Crumpets

When is an English Muffin NOT an English muffin? Properly call it a Crumpet !

Today’s cooking assignment: Crumpets, I’ll leave the tea selection up to you but the theme here is Afternoon Tea and Crumpets. (I wonder why ? )

Me, I had morning coffee and wanted something fresh in the line of bread dough etc. After the caffeine kicked in it was griddle cakes  inspired by Betty Crocker International Cookbook recipe “Crumpets” (page 280,1980 General Mills) referred to also as “Pikelets”.

Get out the griddle, or cast iron fry pan.

Dissolve yeast with warm water in a large bowl,

let sit a couple of minutes till bubbly.

Add sugar, salt, flour, scalded milk, then cooled, and  butter.

  also 2 eggs,mix all to make a yeasty batter.

Let the batter sit till it doubles and is frothy. 

now, fire up the griddle with a ring, use can use the old tuna can trick, I have a hamburger ring that I use.

Spoon in the batter to the ring (buttered) over medium heat.

once they set, remove ring, cook and flip till done

you can gently pull them apart, if you like, and eat them with jam or jelly or plain butter, cream etc.. I had some Blackberry Chipotle Jam  for a bit of a POP!

Now I’ll leave the Tea selection up to you (and your additive from the Royal Flask). Don’t forget to raise your pinky when you hoist your teacup.

Tweet and/or Like some of your British friends. Wish them well.

And that’s bloody well good!

tea, courtesy of JLM

Totally Tubular Bread

Ever had the need for round bread? I guess it ca be sliced for hamburger rolls or round sandwiches.

Years ago, someone sold this glass tube to bake bread in. The original chrome stand  is gone, most likely misplaced through the years.

Any way, you simply let the dough rise in the tube and bake, in this case it flowed form the end of the tube. Now I use a roasting rack to hold the tube while baking and cooling.

While it was baking it expanded more from the ends. After it was baked and cooled I cut off the ends.

And you have round bread.

Different than the same old loaf and similar to bread recipes that call for coffee cans to bake bread in.

Made on or about 12/04/2011

 

 

corn bread

I made this a week or two ago, thought I’d pass this recipe along.

 

I    

 

 

sausage and apple stuffing

Adapted from : simply recipes.com/recipes/crown_roast_of_pork

This recipe can be modified and used for other uses such as poultry etc.

cube (about 3/4 inch dice) day old bread enough for 4 cups.

 

In a large cast iron skillet, melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, add the cubed bread, stir, let the cubes toast and brown. Set aside.

 

In a four quart pan, with a bit of salt on the bottom, de case sausage, about 1/4 pound hot and 1/4 pound sweet, in about 1 inch pieces, sauté till brown and flip, browning the other side. Remove  with a slotted spoon, and set aside.

Augment the pan drippings, the sausage meat did not render that much fat, with rendered bacon fat. Add 1/2 cup diced  onions and 1/2 cup diced celery with diced celery leaves. Cook 3 to 5 minutes.

Dice up about 2 cups Granny Smith Apples, add to the mix, and cook a few minutes.

Add to the mix, 1 Teaspoon chopped  fresh sage ,1 Teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley.

Return the sausage and bread cubes to the pan, toss and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Store (refrigerate) stuffing till needed, if made ahead of time.

Hershey’s Chocolate Cake Recipe

for file and reference:

Multi grain bread

 

(not a good focus on this picture)

 

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup rye flour

yeast (~4 teaspoons)

white flour (? cups)

sugar, granulated

salt

vital wheat gluten

 

Water ~2cups

honey

1 egg

sesame seeds

dill seed

 

For a multi grain, it was a light loaf, noticing the vital wheat gluten (4 teaspoons per loaf) gives a better rise, structure and crumb .The bread  seems to have an longer lasting texture even though most loaves are consumed within a few days.

RICE,TOMATO, AND GREEN PEPPER CASSEROLE

WHITE RICE     TOMATO, AND GREEN PEPPER CASSEROLE
modified from  Cazuela de Arroz con Rajas de Chile Poblano
Pattis’ Mexican Table

INGREDIENTS
4 cups cooked white rice (about 2 cups uncooked)
2 tbsp butter
1 large valdalia onion, diced
3 cloves (or more to taste) garlic, pressed,
3 green peppers, charred, skinned, stemmed, seeded, and sliced.
1 1/2 cup (Roma if possible) tomatoes, chopped
1 cup corn
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
About 1 tablespoon flour    `
1 cup milk
Smoked, dry hOt red pepper flakes to taste
cheese

TO PREPARE
Place the butter in a  pan set over medium heat and saute the onions .Allow it to sweat for about 5-10 minutes,   Increase the heat to medium-high, add the tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the green pepper, corn, salt and black pepper and cook for about 3 more minutes.Add garlic.  Add the flour to form a roux and cook for several minutes. Add the milk and cook till bubbling stirring mixture till it thickens. Add more milk if necessary to obtain a semi thick sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 8 x 11   baking dish.  Layer the white rice in the baking dish and press it down gently with a spatula.  Pour the sauce tomatoes/pepper mixture on top  For the last layer, sprinkle the shredded cheese (optional) on top.

Bake the casserole in the oven for about 20 minutes until bubbly.

Valdalia onion deep dish pizza

Valdalia Onion Deep Dish Pizza

I sliced two large valdalia onions, one white onion, and garlic (to taste) and layered in an small oven proof covered casarole with salt pepper and butter. Then roasted in a 350 oven covered for about 20 to 30 minutes. I let the onion mixture cool and placed it in the bowl that I made the dough in (with a few bits of dough remaining) with the liquid rendered from the roasting then I added some American cheese and season to taste with cilantro, dill etc. Now I crisped some diced bacon and added some of the rendered fat to the onion mixture and a few smoked hot red pepper flakes

Having prepared my favorite dough recipe and pressed it into a deep cast iron skillet,

as soon as the pizza dough was risen and ready, I beat two eggs, and added to the onion mixture and poured into the deep dish crust, garnished with the crisped diced bacon

and  baked at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes and then at about 375 degrees  for 15 additional minutes till the filling set. It cooled slightly, then cut and served.

bread, rolls

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hamburger rolls

Mother’s Day Desserts

My Favorite Hersey Chocolate Cake

 

 

dessert from Gregs

Ma, my wife and daughters