This Dame Cooks A Collection of Recipes from Alaska to the South Pacific and Caribbean

I was surfing the web for oatmeal pancakes yesterday and found a keeper recipe at Smitten Kitchen that uses homemade oat flour…what a revelation.  Deb always has great recipes with DIY tips in her witty blogs.   So this recipe for Oatmeal Bread is inspired by made-from-scratch oatmeal pancakes.

I love to bake bread but I hate to knead dough so my food processor really gets a workout…it does such a good job of kneading in half the time.  I’m sure you can find oat flour at better grocery stores and probably pay plenty for it.  Its like buying almond flour versus making your own from blanched almonds.  Your food processor will do the job for a lot less and the results are pretty comparable to store bought.  All that is required is Quick Cooking Oats, not Instant Oatmeal.  Whirl them in your food processor until they’re the consistency desired…not too fine but not too course.  Of-course, if you want a finer texture you can always use a coffee grinder.  If you don’t like the results, you can always make oatmeal pancakes or an oatmeal bath balm.

This bread is healthy with plenty of fibre from the whole wheat and oat flours plus its moist with a tender crumb and nutty flavor.  It toasts beautifully and makes a tasty pallet for hot or cold sandwiches.  Think roast beef and mustard…with a beer!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp dry active yeast
• 1 Tbsp raw sugar or honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp oil or melted butter
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup cold milk

Method for Food Processor:

1. Place oats in a food processor bowl and whirl on high for 2 minutes.  You now have 3/4 cups of oat flour.
2. Add whole wheat and all-purpose flours, yeast, sugar and salt.  Whirl to combine.
3. Mix hot water and cold milk together and add the oil.
4. With processor running on medium, pour liquids into feed tube.  Whirl until the dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the processor bowl.  Turn speed up to high and whirl for 4 to 5 minutes to knead the dough.  It should be slightly tacky, smooth and soft.  If needed, add more water or flour, one tablespoon at a time.
5. Turn dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double, about 1 hour.  It’s very warm (84° F.) and humid in my Puerto Rican kitchen so bread rises quickly.  It might take 1-1/2 hours in cooler, dryer climates.
6. Punch down dough, let rest 10 mintues.  Form into a loaf and place in a greased 5 X 9 inch loaf pan.  Cover with a plastic bag inflated with plenty of air so the plastic doesn’t touch the dough.  Let rise 40 minutes or until dough is 1 inch or more above pan rim.
7. Half way through the rising preheat the oven to 375° F.
8. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with 1 Tbsp oats and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Turn out bread onto a cooling rack.  Tap the bottom of the loaf with your knuckle…if it sounds hollow the loaf is fully cooked…if not, return to oven, bottom side up, and cook 5-10 minutes more.  Alternately, check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer, it should read 190° F.

If the sorbet is too hard right out of the freezer let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before  scooping it.  The sorbet should be smooth and creamy, not crunchy, when it melts on your tongue.  Optimally, sorbet is best served within 12 hours.  Though it will keep for several weeks in the freezer the fruit flavors will start to fade after a week.  Sorbet doesn’t stand a chance of sitting in my freezer for a week and I’ll bet it the same for you.

If you don’t have an ice-cream machine simply pour the mixture into a flat metal cake tin and freeze it for 2 hours.  Crush the ice crystals with a wooden spoon until its smoothe or whirl it in a food processor for a few seconds.  Repeat this process a couple times and check for texture. It should be a creamy not crunchy spoonful of fruity ice.  Scoop the sorbet into a freezer safe container with a tight fitting lid and freeze until ready to serve.

The addition of dried fruit stewed or steeped in hot water will intensify the fruity flavors and add sugar.  So 5 or 6 dried plums (prunes) stewed with 4 to 6 fresh plums will produce an intense plum flavor and because dried fruit is very sweet the amount of sugar can be reduced.

The recipes below are simple, inexpensive and do-able any time of the year.

Port Plum Sorbet from Canned Plums

• 2 cups canned dark plums with juice (14 oz can)
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 Tbsp Tawney Port wine

Pit the plums if necessary. Puree plums with juices and port wine in a blender.  Freeze in ice-cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Scoop the finished product into freezer safe containers and continue to freeze for 1 or 2 hours.   This is excellent with a scoop of French vanilla ice-cream and almond tuilles.

Port Plum Sorbet from Fresh and Dried Plums

• 6 fresh plums
• 6 dried plums (pitted prunes)
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp Tawney Port wine

Place plums and prunes in water over medium high heat, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, simmer until plums are soft and liquid is syrupy, about 15 minutes.  The pits should come away from the plums easily, if not continue stewing.  Let cool, remove pits from plums.  Pour the plums, prunes and stewing liquid into a blender, add sugar and wine. puree until smooth.  Chill the puree and freeze with or without an ice-cream machine.

This recipe is from the The Joy of Cooking but the method is myown.  If you love to make bread but hate the kneading then a food processor is the way to go.  These muffins are baked on a griddle so when they are split with a fork there’s craters and crevices where butter or Hollandaise sauce can pool.  They’re just a tad bit chewy even when toasted but so fresh when made at home.

While living in Tonga it was impossible to buy English Muffins, Bagels, croissants, rye bread and other specialty breads so the only thing to do was to find recipes that worked and make them from scratch.  After much practice and experimenting I finally developed this muffin method so I could serve Eggs Benedict in my restaurant.  My customers were always delighted.

Do try this method - you won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients for 10-12 English Muffins 3″ in diameter:

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp dry-active yeast (2 pkts)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup cornmeal to sprinkle on sheet pan
• 1-2 Tbsp butter or vegetable oil for the griddle

Method:

1. Place all dry ingredients in the large bowl of a food-processor.  Pulse to combine.
2. Warm the milk, water and butter in a small sauce pan just until the butter melts.  Alternately, melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds, add the milk and water to the butter and microwave for 30 seconds more.  Stir and cool to lukewarm temperature if necessary.
3. With the food processor whirling on low speed, pour the liquid through the feed tube.  Increase the speed to high and whirl until a ball of dough foams and cleans the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute.  Dough should be very soft.  Depending upon the humidity where you live you may need to adjust the liquid or flour content. If the dough is too soft add 1-2 Tbsp of flour, 1 Tbsp at a time.  If it is too firm add 1-2 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp at a time.
4. Flour your hands and remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface.  Form dough into a flatten disk and let rest for 10 minutes.
5. Flatten the dough to 1/2 inch and cut out 3-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter, glass or a clean tuna-fish-can dipped in flour.
6. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal and place cut out rounds of dough on the cornmeal.  Turn over so both sides are lightly coated. The muffins will rise as they bake so it is not necessary to proof them at this point.
7. Warm a griddle or large skillet over medium heat.  Brush a little butter or oil on the surface of the hot pan.
8. Bake the muffins for 4 or 5 minutes on the first side and check for golden brown spots.  Continue to bake, moving the muffins around until they are nicely speckled, maybe another 3 or 4 minutes.  Turn and bake until the sides of each muffin no longer feel doughy soft and the bottom is nicely speckled brown.  Total time baking on a griddle should be 14-18 minutes per batch.
9. Remove to a cooling rack.  Store in a ziplock bag for up to 4 days or they may be frozen for longer storage.
10. Always use the tines of a fork to split the muffins in half.

Note:  This recipe can be adjusted to make Crumpets…simply increase the milk to 1-2/3 cups.  Grease 4-inch rings, place on a hot well-buttered griddle, fill 1/2-inch deep and bake. Remove rings when ready to turn.

The freezer is full of mango slices for smoothies and cakes and my pantry now has a good supply of mango jam.  These little jars of jam spiced with saffron are perfect for gift giving.  A teaspoon of mango-saffron jam in a banana-mango smoothie is a terrific substitute for honey or sugar and makes a yummy filling for sponge cakes.  This jam takes 5-8 minutes to cook, has less sugar and jells in a snap with 1 pouch of Certo pectin.   I love the color of jams and jellies made with Certo pectin.  Because of the reduced cooking time, the color and clarity of jams and jellies made with Certo are brighter and the flavors are fresher.  Small batches also help to control the quality of color, flavor and the gel.  Plus the whole canning process is less of a chore when the batch is smaller.

Start by finding really ripe mangoes…they’re the sweetest.  They should be firm but not bruised and have a heavenly fragrance. The flavor of a mango is like a peach married to a papaya.  Always taste a slice to be sure they are sweet and the texture isn’t mushy.

This recipe yields about 5 cups from just 2 cups of fruit.  If saffron isn’t your thing, try adding a cinnamon stick to the pulp and remove it just before filling the jars.  Substitute lime for the lemon and add a teaspoon or 2 of lime zest when adding the Certo pectin.

You can use this same method and recipe for peaches, pears, plums etc.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ripe mango, chopped
• juice of 1 large lemon
• 3-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 pouch Certo pectin
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads

Method:

1. Sterilize jars and keep warm until ready to fill.  Pour boiling water over lids to soften the rubber molding.
2. In a 2-quart heavy bottom sauce pan, stir sugar into chopped mango and lemon juice.  Place over high heat and stir until sugar has dissolved and the mixture comes to a full roiling boil (boil that cannot be stirred down).
3. Remove from heat, add Certo pectin and saffron, stir and return to heat.
4. Bring back to a boil, stir constantly for 1 minute.  Remove from heat, fill warm jars to 1/4-inch from rims.  Wipe rims with a paper towel dipped in boiling water.  Cap with warm lids and tighten.
5. For immediate use place jars on a tea towel to cool for 24 hours.  Refrigerate once opened.
6. For long-term storage, place hot-filled jars in a deep pot of boiling water with a towel or rack on the bottom of the pot.  One or two inches of water should cover the jars.  Process for 10 minutes in boiling water.  Remove to a draft-free area and allow to cool, let set about 24 hours.  Wipe the outside of jars and label with date preserved and name of jam.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups fresh mango, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup raisins (cranraisins. dried figs or dates optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.  Grease and flour a 9X5 inch loaf pan.
2. Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add eggs and oil.  Stir until all dry ingredients are wet.
4. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Let cool for 10 minutes. If necessary, loosen bread from pan with the thin blade of a knife. Let cool completely on a cake rack.