Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Needle felting on a shirt yoke

My old cotton flannel shirt has seen better days but I thought it deserved a little decoration so needle felted a brown sheep on the back yoke last month.

I used a sheep-shaped cookie cutter to lay out the initial form. Outlined it with a strand of 2-ply natural brown wool handspun yarn and used one of my 38 gauge felting needles to attach the yarn to the fabric.

Once I had the main shape outlined, it was easy enough to fill it in with swirls of yarn. I added the face and legs using black tapestry wool I had in my stash.

DS thinks the design looks more like a bear than a sheep but I'm pleased with the results. The fabric underside has little tufts of wool sticking through (natural part of the needle felting process) so I don't think I'd use this decorative technique on a piece of clothing that would rest directly on my skin. I wear this shirt as a jacket though so that isn't an issue. And I've washed the shirt several times since needle felting without damage to the design. I do turn it wrong-side out before washing, tho.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Wondering what to do with that leftover corned beef?

I know, this is not a problem that confronts you today. Today is St. Patrick's Day and all across America many cooks have prepared corned beef for dinner. With cabbage, potatoes, carrots or whatever accompanies the corned beef, folks are pretty much satisfied. Dinner was good. It's tomorrow or maybe the day after, when you're looking at the remains of that corned beef still sitting in the fridge that I'm talking about.

There are a couple of old standbys for using up corned beef. How about corned beef sandwiches, perhaps on rye with mustard? Maybe a pickle on the side or try adding sauerkraut, a mild cheese and thousand island dressing and grilling it for a minute or two if you want to make it a little more special. And there's always corned beef hash either plain or red flannel (with beets AND potatoes). I know some people who only tolerate the initial meal of corned beef and cabbage because they know that within a day or two it will be time for hash, with or without eggs.

Believe it or not, corned beef can even make a decent pate with which to stuff a baguette. Or, if you don't care about presentation and want to eat it now instead of waiting several hours while it chills, mix minced corned beef with mayonnaise, pickle relish and the veriest bit of mustard. Spread it on your favorite cracker or make a sandwich.

A successful potluck casserole I've made on more than one occasion is Lazy Day Reuben Casserole. It's one of those layered meat, noodles, veg and sauce combos that use condensed cream of ____ soup or, my preference, a homemade alternative. Another favorite is a sandwich braid, Reuben Loaf, made by layering corned beef, cheese and sauerkraut on bread dough before baking.

There are many other ways to incorporate leftover corned beef into meals. Include a cup or so of diced corned beef in macaroni and cheese or scalloped potatoes. And if making scalloped potatoes, a layer of sliced cabbage and a 1/2 teaspoon or so of Dijon mustard mixed into the cream sauce adds to the mix. Use diced corned beef as a filling for pasties, crescent roll turnovers or empanadas. Whatever you call them, the corned beef can sub for the meat in your basic recipe. To make it individual to corned beef, I like to brush a light coating of mustard on the inside of the dough before sealing.

And there are more ideas all over -- I've read recipes for corned beef-potato pizza, a suggestion for using the reuben sandwich ingredients to create a baked potato topping, Emeril Lagasse's Cabbage-Potato Soup and Taste of Home's Reuben Soup each call for corned beef in small enough amounts to qualify as a way to use up leftovers. Just don't waste something that only today (yesterday?) you were enjoying so much.

Corned Beef Hash

4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 medium green pepper, chopped - optional
1-1/2 to 2 cups cold cooked corned beef, free of all fat and gristle and finely chopped
2 to 3 cups cold cooked potatoes, coarsely chopped
5 tablespoons beef, chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped - optional

Cook onions and green peppers in 2 tablespoons over medium heat in a 10-inch heavy skillet for about 5 minutes or until they soften without browning. Scrape them into a large mixing bowl. Add corned beef, potatoes, stock, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce to bowl. Mix gently to combine. Let hash rest for a few minutes in bowl so liquid can be absorbed.

To cook hash, heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil in 10-inch skillet. When the fat is hot but not sizzling, add hash, patting it down in the pan gently with a large spatula. Cook over moderate heat about 40 minutes, shaking pan every now and then to make sure hash isn't sticking to bottom. As it cooks, the hash will inevitably produce some fat; tip the pan and skim it from the sides with a small spoon, or better still, with a bulb baster. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, to remove any extra fat, lay a double thickness of paper toweling on top like a blotter, pressing it down on the hash. Repeat this blotting procedure as often as you think necessary, being careful not to get paper toweling near flame.

To serve, turn the hash out onto large round platter. It's best to do this by holding the platter over the skillet and up-ending the skillet to turn the hash out. If part of the crust sticks to the pan, remove it and patch it into place. Sprinkle the top with parsley and serve alone or with condiments such as mustard, pickles, horseradish, and the like.


Red Flannel Hash

1/4 pound salt pork or thick bacon, finely diced
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 medium green pepper, finely chopped
1-1/2 to 2 cups cooked corned beef, free of all fat or gristle, and finely chopped
1-1/2 cups cooked or canned beets, diced
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped, divided
1-1/2 to 2 cups cold cooked potatoes, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons heavy cream or evaporated milk
salt and pepper, to taste

Render the pork by frying it in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat. Stir almost constantly wtih a wooden spoon until the fat has dissolved, then remove the brown bits and put them aside. Pour half the fat into a dish and save it until later.

Heat remaining fat in skillet and over moderate heat, cook onions and peppers for about 5 minutes or until they soften without browning. Scrape them into a large mixing bowl. Add corned beef, beets, potatoes, 2 tablespoons parsley, salt and pepper to bowl. Moisten mixture with cream. Mix gently to combine. If you want you could add the brown pork bits left from rendering the fat. Let hash rest for a few minutes in bowl so liquid can be absorbed.

To cook hash, add remaining reserved pork fat to 10-inch skillet. When the fat is hot but not sizzling, add hash, patting it down in the pan gently with a large spatula. Cook over moderate heat about 40 minutes, shaking pan every now and then to make sure hash isn't sticking to bottom. As it cooks, the hash will inevitably produce some fat; tip the pan and skim it from the sides with a small spoon, or better still, with a bulb baster. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, to remove any extra fat, lay a double thickness of paper toweling on top like a blotter, pressing it down on the hash. Repeat this blotting procedure as often as you think necessary, being careful not to get paper toweling near flame.

To serve, turn the hash out onto large round platter. It's best to do this by holding the platter over the skillet and up-ending the skillet to turn the hash out. If part of the crust sticks to the pan, remove it and patch it into place. Sprinkle the top with parsley and serve alone or with condiments such as mustard, pickles, horseradish, and the like.

Of course, if you wish, you can omit rendering fat from the pork called for and substitute butter and/or oil as in regular hash recipe just above.


Pate of Corned Beef

1/4 pound butter, creamed
2 cups cooked corned beef, ground -- twice, if possible
1 tablespoon onion, grated
3 tablespoons heavy cream or evaporated milk
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
loaf of French or Italian bread, about 12" long and 3-1/2" in diameter

Cream the butter in a mixing bowl by beating it with a large spoon for a few minutes until it is smooth. Then, a few tablespoons at a time, beat in the corned beef and, one after the other, the onions, cream, mustards, lemon juice, parsley, chives, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. You could use an electric mixer wtih a whisk beater or use a food processor or beat the pate by hand until it is as smooth as you can possibly get it. Just be careful not to overmix it if using the processor. Taste for seasoning, remembering that when the pate is chilled, its flavor will be considerably muted.

Slice 2 inches or so off the ends of the bread, save for another use. With your fingers and the aid of a long thin spoon, remove as much of the soft insides of the bread as possible without damaging or breaking through the crust. When the bread is a hollow tube, stand it on one end on a sheet of waxed paper and carefully fill it with the soft pate, packing it down as you proceed. If there isn't enough pate to fill the bread, simply cut off the hollow portion.

Wrap filled bread in waxed paper and refrigerate for a few hours or until the pate is firm. Slice into 1/8- or 1/4-inch rounds with a serrated knife and serve. You may briefly heat the bread in a hot oven to crisp the crust but do this with caution as the pate will soften too much to slice if the loaf becomes too hot.

Source: Michael Field's Culinary Classics and Improvisations (1967)


Reuben Loaf

1 batch bread dough *see note
1/4 cup thousand island salad dressing or a grainy mustard, whichever you prefer
1 to 2 cups cooked corned beef brisket, diced
4 ounces Swiss cheese or mild cheese of your choice, shredded or thinly sliced
1 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1 egg white, beaten - optional

Preheat oven to 400F.

Turn dough out onto a lightly greased (15x10-inches) baking sheet. Roll dough to a rectangle that almost fills the pan.

Spread dressing down center third of dough. Sprinkle area spread with dressing with layers of beef, cheese and sauerkraut.

Make cuts from filling to edges of dough 1 inch apart on both sides of the filling. Alternating sides, fold the strips at an angle across filling. Brush dough with egg white.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve immediately; refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.
Source: Country Woman

*Note - Use your favorite plain bread dough. Can be made by hand, in the bread machine on dough setting or use a loaf of thawed frozen dough. If making yourself, a recipe which uses 3 to 4 cups flour or will yield a 1.5-pound loaf would be about right.


Lazy Day Reuben Casserole

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup, **see note
1-1/3 cups milk or thinned yogurt
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 tablespoons mustard
2 pounds sauerkraut, drained (and rinsed if too salty)
8 ounces egg noodles
12 ounces corned beef brisket, diced
2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
3/4 cup rye bread crumbs, toasted
2 tablespoons margarine, melted

In bowl, mix soup, milk, onion and mustard until blended.

In greased 13"x9"x2" baking dish, spread drained sauerkraut; top with uncooked noodles. Spoon soup mixture evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with crumbled corned beef, then cheese.

In bowl, stir together rye bread crumbs and melted butter until well blended; sprinkle over top of cheese. Cover tightly with foil.

Bake in 350°F oven for 60 minutes or until noodles are tender.

I've had this recipe so long I don't know exactly where it came from but I think it was in an old Progressive Farmer from the '70s.

**Note -- I use a homemade version of cream soup most of the time. Here's one recipe that will make several "cans" worth as you need it.


Homemade Cream Soup Substitute

2 cups instant non fat dry milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon, instant or other preferred bouillon flavor
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon each basil and thyme - optional
2 teaspoons pepper

Combine dry milk, cornstarch, bouillon, onion flakes, basil, thyme and pepper.

To make the equivalent of one can of condensed soup, use 1/3 cup of the mix and 1-1/2 cups water and cook over moderate heat until thickened.

NOTE: Beef or vegetable bouillon may be used in place of the chicken. Mushrooms may be added to the sauce for a mushroom soup base. I like to cook a little celery in butter and add to prepared recipe when it calls for celery soup.

For more kitchen aids check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Seed-starting

We planted most of our tomato seeds this morning. None of them were from seeds we'd saved -- those few will go in later this month.

Today's batch included some organic tomato seed from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange that DH picked up at Countryside Natural Products last week. Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine, Arkansas Traveler and the smaller Yellow Pear tomatoes, which DS and I like to pop straight off the vine, filled about 30 cells each.

After DH went to work, DS planted this year's Tomatosphere tomato seed (Heinz 9478 - a plum tomato hybrid). Tomatosphere is an educational outreach program co-sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency, Heinz Canada Ltd., etc. This is the first year DS has participated -- we're signed up as a group with some other homeschooling families. He received two packets of seed as part of this year's blind study. One is a control group and the other batch was exposed to a simulation of the atmosphere on Mars.

He'll monitor their germination and any growth till they produce their first tomatoes. Then we submit his results so they can be compiled with all the other students' reports. After he turns in his summary, he'll learn which of the two packets was the control group, too. And, of course, any tomatoes produced will be absorbed into our usual canning and preserving process.

I'm not wild about planting the F1 hybrids when we hope to save tomato seeds this year but they'll go into a bed at least 50 yards from the other tomatoes so that should lessen the chance of cross-pollination. And DS is excited about the experiment which outweighs any qualms I might have.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Another grain worth soaking

Brown rice is better for you than white rice. I accept that. My family accepts that. The difficulty has always been, in at least a few recipes, we continued to prefer the light fluffiness of white rice. It was similar to the problem we had when switching to breads made only with fresh ground wheat. It worked for most applications but, in the case of the bread, we had to tweak a few recipes before we had sliced bread we enjoyed for sandwiches such as peanut butter and jelly. I just couldn't seem to cook brown rice where the grains would separate and fluff as white rice did. So I kept a box of white rice at the back of the pantry shelf, just in case.

Well, no more. A couple of years ago I picked up a copy of Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions and read it from cover to cover. Previously I'd read good things about the book from a couple of folks on Fractured Frugal Friends, recommendations on various Weston A. Price Foundation-related sites, etc. Even one of my favorite cookbook authors, Sue Gregg, references the book on her site and in her more-recent books.

Fallon's method for preparing brown rice gives me fluffier rice with no real added work and, in most cases, less actual cooking time than for regular brown rice. The trick is the rice is soaked before cooking. I can cook it for use as plain rice or I've found I can add it to many of my recipes by subbing soaked rice for the plain rice and using the soaking liquid as the water the recipe cites. If the recipe calls for some type of broth instead of water, I include a seasoning packet (storebought or homemade) along with the liquid left after soaking. Here's the recipe:

Brown Rice

2 cups brown rice (long- or short-grain)
4 cups water
4 tablespoons yogurt, whey, kefir, buttermilk, lemon juice OR vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 tablespoons butter

Combine water and yogurt (or one of the other subs listed) in a pan and stir to mix. Add rice and leave out on the counter in a warm kitchen for at least 7 hours. Place pan over heat and bring to a boil. Skim, if necessary, and turn heat down to lowest setting. Stir in salt and butter and cover with a tight lid. Without removing lid, cook for about 45 minutes.

I have successfully tripled this recipe, using a large dutch oven, and frozen the extra rice. If I thaw it overnight in the fridge it works well for fried rice or when I want rice with a meal but don't want to prepare it from scratch.

If you have a rice cooker with a delay timer, you can prepare this rice in it. I presently don't have a rice cooker but put this in to soak in the morning when we were visiting friends with one and we had beautiful brown rice at supper.

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Microwave popcorn in a paper sack

Years ago I regularly made microwave popcorn in brown paper grocery sacks and dutifully nuked my paper towel-wrapped hot dog-in-a-bread-slice for 30 seconds, too. The hot dog usually split and the bread became hard as a rock so I quit fixing them that way once the novelty of my mom's mid-1970's combination electric oven and microwave wore off. The popcorn, however, was excellent, so why did I stop making it?

I know one reason was the air popper someone gave my dad for Christmas. Another trend to try and later discard. Next up was the popcorn popper I used at school. It was one of those see-through dome-lidded ones (Stir Crazy, I think they're called) with a stirrer that kept the popcorn shifting around the bottom of the pan. Popcorn didn't burn, the kernels popped evenly and it tasted great. I even bought another when the first one finally died. But cleaning is a problem -- only the plastic lid can be submerged in dishwater, the bottom of the unit has to be wiped off carefully and eventually develops a sticky build-up that's hard to remove. Plus, it takes up pantry space.

One thing I haven't mentioned is regular microwave popcorn and that's because I don't care for it. I'm also the oddball who will buy popcorn (but only fresh-popped) at the movies but insist on NO "liquid butter" (or whatever they want to call that nasty oily stuff that pours from the metal spout) and no extra salt. I like the flavor of popcorn and while I don't object to real butter drizzled over a bowl of the stuff, I really prefer popcorn popped in peanut or sunflower oil and lightly salted. That's it.

So all this is to say I've started making my popcorn in the microwave in a brown paper sack again. It works great just like when I was a kid. I like to use a small amount of oil when popping the corn because I think it tastes better and helps the salt adhere. The process is simple.

Microwave Popcorn in a Paper Lunch Sack

1/3 cup popcorn
1/2 teaspoon oil (I like peanut or sunflower)
salt

Pour popcorn kernels into brown paper sack. Drizzle oil over kernels in bag. Fold over the top of the bag a few times. Place in microwave and cook on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until popping slows to almost stopping. Carefully open bag away from face (steam will rise), sprinkle with salt and enjoy!

Note:
Given that I usually carry fabric bags to the store so I can avoid plastic (or paper) grocery sacks, it's strange to be using paper bags for this purpose. My only excuse is that my mom bought a "box and contents" at auction a few months ago and included in the contents was what must be a lifetime supply of brown paper lunch sacks.

Since none of us carry our lunch in such bags, I've been trying to come up with other uses. Other than using them to pop corn, the best use has been decorating the bags for use as gift bags -- DS likes to draw on the ones he makes while I've tried stencils, stamping, glueing fabric designs, rick rack and paint. But I still have many, many bags so suggestions appreciated.

Check out Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy's Recipes for more recipes and kitchen ideas.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

First planting for 2009

Buttercrunch lettuce, pak choi, Bloomsdale spinach and some variety of broccoli seed all went into the cold frames this past week. No signs of germination so far and today we have an inch of snow with more expected overnight. Lows will be back in the teens this coming week, too. May be a while before we're eating those fresh greens...

Elsewhere around the garden daffodils have popped up and the forsythia is loaded with buds. I brought some forsythia branches in for forcing and really wish I had at least one pussy willow to use for the same purpose. If it's not too late (if the buds haven't started opening) I'll cut a few branches from the pussy willow on my mom's pond dam this week and then let the cuttings root for later planting here.

Also must decide this week on our order of tree seedlings available thru the local soil and water conservation office. I know we want to add more red twig dogwoods and highbush blueberries. I'd like to include elderberry, service berry and chinquapins, too, but I know I could probably find seedlings of all those along the field woods if I looked so may go with just the dogwoods, blueberries and a witch hazel -- I love those spidery yellow petals that appear in late fall. So nice to see them just when everything else is losing leaves and color.

DH and I are signed up to attend an Extension Service workshop next weekend, "Mow is Less," which is touted to equip owners of 1-10 acres to be better stewards of their property. The program cost, $30 for a couple, includes the all-day workshop, lunch, a resource cd and a copy of "The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home." I came across a description of the book last year and had it on my list to purchase so considering the manual costs $20 it seemed like a deal for the workshop combo. Perhaps not a true permaculture course but the closest thing offered in our neck of the woods to date.

It's beginning to feel like spring around here even with snow falling.