Holiday Loaf

A new favorite!  

Based on a recipe from The Greens Cook Book (a long-time favorite), how have I never made this before?  I didn't know it's what was missing on our holiday table.  It took Tribute Pizza (another favorite) sharing how it's their favorite on the holiday table for me to seek the recipe out and adapt it:

3/4 c brown basmati rice, cooked
3/4 c walnuts or pecans, toasted
1/4 cup cashews, toasted
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 T butter
sea salt
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms, soaked for 20 minutes in hot water
1 T fresh flat parsley leaves, chopped
1 t fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 T fresh marjoram or rosemary leaves, chopped
1/2 t fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 c cottage cheese
6 oz grated cheese (gruyere, asiago, jarlsberg or your favorite cheese blend)

2 backyard chicken eggs, beaten

freshly ground black pepper

Cook the rice (or reuse leftovers).  Finely chop the nuts.  Chop the soaked mushrooms and reserve the liquid for a later use.

Saute the onions in butter until translucent, season with salt and add the garlic, mushrooms, and herbs. Cook until any liquid released from the mushrooms is reduced.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.  Add nuts, rice, cheeses, egg, and pepper and mix to combine.  Pack into a small, buttered loaf pan and bake uncovered for about an hour at 375 degrees, until crusty and golden.  Allow to cool slightly to set before serving.

Serve with mushroom gravy or onion sauce.  It would also make a great neatloaf or veggie patty!

Double the recipe to bake in a standard loaf pan.

4-6 servings

Crackers - plain, herbed, seedy, or peppery

Crackers are a pretty simple recipe to pull off, but I've never made them before!  The trick was getting the dough rolled out as thin as I could and baking until golden, not brown, on the edges.

1 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1 t course sea salt
1 t evaporated cane sugar
3 T butter, melted, or olive oil
1/2 c water

Flavor options:

2 t fresh thyme or rosemary, chopped fine
1 t fresh ground black pepper or other spice

2 t seeds (poppy, sesame, flax, chia...)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pulse the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and any herbs, seeds or spices in a food processor until well mixed. Add the butter or oil and pulse 6 times.  Add the water and pulse about 10 seconds, just until the dough starts to stick together.  Remove dough, press together to form a ball, and cut into four, and let rest for 10 minutes.

For each piece of dough, roll out on a lightly-floured surface as thin as you can.  Cut into whatever size and shape you want.  Place on the baking sheet.  Bake 4-5 minutes, then flip each cracker and bake another 4-5 minutes, making sure they don't get too brown.  Let cool to crisp.

Makes roughly 50 small crackers

Based on Carla Hall's and Alton Brown's recipes.

Pandemic Practice

my garden
my ancestors
my breath
the seeds
the earth beneath my feet
the squirrel, the bird, butterfly, and bee

these are my teachers, my family, my sangha
i carry them with me
lightening my burden, my mind, and my path

Backyard Banana Bread

Years ago I planted a raja puri banana and this is the first harvest!  They're unexpectedly good–a little tart, a little sweet, a little firm–just a really excellent little banana.  I've got a whole big bunch ripening.  We're eating them in our breakfast, I'll be freezing a lot of them, but because of COVID-19, I'm not seeing very many people to share them with.

This is based on my mom's recipe.  Don't mash the bananas too much or it takes forever to bake.

1/2 cup safflower oil
1 cup rapadura and/or evaporated cane sugar
2 backyard eggs
1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup oat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or your mix of favorite flours)
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp sea salt
1 cup lightly mashed very ripe banana
1/4 cup yogurt or sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips or blueberries or mulberries (optional)

Beat oil, sugar & eggs. In a separate bowl, shift together dry ingredients. Alternate mixing in dry ingredients with the banana, sour cream & vanilla. Mix in the nuts & chocolate chips.  Bake in a greased & floured loaf pan at 325 degrees (convection) for 60-100 minutes until firm in the center.

Variation:

Add crisp topping before baking: 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, 3 tblsp cubed cold butter, 3 tblsp rolled oats, 1/2 tsp ground flax seed, 1/2 tsp hemp seed, 1/2 tsp chia seed, beat together until homogenous

Decadent Orange Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

I only make these once a year, to celebrate the new year.  Invite friends and family: this recipe makes 12 medium-sized rolls.  This dough works best when made early in the morning for a late morning breakfast.

Dough:
¾ cup milk
¼ cup yogurt (or sour cream or buttermilk)
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup evaporated cane sugar
2½ teaspoons yeast
1 egg
3¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a small saucepan on medium-low, heat the milk, yogurt and butter until the butter is melted and the milk is between 105° and 115°. Stir in half the sugar and the yeast. Bloom the yeast for 5 minutes. Add to mixing bowl, and whisk in the egg and the remaining sugar. Add the flour, salt and cinnamon. Using the hook attachment, mix on low speed for 4 minutes.

Place batter in a greased bowl and turn to grease top. Cover and let rise for 1-2 hours until it doubles.  

Kitchen tip:  Speed up the rise by turning your oven into a proving drawer with a pan of boiling water set on the bottom shelf.  Best proving temp is 70-115 degrees.

Filling:
1 stick butter (room temperature)
2/3 cup brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
2 rounded tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

an egg white

Whip the sugar, cinnamon and butter until smooth. On a floured surface, roll the dough out in a rectangle, roughly 8x12 inches, about ¼ inch thick.  Spread on the butter mixture, leaving an inch strip bare at the top of the rectangle.  Sprinkle the pecans. Gently, but tightly roll the rectangle into a log, brushing away any flour as you roll.  Brush the bare strip with egg white to form a seal.  Cut into 12 slices and place in a buttered Pyrex 9x13 baking dish. Let proof for 40 minutes. Bake at 375°(325° for convection) until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.  

Serve warm, topped with cream cheese frosting:

1 stick butter (room temperature)
6 ounces neufchâtel or cream cheese (room temperature)
5 ounces powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ rounded teaspoon sea salt

zest of an orange

Whip all ingredients together in a mixer until fluffy, about 4 minutes.