Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts

Saturday, February 16, 2013

A Blast From the Past

In going through some old photos, I found a few I hadn't thought about in quite some time. Step back in time with me, if you will, about 4 years ago...dooleedoo...dooleedoo...dooleedoo. My friend Devon and I were determined to break our way into the food industry. We talked food trucks. We talked restaurants. We landed on Farmer's Market. We decided to try our hands at selling hot, fresh baked goods. And we didn't discriminate. We provided for 2 and 4-legged friends. Oh yes. We were known as none other than...Scones and Bones.
I have to say we were pretty successful, as long as your definition of success means we had many customers, who came back weekly, and bought all of our wares. However if your definition of success involves $$$$, then sadly, we were not. Oh well. We had a GREAT time. Here is a blast from the past, along with a couple of recipes to boot.

Freshly baked peanut butter dog bones, and beef bones
Peanut Butter Dog Treats
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup peanut butter (all-natural or organic)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine oil, peanut butter and water. Add flour, one cup at a time, forming a dough. Knead dough into firm ball and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.
Cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.


Dill Cottage Bread and Rosemary Boulle
Dill Cottage Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 C milk
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp butter
1 pkg yeast
1/2 C warm water
2 1/4 C regular AP flour
1 Tbsp minced onion
1/2 tsp dill
melted butter
Salt

DIRECTIONS
Scald milk, remove from heat, and stir in sugar, salt, and butter until dissolved. Cool. Dissolve yeast in warm water and add milk mixture. Stir in flour and add onion and herbs. Stir all together. Let rise 45 min. Stir down and continue to stir about 1/2 min. Turn into 8’’ greased loaf pan. Bake about 40-45 minutes, or until golden and begins to pull away from the sides, at 350 degrees. Brush with melted butter and lightly sprinkle with salt. Cool.

Bacon Cheddar Scones, Whole Wheat Beer Bread, Herb Flat Bread

Bacon Cheddar Scones
(Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen)
Ingredients:
For the scones:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. ground black pepper (depending on your preference)
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
4 green onions, thinly slices
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped or crumbled into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk (plus up to ½ cup extra, if needed)

For the egg wash:
1 large egg
2 tbsp. water

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and black pepper; mix briefly to combine.  Add the cubes of butter and mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter pieces are about the size of small peas.  (Alternatively, this can be done in a regular mixing bowl, using a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.)  Add in the grated cheese and mix just until incorporated.

Mix in the green onions, bacon, and 1 cup of the buttermilk into the flour-butter mixture.  Stir by hand just until all the ingredients are incorporated.  If the dough is too dry to come together, mix in the remaining buttermilk a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough can be formed into a ball.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into an 8-inch disk.  Slice the dough into 8 to 10 wedges.

In a small bowl combine the egg and water and whisk together.  Brush each wedge lightly with the egg wash.  Transfer the scones to an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

A sampling of our collection

Cheddar Jalapeno Pinwheels

Chocolate Chip Cream Scones

Cranberry Orange Scones

Cream Cheese Orange Pinwheels

Friday, November 18, 2011

Another trip to the Farmers' Market


One of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning is perusing the daily offerings at my local farmers' market.  Farmers' markets were just beginning to grow in popularity as I was moving from Virginia to North Carolina, about 5 years ago. Growing up, I always took for granted the fresh potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash I would enjoy from my dad's garden and grandfather's farm.  It wasn't really anything special, until  I realized it actually was.  I noticed more and more markets popping up in town, and surrounding towns offering fresh produce, grown by local farmers.  Fruits and Veggies, directly from the the soil, some with dirt still attached was now in high demand.
Living in Cary, there are at least 6 farmers' markets within 30 minutes from my home.  One of those being the state farmers' market.
This past weekend, I visited one of my favorite locations, The Western Wake Market.  If you get a chance to go, stop by and visit the folks from Coon Rock Farm.  I LOVE them!  They offer heirloom variety vegetables, raised without any chemicals; as well as pasture raised, antibiotic and hormone free chickens, eggs, pigs, lamb, and goat.
I came home with a fresh stalk of ginger root, and 2 bunches of Hakurei turnips, and a chicken (which comes in a little later).  The turnips are small, sweet, and delicious.  They can be eaten raw or cooked.  All of this really put me in the mood for fall so I decided to make sauteed turnips and greens, carrot ginger soup, and pumpkin-cranberry bread.
I got the soup recipe from this blog.  I used homemade chicken stock instead of vegetable broth, and