Pumpernickel Bread

Who has not enjoyed pumpernickel bread? It appears at almost every gathering with spinach dip in the hollowed out loaf as a now classic appetizer. Pumpernickel bread is rich and filling with a lovely comforting, earthy flavour . Traditionally pumpernickel is a German rye bread that gets its colouring and flavour from a 16 to 24 hour bake time in long, narrow covered pans at 120ºC (250ºF) in a steamed-filled oven. American style pumpernickel, the one most of us are familiar with gets its colouring and flavour from the addition of coffee, cocoa powder and molasses and whole wheat flour is added for the gluten along with yeast. Caraway seeds may or may not be added for additional flavour. The traditional shape for American pumpernickel is a round loaf that gives elongated oval slices. The best part about American pumpernickel is you don't have to wait 24 hours to enjoy it!

Pumpernickel Bread

The aroma of pumpernickel bread baking will have your mouth watering in anticipation. While it pairs nicely with spinach dip, my favourite way to eat pumpernickel bread is spread with cream cheese. The two play against each other creating a yummy comfort snack.

Pumpernickel Bread

1⅔ c milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp molasses
2 tsp sea salt
2⅓ c unbleached flour
1 c whole wheat flour
¾ c dark rye flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp instant coffee
2 tsp instant yeast

Place the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl of the KitchenAid^® stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix ingredients on speed 2. Combine the wet ingredients in a large measuring cup. Continuing on speed 2, mix in the wet ingredients until the dough leaves the side of the bowl. Adjust with a little extra unbleached flour if the dough is too wet. Knead on setting 2 until dough is smooth and elastic. Unplug mixer. Remove dough hook. Shape dough into a round. Cover and set in a warm spot to rise until double. Punch down the dough. Shape into a round loaf. Place on silpat lined baking sheet. Let rise until double. Bake at 190ºC (375ºF) until golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Caramel Corn

Goodness, I had a few things I wanted to talk about today as I've been rather busy in the kitchen then I remembered that I promised to write about the absolute best ever caramel corn you have ever tasted. If you like Cracker Jacks you will absolutely love this tasty little snack. It is so very easy to make and considerably cheaper than store bought. Be sure to make extra as it will not last long! It does store well so you can easily make up you own homemade bags of treats.

Caramel Corn

Pictured is the caramel corn I made today, ready for snacking and packing into gallon bags. I make up a large batch using the Whirly popper. I've changed the original recipe so much that it is more my recipe than anything else. This comes out almost identical to store bought Cracker Jacks without the prize. I used to package this in small zipper style bags along with a small prize when my kids were younger. For best flavour use butter not margarine but you can reduce the salt by using unsalted peanuts. And be sure to use only pure vanilla. Sorry but artificial vanilla extract just won't work.

Caramel Corn

4 qt popped corn
1 c unsalted peanuts

2¼c brown sugar
½ c light corn syrup
½ c water
½ c butter
2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp pure vanilla

Pop the corn (directions here). Stir in the peanuts. Put into oven at 300ºF to keep crisp. In a large saucepan, combine all remaining ingredients except vanilla. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the syrup reaches soft-crack (290ºF) stage. Remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla. Remove the popcorn mixture from the oven. Working quickly stir in the syrup and mix will until kernels and peanuts are well coated. Continue stirring to break up. When cooled, package into vacuum bags the seal but do not vacuum or into vacuum cannisters.

Spinach & Mushroom Pockets

Last night I made spinach & mushroom pockets for dinner. Store bought food pockets are readily available in grocery stores with the most common filling being pizza ingredient based. They come frozen, sealed in cello wrap then packaged into a box using 6 or 12 to box. They are marketed as pizza pockets or pizza pouches. The price starts somewhere around $4.99 on sale and higher when not on sale. Essentially there is a limited variety of fillings, preservatives, salt, sugar and over packaging. So why limit yourself when food pockets can easily be made at home with quality ingredients for a fraction of the cost? The filling possibilities are endless, limited only by your imagination. Even the dough used can be changed for a different taste. An inexpensive dough press kit streamlines making food pockets easy. Make extra and flash freeze after cooking for home made convenience quick meals.

Preparation

Food pockets have a bit more in the way of preparation. First decide on what kind of filling you want. In this case I decided I wanted to use ground beef and spinach so the rest of the ingredients just fell into place. Any ingredients that need cooking before filling the pocket should be cooked then cooled. This adds to the prep time however, you could use home canned or frozen fillings that will save time when making food pockets. Quick starts like home frozen browned ground beef with onions also speed up the prep time. Once the filling is prepared it is time to make the dough. I used my standard pastry dough for the spinach & mushroom pockets. A quick prep tip when using pastry doughs is to take an afternoon and make a few batches. Cut into the appropriate size round. Stack the rounds with a piece of wax paper or parchment in between each one then freeze. Thaw as needed.

Pictured are the food pockets as they are being made. The dough is placed into the form with the filling in the centre. Then the form is closed to form the pocket. The pocket is removed from the form and placed on a baking sheet. I used a silpat on the baking sheet.

Spinach & Mushroom Pockets
recipe by: Garden Gnome

1 lb lean ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 rib celery, chopped fine
½ c green pepper, finely chopped
7 oz (198 g) fresh spinach
500 ml roasted tomato sauce
1½ c shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp Herbs de Provence
olive oil
2 x pastry for 10-inch two crust pie

Brown the ground beef in little olive oil. Drain and set aside. Slice the mushrooms then sauté in a little butter or olive oil, set aside. Wash spinach and steam. Remove from steamer basket. Chop. Gather into a ball and lightly press with hands to remove excess liquid. When beef, mushrooms and spinach are cooled, mix together by hand in mixing bowl. Prepare vegetables. Stir into the beef mixture. Stir in herbs. Stir in half of the roasted tomato sauce. Shred cheese and set aside. Prepare a double recipe for the pie crust (link in recipe). Divide the dough into four equal sized pieces. Roll out the dough to about an eighth inch thick. Cut the dough with the bottom of the dough press to form large rounds. Place a round in the top of the dough press. Place 2-3 tbsp of the filling in the centre of the dough. Top with cheese. Wet the edges of the dought. Close the press to form a sealed pocket. Remove pocket and place on silpat on baking sheet. Bake at 350ºC until golden brown.

Yield: 18

Spinach & Mushroom Pockets

The spinach & mushroom pockets were well worth the extra prep work. They had a lovely flavour and were quite filling. I served them with roasted tomato sauce in a dipping bowl. The recipe made 18 pockets so after dinner, I packaged a couple for my husband's lunch and froze the rest.

In terms of cost, the homemade pockets were less expensive. Store bought on sale at $4.99 works out to 41.5¢ each while the homemade worked out to 33.5¢ each. The most expensive ingredient was the ground beef but really the ground beef could easily have been reduced or even substituted with black turtle beans. While I was making the pockets, several ideas for fillings came to mind. I will post these as I make them.

Canning Dry Beans & Road Trip

No I have not dropped off the edge of the world but thanks for the concern. My husband and kids arranged for me to be able to make a solo trip to visit our newest grandbaby for a couple of days then visit with our oldest (16 months) grandbaby for a couple of days. It was last minute planning so I didn't have a chance to post a message. Sorry about that.

Canned Dry Beans

I've been in serious stock-up mode. Some of the foods I'm stocking up on like dried beans are being vacuum sealed for storage while the rest is being canned. The reason for home canning your own beans aside of economics is you end up with a superior product to store bought. At the same time you can season the beans exactly as you desire so you have a personalized end product. Finally, you create a low salt, preservative free convenience product. Realize that busy people want convenience food ingredients or simply a pour & heat meal sometimes but that is no reason why you can't make your own.

I decided to do up about half the beans I bought from my last purchases for canning simply to take the new canner for a run. I canned all the beans in 500 ml jars. The yield was 5 jars pinto beans, 4 jars black eyed peas, 5 jars oriental mix beans*, 4 jars white kidney beans, 6 jars black turtle beans and 1 jar mixed beans. The dried beans all came from the Bulk Barn, a Canadian bulk food store. This is one of my favourite stores for buying dried foods as I buy in the amounts I want not the amounts deemed by the food industry. This ends up not only saving money but because there is considerably less packaging is environmentally friendly. I managed to find a couple of interesting new items. One of the new items was an Oriental bean mix consisting of a beans and lentils mix. This store also sells organic and health food products at comparable prices. As with all grocery stores though, you really do need to know your prices.

Lunch

We stopped in Port Credit, Ontario to enjoy the beautiful sunny day as we walked along the pier. There were a fair number of Mute and Whistler swans as well Canadian geese. Even though the swans visit us almost daily at home, I never tire of watching them! After our walk, we stopped at Lake Affect Patio Bar & Grill for lunch on the outdoor patio. The nachos came topped with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers, red onions and black olives served with salsa sauce and sour cream. We also ordered two pounds of chicken wings with four separate sauces: hot, homicide (serrano), honey garlic and barbeque. The wings were large and meaty, nicely fried for a crispy skin yet tender meat. The adults enjoyed a draft beer with mine being Sleeman Cream Ale, a Canadian premium microbrewery beer made in Guelph, Ontario while grandbaby sipped contentedly on cranberry juice. Grandbaby loved the variety of vegetables as well as the nacho chip and enjoyed the chicken include a lick of hot sauce! This child is destined to be a true food lover. At 16 months of age any food is fair game!

Golda's Kitchen

Anyone who has read this blog knows I do a lot of canning. I have to order some products online because they are not carried locally. So it is with ClearJel starch, a modified corn starch that is the only thickening agent currently approved by the USDA. I use ClearJel for home canned pie fillings, gravies, stews, soups and sauces because it retains a smooth consistency during heat processing. Up until the past year or so, I was buying ClearJel from Bernardin but they are now selling it through Golda's Kitchen in Missausaga, Ontario. I've ordered from them several time so it was nice to actual visit one of their stores.

I love shopping kitchen stores and seriously could have dropped a lot of money in there yesterday. I restrained myself since I was travelling home by rail but I found several items I simply must have! So I've been browsing their website today and will be placing an order shortly. Their shipping and service are very good! I am also planning on going down to take a couple of their cake decorating workshops as well as a cooking class or two under Chef Gérard Jeantet if possible. A couple of my kids did workshops through the Culinary Art School of Ontario and really enjoyed them so I'm planning to do the same now the weather is nicer for travelling. Workshops are from 1-4 pm on Saturdays so I'll get to spend a bit of time with the grandbabies as well.

Purchases

Purchases at Golda's Kitchen included ClearJel, citric acid, a deviled egg platter (perfect for the upcoming meet the baby party), a magnetic lid lifter (not shown) and a dough press set. The ClearJel, citric acid and lid lifer are for canning.

The press set is by Progressive International. Basically these are dough forms. You open the press then cut the dough with the bottom edge of the dough press to cut circles. The dough circles are then placed in the press, fill and sealed ready for cooking. This will be a quick way to make pocket sandwiches and fruit filled turnovers. Please check back for ways I use the dough press set.