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

Homemade Shaken Eggnog

On December 28, 2023December 28, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

Many cocktails have a season, with cooling beverages like mojitos in summer and rich or hot ones in winter. Eggnog has one of the shortest seasons—late October or November through the end of the year, if you’re buying it premade or seeking a house-made version at your favorite distillery or bar. Historically, it was seen as a holiday beverage because of its richness and warming spices and was sometimes even served warm. Today, manufacturers say it just doesn’t sell outside the holidays, even in regions with months of cold, snowy weather.

If you’re an eggnog fan, the best way to extend the beverage’s season is to make it yourself. But even if you only want to enjoy it on Christmas or New Year’s Eve, the main reason to whip up your own eggnog is all in the glass—a soft, rich flavor in every sip that bears little resemblance to the cloyingly sweet milkshake-style drink that comes in a carton.
Learn to make Homemade Shaken Eggnog

Dutch Baby

On December 21, 2023December 21, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn baked, ColumnLeave a comment

If you want a Christmas morning breakfast that comes together quickly, can feed a crowd, and looks like a special treat (even though you could make it any morning you aren’t rushing out the door), look no further than the baked pancake recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. Known as a Dutch baby (or “Dutch babies,” as we always say it in my family), this puffy, family-style pancake looks as impressive as a souffle when it comes out of the oven yet is far easier to prepare.

The dreaded collapse of a souffle is actually welcome here. It leaves part of the pancake high and slightly crisp, part creamy like custard, and all perfect for serving with an array of toppings. You can scale up the recipe for as many servings as you need and gather around the table to enjoy it or balance it on your lap (perhaps served in a shallow bowl) beside the tree.
Learn to make Dutch Baby

Pumpkin Quick Bread

On December 15, 2023December 15, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, quick breadsLeave a comment

While most people of think of pumpkins for pie late in the year—I shared each homemade component over several weeks last year in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon—many of my homegrown sugar pumpkins end up in less labor-intensive dishes, like the quick bread recipe I share this week. I explain in my column how “quick” can be a bit misleading, since it still takes time to put the recipe together and an hour for the bread to bake, but compared with a yeast or sourdough bread or an all-scratch pie, it’s a speedy creation.

Quick breads have lots of advantages over other baked goods: they’re easy to store and transport, and I generally create two-loaf recipes so that I can slice and then freeze one to enjoy later, piece by piece. This time of year, the extra loaf also makes an easy holiday gift.
Learn to make Pumpkin Quick Bread

Sweet Potato-Mushroom Salad

On December 7, 2023December 7, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, saladsLeave a comment

The sweet potato salad I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon is one of those recipes that has cycled in and out of my diet over the years. I started making it more than 20 years ago, when it became a go-to, packable workday lunch. After I moved to Montana, I stopped making it as my garden grew. I haven’t been successful in growing sweet potatoes or mushrooms, so my root-vegetable salads shifted to homegrown potatoes with fresh and pickled vegetables.

I brought this salad back to my menu when we started multiweek sailing trips. This salad has become one of my staples for launch day. I make it the night before, keeping the dressing separate, so that it’s ready to eat after we hoist sails and start cruising away from the mainland. It makes a large enough batch and keeps well enough in our ice chest that the leftovers can be enjoyed as a second meal a day or so later.
Learn to make Sweet Potato-Mushroom Salad

Chocolate Rum Balls

On November 30, 2023November 30, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, cookiesLeave a comment

Just last night, I finished preparing my make-ahead cookies for the holidays. I rolled the last balls in powdered sugar and stacked them in a cookie tin, where they will sit untouched for the next 3 weeks to age before they are ready to be shared and eaten by family and friends.

Each year, in the days after Thanksgiving, I bake two kinds of cookies that taste better the longer they sit: Vanilla Bean Cookies and Chocolate Rum Balls, the recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I’m at least the third generation in my family to create these cookies, and friends have adopted them as part of their own holiday tradition. These recipes are such a sweet way to end the year and remember past baking days with my grandmother, mom, sister, and others.
Learn to make Chocolate Rum Balls

Maple-Glazed Carrots

On November 22, 2023November 22, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry storedLeave a comment

My Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon went live early this week so that you have ample time to add its recipe to your Thanksgiving meal. Maple-Glazed Carrots slide in easily among traditional dishes, offering a hint of sweetness and touch of spice without overfilling a plate or adding excessive time to your prep. Their simplicity belies their flavor, which is rich enough to nestle against more complex holiday dishes or gussy up a weeknight meal.

Because they’re made in one pan on the stovetop, they don’t need space in an oven already claimed by a Thanksgiving turkey, dressings, or pies. Best of all, if your feast numbers swell and you have a bag of carrots in your refrigerator, you can glaze them quickly using kitchen staples and add this stress-free side dish to the holiday spread at the last minute. If you just bought carrots with their tops intact, take a nibble of their greens: Those that were recently harvested and remain sweet can be blended into a delicious herb salsa garnish.
Learn to make Maple-Glazed Carrots

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

On November 16, 2023November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, saucesLeave a comment

Earlier this month, a friend asked if I had “no-fail, hearty amount holiday gravy recipe for incompetent gravy makers.” It might seem like a tall order for someone who has always preferred cranberry sauce to gravy, even before giving up turkey, but I actually have a recipe that fits the bill: a mushroom gravy that comes together quickly, thickens effortlessly, can be made ahead and reheated just before the holiday feast, can be easily made in a double or trip batch, and bursts with flavor. I share it this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon and for the first time here on the blog.

You can certainly serve this gravy with any holiday meal. It’s so tasty that the carnivores and vegetarians at the table will all thank you. I primarily make it to serve on poutine with homegrown oven-fried potatoes and homemade fresh cheddar curds. It would also be delicious on a lentil loaf or meatloaf, mashed potatoes, or roasted root vegetables.
Learn to make Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy

Seared Shrimp in Garlic Oil

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

We grill outdoors year-round, but not every evening is ideal for stepping out and firing up a chimney of charcoal. On icy nights when I don’t want to be more than a few steps from the woodstove, I pull out the recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I think of seared shrimp bubbling in hot oil as a Spanish dish because it reminds me of meals I enjoyed in Spain’s tapas bars. This dish is incredibly simple to make, and if you always keep a bag of raw shrimp in the freezer and a head of garlic on the counter, you can make it on a whim.

I like to serve these shrimp over Cinnamon Couscous, a recipe I picked up on my travels in Morocco, as a quick fusion meal. You can also simply cut some hunks of Sourdough Cabin Bread or the crusty white baguette in my new sourdough guide for the The Old Farmer’s Almanac website and dip them into the oil to munch alongside the shrimp, tapas style.
Learn to make Seared Shrimp in Garlic Oil

Making and Using Sourdough Starter

On November 7, 2023November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn sourdoughLeave a comment

I’ve been baking with my sourdough starter for more than 9 years and teaching others to do so for nearly as long, but there’s always so much more to learn. So I was excited for the opportunity to research, write, and now share a sourdough guide on The Old Farmer’s Almanac website based on historical sourdough recipes from their archive.

This guide includes instructions for making a sourdough starter from scratch, which was a new project for me. I was gifted my existing sourdough starter in May 2014, and I’ve been baking with it, and sharing it with hundreds of people, ever since. The Beginner Sourdough Starter in the guide, which I based on archival recipes, is also fed and maintained a little differently from how I manage my established starter, which may appeal to sourdough bakers who don’t want to buy a kitchen scale or weigh out ingredients in grams. The four recipes in the guide use this scratch-made sourdough starter in quick breads and even a crusty white loaf.
Learn more about making and using sourdough starter