Pastina (or Glorified Leftovers)

My family likes pasta.  My day care kids especially like tiny pasta shaped like stars.  They will eat anything if it has pastina in it, which is great for me as we eat lots of vegetable based dishes. 
I had a quart of leftover Tomato Basil soup in the fridge which became Minestrone with the addition of a can of white beans, some sliced zucchini, part of a bag of mixed vegetables from the freezer, and some frozen spinach.  This in turn became Pastina, when I reheated the soup, and added a box of tiny Pastina stars to the pot.  This became Pastina Bake when I put the leftovers from that meal into a greased casserole, and topped it with parmesan and baked it in the oven.  Pictured also are the garlic twists I made on baking day.
So, from my lowly jar of leftover soup came four meals, plus the leftovers from the Pastina Bake went into Don's lunch box this week.  Something from nothing, it's a good thing!   

 

Baking Day

When I was not troubled with health issues, Tuesday was my usual baking day.  I would make sourdough angel biscuits to put into the refrigerator for the week, and bake bread, and maybe even some other sweet baked goods.  I like to bake bread and biscuits and things like that, but don't particularly like to bake cookies and pies and cakes.  It is fussy cooking, and I don't like to use the old measure and level off.  It's just too much pressure! 
Well, I am trying to get back in the groove.  There have been so many health setbacks, one right after the other, that I am having trouble getting traction again.  I have had to swallow my pride, and just work on adding one thing at a time to what I can accomplish in a day.  Thank God for my son Joel, I couldn't still work and be active in all the things we do if he wasn't there helping me. 
Anyway, I have added baking day back to my schedule this week.  It almost did me in to knead all that bread dough, but I did it!  My arms feel like noodles! 
I just perfected this wheat bread recipe, and it is so simple it will be my new standard.  The bread has wheat germ and two kinds of whole wheat in it, but the texture is very light, and soft.  The recipe makes three loaves, but I held out one third of the dough and rolled it out to make garlic twists to go with our lunch today. 
The bread is a buttermilk bread.  I pulled three cartons of buttermilk out of my fridge, and they were all expired.  The oldest one was dated in May!  I think cleaning the fridge day will be my next goal, because obviously I don't do a very good job of it.  I did have some dried buttermilk in my pantry, but it was no good also!
Did you know you can substitute regular milk and lemon juice for buttermilk?  You just add 1 T lemon juice for each C of milk to sour it.  You can also use vinegar, but I like the lemon juice better.

New Favorite Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread

6 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 C warm water
dissolve yeast in water, and wait for it to bubble up, or proof. 

a stick and a half of butter melted
3 C warm buttermilk (or if you don't have any 3 C regular milk and 3 T lemon juice for substitution)
1/4 C agave nectar (can use honey)
3 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 C toasted wheat germ
6 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 C prarie gold wheat flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine the proofed yeast, buttermilk, cream of tartar, salt, butter, agave nectar, wheat germ, and four cups of whole wheat flour.  With a bread dough hook, knead the dough until the gluten forms long strings of batter.  Gradually add in more flour and knead with the dough hook until all the whole wheat flour is incorporated.  Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead in the remaining 3-4 cups of prairie gold flour.  The dough should be very smooth and elastic, but still soft. 
Place in a well greased bowl, and cover with a damp towel and let rise for one hour in a warm place until the dough is double in size. 
Divide dough into thirds, and divide each third into three ropes of the same length.  Pinch the ropes together at the top, and braid the dough:  pinching the ends under and place in a greased bread pan to rise for 40-45 minutes. 
Bake in a 350 *F oven for 40-45 minutes or until browned and hollow to the touch.  Cool on wire racks, and while the loaves are still hot, butter the tops of the loaves.  Makes three loaves


Herb Garlic Twists

Take 1/3 of the dough above, and roll it out into a 12 inch by 10 inch rectangle.  Brush with 1/2 stick melted butter to which you have added 1 heaping T minced garlic, 2 tsp minced basil, and 1 tsp Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning, and a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese.  Fold the dough over in thirds, and seal the edge.  Cut crosswise into 24 strips.  Twist each strip twice and pinch ends to seal.  Place on a baking sheet and cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes.  Bake in a 375*F preheated oven until twists are golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

Tuna Puff and Roasted Pork Loin with Onions and Apples in Apple Cider Braise

I am in the thick of canning.  It seems that it all comes at once.  To slow me down further, we spent all weekend on the mountain getting firewood, and hunting.  Not that I'm complaining mind you, I had a wonderful weekend, but it put me in a canning crunch. 

When it gets crazy like this, I am not terribly motivated to cook meals.  I mean, I am already in the kitchen from daylight to dark as it is, I don't really want to be pushing things aside to prep and cook a meal.  The counter today was full as it was with jars of pickled vegetables, and spicy peach pickles.  

These two recipes are minimal prep, minimal dirty dishes meals.  The Tuna Puff are my husbands particular favorite.  He remembers his Aunt Loretta serving them when he was little, and it is a perfect time of year to have them, as the fresh tomatoes are in season.

I had a pork loin thawed out for this week's menu.  I like to braise them, since they are very low in fat. They come out moist and delicious cooked that way.  It takes only a few minutes to get it ready for the oven, and then it takes care of itself for the hour and a half it cooks in the oven. 

Tuna Puff

2 cans tuna drained

1/2 C mayo

1 C shredded cheese

2 T pickle relish (I used a dill one, but you could use sweet)

Sliced fresh tomatoes

6 pieces of bread

On a baking sheet, place bread and add a couple slices of tomatoe to each slice of bread.  In a bowl, mix tuna with mayo, cheese and pickle relish.  Divide up tuna mixture on top of the sliced tomatoes.  Broil in the oven until the puff is golden brown on top and puffy.  We had these yummy sandwiches with canned green beans, and bartlett pear slices. 

Pork Loin with Onions and Apples in Cider Braise

Pork Loin Roast

1 large onion cut in wedges

2 tart baking apples cored and cut in wedges

4 large carrots peeled and cut in chunks

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp herbs de province

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 C soy sauce combined with enough cider to come half way up the roast's side.

In a large roasting pan, place vegetables and pork roast.  Top the roast with minced garlic and herbs de province, salt and pepper.  Pour in the liquid, and carefully baste roast in liquid, so as to not wash off all the garlic and herbs.  Cover and bake at 350*F for an hour and a half, basting a couple of times.  

Salsa Ole'

Drizzly cool morning, and I am in the thick of canning.  I was lucky enough to have access to tree ripe peaches from Utah.  Thanks to my friend, I got two boxes, and will be making quarts of beautiful peach halves, and some pickled peaches today.  Also on the agenda is the bread and butter pickles that I have already started earlier.  The cucumbers and the onion did some time in a gallon jar with canning salt and ice to draw out the excess moisture.  They will be extra crispy and hopefully not shrivel in the canning process.  Bread and butter pickling liquid has a high vinegar ratio, so sometimes it draws out too much moisture from the pickles and they are more like pickle prunes!
My friend Jennifer asked for my favorite salsa recipes, and I have three of them so far.  I use recipes I've found in my canning books, and usually add cumin to the recipe.  I made some this year using dried reconstituted chiles, and chipotle peppers.  It is very beautiful in the jar, and we can't wait to try it!  You can vary the recipes slightly as long as the recipe has an acid added like vinegar and lime juice.  The acid veg/non acid veg ratio needs to stay the same.  Basically, you are making veg pickles.   

Fiesta Salsa
7 C peeled fresh tomatoes (about 4 1/2 pounds) chopped
2 C peeled chopped cucumbers
2 C chopped banana peppers (you can take seeds out for mild)
1/2 C Anahiem or pasilla peppers that you've blistered on the burner and peeled and chopped
1/2 C chopped jalapenos
1/3 C minced fresh cilantro
3 T minced garlic
2 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp canning salt
1/2 C cider vinegar
2 T lime juice
Combine in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Ladle hot salsa in to sterilized hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe tops with a clean dishcloth, and process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Zesty Salsa
10 C peeled chopped fresh tomatoes (6 lbs.)
5 C Anahiem or Slim Jim peppers chopped and seeded
5 C chopped onions
2 1/2 C jalapeno or serrano peppers chopped and seeded (1 lb)
1 1/4 C cider vinegar
3 T minced garlic
1/3 C chopped fresh cilantro
3 tsp canning salt
1 tsp dried cumin
1 tsp Frank's hotsauce
Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.
Simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into sterilized hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe tops with a clean rag, and adjust 2 piece caps. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes (18 here).

Tomatillo Salsa
2 lb chopped tomatillos
1 C chopped onion
1 C Anahiem or other long green chiles chopped
1 T miced garlic
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 T ground cumin
1/2 T canning salt
1/2 T red pepper flakes
1 C cider vinegar
1/4 C lime juice
Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into hot jars with 1/4 in headspace. Wipe rims with a clean cloth, and adjust 2 piece lids that you've warmed in hot water. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes (18 for my altitude).

My addiction: Canning- Is There a Twelve Step Program?

I remember when Ryan was about four, he came to me in the kitchen and said, "Mommy, stop canning, I miss you!"  My poor children become canning orphans, and my husband a canning widower when this time of year comes around.  I am addicted to canning.  On years that I have a big garden, I just can like a madwoman to keep it all from going to waste.  I have been known to can late into the night only to get up early and hit it again.  I just love canning.  There is something really satisfying about spotlessly clean jars being filled with my own food to feed my family.  I love the smell of simmering salsa, and processing peaches, and the tang of vinegar from making pickles.  I love the beautiful noise of jars sealing on the counter. When I go down to my pantry on a winter day, and can pick out a lovely red quart of my tomatoes and some beautiful peach halves to use for making meals, I feel like I have accomplished some level of self sufficiency.   It is like I bottled up my Summer for safe keeping.
I love to can green beans which requires pressure canning, so I also got into doing that.  I used to make batches of beef stew and ham and beans and pressure can them for lunches.  It is awesome to have already cooked dried type beans on hand, as they can be pretty pricey in the store, and always have that salty slimy liquid on them.  I've made catsup, relish, spiced cabbage, sauerkraut, you name it, if it can be canned, I've done it! 
When I can, I use jars that have been passed down to me by my family.  Some of the jars are feeding a fourth generation, and I know which ones were Grandmas, and Aunt Vestas, or my Moms by the jar design.  I use my Grandmother's pickled beet recipe, and it always makes me remember being in her kitchen helping peel beets with the heady smell of the pickling liquid. 
Canning isn't as hard as it may seem.  It is becoming a lost art, as people get farther and farther removed from the source of their food.  To start out, you don't need fancy equipment to can, just a large pot, some overturned teacups, and a flat rack or plate, and enough room to cover the jars with water by at least half an inch.  My traditional canning kettle has a wire rack that holds the jars off the bottom of the pan, but the set up I described above would work great for jellies or pint jars.  You do need a jar filler, and a jar lifter,  low cost items that are necessary to handle and fill hot jars. Then of course there is the jars and rings, which can be second hand, and new lids.  If you do buy jars second hand, make sure the rim, or sealing edge of the jar is free from nicks and pits.  This happens as jars are pried open, so it is common, but will make your seal unsafe.  
I have been canning a lot lately.  Mostly pickled beans when the store has them on sale, but also some regular pickles here and there.  I bought a twenty five pound box of peaches on Saturday,  and really got into the canning groove.  I wasn't able to do all the peaches, because they just didn't want to peel.  I'll process them in the morning now that they are a couple days riper.  I came across some nice pickling cucumbers, and bought a flat of tomatoes, and got fifteen quarts out of the cucumbers, and two batches of pints of salsa, so fourteen jars. 
The best part of making my own, is that working under some restraints due to the acidity level of certain foods, I can adjust for my own taste, and dietary needs.  I do use sugar to can my peaches and other fruit, but only 1 cup for 10 1/2 cups of water.  The fruit tastes very much like fresh, and NOTHING like what you buy in tin cans.  I added dried anchos and chipotle peppers to my salsa, and extra garlic and little dried hot peppers to my pickles, because that is what my family likes. 
I started helping my mother to can when I was big enough to stand on a chair and peel peaches and tomatoes etc...so the process is ingrained in me.  It is not a hard process though.  Acid foods like fruit, tomatoes, and pickles and salsas only need water bath processing.  They are safe and easy recipes.  Sterilize the jars you'll need.  Make the syrup or pickling liquid, etc...  Dip the fruit or tomatoes in boiling water then into cold water so the skins will come off.  Halve, quarter, chop and put in the jars.  Add hot liquid and lids and put in boiling water bath for the time it says. 
Tomatoes are the easiest.  You just keep shoving the whole tomatoes down in the jars until they squish out enough liquid to fill the jar, and add a little canning salt.  There is no addition needed of water or tomato juice, just pure tomatoes.  This is a far superior product to the ones in the tins. 
Next time you come across the Ball Blue Book at the store, take a look at the recipes.  They not only have canning recipes, but also lots of freezer food ideas, and also dried food techniques.  It is possible to teach yourself to can with this book. 
Come on, give canning a try won't you?  That way I am not the only one at the AC meetings.  Hello, my name is Tina and I am a canning addict.

Like a Prince without a Country- I miss my garden!

I have always loved gardening.  Even when I was forced labor for my mother in my school years, I loved pulling weeds and harvesting.  Of course, I made a big deal of it, just because I was a teenager.  I could not wait until I was married, and could have my own garden.
I learned to can at a young age.  I was put to work peeling scalded fruit and beets, as soon as I could stand on a chair up to the sink, and do so  We put up box after box of home canned peaches, pears, plums, apricots, tomatoes, and pickled beets.  I snapped beans and filled jars. I was in charge of keeping the inventory list, a way for my mother to get me to practice writing, I think.  When she sent me to the cubbyhole under the stairs to get a jar of something, I would cross it off the list, so we knew exactly how much we had at any time. 
One of the first things I bought with our wedding money was a water bath canner.  I actually wore out the jar holder part, and the enamel on the inside, and have had to buy another one since then.  It saw almost continual use during the summers.  I used to can all our vegetables, and any fruits I could get a hold of. I bought the biggest pressure canner I could find, and put up lots of green beans and soups and other low acid foods.  
I had no garden last year, and only a small raised bed this year, so the harvest won't be big enough to need canning.  It feels wrong not to be out there every morning bent over weeding.
It is a strange thing, not having produce to pick and take care of.  It is such a part of my everyday life in the summer, to be sterilizing jars, and putting food by.  I am like a prince without a country.  I am lost without my canning fix.  When the day's canning was done, I sat and looked through recipes to plan my next canning project.
We are planning out more raised beds, and will be putting in a new fence to keep out the destructive ghetto deer that plagued me in the last few years.  I want our produce to be for us, not the local deer buffet line!

I was able to get some rhubarb from my Mom, or pie plant as we call it, and the store had a special on strawberries  buy one and get one free.  I made twelve half pint jars of strawberry rhubarb jam.  The easiest of the jams.  I won't be enjoying it, as it is a sugar and fruit recipe, but my boys like it, and I can give it as gifts.  Not only is it awesome on hot rolls or biscuits, but it is a wonderful ice cream topper. Remember, rhubarb leaves are toxic, so cut the leaf completely before bringing it in the house, and don't put leaves in your compost pile.
I use my grandmother's old farm scale to measure the weights for canning, and to weigh out dried beans, ect...when I am cooking.  I like to can by weighing, rather than fussy measuring, so I often convert the recipes from cups to pounds. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
2 lb strawberries (about two clamshells, or 4 cups whole berries)
2 lbs diced rhubarb (about 8 cups diced fruit)
6 cups sugar divided
In a large stainless steel stock pot, place rhubarb and 3 cups of sugar.  Stir together well, and let sit to macerate for two hours.  The sugar will bring out the liquid in the pie plant.  Then add remaining 3 cups of sugar, and the stemmed and diced strawberries.  Bring slowly to temperature until all the sugar dissolves.  Once the sugar is dissolved, raise the heat to high, and boil until the gel point, when a spoonful of jam starts to sheet off the spoon.  I always think it looks kind of like a turkey wattle.  Skim off the foam, and pour into hot sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Adjust lids and rings and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Bean Pickles
We love bean pickles.  We always put them out for picnics and family dinners.  In my estimation, it's not a proper Bloody Mary without a couple bean pickles for garnish!  I happened on a sale of organic beans, cleaned and with the stems and strings off, on a BOGO buy one get one free sale.  The pickling liquid is an easy mixture of water, vinegar, salt and pickling spices.  I prefer to use Mrs. Wages dill pickle packets for bean pickles.  It is a good quick pickling formula, and I add fresh dill, mustard seeds, chile de arbol pods, and a big spoon of garlic to each jar.  I also add Pickle Crisp which is calcium carbonate, I think, to make the pickles retain their snap after processing.  I was off on my estimation of how many beans I'd need, It was almost enough for a canner load (7 quarts) of pickled beans.  So, I scrounged around my fresh food bins, and found enough big jalapenos for a quart of them sliced in half.  The dill jalapenos are really good with cream cheese piped into the cavity, and topped with chives for an appetizer.  I also found I had two big containers of radishes.  I kept thinking I needed them and bought them twice!  There was enough for a quart of them also.  They are great as a garnish in a drink like a martini, or sliced as part of an antipasto tray.  I like them with a slice of cucumber on a whole wheat cracker for a snack.
I still had pickling liquid left over, as I packed the jars as tightly as I could with beans, jalapenos and radishes. I had some regular cucumbers, the ones with the waxy skin, so I peeled and diced them along with a couple each of red and orange peppers, and two big onions.  I added a whole big bunch of diced fresh dill, probably a cup, and made seven more pint jars of dill pickle relish.  I still had enough left of the relish to put one more pint in the fridge.  

We made a trip to Riverton the other evening, and I got four big bunches of asparagus.  That is my project for today, to make some asparagus pickles, and if there's time some home canned tomato soup to have on hand for the winter. It is a mixture of tomatoes with celery carrot and onion, and has basil and cloves.  It is a pressure canned recipe, so I'll wait until my babies go home to do that.  It requires constant attention, and can be a dangerous thing if not properly attended to. 

I have had people tell me they think it's weird I like to can.  I grew up in a household with a mom who survived the great depression as a child.  Canning, and keeping a pantry stocked full with a whole year's worth of food was how we lived.  If we didn't can it, we bought it in case lots.  That and a freezer full of wild game were our hedge against starving out, if something should happen.  When you grow up in a large family, you learn ways to get by on less money, but don't do without.  It's just a matter of "ass ends and elbows", or hard work!

Besides it being the way I was raised, we have had some lean times in our married life.  As newly weds, we ate a lot of beans, and macaroni to get by.  It became a challenge for me to grow and can our own food, to provide the best of what we could have for the lowest cost.  There is a great sense of satisfaction in standing back to view the rows and rows of filled jars, and know that your family gets to eat a product that was picked when it was ripe, and canned with no preservatives, or additives.  I can everything low salt, and in light syrup because that's the way my mother did it.  Now that I am diabetic, I am learning to can without sugar, too. 

It is definitely a challenge to still can without the benefit of the mounds of garden produce, but I am finding ways to do small projects when things are on sale . I can't wait for cabbage to hit the "cheap" category, so I can make sauerkraut!  My crock is ready and waiting!

Corn Beef Hash and Creamed Corn with Poached Eggs

Help!  Comfort food is needed!  We had quite a day here.  One of those where you keep working, and can't seem to make any headway.  I just got a call from my husband, and he's having a similar day.  He won't be home for another three hours.
That kind of ruined the plans I had to eat at our favorite steakhouse!  I cleaned out the fridge today, in preparation of my biweekly shopping day tomorrow, so I hadn't thawed anything out.  I just don't want pizza, we splurged on that last week. 
I was watching Rachel Rae while waiting for my kids to go home, and she was making a Ratatouille with poached eggs on top, and it reminded me of this dish we used to eat often when we were first married, and had chickens and lots of eggs to use up.  It is so easy, and is a wonderful comfort food.  Just what we need!  It will heat up nicely when my husband finally gets here, too!

Corn Beef Hash and Creamed Corn Casserole with Poached Eggs
In a square baking dish that has been buttered, mix a can of corn beef hash with a can of creamed corn.  Bake in a preheated 350*F oven until it gets bubbly, about fifteen minutes.  Top with raw eggs, and return to the oven just until eggs are set.  Serve with boiled cabbage, or buttered dark rye toast. 
Easily doubled, and makes a great brunch for guys who are coming in from the cold.  It really warms up the tummy!