Roasted Rainbow Carrots

Sweetie has recently discovered that he just loves roasted veggies. Tonight I made roasted rainbow organic carrots and a half an onion. Gone in a flash!

Roasted Carrots and Onions

1 bunch carrots with greens on top (or use clip top carrots if that's all you have.) I used organic rainbow carrots...about 7 of them.
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried herbs ( or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs) I used Penzey's Greek seasoning and Zatar which are both dried
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Prepare the carrots by either peeling or rubbing with a clean scrubbie. Cut off the pointed end and just below the green tops. Use the tops for carrot top pesto if desired. Slice the carrots in half lengthwise. Place in a large plastic bag...I use the one from the produce section.

Add the onion wedges, oil, herbs and salt/pepper if using. Shake bag to distribute ingredients all over the carrots and onion wedges.

Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil. Pour the carrots and onions out onto the sheet and use the bag to distribute the veggies into a single layer.

Roast in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until veggies are tender and edges of the onions are browned. Stir about half way through roasting.

Serve at once or at room temperature.

Serves 2-4

Heading off to visit my daughter and friends tomorrow, but Sweetie and Straight Shooter will keep Pi company until I get back.

Irish Soda Bread Reimagined

Yesterday Sweetie and I were invited to lunch at the home of friends who had been evacuated during the recent wildfires, but, fortunately, their house was spared and we were celebrating that. About two hours before we were to leave, Sweetie remembered that we had been asked to bring some bread...bread that I had made. With not nearly enough time for making yeast bread, I was trying to think of something that would work when Sweetie suggested Irish Soda Bread. It's a favorite of his and goes together fairly quickly.

I haven't made it for a while and this time I wanted to make it a bit savory to go with the lunch main dish of a luscious old fashioned chicken stew. Herbs seemed just the thing and I had some fresh Italian parsley on the windowsill, and some fresh thyme and rosemary on the porch in a planter. Still, it seemed a bit too ordinary. Then I decided to add a bit of crunch and lots of flavor with finely chopped pecans. A bit of graham flour added more flavor and the lemon juice I added to the soy creamer to sour it was the final touch. This was decidedly not my Aunt May's Irish Soda Bread, even if it started out with her recipe!

A key thing to remember if you make this is that this kind of bread works best with the least amount of handling. Stir just enough to blend dry into wet, then shape gently with your hands into a ball, tucking any dry bits underneath...they will get wet enough that way. Don't forget the traditional cross cut with a knife. It helps the center cook evenly with the rest of the loaf.

A big thank you to Deb and Jim for a great lunch. Best chicken stew ever, plus an interesting salad dressing that I'm going to post later, and delicious pecan pie cookie bars for dessert. Best of all, the friendship and great conversation.

Irish Soda Bread with Herbs and Pecans
based on Aunt May's Irish Soda Bread
makes one large loaf

2 cups (about) whole milk or soy creamer
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat or graham flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons sugar

8 oz. (1 stick) cold butter, in thin slices

½ cup pecans, chopped finely

¼ cup roughly chopped mixed fresh herbs - I used Italian parsley, thyme and rosemary

In a bowl combine the milk and the fresh lemon juice. Let sit to 'sour' the milk, at least 5 minutes.

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl with the pecans and herbs; mix well. Dot all over with the butter and cut in well with a fork or pastry blender.

 Add the soured milk and mix just until moist - don’t over handle. You may need to add 2 - 4 more tablespoons of milk or a few tablespoons of flour.  Some dry stuff is OK but the dough should be sticky.

Pat into a round on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cut a cross on top. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool a bit before slicing.

A Tale of Chicken Livers

Raising your own chickens has become increasingly popular in our area. Sweetie has been there, done that and has the tee shirt, too, after helping to start an egg co-op in Micronesia in the early '70s. As a result, he is smart enough to let others raise the chickens. Fortunately our neighbors across the road have taken to chicken farming with delight, raising both egg layers and chickens for eating. Since we help them now and then with chasing the chickens into their coop at night (so as to not get eaten by the local foxes), they gift us now and then with a chicken dinner, fresh broth, and very fresh livers. For a recent chicken dinner, I made one kind of pate', the goodwife made another, plus chicken livers wrapped in bacon and broiled. It was a feast! G made outstanding barbecued chicken for the main meal.

Freshness and careful handling are very important when dealing with chicken livers. Since it was too hot to turn on the oven, I made the kind of pate where you gently simmer the livers in water flavored with celery and peppercorns, then process them with yummy things like cooked onion, garlic, whipping cream, brandy and herbs. Since this makes a light and smooth paste, I added chopped walnuts and crumbled bacon for both flavor and texture. It went well on baguette slices. My friend made a pate' with a bit more texture and deep, wonderful flavor from anchovies and citrus zest, plus wine. Served with toasted slices of country bread it was delightful. The broiled bacon wrapped livers were excellent, too. We enjoyed them all!

Not about chickens, but about a kickstarter campaign you might be interested in. This fellow is not chicken at all and has a great idea for a flavorful bun for sandwiches. Check out Perry Livingston of the Bread Beaker here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1656767705/bread-beaker-an-experiment-in-flavor I wish him every success and am impressed by his initiative.

Back to the regular post - I didn't get a recipe from my friend, but I can give you mine, which was a combination of about four recipes I found in various cookbooks. The uniting theme was the simmer in flavored water until barely cooked...there should be some pink in the center when you cut into the livers. The recipe made enough that we had another crock ready for a picnic this weekend, but it wasn't as nice as the freshly made pate', so consider eating it all at once, or making a smaller amount.

Chicken Liver Pate' de la Maison
Makes enough for 6-8  

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced

2 small stalks celery
4 whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups water

1 lb chicken livers

1 stick softened butter
pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brandy or Cognac
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup cooked, drained, crumbled bacon
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

Melt butter and sauté onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, place the celery stalks, peppercorns and salt. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so water just simmers. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove cover, add rinsed and drained chicken livers, return to a simmer, cover, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Insides of livers should still be a bit pink.

Drain mixture in pot, discard celery and peppercorns. Placed drained livers in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

To the food processor add the butter, cayenne pepper, thyme, nutmeg, allspice, heavy cream and brandy or Cognac, and onion mixture. Process until mixture is smooth, scraping down work bowl as needed.

In the same pan you used to sauté the onions, place the walnuts and cooked bacon. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bacon releases a bit more oil and walnuts are fragrant. Add the parsley and stir to combine. Add this mixture to the liver mixture and stir to combine.

Scrape the pate mixture into small crock or crocks. Smooth the top, decorate with a parsley leaf if desired, cover with plastic wrap and chill 4 hours or more. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Serve with slices of baguette or toasts.

Soup's On!

With the coming of cooler weather, leaves are turning bright and muted shades of red, gold, bronze and orange. The summer crops are finishing up in the garden, with just a few cherry tomatoes still on the vines. I've harvested the butternut squash and have put them in storage, ready for winter cooking and baking, their sunflower color serving as a reminder that summer will come again.

Time, also, to make soup. A few days ago I made a quick soup with canned beef broth, celery, carrots, onions, corn, zucchini and some frozen meatballs and cheese-filled tortellini, plus herbs and spices. Four days ago I started some butternut squash soup based on a recipe from the Press Democrat October 9th newspaper. The recipe follows much of the one from Kay Baumhefner of Come Home to Cooking. I used half the amounts since it would take a week for us to finish 8 servings worth of this hearty soup. I used dried thyme instead of fresh, no bay leaf, Scotch whiskey instead of Grand Marnier and left out the spinach. For the onions I used some that I had cooked in the crockpot so there was no butter used, either, only a bit of olive oil. I'm going to post that crockpot caramelized onion recipe next because it is a keeper if you like your onions slow cooked, mellow, and brown.

This is a think ahead recipe; it takes two days before it's ready to eat. For this recipe you'll need either an immersion blender (preferred) or a food processor or blender, because part of the joy of this soup is the thick texture and creaminess. You make it over a couple of days, as I did. I roasted the squash and garnet yam first, then peeled and cut them into chunks (I cut the squash in half before roasting and used that opportunity to remove the seeds and stringy bits). They were stored overnight. The next morning I started the crockpot onions. That afternoon I used some of those onions, added them in a pot to the squash and yam pieces, added the herb and spices and stirred it all up with a cup of chicken broth. This sat in the fridge for a couple of hours until I had time to finish off the soup and fix the rest of the meal. I like to think that the passage of time helped meld the flavors, too.

The finished soup was fairly smooth, creamy, thick, beautifully flavored, hot and filling. I garnished each bowl with a dribble of heavy cream and a sprinkle of freshly chopped Italian parsley. Served up with a salad and grilled cheese sandwiches, it was a wonderful meal for a chilly evening in fall.

Butternut and Yam Soup with Crockpot OnionsBased on a recipe by Kay Baumhefner of Come Home to Cooking
Serves 4

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash
1 large garnet yam
1 tablespoon oil (I used only oil, no butter)
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups thinly sliced onions (1 large)
1 bay leaf (I didn't use this)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (I used Scotch whiskey)
3-4 cups hot chicken stock, homemade if possible
1 can evaporated milk
drizzle heavy cream
garnish: finely chopped Italian parsley

Cut squash in half and remove seeds and stringy bits. Place cut side down on lightly oiled foil or parchment lined baking sheet with rim. Wash and pierce yam in a few places and place on baking sheet.

Bake in preheated 400 degree F. oven until tender (time will vary with size of squash). Remove from oven, let cool, peel both squash and yam, then cut each into small pieces. Set aside until onions are cooked.

Meanwhile, peel the onions, slice in half, then slice thinly. Spray the insides of a crockpot crock and add the onions. Drizzle with the oil (OK to use 2 tablespoons), cover tightly and cook on high for 6-8 hours. Onions will be light gold.

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, place the squash and yam pieces, the onions, one cup of stock, the dried thyme, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg. Stir, cover and let sit in fridge overnight. You can also cook the onions the following day and add them then, instead, but be sure to allow a few hours for the soup, including onions, to sit.

The next day, about 1/2 hour before serving time, add the salt, pepper and Scotch, then add 1 cup more of stock and the can of evaporated milk. Use an immersion blender to blend to a smooth consistency. If you don't have an immersion blender, process small batches in a food processor or regular blender.

When mixture is smooth, add additional stock until mixture is a little thinner than desired thickness. Set over low heat with a pot lid askew and heat gently, stirring often, until soup is heated through and thickens a little, about 15 - 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Ladle soup into soup bowls, drizzle with about a teaspoon heavy cream, swirl with a spoon, then sprinkle with parsley. Serve at once.

Soup for the New Year

Happy New Year dear reader! I hope that your holidays were wonderful. With all of the rich foods I ate for the last month I'm ready for soup. It's usually fairly healthy, and perfect when the weather is chilly...which it is now here. Soup is one of my favorite foods...along with chocolate. I rarely write down recipes for the soups I make because my favorite ones are mixtures of onions, often garlic, sometimes carrots and celery, usually various veggies and broth, plus appropriate herbs and some pepper. I use what is in the pantry, in the fridge, in the garden and adjust the amounts both to what is on hand and what I feel like highlighting that day. Often the soup is a wonderful way to use up leftovers so I don't find little containers with exotic decomposed bits of this and that when I clean the fridge.

 Day before yesterday I finally found the time to make soup with my last garden grown butternut squash. The peeled chunks of squash were the most gorgeous golden color, even after being roasted in a very hot oven until soft. The pot also contained my usual chopped onions and some garlic, chunks of peeled garnet yam, chunks of a half a Granny Smith apple, peels left on, and chicken broth. After everything was nice and soft from simmering, I added cayenne pepper to contrast with the sweetness of the squash, apple and yams. I also added some ground ginger and some thyme, rosemary and mint for herbs plus lots of freshly ground black pepper.

I used an immersion blender to smooth it out a bit, but there was still plenty of texture. I also added a half cup of buttermilk and a half cup regular milk, plus some more broth until I had just the right consistency.

A few days before I had made a meatloaf with some ground pork, similar herbs to those used in the soup, onion, garlic, cooked bulgher wheat, feta cheese and Parmesan cheese. Once it was baked we had it for dinner with a nice salad, but there was still some left.

At dinnertime yesterday I had one of those 'light bulb' moments when I realized that the flavors of the meatloaf would go really well with those of the soup. I also decided that the soup needed some greens. Just before I was ready to serve, I reheated the meatloaf and cut it into bite sized chunks. In two soup bowls I placed handfuls of washed baby spinach, then microwaved the bowls on high for 2 minutes to wilt the greens. The soup was ladled on top and the chunks of meatloaf topped it all. The photo only shows the soup, with no spinach or meatloaf chunks...seems I forgot to take a photo at dinnertime and was able to do a quick snapshot yesterday at lunchtime when Sweetie was just about ready to polish off the last of the soup in this unadorned state.

The dinnertime soup looked lovely with that golden colored soup and some green from the spinach when I stirred it up. It also smelled wonderful! Best of all the flavors all came together. Sweetie is convinced that this is the best soup I've ever made. I'll let him think that until the next time that inspiration strikes!

Butternut Squash Soup with Spinach

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 average-sized Butternut Squash
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium to large sweet potato or yam
½ large Granny Smith Apple
2 ½ - 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
½ cup milk
½ cup fat-free buttermilk
½ teaspoon dried ginger powder
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried mint
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
fresh ground pepper to taste (I used a LOT - gave it a nice kick)
a large handfuls washed baby spinach for each serving
meatloaf chunks (optional)

1. Peel and seed the squash. Cut into 1/2 inch chunks. In a large food safe bag (I use recycled plastic bags from the produce section of the grocery store), combine the squash chunks, 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil, salt and pepper. Spread the squash chunks on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

2. Peel onion and chop. Set aside. Peel potato and apples and cut into ¼ inch chunks.

3. Over medium heat in a large saucepan/stock pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil and stir onion and garlic until tender.

4. Add stock, yam chunks, apple chunks, and seasonings. Give it a good stir, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the yam and apple chunks are fork tender. Add the reserved roasted squash chunks and stir. Heat another 2-3 minutes to heat the squash. Remove from heat.

5. In a blender or food processor scoop about ½ of the mixture into blender. On low speed, blend until nicely pureed. While doing this, add about ¼ cup of milk and ¼ cup of buttermilk until creamy. Transfer this to a bowl or a 2nd pot. Alternately, use an immersion blender to puree the whole pot of soup in the pot, being sure to add the milk and buttermilk (a total of ½ cup each milk and buttermilk) .

6. Repeat step 5, adding another ¼ cup of milk and ¼ cup buttermilk and transfer to bowl or pot; continue until all soup has been creamed.

7. Put soup back on very low heat, stirring to blend, and adding lots of black pepper...yum! Simmer for 15 minutes and taste soup. Adjust seasonings and, if needed, more broth, to get the consistency you like. Simmer another 2 minutes at very low heat.

8. To serve, place a handful of washed baby spinach leaves in the bottom of each microwavable bowl for the number you are serving. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Top each portion of wilted spinach with a serving of the soup. Garnish as desired. For a hearty soup, top with chunks of warm meatloaf as I did.

Chicken and Chard Bundles for a Chilly Sunday

One of the delightful thing about going through old papers as I did recently while cleaning out and moving my office is that you discover buried treasure.

I think that a fine recipe I had clipped out of a magazine in 2005 counts as treasure, and it was absolutely buried in reams of paper and way too many envelopes and address labels. I think that I saved it because I adore chard and it used fresh chard to wrap cheese enhanced chicken breasts. I also love roasted onions and they are part of the base for this dish.

As it turns out the onions are fantastic, but the chard acts in much the same way parchment does when you have parchment wrapped packets; they become browned leaves but the chicken and cheese underneath are moist and yummy. I just pushed the leaves aside and ate the chicken/cheese parts. Next time I'll add more leaves under the chicken packets and a bit of chicken broth, too.

The fragrance of the onions, carrots, garlic and herbs is wonderful when this is baking. I served it with some green beans because the recent freezes had significantly reduced the available Swiss chard in the garden. There was enough for the parcels but not a lot more. Will make these again when there is a lot more chard so I have some for below the chicken. I also cooked some rice in chicken broth since rice could easily soak up the juices I thought would be a lovely part of this dish. As it turned out there was very little liquid under the chicken, so broth will be added next time.

We ate these during the final quarter of the regular playing time of the 49er - Giants game, which was exciting enough, but the overtime was nail bitingly tense so I'm glad we'd finished dinner by then. Great game and disappointing loss for 'our' team but well played and a surprise for those who remember the 49ers from recent years past.

Chard Wrapped Chicken with Roasted Onions and Carrots
adapted from a recipe in Better Homes & Gardens May 2005
Serves 4

1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 cup baby carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground preferred
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons snipped fresh herbs (dill, oregano, sage, thyme)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 Swiss chard leaves, washed and stems trimmed off
Snipped herbs for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large baking dish combine the onions, carrots, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Toss to coat the vegetables in the oil and seasonings. Place the baking dish in the oven, uncovered, and roast 10 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, combine the 2 tablespoons olive oil, herbs, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper with the feta cheese. Mash mixture together with the back of a spoon to form a paste.

Top each chicken breast with 1/4 of the mixture, pressing firmly. Wrap center portion of the chicken breasts with the chard leaves, leaving ends exposed.


Once the vegetables have roasted 10 minutes remove the baking dish from the oven. Top the veggies with the prepared chicken parcels. Bake, uncovered, for 25 - 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees F).

Serve the baked chicken and roasted vegetables together. If desired, sprinkle with some extra snipped herbs.

A Shot of Green Sunday

I should be out pruning rose bushes, then spraying them. It's also a good time to do outdoor painting because for some reason we have been having a period of dry and warm weather when it is usually rainy and cool.

Instead Sweetie and I searched yesterday for the break in the invisible fence that needs to be repaired before we can bring a new dog home. I have been missing Xam but also missing the joy of having a dog. Our neighbor was telling us yesterday of his positive experience with GGLRR, a local rescue group. He was grinning like a boy while we were meeting his recently adopted yellow lab. We still have a few things to do before we can go looking but I like the idea of a rescued dog instead of a puppy.

I've also been having a really fine time reading a book called 'As Always, Julia' which is a compilation of some of the letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. Their friendship began when Julia read an article by Mrs. DeVoto's husband where he was a strong supporter of steel knives vs stainless steel ones. The steel ones hold their edge better. Julia sent him some French ones and a nice letter. Avis was helping with his mail and so she sent a return letter and the friendship began that way. They didn't even meet for a long time but found that they had similar interests in cooking and in politics. There were even some mutual friends.

Since I love the topic of cooking and love Julia Child's way with a recipe, plus have been a lover of politics since I was about 10 years old, this book is enthralling for me. It's also of extra interest because the time frame is the 50's when a lot was going on in American politics. I was a history major in college, but our curriculum never covered anything past the Second World War, so I'm learning a lot, even if it is from a certain perspective. Avis' husband Bernard was also influential in conservation issues, particularly Western ones, so that's also of interest. Once I've finished the book I hope to spend time on the Internet following up on some of the footnotes.

The other thing I've been up to is ...surprise!...bread baking. Tomorrow I'll have the perfect recipe for any of you who want the delight of freshly made yeast bread but don't have a lot of time. The next day, hopefully, I'll be able to post a lovely Spelt and Wheat Sourdough Loaf that is currently shaped and rising.

For today I have a suggestion on kitchen decor. Although I love to have a little bouquet on the window sill, right now the only thing in my garden that could be used for that are lavender stalks. I love them but the gray green isn't uplifting. Instead I've found that an inexpensive bunch of Italian parsley brings a nice shot of bright green into the kitchen and is handy for cooking too.

Happy Sunday!

Leaf Bread for Fall

The bodacious Bread Baking Babes are celebrating autumn this month by baking Fougasse, a delightful leaf-shaped bread, at the invitation of Elizabeth of blog from OUR kitchen, our Kitchen of the month.


Our regular posting day, the 16th of the month, coincides this month with World Bread Day, the annual event that encourages us to bake bread. We are asked also to honor the fact that we have enough food, a situation that isn't true for too many people in the world.

So today we celebrate both World Bread Day and baking with the Babes by baking fougasse, a shaped flatbread.

Fougasse is perfect for fall since it is traditionally shaped like a leaf, with the dough cut and stretched in such a way that, once baked, there is a lot of crustiness. That's a lovely thing in a flatbread like this, especially if you are serving it as an appetizer as I did, or with a nice cooler weather soup or stew.

Elizabeth gave us a couple of choices for the bread dough but indicated that we could also use our own recipe. I'd posted a foccacia recipe during the winter of 2008 and it used sourdough starter, so that's what I used. It made enough dough for me to make two loaves each of two variations. I was inspired by a fougasse that fellow Babe Susan of Wild Yeast had made which used gorgonzola cheese and figs to add flavor and texture to a fougasse which included rye flour.

I only used unbleached bread flour... no rye or other fancy flours this time... and paired the gorgonzola cheese with chopped walnuts. The result was awesome! There was no need for any additional butter or oil, although we did find that some slices of Golden Delicious apple went really well with that version of fougasse.

As Elizabeth days, "Because fougasse is baked on a stone instead of on an oiled pan, there are more crispy bits. Not too crispy though... it's juuuuust right! Of course, it can be cut with a knife but we think that fougasse tastes better torn apart."

The other half of the dough was flavored with freshly chopped herbs...Italian parsley, basil, and rosemary. I'm grateful to have not only enough for myself and Sweetie, but enough to share. I gave one of the herbed loaves to our renter because she loves bread and is on a fixed income so it helps her stretch her food budget a bit, too. Seems appropriate as we honor World Bread Day.

Try baking this easy and delicious Fougasse yourself...you'll be glad you did. There is only one rising, only a few ingredients, and trying out the shaping is fun and gives you another skill in the kitchen. You can choose your own additions or bake it plain and slather on the butter or dip the torn pieces of fougasse bread in a mixture of good olive oil and balsamic vinegar for an Italian touch. If you do bake it this month (by October 29th) be sure and send an e-mail with a link to your post (or a description of the bread and if you liked making it added to the e-mail if you don't blog) and a photo of the finished bread to Elizabeth to become a Bread Baking Buddy. She'll send you a badge and include you in the roundup.

Elizabeth was daring and baked her fougasse on a grill. I baked mine in the oven. Since I was using a baking stone (actually a pizza stone)

I shaped each leaf on a piece of baking parchment which I had laid on a wooden tray. Each was covered with oiled plastic wrap to rise. No corn meal was used on the parchment paper since I slid the bread and parchment paper on to the baking stone, then removed the loaf directly to the stone half way through baking (throwing the used parchment away).

Each loaf was shaped to fit the stone and they were baked one at a time. One day I'll have to spring for a larger stone so that I can bake two at a time. I also added moisture at the start of baking to help with crust development. I put ice cubes into a pie plate below the baking stone, plus sprayed the walls of the oven with water when I put the loaves in. The latter part of the baking time was done without the steam.

Now that you've heard how I did it, do visit the blogs of the other Bread Baking Babes (see links to the right). I'm also sending this over to Susan at Wild Yeast for the weekly Yeastspotting event. This week is sure to be a good one with entries from lots of World Bread Day posts, so check it out.

Sourdough Focaccia (with instructions for making Gorgonzola-Walnut Fougasse and Fresh Herb Fougasse)

2 cups 100% hydration sourdough starter
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup water, divided
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
4 - 5.5 cups unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
additions like cheese, nuts, herbs, citrus peels, olives, etc.

In the bowl of a stand mixer place the sourdough starter. Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and mix briefly with the paddle attachment just until the oil is mixed in.

Make sure the water is lukewarm. Take 1/4 cup of it and add the dry yeast. Let sit 5 minutes until foamy.

Add the yeast, the rest of the warm water, and about half the flour. Mix with the paddle.

Switch to the dough hook. On slow speed add the flour, a half cup or so at a time, adding only a few tablespoons at a time toward the end. The dough will be soft. Add the salt and then knead with the dough hook on low to medium low speed for about 6 minutes, until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and is smooth. Turn out on a lightly floured board or counter and knead in most of the rosemary, leaving about a teaspoon for the top.

Form the dough into a ball. Oil a large bowl (not metal) and turn the dough ball in the oil to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place and let rise until doubled in bulk. It took mine four hours, but even my 'warm' place wasn't as warm as it should have been.

Punch dough down, turn out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface, knead a few time to get rid of the extra trapped gas.

At this point check out the directions below to make fougasse. To make focaccia, follow this link.

These were the instructions we were given. Notes on my variations are in italics below:

1. Mix, knead and allow your favourite bread dough to rise to double (I used the focaccia recipe above). If you are adding anything like olives, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, caramelized garlic cloves and/or walnuts, mix them into the dough near the end of kneading it or on the first turn of the dough (I added mine once the dough had risen and was ready to shape...just kneading the cheese and nuts into half the dough, then cutting that dough ball in half and shaping each into a leaf shape...then doing the same for the other half of the dough by adding the herbs for the second two loaves which were each shaped into a leaf shape:

for the nut/cheese versions:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

for the herbed:
1 tablespoon EACH chopped Italian parsley, basil and rosemary).

2. If you are wanting herbs/spices on top, please add them just before baking.

3. Shaping: About an hour before baking the fougasse, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and press it out into an oval (or a rectangle; or a circle). Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is about 1 cm (1/2 in.) thick. (I shaped it into a tall triangle.)

4. Sprinkle corn meal (to act as ball-bearings) on the peel - or an upside-down cookie sheet. Lay the shaped dough on the peel. Using a pizza wheel and "swift, decisive strokes" cut a design of a leaf or ladder into the dough. Take care not to cut through the outer edges. From the edges, pull the dough outwards to make sure the cuts are spaced. (I used parchment paper instead, but the dough with a stiff plastic scraper, then gently spread out the dough to open up the cuts to create the leaf shapes...sort of triangular)

Cover with a clean tea towel followed by a plastic grocery bag and allow to rise. (Robertson allows the shaped bread to rise first and does the slashes at the last minute. Naturally, because of my stellar reading skills, I didn't notice that until I had already made fougasse several times by slashing it directly after shaping it.) (I did notice that I had to open up {gently} some of the gaps that had closed up during the rising time. Since my loaves were on parchment and covered with oiled plastic wrap, it was easy to uncover them and gently move the dough to open up the shape again.)

5. Just Before Baking: Drizzle with olive oil and scatter coarsely ground sea salt over top. (You can also do this step just after the bread is baked; that is what Robertson suggests. Or you can forget to add the olive oil at all, as I did the last time.) (I skipped the olive oil and salt part since the additions were flavorful enough.)

6. Baking in the Oven: Put a pizza stone on the middle or top shelf of the oven and turn it to 400F (200C) (I used 450 degrees and added steam with ice cubes and water spray for extra crunch in the crust). Transfer the fougasse onto the hot stone and bake for about 15 minutes, turning it around at least once to account for uneven oven heat. (You may need 20 minutes or more of baking time if you want a darker crust.)

7. When the fougasse done, remove it from the heat and allow to cool on a well-ventilated rack. To serve, break it apart and dip it into good quality olive oil with herbs if you want.

Thank you Elizabeth for a wonderful, delicious, will-make-this-again challenge. My only other attempt at making fougasse was a dud so it was a lot of fun to do it again and discover that it is a great bread. The ultimate test is how quickly it is gone. All four loaves were finished in less than two days (with Straight Shooter having almost a whole one for breakfast yesterday!) so it truly was a success.

Herbs Join Potatoes and Sourdough

One of the joys of baking bread, once you have gotten used to it, is that you can play around with recipes to make your own custom bread, just the way you like it.

I love sourdough and I also love herbs, Parmesan cheese, and breads with mashed potatoes in them. Since my 'toss off' from feeding my sourdough starter had itself been fed a combination of a cup of flour and a cup of water and had sat out on the counter for a couple of hours letting the yeasties get happy, I decided to put all of these things together into one bread. It helped that I had some cooked, cooled potato chunks and the cooking water. You probably think that I knew all along that I would make potato bread today, but in reality I was making something else with potatoes and had some ends left over, so I cooked them up and they cooled off while I was doing other things.

A quick look at my Index (see the link over at the right with the table set for a meal photo?...if you click on it you'll jump to my Index of recipes. I know the Bread section is long, but you might stumble across a bread (or other recipe) you might like to try...you never know) yielded both an herbed bread recipe I put together one day and a potato bread recipe from the talented Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups. A short time later some elements from each were combined into this great bread recipe. I bet you could look at it and easily figure out ways to make it YOUR custom bread...add some pine nuts or feta, change the herbs, fold in some sun dried tomatoes....you get the idea!

Sending this over to Susan at Wild Yeast for her weekly Yeastspotting event...a virtual wonderland of bread recipes using yeast...or recipes using bread made with yeast. Check it out! More opportunities to custom make your own bread by starting with one you find through Yeastspotting and making small changes. Just be sure to give credit where credit is due if you post your creation.

Italian Herbed Sourdough Potato Bread
makes two loaves

1 cup sourdough starter at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast (I used RapidRise)
1/4 cup tepid water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup mashed potatoes, cooled (OK to leave skins on or to peel them)
1/2 cup water from cooking the potatoes for mashed potatoes, cooled
1/2 teaspoon each dried basil, oregano, and crumbled dried rosemary
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley (or any parsley)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
about 5 cups all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and about 3 cups all-purpose flour whisked together)

Put the sourdough starter in a large mixing bowl. If using a stand mixer, attach the paddle.

In a small bowl, combine the yeast and the tepid water and sugar. Stir. Let sit for 5 minutes to make sure yeast is active. Active yeast will smell very yeasty and clumps of bubbly yeast will rise to the surface of the water.

After it has proofed, add the yeast mixture to the bowl containing the sourdough starter. Add the mashed potatoes and potato water. Mix in the herbs, olive oil and salt. Add a cup of the flour and mix until combined.

Switch to the dough hook (or continue mixing with a wooden spoon), adding flour a 1/2 cup at a time and mixing until incorporated. If using a stand mixer, keep adding flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Continue to knead using the dough hook another 6 - 8 minutes until dough is satiny. If stirring by hand, stir flour into dough until it is too hard to stir, then turn dough out onto a well-floured board or clean, well-floured counter and knead the rest of the flour into the dough. Amount of flour will vary. Keep kneading until dough is satiny and supple.

Once you have finished kneading dough if using the stand mixer, turn out onto a lightly flour surface, knead a few times to make sure everything is combined.

Using either method of kneading, place kneaded dough into an oiled large bowl or rising container, turn to coat whole of dough with oil, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, divide in half and put one half back into the rising container. For the half of dough on the work surface, press down on it to shape into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches. (Optional: sprinkle dough with about 3/4 cup of mixed Italian shredded cheeses).

Roll up dough along the long side, fold the ends under, pinch to seal, and put into a greased loaf pan. Shape second half of dough the same way or shape into a braid, as I did, or into rolls.Cover shaped dough with a damp kitchen tea towel(s) and put in a warm place to rise.

When risen to double in bulk, place in preheated 400 degree F oven to bake for about 20 - 25 minutes. Finished loaf is golden and sounds hollow when bottom is tapped. Let cool on rack until barely warm. Slice and serve. Enjoy the aromas of herbs and fresh bread.
This bread has a nice crackly crust from the sourdough starter and a tender crumb from the potatoes. Photo below shows sliced braid.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Today I had a surpise visit from someone I became friends with when I lived in the open ward looney bin that was the City of Berkeley. By now it might be a very sane place. Back then there were mentally ill people wandering the streets, having been released to the community by then Governor Ronald Reagan (before he became President) who felt that mental health was a 'neighborhood problem', which is what it became in time. The politics were a bit nutty, too. Good news is I learned to think crazy which has come in handy in later life more often than one might expect.

It took guts and good will for this friend from long ago to drive up the highway and show up. We have been on the outs for a few years. This is an exceedingly rare thing for me so I've probably behaved badly in the process. Hugs were exchanged and we talked and laughed. I'm glad she came. Sometimes doors you thought you have shut spring open again unexpectedly.

When she arrived I had just begun to make a chicken dish for dinner. This is the kind of dish you can usually make with ingredients that your have on hand in your pantry and freezer. Veggies from your garden or from the market or farmer's market work well in this stew. For seasoning not only did I saute' lots of onions and some celery and chopped carrots, but I added flat leaf parsley, dried sage, rosemary and thyme, plus some pepper. Brought back the old song and that seemed appropriate somehow.

This made a nice stew with lots of veggies, some of which cooked with the chicken and some were added toward the end of cooking. I like my stew with a thickened broth, but you could serve it as is, although it might be more of a stew or chowder that way. With a few slices of the chunky zucchini bread we had a fine, easy meal.

Hope you had a great weekend! My your surprises be as welcome as mine was.

Scarborough Fair Chicken Stew

Serves 4

1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 ribs celery, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf or Italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups chicken broth
4 boneless skiness chicken breasts, cut in large dice (bite sized pieces)
1 large or 2 medium Idaho type potatoes, cut in cubes about 1/2 inch across, peeled if you like
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup fresh or frozen corn off the cob
1 cup fresh or frozen green beans, in bite sized pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
enough flour and water in a slurry to thicken the broth, as desired

Saute' the onions, carrots and celery in the olive oil until the onions are transluscent, about 5 minutes, stirring every so often.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, chicken broth, pieces of chicken, cubes of potatoes and broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the point of a sharp knife.

Add the corn, beans, and peas and stir to combine well. Cover and continue to cook another 2-3 minutes, until the beans are almost tender.

If you are thickening your stew, add the slurry and stir well to combine, then keep stirring until the broth thickens and begins to bubble. Serve hot.

You can use more and different vegetables to reflect what you have on hand or in the garden or from the farmer's market, but this combo was very tasty!

Here is the song from the title:

Are you goin to Scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Without no seams nor needlework, then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to find me an acre of land, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Between the salt water and the sea strand, then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

And to gather it all in a bunch of heather, then she'll be a true love of mine

Are you goin to Scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine

the Garden is Sooooo Happy

Although I'm not a big fan of summer...too many hot days...I do love the garden produce of summer.
We have been enjoying chard and grilled summer squash (with extra going to friends...they claim they are thrilled...we'll see if that continues as the plants keep producing more and more and more) and now the beans are blooming so soon there will be lovely haricot verts. Just saw today that the eggplant have set fruit. It will take a while for them to grow big enough to harvest, but probably sometime in August I'll be looking for eggplant recipes.

The fun part is the tomatoes. I grew three different types of heirloom tomatoes from seed, but then got the seedlings mixed up, so it will be a surprise to see what kinds I actually planted. Weeks went by with the plants getting bigger each day. Little yellow flowers were blooming like mad, but no tomatoes were setting up. A little over a week ago I had enough. I went out at mid-morning, pulled off a likely flower, used my thumbnail to open the pollen holding area, then smooshed that flower up into the pollen holding area of some flowers that were still on the plant.

Each plant was treated to pollen from a flower from its own plant, so the varieties should stay true. It worked! Withing 4-5 days, you could see tiny tomatoes, about the size of a raisin. The next day there were far more baby tomatoes than those I had messed with. Looks like the plants got the word that they better set fruit, or else. LOL! Anyway there are now dozens of the little tomatoes, growing larger by the day. It may be September before I harvest any of them, but at least there will BE some to harvest! BTW, I've done this before when Mother Nature seemed to be asleep at the switch, so I knew it was likely to be successful. You can try it yourself if the bees are not doing the job.

Along with the veggie plants, I planted basil this year. Since rosemary grows in a big shrub down the driveway and my newest rose plant seems to be bonded with some oregano, herbs were easily available for a nice marinated chicken dish for dinner yesterday.

Some rice or good bread will sop up the juices and a green salad is perfect to pick up the herbal flavors, but with crunch and coolness instead.


Wine and Herb Baked Chicken

1 cut-up chicken or about 8 pieces - I used boneless, skinless thighs and breasts
1 cup finely chopped fresh herbs, mixed - I used Italian parsley, rosemary, oregano and basil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
about 1 cup red wine

Rinse the chicken pieces and set aside.

In a non-reactive bowl, combine the herbs, garlic, mustard, olive oil and wine. Pour into a non-reactive baking dish which is just large enough to hold the chicken pieces. Place the first piece in the baking dish. If the liquid doesn't come halfway up the piece of chicken, add more wine until it does. Then place each piece of chicken in the marinade and then turn it over, thus coating it with the herbs. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover dish with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for an hour.

After an hour remove the dish from the refrigerator and unwrap. Turn each piece over, cover and return to the fridge. Repeat an hour later and let chill one more hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap. Replace it with foil to cover the dish, then bake for 35 minutes, removing the foil cover for the last 5 minutes.

Serves 6 - 8

Refreshing

Tonight I wish I had some of that cucumber with yogurt and herbs that I served on Saturday night. It has been pretty hot for Northern California today...it reached 97 at work...and was still in the low 90s when I got home.

The combination of crisp cucumber chunks, tangy yogurt and herbs like fresh sage and spearmint leaves a cool, refreshing feeling in the mouth. Add in some lemon juice and zest and some Italian parsley and you have the perfect side dish for a hot evening...and it's very Mediterranean, too.

When I went to the lower field to harvest the spearmint for this, I discovered that most of the mint had been mown down when Sweetie mowed the field with the tractor last week. Since the stuff is usually all over the place...which is why you don't want to plant it with your prized flowers or vegetables...it takes over!...I was stunned. It took a bit of searching to find some small sprigs for this recipe, the salad, and for garnish. Next time I'll pick some before he gets out the tractor.

Cucumber with Yogurt and Herbs

Serves 2-3 persons as an appetizer

3-4 cucumbers

10-12 fresh spearmint leaves (dried doesn't work very well with this herb for this dish)

5-6 fresh sage leaves (or the equivalent in dry form)

2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley

1 quart of yogurt, plain...I used full fat organic, but I suspect that low or nonfat would work, too

zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon

Rinse and peel the cucumbers (I left some of the peel on for color) and cut into bite sized chunks. Mix the herbs into the yogurt. Pour the yogurt over the cucumbers. Add the lemon zest and juice and stir to mix well. Chill for at least an hour to mingle the flavors. Serve cold.