Everything Dough

I use this dough recipe for pretty much EVERYTHING.   The thing that is nice about this recipe is that you can customize it pretty much any way you’d like.  It makes a fairly large batch, so when I make it I will usually make a couple of different things from the same batch of dough.  You can also refrigerate it after the first rise and then cut a chunk out during the week when you want fresh bread, shape it and let it rise, and then bake fresh bread with very minimum effort.  If you find the recipe to be too large, you can easily cut the ingredients in halves or thirds. 

This recipe works great with any flour that you have on hand.  I tend to mix half organic white flour with whatever whole grain flour I have.  The more whole grain flour you use, the denser a final product you will have and the more time it will take for your dough to rise.

 

Here is the basic recipe

2 ½ Cups Warm Water

2 Tablespoons Yeast
3 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Teaspoon sea salt
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
*6 Cups Flour

*Feel free to experiment with different types of flour.  I have recently started adding vital wheat gluten to this dough when I am using whole grain flour.  It helps with a fluffier, softer texture.  I bought Bob’s Red Mill and I believe the box recommends 1 ½ teaspoon vital wheat gluten per cup of whole grain flour.

I always make this dough in my Kitchenaid.  You can definitely do it by hand, it just takes a bit more work.

 

1)      Mix your water, honey, and yeast together and let it proof for about 5 minutes.  It should become very foamy/bubbly.

2)      Add your vinegar and oil to the water mixture.

3)      In your mixing bowl, mix together the flour and salt.

4)      Poor your liquid mixture into the salt mixture and either kneed in the Kitchenaid with a dough hook for 2 minutes, or kneed by hand for 3 – 5 minutes.

5)      Oil a large bowl (I do this right in my Kitchenaid bowl) and form your dough into a ball.  Place it in the oiled bowl to rest until doubled in size.  Depending on the temperature in your house, this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Now that you have your dough you can do whatever you please with it. 

 

English Muffins

1)      Roll out dough to about half an inch thick.

2)      Cut circles in the dough with a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or large cup.

3)      Place on a cookie sheet that has been lightly dusted with corn meal and cover with a towel.

4)      Allow to rise until about doubled in size.  This can take anywhere from 1 – 3 hours.

5)      Heat a large skillet (I use cast iron) and med/low heat and gently place a couple of dough circles. 

6)      Brown on each side and allow to cool.  You will know when they are finished when you can tap on the bottom and it sounds hollow.

Sandwich Bread*

1)      Grease (not oil) a sandwich loaf.  This recipe makes 3 – 4 sandwich loafs.

2)      Cut a portion of the dough and with your hands flatten it.

3)      Roll the dough up into a log.

4)      Place the dough into the greased pan, seam side down and allow to rest until doubled in size.

5)      For a softer crust, brush with egg.

6)      Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or until brown on top and hollow when you tap the bottom.

·        You can also use this dough for a free formed loaf.  If you would like to make an herbed dough, add the herbs in when you are kneading all of the ingredients together.

 

Pizza Dough

1)      Cut off a softball size portion of dough.

2)      Stretch the dough or roll it out to desired size.

3)      With a fork, poke holes all around the dough.

4)      For a thin, crispy crust, bake right away at 450 until firm.  For a fluffy crust, allow to rest for 30 minutes and bake at 450 until firm.

5)      At this point you can freeze your pre-made dough, or add toppings and cook until desired doneness.  You can also add your toppings and freeze before baking again.

6)      To reheat pizza, place frozen pizza in a 450 degree oven or even on the grill and cook until done.

Lemon Rosemary Pasta

Every year for Christmas I like to give a mix of homemade gifts.  One of the food gifts I make a lot is pasta.  I have come up with a couple of unique pasta flavors that store well and are also vegan which is important to me when I am making up my gift giving list.  For this recipe I do use some special equipment that I have, but you can certainly do without it.  I always use try to use the best produce I can find and Organic, if at all possible.  This makes a small size batch, but just double/triple if you want to make a larger batch.


You will need the following:
1 1/2 Cups Flour I use this one
2 Organic Lemons
1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Rosemary
1 tsp Sea Salt
Water

Chop your fresh rosemary and rest your lemons by running the lemons on a microplane or using a lemon zester.  Only rest the yellow, once you get to the white stop as the white is not pleasant to eat.  Juice both lemons in a 1/2 cup measuring cup and fill the rest with water.

I use my Kitchenaid Mixer to mix up the dough.  Combine all of the ingredients except the water/lemon with the paddle attachment.  Then add the water/lemon and combine until it looks like a crumb mixture.  It should form a bath when you smoosh it in your hands.  Switch to the dough hook and let it kneed for a couple of minutes.

If you don't have a kitchenaid mixer, get ready for your workout.  Call your zumba friends over and make a night of it.  Mix the dry ingredients, and form a well in the middle.  Add the water/lemon to the middle and slowly incorporate the flour until you have a uniform mixture.

Wrap the completed dough in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for a half hour or more.  This will relax the gluten in the dough.  The next step is to cut the dough in thirds and roll it.  Make sure an unused dough is covered with plastic wrap so that it doesn't dry out.  This is the pasta machine I use.  It is easiest if you have two people, but doable to do alone.  Start at 1, running the dough through a couple of times, then go to 2, passing the dough through twice until you get to 4.  You can make the pasta thinner, but I like the thickness of 4.

If you don't have a pasta machine, you can roll your dough with a rolling pin.  I like to use a silicone pastry mat to roll out the dough, and also to cut it on.  It eliminates the need for extra flour.  If you have a sticking issue, just dust a little bit of flour on your dough.  My silicone mat is nice because it has measurements on it.  I lined my pasta sheet up to the measurements and with a pastry wheel, cut the dough with the wiggly side at 1 inch increments.

Once the dough is cut, I put them in a dehydrator set to about 145 degrees.  Dehydrate them until all of the moisture is gone and they feel brittle.  I left mine on for about 3 hours and they were finished.  If you don't have a dehydrator, you can set your oven to it's lowest setting (probably 200 degrees) and dry your pasta out on a cookie sheet, with the door propped open with a wooden spoon.  You could also skip the drying step and freeze them or use them right away.

To cook, add pasta to boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes or until the are cooked to your desired consistency.

Lemon Rosemary Finishing Salt

This is a really fast and simply recipe that can be given as a lovely, thoughtful, homemade gift.  The ingredients are so few and simple, that the quality really does make a difference.  I make sure to use a good sea salt, fresh rosemary, and organic lemons.

You will need:
1 Cup sea salt
1 Organic Lemon
2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary

Chop your fresh rosemary and rest your lemons by running the lemons on a microplane or using a lemon zester. Only rest the yellow, once you get to the white stop as the white is not pleasant to eat. 

Combine all of the ingredients in a jar with a lid, shake to combine.  Let cure for 2 weeks.  This will draw out all of the moisture in the herbs and infuse the flavors into the salt.

Introduction to fermented foods

I wanted to get this post up fast so that I could share a recipe.  I will be back later to modify/elaborate.

Fermentation is the oldest form of persevering food.  Salt it used to combat unwanted bacterial growth so that good bacteria can grow and multiply.  This good bacteria helps to preserve the food, and is also essential to good gut health.

Kimchi, Jalapeño purple sauerkraut, dilly pickles, and apple pepper slaw

The main things to remember when fermenting are making sure that you have good produce (preferably organic), because most of the good bacteria is on the outside of the produce.  Also, make sure you are using a trusted recipe that has the correct amount of salt, and you will need an air tight vessel for fermenting.  I like to use fido jars that I purchased from Wegmans.  When fermentation starts, a gas will be produced, which will cause pressure in your vessel.  If you have not used a vessel with an airlock, you will need to burp your container.

Apple Pepper Slaw

1 pound shredded purple cabbage
1/2 - 1 apple, washed and shredded
1/2 large bulb of celeriac (celery root), peeled and shredded
1 large carrot, washed well and shredded (I don't peel it)
1 large onion, peeled and shredded
1 bell pepper, chopped finely
4 tsp. sea salt (do not use anodized salt!)

Your shredded ingredients should weight about 2 pounds.  If you have more than two pounds, add more salt per the 4 tsp. salt to 2 pounds veggies ratio.

If you do not have celeriac, you can use a different mild root vegetable, or just add more shredded carrots.

Make sure your vessel is cleaned well, but free of detergent residue.

In a kitchenaid mixer, add your cabbage and salt and mix on low until you can see that the cabbage has been massaged enough to release it's juice.  It will look almost like it has been cooked.  If you do not have a kitchenaid, you can do this step by hand.  It may take a while, and you can use a wooden spoon to help along with the process, or a pounder if you have one.

Next, add in the remaining ingredients and stir.  Take a handful at a time of your slaw mixture, squeeze out the juice and place it in your airtight vessel, tamping and packing it down as you go with your wooden spoon.  Once you have added all of your cabbage mixture, take the juice and poor it on top.  You should have all of your cabbage covered.  This will prevent any mold growth.  Seal your vessel and keep at room temperature for 4 - 5 days, burping daily to release pressure.  Start tasting the slaw at 4 days, when it gets to your desired sourness, refrigerate.

I like to triple this recipe.  We haven't ever had it in our fridge for over a month, but it should last 6 months to a year refrigerated.

Our Adirondack Mountains Vacation

Baby Chicks!

Bryan (my husband) and I would really love to have a small hobby farm, but we just don't have enough yard space.  Right now we sit on an acre of land.  It is large enough for some fruit trees, a garden, and a fairly large yard.  We decided that chickens are probably the only animal that we could raise on our small piece of land.  So yesterday we loaded the kids up and headed down to Tractor Supply to check out the new baby chicks.  We are planning on raising the chicks for meat.  I really hope we don't get too attached.  Right now they are really cute!

While we were purchasing our chicks we noticed that one had a broken leg.  They store manager informed us that someone had been banging on the bin earlier and she is sure that he was trampled then.  We didn't want to leave him there to die by himself so we decided to bring him home with us.  We made a little cast for his leg out of a plastic straw and some first aid tape.  He seems to be doing really well.  He is eating and drinking and moving around.  We do have him in a little spot by himself until he feels better.  If all goes well he should be healed in about two weeks and ready to join his friends.  I will try to take some more pictures tonight...

Cornish Rock Baby Chicks

Aren't they so cute!?!  We are feeding them organic chicken feed and water right now.  When they get a little bigger we will let them outside so that they can eat grass and bugs too.

Caring for Blueberry Bushes

Every year the office that I work in puts a group order together for Blueberry Bushes.  For the past 4 years or so I have purchases several bushes each year.  Through trial and error I have finally figured out how to get the biggest crop out of your blueberry bushes.

The blossoms are so beautiful in the spring!

Before you plant your bush you want to make sure that you have your soil prepared.  Blueberries like acidic soil.  They will grow without the acid, but it will not produce much fruit.  When deciding where to plant your bushes, look for a sunny spot with good drainage.

PH Tester

To test your soil acidity you will need a PH tester.  I purchased mine from Amazon.  You can also find one at a hardware store.  You are looking for a PH of below 5.  To achieve a lower PH you can either purchase a soil acidifier (like this one) from Lowes or Home Depot, or you can buy a big bag of elemental sulfur from a farm and tractor supply store.

When placing your plants, dig the whole twice the size of the root ball, and space each plant 5 feet apart.  Sprinkle the soil acidifier in the bottom of the whole and use a mixture of potting soil and peat moss.  The will allow for your roots to move easier in the dirt and give them a head start with growing.  Pack the dirt firmly and add more soil acidifier.  

To keep the weeds away from the base of your bushes, cut a circle of garden fabric and place it around each base (you will have to cut a line through the circle to be able to put it around the bush).  Cover each circle with wood chips and water the plant.  You should water the plant on a regular basis for the first spring/summer and then as needed from then on.

The first year you plant your blueberries you will want to pinch the buds (the flowers in the picture above) off of the plant so that all of the plants energy can go into making the root structure stronger.  

When planting blueberries you want to plant several different varieties so that they have a better chance of cross pollinating.