pineapple-coconut bars.

We had a baking afternoon with tropical flavors. The recipe, from the Tassajara Cookbook, makes a moist sweet cake-like bar. We were reading about pineapple and coconut in a book about elephants, so this tied in with our theme!

ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. almond extract
3/4 c. unbleached flour (I used organic whole wheat white)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. flaked unsweetened coconut
8 oz. crushed pineapple (you can use a can, but I had fresh)

directions:
In a big bowl, beat the gutter and sugar together until creamy. Add in the eggs and almond extract. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture until well blended. Stir in coconut and pineapple.

Spread the mixture into a greased & floured 9x9 square baking dish. Bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes or when top springs back to touch. Let cool.

egg salad.

Those sandwich rolls I baked? They are great with egg salad. My "egg lady" had many more eggs this week. Happy hens - they sure lay good eggs. And the fresh sprouts on top? YUM!

This egg salad is from a recipe in The Garden of Eating with the normal Denise tweaks.

egg salad

ingredients::
1 dozen hard boiled eggs, crumbly
2 tsp stone ground mustard
1/4 tsp turmeric or yellow curry powder
1/4 tsp ground chipotle
1 tsp ground sea salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp great quality apple cider vinegar
1/2 c good quality real mayonnaise* (natural or homemade)
Freshly cut chives, if available.

*you can substitute tahini instead of mayonnaise

Mix it all together. Tweak to your personal taste!

sandwich rolls.

I have fresh sprouts, I made fresh egg salad from our extra eggs this week, and so I had to make sandwich rolls! I made six rolls out of the dough--for smaller buns make 8. I used the bread machine for the knead and first rise cycle. You can knead and rise by hand-the first cycle would be about 45 minutes to rise before cutting into individual rolls.

ingredients::
Dough makes 6-8 sandwich rolls

1/2 c milk
1/2 c water
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
3 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
1 Tbsp melted coconut oil (or use add'l butter)
2 tsp raw sugar (or can subst. honey, agave, etc.)
1/4 c ground flax seed
3 c whole wheat flour
3 tsp gluten
1 tsp fine ground sea salt
2 tsp yeast

optional::
egg wash & toasted sesame seeds

Place the ingredients in the bread machine according to your machine instructions. Program for the dough cycle and press start. Run only through the knead and 1 rise on the machine.

Parchment-line a baking sheet (or lightly grease). After the 1st rising cycle ends immediately remove the dough and place on a lightly floured work surface. Cut the dough into 6 or 8 equal parts. Gently form the rolls into rounds/balls. Place the rolls on the baking sheet at least 1 inch apart. For sesame seeds -- mix an egg wash, brush on dough rolls, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.


Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375º F.
Place the baking sheet on a rack in the center of the oven and bake until lightly browned, for 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven and cool before slicing.


tip::
You can make these rolls using soaked whole grain flour. Here is how.

cider...3 months later.

After 3 months of natural fermentation, our cider was (finally) ready for bottling. We did it last night. Only a few more weeks to go! My husband blogged about it here.

sprouted grain bread.

Today we made bread using the sprouted grains we started on Friday. I tweaked the recipe a little to get a lighter loaf than I have gotten in the past using sprouts--and this came out just right. Since my boys help with bread making I use a bread machine.


ingredients::
1 cup sprouted grains (I used a mix which included organic wheat, rye, barley, triticale, oats, spelt, kamut, quinoa, sesame, millet and amaranth)
about 1 c milk (see note in directions*)
1/2 c + 3 Tbsp water (tweaked)
3 c whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp organic brown sugar (can also use honey, agave, etc.)
2 Tbsp softened butter
1 Tbsp softened coconut oil (you could also just use more butter)
2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp yeast
>>optional...2Tbsp vital wheat gluten


directions::
Blend sprouted grains in a food processor until they are a course meal. Measure 1 cup of the ground grains into a large cup measure. Leaving the grains in the cup, pour fresh room temp milk over the grains to the 1 cup mark* (This compensates for liquid present in fresh sprouted grains). Place this mix into the bread machine pan. Measure the 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp room temp water and add that into the bread machine also. Add the rest of the ingredients into the machine pan in the order your bread machine recommends. Select the wheat cycle and light crust.

Check your pan during the knead cycle--with the sprouts I find I need to run a rubber spatula in a few times to get everything together.

The bread has a great rich nutty flavor and not much crumb. Very good! The boys love it warm, with fresh butter and honey.

sprouting.

Today our new sprouter and sprouting seeds arrived. We like to sprout grains for breadmaking, and wanted a convenient sprouter to use. The combo we selected for bread is called Amber Waves of Grain. It is a mix of organic wheat, rye, barley, triticale, oats, spelt, kamut, quinoa, sesame, millet and amaranth. I think this might be the first recipe we use with this combination. These books also have some good recipes:

The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor



Can't Wait!

japanese foods that heal.

Japanese Foods That Heal: Using Traditional Ingredients to Promote Health, Longevity & Well-being
by Jan Belleme




Those of you who are interested in TF should check out this book. While I am by no means a TF (Traditional Foods) expert, my experiences and reading lead me to find many tie ins with traditional foods and the 18 key ingredients in this book.

For us, buying local ingredients is important. We try to purchase local veggies, meats, and dairy - and being in such a rich farm area, we can do that much of the year. There are always going to be certain things we buy that are not local -- citrus, spices, coffee/tea, salt, vitamins, etc. In pursuing our interest in traditional foods, those concepts also tie in with our eat local goals - as the base ingredients should be and can easily be what is available here, and the other items we purchase using quality/organics as much as we can for the full benefit.

Japanese Foods That Heal goes through key traditional ingredients of Japan which evolved into the diet historically due to their health benefits. Now, the authors admit most Japanese no longer eat this way, but there are still companies who are preserving centuries old traditions and methods to produce these ingredients (very cool!).

There are 18 ingredients in the book - including miso, sesame oil, tamari, amazake, kuzu, brown rice vinegar, noodles, tofu, and sea vegetables, to name a few. Each chapter is dedicated to one item, and covers the history, traditional harvest and preparation, health benefits, recipes, and how to find/buy here in the US.

It is a great resource book, has interesting information and history, and ties in so many of the things I have read in the current traditional foods and fermentation books that it all just clicked. Definitely a good read.