Asian Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

With the cold weather soup is so good and so easy to make.  With no recipe in mind I decided to create one myself so I went to the pantry and pulled out 2 quarts of chicken broth, 1 pint of shredded chicken, wild rice and a bag of Asian vegetables out of the freezer.
I opened the broth and chicken and added to the soup pot and brought to a boil, turned down the heat and added the rice.  Simmered this for about 30 minutes and then added the frozen vegetables and simmered for 10 minutes.  Done and ready to eat, it was very good.
If I had some soy sauce this would have been great in this or even some chow mein noodles    sprinkled on top when served would have been good.  If you don't care for wild rice white rice would also work.  

The ingredients.

My bowl of soup.

The pot of soup.

Ham and Cheese Braid

I'm not sure where I saw this recipe but after reading it I knew I wanted to try it.   The original recipe called for white bread dough but I made it with rye bread dough.  On Christmas morning I mixed up the rye bread dough using the following recipe:

2 teaspoons yeast

2 c unbleached flour

1 c rye flour

1/4 c pumpernickel flour

1/4 c nonfat dry milk powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 to 3 tablespoons caraway seeds

1 1/4 cups warm water

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Whisk together the yeast, flours, milk powder, salt, sugar and seeds in a large mixing bowl.

Add the water and butter, and mix till well-blended.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until it's smooth.  Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise till doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Roll out bread dough to a rectangle about 18 x 24 inches.

Then take: 

1/2 cup softened butter and 1 pkg. of Ranch Dressing Seasoning Mix and mix together.

Spread half of this onto the rolled out dough. (Save the other half for later.)  Top with 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese and lay ham on top of this.  Using a pizza cutter cut strips of dough along both long edges. You'll need an even number of strips on both sides.  

Starting on one short end, fold up the short end over the ham and begin crisscrossing the first two strips on each side:

Continue crisscrossing the strips to cover the entire top of the bread. At the other end, fold up the short end to tuck it under the last set of braided twists.

Spread remaining butter/ranch mix across the top of the braided bread.  Let this rise/rest for 30 minutes.

Bake in 375 degree oven 45 minutes or until bread dough is golden brown.  I tented mine an additional 10 minutes.  Just keep an eye on it.

Serve this warm.

The recipe says this can be froze and stored for up to 4 months. 

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and then wrap in aluminum foil.  Take Ham & Cheese Braid from freezer and allow to thaw in the refrigerator. A hour before baking place on a greased baking sheet and allow to rise on counter.  Bake as directed above.  

This could also be made with turkey using white bread dough or any other meat.
This was a big hit, everyone loved it.   I ate a couple pieces for supper cold and dipped in a little spicy mustard.  Yummy
I made another batch of this bread and made 2 smaller ones and are in the freezer.  

Shredded cheese and the dough after rising for 1 1/2 hours.

Dough spread out and the butter mixture down the center.

Next the cheese was added.

Add some ham and cut strips on the sides, even number of strips are needed.

Fold the end up.

Then take a strip on the right and bring it over the top, then from the left and continue this.

Continue braiding.

Before you get to the other end fold it up like you did at the beginning.

The rest of the butter mixture is then spread on the top.  Make sure you use a cookie sheet with sides as the butter will melt and drip in the oven.

Ready to be cut.

All cut and ready to eat.

Marbled Rye Bread

My very favorite bread is rye and I can't have ham without rye bread.  On Christmas eve morning I made a loaf of marbled rye bread.  I used the same recipe as I did last year and again it turned out perfect.  The recipe I use is from King Arthur's web site and adapted it a little or you could use your favorite recipe.

Marbled Rye Sandwich Bread

3 c Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 c rye flour
3/4 c pumpernickel flour
1/4 c nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 3/4 c warm water

1-2 tablespoon cocoa powder and 1 tsp oil for coloring of half the dough

Combine all of the ingredients except cocoa powder and the 1 tsp oil, stirring until the dough comes together. Knead until smooth, adding additional water or all-purpose flour if needed--the dough should be soft and quite sticky.  Take out half the dough and put in a well oiled bowl.  To the other half add the cocoa powder and 1 tsp oil and knead until combined.  Put the colored dough into the oiled bowl.  Cover and put in a warm place and let rise for about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down and take out the light rye dough and pat out on a sheet of wax paper, then put the colored rye dough on top and pat it out.  Roll tightly and put seam side down on a sheet of parchment paper.  Let this rise for about 1 hour.

Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes (tenting it lightly with aluminum foil). Remove the bread foil, and let the bread bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until it's golden brown on top.  Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing.
Yield: 1 large loaf.

Give me a slice of this bread and a piece of cheese and this makes a wonderful lunch.  In fact I took the heal of the bread and some cheese and it made a good Christmas breakfast.

Marbled rye bread after 1 1/2 hours rise time.

Each half of the dough patted out flat.

All ready to rise again for 1 hour.

Out of oven.

It is as good as it looks.

Bacon Peanut Butter Cookies

Several years ago I came across a cookie recipe that called for bacon so I made it and everyone enjoyed it.  Ian the grandson who lives with us requested a batch last week and I finally got them done today.  The batch made 4 1/2 dozen and I will put some up so we can have them on Christmas day when the kids are here.  You use the bacon fat/grease when making these but you have to let the grease sit until it solidifies.  These would be something that you could start out by frying the bacon and then putting it and the grease in the fridge overnight and make the next morning.  

http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/2140/Bacon_and_Peanut_Butter_Cookies.aspx

Bacon Peanut Butter Cookies

Stuffing Mix

I've been wanting to make some homemade stuffing mix so when we want stuffed pork chops or chicken and dressing we would be able to have it.  So on Thursday I cut up 3 loaves of home made bread and let it sit out overnight.  Then I put 1/3 of the bread cubes into a bowl and stuck them in the dehydrator.  I dried them for about 10 hours stirring them during that time; I did this until all the bread was good and dry.
I was able to get 6 bags and this is the ingredients that went in each bag:

10 oz dry bread cubes
2 Tbsp dried celery
1 Tbsp dried onion
1 Tbsp chicken base
2 tsp sage
1 tsp dried parsley

When we get ready to have some I will add some canned chicken or turkey broth.  This was so easy to make and will taste so good.

6 bags of stuffing.

Homemade stuffing.

Spices/seasonings used.  The celery and onion were some I dehydrated, the sage and chicken base I got at the Amish bulk food store and the parsley I purchased.

Corn Chowder

I made a pot of Corn Chowder, something I haven't had in years.  I used the flowing things:

I cut up about 3 pieces of bacon and browned until almost done then I added 1 chopped medium onion and finished browning the bacon and cooking the onion.  Next I added 1 pint of chopped ham pieces, 1 pint of corn, 1 pint of potatoes cut into cubes, 2 tsp parsley, salt and pepper to taste and 4 cups of milk.  I simmer this for about an hour.   The corn was sweet and the ham had a good smoked flavor which made the soup very good.
Soup for a simple but delicious supper on a cold day.

Corn Chowder

Canning Cranberries

Yesterday I picked up 10 bags of Ocean Spray Cranberries for 99 cents a bag, some cranberry juice, 4 oranges and a can of frozen orange juice.  First batch I made cranberry sauce; and used the following ingredients:
4 bags of cranberries rinsed and bad ones picked out
4 cups of cranberry juice, you can use any liquid you choose
4 cups of sugar

Put the cranberries and liquid in large pan, bring too boil and boil about 10 minutes or until the cranberries are soft.  I then ran them through the food mill to create a sauce, I took the "waste" and ran it back through the mill to make sure nothing went to waste.  Put the sauce back in the pan, added 4 cups  of sugar and returned to a rolling boil for 1 minute.  Cranberries are high in natural pectin so nothing is needed to make it jell.  Put in jars and processed for 15 minutes.  I got 12 half pints and a small bowl for Thanksgiving.

Second batch I made cranberry orange sauce and used the following:
6 bags of cranberries
4 lg oranges
1 lg can of frozen orange juice and then cranberry juice to make 6 cups of liquid
4 cups sugar
6 Tbsp no sugar needed pectin

Washed the oranges and then cut them up in chunks, added the liquid and brought this to a boil and boiled 5 minutes.  Then I added the washed cranberries and cooked this mixture until the cranberries were soft, about 10  minutes.  I put this mixture through the food mill and again ran the "waste" through again to cut down on waste.  Put the sauce back in the pan and added 6 Tbsp of pectin, with the addition of the oranges and orange juice I needed added pectin so it would jell.  Brought this to a boil and then added the sugar, returned to a boil and boiled 1 minute.  Put in jars and processed for 15 minutes.  I got 4 pints, 8 half pints, 3 quarter pints and a nice bowl for Thanksgiving.

Of course I tasted both and both are very good.  For the liquid you can use water, or any flavor of juice.  If you use honey or any other sweetener you will need to add pectin to make it jell.

Cranberries washed and ready to make sauce.

Cooked cranberries going through the Kitchen-Aid food mill.

Ingredients for the cranberry orange sauce.

Cut up oranges with the liquid ready to cook.

This is the waste from 10 bags of cranberries and 4 oranges, not much went to waste.  Feed this to the chickens.

Pectin used for the cranberry orange sauce.

Finished product, cranberry sauce on the left and cranberry orange sauce on the right.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/12/barn-hop-90.html

Vegetable Soup

This week I made a wonderful pot of vegetable soup using ground turkey.  I browned the turkey in a soup pan then added a jar of my mixed soup vegetables, pint of tomatoes, quart of tomato juice and 3 tablespoons of beef base.  The soup had a wonderful tomato taste and was very low in fat.  The turkey used was some of the turkey breasts that I ground last month.  Soup is one of my favorite meals at this time of year, an easy one pan meal.

Turkey Pot Pie

For supper tonight I made a turkey pot pie.  I used a frozen double pie crust that I made last month, 1 pint of shredded turkey, 1/2 pint of yukon gold potatoes and frozen mixed vegetables. In a sauce pan I put in 1 cup of mixed vegetables, pint of shredded turkey, cut up half pint of yukon gold potatoes, a package of turkey gravy mix and 1 cup of water.  I simmered this for 5 minutes and then took another cup of water, added about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, mixed this and added to the pot to thicken the turkey mixture.  Baked at 375 degrees for about 90 minutes, cooled for about 5 minutes and then cut it.  Very good flavor and something different.

1 cup of mixed vegetables.

Potatoes and turkey.

Cut up potatoes.

Turkey mixture after adding cornstarch.

Ready for the oven.

Out of the oven.

Noodles and Pasta Making Day

Up at 4:30 because I couldn't sleep.  Decide I might as well make noodles and pasta since it takes me all day and wanted to get it done.  Made egg noodles, pasta with tomato powder, pasta with vegetable powder and chocolate pasta.
Recipes used:

Egg Noodles               Fettuccine Pasta      Chocolate Pasta
12 eggs                       6 eggs                     6 eggs
2 TBSP cold water     2 tsp olive oil           3 TBSP vegetable oil
4 tsp salt                     2 tsp salt                 1 TBSP vanilla
7-8 c flour                   3 1/2 -4 c flour       pinch salt
                                                                 6 TBSP sugar
                                                                 3/4 c cocoa powder
                                                                 6-7 c flour

I added about 3 TBSP of tomato powder to one batch of pasta.  This summer I had an abundance of cherry tomatoes so I dehydrated some and then put them through the food processor to made tomato powder.  I use it for added flavor to soup and decide to try it in the fettuccine.  I also made some vegetable powder with some of my dehydrated veggies to also add to soups and added about 2 TBSP to a batch of the fettuccine.
I downloaded a free book on my Kindle this summer and found the recipe for the chocolate pasta and thought I would give it a try.
After the noodles and pasta was dry I bagged it up in 8 oz packages and put it in the freezer.  I was able to freeze 8 bags of noodles and 4 bags each of all the pasta.  For supper I made some fettuccine and then cooked up some of the chocolate pasta.  For the fettuccine I opened a pint of chicken and added it to a jar of Alfredo sauce and put in some dehydrated mushrooms, it was wonderful.   For the chocolate pasta I cooked it and drained it.  I opened a can of sour cherries put them in the sauce pan, added 2/3 c sugar and heated until the sugar melted.  I then poured this over the chocolate pasta and put it in the fridge to cool.  The recipe says to serve the chocolate pasta with your favorite sauce and this is what I came up with.

A couple years ago my husband made me this noodle rack.  Used 4 pieces of recycled wood and some dowel rods that were free.  I drape a white table cloth over the back of 2 chairs to cut down on the mess and then put the rack on the back of the chairs. 

Egg noodles drying.

Egg noodles, pasta with vegetable powder, pasta with tomato powder and chocolate pasta drying.

I'm pretty messy.

Egg noodles bagged up and ready to be put in the freezer.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/10/barn-hop-85.html

Canning Beans for White Chicken Chili

One of the things on my never ending list was to get the beans canned for white chicken chili.  Last night I soaked about 7 lbs of beans.  I wanted to use up all my opened bags so I used navy beans, pinto beans and great northern beans.  Rinsed them first thing this morning and added spices.  No recipe just added spices like I was making a pot of the soup.  Boiled this for 1/2 hour and then put it in quart jars and processed for 90 minutes at 11 lbs pressure.  I now have 12 qts and 1 pint & half jar of the beans.  When we get ready to eat this all I have to do is use 1 qt of beans, 1 qt of chicken broth and 1 pt of chicken.  Simmer this for 10 minutes and serve.  I could use turkey broth and turkey pieces with the beans and have white turkey chili.  Both are delicious and simple to make at a minutes notice.

Jars filled with the beans.

Added some of the broth that the beans were cooked in, left a good 1" head space.

Beans cooling.

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/10/barn-hop-85.html