Roasted Garlic Hummus

On February 16, 2023November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dips2 Comments

You can’t go wrong with the classic pairing of pita bread and hummus. Although hummus has become popular enough to earn cold-case space in most grocery stores, your homemade Pillow Sourdough Pita deserves a homemade spread. Fortunately, you can easily whip up a batch in minutes in your kitchen, as I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

For maximum flavor and creaminess in my hummus, I use roasted garlic, a little Homemade Yogurt, and home-cooked dried chickpeas. My hummus is still ready in minutes because I always have a stash of roasted garlic and fresh yogurt in my fridge for all sorts of uses. Then I’ll cook up a large batch of beans for a couple of meals and throw in an extra 2/3 cup of dried beans to pull out for hummus. But for spontaneous hummus, I always have a can or two of low-sodium chickpeas in my pantry.
Learn to make Roasted Garlic Hummus

Corn and Potato Chowder

On February 9, 2023November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, soupsLeave a comment

Just setting at a bowl of chowder on the table cuts my hunger pains. The thick soup immediately looks warming and filling. After a ski day, I don’t even feel guilty about dipping a slice or two of sourdough bread into the bowl.

The chowder recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon has become one of my après ski favorites because it’s so easy to make with ingredients I keep in my house. Even if you don’t grow and store boxes of your own onions, garlic, and potatoes, they’re affordable and keep well. The same goes for frozen corn and stock. With a little butter, and some cream and salsa if it’s on hand, you have everything you need for a filling meal.
Learn to make Corn and Potato Chowder

Frozen Strawberry Syrup

On February 2, 2023November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, frozen2 Comments

The first year I canned fruit syrups, I gifted my sister a couple of jars. The next year, she asked for a full box of jars filled with the jewel-toned syrups. In her house, they get used more often than jams: drizzled on pancakes or waffles, stirred into yogurt, blended into smoothies, and more.

I like making summertime fruit syrups because I can pair fruit and herbs in the same way I do for shrubs, ending up with a sweet concoction rather than a sweet-and-tangy vinegar-spiked one. The downside, as with jelly, is that it takes a lot of fruit to fill a canner-load of jars. So I created a recipe for my Twice as Tasty column this week for the Flathead Beacon that takes just one bag of fruit from the freezer and turns it into a jar of syrup you can keep in the fridge.
Learn to make Frozen Strawberry Syrup

Stovetop Sourdough English Muffins

On January 26, 2023December 27, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, sourdough3 Comments

I baked up a batch of sourdough English muffins a few weeks ago and rediscovered just how easy they are to make. That’s not how I had remembered them, and looking back over my notes, I realized it was because it took several tries to create a recipe that had almost no kneading, allowed a long ferment time, and could be cooked entirely on the stovetop.

That latter quality was the reason I pulled out the recipe after ignoring it for so long: we’re in the middle of a house remodel, so I’ve been a bit transient for the last few months, most recently staying in a family guesthouse with a functioning stovetop but a nonworking oven. I’m now baking a new batch of sourdough English muffins every time we polish off the last one. It seemed well worth sharing as the final Sourdough Month recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

The 6th Annual Sourdough Giveaway has been a huge success; so far, I’ve sent out more than 250 packets of sourdough starter! It is winding down, so sign up by January 31, 2023, if you want me to send you a free packet of my own sourdough starter.
Learn to make Stovetop Sourdough English Muffins

Pillowy Sourdough Pita

On January 19, 2023January 4, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, sourdoughLeave a comment

It’s always rewarding to pull a sourdough creation from the oven, but pita bread has a bonus fun factor. As they bake, sourdough pitas puff into floury pillows, holding their shape until they hit the cooling rack. When they cool, they collapse into flatbread ready to be stuffed with fillings or rebaked as chips.

As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, a few tricks help with the rise and fall of sourdough pita bread, but don’t worry if a few pita rounds refuse to puff evenly—they’ll still be tasty, and with practice, you’ll become better at rolling the rounds and timing the baking for pillowy sourdough pita.
Learn to make Pillowy Sourdough Pita

Sourdough Power Waffles

On January 12, 2023December 27, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, sourdoughLeave a comment

When you think of sourdough, you probably picture a loaf of tangy, tasty bread. But you have so many more ways to use sourdough, as I’ll be sharing all month in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. Some of my favorites can use what many people call sourdough discard. I consider the word “discard” to be a misnomer, because I never actually throw out starter—even when I’m waking up a starter that’s been dormant for months or rehydrating a new-to-me starter, like the one I’m giving away until January 31, 2023. You can learn more about the giveaway here.

Get Starter

Instead of discarding weak starter, I use it in numerous baked goods that don’t need a lot of rising oomph, including pancakes and waffles. Either sourdough breakfast option has enough flavor that you can simply serve them with butter and syrup, but more filling toppings give the waffles in my latest column their “power” name.
Learn to make Sourdough Power Waffles

6th Annual Sourdough Giveaway

On January 5, 2023December 27, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Giveaway, sourdough2 Comments

Welcome to the 6th Annual Sourdough Giveaway! I’ve been sharing my starter every January since I started this blog, but last year’s giveaway broke all of my records, with 154 sourdough packets leaving my kitchen and heading out into the world.

Many of those packets went to readers of my Twice as Tasty column in the Flathead Beacon, so thank you for supporting local journalism, as well as reading my column and blog. Twice as Tasty starter has now traveled to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Slovenia, and throughout the United States, and I hope to share it with even more new sourdough bakers this year. Request your starter by the end of January to get in on the sourdough adventures.
Read more about starting with sourdough

Norwegian-Style Gløgg

On December 29, 2022December 28, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, Column1 Comment

As many friends and family approach the end of the year with subzero nights and canceled flights, a stay-at-home New Year’s Eve sounds welcoming. Whether you’re keeping it intimate or filling the house with friends, the hot spiced wine recipe in my latest Twice as Tasty column can be casual enough for a cozy fireside chat or tasty enough for a countdown party.

Various cultures have twists on the basic idea of hot red wine in a mug. Some are simply warmed with spices, others are sweetened or boosted with stronger alcohol, and some have it all. My favorite version, the Norwegian-Style Gløgg I share in this week’s Flathead Beacon, falls into the third category, with the bonus of vodka-spiked raisins and crunchy almonds in the bottom of each cup. Fortifying the wine with spice-infused vodka and adding a bit of sugar makes it adaptable to all sorts of reds, including cheaper bottles or ones opened but then forgotten.
Learn to make Norwegian-Style Gløgg

Cranberry-Orange Quick Bread

On December 22, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, quick breads1 Comment

After endless hours in coffeeshops, I have a soft spot for muffins and scones, but Montana life has taught me to favor quick breads. It’s their mobility I admire. Where muffins can get squished if they aren’t well packaged and scones can crumble after the first day, quick breads can be sliced once cool and slid into a gallon zip-close bag, where they hold their shape well. Better yet, presliced loaves can be frozen so that I can pull out a couple of slices, warm them in the toaster oven, and devour them as I’m driving up the ski hill.

In my Twice as Tasty column this week for the Flathead Beacon, I share a wintertime quick bread that packs a flavor punch from cranberries and orange. I usually buy at least two bags of cranberries as soon as I see them in stores and immediately freeze one with the berries whole and unwashed, since water causes the skins to blister. I can then make this bread on a whim, chopping still-frozen cranberries in a food processor.
Learn to make Cranberry-Orange Quick Bread

Gourmet Granola with Nuts and Fruit

On December 15, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dehydrated1 Comment

My food dehydrator sees regular, year-round use: drying homegrown herbs and vegetables during the growing season, making fruit leather to give my nephew and niece for birthdays and Christmas, and dehydrating sourdough starter for my annual January giveaway. Still, I fill it most often with a blend of grains, spices, and sweeteners that become granola.

In my latest Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I share one of my favorite granola recipes and explain why I make it in a food dehydrator. If you don’t own one, don’t worry—I give instructions for baking it in the oven too.
Learn to make Gourmet Granola with Nuts and Fruit