More caloric indulgences

And is it any wonder? Days are getting shorter, and while the weather here has been spectacular, there is a hint of autumn chill in the air at night. The urge to load up for hibernation season is upon us. I bought 2 new pairs of walking/running shoes this weekend, so hopefully that yin will counteract some of this yang.


Mountain Man Breakfast

Recipe by Danny Wardle, from the 'Lovin' Dutch Ovens' cookbook

You'll need a 12-inch oven with 10 bottom charcoal briquets and 14 top briquets

Preheat the oven over the bottom briquets.

Brown 1/2 pound bacon, cut into small pieces.

Add and cook until clear: 1 medium onion, chopped

Add 1 32-ounce bag hash brown potatoes. Fry until golden brown. Stir the bacon and onions back in.

Break 12 eggs into a medium mixing bowl. Beat thoroughly, then pour over potatoes, bacon and onions. Cover and cook until eggs are almost solid.

Sprinkle top with 1 to 1 1/2 pounds grated cheddar cheese.

Continue cooking until eggs set, and cheese melts. Just before serving, cover the top with 1 8-ounce jar of hot salsa.


Notes:

We have never used all the bacon grease that renders off. Disgusting. But you definitely will need some of it to keep the potatoes from sticking. Having a well-seasoned oven helps, too. Browning the potatoes will take the longest amount of time in all this, so we use more briquets on the bottom.

We don't use that much cheese, either. 8 or 12 ounces is plenty. But hey, there may come a day where we feel like adding 2 pounds.

The eggs are good unbeaten, too. I really like them with the yolks whole.

We substituted diced ham and mushrooms for the bacon Saturday, and it was quite fine that way. We had to use a little vegetable oil to brown the potatoes. Also, I discovered my cooking onions had rotted in the pantry (lovely!) so I used the white and some of the green parts of scallions, which worked very well.

Season with salt and pepper as you go, even though it doesn't say so in the recipe. And let your imagination go. Sharon says this is great using sliced up bratwurst. Breakfast sausage would be awesome. Using more green onions, using a different variety of cheese…anything goes.



Caramel Rolls

Dough:

2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups warm milk (105-115 F)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/3 C butter softened
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
6-7 C all-purpose flour

Filling:

A little brown sugar, softened butter, cinnamon, and Port Caramel Sauce

Topping:

Port Caramel Sauce

From 'Food & Wine' magazine October 2003

1/2 C plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 C light brown sugar
1/3 C plus 1 tablespoon ruby port
1 C heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

In a heavy medium saucepan, cook the granulated sugar over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Continue to cook, without stirring until an amber caramel forms, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add light brown sugar and stir until smooth. Return to the heat and carefully add the port; the caramel will harden slightly. Cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the cream and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer sauce to a pitcher and serve warm.

The sauce can be refrigerated for up to a month; rewarm. Makes about 1 1/2 C.

Notes: use a whisk to stir while adding the port, and add it slowly. The longer you cook this after adding the cream, the thicker it well get.

To make the rolls:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Stir sugar, butter and salt into yeast mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a heavy duty electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and set on low speed, beat in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a stiff dough forms.

3. On a floured surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes, adding more flour to prevent sticking.

4. Place dough in a large greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover loosely with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, 45 minutes to an hour.

5. Grease whatever size pan you want. I used an oddball pan slightly smaller than a 9X13, and got 8 large rolls in that. I froze the rest of the dough. If you use all of the dough and make them small, this sweet roll dough recipe claims to yield 3 dozen. Well, I have my doubts about that. And I like big rolls…:)

6. Dividing dough in half, and using a floured rolling pin, work with one half at a time. Roll to a 17 by 12 inch rectangle, roughly. Spread 2 or 3 tablespoons softened butter on the dough. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup brown sugar over that. Sprinkle about a tablespoon ground cinnamon over dough. Finish by drizzling on a few tablespoons of the caramel sauce.

7. Starting with the long side, roll up dough jelly-roll style. Cut crosswise into desired thickness. Place rolls, cut side down in prepared pan. Cover pans with damp cloth and let rise until doubled 30 to 45 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 350. Bake rolls until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Place pans on wire racks to cool. While rolls are still warm, drizzle more caramel sauce over the tops and let run down between. Serve warm.

BTW, this Port Caramel Sauce is what I have used on top of the Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie. This sauce is the bomb. I will *never* buy caramel sauce in a jar again.

We did a lot of shopping this weekend. We managed to hit three malls Saturday (Somerset, Oakland and 12 Oaks), plus a variety of other stores. Papa Joe's in Birmingham is always fun, although I don't think Sharon was too impressed. You gotta be a food geek to get excited over a place like that. Trader Joe's was on our list for basic supplies, too. We stuck with a tried-and-true favorite for dinner, good old Outback Steakhouse. We were quite delighted with their dark, creamy 'Bareknuckle Stout' on draft, until Tim popped my balloon by telling me that it is merely Anheiser-Busch's answer to Guinness. Well, I still loved it. I'll probably order it next time we go to Outback.

Sunday, after we'd recovered from breakfast, we headed up to Frankenmuth to do some visiting. Mom and Dad Reinert celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary yesterday, so we stopped by to see them. We bring them a card and a measly jar of jam, and we left with grocery bags of produce from their garden. I dunno how many tomato and pepper plants these people planted, but if this is their idea of scaling back the garden in their golden years, I can only imagine what it must have looked like back in the days when Tim was growing up. He speaks of harvesting 5-gallon pails of radishes and ears of corn with a look on his face like that of soldiers describing past combat experience. But hey, if they have the time, energy, sunshine and primo mid-Michigan farm field soil to grow all this produce, then more power to them. Gorgeous stuff. Blemish free tomatoes, banana peppers and bell peppers. Looks like I'll be making another batch of Italian bread salad...

Not one of Grandma Kueffner's better days. She can't hear anyway, but it's frustrating when she nods and pretends she does hear. Grandma Zucker wasn't doing all that well either. The bad days seem to be outnumbering the good days for them, but what can you expect when they are either pushing 90 or over 90? My sister-in-law Ann has cooked up an idea to go through and clean the carpets at Zuckers' house one day soon, and I think it's a good one. It's usually depressing to visit their house, because you see the dirt and deterioration, and it's way too much to clean up in one visit, but you know you ought to help them somehow.

Don't even get me started on the subject of cousin Jeremiah who is the able-bodied 32-year old living in the same house.

After the visiting, we treated ourselves to some Oktoberfest beer and pretzel bread at Frankenmuth Brewery. The beer wasn't too bad. I don't think I will ever be able to conjure up the comments or reviews of a beer the way some people can, so here's Tim's review:

Beer review

So now it's Monday, another gorgeous sunny perfectly beautiful day, and all I want to do is crawl into bed. I know people in Florida and elsewhere would probably want to lynch me, but when are we going to get a cloudy, dreary rainy day? With the exception of Saturday, we have not had one cloudy day this entire month. And no rain for going on 6 weeks. The weather has been utterly beautiful. The weather we had in August should have been switched with September's. August's weather might even have been able to stand in for October's. We sure complained about it enough.

Sunny weather means pressure: pressure to get dressed, pressure to be productive, pressure to take care of stuff outside, pressure to smile, pressure to act like a normal human being.

Okay. I'll respond to some of that pressure by watering the flowers outside, but after that I am going to bed!

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