Wheat Bread by Hand!

Hello!

I made a video for the wheat bread.

click here for part 1
click here for part 2

I know in a previous blog I mentioned that we started making our own bread. Well no sooner had I made those 2 loaves of white - 1 of them was gone. So today I made some wheat. Our whole wheat flour is out and I don't really feel like grinding any. Also - if you BUY 25 lbs of ground bread flour or wheat flour it is only 8 bucks which is riduculous because hard white wheat berries are now like 14 bucks for 25lbs and hard red wheat is like 12 bucks for the same 25 lbs. I have just taken the bread flour and broken it down into smaller jars and frozen them overnight individually to kill any buggies.

I tell you what - Mr. Man is so happy to be eating fresh made bread - he can honestly taste hidden high fructose syrup in things - and he can also taste when the vegetables are not organic but that's another story about NYC. lol. My one brother that lives in town hasn't caught wind of the new bread recipes yet - but once he does I have a feeling I'm going to have to start making 6-8 loaves a week. Oh well.

Recipe

2 .25oz pkgs active yeast
4 1/2 cups warm water (110F) divided
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup oat bran
2 cups oatmeal
4 cups whole wheat
4 cups bread flour
1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds

3 2.5lb loaf pans greased (with cooking spray)
stainless steel bowl or mixer
spatula

1) dissolve yeast in 1/2 water with sugar - leave to foam
2) dissolve oil, honey, salt, germ, bran and oats into water, add to yeast
3) add bread flour and whole wheat flour 1/2 at a time
4) knead and double
5) punch and double again
6) punch and place in loaf pans, brush with egg and spinkle toppings
7) allow to rise 2 inches past pan lip
8) Bake @ 375 for 40 minutes or until done

Ham Fried Rice aka Sexy Leftovers hahaha

Fried rice is one of the best ways to use leftovers than almost anything I can think of. I thought it might be helpful to folks to have a demonstration of the order in which you should cook fried rice.

Click here to watch the video.

Happy cooking and Happier Eating!

Chicken Teriyaki CANNED. yup. CANNED

Teriyaki Chicken for Canning.

If you scratch the process of canning - you can just eat as is. But sine we love that Asian Flavor we have incorporated it into our food stores. We chanced upon boneless skinless thighs (99cents a lb) and in my opinion thighs are better for sauced or grilled recipes because it is dark meat. I decided to try half into chicken teriyaki and the other half into saute (that's another blog - Chayote Chicken). For over a decade I've been making my own teriyaki sauce so increasing it is no big deal.

This makes 5 quarts and leaves about a bowl for you to eat :)

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken - 12-13 lbs
season with salt pepper paprika and garlic powder.
grill and set aside covered so it rests

Teriyaki Sauce

2 cups soy sauce
10 cups water
2 Tbsp ground ginger - or 4 Tbsp fresh chopped ginger
2 tsp garlic powder
3 c brown sugar
1/2 c honey
4 Tbsp black pepper




I simmered it the night before and let it rest so it could mature a bit. I adjusted it a bit with some pepper and soysauce until it had the zip i like.



Mr. Man grilled the chicken on mesquite the night before - I just left it in the dutch oval and left it in the fridge.



Simmer your teriyaki "sauce" and start to chop the chicken. I do this so I get everything super hot because when I first started canning (and i AM still learning) i would leave the jars and water too cold and some of my seals failed. Chop the chicken in hefty strips. Put back in pot and set aside. Now you ask why did you grill it if you are going to can it. 1) I wanted to give the chicken some strength so when we eat it later it will have a good bite. 2) That smoky mesquite flavor tastes good.

Now wash your jars and such



I set the lids and caps in HOT water. At this point I also fill the pressure canner with hot water and leave it on high.



Fill the bottles with the chopped chicken to the 1 inch level.



Once it looks like 1 inch top each bottle with 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds




Then divide the teriyaki "sauce" evenly between the 5 bottles. With the sauce that I made it came to about 2 inches from the top. Then run a plastic spatula down the sides to burp the airbubbles and push the center a bit to level it - but don't overstuff it.

So I bet you are asking why didn't I make enough sauce to go to the 1 inch mark. Well because the sauce will require thickening at the time you eat it. You'll see where this is going.



So then fill the jars to 1 inch with boiling hot water and nudge it down 1 more time with the rubber spatula to make sure there are no gaps and spaces.



I take a paper towel and wet it with water and a bit of vinegar.
Wipe off the sides rotating your paper towel around.



They look pretty promising. I think it would be safe to say this could feed 3-4 adults.



I pop the jars into the pressure canner and use the same timing and pressure as stew or soup.
According to the book for us it's 1hr 15min at 10lbs of pressure.



I am waiting for the processing to finish while I write.

Let's address the issue of thickening the sauce once you eat it.

Here's how you do it.

Open Canned Teriyaki Chicken.
Drain Chicken RESERVING liquid from mason jar
Heat Chicken gently since it will be pretty soft.

Make a Slurry - 1 tbsp cornstarch and about 1/4 cup water




Mix very well by whisk or hand



Boil the teriyaki "sauce" from the canned chicken.
Whisk in the Slurry and mix hard until it is shiny and clear.



It should have the same texture as a ham glaze.



Top hot rice with Chicken and then spoon teriyaki glaze over the chicken.
Top with green onions and veggies.



It's pretty easy. Just futz with the recipe a bit to get what you want.
Oh, and email me if you have any questions.