else do the cooking. Preparing 3 meals a day in my own kitchen is... well, messy. And, boring.

So, soup is often my fall back plan. I'll make big pots of it and freeze it in single serving containers. This one was an experiment. It's not a fancy recipe by any means. Made with stuff I happened to have on hand (therefore you, too, could get creative with the ingredients.) But, the end result was so yummy I just had to share!

Simple Sassy Soup

1. Finely chop an average size yellow onion + 4 cloves of fresh garlic
2. Cut an average size pork tenderloin* into small bite-size (soup-sized) pieces
3. Add 2 tbs olive oil to your skillet and stir fry, with the garlic and onion, until the tenderloin pieces are no longer pink.

In your soup pot, or crock pot ~

• 2 - 32 oz low sodium beef broth
• 1 - 14 oz can whole tomatoes 
• 2 - cans low sodium chickpeas 
• 1 - cup water
• 3 - TBS chili powder
• 1 - tsp. cumin
• 1 - tsp. smokey paprika
• 1 - tsp. oregano

Add your stir-fry concoction to the soup pot and simmer for about an hour or crock it for the day.

* You can, of course, use ground pork, beef or turkey instead of the tenderloin but I think that's what made it taste so yummy.
* Dried herbs are the better choice since this is a slow simmered recipe. They have a more concentrated flavor and they're way cheaper!
* Last but definitely not least, in winter months whole canned tomatoes are infinitely more flavorful than whole tomatoes in the produce section. Whole canned tomatoes are minimally processed, picked at the peak of freshness (when they're red, not green as fresh tomatoes often are) and canned within a half day of being plucked from the vine.

Enjoy!