Poached Eggs and a BLT Never Tasted So Good

Insipired by the sucessful whole wheat sandwich bread recipe here are a couple of classics:

BLT on homemade whole wheat, with local bacon,
 tomatoes, and lettuce.

 

Poached eggs on toast with orange and red
 tomatoes and avocado.
(Adding a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to
the poaching water keeps the white together.)

Tip for slicing cherry tomatoes or grapes: put them between
 two lids.  Place your hand flat on top of the upper lid. 
Slice between the lids with a serrated knife.
 (I'm a lefty so the picture looks strange!) 

Voila!  Halved tomatoes in no time.

Bread that Smells Like Bread!

I should know better than to look at ingredients on grocery store foods by now.  It's depressing!  Bread (including grocery store bakery bread) is no exception. 

Great Harvest Baking Company features several delicious whole grain options that are 5 ingredients or less.  At around $8/ loaf it's a bit pricey but  I knew I was on the right track when I unwrapped the first loaf.  Wyatt came over and said, "Mama, that bread smells like bread!" and walked away munching on a slice.

This week's challenge - find a whole grain sandwich bread recipe that is easy to throw together without a bread machine.  I want our bread to smell like bread!  I found a knock off recipe of the Great Harvest loaf.  Here is my version which makes a great PB&J, BLT and even poached eggs on toast:

Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

• 2 cups of warm water (about 105-110 degrees)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle the yeast over the top and add the honey.  Allow it to sit for 10 minutes until it's frothy.
2. Add the ground flax, oats and 1 and 1/2 cups of flour.  With the paddle attachment, mix until combined. 
3. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough barely pulls away from the side of the bowl.  The dough will be sticky.
4. Switch the mixer attachment from the paddle to the dough hook and knead on low for 4 minutes.  (You can also knead by hand for 10 minutes if you don't have a paddle attachment.) 
5. Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with a towel. 
6. Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size.  This takes approximately an hour and a half depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
7. Dust your hands with flour and punch down the dough.  Shape it into a loaf and place it in a buttered loaf pan. 
8. Cover again with a towel and allow to rise until again doubled in size (about an hour). 
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees towards the end of the second rise.  Bake the loaf for 30 minutes.  Cool completely and store in a zip top bag.

The Anti PB&J - Kids Lunch 1 (recipes included)

In our house there is a nightly question that we generally know the answer to.

Me: "What do you want for lunch tomorrow?"
The boys: "Peanut butter and jelly!"

Despite their love for the classic kid favorite, when I reach for the peanut butter jar I feel guilty for not being more clever.  Granted, we do mix it up a bit by adding fruit, veggie and dip, trail mix, etc. to their BPA free Easy Lunchbox container.  Tonight after seeing what a favorite whole foods blogger put together I got a little crazy and broke us out of the PB&J rut.  Here is tomorrows lunch that the boys are super excited for:

Patrick: grapes, sliced red pepper, a whole wheat banana
muffin (recipe below) and a hard boiled egg (recipe below).

Wyatt: Hormel Natural Choice Oven Roasted Turkey, whole
wheat banana muffin (recipe below), mandarin oranges sprinkled
 withcinnamon and sliced red peppers.

Typically I don't make two different lunches for the boys but Wyatt is not a fan of eggs or (recently) grapes.  Since I was feeling like an overachiever I didn't mind working around their favorites tonight but tomorrow may be a different story.  ;-)


Banana Muffins

• 3 bananas (ripe to overripe)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or less to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel bananas and place in a large mixing bowl.  Mash the bananas with a hand held potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl.  Stir to combine.
4. Grease 12 muffin cups and pour the batter in evenly. 
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

• Eggs
• Large saucepan with lid
• Water to cover

1. Place cold eggs in the bottom of a large saucepan.
2. Cover eggs with water by about an inch.
3. Cook on high heat until the water comes to a boil.
4. Cover and remove from heat.
5. Set timer for 16 minutes.
6. Once timer goes off drain water (careful, it's hot!).  Add new cold water and lots of ice to cool the eggs quickly. 
7. Store either peeled or in shell in a zip top bag in the fridge.

Hopefully this will be the first of a series of Anti PB&J of lunch box posts.  Looking forward to having you along for the ride and would love to hear your comments and suggestions!  Perhaps the next post will contain these ice pop containers that I ordered today to hold frozen smoothies and yogurt pops.  YUM!

Corned Beef Dinner with Roasted Brussel Sprouts

My family loves a good corned beef dinner.  Here is my tried and true recipe served with homemade horseradish sauce, roasted Brussel sprouts and red potatoes, and mini Irish soda bread loaves.

I know many of you are gagging at the mere thought of Brussel sprouts, but roasting works miracles on these little gems.  Trust me when I tell you to give these a try.  Toss in some red potatoes for a hearty side dish to enjoy on St. Patrick's Day or any other day of the year.

Corned Beef

• One 3lb corned beef brisket (uncooked), in brine
• 4 quarts cold water
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 4 whole cloves

1. Rinse the corned beef brisket under cold running water.  (Be sure to give the sink a good scrub after!)
2. Place the beef in a large heavy bottomed pot with lid.  Add the remaining ingredients to the pot.
3. Cover and bring the pot to a slow boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat and skim off/discard any foamy scum that rises to the surface. 
4. Simmer for 3 hours and 45 minutes. 
5. Remove the beef from the pot and allow to sit for 20 minutes to reabsorb the juices. 
6. Slice the beef against the grain and serve with horseradish sauce or mustard.

Horseradish Sauce

• 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons jarred grated horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix together all ingredients.
2. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

• 2lbs Brussel sprouts
• 2lbs red potatoes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste
• Garlic powder to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Trim the stem ends off the Brussel sprouts and remove a couple of the outer leaves.  Cut the sprouts in half and place in a large mixing bowl.  Don't worry if a few more leaves fall off when you cut the sprouts in half.  They will crisp up nicely.
3. Wash and dry the red potatoes and add to the mixing bowl.
4. Drizzle the olive oil over the Brussel sprouts and potatoes.  Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Toss gently to coat.
5. Spread on a large cookie sheet (or two smaller sheets) and roast until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.  Shake the vegetables to mix about halfway through.

Mini Irish Soda Bread Loaves (with Cranberries)

One of my favorite St. Patrick's day recipes is hearty Irish Soda Bread.  I have great memories of helping my mother cut in the butter and watching her knead the dough. 

In my experience, the best recipe cards or clippings are the most food covered.  The recipe, clipped from a magazine 30 years ago, is darkened with age and dotted with buttery circles. 

My mother's casserole dish is taking a year in favor of a couple of muffin pans.  If you choose to bake in a 2 quart round casserole, adjust the baking time to approximately 1 hour, 20 minutes.  In either case serve the warm bread with a generous spread of butter.



Cut the butter into the
dry ingredients 

Flour and butter mixture
with cranberries

Mixed dough

Ready for the oven

Mini Irish Soda Bread Loaves (with Cranberries)

• 4 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (or currants or raisins)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten (divided)
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  The recipe makes approximately 18 muffin sized loaves.  Butter the muffin pans and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
3. Cut the cold butter it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender (or two knives used in a scissor fashion) until it resembles course crumbs.
4. Add the cranberries and mix gently.
5. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the beaten eggs.  Stir in buttermilk and remaining eggs into the flour mixture until just combined.  (The dough will be sticky.) 
6. With floured hands, knead about 10 strokes to mix thoroughly.  Break off large golf ball size pieces of dough and loosely shape into a ball.  Place one ball in each of the buttered muffin cups.
7. Repeat until the dough is completely divided between the cups.
8. Brush the dough with the reserved beaten egg. 
9. Bake the bread for 25 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
10. Allow the bread to cool and store in a zip top bag or freeze for longer storage. 

St. Patrick's Day Corned Beef

One of the most profound things about eating locally is shaking the hand of the person raising your food.  At Miles Smith Farm one of those folks is Carol Soule.  She welcomed us to the farm, showed us to the cows and got hay for us to feed them.  That was when we learned just how long a cows tongue really is!  The boys were so scared of getting licked they refused to feed them! 

Miles Smith cows are pasture raised and well cared for as they enjoy the fresh air and blue skies of New Hampshire.  The care that Carol and her husband provide the cows translates into beef that I trust is safe for my family.  To find local meat in your area visit your local farmers market, health food store, www.localharvest.org or www.eatwild.com. 

Brine dry ingredients

Who needs grocery store corned beef for St. Patrick's Day when you can do it yourself?  Alton Brown's recipe indicates the brisket should brine for 10 days so I'm cheating a little with only seven to spare.  Our point cut brisket is fairly thin and will do fine with a few days less in the brine.  Because of the large size of the brisket I cut it into two pieces - each in their own ziptop bag.

I chose to omit the saltpeter that Alton's recipe includes.  Saltpeter is a nitrate that retains the meat's pink color.  I also wasn't able to find the juniper berries so those were also omitted from my version.  I did hear that Whole Foods carried them but we don't yet have a Whole Foods in NH!

In the coming days I'll post my favorite recipes for corned beef, horseradish sauce, Brussel sprouts and Irish soda bread.  Stay tuned!

Brisket in the brine

Corned Beef Brine

• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into a few pieces
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 12 whole juniper berries
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 lbs of ice
• 1 3lb brisket 

1. Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger.
2. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F.
4. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2-gallon zip top bag and add the brine. Squeeze out any air and seal the bag.  Lay it flat inside a container, cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and stir the brine.
5. Serves 4-6.

Christmas 2011: Homemade and made in the USA - with a Wii

Inspired by the World News series of Made in America, I set out to make our holiday as made in America as possible.  What I quickly realized was that it is very much possible but requires a lot more time and effort.  And forget running out to Target or Walmart as made in the USA does not live on their shelves.

A good amount of shopping for the boys came from www.fatbraintoys.com.  The site allows you to search by gender, age and even country of origin which was a huge help. 

In addition to the bought toys I found a great blog tutorial on making a super hero cape out of a large men's t-shirt.  It looked pretty easy so I gave it a try!  I made a couple of modifications including using heat n' bond to adhere a second layer of fabric to help it stand up more.  I also found super hero t-shirts which allowed me to use the emblem from the front of the shirt as a decal on the back of the cape.  Score!

Wyatt's is Batman and Patrick's is Superman.

A close up of the Velcro closure neck.

Another blogger idea was homemade play doh.  I saved peanut butter jars for the last couple of months and made red, green and "white" play doh.  I embellished a bit by scenting it with peppermint essential oil and dressed up the uncolored doh by folding in glitter after it had cooled.  Add a couple of cookie cutters and voila!  Instant Christmas gift that the boys will love.  Here is a picture and the recipe:

Homemade Play Doh

2 T oil

Food coloring
1 Cup Flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
Essential oil (optional)

Add all ingredients to a saucepan. Cook over low heat until mixture is firm, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat, and set clay mixture on wax paper to cool.
Store in an airtight container.

A couple of surprises - pleasant and otherwise:

• PEZ is made in Connecticut.
• Hershey's giant solid kiss is made in MEXICO.  Hershey, PA?  Anyone?
• Shrinky Dinks are made in the USA and purchased at a Concord, NH small business toy store. 
• Piece Time Puzzles in Nottingham, NH makes their puzzles and will also make a custom photo puzzle with a little notice.  We uploaded a picture from our Cape vacation. 
• Wilson brags about their football line being made in OHIO.  From my research it appears that only the official NFL football is made in Ohio.  The Wilson football line in Walmart were all stamped as made in China.  (I've emailed the company directly as their website indicates that their products are all made in the USA.  I beg to differ.)
• Etsy.com is a wonderful resource!  The boys' 2011 Christmas ornaments are handmade by a woman in Oregon.
• Crayola paint is made in the USA.

And yes, the Wii is NOT made in the USA.  But that's OK... just about everything else I found is.  :-)

Homemade Vanilla Extract

My bottle of store bought Watkins Vanilla extract contains water, alcohol (35%), vanilla extract and glucose.  One ounce costs something like $4.99.  I use a lot of vanilla, especially at this time of the year and having seen an idea to make my own vanilla I jumped at the chance.  It's amazingly easy and I found many variations on blogs everywhere.  The supplies you need can be purchased online and at the liquor store:

• Glass bottles and tops
• Madagascar Vanilla beans
• Vodka

The ratio of beans to vodka I settled on was 3 beans to 1 cup of vodka.  My bottles are 16 ounces so I used 6 beans for each bottle.  Sterilize your bottles in boiling water and wash the caps well (don't boil if they are plastic).  On a cutting board cut off the tip of each bean and split it down the center.  Add the beans to the bottles and cover with vodka. 

Tighten the lid on the bottle and store in a cool, dry place for 3-6 months.  Shake the bottle occasionally. 

Here's a comparison picture of the day I made the vanilla and 7 days later - it darkens quickly and smells wonderful!

I'll probably add a label (with a "don't use until" date) and ribbon and make them prettier though they do look pretty wonderful now!  I've already given one away so I'm glad I have extra bottles and beans. 

Specialty bottle sells various sizes of bottles - the smaller size bottles would make wonderful stocking presents or Yankee swap gifts.  Enjoy as vanilla extract or vanilla cocktail - you decide!