Baking Bread

For the past few months, I have been keeping some yeast I portioned off from my mom alive in my fridge. This requires weekly feedings to maintain the freshness. We went through some french breads and rolls, but I finally found something that makes not only beautiful, but really delicious bread.

The Dutch Oven Bread recipe that I have been consistently using is very easy and can be used with regular boxed yeast. I use an antique cast iron dutch oven that so far, has only had my bread in it. I think any deep pan would do just as well. I'm currently on the hunt for a smaller pot so I can make multiple loaves and give some of the bread to friends on weeks when I know we won't make it through the entire loaf.

Thank goodness that Costco makes 25lbs bags of flour, we go through a lot! Bought the air tight containers at Target, but still having trouble filling them. Perhaps a really large funnel.....



Tomato Bread

We are a little snowed in here in Minnesota. The above pic is my sister who visited from Tenn last week when we got a bit of snow. The piles are at least 3x as high now. We got 17 inches over the weekend and are still digging out. Ish.

So over the weekend we stayed inside, wrapped christmas presents, watched some movies, and generally tried to stay warm.

We have a lot of left overs and freezer items this time of year. One of those things is frozen pesto and tomato sauce.

A good, simple recipe that I made a few months ago was this tomato bread. You just make (or buy) bread dough, cover it with pesto sauce, slice it into strips, roll it up and place ontop of sliced tomatoes. As it bakes the tomatoes roast into the bread.

Turn it over and serve :)

Pesto Donuts

I know. It sounds amazing.

I got this recipe out of my bread book and thought it sounded nice with some meatballs the other night. Our basil plant is on it's last leg. We've needed to harvest the leaves and make a big batch of pesto for about a month now.... hopefully the bunnies won't get to it first.

While the picture in the cook book made the muffins look thick and crumbly, mine turned out hollow and more donut-like in texture. I think our homemade pesto sauce has a bit more oil than cheese and caused the semi-frying of the muffins.

You can see the olive oil getting hot and bubbling out the tops of the muffins. It continued to pour over slowly and turned the muffins into little fried pop-overs with a pesto center. The dough was thick and soft, with buttery hints of basil. A big hit for the night!

Pesto Donut-Muffins

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1/4 cup pesto sauce

Combine dry ingredients together. In a large bowl mix egg and milk. Add in flour mixture and stir together until just combined.

In a non-stick or sprayed muffin tin, fill 1/3 way using half the batter. Spoon in peso sauce in the middle of the battered muffin tin. Cover with remaining batter mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until tops are golden. Remove, let cool slightly.

Pesto Sauce

20 fresh basil leaves

10-15 pine nuts

1/4 parmesean cheese

1/4 olive oil

pepper and salt to taste

Mix basil, nuts, and cheese in a blender. Slowly add oil. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Bubble Bread

Don't they just look like little soliders all lined up for their marching orders? Into the oven with you! :)

I have a new Bread Book I'm trying out with a fresh batch of yeast. It's amazing what good yeast will yeild vs year old-sitting-in-your-cubbard-forever yeast.

This recipe is really easy to make and the individual rounds can be frozen and saved for a later date. I've done some twists that worked out really great too. Just make sure they have enough time to rise if they are frozen!



Bubble Bread

3 - 3 1/2 c flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1.25 oz yeast (1 pkg)
1/4 c warm water
1 c milk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 egg
2 tbsp Parmesan
1/3 c melted butter
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme

Lightly grease a large bread pan or deep round casserole dish. In a large bowl combine sugar, warm water, and yeast till frothy. Add in 1 c flour and salt. In a small bowl mix milk, oil, cheese, and egg together. Add to yeast / flour mixture.


With mixer or by hand beat on a low speed, 3 min. With wooden spoon stir in remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place, free from draft, until dough has doubled.


Punch down dough and break off golf ball sized rounds of dough and dip in melted butter mixed with herbs. Place in prepared dish forming layers.


Cover and let rise again until bubbles have risen to almost the top of the dish, about 30 - 45 minutes.


Preheat oven to 400F. Bake 25-30 minutes or until tapping the top sounds hollow. Let cool, serve warm.

Chix Salad

One of our most favorite things to grill in the summer is Greek Chicken. I tasty blend of lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper get mixed into a marinade for all types of chicken pieces.


While this in its self is an amazing dish, even better are the leftovers which get turned into the most amazing Chicken Salad you will ever whip up!

I will even write down the secret to this recipe…. Consistent sized pieces. The trick is to cut up the chicken, celery, and onions into very small sized bits. It blends together so much nicer and almost melts in your mouth. We also tend to eat ours a bit dry, ie not lathered in mayo. The longer it sits, the better it gets. Generally that’s not more than a day in our house though….


Chicken Salad
-Makes 4-6 servings-

2 cooked chicken breasts
3 stalks celery, washed
1/2 small onion
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup mayo
1 tbsp mustard, Dijon
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup Almonds, sliced and crushed
Salt/pepper to taste

Chop up the chicken and celery into equal small sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Dice the onion and garlic up, add to chicken mixture. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well to taste. Store in refrigerator overnight for a blended flavor. Serve on salad or for sandwiches.

March Madness

No I'm not talking about all the basketball on television, although my bracket does rock.... I'm talking about all the corned beef leftovers that we have!

While a fresh roast is amazing, nothing quite beats a Ruben sandwich. The tangy thousand island dressing, the earthy rye bread, the sweet freshness of Swiss cheese. It makes you wish the grocery stores stocked corned beef all year round.

Rubin Sandwich
Rye Bread
Corned Beef, cooked and sliced
Sourkraut
Swiss cheese, sliced
Thousand Island Dressing
Butter

Stack beef, sourkraut, cheese, and dressing on bread. Butter outsides of the bread slices. Cook in a Panini maker or in a hot pan till toasted. Let sit till cheese has cooled slightly, slice and serve warm.

Thousand Island Dressing
3 small pickles
1 hard boiled egg
1 stalk celery
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp onion, grated
4 tbsp catsup
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp Worsteshire sauce
salt/pepper to taste

Chop pickles, egg, celery, and garlic fine. Add to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Place in the refrigerator till cold.

Pasta Puttanesca - The "scandalous" dish

Pasta Puttanesca… A delicious dish with a scandalous origin. It’s said that ‘loose’ women in Naples would cook this fragrant concoction from easily accessible ingredients in order to draw sailors in. Regardless, it is an incredibly simple dish to make with an abundance of flavor.

The original recipe calls for capers, but a genetic aversion to certain foods starting with the letter ‘c’ (ie: capers, cilantro, coconut, cloves) made me leave out the little green devils. I’ve also taken the time to make my own pasta. It always brings back memories with my sister growing up; stringing clothes hangers and clothes hangers full of fresh pasta. Once you get a knack for it, it really isn’t too bad of a process.

The focaccia bread was a new trial. I’ve been having a tough time getting my bread to rise recently, so I thought, ‘fine, I’ll just embrace the flat bread and go with that for awhile.’ Thankfully I found a lot of use for the loaf; I’ll post what the remainder turned into later.

Pasta Puttanesca
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 small onion, sliced thinly
3-4 anchovy fillets
10-12 Kalamata Olives, pitted and halved
1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, drained and slightly pureed
1/2 cup cream or milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp Rosemary
1/2 cup Feta cheese
1 pound spaghetti, cooked to al dente

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add oil and crushed pepper. Cook chicken breasts till done. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, cut into bite sized cubes. Add garlic, anchovies, and onions to previous pan. Sauté sauce until anchovies melt into oil and completely dissolve and onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add chicken, olives, tomatoes, cream, and rosemary. Bring sauce to a slow bubble, reduce heat, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes.

Add cooked fettucini pasta to the sauce with 1/4 cup of the Feta. Let cheese melt and pasta absorb some of the flavor. Serve with bread and more feta cheese.

Homemade Pasta

2 eggs

3 1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Knead all ingredients together on a flour dusted surface for 5 minutes until they form a ball which is not sticky. Wrap in plastic and let sit in refrigerator for another 1/2 hr. Using a pasta attachment or other tool roll out to 1/4 of an inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut into long strips or use fettuccini attachment. Let dry on a rack for 1/2 hr.

Bring a large pot of water with salt to a boil. Add pasta and stir, let boil for about 1-2 minutes or until pasta floats. Strain.

* A fury little kitchen helper is not required to gaurd the pasta.

Caramelized Onion Foccacia
6 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon fine salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup rosemary, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the onions: In a large skillet, over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until caramelized and brown, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool.

For the dough: Using large bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and warm water together. Let sit until the yeast has risen. Add 2 tbsp of the olive oil, salt and flour. Mix dough until it starts to form and come together. Oil the bowl with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn once, covering with the oil. Cover the bowl with towl and place in a warm, draft free place until the dough doubles in size about 1/2 - 1 hour. Spray grease a 9x9 inch baking pan. Punch the dough down and press the dough out into the pan, using a small wooden spoon handle (or your finger) push small depressions into the dough.

Brush the dough with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle the dough with kosher salt and black pepper. Spread onions over the bread evenly. Sprinkle with the rosemary. Bake the dough for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Let cool on a rack. Slice and serve.

Onion Soup - Antique Style

There aren't many things more comforting than a nice warm cup of soup on a cold day. And when you combine a steamy rich broth with melty cheese and crispy bread crumbs it just warms you up all over.
Onion soup is one of those dishes.

Shopping at a local antique store on near my parent’s farm is always a weekend visit must. There are new treasures on every visit, many of them from the rural Wisconsin farm community, passed on through the generations.

Scanning the shelves packed with dishes I spotted these little soup cups. There was a set with listing recipes for Chicken, Cheese, and Onion Soup. I scooped up the Onion's and waited through the summer till fall.

Finally the weather cooled down and a request for more heart-warming dishes rang in the kitchen. The canning season which was just completed came in handy for that cooked all day taste.

We fired up the stew pot, simmered the onion broth till the house smelled in each room, roasted homemade bread crumbs, melted the cheese, and tried to resist burning our tongues on the steamy soup pulled from the broiler.

It might be the nostalgic soup dishes, but it warmed us to our toes regardless.

Onion Soup

6 medium onions, sliced thinly

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

3 cups chicken or beef stock

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup milk

Toasted bread crumbs

Mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot heat the onions with the oil till soft. Add the flour and allow to stick to the onions. Add stock, bay leaf, herbs, salt, pepper.

Let simmer for at least 30 minutes, up to 3 hrs.

Add cream and milk. Let simmer till thickned. Removed from heat and spoon into oven safe dishes, leaving 2 inches from the brim.

Place toasted bread crumbs on top of the soup. Pile Mozzarella over the bread crumbs. Place on a tray and broil till cheese is lightly brown and melted.

Remove and let cool slightly.

Goes well with sandwitches, salads, or as a side starter.