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General Reference/Tutorial

Breads, General Reference/Tutorial

Swedish Honey Wheat Sourdough Loaf (Öland Wheat)

I’ve been experimenting, using my sourdough (Alice in Wondoughland) and some new-to-me and interesting flours from Maine Grains in Skowhegan, Maine. I am calling this one Swedish Honey Wheat Sourdough Loaf because it uses Öland Wheat. Öland is an island in the Baltic Sea where the Swedish Monarchy has their summer home (there will be a pop quiz on the names of the Swedish Monarchy later today, go study up). It a slightly nutty, slightly golden in color wheat, and I added some local honey (well, local to Cambridge Massachusetts, not to Öland, nor to Skowhegan) and came up with this lovely loaf. It’s delicious. The one thing that I am beginning to learn though, is that it takes a bit of trial and error when experimenting with new flours, to get the hydration levels just right. The first dough I made was a gloppy mess and I kept on overcompensating, and then the sourdough ratio was totally off. This attempt is better, but still a little too dense, but definitely flavorful.

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Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Dinner, General Reference/Tutorial, Lunch, Savory Snacks, Sides

King Arthur Baking’s Irish Brown Bread

I know that everyone and their brother makes soda bread around this time of year, and I am no different. This time, I made it with wholemeal flour, so a little darker, a little more rustic and really really quite flavorful. A nutty flavor, for sure. Not very sweet at all, so would go great with a sharp cheddar too. I’ll be back to sourdough making soon enough, but this was great for this week! This is the recipe from the KA site and that is also where I got the wholemeal flour.

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Breakfast/Brunch, General Reference/Tutorial

Mango Mania Marmalade

Sunshine in a jar! Mangoes were on sale at Whole Foods this week, and when balls of sunshine are available, I bought some and ended up making this jam. Super quick to make and should extend the life of these lovely fruits for a bit. Lovely on toast but also with yogurt and granola. Or just plain by the spoonful.

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Appetizers/Starters, General Reference/Tutorial, Sweet Snacks

Honey Gingerbread Glazed Nuts

And what would a CSPS Christmas be without some dressed up nuts? This year, I made Honey gingerbread ones, with almonds, cashews and pecans (but any combination of nuts will do). These are a little sweeter than some of my sweet and spicy ones, but still very delicious. Let them absolutely cool completely before bagging them up, otherwise they will stick together and get totally hard.

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Dinner, General Reference/Tutorial, Lunch, Sides

Cranberry Apple Rhubarb Chutney

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, I usually find myself wanted to make a variation on the “cranberry sauce” theme, and this is the 5th variation of a “sauce”, “preserve” or”chutney” that I have made. It’s not really like “the stuff from the can” but is very fresh, very flavorful and is a great combo of cranberries, apples and rhubarb. Yes, rhubarb. It’s nearly impossible to find right now and definitely not “in season” but I had stashed some in my freezer, for occasions just like this. It’s got a little bit of a kick with hot pepper flakes and a little bit of warmth from just a smidge of clove. Quite nice, actually. Will keep in the fridge probably through Christmas.

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