Simple White Bread
What a turnaround! Things have just been clicking into place since last Wednesday. I’ve gotten so many writing assignments from three local newspapers, I don’t know if I can possibly do them all. Plus editing for two papers. And teaching at the Sangre de Cristo Art Center. Plus we’ve had several requests for pork and eggs.
Our friend Ken Stacks is creating a logo for the farm this week. We’ll be using it on labels, banners and business cards for the farmers market. (July 2! That’s coming up quick!) We’ll also be using it on our promotional bags. We’re giving away free canvas shopping bags with any $15 purchase every Thursday night. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with. He’s so talented.
I think everyone had a great time at the Monday night bread class. I had seven students: Debra, Betty, Gloria, an adorable couple Trevor and Kari (the class was Trevor’s father’s day gift.) I also had Alicia and her daughter Caroline. We made (and ate!) so much bread! White bread, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, blueberry-pecan bread, pizza with shrimp and asparagus…yummy. All from the standard two loaf recipe I use probably twice a week.
Many of my students asked what other classes I’ll be teaching. I think half the class has decided to take my cheese class at the end of the month. ( I promised we’d make pizza then too.) I’ve been asked to submit additional class ideas for the fall. I’m thinking pickle canning, jam, maybe knitting 101? So many ideas!
Here’s the bread recipe:
Simple White Bread
6 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon salt
2 1/4 cups warm water
egg wash:
1 egg mixed with a little water
Place flour in bowl with salt and yeast and mix to combine. Add first 2 cups of water, then add last 1/4 cup a little at a time until the dough forms a nice ball that doesn’t stick to the bottom of the bowl. If too dry add more water, if too loose add more flour. Let the dough rest in the bowl covered with a damp towel until doubled in size.
Punch down and form the bread into two loaves. Put them into buttered loaf pans. Cover the bread pans with a damp tea towel until the dough has risen. Brush with egg wash and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 375 degrees and bake another 15 minutes. The bread will sound hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf.
Campanelle with Walnuts in a Sage Cream Sauce
We finally got the fences up, with two days to spare. Just one gate to go and we’ll be ready for our goats.
The weeds are so tall and vast—at least two acres, with some taller than the hood of the truck. We’re thinking about adding the Andrews sisters to our goat order just to help clean up the pasture.
Speaking of goats, the cheese Tina sent home with us is amazing. It made dinner truly delicious last night.
We were so tired from fencing that when dinnertime rolled around I had to think fast. We’ve got a freezer full of beef grown for us in Pueblo West and I had just picked up some fresh sage at the farmer’s market the day before. So I made a quick meal of rib steaks and pasta.
I pan-seared the steaks to medium rare in a little olive oil, with salt and pepper in the cast iron skillet while I made the sauce for the pasta.
The sauce was super easy— just heavy cream left over from the birthday party the night before, flavored up with sage and goat cheese. Here’s the recipe.
Campanelle with Walnuts in a Sage Cream Sauce
Serves 4.
1/2 to 3/4 lb campanelle pasta, cooked al dente, or a similar smallish pasta that will hold the sauce. (Gnocchi would be really amazing with this.)
olive oil
1 or 2 cloves minced garlic
a generous handful of walnuts
a small bunch of fresh sage, rinsed and chopped
1 cup or so of heavy cream
a small handful of strong, semi-hard,crumbled goat cheese, if you’ve got it. If not, fresh grated Parmesan cheese will work.
1 T butter
salt and pepper
Cook the pasta, drain, toss with olive oil and set aside.
Toss the walnuts into a hot pan with a little olive oil and toast them lightly. Add the sage, then add the garlic, and stir until it softens, making sure not to burn it. Pour in the cream and let it come to a boil and reduce slightly. Add the butter and cheese. Toss the pasta in the sauce and add salt, pepper and more cheese to taste. Pour into a serving bowl and serve immediately.
Cucumbers
Mmmmm, I know summer has arrived when I see the first cucumbers of the season. These are heirloom Parisian pickling cucumbers fresh out of our garden. The flavor is amazing.
I sliced up a couple of the larger ones and served them with dinner. The dressing was simple. I just drizzled the slices with olive oil, a nice Pinot Grigio wine vinegar and some of O.L. Neal’s locally harvested honey, then sprinkled them with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Wisdom, our budding 12-year-old chef, commented that the sweetness of the honey balanced the tartness of the vinegar perfectly. Well said.
I plan to make some of the smaller of these cucumbers into sweet gherkins.
Gherkins are one of my cherished childhood memories. They’re dense, small, super sweet, super sour and pack powerful flavors like cinnamon and celery seed. So yummy.
I found a new recipe I’d like to try that calls for vanilla extract, fennel bulb and turmeric.
This is the recipe I grew up with. It’s out of the Ball Blue Book of canning.
Sweet Gherkin Pickles
8 pounds 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inch cucumbers
1/2 cup canning salt
8 cups sugar, divided
6 cups vinegar, divided
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp whole mixed pickling spice
2 sticks cinnamon
1/2 tsp whole allspice
Wash cucumbers and drain. Combine 6 quarts boiling water and 1/4 cup salt; pour over cucumbers. Let stand overnight. On second day, drain. Combine six quarts boiling water and 1/4 cup salt; pour over cucumbers. Let stand overnight. On third day, drain. Prick cucumbers in several places. Combine 3 cups sugar, 3 cups vinegar and turmeric in a large sauce pot. Tie whole spices in a bag; add spice bag to liquid. Bring to a boil. Pour hot liquid over cucumbers; let stand 6 to 8 hours. Drain cucumbers, reserve liquid. Add 2 cups sugar and 2 cups vinegar to liquid. Bring to a boil. Pour over cucumbers; let stand 6 to 8 hours. Remove spice bag. Drain cucumbers, reserving the liquid. Add 1 cup sugar to liquid; bring to a boil. Pack pickles into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Ladle hot liquid into jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner. (Be sure to add the appropriate additional time per your altitude!)
Honey- drizzled Pork Chops with Buttered Fin de Bagnol and Cucumber Salad
Poor kiddos. No sooner did they return from vacation, they were hard at work in the garden. Here they are picking our incredible Fin de Bagnol string beans for Farmers Market, an heirloom seed we picked up at Seed Savers Exchange.
I’ve decided to put together a menu every week with what we’ll have on hand and give away the recipes.
Here’s this weeks recipe. It’s so easy to make and will only take about 20 minutes to prepare.
Enjoy! —Tammy
Honey- drizzled Pork Chops
with Buttered Fin de Bagnol and Cucumber Salad
Pork chops:
4 pork chops
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
coarse salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Rinse and dry pork chops, then place in a shallow pan or on a cookie sheet with a lip. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn chops over and repeat, adding a drizzle of 1 tablespoon of the honey. Set pan directly under broiler. Broil until the fatty edges of the chops look crispy and are a dark brown. Flip chops and drizzle with the remaining honey. Place under broiler and broil until the fatty edges of the chops are a nice brown.
Remove from broiler and serve.
Fin de bagnol:
1 pound fin de bagnol string beans
several sprigs of dill, basil or other garden fresh herb, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
water
salt and pepper to taste
Bring a quart or so of lightly salted water to boil on the stove. Clip the tops of the beans to remove the stems. Rinse and add to boiling water. Boil for eight minutes, or until tender.
Drain. Gently fold the butter into the hot beans, until it has melted. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Serve immediately.
Cucumber salad:
1-pound large Parisian pickling cucumbers
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Pinot Grigio Italian wine vinegar, or other lightly flavored vinegar.
salt and pepper to taste
Rinse cucumbers to remove prickles, then slice and arrange the cucumbers on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil, vinegar and honey. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve.