Addie's Fabulous Brownies

When the weather outside is frightful, and I do mean frightful, we retreat to the indoors. That is satisfying for my five year old and myself, for about 5 minutes. Then we start bouncing off of the walls. We have dance parties, picnics by the woodstove, and we play dress. We read, we doodle, we chit chat. We discuss current events, like what would Scooby do? I start to loose my mind and break out into song whenever it feels right. My daughter starts to doubt my sanity. That's when I turn to my best friend. Her name is Butter. Butter helps get us through even the toughest cold snaps. I am pretty sure without it, mankind could not exist. Just a thought.

Addie and I lounging on a collection of "icebergs" which washed up along the shore.

Addie decided it was time for brownies. Wise choice! She's a smart one, and I revel at her kitchen skills. It must have been all of that practice with the Easy Bake Oven. Or being stuck in the kitchen with me since birth. Either way, it's a win, win. Addie chose a new recipe from a new cookbook I received for Christmas. It's called, Choclatique by Ed Engoron. The cover photo is a whisk dripping with chocolate. I fell in love at first sight. We made Double Chocolate Brownies.

 The recipe has you first making a dark chocolate ganache. Ganache is a sacred word. Not really, but it sounds like it. Ganache (gah-NOSH) was created when a chocolatier discovered that when hot cream is poured over chopped chocolate, and the mixture is stirred until velvety smooth, an ingredient is created that can be used in a tempting and mouthwatering variety of desserts, pastries, and confections. It's a thing of beauty. When ganache is warm and liquid, it can be poured over a cake or torte for a smooth, seamless, shiny glaze. If cooled to room temperature, ganache becomes a spreadable filling or topping for cakes, cookies, and bars. You see, ganache is your best friend too. Together with butter, you are in for a good day!



chocolate fingers. chocolate face. mmmmm chocolate!

Once you've made the dark chocolate ganache, the brownies are nothing more than melting our friend butter over a double boiler (a bowl placed over a pan of barely simmering water), beating eggs and sugar, and folding in a bit of flour. You've got this! You will have left over ganache, which Addie dipped things in, like bananas and also all ten of her fingers. The ganache keeps covered in the fridge for months. It's a good thing to have on hand when the temperatures drop and you need a confidence builder. A spoonful does wonders!


Double Chocolate Brownies

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup Dark Chocolate Ganache (recipe to follow)
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour, (I substituted almond flour with great results)
1 cup coarsely chopped milk chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 13x9 inch baking pan.

Combine the butter and Dark Chocolate Ganache in a double boiler set over barely simmering water and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on high speed until creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.

With the mixer on low speed, beat in the salt and melted ganache, followed by the vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour just until no white streaks remain in the batter. Stir in the chopped milk chocolate.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Bake for 25- 30 minutes, or until the brownies are set in the middle and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out slightly moist with batter. Cool in the pan, then refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Cut into 24 brownies.


Dark Chocolate Ganache

1 1/4 cups water
2/3 cup honey, maple syrup, or corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

In a large, heavy saucepan, bring the water, honey cocoa powder, and salt to a boil over medium heat. Whisk until blended. Remove the pan from the heat.

Immediately add the chocolate and vanilla to the pan and whisk until smooth. Set aside for about an hour to cool completely, whisking every 15 minutes or so to keep the ganache emulsified.

When cool, transfer the ganache to a rigid plastic or glass container, cover, date, and refrigerate for up to three months.

Farmhouse Lobster Bisque

We're calling this Lobster Bisque "Farmhouse" not because we are farming lobsters, but because this bisque includes ingredients that are always on hand at our farmhouse. The soup includes bacon, which we cured and smoked here at our farmhouse. The bacon is from the Red Waddle pigs we pasture raised behind the farmhouse. The vegetables and herbs are from the garden, and many of the ingredients, like the roasted garlic and fresh tomato juice, are really great ingredients that I prepped this fall for dishes like this one. "Farmhouse" might signify; a little rough around the edges. It could translate as; wholesome and home grown. Right now, a few words that come to mind when I think of farmhouse: snow, wind-chill, and rosy cheeks. This bisque was a necessity to combat the elements.

Because this bisque has the word "Farmhouse" in front of it, it is less intimidating to make. I used what I had on hand, Jameson instead of brandy for instance. I used a sparing amount of fresh rosemary to add that hint of pine, which surround the farmhouse and whose branches are heavily burdened with snow. A bit of fresh lemon zest adds a pick-me-up and freshens up those hearty, woodsy, farmhouse-y flavors. It's a favorite for the Holidays! Merry Christmas and Happy Farmhouse Lobster Bisque!!


FARMHOUSE LOBSTER BISQUE

1/2 cup bacon, diced
In a heavy bottomed stock pot, brown the bacon. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside (the bacon will be used later as a sort of 'bacon crouton' to garnish the soup). In the remaining bacon fat sauté over medium heat:

1 leek, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
2 TBLS roasted garlic cloves
1 lobster tail shell, meat removed, and set aside (Yes, just the shell!)

When all of the above ingredients have just started to brown, add:

1 shot of Jameson
4 cups water
1 cup fresh tomato juice
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
a pinch of chili flakes
1 tsp lemon zest

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, then lower the heat to a slow simmer. Allow to simmer until the liquids have reduced by half. Remove the shell, or leave it in (I leave it in and strain the stock several times), and blend in a blender until completely blended. Strain the lobster stock back into the stock pot. Add :

salt to taste
1 cup heavy cream

Bring the bisque to a low simmer, tasting and adjust the seasonings as needed. Thicken the soup with a roux. I used about 3 TBLS butter and 3 TBLS flour for my roux, sautéed together until a very light golden brown starts to happen. Whisk the roux into the soup, and allow the soup the simmer on low heat for another 10 minutes. When the bisque has thickened, taste and adjust seasonings. At this point I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a touch more salt. If the soup seems a bit on the thick side, add a splash more cream. At this very last second of the bisque being hot and lowly simmering, I add the lobster meat, which I've diced. It only needs but a moment to simmer in the bisque. After about 30 seconds, it is done. No joke- don't simmer that lobster for any longer!

Ladle the soup into bowls, and garnish with the crisped bacon. I happened to have scallion pesto on hand, so a dollop of that garnished it as well. I like this soup with a chunk of crusty bread, on a cold winter's night, or on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I have time to dabble in the kitchen. Enjoy! Belly up!!

Wheat free Buttermilk Biscuits with Leaf Lard

There is a great cookbook out there by Kim Boyce called, 'Good to the Grain'. The book features alternative flours with recipes to go along, so you can test each of the different flours in something wonderful you've baked in your kitchen. There are cookies, waffles, scones, muffins and many more treats to test out in your kitchen. The book is a great reference guide to the flavor profiles of each of the individual flours, and what to pair those flours with. It's wonderful! I have been using the book often while experimenting with wheat free cooking. The cookbook is not gluten free baking, so if that is what you're looking for, this book is not that at all. The book explores the varieties of flours that are out there, sometimes the history and nutritional value of each, and flavor pairings. Again, it is wonderful!! There is a multigrain flour recipe included in 'Good to the Grain'. I love it! I have made alterations to the original and it is included below. The more flours I taste, the more I want to include them in the mix. It's a good problem to have.

As with the Cranberry relish recipe, I promised to share a wheat free biscuit recipe using Leaf lard. I'm really doing it! I made these biscuits with the Leaf lard rendered from our pastured pigs. It is GREAT! I also added in some bonus bacon bits and butter toasted pecans for good measure. I wouldn't steer you wrong! These biscuits will blow the minds of your Holiday guests this season. Go biscuit power!!


2 cups multigrain flour mix*
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 TBLS baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 TBLS unsalted butter, cubed
3 TBLS Leaf lard
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup chopped, cooked bacon
1/4 cup butter toasted pecans, chopped*


* Multigrain flour mix: 1 cup spelt flour, 1 cup oat flour, 1 cup barley flour, 1/2 cup rye flour, 1/2 cup almond flour. Combine all of the flours together in a large bowl, mix thoroughly, and substitute in your favorite baking recipes!

* To butter toast the pecans, simply add 1 TBLS salted butter to a skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the pecans and stir until the pecans smell toasty and nutty. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool and chop.


In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. Work in the butter, until the cubes turn into pea sized bits. Now work in the lard. The lard sort of melts into the dough quickly, so it doesn't require much working in. Mix in the pecans and bacon. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk. Stir together until just combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and pat into a 1 1/2  inch thick disk. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits, and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. With the remaining scraps of dough, gently press them together and cut out a few more biscuits. Brush the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with smoked sea salt if desired.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 8-12 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. For best results, serve warm! Belly up!!

Mom's Cranberry Relish

The Holiday season is in full force. It makes me want to hang Christmas lights everywhere, go sledding, and eat a lot of sugar in any form. I love it, and I have done all three of those activities a whole bunch!! Hurray for so much snow, you don't even know what to do- except go sledding! Right now though, I am contemplating if I may have overdosed on the 'consumption of sugar' part of the Holiday spirit I am rolling with. It happens to everyone, right? You start baking cookies like nobodies business (for your friends of coarse), and the next thing you know you've got nothing left to show for it but a platter full of crumbs. Every time! Geez!

There is one solution. My Mom's cranberry relish recipe. It's a cure all. It's a whole lot of raw fruits chopped together to make an amazingly healthy and delicious relish. We pretend that if you eat it after over consuming cookies, it will even it all out. Mentally. Maybe. I meant to post the recipe before Thanksgiving, but I was too busy living life. So here it is now. It is a great relish for Christmas dinner too!


Mom's Cranberry Relish

1 16 oz pkg fresh cranberries
2 cups fresh pineapple, peeled and chopped
2 medium sized, crisp- fleshed apples, roughly chopped (Honey crisp works great)
1 medium sized orange, zested, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup sugar or 1/3 cup honey, optional
1/2 tsp orange oil, optional

Soak the cranberries in a large bowl or kitchen sink with a dash of vinegar for about 10 minutes, picking out any bad cranberries. Also wash the apples and orange.

Using a food processor chop, in batches, the cranberries, pineapple, apples, and orange. Place the chopped ingredients in a large bowl. Add the sugar or honey to your desired sweetness. Mix thoroughly. Add the orange zest and the orange extract if using. Refrigerate until use. The relish is best made a few days ahead of time and refrigerated to let all of the juices and flavors mingle and get happy together.  You can fold this relish into quick bread or muffins, eat it atop a ham sandwich with mayo and arugula, or straight up to mentally balance all of the cookies you've consumed. Belly up!!

Going Hog Wild

My husband and I slaughtered and butchered a whole hog this weekend. Little did I know, the work involved in the 'pasture to pork chop' process . I am humbled. There is skill in both slaughtering and butchering, and I now know that I only wish to master the art of butchering.

In the beginning, I always new that I wanted to raise my own food. A garden soon led to our egg laying hens, which led to some young feeder pigs from a friend's homestead. They were cute. There is no denying that we practiced extremely, extraordinary animal husbandry. When our pigs leaned in for a rump scratch, we obliged them. When the temperatures dropped, we made them a deluxe straw-bale bed. We fed them organic produce scraps from the Co-op and chased them around the pasture. It was over the top, but our pigs grew up into beautiful specimens. I have discovered that beautiful specimens taste delicious. It was worth doing 'pig' chores in the rain, the fog, and now the bitter cold. I feel tremendous joy that we did this. We did it! From pasture to pork chop, there were many lessons learned and many skills gained.

I was introduced to 'The anatomy of Thrift', a you tube series based on the art of butchery. You can watch the series on side butchery, which I shared on my last post. The videos were a life saver, and we need to hug all of the folks involved in putting together that very helpful tutorial on butchery. There are no butcher shops in Grand Marais. You are on your own when it comes to processing your animals, so inevitably we have become self- sustaining homesteaders. I just high- fived myself!

To carry on with homesteading traditions, I rendered my own lard; being careful to render the fat back separate from the treasured leaf lard. The leaf lard is the fat found along the inside of the loin and surrounds the organs. It is the highest grade of fat because it has the least amount of 'porky' flavor. It is ideal for pastries, so you pastry chef pals will be getting a jar! After rendering I was left with pork cracklings, which we overdosed on immediately. They are like pork croutons! So great on salads or to float in a bowl of creamy tomato soup.  I'll share a wheat-free buttermilk biscuit recipe using a lard and butter blend in the future.

 

the rendered lard with pre-broken down loins

 

The bacon is being cured thanks to an article from 'The Splendid Table', which you can check out at splendidtable.org/recipes/curing-your-own-bacon. I was nervous about handling my own bacon, but this recipe talks you through it. After reading you will probably be tempted to go out and buy your own side of pork belly, and cure your own bacon. Rock on! In the recipe, the cure is easy and there are smoking variations using your patio grill and/ or your oven. Salt, sugar, and smoke. I got this! The hams will have a soak in a brine and then have a smoke and roast later. Hooray for salty, smokey pork!

the pork belly before I removed the spare ribs

 

doesn't everyone stick recipes on the cupboard doors?

All in all, it was a successful weekend. Successful that we are harvesting  healthy, home-grown food. Successful that we can be self- sustaining. And successful that we are teaching and preserving this old school way of living to future generations. My daughter was fascinated by the different cuts of pork laid out on our dinning room table. She wanted to know where each of the cuts came from. She was literally tickled when I showed her where pork belly is found.  I think she will be a future bacon enthusiast. In the end we lived more and learned more. We are thankful to everyone! Thanks you family! Thank you friends! Thank you pigs!

On The Anatomy Of Thrift: Side Butchery

Venison & Butternut Squash Chili

Outside it is drizzling, sometimes sleeting, and sometimes sunny- with a slight wind off of the lake. It's the typical deer hunting conditions of Northern Minnesota, which is happening right now. This weekend kicks off the start of the season, and as I went into Buck's hardware to pick up my kitchen knives, which were being sharpened, and a gallon of pink paint for my daughter's bedroom, there was a line up at the scale outside. Blaze orange and mud. Those are the colors that decorate the hunters weighing in their game of the day. I am not much of a hunter. I am keeping the fire going and making venison chili. I might also be online shopping for the perfect pair jeans, while I paint my daughter's bedroom pink- with my trusty Labrador under foot, anticipating a venison handout which is not going to happen. It's exhausting work, really.

I grew up hunting with my Dad,  my Aunt Rene (Who can handle a gun like Annie Oakley, and shoots a buck on opener day almost every year), and Uncles. We would wake up early, before the sunrise, and guzzle hot chocolate and munch on snacks that my mom would pack for us, our eyes still closed. We would walk as quietly and gracefully as an uncoordinated  youngster can, while wearing too many layers of clothes, boots that were a few sizes too big, and carrying a gun. We were obnoxious juveniles, but my Dad was always fairly patient. I don't really think he was worried about harvesting a deer, but wanted to give us the opportunity instead. When we became way too fidgety from the cold settling in down our necks and through our insulated coveralls, we would head back to the house. My Mom always had chili at the ready. Thank goodness Mom!! Seriously, I wasn't that into deer hunting, but it gave us a chance to be out in the wild, learning skills that I never thought would be beneficial to my future. We were on the prowl, like young savages. I'm sure it also gave my Mom a much needed break from her always louder than life kids. It was a good time had by all.

This afternoon, as I reminisce of the past and spend far too much time taking pictures of food, I feel bliss. I may not be able to compete with my Aunt, whom shoots a muzzle loader and I have witnessed skinning a squirrel  in record time. I am not out hunting deer right now. But I did spend most of my time as a kid running around in the forests and pastures of Wisconsin, and I am gifting that experience to my daughter. I do spend a remarkable time outdoors, comfortable in that environment. Yeah, I sometimes find myself trying desperately to decide if skinny jeans are right for me.... but I feel bliss that I have balanced all of it out. The outdoors, the indoors, the skinny jeans, and the flavors of my chili. Slightly game-y venison paired with sweet and earthly butternut squash- grown in my sister-in-law's straw bale garden. Just the right amount of chilies, cumin, and cinnamon make it just how I want it. The porter helps add the dark and roast-y flavors, as well as the poblano peppers and the fire roasted tomatoes. Getting a really good sear on the venison really makes the magic happen. I hope you enjoy!!!

These were the two essentials to adding dept of flavor to the venison chili!

Venison & Butternut Squash Chili

3 pounds venison, trimmed and cubed
1 medium onion, small diced
1 heaping Tbls roasted garlic (about 5 cloves), chopped
1 medium poblano pepper, chopped
2 Tbl chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 bottle of porter (I used Summit Great Northern Porter)
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
4 cups butternut squash, large dice
2 cans black beans, drained
salt and black pepper to taste

Sear the venison in batches in a large- heavy bottomed pot or a cast iron griddle, using olive oil of bacon fat. Set the venison aside. In the same pot add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the poblano pepper and saute a few minutes more. Add the venison back to the pot with the chili powder, cumin, and the cinnamon. Saute everything, stirring often, to brown up the spices. Add the porter, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan, and reduce the heat to low. Add the tomatoes, taste and season well with salt and black pepper. Allow to simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the meat is almost tender. Add the butternut squash, and more beer if the chili seems a bit dry. Continue to simmer on low for about 20 more minutes until the squash and the venison are tender. If you add the squash too soon, it may break down into oblivion before the venison becomes tender. If that happens, it will still taste really great!! Adjust the seasonings to your liking. When the chili is complete, turn off the heat and add the beans. Don't worry, the residual heat will warm the beans. Ladle into bowls, and top with any or all of the following; sour cream, fresh cilantro, diced avocado, and my Mom's favorite- crushed Frito corn chips. Belly up!!

the cubed venison

Getting a good sear is important. I am using this awesome stove top cast iron griddle that my Mom no longer had use for. It is awesome! It's like having my own flat top in my kitchen!

The large diced butternut squash. Roasting the squash in a 400 degree oven until it is tender and toasty would be a fine way to handle the squash, instead of cooking it in the chili.  Add it to the chili at the end of cooking, with the beans. Just another way to incorporate a roasted flavor element to your chili!