Matthew's Bread

Ingredients

4tsp active dry yeast (I think this is about 2 packets, but I don't use packets)

1/4 cup honey (I usually add just a bit more than that, like 3/8)

pinch of salt (1-2tsp)

2.5 cups of water (115 degrees ish)

6-ish cups of flour (3 white bread flour, 3 wheat flour or just all white bread)

Variant 1 - doesn't last as long (2-3 weeks in the fridge) but the flavor is better and fluffier texture

2tbs butter (fresher is better) + more for pans/bowls

1 egg (room temperature is preferable)

Variant 2 - lasts longer (3-4 weeks in the fridge) still yummy but not quite as much so

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Other Variants

- 6tbs butter

- 2tbs butter 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Step 1 - Brown Your Butter

If using butter, browning it first adds some wonderful flavor to the bread. Put your butter in a sauce pan put the pan over medium heat. Once your butter is all liquidy just sit there and swirl the pan on the burner, changing directions occasionally (or wisk/stir it if you prefer). Don't you dare leave though or your butter will pop, splatter, or burn. This requires constant stiring/swirling until the butter starts to get brown flakes in it.. then go a little longer until the brown flakes make the butter look browner. Once it's browned, remove from the heat and let it cool down. We want it to be a liquid but we don't want it to kill our yeast, which it will do if it's too hot.

Step 2 - Proof Your Yeast

This is important so you don't waste as much if your yeast is bad (or water too hot/cold) but has no real impact on the bread itself if everything is good. Put the warm water in a bowl (if you have a stand mixer, put it in that bowl), stir in the yeast, wait 5 minutes. If the yeast starts to foam/bubble then you're good to continue.

Note: I add honey at this stage as well to give the yeast something more to eat but honey is expensive and it's not necessary to see the proofing work.

Step 3 - Rough Dough

Dissolve the honey and salt in the yeast and water then wisk in the egg. Alternate 1/2 a cup of each flour type mixing it in reasonably well between each. It doesn't need to be super smooth, some chunks are ok at this point. Do this till you've added 4-5 cups of flour, or until it becomes difficult to mix with a spoon. Once at that point turn it out onto a lightly floured counter/surface. It may still be fairly sticky at this point, I just flour my hands generously to pull it all out with minimal stickage.

Step 4 - Kneeding

This is the hardest step (physically) cause it must be done by hand. If you're using a stand mixer then you can probably get the rough dough a lot further than if you're hand mixing and that will save your arms some. Slowly add the remaining cup or so of flour and kneed it into the dough. The final dough should be tacky but not sticky. If you're not sure what that means, let it sit on the counter for a few seconds and then try to lift it up from the sides, if much stays stuck to the counter then you need to continue adding flour and kneeding. You should be able to squeeze the dough with an un-floured hand and not have dough stick to it when you pull it away (it will stick and pull a little but none should remain on your hand after pulling away).

roughly:

5-10min after a stand mixer

15-20min after hand mixing.

Step 5 - First Rise

Butter a large bowl, at least twice as large as your dough ball. Place your dough ball into the bowl, swish it around a little and then flip it over and swish it again. We want butter to cover the dough ball on all sides. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place, such as the top of your fridge. Alternatively leave it uncovered and microwave half a cup of water for two minutes then place the dough in the microwave with the steaming cup of water. Now go do something else for 45min to and hour but don't forget about your dough!

Step 6 - Second Kneed - Form the Dough

Your dough ball should have roughly doubled in size by now, if not then let it rise longer.. though you may also want to check on it at the 30min mark or so. We don't want it to over-rise too much on that first rise either. Plop the dough ball out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for another 5 minutes. The goal of this kneeding is to get all of the large air pockets out of the dough without tearing it. Basically kneed until it stops making poping and hissing noises at you. Butter your loaf/cooking pan. Rip the dough in half, if you're making a loaf then take one (or each) half and flatten it to be roughly as long as the bottom of your loaf pan and about three times as wide. Fold the dough in thirds and place in the buttered pan. If you're making rolls and such then shape into what ever you want the shape to be really, but roughly 1/3-1/2 the size you want it to end up as. I usually do 1 loaf and 1 pan of hotdog, hamburder, and sandwich buns/rolls.

Step 7 - Second Rise

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, it needs to be ready for the dough when ever the dough is done rising. Do the same trick with the microwave (or just put it ontop of your fridge) and let the dough rise again, for another hour or so or until proper size. It will rise slightly more in the oven but not much so just put it in when you like the size of your dough.

Step 8 - Baking

This is the hardest part technically speaking, over or under cooking is really easy to do (I've done both unfortunately!). It's difficult to tell whether your bread is done or not, it can look perfectly golden brown on the top and be either burnt on the bottom or raw in the middle :(. So this may take a few tries to get your timing down as every oven is different.

At this point your dough looks like un-cooked whatever it is that you're making! We're close but don't eat it just yet. Don't even touch it or look at it funny, it's pretty delicate at this point and even light pressure will leave an indent in the final product. Rolls/buns/smaller things need to cook for about 15-20 minutes while a full loaf is going to need 30. Rotate your pans at the half way mark to ensure even cooking.

Step 9 - Patience Please

You have bread!! and as tempting as it is to cut into it and enjoy the wonderful warmth you must restrain yourself. Rolls and smaller things are ok to cut and eat almost right away but your loaf must cool before you cut it open. If you don't then you can end up with deflated breadand that's just sad. The loaf must cool and harden before you can cut it. Don't let it cool over-night though, or you might have stale breadinstead. Give it an hour or two on your counter (prop it up against something like a cutting board so the bottom has air flow, or use a proper cooling wrack..). Then it can go into a plastic bag and into your fridge.

Step 10 - Making it Last Longer

Honey is a natural preservative, even if you leave it out (in a bag, like store bread) it should last 1-2 weeks before growing mold but I don't eat it quite that fast. I'll put it in a plastic bag and store in my fridge, whenever I eat it I just microwave my portion for a few seconds or toast it briefly to warm it back up. Eggs and butter are what the mold likes to eat and grow on though, so using the oil variant will make it last even longer yet and is still quite tasty

African(West) Beef Stew with Steamed Rice

This has quickly become one of my favorite meals.  A lot of great flavors developed for a stew that only needs to cook for about an hour.  Stew is best served next to the rice, not on it.

Modified from this recipe:
http://www.africanbites.com/beef-stewafrican-style/

Equipment:
Blender, Stove, Large Pot, Small pot with a top(or rice steamer) required.  2 Large pots will make life easier.


1.5-2 lbs Stew Beef, more marbleized the better.
1/2 cup canola oil
4 roma tomatoes
1 can(~15oz) tomatoe sauce
1 large yellow onion, roughly diced
6 garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp celery salt
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp summer savory (optional)
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
salt and pepper to taste

1/4-1 habanero pepper (optional, 1/4 is lightly spicey, 1 full is moderately spicey)

1 cup of your favorite white rice.  I usually use jasmine.
1 tbsp coconut oil (optional for rice)

Beef Stew:

• Start a large pot 1/2 full of water boiling with salt and pepper(maybe 1 tbsp of each) and ~1/3 of the yellow onion.
• Once water has started to boil add the stew beef, cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes for the first 10 minutes to make sure the beef doesn't stick together or burn on the bottom.

• While the beef cooks, combine the remaining onion, tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, parsely, thyme, and optional summer savory and habanero.
• Blend to a puree
• Set aside.

• Once the beef is done boiling start another large pot over medium-high heat with the oil in it.
• Remove beef from the first pot, make sure to keep the broth, we'll keep using this for the stew and rice.
• Pat beef dry with paper a towel
• Add the mostly dry beef to the oil and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.  Just enough to brown the outside.
• Be careful whenever you add ingredients to hot oil, it will sputter and possibly pop hot oil out of the pan.  I always try to be ready to cover it with a towel or pot top.
• Remove beef from the oil and set aside, keeping remaining oil in the pot.

• Add the contents of the blender to the pot with oil.
• Add the curry powder, ground tumeric, smoked paprika, white pepper.
• Add 2 cups of the beef broth that we set aside from.
• Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes.
• You can adjust the consistency to your taste by simmering longer or adding more broth if it gets too thick.
• After 30-40 minutes add the cooked beef and cook for 10-15 minute longer.

Bonus Vegetables!

• While the Stew sauce is simmering you can boil some vegetables in the the excess beef broth.  The broth will add a very nice extra flavor to them.  Carrots or Bok Choy both go great with the stew.

Stove Top Rice (you could make this in a rice steamer just as well):

• Add 2 cups of the broth from above to a small pot with a top.
• Add coconut oil to the broth and bring to a boil.
• While broth comes to a boil, add 1 cup rice to a small bowl.
• Cover rice with cold water and mix with your finger tips until the water becomes milky white, this removes excess starch from the rice.
• Strain the water from the bowl.
• Once water is boiling turn temperature down between low and medium.
• Add rice.
• Give it a quick stir to loosen up the grains, they will want to stick as soon as they hit the hot water.
• Cover and cook until all liquid is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.  Keep a close eye on this, you want to stop as soon as no liquid comes to the top of the rice if you tip the pot.
• Remove from heat and give it another quick stir to loosen the rice from the pot. (or empty to a storage container) 
• Store remaining beef broth for up to a week to cook more rice with.

Micah's BBQ Pork Steamed Buns

You can fill these steamed buns with just about anything and they'll be delicious, or even cook them flat and create a taco style meal with them.  This recipe is modified from the Food Network recipe here.  I prefer them a little sweeter and have found rolling them out a little thinner makes for a better meat to bun ratio.  Both the pork and dough should sit over night, so this is best made over 2 days.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/brian-boitano/pork-steamed-buns-recipe.html

Any kind of steamer and oven are required.

Filling:

1 rack pork back ribs
3/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/3 cup sweet bbq sauce (I use Famous Dave's Sweet and Zesty sauce)
Optional - Any simple vegetables, cabbage, green onion, and the like work really well.  Amount depends on your preference.

Buns:

1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling
1 1/2 cup cake flour
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil, plus a little more to coat the bowl


Filling

• Marinate the ribs with the hoisin and bbq sauce over night.  I use the bag they come in and twist and rubber band it to seal.
• Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Cover a sheet pan with tin foil and place the ribs, meat up, on it.
• Squeeze out all of the sauce you can across the top of the ribs.
• Cook for 2 hours, basting every 30 minutes.
• Let rest and cool before cutting all of the meat from the bones and roughly chopping

Buns

• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl.  Let sit for a few minutes, the yeast will foam and bubble.
• In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, surgar, and baking powder.
• Make a well in the center and add the warm milk, oil, and activated yeast.
• Work the dough with your hands or a spoon until it just starts to come together, it will be a mess.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured board or countertop and kneed until the dough becomes smooth and soft.  About 10 minutes.
• Scrape the large bowl clean(semi-clean, just get any big chunks) and lightly oil it.
• Put the dough in the bowl and turn it over once to coat very lightly with the oil. 
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge over night.

Bringing it all together:

• Cut vegetables to a fine chop and cook if necessary.  Mix with the chopped rib meat.  (green onions and cabbage will cook fine in the buns and don't need to be cooked separately, carrots or thicker vegetables won't cook all the way through)
• Roll the dough out into a log 14 inches long and cut into 14 even pieces.  Trying to work our 14 even pieces without measuring is a pain, so I suggest using a ruler or tape measure.
• Ball each piece and set aside.
• On a flour dusted board or counter top roll each piece of dough out into ~4 inch circle and set aside.  Re-flour the surface for each ball. 
• When you're ready to fill the dough, put 1 piece of dough on the board and thin out the sides, leaving the middle a little thicker
• Put 2 full spoon fulls of the rib meat in the center of the dough.
• Pull the sides up around the meat, it should fit tight without needing to stretch the dough much extra.
• Pinch and twist the dough at the top to seal
• Steam for 12-15 minutes

Micah's Cobbler French Toast

This recipe uses the spices you'd find in a fruit cobbler mixed with the batter for the french toast, and replaces the syrup with fruit jam for a more seasonally spiced french toast.  I eyeball the spices every time I make it, so exact measurements aren't necessary.


2 Eggs
2 tbsp. Milk
1/8 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1/8 tsp. Ground Ginger
1/2-3/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
3-6 Slices of Bread
Your Favorite Fruit Jam
Ground Cinnamon - Dusted ontop of the french toast while cooking
Butter - to grease the pan

• Start the pan heating on a medium to medium-low temperature
• Mix the eggs, milk, nutmet, ginger, and vanilla in a small bowl
• When adding the ginger to the bowl make sure there are no chunks
• When pan is hot butter should sizzle but not smoke as soon as it touches the pan
• Individually, lightly soak a piece of bread in the batter for ~15 seconds, then place on the greased pan
• Once all pieces are down on the pan dust the tops with ground cinnamon
• Cook on each side ~1.5 minutes for a 1 inch thick slice of bread, dusting the 2nd side of the bread with cinnamon once flipped
• Add a light coat of your jam to the top and enjoy

Micah's Apple Sauce

This is an apple sauce recipe I've been playing with using cinnamon and curry.  The curry flavor is very light and doesn't really come across as curry as much as just a deeper taste to the cinnamon, similar to using nutmeg.  I've tried this with Fuji and Honeycrisp apples, both are good but the Honeycrisp is a little sweeter and tasted better with less seasoning.

Equipment Needed:
Blender or large food processor
Baking sheet
Oven

Apple Cinnamon Spice:
This spice is great for apple sauce, apple pie, or just baked apples.  This will make enough for 3-4 baking sheets full of apples.

1 cup Brown Sugar
1 tbsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. Curry Powder
1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

• Mix all ingredients thoroughly and store in an air tight container

Apple Sauce:
Fuji or Honeycrisp apples.  Really any sweet crisp apple should do fine.  # of apples entirely depends on how much sauce you want.

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Cut all apples in half and remove the cores with a small knife
• Cut off the skin on the bottom of each apple half to create a flat surface so the apples will rest on the baking sheet
• Place apples on a baking sheet
• Dust the tops of all of the apples with the apple cinnamon spice, lighting coating each one.  We want this spice to caramelize into the apple
• Bake the apples at 400 degrees for 20-40 minutes, depending on apple size.  A fork should puncture through the apple with light pressure.  For Fuji, after 20 minutes check every 5 minutes.  For Honeycrisp after 30 minutes check every 5
• Remove the apples from the oven and let cool for ~5 minutes
• Once cooled place apples in a blender or food processor and blend until they are the consistency you want, tasting along the way.  I usually blend until they are roughly mashed, then taste and add more spice if necessary before blending to a smooth sauce

Tasia's Korean Beef Bowl

Note: I've been changing the amount of sugar each time, still haven't gotten it quite right. The original recipe called for 1/4 c. which is way too much. 1 tbsp might be too little. Will update when I get it right....

Korean Beef Bowl

Ingredients:

1 tbsp brown sugar

¼ c. soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp hot sesame oil

¼ tsp fresh ginger (minced)

1 tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 lb beef (ground, chopped, any kind)

2 green onions (thinly sliced)

¼ tsp sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

Mix together brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oils, and ginger. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1m. Add beef and cook until browned, ~3-5m. Drain excess fat as needed. Stir in sauce mixture and green onions, simmering until heated through ~2m. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds as desired.