Cookware Giveaway

How would you like to win some LeCreuset baking dishes? You could win a 9-inch Square Baking Dish and 5-inch baking dish just by entering over at Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms.  I already have a lot of baking dishes, but I wouldn't mind winning these.  They look really nice!

Giveaway ends April 21st at 9pm EST, so get over there and enter now!

Flatbread for Peggy

I made this bread (without yeast) for Peggy.

Unleavened Spelt Bread

Mix:

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup spelt flour
• 2 T. cornmeal
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 T. butter
• 1 cup boiling water

Let sit, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to lukewarm.
Gradually add  as much of  2 cups spelt flour as you can.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead with additional spelt flour, unbleached if you have it, until smooth and not too sticky.  Divide into 3 pieces and roll each piece into a circle, approximately 8 inches across.  Place on greased baking sheet that has been sprinkled with a little cornmeal - should be able to get 2 rounds on your sheet.  Prick with a fork and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until slightly browned.  Remove from oven and brush tops with butter.

Cool and enjoy.  Store in gallon-size zipper bags.

Update 4/11: I doubled this recipe and made 4 rounds from it.

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Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This is really easy, and tastes good, too. Instead of rolling the enchiladas up, you simply layer everything in.

Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1 (7 oz.) can diced green chiles
• 1 (1.25 oz.) package taco seasoning mix
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans drained
• 2 (8 oz.) cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
• 16 oz. salsa

Directions:

1. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking dish.
2. Heat oil in large skillet.  Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until tender.  Remove from heat.  Stir in chicken, chiles and seasoning mix.
3. Layer half of tortillas in prepared baking dish. Top with chicken mixture, beans and 1 cup cheese.  Layer with remaining tortillas.  Top with salsa and remaining cheese.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes @  350° or until heated through and cheese is melted.

This recipe is also very good made with hamburger instead of chicken.

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Sourdough Starter

Once established, a healthy sourdough starter can live forever.  However, because I observe the Days of Unleavened Bread, in which we put all yeast and everything baked with yeast out of our house, I need to start a new one every year when the Holy Days are over.

I started today, so I thought I'd keep track of all the steps.  I always refer to Sourdough Baking, the Basics, though I've been doing it for a while now.  It's a good place to start.

Day One:  Mix 1 cup unbleached flour with 1 cup warm water, cover with a cloth, and let sit.  Stir whenever the mood strikes - just because.  I mix mine in an old peanut butter jar.

Day Two: Pour out 1/2 cup of the mixture and add 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 cup flour.  Mix well.
What to do with the 1/2 cup you pour out?  I suppose you could throw it out, but I have a really hard time with that.  So I use it to bake something.  Today I used it to make a loaf of French Bread, mixing the dough in my breadmaker and then forming the loaf to bake in the oven - because it tastes better that way.

Day Three:  Today my mixture was thick and bubbly, and smelled mildly fermented.  So, it's working!  I stirred it down and let it sit the rest of the afternoon and then fed it again by adding 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 cup unbleached flour.  I did not dump any out first, because I like a little more starter in my jar - that way, when I take out 1 cup of starter for my recipes, I have a little more left in the jar to replenish.

Day Four: My mixture was thick and had begun forming a little liquid on top, which I stirred in periodically.  It should be ready to use, so this evening I poured out 1 cup starter to make my Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread, which I should really start calling Whole Grain because I also add oatmeal, 7-grain cereal and wheat bran to - and I really need to update the recipe to reflect that.  I also replenished the starter with 3/4 cup warm water and 3/4 cup flour, and I will cover it and let it sit overnight.

Day Five:  My replenished starter was nice and bubbly.  I let it sit most of the day and then put the lid on my peanut butter jar and put it in the refrigerator - ready to use next time I want bread.  Speaking of the bread - it's wonderful!  At this stage of the game, it takes longer to rise and doesn't rise as much as it will after the starter has been established, but it tastes so good.  And the best part?  No added yeast.

Yep, I have fun with this!

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Everyone's Favorite Pancakes

Breakfast (Photo credit: bcmom)

These pancakes are one of our favorite Unleavened Bread recipes.  Every year we have them several times, and the kids say they don't ever want "regular" pancakes again.

Golden Delight Pancakes

• 1 cup cream style cottage cheese
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour

Put all ingredients except flour into blender container.  Cover and blend at high speed, stopping to stir down once or twice.  Add flour and blend well.  Cook on greased griddle using about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.  I use a ladle because it just seems to work better than pouring from the blender.  You should be able to cook 4 pancakes at a time on a regular square griddle.

If you're not sure how to know when pancakes are done, read these instructions from  Baking 911:

After pouring the pancake batter, the side towards the griddle is done when the bubbles on top of the opposite or batter side have burst and left small holes. The batter takes on a dry sheen as well. When this happens, it is time to flip the pancake. Before doing so, lift up a corner of it with a spatula to make sure it's nicely browned on the bottom. Using a wide spatula, lift the pancake off the griddle and flip it over, placing it back down on the griddle. When golden brown, remove pancake from griddle.

Serve with butter, honey, syrup, strawberries, bananas, jam, or whatever you like with your pancakes.  Enjoy!

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Mom's Unleavened Bread

It wouldn't be Unleavened Bread without some of this.

Mom's Unleavened Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup milk

Directions:
Cut butter into 1/2 the flour.  Alternately add milk and remaining flour.  Knead until smooth and roll out on cookie sheet.  Prick with fork and bake 20 minutes at 400°.  Cut while warm.

So good!  It's hard to stop eating this stuff, especially when it's fresh.

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Brown Rice Salad with Salmon

I read an interview with Claire Robinson on My Wooden Spoon this morning.  I was not aware of her or her show, but I like the idea of easy, flavorful recipes, so I'm going to have to check her out.  What caught my eye was her approach to recipes:

She says you should read the recipe, put it away, and do your own thing. Don’t be afraid to swap an ingredient out or add more or less.

Yep!  That's pretty much my approach to any recipe.  I use them for ideas, and then proceed to throw in the ingredients I have.  It's more fun that way!  The only problem is that, when I come up with something we especially like, I usually can't repeat it.

All that to say that I found this recipe on Oprah.com for Brown Rice Salad with Salmon (by searching for 'salmon rice salad' - imagine that!)  The recipe already has a lot of leeway built into it - but I thought I better jot down what I used this time - just in case it's the perfect combination.

Brown Rice Salad with Salmon

Salad:

• 2 c. cooked brown rice
• 1-1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 8 oz. cooked salmon, broken into small pieces

Dressing:

• 2 t. cider vinegar
• 4 t. soy sauce
• 2 t. olive oil
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
In mixing bowl, combine rice and vegetables.  Mix vinegar, soy sauce, oil and salt & pepper; pour over rice mixture and mix well.  Add salmon, and toss lightly to combine.  Chill well.

I'm already noticing that the original recipe called for some cooked vegetables, where I used green pepper and celery, but the rice was hot when I mixed everything, so I'm going to figure that's OK.   Besides, they'll add a little crunch.  I'm thinking some chow mein noodles on top will be good, too.

Potluck tomorrow.  We'll see what everyone thinks.  It certainly smelled good when I mixed it up.

Update:  Definitely the perfect combination!  This salad has become a favorite around here.  It's great for not only a potluck, but as a cool summer meal.  It's great with chow mein noodles, on a bed of greens, or just by itself.

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