The CuisiNerd

It’s after Easter, so the fridge is probably full of leftovers. For lunch today, I made myself a lovely salad of things that are mostly in season:

• Handful of spinach (fresh from the Farmers’ Market)
• 1 Easter egg, sliced
• 2 strawberries, sliced
• some boiled beets (left over from making pink Easter eggs, but you can use canned/pickled beets here)
• feta cheese crumbles
• chopped Canadian bacon (this would be a good use for leftover Easter Ham)

I also forgot to put in some green onions (also fresh from the Farmers’ Market) and some mushrooms.

For a dressing, I continued my quest to emulate the spinach salad dressing from Jack Stack BBQ in Kansas City. I got pretty close this time:

• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 2 Tbsp simple syrup
• pinch ground celery seed
• pinch of salt

So many “recipes” call for a can or two of mushroom soup. Here’s how to make a big batch to freeze so that you’re not a slave to the can opener. It tastes loads better, too.

Makes about 20 cups (equivalent to about a dozen cans of soup).

• 2 pounds mushrooms, chopped
• 1 bundle green onions, chopped
• 1 stick (1/4 lb) butter

Saute the mushrooms and green onions together in as big a frying pan as you can find.

Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, make a cream base by melting the butter, frying the flour (a roux), and adding the liquid.

• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 pint heavy cream (or half and half)
• 2 quarts milk (whole or skim or anywhere in between, up to you!)

as the cream base is coming to a boil and thickening, add the mushrooms and onions, and season to taste with whatever combination of salt, garlic, or pepper that suits your fancy.

As the mixture comes to a boil, it will start thickening. If you’re just looking for soup, you can stop here. If you’re looking for a creamy sauce to use in other recipes, thicken it a little more with some cornstarch:

• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1/4 cup of water

Mix the two until they for a light slurry and then mix into the soup and let boil for a few more minutes.

From here, you can freeze or use it. 1.5 and 3-cup portions work well for recipes, roughly analogous to 1 or 2 cans of the stuff with the red label.

no, this isn’t a birdseed bread – the recipe is simple enough to be tweeted. It’s very versatile and can be used as pizza dough, pita, rolls, sandwich bread, you name it.

This bread is brought to you by the number 3.

3 Cups liquid (some combination of water and milk, lukewarm, under 105°F)

3 Tablespoons sugar (or other sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, or molasses. Don’t use zero-calorie sweeteners here, this is to feed the yeasties, not to sweeten the bread – that’s what jam is for)

3 teaspoons yeast (1 Tablespoon – if using packets, 1 packet is just under a tablespoon and will do fine)

Stir together in a mixing bowl and let sit for a few minutes for the yeast to activate.

Add:

3 teaspoons salt (1 Tablespoon)

3 Tablespoons oil (canola, olive, or butter, any one will do – use less if you want a crispier crust)

3 Cups bread flour or other high-gluten flour

3 Cups whole wheat flour (or other grains in any combination you desire. half WW/half rye works well too. You can also use 3 more cups of bread flour for plain ol’ white bread)

If using a stand mixer, combine together with a dough hook and knead on low speed for 15 minutes (3 times 5!)

If doing this by hand, stir the ingredients together and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is nice and stretchy.

Shape into two (not 3!) loaves (or lots of rolls!) and put in loaf pan

Cover with a towel and rise in a warm spot for an hour (3 times 20!) – you can turn your oven on low (usually 170°F) until heated, then turn the oven off and put the loaves in there to rise.

Bake at 350°F for half an hour (3 times 10!). If rising in the oven, you can just leave them there and turn it on. Start the timer when you turn the oven on)

Variations:

Pita: Divide the dough into 16 pieces and shape into balls, and let rise . Roll them out and bake them on a stone for a few minutes on each side.

Pizza Crust: Just like pita, only with different sized dough balls. Add sauce and toppings and bake at 500°F.

Rolls: Like pita, but skip the part where you make them flat.

2 cups boiling water

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup maple sugar (or other sugar)

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup butter

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon instant active dry yeast

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

combine water, oats, sugar, honey, butter, salt and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and flours and mix.

Knead about 10 minutes by hand, 5-7 minutes by machine until dough is smooth and shiny.

Transfer to greased bowl, cover (not airtight) and allow rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough in half. Shape each half into loaf. Place in greased loaf pans.

Cover pans lightly and allow to rise about 1 hour.

Bake loaves in preheated 360 degree oven for 33 minutes. Remove from oven when golden brown. Allow to cool.

I love this bread recipe. It’s simple, and not much in the way of kneading required.

2 cups lukewarm water

1 cup buttermilk (can be substituted by using 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar then fill with milk to one cup, let sit for 5 minutes or so)

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)

1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt (use 3/4 as much for table salt)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

6 1/2 cups flour (I usually use high-gluten or bread flour for at least half, then whole wheat for the rest)

grease for the pans

1. Mix everything but the flour.

2. mix in the flour without kneading.

3. cover (not airtight) and allow to rise at room temp until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), about 2 hours.

4. Dough can be used immediately after first rise, or put in the refrigerator and used within 7 days.

5. Grease a 9x4x3 in pan. (or, a standard bread pan) Cut and shape the ball to fit the pan by stretching and turning the ends under until in an oval. (Full recipe makes 2 or 3 loafs)

6. Drop the dough into the greased pan. You want the pan to be slightly more than half full.

7. Allow the dough to rise again – 40 minutes for fresh dough, 1 hour, 40 minutes for refrigerated.

8. if using a baking stone, turn the oven on 20 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350.

9. Bake bread near center of oven 45 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Remove from the pan. Allow to cool completely before slicing (if you want nice slices. Or, you can tear into it right away if you don’t mind irregular hunks of yummy, warm bread).