Homestead Favorites
Honey Whole Wheat Bread made with Freshly Milled Flour
3 c., or 6 oz of warm water
4 c. freshly milled hard red winter
wheat flour
6-7 c. organic bread flour
6 T. honey
3 tsp. salt
4 T. salted butter
4 tsp. yeast
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Dissolve yeast into warm water, mix and let sit for 5 minutes until bubbles begin to develop. Add honey, butter, flours and then salt. With mixer, knead together well until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add a little more flour if necessary to achieve this, but don't add too much or your bread will be dense. For more experienced bakers, mix until you reach the window pane stage.
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Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size. About an 45 minutes to an hour. Once doubled, punch down and let rest for a few minutes, Divide dough, shape, then put into greased 5x9" bread pans. Preheat oven to 350*. Once dough has doubled a second time, put in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 195*. Cool for 30 minutes before cutting. Cool completely before putting it into a plastic bag. Freezes well, too!
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Makes 2 loaves
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Perfect amount of warm and nutty and sweetness. This bread is soft and is ideal for sandwiches, morning toast, and french toast.
Crisp, Flavorful Buttermilk Belgian Waffles
2 eggs
2 cups whole buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 T. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 T. sugar
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Beat together the egg yolks, buttermilk, oil and vanilla to combine. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt, set aside. Combine egg white with sugar, whip into stiff peaks.
Stir in the buttermilk mixture (make sure batter is still a little lumpy. FOLD in egg whites--be careful not to deflate them.
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Pour batter into preheated waffle maker and set your timer for 2 minutes, checking on them along the way to get the feel of your griddle.
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Makes 6 waffles
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Note: Substitute extra virgin coconut oil for the vegetable oil for a healthier option.
Pass the maple syrup please! These flavorful waffles are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Enjoy them with your favorite fruit toppings, too!
Easy and Amazing Artisan Bread, a.k.a. Cheater Sour Dough bread
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 T. yeast
1 1/2 T. Kosher salt or coarse salt
6 1/2 cups flour; half bread, half all-purpose flour.
*May add or substitute wheat flour for variety.
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Combine yeast and salt, add to water. Add all flour at once to yeast mixture. Mix until uniformly moist, no dry patches. Let rise, for 2 hours, loosely covered, until it collapses.
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Refrigerate for an hour or two for easier handling, or lightly dust dough with flour.
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On a piece of parchment paper, place a shaped-grapefruit sized, rounded batch of dough. Rounded and tightened to underside.
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Preheat baking stone in oven at 450 degrees for at least 20 minutes.
Just before baking, sprinkle dough with flour and using a serrated knife, cut slits into top of dough. Place dough onto parchment paper and place onto stone.
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Place pan underneath stone and pour 1 cup of water into it and close oven door. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a deep golden brown . Pull out and let sit , you will hear crackling (or singing!) as it cools.
Love the taste of sour dough, but are short of time? Give this recipe a try!
Browned Butter Brussels Sprouts
12 oz brussels sprouts
1 T. olive oil
4 T. unsalted butter
2 T. maple syrup
2 T. pecans
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Place pecans on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant-3 minutes. Chop small. Trim the wooded end of the sprouts and slice in half. Toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place sprouts, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Roast for 15-20 minutes until browned.
When sprouts have about 5 minutes left to cook, heat a skillet to medium heat. Place butter in skillet and whisk as it begins to melt. Continue to whisk. Butter should froth up. Once it does, let it set. You should begin to notice it is taking on a golden brown color and beg to smell very nutty. Be very careful not to burn. Once it is aromatic, remove from heat.
Stir in maple syrup and pecans. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Toss in cooked sprouts in sauce.
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Serves 4
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Adapted from Justapinch.com
Where "healthy" changes to "treat" with the help of sweet maple syrup, drippy butter and crunchy pecans!
Simple Roasted Asparagus
1 bunch of asparagus (about 1-1.5 pounds)
extra virgin olive oil
Kosher, or table, salt
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Parmesan cheese (optional)
Heat oven to 425. Grease or line 10x15 rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Wash and prepare asparagus by cutting off the tough end of the stalk. You can easily find where the tender part ends and tough part begins by bending the stalk gently, waiting for a snap. (Where it breaks apart is usually a good indicator of where the tough part of the stalk began.)
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Next, lay the stalks on the pan and lightly drizzle the olive oil over them and sprinkle them with salt.
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Roast in oven for 15-20 minutes, or until tender and begin seeing a little browning on the stalks. Add some grated Parmesan cheese upon taking asparagus out of the oven.
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Serves 4-6
This savory side dish is easy, tasty and full of fresh spring flavor!
Creamy Potato Soup
This soup, commonly referred to "Soup-er Bowl Soup" in our family is so good that it's frequently requested by our kids, from oldest to youngest alike!
6 cups diced Russet potatoes
(about 5 medium potatoes cut into 3/4" cubes
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
1 1/4 cups peeled and sliced carrots
1 cup diced celery (2 stalks)
2 14.5 oz. cans of low sodium chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream
Add veggies and broth to pot: Combine diced potatoes, carrots, celery and onions with chicken broth in a large pot and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to boil: Cover pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (it will take about 10 minutes to reach a boil).
Let simmer until tender: Once it reaches a boil reduce heat to medium and continue to cook about 15 – 20 minutes longer until potatoes are very soft when pierced with a fork.
Prepare white sauce in separate pan: Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat, add flour and cook for 1 minute while whisking constantly. While whisking, slowly add milk and cook, stirring constantly until mixture begins thicken.
Combine mixtures: Once potatoes are soft add thickened milk mixture to potato soup mixture and stir (potatoes should start breaking down into soup, if not cook a few minutes longer).
Stir in sour cream: Add sour cream and mix well.
Finish with toppings if desired: Ladle soup into serving bowls, top each serving with bacon or ham, cheddar cheese and green onions.
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Serves 5
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Adapted from CookingClassy.com
Amazing Pizza Sauce & Fast Mini Pizzas
Use your own home-grown tomatoes to make this pizza sauce! Enjoy it right away on these mini pizzas or full sized pizzas or CAN IT in pint jars for future use.
2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce
1 can (12 oz) tomato paste
1 T. Italian seasoning
1 T. dried oregano
1-2 tsp. fennel seed, crushed (optional)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
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English muffins &
Favorite pizza toppings
For sauce: Combine over medium heat-sauce and paste. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well, bring to a boil-stirring constantly. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally.
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Mini pizzas: Set oven to low broil. Lightly toast halved English muffins. Lay them on a sheet pan and spoon desired amount of sauce. Add your favorite pizza toppings; pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, mozzarella cheese, pizza spices. Put into the oven for a few minutes, watching them closely. Pull out at desired amount of browning.
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Sauce recipe makes about 4 cups, but is easily doubled/tripled, etc., and cans beautifully in a water bath canner!