Tuscan bread

This one was fun. I knew we were going to have Italian for dinner, so I wanted to come up with a bread that would support the rich flavors of the meal. I started off with mostly as a sourdough, but tweeked it a bit. So...let's bake!

4 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp onion powder
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup starter
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 stick herbed butter. (You can purchase pre-made varieties, or mix in an herb combination on your own. The herbs I used here were...
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Basil
Bay
Marjorum *about 1/4-1/2 tsp each)

I just pile the flour in, and add the salt and onion powder, off to the side of the bowl.

I feed my starter this morning and my little one, Logan, stirred it for me.

I put the blended herbed butter off to the side as well. I try to leave the top of the flour "hill" free for yeast and warn liquids.

I was out of buttermilk, so I soured whole milk to use as a substitute. I poured about 1 Tbs of white vinager into the bottom of a measuring cup, then filled it up to the 1 1/2 mark with whole milk. Then I microwaved it for about 45 seconds.

In truth, it works wonderfully, but it is terrible looking stuff!

I poured the small amount of starter around the edge of the bowl also. Then I made a little well in the center of the "hill" where I put the yeast.

I poured the warm "buttermilk" over the top of the yeast well, and let it sit about 3-5 minutes.

Hand mix, and then knead until smooth and elastic. This can take anything from 5-20 minutes. Cover with a towel, and allow it to rise until double in size, about an hour.

Do not Preheat the oven. Punch down the dough, and divide into two. Place each ball in an oiled bread pan. Bake at 415 for 35 minutes. In the last 3 minutes, brush the top of the bread with melted butter, or, what I did, was salt a tiny bit of cream, and brush the loads with this. I was looking for a softer crust so as soon as I pulled it out of the oven, I turned it out of the pan, placed it on a cooling rack, and covered it with a towel, to prevent the crust from crisping.

Here they are! They were wonderful! We had a small serving of veggie spaghetti, and delicious chicken picatta with it. Watch for that post to come soon!

Enjoy, take your time, and let me know what you though, and how it turned out;)

cinnamon pull-apart bread...aka monkey bread

Okay, you are having company. You want something to serve, warm with coffee for dessert, or in the morning, after your guests have caught up on their beauty sleep. This one is a bit time consuming, but super simple. The time is in waiting for each proof, or rise. So plan ahead, unless your in the habit of getting up between 3:30-4:30am, then you can have it ready in plenty of time for breakfast!

There are 7 of us here, and we do not finish it, so it makes plenty. Cinnamon pull-apart is one of our favorites around here. So, let's bake!

Ingredients for dough~
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs butter
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 eggs


Ingredients for filling~
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 Tbs melted or browned butter

Ingredients for icing (optional)
1 cup cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix water sugar and yeast. Allow to sit, and for yeast to dissolve, and become almost frothy, about 5 min. Add the rest of the dough ingredients, and knead until smooth and elastic. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

While the dough is rising, mix filling sugar and cinnamon, and set aside. After the dough has risen, punch down, and knead again, for about 5 min. Let the dough proof, or rise again until doubled again, about an hour.

Turn dough out onto well floured surface. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the top of the ball of dough. I also like to put a bit of flour on the rolling pin, to keep it from sticking.

Roll the ball into as large of a rectangle as you can, keeping the thickness at about 1/4 inch. Mine tends to be about 9x11".

I prefer to brown my butter for this, but just melting it would work fine. Brush the ENTIRE surface of the dough with the butter. Use it all, its dessert!!!

Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the butter. Cover every inch of the dough, all the way to the edges. It may seem like a lot, but remember, you will only eat a few slices, not the entire loaf, so go for it.

Now slice the dough into 6 even strips. Stack them as evenly as possible, without spilling all the sugar and cinnamon off! It's no easy task!!

Now cut the strips into six smaller piles.

From here, lay the stacks in their sides in a bread pan. I can't ever fit them all length wise, so the few left I squeeze on the sides, into any available space. Set in a warm place, and allow loaf to rise in the bread pan for about 20-30 minutes. I always pour the sugar and cinnamon that fell off the strips off the cutting board, and onto the loaf. Preheat oven to 350, and bake about 30 minutes.

As soon as bread is finished baking, run a knife along sides of pan to loosen the loaf. Turn the pan over and with a clean potholder protecting your hand(or use a second plate), catch the loaf. Have your serving platter handy, and transfer the loaf right side up. Allow to cool just til you can handle it. "Pull apart" the loaf as you all dive in, ripping your serving off, and inhaling it before someone else does!!

Now, I prefer not to use the icing, but most of the kids, and my hubby, demand the icing. Simply toss the sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla into a food processor, and blend until smooth and runny. Serve in little dipping cups. Enjoy!!!

I am dying to know if you've tried any of these. If you have, send me a comment, let me know how it turned out, and how your family liked it! Got a favorite recipe? Share it!!! I'd Loe to get your favorites, too.

Come on back to my kitchen soon, there's always room!! (((Hugs)))

For the requests, baccon chicken rounds

Hi guys. Been a long time. Due to the unexpected passing of my amazing, and sorely missed precious father-in-law, I not only haven't blogged, I haven't been really cooking, for any other reason than survival. Just this week, four of my 5 children (one my honorary foster) has started school. I find myself alone with just my toddler. I can keep the house clean, keep up on laundry, weed the gardens, and still feel like I an not getting much done. Then, a few days ago, I grabbed my favorite apron, and decided it was time for me to get my rear end back to the kitchen. Batches of breads, a blueberry pie, and baccon chicken rounds were the end result of that decision. After sharing a picture of the chicken, a few friends asked for the recipe. So, I'll share it here, as well.

Let's cook!

Ingredients
4-6 chicken breasts
16 slices of baccon
Minced garlic
6-10 Tbs greated parmesan
1/2 white onion or a large shallot

Fold plastic wrap over each chicken breast.

I like to use large pieces so as the chicken spreads out, it doesn't get uncovered.

My meat mallot mysteriously disappeared, so I used an old rolling pin to pound the chicken breasts as thin as possible.

In between thinning the chicken, cook the baccon until cooked, but don't crisp it up, it will need to bend later!

And of course, drain the baccon on a paper towel, so we can pretend we are removing enough grease to say its not as fattening. But be sure to save the baccon drippings in the pan. You'll need them two more times.

Slice onion/shallot and sautee in the reserved baccon grease. Open plastic and lay 2-2 1/2 slices of baccon on the widest side of chicken breast. Add a bit of minced garlic, some sauteed onion/shallot, and greated parmesan.

Using the plastic wrap to help, roll the chicken up around the baccon like a burrito.

Use a toothpick or two to secure the chicken roll, and seal and brown all sides in the baccon grease. Place in a 300 degree oven. Bake about 20 minutes, until chicken breasts are cooked through.

Boil up your favorite pasta, while the chicken bakes. I found a really wonderful multi-grain corkscrew pasta for this.

In the baccon pan, I warmed a spaghetti sauce and crumbled up remaining baccon to add to sauce.

When chicken is fully cooked remove from oven and allow to rest about 5 minutes.

Lay each chicken roll on a cutting board, and cut into 1" rounds.

Lay over pasta. Today, we used my 2year olds plastic plate for the pictures. No idea why...

Smother with sauce. Alfredo, marinara, spaghetti, or white wine sauce all work.

top with more greated parmesan, and serve with garlic bread, and something green and crisp!
Lastly, please enjoy. It feels good to be back in the kitchen. It's been about a month, and now I feel I'm slowly finding myself again, after the loss of my best friend. Next few post, one will have my father-in-laws famous bbq marinade. Look for it. I hope to see you soon. There is a comment box below, feel free to ask questions, give feedback, or just say hi!

orchard chicken salad

No soggy, mushy limp salads for us! You know what I mean, the kind of egg, tuna, or chicken salad the is just a small amount of mostly mayo flavor. There it sits. The only way to add any texture was to slip a pixels of lettuce in, and hope for a touch of crunch.

I love chicken. It's so diverse. You can do anything with chicken, add anything to it, and cook it 100 different ways. So, I was bored a few months ago. We were painting the house, and it was so hot. I didn't want to heat up the house. I put my paint roller and brush in a bag, and told my hubby I was going to make dinner.

I looked at the hams, steaks, and even the seafood we had just had delivered. Nothing looked good. Then I saw the apples, and celery. Now that I can use. We are getting somewhere. I grabbed a few fresh veggies, a few strips of baccon, and the package of chicken breasts. Let's make a chicken salad, but one with life, color, and texture!
Are you with me? Good, let's cook!

I started some water boiling for the chicken, and tossed a few slices of baccon in the frying pan, while I chopped, and chopped, and did I mention chopped?

This is one of those recipes where you need to have a slap chopper. It isn't quiet, but its quick and effective.

Chop up two apples, add a few cups raisins. Then dice up your boiled chicken breast and crumble your baccon into your bowl.

Add your favorites. Anything goes. One small red onion, one green bell pepper, celery, heck, why not add a bit of pineapple if you want?

Add 3 Tbs of Italian dressing and 3 Tbs of ranch. Salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, sky's the limit here, it is your chicken salad!

Add garlic powder. We are so blessed here in town. There is this older Italian gentlemen, who roasted, smokes, dries, and grinder garlic. That's all he does is garlic powder. He only charges $3.00 for his unbelievable aromatic, heavenly concoction. I have to sprinkle this into all my cooking. Oh the smell!!!! Here, I'll get it closer, can you smell that!!! It's amazing, right?

I ran out to the garden and grabbed a few spring onions, dice and chop...

At this point all your ingredients are in. I make my own mayo, so I don't like to leave it on the counter long. Add a small bit, and stir with a fork. Add until you have the consistency you desire, and either serve on warm rolls, or chill for a few hours to allow flavors to marry. I prefer it warm and fresh, but it is very good the next day too.

Here's a peak at this salad, on a Buttery buttermilk roll. Oh what a combination!! Serve with a green salad, or a cranberry salad, or maybe some sliced fruit. I think it is absolutely perfect with a cranberry orange walnut salsa, but y'all have to wait for that post!!!
Happy chopping!!!

Stuffed lasagna pastry

Do any of you go to Strings Italian Cafe? I fell in love with their salad 12 years ago. I just love it. They have another enticing item on their menu, the whole family likes. I decided one day to figure out how to make it at home, and after only two tries, it worked. It is a lasagna stuffed pastry.

First, make your family favorite lasagna, and save the leftovers in the fridge. Wait two days, so it dries up a little bit. Then all you'll need is to make puff pastry dough, or purchase it in the freezer section of your grocer. I haven't mastered puff pastry dough, so I still buy mine! You will also need a bit of marinaria and alfreado sauce, an egg, and some garlic powder. Ready? Let's cook!

Cut out as many squares of lasagna as you will need. Then cut your pastry dough to about double the size of your piece of lasagna.

Place the lasagna in the center of your dough square and seal up the sides and bottom, tucking and pinching until the whole thing is a ball with no openings.

Place on a baking sheet with the seams down. Cut two vents into the top of your pastry. Soak garlic powder into an egg white, and brush onto the entire pastry.

Follow baking instructions on the package of the puff pastry, or bake at 350 until completely golden brown. Place hot pastry on a plate, and pour alfreado on one side, and marinaria on the other. Serve with a crisp green salad! Enjoy and happy cooking!

Buttery buttermilk rolls

Alright, we made all that wonderful butter, and got the buttermilk as a bonus, let's use it!! These dinner rolls are stop and say *wow* good. Great with pastas and bbq's, and really delicious as a sandwhich roll. It is a very simple recipe, but a bit time consuming. And every bite well worth it! Now, let's bake!!

Measure out your dry ingredients.

When you add your buttermilk, bring it to room temp or about 110d

Mix well and knead about 5 minutes.
Cover with cheese cloth and allow to rise until about doubled in size. Here is where its starts to take time. You need to knead, again. About 5 minutes, again. And let it rise until doubled in size....you guessed it, again.

Punch the dough down, and then roll it out to a rectangular slab, about 1 1/2 inch thick.

Now to cut out your rolls. I use a tumbler from our wedding set, cuz it gives me perfect 3" diameter circles.

Melt 1/2 cup butter. Brush the top of each roll with lots of butter.

Fold each roll in half, over the butter pinching the edges to seal.

When you have finished buttering, folding, and sealing all of your rolls, take a breath.

Lay them on a baking sheet, and walk away. That's right, they need to rise, again. This time they only need to rise about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake 20-22 minutes.

The moment they are out, brush all over the top with lots and lots of melted butter.

Serve warm with dinner, or store in air tight container or bag AFTER completely cooled, to use as sandwhich tools.

Either way, enjoy these delicious rolls. Keep your eyes peeled for the most amazing chicken salad, its fabulous on these rolls!

Your ingredients are;
1 cup milk or buttermilk
2 pkg. dry yeast 4-41/2 tsp
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 to 1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
more melted butter

Happy baking!