I like to bake treats for my dogs. Sometimes I'll cook for them using the guidelines found in Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats. Usually when I do bake treats for Muffin and Panda, I just throw a whole bunch of ingredients together until the dough is the texture I need it to be to roll it out for cookie cutting. Up until now, they've pretty much had vegetarian dog treats with the occasional chicken or beef broth for the liquid portion of the dough. Panda's birthday is coming up, so I thought this would be a nice treat for the two monsters.
I was browsing through my Bouchon Bakery cookbook that my mom got me for my birthday one year and stumbled upon a recipe for dog treats! It's definitely different from any other recipe I've used or even thought of. I've been a fan of Thomas Keller ever since discovering Bouchon Bakery (and the restaurant) in Las Vegas. It's a stop I always HAVE to make when I'm there. Not to mention that their prices are not outrageous like some others on the strip.
So on to the recipe. I made some changes because I do think it might be a little bit rich for Muffin and Panda and I don't like cleaning up messes when they overindulge. I also prefer not to feed them wheat and corn and used oats and flax for the flour mixture. I also changed up some other minor details.
Begin by sauteeing the cut 12 oz bacon over medium high heat. Watch out for splattering! I don't really buy bacon to cook at home, at least not pork bacon and it was not fun.
Once browned, remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels. This was like a battlefield getting the bacon out of the pan and trying to avoid the oil from jumping up at my hand. Muffin and Panda better appreciate this.
So... it was my first time ever buying or dealing with chicken liver and I knew I was in for a not so nice surprise when I opened the container. Here's what it looked like:
I was a little grossed out and being dramatic so I quickly rinsed it and not really wanting to touch it anymore, forgot to cut it and instead plopped it onto the pan in whole pieces:
I ended up cutting it into smaller pieces with some kitchen shears and mashed it to a paste using my handy dandy potato masher. Muffin and Panda knew something was up at this point... first the aroma of bacon and now... liver. They were hanging around the kitchen and Muffin, the dog who never ever loves me, decided that he loved me a lot and was standing with his front paws on my leg, staring so pitifully at me. I gave the two suckers a little bacon, they're so cute, my two little angels.
After dumping the bacon and liver into my Vitamix and pureeing it to a paste (you can leave it a coarse crumbly texture as well), I scraped it all out into my electric mixer bowl. Yeah, maybe breaking it down to a paste wasn't the brightest idea because it wasn't fun getting it out of the Vitamix.
Mix the flour in until crumbly and then add the applesauce. You can use water too or broth if you'd like, but I had some applesauce leftover and I think Muffin and Panda like it; I always use it for their other treats.
When it starts coming together, dump it out onto the counter and knead until it becomes a smooth dough. Did I mention I hate kneading dough? I suppose you can try kneading it in your mixer, but I used oat flour which creates a crumbly dough.
Flatten it to a disk and cover with plastic wrap, then roll it out to desired thickness or about 1/4 inch. So much work! I was just ready to get it in the oven at this point and be done with it. But alas, I wanted cute dog bone shapes.
So I went ahead and made them. If your dough is to dry, you can add some more applesauce or water. I try to be efficient to get as many shapes as possible because rolling the dough out, cutting it, and then repeating gets so monotonous and boring. And Panda and Muffin looked so sad lying in the kitchen with their heads down wondering why I wasn't sharing. =(
The dough is pretty dry and I think you can just stick it straight on the nonstick sheet, but I always use a silpat. Silpat is the best invention ever. EVER. I've tested backing macarons on silpat vs parchment paper and the silpat creates the perfect feet. It's also so versatile for rolling out dough on the counter top.
Pop the treats into your preheated oven! So... just a warning, your home will smell like... liver and bacon. I think the liver smell was a lot stronger. Before starting the recipe, I made sure to put all clothing and my purse into another room and shut the doors to all the rooms and bathroom so that it didn't absorb any of the smells. I also cranked down the AC, turned on fans, and lit candles.
I think I got about 4 - 5 dozen treats out of this. For something that was that much work, it'd better yield a lot. Otherwise, I would just cut them smaller. They are kind of rich so using a smaller cutter wouldn't be a bad idea, but I've yet to find smaller bone shaped cookie cutters.
Homemade Bacon Dog Treats (adapted from the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook)
- 12 ounces sliced bacon, cut into smaller pieces
- 1 pound chicken liver, cut into smaller pieces
- 8 ounces applesauce
- 3 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1/2 cup ground flax seed
Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the bacon. Cook until golden brown and drain on a paper towel. reserving about tablespoon of bacon grease, add the liver to the pan. Smash the liver to cook to a paste. Add the bacon and liver to a food processor and mix to a fine paste or if preferred, to a coarse texture.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add in the flour and flax seed and mix to combine. Add in the chicken/liver mixture and mix at low speed until the texture is crumbly. With the mixer still on low speed, slowly add in the applesauce and mix until well combined. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for a couple minutes until dough is smooth.
At this point, you can divide the dough to make it easier to work with; if you are using only portions of the dough at a time, keep the unused dough covered to prevent drying. Flatten the dough to a disk and lay it on top of parchment paper or a silpat mat. Place a large cut of plastic wrap over the dough and roll it out; remove the plastic wrap and cut the dough into desired shapes. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat. The dough does dry a little faster than usual, so make sure to work with it quickly. Bake the treats in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the treats in the oven overnight or for about 2 - 3 hours. This will dehydrate the treats to a crisp biscuit. Store in an airtight container.
No comments:
Post a Comment