Making bread, chicken stew
As autumn approaches, harvest comes to a close, the colored leaves fall to the ground and the nights are filled with crisp fresh air. Replacing the cold plates that satisfied us on warm summer days are the warm meals that become the staple at the fall dinner table.
Meals such as stew and homemade bread come to mind. A.V., Davidson, Sask., wrote requesting some bread machine recipes, and this gave me an opportunity to share some of my favorites.
Whole wheat bread
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11Ú3 cups milk 325 mL
1Ú3 cup honey 75 mL
3 tablespoons 50 mL
butter
2 tablespoons sugar 30 mL
11Ú2 teaspoons salt 7 mL
3 cups whole 750 mL
wheat flour
1Ú4 cup cornmeal 50 mL
2-3 teaspoons 10-15 mL
quick-rising dry
yeast
In the order listed, measure ingredients into baking pan.
Insert baking pan securely into baking unit, close the lid. Select bread setting.
Yield: one loaf.
Raisin bread
11Ú4 cups milk 300 mL
2 tablespoons 30 mL
brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter 30 mL
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
1 teaspoon cinnamon 5 mL
31Ú2 cups white 875 mL
bread flour
3Ú4 cup raisins 175 mL
2-3 teaspoons 10-15 mL
quick-rising dry
yeast
In the order listed, measure all ingredients into baking pan.
Insert baking pan into baking unit, close the lid. Select setting.
Yield: one loaf.
Note: For whole raisins in the bread, add the fruit after the first kneading or at the beep on the fruit and nut setting – depending on the make of your bread maker.
Really good basic bread
1Ú2 cup warm water 125 mL
1Ú2 cup milk 125 mL
1 tablespoon 15 mL
granulated sugar
1 tablespoon 15 mL
cubed butter
1Ú2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
3 cups all- 750 mL
purpose flour
11Ú4 teaspoons 6 mL
quick-rising dry
yeast
In the order listed, add ingredients into the baking pan. Insert baking pan into the unit, and close the lid. Select the setting.
Yield: one loaf.
I make all three of the preceeding recipes and find them delicious. The aroma that fills the house while they are baking is second to none. The really good basic bread recipe comes from a new publication called Canadian Living’s Best Bread & Pizza Recipes, a collection of more than 100 delicious homemade breads, bagels, baguettes, flatbreads, pizzas and more. This book is a welcome addition to any cookbook collection and is available in bookstores now.
Another breadmaking resource that I find helpful is Electric Bread, by Suzan Nightingale, published by Innovative Cooking Enterprises.
To accompany the bread, try a chicken stew recipe from the Company’s Coming Slow Cooker Recipes by Jean Pare. This book is designed for today’s busy lifestyles.
Chicken stew
4 medium potatoes, 4
cut bite-sized
4 medium carrots 4
cut bite-sized
11Ú4 cups chopped onion 300 mL
11Ú4 pounds boneless, 560 g
skinless chicken
thighs (or drumsticks),
cut bite-sized
2 cups hot water 500 mL
1 tablespoon 15 mL
chicken bouillon powder
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
1Ú4 teaspoon pepper 1 mL
1Ú4 teaspoon ground 1 mL
thyme
Layer potato, carrot and onion in a five-quart (five litre) slow cooker.
Lay chicken thighs on top.
Stir dry ingredients into hot water, and pour over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 41Ú2 to five hours. Serves six.
Choose your favorite bread recipe, serve it with some nice steamy stew and take the opportunity to call your family or friends together for some good conversation and a great meal.
National Family Week
This year Canada Celebrates National Family Week from Oct. 5-11. An interesting insert was added to the 1998 Old Farmers Almanac – Good Cook’s Companion that I thought was appropriate to mention in connection to the upcoming week, and to the previous recipes.
Exploring family dining trends, a survey commissioned by the Pffaltzgraff Company found that 33 percent of respondents chose gathering together at the dinner table as the most important way to strengthen family ties.
However, the survey also turned up the top 10 worst dinner-time offences:
- Arguing.
- Reading.
- Accepting phone calls that can wait.
- Feeding a pet from the plate.
- Watching TV.
- Eating fast or rushing the meal.
- Leaving the table before everyone else is finished.
- Inappropriate jokes and horseplay.
- Complaining about work or school.
- Discussing politics.
Let’s use this mealtime information to make our time at the dinner table a positive experience.
For more information on National Family Week, call Family Service Canada at 1-613-722-9006.
Gourd world
We cannot consume those colorful fall fruits called gourds, but they sure are eye-catching when displayed on a mantel, used in a craft project, or in a wooden bowl for a Thanksgiving centerpiece. Children also love these odd-looking objects and are fascinated by their presence in a garden patch.
Gourds are more than kids’ stuff, and historically in their native Africa they were used to make cups, spoons, dippers, bowls and storage containers. Once reaching Mexico, they were even fashioned into musical maracas after they had been dried.
Ornamentals should be harvested as soon as they ripen or they will begin to fade. To gauge if a gourd is ready for plucking, look at the tendril (connecting stem) alongside each gourd.
If the tendril is brown and withered, the fruit is ripe. Always harvest gourds with some of their stem attached for easy handling and a charming look.
Apply disinfectant
To ensure a long life, dry gourds on a rack in a well-ventilated room to allow them to cure. Ornamentals should be washed in a nonbleaching disinfectant, such as vinegar and water.
After drying for about a week, gourds may be waxed, although some just leave them as they are. Shellac is occasionally used as well. A thoroughly dried gourd will be as light as a feather. A gentle scrubbing with steel wool and soapy water should remove any remaining rough spots.
To make a birdhouse suitable for purple martins, wrens, swallows or chickadees, cure a fairly large gourd, then drill a hole from 2.5 – 8 centimetres wide on one side.
Drill two or three small holes in the base for drainage and two holes at the neck for a hanging wire or string to be threaded. Birdhouses treated to a coat of varnish will last more than one season.
