Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
- Jalapeno pepper 1 large or 2 medium size
- Poblano pepper, 1 medium size
- Tomatillo, 8 to 10 medium size
- Onion, white or red,1 medium size, cut in half
- Lime OR lemon, ½ of a whole fruit
- Garlic, 1 clove or minced garlic, 0.5 tsp
- Cilantro, 1 small bunch, leaves and stems
- Olive Oil, 2 tablespoons
- Salt, 0.25 teaspoon
- Black Pepper, 0.25 teaspoon
- Xanthan Gum, 0.25 Teaspoon (optional)
- Honey (1 tsp..) or 1 packet of Truvia (Stevia) (optional)

Instructions:
Grill, broil or skillet cook the vegetables and lemon (or lime) until charred and soft, which takes about 10-15 minutes. When blackened, cut in halves or quarters and put in a food processor or blender. Blend together these and the remaining ingredients until it gets to the desired consistency.  The Xanthan Gum acts as a thickening agent.  A food processor with give a chunky consistency, a blender will puree. A de-seeded jalapeno will make mild salsa, whole pepper (with seeds) medium heat, 2 peppers will make extra hot.  I made this recipe primarily to put on eggs, but it adds a Mexican flair to any dish or enjoyed with chips or eaten straight from the jar with a straw or spoon :).

Yield: about 24 ounces or 1 1/2 pints.
Serving size: 1 ounce
Nutrition per serving: 1 net carbohydrate (2 total), 1 g fat, 18 calories

Recipe by Gus Koerner with the input of Alton Brown and Bobby Flay, March 2020.

Really Good Chili

For today's Annual United Methodist Church Charge Conference and Pot Luck Dinner, I made a new chili recipe that came out really well!

About little bit about the conference: it is always a nice event when we get together with the other local United Methodist Churches and give an accountability report of what has and will transpire for the year.  Out little Saint Andrew United Methodist Church, and sister churches in the area are doing great things to show people the love of Christ.

The Chili I made from scratch, and not really following a recipe, so therefore I have to jot down how I did it so it can be done again.  It's like any good scientist would do in documenting an experiment with procedural notes, so as it can be repeated by someone else.

Really Really Good Three Day Chili

Hardware

I used a 5 quart Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven, and a 10 inch cast iron skillet.

Software

Dry Red Kidney Beans, 1 pound.

10 cups of water

1 large white onion, peeled and cut in half

2 chopped cloves of garlic

5 Bay Leaves

1/2 teaspoon Chile Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Cumin

2 teaspoons of Salt

1 pound cubed steak, finely chopped when partially frozen

2, 10 ounce cans of Original Ro-Tel Tomatoes with green chilies

Additional Salt and Pepper to taste.

Method

Thursday night, I cooked the Kidney Beans exactly according to Pati Jinich's recipe Beans: Frijoles de Olla or Beans from the Pot, then I put them in the fridge until the next evening after the dutch oven cooled a bit.

Friday night, the next day, I put the pot back on the stove on medium heat.

At the same time in a skillet I browned the chopped beef and added 1/2 of the onion and the garlic all chopped fine.  The beef was so lean, that I had to add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  When it was all nice and brown and the onions translucent, I deglazed the skillet with a little (1/2 cup) water and added it all to the bean pot.

Next into the bean pot I added the spices and Ro-Tel.  Then I let it simmer about 4 hours. It was time for bed again, so I let it cool and put it back in the fridge until the next day. This rest time for the chili lets all the flavors marry and deepen in flavor.

Saturday morning simmered it for 4 more hours prior to serving. I removed all the Bay Leaves, so the consumers of my chili wouldn't die with a Bay Leaf in their throat. The crowd seemed to enjoy it and I would absolutely make it again.

The total cost of the dish was about $13 and served about 15 people.
Beef - $6.00
Beans - $2.00
Ro-Tel - $2.00
Spices and Vegetables $3.00

I hope this recipe works out for you!  

- gus

Make Your Own Dad-Gum Sports Drink

Recently in my work and frequency outdoors in this unbearably hot Florida summer, I've come to crave Gatorade in the afternoon. After an exhausting day in the heat and humidity I can come in and literally drink a quart in a single five minute break. This past week we had 98 degree days and 95% humidity. The cost of that refreshment and electrolyte replacement is usually $1.50 or more (per quart) cold from a convenience store or $1.00 if you have the forethought to keep some in the fridge you were able to buy on sale.

With some online searching, comparing and modifying others research I developed my own recipe. It is virtually the same as Gatorade Recipe by fungus amungus on Instructables, but this one is sugar free to be diabetic friendly because it uses Stevia instead of sucrose. You really need to read the article Gatorade Recipe because Mr. Fungus Amungus does a great job explaining the sodium, potassium and sugar ratios and cost breakdown.

After creating the recipe and putting it all together, I had an original bottle of Glacier Ice Gatorade. Using powdered Kool-Aid as my flavoring, a similar flavor is their Blue Raspberry Lemonade. I then used my best scientific skills to put together a taste test for my wife to compare.  I call it double-blind, because I didn't know what I was doing and she didn't know what it should taste like. The results were that she liked my recipe better than the original. Hooray!

Here is my recipe for a 2 quart batch which cost about $0.65 (65 cents) a quart.  Using table sugar would cut that price down significantly, but would raise the carbohydrates. My recipe has about 2 grams of carbohydrates per 1 cup serving, using sugar raises that to about 15 grams per cup.

Gus and Sandy's Gatorade

Ingredients
64 fluid ounces of water
1 packet of Kool-Aid of your favorite flavor *
8 single serve packets of Stevia **
1/4 teaspoon table salt OR Sea Salt OR Pink Himalayan Sea Salt (sodium)
1/8 teaspoon Morton Lite Salt (potassium)

Directions
In a juice pitcher add 1/2 the water.  Add all the ingredients and stir.  Add the rest of the water, stir again, refrigerate and serve.

* 1 cup of 100% fruit juice can be used as a substitute for flavor.
** sugar or honey can be used as a sweetener substitute depending on your dietary restrictions and taste.

Special acknowledgement - To my sweet wife Sandy for being a good sport, so she gets her name on the recipe too! Thank you Honey.

End Note: I just realized now that my special recipe is just sugar free Kool-Aid with a pinch of salt. LOL.  I'm such a nerd, but it's special to me!

My White Bread Recipe

I'm not a connoisseur of bread or bakery items.  I'm a utilitarian.  I make bread for toast, sandwiches and other uses to serve a family.  Wheat, Rye and specialty/gourmet breads are fine, but I bake family bread similar to American store bought white bread.  I've done the specialty loaves with exotic spices and herbs, cheeses and nuts, but I still come back to the trusted standard of simple ingredients.

If I were to bake my loaf from scratch, by hand in an oven or on a hearth I would still use the same recipe and order of ingredients because it has worked for centuries.

Back in about 1995 I purchased a ZojiRushi bread maker because it was "top of the line" by Consumer Reports at the time.  I have been using that same bread maker ever since, even though it makes vertical loaves and not the standard horizontal to simulate a loaf of store bought bread.  It is one of my top 10 purchases over my lifetime I'd dare to say

I use a balance (scale) when I can because of simplicity.  Flour is easier to measure by the gram, salt is easier to measure by the teaspoon.  I'll give both measurements and you can choose.  If you use strictly measuring cups and spoons you'll be fine, strictly a scale and you'll also be fine.  Use both and you'll save some time.  (I'm a poet and don't know it.)

Here is my recipe for Basic White Bread.

With the bread maker pan on the balance (scale) press Zero or Tare between ingredients.  Add them IN THIS ORDER.

• 1 1/3 cups water (320 mL or grams)
• 4 Tbsp. sugar (46 g) - sucrose for the yeast
• 2 Tbsp. dried milk (8 g) which provides lactose for the yeast, plus lubricant.
• 2 tsp. salt (11 g) - provides seasoning
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. butter or vegetable oil (35 g) - I use veggie oil.  The important thing is oil provides lubrication in the process. Oils have less fat than butter, and are a better lubricant.
• 4 1/4 cups of flour(544 g), a discussion item, but - I prefer Gold Medal Unbleached Bread flour, but frankly I will use anything in my cabinet.  I mix flours if I have to, rather than take a trip to the store.
• Yeast - add 2 tsp or 1 packet of active dry yeast (6 g) to the top of the pile. - Check the date for expiration.

Place the pan in the bread maker, set the mode to Quick Bread  and press Start. Walk away for 4 hours - go somewhere. One note of caution here.  If I do this before I go to bed the bread machine keeps me up all night with the aroma more than the sound.  I have to bake my bread on the weekends or earlier in the day.

I add the ingredients in this order to keep the liquids separate from the solids as long as possible, and the yeast separate from everything else as long as possible.  This insures the yeast is not affected from contact from too hot or cold water, or die because it contacts the salt.

In about 4 hours you'll have an edible, tasty, utilitarian loaf of bread that is delicious fresh or for sandwiches this week.

My last batch went moldy after a week kept on the kitchen counter-top, because there are no preservatives in this bread.   We ate most and gave the rest to our backyard birds.

This Week's Limericks

My Friday Note to Sandy

Today is Friday!
Wa Hoo! It's my day! (and yours)
May it be blessed,
Free of stress.
And your greatest challenge be child's play.

gk
3/18/2016


Outdoors Geometry
(Oh, the Wonderful Wedge)

Useful is the polyhedron,
Made of steel, preferred in Sweden.
Most call it a wedge,
Used with a sledge.
By lumberjacks before winter season.


Mathematically, its plane geometry.
Working equally on pine, oak and mahogany.
Splitting wood fine or coarse,
It works like a horse.
The finest of low technology.

gk
3/16/2016

A Tribute to Wimpy

I'd gladly pay you Tuesday, for a Hamburger today!
No, I'm not Wimpy, or the Galloping Gourmet.
A hamburger for lunch is,
The climactic ever-best is,
A sandwich, a bun, some cheese and mayonnaise.

gk
3/14/2016

Unleavened Passover Bread

2 cups White Flour, unbleached all purpose
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup Water
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Mix well all ingredients in a medium size bowl by hand or with an electric mixer until a stiff dough forms. Remove the dough to a lightly floured countertop, kneading until a smooth consistentcy.   Bake for 8 minutes, flip the bread over on the pan, bake for about 8 more minutes.

Thanksgiving 2014

What a wonderful time of year it is!  Family over, an incredible meal on its way, the Macy's Parade on TV and later, Detroit vs. Chicago football.  I think it's my favorite holiday of the year. I know, however, to stay out of the kitchen on Thanksgiving.  I love to cook, but in our home the ladies own the kitchen today, and are working harder and faster than a NASCAR pit crew on race day!

Most of all we need to remember, that it's a day for gratitude.  In the United States, no matter what our economic lot, we all have blessings afforded to us by the grace of God and through our Constitution. We can worship God as we please, we can peacefully protest, our children receive a good education. Can we complain that our freedoms aren't "free enough" or how our education system could be better?  Of course.

A few years ago my salary was twice what is now, and I took it for granted.  I felt like I deserved more, yet I had a hard time controlling my spending.  I still feel like I deserve more and still have a hard time controlling my finances.  My situation is not uncommon, as a matter of fact its the norm of America, and some things will never change.  As Americans, individually and as a government, we need to work on that.  But if you're reading this story right now, chances are you are not homeless and went to the public library to read it on their free internet enabled computers.  You're more than likely reading it from your home computer or mobile device.  You are blessed.

I work in a prison, mostly in the hospital hospice unit, and I am inspired every day by inmates that are thankful that things aren't worse for them.  They appreciate the chapel volunteers who come visit them, the coffee cake for breakfast on Tuesday, the annual piece of processed sliced turkey once a year on Thanksgiving, and the warm sunshine on their face out on the recreation yard. Some inmates are mean spirited and bitter of course, but many whom I see and talk to express feelings of gratitude for the simple privileges that they have been granted.  Everyday one particular inmate says hello to me, and when I ask how he is, he cheerfully responds, "I'm blessed by the Best". He's serving a life sentence.  That's when I start counting my blessings.  See my story All Things Good, if you need help in counting your blessings.

Last Sunday we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner after church.  That reminded me to count my blessings of community, good friends who care and the solidarity of fellow Christian believers.

I provided below my Dutch Oven Potatoes recipe at the pot-luck dinner as I promised on Twitter, @guskoerner.

Tools, ingredients and instructions:
1 - 10-12 inch cast iron Dutch Oven or camp stove oven
2 - big spoons, 1 regular, 1 strainer
1 - heat source to 350 degrees F. (range or campfire)
Cooking time 1 hour.
Prep. time 1 hour.
----------
5 pounds of potatoes. Whatever is on sale. Cleaned and chopped into uniform cubes 1/2 to 3/4 inches.
1 pound of bacon
1 large onion, chopped to 1/2 inch pieces, not too fine or course.  Kids hate large onion pieces.
12 fl. oz. of liquid such as 1 can of lemon/lime soda, or beer or water
1 stick of butter (1/4 pound)
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

I prepared my meal indoors using the stove and oven, but could have also used hot coals outside. Here's how to make it...In the dutch oven on the stove, medium heat, cut up and fry all the bacon.  I use scissors to cut up the whole pack at once into 1/2 inch lengths across the grain into the hot pot.

When the bacon is done, strain them off into a bowl and fry the chopped onion until browned and translucent. When the onions are done, spoon the onions and bacon fat out and combine with the fried bacon already set aside.

In the hot dutch oven, use all the liquid to de-glaze the bottom.  Scrape gently with a spoon to get all that yummy bacon and onion unstuck from the bottom, being careful not to nick the seasoned cast iron.

Warning  - a dutch oven full of potatoes can easily weigh over 10 pounds, and combined with the heat and awkwardness of putting it in and out of the oven is a potential burn hazard.  Please use good, oven mitts and be very careful.  You may need assistance.

Preheat your oven now to 350 degrees.  Add 1/2 of the cubed potatoes to the oven, salt and pepper liberally, add 1/2 of the bacon/onion mixture spread across the top.  Add the remaining potatoes, salt and pepper liberally, and the spread out the remaining bacon/onion mixture.  Put on the lid and bake the dutch over for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven, stir the entire pot and add the butter evenly over the top in 1/4 inch slices.  Bake for 30 more minutes.  Remove the dutch oven from the oven/heat, stir the pot well one more time, add the cheese evenly across the top, put the lid back on. It will stay warm, for at least 2 hours.  Let it rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and we miss our dear friends and family.  God bless our troops!

A Frugal Family Recipe - Laundry Soap

I am posting this recipe of course for everyone, but especially to my children, my friends at Financial Peace University and for me and my wife.  We love this recipe for Home Made Laundry Soap!

I first learned of it from a University of Florida Extension Symposium, but have since found it at multiple Cooperative Extension sites like my Alma-mater Utah State University, at the Borax site and on some frugal living blogs such as MamaEconomics.  They're all slightly different but commonly they use 1) a hard soap grated and dissolved, 2) Borax and, 3) Soda Wash combined with water.  I can get all three ingredients at my local Wal-Mart or funny enough, Ace Hardware.  Most grocery stores will have at least one of the ingredients.

The Recipe I used most recently: 

2 quarts near-boiling water

2 c. or 1 Bar Soap grated (Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha)*

1 c. Borax

1 c. Washing Soda

• Add finely grated bar soap to the hot water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low, heat until soap is melted.
• Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax & Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved. 
• Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.
• Cover pail and use 1/4 cup per load of laundry. Stir the soap each time before you use it (will gel)
• We keep the laundry soap in left-over water or laundry soap containers.  Shake, use, works well.

* depending upon preference, availability, cost, and allergy considerations use one of the three.  For example, our daughter is allergic to Ivory Soap, so we use Fels-Naptha.

Economics of the project:

I am working on this part.  I requested the information published with the University of Florida, but at Dollar General I found these prices today (09/29/2014)

Arm and Hammer Laundry Soap, 75 oz., 50 loads, $5, 10 cents per load

Gain Laundry Soap, 50 oz., 32 loads, $6,  19 cents per load

Tide Laundry Soap, 75 oz., 48 loads, $10, 21 cents per load

Xtra Laundry Soap, 75 oz., 50 loads, $5.  10 cents per load

Making San Francisco Sourdough Bread, Using Linda Wilbourne's Recipe

I've devoted several days of my life now to create sourdough bread according to the recipe of Linda Wilbourne.  Make no mistake, this is her recipe, and its a great one, but for my sake and others, I've included my comments.  Here is the original link and recipe below.  Please go there and see all she has, and the bread making / kitchen gizmos...

My comments are italicized.  By default, this recipe isn't going to tun out like hers, because I didn't use Linda's Sourdough Starter.  I made my own.  About a week ago, I created my own with Fleischman's Yeast, flour, water and a little bit of sugar.  Next time I'll do it old school and grind some wheat seeds I have that the yeast spores naturally live on.  They say that about 13,000 spores live on 1 gram of wheat.  One thing I like about Linda and her guidance, is that she is thorough and frequently mentions Alton Brown, from the Food Network.  Alton is a hero of mine.

I feel a little bad about just copying and pasting her recipe into Mr. Gus Outdoors, but I really like the blog format, and I think others appreciate, as I, embedded links.  I also feel a little bad that my daughter Ember isn't here to do this with me.  She's doing teenage stuff I suppose.  Another thing that I feel kind of bad about is that this is the 3rd recipe in a row on Mr. Gus.  I want to do more outdoor stories, but this is where my heart is right now.  On the other hand, recipes like this were a staple of ancient cultures to the mountain men  and explorers like Lewis and Clark, and those who braved the Old West and the Yukon.  The fact that we carry them on today is a wonderful thing.  Betcha Preppers are doing it!

Follow Up After Baking... I learned so much from this exercise, but messed up along the way.  I think the salt added to the final recipe might have wrecked it, causing it not to rise properly.  The taste of the finished product however, turned out fine.  If you look on Linda's FAQ page, she discusses some optional additions such as milk, sugar and additional yeast.  I'm definitely going to try it!

The next morning I made Sourdough Pancakes, and they turned out perfect.  I will be posting that recipe.

Linda's Recipe...

You will have a much easier time of it—and lots more fun—if you will sit down and read through this little booklet two or three times before you touch an ingredient. Alton Brown says to do that with any new recipe you're going to follow—and this is a process—much more than just a recipe! I have underlined and bold the really crucial parts, so pay special attention to those. Then be sure to go through the entire bread making process the first couple of times step-by-step with this booklet. I love hearing from my bread makers, but before you email me with a question, please re-read these instructions once more. The answers to fully 99.9% of the email questions I receive can be found right here in this little booklet, but there's really way too much information to absorb in just one or two readings. Thanks! 

Also, please keep in mind that any bread making is a process of continuous adjusting and you can count that twice for sourdough. Many different variables contribute to the final results and I could never go into enough detail here to describe every combination of events that make your final loaf of bread the way it is. You are unique, your kitchen and oven are unique, and your baking techniques are also yours alone. For those reasons, not to mention different flours, waters, temperatures and humidity, bread making is always an adventure in learning. I am still learning and I’ve been baking bread since I was a teenager (which was a very very long time ago)! So, please be patient with yourself, your starter, and your bread. If your bread doesn’t turn out exactly like you want it, there are always adjustments you can make to get closer to perfection in your eyes. Remember that your perfect loaf of sourdough bread could well be totally different from that in another baker’s view.

I have tried to put answers to the most often asked questions on the FAQ page of my website. If you can’t find the answer to your question in this instruction booklet or on the website, then by all means, email me! Tech support is usually quick and always free. I really want you to be a successful sourdough bread maker, and you can!

Activation

NEVER add any commercial yeast—or ANYTHING other than flour and water—to your sourdough starter. In a medium mixing bowl, mix ½ cup of tap water with ½ cup of wheat flour—all-purpose, white, whole wheat or bread flour—doesn't matter. If your tap water is really cold, you can warm it to 75-85º F. To this mixture, add the contents of your San Francisco Sourdough Starter package and stir it up—lumps are OK. Cover the container with a tea towel. The important thing is to keep this mixture at the correct temperature—above 72° and not more than 90° while the wild yeast and the friendly bacteria come out of hibernation. If your normal room temperature is cooler than 72°, then the easiest way to achieve the temperature you need is to turn on the light in your oven and put your starter mixture in it. But be sure to put an accurate thermometer in the oven with your starter—you can use the Large Dial Easy-To-Read Instant-Read Thermometer that’s on my website—the same one you’ll use later for checking to see when your bread is done. Or, you can turn on your oven for a minute or so, turn it off and then use that warmth (check it with a thermometer) for activating. This is important!! You DO NOT want to expose your starter at any time to temperatures above 90°. Heat is just about the only way you can kill those little creatures that make our bread so good. (Well, you could starve them to death, but that's pretty hard to do. When they run out of food, they just act like little bears and hibernate.) 

Somewhere between 4 and 24 hours after you first mixed the starter with flour and water, you will start to see enough bubbles to know that the wild yeast is beginning to wake up. You'll probably have to stir the mixture to be able to see the first very tiny bubbles, so feel free to stir any time and as much as you want. Stirring is actually good for your starter at any time because it redistributes the critters and the food supply, giving all the babies a chance for another snack. Stirring also allows you to see what’s actually going on beneath the surface. You won't see many bubbles on top of your mixture, but when you stir it and look closely, you’ll see lots of extremely tiny bubbles throughout the mixture. When you see these minuscule bubbles, then feed your mixture, without reducing it just this one time, 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water. 

Continue to look at your growing friend often (about every 30 minutes) and soon you will see more and more bubbles; the consistency of the mixture will change—it will become thicker and more cohesive and viscous. When that happens and you can see lots of larger bubbles throughout the mixture, it’s time to feed again! This time, reduce the volume to ½ cup and feed it with 1 cup of 75°-80° water and 1 cup of flour. From now until the end of the approximately 72 hours of activation, you will need to feed your new pet regularly—whenever it reaches its peak! DO NOT feed on a time schedule! 

Your starter will let you know when it is ready to be reduced and fed—NOT the clock!!

How do I know when I need to feed? 

You'll know because the yeast and lactobacillus organisms will eat what you fed them, get busy and start metabolizing and multiplying, and you'll see the difference with a slight expansion of volume, a thickening or clotting of the texture and more bubbles—and larger bubbles—throughout the mixture and on top. If you leave it alone for a while longer, you’ll actually see some tiny ‘foam’–type bubbles on top. If your starter goes past this 'most active' stage, then the bubbles will decrease in size and number and the consistency will thin out. 

When your starter has reached its most active stage, stir it well and then pour out (yes, down the drain!) all but ½ cup of the starter and feed what's left with one cup each of flour and water. I know, I know, I really do hate waste too, but this step actually helps to avoid wasting flour and water. The more starter you're feeding, the more food you have to give, because larger quantities of starter contain much larger populations of hungry organisms which want much more flour and water to eat. 

You’ll want to keep watch on your starter as often as possible during the time that activation is going on. From your observations, you will learn what your San Francisco Sourdough Starter is supposed to look like at each stage of its activity. You’ll use this knowledge each time you bake. When you know what starter at or close to its peak looks like, you’ll be able to start your dough with sponge that is active enough to give your sourdough three good rises—one in the bowl, one after shaping and one in the oven (the third rise—called oven spring). 

Don’t get up in the middle of the night to feed your starter. Whenever you know that you won’t be around to check it and feed whenever it reaches the peak of activity, just give a double or triple feeding so that your sourdough babies won’t starve. (One-half cup of starter and two or three cups each of flour and water.) Lots of folks who work just use a container with a cover to transport their starter to work with them, then loosen the lid so that the critters can breathe, and check on it while they’re working. This is a great idea because it’s important to watch the activation in all of its different phases.

As your new pet goes through several activations, the density of the population of yeast and lactobacillus increases exponentially and that’s exactly what we want to happen. (If 18-24 hours after mixing the dry starter with the flour and water you can stir it and still see no tiny bubbles at all, then you should email me right away.) 

After a minimum of three full 24-hour days of regular feedings or as soon as you can clearly see the mixture get very active within an hour after a feeding, you'll know that the activation process is finished. This is the only time you’ll have to wait three days to bake. Now you can do one of two things: 

1. Put a cup or more of your starter into the fridge (this is your stash) until the day before you want to bake your first loaf of San Francisco Sourdough Bread. 

2. If and only if your starter is at its most active state—full of bubbles and thick and glutenous, then you're ready to go directly to The Dough on Page 6 and make your first loaf of San Francisco Sourdough Bread right away with the very active starter you've just finished activating! Don't forget to save at least ½ cup stash for next time!

Care and Feeding of Refrigerated Starter

When you first put your starter ‘stash’ into the fridge, leave the cover loose until the mixture is chilled throughout, or the pressure will cause it to explode—what a mess that could be! After about 36-48 hours, you can tighten down the lid. I keep mine in the one-liter glass wire-bail jar that’s on my website. It’s small enough not to take up too much valuable fridge room and large enough to take out and feed without having to transfer the starter to a different container. It has a tight-fitting top, so if it accidentally turns over, all my precious stash isn’t spilled. Plus, you can see clearly through the glass jar and watch what's going on with your new partner in bread making. 

About once every four to eight weeks, take your starter stash out of the fridge, stir it well, (with my Bamboo Starter Stirrer which is perfect for mixing your sticky starter as well as lots of other things) reduce the volume if necessary, give it a healthy feeding and let it come to room temperature. When you can see good activity beginning to happen, put it back into the fridge, without tightening down the lid, of course, until it is thoroughly cold and asleep. After it has been refrigerated for a couple of weeks or so, it’s entirely normal to see some beige or gray-colored liquid on the top. The old-timers called this ‘hooch’ because it contains alcohol and some people actually drank the stuff. I don’t recommend it. Just stir the hooch back into the starter mixture any time you take it out of the fridge to use it or to feed it. Or, if you’d rather, you may pour it off and then dilute what remains with plain water. Your choice! 

Making Bread--The Sponge

Sponge is the name that bakers use for the mixture that they allow to ferment or proof before mixing in enough flour to make a dough. The night before you want to bake, take your stash out of the refrigerator. If you want to bake on Saturday morning, take out about a half-cup of cold starter and put it in a bowl on Friday evening. 

Feed what is left in your “stash” container and put it back in the fridge. 
Feed the ½ cup that is in the bowl 3 cups each of water and flour, cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap, and leave it at room temperature (between 65º and 85º F). Then on Saturday morning, you should have a very active sponge. It's always important to have a very active sponge to use to make your dough. If it hasn’t reached or has passed its most active point, you'll get very slow or no rises and you risk birthing a hockey puck (or a door stop) instead of a great loaf of bread.

The Dough--Classic San Francisco Sourdough Bread Recipe

Makes a 1½ pound loaf, two 12-ounce loaves or three or four ‘mini’ loaves 

2½ cups of very active starter (the sponge that you have allowed to ferment until peak activity is reached)
2-2½ cups of bread flour, or enough to make dough that’s still moist but not too sticky
2 teaspoons of salt, or more, up to 1-2 tablespoons if you like (I like a lot!)
½ teaspoon Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C pills crushed fine or Fruit Fresh added to the dough with the first flour—enhances the rise—sometimes it's already in your flour—look on the ingredient list.)

Other Stuff You’ll Need 

A hand spray bottle full of water
An oven-safe pan or other container that will fit on the floor (or lowest shelf) of your oven 
A baking sheet or loaf pan or whatever you want to bake on or in 
Some coarsely ground cornmeal—usually labeled stone ground
An egg and 1 Tablespoon of water for an egg wash
A pastry brush or clean bristled paint brush
A new, sharp single-edged razor blade or razor knife
Some oil and/or oil spray—like Pam 
A tea towel or plastic wrap or both

I like to use my KitchenAid stand mixer to mix the dough, but you can make and knead the dough in a bread machine if it will handle a fairly stiff dough and you can intervene during the rising cycles. A recipe for sourdough in the bread machine is on the website. Naturally, you can make it entirely by hand, just like the original bakers of sourdough did.

KitchenAid Mixers are the absolute best!

Put the 2½ cups of the sponge (very bubbly and very thick active starter) into your mixer with the paddle attachment, add about a cup and a half of the flour and the ascorbic acid and mix well. At this point, stop for 30-90 minutes before adding more flour. This resting period, called autolysis by the bread geeks, allows the flour time to absorb the liquid. 

Next add the salt and mix and add flour until the dough gets too heavy for the paddle attachment. Change to the dough hook and continue adding flour until you have a fairly stiff dough—still moist but not too sticky. You just can't use exact measurements in bread making. 

After your mixture has become dough and is a cohesive mass, knead with the dough hook for about five minutes or until it isn’t sticking to the sides of the bowl (it will probably be sticking to the bottom of the bowl). If you’re kneading by hand, ten minutes is probably the bare minimum time. I let my KitchenAid mixer do most of the kneading, but I usually finish with a minute or two by hand. Getting your hands on the dough is the only way to really gauge its exact condition. 

Now, oil (or spray with Pam) a straight-sided dough rising bucket like on my website, if you have one. You can put a rubber band or a piece of masking tape around the bucket so you'll be able to tell when the dough has almost doubled. Or you can use a large bowl. Place the dough into your well-oiled container then oil the top. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and put it somewhere that it’s not drafty and is between 70° and 85° F. Expect sourdoughs to rise much more slowly than breads made with commercial yeasts. The cooler range is fine—better in fact. It will take your dough longer to rise, but cooler rising temps also improve the flavor and texture of your bread. Remember—don’t go any warmer than 85-90° F. 


At this point, you can cover your unrisen dough securely with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with Pam and put it into the refrigerator for one to about 14 hours. This can help when you run out of time or want hot bread on a schedule and will always enhance the flavor of your finished bread. When you’re ready to continue, just bring the dough to room temperature and allow it to finish its rise. You can refrigerate your dough for the first rise or for the second rise, after it has been shaped.

Look at your rising dough every 30 minutes or so and when it is about 1½ to 2 times its original size, you’re ready for the next step. Here's a good test: Push your finger into the dough about one-half to three-quarters of an inch. If you can see the dough spring back and fill the hole within a minute or so, then it isn't finished with its rise. If most of the indentation remains, you're ready to proceed to the next step.

The first time you do this recipe, plan nothing else except home bound activities.  By the time you read and re-read the recipe, mix, knead, wait, this and that - your day will be consumed.  And since there is no direct yeast involved, the rising time is much slower.  I am beginning to get impatient with this, but I'll hang in there.

Shaping and Baking 

Push your closed fist gently into the middle of the dough close to the bottom of the container, then gently push the outside parts of the dough into the hole you’ve just created in the middle. This is called ‘punching down’ the dough and serves to rearrange the gluten strands to encourage a proper second rise. Now dump the dough out of the bowl and on to the counter. If you've greased your container well, it will slide right out. Divide the dough (with the Dough Divider/Scraper on the website) into the portions you’ll use for your final shaping and ‘round’ each one, then let rest on the counter for about 15 minutes, covered to keep it from drying out.

Rounding is important and not many bread recipes discuss it. Here’s how it’s done: Pick up the piece of dough that will become a loaf of bread and gently pull the edges of the dough that were just cut underneath, making a round ball of dough so that you have sort of a ‘skin’ around the ball of dough and no cut edges are exposed. Pinch the bottom together. Then put the ‘round’ on a clean dry counter with the bottom side down and put your hands on the sides of it. Push the round from alternate sides so that it goes around and around on the counter. You’ll see the skin tightening as you do this. Do it gently so you don’t break the skin. Alton Brown and his cohort, Shirley Corriher, both of whom I admire greatly, taught me about rounding and its importance. 

While your dough is resting, prepare your baking sheet by sprinkling some coarsely ground corn meal where your loaf (or loaves) of bread will go. You can oil it with vegetable oil or spray the pan first with Pam if you like, but the cornmeal adds an artisan-like texture to the bottom of your loaf of bread, so don't leave out that step. There’s a good cornmeal shaker (only $2.99) on my website that I keep full of cornmeal all the time. Actually, I have several—one for cornmeal, one for flour, one for powdered sugar, one for freshly- and coarsely-ground black pepper and one for kosher salt. They’re very handy. 

If you want to bake your bread in loaf pans, now is the time to grease them well. You can also dust the bottoms with cornmeal. Be sure to check out the three bread pans on my website. The Commercial Heavy-Duty Non-Stick Bread Pan on my website is the best loaf pan I’ve ever used. It heats evenly and is a kitchen staple that you’ll never have to replace. The Rada Unglazed Stoneware Loaf Pan thinks it's a mini-brick oven and bakes a wonderful crusty loaf of bread. To make it even better, unlike other unglazed stoneware, you can wash this pan in the dishwasher with no worries. The Chicago Metallic Double French Bread Loaf Pan is great at shaping your sourdough bread into beautiful long baguettes without its rising out instead of up. I use all three of them all the time.

For the oven: If you have a baking stone, put it into the oven before you preheat the oven. (If you don’t have a stone, don’t worry—your bread will still turn out great!) Also before preheating place a shallow, oven-safe container on the floor of the oven full of water. If this won’t work, put a pan of water on the lowest shelf. Or, don’t use the pan of water and just spritz more with water while baking—whatever works for you and your oven! 

Preheat the oven to 400° F for a minimum of 45-60 minutes—so that your baking stone, water, and oven are all fully and evenly heated—before putting your bread into the oven.

Now that your dough has rested, it’s time to shape it. You can shape it any way you want. For a round or oval shape, pick up the dough and gently push the edges toward the underside until you get the shape you like. Then be sure to pinch the dough together firmly on the underside. If you’re making a round shape you can do the ‘rounding’ thing again. When you’re satisfied with the shape, place your dough on top of the cornmeal on your baking sheet or put it into the loaf pan. 

Cover your loaves with a tea towel or plastic wrap that has been sprayed with Pam. Now place your loaves in a warm (75°-85° F) non-drafty place again. This rising could take from 1½ to 3 hours—mine usually takes about two at my normal room temperatures in the low 80’s, but it depends on the temperature of your room and the character of your dough. Expect sourdoughs to rise much more slowly than breads made with commercial yeasts. And again, keep in mind that cooler temperatures and longer rising times contribute to flavor and texture. You can do the same finger indentation test on the second rise that you did on the first.

When your unbaked loaf has risen to about 1½ to 2 times its original size and passes the finger indentation test, it’s time to bake. Your oven has been preheated to 400° F. Beat an egg with a tablespoon of water and set it aside. Then, just before putting your bread into the oven, take a very sharp single-edged razor blade (like the razor knife on my website), dip the blade in water before each cut, and slowly and gently make cuts in the top of your loaf about ¼ to ½ inch deep. To keep from collapsing your risen loaf, be careful—sometimes I have to go over a cut two or three times rather than press down too hard and risk deflating the dough. Practice helps a lot! 

If your loaf is round, the traditional San Francisco way is to make two vertical slashes and two horizontal slashes in a tic-tac-toe pattern. If you have an oblong or oval, you can still slash it that way or just make one long cut lengthwise—be creative. Back in the days when there were no home ovens—just one big one in the middle of the town that everyone used, each baker would create an original slashing pattern so that he could identify his loaves after baking.

When the slashes are finished, gently brush your loaf of bread with the egg wash. I like the egg wash, but many bakers use a cornstarch and water glaze. Try that one too and see which one suits you better!

Now get your spray bottle of plain water and spray the loaves with a very fine mist. Put your pan into the oven directly on your baking stone. You already have a pan of water in the oven. As soon as you put your bread in the oven, put your hand sprayer on stream and spray the sides and floor of the oven with water. Do this three or four times during the first five or ten minutes of baking. Yeah, it’s high maintenance, but believe me, it’s worth it! (Don't spray the light bulb—it'll almost surely explode!)

Combined with the water evaporating from the pan, this spraying will reward you with a thick, chewy crust on your finished loaf of bread. The egg or cornstarch wash makes it look pretty by adding a nice shine and making it a brown nicely. If you want a thinner, less chewy crust, then leave off all the water in the oven. If you like a softer crust, brushing with oil or butter before and after baking will do the trick.

After 10 minutes of baking, turn your oven down to 375° F. Your bread will take about 30 to 60 minutes to bake, depending upon your oven and the size of the loaves you have made. The only way to really know when bread is done is to remove the bread from the oven, turn the loaf on its side or upside down, and insert an instant-read thermometer (like the one on my website) into the center—from the side or the bottom, of course, so the hole won’t mar the beauty of your bread. A reading of 200° to 210° F means your bread is done. Amazingly, an instant-read thermometer like the one on my website is about twice as fast to give you the temp as a ‘digital’ one that requires a battery. 

Put the loaf on a rack to cool and admire your creation. Try to resist cutting it right away. If you can, wait until it has cooled at least 30 minutes and always use a good sharp serrated knife to slice it. Check out the fabulous aluminum-handled bread knives on my website— they’re the best I’ve ever used and the prices are incredibly reasonable for the value you get. 

Other Stuff

After you have baked a few loaves of your own San Francisco Sourdough Bread, you may want to experiment. Feel free to double the recipe or replace some of the white flour with whole wheat or rye. And be sure to add cheese, roasted garlic, or your favorite nuts, grains, herbs or spices just for fun! 

Another thing I have tried is using plain all purpose unbleached flour instead of bread flour. I also use spelt, kamut, semolina and other ancient and exotic flours and whole grains and seeds and my family and I love the results. Be adventuresome and have fun with it! 

If I’m not serving or giving my bread on the day I bake it, as soon as it is perfectly cool, I wrap it in an air-tight package and freeze it. As long as there’s very little air in the package with your bread, you won’t be able to tell the difference when you thaw it and eat it. And yes, you can thaw and re-freeze—homemade sourdough is amazingly tolerant and has a long shelf-life because it’s naturally resistant to mold and mildew. 

If you like, slice it before you freeze it so you can take it out one or two slices at a time, or you can wait until you’re ready to serve. The heavy-duty long ‘bread-shaped’ plastic bags for baguettes and multiple loaves on my website are very affordable and perfect for storing on the counter or in the freezer. Users tell me they love them and reuse them. 

Sourdough is STICKY! Be sure to put all your tools in cold water straight away to soak. If you do, cleanup is a breeze later with just a vegetable brush.

If you want more sour flavor, leave your stash in the fridge, unfed, for at least three or four weeks. Then take it out and use it. Some bread makers keep two or three stash containers aging in the fridge because freshly fed starter just isn’t as sour.

If you want bigger holes in your bread, add more water or less flour to make a wetter dough and try using some all-purpose flour in place of part of the high protein bread flour. Longer, slower proofing helps make larger holes as well.

Remember that longer, slower, cooler proofings and risings (even overnight in the fridge!) are guaranteed to contribute heavily to that wonderful sourdough flavor. 

If you’re making sourdough in your bread machine, be sure to go to the recipes page on my website and read Joe Wagner’s Sourdough in the Bread Machine Research Project. It’s a fun read, but more important, it’s a fabulous ‘how-to’ for machines. There’s also a recipe page for the basic recipe for San Francisco Sourdough Bread in the Bread Machine. 

If you have a problem with your free-form loaves spreading out more than rising up, add more flour to the dough. If you have used A/P flour, substituting all or part with higher protein bread flour will help too. Also, you can use a bread form, like the Professional Loaf Pan or the Chicago Metallic double baguette form or the Rada Unglazed Stoneware Loaf Pan—you’ll find all three on the website.

To convert the US-centric measurements in this booklet to metric, go to Gourmet Sleuth, Conversions Section, —it will do all the work for you!

Happy Breadmaking!
© Linda C. Wilbourne 2012, Revised January 2012

Easy Mountain Man Breakfast

• 1 lb pork sausage, or bacon or ham – cooked and crumbled
• 1 bag (~2 lbs.) frozen shredded hash browns, or raw potatoes
• 12 eggs
• 1 lb shredded cheddar cheese

This recipe was adapted from Mountain Man Breakfast by ScouterMom and can be made indoors or out.

Prepare meat as necessary. Grease the bottoms and sides of a deep camp Dutch Oven or camp stove. Spread hash browns in the bottom of the oven. Whisk eggs in a mixing bowl and pour evenly over hash browns. Sprinkle with meat and bake, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with cheese before serving. If using whole potatoes, wash and cube to one-half inch pieces, peeling is optional. Increase cooking time until the potatoes are tender.

Outdoor cooking instructions: Place about a dozen hot charcoal briquettes beneath the oven and about another eight on top. Cook until the eggs are set, about 20 – 30 minutes. Indoor cooking instructions: Bake in a 350 oven until eggs are set, about 20 - 30 minutes.

Serves 10 – 12

Skill level: Easy.  Any teen could make this one!

Photo: borrowed, original coming.

Estimated nutritional summary: Serving size about 1 cup, Calories 600, Fat 38 g, Carbohydrates 45 g, Protein 22 g

Acknowledgment - many thanks to people like ScouterMom who posted this recipe, and she has others like it!  When I was a Scout, we did cooking like this all the time because it was simple, fun and nutritional.  No-nonsense cooking.  Nowadays simple skills like this are being lost with our younger generations.  Next time you want to make something like this, grab a kid and let them help.  We can't all be Scouts, but we can enjoy some of the same things, and can still teach wholesome values. -  Mr. Gus.
 

Not Your Typical Church Lady’s Bean Dip

Once in a while I have to stray away from outdoor topics when I have something significant to share.  This is one of those times.

I love any food Mexican, including bean dip. A few weeks ago I searched and scoured the web for a perfect seven layer bean dip, and hardly found one, much less a good one. So when the opportunity came up to provide a side dish at work, I decided to take it on as a challenge to create my own, with all the ingredients I like, but with a kick - like I like it. Here it is...

I call it Papa Gus' Not For The Faint of Heart, Seven Layer Frijoles Bonanza aka Not Your Typical Church Lady’s Bean Dip.  This recipe title is so long, it even has a comma!

Ingredients
1 16 ounce can traditional Refried Beans
1 packet Taco Seasoning
1 16 ounce tub Sour Cream
1 8 ounce can drained Original Rotel
1 8 ounce bunch fresh Cilantro
1 8 ounce pack of shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 medium Jalapeno

Here's how it goes...In a large bowl thoroughly blend the beans, taco seasoning and one-half to three-quarters of a cup of sour cream until its creamy and smooth like soft butter. Scrape the sides so as to get everything in and mixed well. Spread the bean mix in the pan, evenly layer on the drained Rotel, layer the remaining sour cream. Cover with most or all of the grated cheese depending on taste and looks, garnish with a light topping of chopped cilantro, then add sliced jalapeno disks cut slightly more than paper thin, seeds and all. You could garnish with firm chopped Roma tomatoes, but then that would be eight layers now, wouldn't it??  Feel free to raise or lower the heat by using hot or mild Rotel.  Cover with a lid, foil or plastic wrap, chill for a couple hours and serve with corn chips.

Hardware
Mixing bowl and hand mixer or a Kitchen-Aid type mixer
9x13 inch pan
Spatula and large spoons
Pan covering
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ideal time until serving: overnight or 2 hours to marry flavors.
Servings: Enough for a medium size group get-together or a family of four for 2 to 3 days.
Estimated Nutrition summary: Serving Size 1/2 Cup, Calories 95, Fat 7 g, Carbs 23g, Protein 8g.

Preliminary Evaluation - At the end of the lunch break the platter was clean, and that's a good sign.  Personally I prefer to take the heat up a notch, but not for the general population of folk in my area.

Ash Cakes. An easy way to make bread

I made these on my 30 outdoor survival class, and again a minute ago. Ash Cakes have been an outdoor staple from the eighteenth century. Try them!

I'll never forget the month I spent in the southern Utah desert with my friends in the BYU Youth Leadership 480 class.  Our class number was D12, and it was from the first part of September of '79 until the first part of October.   The course is now owned and operated by B.O.S.S. or Boulder Outdoor Survival School and it has maintained the rigor and integrity that Larry Dean Olsen first used when he designed it. There were 30 of us on that 30 day trip, and we hiked about 450 miles in all kinds of terrain.  The food we had (besides finding it) along the way was a little bit of wheat or corn seeds and some honey.  About the only thing we could make was Ash Cakes.  

I found this recipe, but to this day I do not use baking powder or any additives, even salt.  I like to savor the memory of a plain ash cake...This super simple recipe is the Traditional “Mountain-man” breakfast food, no utensils, pots or pans required. Ash Cakes consist of equally simple ingredients… make sure you use ‘Baking Powder’ though (rather than Baking Soda). You can also jazz them up by adding toppings or fillings of other things you have handy that are in abundance, see ideas below.

You will also want to use hardwoods any time you cook directly in or on a fire. Hardwoods do not contain resin like your softwoods do, such as pine. Softwoods can impart their resinous flavor into food, which may not be desirable.
You will need:

3 TBSP. Flour, from any type of wheat or grain
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Salt (optional)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together, then kneed into a smooth dough.
Tip: add a touch more water if the dough is too dry, or add a touch more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Press the dough into a flat pancake, the thinner the better!
Place the dough pancake on ‘hot’ white ashes in your fire.

Here is a similar story of BYU YL480 from an other participant.