SOURDOUGH CORNBREAD

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This is a double batch in a 9×13-inch pan. We really like cornbread!

There are two ingredients I am especially fond of. One is sourdough starter and the other is cornmeal. And when I put them together it’s like sunshine in my mouth.

Now I have to admit, sourdough cornbread might not be for everyone. You really have to like the tanginess of sourdough to enjoy it in cornbread. But for those of you who do prize a good sourdough “anything”, this is a recipe you are going to enjoy preparing and eating over and over again. First of all, this cornbread is stinkin’ easy to build. No fancy ingredients required. Don’t even have to get out your mixer. Just stir a few ingredients together, pour the mess in a pan, and throw it in the oven. Bam. You’re done!

And what do you get for this tiny bit of effort? Well, you get a very moist and delicious cornbread that can be eaten for breakfast slathered with butter and honey. Or for lunch with a nice bowl of soup or chili. Or for dinner as an accompaniment to just about anything you wish to serve it with. To my thinking, the definition of cornbread should read “a very versatile bread that can be eaten with every meal”. Pretty much sums it up!

Anyway, we love this cornbread and hope you enjoy it too. Plus it’s one more way to use up your sourdough discard.

So as always – have fun in your kitchen, keep trying new dishes with which to thrill and delight your family, and remember to pat yourself on the back once in a while for a job well done. Life is not easy right now. And good food is probably more important than ever. If nothing else, it’s something for the whole family to look forward to 3 times a day. (Plus treats in-between of course!)

And for all you foodies out there, my dear friend Vicki had been bugging me for weeks to watch a Netflix documentary entitled Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat with Samin Nosrat. Since Mr. C. and I are avid readers, we hardly ever watch TV unless it’s an old British comedy or murder mystery. Even then, only very occasionally. So Vicki had to practically twist my arm to get me to watch this program.

So I decided last night I would watch a bit of it just before bed so that I could talk intelligently with Vicki about the series. Well, two episodes later and well past my bedtime, I was enchanted by both Samin (passionate foodie, chef, and food writer), the foods and countries she visited, and can’t wait to view the other two episodes this evening. Then I plan to watch them again! So much to learn. So little time.  

So if you find yourself with a bit of time, I recommend you turn on your TV and set yourself down with a nice glass of wine, and prepare to truly be entertained. And educated. And possibly enchanted the way I was.

And as always, thank you Vicki for both your friendship and your persistence. I absolutely love the series and hope to incorporate what I am learning into all of my future culinary endeavors.

¾ c. sourdough starter discard

½ c. whole milk  

¼ c. (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 lg. egg

3 T. honey  

¾ c. fine ground cornmeal

¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. fine sea salt

Whisk the sourdough starter, milk, melted butter, egg, and honey together in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Don’t over mix. The batter will resemble thick pancake batter.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel, and leave at room temperature for three to four hours (no more than 4). 

When the batter has finished resting, thoroughly coat an 8-inch baking pan with butter.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the pan. Or better yet, take its temperature with an instant-read thermometer. Cornbread is perfect when the temperature reads 195 degrees.

Remove from oven and enjoy hot out of the oven or allowed to cool completely and then warmed slightly in your microwave before serving.

And yes, many people bake cornbread in a cast iron skillet. I prefer a tender crust on my cornbread, but of course you can use a small cast iron skillet if that is your preference. This recipe doubles beautifully.    

 

WHOLE WHEAT SOURDOUGH SANDWICH BREAD (no added yeast)

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OK, I call this whole wheat bread, but it isn’t made with all whole wheat flour. I tried that, and the bread was fine, but just a little too hearty (and healthy) for my taste. However, I did provide the recipe at the bottom of this post for those of you who are purists. But be advised, the 100% whole wheat bread is not for the faint of heart. But it will certainly help you towards your whole wheat badge from the local chapter of the “Indigenous Granola Eaters of America” food club. So there’s always that to consider! But back to this recipe.

First thing I need to admit is that I gave up looking for whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread recipes on the internet. Just plain couldn’t find any recipes that matched what I was looking for. So, being the stubborn pig-headed baker that I am, I winged it based on the 100% whole wheat recipe you find below. And believe me, any resemblance in the recipe for this bread you find below, to what I had originally written out, is mere coincidence. Nothing I assumed would happen, did. Every failure I thought I had created, wasn’t. The final product, that I had prepared myself to throw in the garbage, didn’t get tossed. The bread was actually really good.

The crumb was perfect for sandwiches. The crust was crunchy and would stand up to being stuffed into a sandwich bag. And toasted, then slathered with peanut butter and jam – well just plain yummy. Enough whole wheat and sourdough flavor to bring happiness in every bite. And although the dough required an overnight rise, the required steps to be performed the next day were very easy to accomplish. So all in all – I’m very pleased and will be making this bread for years to come.

If nothing else, this pandemic has forced me to bake bread on a full time basis. And I am truly looking forward to building our daily bread for as long as I can scoop flour out of a container and turn my KitchenAid mixer on go.

So to all my fellow bread bakers, I suggest you make this simple bread for your family. And as always – peace, love, and happy thoughts coming your way from Chez Carr.  

1 c. sourdough starter discard, room temperature

1 c. slightly warm water   

2 T. honey

2 tsp. molasses

2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature (in other words, very soft) 

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 c. whole wheat flour

2-2½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour     

Mix room temperature sourdough starter discard, water, honey, molasses, butter, and salt together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the whole wheat flour and mix with your dough hook. Add enough of the all-purpose flour until the dough doesn’t stick to the side of mixer bowl but much of it remain stuck to the bottom of the mixing bowl. The dough should be a little tacky, but not sticky. (You won’t be able to roll this dough into a ball like you would with most bread doughs. It will not keep a shape. It’s a very soft dough.) Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough sit for 12-18 hours.

Punch down the dough, then scoop it into a lightly greased 9×5-inch loaf pan. Pat the dough into the corners of the pan and as flat as possible. Cover with plastic wrap that has been lightly greased. Allow to rise for about 1 hour. About 30 minutes before you are ready to bake the bread, pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. Remove from the oven and carefully turn out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.

Note: There is a lot of information about sourdough starters on line these days. Great information, but some of it paints a sourdough starter as just a little too precious for me to handle. I’m of the KISS principle. (Keep It Simple Sister) Especially since I only use my starter 2 or 3 times a week. I consider a sourdough starter as simply an ingredient, not an honored guest in my home. Yes it must be fed regularly because it contains living fungus – Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (At least my starter does, because I used active dry yeast to start my starter.) But feeding it twice daily as some references would suggest? Not this kid. Plus I insist that I be able to use my sourdough starter any old time I want, regardless of whether it has been recently “fed” or has happily been residing in my refrigerator as discard for the last 7 days! So most of my recipes are based on a very liquidy starter that has come straight from the fridge. In this recipe however, please let the un-fed starter (discard) come to room temperature before adding additional ingredients.

Because there is so much I don’t know about sourdough starters, I have adopted the following simple rules as the guideline for my own recipes:

When a recipe calls for fed sourdough starter, it means flour and water have been added to my existing sourdough starter within the last 12-18 hours and the starter has been left to sit at room temperature overnight.  

A recipe that calls for sourdough discard means the sourdough starter has been languishing in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours after being fed and has gotten quite liquidy. It looks weak and dormant, with maybe a bit of liquid floating on top.

If my recipes don’t specify FED or DISCARD, it just means that you will need to adjust the amount of flour you use proportional to how thick or thin your starter is to begin with. Always start with smaller amounts of flour than listed and add flour as needed.   

SOURDOUGH WHOLE WHEAT SANDWICH BREAD (no added yeast) – from the holycowvegan.net site

 

1 c. sourdough starter discard

1 c. slightly warm water  

2 tsp. molasses

2½-3 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

vegetable oil

Place the sourdough starter discard in the bowl of your stand mixer, along with the water, molasses, and 1 cup of the whole wheat flour. Mix well, cover, and let stand overnight.

The next morning, add the salt, vinegar, and 1 cup of flour. Using your dough hook, mix in enough additional flour to produce a dough that feels sticky, but doesn’t really stick to the sides of the bowl. Continue kneading for about 5 more minutes. You want a supple, smooth ball of dough that’s not too firm.

Pour a little of the vegetable oil into the bowl. Using your hands, roll the dough into a ball that is lightly coated with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for two hours or until doubled.

Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. When the dough is ready, punch it down, shape, and place it in the prepared pan. (To shape the dough, tuck about a third of the dough under from the right, then tuck another third under from the left, and then tuck in both ends. Then gently pat/finesse the dough into the corners. The dough is basically flat at this point.)  

Cover the dough loosely with a light weight tea towel and let rise for two hours. About 30 minutes before you are ready to bake the bread, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees.  

Remove from oven and carefully turn out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing. 

   

LEFTOVER SALMON PATTIES

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Since we are not drifting into our local grocery stores on Camano Island and in Stanwood with any regularity or alacrity right now, I asked Mr. C. to pick up a double portion of fresh salmon when he made our last grocery run. Dutifully performed, I prepared all of the salmon he brought home using my tried and true, can’t get much easier, lazy cooks method for rendering salmon (or any firm-flesh seafood) beautifully tender and succulent. (Recipe below.)

I had a hankering for both salmon fillets and for salmon patties. So Wednesday night I served pan fried salmon, coleslaw, and leftover Oven Roasted Yukon Gold and Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Sage Leaves. (Recipe on site)

Last night I used the remaining cooked salmon to prepare salmon patties, and served them with the leftover coleslaw from the night before, and a baked sweet potato split between us. (See a pattern here with leftovers? Believe me, this is not the norm in our kitchen.) Anyway, I found the recipe for these salmon patties on the Natasha’s Kitchen site. (Terrific food site BTW) Although I already have a great recipe (Salmon Cakes) on this site, it just looked like too much work yesterday afternoon. Plus I always like to try new recipes.

We both really enjoyed the salmon patties. They were perfectly seasoned and not at all dry. Also in their favor was the fact that they had been easy to form and stayed together very well while they were being cooked. (Doesn’t always happen when making patties – of any kind!) And because these patties were so delicious, and they had been so easy to prepare, I highly recommend treating your family to a salmon pattie dinner in the very near future. Now all I have to do is figure out what to serve with my leftover salmon patties. And the beat goes on…..

As always, stay safe, stay connected, and stay happy. Peace and love to all.

3 T. extra virgin olive oil, divided

3 T. unsalted butter, divided

¾ c. finely minced onion

½ c. finely diced red, yellow, or orange bell pepper (or combination)   

2 lg. eggs

3 T. mayonnaise

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. granulated garlic

¼ tsp. seasoned salt

freshly ground black pepper

¼ c. minced fresh parsley

1 c. Panko bread crumbs    

¾ -1 lb. cooked salmon, flaked

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large fry pan. Add the diced onion and bell pepper. Sauté until the veggies are softened. Remove from heat and cool.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, granulated garlic, seasoned salt, pepper, and parsley together in a mixing bowl.

Add the cooled veggies (don’t wash the pan), along with the Panko bread crumbs, and salmon to the egg mixture. Stir well to combine ingredients.

Using a large ice cream scoop, place formed patties on a wax paper lined platter or baking sheet. Press down slightly to flatten the patties. Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours before cooking.   

Heat another tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in the saved fry pan over medium heat. Add the salmon patties and sauté 3½ to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown and hot. (If salmon patties brown too quickly, reduce heat.) Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Add remaining olive oil and butter as required. Serve hot with your favorite tartar sauce or mayonnaise.

PAN FRIED SALMON FILLETS WITH LEMON AND CAPERS

1-1½ lb. salmon fillets, bones removed and at room temperature  

fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

3 T. unsalted butter

1 tsp. lemon zest

3 T. fresh lemon juice, or more to taste

3 T. capers, drained

Lightly sprinkle the flesh side of each piece of salmon with salt and pepper.      

Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and capers.

Place the salmon fillets, skin side up in pan. Cook over medium heat until slightly brown, about 4 minutes. Turn the fish with a spatula, and cook just until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees at the thickest part of the salmon. Remove from heat, and pour the pan juices, including capers, over each piece of fish. Serve immediately. Or as in this recipe, allow the salmon to cool, then refrigerate until ready to assemble the salmon patties.

  

CREAMY PESTO, SPINACH, AND LEFTOVER CHICKEN PASTA

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The other evening I was hungry for pasta. Mr. C. had just been to our local grocery store and brought home a bag of living potted basil and I still had some leftover chicken from the roasted chicken I had fixed a couple nights before. (Search Brined Oven Roasted Whole Chicken if you want to read about the chicken I used in this recipe.) So I thought to myself, a pasta dish with pesto and cooked chicken might just make for a pretty darn good meal. So to my computer I scurried in search of the perfect pasta recipe.

Based on a recipe I found on the budgetbytes.com site, I fashioned this dish to accommodate the ingredients I not only had on hand, but I knew we would both enjoy. But I over-achieved. The pasta was very flavorful, but a bit too rich for our older metabolisms. So the recipe you find below is the result of the cut-backs I made in behalf of all of our digestive tracts!

I reduced the amount of pesto I used originally (pesto is actually very rich), substituted whole milk for heavy cream, and said good-by to any sign of cream cheese in the mixture. I also decided that next time I served this pasta dish, there would be no extra Parmesan on the table. Simply not necessary. (The girl can learn!)

Now that I have dissed this dish to the point where you have probably decided it will never grace your dining table, let me tell you how good it is. Seriously, we really liked the flavor, it was fairly simple to prepare, and a very good way to use up leftover chicken. The first iteration was simply too rich for our older tummies. So don’t be afraid. If you love pesto, perfectly cooked pasta, and chicken – you are going to love this dish. Scouts honor!

Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and always remember these sage words from Tom Lehrer. “Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.”  So play on dear readers, play on!

¾ c. mashed down fresh basil, plus more for garnish

½ c. finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 lg. garlic clove, minced, divided

4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 T. unsalted butter

¼ c. finely chopped onion

½ c. chicken broth

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 c. whole milk

2 lightly packed c. chopped fresh spinach

8 oz. penne pasta cooked al dente (save some of the water)

1-2 c. bite sized pieces of cooked chicken breasts or thighs

For the pesto: Combine the basil, ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese, half of the minced garlic, and olive oil in a food processor. Whirl until the basil is chopped. (You don’t want to make a paste.) Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large fry pan. Add the onion and sauté until soft. Add the remaining minced garlic; cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth and cook until the pan is almost dry. Add the salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, milk, and pesto. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens a bit. Add the remaining ¼ cup of grated Parmesan and stir until combined.

Add the spinach, al dente pasta, and cooked chicken. Cook until the spinach is wilted and the chicken is hot. If the sauce appears dry, add a bit of the pasta cooking water. Taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately.

Note: as always – don’t cook your pasta ahead of time. Pasta is absolutely at its very best when you have cooked it just until al dente, transferred it directly to the sauce with a slotted spoon, and taken big bites of it within a few short minutes. You just gotta trust me on this.

SOURDOUGH COFFEE CAKE WITH SUNKEN WALNUT TOPPING

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OK, when I started my written ramblings in a recent post about rhubarb muffins, I stated that I wasn’t particularly enamored with either muffins or coffee cake because I often found them too dry. But in my quest to supply you with a superfluity of recipes that contain a sourdough starter, I stumbled upon some recipes for sourdough coffee cake. So I gave out a loud sigh, bit the bullet, and cobbled this recipe together.

Now in all honesty, I wasn’t expecting very much from this venture. But surprise, surprise. This coffee cake is one of the best baked goods I have ever made. It’s moist, delicious, crunchy, not too sweet, and just about everything you could ask for in a breakfast treat. And yes, I like to make our breakfasts as delicious and well planned out as our dinners. I enjoy changing things up a bit every morning by serving a variety of breakfast meats (not all in the same meal you realize), Greek yogurt, homemade granola or cereal, different kinds of home-baked items containing gluten, and fresh fruit. We almost always have an over-easy egg, but that’s about the only constant at the Carr breakfast table. I just happen to believe it’s important to start the day with a hearty and delicious breakfast. Kind of sets the tone for the whole day.

Anyway, my point is that breakfast is important. That variety, even at the breakfast table when all in attendance might not even be fully awake yet, can make a difference in setting their (and your own) mood meter on positive rather than towards the other end of the scale. I’m not saying that everything will be perfect if you serve your family a nice breakfast. But it sure as heck can’t hurt!

So to all of you for whom breakfast is your responsibility, I salute you. It’s not easy being creative when you’re still half asleep. I know. When I was a single working mom, with three kids to feed, a hot breakfast was on the table every weekday morning promptly at 7:15 a.m. OK, it wasn’t fancy, but it was hot and nourishing. And it was a constant in my kid’s lives. And that was very important. Mom = love = safety = food = shelter = emotional security. (BTW, I did feed the kids breakfast on weekends too. They were just more elaborate meals and served much later than 7:15 in the stinkin’ morning!)

As always, keep fixing great food for yourself and your family, keep trying new recipes, and don’t forget to take time out for yourself whenever you get the opportunity. You deserve a break as much as anyone. Probably even more when it comes right down to it!  

Topping:

4 tsp. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ c. brown sugar, packed

unsalted butter (I cut off the third cup of butter I need for the coffee cake batter, and simply use the rest of the stick for this topping.)  

½ c. chopped walnuts

Using your fingers, mix all of the topping ingredients together. Set aside while you prepare the cake batter.

Coffee Cake:

1 c. sourdough starter discard, room temperature

1/3 c. semi-melted butter (I only nuke until some of the butter has melted and the rest is just very, very soft.)

1 egg  

½ tsp. vanilla

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (remember to fluff the flour)

½ c. granulated sugar

¼ c. brown sugar, packed

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

Whisk the sourdough starter, semi-melted butter, egg, and vanilla together. Whisk the flour, sugars, salt, soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until combined. Scoop dough into a lightly greased 9-inch square or 11×7-inch rectangular pan. Even off the top as much as possible. Sprinkle topping evenly over the batter.

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. (A toothpick stuck into the coffee cake should come out clean.) Do not overbake. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before serving. Warm slightly if serving the next day.

A note about sourdough starters:

There is a lot of information about sourdough starters on line these days. Great information, but some of it paints a sourdough starter as just a little too precious for me to handle. I’m of the KISS (Keep It Simple Sister) principle. Especially since I only use my starter 2 or 3 times a week. I consider a sourdough starter as simply an ingredient, not an honored guest in my home. Yes it must be fed regularly because it contains living fungus – Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (At least my starter does, because I used active dry yeast to start my starter.) But feeding it twice daily as some references would suggest? Not this kid. Plus I insist that I be able to use my sourdough starter any old time I want, regardless of whether it has been recently “fed” or has happily been residing in my refrigerator for the last 7 days!

So most of my recipes, like this one, are based on a very liquidy, not just fed starter (often referred to as “discard”) that has come straight from the fridge. In this recipe however, please allow the starter to come to room temperature before adding other ingredients.

 

   

OVEN ROASTED YUKON GOLD AND SWEET POTATOES WITH FRESH SAGE LEAVES

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Now I realize you all know how to roast potatoes. But the other evening I wanted a simple veggie side dish to go with roasted chicken. (I really would have preferred serving the chicken with dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. But I am endeavoring to refrain from routinely serving our treasured favorites, like dressing and gravy, in favor of healthier substitutes.)  

So armed with good intentions and 2 Yukon gold potatoes that really needed to be used, and two small sweet potatoes that had arrived in our last farm basket, I prepared this dish.

I found the recipe on the epicurious site. And since I have a culinary sage bush in my yard about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, I decided using a few of the leaves was inconsequential to the well-being of the plant. (Actually the plant is practically indestructible and bees absolutely love the purple flowers. So it’s a great addition to our herb garden.) But back to this recipe.

What a delightful way to feature potatoes. And healthy to boot! And the sage leaves, although they really don’t flavor the potatoes, are never-the-less a nice little crunch in contrast to the creaminess of the potatoes. And no the sage leaves do not taste burned, even though they appear dark and desiccated. Actually, yum is all I can say to describe this dish. And it is ever so easy to prepare. And absolutely perfect with roast chicken. I added a crunchy English cucumber salad to the menu, and dinner was proclaimed a success.

So if you too are trying to feature healthier versions of your favorite potato dishes, I invite you to try this recipe. Mixing sweet potatoes which are highly nutritious, in with regular potatoes, just makes good sense from every standpoint.

As always – happy trails to you, until we meet again……  

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 sweet potatoes (the darker the flesh the better), peeled and cut into ¾-inch cubes

2 med. sized Yukon gold potatoes, skins on or off, and cut into ¾-inch cubes  

25-30 fresh sage leaves

1 tsp. kosher salt, or more as seems appropriate

freshly ground black pepper

Combine the olive oil, potatoes, and sage leaves on a large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with the salt and plenty of black pepper.

Roast in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are tender and browned around edges. Stir once during the baking time. Serve warm or at room temperature.

BRINED OVEN ROASTED WHOLE CHICKEN

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Several weeks ago, I read that there might be a shortage of chickens coming down the pike. So I decided to be proactive and order a “couple” whole chickens, some boneless skinless breasts, and some boneless skinless thighs from a local custom meat packer. Great, no problem. I ordered, Mr. C. picked up the order, and we tucked our newly purchased provisions safely into our freezer. Feeling terribly smug for being so on top of things, I conveniently forgot about the whole chickens until the day before yesterday. (I hardly ever bake a whole chicken, so I don’t usually buy whole chickens. But for some unknown reason, I must have felt that in so doing so, I was being especially well organized pre-planning for every eventuality.) And I was right! However, the eventuality turned out to be that I would completely forget about these whole birds until my memory was jogged by looking at a piece of paper.

You see, Mr. C., being the well-organized person that he is, actually keeps a list of the contents of our freezer. And there on the list under the heading “Chicken” appeared the words Whole Chickens – 4. Four?!?! What in the heck had I been thinking when I placed my order? A mini Armageddon was imminent? Chickens everywhere would be escaping their confines and running amuck in the suburbs? What?? I could understand me ordering 1 whole chicken. Maybe even two. But four? Crazy! Anyway, I decided after checking the list that perhaps I’d better get on the stick and actually use one of the chickens I had so zealously ordered. So that’s just what I did.

Now I am a great fan of brining or salt (dry) brining whole turkeys. And I had read that brining chickens also insured succulent meat. So off I went to research recipes. And this brining recipe that I found on the dinneratthezoo.com site is absolutely perfect. The chicken skin browned beautifully and was super delicious, and the meat was tender, juicy, and flavorful. Everything anyone could ask for in a baked chicken. (Tonight some of the chicken breast meat is going to be featured in a chicken Caesar salad. Yum. I can hardly wait!)

So next time you want to bake a whole chicken, give this recipe a try. It does require that you start the process the day before you plan to eat the bird. But it’s worth the effort. And because we enjoyed the chicken so much last evening, I am truly glad I have 3 more whole birdies in my freezer. So maybe I wasn’t so crazy after all. Only time will tell.

So as always, stay safe, stay sane, and make a difference. I leave you with this quote from Maya Angelou:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.

I know why the caged bird sings.

Nothing will work unless you do.

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lines. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise.”

Brining the Chicken:

8 c. water

½ c. kosher salt (do not use table salt)

¼ c. honey

3 dried bay leaves

5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped   

1 T. whole black or multi-colored peppercorns

3 sprigs fresh rosemary or 2 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves or ½ tsp. dried thyme leaves

1 T. chopped fresh parsley or 1 tsp. dried

2 lemons sliced

3-4 lb. whole chicken (as much fat removed as possible)

Place the water, salt, honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and lemon slices in a large nonreactive pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 3-4 minutes or until the salt has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Add the chicken to the cooled brine. Make sure the chicken is completely submerged. Cover the pot and refrigerate for 8-24 hours.

Baking the Chicken:

2 T. unsalted butter, melted

freshly ground black pepper

Four hours before roasting, remove the chicken from the brine and rinse with cool water; pat dry with paper towels inside and out. Place the brined bird on a small rimmed baking sheet and return to the refrigerator to air-dry, uncovered, for about 3 hours. Remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees at this time.

Slather the chicken with the melted butter and generously season inside and out with pepper. Place the chicken on a rack set inside a low sided roasting pan. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine.  Roast on the middle rack for about 70-80 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh meat (away from the bone) registers 170 degrees. Note: After about 30 minutes, check to see if the skin is getting too brown. If so, loosely cover with aluminum foil.

When the chicken is done, remove from oven and let chicken sit, loosely tented with aluminum foil, for at least 15 minutes before carving.

  

OATMEAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES WITH DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND PEANUT BUTTER CHIPS

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OK, I know I already have a recipe for Dark Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chip Oatmeal Cookies on this site. And they are truly wonderful cookies too. But they’re just a little bit different, and variety is always a good thing. And speaking of good things, these cookies are really a good thing. Good for grownups, good for kids, and the perfect way to make life just a little bit better for those around us.

These are really difficult times we are living through right now. A virus that is adversely impacting everyone’s lives, societal tension (that I pray will help towards ending systemic racism), and our current leadership in Washington D.C., which appears to espouse authoritarianism rather than democracy.

Any one of these problems taken by themselves would be beastly. But all three at once? Like I said, these are difficult and totally unprecedented times we are all trying to successfully maneuver. So my answer, since I have no answer for the big problems, is to work on the small boo-boos. And what better way to lift someone’ spirits than by offering them a big old chunky cookie? OK, I know it’s not a substitute for world peace. But it’s an effort. And any kind of effort is better than nothing at all. You just never know what impact a simple gesture might make to someone’s well-being.   

The other day I received a lovely card in the mail. The card, along with the written sentiment, included a copy of my dear friend Ellen’s favorite recipes, and a couple clips from an old calendar by one of her favorite artists – Erica Oller. What a delightful thing for Ellen to do. And it truly made my day. It’s the little things in life that make people feel special. And this loving correspondence from my dear friend was just what I happened to need.

So bake some cookies, send a friend a note, phone a buddy, wave at strangers, or in your own way – make a difference.

As always, virtual hugs from Chez Carr. And I hope you enjoy the recipe.

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp. 

1 c. granulated sugar

½ c. brown sugar, packed

2 lg. eggs, room temp.

1 c. peanut butter (not the “natural” kind)

2 tsp. vanilla

1½ c. “fluffed”* unbleached all-purpose flour 

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 c. rolled oats

1½ c. dark chocolate chips

1 c. peanut butter chips 

Cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until soft and well combined. Add the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again as needed.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium sized mixing bowl.  

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Add the oats. Once combined, gently beat in the chocolate and peanut butter chips. Chill the dough for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator.  

Using an ice cream scoop, place balls of dough on lightly greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheet, a couple of inches apart. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 14-18 minutes or until browned on the bottoms. The centers will still look a bit soft.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Please note: I used a 2-inch diameter ice cream scoop (leveled off) and the cookies were a perfect size. Usually I make small cookies, but this time I went big! Made 25 sensational cookies.

*Fluffed Flour:

Flour stored either in the bag it came in or a covered container tends to compact. To prepare the flour for accurate measurement, fluff it up with a spoon, then shake the flour into the measuring cup, and level it off. I do this every time I use flour in cakes, cookies, or any recipe that calls for an exact measurement. Every single time! It truly makes a difference in the final product.

However, fluffing flour doesn’t matter as much for bread baking because there are just too many variables in building bread. The hydration of a sourdough starter, the type of flour used, etc. etc. But for most baked goods, fluffing flour is a must. Weighing flour is also an option. That is if the weight is provided in the recipe. Doesn’t happen that often, but weighing flour is the absolute best way to insure accuracy.

   

SHRIMP FRIED RICE

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I always exceed when I make rice. In others words, I always make too much. For me it’s kind of like turkey dressing. If a little bit is good, a whole lot is better. So as with dressing, I always have leftover rice. You’d think after all these years I would have learned the meaning of restraint. But when it comes time to fill my rice cooker with raw rice and water, that’s just what I do. I start with the best of intentions, a small amount of rice and the appropriate amount of water. But it never looks like enough, so I add more rice and more water. Every single time! I’m not proud of this culinary quirk, but never-the-less, it is a fact of life. And earlier this week, I really went crazy and fixed way, way too much rice. Anyway, the upshot is that I had lots of left over rice smirking at me every time I opened the fridge door. So what to do, what to do?

And I knew I couldn’t just throw the rice away. (Tempting, but I just couldn’t do it.) So OK, I could have frozen it. But that means packaging it up and taking it downstairs to our freezer. But as is often the case, I’d probably just end up throwing it away anyway next time I cleaned the freezer! (I am nothing if not predictable.)

So, instead I decided to make fried rice. And what a yummy dish this turned out to be. Full of veggies, tender shrimp, and beautifully flavored rice. And it was a one dish meal. And believe me, I am just fine with one dish meals, thank you very much!

Now I could have used all kinds of different veggies in this dish. But I just used what I happened to have on hand. But by all means, let your inner vegetable lover go wild. The secret is in the sauce anyway, regardless of what other ingredients you choose to incorporate. And should you prefer to use chicken, pork, or beef instead of shrimp, knock yourself out. Just don’t overcook the meat. With chicken just cook it until it’s done, then immediately take it out of the pan. With pork and beef, cook until a bit of pink is still showing, then remove from pan. If you have leftover cooked meat, add it at the very end as you would the cooked shrimp in this recipe.

So next time you have leftover rice, or plan ahead to have cooked rice on hand for fried rice, give this recipe a try. It truly is yummy. And very easy to prepare.

And as a side note, I do plan to get better at fixing the right amount of rice for the meal I have planned. But until I get it right, you will likely find another recipe or two that uses cooked rice sometime in the future. I may have a few redeeming qualities, but moderation in all things is not one of them.

As always, virtual hugs from Chez Carr. And peace and love to all.

4 T. Tamari or soy sauce

2 tsp. fish sauce

2 tsp. mirin (can use sherry or Shaoxing)

1 tsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. oyster sauce

1 tsp. + 2 T. vegetable oil, divided

1 can water chestnuts, cut into small pieces

1 T. sesame oil

1 lb. lg. raw shrimp, peeled and cut in half

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 carrot, grated

½ c. chopped onion

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

¾ c. very thinly sliced green cabbage   

6-8 button or cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 tsp. finely minced fresh ginger

3 eggs

3-4 c. cooked white or brown rice 

4-5 green onions, sliced into thin diagonals

½ c. frozen petite peas

½ c. sliced pea pods or pea shoots

1/3 c. slivered almonds

Combine the Tamari, fish sauce, mirin, sugar, oyster sauce, and 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add the cut up water chestnuts. Then set aside.  

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok. Add the shrimp. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté the shrimp only until they’re done. (Shrimp are perfectly cooked when the exterior is pink and the flesh is slightly opaque and a little “white” in color.) Avoid overcooking. With a slotted spoon, remove shrimp to a small container. Set aside.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon veggie oil and the sesame oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, add the carrot, onion, celery, cabbage, and mushrooms. Cook until vegetables begin to soften and start to brown, stirring often. Add the garlic and ginger; cook for 1 minute.

Push the vegetables to one side of the skillet. Add the eggs to the other side, and scramble while they cook. When set, remove the eggs to the same container with the shrimp.

Add the rice, breaking it up as it heats. Then stir in the green onions, frozen peas, and pea pods. Drizzle on the soy sauce mixture (complete with water chestnut pieces); stir well to coat the rice. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and the scrambled eggs. Cook just until the shrimp is heated through. Stir in the slivered almonds and serve immediately.

   

STREUSEL TOPPED RHUBARB AND WALNUT MUFFINS

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I will be the first to admit that I am not an avid fan of muffins. I adore cake, but muffins and even coffee cake have never really done it for me. I think that’s because they are often dry tasting. But, as in all things, there are exceptions. And this not-too-sweet muffin just happens to fall into that category. But then, it contains rhubarb. And I love rhubarb. And the muffin is crunchy from the walnuts. And I’m also crazy for crunchy. So there you go. I actually really like these muffins! I’m sure it’s mainly because they are extremely moist, but the beautiful rhubarb flavor sure doesn’t hurt.  

Also built into this whole equation is the fact that Mr. C. really likes muffins. So although I don’t wake up out of a sound sleep dreaming about a perfect muffin for breakfast, I do try to take Mr. Cs fondness for a particular type of food into consideration.  

Anyway, I don’t want to continue wasting your valuable time by blathering on and on about a mere muffin. But I do hope you build some of these muffins while rhubarb is still in season. They are a perfect breakfast treat.

Always remember, when it comes to your family and friends, nothing is too good for them. There is simply no better way to show in how high a regard you hold them, than by serving well prepared food in an attractive manner. Love and peace to all.

Muffin Batter:

½ c. brown sugar, packed

¼ c. (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 eggs

1 c. sour cream

½ tsp. vanilla

1½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1½ c. chopped fresh rhubarb (about a third-inch dice is perfect)

½ c. chopped walnuts

Cream the brown sugar and butter together. Add the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together and stir into the brown sugar mixture just until moistened. Fold in the rhubarb and nuts.

Using a large ice cream scoop (2-inch diameter is perfect), drop dough into paper muffin cup liners or greased muffin tins. Your choice. Top with streusel per instructions below. 

Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 25-28 minutes. (The internal temperature should reach at least 210 degrees.) Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. The muffins will stay perfectly happy on your kitchen counter for several days. Before serving, I stick them in my microwave for 20 seconds on high.

Streusel:

1 T. melted unsalted butter

¼ c. brown sugar, packed

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ c. finely chopped walnuts

Blend the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the flour and nuts; mix until crumbly. Place the mixture on top of muffins and bake as instructed above.