Whole Wheat Crackers

I'm convinced that I should have been baking crackers all my life. These are so delicious with cheese or alone, and made of all natural ingredients without the additives in store-bought crackers. If you want, you can sprinkle them with course salt before baking, but they taste just fine the way they are.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tblsp Molasses
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg

Mix the salt with the flour. In a another bowl, combine the milk, molasses and oil. Combine wet and dry ingredients until the dough forms a ball. Kneads the dough on a floured surface until it feels soft, but not sticky. Don't overwork the dough.

Line two baking pans with baking parchment or a silicone baking pad. Divide the dough into three pieces and form each into a ball. Roll out each ball separately, using a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick. If the dough has not been overworked, this is very easy. If the dough is too elastic, allow it to sit for 15 minutes and come back and try again. (An old bread dough trick)

Make an egg wash with egg. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash. Cut the dough into squares and place on prepared pans. Bake at 350ºF for about 20 - 25 minutes until browned. Allow them to cool (they will become more crispy as they cool).

Dave's Indian Rogan Josh

Dave does a bang-up job adapting Indian dishes and playing with Indian spices. This is a traditional Indian lamb dish with a bit of added flare by Dave. In other words, it's Dave's own recipe and my vote is: delicious.

2 cups plain yogurt
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 cup cashews
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2 onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2 Tblsp olive oil
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2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Kashmiri pepper
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1 lb of cut up chunks of leg of lamb
20 oz tomatoes, diced
chopped cilantro


Blend yogurt, cornstarch and cashews in food processor and set aside. (Cashews are not traditionally in Rogan Josh, but Dave had a hankering for them anyway!)

In food processor, blend the onions, garlic and ginger. Add this mixture to olive oil in a frying pan and brown over medium-high heat. Add the next six ingredients (spices & salt) and continue frying for 3 -5 minutes. Add lamb and cook until browned. Add tomatoes. Quickly add the yogurt mixture before the tomatoes get too hot! This will keep the yogurt from curdling. Once it is mixed and smooth, bring it to a boil. Cover with a lid, turn heat to low and allow to simmer for 2 hours or until lamb is tender. You may want to uncover for the last 15 minutes to thicken sauce.

Turn off heat and add cilantro to taste. Serve with rice. Use more cilantro as garnish.

Whole Wheat Walnut Bread

A common event in the evenings at our house is the fabulous olfactory pleasure of Dave's bread baking. He makes all types of bread from sweet breads to multi-grain yeast breads. He highly recommends using King Arthur Flour... and frequently tries the various recipes from their website.

This beautiful Whole Wheat Walnut Bread came from this link.




Here is another loaf that Dave made the other night of Cinnamon Swirl Bread :




Dave making bread at my Dad's cabin while we were camping in the mountains a couple weeks ago:

Navajo Fry Bread with Ground Lamb

For a short time as a kid, I had a foster sister who grew up on the Navajo reservation in Utah. She taught us to make fry bread. When she made it, she grabbed the ingredients with her hands and didn't measure precisely, so I've had to make guesses at the measurements for this blog. The Navajo raise sheep and eat a lot of lamb in their dishes.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tblsp powdered milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup water

Sift the dry ingredients and combine with the water until they form a sticky dough. You don't need to knead the dough. Dump onto a floured surface and divide into 8 pieces. Roll out each piece and fry in hot canola oil until bubbly and brown.



For the filling (and I apologize that this is even more imprecise than the dough):

1 lb chipped or ground lamb
5 cloves crushed garlic
1 chopped onion
1 cup pre-cooked black beans
2 tsp cumin
1 T chili powder
Salt & Pepper
Chopped fresh cilantro
(All seasonings can be added to taste. Traditional Navajo cooking generally uses just the onion and garlic with salt and pepper.)

Top with lettuce, more fresh cilantro, tomatoes, cheese, etc.


If you are a vegetarian, you can try fry bread with smashed, cooked beans seasoned with your favorite herbs and spices.

Potage Saint-Germain

Potage Saint-Germain is French pea soup made from fresh peas, scallions, sherry, and a tiny bit of cream. I love this soup! It's so refreshing and delicate. It's nothing like the heavy split pea soup with potatoes and the overwhelming flavor of salty ham that many people serve. Why is it that people throw bacon or ham into everything and consume the natural flavor of the dish with salt, fat and nitrates? I've never quite understood why someone would take a perfectly wonderful cut of beef and wrap it in cheaply-flavored bacon, for example. Or why would anyone infuse a delicious seafood chowder with bacon, overwhelming the flavor of the fish?

I'm glad to say that Potage Saint-Germain allows you to taste the natural sweetness of the peas. It really is a wonderful early course in a meal, or as a light meal.

This recipe makes 2 bowl-size portions, or 4 small portions and is taken from a combination of several pea soup recipes I found during some research.

2 shallots, diced
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups vegetable broth
3 cups fresh green peas, shelled (frozen can be used when peas aren't in season)
2 Tbsp dry sherry
1 clove garlic, crushed
Fresh basil & rosemary (to taste)
1/4 bay leaf
1/2 cup half & half
Cream for garnish (optional)
Baked flavored croutons for garnish (optional)

Saute the shallots and garlic in butter until soft. Add vegetable broth, peas and remaining ingredients (except cream) and allow to simmer for 12 minutes.



Add Half & Half and blend until smooth


Reheat and serve hot. Swirl in cream and top with croutons, if desired.

Chipotle Pepper Beans

I'm not really a fan of the type of beans served at a barbecue that for some reason have syrupy sugary stuff poured all over them... or maybe a bit of pork fat mixed in along with some sickly sweet barbecue sauce from a bottle. I like sweets. I like them a lot. I even know of some desserts that combine sugar and beans. But serving beans drenched in sugar as a side dish to artificially flavored weeners should be left for special occasions... like maybe a White Trash costume party.

These beans get their flavor from fresh herbs, garlic, onions and various peppers. You can control the heat. If you like spicy, lay it on. If not, go easy on the spice.

Bring to a boil, then simmer until beans are about half done:
3 cups dried beans (your choice)
2 1/2 quarts water
4-6 fresh sage leaves
3 bay leaves


Saute until done:
3 T olive oil
2 diced onions
6 cloves crushed garlic
2 -3 diced peppers (jalapeño, bell, Anaheim... depends on how spicy you like it)

Chipotle pepper paste (or powder) to taste
1 Tblsp Cumin seeds, crushed



Combine onion mixture with beans and cook for another hour or until beans are done. Right before serving add:
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

Ever wondered what "chipotle" is exactly? Well... it is a smoked jalapeño pepper. The idea came from Mexico sometime before the Aztecs.

Oven-Fried Parmesan Chicken

Quicker, cleaner, and more healthy than deep fried chicken... this is a recipe that I used frequently when I was a young newly-married girl. By girl, I really mean girl. I was only 19 years old when Dave and I were married. Although I would never recommend marrying so extremely young, so far our marriage has been a 22 year success. Funny thing, I haven't made this chicken for years and I guess I should have because last night my kids all raved about it during dinner.

Fill three pie plates:
1) 3/4 cup flour, salt, pepper
2) 3 eggs and 2 T milk
3) 2 cups of either seasoned crumbs, crushed croutons, or dried bread stuffing (such as Pepperidge Farms) and 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Rinse and dry full chicken cut up. Take the skin off the chicken (optional). Dip the chicken pieces in the pans in order: 1, 2, 3. Place on an oiled cookie sheet.


Cover with foil and bake in a 400ºF oven for 1 1/4 hours. Remove foil, top with 1/4 cup melted butter (or olive oil) and bake another 15 minutes.