Breads

DIY and Save – Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Made this for our grandson Dakota – it's a tasty and simple vinaigrette made with few ingredients
Course Salad

Equipment

  • 1 pint sized glass jar with lid

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar Don't skimp on your purchase – find a good quality balsamic vinegar – it does make the difference in the overall taste
  • 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 TBSP Honey
  • 2 TBSP Dijon Mustard
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients into glass jar, put on and tighten lid, shake well until combined
  • Store in the refridgerator
Keyword balsamic, salad dressing, vinaigrette, vinegar

12 Grain Cereal Potato Bread

12 Grain Cereal Potato Bread

Each slice of 12 Grain Cereal Potato bread is made with wholesome ingredients, like Rolled Oats, Barley (wheat), Millet, Rye (wheat), Brown Flax, Sunflower Seeds, Brown Sesame, Buckwheat Groats, Corn Meal, Wheat Bran, Rice Flour, and Sorghum Flour for delicious layers of flavor and nutrition.
The addition of potatos add softness to the dough and makes the dough easier to shape
This recipes is a unique blends of grains, seeds and nuts that give each loaf the delicious taste & nutrition you love. It's delicious, good nutrition for your balanced life. Excellent sandwhich bread or toasted with butter and jam.
Servings 6 Loaves

Equipment

  • Haussler Mixer

Ingredients
  

Prepared 12 Grain Cereal

  • 1/2 cup 12 Grain Cereal I get mine from Bulkfoods.com
  • 1/2 cup Rolled Oats Old fashioned not instant
  • 2 cups Boiling Water

Potato Water

  • 1 medium Russet type potato 300 – 400 grams this should be peeled and chopped as if you were making mashed potatos.
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp butter

Sponge and dough

  • 15 cups Bread Flour: Read notes For sponge you will start with 6 cups flour. Halfway thru the sponge rise you will mix in 2 cups of flour. For the bread you will add another 6 – 8 cups of flour. Depending on how slack the dough is.
  • 1 cup sugar

Yeast Water

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tbsp instant active dry yeast

Instructions
 

Prepare 12 Grain Cereal

  • Bring 2 cups water to boil, add all grains, return to boil then turn down to simmer for 15 – 20 mins. Don't let burn – keep stirred. Let sit in pan until potatos are cooked.

Potato Water

  • Boil the potato in the 4 cups of water until the potato is fork tender. Do NOT drain. Water is needed for the sponge
  • Pour potato with water into the Haussler mixing bowl.
  • Add prepared cereal to potato water, stir then beat potatos and cereal in water until potatos are broken down.
  • Add butter and salt to hot potato water – stir well

Yeast Water

  • Combine yeast with water, stir until yeast is dissolved. Let sit for 5 mins.

Making the Sponge

  • Add flour and sugar to mixing bowl.
  • Turn Haussler on low and mix for 2-3 mins until flour is fully incorporated with liquid
  • Add yeast water. Continue mixing on low for another 2 – 3 minutes until all the yeast water has incorporated into the sponge.
  • Turn off mixter and leave dough covered for 2 hour.
  • After 1 hour add another 2 cups of flour mixing for 1-2 minutes.

From sponge to dough

  • Continue to mix in remaining flour until dough starts pulling away from bowl side. The dough will be somewhat slack. I look for most of the dough to be on the hook.
  • Perform a window pane check on the dough to determine how long to let the mixer knead. Generally 6 works – sometimes 8 minutes is required. Always knead on low speed.
  • Dump dough out on an oiled surface and do a few stretch and folds and gentle kneading to form dough.
  • Place dough into a large oiled bowl. Cover with damp cloth and allow to rise for at least an hour.
  • Once risen, divide into 6 equal portions and form loaves. Put loaves into oiled or sprayed bread pans. I use 6 1.5 qt glass bread pans.
    Let rise till double – generally 30 – 45 mins. I put mine into the ovens with oven light on. The light provides enough heat to promote rise.
  • Preheat oven to 375°. Bake for 45. Remove pans from oven. Remove loafs from pans. Allow loaves to cool on a rack.
  • These loaves freeze well.

Meat Ravioli with Quick Tomato Sauce

flour and eggs scattered on table before bread baking

Meat Ravioli with Quick Tomato Sauce

Serves 4-6

If using King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, which is higher in protein, increase the number of egg yolks to seven. To ensure the proper dough texture, it’s important to use large eggs and to weigh the flour if possible. The longer the dough rests in step 2, the easier it will be to roll out. When rolling out the dough, don’t add too much flour; it can cause excessive snapback. Though a pasta machine is not necessary, you may use one if you like. This recipe produces square ravioli with three cut edges and one folded edge. If using a fluted pasta wheel to cut, the folded edge may be trimmed so that all sides match. If you don’t have a pot that holds 6 quarts or more, cook the ravioli in two batches; toss the first batch with some sauce in a serving bowl, cover it with foil, and keep it warm in a 200-degree oven while the second batch cooks. Serve with your favorite tomato sauce or use our recipe for Quick Tomato Sauce.

INGREDIENTS

Pasta Dough

  • 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed
  • 2 large eggs plus 6 large yolks
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Filling

  • 2 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
  • 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (½ cup), plus extra for serving
  • ¼ cup chicken broth
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground fennel
  • ¾ teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 pound ground pork

Ravioli

  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • Table salt for cooking

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the pasta dough: Process flour, eggs and yolks, and oil in food processor until mixture forms cohesive dough that feels soft and is barely tacky to touch, about 45 seconds. (Pinch dough between your fingers; if any dough sticks to your fingers, add up to ¼ cup extra flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Process until flour is fully incorporated after each addition, 10 to 15 seconds, before retesting. If dough doesn’t become cohesive, add up to 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it just comes together; process 30 seconds longer.)

2. Turn out dough onto dry counter and knead until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Shape dough into 6-inch-long cylinder. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Wipe processor bowl clean.

3. For the filling: Process bread, Parmesan, broth, egg, parsley, garlic, salt, fennel, lemon zest, pepper, and mustard in now-empty processor until paste forms, 10 to 15 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add pork and pulse until mixture is well combined, about 5 pulses. Transfer filling to medium bowl, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until needed.

4. For the ravioli: Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut dough cylinder crosswise into 6 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time (keep remaining pieces covered), dust both sides with flour, place cut side down on clean counter, and press into 3-inch square. Using heavy rolling pin, roll into 6-inch square.

5. Dust both sides of 1 dough square lightly with flour. Starting at center of square, roll dough away from you in 1 motion. Return rolling pin to center of dough and roll toward you in 1 motion. Repeat rolling steps until dough sticks to counter and measures roughly 12 inches long. Lightly dust both sides of dough with flour and continue to roll out dough until it measures roughly 20 inches long and 6 inches wide, frequently lifting dough to release it from counter. (If dough firmly sticks to counter and wrinkles when rolled out, carefully lift dough and dust counter lightly with flour.) Transfer dough sheet to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic. Repeat rolling process with remaining 5 dough squares and transfer to prepared sheet (2 dough sheets per layer; place parchment between layers). Keep dough covered with plastic.

6. Line second baking sheet with parchment. Lay 1 dough sheet on clean counter with long side parallel to counter edge (keep others covered). Trim ends of dough with sharp knife so that corners are square and dough is 18 inches long. Brush bottom half of dough with egg white. Starting 1½ inches from left edge of dough and 1 inch from bottom, deposit 1 tablespoon filling. Repeat placing 1-tablespoon mounds of filling, spaced 1½ inches apart, 1 inch from bottom edge of dough. You should be able to fit 6 mounds of filling on 1 dough sheet.

7. Cut dough sheet at center points between mounds of filling, separating it into 6 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, lift top edge of dough over filling and extend it so that it lines up with bottom edge. Keeping top edge of dough suspended over filling with your thumbs, use your fingers to press dough layers together, working around each mound of filling from back to front, pressing out as much air as possible before sealing completely.

8. Once all edges are sealed, use sharp knife or fluted pastry wheel to cut excess dough from around filling, leaving ¼- to ½-inch border around each mound (it’s not necessary to cut folded edge of ravioli, but you may do so, if desired). (Dough scraps can be frozen and added to soup.) Transfer ravioli to prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Repeat shaping process with remaining dough and remaining filling.

9. Bring 6 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add ravioli and 1 tablespoon salt. Cook, maintaining gentle boil, until ravioli are just tender, about 13 minutes. (To test, pull 1 ravioli from pot, trim off corner without cutting into filling, and taste. Return ravioli to pot if not yet tender.) Drain well. Using spider skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer ravioli to warmed bowls or plates. Serve immediately, passing extra Parmesan separately.

To Make Ahead: Freeze uncooked ravioli in single layer on parchment paper–lined rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Cook from frozen with no change to cooking time.

PHOTO CREDIT: CARL TREMBLAY

Parker House Rolls – from My Mother’s CookBook

I have this old cookbook my mother created. She told me that this was a school project for Home Ec. I want to capture the recipes contained in the cookbook before they are lost for ever. I have captured the original recipe in her hand writing.

The original recipes don’t provide complete instructions. I’ve interpreted what I could. I hope to recreate the recipe in the near future. I will post updates to the recipe after I’ve had a chance to recreate it.

If you’d like to prepare the Parker House Roll dough in advance, you can mix the dough, let it rest at room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes and then put the dough in the fridge overnight. Complete the first rise (the bulk fermentation) in the fridge for about 12 to 16 hours (overnight). The next morning, go straight to shaping and buttering the dough. Let the dough rest until the rolls become puffy; this may take slightly longer than expected to account for the dough being cold. Go ahead and bake as directed in the recipe. Happy baking!

Parker House Rolls

Dorthy Durgin Stuertz
Parker House Rolls Recipe from My mother's cookbook
Course Breads, Side Dish

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pint scalded milk
  • 1 cake yeast or 1 package yeast or 7 grams yeast or 2 1/4 tsp yeast
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp lard
  • 3 pints flour or 360 grams or 3 cups

Instructions
 

  • Dissolve sugar and yeast in lukewarm water. Add lard and 1/2 pint of flour. Beat smooth. Let rise until light or about 1 hour. Add rest of flour or enough to make dough. Knead. Let rise for 1 1/2 hour, then knead and roll out. Cut into rolls. Let rise 3/4 hour.
    Bake @ 350° for 20 mnutes or until golden brown

Notes

Shaping rolls
Roll the dough so that it has a rectangular shape that is about 1 foot in length and 8 inches wide. The thickness of the dough should be about ¼ inch.
Cut the length of the rectangle into 2-inch strips.
Cut each strip into thirds so that the resulting pieces are about 2 x 4 inches.
Fold the 2 x 4 inch pieces so that one end is about a ½ inch from lining up with the other end.
Place the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet with the 2 ends facing down.
 

Brown Sugar – Do It Yourself and Save

Ever run out of brown sugar when making cookies or just needed a half a cup for a recipe. Keep molasses in your cupboard. It lasts forever. Make up what you need.

Brown Sugar

Homemade brown sugar – easy to make and available when you need it. Modify the recipe to make as much as you need.

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp molasses Add more molasses to make dark brown sugar.
  • 1 cup granulated sugar

Instructions
 

  • Mix molasses and sugar with a fork. Store in an air tight container to keep soft.
Keyword brown sugar, diy, do it yourself and save

Jana’s Potato Chip Cookies

Potato chips in a cookie? You betcha. Jana’s version is both delicious and crunchy, resulting in a buttery cookie with a light and flaky texture. Don’t refrigerate or freeze the unbaked dough, as the potato chips will become soggy.

Potato Chip Cookies

Sweet and salty these easy potato chip cookies are a fun to make and are really tasty. With only six ingredients they are simple to make. Use up the crushed potato chips from the bottom of a bag and make the best crispy, crunchy, salty sugar cookie. A tried and true, heirloom cookie.
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups butter softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup coarsely crushed potato chips I prefer lay's. Some recipes say to crush finely. I like mine coarser this give a crunchier bite to the cookie.
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°
  • Cream together butter and sugar. Add flour and vanilla – mix well. Add in crushed potato chips. Don't over mix.
  • Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 7 – 10 minutes. These cookies should just barely show brown around the edges. The tops should be dry but not brown.
  • Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on a cookie sheet. After 5 minutes, transfer the cookies to a cooling rake. After completely cool roll the cookies in powdered sugar.
    Enjoy!
Keyword cookies, potato chips, sweet and salty
three purple plastic chairs

Classic Ground Beef Tacos

This Tex-Mex classic layers spicy ground beef, shredded cheese, sweet chopped tomatoes, and cool iceberg lettuce in a crunchy corn taco shell. I set out to develop a ground beef taco recipe with boldly spiced beef and fresh toppings. For the filling, I sautéed onions and garlic with a variety of spices that provided both savory and spicy notes.

Brown sugar and cider vinegar rounded out the flavor of the filling.

Using very lean ground beef prevented greasiness and adding tomato sauce and chicken broth to the beef ensured that the meat was tender and juicy. Tomato sauce is sold in cans in the same aisle that carries canned whole tomatoes. Do not use jarred pasta sauce in its place.

Serve with shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, diced avocado, chopped cilantro, and Mexican crema or sour cream.

a person holding a taco

Classic Ground Beef Tacos

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion chopped fine
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • salt
  • 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
  • 1/2 cup canned tomatoe sauce
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 8 taco shells

Instructions
 

  • Heat oil in 10 inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, garlic, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne and 1 tsp salt and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds
  • Stir in ground beef and cook breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, broth and vinegar and sugar and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
  • Season with salt to taste.
  • Divide filling evenly amoung taco shells and serve

Experimental Multigrain Sourdough Bread

OMG this bread turned out better than expected. It has a nice sour taste – soft texture – nice rise. The crust was crunchy. I have to pat myself on the back for this recipe since it started out with a series of what if’s…

Häussler instructions for Experimental Multigrain Sourdough Bread

Multigrain Bread made with a soaker and sourdough starter
Course Breads
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

Soaker Day 1

Soaker Day 2

  • 1 jar soaker – prepared day before
  • 2 spoonful sourdough starter I used black cooking spoons to measure the starter. Probably is close to 1/2 cup starter.

Soaker Day 3

  • 1 jar day 2 soaker
  • 2 tbsp whole wheat flour

Bread Dough Day 6

  • 1 jar soaker
  • 10 cups bread flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tbsp yeast

Instructions
 

Soaker Day 1

  • Mix 12 grain cereal with water. Mix well –
    I put the soaker into a quart jar. I covered the jar with a piece of cheesecloth secured with a canning ring.
    Let soaker sit on the counter overnight.

Soaker Day 2

  • Add sourdough starter to the soaker. Mix well. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth secured with a canning ring.
    Let soaker sit on counter overnight.

Soaker Day 3

  • Add wheat flour to soaker. Mix well. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth secured with a canning ring.
    Let soaker sit on counter overnight

Soaker Day 4 and Day 5

  • By day 4 you should see noticeable signs of fermentation in the soaker. There should be bubbles on the surface.
    Day 4 and 5 give the soaker a good stir. Cover with cheesecloth secured with a canning ring.
    Let soaker sit on counter overnight

Bread Dough Day 6

  • Pour soaker into a 4 cup measuring cup. If necessary, add enough warm water to make 4 cups of soaker.
    Pour soaker into Häussler bowl. Add 6 cups flour, the sugar and salt.
    Mix on low for 3 minutes. My sponge was a bit dry so I added another cup of water. What I wanted here was a sponge dough.
    Let dough rise for 2.5 hours.
    Note this dough took longer to rise than normal sponge. Be patient. It will need 3 hours.
    I started adding 2 cups of bread flour 2.5 hours into the rise. I mixed on low for 2 minutes then let the dough sit for 15 minutes. Came back and added another 2 cups. Mixed for 2 minutes and let sit for 15.
    By this time the dough was slack but workable. I added a extra flour a couple tablespoons at a time then turned the mixer on low and let it knead for 6 minutes until I had nice window pane.
    I turned the dough out onto an oiled work surface. Did a couple stretch and folds then put dough in a large 10 quart greased bowl. Put in the over for 2 hours until dough had a good rise.
    Split dough into 4 balls that weighed roughly 800grams each. Shaped into loaves and let rise until double.
    Bake at 350° for 45 minutes to 1 hour
Keyword Häussler, multigrain, Multigrain Bread, sourdough

Yeast Bread – from My Mother’s CookBook

I have this old cookbook my mother created. She told me that this was a school project for Home Ec. I want to capture the recipes contained in the cookbook before they are lost for ever. I have captured the original recipe in her hand writing.

The original recipes don’t provide complete instructions. I’ve interpreted what I could. I hope to recreate the recipe in the near future. I will post updates to the recipe after I’ve had a chance to recreate it.

Yeast Bread

Yeast Bread Recipe from My mother's cookbook
Course Breads, Side Dish

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 yeast cake or 2/12 tbps of instant yeast
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cup water boiling
  • 9 cups flour sifted twice

Instructions
 

  • Let rise overnight. In the morning stir for 8 minutes. Let rise again for 4 minutes then bake.°

Notes

Yeast cake equivalent is 2 1/2 tbsp of yeast.
Assuming that this is baked @ 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes

Häussler Instructions for Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Häussler Instructions for Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Häussler instructions only applicable if you own a Häussler Spiral Dough Mixer
Course Breads
Cuisine American
Servings 5 loaves

Equipment

  • Häussler Spiral Dough Mixer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium potato cubed – I use russet potatos
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 tbps butter
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 12 cups bread flour divide flour in half – using 6 cups for sponge, remaining 6 cups for finishing dough
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tbps instant yeast
  • 1 cup water
  • 16 ounces raisin I use large 1.8 lb bags from Sam's club – I use 1/3 bag per recipe
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 3 tsp cinnamon

Instructions
 

Making the sponge

  • In large sauce pan add 4 cups of water and chopped potatoes. Boil potatoes until fork tender. Drain the potatos reserving the potato water you will need this for the recipe.
  • Add butter and salt to cooked potates and mash with mixer. Once mashed add back the reserved potato water. Mix well. Pour potato water mixture into the Häussler bowl. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
  • To potato water mixture add 6 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of sugar. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Mixture should be somewhat smooth.
  • Mix yeast with 1 cup of warm water. Stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add yeast to mixer. Mix on low speed for 4 minutes. Turn off mixer and allow sponge to double in bulk. Roughly 2 hours. I don't remove the bowl or the dough hook. I leave everything in place. The heat from the potato water along with the metal bowl retains enough heat to promote yeast growth. The lid of the mixture keeps moisture in.
  • After an hour I add 1 cup of flour to the sponge and mix on low for 2 minutes. I found that doing an additional cup at this time gives the flour time to absorb more the liquid. In the past I did not do this and found that when I added the remaining 6 cups of flour was not enough to prevent the dough from going and required adding additional flour.
  • 15 minutes before the 2 hour rise up I added another 1/2 cup of flour and mixed on low speed for 2 minutes.

Mixing the dough

  • In a separate bowl add the remaining 4 cups of flour, the spices and raisins. Mix throughly. I do this by hand so I can separate the raisins that are clumped together.
  • Add this flour mixture to the bowl. Turn on the mixer at low speed for 6 – 8 minutes. Perform a window pane test to ensure dough sufficiently kneaded.
  • Pour a bit of oil on to your work surface and dump the dough in the middle of the oil slick. The dough will be slack but I found that it comes together nicely if you coat the dough with oil. At this time I do a stretch and fold a couple times before I shape dough into a ball.
  • Put dough into a large oiled bowl and allow to rise for another hour
  • Split dough into 5 equal sections, I find using a kitchen scale helps to get even sized loaves. Roll each dough into flat rectangles – liberally coat the dough with cinnamin sugar then roll into loaves.
  • Allow the loaves to rise to double.
  • Preheat oven to 375° – bake loaves for 45 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and cool on racks. Package each loaf in a bread bag – freeze.

Notes

Result of adding flour during the sponge rise period cut down the amount of flour I had to use. 
The dough was still slack coming out of the bowl
Keyword Raisin Bread