Tag Archives: recipe

FAMILY, Recipes

Quiche

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Encouraged by the wonderful recipe, Broccoli Mushroom Cheddar Quiche published by Cooking With A Wallflower last month, i pulled together what ingredients I had and then tweaked it a bit to meet our tastes, discovering along the way that despite adoring black olives, i did not like them in  my recipe!  Unfortunately, I did not have mushrooms and i think that those will be much preferred.  BUT, here’s my recipe for today – easily tweakable for your own tastes.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Crust:

  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • 2 cups almond flour (i grind almonds)
  • 1/2 cup sesame flour (i grind sesame seeds)
  • 1 cup shredded provolone
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Real or kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground oregano
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup melted beef fat (grassfed beef bones) (olive oil or melted butter will work)

Mix it all together with a fork and press mixture into a buttered 9-inch pie dish.  Cook in a 350°F oven for 12 minutes.

Pie filling Yummies

  • 1 cup cooked and crumbled home made beef sausage
  • 2 cups broccoli florets (rinsed and patted dry)
  • 2 or 3 dientes garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 cup sliced black olives
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup real milk
  • 1 cup monterey jack cheese
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Crumble and cook your homemade beef sausage in a saucepan with a lid.  Once it’s done, remove with a slotted spoon leaving the drippings in the pan and add slice garlic.  Saute those for a couple minutes, then add sliced olives and broccoli florets.  Cover and let simmer just to steam the broccoli a bit.  Don’t cook it until it gets soggy.

Mix the sausage back into the broccoli, etc.  Pour off any excess moisture, but i didn’t have any.  Dump the lot into your cooked pie shell.  Spread the 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese kind of over the top and mix in a bit maybe.  Then whisk together the milk and eggs.  Pour that over all the mixture, then top with the 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese.

Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes.  I stuck a toothpick in the middle right at 45 minutes and it was spot on perfect done.  Let it stand maybe 15 minutes before slicing into 6-8 pieces.  Serve warm.

IMG_2021

Now, here’s an important note about the crust.  Unless you want an extra thick crust, you’ll find that you have about 1/3 of it left over.  Not wanting any to waste, i went ahead and buttered the end of this stone baking pan and spread it out and cooked it along with the quiche, but it’s only going to need cooking about 20 minutes!  This makes really tasty crackers.  IMG_2022

Enjoy!

tauna

Recipes

Traditional Scottish Oven Scones

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Although, I’ve made these before, I used granulated sugar.  This time, however, i had planned ahead and purchased caster sugar (we call it Baker’s Sugar here in the States or look for ‘superfine’) and, WOW! what a sweet difference.

Traditional Oven Scones  (from Scottish Cookery, Lomond Books, Ltd, Browburn, Scotland)

1 3/4 cups white flour (i haven’t tried whole wheat or other flours)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons caster sugar

1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven t0 220ºC/425ºF/Gas Mark 7, 15 minutes before baking.  Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.  Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs  Stir in the sugar and mix in enough milk to give a fairly soft dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few seconds until smooth.  Roll out until 2 cm (3/4 inches) thick and stamp out 6.5 cm (2 1/2 inch) rounds with a floured plain cutter.

Place on an oiled baking sheet and bush the tops with milk (do not brush it over the sides or the scones will not rise properly).  Dust with a little plain flour.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack and serve warm or leave to cool completely.  The scones are best eaten on the day of baking but may be kept in an airtight tin for up to 2 days.

Enjoy!

tauna

Note:  I baked these on an ungreased stone pan, sides not touching.

Scottish - Traditional Oven Scones Recipe

 

 

 

 

FAITH, Recipes

French Cheese Braid (Natte)

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Here’s an easy, delicious, and gorgeous recipe i tried for the first time and was pretty successful!  Taken from my old Betty Crocker International Cookbook.  When i posted it on facebook, a friend noted that it would make a great Challah bread for Shabbat and some of YHWH’s Feasts!  Unbeknowst to me at the time, the little write up for the recipe in the cookbook suggested exactly that!

French Cheese Braid

“The rich yellow dough used to make this braid (the French call it natte) is similar to the Jewish holiday bread called Challah, but somewhat richer in flavor and flecked with bits of cheese.  It is delicious as a luncheon or light supper bread served with soup and salad.”

1 package active dry yeast (i use 1 tablespoon)

3/4 cup warm water (105F to 115F)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon Real salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

6 ounces Swiss or Gruyère cheese, shredded or diced (about 1 1/2 cups) (i use mozzarella or cheddar)

olive oil

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl.  Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, butter, and 2 cups of the flour.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (I use my Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook).  Place in a greased bowl; turn greased side up.  (i spray the dough and bowl with my Misto olive oil sprayer and leave the dough in the same mixing bowl).  Cover; let rise in a warm place until double, 1 to 2 hours.  Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.  (If you can’t find a warm spot in your house, set the bowl in a bowl or pan of hot water)

Punch down dough; knead in cheese until well distributed.  Divide into 3 equal parts.  Roll each part into a rope, 15 inches long.  Place ropes together on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Braid ropes gently and loosely; do not stretch.  Pinch ends to fasten; tuck under securely.  Brush lightly with oil.  Let rise until double, 40-50 mintues.  (May have to set your sheet on top of the pan of hot water again)

Heat oven to 375F, Beat egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water slighty; brush over braid.  Place on oven rack below center of oven.  Bake until braid sounds hollow when tapped, 25 to 30 minutes.  If braid is browning too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

My experience is that this baked fully at 25 minutes and the braid needs covering at about the 18 minute mark.

french cheese braid 001
I mix then let rise in the same bowl.
French Cheese Braid 001
Braided before second rising

 

french cheese braid 004
After baking
lovely texture

This is perfect bread to accompany soup!

Cheers!

tauna

Liquid and Soft Diet Recipes

Brown Broth for Liquid Diet

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So, why the liquid diet postings – well, my father-in-law just went through terrible pain and finally surgery to pull his stomach down through his diaphragm so that it was no longer in his chest cavity!  There were a lot of problems this caused, so we all hope that he will be able to heal now.  To start, however, he is on a 2 week liquid diet, so the challenge is to provide high calorie, palatable liquids so he can gain enough strength to keep going.  Especially when he doesn’t even have an appetite.

We had just butchered a beef and i had asked the butcher to throw all the big bones in sacks for the dog, but now I’m cooking them for bone broth before letting the dog have at them.  I  pack a 3 gallon stock pot with beef bones and fill with water.  Bring to a boil (be ready because this full pot will boil over and make a mess the minute you turn your back!), then turn down the heat for a slow boil about 5 hours.

Using tongs,  I remove the bones and place in one of those big popcorn tins.  The stock will be reduced to about 8 cups.  Let this cool overnight, so that the fat that hardens on top can be removed easily.  I’m not completely sure that removing all that fat is good, so i typically leave few tablespoons.  It sure is extra calories, which are needed, but sometimes too much fat can cause indigestion and i certainly want to avoid that.

Once this stock is made, it can be used to prepare different flavors or use it as is with maybe a bit of Real salt (which has minerals) to taste.

Here’s what i added to one quart and Jerry really liked it:

8 peppercorns

1 tsp powdered or 5 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp powdered celery

1 tablespoon Real salt

1 large onion, quartered

Bring to boil, then turn down heat and simmer about an hour.  Strain through doubled cheesecloth into a heat proof jar.  I use a regular canning jar which makes it easy to transport up to his house.  This way, he can pour out what he wants to warm up each time he feels he can eat something.

The report this morning was that he really like this combination!

Cheers!

tauna

Note that this broth is a far cry from broth purchased in the store.  When this broth is cool, it is very gelatinous indicating its source is more than water and flavour.  Our cattle are pasture finished with no grain or antibiotics.

FAMILY, Recipes

Garlic Burger Buns

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Lunch today is easy:

Roast bone-in square cut lamb shoulder from home raised sheep

Cubed butternut squash sauteed in butter from grassfed cows

Garlic Burger Buns – homemade with organic ingredients – today i made 12 buns with the same recipe – plenty big.

Recipe from page 39 Kathy Casey Cooks cookbook  – chef on the American Queen Steamboat

Garlic Burger Buns 001

Garlic Burger Buns

Makes 6-12 buns

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup warm water (90°F to 110°F)

1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp finely minced garlic

Coarse ground salt for sprinkling

In a small bowl stir together the milk, olive, oil, sugar, warm water, and yeast.  Stir to dissolve yeast and let sit about 10 minutes then pour into a large mixer bowl.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and add all but 1 tbsp. to the liquid ingredients, reserving the extra for brushing the bun tops.  Mix in flour, salt, and garlic with paddle attachment until incorporated and then change to a dough hook.  Mix with dough hook on medium speed for about 3 to 4 minutes, as needed, to make a smooth, moist dough.  Knead until smooth.  Place in a large greased bowl, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down and divde dough into 6 pieces.  Roll into balls and let rest 10 minutes covered with a towel.  With a well-floured rolling pin, roll balls into 4-inch rounds.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover lightly with a towel and let rise until almost doubled.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.

In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg together with 1/2 tbsp water.  Brush the tops of the buns lightly with egg wash, sprinkle lightly with coarse ground salt and place in overn.

Bake about 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool buns on a rack.

That’s the recipe, but i usually make 8 buns with this r

 

FARM

Even Higher Pollen Count!

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My ‘stuck in the house’ routine continues as the pollen count rises due to excessive wind!

Couldn’t sleep well last night due to allergies, but laid on the recliner from 5am to 7am before finally giving up on more sleep and just getting up.

Had found a package of beef stew meat in the refrigerator freezer that was four years old!  I absolutely do not recommend keeping meat frozen that long – it doesn’t actually go ‘bad’ but it does not taste as good – especially coming from the frig/freezer which does not keep frozen as hard as a deep freezer.  So, not wanting to waste it, i planned lunch around it with browing it in olive oil and simmer for tenderness, then closer to lunch time, adding enough flour to thicken, then plenty of milk to make a tasty white gravy.  I also scrambled farm fresh eggs with butter from grass fed cows and garden raised spinach.  Whipped a batch of baking powder biscuits for the gravy  and that was lunch.  It’s weird only fixing for four.

In the meantime, I drove to the seed plant to do some paperwork (always that..:-( , picked up some apples from the tree as well as a water tank float and a short hose.  The latter two to set up a small tank for my recip cows since i’m getting tired of going out to fill up the water tank twice a day.water tank  After repairing one end of the hose, I hooked up the fittings to the hydrant and moved the water tank in place and filled.  Working great – no leaks.  Awesome. Now they won’t run out of water and I don’t have to work so hard.

The apples were to cube along with a butternut squash, mixed together then poured over with a bit of orange juice and maple syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon, then baked.  I don’t think i’ll keep this recipe – it was okay, but well, it’s just not chocolate…….

I did manage to wash the front storm door – it looks great, but later when i tried vacuuming the spider webs built between the glass and screen of the windows, i was totally overcome with allergies – it’s like breathing sand!  So didn’t do that anymore, but did manage to vacuum all the furniture under and between and around and beneath.  And wipe down one of the ceiling fans  Really feels a lot cleaner in here.

No cows exhibiting heat today; tomorrow is supposed to be the big day, so gotta hang around the next two-three days for observing.

Drove to north and west of Purdin this afternoon to pick up our weekly allotment of milk and return the empty glass bottles.

Green Hills Harvest
Green Hills Harvest
Cobwebs everywhere!
Cobwebs everywhere!

Watered the mums that I meant to transplant today – best get that done in the morning.

Spent about an hour removing items from the silver garage.  Hope to get it torn down and removed sometime this fall.

My early morning is catching up with me since I feel quite sleepy.

Shalom!

tauna

FAMILY, Recipes

Garlic Burger Buns from the American Queen

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Dallas and Nathan traveled with Aunt June Lamme eight years ago on the American Queen Steamboat down the Ohio River.  Nathan thoughtfully purchased a cookbook from the ship’s cook for me and one of the best burger buns is my go-to.  From Kathy Casey‘s cookbook, Kathy Casey Cooks – Favorites.

Garlic Burger Buns

Makes 6 buns

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup warm water (90°F to 110°F)

1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp finely minced garlic

Coarse ground salt for sprinkling

In a small bowl stir together the milk, olive, oil, sugar, warm water, and yeast.  Stir to dissolve yeast and let sit about 10 minutes then pour into a large mixer bowl.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and add all but 1 tbsp. to the liquid ingredients, reserving the extra for brushing the bun tops.  Mix in flour, salt, and garlic with paddle attachment until incorporated and then change to a dough hook.  Mix with dough hook on medium speed for about 3 to 4 minutes, as needed, to make a smooth, moist dough.  Knead until smooth.  Place in a large greased bowl, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down and divde dough into 6 pieces.  Roll into balls and let rest 10 minutes covered with a towel.  With a well-floured rolling pin, roll balls into 4-inch rounds.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover lightly with a towel and let rise until almost doubled.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.

In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg together with 1/2 tbsp water.  Brush the tops of the buns lightly with egg wash, sprinkle lightly with coarse ground salt and place in overn.

Bake about 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool buns on a rack.

That’s the recipe, but i usually make 8 buns with this recipe since they are rather large.  They also need to be eaten fresh or they tend to become crumbly.  I use lovely Hebridean Sea Salt flakes harvested from the shores of the remote Scottish Hebridean Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.