According to Clayton, this is an old (late 19th or early 20th century) Shaker recipe. It bakes up a lovely, fine-crumbed white loaf. I appreciate the ease with which it comes together. And, while not nearly as rich as something like a brioche, the milk, lard, and hint of sugar does give it a nice little something extra.

Since I've been struggling to keep up with my starter lately, I opted to add a bit of discard into my dough. Feel free to omit this and just use a little extra flour and water instead though if, unlike me, you don't have a huge pile of starter/discard looking for a purpose.

Sister Virginia's Daily Loaf

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 1 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. lard
• 800g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 120g sourdough discard
• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Combine water, milk, sugar, salt, and lard and gently warm to 40-45°C.
2. Combine the flour and yeast and mix well.
3. Add the starter to the wet ingredients.
4. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry while stirring with a dough hook or a wooden spoon.
5. Knead by hook for 7-8 minutes or by hand for 20-30.
6. Round, cover, and allow to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes (depending on temperature of room).
7. Knock back, divide into two equal portions, round each portion, cover, and rest for 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, grease two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
9. Shape each dough ball into a loaf and place, seam-side-down, into the prepared loaf pans.
10. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for another 45-60 minutes (depending on temperature).
11. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and brush tops of loaves with melted butter.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes.
13. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.

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Variants

Non-Instant Yeast Version

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. warm water (~40°C)
• 2 1/4 tsp. acitve dry yeast
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. lard
• 860g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Sprinkle yeast into warm water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. Proceed with recipe as directed, adding yeast mixture to dough along with other wet ingredients.

I picked up a discount bag of zucchini at the grocery store yesterday. Which was handy because it made for the perfect side dish to go with our dinner. Very quick, very easy, very simple, but still pretty tasty. Although I did significantly reduce the oil (from 1/3 c. down to 3 Tbsp.) and I think, if I were doing it again, I'd cut it back even further. Even 3 Tbsp. seemed like a lot. If I'd used the full 1/3 it would have been absolutely swimming in oil! It was good otherwise though, so I'll give it a pass.

Sautéed Zucchini

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 900g zucchini
• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1cm thick pieces.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the zucchini and sauté until just tender (~5 minutes).
5. Add the basil and cook for another minute or so.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

We had a surplus of mint and strawberries were on sale this week, so this low-effort dessert seemed like a natural fit.

Macerated Strawberries with Lemon and Mint

From Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 450g strawberries, hulled and quartered (or sliced)
• 2-4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine.
2. Let stand for at least 15 minutes, then serve.

This is another recipe from my backlog that didn't get written up right away. So, as with so many of the others, I don't remember it very well. But I'm going to try to write it up anyway for completeness sake.

Garlicky Shrimp and Kale Sauté

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1 orange
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 300g chopped frozen kale
• 6 cloves garlic, minced and divided
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, divided
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Toss shrimp with 1 tsp. of the salt and set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Zest and juice the orange.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the kale, half the garlic, 1/4 tsp. of the pepper flakes, and remaining 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt and sauté until wilted (3-4 minutes).
5. Transfer kale to a plate and sprinkle with orange zest.
6. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil to the pan.
7. Add the shrimp, remaining garlic, remaining 1/4 tsp. pepper flakes, and the bay leaf and sauté until shrimp turns opaque (1-2 minutes).
8. Add the orange juice and cook for another minute or so.
9. Top the kale with the shrimp and any pan juices.
10. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

I haven't been buying fish lately because it's failed to be on sale. But it's been a while since we've had any and I felt like we were overdue, so I got a bit of salmon anyway. It went nicely with the soup. And the fried chickpeas that I did as a side dish actually made nice "croutons" for it.

Zucchini Soup with Roasted Salmon

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 680g salmon fillets
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 900g zucchini, chopped
• 2 c. vegetable stock
• 30-40g pecorino romano, grated
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions

1. Brush salmon with a little of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat remaining oil over medium heat.
3. Add shallots and garlic and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
4. Add zucchini, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and cook until it begins to soften as well (~4 minutes).
5. Add stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly, and simmer until zucchini is tender (~15 minutes).
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and roast salmon until cooked through (10-12 minutes).
7. When zucchini is tender, use an immersion blender to puré (or process in standard blender jar in batches).
8. Add the cheese and lemon juice and stir to combine.
9. Adjust seasoning to taste.
10. Serve soup topped with salmon and sprinkled with lemon zest.

TF and the Kidlet both seemed to really like these. I thought they were okay, but not amazing on their own. I think they work better added to other things. I had a bunch of them in my soup and that was very good.

Fried Chickpeas

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (~470g) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• corn or peanut oil, for frying
• 3-4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 6 fresh sage leaves¹
• 1/8 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• coarse sea salt, ground

Directions

1. After draining and rinsing the chickpeas, dry them off as best you can.²
2. Pour some oil into a wok and heat to ~190°C (375°F).
3. Add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add ~1/3 of the chickpeas and 2 of the sage leaves and fry for 4-5 minutes.
5. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chickpeas and sage in two batches.
6. Sprinkle with ground chilies and season to taste with salt.

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¹ I was all out of fresh sage, so I swapped in 1/2 Tbsp. dried sage instead. ^Back
2 The recipe suggests doing this with paper towels, but, since I was preheating the oven for another recipe anyway, I just opted to spreak the chickpeas out on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven while it was preheating. I found this much easier than trying to mess around with paper towels. ^Back

Breakfast Burritos (Breakfast Bible)

I've been meaning to make these for a while. But I really wanted to try to do them with ground chicken and sweet potato rather than the chorizo and russet potatoes called for in the recipe. But, in the end, I didn't end up going with either of those combinations. TF had a hankering for breakfast sausage. And I had a few red potatoes that needed to be used up. So I made it with those instead. I do think the red potatoes were a little too waxy for this dish though. So next time I'd either go with the russets or try it with sweets.

I do think that it would have been nice with a few greens and maybe a bit of sour cream. And we also added a bit of mild cheddar and swapped out the guac for plain avocado. (Mostly because cheese is delicious and because I had an avocado that needed to be used up and didn't feel like making guacamole this morning.) Overall though, it worked out pretty well. It's a forgiving recipe that allows for a lot of variation and experimentation.

Breakfast Burritos

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 russet potatoes, grated
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 190g sausage (chorizo, breakfast, or chicken), casings removed
• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 c. milk
• 4-6 large flour tortillas, warm
• 1 c. cooked black beans, warm
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 c. guacamole or avocado
• 1/2 c. salsa or pico de gallo
• 1/4 c. sour cream (optional)
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
2. Wring grated potato out as best you can using paper towels or a clean tea towel.
3. Add potatoes and pat into an even layer. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
4. Cook until underside is crisp (~6 minutes).
5. Flip and cook until the other side is crisp as well (~6 minutes longer). Transfer to a plate and set aside.
6. Add sausage to pan and cook until done (5-6 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside.
7. Beat eggs with milk and season with salt and pepper.
8. Drain off all but ~1 tsp. of fat from the pan, reduce heat to medium-low and pour in eggs.
9. Cook until bottom beings to set 1-2 minutes, then stir.
10. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set.
11. Place a few scrambled eggs, some beans, potatoes, sausage, cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and cilantro (if using) in the centre of each tortilla.
12. Fold up top and bottom edges and then roll to form a burrito.