It's autumn, a wonderful season of the year. Don't you agree? The days are getting shorter--and noticeably cooler. Leaves are changing colors and fragrant smoke from hearth fires scents the air. The harvest is over and its time for hunting and gathering--not only of food, but of people around your supper table. Are you ready for a few supper options? I certainly am! So come on in to my kitchen....
This is Barm Brack.
It's great for afternoon tea. (Makes 2 loaves.)
In a large mixing or mixer bowl, measure 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, lemon peel and yeast.
In a saucepan, combine the butter, water, and milk. Heat over a low flame until the liquid is hot (120-130 degrees Fahrenheit). Add to the dry ingredients and beat by hand with a wooden spoon, or with the mixer flat beater at medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs and 3/4 c. flour, or enough to make a stiff batter. Beat vigorously by hand or at high speed in the mixer for 2 minutes.
Add flour 1/4 c. at a time, beating with the spoon and working with the hands, or in the mixer using a dough hook, to form a shaggy mass that can be lifted from the bowl and placed on the work surface.
Knead the dough by hand or on a floured work surface or in the mixer, until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add liberal sprinkles of flour. The dough will leave the sides of the bowl in the mixer and gather around the dough hook.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature until the dough has risen to about twice its original size, about 45 minutes. (If prepared with fast-rising yeast and at the recommended higher temperatures, reduce the rising times by about half.)
Punch down the dough and turn onto the floured work surface. Work in the raisins and candied fruit. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a ball, and let rest under a towel for 5 minutes.
Form each loaf by pressing a ball, under your palms or with a rolling pin, into a flat oval, roughly the length of the 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. Fold the oval in half, pinch the seam tightly to seal, tuck under the ends, and place in the loaf pan, seam side down.
Cover the dough loosely with wax paper and let rise until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. The dough should be just above the edge of the loaf pan.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. about 20 minutes before baking.
Bake in the moderately hot oven until the loaves test done, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn out one loaf and tap the bottom with a forefinger. A hard, hollow sound means the light golden brown loaf is done. If not done, return to the oven--without the pan, if you wish a deep brown crust--for an additional 10 minutes. Finally, brush the crusts with the sugar glaze. Return to the oven for 2-3 minutes, or until shiny.
Remove the bread from the oven. While the bread is warm, cut thick slices and serve with ample butter. This bread will keep for several days wrapped in plastic or foil. It also freezes nicely.
Now, lets pour the tea and enjoy!
It's great for afternoon tea. (Makes 2 loaves.)
- 4-5 cups bread or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
- 2 pkgs. dry yeast
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 3/4 c. water
- 2 eggs
- 1-1/2 c. golden raisins
- 1/2 chopped mixed candied fruit
- 1 tsp. sugar dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water
In a large mixing or mixer bowl, measure 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, lemon peel and yeast.
In a saucepan, combine the butter, water, and milk. Heat over a low flame until the liquid is hot (120-130 degrees Fahrenheit). Add to the dry ingredients and beat by hand with a wooden spoon, or with the mixer flat beater at medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs and 3/4 c. flour, or enough to make a stiff batter. Beat vigorously by hand or at high speed in the mixer for 2 minutes.
Add flour 1/4 c. at a time, beating with the spoon and working with the hands, or in the mixer using a dough hook, to form a shaggy mass that can be lifted from the bowl and placed on the work surface.
Knead the dough by hand or on a floured work surface or in the mixer, until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add liberal sprinkles of flour. The dough will leave the sides of the bowl in the mixer and gather around the dough hook.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature until the dough has risen to about twice its original size, about 45 minutes. (If prepared with fast-rising yeast and at the recommended higher temperatures, reduce the rising times by about half.)
Punch down the dough and turn onto the floured work surface. Work in the raisins and candied fruit. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a ball, and let rest under a towel for 5 minutes.
Form each loaf by pressing a ball, under your palms or with a rolling pin, into a flat oval, roughly the length of the 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. Fold the oval in half, pinch the seam tightly to seal, tuck under the ends, and place in the loaf pan, seam side down.
Cover the dough loosely with wax paper and let rise until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. The dough should be just above the edge of the loaf pan.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. about 20 minutes before baking.
Bake in the moderately hot oven until the loaves test done, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn out one loaf and tap the bottom with a forefinger. A hard, hollow sound means the light golden brown loaf is done. If not done, return to the oven--without the pan, if you wish a deep brown crust--for an additional 10 minutes. Finally, brush the crusts with the sugar glaze. Return to the oven for 2-3 minutes, or until shiny.
Remove the bread from the oven. While the bread is warm, cut thick slices and serve with ample butter. This bread will keep for several days wrapped in plastic or foil. It also freezes nicely.
Now, lets pour the tea and enjoy!
This is the noble red deer. Isn't he magnificent? His meat makes a wonderful roast. This recipe comes from a very old cookbook called, The Queen's Closet Opened, published 1655. Cool, huh? Here's the recipe:
“Take a buttock of red deer or beefe, cut it the long waies with the grain, beat it
well with a rowling pin, then broil it upon the coals, a little after it is cold, draw it through with lard, then lay in some white wine vinegar, pepper, salt, cloves, mace, and bay leaves, then let it lye three or four days, then bake it in rye past, and when it is cold fill it up with butter, after a fortnight it will be eaten”
Sounds yummy--right??? No? Hm-m. Well, then, how about this?
Roast Venison with Red Sauce
Roast the venison as you would beef, to the medium-done stage (about 50 minutes—calculate roughly 10 minutes for every pound) at 350 degrees. Baste all the while.
When it is ready to serve, mix the remaining ingredients together in a
saucepan and heat thoroughly until bubbling gently.
Serve the red sauce on the side to spoon over the slices of
venison.
Okay--MUCH better....
How about dessert next?
“Take a buttock of red deer or beefe, cut it the long waies with the grain, beat it
well with a rowling pin, then broil it upon the coals, a little after it is cold, draw it through with lard, then lay in some white wine vinegar, pepper, salt, cloves, mace, and bay leaves, then let it lye three or four days, then bake it in rye past, and when it is cold fill it up with butter, after a fortnight it will be eaten”
Sounds yummy--right??? No? Hm-m. Well, then, how about this?
Roast Venison with Red Sauce
- 5 lb. venison roast
- 4 Tbsp port
- 1 lb. red currant jelly
- 1 stick cinnamon
- Zest of 2 lemons or oranges
Roast the venison as you would beef, to the medium-done stage (about 50 minutes—calculate roughly 10 minutes for every pound) at 350 degrees. Baste all the while.
When it is ready to serve, mix the remaining ingredients together in a
saucepan and heat thoroughly until bubbling gently.
Serve the red sauce on the side to spoon over the slices of
venison.
Okay--MUCH better....
How about dessert next?
Okay! It's time to bake Apple Pie!
(This is actually my recipe--so not to worry.)
First, let's make the crust. This recipe makes enough for two 10-inch or 9-inch deep dish pie crusts. The ingredients should be very cold before beginning. I even put the dry ingredients and the bowl I use into the freezer for an hour before beginning.
Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Pulse flour mixture together. Add cut-up pieces of butter and shortening and cover with flour mixture. Using short pulses in the food processor until mixture resembles corn meal. Turn into the cold bowl and add only enough cold water/vodka mixture to incorporate into a ball. Form into a ball using fingertips only and cover with plastic wrap, then place in the refrigerator to rest while peeling, coring and slicing the apples.
When apples are sliced and in the bowl, mixed together with the sugar, flour and spices, get ready to roll out the pie crusts.
The easiest method I've ever found is one I developed myself. Tear off 4 strips of plastic wrap and put two of them together to form each of 2 large squares. Moisten the countertop or a chilled pastry marble with water and put one square down. (Moistening it helps keep the plastic wrap from sliding around while the pie crust is being rolled out.) Flour plastic wrap square well. Divide the refrigerated dough ball into two pieces and return the second piece to the refrigerator, re-wrapped in the plastic wrap.
Pat out the first half into a circle and cover with the second square of plastic wrap over the top. Roll out the pie crust into roughly a 12-inch diameter circle. Gently loosen the top square of plastic wrap, flour it, then lift the entire bundle of two plastic sheets and quickly, but gently, flip it all over. Gently lift away the top plastic sheet and lift the dough circle over the rolling pin. Very gently place it over the pie plate and fit the dough circle into it. Trim away all but about two inches of dough around the outside border of the pie plate. Roll out the top crust using the same method.
The pie apple slices will have become limp and moist by this time--the sugar soaks the liquid out of the apples--a really cool chemical process--so they don't require pre-cooking. Gently squeeze excess liquid from the pie apples (but DO NOT discard the liquid) and place them in the bottom crust, piling them up if necessary. Cover with the top crust. Using pastry sheers, trim off any excess dough, to make the top crust the same size as the bottom crust. Fold the two dough crust edges together and very gently seal them by pinching them. Flute the borders decoratively, vent the pie by piercing the top crust in several places with a very sharp knife. You may make a decorative pattern of it, if you so choose. Protect the outer border of the fluted pie crust using strips of folded aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.
Place the pie on the middle shelf of the oven and bake at 425 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for 50 minutes. When the pie is nicely browned, remove it from the oven and place it on a rack to cool at least two hours before serving.
Here's the next part of the process--the pie apples themselves. You'll need at least 6 large Granny Smith apples or a mixture of any tart pie apples. If the apples are small, you'll need at least 8 of them. Peel, core and slice them into the cleaned bowl you've mixed up the pie dough in. Next, whisk together:
Cover the pie apple slices with this mixture and gently mix it into the pie apple slices to coat each one. Let this mixture sit for at least 30 minutes while making the dough crusts. When ready, they will be limp and a lot of liquid will have formed in the bottom of the bowl. The pie apple slices will need to be gently squeezed out before placing into the bottom crust. Do not discard the liquid, as mentioned above.
After the apple slices have all been placed into the pie crust, but BEFORE the top crust has been added, mix the liquid together with two gently beaten egg yolks and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Slowly pour over the pie apple slices in the pie plate and cover with the top crust. Bake, cool and slice the cooled pie. Stand by. You'll never, ever taste anything more delightful.
Can you think of a single different way to make better use of nature's autumn bounty? Sorry--my mouth is too full of apple pie to answer my rhetorical question--munch, munch, munch....
(This is actually my recipe--so not to worry.)
First, let's make the crust. This recipe makes enough for two 10-inch or 9-inch deep dish pie crusts. The ingredients should be very cold before beginning. I even put the dry ingredients and the bowl I use into the freezer for an hour before beginning.
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 12 Tbsp. cold (not frozen) butter, cut into small pieces
- 8 Tbsp. frozen shortening, cut into small pieces
- 4 Tbsp. ice water
- 4 Tbsp. very cold vodka
- 1 food processor--so much easier than cutting everything together by
- hand
Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Pulse flour mixture together. Add cut-up pieces of butter and shortening and cover with flour mixture. Using short pulses in the food processor until mixture resembles corn meal. Turn into the cold bowl and add only enough cold water/vodka mixture to incorporate into a ball. Form into a ball using fingertips only and cover with plastic wrap, then place in the refrigerator to rest while peeling, coring and slicing the apples.
When apples are sliced and in the bowl, mixed together with the sugar, flour and spices, get ready to roll out the pie crusts.
The easiest method I've ever found is one I developed myself. Tear off 4 strips of plastic wrap and put two of them together to form each of 2 large squares. Moisten the countertop or a chilled pastry marble with water and put one square down. (Moistening it helps keep the plastic wrap from sliding around while the pie crust is being rolled out.) Flour plastic wrap square well. Divide the refrigerated dough ball into two pieces and return the second piece to the refrigerator, re-wrapped in the plastic wrap.
Pat out the first half into a circle and cover with the second square of plastic wrap over the top. Roll out the pie crust into roughly a 12-inch diameter circle. Gently loosen the top square of plastic wrap, flour it, then lift the entire bundle of two plastic sheets and quickly, but gently, flip it all over. Gently lift away the top plastic sheet and lift the dough circle over the rolling pin. Very gently place it over the pie plate and fit the dough circle into it. Trim away all but about two inches of dough around the outside border of the pie plate. Roll out the top crust using the same method.
The pie apple slices will have become limp and moist by this time--the sugar soaks the liquid out of the apples--a really cool chemical process--so they don't require pre-cooking. Gently squeeze excess liquid from the pie apples (but DO NOT discard the liquid) and place them in the bottom crust, piling them up if necessary. Cover with the top crust. Using pastry sheers, trim off any excess dough, to make the top crust the same size as the bottom crust. Fold the two dough crust edges together and very gently seal them by pinching them. Flute the borders decoratively, vent the pie by piercing the top crust in several places with a very sharp knife. You may make a decorative pattern of it, if you so choose. Protect the outer border of the fluted pie crust using strips of folded aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.
Place the pie on the middle shelf of the oven and bake at 425 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for 50 minutes. When the pie is nicely browned, remove it from the oven and place it on a rack to cool at least two hours before serving.
Here's the next part of the process--the pie apples themselves. You'll need at least 6 large Granny Smith apples or a mixture of any tart pie apples. If the apples are small, you'll need at least 8 of them. Peel, core and slice them into the cleaned bowl you've mixed up the pie dough in. Next, whisk together:
- 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp.
- cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
Cover the pie apple slices with this mixture and gently mix it into the pie apple slices to coat each one. Let this mixture sit for at least 30 minutes while making the dough crusts. When ready, they will be limp and a lot of liquid will have formed in the bottom of the bowl. The pie apple slices will need to be gently squeezed out before placing into the bottom crust. Do not discard the liquid, as mentioned above.
After the apple slices have all been placed into the pie crust, but BEFORE the top crust has been added, mix the liquid together with two gently beaten egg yolks and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Slowly pour over the pie apple slices in the pie plate and cover with the top crust. Bake, cool and slice the cooled pie. Stand by. You'll never, ever taste anything more delightful.
Can you think of a single different way to make better use of nature's autumn bounty? Sorry--my mouth is too full of apple pie to answer my rhetorical question--munch, munch, munch....