Mushroom-Filled Blini

On March 7, 2024March 7, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grainsLeave a comment

When my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon went live with the latest recipe, Mushroom-Filled Blini, one of the first reactions that I received focused on the mushrooms, rather than the thin pancakes I wrap around them. Although I wrote the recipe for cremini mushrooms, the brown-toned baby Portobellos that are easily found in most grocery stores, I ate delicious blini stuffed with wild mushrooms while traveling across Russia.

In my corner of Northwest Montana, spring mushroom foraging season is just around the corner. I recommend bookmarking this week’s recipe if you’ll soon be out hunting for morels, our most popular edible spring fungi. You can find more ideas for cooking your bounty in this blog post. It also links to a Flathead Beacon column I wrote in 2022 after interviewing local forager Dale Johnson, who offered tips for identifying and using your wild mushroom collection.
Learn to make Mushroom-Filled Blini

Spiced Red Lentil Dip

On February 29, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dips, WorkshopsLeave a comment

My free March 2 workshop on lentils will be my 10th presentation for Free the Seeds. If you’re in Northwest Montana, join us for not just my workshop but the whole daylong event to pick out free seeds, talk with local food experts, and attend the full slate of workshops on everything from successful gardening to saving seeds. If you’re not local, you can still participate in four workshops via Zoom.

I explain more about the event and my workshop in my latest Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I also share one of my favorite easy lentil recipes: Spiced Red Lentil Dip. In the workshop, we’ll look at the range of lentil varieties that are easy to find locally and ways to enjoy them, from cooked to spouted to fermented and from crunchy snacks to full meals.
Learn to make Spiced Red Lentil Dip

Fresh Ground Peanut Butter Cookies

On February 22, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, cookiesLeave a comment

Every since I first encountered a bright red nut-grinding machine in a grocery store, I’ve been a fan of fresh ground peanut butter. You can see the shelled peanuts in the hopper (and often almonds in a neighboring machine) and watch them come out the dispenser as creamy nut butter. The result isn’t the ground peanut clump submerged under an inch of oil that you often find when opening jarred natural peanut butter, and it lacks the added butter, sugar, salt, and preservatives of aggressively marketed brands. It’s just nuts.

Peanut butter features in all sorts of baked goods, but as I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, many recipes were originally written for peanut butter spreads already heavy in butter and sugar. It took me several batches of cookies to adapt the recipe I grew up with for fresh ground peanut butter. It was well worth all that sampling and experimenting: these cookies are easy enough to make for everyday snacking yet tasty enough that I can add them to a holiday cookie tray.

Learn to make Fresh Ground Peanut Butter Cookies

Russian Kasha (Multigrain Hot Cereal Mix)

On February 15, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry storedLeave a comment

Some recipes act less as precise instructions that need to be followed to successfully complete a dish and more as reminders for the possibilities that can be created. I share one of the latter recipes this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

When I adopted hot cereal into my regular meal schedule, the mix of grains I used opened up options for a range of recipes. I rarely bother to measure out portions these days, just combining the various grains by sight to come up with a blend that I not only cook into Russian kasha but also dehydrate for granola and use as a rolled oat replacement in other recipes. The various flakes add more flavor and texture than a single grain and can be easily and affordably combined at home.

Learn to make Russian Kasha (Multigrain Hot Cereal Mix)

Grilled Onion Guacamole

On February 8, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dipsLeave a comment

I don’t follow sports yet always know when the Super Bowl is approaching. It seems that in the week before the game, every grocery store puts avocados and tortilla chips on sale. I just bought large, not-yet-ripe ones yesterday, so it seems an apt time to share my guacamole recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.
For shoppers, avocados no longer have a season, as various countries cycle through their growing seasons and ship their harvest to the United States. Because they’re picked while hard and underripe for long transport, I look for unbruised avocados that have dark skin (for the variety) and an intact stem. Once you can easily push the stem free with a fingertip and see bright green flesh underneath, the avocado has hit its peak ripeness. Check for this after you’ve taken the avocado home and let it ripen on the counter for a few days, until it gives slightly under gentle pressure; popping off the stem too early affects the ripening process.

Ripe avocados have the best flavor, especially in a mild dip like guacamole. As I explain in this week’s column, mixing them with onion and garlic that have mellowed and sweetened on the grill enhances their taste.

Learn to make Grilled Onion Guacamole

Tomato, Potato, and Garlic Soup

On February 1, 2024March 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, soups4 Comments

When I’m harvesting tomatoes and other sun-ripened vegetables in summer, I look forward to enjoying them not just fresh that same day but also from the freezer midwinter in soups and other recipes. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, having year-round access to the flavor of produce picked at the peak of its growth is the main reason I preserve food by freezing, canning, and more. Out-of-season produce shipped thousands of miles just can’t compete.

Even if you don’t grow your own food, it’s worth seeking out in-season produce and freezing it for out-of-season use. You still capture some of that fresh flavor, and you then have a freezer full of options for soups that can be made at a moment’s notice without a trip to the store. The tomatoes in this soup are among the easiest vegetables to freeze; potatoes, onions, and garlic can be stored even more simply in a dry, dark, cool place.

Learn to make Tomato, Potato, and Garlic Soup

Twice-Baked Sourdough Pita Chips

On January 25, 2024February 22, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Giveaway, sourdough2 Comments

We’re winding down this year’s Sourdough Month here at Twice as Tasty. I’ve been sending out far fewer packets than in the last couple of years, but it’s been exciting to see others sharing and receiving sourdough starter locally and through the Sharing fermented starters Facebook group. One of the things I love about this online group is that people are sharing so many ferments, with kefir grains some of the more popular at the moment. The other thing to love is that this group is active all year, around the world. So if January wasn’t your sourdough month, you can request starter within the group whenever you’re ready to join in the fermentation fun.

I put a different spin on that fun this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. It pushes beyond soft, chewy loaves like Herb-and-Salt Sourdough Focaccia to a bake that satisfies the craving for something crispy and crunchy.
Learn to make Twice-Baked Sourdough Pita Chips

Herb-and-Salt Sourdough Focaccia

On January 18, 2024January 25, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Giveaway, sourdoughLeave a comment

Since I started baking with sourdough starter and developing my own recipes, my go-to loaf has been Sourdough Cabin Bread: freeform, crusty, and the right shape and texture for everything from a sandwich or French toast to chunks for dipping in soup and cubes for turning into Panzanella. If this bread has a fault, it’s that it keeps cooking through to the center after you pull it from the oven, which means it really should cool completely before you slice it.

A desire for hot-from-the-oven bread tops my reasons for making the sourdough focaccia recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. Not only can it be eaten hot, but it prefers to be eaten as fresh as possible. Focaccia becomes stale quickly, so I intentionally scaled the recipe to a small pan.
Learn to make Herb-and-Salt Sourdough Focaccia

Sourdough Empanadas

On January 11, 2024January 25, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Giveaway, sourdough1 Comment

When I first started baking with a sourdough starter, I was eager to bake loaves of tangy fermented bread with a cracking crust and tender crumb. Since then, baking bread has become a habit that ensures I always have a fresh homemade loaf ready to slice. Yet I probably make Sourdough Pizza Dough even more frequently because it can be transformed in so many ways. As I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, mastering this recipe opens opportunities to make everything from baked and grilled pizza to stuffed pastries like empanadas.

I teach people how to make homemade sourdough pizzas in one of my most popular workshops, because learning to make this dough is such an easy way to become comfortable baking with wild yeast. I also recommend it for new bakers who are just learning on their own to care for and use a sourdough starter.
Learn to make Sourdough Empanadas

Choosing Deep Freezers

On January 8, 2024May 10, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn frozen, Tools4 Comments

Of all the places I store the garden’s bounty and homemade treats, from canning to dehydrating to dry storage, my deep freezer is probably my favorite. Yet it’s one of the smallest models you can buy. That makes each cubic foot of space prime real estate in my world, and I’ve been filling every inch of it for more than 15 years. I explain why this little freezer works so well in my first piece for All Recipes.

If you’re looking for a deep freezer and have limited space, I’ve found my 7.0-cubic-foot model ideal for a couple. As I searched for the best models for homes with fewer space constraints, family and friends generously let me peruse their freezers to discover the styles and sizes they prefer and why. Their experiences shaped my choices for various freezer categories.
Learn about choosing and using deep freezers