Recipe: Blackberry Ale

I just ordered the ingredients to brew my first fruit beer. Since we have an abundance of blackberries in the garden, I decided to try a blackberry ale. It's relatively lightly hopped to allow the blackberry to come through. I brew extract beer, so that's what the recipe calls for. I hope this will be a nice fall beer.

Here's the plan so far (comments welcome - I won't brew this for at least another week):

Grain / Fermentables:

• 1 lb Caramel 10L
• 1/4 lb Victory malt
• 6 lb Briess Gold Liquid Malt extract
• 1 lb honey
• 5 lb blackberries (fresh frozen, thawed, then crushed)

Hops:

• 1 oz Cascade @ 60 min
• 1 oz Cascade @ 5 min

Yeast:

• Wyeast Irish Ale 1084

Instructions:
Steep grains in 2-3 gal water for 30 minutes at 155F. Remove pot from burner. Add malt extract while stirring. Bring wort to a boil and add first oz of hops. With 5 minutes left of 60 minute boil, add the second oz of hops. Remove pot from boil and add crushed blackberries and honey. After 15 minutes, poor into sterilized fermentation bucket. Aerate wort. Add yeast, and ferment at 70F for 7-10 days. Rack to secondary for 2-3 weeks. I'm still considering dry hopping with some of the hops from the garden (will have to taste it to see if that makes sense).

According to Beer Calculus, this should give:
O.G. 1.052-1.061
F.G. 1.014-1.017
Color: 7º SRM
Bitterness: 21.2 IBU
Alcohol: 5.6% ABV, 192 cal/12 oz

Homemade all-purpose cleaner

For the past 6 months or so, we've been making our own all-purpose cleaner. It's been wonderful not to have that chemical smell in the house, and it's a lot cheaper, too. Here's the recipe:

• 1 qt (1 l) hot water
• 1 qt (1 l) white vinegar
• 1-2 tsp castile soap
• 20 drops tea tree oil
• 20 drops lavender essential oil

Mix everything together in a big container with a lid (we use an old 1 gallon vinegar bottle), and shake. It may be a bit cloudy as the castille soap tends to clot up a bit, but it works very well. The tea tree oil and lavender oil are both natural disinfectants and good at fighting mold. The lavender also makes it smell nice in a natural way. You should be able to find castile soap, tea tree oil, and lavender oil in most health food stores (or online).

Pour some of the mixture into a spray bottle and use for all-purpose cleaning.

Carrot Rolls

These carrot rolls are a favorite with the kids and adults in our house: tasty and healthy! This recipe makes 32 rolls, but they freeze well, and then you're not baking quite as often.

From Green-Savvy

Ingredients

• 9 dl (1 qt) milk
• 60 g (2 oz) butter
• 2 Tbsp honey
  
• 2.5 dl (1 cup) plain yogurt
  
• 1.5 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 dl (1/3 cup) flaxseed meal
• 1.5 dl (1/2 cup) 10-grain cereal (or other grain mix like King Arthur's Harvest Grain Blend). You can also substitute wheat bran.
• 350 g (12 oz) whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp dry parsley flakes or 2 dl (3/4 cup) fresh
• 1 Tbsp coarse salt
• 400 g (14 oz) shredded carrots
• 1.4 kg (3 lb) all-purpose flour

Melt butter in a large stock pot (I use a 4 gallon stock pot for the whole process, but you could also melt butter and heat milk in a smaller pot and then continue in a large mixing bowl). Add milk and heat until mixture reaches about 38C (100F), or until luke warm. Take the pot off the heat and stir in honey and yogurt. Dissolve yeast in the mixture. Add remaining ingredients, keeping back some of the all-purpose flour. Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Transfer dough to a lare oiled bowl/pot, and allow to rise covered for 60 minutes until doubled in size and the dough doesn't spring back when poked with a finger.

Form into individual rolls. I try to make them 100-125g (~4 oz) each. I find that oiling the work surface when making the rolls is a lot easier than with a floured surface. Place on baking sheet and allow to rise covered for about 30 minutes. Brush tops with beaten eggs. Bake 15 minutes at 225C (437F) until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

Recipe: Spent grain bread

Here's the recipe we use for our Spent Grain Bread. It is adapted from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads (if you like whole grain bread, this book is great!). It takes two days, but it is really simple stuff on both days. It uses 'spent grain' which is the grains that are left over from brewing beer. In the homebrewing process we use, these grains are steeped for about an hour in 68℃ / 155℉ water. Normally they would be discarded (we'd composted them before we started baking them). The taste, texture, and color of the bread will vary considerably with the type of grain used for the beer (big difference between a stout and pale ale grains). If you're not a homebrewer try asking your friends - I'm often surprised at how many people are homebrewers - youought to find someone who knows someone who brews. You could also ask a local microbrewery.

This recipe makes two loaves, or about two dozen rolls.

Day 1:
About 20 minutes of work.
Soaker
The soaker works to hydrate the grains in the whole wheat by mixing it with water and salt and let it sit overnight. This makes the grain softer but also enhances flavor and makes the bread a little sweeter (check Reinhart's book for the whole explanation).
Ingredients:

• 454 g / 1 lb whole wheat flour
  
• 1 tsp (8 g) salt
• 1½ cups water
  

Mix all soaker ingredients until flour is fully hydrated, then cover and let sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Biga
Reinhart uses the term 'Biga' for an overnight starter that uses a small amount of yeast and also soaks the whole wheat flour to increase flavor and acidity.
Ingredients:

• 454 g / 1 lb whole wheat flour
  
• 5/8 tsp active dry yeast (1/2 tsp instant dry yeast)
  
• 1½ cups warm water
  

Make a well in the flour. Pour the water into the well and then sprinkle the yeast in the water. Mix the water, gradually drawing in all the flour until hydrated. Once you have a ball of dough, knead in the bowl using wet hands for about two minutes. You may need to wet your hands again, but be careful not to add too much water to the dough.
Let the dough rest for five minutes, then knead again with wet hands for about one minutes. This time, the dough will be easier to work with, although it will still be tacky. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Day 2:
About 2 hours de-chill, then 20 minutes mixing followed by 2-3 hours fermentation. Baking takes 45-60 minutes.
Now we make the bread. Remove the Biga from the refrigerator about two hours before starting to mix the final dough.

Ingredients:

• Soaker
• Biga
• 225 g spent grain
• 113 g whole wheat flour
• 2¼ tsp (10 g) salt
• 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp active dry yeast (1½ Tbsp instand dry yeast)
• 85 g (4½ Tbsp) honey
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (optional)
• Extra whole wheat flour for adjustments
  

Chop the soaker and biga into 10-12 smaller pieces each - sprinkle some extra flour to keep them from sticking to each other. Hydrate the yeast in a little warm water (just enough to form a thick paste). Add to biga and soaker pieces along with the remaining ingredients except extra flour. Mix with a spoon or knead with wet hands for a few minutes to evenly distribute all ingredients. Take the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 3-4 minutes until dough is soft and tacky but not sticky. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the counter for five minutes.

Knead the dough again for about a minute. The dough should feel soft, supple, and very tacky. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, covering it in oil on all sides. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes.

Form the dough into two loaves or smaller rolls. Cover loosely and let rise an additional 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425℉/218℃. Add a steam pan to the oven and a hearth stone. When you put the bread into the oven, pour a cup of water into the steam pan and spray several times with a water mister inside the oven (not on the bread). The purpose is to create steam that will produce a crusty crumb on the bread. Lower the temperature to 350℉/ 177℃and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the bread 180°and bake another 20-30 minutes until the bread is done (thump the bottom to hear if it sounds hollow).

Cool on a wire rack and enjoy! Leave a comment if you try it out and let us know how it went.

Fiber-rich Pancakes

We like pancakes and bacon on the weekend, but it's often a fatty and unhealthy breakfast. So, I've been trying to come up with a healthier version. It's still quite light, despite being full of grains and fiber. They're also very filling - two will usually be enough per person.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2½ cups white flour
• ½ cup wheat bran
• ½ cup oats
• ½ cup flaxseed meal
• 2½ cups milk
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon (if desired)
  

Directions:

1. Beat eggs with hand beater in large bowl until fluffy. This takes 3-4 minutes.
   
2. Beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth
3. Let batter sit for about 5 minutes to let the grains absorb the liquid. If it's still too liquid, add water 1-2 Tbsp at a time until it's right.
4. Fry pancakes on hot griddle - about 4 minutes on each side.
5. Serve with butter, syrup and/or jam.
   

This recipe yields about 18 four-inch pancakes. This will feed 4-6 people. Leftovers can be frozen and reheated for quick weekday breakfasts.

To reheat frozen pancakes: Arrange on microwave-safe plate, and cover. Microwave on high about one minute per pancake, rotating at about 30 seconds. Times will vary based on your microwave oven.

Oshkosh-Style Stir-Fry

As the eat local challenge is drawing to a close, we decided to throw together a stir fry made up of mostly local fare. Here's the recipe:

• 1.5 pounds sirloin steak
  
• 2 potatoes
• 1 small beet
• 2 carrots
• 2 onions
• 1 green pepper
• 1 chili pepper (not too hot)
• 2 leeks
• 1 small can water chestnuts
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
  
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
• Canola oil for frying
  

Sauce:

• 1 Tbsp Toasted sesame seed oil
  
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
• 2 cups Water
• 2 Tbsp Corn starch

Instructions:

1. Cut meat into thin slices. Slice vegetables thinly. Cut onions into wedges.
2. Heat oil in skillet or wok.
3. Fry meat while stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Transfer to separate platter, and keep warm.
   
4. Add vegetables to skillet or wok, and fry 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly.
   
5. Transfer vegetables to separate platter. Keep warm.
6. Heat sesame seed oil in skillet.
   
7. Add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and water, and bring to a boil
8. Dissolve corn starch in cold water, and add to sauce while stirring.
9. Let boil for 3-5 minutes until thickened, and adjust taste as you see fit. Add more water if the sauce is too thick.
   
10. Return meat and vegetables to skillet and heat through with the sauce.
11. Serve with white or brown rice (we did basmati tonight, as the brown rice would have taken too long and the kids won't eat it).

It was a bit of an experiment with potatoes and beets in a stir-fry, but it worked out nicely. The potatoes added extra volume and a nice mellow taste, while the beets added sweetness. Our version did not havec a lot of heat. You could try add more hot peppers and more ginger, wouldn't hurt either. We also served it with home-brew beer (Fuggles IPA).
How local was it? All the vegetables were from our garden, the meat was from Cattleana (our local meat CSA), and the beer was brewed at home. The water chestnuts, the rice, and all the ingredients for the sauce were standard supermarket items, so who knows where they came from. But I think this still qualifies as a nice local meal - it certainly used some of our veggies, which is always nice.

Recipes in a Web 2.0 world

Flickr for Recipes?

I came across RecipeZaar the other day while trying to figure out what to do with some of the zucchini bounty we have in the refrigerator (looks like we'll make Zucchini Moussaka next week).

The site is pretty cool, it lets you collect recipes in personal cookbooks and upload your own recipes. It also has some pretty neat features when you're looking at individual recipes, such as a Nutrition Facts table for each recipe, scaling of the recipe to the number of servings you need, and conversion between US and metrics units. In addition there are features to create an entire menu and a shopping list based on the recipes you're looking at.

But what makes the site really cool when you're interested in social networks and web 2.0 sites, are the community features. Members can easily rate each recipe and describe their experience preparing and eating it. In addition, the site allows for sending messages to other members, so for each recipe, you can send a message to the person who created it. Some of the features require a premium membership ($25/year) , but the site is plenty useful with a free basic membership.

Recipe: Home-Made Pizza

Every Friday night at our house the menu is for pizza. And not just any pizza. This is Dad's Pizza, and it's the best in town (well, after Pappa Johns, the one my youngest had at a friends house, ...), and anyone who says otherwise is itching for a fight :-)

So, since it's Friday and I'm about to make those pizzas, I thought I would blog along with cooking. So, here's the annotated recipe:

This batch makes two 16-inch pizzas. We like a thick crust (this one's a little less than an inch thick). If you prefer thinner crust, make more pizzas or cut portion size in half.

Crust ingredients:

• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 1.5 Tbsp dry yeast (2 packets)
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
  
• 0.5 Tbsp salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2-3 cups unbleached flour
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary or lavendar, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried) (optional)

Procedure:
Dissolve yeast and honey in water in large mixing bowl. Let stand a few minutes until yeast foams. Add oil, salt and whole wheat flour. Mix well. Add unbleached flour a little at a time while mixing well with sturdy spoon (I use a large wooden spoon). When you can't mix with a spoon anymore, knead dough on lightly floured table. Add flour as needed and knead until dough is elastic. Let dough raise in oiled bowl for 20-30 minutes. It doesn't have to quite double in size, but should raise some.

Divide dough in two equal balls, and roll out on two pizza stones or cookie sheets. Let rest 10 minutes.

Pre-bake at 175C (350F) until pizza is slightly golden (about 15-20 minutes). Remove and add toppings (sauce, cheese, and whatever else you like). We tend to make a kids version (tomato sauce, cheese, and one type of meat) and an adult version (tomato sauce, cheese, onion, peppers, and whatever else we have lying around). Toppings is really your chance to experiment and improvise. Make it your own! Try fresh tomato slices, basil, and feta cheese.

Bake pizza for 8-10 minutes at 500F until crust is brown and cheese is golden. Tale care that the crust doesn't burn.

Simple Sauce (for one pizza):
Ingredients:

• 1 small can of tomato sauce (8 oz)
• Paprika
• Italian seasoning
• Garlic powder (or crushed fresh garlic)
• Pinch of sugar
  

I never measure the herbs and spices. They just go in as I feel - experiment. Add all ingredients to microwave safe bowl and microwave 2-3 minutes. Stir and let stand for a few minutes.


Rustic Sauce
Makes enough for one pizza

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 regular can of diced tomatoes (14 oz)
• paprika

Sautée onion and garlic in oil until clear. Add remaining ingredients, and simmer for about an hour. Challenge here is to get the consistency right. It tends to become a bit watery. If it doesn't work out right, you can add a little tomato sauce.

If you make this, leave a comment with your impressions.