apricot bread

I'm on maternity now and so you'd think I'd have more time for things like cooking and blogging, right? I thought so too! Sorry about the neglect... :(

I still have a bunch of fruit from last year's bounty in the freezer. It's really a shame that we have so many gorgeous fruit trees in our yard but are not a frequent fruit-eating household. I know it's something we should change, and I'm working on it. But for now, I'm also working on clearing out the freezer because before you know it, our fruit trees are going to be abundant with fruit again and I'm going to need that freezer space!

One of the fruits that my freezer is overflowing with is apricots. I looked up recipes to use up my apricots, but everything I found was for dried apricots. So I looked up peaches instead. They're pretty similar, right? One that caught my eye was this peach bread recipe. I just substituted the peaches for apricots and it worked out nicely. It actually doesn't taste very apricot-y, but it's a tasty bread either way. It could be that my apricots weren't all that flavorful, who knows.

I also substituted half of the flour with white whole wheat flour to make it a bit healthier and have been eating it for breakfast this week.

If you have any other great apricot recipes, I'd love to hear them!

Adapted from A Life Less Sweet
Ingredients:
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups very ripe, mashed apricots
- 1 egg
- 2 tbs melted butter

Directions:
- Combine the flours, sugars, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
- In a second bowl, combine the peaches, egg and butter.
- Stir in flour mixture.
- Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and pour the mixture in.
- Let it stand for 20 minutes while preheating the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then remove it to a cooling rack to finish cooling. minutes. Bake at 350 for 45-55 min. Cool bread in pan 15 min; remove from pan and finish cooling on wire rack.

Carrot Bread

I've been getting tired of cereal for breakfast every morning, so when I saw my friend make zucchini bread, I asked her for the recipe. It looked like the perfect solution to my breakfast boredom.

Along with the recipe, she mentioned how next time she wanted to try carrots, and since I already had carrots in my fridge, I went with carrots. She also gave me notes on 3 separate attempts she did using different amounts of different kinds of sugar and her opinions on its effects. She said 1 cup of white sugar was too sweet. 3/4 cups of brown sugar wasn't sweet enough and 3/4 cup of white sugar was still a bit too sweet. Using this info, I decided on 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar and thought it was a good level of sweetness. You can tweak it however you like.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
(the original calls for 1 cup of sugar instead of the mixture of white and brown sugar)
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup walnuts (I forgot these)

Directions:
- Stir the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder together and set aside.
- Mix the sugar, brown sugar, carrots and egg in a separate bowl.
- Add the lemon zest and oil to the carrot mixture.
- Slowly mix in the flour mixture until evenly mixed.
- Fold in the walnuts.
- Grease a 8x4x2 loaf pan and pour the batter in.
- Cook in a 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes than transfer it to a rack to finish cooling.

Parmesan Bread Twists

I had leftover dough when making pizza, so I decided to make some parmesan breadsticks. They're fun for entertaining and easy to make. I did have some trouble keeping the bread from unraveling after twisting them, but in the end, I think they turned out okay.

Ingredients:
- Pizza dough (you can use store bought or this recipe)
- Parmesan cheese
- Garlic powder
- Oregano or parsley or other herbs
- Salt
- Oil

Directions:
- Roll out the pizza dough into a rectangle. If you have trouble rolling it out because it keeps bouncing back, let the dough rest 10-15 minutes and try again.
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese, garlic powder, herbs, and salt to taste on the bottom half of the rectangle.
- Fold the top half of dough over the part with the filling and using a knife or pizza cutter, cut it into ~3/4" strips.
- Twist each strip and place it on a lined baking sheet.
- Let them rest for about 20 minutes.
- Brush them with oil.
- Put them into a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes or until they're golden brown.

Strawberry Bread

Our strawberry plants are producing a lot less fruit this year. Maybe it's because the plants or older now, or maybe because I thinned out the patch a bit earlier this year. Either way, it's probably a good thing because we still have frozen strawberries leftover from last season that need to be used up.

And because we can only eat so much strawberry jam and drink so many smoothies, I'm always looking for ways to use the strawberries and came across this strawberry bread. It's like banana nut bread, but with strawberries! Maybe next time I'll try a strawberry and banana nut bread since strawberries and bananas go so well together...

I got this recipe from Amber's Delectable Delights and highly recommend it!

Source: Amber's Delectable Delights
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
- 1 1/4 cups (6 1/2 ounces) flour (I used bread flour)
- 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) mashed strawberries
- 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil

Directions:
- Mix the walnuts, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the lemon zest, eggs, strawberries and oil.
- Combine the two until well blended.
- Pour everything into a greased 9x5" loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes, then move it to a cooling rack.
- Slice and serve!

Artisan Pizza

So we've been continuing to keep the dough for artisan bread in our fridge at all times and are really enjoying a constant supply of fresh crusty bread whenever we want. I also have to report on another great cheese find at Costco. The Fancy Yancy's Smoked Gouda is less than $6 per pound, is super tasty, and goes great with the baguettes. Yum!

Besides baguettes, we also tried making pizza out of it and it turned out great. I am in love with this super versatile dough and am excited to experiment with the possibilities even more.

Ingredients:
- See dough recipe here

- Tomato sauce
- Tomato paste
- Oregano
- Mozerella cheese
- Toppings of your choice (we used grilled chicken breast and tomatoes for the pizza pictured above).
- Cornmeal or parchment paper.

Directions:
- Take about a pound of the dough, dust it in flour and roll it into a ball.
- Set the dough aside and let it rest for at least half an hour. An hour or even two would be fine also.
- Heat your oven and baking stone to 475 degrees.
- Stretch and toss the dough until it makes a nice circle about 12 inches in diameter. Place it on top of a generous amount of cornmeal or parchment paper.
- Mix some tomato paste and tomato sauce together until it reaches the consistency you like and spread it all over the pizza, minus the crust.
- Sprinkle oregano on the pizza.
- Place whatever toppings you like on top.
- Sprinkle on the cheese.
- Slide the pizza onto the baking stone and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Cut into slices and enjoy!

Steak Sandwich

Remember those gorgeous homemade baguettes that are a constant staple in our house these days? Do you also remember the french onion soup that I made? Well, I had leftovers of both, so I asked my hubz to grill up some steak for steak sandwiches. He always does such a great job of cooking steak to perfection, I guess it's a guy thing because I sure can't do it. And it was so tasty that I requested it again and am thinking about making more soup just so that I can have more steak sandwiches!

And since the secret ingredient for Weekend Wokking this month is beef and steak is about as "beefy" as you can get, I'm submitting this entry. Wandering Chopsticks created this awesome event and Marija of Palachinka is hosting this month. Check out the roundup on April 1 for some beefy goodness!



Ingredients:
- 1 baguette
- 1 steak (we used New York, but anything will do)
- Leftover french onion soup
- Horseradish sauce (I like the creamy variety for this)
- Lettuce (optional)
- Salt and pepper

Directions:
- Ask your husband to salt and pepper the steak and cook it to perfection. Let it rest, then slice it into thin strips.
- Cut the baguette in half and toast it until nice and crispy.
- Spread a generous amount of horseradish across the bread.
- Lay the pieces of steak across the sandwich.
- Spoon the onion soup over the steak.
- Add the lettuce if desired (I found I liked it better without).
- Close the sandwich and dip it in additional onion soup and horseradish as desired and eat.

Artisan Bread

We love nice crusty breads in this household. When I saw King Arthur's baguette, I knew I had to try it. I fell so in love with the bread that I've made it numerous times since and frequently make the stuffed versions too. But honestly, those things were a lot of freaking work! Start the sponge the day before, make the dough, knead the dough, go through 3 sessions of 1-hour rises, shape the dough, let it rise one more hour, spray, slash, bake, cool. Seriously, it was a huge commitment.

When I heard about Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I was VERY intrigued and decided to check it out. And boy am I glad I did! This stuff is great! I can have fresh baked bread ready to eat in 2 hours whenever I feel like it with minimal fuss and minimal mess. I just have to keep the dough in the fridge at all times, which I don't mind at all.

I even taught the hubz how to make it too so he doesn't have to wait for me when he's got a craving. Needless to say, we'll be eating a lot more bread in this house from now on!

And even when I screw up and they aren't so pretty, they still taste fantastic!

Look at all those humungous, gorgeous air bubbles. Aaah, I'm in heaven.

A few tips and tricks that I've learned from my limited experience is to definitely wait at least a week before using the dough. The difference in taste between the bread I made the day after I mixed the dough and a week later was humungous! It's definitely worth the wait.

Another lesson learned is to let it rest for about an hour and a half instead of the 40 in the book (they mention this correction on their website too).

And lastly, use parchment paper. Seriously, it'll save you so much headache in transferring the dough to the oven. But remove it after about 10-15 minutes so that the bottom can crisp up more. Or use LOTS of cornmeal.

As a side note, a frequent snack in this household has become bread and cheese. I highly recommend Dubliner cheese from Costco. It's a less than $6 a pound and is really tasty with little flavor crystals and all! If this habit continues, we will be slowly making our way through all the cheeses Costco has to offer and will report back on any great finds (like the Dubliner, seriously, try it).

Ingredients:
- 3 cups of water
- 1 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 1/2 cups of flour (bread or all-purpose)

Directions:
- Mix all the ingredients together until all the flour has been incorporated in a large container with a NON airtight lid (or just crack the lid a bit when storing). There is no need for kneading or a mixer. I've found a dough whisk and my hands to be the best tools for this. Wetting your hands before digging in will help them from sticking.
- Let the mixture sit at room temperature with the NON airtight lid on for about 2 hours, or until at least doubled in size.
- Put the mixture (covered but not airtight) in the fridge.
- For the next 2 weeks, pull the dough of the fridge and while it is still cold, cut off about a pound of the dough. I found that for the best flavors, let it sit in the fridge for at least a week.
- Flour the surface of your workspace and gently shape and stretch the dough into a ball by pull the edges under the ball, rotating and repeating.
- Shape the dough into whatever shape you'd like (long baguette, round boule, etc) on a pizza peal heavily coated in cornmeal or parchment paper. Let it rest, uncovered for an hour and a half.
- Preheat your oven and a baking stone to 450 degrees. Put a roasting pan underneath to heat as well.
- Right before baking, if you want to make a baguette, spray the surface of the dough with water. If you want a boule, dust the top with flour, or coat the dough with an eggwash for something that I don't know the name of, but it definitely tasty.
- Slash the dough a few times with a very sharp knife in whatever pretty pattern you'd like.
- Slide the dough onto the pizza stone and pour a cup of hot water into the roasting pan.
- Quickly close the oven door to trap the steam and bake for about 25 minutes. If you used parchment paper, remove it about 10-15 minutes into the baking time. Do not disturb it for the first 10 minutes as that's when the majority of the rising and crispy crust develops.
- Let the bread cool on a cooling rack and then enjoy your fresh baked artisan bread!
- When you've used up all the dough, keep the old remnants in the container and add more flour, water, salt and yeast. Keeping the old remnants will help give your new batch even more depth of flavor.

Cheesy Biscuits

We love Red Lobster's cheddar bay biscuits. You just can't beat the buttery goodness of those biscuits, but it didn't stop me from trying!

Most Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuit knockoff recipes I found called for Bisquick. I didn't have Bisquick and didn't feel like buying it just for this recipe, so I used Paula Deen's biscuit recipe and added the cheese, etc, because I figured, if anyone knew how to make a buttery biscuit, it'd be her. Surprisingly, I still feel that Red Lobster's are even more buttery! Man, I don't even want to know how bad for me they are!

Inspired by Paula Deen and Red Lobster
Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons butter, cubed
• 3/4 cup milk (I used soy milk)
• 1 cup of cheddar cheese shredded plus more for topping biscuits if desired.
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp parsley flakes
  

Method:

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut butter into mixture until it begins to look like cornmeal.

Mix in the cheese, garlic powder and parsley flakes.

Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add milk into the middle. Knead dough with your fingers and add milk when necessary.

Because I wanted them to look like cheddar bay biscuits, I spooned out messy balls on a baking sheet instead of rolling them out and cutting out circle. I then topped them with a bit more cheese.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown in a 350 degree oven.

I'm also submitting this recipe to Joelen's Tasty Tools Event that is highlighting baking sheets this month. Check out her blog in the new year to see what other goodies people made with baking sheets or submit your own!

Naan

Naan and samosas are what I'm always going back for over and over at Indian buffets. I usually like to dip the naan in some sort of curry, but the naan is the true star of the show. I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with eating the curry and aloo gobi with boring old rice, so I knew I had to make some naan. Unfortunately, the samosas will have to wait until next time.

Making this naan was fun! A bit scary, but fun!

I preheated my oven at 500 degrees with a baking stone on the top rack for 30 minutes. Warning: Don't do this! Put that baking stone on the second to top rack, especially if you have a gas oven like we do. I'll explain later...

After preheating the oven and stone, I turned the oven to broil. This is the best way to simulate a tandoori oven at home and it worked like a charm! I tossed the naan on the baking stone, pushed it in and closed the door. Boy, does that thing puff up! So much in fact that it touched the broiler flames on top and caught on fire! Now do you see why I say it was a bit scary but fun? And also why you probably shouldn't put that baking stone on the top rack and why the second rack might be a slightly better option?

After that little scare, I watched that naan like a hawk. It only takes a few seconds on each side to cook, so I would've been watching it closely anyway, but this was just an extra incentive to pay close attention. As soon as the naan started puffing, I'd poke it and flip it. I don't think the hubz would be too happy if I burned down the kitchen, no matter how good dinner tasted!

The naan was so soft and tasty and was exactly what I was looking for. In the future, I'll try mixing in some onions and garlic for onion naan and garlic naan. YUM!

And I have one last tip before getting to the recipe. Your kitchen will get super hot because you'll be opening and closing that 500+ degree oven every few seconds, so this is definitely not something you want to try on a hot summer day.

Recipe:
inspired by Manjula's Kitchen

- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- Pinch of baking soda
- 2 tbps oil
- 2 1/2 tbps yogurt
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water

Dissolve the yeast in the water and let it proof for 10 minutes. Add the sugar, salt, baking soda, flour, yogurt and oil to the water and yeast and knead until the dough is smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume (1-2 hours)

Knead the dough a few time and then divide into 6 pieces. Roll and shape them into tear drops.

To simulate a tandoori oven, put a pizza stone on the second rack from the top. Heat at 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Then turn the oven to broil. Toss the naan on the pizza stone one at a time and close the oven door, but keep a constant eye on it. As soon as it puffs up, flip it with tongs. It will only take about a minute or less on each side. You can brush it with butter or ghee if you'd like, but it's not necessary.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I'm submitting this to Joelen's Indian-Jewish Adventure! It's not your typical pairing of cuisines, but both are delicious and she's bound to have some great entries. I hope you check it out!

Stuffed Baguettes

These are like the best things ever! This is the same recipe as the baguettes I made earlier, but stuffed with ooey gooey cheese and other goodies. I did a few experiments with pesto and artichokes, blue cheese and bacon, salami and cheese, and our favorite, ham and cheese. Look at that cheese oozing out - yum!

The first time I made this, I made 2 baguettes and 2 stuffed baguettes. The stuffed ones were such a hit that they disappeared within hours of coming out of the oven! Since they were so good, I thought I'd make more and freeze them, but the next batch of 6 never made it to the freezer before getting gobbled up. I tried one more time to make a batch for freezing and finally succeeded. They freeze really well and still taste great heated up in a toaster oven.

I definitely recommend giving these a try!

And also as an update to my last entry about the baguettes, I used bread flour and a baking stone this time and it seemed to help with making more larger air bubbles, but it may also just be my imagination. Who knows...

I'm also submitting this for Joelen's September Tasty Tools Event. She's highlighting bakeware this month and since I used a baking stone, silpat, and cooling rack, that should qualify, right? The roundup will be posted on October 5th, so keep your eye out for it!

From King Arthur's blog:
Starter
1/2 cup water
1 cup Bread Flour
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
Dough
All of the starter
3 1/2 cups Bread Flour
1 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

The Starter: Mix the starter ingredients together till smooth, cover, and let rest at room temperature overnight.
Preparing the Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead them together -- by hand, mixer or bread machine -- till you've made a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface should still be a bit rough. Allow the dough to rise, covered with lightly greased plastic wrap, for 3 hours, gently deflating it and turning it over after 1 hour, and then again after 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased or floured work surface. Divide the dough into two pieces (if you're using our Steam Baking Master, or three pieces, for longer, thinner baguettes. Shape each piece into a rough, slightly flattened oval, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let them rest for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into six pieces. Flatten each piece into a 5" square. Layer with the stuffing of your choice—a slice or two of ham or salami, some cheese, mustard—and roll up like a jelly roll, pinching the ends and the side seam closed.

Place the logs in the folds of a floured couche or floured cotton dish towel, which you've set onto a sheet pan or pans. Or place them directly onto the pan (lightly greased or parchment-lined). Cover them with a proof cover or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaves to rise till they have become quite puffy, but haven't doubled in size; this will take about 60 to 90 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 425°F; if you're using a baking stone, place it on the lowest shelf. Roll the risen baguettes from the couche onto the lightly greased or parchment-lined pan of your choice -- or onto a peel, if you're baking directly on the stone. Spritz the baguettes heavily with warm water; this will help them develop a crackly-crisp crust. Using a very sharp knife held at about a 45° angle, make three 8” vertical slashes in each baguette. Place the baguettes in the oven.

Bake the baguettes in a 425°F oven for about 25 minutes, until they're golden brown. Yield: six stuffed baguettes.

Banana Bread

Can you believe I made this in my toaster oven? The little loaf pan looked so small and lonely in the big full-sized oven that it decided to try to use the toaster oven - and it fit! However, I don't know if it's the recipe of the toaster oven or some other problem of my own (I'm not exactly the best baker out there after all), but the bottom was on the verge of burning and the banana bread was a bit on the dry side. So I cannot recommend this recipe, nor can I recommend baking banana bread in the toaster oven, but I also don't NOT recommend them. =P

At least it looks good, right?

I used a recipe from Joy of Baking in case you want to give it a try. Hopefully yours will turn out better than mine!

Ingredients:

1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan and place the slices of banana on top of the batter for garnish. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Baguette

Wow, this was definitely a labor of love! One 14 hour rise for the starter, 3 hour-long rises before shaping the dough, then one last 60-90 minute rise after shaping. Granted, it's mostly a lot of waiting around, but you gotta really plan ahead and probably shouldn't stray too far since you gotta come back and tend to it pretty often.

Was it worth it? Most definitely! But I think I'm going to try to make extra and freeze the dough next time? If you have any experience with this, please let me know if that's a bad idea. Otherwise, when I eventually get around to trying it out, I'll let you know if it's a bad idea or not...

Another thing that I'd like to see is more/bigger air bubles like a store-bought baguette. Maybe a baking stone would've helped with that? So would using bread flour instead of all purpose? Guess who's going shopping!

Anyway, I found this recipe on King Arthur's blog. I wonder if I could shortcut the recipe and add more yeast and shorten the rising times, but I probably shouldn't press my luck. I've come a long way from messing up cupcakes out of a box and have no desire to go back to my old ways of not following directions and screwing everything up.

Enjoy!

Note: I actually made the baguette before I made the bruschetta (I just hadn't written up the post yet) and used it for the bruschetta. Yummy yummy!

Starter
1/2 cup water
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or European-Style Artisan Bread Flour
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
Dough
All of the starter
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or European-Style Artisan Bread Flour
1 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

The Starter: Mix the starter ingredients together till smooth, cover, and let rest at room temperature overnight.
Preparing the Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead them together -- by hand, mixer or bread machine -- till you've made a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface should still be a bit rough. Allow the dough to rise, covered with lightly greased plastic wrap, for 3 hours, gently deflating it and turning it over after 1 hour, and then again after 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased or floured work surface. Divide the dough into two pieces (if you're using our Steam Baking Master, or three pieces, for longer, thinner baguettes. Shape each piece into a rough, slightly flattened oval, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let them rest for 15 minutes.

Working with one piece of dough at a time, fold the dough in half lengthwise, and seal the edges with the heel of your hand. Flatten it slightly, and fold and seal again. With the seam-side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the dough into a log that would fit whatever pan or baking stone you'll be using to bake in. Place the logs in the folds of a floured couche, which you've set onto a sheet pan or pans, or directly onto the pan (lightly greased or parchment-lined). Cover them with a proof cover or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaves to rise till they have just about doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.


Note: For the best, most crispy-crackly crust, cover the shaped baguettes in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, let them rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, covered, while you preheat your oven.

Preheat your oven to 425°F; if you're using a baking stone, place it on the lowest shelf. Roll the risen baguettes from the couche onto the lightly greased or parchment-lined pan of your choice -- or onto a peel, if you're baking directly on the stone. (If you're using the Steam Baking Master, follow the manufacturer's baking directions.) Place the baguettes in the oven.

Bake the baguettes for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're a deep, golden brown. Turn off the oven, crack it open about 2 inches, and allow the baguettes to cool in the oven. Yield: 2 shorter, fatter baguettes or 3 longer, skinnier baguettes.

Bruschetta

Aaaww, I'm really loving our mini garden. This year was my first attempt at gardening, so I started small with just a few tomato plants (two of which got eaten by gophers) and some herbs including basil! It's so nice to be able to walk outside and pluck a few leaves and not worry about having to go to the store and paying way too much and then worry about using it up before it goes bad. I've really learned a lot and have big plans for next year. And hopefully, the provisions that I plan on putting into place will be enough to protect my hard work from those darn gophers. I've been setting traps out for them for months now and have yet to catch anything! They keep detecting the traps somehow and kicking dirt into them while closing off their tunnels. We've got some smart gophers in our yard. One trap has even gone missing! I doubt the gophers are THAT smart though!

Anyway, back to the food. Bruschetta! Easy peasy and oh soooo yummylicious!

I even made my own baguette! Now, if I just learn to make my own olive oil, salt and pepper, this entire dish would be homemade =P

Ingredients:
- Baguette
- Garlic clove
- Tomatoes
- Basil
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper

Method:
- Slice the baguette and toast it. Even better would be grilling it! Then rub it with a clove of garlic.
- Dice the tomatoes.
- Chiffonade the basil.
- Mix everything all together and pile it onto the bread.

Hamburger buns

The hubz had been craving a big juicy burger for quite a while, so we decided to make some. We had everything we needed except hamburger buns, so instead of running to the store to grab some, we decided to try making them! It was definitely more work, but also a lot more fun. Besides, we had that monstrous bag of flour just asking to be used.

We looked around the internet for a recipe that we had all the ingredients. We were also looking for something quick since we were hungry and finally settled on this 40-Minute Hamburger Buns recipe. While it did the trick, there are a few things that we plan to do differently in the future. For one thing, the buns were waaay to sweet. It reminded me of those sweet hawaiian rolls (which I love, just not with a burger) rather than a burger bun. So next time, we're definitely cutting back on the sugar. We're also going to do a better job of shaping the buns next time. We're going to make them less ball-like and more bun-like. But overall, it wasn't too bad and homemade burger buns are probably something we'll try again in the future.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets.
Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 1 dozen.

And for our burger, it was just a patty of plain ground beef, some blue cheese, and carmelized onions. Delicious. The leftover buns made great egg salad sandwiches too!

Cheesy bread

I saw these heavenly looking cheesy buns of goodness on I Like to Cook's blog and knew I had to try it. The recipe is from King Arthur Flour and theirs looks so gorgeous! I'm so jealous, but seeing as how I'm still very new to the world of baking, I must say that I'm quite proud of myself. Up until very recently, the only time I ever used my oven was to make something out of a Betty Crocker box. And even then, I'd manage to screw it up once in a while. I've come a long way baby! But I still have a long way to go, as you can see below...



Recipe from King Arthur

Starter
1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour (I used all purpose)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 cup (4 ounces) cool water

Dough
all of the starter
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (9 ounces) to 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) lukewarm water*
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour (I used all purpose)
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

*Use the greater amount of water in winter, when conditions are dry; and the lesser amount in summer, when the weather is humid.

Filling
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) grated Gruyère cheese, or the grated/shredded cheese of your choice (I used a blend of cheddar and jack)

To make the starter: Mix the 1 1/4 cups flour, salt, yeast, and 1/2 cup water in a medium-sized bowl. Mix till well combined. Cover and let rest overnight at room temperature.

To make the dough: Combine the risen starter with the water, salt, flour, and yeast. Knead—by hand, mixer, or bread machine set on the dough cycle—to make a smooth dough. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, till it’s nearly doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough, and pat and stretch it into a ¾"-thick rectangle, about 9" x 12". Spritz with water, and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Starting with a long side, roll it into a log, pinching the seam to seal. Place the log, seam-side down, on a lightly floured or lightly oiled surface. Cover it and let it rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till it’s puffy though not doubled in bulk. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

Gently cut the log into four crosswise slices, for mini-breads; or simply cut the dough in half, for two normal-sized loaves. Place them on one (for two loaves) or two (for four mini-loaves) lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, cut side up. Spread them open a bit, if necessary, to more fully expose the cheese. Spritz with warm water, and immediately place them in the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes (for the mini-loaves), or 35 minutes (for the full-sized loaves), or until the cheese is melted and the loaves are a very deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.
Yield: four mini-loaves or two standard-size loaves.

Soft Pretzels

Soft pretzels...it's one of those things that were always special because you could only get them at the fair, ballpark, and now at home! yay! Next I need to learn how to make funnel cakes and deep fried twinkies!

This recipe is from Cooking Light, except I skipped the egg wash part.

Ingredients

1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 14 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
6 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon water
1 large egg
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preparation

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly sticky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°.

Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll each portion into an 18-inch-long rope with tapered ends. Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle. Fold the ends over the circle and into a traditional pretzel shape, pinching gently to seal. Place pretzels on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 10 minutes (pretzels will rise only slightly).

Combine 6 cups water and baking soda in a nonaluminum Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer. Gently lower 1 pretzel into simmering water mixture; cook 15 seconds. Turn pretzel with a slotted spatula; cook an additional 15 seconds. Transfer pretzel to a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining pretzels.

Place pretzels on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Combine 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture over pretzels; sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until pretzels are deep golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Yield

12 servings (serving size: 1 pretzel)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 141(12% from fat); FAT 1.9g (sat 0.2g,mono 0.6g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 4.3g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; CALCIUM 8mg; SODIUM 541mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 1.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.8g

Easy Crusty Bread

This recipe is adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I screwed up and only put 6 cups of flour (1.5 of which was wheat flour) and put 2 tablespoons of yeast instead of 1.5, but I think it still turned out fine. I didn't get a chance to make a loaf with the "fresh" dough, so I took it out of the fridge the next day and let it rise for ~45 mins in a warm oven and then followed the directions as below.

Maybe next time I'll follow the directions more closely and it will taste even better!


Ingredients:
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 1 1/2 tbsp yeast
- 1 1/2 tbsp salt
- 6 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

Directions:
- Add yeast and salt to water in a large bowl.
- Mix in the flour until incorporated, but do not knead.
- Cover with a non-airtight lid and let rise approximately 2 hours.
- Sprinkle dough with flour and cut off a grapefruit sized piece, add a little more flour if needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands and stretch surface of dough around to bottom turning as you go to form a ball.
- Let dough rest 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 450F and place an empty broiler tray on bottom rack.
- Dust dough with flour and slash with a serrated knife to make a criss cross or scalloped pattern. Put dough in the oven and quickly pour 1 cup of hot water in the broiler tray and shut the door. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.

Remaining dough can be refrigerated for up to two weeks in a lidded (but not airtight) container and used as necessary.