The Best Bread on Earth

12/13/09: Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with St. Joseph's Day Bread

Sorry for the delay in posting! The past month has been a busy one. :)

Meal details: For the main course I stewed store-bought meatballs in our homemade tomato sauce (includes tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. straight from my family's farm). Alongside the meatballs I served fresh St. Joseph's Day Bread.

Defining moments: None for this week. I specifically chose these two dishes just because I knew I would be familiar with them! I didn't want to do anything difficult this time because I knew I would be spending a good amount of time baking in the next couple of weeks.

Recipe sources: The meatballs were really a no-brainer--just tomato sauce and meatballs in a pot. :) The St. Joseph's Day Bread is a recipe I've done before and it actually came from a calendar I received last Christmas. You can find the recipe here.

What I learned: Tried to keep it simple so I believe nothing new was learned this time.

Any modifications? No.

How it tasted? Unbelievably good! ;) The bread was warm, moist and just the perfect side for the flavorful meatballs in our sauce. Thanks big sis for pushing me to do St. Joseph's Day Bread again!

How about a 2nd time? Definitely. These two work very well together.

Ah, warm St. Joseph's Day Bread straight from the oven. He had a little splitting problem but it didn't at all effect the flavor!







Don't ya worry, I'll keep up with the posting!

My Little Gray Cells

6/28/09: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

• Meal details: Sandwiches were comprised of mozzarella cheese, ham, and St. Joseph's Day Bread.
  
• Recipe sources: My little gray cells were at work this week so this recipe will be labeled "original." Pretty neat, huh?
• Defining moments: Coming out with a recipe all on my own is one special moment for moi. Another one would be using the HUGE non-stick griddle. I have never really used it before. Every time I see it being pulled out for pancakes, french toast, or grilled cheese sandwiches, I think to myself, "I do have a large family, don't I?" :)
• What I learned: I made the St. Joseph's Day Bread the day before and I discovered that I have to make 1 and 1/2 loaves in order to make sixteen sandwiches/pieces. I'm glad I decided to bake it beforehand, I would have ended up spending hours in the kitchen on Sunday. I also learned a good technique in melting the cheese. Since the pieces of bread for the sandwiches were rather thick the heat from the griddle wasn't able to reach the cheese. The best way to do this is to layer the sandwich in the following sequence: slice of bread, cheese, then ham. Place this portion of the sandwich ham-down on the griddle and wait until the cheese melts. Then add the second piece of bread on top. A side note: I buttered both sides of the bread with melted butter.
  
• How it tasted? I really liked it, it was warm, buttery, and cheesy--all you would want in a sandwich. And I believe everyone enjoyed it, too.
• How about a 2nd time? Yes.

M'm! M'm!. . . Homemade!

2/22/09: Chicken, Corn, and Potato Chowder and St. Joseph's Day Bread

• Sources: Recipelink.com for chowder and March 2009 issue of Saint Maria's Messenger magazine.

• Defining moments: First time I ever made soup from scratch. (If I was talking canned soup this would probably be my 100th time.)

• What I learned: I learned that you should never have soup without bread accompanying it! I also discovered that the second time you do a recipe everything seems to flow so nicely. I had zero trouble with the St. Joseph's Day bread this time.

• How it tasted: It was the best chicken soup I ever tried and my brothers really liked it as well. My sisters looked more fondly at the bread than the soup, which I don't mind in the least!

• How about a 2nd time? The bread, definitely. The soup. . .If I could have it my way I would have this soup, cabbage soup, and split pea soup every month! These three are my favorites. And split pea soup may be coming soon, the ham bone is waiting patiently in the freezer as I speak.

St. Joseph's Day Bread

2/01/09: Italian Tomato-Herb Chicken and St. Joseph's Day Bread

• Sources: The Woman's Day Cook Book for the chicken and A Catholic Calendar of Culinary Customs for the bread.

• Defining moments: Breading chicken and making a gigantic loaf of bread.

• What I learned: I learned, first and foremost, that I shouldn't whack my head against the wall just because my yeast doesn't activate. My goodness, worst things can happen, right? So just throw out the first batch and start again. I later discovered (after my mom calmed me down a bit and explained, once again, the necessary water temperature), that the water needs to be no lower than 115 and no higher than 130 degrees. I originally thought that I shouldn't go beyond 120 and should try to stay at 115. So in a nutshell, my water was too cool. My second attempt, however, proved to be successful.
  
• I also learned that breading chicken is not an easy thing to do. I tried it out and unfortunately almost all of my bread crumb coating fell off once the chicken touched the hot skillet. I later asked Annemarie what is the cause of this and she said that I have to use a egg wash next time. Dip the chicken in the egg, then the bread crumbs, back into the egg, then finally into the skillet. The egg makes the crumbs adhere better and her family has been using this method for, um, forever so it is fool proof from the sounds of it. I'll have to try it next time.

• How it tasted: The chicken was accepted but I didn't get any big cheers, but then again maybe the chicken horrays were drowned out by the St. Joseph's Day Bread applaud. Everyone "loved" the bread so that made the yeast episode an event of long ago.

• How about a 2nd time? Definitely yes for the bread.