Making Tallow

 

I use tallow to make soap, as well s for cooking. Beef fat is called tallow, pork fat is called lard - prepared in exactly the same way. Tallow is harder than any other common fat and will make a harder soap. Shortening can be used to make vegan soap but the soap won't be as hard as that made with beef fat.

I picked up some beef fat scraps from a butcher nearby and have put them into a pot to render. Rendering is cooking the fat scraps until all the fat has been liquefied, straining it and letting it cool and harden. This separates the fat from other impurities. The fat rises to the top and can be taken off in one hard chunk after it cools. The fat will simmer slowly in this pot for awhile, until I am satisfied that it has cooked long enough.

When it is finished I will strain it through a colander, then through a fine strainer before letting it cool outside on the front porch. If you are cooling it outside, a lid is important. Otherwise you might find little racoon prints in it or you might even find it completely gone! The smell will draw the surrounding animals. I will leave it there throughout the day and bring it in at night. The next morning it will look like this in the pot.


Now that it has cooled I can separate the fat and give the rest to the chickens. They will love it! This is the bottom layer under the pure fat. You will need to make sure none of these impurities get into the tallow.

While the fat simmers, I will go through the rest of my things and make sure I have everything I need to make soap. Tomorrow is a holiday, after all, and there will be nowhere open to buy ingredients.

This is the pure tallow. Isn't it beautiful! It looks just like lard or shortening from the store!

If you have especially smelly fat to render, the addition of a potato to the simmering pot will help to remove odors. A few teaspoons of white vinegar will also help remove odors from the fat.

It can be boiled twice if it is not clean and pure enough the first time. A tablespoon of salt added to the boil will help make it cleaner.

Too Many Sweet Bell Peppers

 

I got these peppers at the grocery store, all in one large bag marked down. They do this sometimes when they have produce that's not selling. It's usually bananas, but yesterday it was bell peppers. I grabbed two bags and was lucky to get thoese. Other women were grabbing at the basket too. 

I wanted these for drying. It's an experiement I have wanted to do for along time so, since I got these cheap, I tried it today. I have seen photos of apple rings drying on a stick or a string across a window and have often though, "I wonder if that would work for peppers...hmmmmmm...". I'm trying it in my window, as well as in the oven. 

I sliced them all into thin rings, trying to keep them similar thicknesses. I hung most of the rings on the wooden chopsticks and put them in the oven on "Keep Warm". I think it may be too hot, sitting at 170f. Drying temperature is quite a bit cooler but it's all I have, so I used it. 

I put the rest of the rings in the window on a small wooden piece of dowel I had hanging around. I washed it first, of ocurse. I used a Farmer's Market display thing to hold it. (I have a LOT of Farmer's Market displays I have made in the past few years, just hanging around in the garage.)

The little pieces got chopped up and spread out of paper towels to dry. I have dried a lot of seeds and herbs this way in the past years, so I'm trying it with peppers. 

I kept the peppers in the oven for hours. I turned it off from time to time and just left them in there to dry. It works for meringue kisses...

When I took them out to roast a chicken in the oven, they were still not quite crispy dry, so I just put them on my resin counter top to finish drying. They look kind of shriveled and dark. I think they look okay and they have gotten dryer and crispier over the evening. I may still leave them out until morning, just to make sure they are dry enough. Then crush them into a glass jar. Do they look okay? Too dark? What do you think? They look kind of overcooked to me, maybe "roasted"?

They don't look very appetizing, but then something dried never does. They sure do smell good! Very much like green bell peppers. Well, I don't think I'll do the oven thing again. I may stick with drying rings on a stick or a string in a sunny window.

Drying things in a vehicle on a sunny day works well too. I've done herbs like that. The truck smells wonderful on those days! ("Stinky!" is what hubby calls it...)

I'll post again with the results of the pepper rings on the stick in the sunny window, when they are ready.

We get our motorhome back from the garage on Saturday. I'll have to find a spot for drying things in there when we hit the road. 

Making Fruit Pies Without a Recipe

 

All through my youth, I thought a recipe was necessary to make a pies. If I came across fruit or berries on sale, I would first have to find a recipe for that particular one before I could make a pie with it. After years of practice I have hit on a method that works for me.

Pastry is easy with the directions on my "Pastry" post.

It is the filling I had trouble with until I developed this simple system.

Pie filling is basically prepared fruit and/or berries plus sugar and flour. You will need about 8 cups of prepared fruit that is washed, hulled, cleaned, cored, peeled and ready to put into the pie. The flour is to thicken it so you don't have runny pies and the sugar is purely for taste.

How much of each depends on your filling. You be the judge of how sweet you want it. I use 1 to 2 cups of sugar for every standard 9" pie made with fruit or berries. I put 1.5 cups of sugar in a blueberry pie.

How much flour depends on how juicy the filling is. Again you have to judge the juciness. I use between 4 and 6 tablespoons of flour for every standard 9" pie. Where the juciness is concerned, I find it is better to use a little more than too little. No one likes a runny pie. You cannot judge how runny it is while it is very hot, however. Let it cool to just warm before making that judgement and adjusting the amount in the next one or the cooking time. If you have put in the 6 tablespoons of flour and it is runny, you probably haven't cooked it long enough.

You can bake the filling in a pie without burning the crust if you cover the entire pie with aluminum foil. If the pastry is getting dark and the filling is not done, cover the entire pie and bake longer.

If your most common problem in pie making is getting the filling completely cooked so that the fruit is soft and the juice is thickened but the pastry is not yet burned, try heating the filling up to the boiling point before your put it into the pastry. Only do this if it is going directly into the oven. The boiling filling will melt the fat in the pastry if you let it sit long like that without baking.

Today I made four blueberry pies. I found frozen whole blueberries at Costco for a good price. I made the pastry yesterday. I baked one and put the other three in the freezer.

Pies taste just as good after freezing as they do fresh if they are frozen BEFORE THEY ARE BAKED. The quality suffers a lot if you freeze fruit and berry pies after baking. The filling will be fine but the pastry will be soggy.

Another tip: Do not keep fruit or berry pies in the refrigerator. This will also make the pastry soggy. I cover mine with plastic wrap and keep it on the counter or on top of the fridge.

Thank goodness cats don't eat fruit pie! He might be tempted to eat squash pie with all the eggs in it, but those go in the fridge.

He is sleeping in a kitchen chair. His usual perch when I am in the kitchen working, is on the corner of the table, watching me. Yes, my cat sits on the table. We don't actually EAT on the kitchen table. (Does anyone?)

With these easy directions you can make pie out of anything. You can mix the filling as in peach/pecan or apple/maple/walnut with caramel drizzed on top. Use your imagination. If you have some fruit, but not quite enough, add some nuts and raisins to it. Use roasted hulled sunflower seeds in place of nuts in a pie. No one will know they are not nuts. You might also try substituting a little of the flour in the pastry with finely ground pecans. You can top the filling with bits of butter before putting the pastry on top. There are many, many variations you can make with this simple system for pie filling.

Bavarian Jello

 

I call this "Bavarian" jello because that is what I heard it called when I was a kid. It's flavoured jelly powder (Jello) mixed with whipped cream and it's delicious.

It is a quick, easy, frugal yet fancy dessert. I make it a lot in the summer in the heat but also now, when strawberries are on sale at the store. (Next year we will have our own strawberries in the freezer! - Next year we will be drowning in strawberries!!)

To make Bavarian jello you make up a jelly powder box according to the directions on the box. Mix one package with 1 cup of boiling water. This is easy when you keep a kettle on the woodstove. I always have boiling water on tap :-)

Stir it until it is dissolved. Then add 1 cup of cold water. I put chopped ice in the 1 cup measure before I add the cold water. It makes the jelly powder "set" more quickly.

When it is almost set, or half set, use an electric mixer and beat it with whipped cream. Put into whatever container you want to use and put it in the refrigerator. It will harden in a few hours.

I like to layer it with clear jelly powder and fruit in glasses. I used tumblers this time, as it was just a special dessert for hubby and not for company. If I am making it for company, I use the stemmed wine glasses.

This one pictured is strawberry. I made up one box of strawberry jelly powder and left it clear. When it was set I spooned it into the glasses along with some fresh strawberry pieces. I then spooned in the Bavarian jello with whipped cream. I saved some whipped cream to put on top too, and a few fresh strawberries for the top, as well.

You can make any flavour that you like. Raspberry is great, as is cherry! Raspberry chocolate would be dreamy! I haven't tried it yet. If you do, let me know how it is!

When you are finished with your glass, you can then give it to the dog to clean out. Buck prewashes all of our dishes and he loves dessert of any kind!

It went over well! There's nothing like a special summery dessert to brighten up those dull, gray winter days!

I also made a fresh strawberry cake with another of my mother's cake recipes. It's fabulous! I'll post that recipe soon!

Dandelion Syrup

 

Spring is coming! It's just aound the corner and the snow is half gone now! Soon the dandelions will be blooming all over our fields. We have fields and fields of them and they are pesticide free! I sort of cultivate the dandelions, or I don't actively try to get rid of them. I like them. They really do no harm and they are useful. They don't get tall enough to be a nuisance. Last year I made dandelion wine, which I just bottled this morning. This year I am going to make more dandelion wine and also dandelion syrup. I also plan to collect the tiny leaves for eating and freezing like spinach for soups and stews and sauces. I have collected only the petals in years past for wine making but I have been told that the entire flower can be used for making syrup without bitterness. I don't know about that but it will certainly make the collecting of enough material go a lot faster. I think I will try it with the whole heads this year.

Here is my recipe (sort of) for dandelion syrup: Collect as many chemical free dandelions as possible. Put just the washed heads into a pot and barely cover with water. Boil for some time, about 20-30 mins. Remove those heads with a sieve and add another pot full of flower heads to the water and boil these for 20-30 mins. The more dandelions you boil in the water, the stronger the flavour will be.

When you have boiled all the flowers you plan to boil, remove flowers with a sieve and strain liquid. Add sugar, 1 part sugar to 1 part water. Let boil until thick and syrupy.

It taste slightly nutty with a hint of vanilla all by itself! Eat over waffles or ice cream or make a drink with it, glaze meat with it. You can even heat it up and serve hot over desserts!

Bring it on, Spring! I'm ready!!

Fiddleheads - picking, cooking

 

Spring is here in the far north! With the coming of spring, comes new growth in the forests and wild areas where the edible Ostrich ferns grow. Fiddleheads are the baby fronds not yet unfurled on Ostrich ferns.

The fiddleheads on the Ostrich fern can be identified by the papery covering that splits when the fiddlehead grows and the smooth stems with a deep, U-shaped groove on the inside.

They can usually be found growing wild all over a damp forest floor, along streams, riverbanks and swampy areas. They like wet ground. Sometimes you can find a patch with hundreds. 

When you pick the fiddleheads, leave several fronds (leaves) on each fern so it can make food with which to grow and survive for the next year. Forage responsibly. 

Before fiddleheads are edible, they have to be prepared properly. When raw, they can make you sick. 

When we eat fiddleheads, I boil them for 15 mins, drain and rinse several times. Then I toss them in a skillet with butter and garlic and sauté. They taste similar to asparagus and green beans. Delicious!! 

Fiddlehead Nutrition: 

Fiddlehead ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris), Fresh, raw, Nutrition Value per 100 g, (Source: USDA National Nutrient data base)

Principle	Nutrient Value	Percentage of RDA
Energy	34 Kcal	1.7%
Carbohydrates	5.54 g	4%
Protein	4.55 g	8%
Total Fat	0.40 g	2%
Cholesterol	0 mg	0%
Vitamins
Niacin	4.980 mg	31%
Riboflavin	0.210 mg	16%
Thiamin	0.020 mg	1.5%
Vitamin A	3617 IU	120.5%
Vitamin C	26.6 mg	44%
Electrolytes
Sodium	1 mg	<1%
Potassium	370 mg	8%
Minerals
Calcium	32 mg	3%
Copper	0.320 mg	35.5%
Iron	1.31 mg	16%
Magnesium	34 mg	8.5%
Manganese	0.510 mg	22%
Selenium	0.7 mcg	1%
Zinc	0.83 mg	7.5%
Phyto-nutrients
Carotene-ß	2040 µg	--
Carotene-α	261 µg	--

---

From the Gov of Canada food safety website*.

Cleaning

• Using your fingers, remove as much of the brown papery husk on the fiddlehead as possible.
• Wash the fiddleheads in several changes of fresh, cold water to remove any residual husk or dirt.

Cooking

• Cook fiddleheads in a generous amount of boiling water for 15 minutes, or steam them for 10 to 12 minutes until tender. Discard the water used for boiling or steaming the fiddleheads.
• Cook fiddleheads before sautéing, frying, baking, or using them in other foods like mousses and soups.

Freezing

• Clean the fiddleheads properly.
• Boil them for two minutes.
• Discard the cooking water.
• Plunge the fiddleheads into cold water and drain.
• Pack the fiddleheads in freezer containers or bags.
• Store fiddleheads in the freezer for up to one year for best quality.
• Follow the complete cooking instructions above before serving.

From the Maine, USA Gov Extension**: 

Canning Fiddleheads: 

• UMaine Cooperative Extension does not recommend pressure canning as a method to preserve fiddleheads because process times have not been established and tested for home food preservation.
• Commercial cider or white vinegar should be used and must have at least 5% acidity.
• As guidance, approximately 3 pounds of raw fiddleheads should yield about 6 pints of pickled fiddleheads.
• The brine should cover all the fiddleheads in the jar, while leaving a 1/2-inch headspace to ensure a proper seal.
• Be sure to use best canning practices during the water bath process, which includes covering all jars in the canner with at least 1 inch of water and timing the boiling process when the water reaches a rolling boil (212 deg F) with all the jars in the canner.
• Check for a proper seal on the jars after processed jars have cooled.  If the tops are not depressed or have “popped”, place these jars immediately in the refrigerator and eat the fiddleheads within 1 month.

---

Fiddlehead Recipes

Pearl barley risotto with fiddleheads, squash and walnuts
This is a recipe by Chef Kyle Christofferson, winner of the 2011 "So You Think You Can Cook" fiddlehead competition. ***

Ingredients:
50 g fiddleheads, trimmed and blanched
50 g roasted butternut squash, ¼ inch dice
50 g pearl barley (cooked to al dente)
15 g roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp marscapone cheese
1 tbsp parmasean cheese
1 tsp chives
2 tbsp vegetable stock
¼ tsp sea salt

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Serve warm.

---

Sweet Pickled Fiddleheads

1 quart cider or white vinegar (5% acidity)
5 cups sugar
2 teaspoons canning & pickling salt

Clean and wash fiddleheads thoroughly using the process above. Mix vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan, bring to a boil and immediately pour over fiddleheads that are packed into clean pint jars. Remove air bubbles, adjust the liquid to 1/2-inch headspace and wipe the jar rim. Apply two-piece dome lids and adjust lids to fingertip tight. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner, ensuring a rolling boil for the full 15 minutes and at least 1-inch of water is covering all jars in the water bath.

Makes approximately 6 pints if using 3 pounds of raw, cleaned and trimmed fiddleheads.

---

Shrimp and Fiddlehead Medley

1 pound fresh fiddleheads
6 ounces linguine, uncooked
6 cups water
1 ¾ pounds Maine shrimp, fresh or frozen
1 teaspoon olive oil
2/3 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Clean and wash fiddleheads using the process above. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan, add shrimp and cook 3-5 minutes, or until slightly opaque white in color (frozen shrimp may take longer). Drain well, and set aside. Cook fiddleheads in boiling water (enough water to cover all fiddleheads during cooking) for 15 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed, without salt or oil. Drain well, set aside and keep warm.

Add olive oil to a large, nonstick skillet and heat on medium high. Add onion and green pepper and sauté until crisp-tender. Stir in fiddleheads. Add sliced mushrooms, thyme, pepper, salt and celery seeds to vegetable mixture; stir well. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat 3-4 minutes or until mushrooms are tender, stirring often. Stir in shrimp and lemon juice; cook until heated through, stirring often.

Place pasta on a large platter. Spoon shrimp and fiddlehead mixture on top. Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

---

Fiddlehead Dijon

1 ½ pounds fresh fiddleheads
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Clean and wash fiddleheads using the process above. Place fiddleheads in a vegetable steamer over boiling water. Cover and steam 12 minutes or until tender, but still crisp. Set aside, and keep warm.

Combine cornstarch and buttermilk in a small saucepan, stir well. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in mustard, lemon juice, tarragon and pepper.

Arrange fiddleheads on a serving platter. Spoon sauce over fiddleheads. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

*https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-safety-fruits-vegetables/fiddlehead-safety-tips.html
**https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/4198e/
***https://www.chatelaine.com/health/diet/fiddleheads-are-a-great-source-of-vitamins-a-and-c-eat-them-while-you-can/

Fabulous Southern Country Biscuits

 

How to make light, moist, fluffy and fabulous biscuits! 

Biscuits are quick and easy to do. We especially like them made with either sour dough or sour cream. Both are acceptable. You can add sour dough to a biscuit mix to make stunning biscuits, which we will do in a pinch, but we usually make them from scratch. (I say “we” here because we both bake and cook in the kitchen. The man of the house is a better cook than the woman in our home.)

For those of you who do not keep sour dough on hand, I have also included the sour dough recipe and instructions. We like them both equally but don’t always have sour dough on hand or remember to feed it after use, which restricts the amount that is ready for baking. These recipes are made with basic white flour, not self rising or whole wheat.

Directions are the same for both recipes and are listed below.

Sour Cream Biscuits

Bake in 425F preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, depending on size of biscuit.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk

Sour Dough Biscuits

Bake in preheated 375F oven for 15-20 mins, depending on size of biscuit.

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sourdough

Directions for Sourdough and Sour Cream biscuits:

Please use a dish with a light coloured bottom. These recipes are for using a glass dish which usually prevents dark bottoms on biscuits and cookies.

Mix together all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar and salt until well blended. Cut in the shortening. This is not pastry so you can cut it in until it is well mixed. Add wet ingredients called for in recipe of choice (milk, sour cream, sour dough) to make a very sticky, wet dough. You will use a lot of flour on the rolling surface and on your hands and utensils but it is worth it. Moisture is very important to make moist biscuits.

Flour a flat, clean surface with a layer of flour. Dump out the dough onto the floured surface. Liberally flour your hands and gently shape the pile of dough into a cohesive lump. Do not use a rolling pin. This dough is very soft and easily shaped with your floured hands. You will need to add more flour to your hands from time to time. Flatten the lump of dough until it is about 1″ thick and shape it into a square with fairly straight sides and corners. Flour a sharp knife and cut into 2″ squares. You will need to continuously add more flour to the knife to keep it from sticking to the dough, probably a few times just cutting one line.

Squares are much more practical than circles. You don’t need a glass or cutter to make squares, so you have one less dish to wash. Also, when making round biscuits, the leftover dough will need to be reworked slightly and flattened again, making those last few biscuits tougher and dryer.

Grease a glass dish. It is important to use a glass dish when baking biscuits and cookies to prevent the “dark bottom syndrome”. I know I have said this already, but it is important. Gently lift the biscuits and add them to the greased, glass dish, separating them by at least 1″. These will flatten and spread a bit in the pan, so make sure they are taller than you want the baked biscuits to be, shaping more with your hands as you add them to the pan. Add a tiny piece of butter to the top of each biscuit. Bake in a preheated oven for about 15-18 mins. Take them out when the top is lightly browned. If the biscuits are the usual size, the inside will be done. If you have made them very large, you may need to bake a bit longer.

Make sure you are familiar with your oven. Most electric ovens get hotter with wear and your oven may not be baking at the desired temperature. If you are unsure, put an oven thermometer inside the oven when it is preheated to see what the temperature inside the oven is, and adjust the baking temperature accordingly.

(Yes, I know. That’s a Christmas tablecloth still on my table in April. Quit laughing! Some of us are busy, you know…)

Sour Dough Starter for biscuits and waffles only, not for bread

1 package active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water. Stir in remaining 2 cups water, flour and
sugar. Let stand at room temperature until bubbly, stirring 2-3 times per day.
Keep in lidded container in refrigerator. Feed after use: 1 cup flour, 1 cup
milk, 1/4 cup sugar and stir. Leave overnight before using again.