One day I'll figure out an easier way to log this down. At the moment, I'm just copying a list of what got made on the Notes application of my smartphone with the hope that I remember to blog about it.
Here's what got made in 2016:
peach brandy, 1.5 pints refrigerated
strawberry-rhubarb syrup, 2 pints refrigerated
Extracts
lemon extract, 1 pint
chive flower-infused vinegar, 1 pint
blueberry-infused vodka, 1 quart
blueberry-infused bourbon, 1 pint
Salsas
Control batch salsa (jalapeno peppers), 5.5 pints
Hatch chile salsa (hatch chiles), 5 pints
Spicy salsa (Anaheim & jalapeno peppers), ... pints?
Harissa (dried chile negra, ancho chile, Calif chile), 1 pint refrigerated
La jiao jiang (hot chile paste), 0.5 pints refrigerated
Fruit butters/jams/preserves
Winesap apple butter, 6 pints
Peach bourbon jam (burnt)
Peach bourbon jam (normal)
Apricot-pineapple preserves, 1 pint, 3 half pints, 1 four-oz jar
Apricot-rosemary preserves, 3 half pints, 4 four-oz jars
Strawberry basil preserves, 5 half pints plus 8 oz refrigerated
Strawberry port wine jam, 5 half pints plus 8 oz refrigerated
Pickles/Pickled
Bread and butter pickles, 3 pints
Kimchi, 1 quart refrigerated
Slow Cooker: Stewed Pork Hocks
One way to add depth to any soup is to cook meat bones for a long time, say more than 6 hours. My parents would just cook this stove top for a couple hours, but I find that in these modern and subsequently lazier times, I would much rather start this in the morning and have it ready by dinner in the slow cooker.
It's quite a simple recipe and it makes a few things: a hearty meat stock that can be a base for other soups, a bone broth, and the pork itself can be chilled, sliced and served up with hot or cold noodle dishes. But, for me, I just like the meat and marrow part of the pork.
For those of you (like me) who had to look up what part of the pig the "hock" is, it's the part of the fore or hindquarters above the hoof and below the pig equivalent of the knee/elbow; as illustrated in this Wikipedia stub.
Ingredients
1-2 tbsp olive oil (if cooking by stovetop)
1 lb pork hocks
1 star anise
2-3 slices of fresh ginger, peeled
2-4 tbsp soy sauce
filtered water
To cook this by stovetop:
Brown the hocks in 1-2 tbsp olive oil (or any vegetable oil), add one star anise, a few slices of peeled ginger, 2-4 tbsp of soy sauce (depending on how salty you like it) and an amount of water that covers the hocks. Bring to a boil then simmer covered until the meat is tender, 1-2 hours. Be sure to check on the pot every so often so that the water does not boil all away.
To cook this by slow cooker / crockpot:
Place pork hocks (about a pound) in slow cooker, preferably in a single layer. Add a star anise (one is plenty of flavor per pound of meat), 2-3 slices of peeled ginger, 2-4 tbsp soy sauce, and enough water to cover the hocks. Cook on LOW for 8 hours.
If putting raw meat into a slow cooker is a concern, you can also brown the hocks before putting them in but this is not necessary and it means more stuff to wash.
It's quite a simple recipe and it makes a few things: a hearty meat stock that can be a base for other soups, a bone broth, and the pork itself can be chilled, sliced and served up with hot or cold noodle dishes. But, for me, I just like the meat and marrow part of the pork.
For those of you (like me) who had to look up what part of the pig the "hock" is, it's the part of the fore or hindquarters above the hoof and below the pig equivalent of the knee/elbow; as illustrated in this Wikipedia stub.
Ingredients
1-2 tbsp olive oil (if cooking by stovetop)
1 lb pork hocks
1 star anise
2-3 slices of fresh ginger, peeled
2-4 tbsp soy sauce
filtered water
To cook this by stovetop:
Brown the hocks in 1-2 tbsp olive oil (or any vegetable oil), add one star anise, a few slices of peeled ginger, 2-4 tbsp of soy sauce (depending on how salty you like it) and an amount of water that covers the hocks. Bring to a boil then simmer covered until the meat is tender, 1-2 hours. Be sure to check on the pot every so often so that the water does not boil all away.
To cook this by slow cooker / crockpot:
Place pork hocks (about a pound) in slow cooker, preferably in a single layer. Add a star anise (one is plenty of flavor per pound of meat), 2-3 slices of peeled ginger, 2-4 tbsp soy sauce, and enough water to cover the hocks. Cook on LOW for 8 hours.
If putting raw meat into a slow cooker is a concern, you can also brown the hocks before putting them in but this is not necessary and it means more stuff to wash.
Chicken and Dumplings
This recipe starts off as though making chicken stock with the addition of both the chicken parts and flour-based dumplings. I have omitted the onion part, but you could always put it back in. This is the second time I've made this recipe; though probably the first time I've taken a photo of the dish. I used 1 lb of chicken thighs (skin-on and bone-in) and 1 lb of chicken drumsticks.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs chicken parts
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 stalks organic celery stalks, diced
4 organic carrots, sliced
1-2 small onions, diced (optional)
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 2 tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 c all purpose flour + 2 c stock (from the pot)
10 cups filtered water
Dumpling Ingredients
2 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 c buttermilk
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Directions
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil and fry chicken parts in batches on medium-high heat, 5-6 minutes on each side. Remove chicken to a plate and reserve pot.
Add to the: celery, carrots, thyme, cloves, bay leaves. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes until softened. Add chicken, bay leaves, and 10 cups of water.
Simmer for 25 minutes. Discard bay leaves and transfer chicken to a plate. Shred chicken and return to the pot.
Whisk 1/2 c all purpose flour with 2 cups of cooking liquid (stock), pour into pot and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
To make the dumplings:
In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper. Stir in butter, buttermilk and parsley. Form into small balls or divide into 8 large spoonfuls.
Reduce pot to low and drop in the dumplings. Simmer covered for 15 minutes.
Serve hot.
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| TheFoodeningBlog - Chicken & Dumplings |
1 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs chicken parts
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 stalks organic celery stalks, diced
4 organic carrots, sliced
1-2 small onions, diced (optional)
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 2 tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 c all purpose flour + 2 c stock (from the pot)
10 cups filtered water
Dumpling Ingredients
2 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 c buttermilk
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Directions
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil and fry chicken parts in batches on medium-high heat, 5-6 minutes on each side. Remove chicken to a plate and reserve pot.
Add to the: celery, carrots, thyme, cloves, bay leaves. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes until softened. Add chicken, bay leaves, and 10 cups of water.
Simmer for 25 minutes. Discard bay leaves and transfer chicken to a plate. Shred chicken and return to the pot.
Whisk 1/2 c all purpose flour with 2 cups of cooking liquid (stock), pour into pot and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
To make the dumplings:
In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper. Stir in butter, buttermilk and parsley. Form into small balls or divide into 8 large spoonfuls.
Reduce pot to low and drop in the dumplings. Simmer covered for 15 minutes.
Serve hot.
Buttermilk Biscuits
I wish recipe sites would say what size biscuit cutter to use. I used a 2" cutter and these turned out enormous! And, also considering that it is raining today, I'd say that it is very humid and my biscuit dough was very sticky, so sticky in fact that I had a hard time even getting a layer to form. But, dusting the cutter in flour prior to cutting was a great help. With a 2" cutter this recipe ratio made 5 enormous biscuit-textured scone-like objects. I'm sure if I used the smaller cutter, it would have come out to be more like the 10 biscuits the original "grandma's recipe" suggests this yields.
Ingredients
2 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 organic granulated sugar
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter
1 c buttermilk
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 F
1. In the bowl of a food processor machine, pulse together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt, and unsalted butter.
2. Add flour mixture to a large mixing bowl and add the buttermilk. Stir to combine but do not over mix.
3. On a silicone mat, use a silicon spatula to press dough down to 1/2" thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into biscuit rounds.
4. Place biscuit rounds onto a parchment paper-lined baking tray.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
Serve hot and enjoy.
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| TheFoodening Blog - Buttermilk Biscuits |
2 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 organic granulated sugar
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter
1 c buttermilk
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 F
1. In the bowl of a food processor machine, pulse together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt, and unsalted butter.
2. Add flour mixture to a large mixing bowl and add the buttermilk. Stir to combine but do not over mix.
3. On a silicone mat, use a silicon spatula to press dough down to 1/2" thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into biscuit rounds.
4. Place biscuit rounds onto a parchment paper-lined baking tray.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
Serve hot and enjoy.
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| TheFoodening Blog - Buttermilk Biscuit with Peach Bourbon Jam |
Small Batch Bread and Butter Pickles
Did you know that if you chopped these up in a food processor, you can make sweet relish?
As far as pickle recipes go, this is really easy. The secret to a crunchy pickle is the salt brine, or letting the cucumber's excess moisture drain out by using salt. This recipe ratio comes from the TasteofSouthern.com blog. I omitted the onion, of course. Also, my pickle slices are thicker because I don't like wafer thin, transparent pickles. It's a blue ribbon recipe so by default it should turn out great. :)
Ingredients
3 lbs pickling cucumbers, ends trimmed
1/4 c kosher or sea salt
2 c white vinegar
2 c sugar
1/2 c water
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tsp celery seeds
2 tsp pickling spice mix
1 tsp turmeric powder
Directions
1. Slice cucumbers and place in a large bowl and toss with salt. Let stand for 1-2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator (I did the latter for this batch).
2. Rinse the cucumbers and let drain in a colander until ready to use. Place as many as will fit into half-pint or pint jars.
3. In a large saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric. Heat to a boil.
4. Pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers in jars.
If canning, process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
If using as refrigerator pickles, cover with sterilized lids and bands. Let this cure in the fridge for several days before using.
As far as pickle recipes go, this is really easy. The secret to a crunchy pickle is the salt brine, or letting the cucumber's excess moisture drain out by using salt. This recipe ratio comes from the TasteofSouthern.com blog. I omitted the onion, of course. Also, my pickle slices are thicker because I don't like wafer thin, transparent pickles. It's a blue ribbon recipe so by default it should turn out great. :)
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| TheFoodening Blog - Bread & Butter Pickles |
3 lbs pickling cucumbers, ends trimmed
1/4 c kosher or sea salt
2 c white vinegar
2 c sugar
1/2 c water
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tsp celery seeds
2 tsp pickling spice mix
1 tsp turmeric powder
Directions
1. Slice cucumbers and place in a large bowl and toss with salt. Let stand for 1-2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator (I did the latter for this batch).
2. Rinse the cucumbers and let drain in a colander until ready to use. Place as many as will fit into half-pint or pint jars.
3. In a large saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric. Heat to a boil.
4. Pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers in jars.
If canning, process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
If using as refrigerator pickles, cover with sterilized lids and bands. Let this cure in the fridge for several days before using.
Quick Buns for Sliders or Burgers
An hour or so before dinner, your friend says that he feels like grilling hamburgers but has neither hamburger buns nor tomatoes. Thanks to GirlVsDough, a beautifully warm day, and the first recipe title I stumbled upon with a quick Google search, I made these in just under an hour.
I used a digital kitchen scale to divide the dough. The total mass was roughly 2 lbs, and divided by 12 would have yielded 2.67 oz per ball of dough. As laziness would prevail, some balls of dough were 2.5 oz while others were 2 oz 7/8 oz. The smaller balls could pass for slider buns, and the larger balls were just about the right size for a grilled average hamburger patty. I also didn't have any milk on hand so I watered down some heavy cream instead.
Note: if you do a lot of bread baking, I recommend picking up the 2 lb block of yeast from Costco. At roughly $4, it really brings down the cost of making bread. Plus, you can store 8 oz of it in the freezer in a freezer jar and some in a pint jar in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
3 1/2 c all purpose flour, plus more for dusting/kneading
2 tbsp active dry yeast + 1 cup warm water (115 F)
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c olive oil, or neutral smelling vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp sea salt
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
Egg wash (for making buns golden brown):
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp water
-or-
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp whole milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
1. In a 2-cup measuring cup, dissolve yeast in warm water, then add the sugar.
2. In a large mixing bowl, egg, salt and oil. Whisk together. Add yeast water. Add flour.
3. With a wooden spoon, stir to combine.
4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes. Weigh dough and divide equally by what you want to make:
3 oz = medium sized hamburger bun
2.5 oz = slider sized bun
If you chose the latter, one batch of dough will make 12 slider buns.
5. Form balls of dough. To make a smooth surface on one side of the ball, bring all the odd edges of the dough to the center and pinch it together. Place folded side down onto parchment paper or a silicone mat. Let rest for 10 minutes. I didn't cover these and it didn't seem to matter. Also, my oven takes 10 minutes to heat up to 425 F.
5.1. If you are using an egg wash to make the buns a nice golden brown color, brush the egg wash onto the buns using a pastry brush.
6. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.
7. To use, simply slice each bun in half with a serrated knife (e.g., a bread knife).
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| TheFoodening Blog - Hamburger Buns |
Note: if you do a lot of bread baking, I recommend picking up the 2 lb block of yeast from Costco. At roughly $4, it really brings down the cost of making bread. Plus, you can store 8 oz of it in the freezer in a freezer jar and some in a pint jar in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
3 1/2 c all purpose flour, plus more for dusting/kneading
2 tbsp active dry yeast + 1 cup warm water (115 F)
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c olive oil, or neutral smelling vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp sea salt
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
Egg wash (for making buns golden brown):
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp water
-or-
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp whole milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
1. In a 2-cup measuring cup, dissolve yeast in warm water, then add the sugar.
2. In a large mixing bowl, egg, salt and oil. Whisk together. Add yeast water. Add flour.
3. With a wooden spoon, stir to combine.
4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes. Weigh dough and divide equally by what you want to make:
3 oz = medium sized hamburger bun
2.5 oz = slider sized bun
If you chose the latter, one batch of dough will make 12 slider buns.
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| TheFoodening Blog - A classic hamburger with grilled bacon |
5.1. If you are using an egg wash to make the buns a nice golden brown color, brush the egg wash onto the buns using a pastry brush.
6. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.
7. To use, simply slice each bun in half with a serrated knife (e.g., a bread knife).
Strawberry Shortcake
One of my favorite places to get dessert recipes is Southern Living magazine. Those southerners really know desserts. If only I could read and bake at the same time. The shortcakes would have tasted like little airy cakes if I had remembered to mix in the baking powder. Alas, these little pucks are a bit dense but still edible and presentable.
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| TheFoodening Blog - Strawberry Shortcake |
Strawberry Layer Ingredients
a pint of strawberries, de-stemmed and quartered
1 tsp almond extract
up to 1/2 c organic granulated sugar
Shortcake Ingredients
2 3/4 c all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 c organic granulated sugar
3/4 c cold butter, diced
2 eggs
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
a batch of whipped cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 F
1. Combine strawberries, almond extract, and sugar (depending on sweetness of the berries) in a container. Shake covered until mixed and set aside for at least an hour.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
3. In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, sugar, and butter together until the mixture resembles crumbs with bits of butter.
4. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Dough will be sticky.
5. Use a 1/3 cup measure to form little cakes. Place cakes 2" apart on a baking sheet.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tops are light golden brown.
7. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.
8. To make the shortcakes:
Cut the shortcake in half. On the bottom half, spoon 2 tablespoons of the strawberry mixture, followed by a dollop of whipped cream, and cover with the top half of the shortcake.
You can also make these shortcakes more adult by adding a tablespoon of a sweet wine or hard alcohol to the bottom half before you add the strawberries. I used the peach wine that I made earlier in the summer; though other alcohols that would be nice are muscat wine, bourbon, sake, gin, or rum.
Oven Broiled Chicken Thighs
Fire + Meat = Good
I would like to believe that adding fire to the cooking of meat somehow brings us back to our more primal nature of being apex predators with intelligence. Plus, I love a meat that bastes in its own fat.
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| The Foodening Blog - Broiled Chicken Thighs |
My simple gas stove/oven allows you to set the temperature of the broiler. Since I already roast chicken at 425 F it seemed like a good temperature to broil chicken at which is how I got to using that temperature for broiled chicken parts.
The most basic preparation is as follows:
sea salt and black pepper on both sides
squeeze of fresh lemon or lime (optional)
Broil bone side up for 10 minutes. Flip chicken over. Broil skin side up for 15 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Internal temp should be at least 160 F.
Kimchi Fried Rice
At least this time around I took a photo of the dish before devouring it. You could call it a two-ingredient recipe, even though it is really three if you count the butter I used to fry the rice with; or more if you include all the vegetables that make up kimchi. If you have made everything beforehand, this recipe comes together in less than 10 minutes.
The rice blend I use is of my own making. It's a 1:1 ratio of Trader Joe's Wild Rice (though, I suppose any wild rice will do) and Trader Joe's Brown Jasmine Rice; both of which apparently have naturally occurring inorganic arsenic in it. Who knew? Apparently, Consumer Reports did a study on the amount of arsenic in rice and it doesn't matter if it is organic rice or conventionally grown rice. I don't eat a lot of rice, but when I do eat it, I usually only cook a cup of rice at a time.
Ingredients
1/2 c cooked rice, per serving
1/2 c homemade kimchi, per serving
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil, for frying
Directions
Heat frying pan over medium-high heat until butter melts but does not start to turn brown. Add rice and mash around in pan until the grains have separated from each other. Add kimchi. Stir rice and kimchi around in the pan until evenly distributed. Remove from heat after 5 minutes, or until everything is about the same temperature; if your ingredients came from the refrigerator.
Serve hot.
The rice blend I use is of my own making. It's a 1:1 ratio of Trader Joe's Wild Rice (though, I suppose any wild rice will do) and Trader Joe's Brown Jasmine Rice; both of which apparently have naturally occurring inorganic arsenic in it. Who knew? Apparently, Consumer Reports did a study on the amount of arsenic in rice and it doesn't matter if it is organic rice or conventionally grown rice. I don't eat a lot of rice, but when I do eat it, I usually only cook a cup of rice at a time.
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| The Foodening Blog - Kimchi Fried Rice |
1/2 c cooked rice, per serving
1/2 c homemade kimchi, per serving
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil, for frying
Directions
Heat frying pan over medium-high heat until butter melts but does not start to turn brown. Add rice and mash around in pan until the grains have separated from each other. Add kimchi. Stir rice and kimchi around in the pan until evenly distributed. Remove from heat after 5 minutes, or until everything is about the same temperature; if your ingredients came from the refrigerator.
Serve hot.
Malted Milk Powder
This post has been brought to you by nostalgia. I grew up drinking malted milk as Olvaltine, and I enjoyed foods with malt in it such as the Whoppers candy and malted milk shakes. As an adult I consume a lot less sugar and as such, needed to figure out how this stuff was made in order to make it from scratch. Why make it from scratch? Because there are so many additives to today's malted milk powders. Just look at the ingredient list for Nestle's Carnation or Olvaltine. King Arthur has a cleaner ingredient list but it costs $10/lb.
I'm not terribly inclined to add wheat flour since it is primarily used as a thickener. This is just malted barley (whole barley berries that have been sprouted, dried, then ground into a powder) and dry milk powder. Also, this is not for making beer.
I got my organic barley grains Whole Foods's bulk aisle; though, you can certainly procure whole grains at any feed store or brewing supply shop.
How to Make Malted Milk Powder
This can be made from whole wheat or barley berries. For this experiment, I am using barley berries. You'll want to find unhulled berries because you want these to sprout. Do not use cracked, pearled, or hulled berries.
Sprout. Take 1 cup of dry grain and rinse it thoroughly in clean pure water. Soak it over night, or about 8 hours, in a 1 quart mason jar with a loose lid. Place a clean mesh lid on the top of the jar and strain out the soak water. Fill the jar again with pure water, stir and strain again. Drain. Rinse your jar of grains once a day. Watch for sprouting hairs after day one, it usually takes between 1-2 days depending on the room temperature.
Ferment. As the barley germinates, it starts to break down the starch into sugars. This is what gives malt powder its natural sweetness. If wild yeast is introduced as the barley is fermenting, the yeast will eat the sugar and convert the liquid to alcohol. You don't want the latter to occur.
Dry. Three possible methods of drying. Air/sun drying (requires 90+ degree temperatures for a few days), food dehydrator, or oven drying. This is to stop the fermenting process.
Air drying - spread moist, freshly sprouted grains on sheet pans in an even layer. Place pans in a dry, well-ventilated area. Dry for 18-48 hours depending on the humidity/temperature. If you are drying this outside, cover your grains with cheesecloth or food-safety screens to keep bugs/birds from eating it.
Food dehydrator - Set dehydrator to 115 F and dehydrate grains for 12-24 hours, or until the grains are dry.
Oven drying - Set oven to its lowest setting, between 150-170 F. Check for dryness in 8-12 hours.
When fully dry, the grains should weigh about the same as what it weighed before sprouting.
Grind. A this point, you are essentially making barley flour from sprouted, dried barley grains. You can grind these in a grain mill, food processor, or blender. You want it to a fine powder, with the granular consistency of say.. cocoa powder.
Storage. Store sprouted flour in an airtight container in the freezer or refrigerator. If using in baking, this can substitute regular flour at a 1:1 ratio.
Now that you have barley malt powder, you can blend it with dry powdered milk!
Here are some sweetened and unsweetened powder ratios.
Depression Era Malted Milk (ratio comes from backtobasicsgal blog):
6 tbsp barley malt powder
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 c powdered milk
Unsweetened Plain:
2 c instant dry milk, whole or nonfat
6 tbsp malt powder
Unsweetened Chocolate:
2 c instant dry milk powder, whole or nonfat
6 tbsp malt powder
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
To make one cup: add 1/3 c dry mix to 8 oz cold milk. Blend or whisk together. Sweeten to taste with sugar, honey, or stevia.
I got my organic barley grains Whole Foods's bulk aisle; though, you can certainly procure whole grains at any feed store or brewing supply shop.
How to Make Malted Milk Powder
This can be made from whole wheat or barley berries. For this experiment, I am using barley berries. You'll want to find unhulled berries because you want these to sprout. Do not use cracked, pearled, or hulled berries.
Sprout. Take 1 cup of dry grain and rinse it thoroughly in clean pure water. Soak it over night, or about 8 hours, in a 1 quart mason jar with a loose lid. Place a clean mesh lid on the top of the jar and strain out the soak water. Fill the jar again with pure water, stir and strain again. Drain. Rinse your jar of grains once a day. Watch for sprouting hairs after day one, it usually takes between 1-2 days depending on the room temperature.
Ferment. As the barley germinates, it starts to break down the starch into sugars. This is what gives malt powder its natural sweetness. If wild yeast is introduced as the barley is fermenting, the yeast will eat the sugar and convert the liquid to alcohol. You don't want the latter to occur.
Dry. Three possible methods of drying. Air/sun drying (requires 90+ degree temperatures for a few days), food dehydrator, or oven drying. This is to stop the fermenting process.
Air drying - spread moist, freshly sprouted grains on sheet pans in an even layer. Place pans in a dry, well-ventilated area. Dry for 18-48 hours depending on the humidity/temperature. If you are drying this outside, cover your grains with cheesecloth or food-safety screens to keep bugs/birds from eating it.
Food dehydrator - Set dehydrator to 115 F and dehydrate grains for 12-24 hours, or until the grains are dry.
Oven drying - Set oven to its lowest setting, between 150-170 F. Check for dryness in 8-12 hours.
When fully dry, the grains should weigh about the same as what it weighed before sprouting.
Grind. A this point, you are essentially making barley flour from sprouted, dried barley grains. You can grind these in a grain mill, food processor, or blender. You want it to a fine powder, with the granular consistency of say.. cocoa powder.
Storage. Store sprouted flour in an airtight container in the freezer or refrigerator. If using in baking, this can substitute regular flour at a 1:1 ratio.
Now that you have barley malt powder, you can blend it with dry powdered milk!
Here are some sweetened and unsweetened powder ratios.
Depression Era Malted Milk (ratio comes from backtobasicsgal blog):
6 tbsp barley malt powder
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 c powdered milk
Unsweetened Plain:
2 c instant dry milk, whole or nonfat
6 tbsp malt powder
Unsweetened Chocolate:
2 c instant dry milk powder, whole or nonfat
6 tbsp malt powder
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
To make one cup: add 1/3 c dry mix to 8 oz cold milk. Blend or whisk together. Sweeten to taste with sugar, honey, or stevia.
Fresh Peach Scones
I am using the last of the tree-ripened peaches that I got from a couple weeks ago. You might wonder, how did I get these to stay fresh? For starters, put the ripe ready-to-eat peaches into the crisper drawer in the refrigerator. My crisper drawers have two types of vents on them, a larger vent for apples and a smaller vent for vegetables. I put these into the drawer I have apples in. I should also say that whatever nitrogen the apples give off don't affect each other since I have the apples in plastic bags. On a side note, apples kept this way in the refrigerator will keep for a few months before they start to desiccate and shrivel. Also, you should eat damaged or bruised apples as quickly as you can since they will be the first to go bad.
This recipe ratio comes from King Arthur's recipe website.
These don't look anything like a classic buttermilk or heavy cream scone. They are certainly not really a scone with a fluffy crumb texture that's for sure. I forgot to add the granulated sugar and I used 6-ish tablespoons of Trader Joe's Apricot-Mango Greek yogurt. Whoops!
Ingredients
2 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 c organic granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
sprinkling of ground nutmeg
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
2 large eggs
6 tbsp Greek yogurt, vanilla yogurt, or sour cream
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 c diced fresh peaches, skins removed
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F.
1. Sift dry ingredients together, then cut in the butter using a pastry knife, couple of forks, or a food processor.
2. Whisk the wet ingredients together. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in peaches.
3. Use a 1/4 cup measure to drop the batter onto a prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
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| TheFoodening Blog - peach scones fresh from the oven |
These don't look anything like a classic buttermilk or heavy cream scone. They are certainly not really a scone with a fluffy crumb texture that's for sure. I forgot to add the granulated sugar and I used 6-ish tablespoons of Trader Joe's Apricot-Mango Greek yogurt. Whoops!
Ingredients
2 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 c organic granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
sprinkling of ground nutmeg
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
2 large eggs
6 tbsp Greek yogurt, vanilla yogurt, or sour cream
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 c diced fresh peaches, skins removed
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F.
1. Sift dry ingredients together, then cut in the butter using a pastry knife, couple of forks, or a food processor.
2. Whisk the wet ingredients together. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in peaches.
3. Use a 1/4 cup measure to drop the batter onto a prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Peach Brandy
Fruit wine or brandy? It's mostly up for debate about what to call this. I've been referring to it as peach wine and I typically think of brandy as an alcohol that's distilled from a fruit wine. This batch of wine was made using the tree-ripened yellow peaches I got from the volunteer harvest with the Portland Fruit Tree Project. 25# of peaches is a lot to process, btw, when the freezer is full of other things (like strawberries and rhubarb when those were in season).
Hot, humid days and bruised peaches are not a good combination. Many of these peaches were rotting fast even though they were sitting in the coolest (by temperature) room in the house and they weren't touching each other. But it seems that proximity was enough to hasten spoilage.
This recipe process comes from the Delishably food blog. The best part about it is that you can leave the skins on. Just wash the peaches and make sure that there aren't any bugs or rot. I also left out the peach pits because I needed space in the jar for more peaches.
Ferment start: 8/19/2016
Ferment stop: 8/28/2016
Ingredients
1 qt peaches, washed and diced
1 lb organic granulated sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
2 c cold, filtered water
Directions
In a 1.5 qt or 2 qt jar, layer peaches and sugar until the jar is full. You can squish it all down with a wooden spoon, if you want. Add yeast and fill jar with water.
Place a dish below the jar, in case the peaches try to escape.
If you have cheesecloth, use that. Otherwise, you can use clean paper towels to cover the top of the jar. Secure the towel or cloth in place with rubber bands.
You'll want to give this a stir every day until the yeast is done eating. This summer it's been between 80-90 degrees F indoors. My batch stopped bubbling at around 1.5 weeks. And, if you let the mixture sit undisturbed, a clear, dark peach-colored layer of alcohol will separate from the rest of the pulp pixture.
To decant:
Place a mesh strainer (one that has a handle, so it can balance on top of a much larger bowl) on top of a bowl large enough to accommodate one quart of liquid. Let the fermented peaches strain using gravity (e.g., don't try to hurry the peaches along by using a spoon to push the peaches through; you don't want any of the pulp in your alcohol).
What I made:
1 pint + 2 oz in glass jars in the refrigerator
3 cups in a quart container in the freezer (to separate the solids from the liquid)
Hot, humid days and bruised peaches are not a good combination. Many of these peaches were rotting fast even though they were sitting in the coolest (by temperature) room in the house and they weren't touching each other. But it seems that proximity was enough to hasten spoilage.
This recipe process comes from the Delishably food blog. The best part about it is that you can leave the skins on. Just wash the peaches and make sure that there aren't any bugs or rot. I also left out the peach pits because I needed space in the jar for more peaches.
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| TheFoodening Blog - Peach Wine, Peach Brandy |
Ferment stop: 8/28/2016
Ingredients
1 qt peaches, washed and diced
1 lb organic granulated sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
2 c cold, filtered water
Directions
In a 1.5 qt or 2 qt jar, layer peaches and sugar until the jar is full. You can squish it all down with a wooden spoon, if you want. Add yeast and fill jar with water.
Place a dish below the jar, in case the peaches try to escape.
If you have cheesecloth, use that. Otherwise, you can use clean paper towels to cover the top of the jar. Secure the towel or cloth in place with rubber bands.
You'll want to give this a stir every day until the yeast is done eating. This summer it's been between 80-90 degrees F indoors. My batch stopped bubbling at around 1.5 weeks. And, if you let the mixture sit undisturbed, a clear, dark peach-colored layer of alcohol will separate from the rest of the pulp pixture.
To decant:
Place a mesh strainer (one that has a handle, so it can balance on top of a much larger bowl) on top of a bowl large enough to accommodate one quart of liquid. Let the fermented peaches strain using gravity (e.g., don't try to hurry the peaches along by using a spoon to push the peaches through; you don't want any of the pulp in your alcohol).
What I made:
1 pint + 2 oz in glass jars in the refrigerator
3 cups in a quart container in the freezer (to separate the solids from the liquid)
Kitchen Notes: Bourbon, ABV and Used in Cooking
Since having converted most of my sweet wines into jams or jellies, I haven't really had the need to stock anything other than rice wine for cooking savory dishes. But, the previous weekend I came into having 25 pounds of free, tree-ripened yellow peaches; most of which I managed to convert into edible jam.
In my research on pairing peach jam with an alcohol, there were plenty of suggestions for bourbon.. not whiskey, mind you, but good old fashioned Kentucky bourbon. And there's been quite a lot of drunken chatter on the Net about famous brands watering down their bourbon (looking at you Maker's Mark) while raising prices. Both versions of the peach jam came out tasting really good; except I can't taste the bourbon in either. Jim Beam is simply not a good choice for cooking with.
Among my foodie friends who also drink whiskey, I had many suggestions for bourbon brands to use in cooking:
Buffalo Trace
Eagle Rare
Four Roses
Jim Beam
Knob Creek
The last time I used a bourbon in cooking was for a Mardi Gras themed potluck where I made New Orleans Bread Pudding with a whiskey sauce using Makers Mark. It came out so tasty, that not only did people scoop into it before I could snap a photo, it was devoured long before the evening ended.
Personally, I have no tasting memory of whiskey, bourbon, or any of the variants in its class (cask strength, straight, blends, whatever). I wouldn't be able to discern between a 40% ABV or an overproof 51.5% ABV bourbon. Some people recommended a higher ABV because you need a strong flavor to survive the cooking process (in retrospect, they are correct) and others who suggested more mild, smoother tasting bourbons probably have not cooked with the lower ABV bourbons.
That said, the 40% ABV Jim Beam that I ended up using (cheapest of all the brands at Costco), I think I should have dished out more money and started my bourbon cooking quest with Knob Creek or Costco's private label of small batch bourbon (103% overproof), the latter of which is made by Clear Spring Distilling Company who also makes Buffalo Trace.
Here are the numbers from my Costco bourbon browsing:
Knob Creek small batch bourbon, 1 liter
100 proof (50% ABV)
$29.89 + wa tax $6.13 + ltr tax $2.83 = $37.85
Costco small batch bourbon, 1 liter
103 proof (51.5% ABV)
$28.99 + wa tax $5.94 + ltr tax $3.77 = $38.70
Makers Mark 46, 1 liter
94 proof (47% ABV)
$32.89 + wa tax $6.74 + ltr tax $2.83 = $42.46
.
Jim Beam, 1.75 liter
40% ABV
$22.39 + wa tax $4.59 + ltr tax $6.60 = $33.58
Maker's Mark, 1.75 liter
45% ABV
$44.99 + wa tax $6.74 + ltr tax $6.60 = $60.81
In my research on pairing peach jam with an alcohol, there were plenty of suggestions for bourbon.. not whiskey, mind you, but good old fashioned Kentucky bourbon. And there's been quite a lot of drunken chatter on the Net about famous brands watering down their bourbon (looking at you Maker's Mark) while raising prices. Both versions of the peach jam came out tasting really good; except I can't taste the bourbon in either. Jim Beam is simply not a good choice for cooking with.
Among my foodie friends who also drink whiskey, I had many suggestions for bourbon brands to use in cooking:
Buffalo Trace
Eagle Rare
Four Roses
Jim Beam
Knob Creek
The last time I used a bourbon in cooking was for a Mardi Gras themed potluck where I made New Orleans Bread Pudding with a whiskey sauce using Makers Mark. It came out so tasty, that not only did people scoop into it before I could snap a photo, it was devoured long before the evening ended.
Personally, I have no tasting memory of whiskey, bourbon, or any of the variants in its class (cask strength, straight, blends, whatever). I wouldn't be able to discern between a 40% ABV or an overproof 51.5% ABV bourbon. Some people recommended a higher ABV because you need a strong flavor to survive the cooking process (in retrospect, they are correct) and others who suggested more mild, smoother tasting bourbons probably have not cooked with the lower ABV bourbons.
That said, the 40% ABV Jim Beam that I ended up using (cheapest of all the brands at Costco), I think I should have dished out more money and started my bourbon cooking quest with Knob Creek or Costco's private label of small batch bourbon (103% overproof), the latter of which is made by Clear Spring Distilling Company who also makes Buffalo Trace.
Here are the numbers from my Costco bourbon browsing:
Knob Creek small batch bourbon, 1 liter
100 proof (50% ABV)
$29.89 + wa tax $6.13 + ltr tax $2.83 = $37.85
Costco small batch bourbon, 1 liter
103 proof (51.5% ABV)
$28.99 + wa tax $5.94 + ltr tax $3.77 = $38.70
Makers Mark 46, 1 liter
94 proof (47% ABV)
$32.89 + wa tax $6.74 + ltr tax $2.83 = $42.46
.
Jim Beam, 1.75 liter
40% ABV
$22.39 + wa tax $4.59 + ltr tax $6.60 = $33.58
Maker's Mark, 1.75 liter
45% ABV
$44.99 + wa tax $6.74 + ltr tax $6.60 = $60.81
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