Russian Black Bread and a Pastrami, Egg on Russian Black Bread Sandwich

I have always loved hearty and rustic breads because they seem to have so much flavor. So when a friend told me about trying some homemade Russian Black Bread, I was excited to try making it also. Since I wanted to be sure to have a really rich, dark bread like dark pumpernickel bread, I increased some of the ingredients from other recipes I found. I absolutely love the seeds in this bread! They really add to the texture and flavor. This recipe was adapted from one on Allrecipes.com and a couple other ones that were a little different. Additionally, if you have whole rye berries (whole rye grains),  try adding 1/2 cup (that have been softened by soaking or cooking) to the dough when almost finished kneading for a wonderful chewy texture. After this came out of the oven, everyone was in heaven eating it warm with butter. Later, it was wonderful made into a Pastrami Egg Sandwich with Thousand Island Dressing (a half-wink to the Reuben sandwich). I also made this in my bread machine but it can also be mixed/kneaded with a stand mixer or food processor (or by hand) and then baked in a large loaf pan. This is the perfect bread to have with a hot bowl of soup!

Makes 1 loaf- 1 1/2 pounds

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups rye flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil or butter
• 2 Tbsp black strap or regular molasses
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp instant coffee granules
• 1 Tbsp caraway seed
• 1/2 tsp fennel seed
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp dried onion flakes or 2 Tbsp finely chopped onion

Directions:

• Place ingredients into the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. 
• Use Whole Wheat setting, regular crust.
• After baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan and allow to cool on wire rack for about 1 hour (or as long as you can resist!) before slicing or the bread will be gummy.
• If making by hand and using instant yeast, mix yeast with dry ingredients and stir in wet ingredients until the dough is no longer very wet and able to be kneaded.
• If using Active Dry Yeast, you need to rehydrate the yeast by mixing it in 1/4 cup of the warm water and proofing first- wait until it gets a little bubbly.
• Then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until worked together well. Cover with a bowl and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. 
• Knead dough for about 10 minutes. Cover and place in warm place to double in size. (It may not completely double if using this much rye flour.)
• Punch dough down and knead for about 5 more minutes. 
• Place in greased bread pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 45-50 minutes. 
• If desired, baking sheet may be used that has cornmeal sprinkled and then dough put on the sheet with top of dough ball slashed diagonally a couple times with a sharp knife.

Here is the perfectly sublime sandwich that was so good! Use Thousand Island salad dressing on both slices of bread, then layer slices of pastrami, add a semi-soft yolk fried egg (well seasoned), slice of cheese- pepper jack or a creamy cheese is good, thin slices of onion. A little sauerkraut layer would be wonderful, also!

Zucchini Pineapple Bread with Pineapple Glaze

Here is yet another favorite zucchini recipe. I grew up eating (and still love) spiced zucchini bread with pineapple and sometimes raisins or dates in it, but I love the simplicity of this recipe. It is so moist, like most other zucchini recipes, but the pineapple really shines through in this sweet bread. The pineapple glaze also adds another pop of pineapple flavor that is just perfect! This bread is best a day or two after being baked (if you can keep it hidden that long)- store in a plastic bag and then glaze it an hour or more before serving, allowing the glaze to dry some and not be so sticky. The other thing I love about this recipe is that it makes 2 loaves- and you will find that both are eaten so quickly that you will be glad you made 2 loaves since nobody is going to stop at one slice! 

Makes 2 loaves - about 20 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup oil (coconut oil is great)
• 3 cups flour (I used ½ white wheat flour and ½ all purpose flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 15 oz. can of crushed pineapple, juice drained and reserved
• ¾ - 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (I peeled mine)- seeds also removed if large
• ¾ cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 2 Tbsp pineapple juice

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour 2 bread loaf pans; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. 
• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil- or use mixer on low until combined, then increase to medium speed for 1 minute.
• Add in pineapple, zucchini and nuts and mix together until completely combined.
• Gradually add in dry ingredients.
• Divide half of batter between the 2 prepared bread loaf pans. Drop pan on hard surface a few times to even out the batter and help bubbles come to the top. 
• Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean. 
• Cool breads in pans on cooling racks for about 10 minutes, then carefully turn out onto cooling rack to finish cooling.
• To prepare the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add in reserved pineapple juice, adding the juice gradually, 1 tablespoon first and then 1 teaspoon at a time. If you want the glaze firmer to stay on top of the bread more, do not add as much liquid. Combine well and pour part of glaze over top of the cooled loaves and wait about 10 minutes for the glaze to thicken some. After glaze has dried a little on the bread, add any remaining glaze to add another layer, also scooping up any glaze that has drizzled down over the sides. This will be thicker and can be spread over top of the loaves again. Let loaves set until glaze is not sticky wet. Slice and serve or store in a covered container (if putting in a bag or covering with plastic wrap, the glaze will soften and stick to the plastic). I wait to apply the glaze until before serving as it becomes very wet and sticky in the bag/storage container.

*If you desire to make it a piña colada sweet bread- add ½- ¾ cup of sweetened shredded coconut into your batter with the shredded zucchini, but the coconut will make the loaf a little more dry. So adding a couple Tbsp's of pineapple juice may help the loaf still be moist. Otherwise, remove the loaf from the oven immediately- may be finished sooner.

**This bread is wonderful frozen and later thawed, glazed and served.

Banana Rhubarb Bread

Ever have a bunch of food items that are going south quickly? Well, we had a bunch of bananas that ripened too quickly and I also needed to use up some frozen rhubarb... You know, when the freezer still hasn't been cleaned out and the next season's harvest needs to be put in soon! So I had an "A-ha" moment and realized I could kill two birds with one stone- and was this ever good! My daughter was even begging for some of this bread toasted with butter- our new way to enjoy sweet breads. Of course, if you really have a sweet tooth, you may glaze the top with a simple glaze, but I enjoy the simple flavors of the bread.

While on the subject about rhubarb, let me just say that I find people are often not very fond of the tartness of it, but it is something that blends so well with other flavors- both savory and sweet. If you do not like rhubarb, try substituting it for any of the berries and adjust the baking time.

Makes: 1 loaf, approximately 10 slices

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup coconut oil or butter (I used a mixture)
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1 /2 cups bananas, mashed (about 3-4 large bananas)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 2/3 cup flour (I used 1 cup white, 2/3 cup white whole wheat)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (See note below)
• In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs and oil, beating well. Add in the milk, bananas and vanilla and mix again.
• Sift together in a medium bowl the dry ingredients and then combine gradually with the wet ingredients. 
• Stir in the rhubarb and nuts.
• Pour into greased and floured bread pans.
• Bake approximately 55-70 minutes (checking regularly after 55 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out dry.
• Cool on wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then turn out of pan onto rack to finish cooling.
• After cooled, place in plastic bag to preserve moisture.

*Note: I used frozen rhubarb and included most of the rhubarb juice. If you are using fresh rhubarb, there will not be all the extra liquid but it will be inside the fruit and come out during the baking process. So check your bread as it nears the 55 minute mark and onward to make sure it does not dry out/overbake. I  also used glass bread pans, which seem to bake hotter/make the crust darker. So you will need to turn the temperature down about 25 degrees if using glass pans. 

Scottish Raisin Bread

This bread and recipe was given to us recently from my mom and has become one of my husband's favorites. Sometime in the past few months, I discovered the idea to toast sweet bread and add a little butter (I know, I'm probably a little slow!). Well, this bread is a perfect candidate and is just the thing for a snack or with a cup of tea (insert favorite hot beverage).  When I toasted this bread, I let it go a little longer because it is so dense and I wanted it a little crispy. Was it ever good! The toasting really brings out the sweetness of the raisins and adds more flavor to the nuts and oats. You could also add some jam or other toppings, but I don't feel it needs anything else.

I have not found a recipe quite like this before and was excited to share it here. The only place I was able to find a somewhat similar recipe was over at Always In The Kitchen. As the author of that site noted, this recipe may not be Scottish- but it sounds nice, and Scotland brings to mind oats and raisins (or currants), right? My recipe has much more oats and a little more sugar (still is not very sweet)- but these recipes do not have any oil. For a stronger molasses flavor, I used about 1/2 black strap molasses. So put your spin on it and give it a try! (By the way, if you don't have a toaster oven, be very careful trying to toast sweet breads in a regular toaster without some type of a sleeve for toasting as the slice will probably fall apart and you will be burned trying to remove it.)

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/3 cups buttermilk or soured milk
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (I used quick oats and it was fine)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1 1/2 cups raisins, dried currants or craisins, or a mix

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F- (25 degrees lower if using glass baking pans).
• Mix eggs with sugar in a large mixing bowl, then add in the milk and molasses.
• Sift the dry ingredients together and add into the wet mixture.
• After mixture starts to come together, add in the nuts and dried fruit.
• Divide the batter between 2 greased loaf pans.
• Bake for approximately 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out dry- start checking around 50 minutes if top of bread appears less moist

*My mom told me, after I originally posted this recipe, that she got it from What's Cooking At Myrtle cookbook by Levia Lerch. I increased the liquids since the bread seemed too dry. If you find it takes too long to finish baking, you can decrease the liquid to 2 cups buttermilk.

Plain Muffins

This is another one of the nice little foods we had at our cooking club tea party recently. One of the members shared her family's old recipe that she remembers being served at her aunt's home many times when she was young. This is a simple muffin (I was struck by the idea of a plain muffin when she shared them with us at first!) but is wonderful with jam or lemon curd as we had them at the tea party. They are not very sweet- just a hint of sweetness. Since they are easy to make, they are great to make for something different for a snack or tea-time.

Makes 1 dozen regular sized or 36-48 mini muffins (depending on amount used)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp melted butter, shortening or oil
• optional: 1 tsp vanilla 
• optional: confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, beat egg slightly and add milk and fat, as well as vanilla if using.
• Sift together dry ingredients and then add into the liquids.
• Beat about 1/2 minute just until all the flour is mixed throughout the batter.
• Prepare greased muffin tins and fill half full. Bake at 375 degrees about 15-20 minutes for regular sized muffins or 8-12 minutes for mini muffins (start checking about 3-5 minutes before time ends in case your oven temperature varies.) They should be light golden brown. 
• Cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool longer.
• May be served warm or cool with jam or other toppings. Dust the tops with confectioner's sugar, if desired.

Blueberry Scones... a tea party... and reminiscing about Victoria magazine



Our cooking club had a wonderful tea party at my house the other evening. This was our first one together, and the table was overflowing with the massive array of treats. Since having this tea,  I read If Teacups Could Talk by Emilie Barnes and was so inspired to take moments with my family and friends to celebrate life and relationships in this way.

Somehow, in the midst of this, I was taken back to my late teens and early adult years when I spent hours poring over the "Victoria" magazines that came every month. This was truly something that shaped my tastes for clothing and decorating, although I would not say that I really decorate or dress in that style today. However, there were timeless and classic qualities about much of the clothing, decor and furniture. There is something pretty and restful about the magazine and the way it encouraged people to have a place of beauty to relax in either alone or with others. I would also dream of traveling someday to many of the beautiful places across the countrysides of England and France, among others, that were featured in those pages. It is funny that in the intervening years, getting married, moving away from my hometown and later stopping the subscription because I was overrun by magazines and needing to save some money, I still could not bring myself to throw out or give away the old copies. They were always so wonderful and enjoyable to reread. Right now, they are sitting in boxes in the garage, and all these last 5 years, I kept trying to get up the nerve to de-clutter and get rid of them. Instead, I think I am going to put them on a shelf in my soon-to-be organized office so they will be more easily accessible for relaxation and inspiration.

So, enough with my memories. I want to share my latest scone recipe that I made for our tea party and have been really enjoying. I loved them when they were fresh, but they are also very good days later. Just keep them stored in an air tight container in the fridge and then toast them when you want to have some. The outside becomes just slightly crispy like they just came out of the oven and the inside stays moist, tender and so flavorful. This is my new favorite snack or breakfast with tea or coffee after my youngsters are fed and I have a few minutes to sit and relax.

Serving: 16 mini scones or 8 regular sized
Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 3-4 Tbsp sugar, divided
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp butter, cubed
• 2/3- 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp lemon peel
• coarse (decorator) sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly grease cookie sheet, or may use a smaller rectangle baking dish
• Sprinkle fruit with 1 Tbsp of sugar and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and remaining 3 Tbsp of sugar. 
• Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or a fork (or just your fingers!) until chunks are very small pea-sized.
• Whisk together the cream, 1 egg, vanilla extract and lemon peel and then add into the dry mixture. 
• Stir until the wet and dry ingredients begin to come together.  If there is a lot of flour left in the bottom of the bowl, add a couple Tbsp of cream to the bowl and mix it all together. 
• Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead the dough a few times just until it holds together and some of the extra flour from the bowl has been incorporated in.
• Press or roll out into a rectangle or press into the rectangle pan if using one. Divide into 4 equal sections, pressing straight down with a sharp knife. Then cut diagonally across each section, pressing straight down.
• Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush over top of the scones. 
• Sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
• Bake 12-15 minutes just until the outside is golden brown.
• Cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes-- wonderful served warm with lemon curd.

Parts of this recipe was inspired by Lady Behind The Curtain's scones.

This was shared on the following:
I Should Be Mopping The Floor party #55

Baking Mix (Biscuits, Pancakes, etc)

Here is another one of the mixes I came up with recently through trying different recipes and incorporating ones that I already use and love. As I already wrote previously, I have been looking for more mixes that are homemade because they are great for saving time, but they also save money and allow me to control more what our family eats. It is hard to find mixes that are part wheat flour and do not use partially hydrogenated oils.

This mix can be used in place of any baking mix in recipes, as well as to make biscuits or make into pancakes (although I have a buttermilk pancake mix I previously posted that I prefer). I also used palm shortening since it is naturally solid and does not turn rancid at room temperature. I had to order palm shortening online (I bought from Tropical Traditions) since it is not always readily available in many grocery stores in the U.S.

Makes about 9 batches of biscuits or pancakes
Ingredients:

• 10 cups flour total (may divide into different types of flour but is best if not using more than 1/2 whole wheat flour)- I used 6 cups white flour, 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour and 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup baking powder
• 2 Tbsp cream of tartar
• 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp sugar
• 2 cups shortening or butter
• 2 cups dry milk powder

Directions:

• In a very large bowl or clean bucket/dishpan, mix all the dry ingredients together except the dry milk. 
• Cut in the shortening or butter until it is mixed throughout the dry ingredients and is about pea-sized
• Stir in the dry milk and mix together well.
• Store in a cool dry place in a 1 gallon sized container. If using butter, you should keep it in the freezer or at least the refrigerator.

ac ac ac ac ac ac 

To Make Biscuits:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Mix together 1 1/2 cups of baking mix with 1/2 cup milk in a medium bowl. (Add it gradually and use a little less if you want to make the dough drier so it can be rolled/cut out).
• Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or just until the tops are golden brown.
• Remove to a cooling rack.

To Make Pancakes:

• In a medium bowl, beat together 1 egg, 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp vanilla.
• Add in 1 1/2 cup of baking mix and stir just until moistened being careful not to overmix.
• Fry on a greased, hot frying pan or griddle.

Adapted from Baking Mix recipe in Simply In Season, 2009

In Search of the Best Biscuits...and Buttermilk Biscuit variation

I have been trying different biscuit recipes for a while- always searching for the best taste and the fluffiest texture. So this quest has turned into a 2 day baking challenge trying different versions and techniques. I read numerous cookbooks (old and new) and looked at videos online-- I also tried buttermilk versus using regular milk. There are two different types of recipes, one that uses self-rising flour and ones that keep the flour and other ingredients separate. Some even recommend cake flour for the best rise. I, however, used all-purpose flour for my different biscuit recipes. The first baking powder and buttermilk biscuits I made, I didn't brush the tops with butter prior to baking-- but when I tasted the last butter-brushed batch, I was convinced that it is truly necessary for the best taste.

Also, the last batch I made, I put the biscuits in the pan so they were all touching each other. This seemed to give more uniformity to the rise and they were not as lop-sided. In the future, I will put one batch of biscuits in an 8 or 9 inch pan so they can touch and have side of the pan all around to keep the outer biscuits from spreading out too much. Initially, I indented the centers of the biscuits in the first couple batches because people said that helps them rise straight, but I still had a problem with some of them being a little uneven. Another thing I experimented with was my biscuit dough more wet and sticky versus not-so-sticky. The last batch was a more wet dough and seemed to have the most tender texture inside.

My conclusion? I could not decide which I preferred more- baking powder versus buttermilk biscuits. They were equally good- especially when brushed with butter before baking. The most important things seemed to be working with a more wet dough and not mixing or kneading it very much at all.   Do you have a favorite biscuit recipe?

Biscuits Yields: 16 medium biscuits (if rolling out dough to 1/2 inch thickness), or approximately 8 extra thick (if rolling 1 inch thick)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (or cake flour as some recommend)
• 1/2- 3/4 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp sugar- up to 4 Tbsp if you like a sweeter taste
• 1/2 cup shortening or butter (I used palm shortening, which is not artificially hydrogenated)
• 2/3- 3/4 cup milk

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Sift dry ingredients together into a medium bowl. 
• Cut in shortening or butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour all the milk in at once.
• Stir just until dough follows the mixing utensil around the bow, adding milk as necessary to get a moist dough.
• Lightly flour your counter/cutting board and sprinkle top of dough with some flour. Roll dough ball around in the flour, giving it a couple gentle kneads until outside is not so sticky. Pat or roll out the dough. 
• (Optional- fold one third towards the middle and then the other third over the first- like an envelope. Then pat the dough out to the desired thickness.)
• Cut with a biscuit cutter or glass, being careful to press straight down and not twist until the cutter is all the way to the bottom. Alternatively, you may just cut them into equal squares with a sharp knife, but make sure your dough is squared up on the corners and sides first. 
• Place on an ungreased baking sheet with sides touching and brush with melted butter for extra flavor! 
• Bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

** For Buttermilk Biscuits:

do not use cream of tartar, increase baking soda to 1/2 tsp, decrease the fat to 1/3 cup and use 1 cup buttermilk instead of milk. Follow the directions otherwise as above.

flour and shortening

first batch of dough- less sticky

first batch cooling

wetter dough sprinkled with flour

Make sure you brush the top with butter!

final biscuit batch

tasting the final batch- YUM!

If you really want a shortcut- make the dough wet enough that you are unable to roll out the dough, then put into a greased glass baking dish in which you have melted 1/4 cup of butter. Lightly press flat in the pan and pour 1/2 stick of melted butter over top and score top of the biscuit dough 3-4 times in each direction. (courtesy of The Country Cook) Bake for about 20 minutes or just until golden brown. 

Homemade Cornbread Mix

Sometimes I  am a lazy cook. I am not very good at planning ahead meals, although I am trying to work on this. I enjoy cornbread but find that I do not make it very often because it seems like too much work to mix up the batter and get it in the oven while I am making the rest of the supper, which is often being done at the last minute. So, not that I enjoy baring my faults with the world, but this is an area that has been an impetus for me to look for shortcuts without always going to a box (although I do that with cakes and brownies at times). I have come across a lot of bulk mixes on blogs like Chickens in the Road and Country Momma Cooks, which made me decide to get out the recipes I love and make up some of my own bulk mixes. Then when I am running short on time (which is most of the time), I can just pull out the container, add the wet ingredients and it is ready for the oven in a jiffy!

I love a lot of different cornbread recipes, but the one that really caught my taste buds was from Land-O-Lakes, called Honey Moist Cornbread. You can see the original recipe at the link attached to the title. I have not really changed the recipe much- I usually use low fat milk in place of half and half and it still comes out wonderful. If you like a VERY sweet cornbread, you might want to add a little more sugar, but try it first this way since it has a nice balance of sweetness already.

This bulk mix makes 6 recipes. The following is the information I put into a label to put on the outside of the container so I would not have to get out my recipe every time I make some.

bdbd

Cornbread Mix

9 servings

In a large bowl, mix 1 cup milk or half and half, 2 slightly beaten eggs, ¼ cup honey and ¼ cup melted butter. Stir in 2 1/3 cups of cornbread mix just until moistened.

      Pour into greased 8 or 9” pan. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

For the bulk mix recipe:

• 6 cups all purpose flour
• 6 cups yellow or white cornmeal
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 Tbsp baking powder
• 3 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp dry milk powder (optional)

Stir all ingredients together until well blended in a LARGE bowl or clean bucket. Transfer to a seal-tight storage container.

Shortcakes

Even though it is a little early in our area for homegrown strawberries, I just had to share this recipe with everyone. My husband came home from the grocery store with another great deal recently- beautiful, ripe and wonderful strawberries for a steal! So we had to make strawberry shortcake with some of them. I have often used the little individual cakes that are sold in the store to eat with strawberries- sweet and yummy. However, we did not have any of these on hand, and I have been trying to make more foods from scratch when possible. So I decided to make biscuits, which are actually the traditional way to eat fruit shortcakes. 

Lately, I have been trying different biscuit recipes and found some really good ones that are wonderfully flaky and tasty. I have almost become addicted to them with various sweet and savory spreads and toppings. It is a little funny because I rarely, if ever, made these up until now- thought they were too much work and did not really enjoy them. This time, I found a winner recipe for shortcake that I was so thrilled with and will be THE ONE for shortcakes. This recipe was from an older cookbook I have titled Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook, (tenth edition, 1959). Three interesting ingredients that differ from many biscuit recipes were a little spice (nutmeg- or cardamom would also be good), cream of tartar and egg, which gives a richer biscuit.

Here is a picture of the biscuits- I did not make them as thick because I did not want so much biscuit with each serving of fruit. 

Ingredients:


2 cups flour (I used 1/2 white whole wheat flour)
4 tsp cream of tartar or phosphate baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp nutmeg or cardamom
1/3 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk


Directions:


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, fork or may use fingers until butter is well incorporated (may also use a food processor just until the butter is mixed evenly in the flour). Combine milk and egg together into measuring cup and gradually add to the flour mixture just until the dough begins to hold together. If the dough is too dry and there is much excess flour in the bowl, add more milk one Tbsp at a time but do not mix excessively. 


Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly a few times to get it to stick together. Pat out into a circle about 1 inch thick and either cut into desired pieces or use a biscuit cutter or cup/drinking glass to cut out individual biscuits. Place on a  lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. If using a darker baking sheet, bake at 400 degrees and check them at about 10 minutes or even sooner so they do not become too browned.


*If you want higher rising biscuits, do not pat the dough out as thin- make it 1 1/2 inches-2 inches thick and cut out the biscuits.


Option: the original recipe calls for using a 9 inch buttered cake pan and dividing the biscuit dough into 2 parts. Each part is rolled out to 9 inch rounds, the first round placed in the cake pan and a little melted butter is brushed on it. Then the 2nd round is placed in the cake pan and more butter is brushed on top. It is then baked for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

The original recipe also called for using unsweetened, unwhipped heavy cream over the berries and shortcake, but I prefer a lighter sweetened whipped cream.


*The leftover biscuits are wonderful with cream cheese (strawberry flavored or other fruit flavored) or butter after being warmed a few seconds in the microwave or a couple minutes in the toaster oven.



This recipe was shared with the following:
     Sweets For A Saturday #62
     Weekend Potluck #10
     Crumbs and Chaos: Seasonal Inspiration: 3-24-12
     Country Momma Cooks- Link and Greet Party #11
     Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday #13
     Delightfully Dowling: Mangia Mondays 55
     Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday 3-29-12
     Something Swanky: Sweet Treats Thursday
     Simple Lives Thursday #89- A Bit of Spain In Iowa
     The Taylor House #3

Amazing Corn Muffins

I love cornbread but don't make it very often for some reason. I am really picky about my cornbread because I really do not care for dry muffins or bread. So when I saw this recipe, I decided it was one worth trying. It uses creamed corn, which always give a wonderful flavor to cornbread. Also, it uses buttermilk, and I had some I needed to use. If you do not have buttermilk, you could just make some sour milk by adding a little vinegar to milk and allowing it to curdle. 

This recipe was originally in a "Taste Of Home" magazine from Feb/March 2009 by Janet and Greta Podleski. They made this a little 'slimmer' than corn muffins are usually- but the flavor is still wonderful! The recipe also called for diced green chiles, but I left them out since my children would not have wanted the spicy flavor. These were featured with a chili recipe, but I served them with Turkey, Rice and Vegetable Soup. They would be great with just about anything- even by themselves! 

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal (I used white cornmeal)

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 can (14.75 oz.) cream-style corn

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together corn, buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and diced green chilies. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups equally. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of muffin comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake. Remove muffins from tin to cool slightly on a wire rack. Best if served warm.

Makes 12 servings.

**You may bake it in a 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan instead of the muffin forms. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until top is golden brown and toothpick in center comes out clean.

Additionally, you may substitute the buttermilk for 2 Tbsp of buttermilk powder (mixed in with the dry ingredients) plus 1/2 cup of milk, or you may make your own sour milk using 1 1/2 tsp of vinegar and add enough milk to make 1/2 cup, then let it set for about 5 minutes. If you want to just use regular milk, you can leave out the baking soda and use 1/2 cup milk.

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Peanut Butter Banana Bread

This recipe is from the Penzey's spice catalog and was submitted by Meredith Wittmann. It caught my eye because I love both peanut butter and bananas, and this bread also included some ground flax seed, which are optional but very healthy. I also used chunky natural peanut butter and baked them in smaller loaf pans.  

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1/3 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup peanut butter- creamy or chunky

3 Tbsp. melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp  Penzey's baking spice (blend of cinnamon, anise, allspice, mace and cardamom), you may substitute heaping 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of allspice, 1/4 tsp mace or less of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cardamom.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan or 2 smaller loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine bananas, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter and melted butter. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add the sugars and beat well. Add the flax seed; sift the baking soda, spices and flour together and add gradually, mixing until well blended. Pour into loaf pan(s) and bake for 65-75 minutes for the single pan or approximately 35-45 minutes if using the smaller pans. (Watch the smaller pans closely as  the size of smaller pans can vary and should be checked after about 25-30 minutes until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack in the pan(s) for 30 minutes before removing. Dust with powdered sugar or make a simple confectioner's sugar/milk glaze and drizzle over top after the loaf(s) has cooled.

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Zucchini Bread

This is such a yummy bread- a great recipe for when you need to use up some zucchini. If you don't have a need for 2 loaves of bread, you can freeze the other loaf or bring one into work to share or give one to a friend or neighbor. It is even better the next day after baking.

Think of this recipe for those persons in your life who are picky veggie eaters.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar (I used part brown and part white granulated sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups flour (I used part white whole wheat and part white all purpose flour)
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 cup each chopped dates and nuts (or may substitute raisins)

Beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla together until creamy. Sift together the dry ingredients and add by thirds into the liquid, mixing well between each addition. Fold in the nuts and dates. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour- if using a 5x15 inch sweet bread pan, check it at approximately 50 minutes. If using the traditional bread pans, the bread will be higher and need a little longer to bake. Therefore, lower the oven temperature to about 325 degrees and bake a little longer. Bread is finished when it is set and knife or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn out of pan and finish cooling on rack. Store wrapped up in the refrigerator if not eating in the next day or two.

Banana Bread

My mom used a recipe like this for many years, and I have taken that plus others and adapted them into this recipe. I like it because it is moist and uses part whole wheat flour. This is a great way to use up all those ripe, soft and discolored bananas.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened (or oil)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour- may use extra 1/4 cup if batter turns out too moist
1 cup white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 large bananas, mashed (approximately 1 1/2 cups mashed)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4- 1/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk or yogurt
1/2-3/4 cup chopped nuts, if desired


Directions:
Cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add into wet ingredients. Add the mashed bananas and chopped nuts. Pour into 1 greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes * or until sharp knife poked in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack to finish cooling. Wrap in plastic- keeps well in the refrigerator.


This is also good with mini-chocolate chips mixed in the batter just before baking. Feel free to try blueberries or other fruit, as well.


*When I made this for the picture, I used a sweet bread pan that was 5x12 inches. I only needed to bake it about 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. If you are using the shorter but wider bread pans, it will probably take about 1 hours to bake- watch carefully so it is not overbaked.

Milk Bread (Stretzel)

This is another type of old- fashioned bread not seen much these days.

4 cups scalded milk
1 1/2 cups oil
3 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
3-4 tsp yeast
11-12 cups flour

Mix the salt, sugar, yeast and 1/2 of the flour together. Add the wet ingredients and stir well. Add in the remainder of the flour until it is a nice consistency that is not too sticky. Knead it until the bread dough has some elasticity, about 5-10 minutes (you may use a heavy duty mixer with a dough hook). Cover and let rise until double in bulk- about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and knead lightly for a couple minutes. Form into 3-4 loaves. Place in greased loaf pans (3 larger or 4 medium sized loaf pans). Cover and allow to rise until doubled. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-35 minutes (or until outside is lightly brown- you can test it with a food thermometer; it should be 200 degrees when finished). Cool in loaf pans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes and then turn out onto racks to cool the rest. May rub butter over top of loaves after removing from the oven.

Variation- may add 1 cup of raisins for each cup of milk used while mixing the dough.

*Recipe adapted from one from Mrs. John J. Becker in the Mennonite Community Cookbook 1978.

Salt Rising Bread

Ever since I was a child, my dad and his mother used to talk with fond memories of salt-rising bread. It is rare to ever see it in stores or bakeries now. It is truly a country-cooking food from early American days- probably before yeast was available. This is a type of sourdough bread. Looking to try something new? Give this one a try.

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups potatoes, sliced

2 Tbsp corn meal

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

1 quart boiling water

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup warm milk

1 Tbsp shortening, melted (I use palm shortening or coconut/olive oil)

11 cups flour

Sprinkle 1 Tbsp salt and the cornmeal over the potatoes in a glass jar. Add boiling water and stir until salt has dissolved.  Cover with plastic wrap and keep warm from noon until the following morning- crock pot works well on warm or placed on a radiator with a towel over it. Then drain off the liquid into a large glass bowl. Add to it the soda, 1 1/2 tsp sugar and 5 cups flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are well blended; this sponge should be the consistency of a cake batter. Set mixture in a warm place and let rise until light and full of bubbles. This requires about 1 1/2 hours.  Scald milk and cool to lukewarm; add shortening/oil. Add milk and remaining flour to sponge.  Knead for 10-12 minutes and shape into loaves.  Makes 3 medium loaves. Let rise until light, about 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Delicious  toasted for breakfast.

*Recipe adapted from Maggie Driver and Mrs. G. H. Brunk in Mennonite Community Cookbook 1978.

Oatmeal Bread Recipes

Homemade bread is a wonderful thing that gives everyone a blissful feeling when smelling it baking (it certainly makes a home smell wonderful!), as well as eating it. It is especially wonderful with a soup. One of my favorite types of bread is Oatmeal Bread because it has so much flavor, a slightly chewy texture and is moist. It is especially wonderful toasted and spread with butter- it really heightens the flavor.


This first recipe if from a friend who has taken a recipe and adapted it some. He has had many compliments on this recipe. It is for 3 loaves, however. If you are not interested in making this many, you might try dividing the recipe in half or third- or just make it as written and freeze the other two loaves for another time. The hard work will be done at one time.


The second recipe is one I have used for some time and done primarily in the bread machine. It makes one larger loaf. At times, I have problems with it falling some while baking in the machine. You need to watch it as it is kneading so as to add more liquid or flour as needed to get the proper dough consistency (for the machine, it needs to be somewhat moist, forming a ball but not too firm). Even if it falls, it still makes wonderful toast and is the best with soups!

OATMEAL BREAD – by  Philip Sollenberger

Makes 3 loaves

Combine in large bowl:

2 cup quick oats

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup oat bran                                       

2 Tablespoon salt

4 Tablespoon of olive oil (not the strong flavored kind)

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Pour over this mixture:

5 cups of boiling water

Stir it in to combine it.

Dissolve:

2 package (or 2 tablespoon) of dry yeast and

1 cup of brown sugar in

1 cup of warm water

When the batter is cooled to lukewarm add the yeast mixture.

Stir in

4 cups of wheat flour.

6 cups of white flour

When dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto floured board and knead 5-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled.  Shape into 3 loaves and place in greased 9x5x3” pans. Allow to rise to fill pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.  Cool on rack.

Oatmeal Yeast Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

2 Tbsp sugar/other sweetener (brown sugar or molasses works well)

1 Tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk, scalded

1 compressed yeast cake (or 1 3/4 tsp other types of yeast)

1/4 cup warm water (may need to use a little more depending on the dough consistency as it kneads up)

2 1/2 cups flour (I have used a mixture of white and white whole wheat- 1:1/2 ratio)

Directions:

If using a bread machine, follow your machine's instructions for combining wet and dry ingredients. Set it on 1 1/2 pound loaf and whole wheat setting. Then let the machine do the work- you need to watch it initially to make sure the dough is the right consistency.


If making by hand, mix together the oats, sugar, salt and oil. Pour over this the scalded milk. When cooled to lukewarm, add yeast that has been softened in 1/4 cup water (or you may just mix the yeast with the dry ingredients and add them all together). Stir in the flour and knead until dough no longer sticks to fingers. Shape into a loaf of bread or into rolls and put into a greased pan. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 400 degrees for rolls for 20 minutes and at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes for a loaf.

Russian Easter Bread (Paska) and spread

This is a traditional bread that you need to start the night before. It is rich and reminiscent of Challah with the eggs, cream and butter, giving a wonderful flavor. The spread is really not hard to make- creamy and slightly sweet with a hint of lemon. To obtain the traditional shape (mushroom shape), you need to bake them in coffee cans.

This recipe makes 3 very large loaves of bread and a huge amount of the spread. Since I did not want to make so many large ones, I reduced the recipe by 1/3. I then divided the final dough into 3 parts and used small coffee cans. If you do not have coffee cans, you might used regular loaf pans and adjust the baking time. Even reducing the spread recipe, it still made a fairly large bowl- approximately 2 1/2 cups of spread.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (plus more to finish dough later)
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 10 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 1 1/2 yeast cakes (3 tsp dry instant yeast)

Directions:

• Dissolve yeast and 1 Tbsp sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. 
• Scald milk and cream; while hot, pour over the 2 cups of flour. 
• When flour mixture is cooled, add beaten egg yolks that have been mixed well with sugar. 
• Add dissolved yeast and beaten egg whites. Beat thoroughly and put in a warm place to rise overnight- a crock pot on warm (lowest setting) would be good, depending on the type of slow cooker, or in a warm oven with towels around it. 
• In the morning, add butter and enough flour to make a dough that no longer sticks to fingers. 
• Let rise for about 1-2 hours. Then divide dough into 3 parts, putting each part into a greased gallon tin can (large coffee cans). 
• Let rise 2 hours and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden brown.
• Cool in tins on cooling rack about 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack to finish cooling. 

this is the starter after being in the warmed oven all night

the dough after adding the extra flour and butter

Cheese Spread for Paska:

• 4 cups cottage cheese
• yolks of 10 hard cooked eggs
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp grated lemon rind or 1/2 tsp lemon extract or flavoring

Directions:

• Press cheese and egg yolks through a sieve- or mash together. 
• Bring cream to a boil and then cool. 
• Cream together butter and sugar and add the other ingredients. Mix thoroughly. 

This is now ready to use as a spread when serving Paska.

As mentioned above, I made this recipe by reducing it and making 1/3 of it. It is as follows:

Paska ingredients:

• rounded 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 tsp lemon extract
• 3/4 tsp yeast

I needed about 3 3/4 cups of extra flour to get the dough to hold together and not be too sticky. Follow directions as above but reduce baking time to 25 minutes or until golden brown.


Cheese Spread ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup cottage cheese
• yolks of 4 hard-boiled eggs
• 1/3 cup cream
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (or 1/4 tsp lemon oil, may use closer to 1/2 tsp of lemon extract if you don't have lemon oil)

Follow directions as above and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes for flavors to blend well.

*Recipe from Mrs. H. J. Fast in the Mennonite Community Cookbook 1978.

This recipe was shared with the following:
     Simple Lives Thursday #90- A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa