Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Bruschetta

Our tomatoes are finally turning red! I picked some decent sized Early Girls today -- I love it when you're cutting up a tomato warm from the summer sun. It just makes them taste better somehow. We've had a bug eating our basil this year, but I was able to get a few leaves to use for homemade Bruschetta. Usually meant as an appetizer, our family eats Bruschetta as a meal on Sunday afternoons in the summer. When the tomatoes are ripe, I just can't get enough! The recipe says 16 servings, but my family of four usually eats about two-thirds of a batch when we serve it up as the meal.

Photo courtesy of cooks-catering.com

Bruschetta

2 tomatoes, diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
two 16-inch-long French-style baguettes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Stir everything but the baguettes and oil in a small glass or ceramic bowl, and let the mixture rest for at least 10 minutes at room temperature.

2. Slice the baguettes about 3/4-inch thick, on the diagonal. Brush one side of each slice with additional olive oil.

3. Place slices oil-side-up on a baking sheet, and broil (carefully!) just until the slices are lightly browned. Remove them from the broiler and place in a serving dish so that the bottoms don't get soggy.

4. When ready to serve, place about 2 to 3 teaspoons of the tomato mixture on top of each slice of bread.

Servings: 16

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/16 of a recipe (1.8 ounces).
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 108.86
Total Fat: 3.63g
Saturated Fat: 0.61g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 191.17mg
Potassium: 85.34mg
Total Carbohydrates: 16.13g

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Chili Cook-off

I'm off to our church's annual Chili Cook-off contest with two of my favorite stand-by recipes -- Black Bean Soup and Cheese Bread. Technically, neither one is chili. I learned last year that I'm not really a big fan of chili. Also, I'm such a picky eater, for pot-luck stuff I usually bring food that will make me happy. I really have a hard time eating food when I don't know the standards by which it was prepared. I guess I'm admitting several neurosis here. But, don't judge. I bring enough to share. Generally I don't boil the soup this high, but I needed to cook the celery quickly. I realized I started the soup with only one hour until it was time to go -- by boiling the heck out of it, I'm hoping the celery will be soft by the time we make it to the church. UGH! I just realized my jeans are in the washer -- I'm off to throw them in the dryer in the hopes that they'll make it in time! Wish me luck on all counts!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits


A few weeks ago I had a terrible need for a KFC biscuit. After convincing the family to pick up dinner, KFC had the audacity to be out of biscuits. Seriously! What fried chicken place runs out of biscuits? Well, they did and I was forced to come up with my own. Luckily I had some buttermilk on hand and was able to adjust a recipe to fit my taste.
I like a moist biscuit with a crunchy outside. A strong butter flavor is required absolutely required. These became an instant household favorite. My daughter now requests them often and I will do my best to stock buttermilk so that we're ready at a moments notice.
Oh, and these babies take about 20 minutes from start to finish -- perfect for adding to almost any meal. We like to eat breakfast sandwiches around here with ham, egg and a biscuit. These will work perfectly!
Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

3 cups Flour
1 Tbs sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.
2. Place the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a food processor.
3. Add the butter to the food processor and run until the butter is cut into the flour mixture.
4. Add the buttermilk and blend quickly -- not too much.
5. Place the dough on a cookie sheet in lumps about 1/4 cup in size. Squash them a bit with your fingers into a loose biscuit shape.
6. Brush the tops with melted butter.
7. Bake the biscuits for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're golden brown.

Servings: 12

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Sourdough Starter

I got my stinky sour dough starter in the mail this week. I've never been so excited for something smelly before! I've nurtured it, discarded and nurtured some more. We've tried two different recipes so far -- mild and strong. The family voted for the strong version. I went back to read the recipe again and realized I'd missed a step. Hopefully I'll make it again soon and it'll be even stronger.

At first I was afraid of the idea to have another living entity to take care of in my home. Now, I'm learning to love this little guy. I hope to nurture it for years to come!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Easy Breezy Cheese Bread

This stuff is the best bread on the planet. Take it to a friend and they'll love you for life. I'm not exaggerating. Really! I should keep it to myself, but it's so good, I guess I'll share it -- you just have to give me credit :)

The original recipe comes from King Arthur flour. I love their products and all of their information. PLEASE use King Arthur bread flour when making this recipe -- you'll notice the difference. It'll raise higher, taste better and it isn't bromated, so it's much safer to use. I buy my flour at Walmart, so you can probably find it no matter where you live.
I have modified the original recipe so that it is now much easier to use. There are two ways to let the dough rise so that you get what you want -- more flavor or speedy results. It's up to you.
Cheese Bread

4 3/4 cups King Arthur bread flour
1 3/4 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
4 cups grated cheese -- we use a colby/monterey jack combo
Combine water, yeast and one cup flour. Mix well. Add salt. Slowly add the remaining flour. When the dough cleans the sides of the bowl, you'd added enough. Depending on the humidity, you may or may not need all of the flour called for.

Knead for 6-7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly tough when you finish kneading.

Place in a well oiled bowl and cover. Choose your method for rising:
  • Speedy -- place in your oven and turn the light on. Let it rest for about 2 hours or slightly more than doubled in bulk.
  • Tasty -- If you can wait, put the dough in the fridge. We like it best when it's been in the fridge for 2-3 days before shaping it into loaves. This is called a 'cold rise' and it gives the dough a slightly sour flavor. Don't let it sit for more than a week or you really do get sourdough bread. Pull it out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to shape it into loaves, it's easier to work with that way.

Once your dough is risen, roll it out into a rectangle about 18 inches high by two feet wide.
Spread the cheese evenly over the dough.

Roll the dough as tightly as you can. If you let it flop, you'll get big air bubbles between the layers. Cut the dough in half.
Place it on a greased cookie sheet or in a bread pan. Cover. Let it rise for 65-80 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 425. Spray the bread with water just before you put it in the oven. This will give it a crunchier crust.

Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on how dark you like the crust. We usually pull it out at about 35 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

French Peasant Bread

This is a very simple bread to make. It is absolutely fantastic to eat! It's very similar to Macaroni Grill's appetizer bread that they bring to the table.

French Peasant Bread

1 package dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoons butter

1. Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in a warm bowl and stir until dissolved.
2. Add flour and stir until blended, but DO NOT KNEAD.
3. Cover and let rise one hour or until doubled in size.
4. Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 rounds on an oiled cookie sheet.
5. Let rise an additional hour.
6. Brush the top with melted butter and bake at 425 for 10 minutes.
7. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cool an additional 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and brush again with butter. (I like to top with a good shake of salt as well)
9. Serve warm. We like to dip the warm bread in basalmic vinegar.

This is another from Favorites. Love that cookbook this week!

Monday, April 13, 2009

White Bread

I can't believe the grease spots on my walls! UGH! I didn't know they were there until I looked at this picture -- guess that's another cleaning project on the to-do list!
My favorite white bread is really a combination of the Jewish challah bread and white bread. I like my bread with egg and milk, I think it gives it more flavor without having to use a starter. It took me about six months of playing with this recipe to get it where I wanted it.
Now, I just dump it in the bread machine in the order listed and put it on dough. I DO NOT bake it in the bread machine -- what a yucky crust and I don't think bread should come in a square with a hole in the bottom, just not natural if you ask me.
This bread takes about 5 minutes to prep and dump. Then about 2 minutes to shape into loaves. Not shabby! It means I'm more than willing to make homemade bread because it's not a tax on my time.
Darcy's White Bread
1 cup milk, scalded
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour
3 tsp yeast
1. First, scald the milk in the microwave by heating it for about 1 minute.
2. Add the oil and honey to the milk to cool it a bit. Stir thoroughly.
3. Add the eggs, salt, then flour, then yeast. Turn bread machine to the dough cycle and let it go -- check during the first kneading process to make sure the dough has enough flour to 'clean' the sides of the dish. If it needs more flour, slowly add by the teaspoonful until it is cleaning the sides of the container.
4. When the dough cycle is finished, remove and punch down dough. Form into two loaves. Place in greased baking pans. Let rise for about 45 minutes.
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal thermometer reads 180 degrees. I usually put aluminium foil on the top about 15 minutes into the baking time so that the tops don't get too dark.
6. Remove from pans immediately and transfer to a cooling rack.