Baking Bread for the First Time

2/11/11: Grandma's Oatmeal Bread

If my younger sister, Catherine, was asked, "What is your favorite food?" She would say, "BREAD!" She adores bread in every shape or form and loves recipes that include whole flours or oats. She made bread in the bread machine before but she has never done it from scratch, and that is what she set out to do earlier this month. And I came along for the ride.

She chose Grandma's Oatmeal Bread from the Holiday 2009 issue of The Baker's Sheet, a magazine that is published by King Arthur's Flour. I wish I could write out the recipe here but it is copyrighted. Best thing to do is buy the back issue here.

The recipe includes rolled oats and molasses which I think is a great combination. Catherine did very well with following the recipe, the only problem that arose was the slow rising. The kitchen was probably too cold that day! Anyway, here is Catherine's first ever bread from scratch:

Scrumptious!

So is Catherine willing to make bread from scratch again? She says: "I'll stick to the bread machine." At least she gave it a go! ;)

We Call it "Spaghetti Bread"

12-17-10: Spaghetti Bread

If anyone was to ask me, "What is comfort food for you?" the first dish that comes to mind is our homemade spaghetti sauce. Our spaghetti sauce, in all its goodness, consists of our tomato puree combined with our farm grown peppers, onions, and garlic as well as spices such as basil, marjoram, oregano, etc.

My family has been having our own spaghetti sauce almost every single week of the year for as long as I can remember. Every time I think of this meal I think of two things: my Papa (who pulls all the listed ingredients together and makes the masterpiece), and our farm's bounty. Two very comforting things for me! Now, I could give you the recipe for this sauce, but there really isn't one (it seems to be evolving every single time it's made), and even if I do concoct a written recipe, it wouldn't be like ours. I would need to send you our puree and veggies to make it legitimate!

Now, there is something else that is as old as our spaghetti tradition, but it hasn't had a very good reputation. It is called Spaghetti Bread. Spaghetti bread is a yeast bread done in the bread machine that has dried herbs and grated cheese added. If done right, it is absolutely perfection with a spaghetti dinner. But perfection has been reached few times with this bread. Almost every time we attempted to wrestle this recipe, we would find a deflated loaf at the bottom of our bread machine. Let me tell you, it is enough to bring tears to your eyes.

We came up with a lot of theories on the cause of these mishaps: too much water, too little, acid in the spices, too much salt, etc. etc. etc. So we kept on trying new versions of the recipe, taking out some of this, adding some of that. . . But nothing worked until a couple Fridays ago.

My Papa thought, "Why not use the wheat setting on the bread machine and add the garlic, cheese, and spices at the time the machine alerts you to add addition flavorings, such as raisins and cinnamon?"

Sounded good to me! I gave it a go, following his specific instructions, and it turned out perfectly. It was one of the tallest Spaghetti Breads we ever saw.

See what I mean?

This is what I did from start to finish:

Spaghetti Bread

Yield: 1 pound loaf

Ingredients:

• 9 oz. warm water (about 115 degrees F)
• 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 tbsp. sugar
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Dough Flavoring Ingredients:

• 1 head garlic
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. basil
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Directions:

To bread pan, add water, yeast, and sugar. Stir and proof for 10-15 minutes. Next add bread flour, oil, and salt. Set machine to "Whole Wheat" setting (#3) and "Medium" (A).

Now to make some garlic puree. (I learned about this technique from The Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook.) Take garlic, with the skin and stem still on, and wrap it in one layer of aluminum foil. Place garlic foil packet into 375 F oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, open packet, and allow garlic head to cool. Once cool, cut off the stem and squeeze garlic from skins. The garlic now resembles a paste and can easily be incorporated into the bread dough.

Combine cheese, spices, and garlic in a small bowl.

Machine will beep 1 hr 26 min after you press the START button on the machine, (or when bread time display reads 2:34), that is when you should add the garlic, cheese, and spice mixture to the bread pan.

All in all, it takes 4 hours for the machine to make the bread.

Garlic Puree Technique--Up Close. . .

Bread Machine Setting--Up Close. . .

Now, I suppose you can easily do this without the help of a bread machine, but I haven't given it a try yet. If I ever do I'll come back to this post and document it.

And here is one final glimpse of perfection. . .

;)

Chicken Cutlets Make for a 'Smashing' Good Time

5/23/10: Chicken Cutlets with Herb Mayonnaise served between two slices of Ballymaloe Brown Bread

Meal details: I baked two loaves of an Irish brown bread called Ballymaloe and served it with chicken cutlets seasoned with salt and pepper. For a sandwich spread I combined fresh parsley, mayo, and lemon zest and juice.

Defining moments: First time baking bread in a loaf pan! I've baked bread before many a time but I've always done it the artisan way; see what I mean here. This would also be my first time pounding chicken breasts; see how I did it without a mallet by reading on.

Recipe sources: The chicken cutlet and spread recipes are from Sandra Lee. I specifically chose these because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog. The Ballymaloe Brown Bread recipe came from the Early Spring 2009 issue of The Baking Sheet, a newsletter printed by the people from King Arthur Flour. Here is the recipe written out for you:

Ballymaloe Brown Bread
Yield: One loaf using a 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups (14 ounces) King Arthur whole wheat flour, Traditional or White Whole Wheat
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) molasses
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) water

Combine all of the dough ingredients by hand, in a mixer, or in the pan of your bread machine set on the dough cycle. Mix and knead until a soft, smooth dough forms, or let the bread machine finish its cycle.

Cover and let rise for 1 hour. After the dough's first rise, gently deflate it and shape it into a loaf. Place the dough into an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, and then cover with greased plastic wrap or a large inverted bowl. Let the dough rise for 30 to 45 minutes, until it domes 1 inch above the rim of the pan. Bake in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until it reaches 190 degrees F in the center when measured with an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before taking the bread out of the pan to finish cooling on a rack before slicing. Makes 14 to 16 slices.

What I learned: Being a person who doesn't like dealing with raw meat, especially when it is soft and slippery, I wasn't looking forward to pounding out my chicken to make cutlets. But I really wanted to try out this technique, and not having a suitable kitchen mallet wasn't going to stand in my way. I took out our Pyrex cutting board, a sheet of plastic wrap, and a rolling pin, and got to work. I cut each breast (which was boneless and skinless) into three or four narrow strips, laid the plastic wrap on top, and gingerly pounded each strip with the rolling pin. The job was really easy to do, the only thing I really didn't enjoy about the ordeal was the hot kitchen! lol! It has been over 80 these past few days, you see!

Now let's talk about my favorite part of the day: the bread. I used our Pyrex bread pans and sprayed them lightly with vegetable spray. You can see that my family loves Pyrex, can't you? I followed the recipe by letting the dough double in size, formed it into loaves, placed the loaves in the pans, and covered the pans with an inverted bowl. As soon as I saw that the loaves were 1 inch over the top of the pan, I made a slit on top of each loaf and placed it in the oven. I noticed that as soon as I made the slit, the loaves deflated slightly and when I took them out of the oven, they weren't very tall. I wonder if a) that is how high they should be or b), my slit was the culprit. I've never done bread in the pan before so I'm not sure! And oh by the way, I placed a roasting pan at the bottom of the oven and poured a cup of water in the hot pan when the bread went into the oven. I usually do this "steam" pan when baking bread, it is something I picked up from the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Any modifications? I followed the bread recipe exactly but I tweaked the sandwich filling a little bit. Because I didn't have fennel, red onion, or lettuce available, I left those ingredients out.

How did it taste? Superb! And a very good supper choice for such a hot day. The chicken was surprisingly moist and flavorful, (gee, a little salt and pepper can go a long way, can't it?), the spread complemented it very well, (that fresh chopped parsley was the star of the spread), and the bread was soft and tasty.

How about a 2nd time? Yes, and I am interested in giving this brown bread another go. Maybe next time I will have a loaf that will mimic the Empire State Building. Who knows? :D

I sometimes think I am an Army Cook. Now you can see why!

And here are a couple shots of dessert. It is an Applesauce Cake that Annemarie made the day before. She used the applesauce we canned last January and boy oh boy, it was delicious!

Paella Day

4/18/10: Spanish Chicken and Chorizo Paella with Whole Grain Rye Bread

Meal details: For the main course I made a huge pan of paella (a Spanish rice dish) that had chicken drumsticks, crushed tomatoes, peas, and chorizo. And I served a whole grain rye bread along side it.

Defining moments: First time for me to taste or make paella and also first time baking rye bread.

Recipe sources: The paella recipe is from Paula Deen and I specifically chose it because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog. The rye bread recipe came from my Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook. See my review of this book here.

What I learned: I learned that it takes exactly 20 chicken drumsticks (of medium size) to fill our large stainless steel skillet. No more, no less. :D That little tidbit is always nice to have on hand! I also finally realized how helpful my HBI5 (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day) cookbook is when it comes to preparing a meal in advance. Because of the high moisture in each recipe, you are able to store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. I took advantage of this and prepared my dough Friday evening and baked it on Sunday. Makes bread baking really fast and usually "bread" and "fast" don't fit in the same sentence!
There is a funny story behind the flour shopping that was done for my rye bread. Annemarie went to Plumb's (a small grocery store nearby) and couldn't find rye flour ANYWHERE. But she came home with Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed. FLAXSEED? My gosh, I thought I would never see it, being kind of a specialty item! Oh boy, I'm really eying that flaxseed recipe in the book now. And by the way, we found rye flour at Bill's Shop and Save so I didn't go without my rye flour this week--obviously!

I wanted to write down here exactly what I do to bake this bread. Unlike the recommendations in the book, I do not use a pizza stone (aka baker's stone) or any special equipment. I simply use a 12 x 15 cookie sheet and a deep roasting pan. I line the cookie sheet (or sheets, when I am doing more than two loaves), with non-stick aluminum foil and form my loaves right on the sheet. I cover them loosely with plastic wrap and let them rise for the suggested time. I place the roasting pan on the lowest rack in the oven and preheat the oven for 30 minutes.
Once the oven has come up to temperature, I remove the plastic wrap and brush the risen loaves with water and make four, 1/4" slits on the top of each. With one cup of water on hand, I place the loaves in the oven, pour the water into the roasting pan, and quickly shut the oven door. The hot roasting pan will create steam and give the loaves more time for some major "oven spring." My oven does not close perfectly and some of the steam is lost but I have not found it to cause any baking problems.
So that's what I do for baking HBI5 bread.

Any modifications? For the paella recipe, I used all drumsticks instead of chicken thighs and drumsticks, I used Mexican chorizo instead of Spanish (the Mexican variety is fresh while the Spanish is dried), I omitted saffron, and I used long-grain rice instead of the Arborio.
I followed the rye bread recipe exactly.

How it tasted? Both the paella and the bread were fantastic. The chicken was nice and tender and the rice was spicy (because of the chorizo) and had perfect texture. The rye bread had a chewy crust and a tender crumb--just the way I like it. The rye bread, however, didn't have a real rye flavor, I mostly tasted the whole wheat that was included. Maybe I'll try it without the wheat next time.

How about a 2nd time? You bet!

Doesn't our large skillet look just like a traditional paella pan? Never noticed it before!

Baking Fish for the First Time

2/7/10: Baked Costa Rican-Style Tilapia with Pineapple, Black Beans, and Rice with French Bread on the Side

Meal details: For the main course I made a baked fish dish that included pineapple, black beans, rice, lemon, orange juice, and more. For a side, I baked two loaves of French bread.

Defining moments: First time for me with cooking fish (I've only eaten it before!), using black beans, and marinating.

Recipe sources: The fish recipe was created by Ingrid Hoffman, the host of Simply Delicioso on Food Network. I chose this fish recipe specifically for the FNCCC (Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge) that is being hosted by the I Blame My Mother blog. And the French bread recipe came from the February/March 2010 issue of Taste of Home magazine. Here is the recipe:

French Loaves

• 2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water (110F to 115F)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 4 1/2 to 5 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp. cornmeal

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the salt, sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; kneed until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 12-in.-long loaves.
4. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cornmeal. With a sharp knife, make four shallow slashes across the top of each loaf. Bake at 450F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
   

What I learned: Ahem. I learned how to cook fish. Period. I never thought I would do fish--the job is usually given to my brother--so I am very proud of having chosen this recipe. Anything else in particular this week? Ya know, putting together this fish dish was not too far off from the ordinary for me. Sort of like making a casserole, in a way. Perhaps the marinating part? Nah. I've seen that old, ziplock bag trick so many times on Food Network, that when the time came for me to do it, it felt like deja vu.

Any modifications? Yes, to both recipes. For the fish recipe, I didn't use cilantro (not available here right now), used bass and bluegill fillets instead of tilapia (the fish were caught by us!), and used lemons in replace of limes. I also baked it for 45 minutes instead of 30; longer baking time could have been caused by thicker fillets--not too sure. I mean, I never saw tilapia before!
For the bread recipe, I added two cups of whole wheat flour to the dough and 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten. The whole wheat was added because a) I like the flavor, b) more fiber and nutrients, and c), I want to use it up. The vital wheat gluten isn't really "vital" for this recipe since there is bread flour added too, but I just wanted to make sure since I've never really changed a bread recipe before.

How it tasted? I didn't find one morsel left of either! I couldn't find one complaint anywhere. The fish were moist, tender, and perfectly cooked. The rice, black beans, salsa, pineapple bottom layer was very flavorful and had wonderful texture. The bread rose and baked just fine (no problem caused by my addition of whole wheat), and it had a chewy crumb and a soft crust.

How about a 2nd time? Yes!!!!!! And maybe I'll try using some Northern Pike that my brother caught this winter. Yummy!

My First Cookbook Review : Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Cookbook Review: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients

If you have been reading my blog for awhile you will notice that I like to try out new recipes and I seem to do one (or two) every Sunday afternoon. Trying out new recipes is the essential part of learning how to cook. I mean, if you have several favorite recipes and you repeat them week after week (even if they are some fancy dishes like Bolognese or Coq Au Vin) you will not be moving forward in your culinary skills. New recipes = new skills learned!

As you can well imagine, when a fresh-off-the-press cookbook filled with new recipes fell into my hands I was very excited. It's called: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francios. I tried out a few recipes so far and I've decided to give some information about the book here as well as my honest opinion. Hope you have fun reading!

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients

Details:

• Written by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
• 336 pages
• Hardcover
• Published by Thomas Dunne Books
• Second book in series. First book is titled: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
  

Author Bios:

Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., is a physician with twenty years of experience in health care as a practitioner, consultant, and faculty member at the University of Minnesota Medical School. His interest in baking and preventive health sparked a quest to adapt the techniques of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for healthier ingredients.

Zoë François, is passionate about food that is real, healthy, and always delicious. She is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America. In addition to teaching baking and pastry courses nationally, she consults to the food industry and is the creator of the recipe blog www.zoebakes.com. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons.

Synopsis: Just like their first book, Hertzberg and Francois show their revolutionary way to bake bread. This new method is considerably faster and requires a lot less steps than you would think. Their new method requires no kneading, the dough can last in the refrigerator for up to fourteen days, no yeast proofing, no need to worry about allowing the dough to rest in a draft-free location, no need to monitor the doubling or tripling of dough volume, no need to punch dough down, etc. It is this removal of traditional steps that has given the books its title: five minutes a day.
Baking bread easily and fast is only part of this book's mission. The other goal is to make healthy breads. It contains recipes that include various seeds, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, etc. that are either incorporated into the dough or are sprinkled on top. The consumption of the selected ingredients (such as whole wheat flour) contain more vitamins, fiber, and minerals than your typical refined flour breads. And the book also includes recipes for gluten-free breads and pastries.

The Recipes: I tried three recipes so far. The "Master Recipe"(a recipe you use as the base for many different types of bread found in the book), Roasted Garlic Bread, and Four-Leaf Clover Broccoli and Cheddar Buns. Before I looked at the recipes I thought, "How can I really make bread in five minutes a day like the title says?" It is possible, it only takes a person five minutes of handling the dough to make a loaf. Really. The dough, however, needs resting and baking time and for most of the recipes this means three hours of waiting. But that is just idle time; you could do two loads of laundry, answer some emails, and make lunch in that amount of time. And it doesn't have to be three hours, you can make it the night before or even thirteen days beforehand!
The recipes (100 in all) found in this book are traditional and exotic. There is a very diverse lot of recipes here! And they include all sorts of interesting ingredients such as spelt flour (a type of wheat flour), barley, graham, mesquite, quinoa, emmer, pumpkin seeds, millet, and buckwheat.

Opinion of Recipes: The two most important parts of a cookbook is how the recipe is presented and the finished product. The three recipes I've tested so far have made beautiful, crusty bread that I am very proud of. My family of eight liked each loaf that came from the oven! The recipe directions were done in step-by-step format and were easy to follow. I especially liked that the authors repeated instructions again for each recipe. By instructions, I mean for example how to roll the dough in your hands to form a "boule" or ball. It is a good idea to repeat techniques periodically because I don't like flipping through a book to find this certain step when I'm right in the middle of baking! :)

Photos: There are a few full-paged, colored photos in the middle of the book and a few recipes have black and white photos to show the steps to making the bread. I'm a sucker for recipes with photos and if I had it my way, I would have a photo for each bread in this book! But I have to be realistic here. The photos that are included are of good quality but I do wish the black and white demonstration photos were larger.

What I disliked about this book: Too small of demonstration photos.

What I really loved about this book: The helpful website that comes along with the book series, the sprinkle of humor and great storytelling I found, both volume and weight measurements, and the large amount of information they give on the ingredients being used, easy substitutions that can be made, equipment, and tips for those "what happened?" moments.

Sneak Peek: Guess what, I got a recipe from the book to present to you all, courtesy of the publisher. So try it out and see how you like it! And oh yeah, be looking for another cookbook review in the very near future!

Pumpkin Pie Brioche
by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François,
Authors of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients

"In the autumn I bake pies using freshly roasted sugar pumpkins. My kids love the flavors and I love that pumpkin is full of vitamins. It struck me that the same amazing flavors could be used in a sweet and spiced brioche. The pumpkin makes wonderfully moist dough and the bread is so fragrant and tender. It is great with butter and cinnamon-sugar or cream cheese icing."--Zoë

Makes enough dough for at least two 2-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved. Use any leftover dough to make muffins, crescent rolls, or pinwheels.

3 cups white whole wheat flour

4½ cups unbleached all- purpose flour

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets
1 tablespoon kosher salt (increase or decrease to taste)

2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

1¼ cups lukewarm water
4 large eggs

½ cup honey
¾ cup neutral-flavored oil, or unsalted butter, melted, or zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine, melted
One large pie (or "sugar") pumpkin to yield 1¾ cups pumpkin puree, or use one 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top crust

Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

1. If making your own fresh pumpkin puree: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Split the pumpkin in half, starting at the stem, and place it cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet or one lined with a silicone mat. Bake for about 45 minutes. The pumpkin should be very soft all the way through when poked with a knife. Cool slightly before scooping out the seeds.

2. Scoop out the roasted flesh of the pumpkin and puree it in the food processor. Set aside 1¾ cups for the dough and use any leftover in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

3. Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, vital wheat gluten, and spices in a 5- quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

4. Combine the liquid ingredients with the pumpkin puree and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you're not using a machine.

5. The dough will be loose, but it will firm up when chilled. Don't try to use it without chilling for at least 2 hours. You may notice lumps in the dough, but they will disappear in your finished products.

6. Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

7. Refrigerate the dough in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond that, the dough stores well in the freezer for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze it in 2-pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual rest/rise times.

8. On baking day, grease a brioche pan or an 8½× 4½-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place the ball in the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 1 hour 45 minutes.

9. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven. If you're not using a stone in the oven, a 5-minute preheat is adequate.

10. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf's top with egg wash, and then sprinkle with raw sugar.

11. Bake near the center of the oven for approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Brioche will not form a hard, crackling crust. The loaf is done when it is medium brown and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.

12. Remove the brioche from the pan (see page 50) and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing or eating.

The above is an excerpt from the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François, authors of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients

Disclaimer:

This blog is a personal blog created and edited by me, Rebekah. I was given a free copy of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by FSBAssociates.com, after they asked me if I was interested in posting a review on my blog. I replied with, "Yes, I'm interested," but I vowed to myself that I would not post if I didn't find the book favorable. I was in no way forced to review and the above review contains my honest opinion.

Linguine Roman Style and Broccoli and Cheddar Buns--Buon Appetito!

1/03/10: Linguine Roman Style and Four-Leaf Clover Broccoli and Cheddar Buns

Meal details: For the main course I made a simple pasta dish that uses ricotta and cheese for the sauce. And I paired the pasta with a whole wheat bun that has broccoli puree added to the dough and sharp cheddar baked on top.

Defining moments: Making a vegetable puree was entirely new to me! I haven't used our blender a whole lot yet so anything done in that machine is a real eye opener to me. :)

Recipe sources: The pasta dish came from a new cookbook that just came out. It is called Ciao Italia, Five Ingredient Favorites and it is written by Mary Ann Esposito, the host of Ciao Italia. The broccoli buns came from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, another newly published book, written by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.
Note to Rebekah: I did one recipe and had enough dough for 26 buns.

What I learned: I began to realize that even though a recipe (like the broccoli buns here), may sound tedious and require a good amount of steps, I shouldn't be intimidated. When I first looked at the bun recipe I thought they would take a long time to do, especially with all that dough dividing and shaping. But the authors of the book knew from the start that their recipes need to be quick for their readers, and so they made certain that their breads take on simple shapes. These buns are just made up of four small pieces of dough put together by pressing in the center. Really easy to put together and I have to say, they were adorable!
The pasta dish was very easy to do. So easy that I can remember exactly what to do next time, I usually need to go back to a recipe again and again. So I'm thinking that I will start feeling like one of those chefs that can whip up a dish without one glance at a recipe card. A dream come true!

Any modifications? Yes, I made one modification and that was to the pasta recipe. Instead of using pecorino cheese, I used parmesan. Why? Couldn't find the former in the grocery store.

How did it tasted? Both recipes were wonderful. The pasta's flavors were simple and very satisfying. And I love to know that not many dollars went into its creation. The buns were so very good! I was hoping to have the buns look like clovers more but the ridges weren't that pronounced when they came out of the oven. However! Because of the unique way you roll and shape these buns, you can easily tear off one "leaf" at a time when you're eating them. Easy eats!

How about a 2nd time? Yes, I would like to do these two recipes again.

Roasted Garlic Bread to the Rescue

1/01/10: Roasted Garlic Bread

On Friday we were going to have our homemade spaghetti lunch and we wanted some garlic bread to go along with it. Annemarie tried to make an herb bread in the bread machine but it was not cooperating at all that week! So I tried another recipe from The Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. I started working on the dough around 8 a.m. and I had the bread all set to enjoy at 11:40 a.m. Now, that is some quick bread making!

What was really interesting about this bread is the use of herb butter. I mixed some dried herbs into soft butter and inserted the butter into the slits I made. I did this when the bread was slightly warm so the butter started to melt and seep into every nook and cranny. Yummy!

My First Slice of Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

12/27/09: Chicken with Fresh Orange Cranberry Sauce and Whole Wheat Bread

Meal details: For the main course I browned some chicken breasts and made an orange, cranberry sauce to go with them. To round out the meal I made an artisan whole wheat bread.

Defining moments: First time making a whole wheat bread. And the first time I tasted orange and cranberry together.

Recipe sources: The sauce recipe came from the 1978 cookbook called The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two. My family and I are not close to being vegetarian, by the way! I found this recipe on the internet when I was searching for sauces that will pair well with chicken. You can find the recipe here.
The whole wheat bread recipe came from the newly published book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, written by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It is the "Master Recipe" found in the book.

What I learned: What quickly comes to mind is learning a whole new way to bake bread. The Healthy Bread in Five book showed me how to make bread dough that I don't have to knead and how to make a bread with a nice chewy crust and a soft crumb.

Any modifications? No, I followed both recipes exactly.

How it tasted? Both the chicken and the bread tasted good! Everyone liked the sweet--tart--savory combination of the sauce and the bread was outstanding.

How about a 2nd time? Yes, to both recipes.