Anadama Bread or facing my fear of baking yeast breads

My first introduction to Anadama Bread was as a teenager. I had gone with family to dinner at Dexter's Hearthside restaurant in Essex, MA. Prior to the meals being served, a loaf of homemade Anadama Bread would be served. I still recall the sweetness of this bread from the use of molasses making a lasting impression on me.

As a teen it appeared to me this was the one and only restaurant from which you could get this bread and therefore I concluded this was a bread local to Cape Ann or the communities of Essex, Gloucester, Manchester and Rockport, MA. Little did I know how right I was! (Anadama Bread History. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anadama_bread )

Passing from my teen years into my twenties and beyond, having my diet change due to food allergies, thoughts of this bread passed from brain until 2007 when I was looking for bread recipes which called for yeast. I had decided to face my fear of yeast breads and consulted my trusty revised 13^th edition of The Fanny Farmer Cookbook for recipes to try. Imagine my surprise when I found an Anadama Bread recipe!

I have always made this recipe as rolls as this made it easier for me to freeze and thaw as needed. Stored in a freezer safe container or plastic bag, the bread will keep up to 3 months.

Anadama Bread

From the revised 13^th edition of The Fanny Farmer Cookbook.

Yield: Two loaves or approx. 8 – 15 rolls, depending upon size

½ cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups water

1 package dry yeast

½ cup warm water (100 – 115 degrees farenheit in temperature

½ cup molasses

2 teaspoons table salt or 1 ¼ kosher salt

1 tablespoon butter or substitute, such as Earth Balance Buttery Spread (http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/product/original-buttery-spread/)

4 ½ cups white flour

Put the cornmeal in a large mixing bowl. Bring 2 cups water to a boil and pour it over the cornmeal. Stir until smooth, making sure that the cornmeal does not lump. Let stand for 30 minutes. When 25 minutes have passed, in a separate, small bowl, stir the yeast into ½ cup warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes to dissolve. Add the molasses, salt, butter and dissolved yeast to the cornmeal mixture. Stir in the flour and beat thoroughly.

For loaves: Spoon into 2 buttered loaf pans, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until double in bulk. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Bake bread for 45-50 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.

For rolls: Using hands, shape batter into rolls, up to 3 inches in diameter. Place rolls 1 ½ inches apart on cookie sheet covered with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until double in bulk. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Bake rolls for 30-50 minutes. Remove rolls from oven when toothpick inserted in center of center-most comes out clean. Cool rolls on racks.

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

This past July my mother asked me if I was interested in some zucchini and squash from the garden of her girlfriend, Paulette. Of course, I replied. Loving food as I do, I could not think of anything better than receiving vegetables grown by a family friend in her garden. Needless to say, my mind drifted off to thinking of all the wonderful things I would make with zucchini and summer/crookneck squash.

My bubble burst when my mother arrived and I discovered the squash turned out to be butternut squash.

Yes, butternut squash.

While I realize local grown butternut squash in July in New England is probably not unusual, this was completely unexpected.

After mulling over what to do, I decided to try a variation of an oven roasted winter vegetable recipe introduced to me several years ago by my girlfriend, Marie. While I cannot remember all the vegetables she used, I found the butternut squash which was diced, cubed, seasoned with olive oil, italian seasoning, garlic and oven roasted until tender phenomeonal.

I've found this makes a great side dish for white fish (Cod, Haddock, Pollock). Reheat and toss with chickpeas, baby spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and it's makes a great, colorful salad.

Oven Roasted Butternut

Squash with pears, spinach,

and sun dried tomatoes

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

8 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced

¼ cup olive oil

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1. Place oven rack on middle rung. Preheat oven to broiler setting.

2. In a bowl, combine squash, olive oil, onion powder and garlic powder.

3. Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil, tucking in ends.

4. Place squash on cookie sheet, close together but no higher than one layer deep.

5. Place squash in oven on middle rack. Cook for 7 – 13 minutes or until largest pieces of squash are easily split with fork. Serve or cool and store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 as many times as needed.

Ground beef, onion and apple hamburger ... oh my!

For those of you who like your hamburgers to be ground beef and nothing else you can stop reading this now and move on to something else.

For those of you who are interested in trying something a little different with your hamburgers, here's one which you may or may not have heard of or tried:  Hamburgers made with ground beef, diced onion and diced apple.  I just made this one today.  These were gone within the first hour as the taste was the right mix of sweet and tangy and the texture a good balance of firm and soft.  

This recipe was passed to me with the recommendation of using a Granny Smith apple.  Where apples are currently in season here, I chose a local Zest Star (or Zestar) apple and a local white onion both from Dick's Market Garden.  Like the Granny Smith, the Zest Star is a firm apple, although less tart.  Think Jolly Rancher Apple Stick flavor and you have an idea of what a Zest Star tastes like.

The amounts of apple and onion are variant so use your best judgement in determining how much to use.  Also , please feel free to experiment with different types of meat, onions or apples.  

Ground beef, onion and apple hamburger

1 lb. ground beef
1/4 - 1 small onion, diced
1/4 - 1/2 apple, diced or peeled, cored and grated

In bowl, combine beef, onion and apple.  Shape into hamburger patties.  Grill or broil to desired level of doneness.  Serve.  Store any unused hamburgers in refrigerator in air tight container. 

Heirloom Tomato Salsa

Yes, I realize it's been over two months since my last post, but fear not. I did not forget any of you. I've been out and about this summer enjoying the fantastic seasonal produce all the while documenting, testing, tasting and revising all the great recipes I make using what is available locally during the summer.

With the above being said and with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and cilantro locally available right now if you know who to go to, here is the recipe I use for salsa.

I tried this recipe for the first time in 2011 and have made it every year since. I use this recipe to teach people how to can as one batch only makes about 3 ½ – 4 ½ pints and easily demonstrates waterbath canning from start to finish in about two hours. While I will not go into the details here on what is needed for successful waterbath canning, I suggest downloading the “Getting Started Guide” from the Ball website and reading about waterbath canning if you are interested in learning more.

Don't be afraid to prepare your tomatoes, onions or jalapenos in advance. I've seeded and diced tomatoes, onions and jalapenos up to a week in advance of making this salsa. You can store unused jalapenos, diced and seeded, in freezer-safe ziploc bags for up to one year. This year's first batch contained jalapenos which were frozen last October.

Heirloom Tomato Salsa yield: approx. 3 ½ pints – 4 ½ pints

1 cup distilled white vinegar

¼ cup sugar

2 ¼ tsp kosher salt

3 pounds (6 cups) heirloom tomatoes, any variety, seeded and diced

½ pound (1 cup) onions, diced

2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Bring the vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil in a large nonreactive saucepan. Add the tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos. Return to a gentle boil for 5 minutes.

2. Cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or can the salsa using the waterbath method in steps 3 through 5.
3. Ladle into clean, hot ½-pint canning jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace at the top of each. Stir to release trapped air.
4. Wipe the rims clean; center the lids on the jars and screw on the jar bands. Process in a waterbath canner with a rack for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and let the jars rest in the water for 5 minutes.
5. Remove jars with tongs and set aside for 24 hours. Check the seals and store in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.

(Reprinted from Put 'em Up, by Sherri Brooks Vinton (Storey Publishing, 2010) in the June 2011 issue of Yoga Journal.)

Spelt Pie Crust or how I gained, lost and am working to re-gain my pie crust mojo

Cooking and baking have been loves of mine for as long as I can remember. With an insatiable sweet tooth, I baked cookies, brownies, cakes and other sugary delights to no end. However, I stayed away from pies, primarily from pies with fruit fillings which required a pie crust not already formed into the pie plate.

In 2006, the then teenage son of my friends Leslie and Stu expressed interest in making an apple pie from scratch. At this same time, I decided I should get past my fear of pie crust and make one from scratch. Together, we made an apple pie using the Classic Crisco Pie Crust. The crust came out perfect. Flaky but not crumbly. I personally found the taste of the crust a touch on the salty side. This was due to a one to one substitution of kosher salt for table salt as called for in the recipe instead of 3/8 teaspoon of kosher salt for 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

For my next attempt at apple pie with homemade pie crust, I turned to the Whole Wheat Flaky Pie Crust recipe found on the back of the Bob's Red Mill 5-pound bag of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. I substituted organic shortening for butter and kosher salt for sea salt.

It was perfect.

Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Flaky Pie Crust recipe with kosher salt and organic shortening became my pie crust recipe. Everyone loved it. I found it easy to make especially where it could sit in the fridge for 1-2 days and not be problematic. I taught it to my cousin, Jenn, when she was interested in learning how to make apple pie from scratch. When I received a pastry blender as gift, making pie crust became a joy, not a fearful chore.

Then, in 2011, I began to have problems with my pie crust. It would break apart when transferring to the pie plate. It would crack and not drape over the filling. It was dry. It had no flavor. “Patchwork” became standard process to top the fruit filling.

I had lost my pie crust mojo.

Determined to get my mojo back, I decided to try a pie crust using spelt flour with a recipe found on Bob's Red Mill's website. Spelt is a whole grain and an ancient species of wheat whose taste I find similar to whole wheat.

The end result was a golden pie crust, not to sweet, but not super-flaky either.

My pie crust mojo is coming back. 

Bob's Red Mill's Spelt Pie Crust Recipe: http://juliesnekitchen.blogspot.com/2016/01/single-or-double-spelt-pie-crust-for-9.html 

Bob's Red Mill's Whole Wheat Flaky Pie Crust Recipe: http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=841

Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread

Now that spring is migrating into summer it seems I have an opportunity to move closer to my goal of trying twelve new recipes before the end of the year. This time I tried Pumpkin Banana NutBread from VeryBestBaking.com. This is the same website from which I got the Magic Cookie Bar recipe I tried back in 2010. With two very ripe bananas and all the other ingredients at hand, I made the two very tall 9” x 5” loaves as instructed. While the end result was good, it was crumbly. I think the next time I make this I will omit the walnuts and make two shorter 9” x 5” loaves and one mini-loaf.

Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread from VeryBestBaking.com: http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/32244/Pumpkin-Banana-Nut-Bread/detail.aspx

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

I realize it's been well over a month since my last post. Things have been busy, and I a have not had the opportunity to bake, cook and blog about my cooking adventures as much as I would like.

Additionally, I am behind on my goal of trying twelve new recipes this year. I started the twelve new recipe goal in 2010 when I realized I made the same dozen or so recipes time and again. One recipe a month, how hard could that be? Quite easy for me as I would usually reach the goal by June and have keeper recipes such as Magic Cookie Bars, New York Style (Quick) Pizza Sauce and Chocolate Avocado Mousse and not ever again recipes such as Multi-Grain Muffins and Blueberry Quinoa Muffins.

Therefore, I was very happy this weekend to have the opportunity to try a new recipe to count toward my 2013 goal.

The new recipe was the Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookie recipe from veryculinary.com. This is the first recipe I've tried from veryculinary and it was a success all around. The recipe was easy, straightforward and very well written. I found it easy to substitute two tablespoons from my everyday utensil set for the #40 ice cream cookie dough scoop noted in the recipe. The house smelled fabulous, even into the next day. The end product was well received and given thumbs up.  

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies from veryculinary.com: 

http://www.veryculinary.com/_recipes/_treats/pumpkin-butterscotch-cookies-print.html