Artisan Bread, part 2

Well, we’ve been making the Artisan Bread now for over a week, and I can safely say, WE LOVE IT!  And it’s so EASY!

 

I decided to wait a couple of days last week between bakings because Dave was making me a pizza peel.  The finish he put on it had to cure for 72 hours.  Didn’t he do a great job? It works perfectly and isn’t too big and unwieldy.

 

 

Because we waited a few days, we discovered that this dough improves with age!  I think it might have been day 5 or 6 when I started baking again.  Dave was the first to try that loaf and told me it was horrible ...  I believed him until I noticed he was still shoving pieces of bread into his mouth!  Silly man…

At this point, I’d say the hardest part about making the bread is making sure you get enough corn meal on the peel so it doesn’t stick when going into the oven.  But you know, even if that doesn’t work and you end up with a funny looking blob, it still tastes great (I just won’t be taking pictures of those!)

Oh, and another lesson learned … if you’re going to make a batch of dough, make sure you have LOTS of room in the container for the dough to rise!!!  Speaking from experience.  I tried making a double-batch this weekend using the same container I used to make the single the week before … because it seemed like there was plenty of room.  Nope.  I kept watching the clock and praying that two-hour resting time on the counter would go faster.  Then I forgot to watch and suddenly we had The Blob all over the counter.  I punched it down some just so it could sit a little longer.  Once you get it into the refrigerator it doesn’t really grow again, but that initial rise … look out!

Tonight I decided to try something a little different … I can’t wait to try these rolls!

Artisan Bread in 5 Min a Day

Any one who knows my husband knows that he LOVES bread! (also cake, but that’s another story). He says he takes it seriously when he prays “give us today our daily bread”!

Some of my past attempts at making bread have been hit-or-miss (lately more miss-than-hit!). I had read on several websites, postings about this wonderful book called “Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day”. The idea is that you make up a batch of dough, let it sit on the counter for a couple of hours to get it started, and then refrigerate … for up to two weeks! Each day you take out a “hunk” (grapefruit size), let it sit/rise for 40 min and back for 30 min. So it doesn’t really take just five minutes, but their point is that it only takes a few minutes to pull it out, form it (no kneading!), and let it sit or bake while you do other stuff!

I’m on day 3 of my bread-making adventure. The taste and texture are wonderful! The book is already worth it and I’ve only tried the basic recipe!

I can’t say my bread has come out looking the greatest. You like my improvised “pizza peel”? I needed something that would make it easy to flip the loaf into the oven. I don’t own any baking sheets without sides, but the bottom of a springform pan worked perfectly. You bake it in a hot oven (450° F) on a preheated baking stone, with a pan of hot water beneath to give it a crispy crust with a soft, airy texture inside.

It doesn’t get much bigger than the original hunk you pull out. In fact, it’s not much bigger than a few of the cookies I made earlier in the day. I thought it might rise more after it warmed up on the counter … maybe our 60° house is too cool? or it needs to sit a bit longer? Either way, I guess the size is ok – it’s turning out to be the perfect for just the two of us. One loaf = one day. Bake again the next.

Day Two: I apparently didn’t use enough corn meal on my “peel”, so it stuck when I tried to shove it onto the stone. Hence the misshapen blob. Still tasted great .

If you’re watching my other blog, you’ll see that we recently picked up quite a bit of flour. This is the reason. I love that this recipe uses all-purpose flour instead of the harder-to-find and sometimes pricier versions of flour. I’ve always preferred buying unbleached flour if I can get it (for chemical reasons), but this has strengthened my resolve … turns out that bleaching reduces the amount of protein in the flour, so they don’t recommend using it for bread! (at least not this recipe)

I can’t wait to get home and make today’s loaf!!

(Update: I may wait a couple of days since somebody is in the process of making me a pizza peel! Hurray! But the coating needs to cure for a couple of days before you use it… give me patience!)

Shrimp Stuff

“Shrimp Stuff” is the name that Dave and I have given to this dish – because I can’t come up with a better name.  But it is rather fitting, because it’s made up of “stuff”.  The ingredients vary each time I make it.  Which means two things – 1) sometimes it turns out better than other times and 2) if it turns out great, I probably can’t duplicate it.

Here’s as close as I can get to a recipe:

• Thaw precooked shrimp and remove tails, if necessary.
• Boil spaghetti or linguine according to package directions.
• If your vegetable (in this case, broccoli) is frozen, you can add to the boiling water for the last few minutes to heat.
• Drain the pasta.
• In the same pan, make a “cream sauce” with evaporated milk (or cream), garlic powder, parsley, black pepper, and any other spices you want to add.  The spices are “to taste” – I don’t have exact measurements.  I tend to like garlic, so my version is usually heavy on that spice and use less of the others.  (I also tend to under-season this dish; if you’re making quite a bit, don’t be afraid to season liberally!)
• The sauce does not need to be thickened – it’s more to impart the spices to the other ingredients.  It’s the same concept as alfredo, but much lighter and healthier.  Heat but do not boil.
• Add the shrimp, pasta and vegetables.  Stir and cook until all ingredients are heated through.
• You can add cheese at this point, but I prefer to serve and then add a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan to each individual serving.

Since I made this one in the summertime, I also added some chopped tomatoes at the very end to give it some color (and to use up my bounty).

Enjoy!

©2009 Mish Mashmie

Sugar Donut Muffins

Last weekend we went out to brunch with a group from church.  Apparently there was only one thing on the menu: Grease!  I’d expect it from the bacon, but not from the butter-laden toast … and even the eggs were swimming in some type of butter/oil substance.  Ugh.

Dave didn’t even ask about going out to eat this week – I guess he was as turned-off by last week’s adventure as I was.  Instead I made us a home-cooked brunch.  We had the “standard” bacon and scrambled eggs – but rather than just toast, I wanted to try a recipe I saw this week online.   They’re supposed to be a muffin version of regular sugared cake donuts.

Pre-sugar picture:

 

 

 

The original post described these as “little bites of heaven”.  She wasn’t kidding!  These muffins are light and fluffy and not overly sweet.   They definitely didn’t seem as heavy as cake donuts can be – a positive thing in my eyes.

My version looks dark – but I always have cinnamon sugar pre-made in my spice drawer (never know when a late-night cinnamon toast urge will hit!), and my mixture is pretty heavy on the cinnamon.

Oh, and I didn’t get to test her theory that these are better the second day.  There were only TWO left this morning, and I’m guessing they won’t be there when I get home tonight…

Click here for a PDF version of the recipe:  Sugar Donut Muffins

The best scrambled eggs

My mother-in-law makes the best scrambled eggs ever!**  Dave and I asked her several months ago how she makes her eggs, and she showed us.  The great news is that both Dave and I have been able to replicate her method!

For 4-5 eggs: 

1. Start with a non-stick pan. 
2. Melt 1 Tbsp butter over low heat. 
3. Once that is melted, add a couple of tablespoons of milk to the pan. 
4. While waiting for the milk to heat, whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl. 
5. Add them to the pan once the milk is hot.
6. Maintain low heat, and stir frequently until eggs are done.

That’s it!  So simple and easy, but they are light and fluffy – and perfect ever time!

** She makes a lot of “bests” which makes it hard on her daughter-in-law to compete!  But if you’ve seen her son lately, he’s definitely not starving on his wife’s cooking!

©2009 Mish Mashmie - http://mishmashmie.blogspot.com/

Honey Baked Chicken

I love chicken – in just about all forms.  I also love sticky, sweet, not-so-authentic Chinese dishes.  So when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it.  It came from the Southern Food section at About.com, but with soy sauce and honey it sounded more Asian than Southern to me.

The original recipe called for pouring a melted butter and oil mixture over the chicken.  I don’t think it needs it.  Especially since the chicken we had seemed extra-fatty.

I used chicken leg quarters instead of chicken drumsticks.  We decided later, it might even work best to use boneless, skinless, chicken breasts – perhaps cut into strips.  If you’re trying to eat healthier and remove the skin, almost all of that sticky sweetness goes away.  This dish was even better baked up the second day – I  think it caramelized even more.

Click here for a PDF version of the recipe:  Honey Baked Chicken

Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Skillet

This is more of a dinner idea than an actual recipe.  I really like the skillet breakfasts you get at places like Perkins or Country Kitchen.  But I have to say I think I can make skillets that are just as good.  We had some leftover venison ring bologna from the other night, so I used that to make our supper.  (Note: our venison ring bologna is nothing like the tasteless, greasy ring bologna you buy in the store.  I’d equate it closer to a summer sausage – it’s “drier”, lean, and has plenty of flavor without being too spicy)

I start off pan-frying potato chunks (with the skins on), along with onions, mushrooms, and a teensy bit of  diced bell peppers.  Once the potatoes were almost fully cooked, I added the sausage (since it was fully cooked before).

Once everything was hot and had developed some nice crispies from the pan, I pushed them off to the side and used the same pan to cook up some scrambled eggs.  (see The Best scrambled eggs) Mmm….

©2009 Mish Mashmie - http://mishmashmie.blogspot.com/