Success!

The bread is still warm so we cut a little piece off to sample. It turned out great! The tartness of the apricots really helped to balance the sweetness of the apples and honey. I could not taste the cheese, I will try a piece when it has cooled down to see if there is a difference, Mr. CM thought it contributed to the complexity and consistency of the bread. I am not sure and may try leaving it out next time or using s cheese with a stronger flavor, such as goat cheese, to compare.

This bread is sweet but not overly sweet and can be used in a wide range of meal preparations, it was also pretty easy to make, I think the double sifting of the flour really contributed to the light fluffiness of the bread. Oh, also, the house has the most divine apple scent floating through it. All in all a good little bread.

Signing off~
Baker mouse

Butcher, baker, candlestick maker????

I woke up today and thought "Hey, I think I will bake something." Be forewarned that I am not normally a baker but I know the basics. We have some delicious fruit that I got from the market which I wanted to incorporate into my recipe so I started my search for something palatable. What I found came pretty close to what was available in my house and what I had in mind, I have copied/pasted the actual recipe then below it the recipe with my changes. Some major changes I made which I generally do make is that I cut the sugar out (the fruit is sweet enough) and I substituted the butter for high heat sunflower oil, I have found that it lends quite well as a substitute and does not leave a taste like olive oil can, also olive oil is not made for high heat cooking so i try to avoid using it for oven applications. I only used whole wheat flour instead of half w/w and half white as the recipe recommends - why use cheap unhealthy white flour when whole wheat is available?

Apple Cheese Quickbread

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and shredded
• 4 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the honey and eggs. In a separate bowl, sift together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture; mix until combined. Fold in the apple, cheese and walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

This recipe was graciously copied from the link below.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Cheese-Quick-Bread/Detail.aspx

The City Mouse Version

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Sunflower Oil (high heat)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat flour (I double sifted this)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 Fuji apples - peeled, cored and shredded
• 2 Fresh Apricots, chopped fine
  
• 5 triangles of baby bell light swiss (my secret weakness, it would have been 6 triangles.....but i ate one.......)
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar (hey i'm a mouse! i love cheese)
  
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
  

DIRECTIONS
I followed the same directions as above.

Ok my beautiful little loaf it baking as I write, we shall see if it's a success or a complete flop shortly.

Wish me luck
~CM

The Rabbit Cook-Off

We placed an order with one of the local farmer's market stands for a rabbit. This past Saturday we picked it up. After hours of deliberation on how to prepare said bunny we agreed to disagree, split him in half and decided on a little friendly competition. Mr. CM opted for the more french style of slow cooking method while I decided to brine mine first before cooking it stove-top the next day. It was a great deal of fun and we learned that rabbit is incredibly lean, extremely high in protein and lends itself to a variety of cooking styles.

Mr. CM sectioned and cleaned his rabbit, cut up carrots, some delicious market fresh potatoes, shallots, garlic white wine, salt, pepper and butter, real unsalted butter. Everything was placed into the slow cooker and we let it go slow and low for about 5 hours. The house smelled tantalizing and the end result was a delicious stew.

The Stew......stewing

I brined mine yesterday and let it soak overnight. I was aiming for a sweet yet complex flavor for the rabbit and I was also hoping to get a delicious crispy skin with a succulent moist inside. I opted to a maple syrup brine:

I found this on a website, the measurements listed below are very loose but it was the flavor I wanted.

This brine can be used on any kind of poultry and pork. It gives a sweet, maple flavor to meats.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 quarts water
* 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1/4 cup maple syrup
* 1/8 cup sea salt
* 1 whole clove garlic, peeled, sliced thin
* 3 large sprigs of thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns

Preparation:
Place all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil, dissolving sugar and maple syrup. Remove from heat and allow brine to cool completely before using.

I poured this over the meat, sealed the container and placed it in the fridge overnight.

Today I decided to go with a side of Arborio rice (rissoto rice) with fresh shitake mushrooms and a little bit of white wine, to off-set the sweetness. The rice ended up being stickier than I really wanted but taste-wise it was spot on.

Rabbit cooking Stove-top

After cooking the bunny stove-top for about 10 minutes, I painted some maple syrup onto it and popped it in the oven to create a nice glaze and crispy up the skin. Perhaps I should have popped it under the broiler because it did not get crispy but nonetheless the flavor was incredible and it was very moist. The internal temp for rabbit is supposed to be about 160, but I did not cook it to that temp, the smaller pieces would have dried out, the large piece was about 140 and I shut off the stove at that point, if we need to cook the large piece a little longer on left-over night we will, but at least it did not end up being tough like shoe leather.

After a few bites Mr. CM decided that I had won this round, but he will be back! It was really fun and we got to have some delicious rabbit two ways this weekend.

Hope everyone has a "hoppy" week.....sorry, I had to.

CM

Urban Herbs

Well I got a new toy. It is called an AeroGarden, it is a dirtless herb and veggie growing system supposedly designed by NASA but who knows. Anyway, it's pretty cool, someday I hope to have a real garden in an outside space to call my own, but for now this will do. This grower comes with a little pump to circulate the water around and growlights which are on a timer. I have "planted" 7 different herbs; thyme, dill, mint, parsley, italian basil, chives and purple basil. The purple basil is poking through the fastest, I hope to be able to grow enough basil to make a delicious pesto. I am currently reading a book called "French Women Don't Get Fat" I am finding it surprisingly enjoyable. A tip I picked up from it is that I can make pesto and freeze it into ice cube tray size servings and one "cube" should serve 2. I like this idea and will be trying out storing it and other items I make in smaller quantities, it seems practical since it is only myself and Mr. CM.

Right now the little herbs are only about 5 days old. I think in another week or so I will start to see more progress, the mosquitoes really like the planting system, I think they like the warmth of the light, it's kind of nice though because they have not been bothering me lately :)

Ok more on the herbs next time.

~CM

Sprout Farmming, Round 2.1

Well, my last round of sprouting was not too successful. I am not sure if the seeds were too old or if I did something wrong in the process. They seemed to start out alright but then they all acquired a sort of pungent odor which slowly got worse and worse until I just had to pitch them or risk some sort of weird sprout related illness. The sunflower sprouts actually never opened up fully. The broccoli sprouts did open but the texture was all wrong and then the odor started and the clover sprouts, did the best but got mushy. We have started a new round of sprouting experiments. This week we will be trying to grow winter wheat, garbanzo's and green pea's. The lil' darlings are soaking as I type. Once their 8-12 hour bath is done we will transfer them into the draining bowls and rinse them three times per day for 3-4 days. Hopefully this round will be more successful.


Sprouts Day 2


Sprouts Day 3


Sprouts Day 5 and beyond


The new kids in their sprout bath.
Top is green pea, bot. lt. is winter wheat
and bot. rt. is garbanzo.

I am hoping for better luck on this round.

Signing off
CM