Gravy

From all recipes.com:

BEEF GRAVY
Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups water
* 3 teaspoons beef bouillon
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1/4 cup butter

Directions

1. Combine water, bouillon, flour, onion and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until thickened.

I used chives instead of onion and instead of beef bouillon/water I used a can of beef broth.

This was my first gravy and it had no lumps and wash a great consistency.

Multigrain Biscuits (experiment)

• almost one cup unbleached Wegmans all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup rye flour
• 1/4 cup flax seed

(for a total of about three cups "flour")

• 1 generous tablespoon baking powder

mix thoroughly. Add:

• a tad more than 1/2 teaspoon iodized sea salt

fold in:

• 6 tablespoons butter

Add:

• one cup soy milk

Knead. Cut with bottom of glass once pressed thin. Mine made 19 biscuits. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
based on:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2009/06/brown-biscuits.html

Chômeur Pudding

I had a crushing blow today. A professor whom I respect very much vetoed a paper idea I had calling it "too complicated" and "too difficult." I guess this is an instance where having an undergraduate degree already hurts me in this process, as the papers I'm sure he deems more acceptable and "doable" feel like grade school to me... But, as a consequence, I decided to say phooey to the French and go Quebecois tonight and drown my sorrows in "Chômeur Pudding" or literally "unemployed man's pudding."

I originally nabbed this recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen, an all vegan recipe site that I adore.
http://www.theppk.com/

Chômeur Pudding

For the cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 cup "milk" (soymilk if you're vegan)
• 4 tablespoons melted "butter" (margarine if you're vegan, gotta love Earth Balance)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder

For the syrup:

• 2 cups brown sugar (I use more like 1.5, and I use half light and half dark)
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon flour

In a large glass baking dish (tonight I used my Le Creuset skillet), place brown sugar and flour from the syrup ingredients in the bottom. Add the water.

Mix dry cake ingredients. Add melted butter and milk. Mix gently. Plop in about six lumps in water. Bake at 375 degrees, 30-40 minutes.

Banana Pancakes

I made a double batch of pancakes using Betty's Crocker's 25th anniversary cookbook.

The basic recipe for pancakes is this:
1 egg, beaten until fluffy
1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar or brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
(combine ingredients and fry on griddle)

The Betty Crocker oat variant is this:
substitute 1/2 cup oats for 1/2 cup of the flour. Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. (This actually makes the calorie content go down from 100 to 85 calories a pancake)

Now, they claim the yield is nine four-inch pancakes.

So, this is what I did:
Angel's banana-oat pancakes
2 eggs, beaten until fluffy
1 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1.5 cups soymilk
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons canola oil
6 teaspoons baking powder (which isn't that 2 tablespoons?)
pinch idiozed sea salt
2 extra ripe small bananas mixed thoroughly into batter
1 banana, perfect eating condition, sliced to stir into batter

Leftovers get frozen for quick, yummy breakfasts later.

Great Day for bread!

It's humid. Humid as in take one step outside and the humidity coats your body.

So I started bread. Lord knows the yeast likes this weather. I experimented with a wheat-white-rye loaf.

In my big glass bowl, I mixed:
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon yeast

(The honey really gets the yeast really moving. It's not necessary.)

In another bowl, I mixed:
2 cups (and a little more) unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
3/4 teaspoon salt

Then I put three cups of that mixture into the water/yeast froth and stirred with my wooden spoon until dough-like. I covered with a damp towel and now it needs to sit for three hours. Then I'll add the rest of the flour and need.

Rye rolls take two

My dad and his wife are hosting a picnic today, so, I knew I should bring something but I had no idea what. I'm not a cold salad person, and I don't have the ingredients for any of the cold salads I like. As usual, I'm plotting at the last minute.

My stepmom usually has burgers and corn and watermelon. I opted to make rolls. No one else will make bread, that's for sure, and it's nice and humid. Perfect for bread. My stepmom was surprised to get my call this morning with that news. Hopefully they turn out yummy.

I've taken to storing all my flour in the freezer. My luck lately has been far from good regarding the longevity of my flour. Also, this was my first batch of bread with the brick of yeast from Gayle. There's 32 ounces of yeast there. The date on the bag suggests "best by 2/2011" so it should be interesting to see how long it takes me to use it.

Verdict on batch two of the rye rolls: (recipe available via rye link)
Delicious when you follow the recipe.

Funky French-inspired Cheesy Bread

After reading with great lust the Joie de Vivre catalog, I got inspired to make some different bread. I retrieved Patricia Well's The Paris Cookbook and opened to her Parmesan Bread. Except, as happens when I mount these expeditions, I didn't confirm I had all the ingredients before I started baking. So I embarked upon my own funky French cheesy bread...

Pain au parmesan (according to Patricia: an ode to Gruyère bread)
Ingedients:
Patricia's
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 and 1/3 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons extra fine sea salt
3 and 3/4 cups bread flour
3/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, freshly grated
*egg wash

Mine
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (the way my family eats, it makes sense to double from the start)
1 teaspoon organic sugar
1 teaspoon lavender honey
2 and 2/3 lukewarm water
1 teaspoon idiozed sea salt
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
7.5 cups white flour
about 1/2 cup grated parmesan
about 3/4 cup finely grated extra sharp cheddar
about 3/4 cup grated ricotta salata

*egg wash

1. Combine yeast, sugar (and/or honey if using) and water. Stir to blend. (Patricia recommends using a heavy duty electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. I do everything by hand.) Let stand until foamy, about five minutes.
2. Stir in oil and sea salt.
3. Add flour and cheese all at once. Mix until all the flour has been absorbed and dough forms a ball. Knead four to five minutes until dough is satiny but still firm. The dough should spring back when indented with your finger.
4. Place dough in clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise about an hour until doubled in bulk.
5. Punch dough down and shape into a rectangle. Place in non-stick one quart bread pan. Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in bulk, about one hour.
6. Preheat oven to 425.
7. Brush top of dough with an egg wash. With kitchen scissors, snip the dough with tips all over to allow it to expand evenly while baking. You should snip about fifteen times. Place bread on bottom shelf of the oven. (I wonder if the water bowl would help? When cooking baquettes, one places a bowl of water in the oven with the bread. I don't think that would work with egg wash.) Bake until firm and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. The bread should be firm and golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

NOTE: It says to use a non-stick loaf pan. This is important.

Also, I got four loaves from my doubled recipe. One of which I added garlic pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. I intended that one for myself. I ate a couple slices and my husband finished it.

I served it for lunch with the leftover port salut and cheddar, plus my husband had brought home a chunk of medium brie and a chunck of soft blue from his work wine and cheese party.