My mom made a 20 lb ham for Easter. I got a big portion of it, along with the bones. I decided to make ham stock. I'm fairly new to making stock. I'm more of a "throw the bones in with the soup and pull them out at the end" type of cook most of the time. However, now that I'm older and lazier, I've started to see the advantages of having ready-made stock available in my freezer. It tastes better, is cheap and convenient, and lets me use up those bones/carcasses so they are not cluttering up my fridge or freezer. I'm a little bit weird that way.
I've never heard of ham stock before, but figured there must be recipes out there on the internet. Sure enough, there were.* It's pretty much like making any other kind of stock. Stew up the bones/meat scraps along with some veggies for flavoring. Simmer it slowly for several hours. Pull out the chunkies, let it cool slowly and skim off the fat. Filter the mixture if you're anal and use it or freeze it for later.
It gave me about 9 cups of broth. I didn't bother filtering it. It tasted of ham and celery. I just added a bunch of chopped ham, two cloves of garlic, and about 2 1/2 cups of dried split peas, and cooked it until the peas were tender. it didn't have the depth of flavor that my last batch of split pea soup did, but it did have a nice clean taste. It was also a lot thinner - the potato that I added last time really thickened things up.
* My internet search led me to a blog called "101 things every cook should cook" In it there are a lot of interesting recipes, such as toad in the hole and roast squirrel. There were also several recipes for ham stock and soups made from it.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
No shopping experiment, another update/buttery dinner rolls
I'm still eating up the contents of my larder. I just haven't been blogging about it since I haven't made anything interesting. In the last two weeks I've processed a 12 lb turkey, a bag of bagels, a loaf of bread, a bunch of cranberries, some leftover Christmas stollen, lots of flour, some couscous, some arborio rice, and some regular rice. I've made a good dent in the dried fruit, juice, and booze too. I have actually gotten to the point where I've had to start replacing some of the staples, like butter.
I'm starting to find things that have gone stale, like the rice and couscous. The stuff from the freezer is mostly fine. For Easter,my mom cooked a 20 lb ham. Now you see where I get my hoarding tendencies from! I decided to make some homemade rolls.
The recipes on the Cuisinart stand mixer booklet have all been pretty tasty, so I just used their recipe. I modified the recipe slightly to make a wetter dough. If you have a smaller mixer or you don't want to freeze half the dough, just cut all the ingredients in half.
Buttery dinner rolls
makes 32 large rolls
2 c milk
1 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup warm water
2 eggs
4 tsp active dry yeast
8-9 cups flour
Heat milk in microwave until almost boiling. Add butter, sugar and salt and allow butter to melt. Let the mixture cool until it is just warm to the touch. Meanwhile, combine water, yeast, and a pinch of flour. Allow the yeast mixture to sit until it gets foamy (5-10 minutes). Add the butter/milk/sugar mixture and the beaten eggs. Add about 7 1/2 cups flour and mix with dough hook at low speed for 2 minutes, then start adding the remaining flour a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough ball clings to the hook and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Allow to mix for 4 more minutes, then transfer to a clean, greased bowl. Place in a warm place and allow to rise until doubled in size (maybe 1 hour or so) Divide dough in half, and set one portion aside if not needed. (Freeze for later use) Divide the remaining dough into 16 balls. Place in greased pan (10" round or 11"x15" glass dish) Cover with saran wrap and allow rolls to rise until doubled (45-60 min)
Bake at 375F for 30-35 minutes.
The dough was very easy to work with. It's important to add the flour slowly at the end so it doesn't get too dry. The rolls were very tender and buttery. My mom said they reminded her of croissants. They went well with the ham, and later with the ham leftovers. I only took a few home with me, so I made the second batch a few days later. They weren't quite as tender as the first batch, but were still quite good, and it's nice to have the dough on hand for those times when you want fresh baked rolls.
I'm starting to find things that have gone stale, like the rice and couscous. The stuff from the freezer is mostly fine. For Easter,my mom cooked a 20 lb ham. Now you see where I get my hoarding tendencies from! I decided to make some homemade rolls.
The recipes on the Cuisinart stand mixer booklet have all been pretty tasty, so I just used their recipe. I modified the recipe slightly to make a wetter dough. If you have a smaller mixer or you don't want to freeze half the dough, just cut all the ingredients in half.
Buttery dinner rolls
makes 32 large rolls
2 c milk
1 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup warm water
2 eggs
4 tsp active dry yeast
8-9 cups flour
Heat milk in microwave until almost boiling. Add butter, sugar and salt and allow butter to melt. Let the mixture cool until it is just warm to the touch. Meanwhile, combine water, yeast, and a pinch of flour. Allow the yeast mixture to sit until it gets foamy (5-10 minutes). Add the butter/milk/sugar mixture and the beaten eggs. Add about 7 1/2 cups flour and mix with dough hook at low speed for 2 minutes, then start adding the remaining flour a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough ball clings to the hook and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Allow to mix for 4 more minutes, then transfer to a clean, greased bowl. Place in a warm place and allow to rise until doubled in size (maybe 1 hour or so) Divide dough in half, and set one portion aside if not needed. (Freeze for later use) Divide the remaining dough into 16 balls. Place in greased pan (10" round or 11"x15" glass dish) Cover with saran wrap and allow rolls to rise until doubled (45-60 min)
Bake at 375F for 30-35 minutes.
The dough was very easy to work with. It's important to add the flour slowly at the end so it doesn't get too dry. The rolls were very tender and buttery. My mom said they reminded her of croissants. They went well with the ham, and later with the ham leftovers. I only took a few home with me, so I made the second batch a few days later. They weren't quite as tender as the first batch, but were still quite good, and it's nice to have the dough on hand for those times when you want fresh baked rolls.
Yeasted Waffles
In addition to trying to eat through my freezer and pantry, I'm also using my abundant spare time as an excuse to make certain foods that I would never have time to make otherwise. In a future post, I'm going to make croissants and blog about it. However, I couldn't find the recipe I wanted to use, so I went through my cooking magazines looking for it. I didn't have any luck, but I ran across a recipe for yeasted waffles that looked intriguing. I don't really like baking powder or soda, so this sounded good. It would also be good for people on low sodium diets, since there is a lot of sodium in baking powder and soda, especially in pancake mix.
It's pretty simple. A yeast batter is prepared and stored in the fridge overnight. In the morning, you stir it up and make your waffles. The first batch was ok but not great.
Yeasted Waffles
1 3/4 cups milk
Butter: 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)(official recipe) or 3 tablespoons (second batch)
2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Heat milk and butter together until butter is melted and mixture is hot to the touch. Remove from heat and allow to cool until warm. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the cooled milk and butter to the flour mixture. Beat eggs and vanilla and add to batter. Mix well.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and store in fridge overnight. In the morning, stir up the batter, heat up the waffle iron andmake the waffles.
The recipe was pretty easy. In the recipe they said that the waffles were softer and less tasty when they used less butter. In my case, the first batch of waffles were good but were too greasy and salty from all the butter. It's pretty unusual for me to think something is too greasy and salty. I'll make them again but add a lot less butter.
It's pretty simple. A yeast batter is prepared and stored in the fridge overnight. In the morning, you stir it up and make your waffles. The first batch was ok but not great.
Yeasted Waffles
1 3/4 cups milk
Butter: 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)(official recipe) or 3 tablespoons (second batch)
2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Heat milk and butter together until butter is melted and mixture is hot to the touch. Remove from heat and allow to cool until warm. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the cooled milk and butter to the flour mixture. Beat eggs and vanilla and add to batter. Mix well.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and store in fridge overnight. In the morning, stir up the batter, heat up the waffle iron andmake the waffles.
The recipe was pretty easy. In the recipe they said that the waffles were softer and less tasty when they used less butter. In my case, the first batch of waffles were good but were too greasy and salty from all the butter. It's pretty unusual for me to think something is too greasy and salty. I'll make them again but add a lot less butter.
Friday, March 26, 2010
No shopping experiment, update
I accepted the job at Cornell the other day. I'm not sure if it's coincidental, but I've been backsliding on the no-shopping experiment. I bought a frozen pizza, mustard, juice, sausage, and almond milk today. I don't need any of those things, really, but I'm getting pretty bored with the contents of my freezer/cupboards.
Nonetheless, I've made some progress. There is noticeably more space in my freezer now. I'm cooking one of the turkeys in a few day, so that's going to free up a lot of space.
Nonetheless, I've made some progress. There is noticeably more space in my freezer now. I'm cooking one of the turkeys in a few day, so that's going to free up a lot of space.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
"It'll keep you regular" mixed grain and seed bread
As part of my "no-shopping experiment," I'm trying to use up my supplies of different flours + seeds. Today I decided to make the mixed grain and seed bread from the recipe book that came with the stand mixer. I didn't have enough whole wheat flour, and I had a lot of buckwheat and rye flour, so I ended up with the following recipe. I am sort of frightened by the fact that I had all these ingredients on hand.
The name needs no explanation, of course.
"It'll keep you regular" mixed grain and seed bread
2 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp.active dry yeast
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
2 tbsp. vital wheat gluten
3 cups bread flour
1 tbsp salt
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Mix the water, maple syrup, and yeast together and let it stand for 15 minutes, then add the vegetable oil and honey. Combine all the flours, oats, gluten and salt and mix. Add to water/yeast mixture and mix for several minutes with stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add seeds and then add more bread flour 1 tbsp at a time until a dough ball forms that clings to the hook. Mix for 4 minutes, then let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1-1 1/2 hours). Punch dough down, divide into three equal portions, shape, and place in oiled loaf pans. Allow dough to rise until doubled, then bake in a 375F oven for about 35-40 minutes.
My dough was a lot drier than I would've expected. I did change the recipe quite substantially from the original, so I think I should've added less flour. Nonetheless, the dough had a nice texture and rose well. I punched it down, divided it, and prepared two loaves. I froze the third portion for later.
The bread was dense but tasty. It tastes sort of similar to the whole wheat artisan loaves they sell at Costco. I took a loaf up to Missy's and it got the toddler seal of approval from Kadin. Next time I'll use a bit less flour and let it rise longer.
The name needs no explanation, of course.
"It'll keep you regular" mixed grain and seed bread
2 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp.active dry yeast
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
2 tbsp. vital wheat gluten
3 cups bread flour
1 tbsp salt
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Mix the water, maple syrup, and yeast together and let it stand for 15 minutes, then add the vegetable oil and honey. Combine all the flours, oats, gluten and salt and mix. Add to water/yeast mixture and mix for several minutes with stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add seeds and then add more bread flour 1 tbsp at a time until a dough ball forms that clings to the hook. Mix for 4 minutes, then let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1-1 1/2 hours). Punch dough down, divide into three equal portions, shape, and place in oiled loaf pans. Allow dough to rise until doubled, then bake in a 375F oven for about 35-40 minutes.
My dough was a lot drier than I would've expected. I did change the recipe quite substantially from the original, so I think I should've added less flour. Nonetheless, the dough had a nice texture and rose well. I punched it down, divided it, and prepared two loaves. I froze the third portion for later.
The bread was dense but tasty. It tastes sort of similar to the whole wheat artisan loaves they sell at Costco. I took a loaf up to Missy's and it got the toddler seal of approval from Kadin. Next time I'll use a bit less flour and let it rise longer.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
More musings on the no-shopping experiment
OK, so I've realized a few things now that the no-shopping experiment has been going on for a while. In particular, some stuff just can't be replaced easily. I'm almost out of wine, so it is now exempt. Peanut butter and tofu are also exempt. They're not dairy but in my mind they're part of the same vegetarian protein source group as dairy.
Bread and cereal also fall into a grey zone. I don't eat a lot of cereal, but it's nice to have around. I replaced my supply today. I'm going to try to continue to bake bread, at least until I use up most of my flour.
I've made a pretty good dent in the frozen leftover soups, so that's good. They will be replenished shortly once I start cooking again.
Bread and cereal also fall into a grey zone. I don't eat a lot of cereal, but it's nice to have around. I replaced my supply today. I'm going to try to continue to bake bread, at least until I use up most of my flour.
I've made a pretty good dent in the frozen leftover soups, so that's good. They will be replenished shortly once I start cooking again.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Split Pea Soup
It's cold and rainy today. I have the flu and crave soup, but my sense of taste is dulled. I decided to make split pea soup. I have a lot of dried peas to get rid of.
I opted to go with a fairly simple recipe that I found in Epicurious. Based on the reviews, it was pretty well-liked and was also pretty adaptable. In agreement with the no-shopping experiment, I adjusted it according to what I had. I omitted the ham hock and used about 8 oz of bacon instead. I fried that up, then set it aside. I drained off most of the fat and then sauteed the onion and celery in the remaining fat. (I didn't have carrots so I skipped them and added two diced up potatoes instead.) I added two cloves of minced garlic and sauteed it briefly, and then added the water, marjoram, two peeled and chopped up potatoes, the bacon and dried peas. The mixture was then brought to a boil and allowed to simmer until the peas and potatoes fell apart (2 hours). At that point it was pretty thick. I added salt and pepper to taste, along with a bit of smoked paprika and a drop of liquid smoke to deepen the flavor. I hope it doesn't taste horrible once I get my sense of smell back. I let it cool somewhat and then pureed the whole thing.
Anyway, it tastes pretty good, and will probably improve with age. It's got that classic split pea soup flavor and the right consistency. I'm looking forward to eating it with little bit of cheese on top and a slice of toast.
I opted to go with a fairly simple recipe that I found in Epicurious. Based on the reviews, it was pretty well-liked and was also pretty adaptable. In agreement with the no-shopping experiment, I adjusted it according to what I had. I omitted the ham hock and used about 8 oz of bacon instead. I fried that up, then set it aside. I drained off most of the fat and then sauteed the onion and celery in the remaining fat. (I didn't have carrots so I skipped them and added two diced up potatoes instead.) I added two cloves of minced garlic and sauteed it briefly, and then added the water, marjoram, two peeled and chopped up potatoes, the bacon and dried peas. The mixture was then brought to a boil and allowed to simmer until the peas and potatoes fell apart (2 hours). At that point it was pretty thick. I added salt and pepper to taste, along with a bit of smoked paprika and a drop of liquid smoke to deepen the flavor. I hope it doesn't taste horrible once I get my sense of smell back. I let it cool somewhat and then pureed the whole thing.
Anyway, it tastes pretty good, and will probably improve with age. It's got that classic split pea soup flavor and the right consistency. I'm looking forward to eating it with little bit of cheese on top and a slice of toast.
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