Scottish Shortbread

Shortbread is an oft abused biscuit. People have added milk, eggs, water, extracts, vegetable oils, and other ingredients that should never appear in these crumbly "cookies".

They are made with only four ingredients, each as fresh as possible. Old butter leaves a metallic tang in the mouth, and old or cheap flour tastes mealy.

Only fresh unsalted butter, unbleached pastry flour, sea salt, and fine sugar will do.

3 cups finely sifted pastry flour
1 cup fine cane sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) of fresh unsalted butter
1 tsp sea salt (pink of grey)







Sift the dry ingredients then blend in the butter, 1 tbls pat at a time. The mix should be soft and granular like sand.








Press into two buttered pie pans. Score mid-way and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.








Set out and re-cut score marks with a large sharp knife. Completely cool. Serve with very hot tea, milky Earl Grey is my favorite.

Irish Scones with lavender glaze

 Irish scones are very easy to make and quite addictive to eat. This batch ended up being capped with a lavender sugar glaze, giving it a delicate, fresh, spring-like aftertaste.

3 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking soda    3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar    4 tbls butter
2 tbls shortening    3/4 cup cream
1/4 cup applesauce

Heat oven to 375*. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with applesauce then add to dry ingredients. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.

 

Pestle grind 1/4 cup of lavender buds. Using a mixer, blend together 1 cup powdered sugar, lavender, and enough juice of a lemon or orange to create a glaze that is thin enough to dip the scones in to create a sugary cap. Set back out on the wire rack and allow the glaze to set before stacking.

Brown scones are prepared just as above except that to finish you dip the tops in watered down blackstrap molasses and then sugar coat.

Orange Lanterns and Candied Orange-Chili Walnuts

In the beginning of October, I came across this photo circulating the Organic boards on Facebook and in Pintrest.

Here you can see the end product looks beautiful. I thought these would be perfect centerpieces for my November International Dinner on France.

But how do you get from step 1 to 3? What to do with all of the juice and pulp? I juiced my oranges using a glass juicer and then scraped the insides out smoothly, dumping the pith and pulp into a glass measuring cup.

I squeezed the extra juice from the mass using the back of a spoon. I used an aluminum pipe about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and used the sharp end to cut two holes, one in each half, so the it would sit flat on the plate and so the heat of the candle would not burn the fruit's skin.

With future lanterns I'll make the top hole larger as they started to scorch after an hour, as the skin dried out.

Here is the aftermath. A delectable three course supper completely decimated. Notice the missing caps, but people didn't mind and rather enjoyed the brighter light.


The juice ended up being used to make the slightly spicy candied orange-chili walnuts.



The recipe: 2 oranges worth of juice, 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 tbls olive oil, 2 tsp red pepper flakes, 8 oz halved walnuts.

Set out a well oiled cookie sheet.

On high heat, cook the nuts in the mix until the liquid thickens and bubbles and darkens, using a lightly oiled silicon scraper to stir the nuts frequently. Scrape everything evenly onto the cookie sheet, keeping the nuts separated. Once cooled, use a metal spatula to remove the nuts and hard candied caramel. It will have the consistency of peanut brittle. You can store it in a zippered storage bag.

Susie Cuke's Pickles

Think of the dishes and sweets and specialties that are unique to your family. Have you ever created that dish using a recipe that's been passed down over the generations?  Have you ever considered recreating it every day to sell? That's just what Mike Gzyl and his father do. Every day, after work, they create Bread & Butter and Garlic Dill pickles and relishes.

They use old-world recipes from Poland that have been tweaked for the modern palate and canning techniques; recipes that have been passed down through their family for four generations.

Susie Cuke's Pickles makes both pickles and relish, and perhaps with the success of these two more pickled products will follow? I sure hope so!

The Bread & Butter were very sweet. Sweeter than store bought, but not excessively cloying or artificially sweet. 

The Garlic Dill are thick slabs of bitter saltiness. Both varieties have a nice bite that falls somewhere between crunchiness and softness.

Draudt's Farm Market & Greenhouse, another multi-generational business, currently supplies the cucumbers.

They are available for purchase from 8 am to 1pm at both the Elmwood-Bidwell and Hamburg Farmer's Markets every Saturday until the end of the season. There is a possibility for growth into a year round product, a secondary supplier for fall and winter is being looked into.

I sampled mine right out of the jar at first. The juice is so nice. I'm already coming up with some ideas of adding it to an ice-cold Japanese pickled fish dish when we work through all of the garlic and pickles. 

Then I created toast points slathered with fromage blanc, slow braised beef rib meat and finely chopped pickles. Made my eyes cross it was so good!

I encourage you to pick up a handful of jars while they are still available!

Sweet Sponge Bread

2 tsp yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and 1 tbls sugar
3 1/4 cups white flour, sifted very fine
1 tbls salt
1 tbls sugar
3 tbls sunflower seed oil

Proof the yeast with the sugar for 20 minutes until a thick foam forms. Add the all of the other ingredients in a large metal bowl. Form dough, mixing by hand.

Once a ball forms, roll it out onto the counter and then scrub the bowl very well until the bowl is clean and hot. Butter the bottom half of the bowl and roll the dough ball around inside until coated. Cover with a towel and set near the oven. Pre-heat to oven to 400 degrees. Let rise for one hour. Divide and roll each ball out to 1/4" and brush on a thin layer of melted butter and roll up very tight.



Set on a greased cookie sheet and cover for 30 more minutes and then bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and it knocks hollow on the bottom of the loaf. Serve warm with whipped butter. The sponge from this recipe is amazing. Fluffy like an angel cake.

Ben & Jerry's Style Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream - No Eggs!

Since we got this ice cream machine, we've made pineapple/orange/lemon sorbet, strawberry, chipped vanilla bean, and chocolate peanut butter. Here I've made chocolate chip cookie dough.







You need to make a batch of cookies at least two days prior to making this. The bonus is you could also try making ice cream sandwiches with them. Go to this link for the best no egg recipe ever. Line a small cookie sheet with wax paper and spoon 1/2" inch dollops of cookie dough onto the paper. Set into the freezer and let there for 24 to 48 hours.

The ice cream is one pint heavy cream, one and a half cups 2% milk, 1/2 cup half & half, 3/4 cup of sugar, and 1 tbls vanilla.












During the last five minutes, drop the bits of cookie into the mixer.

When the thirty minute cycle is up, pack the ice cream evenly into two tupperware containers, smoothing down the top. Cover and freeze for at least one hour before serving.

Pita Bread

1 package of yeast, 2 1/4 tsps
1/2 cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup lukewarm water

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for ten minutes until the water is creamy.

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a small depression in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast water into the center. Slowly add 1 cup of warm water and stir with a spatula until well blended and elastic.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for four minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, set the ball aside to rest and clean the flour off the kneading surface.

Wash the bowl you created the dough in and then coat lightly with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl. Turn the dough thoroughly until coated, then cover with a clean dish towel. Set near the oven for about 1 1/2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out into a rope, then pinch off 10 pieces. Place the pieces on a lightly floured surface. Let them sit covered for ten minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and make sure the rack is at the very bottom of the oven. Place your baking sheet in the oven at this time.

Roll out each piece of dough with a rolling pin into rounds, about five inches across and 1/4 inch thick. Bake each round for four minutes until the bread puffs up, flip and bake for two more minutes.


Remove each pita with the spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Take the spatula and gently push down the center of the puff. Set out to cool, then stack and store in storage bag. They can be stored for up to a week in a pantry or bread box, and up to a month in the freezer. Be sure to specifically use freezer bags to prevent freezer burn.

Lembas Bread - Made 3x in size to satisfy Hobbit appetites (Lord of the Rings)

1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup warm milk
1 tbls baking powder
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
8 tbls butter (1 stick, room temperature)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbls cinnamon and sugar or garlic and oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Chop butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or two knives until you get a crumbly mixture. Add sugar and mix. Add milk and stir with a fork until dough forms. Roll the dough out about 1 inch thick. Cut out two 8x8 inch squares and transfer to a greased cookie sheet. Score each square from corner to corner with a knife. Bake for about 20 minutes or until set and lightly golden.

Peach, Beet and Tarragon Pie with Homemade Vanilla Bean Chip Ice Cream

Peaches from Tom Towers Farm

Sunset Beets from Bozard Farm

Tarragon from Native Offerings

I came across this pie in search of Amish pie recipes. It called for cubes of soft cheese and other herbs and little crisp bits of sausage, but I was looking for something sweeter.

So I left out the the cheese and sausage and limited the bouquet of herbs down to one, the licorice flavored French Tarragon and one spice, cinnamon.

I reduced the sugar to one cup and added two extra pats of butter. The crust was crimped, washed with melted butter and cream and sprinkled liberally with cinnamon and sugar.

Baked for 40 minutes at 380 degrees, the pie was robust and savory. Couldn't tell by eye which were peach and which were beet after baking, but the flavors were noticeable enough. Mixed reviews from the family. However, since I love earthy and savory flavors, I really enjoyed it.

The vanilla bean chip ice cream was a snap to make. The bean soaked in hot water and then was minced and added to 1 pint of heavy cream, one cup of milk, 1/2 cup raw organic sugar and 2 tsp vanilla bean paste. Blended for 30 minutes in the ice cream maker, this soft ice cream was a great accompaniment to this unusual pie.

Fruit Leather

Boil in a short stock pot, 2 lbs of fruit, 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Stir frequently, scraping down the sides. Boil for at least 20 minutes. Turn the heat down as far as it will go, do not cover, and continue to cook for 1 more hour. Stirring every five minutes and scraping down the sides and along the bottom of the pan.

Cool for 30 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with either brown waxed paper or plastic wrap. Pour on the thickened fruit and smooth out with the back of a spoon and be sure that there are no holes or thick sections. It should be very smooth and even.

Bake between 130 to 170 degrees for 6 hours. Checking for tackiness and elasticity.

When you can lift an edge, turn off the oven, cover and set to cool on top of the stove.

You can just roll it right up in the plastic wrap or waxed paper and stored in a plastic bag in the fridge door.

Strawberry Ice Cream - No Eggs!

One pack of organic strawberries, hulled and halved. Washed very well.

One cup of sugar added and mixed well.

Using a potato masher, stand on a step stool, so you are directly above the bowl and mash the berries down.

The berries should have an even pulpy appearance. About 1/2 to 2/4 cup of water will be released from the fruit in the process.

Because of this you halve the usual amount of milk down to 1 cup. This batch has almond milk. Add in 2 cups organic heavy cream and then 2 tsp. vanilla paste or syrup. Blend well and then add to an ice cream machine.

 After 30 minutes it'll look like soft serve ice cream.

Pack it and freeze for at least one hour before serving.