Egg Bread

Well, it has been cold and snowy here in the foothills of the cascade mountains.  Here at our house, we had a foot of snow dumped on us Friday!  In an effort to help keep us warm (and knowing we wouldn't be going to the store any time soon), I made Egg Bread for us to enjoy this weekend.  I took a little help from my bread machine and I followed a recipe from Best Bread Machine Recipes.

I've never really liked the loaf size of the bread pan on my machine, nor do I care for the large hole that always results in the baked loaf, so I like to use the machine to handle the mixing and raising, then transfer the loaf to my own pan (or free-form it), so that's what I did with this loaf.



My husband couldn't wait to dig in, so he kindly took these last two photos for me (isn't he great?)! This recipe resulted in the perfect bread for sandwiches - cold or grilled, toast and I'm pretty sure it would make absolutely delicious French Toast.  The crumb is spongy, tight and resilient, the crust is crisp and delicate and the egg lends it a lovely, dare-I-say creaminess, that just about melts in your mouth.  If you're looking for the perfect every day loaf for lunches, breakfast, and enjoying with a nice slathering of butter - this is it!

Egg Bread*

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 egg
2 tbls butter, melted
3 cups bread flour
2 tbls sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast

If you are using a bread machine, follow the manufacturer's instructions for making bread.  If you are making this bread by hand:

Heat milk and butter until butter is melted and milk scalds.  Add water.  Check the temperature - ideally it should be 80-90 degrees for dissolving the yeast.  I usually shoot for baby-bottle temperature - you should be able to touch it without getting burned and it should just about match your body temperature if you test it on your wrist.  Sprinkle on the yeast and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.  Stir to combine.  Beat the egg lightly, then add it to the milk, butter & yeast mixture.  Stir in the sugar and salt as well.  At this point, you can continue by hand or switch to an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment.  Gradually add the flour, one cup at a time, until it is fully incorporated and forms a soft ball of dough.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and set it in a warm place to rise until it doubles in size (about an hour).

Lightly knead the risen dough and form it into a log, about the size of your loaf pan.  Spray the pan with non-stick spray (or coat it with butter) and place the formed loaf in the pan.  Split the top with a sharp knife and allow it to rise for about another 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes (it took exactly 35 minutes in my convection oven).  The finished loaf should be golden brown on top, bottom and sides and should sound hollow when you tap it.  Remove it from the pan and allow it to cool for as long as you can stand it until you have to break down and have some!

*this recipe is for a 1 1/2 pound loaf, the book also has a recipe for a 2 pound loaf

Enjoy - Ciao!

Cookie of the Month: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

I just shipped another dozen plus cookies out for the Cookie of the Month winner.  Since it's officially Fall now and since school just started, Peanut Butter Cookies of some variety seemed appropriate. When it comes to cookies, my husband always wants chocolate involved and these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies really fit the bill.  I used milk chocolate chips to give them that classic peanut butter cup flavor and I added my own twist by throwing broken up pretzels in too - it all ends up being a lovely balance of gooey, melted chocolate, chewy peanut butter cookie with a hint of salty crunch.  Da bomb with milk!





Wouldn't your family be thrilled to come home to a plate of these after a long day of work, or school?



Give them a try and let me know how they turn out!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 Cup butter, melted
1/2 Cup creamy peanut butter (you can use chunky too, but you might want to increase the milk a tad as I find they turn out drier)
1/2 Cup packed brown suger
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 TBLS milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Cup unsifted flour
1 Cup chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate for these, but semi sweet or dark are lovely too)
3/4 Cup broken pretzels (or dry roasted, unsalted peanuts)

Melt butter in microwave in a large mixing bowl.  Cream butter, peanut butter and sugar together until melted butter no longer separates from the batter. Allow to cool until you can comfortably rest your hands on the bottom of the mixing bowl.  Add egg, milk & vanilla and mix well.  Stir in baking powder and salt.  Add flour and top with chocolate chips and pretzels - stir them all in together until combined.

Chill dough for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Scoop dough onto cookies sheets that have been lightly sprayed with non-stick coating or lined with silicone mats or parchment. Bake 10-14 minutes until edges are golden brown.  Allow to cool on baking sheets for 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks to finish cooking.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen (plus).

Ciao!

Lets Bake! Sourdough English Muffins

My sister gave me some sourdough starter back on Mother's Day and I have been having so much fun baking things with it.  4th of July weekend, my family came to stay with us and I/we made Sourdough Crackers (yes, crackers!) and these Sourdough English Muffins my sister has been making.  YUM!

These muffins come together so easily and they turn out crispy on the outside,fluffy on the inside with that fabulous, tangy flavor only sourdough can deliver.  They remind me of the Australian Toaster Biscuits that were popular for awhile (and which I haven't seen in my local grocery store for at least a few years now).  One thing about working with sourdough, you need to allow more time than you would for other types of breads.  In this case, making the dough the afternoon before and finishing the muffins the following morning.  They are super easy to make though and once you've made your own, you'll never want store-bought again!



Start by placing milk and butter in a microwave safe container and microwaving it on high for just 30 seconds - you actually don't want the butter to melt, just to soften a bit.  Much as with good pie crust or puff pastry, those bits of butter are what creates the unique texture of an English Muffin.  You need all those fabulous nooks and crannies so your butter can melt into them.  You'll mix in salt, honey (or sugar), and some yeast into that until it's all incorporated and then add your flour.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter until the following morning (which is when the fun really begins).

In the morning, you'll gather the dough into a ball, cut the dough into rounds using a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter and let them sit for 30 minutes before cooking them, They'll look like this:



Believe it or not, you don't bake them, you cook them on a griddle or in a cast iron skillet.







Before you know it you have a stack of English Muffins, right off the griddle, hot and ready for butter, jam or whatever you like!



I made a video of the process too, I hope you find it helpful:

We made Egg, Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches with them - they were so good!



I hope you'll try these out and let me know how they turn out or if you put your own special twist on the recipe.  Speaking of the recipe:

Sourdough English Muffins

2/3 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Sourdough Starter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
1 TBLS honey (or sugar)
1 Cup flour (I used bread flour)

Measure milk and butter into a microwave safe container and microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Measure sourdough starter into a large mixing bowl and add the milk and butter, salt, yeast and honey (or sugar).  Mix well.  Add flour and mix well.  The dough may be sticky at this point, that's ok.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight (or at least until it doubles in size).

The next morning, gather the dough into a ball and knead more flour into it as needed (depending on the moisture content of your starter) until it comes together in a soft ball (think biscuit or scone texture).  Dust a cutting board or other working surface with flour or cornmeal (I used semolina flour) and turn the dough out onto the board.  Pat it into a flat disc, dust with flour or cornmeal, and using a rolling pin, gently roll it to about 1/2 inch thickness .  Cut into discs with a large, round cookie or biscuit cutter and set cut discs aside - being sure to dust them fully with cornmeal or flour. Re-form the pieces of dough into another ball and repeat until all the dough has been formed into discs, forming the final muffin by hand and flattening slightly with the rolling pin.  Let cut muffins rest uncovered for 30 minutes.

Preheat a griddle or cast iron skillet to medium-low heat.  Place muffins on preheated griddle and cook until golden brown on both sides.  Remove from heat, split with a fork and serve hot.

Until next time - Ciao!

Gaming Food: Sourdough Crust Pizza

There's no question, Pizza is the number one go to food of Gamers everywhere.  Whether it's Tabletop Role Playing Games, Video Games, Board Games or Poker, Pizza is King.  Not only is pizza convenient, and (assuming you live within the delivery area) quick - it's actually pretty economical - each player can chip in a few bucks and enjoy some hot slices packed with protein and carbs for a long night of gaming.

Sadly, one downfall of living in the toolies is No.Pizza.Delivery.  Admittedly, I've sufficiently spoiled my husband with homemade cooking to the point that he'd rather eat my cooking in most cases anyway, but there are times when it would just be so much easier to pick up the phone and order in. Gaming Night is definitely one of those times.

For the most recent Gaming Night with my group of gaming friends, we decided to set up a Make-Your-Own Pizza Bar with flatbread from this post (and video).  Then we had to reschedule our Game Night and Steven and I ate some pizzas with the flatbread and toppings.  The following week when we were once again scheduled to play, we decided to try again with the pizza bar, so I replenished some of the toppings, but forgot to pick up extra flatbread (Gaming is hungry play and you just never know how much each gamer will eat).  I didn't realize, until I'd already driven all the way home, that I had forgotten the extra flatbread so I decided to make some Sourdough Pizza Crust with a sourdough starter my sister gave me a few weeks earlier.

To make the crust, I started with my Mom's Pizza Dough from this Breakfast Pizza post and substituted 1/2 Cup of the Sourdough Starter for 1/2 Cup of the water in the recipe.  I measured out the starter into a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, then topped it off with the remaining water to total 1 1/4 cups of liquid.  I used cold water, so I wouldn't kill the starter and set it aside for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in the bowl of my mixer, I measured in 1 Cup of the flour and the salt.



Next, I added the 1/4 Cup of Olive Oil to the starter and water mixture and added it all to the flour and salt in the mixing bowl and turned the mixer on low and let it combine everything together and form a sponge.  I let it sit for about another 20 minutes, just to ensure that the yeast in the starter had a chance to activate.



Next, I added the final cup of flour and let the mixer finish combining everything until it came together in a beautiful, soft dough.  I lightly kneaded it and formed it into a ball...



...then sprayed the mixing bowl and top of the dough ball with a misting of Olive Oil, covered it tightly with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise - it was a cold day so I took advantage of the heat from our wood stove and it did an admirable job.



This was only the second time I'd made bread using my starter, but it seems to take a lot longer to rise - so be patient and be sure to allow plenty of time to let the dough do it's thing.  We were playing on Sunday this time (it was Memorial Day Weekend), so I made the dough Saturday morning and it had all afternoon to rise.  Once it had doubled in size, I divided it into 4 roughly equal dough balls, placed them in zip-close bags and put them in the fridge to hold until Game Night.

The next step was to make my favorite pizza sauce and pre-cook some sausage.  I much prefer grating cheese by hand for things like pizza, it just melts so much better, but when it comes to Game Night, minimal preparation is key for achieving maximum playing time so I purchased pre-shredded Mozzarella as well as pre-sliced salami and pepperoni.  But alas, the sourdough crust was not to be - for we ended up having more than enough flatbread for the whole group - which is just a well because taking time to roll out pizza dough when we finally took our dinner break around 8:00 pm was just not going to do....  So Memorial Day rolled around and guess who had Sourdough Pizza for dinner?  You guessed it, yours truly and hubby!  :)  Here's how it all goes together:

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board...



Top it with an even layer of sauce (Steven & I both prefer extra sauce, so ours are thick layers)...





Add salami and pepperoni...





...and any other flat toppings you prefer...





...top those with toppings such as sausage, olives, bell peppers and onions...



...finish them off with a nice layer of shredded Mozzarella cheese...



Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and starting to turn golden brown in spots.



Serve hot and enjoy!

Do you have a Game Night or other activity you enjoy with friends?  What are your favorite foods to eat when you get together?  I'd love to hear about them!

Until next time - Ciao!

Quick Fix: Lemon-Pinoli Rice Pilaf

This Lemon-Pinoli (Pine Nut) Rice Pilaf is a great way to use up leftover rice.  It comes together super-quick and is really delicious.  The lemon gives the rice some brightness and makes it perfect for pairing with fish or chicken while the Pinoli, or Pine Nuts, add a nutty flavor and crunchy texture.  I threw in some parmesan cheese, which added another dimension of nutty flavor to the mix.  This dish will work with any rice you have on hand and you can add any fresh herbs you like to marry it to your main dish.

Here's the link to the video:

Here's the recipe:

2 TBLS pine nuts*, toasted

2 Cups cooked rice

1 TBLS extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 Cup parmesan cheese

1/4-1/2 tsp dill* (fresh would be really lovely, I used dried because that's what I had on hand)

salt to taste

Start by toasting the pine nuts over low heat in a skillet.  Remove the Pinoli from the pan and set them aside once they are toasted to a golden brown.

Increase heat to medium high and add olive oil - allow it all to heat up a bit.  Add rice, stirring in to break up any clumps.  Stir in dill, lemon juice and salt (to taste).  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Let it hang out for about 5 minutes, until heated through.  Turn off heat.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and pine nuts.  Stir to combine and serve hot.    

*Note: you can reserve a few pine nuts and some dill (if you are using fresh) if you like, to use as a garnish.

Sweet Tooth: Mayhem Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies are hands-down, my number one, go-to favorite treat to bake.  I came up with this chocolate chip cookie variation several years ago and they are definitely the tastiest cookie I make - they are also Steven's favorite (in fact, he came up with the name) so I try to indulge him occasionally with a batch.

These cookies are chewy and tender on the inside with a lightly crisp outer texture and they are packed with flavor and buttery goodness.

Start with 2 sticks of melted butter...



... add brown sugar and granulated sugar...



... whisk them together until they are not only incorporated by completely emulsified.  The mixture should look this this:



Let the mixture cool a bit, you should be able to comfortably place your hands on the bottom of the bowl, then crack in the eggs and measure in the baking soda, salt and Rum Emulsion (or rum extract, or any extract you prefer)...



For years, I used rum extract but one day, I was shopping for cookie cutters and discovered this emulsion and I have found it to work much, much better - you can actually taste the flavor in the cookie.  You can find the rum emulsion here (plus lots of great cookie cutters amongst other handy baking items).



Stir everything in...



... now measure in your flour...



... and in these lovely, dark chocolate chips...





... chopped macadamia nuts...



...and dried cherries.



Let's just pause for a moment to take it all in.



Now mix it all together well - I prefer to do this by hand to keep everything from breaking up into tiny bits...



... once it's all mixed in, it should look like this:





Cover the dough with saran wrap and chill it for an hour.  Then preheat your oven, prepare your cookie sheets (psst, I recently bought some silicone liners and they are da bomb, I highly recommend springing for a set) and scoop the dough...



... isn't it lovely?



Bake them for 8-10 minutes, I've found they take the full 10 minutes in my oven on the pure convection setting since switching to the silicone liners, but I recommend setting your timer for 8 minutes and checking them.  They should be golden brown on the edges and top, but might look slightly wet still.  Let them sit on the sheet for 2 minutes before removing them to wire racks to cool.

Here's the recipe:

Mayhem Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Cup unsalted butter
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Rum Emulsion or Rum Extract
2 1/4 Cups Flour
1 - 10 oz bag Dark Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Macadamia Nuts, chopped
1 - 5 oz bag Dried Cherries

Melt butter in a large mixing bowl.  Add in brown and granulated sugars.  Mix well, until fully emulsified.  Allow to cool.  Add eggs, baking soda, salt and rum emulsion (or extract).  Mix well.  Add in flour and top with chocolate chips, nuts and cherries.  Mix well.  Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheets with either non-stick spray or silicone baking mats.  Scoop or spoon dough onto baking sheets 12 to a sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes until light golden brown on edges and top.  Remove from oven and leave cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes.  Remove to wire racks to finish cooling.

Makes approx 4 dozen depending on size of scoop.

Note: You'll want to have plenty of milk on hand with these babies in the house!