This is one of those cold days: remnants of snow on the
ground, temps in the lower twenties, and a wind blowing 15 to 20 knots.
This is a fresh bread and homemade soup day.
We have make homemade bread in a bread maker for at least thirty
years. We use the Breadman Ultimate
which cost less than $100 on e-bay.
Today I did a milk bread:
1 1/8 cup of milk, 4 cups of white flour, 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, 1
tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 teaspoon of yeast.
Just prior to the last rise cycle I took out the dough and
remove the paddle (I don’t like the hole in the bottom of the loaf when the paddle
is left in during baking.) I briefly
kneaded and replaced the dough back in the pan; then back into the bread
machine for the last rise and baking.
About thirty minutes before the bread was done I put together
a mushroom soup: I sliced about a half pound of button mushrooms, diced one
medium onion. In a stew pan I melted a
large chunk of butter, then sautéd the onions and mushrooms with a tablespoon of
dried parsley until the mushroom liquid was gone. At this point I added a tablespoon of flour
and stirred until it was well combined.
I stirred in two cups of beef broth (we use a product called McKay’s Instant Broth and Seasoning – vegan special,
one teaspoon per cup of water – purchased at the local health food store.)
I brought the soup to a boil then add one cup of
sour cream. Using a hand blenders I
pureed the mushrooms and blended in the sour cream.
A small spinach salad – a large bowl of soup and a slice of
warm buttered bread, with a nice glass of Merlot on the side.
***
I drink wine every day, therefore I can’t afford expensive
bottles except for special meals. I have
found a quite good, cheap – vino de mesa
– wine of the table.
Tisdale wines sell for four dollars a bottle at the local Hannaford
supermarket. If you are a wine drinker
you might give these a try.
Soup, fresh bread, a salad and wine; it makes a day like this special.
the Ol’Buzzard
