Elements » Bread

Buttermilk Cluster Bread with Poppy Seeds

Sheila — Mon, 23 May 2011 05:42:50 +0000

I just wanted to pass along an excellent buttermilk yeast bread recipe I came across last month and recently made. The bread just melts in your mouth, and I’m definitely planning to make it again.

If you’re interested in making it yourself, you can find the recipe here at One Perfect Bite.

I’m curious, by the way, what your favorite kind of bread is? I have a hard time coming up with a favorite because I love them all!

The only kind of bread I don’t care for is beer bread. I just find it to be way too sweet. Is there a bread that you don’t particularly like?

Chili Rubbed Cedar Salmon with Citrus Salsa (and the rest of the meal)

Sheila — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:41:24 +0000

We noticed some cedar planks for sale (for only a few dollars) at the seafood department at Whole Foods about a month ago and decided to buy one so would could try some salmon baked on it. We were curious if the cedar plank would flavor the salmon at all.

So last night we finally gave it a try. I just placed the salmon on the plank, brushed the salmon with some olive oil, and then because I was in the mood for something kind of spicy, I sprinkled some chili powder on top of the salmon. I then put the plank on a large, ceramic baking dish so the juices would have a place to overflow onto and baked uncovered at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until the salmon was done (had an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit).

When the salmon was done, I placed the plank on a serving plate and photographed it for you so you could see what it looked like immediately after cooking. Here’s what it looked like.

The salmon comes off plank easily with a spatula. You can transfer it to a serving plate(s) and then top it with some citrus salsa that can be prepared quickly while the salmon is baking. Here’s a couple of pictures of the salmon topped with the citrus salsa which is made with fresh pineapple, clementines, cherry tomatoes, green onions, lime juice, chili powder, and sea salt.

I made some tabbouleh to accompany the salmon, and here’s a couple of photos so you can see the salmon and tabbouleh together.

And here’s a couple of pictures of the bread that I made to accompany the meal.

The bread is based on Megan’s ( of What Megan’s Making) French bread rolls, (Megan credits Mel’s Kitchen Cafe as the recipe source). But I shaped the bread differently than Megan did. I wanted bigger pieces of bread that could be used for sandwiches the next day.

The bread was quite tasty, and I oooohed and aaaaahed while eating it! Kemal also expressed his appreciation for bread and enjoyed it immensely. Just click on the links above for the recipe if you’re interested in making the bread.

Finally, for dessert, we enjoyed a citrus vodka martini

that matched the citrus salsa we made. We just blended some fresh pineapple, clementines, and tangerine juice together. Then we let it chill and poured it in our cocktails glasses. When it’s time to serve the drinks, just pour in a cocktail glass, stir in a shot of vodka, and enjoy!

Anyway, we had a wonderful meal last night from start to finish!

As far as the cedar plank is concerned…well…neither one of us felt like it flavored the salmon. Perhaps all that chili rub on the salmon overpowered the subtle cedar flavors? I guess next time we try salmon made on a cedar plank we’ll have to season the salmon with something milder (like Old Bay) to see if the plank adds a smoky, cedar flavor to the fish. I’m curious to find out!

Have you ever used a cedar plank before? If so, did you notice a difference in the flavor of the fish?

Note: The recipes for the salmon, salsa, tabbouleh, and the martini can be seen below. You’ll notice that there are no amounts listed for the salmon, salsa, and the maritini, and that’s because I didn’t measure anything. It’s really not necessary. How much chili powder you put on your salmon depends on your tastes.

As far as the salsa is concerned, don’t worry about how much fruit to use. It’ll depend on how many people you’re cooking for, as it also depends, again on your tastes. When you season the salsa, just add a little chili powder, sea salt, and lime juice at a time. Then taste it and adjust by adding more seasonings if needed. If you ended up adding too much chili powder or salt, you can always add more fruit or vegetables.

And you can’t go wrong on the martini. Just use however much fruit you want and enjoy your drink.

Chili Rubbed Cedar Salmon

Ingredients:

fresh salmon
olive oil
chili powder

Instructions:

Note: The directions imprinted on our cedar plank said to submerge the plank in water for several hours before using it and then to place the salmon on the wet plank to bake it. Please follow the instructions that come with your plank as directed before baking the fish.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the salmon on the cedar plank, and then brush the salmon with olive oil.
Sprinkle the salmon with chili powder.
Place the plank on a baking pan/dish, and then bake it uncovered in the center rack of your oven until it’s cooked to your liking. We like ours well done so we cook it until the salmon reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Use a spatula to remove the fish from the plank.
After the plank cools, discard it.

Citrus Salsa

Ingredients:

fresh pineapple
clementines
cherry tomatoes
green onion
lime juice
chili powder
cilantro
sea salt

Instructions:

Cut and core a fresh pineapple, and then dice some of it into small pieces.
Peel some clementines, and then dice some of into small pieces.
Wash and dice the green onion and cherry tomatoes.
Mix the diced fruit and vegetables together, and then stir in dried cilantro, salt, and chili powder to taste.
Squeeze lime juice over the mixture and stir.
Refrigerate until needed.

Tabbouleh

Adapted from: Shiraz Mediterranean Grill

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
1 1/2 qts. water
1/2 of a bunch of fresh parsley (don’t discard the stems)
1 vegetable bouillon cube
3 tomatoes, diced
1 green onion, diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 of an English cucumber
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
lemon juice to taste

Instructions:

Boil 1 1/2 qts. of water on high heat.
Reduce the heat to medium, and then add the bulgur wheat, vegetable bouillon cube, 1 tbsp. of olive oil, the parsley stems you cut off, and about 1 tsp. of salt.
Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the buglur wheat is soft but still somewhat firm (similar to cooking pasta).
After the bulgur has cooked, remove it from the heat and remove the parsley stems. (I used a slotted spoon to remove the stems.)
Now you want to find a glass bowl and a sieve to drain the liquid off the bulgur.
Hold the sieve over the bowl to drain the liquid off the bulgur. You’ll be left with a parsley vegetable broth that you enjoy immediately or freeze for later. Here’s a picture of the broth.

Just add a little bit of salt and pepper to it if you like and enjoy!

The next thing you want to do is run cold water over the bulgur wheat.
Let the water drain off it.
In the meantime, wash and finely chop the parsley.
Wash and dice the tomatoes and the English cucumber (no need to peel it).
Peel and dice the onions.
In a large bowl, mix together the bulgur wheat, parsley, onions, cucumber, and tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in 1 tbsp. of olive oil and lemon juice to taste. However much lemon juice you use is up to you. I think I used 2-3 tbsp., but use however much you like.

Citrus Vodka Martini

Ingredients:

fresh pineapple
clementines
tangerine juice
vodka (we used Finlandia Tangerine Fusion)

Instructions:

Cut and core a fresh pineapple, and then put some of the cut pineapple pieces into your blender.
Peel some clementines and then remove any seeds from the segments.
Place some of clementine segments into the blender with your pineapple chunks.
Add some tangerine juice.
Puree.
Pour the mixture into a pitcher and refrigerate until you’re ready to make the cocktails.
Pour the juice into your cocktail glass when you’re ready to serve the drinks.
Stir in a shot of vodka.
Optional: Garnish with a fresh pineapple wedge.

Thyme Bread

Sheila — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:38:14 +0000

Normally when I make any kind of herb bread, it’s rosemary bread or garlic bread. I decided to try something different for a change…thyme bread.

It has a beautiful flavor, makes great sandwiches, and it also went well with some wonderful chicken and wild rice soup.

I didn’t make the chicken and wild rice soup. A super sweet gal I work with, Rosa (that’s her on the left and me on the right)

made a pot and brought some for me and Kemal to have for dinner. That was just so sweet of her to do that, and it totally made my night!

Anyway, the seasonings in Rosa’s chicken soup matched perfectly with the thyme bread.

If you want to learn how to make the thyme bread,

just head over to Tasty Kitchen to see the recipe which was added by The Culinary Chronicles.

I made a double batch and changed the recipe just a little…using a mixture of all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and semolina flour. I also doubled the amount of thyme and was glad I did because I really like my herb breads with a strong flavor of whatever herb I’m using.

Anyway, the bread was really easy to make and we sure have enjoyed it! I’m sure you will too!

Oatmeal Molasses Bread Using a Cold-Rise Method and Making My Own Brown Sugar

Sheila — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:43:45 +0000

I’m always on the lookout for interesting bread recipes, so when I saw one on the Merlin Menu blog for an oatmeal molasses bread that had eggs in the dough, I couldn’t wait to try it. I’ve made oatmeal bread before but without eggs so I was curious how it would taste.

Let me just say that the bread is rich, hearty, rustic, and has an incredible flavor that reminds me of my aunt Diane’s whole wheat bread that I remember devouring when I was a kid. Such wonderful memories they are. *sigh.* Every time you’d walk through her door the house was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread. And every single bite was heavenly…much like this oatmeal molasses bread that I made last night.

It’s wonderful fresh from the oven slathered in butter, and the flavor is just as exquisite the next morning for breakfast.

While the bread is wonderful in terms of flavor, texture, and heartiness, the recipe is perfect for anyone who’s on-the-go and won’t be home for hours to wait for the bread to rise. Why? Well, the method of rising for this bread is a slower rising method called cold-rise.

I use the cold-rise method quite frequently for other types of bread, and it’s perfect for work days when I’m not home to be there to bake the bread after it rises. Using the cold-rise method enables me to make and knead the dough before I go to work and let the dough rise slowly in the refrigerator while I’m at my job. Then when I get home, I can finish the bread. It works quite well.

Anyway, while I was making the dough, I noticed I had run out of brown sugar, but I remembered Joy the Baker’s tip on how to easily and quickly make your own brown sugar with cane sugar and molasses. So I just did as she said…mixed together one tbsp. of molasses with a cup of sugar, and there ya go…you got some homemade brown sugar. Too easy, huh!

And by the way, it tastes just like brown sugar you’d buy in the store. And I think it’s awfully pretty too.

But back to the bread. The bread has a little bit of brown sugar and molasses in it, but it’s not sweet. I’m not sure if my aunt Diane put brown sugar or molasses in her whole wheat bread, but I’d be willing to bet she did because this oatmeal molasses bread reminds me so much of the bread she used to make all the time. I really need to call her to get her recipe so I can make it to compare.

Anyway, this oatmeal bread is quite dense. It’s not airy nor is it light and fluffy. It’s hearty. It’s wholesome. And it’ll stick to your ribs. It’s also rich and satisfying. Sometimes you need a loaf like that.

Actually, I made two loaves last night. I made them to go with a huge pot of red pepper potato soup that Kemal made for our dinner tonight (and the night after that as well.) And I made it for our weekend breakfasts. There’s nothing better.

Anyway, head over to the Merlin Menu to get the recipe, and give it a try these days. I made a double batch and followed the recipe exactly except in how I baked it.

I started out baking it uncovered in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and set the timer for 20 minutes to check it. It wasn’t done so I baked it another 20 minutes. It was browned on top but needed more baking time, so I covered the bread in aluminum foil, reduced the heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and then baked the bread for about 25 more minutes.

Then I removed the loaves from the oven, wrapped them in clean linens for about 30 minutes, and then set them on my counter to cool. I was quite pleased with the loaves. All in all…they were perfect!!

Cashew Butter Banana Bread

Sheila — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:57:26 +0000

I haven’t had banana bread in a while and was craving some yesterday morning for breakfast. So I made a loaf of cashew butter banana bread, and boy is it good!!

I adapted the recipe from Joy the Baker’s peanut butter banana bread. The only thing I did differently was use cashew butter and chopped cashews instead of peanut butter and chopped peanuts.

I also made it without any granulated and brown sugar. Instead used only 1/2 cup of raw coconut crystals sweetener in the entire loaf. It wasn’t a sweet bread at all, and I’m glad because I didn’t want it too sweet.

What was interesting is that the bread didn’t really seem to taste like cashews. The flavor of the bananas definitely came through, and while the bread definitely tasted nutty, I would have never know the nut butter in the bread was cashews. Next time I might add more chopped cashews, as well as a bit more cashew butter. Perhaps the cashew flavor will come through better that way.

Raw Red Lentil Hummus

Sheila — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 04:35:38 +0000

I can eat hummus every day and not get tired of it, but it was such a treat to try hummus made with lentils instead of chickpeas. While I prefer hummus with chickpeas, I really did enjoy the lentil hummus I made the other day.

It was really easy to do. I soaked the lentils in water for 24 hours. Then I drained the water off them, added some tahini, lemon juice, and seasonings, blended it all together, and that was it!

I made mine with a lot of dried chili peppers, and the hot and spicy tortilla chips I had with the hummus added an extra element and layer of heat that increased my enjoyment of every single bite.

It was also wonderful spread on some semolina sandwich bread,

as well as with some olives and Peppadew peppers.

I got the recipe from Jenne at Sweet Potato Soul, and she adapted her recipe from The Artful Vegan by Eric Tucker @ The Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco.

I highly recommend this raw red lentil hummus; it’s totally delish!!

P.S. I used soy sauce in mine instead of miso sauce. I also skipped the jalepeno and used lemon juice and dried chili peppers.

Semolina Sandwich Bread

Sheila — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:27:19 +0000

I love trying new bread recipes, and I was excited when I found a bread recipe which included semolina (along with bread flour) in the dough. I made it the other day, and I have to say it turned great!!!

The bread is soft yet firm enough for sandwiches. And it tastes great!!

We cut some of the bread into small, bite-sized pieces and then made mini cheese, olive, and Peppadew sandwich bites with them.

The next day we enjoyed dipping our bread in raw lentil hummus. Yummm!! (Recipe for the raw lentil hummus is coming soon.)

Anyway, I’ll definitely be making this bread again and again. It’s absolutely wonderful!!

If you want to learn how to make it, head over to www.seriouseats.com for Donna Currie’s recipe. I didn’t braid my bread the way she did because I wanted loaves to make sandwiches. But certainly give it a whirl if you like. The bread is really easy to make and it melts in your mouth! You’re gonna love it!

Bruschetta Made from Stale Bread and Leftovers in My Fridge

Sheila — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 01:24:55 +0000

I made bruschetta this morning for breakfast.

They were made from some leftovers in my fridge and some stale biscuits. Here’s a picture of the biscuits I made right after I pulled them out of the oven a few days ago.

It’s easy to do. I just cut the biscuits in half and baked them some more so they’d get a little crisp. Then I made the topping, add it and some grated Swiss cheese to the bread rounds, and baked a little more. That’s basically the gist of it.

It doesn’t matter what kind/size bread you use. And there’s also really no need to measure anything. Just use a little of this and a little of that.

Ideally, my bruschetta would be made with sourdough bread, and my topping would be made with fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, and basil. But we had no fresh veggies in the house except for a few onions so I just used some leftovers I had in my fridge to make the topping.

It turned out great!

Give it a try sometime when you have some stale bread and leftovers you need to use up. Here’s a rough recipe of the bruschetta I made just to give you an idea of the ingredients I used and how I made it.

Bruschetta from Stale Bread and Leftovers in My Fridge

Recipe Inspired by: Andrea Dickson at Wise Bread

Ingredients:

6 very small stale biscuits, cut in half
2/3 cups diced tomatoes with chipotle peppers
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1 preserved (pickled) tomato pepper, rinsed and diced (you can substitute with 2 mild Pepperoncini peppers)
1/2 of a small onion, diced
grated Swiss cheese, shredded
dried basil
olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease a baking pan with some olive oil.
Cut the biscuits in half, and then place the biscuit halves onto the greased pan. (I put the cut side of the biscuit face down.)
Bake uncovered in the center rack of your oven until the biscuit rounds have browned (about 5 minutes).
While the bread is in the oven, grate some Swiss cheese.
Then make the filling. Start by rinsing the vinegar off the preserved (pickled) pepper(s), and then dice it.
Peel and dice 1/2 of a small onion.
Peel and mince the ginger.
Mix together the diced peppers, onions, and ginger.
Stir in the diced tomatoes.
When the bread is done, remove it from the oven and put some of the filling onto the toasted bread rounds.
Sprinkle with the grated Swiss cheese.
Bake until the cheese melts (about 3-5 minutes).
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with some dried basil.
Serve warm.

Mangoes and Almond Butter on Rosemary Bread (Part 1 of the Series: Weird and Wacky Weekend Sandwiches)

Sheila — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:26:14 +0000

Mangoes and Almond Butter on Rosemary Bread (Part 1 of the Series: Weird and Wacky Weekend Sandwiches)

I have to admit I eat some weird and wacky sandwiches. Some of them I’ve been eating since I was a kid while others are concoctions I developed as an adult.

Some are open-faced sandwiches and some are not. Some might appeal to you while others might make you grimace just thinking about it.

So let’s take a look at the first sandwich I want to share with you. It’s real easy to make.

Just spread some almond butter on some rosemary bread. Then peel and slice a fresh mango. Place the fresh slices of fruit on the bread and then devour it!

Of course, most any kind of bread will work, but since it’s a heavy sandwich, it’s better to use a bread that will hold the weight of the mangoes. And while you can still enjoy this sandwich by using sourdough or French bread, I prefer rosemary bread because the flavor of the rosemary (believe it or not) really does compliment the almond butter and mangoes.

Why not try it and see for yourself!?

In the meantime, here’s a look back at some of the other sandwiches we enjoy that are a bit different, but in my opinion don’t find the description of weird and wacky.

Slaw Burger on Kefir Bread

Fried Cod Sandwich Topped with Greek Cabbage Salad

Fried Eggplant and Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches (my favorite sandwich of all time)

Apple-Peanut Butter-Granola-Chocolate Chip Sandwiches

English Muffins

Sheila — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:43:01 +0000

I finally took the plunge and made English Muffins for the first time a few weeks ago. Here’s a picture of a few of them:

I’ve seen so many recipes out there and I wasn’t sure which one to try.

When I stumbled a food blog called Pete Bakes and saw that he made English muffins using a recipe from the book, “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart, well, I decided to try that one.

I’ve read so many great things about Reinhart’s “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice,” and it’s been on my list of cookbooks I want to buy.

After successfully making the English muffins and enjoying them so much, I want to try Reinhart’s other bread recipes so I’ll probably purchase this book in the very near future.

Anyway, what’s so interesting about this recipe is that after rising, the muffins are cut out and then fried in a skillet so they brown on both sides. Then the partially cooked muffins get transferred to a baking sheet and finish cooking in the oven. I thought that sounded like an interesting technique and I wanted to try it.

I was short on time that day and didn’t have time to let my muffins rise at room temperature so I used the cool-rise method where you let the bread rise slowly in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.

Did it affect the texture of the bread? I’m not quite sure, but I’ll definitely make them again without using the cool-rise method to see if the texture changes at all.

Anyway, after I cut out the dough, I decided that instead of frying them in a skillet that I’d let them brown on my electric griddle instead and then transfer them to the oven.

I was quite pleased with the results.

The muffins melted in my mouth, and Kemal and I ate them all within 24 hours! I, of course, enjoyed mine covered in butter.

I was so hungry I didn’t even bother to toast it first. I just spread on the butter, took a couple of quick pictures, and then devoured them! I’m hardly waiting to make them again!