February 10th, 2015 at 09:08 am » Comments (1)

In cold weather I find myself often focused on exploring food – TH likes this most of the time and early on in our decades together starting name the experiments he liked. So I could make a point of remembering what I did. In fact most dinners start with “What are we calling this?”

Inspired by a comment in a recipe group – today’s Passing (and perhaps prevailing context) thoughts.

Whether it is food or fiber work or any other aspect of a culture’s roots I prefer the commonality – the desire to give one’s family “comfort” using the best possible ingredients available and affordable.

Do you honestly think any ancestral home maker would have shunned the use of a food processor? Even and perhaps especially in many ways the Amish use technology – they just prefer people power.

Do you really think your great-great-grandmother would have found it preferable to hand sew a shirt rather than use a sewing machine and then have hours of time to spend on the embroidery or other fine details?

Is it really such a sin to use a circle cutter, rather than laboriously hand cut circles for whatever form of stuffed dough you and your family enjoy?

Are those who oppose machines also opposed to taking advantage of their home freezer to that found can be prepared in advance – meaning “on the day” they will have more time with family instead of alone time in the kitchen?

Quite frankly if they were not open to change and the opportunity to improve on their daily lives, would they have crossed an ocean as did the forebears of so many members of this group and migrate to North America?

No, I believe they would have welcomed the means to have time better used in other ways to provide comfort to the hearts and souls of their family and community.

I believe they would as reading accounts of every day life show, have made decisions based on their economic situation and the value of the “machine” – choosing to work and save for those most beneficial – I don’t have a dedicated machine for every food prep process, but I do have a Kitchen Aid with the specialty attachments that “cost justified” based on frequency of use.

Perhaps that is the tradition we should honor, careful use of our resources and not just acquisition for the sake of “owning”.

Yes, we should honor the past, allowing it to empower us in all ways while at the same time moving forward with respect for what brought us to this point.

February 14th, 2014 at 13:22 pm » Comments (0)

Nut Rolls are one of those things that have many names throughout Eastern Europe – often with slightly different recipes.  According to my sources, the Polish is “strucle z orzechami”  and refers to the traditional Walnut recipe

Our recipe is the one handed on by my Aunt Juel (my dad’s sister) and it is the one most of us in the family use since she is the one who taught us all.  My brothers and I always preferred my version with Pecan with white raisins, but my Dad like Poppyseed and Mom wanted Prune –

So because I keep misplacing Aunt Juel’s version, putting it someplace “safe” like the internet seemed the thing to do.

Someday I might have to take pictures – all the ingredients are in the cupboard and refrig –

Cold Nut Roll Dough

5 C flour (plus enough to get it unsticky as you knead)

4 eggs, beaten

1 lb butter

1 tsp. salt

2 cakes yeast [or packets]

1/2 pt. light cream

Powdered sugar for rolling

* Flavors to mix with Powered Sugar In Filling
Powdered Cinnamon “to taste”
Powdered Vanilla “to taste”
* NOT traditional, just my successful experiments

Desolve yeast in lukewarm cream.
Mix flour and butter as for pie crust.
Combine eggs, salt, yeast and cream
Gradually add “wet” mix to the flour/butter
Mix really well, you may have to add a little more flour to get the right dough consistency
Roll in powdered sugar.
Will make 6 nut rolls. [
Divide in 6-8 parts and chill dough overnight before rolling

Filling

5 cups of coarse ground nuts and
2.5 cups of sugar.
Mix together.
(I like to include about 1/2-1/3 cup of white raisins lightly coated with powdered sugar & cinnamon or vanilla or both makes it easier to get them to mix into the nuts evenly instead of clumping together and adds another layer of flavors)

Remove one piece of chilled dough
at a time from the refrigerator, keeping the rest chilled.

Roll out that one into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.

Spread one sixth to one-eighth of the filling onto the dough and roll it up, jelly-roll style.

Put on ungreased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper while you do the rest.
DO NOT Have sheet sitting on stove where oven is preheating

Bake 30-35 minutes in 325 degree oven.

This includes notes from Ceil – she makes them smaller.

With thanks to Jennifer Eggers for sharing her notes

Wheat’s Notes: My dad loved the Poppy seed and my mom wanted the prune – somewhere along the line I lost their instructions for making it “from scratch”. It turns out that you can buy pretty much the right amount of Prune or Poppy seed “filling” for a small roll when mixed with stiffened egg white – Look for the Solo Brand in the stupid market baking aisle – that was the one they always said tasted best.

Have tried apple pie filling, with white raisins dusted in flour in hopes of making it a bit less “juicey” resulting in soggy crust. but this dough can be used in a pie pan, weighted and pre-baked for a maybe 5-6 minutes and then bake according to the instructions for pie filling. We like the no sugar added. I do add a LOT more cinnamon/apple pie spice, but then I tend to treat cinnamon like a food group

October 3rd, 2013 at 11:58 am » Comments (2)

It may well be that Scrapple and Laws are not something for the faint of heart to watch being made….

But sausage in all sorts of variations is a whole other story and it is relatively easy to make.

This is a combination of a recipe from an aunt and my own “experiments” over the years.

It is REALLY Helpful to have an attachment for your grinder to stuff the casing but you can use a pastry bag (you will probably only do this once) They do have reasonably price hand cranked units. Check places like Cabella’s and other serious hunting stores – they often have equipment for processing your own meat.

Fortunately if you live in an area where butchers still exist – and better yet process locally harvested animals, finidng casings is possible without mail order. These places also often offer the sometimes difficult to find spices for sale.

Apparently Bullock’s on Sykesville Rd does and will grind meat to the proper texture – and has the casings, now just have to take and ride and see what other goodies might be hiding in their Meat market section

So let the sausage making begin –

5 lbs pork shoulder, cut away all but about 15-20% of the fat – you can make it leaner but remember fat is where the favor is.
The “boneless” spare ribs they have in value paks at Safeway are often abou t the right weight and easier to cut into small cubes Safeway often has this on sale.

1 tablespoon salt (4 teaspoons if using kosher salt)
know some people need to reduce sodium but it really is needed in sausage

12-15 cloves of crushed fresh garlic
I have used the roasted garlic in oil you can buy in the stupid market
about 3 tbsp – crushed with flat of knife

DRY SPICE MIX:
2 tablespoons whole mustard seed
/\ I sub with 1 tbs whole and 1 tbsp coarse ground NOT mustard POWDER
1 tbl marjoram
1 tbl paprika
1 tbl black pepper (fresh ground is always best)
1 tsp ground celery seed
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp thyme (I often leave this out, just not a fan of thyme but Aunt J had it in her recipe – try it both ways )

Cut the pork into SMALL cubes Refrigerate about 1 hour

Mix garlic and dry spices

Mix evenly through out the pork

Refrigerate an hour or so until “firm” before trying to stuff into casings for smoking

You can freeze either fresh or smoked in well sealed package for a month or two wihtout losing too much of the flavor.

Let it sit over night in the a tightly sealed container (glass is preferred) over night so the spice flavor can work its way thru.

of you have a smoker, you may want to smoke before freezing,

Indirect grilling can add a nice smoky flavor – especially if you add some wet wood to create some smoke flavor.

I have been know to brown like ground beef after it has been in the refrig over night so that the spice flavors blend into the meat. and mix with farmer cheese to use in pierogies,

If you going to make patties for a sandwich, you may want to mix in a egg before shaping into patties to help it “hold together” Personally I much prefer the flavor grilling adds and it is definitely healthier than pan frying

This recipe also works with with Deer, but you may have to add some pork fat back or it will be too dry.

Always cook food containing eggs thoroughtly –

Change the dry spice mix for other flavor profiles.

Enjoy The Making & Eating

Wheat