Flowerpot-Baked Bread

Posted on May 15, 2012 by FreeRangeChick - Shanti Posted in Eat | Leave a comment

It was a rainy day here in Austin Texas, which is something that does not happen often. Since I could not spend the day in the garden, I settled in for a day of good ol’ fashion homemaking which included getting caught up on laundry, a bit of cleaning, freezing some fresh garden veggies, and whipping up a batch of homemade flowerpot-baked bread and homemade butter. Both of these recipes can be found in the Extraordinary Cookbook, which just happens to be this month’s giveaway!

The recipe for this homemade bread is one of the easier bread recipes I have made, and I love that it baked in only 20 minutes. The bonus to this easy recipe is the presentation is absolutely adorable. Each individual loaf is baked and served in a small terra cotta pot, which would be perfect food and decoration addition for a dinner party.

Ingredients:

1 – 1/4 ounce envelope of active-dry yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

3 1/4 cups white bread flour

warm water

1 tablespoon salt

butter for greasing

a bit of extra flour for kneading and garnish

Method:

In a small dish place your yeast, sugar, and 1 tablespoon of warm water. Stir ingredients until they are dissolved.

In a large bowl mix flour, salt, and the dissolved yeast/sugar mixture.

Slowly add 1 1/4 cups of warm water to the flour mixture slowly, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until a moist dough has formed.

Transfer your dough to a floured surface and knead for at least five minutes until your dough is elastic and smooth.

Transfer your kneaded dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and sit in a warm room for an hour, or until the dough doubles in size.

While your dough rises, grease the insides of the terra cotta pots very liberally with butter, then sprinkle the inside of the pots with flour. If there is a large hole in the bottom of the pot, cover with aluminum foil.

Once the bread has risen, transfer back to your floured surface and knead for approximately one minute (the dough mixture will greatly decrease in size.)

Divide your dough into your terra cotta pots, so each pot is approximately half full. Sprinkle the top of each with a bit of flour.

Cover your pots and let the dough rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake the bread at 400 degrees for 15-45 minutes depending on the size of your pots.

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Chilled Avocado Lime Soup

Posted on May 9, 2012 by FreeRangeChick - Shanti Posted in Eat | Leave a comment

I have never been a huge fan of chilled soups until the summer of 2010 when I met Jorge. Jorge was the head chef at Akumal Beach Resort, a little slice of Mexico heaven nestled halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Akumal Beach Resort is a 3 star resort with 5 star food and 11 star scenery (yes I realize the star system only goes to 5, but for this one we had to make an exception and go to 11!)

When we weren’t facedown in the water

swimming with the turtles,

you could find us wandering the beach,

hanging out at the Swing Bar (yes a full service bar with adult size swings!)

or stuffing our facesfull of Jorge’s delicious treats.

The first day we were on the resort Jorge found out I was a vegetarian, and like any good chef, he took my dietary restrictions as a challenge and created all sorts of amazing dishes just for me. It was a daily occurrence that he would not only find me at meal time, but find me on the beach, or at the bar and make sure I was well fed. One of his special concoctions was a chilled avocado soup, which I still dream about, so when I stumbled across this recipe in the Extraordinary Cookbook, I knew that I would be whipping it up this month. This recipe was so easy and super refreshing, so it’s perfect for the summer months.

Ingredients:

4 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled

2 garlic cloves, chopped, then mashed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt

zest and juice of 2 limes

1 green chile, deseeded and chopped

1 quart vegetable stock

2 handfuls of cilantro leaves and stems

Method:

Place avocados, garlic, limes, green chile, 1/2 of the vegetable stock, and all of the cilantro except for a few sprigs (used for garnishing later) in the blend and or food processor and puree.

Once the mixture is well pureed, pour into a bowl with a lid, stir in the remaining vegetable stock, and chill for two or more hours.

Garnish with a few remaining cilantro leaves, and serve chilled.

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Homemade Ice Cream

Posted on March 28, 2012 by FreeRangeChick - Shanti Posted in Eat | Leave a comment

A Post by Free Range Joni

Homemade ice cream is an absolute staple at every one of my family events. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and this past year, we even had homemade ice cream at our campout! We poured the delectable ingredients together, and slurped on the scrumptious mixture in the extreme heat. There couldn’t have been a better way to end our annual camping trip.

To delight in this treat, the perfect ice cream maker is key. In our opinion, there is no other ice cream maker than the White Mountain. My parents were gifted a White Mountain ice cream maker for their wedding, 31 years ago. Now, while they have replaced this contraption twice, it has exceeded expectations not only with ease of use and amount of brutality per use, but also in the perfection of the results. There are none like the White Mountain.

Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

6 eggs (if preferred, feel free to use egg beaters as they are pasteurized. we have subbed this in before, and the ice cream still tasted wonderful.)

2 packages vanilla instant pudding

12 ounces whipped cream

1 3/4 c. sugar

1 gallon whole milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Method:

Add the six eggs to the electric mixer. Beat the eggs on medium to high speed until some air has been incorporated, and they are slightly fluffy (about 2 -3 minutes). Add 2 cups of milk, and then the sugar, vanilla pudding, and vanilla extract. After a minute or so, be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl, where the sugar and eggs tend to stick. Add in the whipped topping and mix until the whipped topping turns the ice cream into a lighter color. At this point, get your canister for the ice cream ready. Be sure to place the dasher in the middle of the canister, and have it steadied to avoid an angled dasher. Pour the ice cream into the canister. Add milk directly into the canister until the mixture rises to the bottom of the top paddle of the dasher.

It is now ready to enter into phase 2!

In our dark and dungy basement, we crack the ice and begin the freezing part of the process. This is a little messy, as the ice will melt and seep out of the bucket that the canister is spinning and freezing in. Be sure to have a drain close by, or freeze the ice cream in a place that can allow for excess water (i.e. a garage or outside). Following the direction that come with the White Mountain Ice Cream Maker, layer the ice, salt, and a bit of water until the top of the canister is covered.

Plug in the mixer, and wait until the freezing process is complete. Keep an eye on your ice level, as it may be necessary to add more ice throughout the freezing process. The ice should come up to the lid of the canister, almost cover the top, the entire time.

Our White Mountain Ice Cream Maker simply shuts off when it is complete. At this point, unplug the machine, remove the canister from the salty ice, and be very careful when removing the lid of the canister. Ice and salt that will have accumulated on the lid, and can very easily drop into the ice cream. Take care to clean it before removing the lid. Empty the contents from a canister to a serving dish, or into an ice cream bucket to serve your guests after dinner. Enjoy this tasty treat!

*Variations of homemade ice cream can simply be made by subbing the pudding. We have made chocolate, white chocolate, pistachio, and butterscotch.