39: Cheddar Quick Bread

Another recipe from Canadian Living's Family Cookbook, Cheddar Quick Bread.

2 cups flour
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tbsp butter, melted
6 green onions, finely chopped

In bowl, stir together flour, cheese, powder, sugar, and spices.  Whisk together egg, milk and butter; add to dry ingredients along with onions, stirring until combined.  Spread in greased and floured loaf pan.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan.  Serve warm.  Makes 1 loaf.

Recipe 25: French Toast Churros

I found this recipe for French Toast Roll-Ups on The Girl Who Ate Everything.  And it was delicious - like fruit filled churros, leave a smile on your face, go back for more, yummy.  Here's the recipe off the website:

• 8 slices white sandwich bread  *(make sure it is soft, or it will fall apart)
• softened cream cheese, diced strawberries, or Nutella
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
• butter, for greasing the pan

1. Cut the crust from each slice of bread and flatten it out with a rolling pin.
2. Place about 1-2 teaspoons of your chosen filling 1 inch from one end of the bread in a strip. Roll the bread up tightly and repeat with the remaining pieces of bread. 
3. In a shallow bowl whisk the eggs and milk until well combined.
4. In a separate shallow bowl mix the sugar with the cinnamon.
5. Heat a skillet set over medium heat and melt a tablespoon of butter.
6. Dip each bread roll in the egg mixture coating well and then place them in the pan seam side down. Cook in batches until golden brown, turning them to cook and brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add butter to the pan as needed.
7. Put cooked rolls immediately from the pan to the cinnamon sugar and roll until completely covered in sugar. You can serve with syrup for dipping but I think they're perfectly good all by themselves.

I followed her "inspired by" link and they had more suggestions for fillings - peanut butter, jelly, dulce de leche, marshmallow fluff, any kind of fruit, preserves.  I made some with jelly and some with bananas.  Yum.  I didn't dredge in cinnamon, just sprinkled, and that was plenty.  

I dipped the crust trimmings into the egg and cooked those up too.  They were like French toast French fries .. toast fries?  Appropriate to go with the "churros" - like carnival food.  Definitely a treat.


*Half way through March and already at 25 new recipes?  I'm well on my way to 100 new recipes in a year!

basic bread recipe

Because my punk children refuse to eat bread bought at the store, this is what I do to bake bread every 4 or 5 days. It says "basic bread" and I'm told it's "not basic." Whatever you think of the recipe and process to make it, the bread is the basic base I use to make peanut butter and jam sandwiches every day.

In a really large bowl:

- 3 cups "hand-hot" hot water - put your hand under the faucet and when it gets hot to the point that you can still put your hand under it but it's getting close to getting too hot, that's where you want it.

- 4 tsp yeast - I have no idea how many individual packets that would be. We don't buy the packets, we buy it in the little jars or bulk bags. Once your yeast is open, store it in the freezer to keep it fresh.

- 3/4 cup sugar

Stir them together and put in your oven - turned off, light on - for 10 or 15 minutes until the yeast is foamy.

Add to the bowl:

1 egg

1/3 cup veg oil

3 cups flour - if you're using a mix of wheat and white, add the wheat first.

3 tsp salt

Stir it together, then add another 3 cups of flour. The dough will still be pretty runny.

This is when we put it in the mixer for the kneading - we have a food processor with a dough blade (we're still wishing for a Kitchenaid), and we put it in a third at a time and add more flour about a half-cup at a time until the dough gets to the consistency that we want. It's usually 3 or 4 more cups of flour. Adam likes it a bit more sticky than I do. I just watch for it pulling off the sides of the mixer. This can be done by hand - it will just take a bit longer to get everything kneaded in.

We sometimes use a mix of regular white flour (unbleached, if that matters to you) and whole wheat flour. I use 2 or 3 cups of wheat flour and the rest is white. The more wheat flour you add, the lower it will rise and it will be a lot more compact. Doorstops, on occasion. If you like big poofy loaves of bread, don't use very much wheat flour. This particular set of proportions does not lend itself well to all-wheat bread. Find another recipe for that.

Another hint - sift every bit of flour through a sifter as it's added. We didn't at first but then read something online that suggested it. We tried it and sifting the flour has made a huge difference in how the bread turns out. It's a lot lighter through the loaf.

When all the dough is mixed and kneaded into the consistency that you want, let it rise in the oven, still with the oven turned off and the light on. I don't know why this works to create the appropriate warm temperature for rising bread, but it does. Do this twice - rise, punch down, rise, punch down. This will take a couple of hours.

After the second punch down, separate the dough into 3 loaves and put them in the pans to rise a 3rd time. When they get to the top of the bread pans, you're ready to bake - 400 degrees for 25-28 minutes. And then you're done! Wrap it in plastic wrap to put in the freezer if you want it for later.

This can take 4 or 5 hours with all the rising, so don't expect to have this ready for dinner if you're starting at 4 pm. This is something to start in the morning for lunch or dinner.

homemade pita

I know I said I was expanding this blog beyond just recipes, but we've been having so much fun in the kitchen lately! It hasn't been the greatest for my weight loss efforts, but my taste buds have been quite pleased with the results. This one was good for weight loss and it was tasty - Adam made pita bread and we stuffed it full of small beef strips with cucumber slices, black olives, tomato strips, and feta cheese, and drizzled olive oil over the whole thing.

Doesn't that pita look professionally made? It wasn't. The original recipe is here.

1 1/8 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and combine. (We use our food processor.)

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

focaccia bread

We normally buy this bread but won't anymore ... we decided on Italian for dinner tonight after Adam had already been to the grocery store and he wasn't going to go back. So he found the recipe to bake the bread - totally easy, really good, and why pay 4 bucks for a small loaf of this when it's cheaper to make it?

focaccia bread

* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all of the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with salt.
6. Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on desired crispness. If you like it moist and fluffy, then you'll have to wait just about 10 minutes. If you like it crunchier and darker in the outside, you may have to wait 20 minutes.

Adam changed the recipe by tripling the amount of yeast. It would be good to add some Italian dried herbs - we'll do that next time. And then have it with motz cheese and balsamic vinegar - yummmm!

Be aware that baking it at such a high temperature means it cooks REALLY fast - we pulled it at 9 minutes, and the bottom was just about to start turning black.

French Peasant Bread

Here's a great bread recipe to go with your favorite Italian meal. It has a nice texture and is so easy to make! It's another from Recipe Shoebox.


The ingredients:
1 Tbs. dry, quick rising yeast
2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 cups all-purpose flour ( I used half whole wheat and half white flour)

olive oil (for greasing the pan)
corn meal (for pan)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended, but do NOT knead. Cover and let rise one hour or until double in size. Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 roughly equal rounds on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush the tops and sides of the rounds with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush tops and sides of rounds again with melted butter. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Awesome Bread Recipe

Just posted this on my personal blog. Hands down the best bread recipe I have ever tried. It is a whole wheat honey bread. YUMMY!:)

chocolate zucchini bread

We had the missionaries over for dinner for Thanksgiving, and they came over the day before to help with some of the prep work. Elder Davies had apparently never cooked anything at all before (how is he surviving out here?), so we made him make the chocolate zucchini bread. With heavy supervision ... he almost added a tablespoon of salt instead of teaspoon. Eeww!

He used this recipe. He forgot the chocolate chips, which made the bread REALLY dark tasting. It wasn't too good straight out of the oven, but it was much better after it sat for a day. Then it reminded me of the Hershey's special dark chocolate bars - if you like those, this recipe would be good for you.

Zucchini Bread

I had a few pieces of zucchini and I didn't feel like cooking them the "boring" way, so I found this recipe that I used to love when I was little and growing up with Baptist picnics on the grounds, but which I haven't had since.

Jeff walked in as I was making it and asked what it was. I answered that it was zucchini bread, but then made him promise to try it before he wrinkled his nose. He said it was awesome...and Maddie loves it too. Very sweet and cinnamon-y!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 egg, beaten

1 C sugar

1 C freshly shredded zicchini, with skin (about 1/2 a zucchini, but I doubled the recipe and used a whole one, since a single recipe only makes one loaf)

1/4 C cooking oil

1/2 C chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the mixture; set aside.

4. In another medium bowl, combine egg, sugar, zucchini, and oil.

5. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in nuts.

6. Spoon into loaf pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

ham and sun-dried tomato scones

I'm making these scones for dinner tomorrow (to have with roasted red pepper and tomato soup which we bought at Costco and it's REALLY good ... and I don't usually like tomato soup). The first time I made these scones, we ate the entire batch straight out of the oven when they were still warm. We never got around to making the soup because we filled up on just the scones. SO GOOD!

2 cups self-rising flour (if you don't have self-rising flour, here's how to make it)
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp paprika
pinch of salt
2 Tbl. margarine, diced
1 Tbl. chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 Tbl. dried basil)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
2 ounces strong-flavored ham, chopped
1/2 cup milk

1. Sift the flour, mustard, paprika, and salt.
2. Rub the margarine in with your fingers.
3. Stir in the basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and ham.
4. Pour in enough milk a little at a time to make a soft dough.
5. Turn out the dough onto a floured counter, kneed lightly and roll out into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 2-inch squares and put on a floured baking sheet.
6. Brush the tops of the scones with milk, and sprinkle lightly with paprika.
7. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes, until they rise and are a golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Soft Pretzels

Homemade Soft Pretzels

(Alton Brown recipe – made it tonight with my kids. So much fun)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt

Directions
· Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
· Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
· Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
· In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
· Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Easy Cheddar Biscuits

1 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. cream of tarter
1/4 t. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. cold butter
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c. milk

• Combine all dry ingredients
• cut in butter until crumbly
• add cheese
• add milk
• kneed until smooth
• pat into 6x6 square
• cut into 9 pieces
• on greased cookie sheet bake at 450 for 10-12 min.

These are an easy "bread" to go with any meal - and since there is no yeast they are so quick!!

BRUSCHETTA WITH WARM TOMATOES AND HERBS

BRUSCHETTA WITH WARM TOMATOES AND HERBS
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups assorted tomatoes, such as grape, cherry, or chopped heirlooms
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chiffonade, plus more for garnish (the thinner the better)
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 teaspoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 (1- ounce) slices ciabatta or sourdough bread
1 garlic clove, halved

Method:
Combine first 8 ingredients, and let stand 1 hour. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add tomato mixture, and cook 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush bread with olive oil and add to grill; cook 2 minutes on each side or until toasted. Rub 1 side of each toast piece with the cut sides of garlic clove halves. Serve tomato mixture over toast and garnish with basil.

*you can toast the bread in the oven if you don’t have either a grill or a grill pan that goes on the stove)

*Spanish paprika (pimento) would be good in this mixture

*use firmer tomatoes – cooks down sweeter

*Garnish with a little Maldon

-
this is also fabulous, easy, and just so good!

Scones

This isn't exactly a "healthy" recipe in itself, but what you put on it can certainly make it healthier. If honey butter isn't your thing, then put applesauce on top, or any type of fruit for that matter. Be creative! Be aware, though...this makes A LOT of scones!

Scones

5 c warm water
3 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp sugar

Combine and set aside until foamy. Once foamy, combine with following:

1/2 c sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp shortening or margarine
enough flour to make a soft dough ball (add 1 cup at a time)

Place in a greased bowl and let rise for about 1/2 hour, or until doubled...depending on how many scones you want to make! Be advised...if making the full recipe, you'll need a LARGE bowl.

Pour oil in pan or skillet to about 1/2 inch. Heat oil to about 350-375 degrees. Pinch off a small handful of dough, then separate and stretch to desired size. Place in oil and cook until bottom is golden brown, then turn over using tongs. Once 2nd side is golden brown, remove from oil and let drain on paper towel. Put desired toppings on while warm.

Enjoy!

For those cold nights ...

Zuppa Toscana

2 lbs Italian sausage (I like mild)
5-6 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half and then in 1/4 inch slices
2 medium white onions, chopped
1 pound smoked bacon - chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups kale, chopped
4 cans chicken broth (14.5 oz cans or 7 ½ cups)
2 quarts water
2 cups heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper - to taste
3 tsp crushed red peppers

1. Sautee Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic for approximately 15 min. or until the onions are soft.
3. Mix together the chicken broth and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling.
4. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage.
7. Add kale just before serving.


Mozzarella, Tomato & Pesto Bruschette

Serves: 3-6 Prep. Time: 0:20

1/4 cup butter - softened
4 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
(6) 1/2" slices Italian OR French bread, or ciabatta (I like ciabatta the best)
6 slices mozzarella cheese - trimmed to fit bread slices
3 Tbls. basil Pesto
(6) 1/4" slices Roma tomato
julienne fresh basil - to top

*if using ciabatta, cover with mozzarella and tomato, don't need to follow the exact slice ratio

-Mix butter with garlic and garlic powder.
-Spread butter mixture over bread slices.
-Place a slice of mozzarella on each piece of bread.
-Place a slice of tomato on each slice of mozzarella.
-Spread 1/2 Tbls. of Pesto over each slice of tomato.
-Place bread on a cookie sheet and bake in a 500 degree oven for 4 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
-Sprinkle basil over top.

Administrator note: She came up with these recipes herself through trial and error. Go Alisha! I'm not nearly so brave!