venison shoulder ragu

On Sunday, while I was making the fussy bread, I decided I needed to put something in the crockpot for later in the day.  My Beloved had pulled a venison shoulder out of the freezer the day before so I decided to make a ragu with it.  

Venison Ragu

Adapted from Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros

1 venison shoulder (you could use pork here too)

Olive oil

3 medium onions or 1 1/2 large onions, peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika

1 1/2 cups white wine

salt

pepper

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes.

Cooked pasta for serving

grated asiago cheese

Brown the onion and garlic in a medium skillet with a bit of olive oil.  Put the onion and garlic in the crockpot.

Put the shoulder in the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Brown both sides.  While the meat is browning, mix the tomatoes, bay leaves, cinnamon, worcestershire sauce, paprika, and wine to the crockpot.  

Add the shoulder to the crockpot.  Cover and let cook for six to eight hours on low.  When getting close to serving, cook the pasta and grate the cheese.  Remove the shoulder from the pot and remove the meat.  Remove the bay and cinnamon stick from the pot.  If you wish to make the sauce thicker, blend it a bit.  Add the meat back in.

Serve over the pasta with cheese on top.

 

:)

non-fussy bread

I had a go at the very fussy bread again.  I made it very non-fussy and it was such a better bread it was not fussy.  This is what I did:

Non-Fussy Bread (French style)

200 grams refreshed sourdough starter (Refresh starter about 8 hours before with 200 grams water and 200 grams flour.  Let sit.  Keep leftovers for next time)

20 grams salt

900 grams all purpose flour

100 grams whole wheat flour

(or 1000 grams of a mixture of the flours)

700 grams water.

In a large bowl, refresh your starter.  Make sure there is 200 grams left in the bowl.  Add the salt, flour, and water.  Mix in well.  I had to use my hands to finish even though this is a very wet dough.  My right shoulder has been hurting more then a bit so if you are not hurting you may be able to do all of it with a wooden spoon.

Cover the dough with a cloth and let it sit for three hours or a bit more (like four hours).  It will be puffy.

Grease two loaf pans.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured counter.  

Divide into two and shape into loaf.  Put each loaf into a pan.  Cover with a cloth and let sit two to threee hours.

Slash the top of the loaves after rising.  Turn the oven on to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and put in the loaf.  Bake for one hour.

Turn the loaves out of the pans after baking.  They will sound hollow when you thunk them.  Cover with a cloth and try with all your might to not cut into them for 20 minutes.

I have taken a loaf of fussy bread and non-fussy bread to work.  The fussy bread lasted all day (one slice left). The non-fussy bread lasted about a hour.  It was truly that much better.  Much less fuss!  I have been told by Mr. C at work that he likes very heavy bread so it fills him up.  I am thinking about trying this with 100 percent whole wheat but my Beloved said that he gets at least a slice.

Success!

100 nine squares done for Pixie

I have been working on the baby quilt for Pixie.  The Tall Short Person's baby shower is Labor Day weekend which was very unexpected.  Today, I finished 100 nine squares for the baby quilt top.

I cleared a place on the floor.

And started putting them together as a quilt top.

Now, I am ready to stitch all these square together.  I need to order my favorite batting, sew all this together, and quilt this quilt by the first weekend of September.  I will be spending a lot of time at my sewing machine, hopefully with much tea and many audiobooks.

VERY fussy bread

I have been baking bread since I was eight (?).  Amost forty years.  I know what I like in an everyday bread and I usually make that.  Sometimes I try something new.  

Usually something that is artisanal.  I picked up Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson from the library because the pictures are lovely and is is an artisanal bread book that uses a starter.  A sourdough.  I find most bakers who write cooks usually make sourdough or a desem much too hard.  I am not saying it is easy but it is yeastie beasties.  You treat them with kindness and you will get a lovely bread.  I use them every bake now and my bread does not usually taste too sour, to my Beloved's regret.

And I am not saying you do not make a lovely loaf with this book, but the flavor is just not worth all the extra fuss.  My Beloved was watching me bake (knowing what I do normally) and kept saying "fussy bread.  fussy bread."  The flavor is good so I would use the porportions again:

700 grams water

200 grams leaven (soudough)

900 grams white flour

100 grams whole wheat flour (1000 grams flour total)

20 grams salt

But I am going to work on the fussiness.

Bread is not fussy.  

But the people work with at work are looking forward to my rejections.  Butter will be brought tommorrow for one of the loaves because I am going to try again with much less fussiness.  I will let you know how it goes.

peanut butter pie for those you love

Jennie, one of the food bloggers I occasionally read, lost her husband last week.  He loved her peanut butter pie and it was on her list to make it for him.  But life kept getting in the way, and the pie did not get made.  Then he died.  Jennie asked everyone to make a peanut butter pie in his memory today and to hug those you love, long and hard.  

I do not know Jennie.  I have heard good things about her and hers from the virtual community of bloggers and twitter.  But I know about not getting the list fulfilled.  We had a friend who was murdered and I had promised him a guacamole sandwich with homemade bread and homemade guacamole.  It did not happen before he was murdered.  That was how little time we had.

Make this pie or another pie, but do something on that list for those you love.  And give them the biggest, hardest hug you can.  Like eight or ten seconds long.  You may think that is short but it gives you time to hold on and for them to be held.

Peanut Butter Pie

Note:  adapted from Jennie's blog that I linked to above.

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I make mine from scratch or you can use 8 ounces of cookies, oreo type)

1/4 cup melted butter

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup creamy-style peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar sugar

1  14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Balls

Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.  Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan or pie pan.  Put in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.  I used a whisk but if you wish to avoid the work out, use a stand mixer or a hand mixer.  Store in the refrigerator until needed.

Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl and cream together.  Cream in the powdered sugar.  Add the condensed milk and vanilla.  Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream.  Once the whipped cream is incorporated, fold in the rest.

Pour into the prepared pie pan.  Garnish with cookie crumbs, if you have leftovers, and peanut butter balls.

I even made single serving sizes.  

This was the look on my Beloved's face when he tried the first bite.  

Go make something on that list for those you love.  And give them a nice, long, hard hug.