Soups  

Posted by Dave in

Most of my soups are of the “Whatchagot” variety. That is, it is less of a planned recipe than an adaptation of what is in the fridge, what’s fresh what’s in season. Come to think of it, that’s really true of most of my daily cooking. Still, I try to remember and write down what I did when something was tasty, or quick or had some special redeeming quality. Then I try to figure out a way to simplify it just in case your fridge is not currently stocked with just the proper leftovers, but you feel the need for, say… minestrone.

I guess what I am saying is don’t be afraid to improvise and play around with your cooking. The only real test is in the eating, and although that can be subjective, nobody has studied your family like you have. (Plus, if it’s the only thing you are cooking that night, they’ll pretty much have to eat it! I’m just sayin…).

The following recipes are adapted from daily life, but since I try to cook with the healthiest ingredients, even leftovers are reasonably tasty and nutritious. I give ingredients and quantities only as a guideline here, to give you a feel for the goal, if you have leftover cabbage that is already cooked, for instance, you can obviously skip that step. But let me know how you improved my recipes, or share you other culinary adventures with me either by email at heydave@backpackbistro.com or in the comments below.

Minestrone

Good Old Fashioned Chicken Soup

Beef Vegetable

Winter Time Vegetable

Wild About Mushroom Soup

Cream of Chicken

1000 Miles From the Shore Clam Chowder



Hit the TIP JAR!
Thank You!





Minestrone  

Posted by Dave in

Whatchagot Soups


Most of my soups are of the “Whatchagot” variety. That is, it is less of a planned recipe than an adaptation of what is in the fridge, what’s fresh what’s in season. Come to think of it, that’s really true of most of my daily cooking. Still, I try to remember and write down what I did when something was tasty, or quick or had some special redeeming quality. Then I try to figure out a way to simplify it just in case your fridge is not currently stocked with just the proper leftovers, but you feel the need for, say… minestrone. I guess what I am saying is don’t be afraid to improvise and play around with your cooking. The only real test is in the eating, and although that can be subjective, nobody has studied your family like you have. (Plus, if it’s the only thing you are cooking that night, they’ll pretty much have to eat it! I’m just sayin…).

The following recipe for minestrone is adapted from just such an evening, but since I try to cook with the healthiest ingredients, even leftovers are reasonably tasty and nutritious. I give ingredients and quantities only as a guideline here, to give you a feel for the goal, if you have leftover cabbage that is already cooked, for instance, you can obviously skip that step. But let me know how you improved it, or share you other culinary adventures with me either by email at heydave@backpackbistro.com or in the comments below.

Minestrone

  • 8-10 large ripe plum tomatoes (or a couple of 14oz. cans, or some leftover sauce…)
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 2-3 onions
  • 4-5 stalks of celery (especially the outer stingy hard stuff, and use the leaves too!)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 1 TBS olive oil, plus extra for finishing
  • 1 small cabbage, chopped
  • 3 cups stock (any kind beef, chicken, ham, vegetable, even seasoned water in a pinch- homemade if possible though)
  • 1 cup cooked pasta (leftover any kind, broken spaghetti, even make a batch)
  • 1 1/2 cup cooked dried beans (or a 16oz can)
  • Basil, rosemary, parmesan or Romano cheese
Cut up the onions and celery, maybe ¼ in dice or so and sauté along with carrots in the olive oil and perhaps a bit of rosemary until the colors brighten and they are softened. Roughly chop and add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, then add the stock and bring up to a boil, then simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. Add the cabbage cover, and simmer, a bit slower now, until the vegetable are nearly as soft as you like them. Add the pasta, then uncover and cook the rest of the way, while letting the broth reduce and thicken.

Serve in nice deep bowls, with some good crusty, even slightly stale bread, (especially homemade bread, with homemade butter). Garnish with a bit more olive oil, chopped basil, and the grated cheese.

Hit the TIP JAR!
Thank You!





Daily Bread That's Too Easy  

Posted by Dave in

First things first. Get yourself some store bought ice cream in the big plastic 5 quart bucket with a nice resealable lid. Oh come on now, it won't kill you, you probably ate it all your life before you were "enlightened" and started to follow more sensible diet routines. Oh, go ahead and get one from a less enlightened neighbor or relative then if you must, because these buckets are just right for recycling and it won't matter if you ruin it. Anyway, back to the recipe...

In the (now empty) bucket mix (with a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or your hands)

  • 2TB yeast
  • 2TB honey
  • and 2 cups warm water
Put the lid on the bucket and wait about 5 minutes - you'll see foam starting as the yeast activates. By the way, I know that's a lot of yeast, so you can cut it back if you want, but I like to use whole wheat flour, and I also am usually pressed for time. Less yeast equals more time to rise, more yeast feeds my power trip in a most satisfying manner.

Now add about
  • 1 - 2 TB Salt (sea salt is nice here)
  • 4 -5 cups bread flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
Mix the works with the spoon or spatula until it start coming together into a big lump, then oil your hands a bit (I like olive oil here) and knead it right in the bucket. As you knead, the dough will get stickier. That's OK. If it gets hard to handle, dip your hand in the flour and rub them together to loosen the stuck on dough, then dust a bit more into the bucket. Don't get it real dry, just enough to manage it.

After 5 or 10 minutes (or 3 if that's all you can stand)pick up the dough in one hand and rub a bit of oil around the inside of the bucket. Plop the dough back in, put the lid on, set in a warm place and wait about an hour. Because of all the extra yeast in the recipe, it is not quite as sensitive to temperature as many other recipes might be.

When the dough looks to have risen to about double its former size (maybe the time it take to go fetch the kids from their town activities), or when it tries to blow the top off of the bucket, oil your hands again and pull it out. Without working it much, gently shape it into two loaves, or a loaf and some rolls or whatever, and place on a greased baking sheet dusted with a little flour, and sit the whole works somewhere warm again. Its nice to cover it with some oiled plastic wrap or a well floured towel, but that seems like a lot of work, and this is supposed to be easy.

Preheat your oven to 450 F

Whatever you decide, let it sit until it has risen about double again, or as long as you can stand to wait then stick it in the oven for about 20 or 25 minutes. Don't judge it solely by color, it will vary. Rather when the time comes, pull one out and feel it for solidity and thump the bottom (hey this is a family blog). It will sound a bit hollow and crusty when it is done.

Don't be afraid to vary the ingredients, the methods or the times, and don't obsess about the measurements being precise. Make it work for you. Your only investment is the plastic tub and few ingredients, and you can toss the works with no shame. And consider, If you make this every couple of days as I do, you will be looked upon as some hero. Don't worry, I won't tell how easy it really was.

Some Variations to Get You Started:

Try mixing the works in your food processor. It will only have to knead for maybe 2 minutes, then you can still raise it in the ice cream bucket. Make sure your machine can handle the load though. If it slows or sounds labored, or if it smokes for gosh sakes, stop it!

Try add in a bit of sugar, say 2 TB, and making into rolls or maybe hot dog or burger buns. They will get a bit darker, but the taste is worth it. Plus you get to sneak a bit of whole wheat into your family.

Put a pie pan in the oven (on a lower rack) while it is preheating, when you put the bread into the oven, quickly pour a bit of hot water into the pie pan to make steam. It will help the bread to rise even more, and it can't hurt. Also it looks and sounds impressive.
A bit of oil added to the dough after mixing will add flavor and texture, but it will sometimes make it heavier.

If you store the bread on the counter or in a bread box it will stay crusty, if you put it in a lidded container, (like your bucket) or a recycled plastic bag, it will get and remain soft for several days.

Mix up a batch right now, get used to it, then experiment and have fun.

Butter, Make it Yourself!  

Posted by Dave in

Butter

I cook with a lot of butter. I refuse to use hydrogenated oils and things I cannot even decipher. Butter is simple, butter is wonderful. Unfortunately, butter in the store is often expensive. I beat that by buying it on sale and freezing it. It will keep a long time, I dunno how long because it never seems to last. Anyway, store bought is OK for cooking or baking, but for on home made bread or fresh biscuits, nothing beats the taste of fresh butter you just made yourself. In my case, I find it is cheaper too. I buy my raw milk from a farmer who allows me to clandestinely siphon it off for about half the price per gallon as store bought milk, and I simply skim a bit of the cream each time and make our table butter. It only takes a few minutes, and I feel good knowing that not only are we eating butter rather than some test tube fat spread, but raw milk butter has a greater concentration of nutrients for my kids. And, darn it, it just tastes great!

You can use store bought cream, if you must. Buy a pint of the stuff marked Heavy Whipping Cream. It is “Ultra-Pasteurized” and so will probably not clabber, that is sour, but it will still taste better and fresher than the sticks you buy for baking.

You will need:

· 1 pint cream
· salt to taste

and
· A quart mason jar with a lid and ring, or similar jar with a lid
· A butter bell, half pint mason jar, or similar jar with lid

OK, now this is tough, so get the kids.

1. Set the cream out on the counter, covered overnight, this will get it warm, and will allow natural enzymes to slightly sour the cream for better taste. As I said, this is traditionally called clabbering.
2. In the morning, pour the cream into the quart jar, fasten the lid tightly, and shake. You can shake fairly rapidly at first, though it is not necessary, but when the cream starts to coat the inside of the jar, slow to about one or twice per second. A snap downward with a rapid stop is especially effective, but really any technique that whips the cream will work. Watch as the cream begins to thicken and be “whipped”. Continue to shake.
3. After a few minutes, (and this varies greatly with your technique, the quality and temperature of the cream, and some ineffable qualities that I still have been unable to define), the whipped cream will begin to “break” and loosen. Particles or tiny grains of butter are beginning to form. Continue to shake.
4. Rather suddenly the butter will simply stick itself into a single mass. Stop shaking, and open the lid. Carefully drain the buttermilk into a glass or other container. Don’t let your butter slide out yet! You can save the buttermilk for cooking or baking or simply drink it. If the cream was clabbered it will have the wonderful sour taste that contributes so much to other recipes, and if it has not clabbered, it will simply taste like other sweet milk, and still carries the nutrition of say, skim milk.
5. Keeping the butter in the jar, slowly run the coldest water you can get over the butter to rinse away the butter milk, dumping it a couple of times. Then, leaving space to shake, fill the jar with water.
6. Shake as before, this time to wash the butter. Drain and repeat a couple of times until the water stays clear and no more milk can be drained out of it. At this point, the butter can be worked with buttersticks, but that’s really too much trouble for the small amounts we are making, and is really only to help preserve it by removing all last traces of buttermilk and water.
7. You should have about half a pint of butter, and it can now be put in the butter bell, Mason jar, or some other handy container. It can be refrigerated or frozen, but we simply leave it out on the table, covered of course, right beside the bread cutting board. I don’t have any data on how long it keeps that way, because we have never had it longer than 4 or 5 days, though it was great all the way to the bottom of the jar!


Some other things that you can do with butter:

Clarified Butter

Brown Butter

Herbed and Flavored Butters

Welcome to the Recipe Index Page  

Posted by Dave in


Click on the Links Below to get an idea of what I am cooking now.


Blackberry Shortcake

Breads

Butter

Jelly Jar Vinaigrette

Minestrone

Morels and Noodles

Pastry Crust - All Butter

Soups

Zucchini Bread - World's Simplest