Hey bloggers. Did a little cooking today amidst all the kitten fun. He seems to be adjusting as much as can be expected. When I can tear myself away from him I actually get things done. But with that cute little face who can help wanting to play with him all day. We left him alone for the first time today to go to the barn. Put him in the bedroom so he can jungle gym his way to sleepy time. He seemed perfectly fine when we returned. Hopefully another week or two and he can be left out with the other pets. For now it's isolation when we're gone for his own protection.
So whipped up a few easy things today. I'll post them all in one. I need to set up something so you can just look up the exact recipe you want with no trouble. Still working out the kinks of blogging. So without further ado, and only as I'm way tired, here you go.
Gluten Free Brown Rice Bread a la Deb (for the bread maker):
1 ½ cups milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon plain cider vinegar (or apple)
â…› cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
3 ¼ cups brown rice flour
½ cup corn starch
¼ cup potato starch
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
Throw everything in your bread maker and set for basic bread.
I've only made this twice now. Two things I notice about it. One is I always end up with flour on the outside of the bread. Maybe just spraying the tin with non-stick cooking spray might help that, not sure. Also it's really dense bread so if you like light and fluffy it is not for you. The taste is good, particularly toasted. I will try more gluten free breads over time and might experiment with some ingredients for added taste. Will keep you gluten sensitive folks notified.
Whole Wheat Bread (for the bread maker):
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons powdered milk (using real milk is fine)
2 tablespoons shortening
2 tablespoons honey (for fun try this with wild choke berry honey,super good)
2 tablespoons molasses
1 ½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoon yeast
Directions:
Measure ingredients and put them in order into the baking pan.
Use whole grain or whole wheat setting on your machine.
This brown bread is Mini-me's fave. She gobbles it like mad. Although she may not be anymore if we find out she has to go off wheat. This is a really good bread to try different honey with. Experiment a bit. I love the smell of this one and make it often. Sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. It kills me not to break a piece off and eat it. But wheat is not my friend. Just something I make for the fam that I can't eat.
Deb's Famous Apple Muffins:
¼ soft butter
¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 ½ cup grated apple
1 tablespoon apple juice ( you can use milk if no juice on hand)
½ cup raisins or nuts (optional. I never use either. Like them plain.)
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
Directions:
In a large bowl, bream butter with brown sugar. Add egg, apple and juice, then mix well. Stir in nuts/raisins if using them. Mix in the dry ingredients, stir just until moistened.
Drop into a greased muffin tin. At this point you can mix 1 tsp cinnamon with 1 ½ tbsp sugar and sprinkle on top of muffins before baking.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes if using large muffin tins. Maybe 12-24 if using minis.
Quite honestly these are the best muffins I've ever had. There's just something about the sugar mixture on top with the apple goodness inside. Let me know what you think of these.
Pork Ribs with Pineapple-Hoisin Glaze (glaze recipe is from williams sonoma's cookbook):
2 racks of ribs or about 5 pounds worth
1 ½ cups hoisin sauce
2 cups pineapple juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tsp asian sesame oil ( I didn't have any handy so used olive)
1 tsp firmly packed brown sugar
Directions:
I did my ribs with a little (½ cup) bit of beef broth in the slow cooker on high for about 4ish hours. Then I took them out and put them in a shallow casserole dish. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle about half the sauce mixture over. Cook for about 30 minutes (baste one in between). Then drizzle the rest over and cook for another 30 minutes (baste again at 15 minutes) or until the the meat starts to brown a bit.
I just served these with whole grain rice, both breads I made and some steamed corn. Simple and yummy. This was the first time I've made these particular ribs. I was impressed with them. I usually prefer a nice bar-b-q sauce with ribs but felt adventurous today. I would definitely make these again.
So hopefully I get time to pop some more recipes on tomorrow. I believe anyone can cook. If you start off with easy ones then you won't be disappointed. Then slowly try more challenging meals. I am currently on the hunt for mozzarella curds in order to make my own cheese. Now this will be interesting.
Photos missing due to a G+ incident, will be restored soon.Â
Amy
OMG those ribs look so tasty!!! I haven't cooked anything in awhile..I've been super lazy lately. But I think I want to make those ribs. YUM
Kim Bee
My sister pointed out that it just says 1 and 1/2 hoisin. I forgot to put cups. I need to be more careful when typing. I tend to do it at night which could explain errors. LOL
Amy
hahaha now I remember where I got ribs on my mind from...thanks xoxo
Kim Bee
Lol Amy. I prefer bar~b~q ribs but these were a fun change. Hope yours turned out yummy.