Pioneer Bread Brewis

I found this recipe in a book of pioneer ways and tips. It's a good way to use stale bread. No measurements were given so be your own best judge.

Spread bits of bread out and let them dry, to be pounded for pudding or soaked for brewis.

Soak your crusts and dry pieces of bread for a "good while" in hot milk. Mash them up, salt, and butter like toast.

(Some recipes I found online say to serve this with fish. Others to serve with maple syrup. I personally am going to mash them up, leave out the salt, and fry them up, then serve with honey. Yum!)

How to Make Yeast for Bread

I had been trying to figure this out, and being spurred on by reading a great book about self-sufficiency "Living the Good Life: How one family changed their world from their own backyard", I searched for and found this recipe.

And since I just made bread 2 days ago, first thing tomorrow, I'm starting a batch of this yeast!

= = =

Step 1: This step pulls the wild yeast from the air in your kitchen. The more you bake with yeast, the more you'll have in your air, so be sure to capture yeast shortly after you bake bread.

Combine in a medium-sized bowl: 2 cups of warm water, 1 tablespoon white table sugar, 2 cups of flour. Cover bowl with a cheesecloth, and place in a warm area in the kitchen. Stir every day at least once. When it bubbles, it means you have captured yeast from the air. From then on, just allow it to sit for 3-4 days to continue to bubble.

= = =

Step 2: This step makes the yeast into something you can use.

After the 3-4 days of bubbling, prepare a cookie sheet or dehydrator tray with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Thinly spread the liquid mixture on the prepared tray. When dry, break the dried yeast into small chunks. Grint into a powder (food processor or mortar/pestle). Use what you need. For longer, place in an air-tight container and store for short term in refrigerator. For long term storage, freeze in the container.

= = =

Step 3: This step shows how to use the yeast you made. This yeast isn't as concentrated as the yeast you can purchase (since it's mostly flour), so plan to use 1 cup of homemade yeast for 1 ounce of store-bought yeast.

Take 1 cup of liquid that your recipe calls for, and dissolve 1 cup of homemade yeast in it. Make the dough, making sure to reduce the flour you need by 1 cup (because your yeast is mostly flour!). Knead and rise dough as usual, which may take longer to do. Bake as usual.

Spiced Quinoa

Since I have a gluten-intolerant kid who is also a very picky eater, I experiment with different grains. Here's something I made the other day (yes, in the crockpot again!) that we all enjoyed. PLUS it filled us up! The kid ate a big bowl of this plus some carrots. Made me happy.

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed with fine sieve
3 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:
Add rinsed quinoa and water to crockpot; cook on high for 4 hours. One hour before serving, add the sugar and spices, and cook on low. Served with a bit of butter (lactose-free for Hubby and soy-free for Kid) and a sprinkling of more brown sugar on the top.

I'm thinking next time I'll add with the spices about a teaspoon of tapioca flour to thicken it. Might even add raisins but kid doesn't like them.

Quick Nourishing Oatmeal

I was reading somewhere, probably in one of my health magazines or blogs, that cinnamon and honey are very good for almost anything, especially diabetes and high blood pressure. Since I have pre-diabetes and high blood pressure, I thought I'd try something new today.

From my vast food stores, I got out almost-ready-to-expire instant plain oatmeal. While a cup of water microwaved to a boil, I opened 2 packages of oatmeal into a bowl. I added 3-4 large dried strawberries and about half a teaspoon of cinnamon. I added the water and let the oatmeal and strawberries rehydrate. When I came back 10 minutes later, I added a teaspoon (ok, 2) of honey.

Delish!

Tomorrow, I'm using dried blueberries. Maybe the day after, blackberries or mango. The possibilities are .... well, my tummy's growling!

Rice Recipes

Hubby brought me home some rice pudding the other day, to help settle my flu-riddled stomach. It felt good going down, and was ever so tasty. Got me thinking how with all the rice I've stored, I have yet to find a really good and simple rice pudding recipe.

Then my mind wandered. It tends to do that these days.

Now, I'm working up as many VERY EASY recipes for rice as I can find. If you have a favorite recipe using rice and only a few other ingredients, and that's very easy to make, please post it here, or e-mail it to me at thorntonwilliamsfamily at yahoo dot com.

Recipe: Cream Soda Campfire Biscuits

I love this recipe! Nice way to start the camping day:

Ingredients:
3 cups self-rising flour
1 can creme soda
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Combine ingredients. Spoon into a cast iron skillet or dutch oven. Bake on campfire (or grill) until done.

NOTE: Feel free to add whatever you want to your biscuits ... substitute walnuts for pecans, filberts, almonds, etc. Adding just-picked berries makes for a delicious treat!

Recipe: Campfire Bread or Bannock

I don't know about you, but when I eat bread, I tend to fill up. Here's a recipe for quick bread (also known as "bannock") out in the boonies. Good for cooking at home, too! Highly nutritious and tasty.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

4 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons oil

water

Additions:

coconut

raisins

walnuts or other nuts

cinnamon

cranberries or other berries

Directions:

Stoke the fire. Oil your deep skillet and place on fire's grate. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and the sugar. Make a well in the center and add the oil; incorporate. Add enough water to make a slightly-loose dough - you want to be able to pour it but not too fast. Add additions and combine until just mixed. Move skillet to over coals (not direct fire) and pour batter into oiled medium-hot skillet. Distribute it around in the skillet. It will start to withdraw from the sides of the skillet/fry pan. Use a spatula to carefully flip it over. When it's done, cut into wedges (like a pie).

For plain bread as a side dish, don't add the sugar or any additions. For a savory bread, leave out the sugar and add chopped parsley, grated cheese and pine nuts.

Recipe: Campfire Porridge

Whether camping outside, or cooking at home, for a breakfast that will stick to your ribs, try a pot of porridge. It will give you long-lasting energy, no matter what tasks you face during the day.

Ingredients:

boiled water

dash of salt

grains (7-grain, oats, bulgur, flax, cracked wheat, quinoa, etc.)

raisins

nuts

Directions:

Boil the water. Add salt, if desired. (Note: 2 parts of water to 1 part of grains.) Add grains. Add a little bit of raisins and nuts, if desired. Place pot on stove burner (or campfire). Stir regularly (with spoon or stick!) so it won't burn or get stuck to the pot. It's ready when it's thick. Serve with additional raisins or other dried fruit, gorp, and brown sugar. Yum!

= = = =

NOTE: When making this to take camping, measure dry ingredients and place in a baggie, marked with contents, how many people it will feed, when made, and how much water goes with it. I also make a second baggie with some raisins, and a third baggie with some nuts. That way, when I get up in the morning, all I need to do is stock the campfire, boil the water, add the water to the pot, the dry ingredients to the pot, and put it back on the fire to cook.

Recipe: Blueberry Muffins

I love blueberry muffins! Fresh and warm from the oven, with a bit of freshly-churned butter. This is one of my favorite breakfasts. Be careful when adding in the blueberries to make sure to keep the berries whole; fold to keep the berry juice from coloring the batter that awful gray-blue!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tin with the paper liners. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium-large bowl and set aside. In a large small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add the liquids to the dry mixture but stir only until moistened. Carefully fold in the blueberries. Use a big spoon or ice-cream scoop to fill muffin tin (cups should be 2/3 full). Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Gluten-Free Sorghum Coconut Pancakes

We're on a health kick, right? Eliminating all processed foods, going for as organic as possible?

I bought a bunch of gluten-free flours this week because of our new diet. They will store well, unopened for about a year, longer if frozen unopened. Among these are sorghum flour, coconut flour and brown rice flour. I even found gluten-free chocolate chips and organic butter.

Because we usually have chocolate pancakes Saturday mornings, I came up with this gluten-free recipe for this morning. Sorry... they were all gone before I remembered the camera! (Pic to the right is are regular pancakes).

Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 packets stevia sweetener
3 cups water

Additions: chocolate chips, sliced bananas, or blueberries

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add water 1/2 cup at a time until a little bit thicker than pancake consistency. Add your "additions" if desired and gently mix in. Spray or oil skillet or griddle. Spoon on batter when cooking surface is hot - not too thick though - I spread it around a little bit with my spoon. Cook as regular pancakes. (We drizzle with honey instead of sugar.)

The texture is just a little bit different, but very delicious. Even Hubby liked them!

You will just barely taste the coconut, and the fiber from the coconut and sorghum flours will help you, well, you know!

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Savory Flatbread

This is very tasty when accompanying a big pot of stew or beans. This isn't exactly an easy or quick recipe, but worth it when you have the time.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 ounce package active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water (105-115 degrees)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Directions:
Use a medium-sized mixing bowl to dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the flour, salt and sugar and mix to form a dough. Knead well for about 15-20 minutes on floured surface. Add more flour if you need to, to prevent the dough from sticking. The dough will be ready to rise when it's smooth and satiny.

Place the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (against the dough to prevent a "skin" from forming) and then a towel. Allow to rise in warm place (top of radiator, top of refrigerator) until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours). Punch the dough down.

Divide the dough into 6 pieces and form each piece into a ball. Roll each ball into a 5-inch circle on floured surface. Place the circles on lightly oiled pieces of waxed paper. Sprinkle on sesame or poppy seeds, if desired. Place on cookie sheet and cover with lightly floured towel. Allow to rise 45 minutes or until puffed.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove the dough circles from waxed paper and place on an oiled baking sheet or preheated cast iron skillet. Bake 15 minutes until the bread is brown and puffed. If the rounds are not brown enough after 15 minutes, turn on broiler for 2 minutes to brown. Remove from cookie sheets and wrap in towels to cool. Bread will be hard but will soften as it cools. Store in a plastic bag.

Feel free to replace the onion and garlic powders with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Yum!

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Wheat-Free Cornbread

This is a real good recipe for cornbread, good for gluten-intolerant people like in our household, and will use that dried corn from your last year's harvest.

Ingredients:
2 cups yellow or white cornmeal (freshly ground)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable (or olive) oil
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray your baking pan. Using a medium mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup of the freshly ground cornmeal and the boiling water. Mix until it turns from mushy to stiff then set aside. In a separate larger bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients.

Beat the egg into the medium bowl that has the cornmeal mush, then stir in the oil. Briskly mix in the buttermilk to make the batter thin. Add this bowl of liquid ingredients to the bigger bowl of dry ingredients. Mix until just smoother. Pour immediately into the sprayed pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center of the cornbread is slightly rounded and firm. The edges will be golden brown. After taking it out of the oven, let rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Variation: to make muffins or cornpones, bake for almost half the time.

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Easy Biscuits

Thought I'd provide a few recipes for easy biscuits. Enjoy!

Recipe #1 - Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons real mayonnaise

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a muffin pan. Combine all ingredients - will be a thin dough. Spoon into the muffin tins, dividing evently. Bake until done - light brown. Makes 12 rolls.

= = = =

Recipe #2 - Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup cooking oil (I like walnut oil)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour first, then the milk and oil. Stir until the dough clings together. Transfer to a flour surface and knead lightly for about a minute (no more!). Roll out (or press if you don't have a rolling pin) to desired thickness. Use a glass or cookie cutter to cut biscuits, and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. I take the leftovers to pat into an oddly-shaped biscuit. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

= = = =

Recipe #3 - Ingredients:
2 cups of self-rising flour
8 ounces of butter (melt)
8 ounces of sour cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt the butter (in a medium-sized mixing bowl) in the microwave. Take out and add the sour cream and flour. Combine well. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls into ungreased, non-stick muffin tins - about half-full. Bake until golden brown (15-18 minutes).

Copyright (c) 2009 V.P.Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Rice Fry-Cakes

This is a quick recipe in which you use leftover cooked rice. Good to make extra rice, and extra fry-cakes!

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 cups cooked white rice
2 scallions/bunching onions

Directions:
Chop the scallions. Mix ingredients together, pat into little cakes, and fry in an oiled skillet until golden brown. Delicious! Make extra for a quick snack the next day.

Cost:
.26 = 2 cups rice
.25 = 1 egg
.26 = 2 scallions
===
1.13 Serves 4 conservatively = $.28 per person

(I posted the cost breakdown for this recipe because I plan to use this in tomorrow's posting for a money-saving menu)

Recipe: Bread Bowl for Stews, et al

I was watching TV the other morning, and saw a wonderful commercial for Red Lobster - a bread bowl with a soup (or something) in it! Oh, yum! It got me thinking... that's a good idea. One less dish to wash (which is always a good thing) and a fun way to present your meal. So I searched and tried out this recipe. Strong enough to hold chili, chowder, soup, stews and even fun to present a salad this way!

This starts out in your bread machine (dough cycle) but you can do it by hand if you'd like.

Ingredients:

1 cup water

2 3/4 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

Measure all ingredients carefully. Add first 5 ingredients in bread machine pan in the order recommended by the directions for your machine. Select dough/manual cycle and start it. Don't use delay - it won't make the dough right. Don't bake yet! Using floured hands, remove the dough from the bread machine pan. Cover with a lightly moist towel and let rest on a lightly floured surface.

Use pan spray to oil the outsides of six 10-oz ramekins or custard cups (must be oven safe!). On a sturdy ungreased baking sheet, place the ramekins/custard cups upside down. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, pat (or roll!) each piece into 7-inch circle. Lift up and shape the dough circles over the outsides of the cups. Don't let the dough curl under the edge of the cup becaue it will bake onto the edge of the cup, making it difficult to remove the bread bowl from the cup. If any gets onto the edge, use a sharp knife to cut it away. Cover these with a moist towell and let rise in warm place for 15 to 20 minutes (until slightly puffy/risen).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water (to make an eggwash). Brush the eggwash carefully over the dough. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. After taking out of oven, use clean towels to carefully lift bread bowls from custard cups (cups and bread bowls will be hot). Invert the bread bowls and cool on a wire rack.

Alternative:

Add a bit of garlic powder or Italian seasoning to flour before mixing. Delicious when serving pasta with marinara sauce.

= = = =

I'd like to know YOUR opinions of bread bowls.

Recipe: Hardtack (hard biscuits)

I'm really into pioneer food right now. Never realized that hardtack is basically a rock-hard biscuit, or a thick cracker. If stored correctly, it could last for years. It could be made very cheaply (well, duh, flour and water!) and because it would last so long, it was a very convenient food for people who travel so it made it through wars, pioneer treks across the continent, explorations, and more... whenever someone needed to move fast and pack light.

Hardtack was eaten by itself, or crumbled into coffee. Nowadays, you could dunk it in reconstituted powdered milk, or crumbled into soup. You could also crumble them into cold water, then fry the crumbs in the juice and fat of meat (a dish known as "skillygalee" or "cush").

Ingredients:

2 cups freshly ground flour

1 cup water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine ingredients and knead until smooth. Sprinkle some additional flour on a smooth surface. Roll dough flat until 1/4 inch thick. Cut biscuits out with a can or score and slice into squares or rectangles. Keep within 3-4 inches in diameter/across. Poke holes into each using a fork (see the picture above). Place on a floured cookie sheet. Bake 35-45 minutes until biscuits are hard and dry.

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Salt Rising Bread

I was re-reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder to create a test for VHTS. It kept mentioning salt-rising bread, so I looked it up. This is a bread developed in the early to mid 1800's (1830-1840's) by pioneers who couldn't get a hold of "already-made yeast"- either because they couldn't afford it or because they were too isolated. This takes planning, and a willingness for a stinky house, but if you don't have yeast and want a risen bread, this recipe will be great for you!

You need: 1 medium Irish potato, sliced and placed in a big jar.

Add:
1 tablespoon cornmeal (white is preferred)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups boiling water

Directions:
Cover and let rise in warm place until morning. Place in a box surrounded by a heating pad on warm if your house is too cold. If mixture is foamy and “smelly” the next morning (which is what you want!), pour the liquid into your mixing bowl and throw away the potatoes.

Mix 2 cups very warm water with 1/2 cup shortening (we like olive for a savory or walnut for a "sweet"). Then add 1 teaspoon salt, 4 teaspoons sugar, and 5 cups of flour. Combine with the stinky rising mixture to make a stiff batter. Let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.

Work in another 6 cups of flour to make a soft dough. Lightly knead. Divide into 3 portions. Let them rise for 10 minutes. Knead for 3 minutes. Place in greased pans. Let rise until mixture comes to top of the pan. Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400 degrees F and bake for another 25 minutes.

This doesn't really translate into a bread machine.

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Last Minute Dinner Muffins

These dinner muffins are very easy and quick to make. Get them baking while you set the table, get the kids' hands washed, and drinks poured. Should be ready by the time you sit down to eat. And yummy!

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk (we use soy)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (odd but yummy)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 5 cupcake liners in your muffin tin. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Spoon into the cupcake liners. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned and puffed-up.

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Millet Porridge

When you see the word "porridge", how many people think of...

Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old;
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot, nine days old.

Alright... although most people think negatively of porridge, and that it's usually made of oatmeal, here's a millet porridge that's quite easy:

Ingredients:
1 cup millet
3 cups water
dash of salt (to taste)

Directions:
Rinse the millet (use a fine sieve). Place the rinsed millet in a small to medium saucepan, add the water, and heat over medium heat until the millet is soft. Serve with a little honey, grated cheese, raisins and walnuts, etc.

While millet is more expensive that many other grains, it is an essential grain for people who have an intolerance to wheat. It is also important to provide variety.

Consider stocking 1 pound of millet for every 20 pounds of wheat or oats.

Copyright (c) 2009 VPLW

Recipe: Cornmeal Loaves

Cornmeal is underestimated. Try this for a very cheap and fairly easy method of giving us our daily bread!

Ingredients:
1 cup corn meal (masa doesn't really work well here)
4 cups water
dash of salt (to taste)

Directions:
In a medium to large saucepan, mix the corn meal with the water using a whisk. (A whisk will get out more lumps than a fork). Place the pan on medium heat and keep stirring until it thickens. This stage could be considered porridge and can be eaten with a little honey or cheese melted within.

To eat later, pour the remainder of the "porridge" into a loaf pan and let cool. It will turn solid, which you can later cut into slices. Fry the slices for a tasty treat! Quite filling next to a bowl of lentil soup.

Copyright (c) 2009 VPLW