Apartment Files: Decorating the Kitchen

I just ordered these two prints from the Sevenstars Treasurebox store on Etsy. 

Seriously, excellent illustration style and a recipe?  Perfect.

So excited for them to arrive.  Now if I could just find a spicerack that I like.  (Not normally a  spice rack person, but I need to free up cabinet space since my kitchen is tiny).

Weekend Edition: Adventures in Sourdough

I showed you my sourdough starter on Thursday, and this weekend I made my first loaf of bread from it.

I read a lot of recipes, and had planned to use one from Chocolate & Zucchini, but since most of her measurements are in grams, and I don't have a kitchen scale, I had to look elsewhere.  I ended up going with this recipe from S. John Ross.  It turned out pretty well, but there are definitely a couple of things I'd adjust for the next loaf.  I think my sponge should have been a little wetter, because I was only able to incorporate two cups of flour instead of the recipe's three.  I felt like even with dramatically less flour my dough was on the verge of being too dry when I was kneading it.  Also, next time I'd cut out the sugar that is added to the sponge prior to mixing up the dough.  I know sugar is often added to feed the yeasts and make the bread rise, but this loaf had a touch of sweetness to it that I don't favor.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a sweet bread, but was more like a commercial sandwich loaf.  

All in all, the loaf turned out better than I expected.  It rose well, it browned nicely and formed a nice crust, it cut nicely, and it tasted good.  I mixed whole wheat and white flour.  It wasn't particularly sour-- there were parts of the bread that tasted more like sourdough than others.  The crumb was dense enough that it would be good for sandwiches, but it wasn't dense and heavy, or hard to chew.  And most importantly, it sent me an omen that I should continue to make sourdough.  Do you see the perfect "S" that formed as the bread rose?

I also made pancakes with some of the sourdough starter.  I used another recipe from Uncle Jim's Book of Pancakes, a vintage cookbook that I featured in this Vintage Kitchen post (before I'd named the Vintage Kitchen posts, I guess).  They look slightly red because I threw some frozen raspberries into the batter.  Extremely good pancakes.

If you click those photos they'll open slightly larger, but in case you still can't read it, here's the transcription.

Sourdough Pancakes from Uncle Jim's Book of Pancakes by James E. Banks; Filter Press, Palmer Lake, CO, 1967.

In the early days of the American West, a solitary prospector or herder couldn't go to the market when he needed yeast for his baking.  So he carried along a sponge of sourdough starter.  It really was sour dough.  Even today, sourdough cookery is one of the supreme treats for an amateur chef.

The first thing you need is a starter.  Here's a method that has always worked for me.  Because this is still an art, not a science, it may not work for you.  If it doesn't, wait a few days and try again.  Your first batch of sourdough pancakes will repay your effort many-fold.

Place 1 cup of milk in a glass jar or crock (nothing metal!) and let it stand at room temperature for a day.  I use a 6 oz. instant coffee jar, but any wide-mouthed jar will do.  The second day stir in 1 cup flour.  Leave the mixture uncovered in a warm place (80˚ F is ideal and can be achieved near the pilot light on a gas stove.  Not too near, though or the heat will kill the yeast.)  for 2 to 5 days, depending on how long it takes to sour and get bubbly.  To speed the process in warm weather you can cover the jar with a layer of cheesecloth and let it stand outdoors for a few hours to expose the dough to wild yeasts in the air.  If the mixture starts to dry out, stir in enough lukewarm water to bring it back to its original consistency.  When it has a good sour aroma and is full of bubbles, it's read to use.

Every time you use your starter, replenish it with equal amounts of flour and milk.  Let it stand at room temperature for a few hours, or until it gets full of bubbles again, then cover loosely wan store in the refrigerator.  From time to time you may have to scrape some mold from the top of the jar where the starter dries out a bit.

This is certainly not the only way to get a starter going.  When Cal Queal, outdoor editor of the Denver POST, appealed for a recipe, he got 23 answers.  A starter is best if used once a week.  If you don't use it for two or three weeks, discard about half and replenish it as described above.  If you don't expect to use it for several weeks, you can freeze it.  Be sure to leave it at room temperature for at least 36 hours when you want to use it again.

After you've worked with your starter for awhile, you'll get to know it as an old pal that gets better with age.  I'd read this and was skeptical until I noticed that my results took a real turn for the better about six months after I made the starter.

Here's the basic recipe:

1/2 cup sourdough starter

1 cup undiluted evaporated milk

1 cup warm water*

1 3/4 - 2 cups unsifted flour

2 eggs

2 TBS granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda**

In a large bowl gently mix 1/2 cup starter, 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk, and 1 cup lukewarm water (*or 2 cups whole milk), and 1 3/4 - 2 cups flour.  The amount of flour is determined by the consistency you like.  Leave overnight at room temperature.  Be sure not to leave a metal spoon in the bowl.

Next morning add 2 eggs, 2 TBS granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp baking soda**.  Mix well, but don't beat.

** If your starter is quite sour, you may need to add more baking soda.  You'll learn by trial and error.  Never go more than 50% above the suggested amount.

For variations on the basic recipe, you can replace as much as half the flour with buckwheat flour, rolled oats, cornmeal or wheat germ.  They are all good.

If you want to make sourdough waffles, add 2 TBS melted shortening to the batter just before baking.

In the old time lumber camps, the loggers had an easy substitute for syrup.  The simply dissolved brown sugar in hot coffee and poured it over the pancakes.

Vintage Kitchen: Brer Rabbit's New Orleans Molasses Recipes

I've been craving gingerbread now that Fall has arrived and I knew it was the perfect recipe to find in a vintage cookbook.  Looking through the stack of old cookbooks I hit the jackpot in terms of gingerbread, this 1948 Brer Rabbit's Molasses Company cookbook.  A lot of the old cookbooks that I've bought at estate sales are of this variety-- an extended advertisement for a product.  Many others are old church cookbooks put together by the members for fundraising purposes.  Both types are very interesting in terms of advertising of the day.

I love to read rules like this.  Note that number ten states, "Never cut hot gingerbread with a knife.. always pull apart gently with 2 forks."  Of course I immediately want to cut it with a knife after reading that.  Why is it such an absolute?

From this I learned that if I add an egg to my oatmeal along with apricots and molasses, I might achieve the most iron-rich meal possible.  Good to remember if ever I become anemic.  Did I ever write about adding an egg to oatmeal?  You just crack it in there right when the oatmeal comes off the stove, and stir it well.  The hot oatmeal cooks the egg, and your oatmeal becomes sort of custardy-- richer tasting and really creamy.  It's delicious, and was not my idea, but I stopped reading the blog from which I got the idea... and can't remember what it was called.  (Oh yeah, here it is thanks to a quick google search Bread & Honey).

There are a lot of gingerbread recipes in this cookbook, ranging from traditional to tropical, but I just went with the first one, "My Best Gingerbread."  It's definitely good, and tastes distinctly of molasses.  I have an organic molasses purchased from the food co-op, not the Brer Rabbit brand, and mine is very dark.  If using a lighter molasses, the flavor would be milder.  My gingerbread also turned out a bit denser than I expected.  Don't know if my baking powder is getting old, or its an altitude issue?  It's not too dense to eat or anything, just reporting the results.

The cookbook also has lots of recipes that I wouldn't think of making with molasses, like the smothered pork chops above, or the veal goulash.  Both sound good.  I've never actually cooked veal though, and I'm not actually sure I've eaten it for that matter.  Reason right there to try it.

My Best Gingerbread-Best gingerbread you ever tasted!

1/2 cup shortening

12 cup sugar

1 egg

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup Brer Rabbit Molasses

1 cup hot water

Cream together shortening and sugar.  Add egg; beat well.  Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.  Combine molasses and water; add alternatively with flour mixture.  Line 8"x8"x2" greased pan with greased waxed paper; pour in batter.  Bake in moderate oven, 350° F., 50-60 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes.  Remove from pan.

Brer Rabbit New Orleans Molasses Recipes, © 1948, Penick & Ford, Ltd., Incorporated; New Orleans.

Vintage Kitchen: Moosewood Cookbook's Mexican Corn Bread

 

Yeah, a cookbook from the 70s isn't quite what I had in mind when I decided to start the Vintage Kitchen series, but those older books just haven't been catching my eye lately.  And since I was born prior to 1977, I'm not so thrilled to be calling this cookbook vintage, believe me.  However, if I were selling a blouse from the 70s on eBay I'd call it vintage, so the same applies here, right?  So, here is a nice hippie restaurant recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook, circa 1977, that I made as part of last night's dinner.  I added chopped Oaxacan pasilla chiles to the milk and egg mixture and let it sit for about a half an hour to really absorb the flavor.  Very tasty, so I'd recommend the addition of any pepper you have on hand.  

The Moosewood Cookbook, by Mollie Katzen.  ©1977. Ten Speed Press.

The Moosewood Cookbook's Mexican Corn & Cheese Bread

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 Tbs. honey

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup finely minced onion

1 cup fresh or frozen corn (whole kernels)

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

finely chopped chile to taste (I used a very strong smoked Oaxacan pasilla, and only needed about a tablespoon worth.  Chipotle pepper would be good, s would roasted green chile or jalepeno).

Heat olive oil in a small skillet.  Add minced onion, and sauté over medium heat 5-8 minutes, or until onion is soft and translucent.  Set aside to cool.  Beat together egg, honey and milk.  Combine thoroughly together flour, corn meal, baking powder, and salt.  Combine milk mixture and cornmeal mixture.  Mix until well blended.  Add corn kernels, sautéed onions (be sure to scrape in all the excess olive oil from the pan), grated cheese and chile if using.  Mix well.  Spread into well-buttered 8-inch square pan.  Bake at 375° F for 25-30 minutes, or until brown and firm on top.

I served it with this mushroom-y barley soup.  No recipe for that because I made it up as I went along and didn't take notes.  Probably pretty standard.  I spiced it with a tiny bit of cumin, coriander seeds, sage, and yellow mustard seeds, and I added about a quarter cup of soy sauce to deepen the flavor and make it saltier.

Kitchen Collecting: Blue Enamel Pot

I picked up this Danish enameled cast iron pot at an estate sale yesterday.  Well, actually my mom bought it for me.  Thanks Mom!  Its small, and much more of a peacock blue than it looks in these photos.  Its a gorgeous little pot, although the small size leaves me wondering what to make in it.  Maybe something ultra rich that you only want to eat a little of, like a chocolate souffle?  I've been trying to add in some blue pieces in my kitchen to offset the white and red a little, so this is perfect.

Vintage Kitchen: learn to bake... You'll Love it!

Courtesy of General Foods Corp., circa 1947, I bring you another vintage classic cookbook.  It's battered cover, loose pages and stained cover are a testament to it's frequent use.  Although, I must admit, I've never made anything beyond it's brownies, I looked at it more closely prior to this post and am definitely going to test out more recipes.  

I recently read The Marion House Book's archives, and really liked her post comparing her go-to brownie recipe to another.  Her go-to brownies look delicious and pretty decadent.  Someday I'll try them, but for a quick everyday brownie, this is my winner.  (It is seriously quick.  So quick that I've never understood why people would bother with a brownie mix when from scratch is just as fast).  

Here we go, super fast.  Mix the dry ingredients.

Melt the butter, add in the sugar, the beaten egg, and the vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet.

Mix in nuts or extra chocolate.

I like to use a loaf pan instead of square because it makes them a little thicker.  This is a pretty small recipe, which is good in the sense that there are less temptation.  At this point I sometimes put cream cheese or peanut butter across the top and then run a knife through to marble it in.

Out of the oven.

These were probably on the plate for about a minute and a half.  Delicious.

Vintage Kitchen: Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls

I'm a collector of old cookbooks.  I pick them up at estate sales and thrift stores, and a few have been passed down through my family.  There is no rhyme or reason to the collection, I'm attracted either to the graphics, the recipes, or the kitsch factor.  Sometimes its an inscription that wins me over.  I also love old church cookbooks.  Short little recipes contributed by the ladies' membership with funny old fashioned business ads interspersed.  Long ago (in blog terms, like 1999 in real life) I had an online journal where I featured some of the recipes from these old cookbooks.  It solicited lots of comments at the time, and I've been meaning to start doing it on this blog.  Here is the first entry.

Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls, 1957 (reissued in 2003)

This cookbook belongs in the category of family hand-me-down.  Well, not quite, since it's yet to be handed down.  My mom has had it since childhood and still uses it occasionally.  I have to borrow it from her shelves when I want to use it.  I learned to make chocolate pudding cake from this cookbook, as well as butterscotch brownies.  When I was little I loved the cheesy comments at the bottom of the pages from children of the day, as well as the sage advice of Betty Crocker.  I also loved the photographs of the food, particularly the cakes.  Our book has now seen better days with a broken binding and missing pages.  I think it would definitely be worth my while to buy a new copy.

Last week I had a craving for butterscotch brownies (or blondies as they are sometimes called).  I added chocolate chunks to the recipe and used pecans for the nuts.   I think I'd skip the chocolate next time.  I like the classic version better.

Some other gems...