Julie Thornock's Delicious Whole Wheat Bread

by Julie Thornock

Several have asked me for my whole wheat bread recipe, so I am going to post it here. Keep in mind that high altitude may require a bit more yeast and/or time to rise.
High humidity areas will require less water. Remember, it's all about how the dough feels.

350 deg., 4 standard glass loaf pans

In your mixer put:
2 Tbs rapid rise yeast
1 Tbs salt
1/3 C each: sugar (or honey), Vital Wheat Gluten, vegetable oil
[gluten can be found in the baking section above the flour]
Then add
10 C. freshly ground whole wheat flour
4-5 C.water (the longer you let it soak, the cooler the water. For 30 minutes, lukewarm. See instructions below for soaking).

Now for the fun. There are some tips that you don't find in a cookbook recipe that I found in a 1955 book called Wheat for Man. These make all the difference.

You add the smaller amount of water first and turn the mixer on to just mix it. It needs to be quite sticky but not gluey. The mixture should stick to your fingers. Cover it and let it soak. The point is that the ground wheat has bran in it that doesn't absorb water very fast. After letting it soak from 30-60 min, you check the dough. Does it feel rather stiff and dry? Does it feel too wet still? Now is the time to adjust. You want it to be tacky, still sticking to your fingers a little. If it's too wet, add a bit of WHITE flour. If it's a bit dry, add some water. There is some give in this. But if it's too wet, it's better than too dry.

Let knead for 12 minutes. Cover and raise until it's out of the top of the bowl. Really, it's ready when you poke the dough and the indentation stays in.

Turn on mixer to get bubbles out; just a half dozen spins or so. Form into loaves. put in greased (sprayed) pans. I like glass since I think they bake more uniformly, but metal will be fine too. Just make sure they aren't too wide. Compare a glass pan with a metal one, and you may see that metal ones are often quite a bit wider.

Let raise until they are rounded above the top of the pan. Now you start testing for readiness to bake AND TURN YOUR OVEN ON. Poke your floured pinkie finger 1/4" into the corner of a loaf. If it stays put, it needs to raise some more. If it comes out a little, let it raise a little longer, but check every 10 minutes. When it stays mostly in,put it in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes. To check for doneness, tap the top with your fingernails. It should sound hollow and feel hard. Color is not much of an indicator for doneness. Roll them out of the pans onto a cooling rack and butter the tops to keep them soft. Let them cool completely. Put in bags and put any that you won't use in a few days in the freezer.

Delicious Cranberry Sauce

by Jana

12 oz fresh cranberries

1 c. white sugar

1 c. orange juice

Using a medium pan, dissolve sugar into orange juice.  Stir in cranberries and cook until cranberries  start to pop.  (About 10 minutes)  Remove from heat.  Sauce will thicken as it cools.

Ginger Sour Cream Bundt Cake

by Jana

Softened butter
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
4 t. ground ginger
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted, room temperature butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 t. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
1 c. crystallized ginger
1/2 c. dried, tart cherries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Generously grease 12 cup Bundt pan with softened butter.

Mix flour, ground ginger, baking powder and salt in bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, beat 1 c. butter until smooth, then add sugar and beat about 2 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Then beat in 1 egg yolk and the vanilla.  Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with the sour cream, beating on low speed just until blended after each addition.  Mix in crystallized ginger and cherries.

Spread batter in pan.  Bake until top is light brown and done in the middle...about 55 minutes on center rack of oven.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes then gently tap bottom edge of pan until cake loosens then invert and remove from pan. 

Southwestern Three-Bean and Barley Soup

1 T. olive oil
1 large diced onion
1 stalk diced celery
1 diced large carrot
1 medium zucchini
9 cups water
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup pearl barley
1/3 cup dried black beans
1/3 cup dried great northern beans
1/3 cup dried kidney beans
1 T. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano
3/4 t. salt

Heat oil in large pan, then add onion, celery and carrot and cook until softened.  Add water, broth, barley, beans, zucchini, chili powder, cumin and oregano.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the beans are tender....about 2 - 2  1/2 hours.  Add more water, 1/2 cup at a time if necessary.  Salt to taste.

Cajun-spiced Dirty Rice

1 t. olive oil
1 minced onion
1 minced celeryrib
1 minced green pepper
4 cloves minced garlic
8 oz. finely chopped mushrooms
2 t. Cajun spice blend
1 c. quick-cooking brown rice
1  15 oz. can red bean, rinsed and drained
2 c. vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Lightly oil a 3 quart baking dish and set it aside.  Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and then add onion, celery, and green peppers.  Cover and cook about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, mushroom and Cajun spice.  Stir and cook for about 2 minutes.  Put mixture into the 3 quart baking dish, then add the rice, beans, broth, salt and pepper.  Cover and bake in the oven until the rice is tender, about 50 minutes.

Non vegans can add sausage to it, if they want.

Cajun Spice Mix

2 t. salt
2 t. garlic powder
2 1/2 t. paprika
1 t. black pepper
1 t. onion powdered or minced dehydrated onion
1 t. cayenne pepper
1 1/4 t. dry oregano
1 1/4 t. dry thyme
1/2 t. red pepper flakes (optional)

Stir together until evenly blended.  Store in airtight container.

Pie....or maybe it's Pudding

2-4 cups pureed pumpkin, yams, sweet potatoes, carrots or winter squash
1 pkg sugar free vanilla instant pudding
2 c. milk
pumpkin pie spice to taste

Mix all together.  Serve with whipped topping in a bowl as pudding or in a pie crust.