Friday, August 27, 2010

1st Place Recipes

Here are the items that received a First Place Blue Ribbon at the Iowa State Fair.
The first is my sour cherry almond bread.  I am always looking for ways to use fresh sour cherries from my wonderful cherry tree.  Too bad after all the storms I believe this was the last year to harvest anything from our cherry tree.  So sad - we tried to save a piece of it still on the trunk but it has lost all its leaves already and looks very sad.  We haven't mowed over the seedlings that spring up every year and hope to start some trees from the seedlings for future use.  We're saving up some money to buy new fruit trees next spring and begin a new orchard.  For quite a few years though it looks like we'll be visiting our local orchards.

Sour Cherry Almond Bread

Yield: 2 loaves


Ingredients:
¼ C unsweetened applesauce 2 T large grain sugar

6 C all-purpose flour
1 t salt
2 t baking soda
4 t baking powder
1 C chopped almonds
¼ C unsalted butter, softened
2 C sugar
2 eggs, large
2 eggs, large - whites
2 C low-fat buttermilk
2 t almond extract
4 C sour cherries, fresh – chopped coarse
¼ C sliced almonds


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and 1/2” up the sides of two 9 x 5 x 3” loaf pans; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and chopped almonds together until combined; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine applesauce, butter and sugar. Beat at medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the whole eggs one at a time and mix for 20 seconds, add the egg whites and mix for 20 seconds. Reduce the mixer’s speed to medium/medium-low and add the buttermilk, almond extract, mixing until incorporated.


Fold the flour mixture and cherries into the egg mixture until just moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and the 2 T large decorator sugar. Bake about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

I admit - I froze almost all of my quick bread entries in advance.  Since most all of them placed I maintain that some if not most quick breads do not suffer from freezing.  NOTE:  I do not recommend freezing yeast breads - they are still better fresh and do not always do well upon thawing. 
 
Swedish Rye Bread

Yield: 2 loaves (8 ½ x 4 ½)

Ingredients:
1 C Milk (warmed slightly)
1 T salt
3 T lard
4 T molasses
2 T granulated sugar
4 T brown sugar
2 t instant yeast
4 ½ C King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 ½ C King Arthur Rye Flour


Bread Machine Method: Place all of the ingredients into the bucket of bread machine. Program the machine for dough or manual and press Start. Check the dough after about 15 minutes; it should be smooth looking, though fairly stiff (but not gnarly). Add additional water or flour as needed. Allow the machine to complete its cycle. Knock down in bucket. Rise again.



Turn the dough out onto a work surface, and divide it in half. Shape into loaves and place in two well-greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Cover with greased plastic and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.


Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes, or until the center reads 190°F when measured with an instant-read thermometer.


Immediately remove bread from pans and cool on a wire rack.

This is a recipe from my grandma that I have tried to keep true to her flavors but modernize some of the methods.

The next bread was entered specifically in the bread machine class so everything was done in the machine.  You could just do it on dough cycle and finish in oven if you prefer.  I have to admit this is the second year in a row that I have placed in the bread machine class and I believe it has a lot more to do with the machine than me.  Once again - can't thank mom and dad enough for the gift of the Zojirushi (can't pronounce it but love it!).  This recipe actually comes from the King Arthur Website - need to give credit where credit is due.
 
Rum Raisin Bread

Yield: 1 loaf (16 slices)
Ingredients:
1 T (1 ounce) rum
½ C (3 ounces) raisins
¾ C (6 ounces) water
2 T (1 ounce) heavy cream
2 t butter
½ t rum extract
1 large egg
2 t brown sugar
3 C (13 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
2 T (3/4 ounce) Baker’s Special Dry Milk
1 t salt
2 t instant yeast


Combine the rum and raisins in a small, non-reactive bowl. Set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.



Place all of the ingredients except the rum and raisins into the pan of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Program the machine for Raisin or Fruit setting, light crust and press start. Check the dough’s consistency about 10 minutes before the end of the final kneading cycle, adding additional water or flour to form a smooth, yet slightly stiff ball of dough.


Add the rum and raisins at the signal. Allow the machine to complete its cycle. Cool the loaf on wire rack.

Finally, corn relish.  Now, this recipe is actually from the Ball Home Canning Book - all of my recipes for veggie and fruit processing come predominantly from either Ball or Georgia Extension.  All approved canning method recipes.  I used some fantastic sweet corn for this recipe which gives it great flavor!  Altitude and county are required to be included on the recipe card when you enter at the ISF.  I also make sure I highlight headspace and processing time in the recipe to make it easier for the judges to find.
Traditional Corn Relish
Yield: ~ 5 (pint)

Altitude: 3000 – 6000 ft
County: Story


Ingredients:
9 C fresh corn kernels (about 18 medium ears, husked and blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes)
3 C finely chopped cabbage
1 C finely chopped onion
1 C finely chopped, seeded red bell pepper
4 C white sugar
1 C water
2 T dry mustard
1 T celery seeds
1 T mustard seeds
1 T salt
1 T ground tumeric


In a large, stainless steel saucepan, combine corn, cabbage, onion, red pepper, vinegar, sugar, water, dry mustard, celery seeds, mustard seeds, salt and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes or until liquid is reduced and vegetables are tender-crisp.



Meanwhile, place clean pint mason jars on a rack in a boiling-water canner. Fill the jars and canner with cool water to within 1 inch of the top of the jars. Cover and bring water to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil. Prepare lids and keep warm until ready to use.


Fill hot jars to ½ inch from top. Add hot liquid, leaving ½ ” headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, damp paper towel. Center hot lids on jars and screw on bands until fingertip-tight.


Place jars in canner, making sure they are covered by at least 1 inch of water. Cover and bring back to a gentle boil. Process jars for 20 minutes. Turn off water bath and allow to sit for 5 minutes.



Remove jars from canner and place on a wire rack covered with cloth towel. Let cool for 24 hours, then check seals. Wash and dry jars and store in a cool, dry, dark location.

In addition there were two other first place ribbons:
Horticulture - Clark's mini white pumpkins
Heritage - Red Wing Rooster in the Pottery - Worthy item not listed class.
My eye for a good find must not be too bad!
 
In other news:
Today we went to church to sign Clark up for preschool.  When we called earlier in the summer he was second on a waiting list.  Which was OK - we're really in no hurry to have him start school.  However, we do think it will be nice for him to play and interact with other children.  We were called yesterday to say he was in - so now I am scrambling to play catch up and get all the doctor items/paperwork (mommy's homework) put together for the open house in September.  He starts after Labor Day (maybe this will take his mind off Halloween).
 
We also visited the library today and borrowed lots of books.  Clark was very excited to go back to the library after a few weeks away.  Grant was quite happy to play too.  They were so happy they even let mommy pick out some books.  Picked out a movie for family movie night and 2 hours later were on our way!
 
Finally to top the day off we picked up the paint to redo the basement.  After the water damage we have decided to tear out a very water torn wall/closet and make one big long room that will serve as playspace, kid's craft area, mommy's office and our family room/library.  Clark helped me paint his new kitchen cupboard yesterday (was a great day to paint outside).  He picked orange - which will work with the new color scheme but I will be applying a crackle glaze and putting a cream top coat over the orange.  It will be great.  Hey, for a $5.00 cupboard and utilization of paint we already had it will be a great storage piece.  We picked up a roll of stick on cork to use as the "countertop" and "back splash."  It's great to have Grant toddling around now because this means he can go out and play with the rest of us!  He spent his time picking up rocks and sticks and "borrowing" mom's tools - must be boy thing (of course, according to grandpa I was pretty good at "borrowing" tools from the toolbelt too)!

1 comment:

Barb said...

Congratulations on your winnings, and thanks for all the great recipes.