Whole Wheat Bread

I've been baking bread for nearly 40 years now (yikes!) and the very first loaf I made was whole wheat, and very successful -- which is probably what launched me into years of bread-baking. Over the years I've tried a lot of whole wheat recipes: liked most, didn't like a few, and have had various favorites. This is my current favorite, a basic recipe that, like many bread recipes, can be treated a variety of ways. It's easy and yields two medium loaves. You can make one with additions, as I did here, or just enjoy the simple, tender goodness as is!


WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Ingredients

• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. honey
• 2 t. salt
• 1/3 c. butter
• 1 c. warm water
• 2 T. yeast
• 1/2 t. soda
• about 6 cups flour (I use all whole wheat)

Method

Heat the buttermilk and butter gently until butter is melted; add sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in water and add to lukewarm buttermilk mixture. Combine 3 c. flour and soda; mix. Add liquid ingredients to flour, mix well, then stir in rest of flour and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turn, cover (I used a damp, wrung-out towel), place somewhere warm, and let rise until double -- about 45 minutes. Punch down, divide in half, knead lightly, shape into loaves, and place in greased loaf pans. Cover again and let rise again.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Bottoms will sound hollow when done. Brush tops with butter, milk, or water to keep crust soft. Cool on rack, if you can stand to wait, then slice and savor!

Variations

I mixed 1 c. of golden raisins and 1 c. of walnuts with a generous amount of cinnamon; rolled one loaf out fairly thin (about 1/3" or so), covered with nut mixture, and rolled loaf tightly before placing in pan. Yum!

Another filling, on the savory side: rosemary, butter, green onions, chopped.

You can also make this into rolls. It makes good sandwich buns, too -- especially if you add a generous amount of sauteed onions with a little celery seed, sage optional.

No matter how you vary it, this is a tender loaf with a fine grain that slices well. It has a slight tang from the buttermilk and is perfect with just about anything.

Bake, cook, eat, dance, love!

As American as...

... apple pie!

I was thinking about the 4th and foods that seem part of the 4th: anything barbecue, fried chicken (just not KFC, thank you very much!), potato salad, coleslaw, lemonade, deviled eggs; the list could go on and on, and of course the list will vary for everyone. Me, I couldn't help thinking of apple pie. It's a cliché, yes, and maybe it's not a summer pie, but still, for me it fits. Then I looked at the fresh local blueberries in my 'fridge... and voila! A combination of summer and as-American-as, for your eating pleasure.

APPLE BLUEBERRY PIE

crust ingredients

• 3 c. unbleached flour*
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 c. shortening
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) frozen butter, cut into 6-8 pieces
• 1/2 c. ice cold water. Measure precisely in a liquid measure cup.

method

Place all ingredients into food processor except water. Pulse until crumbs form. Add water all at once and process for 15-30 seconds, or until it begins to form a ball. Do not over-process or crust will be tough.

Remove from processor; wrap and refrigerate until filling is ready and oven is preheated.

*I used 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour in place of the same amount of unbleached. I really only like whole wheat crusts for savory pies, as they tend to be a bit heavier and chewier and not nearly as flaky, but this amount of whole wheat flour was too small to weigh the crust down, and I was determined to add a little bit of health. Not enough to counterbalance all the fat and unbleached flour, I know! but a little bit is better than none.


filling ingredients

• 4-5 c. thinly sliced, peeled apples (whatever fills your pie pan)
  
• 1 generous c. blueberries
• 3 T. cornstarch
• 2/3 c. sugar
• cinnamon
• 1+ T. crystallized ginger
• 3 T. butter, cut into pieces
  

method

Combine all ingredients except butter. I like to allow pie filling ingredients to sit awhile to blend and get some of the fruit juices running but this isn't necessary.


Preheat oven to 425 F.

Roll out and fit bottom crust to fit your pie pan. Roll top crust to have ready as soon as filling goes in.

When oven is hot, pour filling into crust, top with butter, top with the top crust, seal edges, make a pretty design in the crust with a knife to let the steam out, and pop into the hot oven.

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30-45 minutes more. Remove from oven and allow to cool on rack.

(The initial hot oven helps keep the bottom crust from getting too soggy, as does cooling on a rack with air circulation under the bottom of the pie.)

The blueberries bleed as they cook and turn the whole pie... blue! Very 4th of July, no?


Slice and enjoy.

(A scoop of vanilla ice cream doesn't hurt.)

Happy 4th! and while you're lighting fireworks, don't forget to cook, eat, dance, love!

Bonnie Shortbread

There are many, many recipes for shortbread, but this one -- a Scottish shortbread recipe -- is one of the simplest and, as is often the case with simple recipes, one of the best. Give it a try for melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness.



SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD

Ingredients

• 1 c. (1/2 pound) unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 6 T. cornstarch
• 2 1/2 c. unbleached flour
  

Method

Drop everything into the food processor, give it some short pulses until the ingredients start to blend, then let it whir until the dough begins to gather up a bit.

Press onto a non-stick cookie sheet: you can do 2 circles (8-9" each), or about an 8x10" rectangle. (You can also use a regular baking sheet with parchment paper). I ran the rolling pin lightly over the top to smooth it but that's not necessary. Prick all over with a fork.

Bake at 300 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until top is firm when pressed and edges are very light golden. Remove from oven. If desired, sprinkle top lightly with a little more sugar. Carefully cut into wedges or squares by pressing down with a knife or spatula edge (do not draw knife across cookie, simply press down to cut), then let cookies cool on baking sheet.

Grab a bowl of fresh summer fruit and a piece of shortbread, and sink into buttery heaven!


Notes

Warning: these are very rich -- a little goes a long way!

Although the recipe doesn't call for flavoring, this might be really good with a little lemon zest and some lemon extract... or almond...

Whatever you might try, always cook, eat, dance, love!

The Perfect Pancake

I know a title like that is just itchin' for a fight, but the title isn't mine -- it's the title of the magazine article where I first found the recipe -- and anyway, while this recipe may not be your idea of perfection, it's been my favorite pancake recipe for over 20 years, so I'll stand by the title. It's certainly perfect to me.

I found the recipe back when I subscribed to Country Journal magazine, tried it almost immediately, and made it for overnight company many times, with frequent requests for the recipe. Quite simply, I love it, and others seemed to like it as well.

So of course I was very unhappy when I was looking for it one day about 5 years ago and couldn't find it.

I no longer had the magazine because I'd written the recipe on a card. I immediately searched through my entire card file and then began leafing through my cookbooks, thinking I might have stuck it in one as a bookmark.

No luck.

I tried to remember exactly who might have the recipe from my sharing it.

No luck.

I searched the Internet.

No luck.

Finally, I began looking at pancake recipes with a similar ingredient list, mainly looking at recipes that had cornmeal, oats, and whole wheat flour. I remembered that much so I figured I could come up with something close, either with another recipe, or by experimenting a little.

But it's bothered me that I didn't have the recipe, I was never quite satisfied with "substitutes," and today, thinking of pancakes, I decided to try another Internet search. Things get posted all the time, so it was certainly possible that it had been posted since I last looked. Hope springs eternal, and all that.

Googled "Country Journal pancake recipe."

And there it was.

Someone else had been looking for it and submitted a request to the Hartford Courant's recipe request column. And someone else saw the request and replied.

Thank you, reader who requested it. Thank you, reader who saw the request and replied (others replied with the same recipe, so I'm obviously not the only one who thought this was a keeper!). Thank you, Hartford Courant, for publishing all of it. Thank you, Country Journal, for printing the original recipe in January 1987. And thank you, woman who shared the recipe with Country Journal and started all this. I wish I could remember her name to give her credit. Maybe someone will see this and share it with me.

I know what I'm having for dinner tonight. But before I head to the kitchen...


OATMEAL-WALNUT GRIDDLE CAKES

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter (cooled) or oil

Method

Combine dry ingredients, including walnuts, in a large bowl and mix. In separate bowl, beat eggs, lightly, then blend in remaining liquids.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add liquids all at once. Blend with a few deft strokes. Let sit 10 minutes, then cook on a hot griddle. Makes about 15, 5-inch cakes.


Notes

Letting the batter sit 10 minutes or so really is important. The flour absorbs some liquid and makes the batter thicker.

Adjust the liquids or flour to your liking for thinner or thicker pancakes.

This recipe is perfect as is, but over time I tried different versions... the biggest change being that I omitted the walnuts. Really great with them, but if you don't have them, substitute other nuts (toasted pecans... yum!) or leave them out. Since they don't absorb liquid, the omission never affected the batter.

One of the reasons I like this recipe is that it calls for milk rather than buttermilk. I rarely have buttermilk on hand and appreciate not having to sour milk. And, for those who can't have milk at all, I found the recipe worked just as well with soy milk or even water, with no noticeable change in flavor or texture.

I also got to where I left the honey out. After all, you're probably putting maple syrup on them anyway, so they really don't need the sweetener. And the whole grain flour makes them slightly sweet. But you can use the honey, or molasses, or even brown or some other sugar. You may have to make slight (very slight) adjustments to the fluid content of the recipe but pancake batter is fairly forgiving.

I generally used 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (regular or pastry, both work) and left out the unbleached flour.

You can also add whatever fruit you like to the batter. A good fall apple, peeled, chopped, and tossed in, is perfect with what is already perfection.

Don't forget the 100% pure, warm maple syrup.

And don't forget to cook, eat, dance, love!

Sweet Potato Salad with Maple Dressing

Simple, easy, and a nice complex of sweet and tart flavors...


SWEET POTATO SALAD WITH MAPLE DRESSING

Ingredients:

Dressing

• 2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 T. pure maple syrup
• 2 T. orange juice concentrate (not diluted)
• 2 T. balsamic vinegar
• 1 T. fresh lemon juice
• 2 t. minced peeled fresh ginger
• dash ground cinnamon
• pinch ground nutmeg

Salad

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes
• 1/4 c. diced red onion
• 1/4 c. pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c. golden raisins

Method:

Cut sweet potatoes into large chunks and cook in boiling water just until tender. This step is important -- don't overcook the potatoes. They should be barely tender when you pierce them with a knife.

While potatoes are cooking, whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside.

When done, drain potatoes in colander and cool under cold running water until you can handle chunks to peel. Slip skins off. Cut potatoes into bite-size pieces.

Place potatoes in bowl; add remaining salad ingredients, then toss all lightly with the dressing.

Serve immediately or later -- either way, a nice twist on sweet potatoes!

Notes:

Excellent served as a salad alone or on lettuce leaves; as a light meal on top of cold cooked brown rice; or as a side dish with a grain-based dish such as rice balls with mushroom gravy.

And always, cook, eat, dance, love!