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Category: Farm Doings | Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:03 pm

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We don't get many days of overcast skies, wind, and temperatures in the low 50's here in Texas, but when we do I spend the day in the kitchen. First, I get out two or three of my favorite cookbooks. Then I lay out my "plan of attack".
First—get out the stock pot and put in the chicken bones (not any of our chickens!), celery pieces, chopped onion, carrot, parsley, and peppercorns. Cover with cold water, and set on the back of the stove to simmer gently for about four hours.
Second—get out the flour, brown sugar, chopped pecans (hey, we are in the South!) and other ingredients and mix up a batch of Butterscotch Refrigerator Cookies:

½ c. shortening (margarine, or vegetable shortening)
2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
dash of salt
½ tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
2 ¾ c. flour
½ c. chopped pecans (optional, but makes the cookies soooo much better!)

Cream shortening and sugar, then add beaten eggs and vanilla.
Sift flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt together, add chopped nuts, then add to shortening mixture. Mix dough well, which may take a while since this is a basically dry dough.
Form the dough into two long logs about 2" in diameter on a piece of waxed paper. Wrap in the waxed paper and refrigerate for at least two hours or up to two days.
Cut the logs into ¼" slices and place 2" apart on a well-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes. Shoo away all children, husbands, and passing strangers until cookies cool on a rack.

While the cookies are in the refrigerator, I get out flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and lard. These are the ingredients for French Bread.

4 c. unbleached flour
1 tblsp. yeast or one packet of yeast
1 tblsp. sugar
2/3 tsp. salt
1 tblsp. lard ( or cold margarine, but it isn't as authentic)
1 ½ c. warm water

In a large bowl mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. With your fingers rub in the lard until there are no large lumps left, and the mixture is like coarse cornmeal. Add the water and mix with a wooden spoon until a rough mass of dough forms. There will be bits and pieces of floury dough, but don't worry about them.
On a well-floured board, dump the dough and any bits and pieces in the center. Start to knead the dough, incorporating any loose bits until the dough is satiny to look at, and soft and elastic to the touch. This usually takes somewhere between 6 and 10 minutes, depending on humidity and how energetic you are with kneading.
Grease a large bowl and put the dough in it, reversing it so the top is greased also. Let set for 45-60 minutes in a warm spot, 75-100° until double in size.
On a floured board, turn out the dough, cut it in half, and roll one-half out to a rectangle. Start to roll the dough from the long side and form a log. Do the same with the other half. Put the dough logs into *French bread pans, slash the tops three times diagonally (this lets steam escape and keeps the bread from becoming dense) and let rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes, or until the loaves look like you want them to.
Bake in a 375° for about 30 minutes. This depends on how accurate your oven temperature is and how much the dough has risen before put in the oven. When the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the top, they are baked. Let the loaves cool on a rack, and then either serve, wrap in foil and freeze, or wave them about and let the neighborhood gather in your front yard, breathing deeply of the fresh bread fragrance.
*French bread pans are round on the bottom and have two half-rounds joined—think of a W with rounded bottoms. They are not absolutely necessary—you can make do with doubled thickness foil shaped into a U shape and placed on a cookie sheet. If you use this make sure the loaves are browned a bit on bottom—the double foil and the sheet tend to shield the bottom from browning.

By now the cookie dough is well chilled and ready to bake, and the oven is already heated. The cookie recipe makes about five dozen cookies, which are cooling on racks next to the French bread and the kitchen is warm and very fragrant!

The stock is reduced to soft bits of vegetables and the chicken bones have released the bits of meat clinging to them, so it's time to put the stock through a wire sieve. The liquid goes into the refrigerator to congeal the fat at the top for removal later, and the bits of chicken are plucked off the bones to be added to soup or used in a quiche later.

Chicken and left-overs quiche

For crust:
1 c. unbleached flour
½ tsp. salt
½ c. cold margarine
Icy cold water

For filling:
Chopped cooked chicken
Chopped cooked vegetables (broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, celery, onions, etc.)
1 c. shredded cheese—Swiss, Cheddar, or a combination of the two
¾ c. half and half
¼ c. water
4 eggs
Grinding of white pepper

In a small bowl sift the flour and salt together, then with a pastry cutter cut in the cold margarine until the mix resembles coarse cornmeal. Slowly add ice water and mix until the dough just holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or up to one day.
Cut the chicken meat into small pieces, add cooked broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, finely chopped celery, chopped onions, whatever leftovers or combination of leftovers you have.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Roll out the pastry dough and put in a well-greased quiche pan (or 9" pie pan). Trim off any dough that laps over the pan's edge. Cover the bottom with the chicken and vegetable(s), then add cheese. Grind pepper over the chicken/cheese.
Beat the eggs with the half and half, then pour over the contents. Bake at 400° for about 30 minutes, or until the center doesn't jiggle and the crust has browned (this depends on the amount of filling and the temp of your oven).
Let cool for 10 minutes before serving, or let cool completely and serve at room temperature. Made early in the morning on a hot summer's day, this makes a great luncheon dish with a green salad. On a cold day serve your quiche warm for a lunch that will warm your heart as well as your tummy.

So, after making stock, cookies, quiche, and baking bread, for dinner I pull a pizza out of the freezer and we have a glass of red wine with our "instant" dinner. A person can be expected to do just so much cooking in one day!






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Donna S wrote on Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:15 pm:

Thank you. Now I know what to do tomorrow. Going to follow in your foot steps with the cookies, quiche and bread. I love your recipes. And the pizza and red wine tonight.

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Cayuga Morning wrote on Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:41 pm:

The recipes sound delicious MG! Thanks

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cherylad wrote on Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:26 am:

This just made my taste buds jump up and down!
I'm going to have to try those cookies... I have all of the ingredients... except the cream of tartar.

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