No-Knead Sourdough Bread

16 Tuesday Feb 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Bob Young, Things To Do

This is a version of Zorba’s No-Knead Bread. At step #2, I added 1 1/2 cups of sourdough starter. Follow the link to the full recipe. It is not difficult.

This is the bread as it came out of the oven and is still in the cast iron pot at 500 degrees F. Do Not Touch The Pot!! It Is HOT!

Now, let the loaf cool for 30 minutes!! Be ready with a lamb stew – this is done in a Basque Style – or at the very least, something with gravy. This bread is for sopping!! (Butter works, too!) Get the recipe and have fun with it. Cheers!!

And as they say in dance class, “Your turn!”

Chicken ‘N Dumplings

12 Tuesday Jan 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Bob Young

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Homemade Chicken Soup is really good on a cold winter day. But Chicken Soup, or Stewed Chicken, is absolutely awesome with homemade Dumplings! The dumplings tend to thicken the soup, so don’t be surprised. They will also
tend to thicken the broth of a Stewed Chicken. There are probably 100 recipes, at least, for Chicken Soup or Stewed Chicken. I am not going to list any here – use your family favorite recipe. The same probably goes for Dumplings too, but these are close to the ones I remember from home. I remember my Mother saying that there was another style – I think from her childhood – called “Slippery Dumplings”. She would not make them because “… your Father does not like them.” (My Dad was German and my Mother was Scot) Instead, she made something very, very similar to these. Drop Dumplings. I guess I tend to agree with my Dad and like the Drop Dumplings best. Anyway, here is but one recipe. My Mother would have never put chives, or anything like that, in hers.

Drop Dumplings

Ingredients:
1 c All-Purpose Flour
1/3 c Oat Flour
2 t Baking powder
¼ t Salt
½ c plus 1 T Whole Milk
¼ c Heavy Cream
2 T Butter, softened
2 T Chives, fresh and chopped

Directions:
Mix to combine the milk, cream and softened butter. Set aside.

Sift together 3 times (this makes the dumplings very light) the flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine the flour mixture, milk mixture and chives, and stir until moist.

Drop dough by 3 tablespoonfuls into a barely simmering chicken mixture. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 12 minutes, or until the dumplings are done (do not bring to a boil, or the dumplings will break up).

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So after we had our Chicken Soup with Dumplings, Robin asks, “Do you have any Snickers?” With a chuckle I said, “No.” So she suggested that I melt some chocolate and dip pretzels in them. Then add coconut and almonds. Her wish is my command!! When you’re retired, you will have the time to do these awesome things in the kitchen. Well, fun at least. Enjoy and Cheers!

This Might Be Close For the Caesar Salad Dressing

22 Tuesday Dec 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes, Things To Do

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I don’t know how close this is to the Black Angus Caesar Salad Dressing. Let’s see how many comments we get.

Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
Fresh ground pepper
1 clove of garlic
2 fillets of anchovies (Not Optional)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup croutons
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 head broken Romaine lettuce
1/3 to 1/2 cup oil, to taste
dash of Tabasco

Instructions:
Crush pepper, garlic and anchovies in salad bowl. Add mustard and mix to form a paste. Add egg yolks and mix. Add oil slowly and beat with two forks [or a whisk] until mixture thickens slightly. Add Tabasco, Worcestershire, vinegar and lemon juice and mix well. Add lettuce and toss to coat. Add Parmesan and croutons and toss again. Rub serving plates with remaining lemon. Serve and top with fresh ground pepper.

And remember … If it doesn’t have anchovies in it, It’s Not A Caesar Salad Dressing. Cheers!

South India Lamb Curry

31 Saturday Oct 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food Prep, Herbs, Lamb, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes, Things To Do

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At least, that’s what it started as. This recipe is adapted from the Food Network’s Tyler Florence. Southern India can have some really spicy, hot foods, more so than the New Delhi area. I changed that spicy hot to more or a medium to low intensity. Look at the recipe and where it calls for Red Pepper Flakes, change that to 1 Fresh Red Chili. Also, when steaming the basmati rice to serve with it, place 2 – 1″ rounds of fresh ginger in with water before adding the rice. The spices used are very traditional. Grinding them fresh adds another dimension to the curry that you will not get with commercially produced curry spice combinations. And finally, if you don’t want to use lamb, I have also had this with goat. Using beef would be truly a non-traditional curry, but it can be used. The recipe only looks involved – actually it is pretty easy to do. Cheers!

Indian Lamb Curry

Serves: 6

Ingredients:
¼ c Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1½ T Cloves
1½ T Cumin seed
1½ T Fennel seed
1½ T Coriander seed
1½ T Turmeric
1 Cinnamon stick
2 fresh Bay Leaves
10 fresh Curry Leaves
3 lbs Lamb, boned shoulder cut into 1” cubes
¼ t Red Pepper Flakes
2 med Onions, roughly chopped
5 cloves Garlic, peeled
2 T Ginger, fresh and minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 lg fresh Tomatoes
½ c plain Yogurt, unsweetened natural
½ bunch fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped
1 Scallion, cut into strips
6 c steamed Basmati rice, steamed with 2 rounds of fresh ginger

Directions:
1). Begin by setting a large, heavy-based pot over medium heat. Grind the cloves, fennel, cumin, coriander, and turmeric in a spice grinder. Add oil to the hot pot and pour in the spices. Throw in cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, curry leaves, and chili. Toast for 2-3 minutes until golden and aromatic. While they are toasting, add onion, garlic and ginger to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

2). Season cubed lamb with salt and pepper then add to the pot of oil and spices. Brown all over, about 5-7 minutes. Add onion puree and sweat a little to remove some of the moisture – about 8 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon as you go.

3). Add fresh tomatoes and cover slightly with lid. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes until the lamb is tender. Remove the lid and skim fat off the surface. Fold in the yogurt and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

4). Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and scallions serve with steamed Basmati rice.

Cooking Times:
Prep – 20 min
Cook – 52 min
Total – 1hr 12 min

Lamb Curry

18 Sunday Oct 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Main Dish, Recipe By: Bob Young

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I have had several requests for Indian Curry. Since we do love lamb, I have found two. (1) Lamb Curry and (2) South Indian Curry. Be careful. These can be very spicy. Instead of lamb, you can go very nontraditional and use beef. These were gathered from the RecipeLion.

Lamb Curry

Ingredients
3 lbs Boneless Leg of Lamb (no fat), cut in 1-inch cubes
¼ c Butter
2 lg Red Onions, chopped
1 T Curry Powder
1 t Salt
¼ t Red Pepper, to taste!!
1 c Plain Yogurt
1 t Turmeric
2 T Fresh Garlic diced fine
1 T Ginger, fresh and diced fine

Instructions
Pat lamb dry with paper towels. Brown thoroughly in corn oil in large pot with chopped onions until brown.

Add all spices, curry powder, salt, red pepper (depend on how hot you want it), turmeric, garlic, ginger and any of your favorite spices as you wish. Simmer slowly for 15 minutes; then add yogurt, blend into lamb. Cook until flavor comes out. Taste the gravy; add more salt and hot pepper, if you need to.

Serve with hot rice. Makes 5 to 6 servings.

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South Indian Curry

Ingredients
For the dry spice mixture:
1 T Coriander seeds
1 T Black peppercorns
1 T Fennel seeds
5 dried hot chilies (the small ones) – add a little at a time!

For the spice paste:
2 T Vegetable oil
2 med Onions, peeled and chopped
6 Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
½ in piece of Fresh Ginger, peeled and chopped
4-5 fresh Green Chilies (small Indian ones – or one and a half jalapeno), coarsely chopped
1 c Coconut, freshly grated or 2/3 cup desiccated coconut left for one hour barely covered in warm water

Instructions
You also need: 4 tbs. vegetable oil 1 inch cinnamon stick 1 large onion, sliced into very fine half-rings, 2 lb. boned lamb from the shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes, 2 large tomatoes, chopped and 1½ t salt.

Set a small, cast-iron frying pan over medium heat. When hot, put in all the ingredients for the dry -spice mixture. Stir and fry for 2-3 minutes or until they turn a few shades darker and smell roasted. Cool a bit and then grind in a clean coffee grinder.

Heat the 2 T oil for the spice paste in a large, preferably non-stick, frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the onions, garlic, ginger and green chilies. Stir and fry until the onions brown a bit. Put in the coconut. Continue to stir and fry until the coconut browns as well. Empty the contents of the pan into the container of a food processor. Add ½ cup water and blend to a paste. Set aside.

Heat the 4 Tbs. oil in a large, preferably non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the cinnamon. Stir once and put in the large onion cut into half-rings. Stir and fry until the onion is browned. Add the meat. Stir and fry for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the dry spice mixture, the spice paste and the salt. Stir and cook for five minutes. Add 2 cups water and bring to the boil. Cover, turn the heat down to low and simmer gently for 60-70 minutes or until the lamb is tender. Uncover and boil away most of the liquid over high heat. The sauce should cling to the meat.

Serve with plain or seasoned rice.

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So there you have the curries. Let me repeat – These Can Be Very Spicy, but very good. Enjoy. Cheers!

German Spaetzle

25 Friday Sep 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Celebrations, Food Prep, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes, Things To Do

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Here is another recipe from allrecipes.com. This one is German Spaetzle.

Traditional German dumplings. You can also mince a few pieces of bacon in a pan, and heat the cooked spaetzle in the bacon drippings-only omit the butter, if preparing recipe with bacon.

German Spaetzle Dumplings

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch freshly ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 gallon hot water
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Procedure:
Mix together flour, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Beat eggs well, and add alternately with the milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Press dough through spaetzle maker, or a large holed sieve or metal grater.
Drop a few at a time into simmering liquid. Cook 5 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
Saute cooked spaetzle in butter or margarine. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top, and serve.

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Here is a recipe for German Currywurst. Great for football Saturday and a good beer!

Currywurst is a popular ‘fast food’ in Germany. It’s quick and simple and everyone loves it!

German Currywurst

Ingredients:
3 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 pound kielbasa
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pinch paprika
Curry powder to taste

Procedure:
Preheat oven to Broil/Grill.

Pour tomato sauce into a large saucepan, then stir in the chili sauce, onion salt, sugar and pepper. Let simmer over medium heat, occasionally stirring; bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, broil/grill kielbasa sausage for 3 to 4 minutes each side, or until cooked through. Slice into pieces 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick.

Pour tomato sauce mixture over sausage, then sprinkle all with paprika and curry powder and serve.

Yields: 4 servings

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Cheers and enjoy Football Saturday!!

Idaho Style "Old Peoples Dinner"

23 Wednesday Sep 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Classic Sauces, Food, Food Prep, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes, Things To Do

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Yes, there really is an Idaho Style Old Peoples Dinner! Chicken? Yes, but sauteed and with an Elderberry Sauce. Potatoes? Yes, but smashed and with garlic, not whipped smooth enough to sip through a straw and smooth enough so one may, if so desired, “gum masticate” them. Gravy? Can’t have smashed potatoes without gravy, and chicken gravy at that. Peas? You bet!! And just think, it’s not even Sunday afternoon. But the real clincher to this dinner is the Elderberry Sauce. Sweet yet tart. Smooth yet “chunky”. And fresh elderberries at that. Serve with a 2008 Dahlia Series Indian Creek Winery Pinot Gris. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

Elderberry Sauce

5 c Elderberries, de-stamed and fresh
4 whole Cloves
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Plum Vodka (Koenig)

Add everything except the sugar to a 4 quart pot. Heat the berries over a low flame until the juices begin to run. Add the sugar and cook the combination until the liquid boils and the crystals dissolve. Use an immersible blender (Motor Boat) and lightly break the berries up – you want some texture. Pour the hot mixture into hot, sterilized jars and let seal. Enjoy with pork, chicken or turkey. Cheers!

Lamb with Currant Mint Sauce

14 Monday Sep 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Lamb, Main Dish, Recipe By: Bob Young

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WE Like lamb – almost any way you prepare it. Thanks to Afrimoo (Caroline on http://www.wildearth.tv), we received this recipe. I have left the Metric measurements on for those who use that system and have only adjusted it slightly.

Lamb with Currant Mint Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup (50 mL) red wine vinegar
3 tbsp (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 T Lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 T thyme) (or 1 tsp/5 mL dried)
1 butterflied boneless leg of lamb (about 3 lb/1.5 kg)
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper

Red Currant Mint Sauce:
1/2 cup (125 mL) red currant jelly
1/3 cup (75 mL) chopped packed fresh mint leaves
2 tbsp (25 mL) port wine (optional)
2 tbsp (25 mL) red wine vinegar
Pinch each sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

Procedure:
In large glass bowl, combine vinegar, oil, lemon juice, garlic and rosemary, or thyme; add lamb, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Or freeze in freezer bag for up to 2 weeks; thaw in refrigerator.)

Red Currant Mint Sauce:
In food processor, blend jelly, mint, port (if using), vinegar, salt and pepper. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 3 days; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.)

Remove lamb from marinade, discarding any excess; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill, turning once, until meat thermometer registers 145°C (63°C) for medium-rare, 25 to 35 minutes, or until desired doneness.

Transfer to cutting board; tent with foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing thinly across the grain. Serve with sauce.

And this really looks good!!! I have not tried it, but will soon. If anyone tries this, please let u know what you thing. I suppose too, that you could use some Lamb Shanks instead of the Butterflied Leg of Lamb. Just some thoughts.

Corn Pie

14 Monday Sep 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Recipe By: Bob Young

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This is an old, old family recipe for using the “last of the season” corn. That “old” corn is made into an awesome pie. Try it!

Corn Pie

6 med Ears Corn, corn removed from the ear
2 Pie Crusts, 9″
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 pinch Cinnamon
1 t Nutmeg
1/2 c Cream
4 T Butter
1/4 c All-Purpose Flour

Pre-Heat oven to 375F

Bake off one of the pie crusts in the pie pan. Let cool.

In a separate bowl, combine corn, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream, flour, butter and salt and pepper. Pour into baked off pie crust. Cover the top with the 2nd pie crust. Poke small holes in top to release steam.

Place in 375F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the corn mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve with sliced fresh tomatoes. Enjoy!

Boeuf Bourguignon

12 Saturday Sep 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Recipe By: Bob Young

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Ah ha! Try this on for size. It’s a Julia Child wanna-be!

Boeuf Bourguignon III

Ingredients:
1 T Olive Oil
¼ lbs Bacon cut in small strips
2¼ lbs Rump steak cut into 1” cubes
1 T Butter
1 med Red Onion, diced
1 c Baby Carrots
1 T All-Purpose Flour
½ Bottle good Red Wine
2 c Beef stock
1 Bouquet garni (parsley, 1 Bay Leaf, 1 T Thyme)
Salt and freshly ground
½ lbs Button Mushrooms, sliced
1 T Chopped Flat-Leaf Parsley

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Heat oil in an ovenproof casserole dish and sauté the bacon until slightly crisp. Transfer bacon to a plate then brown the meat in the same oil.

Remove any excess oil then add butter and diced onion and sauté a little. Add carrots. Sprinkle flour over the meat and mix in. Pour in the red wine and bring to a simmer. Add the beef stock to cover the meat and add the bouquet garni. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and leave at a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove any surface scum and cover pan. Cook in the preheated oven for at least 1½ hours. The meat is cooked when it falls apart easily.

When the meat is tender, remove the dish from the oven and place on top of the stove over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and bacon and simmer until the mushrooms are cooked. Remove the bouquet garni, check the seasoning and serve sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with steamed rice or boiled new potatoes. Bon appetit!

Per serving:
1136 Calories (kcal) 100g Total Fat; (78% calories from fat)
50g Protein 10g Carbohydrate
159mg Cholesterol 2521mg Sodium

Have fun with this. Serve with a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Syrah. Cheers!