Happy Hallowe'en 2007

Deluxe Sugar Cookies

The last week of October is traditionally the week I try out different cookie recipes. This gives me time to decide what ones I want to make for Christmas. It's a nice change from the heavy canning season. My family looks forward to the taste testing and giving their in put as to their new choices that will join out family favourites for the year. I decided to try a fancy version of sugar cookies after dinner.

Deluxe Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are versatile as they can be cut into any shape, decorated for any occasion or left simple with just a sprinkle of granulated sugar or left completely plain. Children love these cookies to fine tune their cookie making skills. Plain sugar cookies are perfect with a steaming cup of green tea like I served to my husband tonight. He's feeling quite under the weather with a nasty cold. Hot tea and homemade cookies is just what he needed for a bedtime snack.

Deluxe Sugar Cookies
source: Betty Crocker Cookbook (date unknown), Pp. 149, modified by Garden Gnome

1 c butter, softened
1 ½ c icing sugar
1 egg
1 ½ tsp clear pure vanilla extract
2 ½ c unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
granulated organic sugar (optional)

Combine butter, icing sugar,egg and vanilla in KitchenAid stand mixer bowl. Mix until creamed on setting 3. Blend flour, baking soda and cream of tartar together in a separate bowl. Slowly add in the dried ingredients while mixing on setting 3 until well mixed. Remove dough from the mixing bowl. Shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 to 3 hours. Heat oven to 375ºF (convection 350ºF). Roll dough on lightly floured surface to 3/16 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Sprinkle with granulated sugar if desired. Place on baking sheet. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until a light brown on the edges.
Yield: About 4 doze 3 inch cookies.

My Notes: I modified this recipe to use the KitchenAid stand mixer. I also modified the ingredients. The dough is very soft so does need to be refrigerated before using. When rolling out the dough and cutting, try not to handle too much as handling will soften the dough. I found the dough a little tempermental when rolling but going slow helped. The next time, I will chill the rolling pin as well.

Home Canned Cranberry Sauce & Pantry Pasta

Saturday morning I decided to complete two small canning projects before the kids and grandbaby arrived. The first project involved using the pressure canner did not go according to plan so I was not impressed! After much frustration I moved onto the second project, cranberry sauce using a boiling water bath (BWB) canner. Dinner was a simple pasta casserole made with home canned foods.

Cranberry Sauce

I don't can a lot of cranberries since I usually make fresh cranberry sauce from scratch as needed. However, we have a half of pig on the way so I need to free up some freezer space. A few jars of cranberry sauce in the pantry The small bag gave a yield of three 250 ml jars just perfect to accompany one or two meals.

Cranberry Sauce

1 pk fresh whole cranberries
1 c sugar
1 c water

Mix ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until berries pop. Ladle cranberry mixture into 250 ml jars. Wipe rim and adjust caps. Process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner. Allow to cool. Check the seal. Label and store.

Pantry Pasta

If you've read this blog you will know I do a lot of home canning. I share pictures of the food I can as well as the recipes and methods. One common question is "What do you use for?" so I like sharing the different ways I use some of my home canned foods.

This casserole used home canned ground beef with onions and roasted vegetable sauce. If you do not home can, both of these can be frozen for use as quick starters for meals. The casserole turned out rich and creamy, perfect for a cool and grey day. I served it with tossed salad and hot dinner rolls.

Pantry Pasta
note: click on the links for recipes and method

1 - 500 ml jar home canned ground beef with onions
2 - 500 ml jars roasted vegetable sauce
½ c extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ c mozzarella cheese, shredded
⅓ c Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 - 375 g package broad egg noodles
2 c sauteed mushrooms

Bring water to a boil, salt and add noodles. Cook until noodles are el dente. Saute mushrooms. Drain noodles. Pour noodles into large mixing bowl. Stir in vegetable sauce, ground beer, cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. Spread evenly into a large casserole pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Spread a layer of sauteed mushroom over the top. Bake at 350ºF until warmed through.

Sweet Potatoes & French Bread Revisited

Alona, of the US Potato Board's new blog, The Potato Underground wrote me a lovely email after visiting my blog. She invited me to try out some of their recipes and share them with my readers. Well now, potatoes have to be one of our most favourite vegetables so how can I refuse an offer like that. I will be adding a link to their blog in my side bar. Please check back for some of their recipes and my report on them in future.

I love stopping at the farmer's market any time of the year but during the fall there is always an abundance. The one I frequent is a small, family owned market. They grow most of the produce themselves. They also have a nice freezer section and local crafts. Yesterday I stopped there and gosh did I ever get some good deals: 3 lb stuffer mushrooms, 1 lb portabellos, 2 huge sweet potatoes (2.75 lb & just shy of 4 lb), 2 large rutabagas, 20 lb large cooking onions, medium cabbage, 1.75 lb bananas and 9 kg (20 lb) bag of bird seed all for $23.37.

Sweet Potatoes

Many people use the terms yams and sweet potatoes interchangeably. In fact, the sweet potatoes were labelled as yams at the farmers market. However, yams and sweet potatoes are two different, unrelated vegetables. Yams are tubers of the tropical vine Dioscorea batatas. They have brown or black skin that resembles the bark of a tree with off-white, purple or red flesh. Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are yellow or orange tubers that have elongated ends tapering to a point. The yellow skinned sweet potato has a pale yellow flesh that is not as sweet with a dry, crumbly texture. The orange skinned variety is often called a yam. It has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin. The flesh is a vivid orange with a sweet flavour and moist texture. Sweet potatoes are rich in fiber and vitamins A, C and B₆.

The sweet potatoes were enormous! I couldn't resist so bought two. One was 2.75 lb and the other just shy of 4 lbs. I decided to can some of the sweet potatoes, have some for dinner, perhaps keep enough out for sweet potato pie and freeze the rest. The canning method follows the stock canning method.

Canned Sweet Potatoes & Chicken Stock

Homemade stocks are incredibly easy to make and inexpensive. Their taste is well worth the effort! There are no preservatives, MSG or extra salt, just a nice, rich meat flavour. Stocks are made using the bones and broths are made using the meat. They can be defatted or left as is. Either can be canned for a convenient, ready to use pantry item or frozen so be sure to make lots and keep on hand. Think beyond chicken stock as well. Other stocks to have on hand include fish, beef, turkey, pork ,mushroom, vegetable and game (venison, etc). Save the bones until you have enough to make a big batch of stock. This batch of chicken stock was from the left-overs and bones of the chicken I canned the day before. I ended up with 5 - 1 L (quarts)* jars of partially defatted stock.

Note: I put the Canadian measurement first followed in brackets the American measurement for canning instructions.

Canning Stocks
Make your favourite stock or use my basic chicken stock recipe. Ladle the hot stock into hot 500 ml (pint) or 1 L (quart) jars leaving ½ - inch headspace. Wipe the rims and adjust two piece lids. Process 500 ml (pint) 20 minutes, 1 L (quart) 25 minutes at 10 lb pressure.

Canning Sweet Potato

Wash sweet potatoes. Cut into 1 - inch strips and peel. Cut across the strips to form 1 - inch chunks. Place the sweet potatoes into a large stock pot. Bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Pack the hot sweet potatoes into wide mouth 500 ml (pint) jars leaving 1 - inch headspace. Cover with boiling water leaving 1 - inch headspace. Add 1/4 tsp salt if desired. Wipe rims. Adjust two piece lids. Process 65 minutes at 10 lb pressure.


French Bread

I've been fine tuning the French Bread recipe using the KitchenAid® stand mixer. I find a longer knead time produces better results as you can see from this batch of bread. This is a recipe I've used several times in the breadmaker then modified to use the stand mixer. I have to tell you the results with the stand mixer are far superior to dough made in the breadmaker.

Dinner

I bought two of the family sized packages of chicken thighs on sale at Meijer's. Last night we grilled the other package of ten thighs. The intention was using some for dinner and the rest deboned then sliced for freezing. The thighs were grilled then glazed with Dianna Sauce during the last 15 minutes. They were served with steamed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes and French bread. It wasn't an exactly low carb meal but it was low fat. Both potatoes were lightly seasoned with a little butter and sea salt allowing their natural flavours to shine. It sure was quite a tasty meal!