Challah Bread

I was a little concerned about my lack of braiding skills but this Challah Bread came out pretty well! It looked spectacular and tasted pretty good for my first attempt. I smeared some peach butter on a few slices and it was delicious. I'm seeing some french toast and turkey bacon for dinner tomorrow night!

Challah

(from Quick Breads, Soups, and Strews)

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons warm water
1 package quick-rising yeast
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons light oil
1/2 cup warm water
For egg wash:
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Directions:
1. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor or mixer.
2. In a smal bowl combine the 2 tablespoons of water with the yeast, stirring until it dissolves. Let sit 2 minutes.
3. Blend the eggs and oil together in a 2nd small bowl.
4. Add the yeast water to the dry ingredients and then the egg mixture.
5. While mixing, add 1/2 cup water. Let knead for 30 seconds. If dough is too dry, add a teaspoon of water. If the dough it too wet, add a tablespoon of flour until it makes a soft dough.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. Round into a ball and place in a warm bowl coated with vegetable spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a towel. Let proof until doubles, about 45 minutes.
7. Punch the dough down and divide into four equal portions. Roll into strips 12 inches long. Then braid them into the desired shape. Place the braid on a baking sheet covered with vegetable spray. Cover and let double, about 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the braid thoroughly with the egg wash. Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Fresh out of the oven!

Herbed Croutons

I raided the Mother Unit's garden before we left which resulted in a fridge full of beautiful fresh herbs. I chopped up some of the rosemary and oregano for these lovely herbed croutons. Mr. Lawyer is making one of his delicious salads. Tonight's features apples, cheddar cheese, cucumbers, and red onion over romaine and tossed with a little yogurt ranch dressing. These croutons will make a lovely, and crunchy, addition!

Homemade Herbed Croutons

Ingredients:

Bread (I used sourdough)

Herbs (I used rosemary, oregano, and red pepper flakes)

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1. Cut bread into appropriate crouton cubes.

2. Lightly coat the croutons with olive oil. Mix in desired amount of salt, pepper, and herbs.

3. Preheat oven to 400. Bake croutons for 10-15 minutes or until they reach the desired crunchy texture. Stir them occasionally for even browning.

Homemade Bread

There are very few things in life that beat homemade bread. Baking bread in a cast iron skillet was a new experience for me. I was impressed with the results! The crust gets nice and crisp. A light topping of sea salt and rosemary adds a little flavor pop. This was a nice sturdy bread that was perfect for dipping into my simmering chicken stock.

Slow Food: chicken stock and bread

It looked super cute in the skillet.

Skillet Bread

(Pinterest Find!)

Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/2 tablespoon salt
4 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pinch of rosemary

1-2 pinches of sea salt
Directions:
1. Combine yeast and warm water in your mixer bowl and let proof for 5 minutes.

2. In a separate bowl add flour and whisk in the salt.

3. Turn on your stand mixer and slowly add the flour mixture to the water. Beat until a soft dough forms, just a couple minutes.

4. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover. Place it in a warm, not drafty place and let it rise for one hour.

5. After one hour transfer the dough to your lightly oiled cast iron skillet. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over the dough and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt and crushed rosemary over the dough. 

7. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Slow Food

Last weekend we had a slow food revolution in our kitchen! It was just the thing to get me back in my kitchen groove. Well, that and a super clean apartment.

We brined juicy pork chops all day.

We enjoyed the last of the toasty warm fall days with books and coffee on the balcony.

I made chicken stock. The apartment smelled amazing all day. Every time I walked by the simmering pot I would steal a little spoonful. It rocked my world. You cannot even compare store bought stock or broth to this. It is going to make the most amazing soups.

Skillet bread! This also made the place smell like kitchen heaven and helped me steal chicken broth at every turn. 

Fresh bread + homemade chicken stock = kitchen heaven.

Liquid Gold! I made about 5+ pints of stock.

My recipe is from Grandpa Norm. His idea of chicken stock is a "time to clean out the fridge" one and you just throw anything you have in there. It wasn't very exact. I used what I felt comfortable with and what I had: an onion, a couple carrots, a small bunch of celery, cracked pepper and peppercorns, etc.

Chicken Stock

(From Grandpa Norm)

Ingredients:

Chicken carcass

Veggies (onion, celery, carrots, etc)

Seasoning (salt, pepper, bay leave, parsley, etc)

Directions:

1. Throw everything in a pot, cover with water, and simmer away for hours! The longer it simmers the more concentrated the flavors.

2. When you've decided the stock is ready strain all the bones and veggies out. 

3. Make a soup! Or save it for later. 

My Boys!

On Monday my darling little brother, aka "the dork", popped in on his journey north. I love it when both of my favorite boys are together because nerdy things like this happen. NERDS.

 While the boys did nerdy video game related things I did what any good future wife/big sister does and whipped up a manly meal for the manly men: spaghetti and meatballs with a side of garlic bread.

Man food and drink. So manly. 

I'll let you in on my new obsession.

Cajun spiced garlic bread!

It's even better than the chili oil garlic bread.

Judging from the lack of leftovers the boys seemed to like it.

Creole Spiced Garlic Bread

(from My Kitchen!)

Ingredients:

Bread or rolls

Butter, softened

Garlic powder

Creole Seasoning (I love Tony Chachere's Seasoning)

Directions:

1. Butter up your bread

2. Sprinkle on the desired amount of garlic powder and creole seasoning

3. Broil until brown

Spicy Garlic Bread

Just a quick little change up to your everyday garlic bread: add a little bit of chili oil to the butter for some zip! It was a nice spicy change. Plus a good way to use up my asian chili oil.

Dill Bread!

There is nothing like fresh homemade bread. I am partial to a warm slice of homemade bread, slathered with butter, and drizzled with honey. Yum. I went looking for this recipe because there is a lot of leftover dill from the dill steaks. This particular recipe called for cottage cheese but the comments said you could sub sour cream which was perfect because I had some leftover from my birthday/football play off party that I needed to use up. The bread texture is soft, the crust is gorgeous, and the flavor is delicate. I would have preferred a more pronounced dill flavor. I just found another recipe that used 1/4 cup fresh dill! I might go with that next time.

Look at beautiful golden brown!

Dill Bread

(Adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

Ingredients:
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon minced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, or 1 tablespoon dried dill or dill seeds
2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cottage cheese (I subbed sour cream)
1 large egg
Directions:
1. Combine yeast and water in a small bowl and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about five minutes.
2. Combine cottage cheese, sugar, onion, butter, dill, salt, soda, egg and dissolved yeast. Mix well.

3. Add flour and mix well. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour.

4. Punch down and place in a greased loaf pan. Let rise for 40 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 350 and bake bread for 35-40 minutes.

doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

I Heart Buffalo Anything

It's hard to go wrong with buffalo chicken: dip, mac & cheese, pizza, egg rolls, french bread...I've had amazing luck with all of them. This recipe was no exception. The original recipe was more intricate and called for fancy ingredients like fontina and gorgonzola but I went a more simple and traditional route. It was certainly a hit and very delicious for breakfast the next day. This is good hot or cold so it's the perfect party food. Obviously it's delicious right out of the oven when it's all cheesy and gooey but it was still fabulous at the end of the night. Plus it was very simple to make. Totally a keeper.

Buffalo Chicken French Bread

(Pinterest find! Adapted from howsweeteats.com)

Ingredients:
1 loaf of french bread, cut in half
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into half-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup hot sauce, I like Franks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup blue cheese dressing or dip
1 to 2 cups shredded mozzarella
4 green onions, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Toss chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the skillet and cook until browned on all sides, about 10-12 minutes. Once cooked through, add garlic and stir for 30 seconds, then add in buffalo wing sauce and butter. Stir to toss and coat. If the sauce is too soupy: remove chicken with a slotted spoon and let the sauce simmer for a couple minutes to thicken up. Return the chicken and toss to coat. Let the chicken and sauce sit for a bit to absorb the flavors. I left mine in the fridge over night and it was even better with time!
2. Spread the blue cheese dressing onto each cut side of french bread, use as much or as little as you want. Sprinkle half of mozzarella on the bread. Add the chicken, spooning out all of the sauce in the skillet. Cover with remaining mozzarella. Broil on high for 5-6 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned.
3. Remove and top with green onions or additional buffalo sauce/blue cheese if desired. Cut into single serving pieces.

Healthy Flatbread

This recipe was a hit and it disappeared! It's a healthy pizza and could be made even more healthy if one made it with low-fat cheese/used less cheese...but I am not that person. The one stumbling block I hit was I didn't have enough bean spread or toppings to cover the entire pizza crust but I did not let that stop me! I baked the rest of the pizza crust with no toppings and when it came out I brushed it with a mixture of butter and garlic powder and sprinkled on some parmesan cheese for some quick breadsticks! Ta-da!

Here's the flatbread with extra breadstick combo

And the finished product!

Southwestern Flatbread

(Pinterest find!)

Ingredients:
1 can pillsbury thin crust pizza
1 16-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 avocado
Lime juice and salt

Directions:
1. Bake crust according to package. My can of dough baked at 400 degrees and needed to be pre-bake for 5 minutes before adding toppings.

2. Microwave black beans for 30 seconds. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, and olive oil. Mash the beans and spices into a paste.
3. Spread bean paste onto pizza crust, sprinkle on cheese, and top with onions and corn.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Mash the avocado with a dash of lime juice and a pinch of salt. Serve on top of pizza.

Fresh Garlic Bread

I do love some good garlic bread. This bread was pretty good, I would tweak the garlic amount a little bit because it was a tad overpowering. The addition of parmesan to the butter was hard to beat though, amazing!

Fresh Garlic Bread

(Pinterest find!)

Ingredients:
1 french baguette or Italian loaf
1 stick of butter, room temperature
4 cloves minced garlic (or less, it was super garlicky)
1/3 cup parmesan
Fresh parsley, chopped
Directions:
1. Mix together butter, garlic, parm, and parsley.
2. Slice bread most of the way down (leave the bottom attached). Spread the butter in between each slice.
3. Wrap in foil and bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown. Unwrap the top for the last few minutes so it browns up nicely.

Cheesy Bread!

Let's talk about our marvelous appetizer night. This was my favorite recipe. Of course I'm a sucker for bread and cheese. I ate the leftovers two days later and it was still delicious. I made my own pesto using this recipe. This recipe was easy, requires minimal ingredients (especially if you buy pre-made pesto), and was a huge hit! KEEPER!

Cheesy Pesto Pull-Apart Bread

(Pinterest find! From Jamie Cooks It Up)

Ingredients:
1 large crusty loaf of bread
1 cup basil pesto
2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Directions:
1. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray. Set one large crusty loaf of bread in the center.
2. Slice the bread carefully, without cutting all the way to the bottom of the loaf. Then slice it going the other direction so that you have lots of little 1 inch squares all over the top of the loaf.
3. Using a butter knife, spread pesto inside the loaf along every sliced part of the bread.
4. Pull the slices apart and push a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese and shredded Parmesan cheese into all the cracks.
5. Wrap the bread up in the aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Uncover the bread and allow it remain in the oven until the cheese is melted and a bit golden in color.
6. Take the bread out of the oven and let it cool just a bit before serving.

Pita Pita!

I made homemade pitas yesterday. There's been a recipe floating around on pinterest so I decided to give it a go. I'm not completely sold. Maybe I needed to roll them out a little more or my expectations were too high (we live next to the best pitas in Philly). They were good but more of a pita-english muffin cross. It was fun watching them puff up as they bake. There are some other recipes out there that tweak the ingredients that I might try out. 

Homemade Pitas

(found on Pinterest, from Under the High Chair)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon yeast
1 ¼ cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
3- 3 ½ cups flour
Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in water for about 5 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add salt and 1 ½ cups flour and with the dough hook, beat to make a batter. Add additional flour until a rough, shaggy mass is formed. Knead 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too sticky.
2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into six pieces for large pitas or ten for smaller. I make all sorts of sizes to suit different snacks and meals. Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into ¼ inch thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them ‘puff’.
3. Let rest on the floured surface 30-40 minutes until slightly puffed.
4. Preheat oven to 425F. With a large spatula, flip the rounds of dough upside down on to a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes until light golden. Stick around for the first five minutes of baking when the pitas perform their magic and puff up from flat pancakes to proud, four inch high pitas.

C+ Cornbread

I have not had any luck making cornbread from scratch. I've tried multiple times, Mr. Lawyer tried once in Syracuse, it just never works. Too dry, too sweet, weird texture, doesn't rise, etc. I think we're just Jiffy people. It's what I grew up on and it's easy. This recipe was probably the best texture that I've gotten from a homemade cornbread but the taste was lacking. Oh well. Wish I had some birds to feed.

Cornbread

(From the Pioneer Women)

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 whole egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup shortening
2 tablespoons shortening
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Stir together.
3. Measure the buttermilk and milk in a measuring cup and add the egg. Stir together with a fork. Add the baking soda and stir.
4. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until combined.
5. In a small bowl, melt 1/4 shortening. Slowly add melted shortening to the batter, stirring until just combined. In an iron skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons shortening over medium heat. Pour the batter into the hot skillet. Spread to even out the surface. (Batter should sizzle.)
6. Cook on stovetop for 1 minute, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Dinner Rolls!

When the Boy is away you may eat rolls and alcoholic ice cream for dinner (more on that later!). These rolls are not quite what I expected but I can't stop eating them. I thought they would turn out nice and fluffy but they are a heavier roll. Still very yummy but I think I prefer the Sweet Dinner Rolls.

Parker House Rolls

(from Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
7 1/2 to 8 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus softened butter for brushing
2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
Directions:
1. Measure out 1/2 cup warm water and check the temperature: It should be between 110 degrees F and 120 degrees. Sprinkle the yeast into a large bowl, add the warm water and whisk in the sugar. Let sit 1 minute (it should bubble and froth slightly), then gently stir in 1 cup flour. Set aside near the stove while you prepare the dough.
2. Mix the melted butter and milk in a mixer with the hook attachment on low speed. Add the eggs and mix until blended. Scrape in the yeast mixture and mix until incorporated. Add 6 1/2 cups flour and 1 tablespoon salt; mix until the dough forms a ball, 2 to 3 minutes, adding up to 1/2 cup more flour if the dough is too wet and sticky.
3. Brush a large bowl with softened butter. Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place, 2 hours to 2 hours, 30 minutes. The dough should double in volume.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust a clean flat surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Flour your hands; gently press the dough into a 16-by-8-inch rectangle, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick (don't use a rolling pin).
5. With the short side in front of you, cut the dough in half lengthwise with a floured knife. Then slice crosswise into 12 strips.
6. One at a time, fold each strip of dough unevenly in half so the top part slightly overlaps the bottom half, then tuck the overhang underneath. Place the rolls seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet in 3 tightly packed rows. (If making in advance, wrap the baking sheet tightly in plastic wrap and freeze up to 3 weeks.)
7.Bake until the rolls are bursting at the seams and golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. (If frozen, bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees F, then 10 minutes at 375 degrees F.) Remove from the oven and brush with softened butter. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

Double Bread Heaven!

This recipe was divine. I followed suggestions about increasing the amount of olives (I used one cup), adding garlic/herbs and lowering the temperature (The original recipe said 500 and many people complained of burnt bread). You could taste the garlic, it was a nice addition but I could not taste the Italian herbs. Another suggestion was to had 1/2 cup parmesan cheese which would be fun to try! People had good results with all sorts of different olives but I used kalamata because they are my all time favorite.

However, it was not all rainbows and sunshine. I had some issues with the dough. I didn't feel like it was rising properly and it was very sticky. I had reduced the amount of time I kneaded it because I was using my Kitchen Aid and the book says to do that, my yeast proofed wonderfully....I had no idea what was wrong! After I footballed it like a squishy newborn from the bowl to the pan while shouting "Geronimo!" (where it didn't hold it's shape well) I was convinced that it was going to be a disaster. So while it was baking I whipped up some English Muffin Loaf again because 1) we were all out 2) I like eating it all the time with jam or honey or toasted with peanut butter 3) I wanted to stay in my apron because it's super comfy 4) I was looking for an excuse to use Reggie the Kitchen Aid again. Lo and behold the Olive Bread came out okay and I had an extra bonus loaf of English Muffin Bread! The very center of the loaf is a bit moist so it might have needed a few more minutes or it could have been attributed to my dough issues. 

Mediterranean Black Olive Bread

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
3 cups bread flour (I used all purpose)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Italian herbs
1/2 to 1 cup chopped olives, roughly chopped (amount and type depend on personal taste)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon cornmeal
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, garlic, herbs, black olives, and olive oil. In a second bowl proof your yeast with warm water and sugar. After the yeast is proofed, combine with flour mixture.
2. Turn out dough onto a floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside, and let rise about 45 minutes, until it doubles in size. Punch down. Knead well again, for about 5 to 10 minutes. Let rise for about 30 minutes, until it doubles in size.
3. Round the dough on kneading board. Place upside down in a bowl lined with a lint-free, well floured towel. Let rise until double in size.
4. While the bread is rising for the third time, put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Preheat oven to 450.
5. Gently turn loaf out onto a sheet pan that has been lightly oiled and dusted with cornmeal.
6. Bake loaf at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 more minutes, or until done.

Double Bread Heaven! 

Ho Ho Ho!

My dad called today. He thought I was dead because I haven't cooked and posted anything recently. This one is for you dad! Last week we made a couple of big dishes that we ate all week, then it was the holidays and now we have holiday leftovers plus merely looking at recipes makes me want to toss my cookies. After overindulging on a variety of yummy homemade things in a multiple day eat-fest all I want to do is consume oatmeal and salad. Which is a problem because I received all these fun kitchen gadgets for Christmas and I really want to play with them but I don't want to eat anything I make. Bleh.

I had to reorganize my kitchen. Mr. Lawyer managed to surprise me with this beauty. When ever I drooled over our friend's Kitchen Aids he would pat me on the head and inform me that "this is registry material." Yeah well, get on that. She's so pretty. I'm thinking about calling her "Registry" as a joke, it could always be shortened to "Reggie". I may or may not have caught myself petting her as I fiddled around with things in the kitchen.

More after the jump!

A # of Awesomeness

Grandma Nancy made this dish for us and you should all thank me for this recipe. Not only is it delicious and easy to get ready in advance (say if you know your living room is going to be filled with hungover boys....) but I had to spend 20 minutes deciphering Grandma's handwriting and filling in weird culinary gaps. Which is reminiscent of Grandma's strawberry pie recipe that  was completely missing half of the steps! Luckily the Mother Unit had a full copy but sheesh! "Less than 1# (pound, get it?!) and "6-8 eggs" are not exact measurements which of course give me a panic attack in the kitchen. I also believe Grandma said she used a good bakery bread, not sandwich bread. She did not add any sausage. I could have eaten the whole thing! Don't worry if all the bits don't get soaked, they created nice little toasty crunchy spots that are amazing in a huge bite of eggy cheesy goodness. I will definitely be making this very shortly!

Aunt Marie's Strata Recipe

(From Aunt Marie via Grandma)

Ingredients:
12 pieces bread, crusts cut off and cubed
Less than one pound of cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups milk
6-8 eggs (or egg beaters)
1 stick margarine, melted and cooled
Optional: Sausage
Directions:
1. Layer bread cubes, cheese and sausage (if using) in a 9x13 pan.
2. Beat together eggs and milk, stir in melted margarine. Pour over bread and cheese and let sit in fridge for 2 or more hours.
3. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Family Secret

There are two recipes that I know for sure that I won't post online. Because I'm selfish like that. Family secrets and all that jazz. They are Grandpa Norm's Zucchini Bread and Grandma Nancy's Pickles. I remember waiting with anticipation for zucchini season (my mom often grew her own) just so I could have this bread which only seemed to appear once a year. The zucchini plant would then explode and we had more zucchini than you could shake a stick at so she would freeze grated zucchini in muffin tins (1 cup per muffin spot) for future baking purposes. It seemed like a nice fall day to whip some up. Plus it made the apartment smell amazing.

I don't like nuts in my zucchini bread. I mean, I'll eat it but I don't like it when crunchies interrupt my yummy soft bread.

Zucchini Bread and Dogfish Punkin Ale counts as dinner right?

RIGHT?!?!

A Lovely Loaf

I am in love with the recipe book I have recently inherited. Another day, another keeper! This French Bread recipe was a bit more labor intensive than the Basic White Bread recipe but it was well worth it. It needed to be proofed three times and you had to mist it three times while baking (I assume this helps form the yummy crust). It came out very similar to the fancy french bread we buy downstairs! The only difficult part was rolling it out and shaping it but I guess that comes with experience. One loaf came out decent but the other is a little stumpy. I whipped up some delicious Parmesan Chive Butter to accompany this lovely loaf. P.S. Look how the diagonal slashes make it look like legit french bread!

French Bread

(From Mary Gubser's Quick Breads, Soups and Stews)

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups warm water

1 package quick-rising dry yeast

Directions:

1. Mix yeast and water, stir till dissolved and set aside. In the food processor mix the flour and salt, pulse to combine. With the processor running drizzle in the yeast-water mixture. When the dough forms remove it to a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 to 2 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let proof for one hour. Punch down the dough and knead lightly, let rise for an additional 10-15 minutes.

2. Split the dough into two separate balls. Roll one portion out into a 12x8 rectangle and then roll it up from the long side, jelly roll style! Pinch the seam and taper the ends. Repeat with the second portion. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and cover. Set aside to proof again, until doubled, about 30-35 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 450. Make three diagonal slashes on each loaf. Lightly mist the loaves with water and spray the inside of the oven, set the baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. After the first three minutes open the oven and spray the loaves. Spray again in three more minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

Rainy Day Bread

It was a nice rainy day which was perfect for hot chocolate and making bread! I was recently gifted a copy of Mary Gubser's Quick Breads, Soups and Stews that Melissa found at the library book sale and it's quite the little gem. I'm excited about a lot of recipes but decided to start off with the basic white bread recipe which promised me "an excellent crusty bread with a handsome crust." And that is exactly what came out of my oven! It was a nice loaf of homemade bread, had a good texture and density, and the crust was pretty handsome! 

It accompanied some of my meatballs from the freezer, a nice salad and some New York State wine for a very yummy dinner. The yellow pepper in the salad and basil for the pasta both came from our little balcony garden. 

Basic White Bread

(From Mary Gubser's Quick Breads, Soups and Stews)

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter/margarine, melted
1 package quick-rising dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
Directions:
1. In a food processor add flour and salt, pulse to combine.
2. Mix milk, honey and butter in a small bowl. In a second bowl add water and yeast, stir till dissolved.
3. With the food processor running add in the yeast mixture followed by the milk mixture. Mix for 20 seconds. Remove dough and knead by hand for 1 minute. Round into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and a towl. Let proof for 30 minutes. Knead down for 1-2 minutes, cover and let rest 10 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400. Spray loaf pan with vegetable spray. Form dough into a loaf and bake for 30-35 mintues. Remove from oven and turn bread out onto a wire rack to cool.

I am excited to pick my next recipe from this book! Some section titles are: The Delectable Muffin, Cornbread and Spoon Bread, Biscuits and Scones, Seafood Soups, Creamy Soups, Coffee Cakes, and A Perfect Loaf to name a few.