Bread and Chocolate

This treat was born out of the stories we had heard of the favorite afterschool snack of children in France...Pan au Chocolat. There the bread is sliced warm and a little rod of chocolate is folded into it and handed to the lucky little one. Our version has it baked inside and topped with a little melted butter and cinnamon sugar. It has become a cult favorite here, with people ordering boxes at a time to take to family members from afar who just have to have their fix!
To begin:
Mix a batch of White Trash Dough let it rise in a warm place for an hour or so.
cut palm sized pieces using a bench scraper or knife...do not knead at this point just cut the squares and stretch them slightly:



Put a healthy handful of chocolate chips on each square,

and pull the edges up around the mound of chips

pinch togehter well and turn on to a parchment lined sheetpan with the seam on the bottom, brush with melted butter and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar...while they rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 15 minutes and spin then 5-10 more minutes until nice and golden brown...let cool slightly before devouring!

Flower Jelly

'Tis the season! I used the last of the lilac blossoms to try a batch of jelly...it was so fun to do, I made fireweed jelly, too.
Flower Jelly
for 5 - 8 ounce jars:
2 1/2 cups steeping medium, this can be pear juice (what I used) apple juice or white wine (or Champagne!)
2 cups fresh petals
4 cups Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 ounces of liquid Pectin
(to color my jellies, I used about 1/4 cup of red wine in the fireweed and just a little drop in the lilac, just for a bit of blush...I wish the true petal color came out in the steeping liquid, but it did not!)
Bring steeping liquid to scalding and add petals. Take off heat and stir. let cool to room temp. Strain.
Add 2 cups of above liquid to sugar and lemon and bring to boil in medium sauce pan over high heat. When sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has reached a rolling boil, add pectin. Return to boil for one minute.
Ladle into hot jars and put on sterilized lids.
Then revel in their awesomeness!

'Starting' from scratch.

"If you truly want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." - Carl Sagan
And if want to create a starter from scratch, all you need is some warm water, flour and wild yeast. We get ours off of cabbage leaves. (Thank You, Jim Lahey!)

Take a large leaf and wash it off in 1 cups of warm water (really get in there with clean hands and rub the white film off the leaf) mix in 8 oz (a scant 2 cups) of flour, beat well and let sit covered on your counter, 12 hours.

 Feed again equal weights of flour and water and let sit again 12 hours. You should have a bubbly happy little mess on your hands. if not try feeding it and letting it sit one more night. There are a couple of key points to remember: All utensils, anything that touches your starter must be clean! Starter loves routine, so once your used to using it the same way on a regular basis is when it will be happiest. To keep if you use everyday, it can sit on the counter in a container. Feed and use the starter and clean out container when the sides get yucky. To use weekly from the refrigerator, pull from fridge and let come to room temp. Feed and let activate (8-10 hours) and use, keep a little out (about a cup) and give it a small amount of water and flour, return it to the fridge to chill for the week.

Now THAT is a happy starter!

Time to make bread:

To make a flavorful, slightly dense baguette:
Mix equal weights of water and starter and double that for the weight of flour. salt should be used sparingly but is necessary for a fully flavored loaf... try using 1% of the total dough weight. (i.e. 1#water + 1# starter + 2# flour = 4#  4x16= 64 ounces divided by .01= .64 or a little more than a half an ounce...about 2 teaspoons)
In a large mixing bowl, pour water and starter and stir to blend. add flour a little at a time until a ball of dough begins to form. Saving out about a cup of the flour. Cover the bowl and let this dough sit for 20 minutes. This is called an autolyse. The resting of the dough without the salt added to it allows for maximum absorption of the water into the flour and will make the gluten easier to form. When ready, sprinkle on the salt and about 1/2 of the remaining flour. Pull the dough into the center from the edges all the way around to incorporate the salt.  Dump out onto a well floured surface and knead together into ball. Set a timer and knead for 10 minutes. I know it can seem like a long time, but it is very meditative. put on some good music or that podcast of 'This American Life ' you've been wanting to listen to, time will be up before you know it AND you will have performed your arm workout for the day...bonus!  The dough will become quite silky and smooth, like a baby's bottom. Cover it and let it rest to rise. 1-2 hours, depending on your room temp, starter vigor, etc. If your doing this ahead, this would be the time to put into the  fridge, tightly covered. It can sit in there 12 hours or so. When ready to work, just pull it out, ring to room temp. and portion into loaves. knead into a football shape and let sit, covered for 20 minutes. Starting at the center of each loaf, roll with both hands (a little like when you used to make snakes out of clay) outward until your loaf is the length of your pan. Lay on parchment lined sheet pan to rise. Cover with a cloth if it is cool or drafty. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. if you have a baking stone line them up on the middle rack. Place a shallow pan half filled with water on the bottom of the oven (if your oven is electric, put the pan on top.) This is meant to create steam. Once the loaves have doubled in size (a finger poked in the side should leave a mark that does not bounce back) slash the tops with a razor or very sharp serrated knife place in the oven...on the pan if you don't have a stone. If you do have a stone, slide the loaves off the pan, parchment and all and right on to the stone. You may want to cut the paper so that each loaf is on it's own sheet for this to make for easier transport. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until quite golden. Interior temperature should be 200 degrees.

Get your Sticky Buns on...

Okay, so big aplogies to the gal looking for the sticky bun recipe the other day on the phone...truly, we are crazy busy, and had it been me you talked to, I might have been able to make it happen fast, but not for sure! I was able to make them at home today under normal kitchen circumstances and I think I've got it for you...
First mix a single batch of White Trash Dough and let it rise until double in bulk. In the meantime, oil a 9x13 pan and line with parchment paper. Now is a good time to make the Sticky Goo, as we so affectionately call it.
in a 3 quart saucepan melt 1/2 cup butter. pour off about 2 tablespoons into a glass bowl and set aside. To the butter in the pan add:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Honey
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whisk together over medium heat until smooth. Pour into prepared baking pan

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups pecan halves...nows the time for a taste test!

Once ready, turn dough out onto a floured board...do not knead! just spread it out in all it's flattened glory. divide in half...knead together one half and put it into a loaf pan for sandwich bread or something...you won't need it for this. Take the other half and roll out on your floured board to a rectangle about 12"x 20". Brush with the reserved melted butter

Sprinkle on 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and roll it longways into a tidy log


Cut the log into 12 equal pieces and place cut side up in pan over the pecan mixture of love.

Let rise, covered in a warm place about one hour then bake in a preheated oven set at 350 degrees. it will take about 45 minutes. To be sure they are done, use an intstant read thermometer, they want to be 200 degrees inside!

Once you pull them from the oven...and this is important! Let them sit in the baking pan for 5 minutes or so to cool before dumping them out upside down onto a tray. This will allow the carmel to thicken slightly and it won't all just run off. You will be greatly rewarded for your patience!

Rhubarb Custard Bars- summer in a square

Thanks Meg and Marty for requesting this recipe! It's so good it's certain to become a regular summer treat around here!
And Roy...may you Rest in Peace!

Rhubarb Custard Bars

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
lightly oil a 9x13 pan
For crust:
in stand mixer, or by hand:
2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup cold butter cut into pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt

mix together until the texture of frozen peas. press firmly into pan and set aside

for filling:
6 eggs
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup flour
whisk all above ingredients together well... then stir in 3 cups of fresh rhubarb- chopped
pour over crust. bake 45 minutes to 1 hour until center is firm. Cool completely before cutting.
and when your delighting in how summery and wonderful these are, Thank Meg and Marty...
Happy Solstice Gals! I Love You!

It's that time of year again!

Spring is finally giving forth some of her gifts and one of our favorites is the Stinging Nettle. That's right Nettles, those pesky plants that invade any feshly tilled spot before you can get anything else to come up there, are one of our favorite spring treats! I've been making this for a few summers now and we are hooked! Last night, son Charles and I harvested a big basket of shoots and got enough to freeze. Last year I wrote up the recipe: here it isl
Trust me, you'll smile too when the stinging nettles take over!

Rockfish Chowder

The first comercial Halibut long line trip is underway for husband John (summer must be here!) and one of the benefits for us, you would think, would be fresh Halibut on our menu...but alas, that fish is all spoken for by people with way more money than we have. So we console ourselves with something I think is even better...Rockfish! The Shortraker Rockfish that swims in areas along with the Halibut is also an allowable by-catch. Because the Rockfish run with the Halibut, it is inevitable they are brought up on the longline hooks. Since the fish have come up so quckly from the bottom, throwing them back usually means a bunch of dead Rockfish. So as not to waste all those wonderful fish, John has worked out a deal with a local processor to breakdown and package them in trade for half the haul. It gives us a nice supply of legal fish at a cost that doesn't hurt our bottom line! One of our favorite ways to use it is to make Soup...

Easy Rockfish Chowder:

In a 6 quart heavy bottom soup pot saute:
1 medium onion-diced
3 lg carrots - diced
3 ribs celery - diced
3 Tablespoons olive oil

When onion is translucent, deglaze pan with 1/2 cup white wine. Stir until liquid is mostly absorbed and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of flour and stir to coat all vegetables. Pour in 2 quarts Fish stock (or water!) and stir over medium heat until the flour is incorporated and add 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced and and a hearty pinch or two of salt. cook over medium low heat until the potatoes are soft and the broth is thickened. It is important to stir frequently during this process as the flour will want to cling to the bottom of the pan!
Add 1 pound of Rockfish, raw and cut into 1 " chunks, stir until fish is cooked, this will only take a moment or two.
Finish with a cup of heavy cream, a squeeze from half a lemon and a tablespoon of dill (dried or fresh, use what you have!)