E-Z Drop Biscuits

These biscuits were the perfect accompaniment to the leek soup I made the other day.  I chose this particular recipe because it was fast, you don't need to roll out the dough and cut the biscuits, just drop spoonfuls onto the baking sheet.  They are not as pretty, but just as tasty.

I found the recipe on line on allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar and salt.  Stir in butter and milk just until moistened.  Drop batter on a lightly greased cookie sheet by the tablespoon.

Bake in a predated oven until golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minutes.

Serve warm.

Cheddar-Apple Muffins

Al became weary of our North American breakfast foods like cereal  and has always disliked pancakes and waffles.  Toast is okay at times and he loves eggs.  However one habit he did pick up during our year in Korea was that one can eat dinner twice a day.  These days I have to cook enough for leftovers to eat for breakfast the next morning.  Our grandson was quite adamant the last time he visited that grandpa could not eat meat and potatoes for breakfast.

Given the fact that he gets up very early in the morning and we do not eat breakfast until much later, Al enjoys a muffin with his coffee first thing.  This means I am always on the look out for something new.

These were a hit the other morning.  The recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  Al described them as plain but good with coffee.  Just what he likes in the morning.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup chopped apple

Directions
Grease a 6  cup large muffin pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cheese, rolled oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture, set aside.

In another medium mixing bowl, combine the egg, milk, and cooking oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture.  Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy).  Fold in apple.

Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in a 400 degree oven, 18-20minutes or until golden.

Potato and Leek Soup

Winter is still here with a vengeance and there is nothing better than a delicious bowl of hot soup.  This is one of our favourites.  This is a Julia Child recipe I found on line.

I must admit I did make some changes, not because I think I can improve on Ms. Child's recipe, but only because I did not have some ingredients and had to substitute.  Regardless, the results were delicious, and I would probably use the same ingredients again.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
4-5 russet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
3 large leeks (1 pound) cleaned and thinly sliced  (I used 2 leeks)
6 cups vegetable or light chicken stock (I used chicken stock)
Kosher salt to taste
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used 1/2 cup plain non fat greek yogurt)
1/2 cup creme fraiche (I used 1/2 cup plain non fat greek yogurt)
1/3 cup minced parsley or chives (I omitted this)

Directions
Heat the oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven, over medium neat.  Add the leek and potato.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have begun to soften and brown slightly, about 8-12 minutes (this time will vary greatly depending on the surface area of the bottom of your pot)

Add the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Blend until smooth either using an immersion blender, or by carefully transferring to a blender in batches.

Add the cream (I added the full cup of yogurt at this point ), season to taste with salt and add lemon juice.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche, and a healthy sprinkling of minced parsley. (I just ladled the soup into the bowls and served as is).

Kimchi Jjigae (Pork and Kimchi Stew)

Returning to the cold and snow and fighting a cold created a strong craving for kimchi.  Luckily I had some kimchi in the refrigerator and some gochujang (Korean chill paste).  I didn't have the gochugaru (Korean chill powder) and had to substitute the pork belly with pork tenderloin, the tofu with potato, the zucchini with carrot, and the green chilies with green pepper.  In view of all the adaptations the stew was delicious and hit the spot.

I am kind of smiling at myself because it sounds like I created a new recipe.  I will however give you the original recipe and you can decide which version you would like to try.  I found the recipe on a site called Closet Cooking.

Of note, Korean food can be extremely hot.  Because of the lack of korean chill powder, my dish was fairly mild but the wonderful flavour of kimchi comes through beautifully.  Al said he preferred potato over the tofu and was happy with that.  Pork belly is more fatty than the tenderloin so we were good with that.  I served this on top of rice.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 pound pork belly cut into bite sized pieces (1 strip pork tenderloin , cut into bite size pieces)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups water
1 cup kimchi cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons gochujang
1 tablespoon gochugaru (omit)
1/2 package tofu, cut into bite sized pieces (1 potato cubed)
1 small onion, sliced
1 cup zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces ( 1 cup carrots, chopped)
2 green chilies, sliced (1 green pepper, chopped)
2 green onions, sliced

Directions
Heat the oil in a large sauce pan.

Add the pork and sauté until it is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the garlic and sauté until it is fragrant, about a minute.

Add the kimchi and water and bring to a boil.

Mix in the gochujang and gochugaru and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the tofu, onion, zucchini and chilies and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the green onions.

Red River Cereal Bread

We have been away from home the past month and one of the things I missed was my homemade bread.  This is my latest favourite based on Red River Cereal first produced in Manitoba in 1924.  It is a mix of cracked wheat, cracked rye and flax and remains popular for its health benefits. I found this recipe in the Winnipeg Free Press.  The only change I made  was to omit the 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  I did try it with the cinnamon, but found it odd.  Plus, Al would not eat it with the cinnamon flavour and kept making fun of it.  The dough is somewhat soft, and it makes two very large loaves. This bread is soft, chewy and keeps well for a number of days.

Ingredients

2 cups Red River Cereal

2 3/4 cups boiling water

2 packs of active dry yeast ( 4 1/2 teaspoons)

1 1/4 cups warm water

1 cup whole wheat bread flour

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3-5 cups white bread flour

Directions
In a large bowl, cover the Red River Cereal with boiling water.  Stir once and let stand 30 minutes. In a measuring cup, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, stir and let stand 2 minutes.(mixture should look a bit frothy).  Add 1 cup whole wheat flour to the cereal and mix.

Add the yeast mixture, and then add canola oil, maple syrup, molasses, brown sugar, salt and stir.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups white bread flour and mix.  Let stand 12 minutes.

Knead dough about 10-12 minutes.  Add in more white bread flour as needed to get the right consistency.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl.Turn the dough to coat in oil.  Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a worm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Gently deflate the dough and then place on a lightly floured work surface.  Divide the dough in two and shape into 2 loaves and place into loaf pans.  Cover with a tea towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 35-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Bake about 30-40 minutes.  remove immediately from pans to cool on a rack.