The Empty Cabinets of my Mind

Chocolate Beet Wheat Soda Bread

  Using the same recipe as my regular sprouted wheat beat bread, I decided to see what would happen by adding just 1 tsp cocoa powder.  The result was a more cake-like flatbread with the small amount of chocolate dominating.  It is healthy, and good, but very different from the basic beet bread.  

The Gourmia 10 in 1 oven preset is 383F not the 384 in my photo. Note that when baking in the Gourmia it is necessary to put the bread on some kind of rack to elevate it or the bottom will get too dark before the loaf is cooked through.   Trying this came from my having lots of leftover fermented beet fiber after recently  making 2 gallons of kvass.  I use beet greens as well as the root in my kvass, so it has a lot of food value.  The "used" fiber is a welcome addition to smoothies, and can be used in beet soup, but I still wondered how I would ever use up all of this byproduct from my latest batch.   So I asked Mr. Google if anyone ever made beet bread and was surprised to see how many had and how interesting some of the recipes turned out to be.  

I wanted to start with a simple loaf, and a small one as I had no idea how good this would be.  I honestly don't remember how much sprouted wheat flour I put in the very pink loaf in my before baking photo, it may have been 2/3 cup instead of 1 cup.  I also may have added a little avocado oil along with the whey.  When I added cocoa powder to make the darker loaf I also added a small amount of brown sugar.

The chocolate version was OK, but I am over the moon with how good the basic beet bread turned out, from the lovely moist interior to the slightly crunchy crust.  It has just a hint of beet flavor.  Although the raw dough is decidedly pink, the baked loaf turned a lovely rustic brown under a tan crust.  

Some fruit that I soak overnight in diluted A/C vinegar and brown sugar are still yummy after the liquid is strained off to drink.  Some are less so.  But I put the less than appetizing pulp in a quart jar in the freezer and when the jar is full, then I puree it to yield just the right amount to fill a fruit leather tray in the dehydrator.  The next day it turns into 3 ounces of fruit leather. 

This one is strawberry, apple, and cherry.    Usually I just make applesauce from the apple switchel pulp, but I ran out of fruit leather, and I like to chomp on that stuff.

Another Fortuitous Mistake

I love pear switchel best of all the flavors I have tried so far, and then apples tied with strawberry.  Haven't tried peach or hibiscus yet, but I will have peach starter ready to sample in the morning.  So maybe it isn't actually switchel because I don't always include ginger.  Maybe it is more properly a shrub?  I love ginger, but sometimes I just want to preserve the wonderful fresh taste of whatever fruit is on hand.  I am calling it switchel because that is what I started making before it all got out of hand.  But that is another story. 

Pictured below is sprouted wheat flour soda bread and here is what happened.

I drained the apple switchel in my Euro Cuisine GY50 Greek Yogurt Maker and after saving the "used" pulp I forgot to empty out the liquid from the base.  So when I poured buttermilk into the strainer to make my own version of sour cream, the whey that strained out mixed with the apple juice.  I had to put my thinking cap on to decide what to do with the whey + vinegar + brown sugar + apple juice.  I remembered putting vinegar in my last loaf of soda bread, and whey, and brown sugar, so there you have it.  Slightly apple flavored mini loaves of soda bread. 

OK, that does it.  I am getting up from the keyboard and getting myself another slice of this stuff right now. 

BTW, the sour cream was luscious.  Yield from one quart of cultured buttermilk was a little over one cup.  I ate what would not fit in the jar.

 

Bazooka!

This inexpensive sushi maker is called a Bazooka.  The one I bought on Amazon (as no local stores seemed to have such a thing) is made by Sushedo.  It doesn't feel quite as durable as I expected, but it works fine.  Well, I haven't tried making sushi in it yet,  but I molded some mashed potatoes stuffed with cheddar and cilantro paste, and that was fun and worked well. 

My "goto" sushi helper is the beechwood Makimaker by Isottcom  which makes square sushi rolls:

I like seaweed, but my summer project this year is learning how to better use my dehydrator, which I can tell you already is going to result in my buying a bigger and better one because whereas before I merely tolerated the idea of "fruit leather" now I am really getting into it, from making yummy healthy snacks from the fiber that is a by-product of switchel making to making sushi wraps out of tomato and spinach leather.

 

Love the Little Bargain Pot

I like Gourmia appliances and was disappointed when their soup maker arrived with an intermittent problem and I had to send it back.  To save postage, I took the package to an Amazon locker which was actually some distance away, but it was a good experience, and a few blocks from the locker there was one of my favorite stores, a dd's discount.  I bought a couple pairs of shoes, and tops, and by odd coincidence, the last one of an As Seen on TV gadget called Perfect Cooker, which they were dumping for $9.99. 

Well, it turned out to be just what I needed:  space saving, easy, fast, and versatile.  It is much more than a rice cooker, but making rice for one or two in it is a lot easier and a little faster than in the InstaPot (great for a family, but overkill if you want to make just 2 or 3 servings.)  So, it is a keeper, and a serendipitous find.

Gourmia 10 in 1 Robotic Cooker: Baking (Strawberry Muffins)

Shortly after acquiring a robotic wet mop for the kitchen, I was sitting at the computer wondering what other robotic helpers there might be that had eluded me.  I wanted robotic EVERYTHING!  That is when the name Gourmia came to my attention.  For some reason, while I was typing in keyword chains such as "robotic cooker" an Amazon listing for the Gourmia Flatbread maker came up.  It looked so cool that I wanted one right away.  But as I researched it their GCR1700 10-in1 came up too, and there wasn't room on my counters for both of them, so I went for the multifunction appliance hoping that it would be good for baking.  It was a good choice.   I love the GRC1700 and although there is a learning curve it is not as steep as I had thought it would be.  I have made a few misshapen things in it, but everything tasted good. 

So as I learn new things, time allowing, I am posting about them as much to jog my own memory as to provide information to others.  Today I made strawberry muffins using sprouted wheat flour, flax seeds, oat flour (blended oatmeal flakes), baking soda, baking powder, buttermilk, an egg, and some of the slurry from my ginger bug. I meant to put cinnamon in them, too, but forgot, and they were fine.  The strawberries I used were a by-product of switchel making, that is, what was left over after I strained the juice out.  I have yet to see anyone call their switchel starter a bug, but that is what it is, a culture made from fresh fruit, apple cider vinegar, and something sweet to feed the starter (I usually use brown sugar), only without the ginger.  When I get up enough nerve to acquire a kombucha SCOBY and start making my own booch, I will add switchel  to the second ferment. 

I haven't put any quantities in for the ingredients because  muffins made with sprouted grain are very forgiving and just about anything will work.  In this case, the combined flours came to about 3/4 C and the bp and soda were about 1/2 tsp each. I pureed the cultured strawberries and added a like amount of buttermilk...and a little bit of brown sugar.   These muffins were elevated to keep the bottoms from getting too done, and baked on the Grill default setting. I used two silicon muffin pans with one upside down and baked them 25 minutes. 

Pressed Chicken

I cannot get enough of the shiny stainless steel meat press that helps me do versatile make ahead meals.  This chopped chicken is came off one of Smart & Final's whole roasted deli chickens.  After our first meal from it, I dumped the carcass in seasoned stock with a whole onion and the obligatory Tbsp of apple cidar vinegar to help leach nutrients out of the bones and cooked it 18 minutes in the InstaPot.   After boning, I put the meat back in the stock with peeled red, green and yellow sweet peppers and cooked a few minutes.  After chopping all of this I pressed it overnight in the Madax and vacuumed packed it the next day.

This "recipe" is really delicious and here are some of the other things I like about it: 

1.  Compact shape for stacking and airtight storage for refrigerator (or freezer if reheating) is space saving and keeps longer.   

2.  So many different ways to use it such as  cold cuts in a sandwich, or broken up with celery and mayo for chicken salad, or added to soup.  My favorite is melting a slice over rice!  

3.  Portion control.  

Thank You Madaxgroup

I have been looking for a compact, attractive stainless steel meat press for many years and finally found one on Amazon.  Made by Madaxgroup, I call this tool jewelry for my kitchen.  It is a work of art in itself which enables me to combine frugality and creativity with food preparation.

 With this attractive meat press I can make appealing luncheon meats myself at a fraction of the cost of store bought products, and store it ergonomically.

The vacuum packed meat here is made from Aldi's Choice chuckroast, and garnished with hydroponic Madagar Spinach from my garden.  Who says you need a yard to grow your own food?

Another Must-Have for my Kitchen

This stainless steel meat press, (a steal for $35 by Madax) is not just for cooking.  It can also be used to shape and press "leftover" meats such as pot roast or boned chicken, or pate. 

When pressing precooked shredded meats such as pulled por, it is helpful to line the press with a plastic bag, and if making small amounts a small glass jar (or block of wood) can be placed between the top of the coil and the lid.

The drill is to mix the chopped meat with decorative  seasonings and a little of the rich stock thickened with gelatin, and pour it into the bag inside the press while it is still warm.  Then insert the spring, spacer if needed, and screw on the cover and put the press in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

 The pressed meat can be sliced for cold cuts, heated up over rice, or vacuum packed for the freezer.  I put the shaped meat in a plain plastic bag inside a reusable vacuum bag and then shrink-wrap it for compact and portion controlled storage with a good shelf life  in the refrigerator or freezer.

With several packs of these, some cheese, hard-boiled eggs, soda bread, apples, nuts, chocolate, and a few bottles of switchel I am ready to go camping!

 

More Bread Experiments

I did not think my Bean Bread experiment would turn out, but it did.  Sounds gross, but I put some refried black peas and a little curry powder in my last loaf of rye bread.  It worked!  I used to bake yeast bread a lot, but ever since I discovered how foolproof and quick it is to make soda breads with sprouted grain flours, I seldom bother with the yeast and kneading and all that.  The black eyed pea loaf tasted good hot out of the oven and toasted the next day, but I did not care for it cold.

The soda bread that tastes best hot or cold is my sprouted wheat applesauce loaf.  The Gourmia 10-in-1 robotic oven allows me to make portion controlled loaves easily.  This loaf is about right for 2 people:

 I used about 1/2 cup of sprouted wheat flour plus a handful of ground flax seeds, 1/2 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda, and a pinch of salt.  Then I stirred in about 1/3 cup of fermented raw applesauce, a splash of avocado oil, and a dollop of buttermilk.  The dough wants to be almost but not quite runny, wet enough so it flattens out from its own weight. 

 

The applesauce I use is a by-product from making apple switchel, a refreshing fermented beverage made by soaking sliced or diced apples in diluted vinegar and brown sugar in a mason jar with a fermentation cap.  It sits out at room temperature for at least 24 hours and then I strain off the liquid to store in a cooler place in soda bottles until it gets bubbly, but not so long that the bottles burst or it turns into vinegar.  When I strain out the chunks, I add cinnamon (and sometimes more brown sugar to replace what the ferment "ate" and blend it into smooth applesauce.  This applesauce has just enough vinegar taste to work well in baking, but not enough to overpower it if eaten raw.  It is a very useful by-product of switchel making. 

 

I make this beverage from a wide variety of fruits, including cherries, mulberry, grapefruit, etc., but I especially like the apple and strawberry switchel because the chunks of fruit that are left are perfect for baking.  I use the "spent" strawberries in pancakes or waffles, and eat the applesauce raw or add it to my bread dough.