The Pleasant Peasant.... Hash makes for a double F breakfast.

Double F, as in 'Flavorful' and 'Frugal'.  Cheap need not mean without flavor, given even a tiny effort.

Breakfast musings this morning turned into a country-culinary masterpiece. That's the basic principle of 'The Pleasant Peasant'.
Ingenuity, frugality, and flavor. 

I like using leftovers when I can. It's a habit retained from times when money, and food, were a bit... intermittent.  So, to the chill chest I go!
 
In the fridge I found a bowl with the remains of dinner, two days removed. About 6 quarters of roast potato, and a chunk of roast beef. A plan came together fast, in line with the teachings of the brilliant Roberta X.   Hash!

In the big bowl beside the stove, where fresh goodies live, I spied a shallot.  The plan gets better!

Choppity choppity, mixity mixity, into the pan it goes. Butter, salt, pepper. Set to medium low, and lid on. Paprika will make an appearance when it comes time to flip and stir. A bit of green chili sauce too, I imagine.

The lid keeps things from drying out, as leftover potatoes are wont to do.  Cook time is short, since everything except the shallot is pre-cooked, and shallots barely need to sweat before they are perfect.  Call it 20 minutes on medium, stirring twice and adding the Paprika and green chili sauce.

If ever a dish could benefit from a few dashes of Green Tabasco, this is it.  It makes the flavor explode, taking it to a whole new level.

The scent of this cooking is enticing, so sit back and sip your coffee for a bit.  The hash needs to spend time undisturbed, so it crusts a little on the bottom.  It makes a world of difference.

When it's 95% done, start a couple fresh eggs in whatever style you like.  I prefer sunny side, with very loose yolks.... because that's part of The Plan.   

Why?  I have a theory, which is simply this; There are few sauces in the world that can lovingly bloom a dish as well as a split yolk from a sunny side egg.  It's rich, easy, and makes flavors meld and pop.  Many cuisines around the world recognize this, and I pay homage to their wisdom.

The salsa?  Color, flavor, and there was just a dollop left in the jar.  Frugality wins the day!

The Pleasant Peasant...... What's in a name?

These are special times, mid-pandemic.  Millions are staying close to home, cooking more than ever, and needing to stretch every food dollar to it's limit.   It's a good opportunity for folks to learn new recipes, and new skills in the kitchen.  These will last long after we move on from the pandema'days.

Long ago, I heard the term 'Refrigerator Velcro'.  It means a dish  that can use up lot's of leftovers clogging up the 'chill-chest' (Nod to Alton Brown on both terms). 

Soups and stews are such dishes, as is Chili, and many casseroles.
Yeah, we all know what's happening here.... The Kitchen Elf is using up leftovers.... blech.

But, give that dish a recognizable name, look, and taste.... and magic happens.   Such a dish is Bolognese Sauce. 

Traditionally a very meat-heavy tomato based sauce served over pasta, or even simply in a bowl, Bolognese sauce has a thousand recipes.  Every chef has their own, or at least 'Says' they do.

Once the 'bones' of the sauce are in, I consider all bets to be off.  It needs to be largely ground meat, and have a solid tomato base.  Past that, whatever makes sense, tastes good, and most importantly... is on hand.

In the picture above, we have a bowl of Rotini with a large helping of luscious Bolognese sauce.  The sauces 'Bones' were a 1lb chub of 85% ground beef, and a can of chopped fired roasted tomatoes.

In a large covered pot, brown down the ground beef.  I do it with a chunk of butter to make things richer.  Season to taste, as flavor is always an option!

When the beef is mostly browned, break it up well, and add in whatever chopped onion you can gather up.  I had most of a huge sweet onion in the fridge, and half a shallot, so that went in.  The meat and onions are cooked down for about 20 minutes, lid off. Stir occasionally.

While the meat and onions are getting chummy, gather up whatever else you have that can fill out the sauce.  Tomato is a given, but the source is on you.  I went with one can of chopped fire-roasted tomatos from Hunts.  It's a pantry staple here.  Along with it, most of a whole tomato, about half a cup of Ragu bottled sauce, and about 3 ounces of tomato paste.... all fridge leftovers.

That went into a bowl, along with chopped garlic, oregano, parsley, kosher salt, fresh black pepper, and red pepper flakes.  

When the meat and onions have cooked down a while, the bowl is dumped in.  The bowl is then rinsed out with about a cup of water, and that's also added to the pot.   Stir with arduous vigor, and then lid up.  Leave the heat at medium low, and let it simmer at least 90 minutes, stirring well every 15 minutes or so.

I'm pretty sure every great Italian sauce is 60% superb ingredients, 72% love, and 85% Grandma stirring things like a kitchen fiend. (How much does this even equal?!)

The last 15 minutes, just leave the lid off as you prepare the pasta.  As your pasta boils, use that time to keep stirring the sauce while it's on medium heat.  It should be thickening nicely, and the smell will be drawing the household to the kitchen.  Beat them back until it's done.  Shut it off when it's perfect, and put the lid on.  It's molten lava, and will keep for hours if you just stir occasionally.

That's it.  Make your pasta as you wish, and spoon on heaps of the Bolognese.

Now, what else can you put in your Verrrrrry traditional sauce made with your Grandma's Secret Recipe©?   Pretty much the same thing she did.... whatever she had on hand, and felt like adding.

Peppers.  Carrots.  Veggies.  Fresh herbs. Wine.  Beer. Bacon. Sausage.  Some grated Parmesan. Remember that first term.... 'Refrigerator Velcro'.   As long it's meat forward, and richly tomato based.

Just say its an old family secret, and don't tell anyone.  Shhhhh. 

The Pleasant Peasant..... another interesting bread adventure.

If you read the post a few back, about basic bread making, then here is a variation on the theme.

It's the same basic recipe, except the water is replaced with Yuengling Porter.  Also, the ingredients are cut by 25% to make a smaller loaf which won't pop the top off the Dutch oven.

Results?   The smell is astonishing.... like roast nutty beer. Mouth watering.  The texture, so tender, with a chewy and crunchy crust that satisfies with every bite.

Yeah, Heavy duty NOMS..... 

Disappearing act...

So I know the Dragons were sleeping for a while. The Den was just so soft and cozy... 

Artwork from Mondfalk on DeviantArt 

That wasn't all that was keeping us from writing, life got busy. Very busy! We traveled some and I had not one, but two surgeries, but more about that in a minute. I left my job of 7 years to start a new adventure, that sadly didn't work out the way I wanted it to and now the 'Rona came calling. This is a life changing time for a lot of people. Suddenly I seem to find myself with an abundance of time and wanting to put my words onto "paper"

As I am sure some of our reader(s) may or may not known, I had been preparing for major, life changing surgery. I had a gastric sleeve surgery (see earlier post **Crickets**). There I detail the surgery itself. As of now, I am down 90lbs from my highest weight. Still chonky, but working on it. I just recently added in exercise, and yoga.

What I wanted to talk about a little more here is the emotional aspect of eating. I *have* an eating disorder. I am diagnosed as a binge eater. "Now herself, you say we all over-indulge from time to time!" and I will agree. Himself can tell you all about Virginia and amazing little Italian restaurant and why we call it "Williamsburg" every time we over-eat. When I binge, I do it to maintain control when I feel overwhelmed, or to stuff down my feelings. I am not talking overindulgence; I am talking about stopping at convenience stores on my way home from work and cramming in six candy bars... because I can control that, even though in and of itself it's a compulsion. Hold on, I think I hear Alanis Morrissette singing somewhere...

When I was younger this all started with anorexia and bulimia. These are some really scary illnesses in young girls. Please see the Netflix movie 'To the Bone'.  Everywhere we are bombarded by images of pretty and thin, and there is nothing wrong with being thin as long as you are healthy. Just like there is nothing wrong with being bigger as long as you are healthy.

A piece of my journey to weight loss surgery was getting right in my head, and finding better ways to deal with stress and emotions than binging. I could not have the surgery unless I hadn't binged in six months, as it could be a dangerous proposition. I could blow out the staple line on my new stomach, called a perforation. 

I did this with 8 months of therapy. There, I learned to talk about how I am feeling, even when I feel my voice is quiet. I learned to walk away from situations that could be damaging to my emotional well-being, and when dealing with strong emotions how to manage them. 

I can talk things over with Himself or one of my tight circle of friends. (I will take a minute to shout out to Himself, he  has been my biggest supporter in more ways than anyone will ever realize. I have never had anyone so fully in my corner and watching my back. He really is my defender Dragon!)

I have another friend who went to a pre-op weight loss class with me and listened to the instructor and has been a great cheerleader. (Thank you, Sandi! If you read this.) Other coping mechanisms I learned... journaling, meditation, and yoga (which is also GREAT exercise!).  All these things work towards getting my mind healthy, so my body can be healthy too.

I am putting in a picture so you all can see my progress. Be well in body, mind, and soul. Never be afraid to reach out, we are all struggling in these weird uncertain times.

More information on Eating Disorders. The 'Text Line' if you need to talk to someone is 741741, and the phone number is 800-273-8255

The Pleasant Peasant, weird bread edition

See.... bread has rules.  Do this, don't do that, Can't you read the recipe?   Also see.... this grumpy old man isn't at home following a formula, which baking recipes are.  I just like knowing how it works, and then going my own way.

Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes the chickens are eating particularly well that day.  Ocassionally, even the chickens give me the side eye as they stalk away.

But lately, I'm beginning to get the hang of this bread thing, to some degree.   A little bit.  Maybe a smidgen.

The reason why bakers use 'formulas' instead of recipes is that bread, cakes, cookies... things like that... are honest to God science. To get X, one must combine G, S, K, and Z in exactly right sequence, under the right circumstances, and apply heat in exactly the right amount for exactly the right time.  Even then, the smallest variable can change everything. (I struggle with this, as I am a little more classically trained in baking. I love a formula and the precision. The first time I watched him bake, I almost stroked out and my eyeball twitched for a whole day! I will also give credit where credit is due, when it comes to bread, he wins! I cannot compete there. His bread is excellent! It is just never the same! LOL) 

One day the bread is perfect, and the next it's too dense and won't rise properly.  The difference?  The humidity changed.  Yup, I'm talking the moisture in the air, which you have almost zero control over, can change the outcome of your baking procedure.

An experienced baker (Read that as operational VooDoo) can take these factors into account.  Me?   Naww..... I just wing it.

Lately, I've settled on a basic combination of ingredients as a starting point for my bread.  I'll share, but if you blow the windows out of your kitchen, I don't want to hear about it.

• Four cups of Occident flour, plus spare for working
• Two cups of warm water
• 1.5 tablespoons of Red Star yeast
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons of honey.
• 2 tablespoons of butter for greasing things

The way I wrangle this into bread....  and even this simple method took more than a couple tries, and some amount of studying mystical manuals called 'Cook Books'.

Firstus, I use a Kitchaid mixer with a dough hook.  You don't need to, but I prefer it.  You can just use a bowl and your (washed) grubby paws to do this.  I end up paws in anyway, so....

In my mixer, I dump in all 2 cups of warm water.  Warm to the touch, but NOT hot.  Too hot kills the yeast, and too cool makes it rise slowly.  Just.... warm on your wrist.  I use tap water, but we have a well.  If the house was on city water, I'd probably use bottled for this.

Into the water, add the honey.  I eyeball mine, but it's roughly two tablespoons.  Then the yeast.  Turn on the mixer a notch or so, and let it stir for a few moments to blend the yeast in.

Next, two cups of the flour.  Set it to stir again, maybe on speed 3, for about 30 seconds, and then shut it off.  Set your timer for 15 minutes and walk away.  Leave....it....alone.  Go away and do something else.  Don't even glance at it, in case you frighten the yeast demons away.

When the timer goes to beeping, you should have a nice bubbly 'sponge' started.  That will be yeast coming alive and mating like mad in the mix.  This creates CO2, which bubbles out.

Dump in the other two cups of flour, along with the salt, and start your mixer on '1', so it doesn't go *POOF* and fling flour across the walls.  In about 30 seconds you can rev that baby up to 3 and lock the head down.  Set your timer for 6 minutes and kind of keep an eye on it so it doesn't walk off the counter.

Now, what will happen is a nice, moist, and sticky dough.  if you wish a stronger and denser bread, you can add up to another 1/2 cup of flour if you wish.  This will make the dough tougher, drier, and pull away from the bowl walls into a ball.

6 minutes is up?  Turn the mixer off, flip up the motor, and take off the hook.  You will need to scrape the dough ball off the hook and into the bowl.   Turn out the dough onto a floured smooth counter, and sprinkle it with more flour. 

Begin working the dough by flattening it, and folding the top third and the bottem third into the middle.  Pull the long ends into the middle as well. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and do the same.  Sprinkle with flour as needed to keep it from sticking too bad.  A dough knife is VERY handy at this point, to scrape it off the counter and back into the dough ball.

Do this for 2 or 3 minutes.  The dough will be elastic, springy, and get tougher as you go.  That's the gluten building, a good thing.

Now, you could have just let the mixer do this last part, but my bread is very noticeably better when I finish the kneading by hand.

Once you have kneaded the dough a while, butter (or oil) your hands, pick up the dough, and shape it into a ball while making sure to grease 'er up all round.  Dump it into the large greased bowl you had waiting..... um..... you did have one waiting, right?

Cover the bowl with saran wrap or aluminum foil pretty tightly, and set in a warm spot to rise.  This will take from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on stuff.... and things.... but mostly stuff.
What we are looking for is the dough to double.  No matter how long that takes, that's the goal.

While the dough is rising, I get my Dutch oven buttered up real heavy on the inside, including the lid.  I also begin heating the oven.  When it comes time for 450 degree heat, I don't want to wait.

When the dough has doubled, scrape it from the bowl back onto the floured surface, and repeat that kneading thing for about a minute.  Don't go crazy, just flatten, fold, turn, and repeat.  Once that's done, form it into a fairly smooth ball and toss it into that Dutch oven.  Put the lid on, and set it back in a warm spot for it's second rise.

Meanwhile, go ahead and set that oven at the full 450 degrees.  The second rise won't take long; Usually about 20-30 minutes for me.  Probably enough time to clean up the equipment, do some dishes, and pour another cup of coffee.

When the dough has roughly doubled again, and is filling maybe 3/4ths of the dutch oven, go ahead and slide it into the hot oven.  Lid on and all.  Set your timer for 45 minutes, and WALK AWAY.
Don't open the oven to check, because there's nothing to see but an old Dutch oven in there.

Have a cooling rack ready for when that timer goes off.  On the beep, shut off the oven and carefully pull out the rocket-hot Dutch oven.  Set the lid someplace safe, and with lots of safe padding on your hands just flip it over and dump the loaf onto the rack.  Carefully set aside the iron, and then (hands still padded) turn the loaf top up on the cooling rack.

No matter how good it looks, leave it alone.  The inside of that loaf is around 200 degrees and it's cooking process is still finishing.  Just set the timer for 30 minutes, and WALK AWAY.  When it goes Bingly Bingly Beep.... the bread is all yours.

Now, this is a base model.  Options are unlimited.

Want bigger holes in the structure?  More like an English muffin?  Make the dough come out wetter, and do the initial (and only) rise right in the dutch oven.  Have the oven hot, and when the dough doubles.... in it goes.   Same procedure otherwise.

This style bread makes wonderful toast the next morning, and really good French toast as well.

Do you like a richer and softer bread?  In the initial mix, right before the second load of flour goes in, add two large eggs and another 1/4 cup of flour.  Otherwise, follow the original procedure. 
The eggs add more leavening, and the yokes supply moisture, flavor, and color.

The outcome will be a more golden colored loaf with a very tender structure.  It doesn't work well for sandwiches, but then again it will be eaten up so fast there won't be any for sandwiches anyway.

The shape of the loaf, and the dimples on top, come from the Dutch oven.  The loaf may, or may not, hit the lid.  It may, or may not, push it off a little.  I haven't found it to make a difference except in final appearance.  The flavor is outstanding either way.

Going from the base recipe, you are free to experiment.  I will add in oat bran from get go, or maybe melted butter, or maybe whole rolled oats, or even crushed peanuts.  It's wide open, and results can be surprising.  I love me a good surprise!

Why the Dutch oven?  It makes bake time much more forgiving, to start with .  Baked open, a loaf that is done one moment may be dried out 2 minutes later.  The internal temp shoots up very fast in the last few minutes of baking, and if you are not using the Dutch oven I recommend using a remote sensing meat thermometer with a audible warning when desired temp is reached.

The Dutch oven also retains the steam baking out of the dough, giving us a wonderfully chewy and flavorful crust.  

Try this if you like.  It helps if you have, as we do, a flock of chickens that will gladly convert failed loaves into tasty eggs.

The Pleasant Peasant, beef stew edition

I guess any good cook generally thinks ahead a bit.  Cook a meal, or a dish, with some thought given to what the leftovers could be used in.

My Totes Fav for doing that is a traditional roast beef dinner, with an eye towards beef stew a few days later.   That's why I usually buy my beef roasts quite a big bigger than the pack here can down in one go, although the wolves  are not above taking a good shot at proving me wrong.

I cook the large Chuck roast in my Dutch oven, after browning the beef hard right in the same cast iron I'll low-and-slow it in.  

Once the Malliard Reaction has been used in good measure,  I turn off the burner and turn on the oven.  Into the Dutch oven goes a whole sweet onion, peeled and sliced in half, and enough rough cut (2") unpeeled carrots to feed the herd for dinner with a few cups left over.   A healthy double pinch of sea salt, and just enough fresh ground pepper to make you feel uncomfortable.

Add two cups of water, lid it, and into the oven at 350 for 90 minutes.

While that's roasting,  clean up a few pounds of new white potatoes and swish them around a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Place them in a covered baking dish and into the oven with the roast they go.  Both dishes will need about the same bake time. A little extra hurts nothing.

When the timer goes off, take both out of the oven.  The roast should be 180-190 internal.  Yes, I know .... ERMAGERD TOO DONE....... and no it ain't.  It's basically been braised, and that's forgiving as heck.  It should be fall apart tender.  The potatoes should be just cracking open and very tender.

Move the meat to a covered dish to rest.  Remove about 90% of the carrots as well.   Put the Dutch oven back on a burner on medium high, and go after the remaining carrots and the onion with a potato masher.  In a few moments the carrots will be in little chunks and the onions all but vanished.

The thickening juices will be coming to a boil. As they do, put in a heaping tablespoon of good bullion and a half cup of slurry made from two heaping tablespoons of corn starch stirred into cold water.  Stir the pot till it comes back to a boil and thickens nicely.   Voila..... kick ass beef gravy.

Plate and serve as you like, but don't lose even a tiny bit of the leftovers.  Not a drop. When everyone is sitting back holding their bellies and groaning, sneak back into the kitchen and pile all of it right back into the Dutch oven.  When it cools, shove it to the back of the fridge for a day or two.

There is something magical about searing off a beef roast, then cooking it low and slow in moisture, and then chilling the remains in the fridge.  The next time that beef is cooked, the flavor is off the charts and its fall apart tender, like good stew been should be.

The day you want beef stew for lunch, pull out that dutch oven and set it on a low burner.  Spend a few minutes sliding a carving blade through the meat chunks, potatoes, and carrots. Do it right there in the pot.  Leave them in big hearty chunks.  If you have celery, now would be time to slice a few stalks on the bias, in about 3/8" slices. Add the celery if you have it.  Pour in about two cups of water. Cover, and walk away.

When it gets close to lunch time, spend a few minutes just stirring the pot.  The potatoes will be breaking up, and starch will come from them and thicken the whole mess.  In fact, everything will break up a bit.... and that's GOOD. Herself likes me to add a cup of frozen peas in the last 10 minutes of simmer. 

Serve as you like, But we usually do a home made bread to go with it.  That will be another article though....