Tag Archives: Joy of Cooking

Beanie Ginger Snaps

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beanie-ginger-snaps-2

Adding more ground flax will give a hard, crunchy cookie which may be better for travel food.

I know this recipe sounds strange but I hope you will give it a try. This recipe is great for people who cannot eat grains.

This recipe is based on Ginger Snaps from the Joy of Cooking. I heavily altered the recipe to make it grain-free and for production in a dehydrator. The trick with the cookies is to have the cookie dough thick enough not to drip through the dehydrator screen but thin enough to have a light, crunchy cookie.

2c soaked, cooked and rinsed organic white beans
1/4c organic black strap molasses
2-3T local honey (optional)
1-2T organic coconut oil
4tsp organic dried ginger, freshly ground
1/4tsp organic whole cloves, freshly ground
1/2 organic cinnamon stick, freshly ground
3-4 pinches sea salt
1T organic lemon, freshly squeezed
1tsp organic lemon peel, freshly grated
2-4T organic yellow flax seeds, freshly ground

Soak the white beans overnight in filtered water. Rinse the beans well before covering with fresh water and cooking for 1-2 hours until very tender. Remove any scum or hard beans during cooking. Rinse the cooked bean well in cool filtered water before using.

Grind all the spices in a spice grinder. In a food processor, add the cooked beans, molasses, honey, coconut oil, freshly ground spices, sea salt, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Mix until very smooth. Add 2 tablespoons of the ground flax seed and mix well. Refrigerate for a few hours until the dough thickens. If the dough is still too soupy add a bit more ground flax seed. Mix well and refrigerate again.

Drop the cookie dough onto the dehydrator sheets in teaspoon amounts. With a wet spoon lightly press down the cookie dough into a round shape. The cookies will dry very quickly in the dehydrator. The trick with the cookies to to have the cookie dough thick enough not to drip through the dehydrator screen. This produces a light, crunchy cookie. Adding too much ground flax will give a hard, crunchy cookie.

The ginger snaps have a nice crunchy, creamy texture with a spicy aftertaste and are a great travel food.

beanie-ginger-snaps

While the cookies dry in the dehydrator your home with be filled with the most amazing spicy smell! Yum!

Creamy Spring Custard

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custard

Custard is delicious by itself or dressed up with a small amount of maple syrup or liquid honey.

This recipe is NOT safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

Our household is seeing the renewing life of spring. Our fridge is full of fresh milk and pastured eggs. One part of local, seasonal eating is learning about all the wonderful meals and desserts that can use this seasonal bounty. This recipe is based on a Custard recipe from the 1979 edition of the Joy of Cooking. I have found the older editions of the Joy of Cooking better for traditional recipes. I was pleasantly surprised to read about instructions for using non-pasteurized milk in custard making. How times have changed.

The secret to a great custard is the amount of egg white in the recipe. If you include all the egg whites you get a firm egg-pie custard, almost like a sweet quiche. Firm custards take less time to set-up. If you want a very sauce-like custard remove all the egg white. This is my personal favorite type of custard. Sauce-like custards are creamy rich, like a pudding, and take a long cooking time to set-up. Actually, the sauce-like custard is a true pudding, unlike the modern ersatz pretender thickened with cornstarch. This pudding custard can stand alone or be dressed-up with fresh, seasonal fruit. This recipe with four whole eggs and four egg yolks is the middle-of-the-road custard.

4 pastured egg yolks
4 pastured whole eggs
2-4T local raw honey
3c raw or organic full fat milk
2tsp organic vanilla extract (optional)
1/2tsp organic whole nutmeg, freshly grated
Preheat the oven to 325F. In a bowl, lightly beat the whole eggs, egg yolks and honey until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla extract and nutmeg. Mix well but do not beat into a froth.

To make custard you will need at least six small glass oven safe custard bowls and a large glass oven safe baking tray. Pour the mixture into about six glass custard bowls. In the large glass baking tray, partly fill with hot water out of the tap. Do not use boiling water. Place each of the custard bowls into the water bath. The water should come up within about an 3/4 of an inch below the top of the glass bowls. Add more water if needed. The water bath is very important for a good custard consistence. Without the water the custard will overheat and cook too quickly. Carefully move the glass baking tray with all of the custard bowls into the oven. It will be heave. Cook for 45-60 minutes or until a knife will come out clean at the edge of the custard. Or just look at the custard and you will see a firmer area around the edge of the glass custard bowl.

custard-bath

Here are seven glass custard bowls in a water bath. The water bath ensures a creamy custard texture. After cooking, let the custard cool on the counter in the water bath.

The custard will continue to cook when it is removed from the oven. After about 10 minutes remove the custard from the water bath and cool on the counter. Later place the custard in the fridge and cool before serving. Some people like eating their custard warm so try both ways to find which way your family likes best. If the custard is not sweet enough for your taste, add a small amount of pure organic maple syrup or liquid raw honey to the top of the custard before serving. Simply divine.

Traveling Tip: If you are traveling and want to bring along a custard dessert, use the wide-mouth “salmon” mason jars instead of the glass oven safe custard bowls. After the custard has completely cooled in the fridge, secure the top with the mason jar lid or a Bernardin plastic storage lid. These mason jars stack well in a portable cooler and will be a wonderful surprise for the family at the end of the traveling day.

mason-jar-custard

Here is some custard made in a mason jar. The lid will make it easy to transport your dessert for a picnic, road trip or school lunch.