Category Archives: Home

Yeast – How to save yeast for another loaf

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by in Baking, Home

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Covid Comfort FoodIf you’re finding yeast a hard commodity during this pandemic,  think of this technique of stretching your existing bread yeast to last and last.

Technique

  1. If you have started making bread (try my recipe for no kneed bread), allow the dough to rise the first time. Then before the second rise, take a good pinch (about a heaping tablespoon) and put it in a clean container with a top.
  2. Add 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of lukewarm water
  3. Mix very, very well and put it in the fridge with a lid on (can be stored for up to 2 weeks). Make sure there is no mold development otherwise you have to discard it.
  4. When you are ready to make another loaf add the mixture to the batter instead of adding dry yeast.
  5. Let it rise as usual and repeat procedure (1) as taking a pinch of bread dough and putting in a container with equal amounts of flour and water, then store in the fridge.

NOTE: If you find your bread does not rise as high as you’d like, you can give a little boost to the yeast, just add 1/8th to 1/4 tsp to your bread batter after you have added this starter.

Step 1: Dough that has risen overnight (first rise)
Step 2: Take out a walnut size (heaping tablespoon) and put it in 1/2 cup each of water and flour
Step 3: Mix all into a slurry (If not required put in the fridge)
Step 4: Add slurry to your new loaf and following your bread directions
Step 5: Enjoy your new loaf of bread (repeat procedure each time you make a new loaf by saving some risen dough in the fridge

Instapot (Slow Cooker) Split Pea Soup

03 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by in Home, Soups

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

You can either use your Instapot (Pressure Cooker) or you can use a slow cooker to make this flavourful soup. It’s so easy and so tasty

slit pea soup

Ingredientswrks4me_terry_tested-11

  • 1 cup diced smoked ham
  • 1 Tablespoon of butter or oil
  • 1 Large carrot – diced
  • 1 Large onion – diced
  • 2 Large stalks of celery
  • 1 pound (454g) dry split pea (yellow or green) – not pre-soaked
  • 6 cups of low sodium chicken stock
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp of dried thyme
  • 6 cloves of garlic (minced)
  • 2 Bay leaves

Directions if using Instapot

  1. Use the Sauté function and add the butter or oil along with the diced onions
  2. Sauté onions til transparent, turn off pot
  3. Add the garlic, ham, thyme, carrots, celery and bay leaves
  4. Pour in a little of the chicken stock to deglaze the pot
  5. Once the pot has been deglazed add the dry split peas
  6. Add the remainder of the chicken stock
  7. Set Instapot to manual and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes (or use the soup feature)
  8. Once the 15 minutes let the pressure release naturally for an additional 10 minutes or until the silver button (float valve) drops down
  9. Open the pot and remove the bay leaves
  10. Stirring will thicken the soup

Serve and enjoy

If using a Slow Cooker

Use can use the same recipe in a slow cooker. Instead of using an Instapot, sauté the onions in a pan and add them to the slow cooker along with all the other ingredients. Then set slow cooker for 5-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low

Chicken and Dumplings

06 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in Home, Main Dishes, wrks4me - Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredientswrks4me_terry_tested-11

  • 1 Whole Chicken
  • 1 Large onion, cubed
  • 3 large celery stalks (diced)
  • 2 large carrot, diced
  • 3 large potatoes diced
  • 1 cups of frozen peas
  • 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 3 cups of cold water
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2-3 tbsp of flour and equal amounts of chicken broth as thickening mixture

For dumplings:

  • 1/2 cup crème fraiche or yogurt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp fresh chopped thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp of dry thyme
  • 2 cups self-rising flour (or 2 cups of regular flour plus 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of fine table salt)

Directions

  1. Place whole chicken and 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning to a Dutch oven along with onions, carrots and celery and 3 cups of water
  2. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 1 hour
  3. Once chicken is cooked remove and cool. Then separate meat from carcass
  4. Add meat and potatoes to broth mixture
  5. Combine the 2-3 tbsp of flour with equal amounts of chicken broth and add to the liquid
  6. Season stock with salt and paper to taste.
  7. Add frozen peas
  8. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes with dumplings

To Make dumplings

  1. Add 1/2 cups of crème fraiche or yogurt (I use plain Greek yogurt)
  2. Whisk 1/2 cups of milk with 2 eggs along with 2 tsp of thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp of dry thyme.
  3. Add 2 cups of self-rising flour (or 2 cups of regular flour plus 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of fine table salt). Do not overmix.
  4. drop 1 tablespoon at a time of the mixture into the chicken broth mixture and cook for 15 minutes or until dumplings appear light and fluffy, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy

Oreo Style Slab Pie

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Home

≈ Leave a comment

Areo Slap Pie - Single

Ingredients:

  • Pie Dough (enough for a 9 x 14 inch rectangular pan) see dough recipe at bottom of page
  • Chocolate ganache (see ganache recipe below)
  • 1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
  • 1 package 8 oz (250 g) cream cheese
  • 1/3 cup of sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 16 Oreo cookies (crushed)
  • 16 Oreo cookies (whole)

Directions:

  1. Roll out pie dough and lay into rectangular pan. Flute edges
  2. With a fork, pierce all over bottom and sides to prevent over puffing of pastry
  3. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown at 375 degrees F. Remove and allow to cook for at least 30 minutes or more
  4. When pie crust is cool, spoon chocolate ganache over bottom of pie crust and put into refrigerator to set
  5. For the filling, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Put in refrigerator until ready
  6. Put cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and with an electric mixer blend until smooth.
  7. Fold in whipped cream and crushed cookies and pour over chocolate mixture in the pan
  8. When ready to serve, push whole Oreo cookies into the cake as shown below. (You can also just crush the cookies and sprinkle over top if you prefer)

Areo Slap Pie

Pie Crust Recipe

  • 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 6-8 tablespoons of ice water
  1. Combine all the dry ingredient including the butter for the pie crust into a food processor
  2. Gradually add 2 tablespoons of ice water at a time and pulse the food processor
  3. Continue adding ice water and pulsing til just mixed

To make Ganache

  • 8 ounces of dark chocolate
  • 1 cup of whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon of butter

 

 

  1. Heat whipping cream  in a microwave til very hot
  2. Pour whipping cream over chocolate and add butter
  3. Stir til smooth and glossy
  4. Put into refrigerator and cool til ready to pour over pie crust

Variations:

You could substitute chocolate ganache for chocolate pudding

You could substitute pie crust for your favourite short bread recipe

You could substitute pie crust for my Keto Pie Crust

 

 

 

 

 

Buttermilk Bran Muffins

16 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Baking, Home, wrks4me - Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Buttermilk Bran Muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 cups Bran Cereal
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. or (200 degrees C.)
  2. Combine buttermilk and bran
  3. Let stand for 10-15 minutes
  4. Mix together eggs, melted butter and vanilla
  5. Stir into buttermilk mixture
  6. Stir sugar and remaining dry ingredients
  7. Add buttermilk mixture to dry and stir just until blended
  8. Fill muffin tin lined with muffin papers

Bake 20 to 25 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Gluten Free & Dairy Free Chocolate Cake with Non-Dairy Whipped Filling and Chocolate Ganache

21 Saturday Jan 2017

Posted by in Baking, Gluten Free, Home, wrks4me - Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

chocolate-cake

Cake makes 2 layers when split in half (Double for larger cake)wrks4me_terry_tested-11

Ingredients

gluten-free-ingredients

  • 1 Box of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix
  • 1/3 Cup of Brown Sugar
  • 1 Package of Jello-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
  • 1/2 Cup of Crisco Golden Vegetable Shortening or Butter (if you can handle dairy)
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
  • 1 Cup “Silk Cultured Coconut – Plain” or Sour Cream (if you can handle dairy)
  • 4 Eggs

Directions

  1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Put Cake Mix and Chocolate Pudding Mix into a bowl and mix
  3. In a separate bowl add brown sugar and Crisco Shortening and blend together with a hand mixture
  4. Add Vanilla, Eggs and Silk Cultured Coconut to the brown sugar mixture. Blend with hand mixture until smooth
  5. Gradually add dry cake mix and pudding and mix
  6. Pour into a greased baking pan (use spray shortening)
  7. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Use a tooth pick to check for doneness
  8. After cooled, split in half and add filling

Whipped Fillingnutriwhip-combo

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup of fresh Strawberries, finely chopped
  • 1 Carton Nutriwhip (this is Lactose Free and is oil based) Though officially not considered vegan it does not contain any animal products

Directions

  1. Empty Nutriwhip into a cold bowl and using an electric beater, whip til peaks form
  2. Spread strawberries in between each layer of Chocolate Cake
  3. Spread whipped topping ontop of strawberries of each layer

Ganache Icing

  • 8 Ounces of dark chocolate (finely chopped)
  • 8 Tablespoons of Silk Coconut for Coffee or Heavy Cream (if you can handle dairy)

Directions

  1. Microwave “Silk Coconut for Coffee” or Heavy Cream in microwave 30 seconds at a time until hot
  2. Add “Silk Coconut for Coffee” or Heavy Cream into bowl with finely chopped dark chocolate and wait 5 minutes before stirring until blended and smooth
  3. Spreak over cake and allow to set at room temperature. (If you prefer a spreadable version, allow ganache to become firm in the refriderator, then use a spatual, to spread ganache).

Chocolate Decorationchocolate-drizzle-dark

Ingredients

  • Dark Chocolate Bar
  • Parchment Paper
  • Cake Rack

Directions

  1. Chop Chocolate Bar in a microwave bowl and pour into a Ziploc page
  2. Move melted Chocolate to a corner of the bag to allow you to pipe the chocolate onto the parchment paper
  3. With some scissors cut off a small tip of the plastic page
  4. Slowly pipe the chocolate in a back and forth and criss-cross pattern onto parchment paper that is placed onto a Cake Rack
  5. Put into the freezer to firm up
  6. When ready to decorate carefully peel off the parchment paper and lay the chocolate decoration on top of the iced cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quinoa Tabouli

20 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by in Home, Salads

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

tabouli

Ingredientswrks4me_terry_tested-11

  • 1 cup of Quinoa
  • 2 cups of Water
  • 2 Bunches of Parsley (Stems Removed)
  • 1 Bunch of Mint (Stems removed)
  • 3 Green Onions
  • 2-3 Tomatoes (your choice)
  • 1/2 Medium Onion
  • 1 Clove of Garlic
  • 2 Fresh Lemons
  • 1/2 Cup of Olive Oil
  • 1 Tsp of Salt
  • Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

  1. Put Quinoa and Water into a rice cooker and cook until tender
  2. Allow Quinoa to cool
  3. Finely chop Parsley, Mint, Green Onions, Medium Onion and Garlic and put into a bowl
  4. Dice Tomatoes and add them along with the Quinoa to the Parlsey Mixture
  5. In another bowl add Lemon Juice, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper and whisk
  6. Pour Lemon Juice Mixture over Quinoa Mixture
  7. Put in the refridgerator and serve cold

Enjoy

(Note: You can use Bulgur instead of Quinoa or along with Quinoa)

 

 

 

 

 

Moist Keto Bran Muffins

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Baking, Home, Low Carb, wrks4me - Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Ingredients

  1. 1 1/2 cups of Wheat Bran
  2. 1 cup of Vanilla Almond Milk
  3. 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil (Canola)
  4. 1 egg
  5. 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar subsitution (Splenda)
  6. 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  7. 1 cup almond flour
  8. 1 teaspoon baking soda
  9. 1 teaspoon baking powder
  10. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  11. 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
  12. 1/2 cup blueberries (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Mixture 1: Mix together wheat bran and almond milk, let sit for 10 minutes
  3. Mixture 2: Mix together oil, egg, brown sugar subsitute, vanilla and optional blueberries
  4. Mixture 3: In a separate bowl mix together almond flower, baking soda, baking powder, salt and optional cinnamon
  5. Add mixture 1 to mixture 2, graduadually add mixture 3
  6. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins
  7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Place on a cooling rake.

Make 12 muffins

Enjoy

Pumpkin Scones

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Dessert, Home, wrks4me - Recipes

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

pumpkin-scone

Scones

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp canned pumpkin puree, chilled (don’t chill in can)
  • 3 1/2 Tbsp buttermilk (3 1/2 Tbsp mik 1/4 tsp lemon juice)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp honey (Sugar Free Maple Syrup)
  • 1 Tbsp half and half

Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar (Stivia – Sugar Substitute)
  • 2 Tbsp half and half, then more as needed

Pumpkin Icing

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 Tbsp half and half

Directions

For the scones:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Using a food processor or a hand whisk, mix together until well blended flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well blended
  3. Add butter to processor and pulse til mixed (if mixing by hand, use a pastry cutter until large pieces can no longer be seen)
  4. Add mixture to a mixing bowl and create a center well
  5. In a separate bowl add chilled pumpkin puree, buttermilk, egg, vanilla extract and honey and whisk together
  6. Add mixture into the well in the flour & butter mixture and stir together
  7. In the bowl, knead the combined mixture by hand
  8. Lightly flour your work surface and place dough on top. Pat the dough into an 8 inch ball
  9. Dust a knife with flour and cut the dough into 8 equal wedges
  10. Place scones on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet
  11. With 1 Tablespoon of half and half brush the tops of the scones
  12. Bak for 12-15 minutes in a preheated oven until the tops are golden brown and insert a toothpick or wooden scewer into the middle and check that it comes out clean.
  13. Place on a rack and cool 10 minutes before adding the glaze

For the glaze:
Put the powdered sugar along with the half and half until it is thick not runny. Add more half and half as needed until consistency is reached. Coat the tops of the scones with mixture. Allow glaze to set at room temperature.

Pumpkin glaze:
In a bowl add together the powdered sugar, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and half and half. Put glaze in a Ziplock bag and snip off a small corner of the bag and pipe mixuture over the top of the scones. Allow glaze to set up.

Original Recipe Source: Cooking Classy