Crepes

Since my hubby, Joe, has to leave for work early in the morning - during the week he chooses to just have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. But on the weekend... he loves a big breakfast! So we rotate through french toast, breakfast burritos, blintzes, biscuits and gravy, and crepes on Saturday and Sunday.

Before we were married, and for a while afterward, we loved to go spend the weekend with my sister Esther and her family. They lived about 90 minutes from us, so it was a nice little weekend getaway for us. We would sometimes have crepes with butter and cinnamon sugar - Joe loved this. So when we got married, the first weekend breakfast that I made for him was crepes. Joe had the idea to try them with a slice of bacon in them (along with the cinnamon sugar mix) and they were really good! We've tried all sorts of fillings since then: different flavored yogurts, apple or cherry pie filling, strawberry blintz topping, various fruits, and Joe's favorite - pudding mixed with cool whip to make a mousse. It's totally dessert for breakfast and SO decadent!

Here's the recipe:

Crepes

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon oil

Mix all ingredients in a blender (you can do this by hand or hand mixer, but you might get some flour lumps). Lightly grease a 6-8" skillet or crepe pan; heat. Pour 1/8-1/4 cup of batter in the middle of the pan and swirl the pan around until it's coated and spread out. When the edges just start to brown and the middle is mostly set (no more slimy batter), gently lift around the edges with a spatula and flip. The second side only needs a few moments to be done & then slide out of the pan. Repeat until done!

My notes:

*Some choose to only cook one side, but I like to flip mine.

*If you pour a little too much batter, don't worry! It'll just make a more pancake-like crepe and you've learned to be careful pouring it out.

*When I have extra crepes, I roll them up all together and stick them in a freezer bag. Just defrost them in the fridge and warm them in the microwave on individually on a skillet.

Sourdough Bread

My hubby and I love sourdough. Everytime we go to Disneyland/CA Adventure we get a bread bowl with beef stew or clam chowder. Always SO yummy! I've always loved sourdough bread. I don't remember my first experience with it, but over the years I've been wanting to try my hand at keeping and sourdough starter up and baking with it. Well, at long last, my wish has been granted. Sometime last summer, my friend Jeanne got a starter in the mail and gave me some to play with too.

So I started googling madly for sourdough recipes.... Found a few great keepers like my sourdough (sd) pizza, some sd English muffins, and a wonderful light and crispy sd waffle recipe. I only ever tried making bread with the recipe that I got a copy of with my starter (along with a crazy set of instructions on the care and feeding of starters) I had a few great successes with the bread, but it was always hit or miss if the bread would rise enough, be very sour, be heavy or light, etc....

I decided I wanted to try out another starter and see if it behaved any differently (baking with, flavor of, etc...) So I ordered a starter from http://www.breadtopia.com/ ***I would HIGHLY reccomend checking out this website. This guy's got videos of each step of the bread making process, lots of recipes (for sd and regular bread too), baking supplies, and more! It's a wonderful website! I have two complaints about his site: First, that he rarely takes the time to write out the recipes with the instructions. The ingredients are there, but not the "how to" part. So you are forced to watch his videos - which are actually quite well done and good to watch, but some of them are like 10 minutes long! Second, that there's no really good way to look for a recipe you need on the site - so it's a bit of hit and miss and exploring. Other than that, I just adore looking around on that site. His sourdough recipe is perfect! Not only does it bake up perfectly every time, it has and exceptionally crunchy crust and soft inside. Plus with this starter and the long rise time, the bread is SO sour! Love it!

After making a few loaves (each one as perfect as the one before!), I decided to do an experiment and compare my old starter with the new one to see if it was the starter or the method that made such good bread. Each step, the dough looked and felt the same as the other. It baked up just as beautifully as the new starter, BUT I discovered that not all starters are created equal! The new starter had a MUCH better flavor and depth of sour tang to the bread. The older one just didn't measure up. But now I just can't seem to get rid of this starter that I've had for almost a year. I guess I have a bit of pride in keeping it going that long without killing it off... But with a great starter like the new one I've got - why bother with the older one?

Below are also some pictures of some of the steps in the bread making process along with the recipe that I trascribed from the breadtopia site. I did add a few notes about how I've made the recipe work for me too.

No-Knead Sourdough

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

2 1/2 Cups White Bread Flour

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 Cups Water

1/4 Cup Starter

Stir the flours and salt together, just to incorporate it all. In a seperate bowl, mix the water and starter together (this just makes for easier combining with the flour). Then add it to the flour bowl and stir! It only takes a couple of minutes before the excess flour disappears and you've got a good size sticky glop of dough. Don't worry - it's supposed to be very wet. The wet dough makes for bread with a lot of holes in it. You can knead it by hand if you feel like it, but I don't usally need to. Now you just cover with some plastic wrap or put the whole bowl in a large plastic bag and let it sit for 18 hours.

See the above pictures for what the dough looks like after it's risen. It's still really wet looking. You'll need to kind of scrape it out of the bowl at this point. Then you just pat it out a bit until it's about the size of a piece of paper. Then you simply fold it over in thirds lengthwise and one fold the other direction. Let it sit there for about 15 minutes and gently mold into your desired loaf shape. Dip your fingers in flour to make it stick to you less.

Now you need to put the shaped loaf into a bowl with a well-floured towel lining it (the flour helps the dough not to stick to the towel. When it's done rising gently lift the dough from the towel and place in your desired pan.

It will need to rise for 1 to 2 hours. I usually check it after an hour. If it looks like it's almost ready, turn the oven on and preheat with cast iron skillet, ceramic or clay baker in it at 500 degrees. It needs to preheat for 30 minutes. Transfer the dough from the towel lined bowl to your pan and put the lid on. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

Water - The breadtopia guy says to not use tap water because of the usual chlorine content - he advises bottled spring water)

Rising time - Sometimes the dough is ready before the 18 hours is done (it doesn't show any signs of rising any more). It's totally ok to go on to the next step at that point - it only means the bread might not be as sour.

Floured towel/bowl- When I'm done shaping the dough, I give the top of it a extra dose of flour. Then I put a flour sack towel (nice and thin and not too bulky for the bowl and dough) in the bowl and sprinkle flour generously on it. The breadtopia guy uses a fancy basket thing to let it rise in, but other than the pretty little circles it has embedded when it's done baking - I don't see any benefit from the fancy basket.

Baking pan - I've used a deep cast iron skillet with a domed lid and also a Romertopf clay baker and love how they both turn out. I especially like the oblong shape of the clay baker. You can buy a Romertopf or La Cloche baker on the breadtopia site (lots of other places too). They sell the Romertopf for $34 + shipping and the La Cloche for $39. I got my Romertopf on ebay for about $17 including shipping - but it's a tiny bit smaller than the one they sell there (the 110 instead of the 111 model on breadtopia). I love it and even baked a pork roast with some veggies a few nights ago with great results. I've also ordered a lid for my pampered chef 9x13 stoneware baking pan. I'm hoping to bake two baguettes at a time in it. or two small round loaves.

Baking time - When I tried my first loaf, it was perfect except for the bottom being a bit burned. So I've adjusted the time for my oven and pans to 475 for 25 minutes and 425 for the final 15 and no more burned bottom!

The Beautifully YUMMY Breakfast Called BLINTZES

When I was growing up we got to pick out birthday meals - all of them - breakfast, lunch, & dinner. 9 times out of 10 we each picked Blintzes. Our family's rendition of blintzes comes from the Better Homes & Gardens "New" Cook Book (mine is the 1976 version). We call that cookbook our family bible of cookbooks. If you go to a restaurant and order blintzes, you'll get some crepe-like pancakes filled with a cottage cheese-y filling. These are an entirely different beast... The pancake part is only a few ingredients: flour, cottage cheese, sour cream, a pinch of salt and some sugar. Then it's topped with a mixture of sour cream and strawberry jam and finished with powdered sugar. Try it - you'll like it - you will see!

*Note: the picture shows only two blintzes on a plate... but NOBODY I know has only eaten 2 of these babies! :o)

Blintz Pancakes
Combine 1 cup flour, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Then stir in 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup small curd cottage cheese, and 4 beaten eggs. Stir until just combined. Cook on a hot greased griddle. Top each with Strawberry Sauce.

Strawberry Sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup strawberry jam (a little more or less to your taste)

California Rolls Anyone?

I've liked California Rolls for a long time now, but never really considered trying to make them on my own. I figured it'd be too time consuming, involved, or just plain not worth the effort. Well now that I live in a great tiny town, when I have a craving for some, I have to wait until I go to Provo (90 minutes away!). After visiting one of my long time BFF's (Tina!) in Texas a few weeks ago and sampling some california rolls she likes to get, I've been craving them like crazy! So I got some at the Sunflower Market in Provo (love that place - it's kind of like Boneys/Henry's in El Cajon was) They actually make fresh sushi right there on the premises (including the raw stuff - which I've discovered that I like a spicy tuna roll!) I had my first Philly roll there too (same basic CA roll flavors, but add cream cheese) After paying about $12 for a total of 16 little bites.... I decided it was time for me to look into how to make them.

So after spending a fair amount of time looking at videos on youtube, about a million different recipes, and researching what supplies I needed - I jumped in and made some! First of all, I made WAY too much rice - thus WAY too many CA rolls... I actually had to throw some out today since they're about a week old now and the rice is pulling away from the now sticky nori paper (the seaweed part). I definitely got my fill of them for a while! They were just as good, if not better than anything I could buy at a grocery store (never having had "true" fancy CA rolls, this is all I can compare them with)

I really enjoyed the whole process - it was so fun to make something so creative to eat. After I made my first couple of rolls, I started thinking of different flavor combinations. I made some with avocado and mango from a friends suggestion and LOVED that combo! I tried different flavored cream cheeses too (garlic & chive and garden vegetable). Mostly I filled them with crab, cream cheese, cucumber, mango, and avocado - just mixed up in different combinations. I'll definitely be making them again, but probably not for a few weeks, at least!

Here are some pics of what my rolls looked like before and after slicing. They're not perfect or the most beautiful you've ever seen, but not bad for a first try!

California Sushi Roll Recipe - Sushi Recipes - Japanese Cooking

Necessary Equipment

Bamboo sushi-roll mat (saran wrap along worked ok, but I'm sure it would've been easier with the bamboo mat!)

Clean cutting board

Sushi knife or very sharp knife

A pack of roasted-seaweed (nori)

Wooden spoon or wood or plastic rice paddle for spreading

Plastic wrap

Recipe

6 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 cups uncooked Japanese short or medium grain rice

3 ½ cups water

5 sheets sushi nori (dried seaweed - the darker it is, the better the quality)

1 large cucumber 2 to 3 avocados

Fresh lemon juice

Cooked snow crab meat or imitation crab sticks

Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)

Soy Sauce

Pickled Ginger

Directions:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Heat mixture just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.

Wash rice, stirring with your hand, until water runs clear. Place rice in a saucepan with water; soak 30 minutes. Drain rice in colander and transfer to a heavy pot or rice cooker; add 4 cups water. If you don't have a rice cooker, place rice and water into a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and leave pan, covered, for 15 additional minutes.

Wash, peel, and seed cucumber. Slice in half lengthwise, then cut into long, slender strips. Cut the avocados in half lengthwise, then remove the pit; cut each section in half again (lengthwise), and carefully remove the peel. Cut the section in long slender strips. Sprinkle the sliced avocado with lemon juice to keep from discoloring. If you are using snow, crab, remove the crab meat from the thicker portion of the legs and cut in half lengthwise. If you are using imitation crab sticks, remove the plastic wrapping and cut each in half lengthwise. Place the cucumber slices, avocado slice, and crab slices on a plate; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to use.

When rice is done cooking, transfer to a large bowl; loosen rice grains gently with a wooden spatula or spoon by cutting and folding (do not stir, as this will crush the rice). Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice, mixing together as you sprinkle (add enough dressing to coat the rice but not make it damp - you may not need to use all the vinegar dressing). Spread the hot rice on top of a large sheet of aluminum foil and let cool.

Lay the bamboo sushi rolling mat on a cutting board with bamboo strips going horizontally from you. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the bamboo mat. Place the nori on top of the plastic wrap (shiny side down). Spread a thin layer, 3/4 to 1 cup, of rice over 3/4 of the nori leaving approximately one inch of uncovered nori at each end (it helps to wet your fingers with cold water when you are patting the rice onto the nori).

Arrange strips of avocado and cucumber along the center of the rice; top with crab meat. Placing your fingers on the ingredients, carefully bring the bottom end of the rolling mat and the plastic wrap up and over the ingredients (tucking the end of the nori to start a roll). Pull back the rolling mat and plastic wrap, as necessary, so it does not get rolled into the sushi. Continue rolling the sushi and pulling back the rolling mat and plastic wrap, as necessary, until you have approximately 1 to 2 inches of the top of the nori showing. Rub a small amount of cold water on the edge of the nori and bring the nori around so that it completes the sushi roll. Gently squeeze the rolling mat around the sushi roll until it is firm and forms an even roll (be carefuly not to squeeze too hard, as you may crush the ingredients or squeeze them out). Wrap the plastic wrap around the roll and set aside until ready to cut or refrigerate or for longer storage. Repeat with remaining 4 nori sheets to make additional rolls.

Place rolls on a flat cutting board and remove plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into 8 pieces (wet the knife between each cut to make it easier to cut and keep the rice from sticking to the knife). Arrange California Rolls on a serving platter and serve with wasabi, soy sauce, and pickled ginger. Always serve sushi rolls at room temperature.

(NOTE: To make inside-out rolls, after spreading the rice on the nori, sprinkle with poppy or roasted sesame seeds. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap on top. Lifting with the bottom plastic wrap, turn over the nori/rice sheet onto the bamboo rolling mat. Remove top plastic wrap and proceed as above.)