Sourdough Flatbread

I love sourdough bread.  Recently, I recieved a sourdough culture so I could make my own sourdough items.  I have found that I don't really want sourdough bread every week.  However, you are supposed to use the starter every week then feed it.  I have been trying to find different recipes to use so the starter doesn't go to waste.
I found this recipe for sourdough flatbread and my family really enjoyed it!

Sourdough Flatbread
Adapted from My kitchen addiction blog
Makes eight flatbreads.

• 1 cup unfed sourdough starter (straight from the fridge)
• 1/2 cup milk (I used whole)
• 1 small container nonfat Greek yogurt
  
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups white flour
• Pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
  
  

Combine the sourdough starter, milk, and yogurt in a large mixing bowl.  Whisk together until smooth.  Then stir in the remaining ingredients.
Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rest for an hour or so.
Set up an area to knead the dough with more flour.  It starts out pretty sticky, you will need at least one more cup of flour.
Knead the dough until smooth.
Divide the dough into eight balls.
Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium heat.
Squish one of the dough balls into a flatbread.  This doesn't need to be perfect.  Just use your hands and flatten it!  I squished mine until they were about a quarter of an inch thick.
Melt some butter in your frying pan and add in the flatbread.  Cook for about a minute or two on each side.  You should have nice golden brown spots all over the flatbread when it is done.  While it is cooking, squish out the next piece.

These were sooo good!  They were delicious with our lasagna soup for dinner.  My eleven year old suggested that I make more to use in lunches for the bread in sandwiches.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of the process.  Here is a picture of the leftovers.  I am planning to eat these for lunch today!

Homemade Sauerkraut

A few months ago, I decided to try and make some homemade sauerkraut.  My family loves that briny cabbage.  All the recipes I looked at made the whole process seem so simple.  Why was I paying more for a jar of commercial sauerkraut than I was for an entire head of cabbage?  I was worried we wouldn't like the home fermented sauerkraut.  I was worried it would just mold and I would end up with a bunch of nastiness. I didn't have a giant earthenware crock or a place to put the crock.  How could I make my own sauerkraut?

Well, one day I stumbled upon a recipe for a per quart jar of sauerkraut.  Really, it wasn't much of a recipe.  Cram a quart jar with chopped cabbage, add in some salt and a sweetener if you want, then fill it up with some boiling water.  Then let it do it's natural thing for a bit of time in a dark area.  Voila!  Homemade sauerkraut!  I figured this was a doable amount for an experiment of home fermentation.

I bought a small head of green cabbage and brought it home to try.  After chopping up all that lovely cabbage, I crammed it into four quart jars.  I used a wooden spoon to cram it in there nice and tight.  I left a good inch of headspace ala most canning recipes.  Then I added 1 teaspoon of canning salt and 1 teaspoon of local honey into each jar.  I topped them all off with boiling water, leaving the headspace.  I put lids and rings onto the jars just tight enough to keep the lids in contact with the jar,but not tight enough to stop any liquid from escaping during the fermentation process.  Then my little beauties went into a plastic bin in the back of the cupboard for five weeks.

A. M. A. Z. I. N. G.

This is the best sauerkraut I have tasted since going to Leavenworth and tasting the authentic German foods there.  I am definitely going to make some more of this heavenly fermented goodness.  So simple.  So delicious.

Tonight we are eating the sauerkraut with kielbasa for dinner.  MMMMM!

 

 

***Update***

Since writing this post, I have had issues using regular table salt in canning recipes.  After some research I learned that using table salt can affect the flavor of your end product.  I have changed the post above to using canning salt.  

More carrot adventures...

Well, I made more progress on that giant bag of carrots that I bought last month.  So far I have ten quarts of sliced carrots to eat and five quarts of pickled carrots.  The pickled carrots tuned out to be delicious.  The canned carrots will be a nice addition to dinner in the future.  Canning the carrots was really simple.

First, I peeled and sliced a giant mixing bowl of carrots.  Then I doled them out into my hot, sanitized jars.  I put just under a teaspoon of salt into each jar.  The recipes I read said you could leave the salt out, but I figured the carrots would be pretty bland without it.  Then I topped off each jar with boiling water, leaving an inch of head space for processing.  They all went into the pressure cooker for a thirty minute processing time.

In other news I received my Christmas present early from my wonderful husband.  A new iPad to play with!  It has a definite learning curve and my blog may look a bit different as I learn how to best use it.

 

***Update***

 

The pickled carrots were FANTASTIC!!!

The canned carrots, not so much.  They had a funny almost metalic flavor that none of my family could get past.  After some research I found out that using table salt in canning recipes will do that to your end product.  So, lesson learned.  I now have canning salt in my cupboard, and my chickens enjoyed a few quarts of cooked carrots.  That's life!

Verna's Bean Casserole

Every month our church has a potluck lunch.  The one dish that always leaves empty is Verna's Bean Casserole.  It is delicious!  I have the church cookbook, and discovered the recipe is in there.  I was so excited!  I wanted to can this little bit of heaven and be able to have it for lunch at work, just like I have my homemade soups.  Then I realized several of the ingredients were from a can or frozen bag.  Dang.
This post is going to be my adventure of altering the original recipe from it's current form to a from scratch version that I can put through the pressure canner.  This morning I'll post the original recipe.  As I figure out how I want to change things, and find recipes to use, I'll come back and edit.  Hopefully, by the end, I'll have a lovely version of Verna's Bean Casserole from scratch.

Verna's Bean Casserole
from The Fruit of Our Labor Raymond First Baptist Cookbook 2003

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup catsup
1 tsp salt
1 (1lb) can red kidney beans
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
1 (No.2) can pork and beans
1 (12oz) package frozen lima beans

Saute beef and onions in large skillet.  Add sugar, catsup, salt, chili powder, vinegar and prepared mustard.  Stir well.  Add pork and beans, red kidney beans and lima beans.  Pour all ingredients in greased casserole and bake at 350* for 1 1/2 hours.

Spicy Dill Carrot Pickle Slices

Recently, I purchased a 25 pound bag of carrots.  I just couldn't turn down the great price.  It was $2 for a 5 pound bag of carrots, or $7 for 25 pounds!  Of course, after I got home with my ginormous bag of carrots I realized I needed to figure out how to USE 25 pounds of carrots.  On my list of todo's was to pickle some.
Now, I love nice crisp dill pickles.  I have made pickled green beans and pickled asparagus in the past.  I used a recipe a friend gave me, but it was a sweeter recipe.  No one in my family likes sweet pickles.  I still have 2 jars of pickled green beans up in my cupboard 5 years later because no one will eat them.  I wasn't going to make that mistake again!

Here is the recipe that I was inspired by.  A nice sounding spicy dill with NO sweetener.  Of course, I can't leave well enough alone and I had to increase the garlic, reduce the hot peppers, and change all the proportions and instructions.

Here is my recipe.  I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how they turned out!

Spicy Dill Carrot Pickle Slices

Makes 5 quarts

1 9x13 baking dish full of sliced carrots
30 cloves garlic
8 cups vinegar
8 teaspoons dried dill
3 cups water
½ cup salt
3 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Put vinegar, water, dill, salt, and pepper flakes in nonreactive pan and bring to a boil.

In the bottom of each (hot and sterilized) quart jar, slice 3 cloves of garlic.  Fill jars packed with carrot slices up to one inch from the top.  Slice remaining garlic on top of carrots (3 cloves in each jar). 

Fill with pickling fluid, leaving 1 inch headspace.  Put on the lids and rings.

Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. 

After jars have cooled, check to make sure they sealed correctly.

Let jars sit for at least a week to let the carrots really pickle.

Okay, I let them sit for two weeks. Oh My Goodness!  These were a hit.  Nice dill flavor, a little spice  but not too much, and a great garlic undertone.  So yummy!  I'll definitely make these again.

Ginger Cream Cookies

One of my favorite cookies is Ginger Creams.  They are so mild and lovely!  Not too sweet, but enough that they still taste like a treat.  They have a very cake like texture.  I’ve always thought they would be delicious made into a sandwich with cream cheese frosting in the middle.  We have always eaten them too quickly for me to find out though!

Ginger Creams

¼ butter melted
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 cups sifted flour
½ tsp soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
½ cup water

Cream together butter and sugar; beat in egg.  Stir in molasses.  Sift dry ingredients; add alternately with water.  Drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheet. (I often forget to grease the cookie sheet, they will stick!) Bake at 400*f for about 8 minutes.

These would be great with frosting, but I never take the time.

Inspired by the Better Homes and Gardens Dessert Cookbook 1960.

Salsa Chicken

This is one of my favorite go to recipes.  It makes a nice filling for tacos, enchiladas, or topping on a taco salad.  You can increase everything and cook in a slow cooker all day while you are at work, or you can put it together in an evening on the stovetop.  Leftovers freeze well if you make a larger batch.  This recipe is just enough for my family for a dinner.  There might be one or two servings of meat leftover for lunch the next day.

Salsa Chicken
2 chicken breast halves (boneless and skinless)
2 cups of your favorite salsa
1 cup fresh cilantro chopped
1 baby lime, juiced

Put the chicken breast and salsa into a sauce pan.  Simmer until chicken is done, approximately 1 hour.
Once the chicken is cooked through, put the chicken into a bowl to cool a bit.
Chop the cilantro finely.  Add cilantro and lime juice to the remaining salsa in pan.
Shred the chicken breasts.  I use two forks and break the breasts up so they will cool faster.  Then I just use my hands to pull them apart into the shreds.
Stir your chicken breast shreds back into the salsa sauce.

Serve as a taco filling.  Use in enchiladas.  Top a taco salad.

Here are my salsa chicken taco truck style tacos.  It's just the Salsa Chicken filling, homemade corn tortillas, some shredded cheese and a couple of slices of avacado.  AMAZING!!