Candied Bacon Wrapped Dates

I developed this recipe to find an innovative way to use chocolate in a savory application.   I made these last night for book club, and they came out fantastic.  

Candied Bacon Wrapped Dates

12 bacon strips

24 dried pitted dates

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 T cocoa

1 T chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425°. Cut bacon strips in half crosswise. Cut each date in half a lengthwise ; fill with 1/2 teaspoon cream cheese.  Wrap with half strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick or skewer. On a small plate, mix brown sugar,  cocoa, chili powder and cinnamon. Dip each date on both sides of sugar. 

Transfer to a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Bake 15-30 minutes until bacon is crisp.  The thicker the bacon is, the longer it will take to cook.  

Wild Foraged Jams and Jellies

 Pear Vanilla Caramel Jam, Crab Apple Jelly, Rose Hip Jelly

Boy, it sure has been a long time since I blogged here!  I came back to check on comment moderation, since someone found my recipe for the Onigaming Supper Club spinach salad and posted it on the "You Know You're From The Copper Country When..." fb group.  I haven't written here much for several reasons. I have taken to writing short non cooking things on my own fb wall called "morning musings", and I also started another website to be the basis of the cookbook I want to write Up North Kitchen (there's not much there yet) and then I also am developing a website for my bakestand business Mothers Kitchen LLC.   That pretty much has sapped my energy for publishing things on the internet.    

I really do need to come back here more and publish some of the recipes I am cooking these days.   Lately, I have been keeping my recipes on paper in a folder, but I do need to write about them here.   I made a bunch of jams and jellies for my bakestand yesterday, and I want to remember what I did.  So I am taking pen in hand, or shall I say keyboard to finger tips, to capture yesterday's venture.   I have been really into wild foraging this season,  and it was time to preserve what I had.     I really love these 2 foraging books  Wild Fruits and Berries Field Guide of  Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin and Cooking Wild Fruits and Berries of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin by Teresa Marrone.   

First up in my canning exploits of yesterday was Wild Crabapple Jelly.  There's a nice crab apple tree down on Salo Road where I like to forage.  I used Teresa's method for making jelly, along with my steam juicer. It is so much easier to make jellies with it than the old jelly bag method.  Here's how to make crab apple jelly using her method:  

Wild Crab Apple Jelly

For each 2 cups of juice extracted, prepare 3 half pint canning jars.  For each cup of juice, you will need:

1 t. lemon juice
2/3 c. sugar.

Put juice in a large dutch oven and heat to boiling.   Add sugar all at once, and heat, stirring frequently, until the temp hits 220F (or whatever is 8 degrees over the boiling point of water is where you are, for me, it's 212F)  Skim off any foam and pour into jars, leaving 1/4 in. headspace.   Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. 

Next up, I made rose hip jelly.  My neighbor down the road has the best rose hips!  I harvest them every year, best after the first frost.  I modified Teresa's recipe with my steam juicer, so I didn't have to use boxed pectin.

Rose Hip Jelly

1/2 lb rose hips, blossom ends removed before weighing
1/2 lb tart green apples, chopped with peels and cores
1 lemon, chopped fine with peels and seeds

sugar 

Put rose hips, apples and lemon in juicer. After extracting juice, measure volume.   For every 2.5 c. juice, you will need 7/8 c. sugar.   In a dutch oven, bring juice to a boil,   Add sugar and boil, stirring frequently, until temp hits 220F (see above).   Skim off any foam and pour into jars, leaving 1/4 in. headspace.   Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.

For my pear vanilla jam, I had to improvise.  I made some with boxed pectin last year and I had to reprocess it twice, so I vowed never to do it with the boxed stuff again I am a big fan of making my own natural fruit pectin, so I had to improvise, because I didn't have a recipe for pears.  Pears need pectin to make jam. I decided to follow the method for peaches, but instead, subbing peeled, cored and finely chopped pears.  

Pear Vanilla Jam

To make the pectin:

5 tart apples, stems and blossom ends removed and chopped coarsely, cores intact
1 lemons unpeeled and chopped fine 

Boil apples and citrus in enough water to prevent sticking for 20 minutes until soft. Force through a food mill to make 2 cups puree.

To make pear vanilla jam:

6 c. peeled, cored and finely chopped pears
5 1/2 . sugar
Prepared apple/lemon puree 

2 T. vanilla

Add fruit and sugar to puree in a deep pot, bring to a boil and stir frequently over medium heat. Cook until temp hits 220F (it's okay if it caramelizes a little, it gives it a great flavor boost) Skim off any foam and pour into jars, leaving 1/4 in. headspace.   Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. 

 

 

Chicken, Apple & Cranberry Wrap

I'm a fan of this chicken salad wrap at Roy's Bakery in Houghton, so I tried my hand at making something like it at home.   I searched for menus for some clues.   Here's the description:

"Our fresh chicken salad, sliced apples, cranberries, chopped lettuce and feta crumbles finished with an apple cider vinaigrette in a honey wheat tortilla" 

Their chicken salad was so good.   I wondered what was in it?   A little more menu sleuthing:

Our own flavorful house-recipe of oven-roasted chicken, onion, celery, dried sweetened cranberries, and spices make up our delicious chicken salad.  I wondered what were the spices?   So I did a little googling and found this chicken salad recipe online that had powdered mustard in it. Powdered mustard?   That sounds like it might be it!    I think I nailed it.   I made an apple cider vinaigrette with some cider vinegar and oil, salt pepper and dijon mustard.   

Chicken, Apple and Cranberry Wrap

serves 4

To Make Wrap:

4 flour tortillas

1 c. shredded lettuce

1/2 c. feta crumbles

1 apple (Cosmic crisp Granny Smith work well) cored, halved and sliced thin

Chicken Salad (recipe below)

Apple cider vinaigrette (recipe below)

Chicken Salad

4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

1/4 c. diced red onion

1 stalk celery, diced

1/4 c. dried sweetened cranberries

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/2 t. dry mustard

Combine all ingredients and mix well

Apple Cider Vinaigrette 

3 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 t Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake until emulsified

To make the wrap, place approximately 1 cup of the chicken salad in the center of each tortilla.   Top with some apple slices, shredded lettuce and feta crumbles and drizzle with vinaigrette.  Wrap tightly.  

 

Sourdough Bread Class

I often get asked for silent auction prizes.  Sometimes I make crafts, other times I offer cooking classes.  For the recent silent auction to benefit the Carnegie Museum of Houghton, I donated a sourdough bread making class.  I've been making sourdough for over a year and sell a lot of it in the little bakery stand I have at the end of my driveway.   

I am creating this post for the auction winner, so she can see what she needs to get to make sourdough.   I will provide my very robust starter.  Here is a list of everything you need to make sourdough bread:

Must have:

• A scale - bread making measurement is all done by weight, not measuring cups.   A scale is required for bread baking success.   This is the one I have - very reliable and easy to use.   Highly recommened. 
• Large mixing bowl - any kind, it just needs to be big enough to hold your dough.  I like my vintage Pyrex 404s - that's 4 qt. size
• At least a 6 quart enameled cast iron dutch oven.   I have a Martha Stewart one that works great - I'd recommend this one.    I like the black color because it doesn't stain easily and makes great crust.  You can use it for a multitude of cooking projects - soups, stews, deep frying, roasts, etc.  It is a kitchen workhorse. 
• A banneton, or a similar sized bowl with a liner.   This is the one I have, but you could use a narrow bowl with a dishtowel in it, I suppose.  The dough needs a lot of support during it's cold ferment period.
• Parchment paper
• Bench scraper 

Nice to have:

Dough whisk to mix up the dough.  This one comes with a dough scraper, which is also nice to have.

Bread sling to transport your loaf into your very hot dutch oven.   Much easier than using parchment paper and less risk of burning yourself. 

Bread lame - you can use a knife, but a bread lame is way easier!

Ove Gloves - making sourdough bread requires handling very hot pots.   These are wonderful!  I give them out for Christmas every year.  

Serrated bread knife - the best tool to cut your sourdough

Instant read thermometer - how to know your bread is done without guessing

Here is the recipe I use to make my sourdough bread

120g starter

400g water

480g King Arthur bread flour 

60g whole wheat flour

4 g diastatic malt * see note 

10 g sea salt

Note: Diastatic malt results in a faster, more robust rise, a richer flavor, and a deeper, darker crust in baked goods. It also helps create a smoother, more finely textured crumb

Mix all the dough ingredients except the salt with a wooden spoon or even better, a bread whisk.  Allow to rest for 30 minutes. It will look like a shaggy mass of unprocessed dough.  After 30 minutes, add the salt and mix it in by using the dough whisk or folding the dough over itself repeatedly until the salt is well-incorporated. Cover again and let rest for 30 minutes. 

Now, for the next 2-3 hours or so, you've got to stretch and fold your dough.  It's how sourdough bread is kneaded.  I recommend this video to show you how to do it. Some days, my dough is stiffer than this.   “Stretch and fold” is the way we build up the gluten structure.   After mix in the salt, I will try to stretch and fold it 3 more times, at 30- 45 min intervals.  At this point, the dough has been in process for about 3-4 hours.   When you make sourdough, plan on being with it this first part for that that time.   I find it easiest to do it right after dinner and do the next step over night.  

The next step is what they call bulk fermentation. Let it rise at room temp for at least 5 hours.   I find that during our cool Keweenaw weather, I can do this step overnight.   Lor an elastic, strong dough.  It should be smooth, elastic, with defined edges. When tugged, it should resist stretching, indicating elasticity.  Dough during bulk fermentation shows domed edge and bubbles. 

Before

After

The dough is now ready to shape. For the class, we will make a boule shape.  (round)  Watch these videos to see how to do it - round  and oval, or boule and batard, if you want to get all fancy French like.   Place the shaped dough in a banneton and  let the dough cold-proof in the overnight in the fridge.  The longer it cold proofs, the more sour the flavor, but if you go too long (days) your dough won't rise much. 

On bake day,  place your empty Dutch oven in a cold oven on the center rack and heat to 450° for 45 mins.   I put my pizza stone on a rack under it to make sure the bottom doesn't burn.   All ovens are different, you might not need this.   Upend the dough into a piece of parchment paper or the bread sling, carefully score the top with your lame, and place it in the Dutch oven, cover, then bake for 30 minutes. 

Remove the lid of the Dutch oven and control bake until your crust is a deep golden brown.   For my oven,. it's usually another 5-10 minutes.    You can check the temp and it should be 200F at least in the center.  Allow to cool fully before slicing.

 

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Smoothie

 

Like many people these days, I am trying to get more protein and fiber in my diet.   I was craving banana bread after tasting some my friend Sheila made yesterday, so I thought I'd try to make a smoothie to match those great flavors.   Besides being delicious, this smoothie features 7 g fiber and 21 g protein.  Plus, it's got a nutritious boost of calcium - almost 30% of my daily requirement.  

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Smoothie

2 bananas, peeled, sliced and frozen
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (uncooked)
1 container (5.3 oz) plain non-fat Icelandic or Greek yogurt 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon maple syrup
2 T. peanut butter powder

Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse until smooth.  Garnish with bananas and peanuts, if desired. Serve immediately.

Mini Pasties Appetizer

Yesterday, the city of Hancock celebrated Heikinpäivä,   The celebration’s themes are taken from Finnish folk saying associated with the name day for Heikki (St. Henrik's Day, Jan. 19th):

“Heikki heinät jakaa.” 

Translated, it means "Heikki divides the hay." It was a time when the farmer took stock of his hay, grains and other commodities, making sure that there was at least half left.  So we celebrate winter being halfway over here.   

The Copper Country Community Arts Center hosts an exhibit "Animals of the Kalevala" theme.   Each year, I make some art featuring a pike.   I volunteered to help with refreshments, and I made mini pasties.   A long time ago, this recipe was featured in the Ann Arbor News, and when we were newlyweds, I made them often for parties.    I forgot all about it and lost my newspaper clipping, but my friend Leah shared her recipe with me that was similar to the Ann Arbor News one, complete with a rich butter and cream cheese crust.   I tweaked her recipe a bit and here is how I make them.  I am so thankful she reminded me of this popular appetizer.

Mini Pasties

makes about 75 appetizers

Crust

2 1/2 c flour
1 t. salt
1 c. butter cut into cubes
8 oz. cream cheese, cut into cubes
1/4 c heavy cream (approximately

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all ingredients except the cream until crumbly.   Add enough heavy cream to make the dough come together.   Form into 2 disks and wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge while making the filling.

Filling

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 t. thyme
1 t. garlic powder
2 T. Tabasco sauce
3 slices white bread
salt and pepper, to taste

Brown ground beef and onion in a large skillet.   Drain fat.   Add thyme, garlic powder, Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper.   Soak bread in water and wring out and add to pan.   Using a potato masher or a ground beef chopper, work soaked bread into ground beef until mixture is chopped very fine.  Adjust seasonings as needed.

Roll out the crust to 1/8" and use a 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut dough into circles.  Fill with filling and crimp with a fork.  Brush with an egg wash (mix one egg with 2 T water) and bake for 20-25 mins. at 400 F.  

Traditionally, pasties are served with ketchup; I served these yesterday with Heinz Dill Pickle Ketchup for added flavor.