Kitchen Improv

Another Manic Monday

Well, at least the Monday crash after a manic Sunday.

After taking the kids to a birthday party at the local pumpkin ranch (a.k.a. the amusement park and crowded dirt field that poses as a pumpkin ranch), I was already tired.  The party was a blast, I took some amazing photos of my friends’ little boys, and all the kids really enjoyed the petting zoo and carnival rides.  But after hanging out in the sun for four hours, the last thing I wanted to do was head home and work in the hot kitchen.  Watching a show from the Tivo while sipping a cold glass of tea sounded fabulous.  What could get in my way? Hmm. Um. Well, maybe the fact I had 18 pounds of ripe nectarines that were ready to turn?

Yeah, the TV got no love.

So in a flurry of determination, I went a little nuts.  A dozen jars of kiwi-nectarine jam, nearly two dozen jars of nectarine, another six of plain kiwi jam were the result. Nicole, you just had to mention and show pictures of your luscious kiwi jam to put the thought into my head, didn’t you? And a fruit crisp. Oh, and another batch of the butternut squash soup I love because I was out, and did I mention dinner?  But I finished.

What was I thinking?

Sometimes you’d rather kill yourself slaving over a stove than let a perfectly ripened box of fruit go bad.  If you’re like that, as I am, I think that might just qualify you as a foodie.  I’m just coming to terms with it, myself.

Next up? I have 2 gigabytes of raw photos to enhance from the birthday party. Hopefully before Friday.

Bratwurst, Cabbage, and Apples

When we were kids, my mom used to make her version of a German dish. It usually included cabbage, onions, potatoes, and apples baked with some kind of sausage, usually Kielbasa or Bratwurst. Generally it would be an easily baked dinner served with mustard and whatever green vegetable she had on hand. Though I’ve changed it a bit, I like using the foundational flavors of her dish in something I make for my own family.

This is more traditional with potatoes, but because of my food allergies, I substitute sweet potatoes for the baby red potatoes. It gives this dish a slightly moister texture and a little more sweetness. Another variation is to use sauerkraut in place of the fresh cabbage. It changes the texture and flavor entirely, but is also tasty.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound fresh bratwurst
1/2 cup apple cider
1 1/2 cups sweet or baby red potatoes, cut into 1″ cubes
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 sweet apple, cored and chopped
2 cups green cabbage, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon dried mustard seed
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Method
Combine the cabbage, potatoes, onions, and apples in a large bowl. Add the mustard seed, salt, and pepper. Mix well to thoroughly combine. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.

When the pan is hot and butter is melted, add the bratwurst and brown for 5-6 minutes on each side to to add some color and texture to the skins of the sausage.

Remove the bratwurst and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Next, deglaze the pan using the apple cider, scraping up any brown bits with a spatula.

Add the vegetables to the pan, toss a few times to coat with cider, and then cover the pan with a lid. Let this simmer for 12-14 minutes, or until cabbage has reduced and the potatoes begin to soften. Next, add the sausages back into the pan, nestling them down into the vegetables a bit. Replace the cover and let it cook for another 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and the sausages are cooked through.

Serve the bratwurst over the vegetables with some course mustard on the side.

Mysteriously Absent Pictures

Okay, okay. Enough is enough and it’s time for me to stop being a perfectionist. Starting with my next recipe, I’ll be adding pictures to my blog. I was hoping to be a little obsessive over perfection and build a light box to capture the real colors of my food and not the odd shadows in my poorly-lit kitchen. But let’s face it — who has a studio-perfect setup when they’re not already a TV-show cook? I sure don’t.

So I’ll start taking photos, no matter how imperfect they may be.

Easy Weeknight Tom Kah Gai – Chicken & Coconut Soup

This is an easy chicken version of my mom’s more traditional seafood coconut soup. This can be made in about 30-40 minutes for a healthy weeknight dinner. Traditionally Thai coconut soup is made with galangal root, kaffir kaffir lime leaves, and lemon grass, none of which can be purchased within a 20-minute drive from my house.

On weekends when I feel like driving to get what’s needed for the real deal, I’ll trek to the closest Asian market to procure the goods. For most nights, this suffices when I’m craving a comforting chicken soup.

You can serve this as a starter to a full meal, but I prefer to add 1/2 cup of cooked buckwheat soba noodles to each bowl, which gives it a bit more substance as a meal in itself.

In my opinion, the jury is still out on whether to use chicken stock, broth, or a combination of both. I like the richness that stock adds, but I find it’s a bit too heavy for such a light soup. My recipe indicates broth, but I like it with a little stock added in.

Oh, my boys, who are decidedly against most soups, totally dig this stuff!

Ingredients
3 cups chicken broth
2 (14 ounce) cans coconut milk
Juice of 2 limes, plus 1/2 lime cut into wedges
4 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon chili sauce (I use Sambal Oelek, but Sriracha is fine)
1 teaspoon raw (turbinado) sugar
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin, 2-inch-long strips
1/4 cup freshly sliced scallions
2 roma tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro, divided evenly
1 package buckwheat soba noodles, boiled, drained, and rinsed in cold water (optional)

Method
Combine the chicken broth, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, chili sauce, ginger, and lime wedges into a sauce pan and warm over a medium-low flame. Let it simmer, but don’t let it boil. This will be the broth for the soup, so starting it first is ideal to develop the flavors. I like to simmer it about 15 minutes ahead of adding the chicken.

Sautee the chicken breast strips in a nonstick pan for 3-4 minutes, or until the flesh turns white and opaque. Don’t cook it for too long, or it will be rubbery and dry. Alternatively, in a regular skillet with 1-2 teaspoons oil, as needed. Drain any excess liquid and add the chicken to the broth. Let simmer about 5 minutes and then add the sugar, and stir to dissolve. Remove the lime wedges.

Add half of the cilantro, tomatoes, and scallions and cook for 3-4 minutes longer, and then remove from heat. Serve in individual bowls over soba noodles, or alone, sprinkled with a little of the remaining cilantro.

4-6 servings

Mom’s Recipe
Here’s my mom’s version with a shrimp and vegetable broth and shrimp meat instead of chicken. I think hers is more similar to tom kha talay.

Ingredients
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled, with the peels reserved
4 quarts water
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped roma tomatoes
1 (15oz) can coconut milk
6 kaffir lime leaves
1 piece dried galangal root (1 inch by 2 inches) broken into 3-4 parts
2-inch square piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 dried red whole chili pods
flaked red chili to taste
10 medium-sized mushrooms, washed and quartered
1 bunch green onions, washed, trimmed, and coarsely chopped
2 roma tomatoes, washed, cored, and coarsely chopped
Juice of 3 limes
6-8 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Method
Put the shrimp shells, water, onions, and tomatoes into a stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the broth and return it to the bot. Discard the shrimp shells, onions, and tomatoes.

Bring the broth back to a simmer and add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, galanga, ginger, chili, and salt. Allow this to simmer for another 30 minutes.

Add the raw, peeled shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, and green onions and simmer for 10 minutes.

Just before serving, add the lime juice and cilantro.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

My kids and husband love my version of this classic bread. My recipe lacks the extra fat and corn syrup that you’ll find in commercially baked versions. Mine also turns out lighter, so you’ll need to adjust your yeast and rise times if you like the dense texture of the store-bought variety.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon bread flour
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups milk (I tend to use 1% fat content)
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Method
Add the tablespoon of bread flour to the raisins in a small bowl. Toss to coat all of the raisins, and then sift off the excess flour. Set aside.

Combine the milk, sugar, and oil into the bottom of the Zojirushi pan. Add the flour, cinnamon, and salt on top, making a small well where the yeast should be added. Set your machine to these times:

Preheat for 18 minutes
Knead for 22 minutes, adding the flour-coated raisins during the last five minutes of the knead cycle
Rise for 60 minutes
Rise for another 60 minutes after punch-down
Bake for 45 minutes

When the baking completes, immediately turn the loaf out onto a clean, dry towel. Let loaf cool completely before slicing and bagging.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

This seems to be the favorite bread recipe in our house. Note that the ingredient ratios are optimized for a Zojirushi machine used at a high elevation and will yield a two-pound loaf. Some adjustments are offered, below, for lower elevations. Both variations will work fine if used for a hand-kneaded loaf.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees F is fine)
3 Tablespoons honey
1/2 cup canola oil
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Method
Combine water, honey, and oil in the bottom of the zojirushi pan. Add the flour, gluten and salt on top, making a small well at the top. Add the yeast into the well, then fit the pan into the machine.

You can use the Basic Wheat setting with the desired crust configuration, but I find that even with a light crust, the pre-configured cycle leaves me with a very dry loaf. Below are the cycles and times I use:

Preheat for 18 minutes
Knead for 22 minutes
Rise for 75 minutes
Rise for another 60 minutes after punch-down
Bake for 45 minutes

I always time my loaves to ensure I’m at home and awake when the cycle completes. I find that if I leave it in the pan on the warming cycle, it dries out quickly. Or, if I leave it in the pan to cool, the bottom gets soggy. Thus, I find it very important to immediately turn the loaf out onto a clean, dry towel to rest. Let the loaf cool entirely before slicing and bagging.

Low-Elevation Variation
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
3 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup canola oil
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Basic White Bread for the Zojirushi

This is as basic and ‘white-bread’ of a recipe as you’ll ever find me making. It makes a good first loaf if you’re just starting to bake bread and learn the process. Remember, these ingredient ratios are for high-elevation in a relatively dry climate.

I love this recipe for making simple dinner or sandwich rolls. If that’s your aim, remove the dough after the first rise and shape into rolls. Place the rolls on the baking sheet and cover with a dry towel to rise in a warm place. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, depending on your roll size. If you want extra browning, brush the tops with an egg glaze of 1 egg and 4 teaspoons of water. For a soft, tender crust, brush the tops with melted butter when you remove it from the oven. Or, for a soft, shiny crust, brush the just-baked rolls with a little milk.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons powdered dry milk
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Method
Combine the water, sugar, and butter at the bottom of the Zojirushi Pan. Next, add the flour, salt, and milk on top, leaving a well where the yeast will be added. Fit the pan into the machine and set for a basic white setting with the desired crust.

Turn the loaf onto a clean, dry towel immediately after baking. Let the loaf cool completely before slicing and bagging.

Whole-Grain Wheat Bread

If you don’t like a whole-wheat bread, this is a good in-between with a softer texture like white bread, but with whole-grain benefits. This makes great sandwich bread.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Method
Combine water, sugar, and oil in the bottom of the Zojirushi pan. On top, add the flours and salt, leaving a small well at the top for the yeast. Fit the pan into your machine and set for a basic wheat cycle with the desired crust. I find I must remove the pan and turn out the loaf as soon as the baking cycle completes, else the warming setting will leave me with a dry and crumbly result.

Adventures in Breadmaking

In May I vowed to quit buying commercial bread. Not only are the prices of my favorite brand skyrocketing ($4.59 to $5.29 per loaf), the company has recently started adding soy to their ingredients list. I did some research and reviewed my mom’s stack of artisan bread recipes and decided that my wallet and my stomach would be better off if I started making my own loaves.

Because handmade bread takes so much time from start-to-finish and requires a watchful eye to catch the end of a proofing cycle, I decided I would buy a bread machine. Well, why not? Even if with one, I can still make hand-kneaded loaves the old-fashioned way on occasion, right?

After comparing the budget-variety machines with the Cadillac models, I decided on the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme. I love the large loaf size, three custom recipe settings, and variety of pre-defined cycles that allow for more than just a simple brick-shaped loaf of chewy-crusted bread that seem to be the norm with so many other machines.

My first few loaves were nothing short of abysmal. Not accounting for the recipe tweaks needed for high-elevation baking, nor the incompatibility of my mother’s recipes with the machine method, I turned out some bread that my mother would have been ashamed of.

With patience, time, and the forgiving boys in my family who ate every slice, my attempts to create the perfect loaf have resulted in a handful of recipes that are repeat-worthy and have become staples in my home. Aside from the cost of the machine, which I estimate I’ll recapture in about eight months, I now spend a little over $2 per loaf of bread and don’t have to worry about soy or other undesired ingredients finding their way into my food.

Here are some recipes you may enjoy:
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Whole-Grain Wheat Bread
Simple White Loaf

Coconut Jasmine Rice

This is a flavorful twist on steamed rice and pairs nicely with a green, red, or panang curry.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup boiling water
2 Jasmine & Green Tea bags or sachets
1/4 tsp saffron threads
1 teaspoon raw (turbinado) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut milk (the lite variety will work for a reduced-fat result)
1 cup jasmine rise, washed

Method
Add the jasmine tea and saffron threads to the boiled water and steep for about 10 minutes. Add to a saucepan with the coconut milk, salt, and sugar. Heat to a boil and then add the rice. Cover and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook for 25-30 minutes until rice is tender. Avoid stirring, shaking, or jostling the pan. Just let it sit and cook or the rice will stick to the pan. Fluff with a fork and serve.