Recipe: Salmon Burgers on Homemade Buns

With Lent coming soon, I thought I'd post this wonderful meatless-meal! This is what we had last night and it was a real winner:

Salmon Burgers (makes 9-12 burgers, depending on how large you make them)


Four 6-oz cans salmon, drained & flaked
1/2 c. finely shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
2/3 c. lightly toasted rolled oats (10-15 minutes in 350 oven)
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 eggs
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. horseradish sauce

In medium bowl, combine all ingredients until well mixed. Divide into 8-12 equal parts and form 1/2 inch thick patties. Preheat a generously greased griddle (I used butter) or skillet on medium-high heat. Cook a total of 8-10 minutes, turning them after 4-5 minutes. Note: This recipe is good hot or cold.


Homemade Buns for Salmon Burgers (makes 10-12 five-inch-round buns)

· 2 cups milk
· 1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter
· 1/4 c warm water
· 1/4 c white sugar
· 4-1/2 tsp yeast (2 packets)
· 2 teaspoons salt
· 1/4 c ground flax seed
· 1/4 c raw wheat germ (not toasted)
· 2 c whole wheat flour
· 3 to 4 c all-purpose flour, or as needed

DIRECTIONS
Mix the first five ingredients together in a pyrex measuring cup, then microwave until the liquid temperature hits about 110-120 degrees (stir until butter melts completely). Add the yeast, stirring well; set aside until bubbly (5-10 minutes).
Add salt and flaxseed, wheatgerm and whole-wheat flour and enough all-purpose to make a stretchy, sticky dough.
Flour countertop and knead for 5-10 minutes.
Break dough into roughly equal balls – you’ll get 10-12 rolls from this recipe.
Flatten balls slightly and place on greased cookie sheets.
Cover with a towel and allow to rise for 20-30 minutes (until doubled).
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Christmas: on the first day of Christmas ...

... my true love gave to me: a spectacular home-cooked meal that he then cleaned up! I love being married to a man who not only cooks amazingly, but is also home for two weeks at Christmas and we REALLY get into the partying of the season ...

We started Christmas with heading to Midnight Mass last night -- Lego Maniac served and the rest of us behaved so well and had such a wonderful time listening (and joining in) to the Christmas Carols before Mass. What a wonderful way to kick off the season ... even if it was a bit late before everyone settled down (BamBam wanted to open ALL presents when we got home and when we reminded him that Father had said to go to bed first, he declared "I'm going to sleep for 1 minute!" He did sleep till 7:15 a.m., thank goodness.)

Gift opening included:A "fur" collared sweater and matching hat for String Bean

One of those mind-numbing Lego sets for Lego Maniac (1034 pieces which are almost completely made into a Star Wars Republic Attack Ship).

and a full pirate costume for our own little Jeff Gordon!

Breakfast was a glorious Stollen and homemade hot chocolate with homemade mint marshmallows (recipes below).A fantastic start to the Christmas Season was had by all ... even though we sure do miss seeing family today, we're thrilled to have a relaxing day of lego-building, knitting, potholder making, and carpet hockey-playing and then a sumptious feast of filet mignon, Smithfield ham, shrimp, mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, hot vegetables, skillet cornbread and salad for a late-lunch/early-dinner Christmas feast!

Recipes:

STOLLEN (http://www.kingarthur.com/) -- make sure you start the night before as stollen's high sugar content, we find you'll make a better loaf by beginning with an overnight sponge. This bubbly mixture of yeast, flour and water is a good base upon which the sugar, milk, and butter-rich stollen can successfully grow.

Sponge:

• 1 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temp
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup candied fruit
• 3/4 cup golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted for 15-20 minutes in a 350 oven (just till brown and starting to smell almondy)

Sponge: Combine the flour, water and yeast in a large mixing bowl, stirring till smooth. Let the mixture rest overnight at room temperature.

Dough: Add the flour, butter, egg, milk, sugar, salt, yeast, almond extract, and vanilla to the sponge. Stir to combine, then knead thoroughly, using your hands, an electric mixer, a food processor or a bread machine, till the dough is very smooth and supple. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl (or leave it in the bread machine), cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It probably won't double in bulk, but will become puffy.

While the dough is rising, stir together the candied fruit, raisins, flour and almonds. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly greased work surface. Knead the fruit into the dough till it's well-distributed; a good way to do this is to pat or roll the dough into a rough 12 x 15-inch rectangle, press the fruit and nuts evenly over its surface, then roll it up like a jelly roll, starting with a long edge. Divide the roll into two pieces, shape each piece into a rough 9-inch log, cover the logs, and let them rest for 10 minutes.Pat each log into a 10 x 8-inch oval. The fruit may try to "fall out" of the dough; that's OK, just stick it back in.

Fold each oval lengthwise, bringing one side over the other but leaving a 1-inch gap, as if you were making a Parker House roll (in other words, fold the dough not quite in half). Press the edge of the top half to seal it to the bottom half, tent the dough with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow it to rise for 2 hours, or until it's noticeably puffy.Bake the stollen in a preheated 350°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, tenting it with aluminum foil after 20 minutes if it appears to be browning too quickly. The finished loaves should be golden brown, and their internal temperature should register 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the stollen from the oven, and rub cold butter on them to cover.Transfer the buttered stollen to a rack to cool completely. When the stollen are cool, dust them heavily with confectioners' sugar. Yield: Two stollen, about 14 servings each

Marshmallows (http://www.marthastewart.com/)

2 envelopes (each 1 scant tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure mint extract or vanilla extract
vegetable-oil cooking spray
red or green food coloring
1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup cornstarch combined and used as described below

Directions:
Coat a 13x9 glass dish with cooking spray; then coat with equal parts powdered sugar and cornstarch; set aside. Pour 1/3 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle with gelatin; let mixture soften, about 5 minutes. Place sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cover; bring to a boil. Remove lid; cook, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup reaches 238 degrees (soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes. With mixer on low speed, whisk gelatin mixture, and slowly pour the syrup in a steady stream down the side of the bowl (to avoid splattering). Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is thick, white, and has almost tripled in volume, about 12 minutes. Add extract, and beat 30 seconds to combine. Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet; smooth with an offset spatula. Drop a few drops of red or green food coloring and swirl into marshmallows. Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Dust top of marshmallows with equal parts powdered sugar/cornstarch; cut into squares with rotary pizza cutter. Put in gallon ziploc bag or plastic covered container and shake sugar/cornstarch until all sides coated. Store in airtight container for up to one week.

ETA: Homemade Hot Cocoa -- you really need to have the homemade to mix with the mint marshmallows as the pre-packaged cocoa is so darn sweet! This is the recipe Mom made for us for YEARS and it's still as good today ... it's from the Betty Crocker cookbook:

• 2 tbls sugar
• 4 tbls cocoa
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup strong coffee (I added this to the original)
• 5 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I added this to the original)

Mix sugar, cocoa, water and coffee in medium pot and heat over low heat for about 20 minutes (stirring periodically). Add milk and stir till hot -- about 5 minutes. Add chocolate chips and stir until chips are melted and combined into cocoa. Serve hot, poured in a coffee mug over a marshmallow. YUM!

We hope that one and all have as wonderful a first day of Christmas as we had! Blessings and prayers go out to you all!

Christmas: only 40 days left!

Can you believe it? We're halfway through November already. Thanksgiving is late this year (Nov. 27th) so Advent will actually start Turkey-Day weekend! Whew!

This year, what with the economy being how it is and the house in Colorado still not sold, we're having to cut back a bit. But we will probably have a better Christmas because of that. We told the kids last week that ALL gifts will be hand-crafted, hand-baked, and generally non-store bought (except for the ones from St. Nick himself, of course).

Over the next 40 days -- especially after November 29th -- St. Athanasius Academy will be a veritable North Pole workshop ... with cutting, sewing, gluing, hammering, knitting (of course!), baking, painting, sculpting and wrapping. I will help the younger ones, but all will be doing their own thing too.

We will record our progress here (unless it would spoil a surprise or two) and document our Advent Preparedness. Our goal is to spend zero dollars on something store-bought while spending lots of time and effort for our loved ones. This Christmas will be quite memorable for all of us!

Any suggestions for hand-made, hand-crafted, or hand-baked gifts are most appreciated.

Let the gift-making begin!

Cooking: Bread, Bread, Bread

Have I mentioned that I love bread -- I love making it, baking it, and all the family loves eating it. I don't use a machine (or even a mixer) but make it all by hand. I love to knead it and punch it and maul it -- especially when I'm in a fussy mood. I love the smell of it when it's rising and when it's baking. And nothing quite compares to warm, freshly baked bread with butter melting on top (unless it's bread, toasted the next morning with butter and sugar'n'cinnamon!).

Someone mentioned, either on 4real or one of the numerous blogs I'm constantly checking, a new book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. And I thought, yeah, right -- 5minutes and it tastes good???? Right!

But I tried the sample recipe for Simple Crusty Bread (adapted from the book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François)
Time: About 45 minutes plus about 3 hours’ resting and rising (but then you have enough bread for 4 or 5 loaves!)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough
• Cornmeal

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).
2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.
3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.
4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
Yield: 4 loaves.
Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

This recipe works!

So now I have the book and I'm going through and the variations are wonderful -- adding a bit of different flours give different hearty breads while adding butter and a bit of sugar will make a more "American style sandwich bread". They have included recipes for pastries, desserts and full luncheon breads.

This is a great cookbook that goes beyond the ordinary to bring some good foods into my home. I like it!

Simple Craft-of-the-Week: Crayon Cookies

Sarah over at Plainsong is continuing the "simple craft-a-week club" through this year. We still have lots of spots open if you'd like to volunteer.

I have this week's craft, so here goes:

Crayon Cookies

This is a really easy craft -- one many of you may have done before -- but we'd never done it and since I wanted to have the kiddoes make some posters this week anyway, I thought it was a great time to do this. Also, since we're in the second half of the year, all those new and whole crayons have been relegated to the crayon "bin" -- just one step above the trash!

You'll need old crayons, an old muffin tin, and an oven/toaster oven.

Break the crayons into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces -- we used a bin filled with old, mismatched crayons, many of which were already all broken up. Remove any paper or other labels from the crayons.

The 3 kids and I each did 3 cups of crayons -- some did their favorite team colors (Clemson - orange and dark blue, Broncos - orange, blue and white), some did it in their favorite shades (greens or red/pink) and some just did jumbled colors. This is a great chance to discuss color theory, primaries and secondary colors, etc.

Bake in an oven set to 170 for about 20-30 minutes. Ours took awhile becuase we had to keep opening the oven (the light wasn't working) to check if they were all melted yet!

Once all the crayons are melted remove pan to cooling rack.

Let cool completely -- about 2 hours. When the "cookies" are completely cool, they will slide right out of the cupcake tin!

Have fun with the crayons -- you can use them to make posters or just fun designs ... we're putting them back in the container the "old" crayons were in so that we can find them easily whenever we want to color fun pictures!

Feasts: St. Lucy's Day

Those whose hearts are pure are temples of the Holy Spirit.
– St. Lucy

We've become greatly enamored of St. Lucy this year -- including her in our nightly prayers and generally knowing lots about her -- primarily because a little 5 year-old boy we know has macular degeneration and we invoke St. Lucy, the patron of eyes and eye problems, in his name.

Today, for "cooking math" we included St. Lucia Ginger Snaps and St. Lucia Crowns (we made 8 individual ones -- since Brikhead made it home safely!) and generally enjoyed the lovely smells of St. Lucy Day baking.

Here are the recipes we used:

Swedish St. Lucy Ginger Snaps (LuciaPepperkakor)
From A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year by Evelyn Birge Vitz

Ingredients for Cookies:

• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
• 1-1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tsps ground ginger
• Grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1 tbls baking soda
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 6-7 cups flour

Heat the corn syrup in a saucepan. Stir in the sugar, molasses, ginger, lemon rind, and baking soda.
In a large bowl, whip the cream until almost stiff.
Stir the syrup mixture gradually into the cream. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer for 4 to 5 minutes (about twice as long if you’re doing by a hand using a whisk or spoon). Add 4 cups of the flour, mixing well with a spoon. Then gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft, pliable dough.
Knead dough for 2 or 3 minutes.
Wrap the dough well in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with fancy cutters, such as animals and people; or just slice 1/4 inch thick rounds (and call them "eyes"!).
Place the cookies on a lightly buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 275 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.
Ice when cool.

Ingredients for icing:
White of an egg
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Beat the white until frothy. Add 1 cup sugar and lemon juice. If the icing is too thick, add more lemon juice, if too thin, add more sugar. Can be colored with food coloring.
Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

Santa Lucia Crown
From: Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf

Crown Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp saffron powder (yes, it's VERY expensive, but adds so very much!)
• 4 cups flour
• 2 eggs + 1 egg for brushing on rolls just before baking

Pour half the warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast; stir until dissolved. Add remaining water, warm milk, sugar, butter, salt, saffron and half the flour; blend well. Sit in 2 eggs and enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.
Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size – about 1 hour.
Punch down down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; reserve 1/3 of dought for top of crown. Divide remaining dough into 3 equal pieces; roll each into a rope. Braid ropes. Place braid on greased baking sheet. Form into a circle, pinching ends together to seal.
Make top braid with reserved dough. Cover braids with cloth. Let both braids rise till double – about an hour.
Lightly beat an egg and brush on braids.
Bake in 375 over for 15 minutes for smaller braid, 25 minutes for larger (cover larger braid with foil for last 10 minutes of baking to avoid darkening).
Let cool on wire racks.

Icing Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Red and green glace/candied cherries (optional)
Make icing by mixing powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Using icing as “glue” place smaller braid atop larger braid. Drizzle icing over all. Decorate with glace cherries if desired.
Serves 12