04.20.10
Posted in Overview at 8:10 am by Judi
I think of myself as a seasonal home gourmet, and teach others to be seasonal home gourmets, as well. Eating in season and buying from local businesses not only supports our local economies, it’s the sustainable thing to do. And it’s both easy and healthful.
You need to be a bit more creative when trying to shop in season, and you must shop mindfully. That means that you don’t just pick up some bananas, grapes or zucchini and head for the check stand. Before purchasing, you know where (and hopefully how) they were grown; local is best and another hemisphere is worst. Researching online or getting information through your local extension service will identify what’s in season. The Sustainable Table website is a good resource for this information, as well.
So, my blog will discuss seasonality and local food choices as well as gardening, cooking, recipes and well being. You’ll learn a bit about my activities and my friends and family, and I’ll include some interesting and fun links you can check out for yourself.
This one leads to my web site. Seasonal ~ Local ~ Sustainable
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01.18.12
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Events at 5:28 pm by Judi
January is National Oatmeal Month, so I’ve been experimenting – as usual. One easy winter version of hot oatmeal is delicious and takes a bowl of oatmeal to an all new level.
Try “Cinnamon stick apple oatmeal”, but make sure you use a tart crispy apple with flowery flavor. Fuji doesn’t work at all, but Pink Lady is divine.
Cinnamon Stick Apple Oatmeal
2 1/2 cups filtered tap water
1 cup organic rolled oats (gluten free is available – if you need it)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 – 1 1/2 cups peeled and diced organic Pink Lady apple (1/2 inch pieces)
1 whole cinnamon stick
butter, warm milk, local honey (as desired)
In a medium (2 quart) saucepan, combine water, oats, salt and cinnamon stick. Turn on heat to medium. Stir. Meanwhile, peel, seed and dice apple and add to pan. Stir again. When mixture comes to boil, lower heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring often to keep bottom from burning. When oatmeal is thickened and 5-8 minutes have elapsed, remove saucepan from heat and cover for about 5 minutes. If using, warm the milk. Spoon oatmeal into bowls. If desired, stir 1 to 2 teaspoons of honey, 1 teaspoon butter and some warm milk into each bowl. Enjoy! Serves 3 to 4
The next recipe is an experiment I attempted last night, with great results. These are yummy, crispy Peanutbutter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Crunchies and if you use organic gluten free oats, and gluten free chocolate chips (or dried currants) – guess what – they’ll be gluten free.
Peanutbutter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Crunchies
1 1/2 cups crunch organic natural peanut butter (peanuts and salt only)
1/2 cup raw granulated sugar
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 large free range eggs
1 cup organic rolled oats
1/2 – 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (or dried black currants)
1 cup raw granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix together the first 4 ingredients with an electric mixer. Beat the eggs, lightly, with a fork. Add the eggs to the peanutbutter mixture. Beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the oats and chocolate chips (or currants. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Form the dough (it’ll be quite oily) into one-inch balls; roll the balls in the 1 cup of sugar and place on prepared baking sheets. Press the cookies with a fork in a criss cross pattern. Bake on center rack for 13-14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; transfer to cooling racks until completely cool. Store in a tightly closed container. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
Now for the fond farewell. For the last year, we and several building contractors, have been working on our bed and breakfast cottage. It was once a double car garage, but you’d never know it now. The bed and breakfast is called “Portland Urban Cottage, Llc” and it will open on February 1, 2012. All the building, painting, digging, landscaping, hauling, shopping, decorating and problems with a couple of neighbors seemed as if they would never end. But we’re finally home free and starting our new business.
Our brand new website (www.portlandurbancottage.com) will contain a Portland Home Cooking page, and if it’s possible, I’ll continue this blog from that website. I’m just not sure yet if it’s possible. The website will be published, for your perusal, by the end of this week and my new email address is Judiscottage@yahoo.com. The email address is already active, so please send me emails if you’re interested in a future blog or have seasonal cooking questions. I hope,when you visit wonderful Portland Oregon or have guests visiting you in Portland, you’ll consider a stay at the environmentally conscious Portland Urban Cottage.
Thanks for following my rants for the last year or two. I appreciate your interest and support.
Judi Yamada
www.portlandurbancottage.com
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10.14.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local at 3:51 pm by Judi
Eating local food supports your community
I often ramble on about “eating seasonally and locally”, “supporting family farms” and “purchasing a CSA (community supported agriculture) share from a local farm”. I do practice what I preach to the best of my ability because I realize the ramifications we’ll face if local farms vanish. In addition, local farmers, unlike corporate farms, support their communities and have a relationship with their customers. Relating face to face with someone adds a human factor to business as usual. Family farms have much to offer in the way of sustenance, including ultra fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, eggs, jams, grains, flours, milks and cheeses. With DIY everything becoming more a lifestyle choice than a craze, many farms also offer classes. You can become your own cheese maker, pickle pundit, meat cutter or preserve canner. Corporate farms, on the other hand, aren’t people – they’re money makers – and money makers don’t want you to learn to do it yourself.
Bottom line is that we need to keep our money close to home (as much as possible) and support our local farms. You can help save farms and farmland while enjoying a delicious, fresh meal. October 16 – 23 is American Farmland Trust’s second annual “Dine Out for Farms Week”. This celebration educates diners about the importance of farms while raising money to save farmland. Restaurants in twenty-two states, and the District of Columbia, are participating by offering a special dish, donating a percentage of sales or making a direct contribution to help save farms.
Sadly, I found only one Portland restaurant on the American Farmland Trust list of “Dine Out for Farms Week” supporters, and that’s Isabel Pearl. Folks who care about family farms and want to support others with the same ideals can enjoy a meal at Isabel Pearl where Isabel Cruz “serves up food for body and soul”. Open everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Isabel creates beautiful, fresh cuisine. Dine there between October 16-23 and your meal will both sustain you and help sustain our farms.
Isabel Pearl, 330 NW 10th Avenue
Portland, 97209
503-222-4333
Open everyday
8:00 am -3:00 pm for breakfast and lunch
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm for dinner
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10.04.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Seasonal Recipes at 8:53 pm by Judi
Delicious comfort food
Hi,
Over two weeks ago, I wrote a post about the hot weather and eating right out of the garden. Seems like a long time ago, now. Anyway, for some reason, it was sent to subscribers (and to me) as a blank email. I tried again and had no better results. So, I wrote the article on Examiner.com. And it worked. I’m attaching a link to that article for you here. It had lots of information and a great recipe, so I wanted to make sure you saw it. Examiner article
I hope you enjoy the Examiner article.
Meanwhile, we had a party for about 25 family and friends, last week, celebrating the completion of our cottage rental. My friend Cathy (instead of bringing wine or snick-snacks) brought me a couple of bags of grains from the Camas Country Mill. I especially love their Buckwheat flour which was sustainably grown by the Huntons’ Farm in Junction City, Oregon.
Buckwheat flour is gluten free, nourishing and delicious. As wetter, colder weather fills our days, I remember and long for the hearty tasty flavor of really good buckwheat pancakes. Restaurants serving them often present heavy examples or pancakes lacking in the main ingredient and substituting lots of wheat flour. After researching a number of recipes on the internet, I put together the best parts of a few and added my own twist, resulting in an easy, light, gluten free and tasty breakfast treat.
I hope you enjoy the results.
Bon appetit!
Judi’s favorite gluten-free buckwheat pancakes
¾ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup yellow corn flour*
1-teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1-½ cups low fat buttermilk
1 large egg, separated
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoon(s) black strap molasses
Vegetable oil (sunflower preferred)
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Whisk well to combine; set aside.
Whisk egg white into buttermilk.
Melt butter 15-20 seconds in microwave safe bowl until just melted. Cool slightly. Whisk molasses into melted butter. Next, whisk the egg yolk into the butter mixture. Pour both liquid mixtures into dry ingredients. Stir just until all dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet. Set batter aside.
Heat griddle on medium low heat. Brush griddle with vegetable oil. Griddle is hot and ready when a few drops of water, when sprinkled on the griddle, sizzle.
Scoop 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter onto griddle for each flapjack. Watching carefully, allow flapjacks to cook until bubbles begin forming on top and edges start to dry and slightly darken. Flip only once and don’t press down the flapjacks with a spatula or any other utensil. Let them cook about 45 seconds on the flip side. Repeat, making flapjacks with all the batter.
Serve the flapjacks as ready or keep heated, on a plate or cookie sheet, in a 130-degree F. oven until all are cooked. Serve immediately with butter and real maple syrup, honey, molasses or applesauce. Makes about 12 flapjacks.
*Corn flour is finely ground cornmeal – NOT cornstarch. It’s available at Bob’s Red Mill stores and markets selling Bob’s products, such as New Seasons Market.
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08.15.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Seasonal Recipes at 8:43 am by Judi
Just last week, I ate my first homegrown garden tomatoes of the season. They were a component of a home garden and CSA salad, I thoroughly enjoyed. It was full bodied, crunchy and juicy. This August salad was nothing like my salads of a couple of months ago; young, tender and recently sprouted spring seedlings layered with tender micro greens and tidbits of herbs and spicy young radishes.
The seasons are moving ahead quickly and the potato vines and mammoth sunflowers now lean toward the sun. Pumpkins are still green but plump and soaking in the warmth. Zucchini has begun surprising me under its huge leaves. And green beans are so prolific, in the small front yard raised bed, I’ve started handing out freshly picked bundles to neighbors and family. Red Cippolini onions are sautéed, grilled or sliced into my salad. Edamame pods have me waiting impatiently for their first picking, as I gaze at the tender beans taking form. Cucumbers peak out, from their hiding place under the green bean vines and Japanese eggplants are stretching longer each day.
With so much food getting ripe at once, we can all use a bit of strategy making the most of all the wonderful fresh veggies and herbs available. The abundance and delicious nutrition prompt us to eat fresh but how do you consistently “eat your vegetables” without feeling overwhelmed or overdosed?
My method (and advice) is to gather up any of your garden crops that are ready for picking. Spread out your CSA (community supported agriculture share) or empty that bulging bag from the farmers’ market onto your kitchen table. Then, just meditate on them for a couple of minutes so you know exactly what’s there. Looking over these fresh ingredients all at once can feed a cook’s creativity. When focusing on what you have ripe and ready, ideas of potential pairings and cooking methods, color, texture and taste combinations may pop into your head.
Rotating cooking methods and uncooked menu options for your fresh produce will also help make meals more interesting and guarantee more vegetables get into your family’s diet.
I try to mix it up. One day, I’ll toss green beans with big chunks of fresh garlic, olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Then we grill these in a grill pan over either a gas or charcoal grill. When they’re almost done, I toss in some fresh golden oregano, marjoram or thyme leaves.
Next day may, again, be too warm to cook inside, so I’ll coarsely chop some cabbage, halve or quarter new potatoes and slice cippolini, sweet or red onions. These are mixed with sunflower or olive oil, salt and pepper and wrapped in heavy duty foil, then turned several times on the grill during cooking. They steam in the foil packet, so don’t overcook. When done, transfer to a serving dish and toss in some finely snipped fresh chives (use kitchen shears for the chives) and some fresh dill leaves. Top with a bit of plain yogurt or sour cream.
Maybe the next day is a little cooler and baked peppers filled with a vegetable rice risotto will do the trick. Whatever you do, don’t forget simple roasted vegetables in olive oil, salt and pepper.
Or try a lightly cooked stir-fry in the wok. Bok choy, zucchini, scallions, celery, red bell pepper and broccoli with a bit of sesame or peanut oil, sesame seeds and some amino acids or soy sauce, are a quick and crispy side dish anytime. Serve them with buckwheat noodles, brown rice, California basmati rice, beans, lentils or grains. For a complete meal, just add tofu, cashews, roasted peanuts or almonds, pre-cooked chicken, or cooked Oregon shrimp meat and some fresh cilantro, basil or parsley leaves.
When there’s no time or inclination to prepare cooked vegetables, try a salad like the one below. It provides choices based on what you have available. If you wash your lettuce carefully as soon as you bring it home or when you have a few minutes to spare, it’ll make salad preparation half the work. Wash greens three times in cold water. Pat the leaves dry in a clean linen towel or spin in a salad spinner. Chill the washed greens in a bowl or container topped or lined with a couple of clean dry paper towels. They’ll crisp up beautifully as they chill and will keep well for a few days in the refrigerator.
And let’s not forget all the lovely local fruit we enjoy for such a short time. Wash those fleetingly delicious cherries and bag them for lunches or present alongside breakfast foods like pancakes or eggs and toast. Or try berries or sliced peaches over Greek yogurt mixed with a little honey. Wash, slice and refrigerate melon ahead of time for quick sweet treats. Any meal will look better, taste better and provide more nutritional value with the addition of some sweet juicy local fruit. If company is coming, prepare a celebratory stone fruit, berry and melon salad with lavender syrup and champagne. No one will realize how easy it was to prepare and they’ll swoon with delight. If you want that recipe, just let me know.
Eat well,
Judi
Fresh seasonal salad with lemon herb vinaigrette
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar or rice vinegar)
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon minced shallot (or minced garlic)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Two Tablespoons fresh herbs (leaves only), torn or minced*
6-8 cups of one or more salad greens (leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, oak leaf lettuce, romaine, mesclun greens, spinach, escarole, and kale)
1-cup ripe tomato chunk/ wedges or blanched halved green beans
1-cup cucumber slices or zucchini slices or broccoli florets
1 cup thinly sliced red, green, or Nappa cabbage
1 cup red or green sweet pepper slices or radish slices
Combine lemon juice and vinegar. Whisk in mustard and Worcestershire. Add minced shallot or garlic. Drizzle in the olive oil slowly while whisking quickly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow dressing to rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
Wash and prepare greens as described above.
Wash and cut remaining vegetables.
Whisk dressing again just before using. Toss salad greens with ½ cup dressing. Top greens with remaining vegetables and drizzle with remaining dressing, if desired. Serve immediately. If you can’t eat all the salad in one meal, keep salad and dressing separate and eat within two days. About 6- 8 servings.
*Try one herb or up to three types of herbs in a blend. Here are some duet options:
Tarragon and dill leaves
Tarragon and basil leaves
Dill leaves and snipped chives
Cilantro leaves and snipped chives
Basil and summer savory
Mint and curly parsley leaves
Cilantro and oregano leaves
Oregano and mint leaves
Oregano and thyme leaves
Basil and flat leaf parsley leaves
Marjoram and basil leaves
Rosemary and thyme leaves
Thyme and marjoram leaves
Rosemary and parsley leaves
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07.01.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Gardening Fun, Uncategorized at 11:55 am by Judi
Lettuce anyone?
As spring and summer arrive, there are fewer items on my pantry shelves. Much of what I canned or froze is gone and I’m purchasing fewer canned goods because so much fresh food is now available.
My 8 + garden beds are happy, green and prolific, and my new CSA recently started doling out weekly shares of farm fresh produce.
When my CSA share contained bags of dry pinto beans and several yellow onions two weeks in a row, I announced we’d be having a pot of beans for supper. My husband, more carnivore than anything else, sighed and begged, “where’s the meat”. That’s all I’ll say about that.
I gathered up my beans and onions, and then searched the pantry to discover a couple of canned vegetables and a quart of broth. My garden provided fresh herbs and a garden fresh salad of heirloom lettuces, bok choy, celery and radishes to round out the meal.
I love all these foods. The challenge comes when such an abundance, of a few seasonal edibles, prompts a gardener to beg neighbors to take gallon bags of heirloom (“you can’t find this at the market”) lettuce, or kale, or zucchini. Overwhelmed gardeners look over recipe websites, pick the brains of other cooks or seek advice from people like me. Bottom line is all about creativity and finding ways in which to use rhubarb four times in three weeks (as I’ve recently done) while enjoying the results every time.
One more thing, please don’t feel guilty when you suddenly get tired of consuming copious amounts of salad greens, beans or beets. Share that bumper crop with your neighbors, friends and any needy organization that will take some.
With all that said, I’m not generally the best bean cook in town. So, this time I practiced patience and paid attention and the results were delicious, comforting and nutritious. Mine is just one take on barbecue beans, but the husband loved them and so did the recipients who regularly receive experiments and abundance from my kitchen.
Easy and economical, as this recipe is, it takes some time. Make it a day ahead and reheat for even better flavor. The easiest scenario for preparing these beans is to soak them first thing in the morning while running all your errands. Spend the afternoon at home gardening, writing, cleaning, baking or sewing while the rich and tasty beans bubble away. But don’t neglect the stirring; that’s one of the most important ingredients for success. Another is to only salt the beans after they’ve cooked. Otherwise they may be tough.
Before I forget, I just posted new pictures of the cottage on the Portland Home Cooking website. The cottage is almost done and it’s exciting. Now we await City of Portland zoning to let us open our Bed & Breakfast. Please wish us luck.
The bean recipe follows. For more information about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) click on the link or email me.
Eat well,
Judi
Homestyle barbecue beans
Ingredients:
3 cups dry pinto beans
Water
3 – 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 very large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
15-ounce can Muir Glen roasted diced tomatoes in juice with chipotle peppers
1-quart Pacific brand chicken, mushroom or vegetable broth
4 ounces diced green chilies (not hot)
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 – 2 tablespoons chopped fresh summer savory leaves
1 – 2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram leaves
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Rinse beans well, looking for bad beans and possible small pebbles. Pour beans into a 1-gallon, heavy bottomed, stove top pot. Cover with cold water three inches above beans. Bring beans to a boil. Boil 3 minutes; remove from heat and cover.
Allow beans to sit, tightly covered, in the hot water for 2-4 hours. Drain beans in colander. Rinse and dry the pot.
Return pot to stovetop. Add olive oil, heating until oil ripples. Add chopped onion to pot. Sauté onion until translucent and golden around the edges.
Return drained beans to the pot. Add diced tomatoes in juice, broth, diced chilies and bay leaves. On medium-low heat, bring to boil. Reduce heat to low if beans are boiling too hard. Cover. Keep the beans at a constant simmer, but not too hard. Stir after 15 minutes; repeat stirring after 15 minutes twice again. Uncover. Continue stirring every 15 minutes for one hour as beans cook and sauce thickens. Add fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer an additional 15-30 minutes. Total cooking time from start is about 2 ½ hours.
Beans are done when they’re tender but not broken or mushy. Serve the beans as is, with salsa, sour cream or shredded cheddar cheese. Good as a main course with rice, alongside grilled sausages, with eggs or with warmed tortillas. For a soup, just add more broth.
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06.13.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Kitchen Witchin' Advice & Tales at 2:35 pm by Judi
Receiving positive feedback for work well done is truly motivational.
Experimenting with ingredients, creating recipes and entering recipe contests are steps in a process. When I’m in the mood to try new food combinations or utilize certain seasonal ingredients, I take paper and pencil to the kitchen, place ingredients on the countertop and figure it all out. On another occasion, when the itch to enter contests hits me, I sit at the computer and skim through possibilities. Upon finding a contest that’s appealing, that recipe I created, during a previous cooking experiment, becomes an entry.
I’ve only been entering recipe contests, seriously, for a couple of years. But, during the past year I won the grand prize in Organic Gardening Magazine’s Holiday Recipe Contest, received a runner up prize in the Cheese Champions recipe contest sponsored by Safeway and, just a couple of days ago, received an honorable mention, for my Caramelized Leek and Potato Bread, from the 2011 National Festival of Breads and, Justin Gilpin, the CEO of Kansas Wheat.
An honorable mention may not seem like so much and it’s certainly not momentous or exciting like the fabulous trip I won to Rancho La Puerta Health Spa and Resort. But thousands of cooks enter these contests, and having my work and creativity appreciated means a lot to me.
My certificate, oven mitts, and handful of baking cookbooks from the Festival of Breads are pretty cool. And I’ll keep on creating, cooking, baking and entering more recipe contests because of my need to create, my love of fresh food, inherent stubbornness and the positive reinforcement I receive.
Here’s the recipe for my honorable mention Caramelized Leek and Potato Bread. I hope you give it a try and find it tasty.
BTW – if you’d like to stock up on the first of the 2011 Oregon strawberry crop, now’s your chance. Two Portland area farms have both pre-picked and u-pick berries available. You’ll find information in my latest Portland Fresh Foods article, “Surprise! Oregon strawberries are here” on Examiner.com.
Caramelized leek and potato bread
3 medium-small russet potatoes (2 ½ cups cooked and chopped)
¼ cup olive oil, divided
1 medium leek (1 ¾ cups raw and chopped)
3 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt, divided
2 tablespoons +1 teaspoon raw sugar, divided
2 envelopes Fleischmann’s rapid rise yeast
1 large egg
1 cup milk
3 cups King Arthur unbleached bread flour
1 cup semolina flour
2-3 tablespoons King Arthur unbleached bread flour, for shaping dough
1 beaten egg white + 1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons caraway seeds or poppy seeds
Grease two 9 x 4 inch loaf pans with butter.
Scrub potatoes well; prick them with a fork. Cover potatoes with water in 2-quart saucepan; add 1 teaspoon salt to saucepan. Cook potatoes on medium heat until completely cooked but not over cooked, about 20 minutes. Test potatoes for doneness after 15 minutes. Drain water from pot and cool the potatoes.
Meanwhile, wash and trim a medium sized leek, trimming root end and cutting top just above area where green begins to darken. Cut leek in half lengthwise; wash well, including all layers. Dry leek with paper toweling. Cut the halves lengthwise again and slice in ¼ inch thick slices. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 9-inch sauté pan on medium low heat until the oil just ripples. Add the leeks and stir often. They should soften and bits should begin turning golden within 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon raw sugar into the pan. Stir. Carefully watch and stir as the pieces of leek become caramelized and golden browned, about 2 minutes; turn heat to low as needed. Remove leeks from heat and set aside. Coarsely chop the cooled potatoes, including skins. Toss potato pieces into a medium bowl with ½ teaspoon salt and mash with a potato masher. Add caramelized leeks and stir well. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup bread flour, dry yeast, 2 tablespoons raw sugar and 2 teaspoons salt; whisk to combine.
In a 2-quart saucepan, heat milk and 2 tablespoons olive oil to between 120º – 130º degrees F. Pour warm milk mixture over dry ingredients in large mixing bowl; with paddle attachment, mix one minute. Slightly beat whole egg. Add whole egg and 1 cup bread flour to bowl. Beat mixture 2 minutes at medium, stopping mixer once during mixing process to scrape bowl. Add remaining 2 cups bread flour, 1 cup at a time, and mixing slowly for 30 seconds after each addition. Mix in the semolina flour and the potato leek mixture. Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Dough will be moist and almost batter like. Transfer dough to clean bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-4 hours.
Remove dough from refrigerator; place on a large piece of parchment paper on work surface. Cut dough in half. Using a little flour, flatten each half with the palms of your hands or a rolling pin, and form into 8” x 9” rectangles. Roll from the short side, so the rolled loaf is about 9” long. Place loaves, seam side down into prepared loaf pans. With the point of a sharp knife, make a shallow cut, lengthwise across the center top of each loaf.
Cover pans of dough with clean linen towels and place in a warm, draft free place for about 60 – 75 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
When the loaves of bread dough are ready, whisk egg white + 1 tablespoon water until frothy, and gently brush over entire tops of loaves. Sprinkle liberally with caraway or poppy seeds.
Lower heat to 350º degrees F. and immediately place loaves on center oven rack.
Bake loaves 25 – 35 minutes, rotating pans in oven after bread’s been baking for 15 minutes. Cool bread in pans on cooling racks 20 minutes. Remove bread from pans and allow to cool completely on racks. Eat warm or at room temperature. For 1 day storage, cool completely and bag or wrap well.
This is delicious for grilled cheese, and hot or cold turkey and roast beef sandwiches. It’s also tasty toasted and spread with cream cheese.
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05.25.11
Posted in Events, Holidays, Uncategorized at 5:45 pm by Judi
Banana bread with blueberries or walnuts
That banana you float in your cereal bowl or puree in your blender (we eat tons of them in the USA every year) is rarely grown in North America. Although capable of growing in various states, including Florida and Louisiana, most bananas are imported to our North American communities from Central and South America. Somewhere in a tropical environ, they are being picked daily, and are never out of season. An advocate for eating and spending in season, I admit to many flaws including a lust for coffee, chocolate and bananas.
My Mom grew up on a banana plantation in New South Wales, Australia. With dozens of varieties from which to choose, she must have eaten a lot of the tasty fruits while growing up.
In our impressionable youth, she often fed my sister and me banana sandwiches. Most people find it strange that we sat down to a lunch of banana sandwiches, but we eat other fruit, like tomato and avocado, on sandwiches. So, why not bananas? Thinly sliced onto soft white sandwich bread, spread with salted whipped butter, the sweet, slightly tangy sandwiches were Mom’s Aussie take on soul food. Hence, I bow to my socialization, environment and husband and occasionally bring home a bunch.
A good source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C, bananas are digestible and adaptable. Any food you can toss into the freezer, without wrapping, and squeeze it out of its skin a month later, for a bread or beverage recipe, has attributes beyond reproach.
When there are too many bananas in the fruit bowl or more appealing local produce to consume, my bananas tend to be forgotten and age unnoticed. So, into the freezer they go. With three freezer specimens and one lonely brown banana in the bowl yesterday, I decided to make banana walnut bread.
From my endless recipe research I’ve concluded that most banana bread recipes have little food value and are either quite high in sugar or in fat or both. If not, they contain pretend chemical sweeteners or spices that mask the authentic banana flavor. So, intent to have my cake (bread) and eat it too, I wrote my own recipe.
Hubby and I are pleased with the results and I don’t feel my waist expanding with every bite. If you have some of those freezer bananas, try this bread for Memorial Day. It can be made ahead; it’s super fast, sweet and tender, requires no mixer and has some food value. Use some of your leftover holiday baking walnuts or last summer’s individually frozen blueberries to add even more flavor and goodness while clearing a bit of space in the freezer.
3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
1-teaspoon baking powder
1-teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
4 small very ripe bananas (or frozen up to one month)
1-cup raw sugar
½ cup low fat sour cream (Tillamook, Alpenrose, Darigold)
3 large free-range eggs
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons real vanilla extract
1-cup coarsely chopped Oregon walnuts OR ¾ cup individually frozen Oregon blueberries tossed in 1 – 2 tablespoons flour.
Oil or grease two 9” x 5” loaf pans. Set oven rack to center position. Preheat oven to 350º F.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk with wire whisk to combine. Set aside.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the four bananas and sugar. Mash the bananas into the sugar with a silicone spatula, or large spoon until well combined. Add low fat sour cream. Whisk. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the oil and vanilla extract.
Pour and scrape liquid mixture into the dry. Stir until batter is evenly moist. Lightly fold in walnuts or individually frozen blueberries.
Divide batter evenly into the two prepared loaf pans. Place on center rack of oven. Bake 25 minutes; rotate pans in oven. Bake another 15-25 minutes, testing for doneness with cake tester after 40 minutes total baking time. When done, place loaves on cooling racks. Loosen the banana breads from pan. Cool five minutes in pans, then release breads from pans onto cooling rack and turn breads right side up to cool completely. Then enjoy!
Construction is progressing madly. I’m exhausted from being my own subcontractor: landscape, planting, painting, weed eating, etc. July 17th is still expected to be the grand opening party date for our new cottage classroom and bed & breakfast. I just posted more progress pictures on my website.
Eat well,
Judi
P.S. For more Memorial Day meal ideas, please see my latest Portland Fresh Foods article on Examiner.com.
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04.27.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Events, Gardening Fun, Uncategorized at 10:36 am by Judi
What's in your pantry?
The rain is great. The rain is good. I’m over it.
As I write this post, the Portland weather forecast for tomorrow is wet, sun, wet, gray and more of the same. I must say that a forecast of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny and NO RAIN seems utterly balmy right about now. However, that’s not the Portland forecast for tomorrow.
Expecting more rain, I’ll sweep my floors, shop around for garden stepping-stones, run errands and prepare dinner. But, the day might be clear, maybe sunny; one never knows. To be honest, I don’t want to stay inside or go shopping.
It’s spring. I want to plant more seeds and await the food harvest from my own little plot. Bok choy, radishes, peas, lettuce, beets, green beans, onions, leeks and garlic, celery, lovage, blueberries, rhubarb and all the hot weather crops. The sun warming my back, fresh air, productivity and expectant edibles; I like it. Where are my muck boots? I want to be garden bound.
This year, our corner lot, in the Westmoreland neighborhood, is turning into a wee farm experiment. We’ve built and filled several raised beds with compost and soil. Between the raindrops, I’ve started my planting ritual. Peas are up four inches high and lots of other seedlings (including my favorite French breakfast radishes) are raising their heads toward the light.
The construction of our bed & breakfast and cooking class cottage is revving up. Debris and building materials are everywhere in sight. Drywall will be installed in a few days; skylight hole was cut today. It’s a busy, exciting, tiring and hopeful time for us.
With all our construction and gardening chores, cooking classes are on hold. In the meantime, we dig, load, carry, measure, saw, sand and paint. Armed with a shovel, wheel barrel, spade and rake, I impatiently look forward to sunny planting days and often abandon all restraint, getting soaked in the rain as I plant. With little time for meal preparation, well planned, home cooked meals have been sporadic. Papa Haydn’s, Adobe Rose, Corbett Fish House, and Hash staffs have grown to know us well. Labor-intensive all day work requires energy, but going out to eat everyday isn’t an option or even desirable for most of us. Besides, it gets expensive.
So, with little time to cook, I turn to quick recipes, using what’s on hand, like this original recipe for low-fat, whole wheat, apple-walnut breakfast cake. Hubby loves it and it’s a good coffee, milk or tea accompaniment that’ll get you and your family off to a good start in the morning. Day old cake freezes well, cut into serving size pieces, wrapped individually and tightly bagged. Pop a frozen piece into a lunch box or bag and it’ll defrost in time for lunch.
Hope you enjoy this healthy, seasonal anytime treat. And remember to look through your pantry, fridge and freezer for creative impetus. Maybe you’ll save some trips to the grocery stores, some time and a few bucks in the process. As I tell my dear husband, “our home is not a restaurant” and meals don’t have to be a big production, just delicious and nutritious.
While enjoying your freshly baked breakfast cake, be sure to stop by my website to view some progress pictures of the cottage construction, I just posted. I’m starting to see light at the end of this tunnel. So, beginning in September, I’ll be offering economical sustainable group cooking classes in the cottage. If you have a cooking class topic that interests you, let me know. Classes will be small (4-8 participants) and if I put together a class using your topic, you could get a FREE class. I need a minimum of four participants for a class. So if three other people sign up for your suggested class, the free class is yours. It’s that easy. Fall and winter classes will be listed on the Portland Home Cooking website no later than July, 31, 2011.
By the way, sorry I’ve been incognito for so long. Like I said before; busy, busy. I’ll try to do better.
Eat well,
Judi
Wholegrain apple-walnut breakfast cake
Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup old-fashioned oatmeal (uncooked)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ cup nonfat Greek style (or other thick) yogurt
½ cup cold water (preferably filtered)
2 large free-range eggs
1 cup real maple syrup
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 cups diced apple (peeled and cored)*
½ cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)
*This equals about two medium apples; use two types, if available, for better flavor.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375º F. Grease a 9” x 13” baking pan
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients; whisk well to combine.
In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients; whisk well to combine.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Whisk or stir until well mixed and moist throughout. Don’t over mix. Fold in the apples and walnuts. Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Bake 20-30 minutes on middle shelf of preheated oven. Cool on rack 10 minutes; enjoy.
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03.13.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Events at 1:26 pm by Judi
Easy one-rise refrigerator dough recipe.
Occasionally, and I apologize if it’s
too often, I link this blog page to my Examiner.com articles. When you realize your newsletter from me is just a link, I hope you’ll take a moment and check it out anyway. When I do this, it isn’t
just because I’m lazy. You’re receiving it because I think it’s newsworthy enough or pertinent enough to be valuable and provide information most people would want to see. I feel good about this article and hope you find it worthwhile.
“Eaters’ Rights” is the title and I know you’re one.
Some Master Gardener news, pics of the construction project (new classroom / bed & breakfast) and a recipe coming next week. Honest.
If anyone has a fabulous rhubarb recipe, I’d love to try it – pretty soon. Rhubarb is popping up.
Please don’t forget about the contest to name our up and coming classroom cottage / bed & breakfast. The Portland Home Cooking website will provide any information you need to become inspired. WIN a seasonal cooking class for two & you pick the topic from any seasonal class options. We’ll be creative in the kitchen together. Just send in – up to 4 names. You might WIN!
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02.22.11
Posted in Being Seasonal & Local, Events, Uncategorized at 10:58 am by Judi
Antioxidants and Protein in a crusty, tender loaf
Hope this finds you all well.
Construction of our new kitchen cottage is underway. It’s so exciting because I’ll be able to conduct classes and team building events for up to ten people in the cottage. And when not in use as a classroom, it will be a bed and breakfast and rental space for business meetings and retreats, as well.
We’re having trouble thinking of a name for our cozy, quaint new facility in the Westmoreland neighborhood of Portland. I want to advertise our wonderful changes soon but need a great moniker that says it all in a name.
The cottage services are now listed on the Portland Home Cooking website on both the “services” and “pricing” pages. And that information might help you with ideas to enter our CONTEST to name our cottage business.
Contest Rules: You must be at least eighteen years of age to enter. However, cooks age thirteen or older may participate in the class prize when accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Send up to four (4) individual entries for your cottage name ideas through the Portland Home Cooking website contact page or enter through a comment on this blog. Don’t forget to include your current contact information.
The winner gets a free seasonal personalized cooking class for two. Your suggested name must reflect the business services and amenities described on the Portland Home Cooking website and the winning entry will become the name of our cottage business. No compensation aside from the seasonal personalized cooking class for two will be available. If you’d like information on our classes, you can find that on the website too. Good luck! I can’t wait to see your entries.
Meanwhile, I’ve just created some new recipes, including a bread recipe, you might like to try. If you’ve never baked bread or you love fresh bread but find it too time consuming to prepare, this is the recipe for you. It’s vegan and contains antioxidants from green tea and protein from walnuts.
The bread, leavened with instant Rapid Rise yeast, is a snap. It only requires a few minutes of kneading in your electric mixer, fitted with a dough hook, or by hand. And it calls for just one rising (35-45 minutes) after being filled and shaped.
For a light yet rich winter soup to go along with this lovely bread, please click the link and you’ll find a recipe for Northwest Winter Soup Tonic in my latest Examiner.com article. The soup is quick and easy.
I couldn’t make up my mind. Tonic? Soup? YES. It reminds me of a vegetable version of miso soup, comforting and real. Hope you like the recipe.
The Green Tea and Walnut Bread recipe makes two big loaves, so you might have some leftover to freeze, carefully wrapped and bagged. If so, eat it within one month to guarantee best flavor and texture. It’s tasty with homemade jam, Cheddar or cream cheese, hummus or peanut butter, with a bowl of soup or stew, as the base for any type of sandwich (sweet or savory) or made into my recipe for Walnut Buttermilk French Toast with Berry Maple Syrup, which will be the next recipe to appear on this blog. We had it yesterday. It was delicious; and it takes a glamorous picture. You’ll see.
Enjoy!
Judi
Green Tea and Walnut Bread
1 cup shelled walnuts
5 to 5 ½ cups bread flour, divided
½ cup corn flour 2 envelopes rapid rise yeast
¼ cup raw cane sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups filtered water
2 green tea & roasted brown rice teabags
½ cup organic vegan margarine (made for baking)
Chop walnuts (not too fine) and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or large bowl of electric mixer, combine 3 cups bread flour, corn flour, rapid rise yeast, sugar and salt. Whisk to combine.
Boil water; measure two cups of the hot water into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Add the teabags and steep for 5 minutes. Squeeze teabags and remove. Combine ½ cup margarine with the steeped tea; stir until margarine is almost melted. Using instant read thermometer, test temperature of tea mixture. Temperature must be between 120 and 130 degrees F. If mixture isn’t warm enough, reheat in microwave in 10-second increments until properly heated. If too hot, stir until temperature is between 120º and 130º degrees F., then add tea mixture to dry ingredients and stir/beat well with wooden spoon or with paddle of electric mixer until well mixed.
If using mixer, scrape batter from paddle and switch to dough hook attachment. One cup at a time, add remaining 2 to 2 ½ cups flour, stirring in with dough hook, spoon or hands after each addition. Knead with hands or dough hook until dough is smooth, shiny and easily handled, 5-8 minutes. Cut dough in half. Cover one half with a linen towel. Place other piece of dough on a 12-inch piece of parchment paper; roll it out to a 9” x 12” rectangle.
Spray the bottoms of two 9” x 6” loaf pans with vegetable oil.
Sprinkle dough with ½ cup chopped walnuts, covering within 1-inch of edge all around; press nuts into dough. Roll dough from short end, jellyroll fashion. Pinch ends to cover filling. Place loaf in prepared pan. Repeat process with second piece of dough. Place unbaked loaves into prepared pans. Cover pans with clean linen towels and place in warm draft free place for 35 – 45 minutes, or until doubled in size or until dough has risen about ¼ inch above edge of pan. Meanwhile, set oven rack to middle position; preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
When dough is ready and oven is preheated, bake loaves, on center rack of oven, for 35 minutes or until golden brown and crusty. Take baked loaves from oven and remove loaves from pans onto cooling racks. Cool about 40 minutes. Cooled breads will be crusty outside and have a soft, fluffy crumb. Yields 2 loaves.
*NOT corn starch; corn flour is finely ground corn meal. It’s a Bob’s Red Mill product, available, in small bags, at Bob’s and at most Portland markets.
This and all recipes on this blog are original and owned by Portland Home Cooking. Please enjoy them and feel free to copy for personal use. However, do not publish as your own in any format nor copy for group distribution. If you’d like to pass the recipe on, that’s great and thanks. Simply link to this recipe page in your email.
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