Recipe Review from 11/1/10

Tis the season to make bread again!  I actually started a couple weekends ago with a simple recipe I've made before to get back into the groove of things.  From Bernard Claytons New Complete Book of Bread, which has become one of my three bread bibles:  The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum; The Bread Bible by Beth Hensberger and Bernard Claytons.  Four actually, I forgot Michael Ruhlman's Ratio.   I did manage to run out of bread flour, whole wheat flour and AP flour all at the same time, but a trip to Cub and the co-op fixed that, and then some.  We picked up some Buckwheat flour, Oat Flour and Rye flour to add to our future creations.

Because Clayton's recipes are rather on the wordy side (not complicated, just well written), I'm only going to write the titles and the blurbs:

Rich White Bread (pg 41)- Rich in milk, butter, sugar and eggs, it is deserving of its name.  The loaf is big and plump.  A slice is white and nicely textured.  Toasts beautifully.  Great sandwich bread, as well.

I subbed half WW flour and made it a rich blend bread. 

Egg Harbor Bread.  This delicious Amish white bread was brought to the village of Egg Harbor, on the shores of Lake Michigan, by Kathryn Zeller when she came from Ohio to start Butter and Eggs, a fine bakery-deli in this Door County resort community.   The bakery is in an old granary building, and is run solely by the Zellars.  The entire family pitches in during the summer vacations, and then it is back to school in Athens, Ohio where some teach and some attend.  As with so many French boulangers who live over the family-run-bakery, the Zellers live in an apartment above Butter and Eggs.  "At least it's close when I go downstairs at two in the morning to begin my day," Kathyrn says.  Vacationers returning home take with them baskets of the Egg Harbor loaf to freeze and to please family during winter months.  While most breads rise (or proof) only 2 times, this bread gets its texture and lightness from 5 risings in a covered bowl plus one in the loaf pan.

I thought 5 risings would be a pain in the patooie, but it wasn't so bad.  They are in 15 minute increments so I had time to go work on other things and come back when the beeper went off.  The hard part was remembering to reset the timer in between.  Made two beautiful loaves.

Creamy Root Vegetable Stew  (Ckng Lght, Oct 2010)

This was for lunches during the week.  What appealed to me about this recipe was the root vegetable versitility.  Even though it doesn't call for carrots, I could use them instead of the sweet potatoes as called for.  The only thing I needed to buy for this was the turnip and potato.  I also skipped the putting it in a blender silliness - just used my immersion blender until it was the desired thickness.  This would be great for company as it would feed a substantial crowd.   This could be made vegan by skipping the cream at the end.

Creamy Root Vegetable Stew

Pair this rustic stew with a green salad. You can prepare it up to three days ahead.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups stew and 2 crostini)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, divided

2 1/2 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled Yukon gold potato (about 1 pound)

2 1/4 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled rutabaga (about 3/4 pound)

2 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled turnip

1 1/4 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled parsnip (about 1/2 pound)
2 cups organic vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and 2 teaspoons rosemary; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in potato and next 5 ingredients (through 2 cups water). Bring to a simmer; cook, covered, 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

2. Place 3 cups vegetable mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Return to pan. Stir in cream, pepper, and salt.

Wild Rice Dressing with Cranberries  (Ckng Lght, Nov 2010)

This was a potential test run for Christmas dinner with the family.  I have a Sib who is allergic to a substantial number of foods and with a couple substitutions, I have have a great side dish. I used water chestnuts for bottled chestnuts (not sure if she can eat these nuts and I couldn't find them anyway). I also halved the recipe - and it still made a ton.  Served it with the fish below.

Wild Rice Dressing with Cranberries

The nutty, almost smoky flavor of wild rice pairs beautifully with game birds and other poultry.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

Ingredients
2 cups uncooked wild rice
2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth  used vegetable broth
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 1/2 cups whole roasted bottled chestnuts  used sliced water chestnuts
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups halved lengthwise and thinly sliced carrot

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion

1 1/4 cups thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons minced fresh sage

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine rice, broth, 2 cups water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally. (Do not drain.) Place rice in a large bowl; cover.

3. Arrange chestnuts on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Cool slightly; cut chestnuts into quarters.  Skipped.  Subbed water chestnuts.

4. Place cranberries in a small bowl; cover with hot water. Let stand 20 minutes or until soft. Drain and add to rice.  Skipped.  Really not necessary - just toss in with rest of ingredients.  Steam from rice will plump them up a bit.

5. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add carrot, onion, and celery; cook 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in herbs; remove from heat. Add to rice mixture. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, chestnuts, and pepper.

6. Spoon rice mixture into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 400° for 10

minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Perfect Salmon  (America's Favorite Fish Recipes Ckbk)

Okay, I needed a different salmon recipe than the maple glazed one I've used the last two times and the southwestern chili rub I think I used the time before that.  Resorting to the handy Midwestern Fish Recipe style cookbook we received as a gift, I found this recipe.  Simple, quick, just what I needed.  EXCEPT!  I had no mayo!  I ended up consulting Michael Ruhlman's blog on how to make my own. 

Perfect Salmon

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 1/4 cup green onions  (other onion works fine too)

1 tsp prepared mustard

2 1/4 lbs salmon (or other fillet) skin on

1/4 tsp garlic powder

salt

pepper

1.Preheat grill to 350*

2. Combine first three ingredients. Sprinkle fillet with salt and pepper.  Spread mayo mixture over fillet and sprinkle with garlic powder.  Grill until fish is done and flakes easily with a fork. 

Mayo!!!

Quite a while back Michael Ruhlman did a video on Deviled Eggs, in which he pontificates about making your own mayo.  He says, quite bluntly, IT'S EASY!  Now Julia Child has also said the same thing.  Yet, I hesitated, until...I needed mayo.  I had eggs.  I oil.  I have an immersion blender.  A whisk would have worked as well, but I needed my mayo NOW. 

Take one egg white (or more) and put in a small bowl.  Start beating.

Add some salt for taste.

Start to slowly drizzle in oil.  Keep beating until egg and oil emulsify, or, in layman's terms, looks like mayo.

Season to taste.

That's it.  I had officially made my own mayo in about 5 minutes (there was a fair amount of consulting the video).  Next time I could do it under three.