8 that its own Recipes

make and maintain your own sourdough starter, need a volume of at least 1 and 1/3 cups., there are several ingredient combinations for making wild, yeast sourdough, is to grate a raw potato. then add enough water to cover, enough flour to make a thin batter of about a cup and a, third in volume ., method is to use water that you ve boiled potatoes, in instead of the grated potato and water combination., you can also use flour , sugar and water. use 1 cup of, flour , a tbsp of sugar and enough water to make a, pancake consistency batter ., yet another is to simply mix together equal amounts of water, flour (whole wheat is best for this)., anything that provides food for the yeast and a good growing, environment will work. yeast needs sugar or carbohydrates, which it converts to sugar), and clear liquid., make your choice based on what you have handy and just because, what you d like to try. don tsp worry about whether or, not 1 set of ingredients will work better than another, because the chances are that they will all be equally, efficient in attracting wild (sour) yeast. there is no exact, recipe because there are so many other variables in each house, that will invite or dissuade wild yeasts from entering the, mixture. if at first you don tsp succeed, try, try again . the, most important thing is the method ., when you have decided on the ingredients you want , put them in, a glass container that will hold at least three times the, volume of the ingredients. mix lightly with a wooden or, plastic spoon as some metals will react to it. the working of, starter will mix itself ., leave the mixture undisturbed and loosely covered with a cloth, perforated plastic (to allow gases to escape) at warm room, temperature until it begins to froth or work and expand., this is a sign that wild yeasts have made themselves at home, what you re after. the new starter will rise up in, then fall again. when it has , it s ready for, use. (note: it will smell sour !), when you use it , always leave some in the container and add, flour and water back to equal what you ve taken out. most, recipes call for a cup of starter, so replace it with a half, flour and a half-cup of water and set it in a warm, place to work again ., you will probably see a liquid covering the top at 1 time or, this is called hooch , and it s exactly what it, sounds like , but don tsp drink it! actually, it s harmless, so, stir it back into the starter if the starter is thick, or if, either way ., keep sourdough in the refrigerator unless you use it at least, every third day. if you use it that often , you can leave it on, counter or any place where it s safe. if you can tsp, refrigerate it , you can keep it fresh by throwing out a cup of, it every second or third day and then replenish with flour and, water. wait until it works again before counting days ., a properly cared for starter can live indefinitely, but if you, leave it out without using it for too long, the yeast can, literally suffocate in its own waste products. if the starter, looks off color (grayish is normal) or turns pink, toss it and, start fresh ., what can you make with sourdough besides the traditional, bread , you can make biscuits, pancakes, pretzels, bagels, muffins , cornbread and even cookies! once you re comfortable, using it , you can experiment with your favorite yeast or, baking powder recipes. simply put , you substitute sourdough

article, those of us who are blessed with living in the lone star state may take for granted the steaming hot, flavorful corn tortillas that many mexican restaurants still provide free to patrons. cities and towns of any size at all frequently have a tortilleria, that is, a tortilla factory, where freshly-made tortillas or fresh masa (tortilla dough) can be purchased. or maybe not., in any case , a resourceful cook, particularly 1 who relishes tex-mex fare, will want to be able to produce a batch of corn tortillas. there is nothing quite like the aroma of hot, handmade tortillas. your own tortillas will not only rival the restaurant variety, they will taste even better because they are so fresh., according to the tortilla industry association, tortillas are more popular today in the u.s. than all other ethnic breads, such as bagels, english muffins and pita bread., average (say 6- to 7-inch) corn tortilla contains about 60 calories, a gram or so each of protein and fat, 12 g of carbohydrate and 44 milligrams of calcium. since they are made exclusively of corn flour and contain no wheat gluten, they are an ideal bread alternative for those who are gluten intolerant., but most of all , they are good., corn tortillas are the foundation of classic tex-mex dishes like enchiladas , gorditas, quesadillas, tacos and tostados. mexican cooks have been patting them out for millennia; tortillas are the bread of mexico., this article will concern itself with corn tortillas, rather than the wheat flour tortillas that originated in northern mexico., ingredients for tortilla making are incredibly, and somewhat deceptively, simple. there are only two: corn flour and water. we could get so basic as to detail the process of making corn flour with parched corn and slaked lime, and grinding the resulting product ourselves, but no 1 would do that. and besides, there is a product made by the quaker oats company called masa harina that makes an excellent corn tortilla. masa harina may be difficult to find in some, principally northern, areas of the u.s., and you may have to ask your grocer to serving it for you. it can also be obtained by mail order, although it is a bit pricey ($3.95 for 2 lb, plus shipping), compared to what you pay for it in a local supermarket., whatever you do , don tsp confuse corn flour with corn meal. corn meal is made from a completely different process, and it simply won tsp work for tortilla making., need a big cast-iron skillet or griddle and a tortilla press, too. tortilla presses have become pretty easy to find in kitchen-supply stores. not exactly a high-tech gadget, if you pay more than $20 for 1, you ve paid way too much. if you can tsp find a tortilla press, it is possible (but not preferable) to press out your tortillas on a flat surface using a heavy, flat-bottomed dish. you ll also need some plastic bags of the sandwich or freezer variety, but more about that later., in most every recipe for corn tortillas, the proportion of ingredients called for is 2 cups of masa harina to 1-1/4 to 1-1/3 cups of water. however, the difference between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup, while only 4 tsp, can be critical.

chicken pieces, flour, butter, evaporated milk, cream of mushroom soup, undiluted, velveeta cheese, cubed very small (more if desired) or 1 cup colby cheese, grated (more if desired), grated parmesan cheese (optional), salt and pepper, cayenne pepper (optional), garlic powder (optional) or 2 -3 fresh minced garlic cloves (optional), whole white pearl onion, drained, sliced mushrooms, paprika , to sprinkle

apples, cored and thinly sliced, lemon juice (optional), sugar , to sprinkle over apples (or less), cinnamon or 1 1/2 tsp cardamom, kerry irish gold butter, melted, unbleached white flour, sugar, for topping, egg, beaten (optional)

best quality whole chocolate milk (this is important for good flavor! i use trader s point organic grassfed or make my own with droste coacoa powder and a bit of brown sugar to taste - just no high fructose corn syrup overly sweetened stuff please!), brown sugar - or white granulated if that is what you have. (once the mixture is frozen, it won tsp taste as sweet as it did unfrozen. trader s point is not too sweet, so i make it a bit sweeter for freezing and i like the flavor of best.), cream cheese, half tsp optional flavor extract or oil (like orange or raspberry or almond or coconut or...), egg, mexican crema , or sour cream, or ceme fraiche

uncooked pasta rings or elbow or little shells or ditalini, etc - the smaller the pasta, the better, fresh crab meat (i prefer to use the refrigerated crab - or pick my own crab meat off the legs - over the shelved canned crab...it gives such a great fresh flavor that can tsp be matched by shelved or imitation crab meat), fresh medium shrimp, chopped coarsely, chopped green onions, whites and some of the greens, diced celery (i prefer to peel the outer stalks of the celery first, using a potato peeler - try it sometime...the celery is tender and crispy without all the stringy-ness!), mayonnaise, dried dill weed, two of old bay seasoning, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper to your taste (if even needed - taste it first)