Baking With Natural Yeast - Cinnamon Bread

 

Not Your Grandma’s Meatloaf (AKA: mini-meatloaves)

MINI MEATLOAFS

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1 Tablespoon  hot sauce (Chalula is great!)

1 teaspoon marjoram

3/4 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 pounds 80/20 OR 85/15 organic ground beef

1 and 1/2 cups  oatmeal flour

1/4 cup fresh or dried parsley leaves

KETCHUP-GLAZE:

1 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

6 teaspoons cider vinegar

Put 2 cups of Old Fashioned oats into your kitchen blender.  Start and KEEP at the lowest speed to begin and then slowly raise the speed until the blades are pulling the oats through at a steady speed.  Blend until oats look like a rough-flour.  Measure out 1 1/2 cups and set aside.

In a skillet heat the oil.  Add chopped onion and sauté, stirring, until caramelizing and charring the bottom of your pan a bit, about 5-10 minutes.   Add garlic and blend into the onion.  Cook until everything is a deep gold color and smells like garlic.  Set aside and let cool.

In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, hot sauce.  Add marjoram, thyme, Kosher salt, pepper and parsley.

In a large mixing bowl combine the meat, egg-milk mixture, oatmeal flour and cooked onion-garlic mixture. 

Transfer meat mixture into a muffin pan or 4 mini-loaf pans so that the meat mixture is level or just above the pan’s top ledge.  Keep in mind that meat shrinks, however, DO NOT FILL EXCESSIVELY.   

Separate 1/4 of your glaze from the bowl and transfer into something to serve with your dinner.

Spoon meat with remaining ketchup glaze. 

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. 

Internal temperature of loaves should be 160 degrees when done.

Let cool 10-15 minutes, then pull out of the muffin pans with two large soup spoons.  

Optional: Serve with the extra glaze.

 

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Hard Boiled Eggs // from the Jennifers 2024

"From the Jennifers" you say?

Yes Sir - OR - Yes Ma'am!

All 3 girlfriends my husband dated right before dating me 26 years ago were named Jennifer!  And now my chicken ladies are named after them.  

I have 10 chicken ladies this go-round and I am pleasantly surprised at the size of their eggs since the eggs were TINY when they first started their laying production this spring.

Summer time I could find 8-10 in their house.  Now that we are in full "winter" for Houston it's more like 3-4.  Less daylight and colder temps creates natural changes to their habits and cycle.

Just enough for our little family of 3 lately!  

Bret Annalese has named us the survivors.  :0)

Surviving with urban-farm eggs isn't too shabby...

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Put all the eggs you want to hard boil in a pot

(Farm-fresh eggs should be washed/rinsed first...)

Cover with water +3 inches of water 

Bring to a boil 

Turn off your stovetop, cover your pot with a lid and let the eggs sit in the boiled water for 15 minutes 

Immediately drain all hot water and rinse with cold water 

Dump a bunch of ice on top 

❤️🥚❤️

Let them chill in the ice until it melts off

Dry a bit and put them all in the fridge

Use and eat as needed

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Mama Jo's Key Lime Pie // with // Gluten-FREE Variation

Mama Jo’s Key Lime Pie

Crust:

1/2  cup melted butter

1 1/2  packages of graham crackers 

 - pulsed with a blender or smash into crumbs

1/4  cup granulated sugar

1/2  teaspoon cinnamon

Mix well and press firmly into a springform pan.

(*FOR  A  GLUTEN-FREE CRUST: *)

1/2  cup melted butter

2  packages of Pamela’s Gluten-FREE graham crackers 

- pulsed with a blender or smash into crumbs

1/4  cup  AND  2  Tablespoons granulated sugar

3/4  teaspoon cinnamon

Mix well and press firmly into a springform pan.

Filling:

1   14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks  (fridge temperature)

½ cup Key Lime juice 

(Nellie and Joe’s Key West Lime Juice is preferred with this recipe!)

Mix ingredients with a hand mixer until combined - and then mix on HIGH for 3 minutes. 

Pour evenly on top of the crust.

Bake at 350 until firm which means NO “jiggle in the middle” (about 15 minutes).

Prepare:

2 cups heavy whipping cream  

1 teaspoon vanilla  (Mexican vanilla is preferred)

Whip up and set aside.

Topping:

1  14oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp. micro grated lime peel (usually just one ripe lime…) 

½ cup Key Lime juice  

(Nellie and Joe’s Key West Lime Juice is preferred with this recipe!)

Beat until VERY thick and smooth, then CAREFULLY FOLD IN whipped cream.

DO NOT over fold or stir once whipping cream is added.  

It will be lumpy, don’t worry about them! (They will even themselves out… I promise!). Chill in fridge. 

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Chill topping mixture until baked pie is throughly cooled enough to add the topping.

Top the cooled pie with “topping” and chill again for 3-6 hours or overnight.

Remove from the fridge 1/2 hour before serving.

Cut into slices.

Grab one before serving and eat immediately, or save for   later... as there will not be any leftover!

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Toasted Pecan, Maple and Parsnip Cake

adapted from the cookbook: 
The Great British Baking Show
A  BAKE  FOR  ALL  SEASONS

Toasted Pecan, 

Maple and Parsnip Cake... 

(Secretly NOT a secret: It's Gluten-FREE) 

PREP and Set Aside:
1 and 1/2 cups peeled and grated parsnips

1 and 1/2 cups pecans, chopped and toasted

DRY  Ingredients Mix and Set Aside:

1 and 1/2 cups gluten-free flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 

1/8 teaspoon sea-salt

WET Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups dark brown sugar, lightly pressed 

1/2 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt

4 large eggs

1/3 cup (generous...) maple syrup

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla

Cream Cheese Filling:

5 Tablespoons salted (or sweet) butter

3 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla

powder sugar for dusting

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To toast pecans:

Pre-heat oven to 325.

Chop pecans to measure 1 and 1/2 cups chopped.

Spread out evenly on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Once oven is at temperature, bake (toast!) for 7-8 minutes ONLY; remove from oven and set aside.

RESET the oven to 350.

PEEL and grate enough parsnips to measure out 1 and 1/2 cups; set aside.

Combine all DRY ingredients in a mixing bowl; set aside.

Combine all WET ingredients in a mixing stand bowl or a large bowl to use with a electric hand mixer.

Once all WET ingredients are combined - mix on HIGH for 3 minutes.

Add all DRY ingredients and mix with a hand whisk or spoon until combined.  

FOLD IN grated parsnips and toasted pecans.

Let all combined ingredients rest for 10 minutes.

While ingredients are resting - grease and sugar your baking tins.

Bake for 35-45 minutes for 2 cake tins size: 

Bake for 30-35 minutes for 4 cake tins size:

Let cake cool completely in their baking tins.

When cooled completely, bump out onto cooling racks an additional hour.

Make cream cheese filling.

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Putting cakes together:

sandwich the cream cheese filling in the middle

Dust the top and the cake plate with powder sugar.

CHILL for2-4 hours or overnight.

(overnight is preferred!)

 

4 cake tins make 2 small cakes.

(use 1/2 of the cream cheese filling)

2 cake tins makes 1 large cake.

(use ALL of the cream cheese filling)

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GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR MIX

GLUTEN-FREE  FLOUR  MIX:

3 cups -  RICE FLOUR

1 and 1/2 cups -  TAPIOCA FLOUR

3/4 cup -  POTATO STARCH

1 heaping Tablespoon -  XANTHAN GUM

1/2 Tablespoon sea salt 

Mix throughly and store in an air tight container in your pantry. 

OR, if you don’t use gluten-free flour very frequently, put it in the fridge.

Note:

When using in a recipe as a wheat flour substitute:

 - OMIT up to 1 teaspoon salt.

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This is my mixing box -

The only ingredient I do not keep in this box at the ready is salt.

Several reasons I keep this box in my baking cupboard:

1 - I can keep an eye on my flour-making-ingredients
and levels so that I do not run out of something. 

2 - It makes making the flour often FAST!

To add to my the convenience of the mixing box, 
I have a 3/4 cup measuring cup as a permanent fixture.

When I'm making my mix it makes it extra EASY!

(4) 3/4 cup measurements of rice flour
(2) 3/4 cup measurements of tapioca flour
(1) 3/4 cup measurements of potato starch

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I purchase my flours and potato starch
typically at my local Kroger or HEB store. 
When they are not available I hop on
Amazon or an online store called VitaCost

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Roasted Garden Sweet Potato and Lentil Salad

NOTE:  Add extra olive oil to any leftovers.

Found this to use our 2023 summer sweet potatoes from the garden (still have some in the pantry) ;0) and loved it from the first try!

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THINGS  TO  NOTE:

- add olive oil to any leftovers

- add feta cheese only when you're ready to eat

- great as a meat-free meal!

- pan saute your choice of kale in a little olive oil, kosher salt and coarse pepper

- toasting cashews happens FAST! (and literally stink and burn if you don't watch them closely) toast them on parchment paper for a quick transfer of a hot baking pan

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