Sweet Puptato Bones - Sweet Potato Dog Treats

Hunter, my 60 lb Standard Poodle, has to put up with a lot of delicious smells coming from the kitchen that he never gets to sample.  Usually, he just lays by the back door and watches me cook and, subsequently, eat whatever it is that I am throwing together.  Occasionally, he will regale me with his interpretation of Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy (he's quite well read) while he's lounging by the door, but for the most part, he watches in silence.

There is one thing, though, that will bring on a litany of grunts, growls, barks and various other vocalizations that I didn't even know were possible by a canine.  Sweet Potatoes.  Anytime I am slicing, dicing, mincing, steaming, baking, boiling, mashing, or roasting them, Hunter goes absolutely berserk.  So, in answer to his apparent love affair with this tasty tuber, I have decided to load up some Gluten-Free dog treats with fresh Sweet Potato.  And use the tiny little dog bone cutter that I found at Kitchen Kaboodle on NW 23rd and Flanders, in Portland.

After all, who could possibly resist this sweet puppy face?

 I know I can't...  :)

 Sweet PupTato Bones

350g (3 cups) (12.3 oz) Oat Flour
215g (1 1/2 cups) (7.6 oz) Brown Rice Flour
3 TB Golden Flax Meal or 3 TB Almond Meal
1 tsp Salt
1 large Egg
118ml (1/2 cup) Olive Oil
236ml (1 cup) Whole Milk
72g (2.5 oz) finely grated Sweet Potato (about 1/2 of a medium sized one)  OR substitute finely shredded Carrot

I need to go on record as stating that I originally measured the ingredients by standard volume, then weighed these amounts to come up with the gram and ounce.  Upon triple checking on the King Aurthur site and Aqua Calc, I figured I had done something wrong.  My weights were significantly heavier than theirs. So I did it again.... And again.... And AGAIN.   I kept coming up with the same weights, give or take a couple of grams.  I was extremely frustrated, to say the least.

I do not know how the conversion amounts are figured on those sites for non-traditional flours. I spoon the flour into the cup and level it off with a knife, and this is what I come up with.  Maybe they are sifting (several times) first, before measuring which, to me, is something you only do with cake.  I'm just sayin'.  Because of this, I have written the recipe in grams, which is technically the most accurate.  

Combine Oat Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Flax Meal (or Almond Meal) and Salt in a bowl, whisking well.

Add the Egg, Olive Oil, and Milk to the bowl.

Grate the Sweet Potato (or Carrot) with a zester (the finer the better).

Throw in the grated sweet potato.

Stir until a soft dough forms.

Let sit for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 225F degrees.
Divide the dough in 1/2.

Roll 1 piece out to 3/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.

Cut small shapes with a well floured (rice flour) cutter. (the dough will still stick a little bit)

Place each bone on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Gather scraps together, re-roll and cut until you have filled at least 2 baking sheet. (they bake for a LONG time, so your gonna wanna bake as many as possible at one time)

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 90 minutes, turning and rotating the pans every 30 minutes to ensure they bake/dry out evenly.

Cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes.

Store in an airtight container.

Mangia!!  (Yes, they are safe for human consumption)
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Dog Catcher in the Rye - PB Puppy Biscuits

I was torn about what to blog about this evening....  It's been one of those days.  Saturday and nothing pressing to do. So I spent most of the day in the kitchen making Streusel Scones, Cream of Bell Pepper Soup and Peanut Butter, Oatmeal & Rye Biscuits for Puppy.  Sounds like an odd dinner, No? LMAO

So after several coin tosses and a round of eeny meeny miney moe...  The Peanut Butter Biscuits won.

Dogs do not "taste" the same way we do.  In fact, they have 1/6th the amount of taste buds that humans have; about 1,700 as opposed to 9,000 in humans.  A dogs sense of smell, however, kind of makes up for the lack of taste buds.  Since, you cannot "smell" salt, nor can one "smell" sugar...  They are completely unnecessary ingredients when it comes to dog treats.  Since both of these can be detrimental to the health of your canine pal, it's best just to leave them out.

The key to a good dog treat is smell.  The more "aromatic" your dog treat, the more they will enjoy it.  Peanut Butter or Hazelnut Butter are excellent additions to these canine crunchables.  Does your dog not care for peanut butter?  That's OK, you can substitute 4 ounces of shredded Cheddar for the Peanut Butter and make Cheese Biscuits.  Neat-o Frito, huh?

Why am I so stuck on uncommon flours for my dog treats.  They tend to be whole grain flours instead of refined as wheat so often is, and they are either gluten-free or only contain minuscule amounts.  Gluten intolerance in dogs seems to be on the rise.  Otto, my previous companion, had gluten issues (it caused hot spots) so I am not taking any chances.

PB PBs 

(Peanut Butter Puppy Biscuits)

260 g (2 cups) Barley Flour
60 g (1/2 cup) Oat Flour
60 g (1/2 cup) Dark Rye Flour
235 ml (1 cup) Peanut Butter
1 Large Egg
60 ml (1/4 cup) Olive Oil
118 ml (1/2 cup) Water

Whisk the all three flours together in a large bowl.

Make a well in the center and add the remaining ingredients.

Mix with a spatula, or your hands until you have a somewhat cohesive, if mottled, dough.

Move dough to the counter and knead until smooth, if a little crumbly.

Wrap in plastic and allow to rest while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Roll on a rye floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut out biscuits (I made 1 pan of small 1/2 inch biscuits and 1 pan of larger 1 3/4  inch biscuits)

Place biscuits on parchment lined baking sheets. (you can place them very close, they do not spread)

Bake small biscuits for about 20 minutes and large biscuits for 35 minutes.

Cool on racks and let your puppy enjoy after a long afternoon of chasing your niece around the yard.

Good Dog!!
~~

Amazing Amatrice - Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

A tantelizing pasta dish hailing from Amatrice on the border of Lazio and Abruzzo in Italy.  If you love things like Bacon Tomato hash, the Classic BLT and/or Goulash, this pasta dish is for you.

Though classically made sans onions, a Roman affectation, the key to this dish, what separates it from all the others is the use of Guanciale.  Guanciale is cured porcine cheek, as opposed to Smoked Pork Belly (American Bacon), Dry Cured Pork Shoulder (Hot Coppa), or Dry Cured unsmoked Pork Belly (Pancetta).  And while all the meats listed can be used as substituted in a pinch, they are mere shadows of the real thing.  Guanciale has a much more intense flavor so a little goes a looooooong way.  It also lends almost a "Creamy" texture to the dish. 

Sadly, I was forced to use Hot Coppa this time...  I thought I still had some Guanciale in the refrigerator.  Alas, much to my dismay and forgetfulness, I did not.  Angels wept, as did I.   But since I already set my teeth on having all'Amatriciana for dinner I went ahead and substituted.

Traditionally, at least in Amatrice, this "Sugo" (sauce) is served over Spaghetti; while in Rome, Bucatini is the preferred pasta vehicle.  Me?  I am a Spaghetti kind of guy... But, in Roman fashion, I like a little onion in mine as well. 

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

1 TB Olive oil
1/4 cup Onion, chopped
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flake
4 oz Guanciale (though I used Hot Coppa this time)
1/2 cup White Wine
15.5 oz can Diced San Marzano Tomatoes
1/2 cup Pasta Water
1/3 cup Pecorino Romano, freshly grated

So cut the Guanciale/Hot Coppa/Pancetta/bacon into cubes.

Heat olive oil in a pan, then add the onions and saute briefly.

Sprinkle the Red Pepper flake over the Onions and saute a couple minutes more.

Add the cubed Guanciale (Hot Coppa) and saute an additional 2-3 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with White Wine.

Let the wine reduce to about 2 TB, then add the tomatoes.

Continue simmering the sauce while you drop the pasta into boiling water. (about 8 minutes)
Before draining the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water and set aside.

Drain pasta and place in a large tossing bowl.

Add 1/4 cup of the starchy water to the sauce.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss briefly.

Add the Pecorino Romano and toss again.

If the sauce is a little too stiff, add the 1/2 cup pasta water to not only wetten things up, but bind everything together as well.

Serve with extra grated Pecorino Romano.

Mangia!!
~~

Ah, Puppy Breath - Parsley Pooch Pops

For anyone who has followed this blog over the last couple of years you probably have a pretty good insight into how my mind works and have been privy to my somewhat outspoken opinions on certain things.  (shout out to all my beeps out there - Sorry I have not been around in the forums that much)  Such concerns as nutrition and FDA labeling regulations, or lack there of, coupled with conflicting information regarding the health of certain foods.  Yes, I have lived through the scandal over the evils of the avocado, now they are touted as one of natures miracle foods. Oye Vey!   Or how the makers of NutraSweet finally admit that there are "side effects" from consumption (like seizures).  Or how Stevia had to be sold as a "supplement" instead of a sweetener due to NutraSweet lobbyists.  Blah Blah Blah... I could go on for hours, but I will stop there; at least where human food is concerned.

I wanna talk about your dog's food, of which the FDA regulations are pretty much nil.  Yeah, that's right.  The FDA allows for pretty much ANYTHING to be placed in dog food.  I can tell you horror stories, but there is enough of that all over the net.  And while some of the information is fanatical propaganda, sadly, most of it is true.  Then you have the constant recalls of this food or that food because some by-product shipment from China was contaminated with this or that. Top that off with the preservatives that are used which are deemed to dangerous for human consumption. It's a recipe for health disaster.

I lost my last companion to Diabetes due to a veterinarian prescribed special dog food, that upon closer inspection of the ingredients, was nothing but a steady diet of junk.

Brewers Rice, Corn Starch, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Egg Product, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Potassium Citrate, Soybean Oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Calcium Carbonate, L-Lysine, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Beet Pulp, L-Threonine, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid, L-Tryptophan, L-Carnitine, Beta- Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

If you read this ingredient list, you will see that the only protein is this formulation is "dried egg product" and maybe the Chicken Liver "flavor", everything else is just carbs and fat...  Corn starch speaks for itself, but Brewer's rice?  It might as well say, converted white rice.  And the Soybean oil is preserved with BHA - a carcinogen.  A perfect recipe for diabetes in not only humans, but canines....  Which is what happened.

It only stands to rights that I am a little more sensitive to the nutritional needs of my new canine companion.  While I have done a ton of research and have finally found several "dog food" formulas that I am OK with.  I still refuse to buy any of the dog treats available at either the mega-mart or the pet-mart.  If you read the ingredients, they are still full of "junk"; even the ones that claim to be organic or holistic...

In my personal experience there are 3 big bad no no's in canine food and treats...  Gluten (from wheat), Corn (in any form) and Soy.  There are to many chances for intolerance.  Another is preservatives like BHA, BHT, TBHQ, propyl gallate (a xenoestrogen) and Ethoxyquin (which is a pesticide and a hardener used in synthetic rubber manufacturing) ... I figure, if I am not eating preservatives, then neither should canine pal.  Don't get me wrong, I am not going to jump on the BARF wagon or anything (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food).  Simply because part of the reason that Otto had Calcium Oxalate stones in his bladder to begin with was because he was getting TOO much protein, so I don't necessarily agree with that particular diet either.  It's all about balance and stopping the over exposure to harmful chemicals.

Thus I present my formulation for a healthy homemade dog treat that, as a bonus, will help freshen your pets breath as well as promote urinary tract health.  Parsley is a wonder herb.  I don't mean that curly stuff either, I mean good old Italian Flat leaf parsley. Barley, though a grain and technically a carb, is low in gluten.  Flax and Olive oil are good for the skin and coat (though I would not feed more that 1 or 2 a day as flax has other abilities in the "fiber-lax" department, if you catch my drift)  The egg white helps to bind the whole thing together without the extra fat from the yolk and the Applesauce, just makes it taste good.  LOL

Parsley Pooch Pops 

1/4 cup (7 g) (.25 oz) Fresh Italian Parsley leaves (try to keep the stems to a minimum)
1/4 cup (60 ml) (2 oz) Water
1 Egg White
2 TB Olive oil
1/4 cup (75 g) (2.5 oz) Applesauce, unsweetened
2 cups (250 g) (8.8 oz) Barley flour
1/2 cup (85 g) (3 oz) Golden Flax Seeds, ground (or Flax Meal)

Puree the Parsley with the water in the food processor.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white and olive oil together with a fork.

Add the applesauce and Parsley puree, stirring to combine.

In a large bowl, whisk together the Barley flour and ground Flax seed.

Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the Egg/Applesauce/Parsley mixture.

Stir with a fork until well combined. (Just like makin' pasta)

Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at room temp for 30 minutes (this allows for even dispersion of the moisture in the dough)

Line a baking sheet with parchment and begin preheating the oven to 375 degrees.

Begin breaking down the dough into .5 oz (13 g) pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and load them up on the baking sheet (cause they won't spread or anything)

Bake for 20 minutes.

Turn off the oven and let the "cookies" cool in the oven for 1 hour, if you want a softer center;

or you can let them sit in the oven for 2 hours to dry them all the way through.

And when your puppy is done defending the lawn from wayward leaves,

reward him/her for a job well done.

There is nothing quite like a smile on a dog.

Mangia!!  (after all, you can eat them too, if you want)  LOL
~~