German Style Sourdough Bread

Stage One: the Mother.  3 or 4 hours. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 TBSP fresh sourdough starter

1/4 cup rye flour

1/4 cup lukewarm water. 

(The target ratio is 1:4:4)

INSTRUCTIONS: 

• Mix together (with a long spoon) in a pint Mason jar. Set lid on very loosely. leave in a reasonably warm space (room temperature) for 3 or 4 hours or until it doubles or triples in size. 

Stage Two: Raising. 14 or so hours. 

INGREDIENTS: 

All of the mother from above. 

1 cup rye flour. 

1 cup lukewarm water. 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

• Mix this together well in a very large mixing bowl. Cover loosely (maybe a dish towel). Let it raise for 14 hours or so. It will double in size or so. 

• IMPORTANT: After raising, take off 2 TBSP of the mix to a clear pint Mason jar, and store it in the refrigerator (up to a week) for the next bake. (Feed the starter if longer than a week or so.)

Stage Three: Third Leaven. 3 or 4 hours. 

INGREDIENTS: 

All of the above (except the starter for the next bake)

3 cups rye flour (or mix rye/spelt flour)

2 cups lukewarm water

INSTRUCTIONS: 

• Mix all together in the same large mixing bowl. Cover again for approximately 3 hours of additional raising time.

Stage Four: Bread Dough.  10 minutes mix, 10 minutes rest.

INGREDIENTS: 

All of the Third Leaven. 

4 cups rye flour (or mix of rye and other flours: spelt, whole wheat or white)

2 TBSP salt

1 cup warm water (adjust as necessary)

OPTIONAL: add flavorings. Options include: 

2 TBSP fennel seed. 

2 TBSP caraway seed. 

2 TBSP anise seed.

1 TBSP coriander seed. 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

• Mix ingredients together. Divide dough in half for two loafs. On a floured board, stretch and fold the dough (do not knead) for 10 or 15 minutes to build the gluten. Keep one side at the top; do not turn the top to the bottom. Rest the loaves, covered, for 15 - 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. 

Stage 5: Baking. An hour or more. 

• Cover a half sheet pan with parchment and dust a little flour on top. Set both loaves on baking pan. NB: if you rest the loaf with the smooth side up, then bake smooth side down, letting the folded edges of the other side shape the top of the loaf. If you rest the loaf smooth side down, then make a few interesting cuts in the top of the smooth loaf top before baking. 

Comment: Let the loaves rest a few more minutes here while the oven finishes preheating. 

Add a (metal) tray or shallow bowl of hot water to the second shelf (preferred). Alternatively, throw in a quarter cup of hot water before closing the oven door on the bread during baking.

Bake at 500 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes. After this, remove the tray of water, reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until tapping on the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow. If needed, bake an additional 10 minutes. (NB: we needed that additional 10 minutes in our kitchen.)

Remove and let rest for at least 10 or 15 minutes before slicing. 

Famous Family Meatloaf

Ingredients

2 large eggs

¾ cup milk

⅔ cup fine dry bread crumbs

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 TBSP finely chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried leaf sage or 1½ tsp fresh sage, finely chopped

⅛ tsp black pepper

1½ pounds lean ground beef, lamb, or pork

¼ cup ketchup

2 TBSP packed brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

INSTRUCTIONS 

• In a medium bowl combine beaten eggs and milk; stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, sage, and pepper. Add ground meat. Using clean hands, mix lightly until well-combined. Lightly pat mixture into an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan.

• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees.  Spoon off fat.

• Combine ketchup, sugar, and mustard in a clean bowl; spread over meat. Bake for 10 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into eight or ten slices. 

NB: This is the meatloaf from our kids' childhood. Lots of memories. Traditionally served with freshly made applesauce and freshly mashed potatoes. 

Purple Kraut Bierock

My brother introduced me to Bierock. It was good, so I had to try it out. 

I did some not insubstantial research on the subject. I guess the recipe comes from a group of Germans who lived in the mist of Russia for a century or two. 

It seems that sometimes it's made with fresh cabbage, and sometimes with sauerkraut. And I had some sauerkraut, some purple sauerkraut. 

Ingredients

    4 or 5 oz Ground beef

    3 or 4 oz Sausage 

    ½ Purple onion, thinly sliced

    2 lg Garlic cloves, minced

    ½ tsp. Smoked paprika

    Dash Cayenne (or other hot pepper) 

    ½ tsp. Cumin

    3 or 4 oz. Shredded cheese

    8 oz. Homemade sauerkraut

    2 cans Buttermilk Biscuits 8 biscuits)

    All purpose flour, as needed

Instructions

    Sauté meatf with onion, garlic, paprika, hot and cumin until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.  

    Drain the excess fat and allow the meat to cool. Preheat the oven to 350F, shred the cheese, drain the sauerkraut.

    Gently mix together the ground beef mixture, shredded cheese and sauerkraut in a large bowl.

    Roll out each biscuit to 6" circle on a floured surface. Moisten perimeter. Place ⅛ of the filling in the center of each biscuit and fold up the sides like a steam bun to seal. 

    Place uncooked bierocks, seam side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 17 - 19 minutes, or until golden. Allow the bierocks to cool on a wired baking rack for 2 - 3 minutes before consuming. Enjoy!

----

Comment: These need more seasoning. Be generous with salt & pepper, and don't be afraid of the hot pepper (but don't get carried away either). Consider doubling paprika and cumin. 

Reheat in toaster oven (modest heat) or microwave. Needs ketchup or ranch dressing or such. 

Experimenting with Fermenting

I did some pickles last month. Someone suggested I try fermenting, too. 
 
So here are my first fermenting experiments. 
 

 
Late September:  

  • (3) jars of red sauerkraut. Red because we had some red cabbages to use. Added coriander because the first recipe I consulted said to. Probably too much. 

  • (1) jar of sweet onions, with a couple of lemons squeezed in to complicate the flavor. 

Early October: 

  • (1) jar Scotch bonnet peppers

  • (1) jar lemon drop peppers, with a little bit of dried lemon peel. 

  • (1) jar cucumber spears with some pickling spices and some fresh dill. Supposedly this will make fermented dill pickles. 

 

September’s Dill Pickles

This made: 3 pints dill pickles, 2 pints pickled onions plus 1 pint extra brine. 

Preparation:
• Wash all the jars (dishwasher, hot setting). Sterilize lids in a pan of boiling/simmering water.


Brine:
2 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
2 cups filtered water
2 TBSP coarse, uniodized salt
4 tsp table sugar


► Simmer (or boil), stirring, until it’s all dissolved.


Pickle Spears, in each jar:
1 small (or ½ large) head fresh dill, or dill gone to seed.
1 clove garlic, halved.
2 very small bay leaves.
1 tsp pickling spices
• Lots of cucumbers, sliced lengthwise. (I used 4 standard sized cucumbers, sliced into eights plus 4 very small cucumbers, halved.)


Optional:
• Maybe add some spears of bell pepper, or of a warmer pepper, or some pepper flakes, or some onion slices.


Pickled Onions, in each jar:
1 small (or ½ large) head fresh dill, or dill gone to seed.
1 clove garlic, halved.
2 very small bay leaves.
1 tsp pickling spices
• Slice a (red) onion very thin (⅛”), then quartered. Separate the sections. (I didn’t have enough red onion for 2 pints, so one pint is mostly red onion and ⅓ sweet onion, mixed together.)

► Put all the spices in the bottom of the jar. Fill the jar (pretty tight) with onion slices, leaving about ½” clear at the top. Fill with brine to ½” from the top. Wipe the rim, add lid, add ring, only modestly finger-tight. Then boil them in a hot water bath for at least 10 minutes.


► If you have a significant amount of extra brine (I had about a pint extra), pour the boiling liquid in a jar to ½” from the top. Wipe the rim, add lid, add ring, only modestly finger-tight. Then boil them in a hot water bath for at least 10 minutes.

Dill Pickles

My very first attempt at making pickles. I grew pickling cucumbers and the herb dill this year especially for making pickles.

The one on the right is one cup of white vinegar, one tablespoon of salt, enough pickles to fill up a jar, if you sprigs of fresh dill, and two small cloves of garlic, sliced in half, crammed down in between things.

When I finished that one, I needed to expand my options.

The one on the left is a cup of white vinegar, a tablespoon of salt, two small cloves of garlic sliced in half , bunch of Dill cram down in between the pickles , and a teaspoon or so of herb de Provence.

In both cases, I boiled the vinegar long enough to fully dissolve the salt, and I poured it over a cucumbers in the jar, slapped a canning lid and the jar lid on top. I let it sit on the counter for a couple of hours until it cooled off, then it went into the refrigerator. 

Space Jam©

Space Jam©: Left to right: Rhubarb,
Citrus (mixture of lemon and orange)
and Strawberry, plus T&G Powder

I've been making some dried fruit powder, and making Space Jam© out of it.

• Dehydrate fresh fruit until it's really dry and crisp.

• grind it to powder. 

I store the powder in the freezer but i mix some in shaker spice jars.

1:1 mixture of fruit powder and sugar free powdered sweetener. 

Serving: spread peanut butter on a cracker, shake Space Jam© on top to taste. It's pretty darned good, but none of the carbs or calories of sugar. 

I took this mixture on a family campout, and my niece decided this needed to be called Space Jam©. So it's Space Jam© now. 

Also: roast tomatoes with fresh garlic. Dehydrate completely. Grind to powder for T&G (Tomato & Garlic) powder. Still working on the best application for this one. 

NB: Rhubarb, Lemons, Tomatoes and Garlic from my own garden. Strawberries from Spooners. Oranges from the produce department.

NB: Apricot Space Jam© is not worth the effort. Needs a fruit with some zing. Going to try Raspberry and Blackberry soon.