Beaver's Tails

First off, this recipe is not called Beaver's Tails, it's called something else that I'm certain has never been spelled before. I had to find the name of a similar breakfast food to use, so just know that even though I'm calling this Beaver's Tails, this is an old family recipe called something else. Now that I've got that out of the way, I can tell you that this is a recipe that my great-grandmother used to make on the farm. She'd get up at four in the morning and start the dough, only an hour before everyone else would get up to milk the cows and go about their chores. Once the dough was ready, she'd make the Beaver's Tails, and everyone would eat. However, because she was feeding 23 (ish) people, and you never knew how much to make, she'd have a lot of leftover balls of dough. With the leftovers, she'd make rolls, which meant that from sunup to sundown she'd be in the kitchen making all sorts of bread.
*Yes, this is the same great-grandmother that threw 5 whole chickens, fresh from the coop, into the pot to make chicken soup.
**When someone asks you, "Do you know how to punch the dough?", that does not mean go Muhammad Ali style and knock out

the dough in five punches. I did not realize this soon enough. Now I am sharing my wisdom. Learn from my mistakes, or you too will hear the horrified look in your mother's eyes.

                                               


    Sometimes it's nice to have a small helper.

                                                                           


















Ingredients:
2 packages active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit)

1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter


7 cups flour
Enough oil to be an inch thick in the frying pan

Maple syrup, cinnamon sugar, or any other pancake/French Toast/doughnut toppings

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl. Add salt, butter, and flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Knead for 2 minutes. Dough will be sticky.
Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down and divide in half. Separate into balls about 3 inches in diameter onto
sprayed cookie sheets. Should make about balls. Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Heat oil over high heat. Pull dough until flat, and place 2-3 in hot oil at a time. When edges are brown, flip. Only needs a couple of seconds on each side. Put on baking sheet covered with paper towel. Have any toppings ready to go. Best hot.

We had to invite family over to enjoy it with us.
And who can resist that cute face???




~Q.Q.

Zwetschgen-Pofesen (Pronounced s-Vet-ch-gen po-FAY-zin)

When we were in Austria, we tried a dish that we absolutely loved, so once we got back home, we tried to duplicate it. It's Zwetschgen-Pofesen, basically a really unhealthy version of french toast and plum jam. Remember: this is not for health, it's for good food. *We used powidl, plum jam that is hard-pressed to find in the United States.

For 2 Sandwiches-
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon brandy or rum (optional)
1 egg
1 cup milk
1-1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
Tart jam (black cherry or strawberry works)
Flour

Recipe:
Mix the cinnamon, rum, egg, milk, sugar and vanilla. Take four slices of bread and spread jam on two. Make a sandwich and put it in milk and egg mixture. Let soak on both sides. Add as much flour as needed to make light pancake batter. Put stove on medium high and melt butter. Place sandwiches in pancake mixture then in pan. Let cook. Flip when golden brown in color.

~Q.Q.

Happy Birthday!

When we were thinking of ideas for my other grandmother and I to make, the first choice was chocolate eau claire. It was my great-grandmother's birthday, so we figured we could kill two birds with one stone and make both a dessert and an item for this blog. While we were waiting for the crust to bake, though, my grandmother asked if I would like to make strawberry muffins. It was an opportunity I couldn't turn down. So now here is a breakfast and dessert in one post!

Chocolate Eau Claire

Crust Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

Heat water and butter until boiling. Add flour and mix until it forms a ball. Add eggs one at a time and mix in the mixer until smooth. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool.

Filling Ingredients:

2 cups pudding

2 1/2 cups milk

8 ounces Cool Whip

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix pudding and milk. Fold in Cool Whip and Vanilla.

Chocolate Ingredients:

2 squares dark unsweetened chocolate

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons butter

Melt chocolate with butter. Add 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar and stir.

Strawberry Muffins

 

Ingredients:

1 pound of strawberries sliced

3 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cold corn oil

4 eggs beaten

1 cup pecans chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add oil. Add beaten eggs. Blend lightly. Add nuts, strawberries and blend until dry ingredients are moistened. Put in greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Bye!

~Q.Q.

Namastē

Over the weekend, I went to visit an Indian friend, Fiona, and her family to make salmon curry. However, Fiona does not cook at all, so she took the amazing pictures while I cooked with her mother, Lynda. This recipe is super simple, but my mom and I fell in love with it at first bite.

Salmon Fish Curry           

Ingredients: 

1 ½  lb. Salmon (cut into 1 in. cubes)

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

2 stalks curry leaves

2 red dried chili peppers

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

4-5 pieces of pulli

1 cup boiling water 

Grind-

3 teaspoon coriander powder

2 teaspoons red chilli powder

1 ¼ teaspoon fenugreek powder (uluva)

¼  teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons minced garlic (6)

2 teaspoons minced ginger

2 tablespoons diced shallots (3)

1 ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions: 

Soak pulli in boiling water.

Add oil to pot, pop mustard seeds (1 tsp), 2 stalks curry

leaves,

1 dried red chili. Add 1 ½ c chopped onions. Fry until brown.

Add ground masala. Add ½ of pulli water. Fry until smell comes.

Add rest of pulli water and pulli. Boil. Add fish. Put on medium-low

and cook covered for 20 minutes.

Salmon goes best with rice and yogurt.

As a side, a cucumber and tomato salad works great.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad Ingredients:

1 tomato chopped

1/2 cucumber chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1 tablespoon cilantro chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Mix above ingredients.

Enjoy! 
 
 
 

Alavidha
~Q.Q.