More on homemade pasta

Well, what d'ya know! Someone else is talking about homemade pasta. I just came across this post at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op. I don't have a pasta machine so I usually cut my noodles in long strips with a pizza cutter. I'm planning to make lasagna sometime this week with homemade noodles. That'll be a first.

Really, making noodles is so very easy. I don't know why I didn't do it before now. Especially since YEARS ago the wife of one of Coty's economics collegues told me that she always made her noodles and that it was easy as could be and the noodles very delicious and nothing like store-bought. But back then I had lots of little people - you know, toddlers and babies - around all the time and I guess the thought of making homemade noodles was overwhelming. But now, it's very relaxing and we do love them. Frances B., you were right. I'm a late comer to the noodle party, but I'm here to stay.

I can't wait to try freezing them as the post above suggests. It would be so easy to double or triple the recipe and freeze a portion. Love that idea.

My new favorite meal

I love this meal. I make it once a week. It is always different and always good. It is simple, delicious, nutritious, and just a bit special so it's also good for company. The meal includes homemade noodles tossed with a mix of sauteed onions, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and some kind of bean and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Add a salad on the side and some of that good homemade bread and it's a very satisfying meal.

I thank my favorite radio cooking show host, Lynne Rosetto Kasper, once again, for a wonderful meal idea, which I, of course, tweaked. My noodle recipe comes from recipezaar. I usually double it.

Last night's noodles were half whole wheat, half white. Next time I'm going for more whole wheat.

Last night's saute included red, yellow, and green peppers, onion, fresh parsley, basil, diced tomatos and fava beans. Very delicious. I make this saute while the noodles cook, drain the noodles and then toss it all together and serve in my big white pasta bowl.

I've done it with chick peas, kidney beans, white beans and variations on the colored pepper theme. I've added garlic, oregano, basil, and parsley. I've used fresh and canned tomatoes. I've added olives, both green and black. It is always delicious. The freshly grated parmesan is so good on top - as Lynne says, it's not the same thing as that dry stuff that comes in the green plastic bottle. Sure isn't. So, if you make this meal, go for the fresh parmesan.

By the way, sherbert, grapes and other fresh fruits, or a plate of assorted dried fruits make a nice dessert to this simple meal.

Enjoy!

How I make bread...a little photo tutorial

The other day, Kandyce asked me for my bread recipe. I have this problem when it comes to recipes. I don't use them too much anymore. When I've done something over and over again, like baking bread, I've modified the technique, adjusted the ingredients, and just done it so many times that the recipe becomes second nature. On top of that, the "recipe" is different almost every time, depending on what I'm feeling like eating, what I have on hand, and what the occasion calls for.

But I would like to help those who want to make some of the things they've enjoyed at my house. So here, dear K, is a little bread tutorial with an approximation of a recipe to get you started. I did measure while I was mixing this time so these amounts are pretty accurate.

Into the bowl of my favorite machine in the whole world, the trusty Magic Mill Mixer, I put:


2 tablespoons yeast (I buy it in bulk at BJ's)
5 cups warm water (not too hot or it'll kill the yeast - just warm to touch)
1 tablespoon salt (I usually measure it in the palm of my hand. For this recipe I poured the salt into the palm of my hand and then measured what was there. It was very close to a tablespoon. Nice to know)
1/2 cup oil (usually canola, sometimes olive)
1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup brown sugar (a note on sweeteners, the yeast needs a little something. Sometimes I use molasses, sometimes honey, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on what I want - a sweet bread like cinnamon raisin bread or something less sweet like rosemary bread)


Into this liquid mix, I add the flour and the Magic Mill does the kneading. The amount of flour depends on whether you are using white, whole wheat or a mix. For the bread above, I used 5 cups of white flour and 5 cups of whole wheat.

After the kneading is done, pour a little oil in the bowl of the mixer and turn the dough to oil it. You can see the oily shine on the dough here. This just keeps it moist and keeps it from sticking to the bowl as it rises. And, see, I really was writing things down while I did it.

Cover and let rise in a warmish place...

Here's the risen dough - it takes close to an hour to double in size.

And here it is, punched down and ready to be turned out onto the floured counter, kneaded a tiny bit more, divided and shaped into loaves. This batch made 5 medium sized loaves. Just the perfect size for slicing with dinner. I often make my loaves a little larger, but I wanted extra to give away so I had more, but smaller, loaves.

Lovely, elastic dough, full of yeasty air bubbles, ready to be kneaded and shaped.

Set the loaves to rise - this usually takes about a half hour for mine - and then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the finished loaves, but they were lovely, golden brown, and delicious....and at least one loaf was quickly devoured.

Now it's your turn. If you want more info on the Magic Mill, take a look here. This is the company that I ordered my mixer from years ago and I have never regretted the large initial expense. The machine has probably paid for itself several times over in what I have saved on really good bread. I've seen Kitchen Aid mixers and I'm sure they are fine, but I think the Magic Mill is a better, simpler, more elegant design, easier to use, easier to clean, larger, etc., etc., etc. No, I don't get a commission. I just love this machine.

My next bread making venture is to learn how to make sprouted grain breads. Any tips?

Back yard salad

We've been eating salads from the garden. Lettuce and spinach that sat in the ground just holding on all winter have grown big and lush with a bit of warmth and spring rain. There is nothing like picking your dinner salad from the back yard.

"The return of comfort"

How to announce the return of comfort and well-being except by cooking something fragrant. This is what her mother always did. After every calamity of any signficance she would fill the atmosphere of the house with the smell of cinnamon rolls or brownies, or with chicken and dumplings, and it would mean, This house has a soul that loves us all, no matter what. It would mean peace if they had fought and amnesty if they had been in trouble. It had meant, You can come down to dinner now, and no one will say a thing to bother you, unless you have forgotten to wash your hands. And her father would offer the grace, inevitable with minor variations, thanking the Lord for all the wonderful faces he saw around his table.
-from Home by Marilynne Robinson

No calamity has befallen us, but I've been in a funk for a couple of days. Today though, the soul of this house said, I love you all and I am very glad you are here.

It said it with fresh, hot, homemade cinnamon rolls in the morning. It said it in the evening with black beans and rice, okra gumbo, corn salsa, roasted butternut squash with rosemary, homemade bread, and berry cobbler. Such fragrances. There is also a chicken simmering in the pot for soup for tomorrow. Noodles will be rolled out and cut for the soup and the house will say, More love to you.

When I spend a day in the kitchen...

feeling pliant dough resist and spread under the rolling pin,
cutting pinwheels of brown sugar and cinnamon filled dough,
chopping onions and peppers to saute and add to,
boiling bright purple-black beans,
measuring spices in the palm of my hand,
brushing olive oil on thick orange squash slices,
snipping cilantro, bay leaves, and rosemary from the garden...

When I spend a day doing these things, I think my family knows that I am "back", so to speak. Earlier this morning, the boys were recalling some other bad mood episodes of mine. They affirmed the truth of the saying, "When Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

Ouch!

Oh dear, I don't want them to remember that. I want them to remember cinnamon rolls and rosemary, bubbling beans and hot bread and think, "My mother loves me so much."

I often say, when complimented on my food, "Well, I can cook."

It's what I do to establish equilibrium, to bless, to bring a measure of comfort, to give tangible expression to the soul of this house, the love of this family, my love. There are many things I can't do. Many things I don't do. But I can cook.

And I will always thank the Lord for the wonderful faces that assemble around my table. Even when we argue or get on each other's nerves, say unkind things or act rudely, when we disagree or misunderstand, when we are grouchy or sarcastic. Because no matter what, we love each other. I don't think any of my children would ever stay away from the table. They know "you can [always] come down to dinner now."

And then, we say grace because we experience grace. In our brokenness. In our funks. At our table. Every day.

______________________
also posted at Ebenezer Stories

Soccer food

Homemade noodles with sauce made as described by Lynne Rosetto Kasper in this recipe.

Here's the noodle recipe from recipezaar. Very easy. I rolled the dough out before church and left it to dry a bit. When I got home, I cut the noodles into long strips with a pizza cutter.

And here's the sauce. First, I sauteed two large onions. When they caramelized, I added four chopped Roma tomatoes, a TBSP each of basil and garlic oil, some dried basil, and two large handfuls of fresh spinach. I did what Lynne suggested and added some of the pasta water to make sauce out of the saute. This simmered for a little while the noodles finished cooking.

Then I drained and poured the noodlesinto a big pasta bowl. I tossed it all with the sauce and a bit of parmesan. Oh boy, it was good! And very easy.

We'll be eating variations of this dish often. I didn't use the beans as in Lynne's recipe but will try that sometime before long.

Tools of the trade

I make biscuits,
light and moist,
just brown on the bottom
with golden tops

Here are my
tools of the trade.

Pastry cutter with
worn wooden handle
and steel tines casting
curving shadows.

Measuring spoons that
dangle from a hook
by the stove
til needed
for baking powder.
My palm suffices for salt.

Rolling pin old friend
with dusting of flour
and squeak, squeak
as it rolls,
even pressure on dough.

And biscuit cutter,
thin handle broken,
so I press carefully,
and shake to release
biscuit discs,
placing each
on the pan,
sides touching.

How many times have
I held tools in hand to
cut in, measure,
roll and cut out.
And baked.

And opened hot biscuit
steam rising,
waiting for butter
and blueberry jam.