Chinook Bread

* 1 cup acorn meal
* 1 cup flour
* 2 tablespoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon corn oil
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted but not too hot



1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the acorn meal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir well.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and oil, then gradually whisk in the melted butter.
4. To the bowl containing the dry ingredients add the liquid ingredients and stir to combine all, but do not overmix - the batter will be a bit lumpy.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in 400 degree F oven for 30 minutes.
6. Note: If you don't have acorn meal, you can make your own! They're easy to prepare, and similar to chestnuts. Gather your acorns, examining them as you do so; throw away defective ones (cracked, moldy, wormy, etc). Shell the acorns; early in the season (August-September) the shell is usually soft enough to cut through, later season nuts might need a cracker. Boil the raw acorns until the water no longer turns brown (it'll look much like tea), changing water until it's clear. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F and roast the nuts in a single layer on a sheet pan for 90 minutes. Make dry meal by processing them in a food processor until they're a texture similar to regular corn meal.
7. Possible additions: a little cinnamon and/or nutmeg would be very nice in this bread!

Bobota Bread

simple corn bread recipe...

* 2 cups of cornmeal (yellow or blue)
* 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder or baking soda *
* 1/4 cup of sugar (brown or white sugar)
* 4-5 tablespoons of fresh orange juice (juice of 1/2 large orange)
* 1/4 cup of oil (olive or corn)
* about 1 cup of lukewarm water
sauce:
1/2 cup granulated sugar, 3 T honey, 1 orange plus water to make a cup, 6 cloves

Preheat oven to 350°F (175-180°C)
Whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder to combine well. In a separate bowl, mix oil, orange juice, and water, and stir until well blended. Add liquids to the dry ingredients and stir.
Pour batter into a well-oiled 9-inch pie pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the pan. It should come out dry.
Cool at least 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature.
*Sauce is optional, but combine ingredients and let sit. Remove cloves...pour over bobota before serving.
*nice that it is vegan:)

Betsy's Biscuits

2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

6 tablespoons oil (if doubling recipe, use slightly less than double oil)

1/2 cup yogurt (unflavored; Russian or Greek yogurt is good for its thickness)
1-2 tbs of skim milk

Combine dry ingredients in food processor, blend. Add in yogurt, blend until it crumbles into pea-sized bits. Add in milk in small increments until biscuits come together into a big lump of dough. If this happens before you add all the milk, stop adding it!

Roll out to 1/2 to 1inch thickness, and cut out biscuits. Do not knead the dough, and try to handle it as little as possible. Put the biscuits on the tray so they are touching each other gently on the sides.

Bake at 425 for ~12 min. Enjoy with butter, honey, jam, cranberry sauce, gravy... everything!

Blueberry Almond Muffins

Whoa these are good. Pretty much perfect for a weekend breakfast or a potluck. Great with coffee.

1.75 c all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.25 tsp allspice
0.25 tsp cinnamon
0.25 tsp ginger
0.25 tsp cloves
0.5 c almonds, finely ground in a food processor (or you can whack them with a sturdy spoon)
0.75 c sugar
1 egg
1.25 c buttermilk
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
8 oz blueberries
2 Tbsp ground almonds (reserve some extra from above)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices. Stir in ground almonds and sugar. In a second bowl, beat together egg, buttermilk, and melted butter. Stir dry ingredients into wet to make a smooth batter. Fold in blueberries. Spoon mixture into muffin cups in a standard size muffin pan until nearly full. Sprinkle the reserved ground almonds on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking towards the end. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Makes 12.

Za'atar Pita

Pita:
1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup lukewarm water

Za’tar:
1/4 cup sumac
2 tablespoons thyme
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons marjoram
2 tablespoons oregano
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup olive oil

Before preparing pita, combine ingredients for za’tar. Grind the sesame seeds in food processor or with mortar and pestle. Add remaining ingredients, except for olive oil, and mix well. Keep in covered dish at room temperature until used, when pita is finished baking.

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour yeast water in depression.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until dough is elastic. Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated. Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to preheat your baking sheet also.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick. Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes. Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Once pita is removed from oven, take spatula and gently push down puff. Brush olive oil over entire pita and sprinkle evenly with za’tar. Serve immediately or place in storage bags.

Challah Challah!

2 cups warm water or milk

2 pkgs dry active yeast

6-7 cups bread flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 t. salt

1/4 cup oil

1 egg

1. In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (careful of the temperature or it won't rise. You can use a thermometer to check the temperature. You want 75-120 degrees.) Stir in sugar and salt. Add 3 cups flour and mix well. Add oil and egg and mix well. Then add remaining flour. (The dough will be a little sticky but don't add more flour.)

2. Wet a clean dish towel and ring it out. Cover the bowl of dough with the towel. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and let stand overnight.

3. When dough is doubled in size braid as follows:

Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Cut 1 piece into thirds; with your hands roll each piece into a 16 inch-long rope or snake. Place ropes side by side and braid as you would hair.

Pinch ends of braid to seal. Place on cookie sheet the bottom loaf. Repeat with another piece for another loaf. Cut remaining dough into 6 pieces; roll each into 17 inch-long ropes. Braid each set of three ropes as shown in figure; pinch ends to seal.

Place each smaller braid on top of a large braid; tuck ends of top braid under bottom braid stretching top braid if necessary.

4. Arrange loaves at least 5 inches apart on oiled or greased cookie sheet; cover and let rise in warm place until doubles in size. (Depending on your house temperature. Find a warm place.)

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook bread for about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush top and sides of loaves with butter. Let cool on wire rack.