Science Experiment, Day 1

Apparently, Aaron's Grandma wants sourdough bread and his father is supposed to deliver it to her after his visit here later this month... Crap... I am SOOO not a baker... However, I did guilt Aaron into buying me a professional grade Kitchen-Aid stand mixer just so I can make bread... Double Crap... He even gave me some "sourdough starter" with the mixer, to get me started... I used the excuse that I don't have a sourdough crock for my fridge to avoid using it... I no longer have that excuse... (Thanks again, Jessie!) I can't bring myself to use a product that is sold to the tourists pretty much as soon as they get off the cruise ship for a buck... And, since I can't say "No" to Grandma Dora and don't know anyone who already has an established starter, I decided to make my own starter.

This lead to me scouring my library for the perfect sourdough starter recipe... Hi, My name is Jen, and I'm addicted to cook books... (this is where you say, "Hi, Jen!"... you know, just in case you've never been to one of these meetings before)

I consulted the Holy Bible of cook books (at least in my humble little library)... The Joy of Cooking... It has quite a few starter recipes, one that uses yeast to get it going and one that allows it to ferment (sour) over time... I went with the second option, hoping to obtain a more authentic flavor in the final product.

All you need is bread flour (check!) and water (check!). That's it... Oh, and patience... And maybe a little bit of skill.... This will take quite a few days to get to a point where I can actually bake a test loaf. I have about 3 weeks before the in-laws descend, so I figure if the first batch doesn't go well, I still have time to make a new batch.

Take a clean bowl and add 1/2 c. bread flour and 1/4 c. "barely lukewarm water (80 degrees)" and mix thoroughly. I underestimated the process for getting cold, clean water to warm up to 80 degrees... I ended up microwaving some water (ended at 102 degrees) and waited for it to cool... This took about 1 and a half episodes of Bones on Netflix to do... Probably about an hour, but it felt longer than that...

Water too hot... Flour ready to go!

Not "quite" 80 degrees, but close enough... got a little impatient...

Then it said to "turn it out onto a clean surface (unfloured) work surface and knead the dough using the heel of one hand until it is smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes"... Um... yeah... It's really sticky... and makes a whole lot of mess... and I'm not sure if I actually reached the "smooth and elastic" state described in the text... (and before you start ragging on me for the quantity of water in the measuring cup being WAY more than 1/4 c, I measured out a 1/4 cup from the measuring cup and added that to the flour...)

Sticky, sticky mess...

Messy, messy counter...

You then need to return the dough to the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and punch 4-5 holes in the plastic.

Evil, sticky mess, back in the bowl (where it belongs)

Try not to take out too much of your frustration on the plastic wrap...

Final product for day 1...

This is the final product (at least for now)... Before I go to work tomorrow, I'll "feed" it again with the same proportions of flour and water, but this time, the water just needs to be room temperature. According to the text, I don't have to knead it again until it is actually "bread"...

The list...

So here is the list of things that have been made in my kitchen over the past 4 days:

Cinnamon Buns (Awesome!)
Spinach Salad
Grilled Venison Braciole with Home Made Tomato Sauce
Grilled Smoked Venison Sausage
White Chocolate Cheesecake
Venison Potato George Kibble (My dog has allergies)
Twice Baked Potatoes
Venison Pot Roast
Doughnut Bread Pudding
Jalapeno Corn Bread

I've been busy! :-)

Which one should I start with?

Simple is always better (at least in my opinion)

I love experimenting with different recipes, putting my own tweak on things. I scour the internet in search of different ideas... Sometimes I come up with gold, like in this instance... My version increases the whole grain values and can be modified in any number of ways... My name for it is "Brown Rice, Chicken, Spinach, & Cheese Casserole".... I know, it's a rather lengthy name... I'm still working on another one, but I haven't come up with one yet. I'm open to suggestions!

Quick! Duck!

My husband went to breakfast with his father yesterday. He called me on his way home to tell me he had a huge surprise! After a guessing match, it was determined it would be an item for the kitchen that could be plugged in, but not necessarily that should be plugged in.

I had no guesses.

Holy Canoli! It's homemade Pasta!

I am not Italian. Not even a little. I'm a mutt but not in any way from Italy. My husband loves pasta. Any type really. With fresh sauce, not from a jar. We don't eat much from a jar around here. So I didn't have any boxed pasta in the house and I didn't feel like going to the store. That lead me on yesterdays culinary adventure into homemade pasta. I absolutely adore The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. She's completely awesome and has amazing recipes. I used her recipe, found here, as a base for my own creation.

Non-Egg-cellent

Little known fact: Jen is allergic to eggs. In her honor, here are two delicious clucking egg free recipes. Sometimes they aren't all that easy to find.

French Bread

Most everyone loves bread. There are so many variations to this simple recipe. I've tried coconut flour (yum! but requires more yeast), wheat flour (dense like a short bus but good), spelt flour (be like Mike and give it some extra air time). In my house the plain old unbleached AP flour goes over the best.

1 pack yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt (increase this if you feel like it, adds a bit more flavor)
1 tbsp sugar (or honey)
1 tbsp shortening
4 cups flour
butter (optional, but who the hell doesn't like butter!?)

Run the tap until it's plenty warm. Put 1/2 cup of water in a bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. When it starts to smell funny and bubble some, it's probably good to proceed. This will take around 5 minutes. Add the sugar and stir. Let it rest another minute or two. Again, the bubbling is a good indication you're doing it right.

Add in everything else with another 1 cup of warm/hot water. Make sure it's not scalding or you will kill the little yeast guys. You need those guys alive to make fluffy bread.

Mix the dough (either by hand or with a mixer) until it's kind of smooth and no longer sticky. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Kneed it again for about a minute. Let it sit another 15 minutes. This seems like a pain but it's worth it. Take your "me time" here. Just make sure you wash your hands when you come back to the kitchen!

Split into balls or loaves or however you like your bread to look. Round it out (basically just smooth the top). When it feels like a 18 year old boob (the real kind, not fake) it's about right. Let it sit for another 20 minutes or so in a warm spot with a damp cloth on top.

Bake for 20-40 minutes (depending on size) at 400 degrees. It'll be nice a fluffy if you did it right. If not, make bread pudding!

Chocolate Snack Cake

Admissions being what they are, this came from my Mom this week. She took it from her sister in law. Either way you steal it, it's still good right?

1 & 2/3 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water (or leftover coffee if you like mocha)
1/2 cup oil (any kind works here, we like coconut or sunflower)
1/2 tsp vinegar

Courtesy of Mom!

Mix all together. Pour into an un-greased 8x8 glass pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

When it's cool take it out and dust with powdered sugar or smear with your favorite icing!

So there ya go, it's a day for Jen!

Happy eating,

Jessie

Waste Not, Want Not... Or how my dogs devoured deer legs in an hour....

If you're of the faint of heart regarding hunting and animals in general, tune out now.

Glad you're still here! So it's still hunting season here in MS. That means Sunday Morning is hunting time in my house. Jeff came home today with 5 deer legs. Fur and all. Gross, yeah, a little. I skinned them (I'm a badass chick with a knife) and popped them in some boiling water for a few seconds to sterilize the outside. Just to get the nasties off. Took all 5 outside, hooves attached, and let the fur-kids at them. If I had actual kids I might have some sort of regard for my dogs actually being a difference species but fact o' the matter is, they are my kids and have a better life than most actual homosapien children.

So I went about washing dishes (a necessary evil of spending about 24 total hours making a mess in the kitchen) and about 20 minutes later went to check on them. HOLY SHIT BALLS! Those dogs devoured like everything. There were a few long bones left. Hooves? GONE! Joints? GONE! Charlotte? Territorial as hell! It was hilarious!

We left them out there for awhile. I find solace in the fact that although an animal gave it's life, we are very good about honoring it and using everything we can. I think that's my thought of the day. Honor your food. If it's from the ground or had a heartbeat... just honor it. Make it special and realize what a gift honest food is. No preservatives. No processing. Just raw nature. Natural food is a gift we should all learn to appreciate a bit more. I know tonight as my dogs are sprawled across the living room floor in blissful and joyful sleep, they are appreciating nature and honoring their delicious treats of the day!

Damn, I wish I was my dog...

Jessie