It has been far too long since I have posted a bread blog, not because I haven’t been baking, but because I have stuck to familiar breads--family favorites, if you will--rather than exploring anything new. So the brethren have enjoyed cornbread, dinner rolls like ones on the left, almond spiral and Coffeecake Exceptionale on several occasions in the last few months, with the occasional strawberry-rhubarb dump cake when strawberries were cheap and the rhubarb was ripe. There have been no complaints!
But this week I have made my annual pilgrimage to our little retreat cabin at nearby Lake Thunderbird, and that means experimentation! There are always too many recipes to choose from (thanks to Pinterest and my extensive cookbook collection!) but I have some direction from my publisher. He wants a new edition of Thursday Night Pizza, possibly with more color photos, but certainly with a chapter on pizzas on the grill and using a wood fired pizza oven, since both of these methods are becoming increasingly popular in backyards, on decks and patios, across the United States. More on this subject in a later blog.
I also want to try one or two recipes from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, which I didn’t even know existed until I found a copy at a second hand shop, although it was published in 1984. With 800 recipes, it starts with 145 pages on pies and pastry and works its way through cookies, cakes, yeast breads and batter breads. I’m sure several blogs will be devoted to its recipes over the next few months. BTW, there are a lot of used copies available on line for far less than what I paid for it. Between this and my Breadhead Bible you'd be set for recipes for decades to come!
This one is from Taste of Home, but I want mine to have even more fruit and a lot of nuts as well. My other project is to develop a bread studded with dried fruit and nuts that doesn’t taste like Christmas fruitcake and pairs well with both fresh and aged cheeses. I found a recipe in a small book I found in my mother’s collection that will serve as a starting point, but I think it needs some tweaking. I’m sure the staff at the Lake’s clubhouse will be happy to serve as taste testers. The one at the right from Taste of Home is kind of what I want except I want to use Greek yogurt rather than eggnog. I'll keep you posted.
As usual, I brought along my sourdough starter, the one which I collected several years ago on the back deck of this very cabin. I use it to make multigrain sourdough pancakes, one of my favorite breakfasts, accompanied with a reduced-fat breakfast sausage I make with lean ground pork and ground turkey. I haven’t published it before, but I used it in my new Craftsy class “Baking with Herbs and Spices” for Sausage Roll Ups, so here it is.
As usual, I brought along my sourdough starter, the one which I collected several years ago on the back deck of this very cabin. I use it to make multigrain sourdough pancakes, one of my favorite breakfasts, accompanied with a reduced-fat breakfast sausage I make with lean ground pork and ground turkey. I haven’t published it before, but I used it in my new Craftsy class “Baking with Herbs and Spices” for Sausage Roll Ups, so here it is.
Reduced Fat Breakfast Sausage
1 lb. ground turkey
1 lb. lean ground pork
2 tsp. dried sage
1 to 2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. dried marjoram (optional)
¼ to ½ tsp. crushed red pepper
Mix thoroughly and refrigerate until use. I cook up the whole batch in patties and toss them into a ziplock bag in the freezer. One minute in the microwave and they are ready to serve.
RSS Feed