Yeasted Beer Bread

Who ever said 'man cannot live by bread alone' was surely mistaken. Cuz, yeah...I'm pretty sure I could live by bread alone.  GOOD bread.  Then again, I'm not a man.  I'm a woman.  Oh wait...that was somewhere in the bible, wasn't it?  Hold the sermons.  I'm just sayin'.  I think it's the whole process, though.  That gets me.  From the initial kneading...where you can get in a groove and push and pull your frustrations away.  To the satisfaction of seeing the dough rise and knowing the yeasties are happy.  To the smell...oh, the smell...the magical, inviting scent of bread baking.  Then there's the breaking of the bread.  Sharing it with others.  Ripping it off...chewing...savoring...pleasing your belly.   Seeing the wonder spread across the face of those who see a loaf of freshly baked bread.  Hearing the comfort of those who are well-fed.  Rolled all into one...this satisfies me on a deeper level...satisfies my soul. 

Good Bread.  
Really, REALLY Good Bread.

or Yeasted Beer Bread

recipe found at meandering wildly

1# unbleached AP flour

12 oz. beer, at room temp.

2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. yeast (regular or instant)

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir in the beer with a wooden spoon.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead...adding a bit more flour as needed...for ~8 minutes.  Bread should be pretty elastic...but will still be a bit tacky to the touch.

Place in lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean dish towel.  Let rise until doubled, usually a couple of hours.  Punch it down and let it rise another time, until doubled.  At this point, cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate overnight.  The next day, take out and let it come back to room temperature and rise until doubled again.

Punch down dough again, then form into a loaf...any shape you desire...on a piece of parchment paper.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size, ~1½ hours.  Preheat oven to 450° F, with a stone on the middle rack during last ½ hour of rising.  Slash the top of the loaf and sprinkle with a bit of flour, for a rustic look.

Slide the loaf (parchment and all) onto the baking stone.  Throw two ice cubes* somewhere into the oven not on the bread itself, just onto the bottom and shut door.  Five minutes into cooking, quickly throw a couple more ice cubes into the oven.  Bake for ~25 minutes, or until loaf is golden and cooked through.

*The ice cubes will form steam which will condense on the dough...which is gonna give you a killer crust!  Seriously...I impressed myself with this loaf.

It's good just ripped off and eaten slathered with a bit of homemade butter...or sliced for sammies...or eaten alongside a bowl of soup...or alongside a comforting plate of roasted meat & veg and used to sop up the juices.  This is so simple...and the flavors that were developed by letting it rise and punching it down and repeating over the course of two days were so worth it.  Deep, yeasty, beery, earthy...perfection.

*This post is linked to:


*Enter your Two for Tuesdays links here

Give me a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, a hunk of cheese...and possibly some fruit or meat to go with it, and I'm a happy girl!

My perfect summer snackin' plate... Pico, Guac, & Tortilla Chips

I anticipate mid-August every year...waiting for the glorious globes of summer tomatoes to be hot & juicy and in proper chin-dribbling mode.  I love to just cut some up and sprinkle them with sea salt...close my eyes and commence joy-making.  Know what I also look forward to?  THE freshest, most addicting, most flavor-laden salsas, picos, and guacs of the year.  So, after nearly a year of toe-tapping, finger-wiggling anticipation- the time has finally arrived!

Everybody's got their own versions...labeled 'the best ever' and 'my favorite'.  I have no doubt that those labels are fitting.  But as long as everything is at its glory...anybody's can garner those labels.  This is how I make them...just a guide...I use what I have...and so should you!

Pico de Gallo

 Use all of the ingredients in whatever proportion you prefer and/or have available

ripe, juicy garden tomatoes of any sort

fresh jalapeños or serranos or any hot chile you prefer

onion

garlic

salt

freshly squeezed lime juice

cilantro

Chop the tomatoes.  Small dice the chile and onion.  Mince the garlic.  Toss them all together in a bowl.  Sprinkle on a little salt.  Squeeze the lime over the whole thing.  Toss in a fair amount of chopped cilantro.  Mix everything together...taste. Adjust any ingredients to suit you.  Enjoy!

Guacamole

Use mostly avocado and add just a little of the rest to taste

ripe Avocados

ripe tomato

green onions

garlic

freshly squeezed lime juice

salt

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit.  Scoop the flesh from the peel and place in a bowl.  Mash it with a fork/spoon/potato masher.  Mash as much as you like...it can be chunky or smooth, it's all a matter of preference.  Dice some tomato small, chop the green onion, mince the garlic and mix it all in.  Squeeze over some lime juice and a pinch or two of salt.  Mix it all together, taste.  Adjust seasoning as needed.  Eat this immediately, or add the pits back in to help retard browning, cover and refrigerate until ready for use (but not more than a day).

Don't forget to make some chips for dipping!  Cut a stack of corn tortillas into wedges.  Make them with your preferred method...fry them quickly in hot oil...bake them in the oven...lay them on a sheet of foil and bake them in the midday sun....  Hey, whatever floats your boat!

Kick back with a platter of Pico, Guac, and hot chips...perhaps a margarita or cerveza or kid-friendly bevvies...and some good company! 

 *Monday Mania*

Savory Cheese & Scallions Scones for the International Incident Scone Party

I usually think fruit when I think scones.  You?  And I've been thinking scones for about a month or so now.  Why, you ask?  Because after the IIP:Tacos concluded last month...this month's theme was announced.  This months theme is...you guessed it...Scones!  I was originally thinking a Maple Walnut scone.  That was on my mind for a good 2 weeks...but then it's just been so hella-hot that I decided against them.  Anything maple seems Autumn or Winter to me ahhhh, Autumn.  Or there's always the Blueberry ones that I made last year...that were pretty stupendous in their own rite.  For some reason, I lost the fruit urge...and gained a savory urge.  Cheese or garlic or onions or a pork product or ....anything savory.  I wanted to make a sandwich out of it.  I wanted comfort. In my mouth and in my belly.  Well, I found it...more like it ran me down like a runaway train!  Like tender biscuits?  Like stinky pungeant pronounced cheese?  Like delicious bready things?  Then you'll like LOVE these scones.


Savory Cheese & Scallion Scones
very slightly adapted from Farmgirl Fare
yield: 8 large or 12 smaller scones

for scones:
2-2½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour
½ c. whole wheat flour
1 Tbs. + 2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 oz. homemade feta cheese, crumbled
4 oz. homemade cream cheese, softened in microwave 15-30 seconds until very soft
4 scallions, chopped
1 c. half and half or whole milk homemade cultured buttermilk
1 egg

for glaze:
1 egg
2 Tbs. milk

Begin by preheating the oven to 400° F.  Combine 2 c. of the AP flour, the whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Gently mix in cheeses with a fork, until combined.  Gently mix in scallions.  Combine the buttermilk and egg in small bowl, then gently combine with other ingredients.  You DON'T want to overwork the dough here...that will make for tough scones...simply mix until you don't see anymore dry flour.  The dough will be very soft and slightly sticky.  If it feels too sticky, add a bit of the extra flour in.  I was fine just dumping the mixture out onto a floured surface. The less you handle the dough the more tender the resulting scones will be.

Gently form the dough into a large disc (or two if making 12 scones), ~1" thick.  Cut into 8 wedges (or12) I used a lightly floured bench cutter for this and place on a parchment lined sheet pan. 

Lightly beat together the egg and milk and brush over the tops of the scones.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.  Set on a wire rack to cool.  Serve warm or at room temp...reheat in microwave or toaster oven to serve, if you wish.

Susan also notes in her post that they will freeze very well...so go ahead and make a double batch, if you feel like it!  Just cool them completely then freeze in freezer bags.  Defrost one...or more...at room temp and then reheat in the oven at 375° F for 5 -8 minutes...or in your toaster oven or microwave for a quicker fix!

We enjoyed these for brunch...and even turned a few into sandwiches.  We sliced warm scones in half, slathered them with homemade butter and piled some crisped ham and poached eggs in between the layers. Soooooo good!  I kid you not, these scones are tangy from the buttermilk and feta...rich from the cream cheese...and the scallions warm your mouth with the green, earthiness of fresh onions. And did I mention the texture!?  Tender as can be!  I mean...it's hard to put into words.  But, just imagine the most perfectly tender, moist, delicious biscuit you've ever eaten in your life...and add the rest of the deliciousness to that and you'll have it!  These are now my go-to biscuits...even though they're scones.  I'll just use a biscuit cutter for those days I feel like a biscuit. 

Okay, now I'm in the mood for a bit of sweet...fruity...nutty...tart...  Since I made savory this time, I'll have to go virtually devour a few from the International Incident Scone Party People...and you can, too! Just check out all of their creations at the ROUNDUP!

The International Incident Scone party is hosted by Penny of Jeroxie (Addictive & Consuming), Anh of A Food Lover's Journey, and Cherrie of Sweet Cherrie Pie.  



*This post is also linked to:

Just a Smoothie...want a sip?

Okay, I'm sure everybody knows how to make a smoothie...so I'm not really trying to instruct  you in anything here...just to share a fabulous combination...one of many I've tried and/or formulated over many, many years.  The hubs, DQ, and I really like smoothies for breakfast, lunch or a mid-day snack.  Believe it or not, I made this one more than a month ago, but held off on posting it until we came to our Can I Have a Sip? theme over at IHCC.  Well, this is the week...enjoy a smoothie with fresh, fruit that is currently in season or with fruit frozen from a previous season...that's the beauty of a smoothie.  Versatility.

Fruit Smoothies

adapted from Food Matters by Mark Bittman

makes 2-4 svgs.

3 c. unsweetened fresh or frozen fruit, any combination  I used strawberries, peaches, and figs

1/2 frozen banana  I used a whole

1 c. plain yogurt

1/2 c. apple juice, coconut juice, pineapple juice or other liquid; more if needed  I used milk

maple syrup or honey to taste

I also added a big scoop of wheat germ

Put all ingredients together in a blender and whiz until smooth.  If the machine is not puréeing, add a little more liquid as needed.  Serve immediately.

*This post is linked to:

Tortas con Chile Colorado

When somebody poses a question or a challenge like this, I just have to answer...  

"I am very sad, my friend's had two great Mexican restaurants but they closed the one by my house and the cook at the other is not as good. So, now I am planning on learning to cook good Mexican all by myself! Do you have a good recipe for Chile Colorado? I adore that chunked beef in sauce, but when I asked them the recipe, a lot of what they used didn't resonate with me..."

...it's in my nature.  

That would be my friend Alex from A Moderate Life.  To be completely honest though...I had never heard of Chile Colorado until she mentioned it.  So, I turned to the expert (not Mexi, the other one...Mr. Bayless).  Actually Mexi hadn't heard of it either, so it must not be popular in  the region of Mexico that he is from.  I kind of went into it thinking that it would be a type of stew, similar to chili. Like chile con carne.  It's not.  What it actually is is a filling...for tacos, tamales, enchiladas...you name it!  So, carne con chile. Well, okay then.

Although Rick gives a few variations on chile colorado, I decided to go with the one that uses beef.  It was, afterall, the chunked beef that Alex adored so much...how could I not?

Chile Colorado

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 90-120 minutes

Keywords: simmer entree sandwich beef chiles Mexican

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 5 ancho chiles - stemmed, seeded, deveined
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled & smashed
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds (or a generous 1-1/2 teaspoons ground)
• 1-1/2 Tbs. lard, vegetable oil, or bacon grease
• 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into chunks (or coarse ground or chopped)
• 1-1/2 c. beef stock or broth + a bit extra as needed
• 1/2 cup beer
• ~1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons masa harina

Instructions

Heat a heavy skillet over medium and tear chiles into flat pieces. Toast them on hot surface a few at a time, pressing them down firmly w/ a spatular for a few seconds, until the crackle and change color, flipping and repeating. Transfer them to a large bowl and cover w/ boiling water, using a plate to keep them submerged, soaking for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving ~1 c. of the soaking liquid.

Transfer the chiles and reserved liquid to a blender jar. Add garlic, oregano, & cumin (pulverized first if using whole seeds) and blend until smooth. Strain through a medium-mesh strainer.

Heat the fat in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high. Dry the chunks of meat w/ a paper towel and lay in hot skillet in an uncrowded, single layer. Fry until meat is nicely browned, ~10 mins, turning and scraping as needed.

Add the chile puree to the pan. Continue to fry for ~4-5 mins, stirring & scraping, or until puree is very thick and noticeably darker. Scrape mixture into medium-sized saucepan (or just leave it in the Dutch Oven). Stir in salt and liquid. Bring to a boil, partially cover. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally for 60-90 minutes, or until meat is very tender. Just before serving, thin with a little water or broth and stir in the masa harina. Let simmer until nicely thickened. Adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Serve with a side of rice and beans, or scoop into a bolillo or telera roll that has been cut in half and toasted lightly with your toppings of choice for a delicious torta!

adapted from Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless

I went ahead and used my filling in tortas for dinner that day.   I toasted the bolillo on the cut sides, then flipped and added crema, romaine, cilantro and the hot chile colorado.  I added the tops and toasted both sides...sliding in some avocado at the end. Soooooo good.  And Alex, I couldn't keep my fingers off those chunks of beef, either!  I hope this is one that will resonate with you!

Keys to Good Cooking ...just a little tease (and the giveaway WINNER!)

Are you familiar with the book On Food and Cooking (The Science and Lore of the Kitchen) by Harold McGee? This book was invaluable to me throughout culinary school...for research, for definitions, for the science of food.  Seriously, it's not just the art aspect of food that fascinates me; I'm enthralled by the science of it all, as well!  If I wanted to know how a certain ingredient reacted to another one...or look up a spice or vegetable that was new to me...or even about the history of, oh, say...distilled spirits- it was all in there.  I had several books "on call" for this type of purpose...but On Food and Cooking never failed to yield me results when I had a question.

SOOOOOO, when I was asked to be a part of the TLC book tour to promote McGee's upcoming release Keys to Good Cooking (A Guide to Making the Best Foods and Recipes), I said yes, Yes, OH YES in a heartbeat!  I've said it before and I'll say it again...I love to learn.  I thirst for knowledge.  I don't believe one can ever know everything about a subject.  And although I know a good deal about food and cooking...there's probably even more that I don't know.  This books sounds like it's going to be a great guide to have on hand...for both the novice and the experienced cook.  It runs the gamut on possible food questions, concerns, and tips.  It deals with everyday ingredients, but also caters to the more exotic.  It aims to help you become more confident, knowledgeable, and capable in the kitchen...a skill-builder, if you will.  I'm clearing a space on my kitchen bookshelf to make room for this almost-600 page book that I can see becoming a fixture in my kitchen.

I've listed just a few of the things you can expect to see...as a point of reference, ya know...

Some vegetables are best partly cooked at temperatures
below the boil that firm their texture.
To boil potatoes and other starchy vegetables, start them in cold
water slightly acidified with lemon juice or cream of tartar, and
heat them gradually up to 180-190°F/80-85°C. This method
helps the vegetable surfaces stay intact while the pieces cook
through.

Add salt to the cooking water, as much as 30 grams (2 Tb
granulated, 4 Tb flake) per quart/liter, to reduce the leaching out of vegetable components and speed the softening of plant
cell walls. Salt does not raise the boiling temperature or toughen
vegetables.

Shred dry, overcooked meat instead of cutting it, and moisten
the fibers with a thin, juicelike sauce.


I can't wait!  The book is due to be released on October 28 of this year, but I'm so excited to be receiving a copy for review next month.  I'll be posting my actual review in November, so be sure to check back then ...for now, I'm just being a tease.  Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for its release...and check out the tour for other opinions and views on McGee's upcoming release!

Interested in knowing a bit more about Harold McGee? Well, this excerpt is taken from the TLC website: "Harold McGee writes about the science of food and cooking. He’s the author of the award-winning classic On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, and writes a monthly column, “The Curious Cook,” for The New York Times. He has been named food writer of the year by Bon Appétit magazine and to the Time 100, an annual list of the world’s most influential people. He lives in San Francisco."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You thought I forgot, didn't ya!? Well, I didn't...I just wanted to make you squirm a little. Unless of course you just skipped down and well, you're no just fun at all, then. I want to thank everyone who took the time to enter...I wish I could give all of you prizes, but alas, I only have one...I had a total of 116 entries into the giveaway for the $75 NOVICA gift certificate (126 total comments, but 10 of those weren't entries, so I skipped over to do the counting). So, I won't keep you in suspense any longer....the winner is....

Congratulations, Veronica!  Please shoot me an email girlichef at yahoo dot com and I will get you your gift certificate immediately!  It's electronic, so you can shop as soon as you get it...woo hoo!!!

Thanks once again to Novica, as well for providing me with this wonderful opportunity to introduce others to your fabulous site...for allowing me to have a gift certificated to purchase anything my heart desired...and for providing me with the certificate to give one of my readers!

Green Eggs and Ham - Happy 50th!

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."   ~Dr. Seuss

That's right!  Green Eggs and Ham hit stores 50 years ago this month!  Dr. Seuss is a genius and has been one of my favorite authors since I could read all on my own.  I know he was one of my earliest influences (aside from mom & dad).  His books were always my favorites...I can remember reading them over and over with my mom...There's a Wocket in my Pocket, In a People House....Green Eggs and Ham.  Even in my public speaking course in college...I chose to read The Lorax as a speech.  I love his writing, his inflections, his messages!  Although I could go on and on about Dr. Seuss...I'm just going to focus on celebrating 50 years of encouraging us to try things before we make up our mind about whether we like them or not.

"You do not like them. So you say.  Try them!  Try them!  And you may.  Try them and you may, I say!"

Making your own Cultured Butter

Butter needs no introduction.  It is a wonderful, delicious, nutritious yeah, I said it, practical, indulgent entity all its own.

"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts."  ~James Beard

"With enough butter, anything is good."  ~Julia Child

Cultured Butter

a recipe from GAARP at Of Cabbages and King Cakes
(kinda condensed version...if you need more detailed info, click link)

1 qt. (4 c.) heavy cream
1/3 c. whole milk yogurt...make sure you choose one with all natural ingredients, ie. no gums or stabilizers
Salt, to taste (optional) 

1. Combine cream and yogurt together in glass bowl.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours.  It will get very thick and delicious looking!  Once it has cultured, place it in fridge or bowl of ice water to reach a temperature of ~60 degrees F.

2.  Prepare a bowl of ice water; set it aside.  Place the cultured cream a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and beat with whisk/attachment on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Reduce speed to low and watch closely.  Once the mixture breaks (butter separates from buttermilk), turn off the mixer.

Pour the buttermilk into a clean container. You can use this just as you would commercial buttermilk for drinking or baking. If you aren’t going to use it within a week or so, it can be frozen and used later for baking.

3. Press the butter with a spoon, spatula, or your hands to remove as much buttermilk as possible. I found it easiest to use a flexible rubber spatula here. Add any buttermilk to the rest you've already gathered. Pour water from the bowl of ice water over the butter to cover. Rinse the butter by kneading it under the water.

4. Dump water and repeat until the water becomes clear.  It is necessary to remove all the residual buttermilk in order to keep the butter from spoiling too quickly.

Once the butter has been cleaned thoroughly, knead it on the counter for a minute. If you want to salt the butter, press the butter out on the counter, sprinkle lightly with salt, then knead it in. I decided to divide my butter into thirds (not precise thirds...just three pieces, I suppose).  Into the one, I kneaded fleur de sel gris.  Into another, I kneaded Black Truffle sea salt.  Into the last, I kneaded a dried jalapeño/garlic/onion/salt blend that I received in the mail from my friend Linda from New Mexico.

To store the butter, you can press it into ramekins or roll it into logs. Cover the ramekins or wrap the logs tightly in plastic wrap.  You can make more than one roll from the butter and freeze one once you've wrapped it well.

I ended up with ~2 c. of scrumptious, tangy buttermilk and three rolls of butter, weighing a total of 21 oz. (~1 1/3 lb.)!!  The buttermilk was delicious enough to drink straight up...which I did with a bit of it, the rest I reserved for baking.  ALL three of the butter "flavors" were out of this world.  I mean, it was amazing all alone I licked it from my hands after kneading it yet equally amazing with the regular sea salt and the flavored salts.

The salted butter is fabulous anywhere you'd normally use butter...the jalapeño butter is soooo sinful slathered on a piece of hot, crusty toast or for tossing just cooked veggies in.  The truffle butter...aaaahhhh...on eggs, potatoes, meat- grill a steak and cut off a slab of it and let it melt into the top of the hot steak...nothing compares!

If you've never made your own butter, you should definitely give it a go!  It's super easy and rewarding.  You make regular butter the exact same way, just w/out adding the yogurt and going through the culturing step.  But boy, oh boy, do I LOVE the cultured buttermilk and the slight tang it gives the butter, too.

Feel free to join us over at Forging Fromage...add your link to the linky for the month in which you make it and we'll add you to the roundup!  Also, since cultured butter is the current BOM challenge, you can join in the (open) challenge over on Facebook.  Funny huh...a cheesy place and a bready place both featuring...well...something that's not cheese or bread this month!?  But at the same time...it's so natural.  Cheese and butter are both dairy products.  Bread and butter go hand in hand.  So, not really "funny" at all.  The links are below if you are interested!


*This post is linked to:

 BOM: Cultured Butter on FB

 Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist


*Today is your last chance to enter my GIVEAWAY for your chance at winning a $75 gift certificate to NOVICA! All entries must be entered by Monday, August 16 at 11:59 PM, Eastern time!