Blueberry Muffins
6 T butter
1 1/4 c sugar
2 eggs
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 t baking soda
1/2 c buttermilk
4 oz cream cheese
1 c blueberries
Mix all ingredients except berries, once well mixed, stir in berries. Put in well greased muffin tins, b ake at 375 for 30 minutes.
Meatballs
1 lb grnd beef
3 slices bread soaked in 1/2 c water or milk May omit parsley, or may used fresh chopped onion instead of powdered onion. Easy to change,
2 eggs
1/3 c parmesan cheese
1 T parsley
1 t salt
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t red pepper
3 garlic cloves minced
1 t powdered onion
Mix well, shape into walnut sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool, place in bags and freeze.
Pretzels
1 1/4 c warm water, put 4t yeast and 1/2 c sugar in. Add 1 1/2 t salt, and 1 T vegetable oil.
Mix in 1/2 c gluten, and then begin by adding 3 cups flour. Mix well--you want a softer dough, but not too sticky. (Any type of dough will work, but the softer dough is much easier to shape.)
Knead the dough, then let rise til double. Punch dough down, and cut into 12 equal pieces. Let rest for a few minutes covered with damp cloth. Then roll each piece into a 24 inch rope, and shpe into pretzel. (Make a U, then cross the ends, and fold them down onto the bottom of the U. Make sure you pinch where the ends cross the body of the pretzel. (Otherwise, it will come undone in the boiling process.) Place the pretzels on a lightly greased pan. Heat oven toe 450 degrees, and place large pan of water with 1/2 c soda on stove and bring to a boil. Place 3 or 4 pretzels into the boiling water at a time but do not crowd them. Let boil for about 30 seconds, then remove and drain them. Brush with egg wash (1 egg, 1t water beaten). Sprinkle with coarse salt and place on the greased cookie sheet, or on parchment lined sheet. Place in oven and bake abt 12 minutes, watching to make sure they do not get too brown. Remove from the pan and place on a rack to cool completely.
Bagels
1T yeast, 1T sugar 1T salt mixed into 1 3/4 c water. Gradually add in approx. 4 C bread flour (add in 1/4 c vital wheat gluten to all purpose flour to make bread flour.)
For bagels, you want a stiff dough. So keeping adding in four until the dough is stiff, and not at all sticky. You want the dough stiffer than bread dough--- Let dough rise til double. If you want to add in berries, onions, cinnamon and raising, add it in once dough has risen and feels softer. As you knead the dough down, put in your add ins. Once dough is punched down, cut into 12 pieces and shape into 12 balls. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth. After 30 minutes, using your fingers make holes in the pieces of dough, shaping into a bagel. (Bagels will rise more, so make sure hole is larger than you want!) Place on a cookie sheet that is greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. Let them rest, covered, for at least 10 minutes. They should begin to puff up a bit. Heat large pan of boiling water, add 1 T baking soda. Boil bagels for 2 minutes on one side, flip and boil 1 or 2 minutes more. (If you want them less "chewy" reduce the boiling time.) Remove from water, transfer to towel or rack to dry a bit, but on parchment sheet, or greased with cornmeal sheet, brush with egg wash (1 egg 1 t water beaten slightly). You may top with sesame seeds, etc. Place in oven set on 375 and bake for about 20 min until golden brown. (I have found it only takes about 15 mins at the most. Keep an eye on them!) You may move the pans in the oven to keep from getting too brown. Remove and cool completely.
Pie Crusts
Best type of pans are pyrex glass pie plates--they distribute the heat more evenly. Bakes thoroughly, and you can see the bottom of pie if need to check on doneness.
Place four in freezer to get cold. Lard creates the flakiest crust, butter has a good flavor. ( I prefer lard, the ultimate flaky crust. Yum.)
Use 2 c cold flour (for pastry flour, you may add 1 T cornstarch in place of the tablespoon flour in each cup.)
3/4 c cold fat
1 t salt
3-6 T ice water
Mix salt into the flour, then cut the fat in, using a pastry knife or a knife. Do not use hands--the warmth will cause the fat to smear into the dough. You want to end up with pea sized lumps of fat covered with flour. Then sprinkle the ice water a tablespoon at a time, using a fork to mix in water, just enough to dampen the dough. You want the dough to stick together when squeezed in your hand, but still a bit dry and cracking. Shape the dough into two discs---but don't overwork the dough with your hands. Just gather it into a disc and pat it a bit to get it to stick together. Wrap in plastic and place in freezer for at least 30 minutes, or in fridge for a longer time. (You may leave it in the freezer and keep it there for several weeks until needed.) Place the disc of dough while very cold between two piece of plastic or waxed paper, and working from the center, roll out. Again, roll as little as possible to shape it into your crust. Place in the pie pan, add filling, place the top on and crimp the edges to seal. Make a slit in the top so crust will not be soggy, and bake. When a pie crust is made right, it is so delicious and flaky that you don't really need to trim off the extra, just mash it into the edge, and crimp it as well. If you get holes in your crust, do not reroll---just smash a piece into the place. The less you work the crust the better it will be.
Make more Buttermilk
Place 1/3 c butermilk in 1 qt jar, fill with milk and shake well. Sit in warm place for 12-24 hours. Refrigerate when it thickens. It will keep for a few weeks, when you need more you may use your butter milk to start more. If it quits thickening, you will need to buy a fresh start and begin again!
Ricotta Cheese
Place 1/2 gallon whole milk in a non-reactive pan. Add in about 1 c (or more) buttermilk and about a teaspoon salt.. Bring the milk to about 150 degrees. Stir it every so often to make sure it won't stick too bad. Use a rubber spatula and don't over stir. As the milk gets warm, it will begin to separate into curds and whey. Let it continue until it stops--then place cloth in strainer, and pour milk through. Hand the cloth with the curds and let it continue to drain until it is as dry as you like it.
No comments:
Post a Comment