Bird Seed Bread

Either use a KitchenAid or the dough setting on a bread machine.

Load into the bowl:
2 cups bread flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup rye flour
2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds
2 TBSP cracked wheat
2 TBSP roasted pine nuts
4 TBSP millet
3 TBSP flaxseed
3 TBSP granola
1½ TBSP gluten
1½ TBSP sugar
1½ tsp yeast
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp oat bran

Mix thoroughly. Add:
2 TBSP butter
1½ cups whole milk; maybe a bit left.

Mix really well. Cover & let it raise for 40 minutes. Grease two cast iron frying pans: one 6”, the other 10”. Butter the pans, and pour some oil into the bottom. Divide the dough 2/3 and 1/3. Shape carefully, and place upside down in the frying pan to cover the top with oil, and then invert to right side up. Let it raise until it’s doubled.

Bake in a pre-heated, 350° oven for 22 minutes, or until the bread is done. Enjoy hot with fresh butter.

Huevos Chili Pepperoni Fajitas

Per serving:
¼ cup diced onion
½ cup chili con carne
15-20 slices pepperoni, cut shoestring style
1 large egg
½ cup shredded Colby (or cheddar) cheese
1 large wheat tortilla
2 leaves romaine lettuce, sliced lengthways

Heat a tablespoon of bacon grease (or butter & oil) in a small frying pan. When it’s melted, toss in the diced onion. As soon as they start to cook, add the shoestring pepperoni shreds. Fry the mix until the onions are cooked, but not brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the chili, fry, stirring, until the chili is heated through and the onions and pepperoni are mixed throughout the chili, about 5 minutes. Crack the egg into the middle of the chili and immediately break the yolk and scramble slightly into the chili.

Begin heating the large tortilla in a large frying pan or griddle. When the bottom of the egg is cooked, scramble some more. Repeat until the egg is cooked through.

Cover half of the tortilla with half of the shredded cheese. Scoop the whole mixture onto the cheese-covered half of the tortilla. Lay the shredded lettuce on top of the chili mixture and cover with the other half of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over and cook on both sides until cheese is melted and both sides are browned.

Serve immediately. Top with sour cream and salsa if desired.

Tumwater Stonehenge Bread

Combine and set aside for 15 minutes:
1/3 cup whole millet
1/3 cup bulgar wheat
2 TBSP roasted sesame seeds
2 TBSP brown sugar
4 TBSP butter
1½ cups boiling water

Load into the bread machine:
4 tsp yeast
2½ c bread flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dark rye flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
3 TBSP oat bran
2 TBSP gluten flour
2 tsp salt

When the soaking grains have reached 15 minutes and have cooled, start the bread machine. While it is beginning to mix the dry ingredients, add the wet mixture. Fire off the machine and anticipate good hearty bread!

Comment: This is a very heavy bread. Rather than cooking this in the bread machine, let the machine make the dough, shape it into loaves, let it raise, and cook in the oven.

Taco Egg Hoosh

Ingredients: Serves 2:
¼ lb bacon, diced
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
½ cup diced sweet onions
½ lb shredded (or ground) beef
½ can (8 oz) chili con carne
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ cup chopped olives
1 jalapeno peppers, diced, drained, dried
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded Colby (cheddar) cheese
1 cup mashed corn chips (no piece bigger than 1”)

Directions:
Heat a medium cast iron frying pan on medium high and add the bacon. As the bacon starts to give off bacon grease, add onions and garlic. As the onions begin to look transparent, the bacon should be nearly done. Add the shredded beef, chili powder, and salt & pepper to taste & stir well. Fry until beef is done, stirring from time to time to keep things from burning.

Add diced jalapeno and stir for a minute or two while you’re getting the chili con carne out. Turn the stove down to medium and add the chili & chopped olives, stirring regularly until the mixture is heated through and beginning to dry. Add eggs, shredded cheese, and broken corn chips. Scramble together. Cook until eggs are completely cooked through.

Serve with a slice of lime and a cold lager beer. Unless you’re having this for breakfast; then serve it with orange juice.

Flavor Pairing Chart

 

 

TJ's Yummy Salad!

Courtesy, Chef TJ McLain

(3 servings)

Ingredients:

Mixed salad greens (lettuce stuff) several large handfuls
Beef steak strips from premiere selections (it's at Costco but its just yummy spiced beef thin strips): a big handful
Smashed up dry ramen (very fun!) one package, no flavoring
Bacon, 6 strips (2 each)
Feta cheese, small handful
Chopped almonds, a handful
Cranberries, just a sprinkling
Green onions 4 or 5 of the stock or heads or whatever you call them.
And one apple, chopped up into chunks. Fairly small.

I put it in a pot with the lid and shook everything all up, so all the flavors get mixed up together.

Toppings:
Dribble with extra virgin olive oil, and some balsamic vinegar.
Or put with pepper
Or leave it alone
(all three are good.)

IDEAS!
So we thought maybe replace the beef with smoked salmon.
Or replace the apples with Satsumas or oranges.
Ooh ooh! Pears would be good too!

Hearty Beef & Parmesian Bread

Bread dough: load into the bread machine:
2½ tsp yeast
4 cups bread flour
2 TBSP sugar
1 1/3 TBSP gluten
2 tsp salt
2 TBSP butter, in pieces
1 1/3 cups whole milk (adjust to make sure the dough is not too solid)

Load it all into the bread machine, set it on “dough” and fire it off.

While the dough is mixing, get out a large frying pan and fry until tender:
2 TBSP butter
5 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup sweet onion, chopped
with salt & pepper to taste.

While that’s frying, prepare and mix together in a large bowl:
1 pound red meat. I used stew beef; any better cut is obviously acceptable. Cut it into 1” cubes and drain well.
1 pinch salt just to open the beef up for the rest of the seasonings:
½ TBSP Italian seasoning
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
½ tsp dried minced red peppers (“pizza peppers”)

Work quickly: the meat mixture must be done and cooled to room temperature by the time the bread machine beeps at you.

When the onions & garlic are nicely transparent, add the spiced meat mixture. (You must pause to enjoy the sizzle!) Brown the meat thoroughly on all sides.

While the meat is browning is a good time to prepare the bread pans. This bread won’t rise very high, so I use pie pans, which I grease well, and flour with rye flour.

When the meat is well browned (it will be nearly done), add:
1 tsp beef bouillon paste
¾ cup boiling water

Bring quickly to a boil. Leave uncovered and let it boil, stirring regularly. When it’s tender and the liquid is reduced by about ¾, remove the meat, leaving the liquid with the garlic & onions in the frying pan over a medium-to-low flame to reduce even further, until it’s like thickish gravy.

Chop or shred the meat into small pieces, much larger than “ground beef”; use a food processor if you like to make quick work of it. Place in a large bowl. Mix the hot meat, the hot liquid from cooking the meat with:

¾ cup frozen, shredded parmesan cheese

to cool the mixture, which should be room temperature or a tiny bit warmer when you’re done.

When the machine is almost done with mixing the ingredients, it will beep, signaling that it’s time to add the final ingredients: add the meat mixture at this point. The bread machine may need help mixing in this many ingredients into the bread dough.

Let the machine finish mixing the dough, and let it raise once in the bread machine. Turn it onto a well-floured cutting board, divide into portions (I made one large piece and several smaller ones). Add topping. Let them raise again until they’ve doubled, typically about 40 minutes.

Topping:
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
½ tsp Italian seasoning

Toss lightly together, spread generously over the loaves before baking.

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375°. Bake 15 or 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with lots of butter. Works well as “Shred Bread”, or bread which is not sliced, but everyone at the dinner table tears off a chunk for themselves.