Cooking – Juanita Collins

January 12, 2016

Steel cut oats in the crock pot for breakfast

Just a few minutes ago, I opened the fridge and took out a container of left over, steel-cut oatmeal. I’d made a batch the other day; it is my favourite dead-of-winter breakfast. Stomach grumbling, I spooned out a congealed glop, added a spoonful of honey, and poured a bit of milk over. After three minutes on reheat in the microwave, my bowl of oatmeal looked, smelled and tasted as good as it did when I spooned my first bite fresh out of the crock pot two days ago. Yes, I said crock pot!

I’ve posted this recipe before… I thought you might like to see it again. Bon Appetit!

Everybody seems to call these by a different name. I call them steel-cut oats. I’ve also heard them called Irish oats, or groats. Here’s what they look like:

Here’s the box they came in:

They are creamy and chewier than rolled oats, and have a rich, nutty flavour.

My friend Maureen gave me the recipe and I played around with it a little bit. Do you want to make some? They are easy-peesy!

Before you go to bed, get your small (I use a 6-cup) crockpot out of the cupboard and put 3 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup milk into it. Pour in 1 cup of steel cut oats.Put on the lid. Plug it in and turn the setting to low. When you get up in the morning, give it a good stir and let it sit for 5 minutes while you make your coffee. Enjoy!

You can add chopped apple, some walnuts or raisins right into the pot, whatever you like. I like mine plain with a teaspoon (okay, 2 teaspoons) of brown sugar. Sometimes I throw a handful berries on top just before digging in. Delish!

In a nutshell for you:
3.5 cups water
.5 cup milk
1 cup steel cut oats
6 -cup crock pot, on low overnight.Do you love oatmeal? What do you call them: Groats? Irish Oats? Steel-cut?

March 2, 2015March 2, 2015

I don’t need a bread maker – I AM a bread maker!

We spent some time staying with Mr. C’s parents when we were in Whitehorse a couple of weeks ago and they have a bread making machine. I was instantly bitten by the “gotta have it” bug. You know the one…that bug that tells you you need this, that or the other thing? I know you know what I’m talking about, lol!

It happens to me a lot. For instance, my friend Cynde got a Janome Memorycraft 7700 last month. Man o Man, was I ever bitten hard! I thought I was going to die if I didn’t have one, too! Well, I didn’t die. And the urge to spend $2000 faded away pretty quickly, thank god!

But that bread making machine….man, wouldn’t that be nice? And then I remembered the last time I had a bread machine.

I am going to stop right here and give kudos to Black & Decker because their machine survived ME! Or, my meddling with it, to be more exact. I could not, for the life of me, leave that machine alone to do it’s business! I was in there every chance I got, taking the dough out to give it extra kneading by hand, adjusting the water:flour ratio, nipping and tucking and generally making a nuisance of myself. That machine probably cursed the day it was bought and delivered to my house, lol!

That’s because I’m a bread maker. Ask anybody who makes bread from scratch and they’ll probably tell you a similar story. Bread making machines are great. Unless you’re a bread maker yourself. In which case, they become shear frustration-making machines!

So this morning, after reminding myself that that I AM a bread maker and don’t need to buy one, I set about making some. First I fed the sourdough starter. I divided it and put half back in the fridge for another day.

Then I fed it again and set half aside to ferment for a couple of days. This will make an awesome loaf of authentic tangy sourdough bread probably on Thursday or Friday.

I added yeast to the rest and mixed up a batch of faux-sourdough. Two freshly kneaded and shaped loaves are rising as I type. 🙂 Mr. C and I will be fighting over the heel ends of the loaf at dinner. Good thing a loaf has two heels, eh?

My sourdough even has a genealogy. It’s an interesting story. Read it here! It came over the Chilkoot Pass in the late 1800s with the Christiansen family. It came to me from Millie Jones. Thanks, Millie! We’re sure enjoying it!

To feed your starter, mix 2 cups of warm water with 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp sugar. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Lumps are okay. Store in a glass jar in the fridge.

Enjoy!

February 22, 2015February 22, 2015

Tall and Flaky Baking Powder Biscuits to Die For

Every once in awhile my son will ask me how to make a favourite food that he remembers from childhood. Over Christmas he requested my baking powder biscuit recipe. So I did up a quick tutorial for him on my iPad and sent it to him in a message. The pictures aren’t great, but you get the idea.

Today I am making them to go with homemade soup. Maybe you would like to make some too?

2 cups flour
1 rounded Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp sugar
4 rounded Tbsp Shortening
3/4 cup milk.

Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir them up with a fork. Next, add the shortening and cut it into the dry ingredients until it is blended:

Add the milk and stir until it is all mixed together:

Put a bit of flour on the counter:

Put your biscuit dough on the flour and pat into a circle:

Cut out with a biscuit cutter or a water glass:

I usually get nine. I like them to rise up tall , so I cut them thick:

Bake at 400 degrees for approx 20 minutes.
These are so good!! Honestly, you won’t be able to eat just one.
If you want to add a handful of grated cheese and make cheese biscuits, you’ll need to cut back a little bit on the shortening. If you don’t, they’ll be heavy. Something to do with the fat to flour ratio.

Enjoy!

January 30, 2015

The Best Ever Oatmeal: a crock pot breakfast

I love oatmeal for breakfast. But not just any oatmeal…I love steel cut oats cooked overnight in my crock pot.

Everybody seems to call these by a different name. I call them steel-cut oats. I’ve also heard them called Irish oats, or groats. Here’s what they look like:

Here’s the box they came in:

They are creamy and chewier than rolled oats, and have a rich, nutty flavour.

My friend Maureen gave me the recipe and I played around with it a little bit. Do you want to make some? They are easy-peesy!

In a nutshell for you:
3.5 cups water
.5 cup milk
1 cup steel cut oats
6 -cup crock pot, on low overnight.If you’re back on the old Weight Watcher’s Momentum plan, they are 2 points per cup. I don’t know what they are in points plus. You’ll have to look that up for yourself as I’m not doing that program anymore.

Do you love oatmeal? What do you call them: Groats? Irish Oats? Steel-cut?

May 22, 2014

In the Spirit of Play (or how I spent my April allowance)

Last January I posted my about word for the year: PLAY!

So, in the spirit of that resolution, I spent almost my entire April allowance on playful inspiration: books!

I want to knit something bigger than a sock or a hat, but I know myself…I will make the front of something, or a sleeve, and then put the project away. Why? Because I just hate sewing the seams. I actually have an entire knitted sweater – front, back and two sleeves sitting in my basket. It’s been sitting in my basket since…um…gah! I am embarrassed to say it: about 1998. Needless to say, it no longer fits. But the yarn is good! It was expensive! So I’m in the process of unraveling the entire thing so that I can make something lovely with it. Knitted tops with no side seams! Yay!

Prairie Children and their Quilts because I love anything to do with history and story-telling, and I’ve also become fascinated with miniature quilts. AND Mastering Quilt Marking because I want to expand my hand quilting beyond using purchased templates. I’d love to quilt some of the beautiful, intricate feathers & fans etc. I have the skill to do the hand quilting, but lack the technique of how to get the markings onto the quilt top. Maybe I can practice on a miniature quilt! Boo yah!

Bread from Sourdough to Rye because I’ve been given the wonderful gift of heritage Yukon sourdough starter (read all about it here – it’s a cool story!) and I’ve been experimenting with baking bread. This book also has breads from all over the world, from challah to chapatti! And The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair because I follow her blog, which is all about yummy Asian-style cooking. (And Jaden is also a quilter, so duh….)

And then BONUS! Look what my extraordinarily fabulous son of mine sent me for Mother’s Day!

All the indoor rainy-day bases are covered! Over the next couple of months I’ll be saving my allowance for outside play…new hiking boots and a day pack.

A spending allowance is built into our retirement budget.. I’ll post about it soon!

How did you spend your allowance last month?

April 12, 2014