Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for early May

shoestring sweet potato fries, my new obsession

Friday

Bean and chicken burritos, using leftover refried beans, cheddar cheese and chicken enchilada filling from freezer
Leftover brown rice, topped with enchilada sauce from freezer
Carrot and celery sticks
Rhubarb-blackberry sauce


Saturday

Clean-out-the-fridge-and-freezer soup (using liquid from thawed frozen spinach, olive juice, mushrooms past their prime, bottom of celery bunch, 1 cup of Mexican chicken soup found in the freezer, rinsings from the skillet that I fried hamburgers in, (after I drained the fat I rinse the skillet with water and froze that flavored water), last 2 carrots, 1 potato, tomato paste, herbs, some Swiss chard from garden)
Sweet potato shoestring fries (oh my, homemade and fresh out of the hot oil, these are soooo good)
Apple wedges


Sunday

Little smokies in homemade barbeque sauce
Rye bread and butter
Green salad
Pumpkin chiffon pie

Monday

Teriyaki chicken and vegetables (Swiss chard, celery cores, frozen peas and chive blossoms)
Brown rice
Green salad
Leftover pumpkin pie

Tuesday

Homemade chicken soup, using simmered chicken bones from night before, radish leaves, pumpkin, barley, onion powder, garlic granules, garden sage, canned green beans and broken spaghetti noodles
Garlic toast
Garden salad of lettuce, radish and chive blossoms

Wednesday

Leftover soup form night before
Three bean salad (I had canned green beans, pinto beans and garbanzo beans ready)
Cheese toast

Thursday

Swiss chard and cheddar quiche (Swiss chard in the garden will bolt soon, so that's on my list to use, plus I added the leaves of the radishes from the salad)
Garden salad of lettuce and radishes
French bread (need bread for Friday's lunches, so baking French bread, Thursday afternoon killed two birds)
Scratch brownies (we needed a treat around here, and I'd just bought more sugar. Yep, we were completely and totally out of sugar until Thursday)



Nothing fancy this past week (like there's ever anything fancy around here, ha ha). Just a lot of basic, humble meals.

Cinco de Mayo's dinner was anything but Mexican. Oh well. Did anyone here do anything especially festive for Cinco e Mayo?

And speaking of holiday feasts, etc -- what are everyone's Mother's Day plans? We're planning a cook-out for dinner, with hotdogs (bought cheap with Senior Discount this week), buns that I have in the freezer, a fruited gelatin salad, a garden salad, and s'mores for dessert. I told the kids I just wanted a casual afternoon, maybe get out the croquet set, and hang out in the backyard, weather permitting.

I hope you enjoy Mother's Day. Have a great weekend!

Sourdough Rye Bread

This recipe makes two large, oblong loaves of rye. It's a multi-step recipe, first creating a rye sourdough starter, and then extending the starter to a sponge, and finally to the dough. I find it best to begin early on day one, in order to bake by late afternoon on day two. The sourdough starter is for flavor more than leaven. Yeast is still used, which insures a good rise to the loaves. If you're buying rye four by the pound, this recipe requires about 1  1/4 to 1  1/2 lbs. (I bought rye flour at WinCo in the bulk bins.)

Day One

In a large glass or ceramic bowl, stir together:
1/2 cup rye flour
1/4 cup room temp water
1  1/4 teaspoons yeast

Cover tightly. (I use a sheet of plastic wrap, top with a plate.) Place in a warm location, about 80 degrees F, for 24 hours. In my house, that warm location is the oven, with the door closed, and light on.

Day Two

Early the next morning, stir in:
1 cup of warm water
1 cup of rye flour

Cover tightly, set in warm place for about 4 hours.

First Sponge

Stir in:
3/4 teaspoon yeast

Mix well with:
1  3/4 cups rye flour

Cover tightly, set in warm place for about 2 hours, to ferment.

Second Sponge

Stir into first sponge:
1 cup warm water, then,
1/2 teaspoon yeast, then,
1  3/4 cup rye flour
1  3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Cover with a damp towel, set in warm place for another 2 hours.

Dough

To the sponge, stir in:
3/4 cup warm water
3 teaspoons salt
1 to  1  1/2 tablespoons caraway seed
1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Allow to rest, covered with a damp towel for about 15 minutes.

Turn dough onto a well-floured surface (or into a stand mixer with dough hook). Knead in:
between 1 to 2 cups of all-purpose flour, until you have a stiff dough.

Shape into 2 long loaves and place on a buttered baking sheet. Allow to rise for about an hour, until not quite double in bulk. Don't allow it to rise too much, as it can cause the loaves to flatten.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (non-convection). Bake loaves for 1 hour.

After removing from oven, spread with butter while still warm. Cool on a rack.

Comments:

Because of the time needed to bake sourdough rye, I prefer to make 2 loaves at a time, and freeze the second loaf. But this recipe can also be halved, and does well.

If you don't like so heavy of a rye flavor, you can also substitute about 1 cup of all-purpose flour for 1 cup of the rye flour called for in the second sponge, and still have a respectable rye loaf.

If you prefer, a salt glaze is more traditional than the buttered top. To salt-glaze the loaves,  combine 1 teaspoon salt with 1/2 cup of water and brush over loaves, after baking, while still warm from the oven.

Depending on how early I get started on Day Two,  I can have this ready for the dinner table (beginning around 6 or 7 AM).


I'll type up the recipe for Sweet Swedish Rye Bread in a couple of days. It calls for fennel seed, anise seed (although I usually just use anise), orange zest and molasses, which go well with the rye flavor.