Banana Not-Just-Lactation Muffins

From Allrecipes.com 


INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or AP flour)
1/2 cup ground almonds (or AP flour)
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1+ tbs brewer's yeast (optional; add more as desired)
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-4 ripe bananas, mashed

DIRECTIONS:
1.    Spray a 12 cup muffin tin & preheat oven to 375.
2.    Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3.    Beat egg lightly in small bowl, then stir in milk, applesauce, and vanilla. Add the mashed banana and combine thoroughly.
4.    Add wet mixture to dry & mix until just combined. Fill muffin tin.
5.    Bake for 20-24 minutes. Cool on baking rack.

RESULTS: In the world I'm currently living in, there are three obsessions: getting the baby to sleep, losing the baby weight, and worrying about having enough milk. This recipe seems to speak to two of those. Foods that you can eat with one hand and require zero prep are really handy, too. I don't know if it works, but the internets say that oats and brewer's yeast are useful for keeping up supply. Also, notice that the only fat is from the egg.

These turned out surprisingly well. Moist, not too dense (as most fat-free muffins are), and the banana and (homemade!!) applesauce worked really well together. Next time, I'll reduce the sugar to 1/3 cup because they were rather sweet and add in some flax, which is also good (supposedly) for supply.

Italian bread

From Food.com

• 5 1/2-6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 teaspoons active dry yeast ( 2 packages )
• 1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine, softened
• 1 3/4 cups very warm water ( 120 -130 F)
• cornmeal
• peanut oil or light olive oil
• 1 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions

• In large bowl thoroughly mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast.
• Add butter.
• Gradually add warm water to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes with mixer at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Add 3/4 cup flour.
• Beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (about 8-10 minutes).
• Cover dough with plastic wrap and then a towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.

To make loaves:
Divide dough in half.
Roll each half into a 15x10 inch rectangle.
Starting at wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seam to seal.
Taper ends by rolling gently back and forth.

To make rolls:
Divide dough into 6 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a rectangle 8x5 inches.
Starting with wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seam to seal.
Taper ends.

• Place the shaped dough seam side down on greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.
• Brush dough with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-24 hours.
• When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator and uncover carefully. Let dough stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
• Make 3 or 4 diagonal slits in dough with a sharp knife or razor blade.
• Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes for rolls, 20 minutes for loaves.
• Remove from oven and brush with egg white beaten with cold water.
• Return to oven; bake 5-10 minutes longer, or until golden.

 **Optional: add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (adjust amounts to your preferences) of dried oregano OR basil OR rosemary to the dry ingredients. May also add 1 bulb (head) of roasted garlic cloves to the dry ingredients.

Results
I'm not posting this because I thought it was an awesome recipe, and it's not really what I think of when I think of Italian bread (although Betsy might disagree). Italian bread to me is crusty and flaky. This was more like a sweet French bread. Anyway, I'm posting it because 1) Chris liked it and I don't want to lose the recipe, B) it was pretty fast. I didn't put the dough in the fridge, so it was ready to go in the oven after about an 1.5 hr of rising, and finally) I think it has potential. We were talking and it would be a really great breakfast roll with cinnamon or honey butter, or (as I had for my breakfast this morning) with PB&J. I don't think it worked as a dinner roll, but that doesn't mean it might not work for other purposes, with some tweaking.

No-Time Bread

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (two packets)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

• In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer put the yeast, sugar, and water and let it sit.
• Heat the oven to 450°F. Put a Dutch oven (or one of these alternatives) in to warm as the oven heats. Get out your flour, salt, vinegar, spray oil, and anything else you need.
• Now that the yeast has had a few minutes to bubble up, add 3 cups of the flour as well as the salt and vinegar and beat for several minutes with the paddle. Add the last 1/2 cup of flour and switch to the dough hook and beat for seven minutes. Alternately, knead vigorously for five minutes, or until the dough becomes extremely elastic. This will still be a wet dough, but not goopy. The dough will clear the sides of the bowl but still stick to the bottom.
• Lightly grease a microwave-safe bowl with vegetable oil and transfer the bread dough to it, rolling it in the oil. Cover the bowl with a very wet towel. Cover the whole thing with a dry towel and put in the microwave. Microwave on HIGH for 25 seconds.
• Let rest in the microwave for about five minutes.
• Microwave on HIGH for another 25 seconds, then remove.
• Let rest and rise for another 15 minutes.
• Shape into a ball and plop into the preheated pan. Quickly slash the top with a knife. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the internal temperature hits 210.

RESULTS:
Chris and I are both sick, and our food supplies are awfully low, so bread seemed like a good thing to make. I was more intrigued by this recipe than expecting it to be good--I mean, how can you beat good old regular bread? First impression is that calling it "no-time" bread is a bit of a misnomer. I mean, it still takes about an hour to come together, which is certainly shorter than regular bread, but it's not like you can just pull it together last minute. It's also certainly not simpler than regular bread. I also think it could have used more salt.

American Bread Scones

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, stolen from Smitten Kitten, submitted by Bethie

Smitten Kitten notes: I adapted the original recipes into mini-breads (that I like to call scones) but this recipe will also work as a whole loaf, with a 40 to 45 minute cooking time. However you do or do not divide them, like all soda breads, you should plan to consume these on day one. On day one, they’ve got a craggy crust and a warm, plush interior; they love butter and you love them. On day two, they have a density, especially when your big toe breaks their fall, that could threaten your efforts to reign in your foul language now that tiny, impressionable ears linger about.

Yields 8 mini-bread “scones” which are fairly hefty, and can be split between two people

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
• 1 cup cake flour (or, make your own)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon table salt (this is 2/3 the original amount, which I found too salty)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (4 tablespoons softened, 1 tablespoon melted)
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or, make your own)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup currants or raisins
• 1 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the upper-middle position. Whisk dry ingredients (flours, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt) in a large bowl. Work the softened butter into the dry ingredients with a fork, pastry blender or your fingertips until the flour mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the wet ingredients (buttermilk and egg), currants or raisins and caraway seeds, if you’re using them, and stir with a fork until the dough just begins to come together. Turn out onto a work surface (CI says you need a floured one but I didn’t agree) and knead until the dough just becomes cohesive and bumpy. You’re not going for a smooth dough — CI warns that this will make it tough.

Pat dough into a round and use a knife or dough divider to cut it into 8 wedges. Form each wedge into a round and place on a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet. Cut a cross shape into the top of each. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees (this is especially helpful in this recipe, where doneness is hard to judge from the outside). Scones should be golden brown a skewer should come out clean. Remove from the oven and brush with butter before cooling to room temperature. Eat on day one.

RESULTS: And so ends the Soda Bread Cookoff of 2010. Bethie sent me this recipe. I really like the scone aspect of this recipe. Although Smitten Kitten cautions that these must be eaten the same day they're made, I'm going to wrap them individually in foil, put them in a ziplock bag and freeze them for later. We never get through a soda bread without me getting sick of it by the end, and this way I can save some love for later in pre-portioned units. However, I gotta say, these really didn't turn out much different than the Bisquick biscuits we used to make as kids (just adding milk to Bisquick and ta-da!). I think I actually prefer the denseness of traditional soda bread. But the question is, what made these turn out Bisquicky? I suspect it may have something to do with the cake flour or the Cream of Tartar. I plan on investigating both. Or, I may simply have made them wrong. Either way, I'm very happy for the cooking times and temperature to convert soda bread into scones, and I plan to do so in the future.

EDIT: I just now realized that I had forgotten to add the sugar, which could account for it's Bisquicky-ness. Oh well!

From Smitten Kitchen, contender #1.

• Butter for greasing pan plus 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 1/2 cups raisins or currants
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• Good aged Cheddar cheese, for serving
• Tart apples, cut into slices, for serving.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch oven-proof skillet and line with parchment or waxed paper. (Deb note: Mine came out a bit taller, as my cast-iron is 8-inches and deep.)
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Stir in the raisins or currants and caraway seeds.
3. Pour batter into skillet. Brush top with remaining butter. Bake until golden and firm to touch, about 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving with Cheddar and apples.

RESULTS:
Yuuuuuuummm. This turned out, for me, to be far less dense than normal soda bread. It was fluffy! I used my 10-inch dutch oven than an iron skillet, so that might something to do with the fluffiness. I dunno. I replaced the raisins (ick!) with craisins. Much better. I've also decided never to buy buttermilk again. I just replaced the buttermilk with half milk and half plain yogurt.

I've fallen behind with both cooking and writing about cooking, which is sad because I got a few cookbooks for Christmas and I've been dying to dig in. Sigh! You know when you're running, and you stub your toe and trip, and then you sort of do this fall/stumble thing, when you sort of run out of control while pinwheeling your arms as you catch your balance? That's been my life lately. I haven't fallen, but I haven't caught myself yet. This isn't permanent busyness, but it's looking pretty long-term from here. :) I reap what I sow! That'll learn me for not figuring out how to say no.

Hey kids, it's almost March which means, it's almost time for Irish Soda Bread! I'm going to stick with this time frame, even though spring is going to be a lot longer coming up here than it was in Indiana. Send me you recipes to test drive. Jean, I still have that iron skillet recipe you sent me last year, I'm going to try to put that one one the docket. Any other requests?

La Farinata

I got this recipe from a Washington Post article.

Summary:

This hors d’oeuvre makes a great afternoon snack or party starter. Chickpea flour is available at some larger Giant stores and at Whole Foods Market; look for the Bob’s Red Mill brand.

Use fresh rosemary or freshly dried. Deborah Thawley uses extra-virgin olive oil for all her recipes because she says it lends more flavor.

MAKE AHEAD: The batter needs to rest for at least 30 minutes and can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Makes 2 medium pancakes (8 to 12 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chickpea flour
• 1/2 cup cold water, or as needed
• Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• Leaves from 1 or 2 (3-inch) sprigs of rosemary (see NOTE)

Directions:

The process is similar to making a regular pancake.

Combine the chickpea flour and enough of the water in a mixing bowl to make a thick batter, stirring to dissolve any lumps. Add the remaining water until the batter is the consistency of tahini or thick pouring cream.

Add a teaspoon of oil and the salt; mix well. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Just before serving, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet (10 to 12 inches) over medium-high heat. then add the rosemary. When the oil is hot (after about 30 seconds), the rosemary will start to "jump" in the skillet.

Pour half of the batter into the skillet. It should cover the bottom of the skillet to a depth of about 1/8 inch. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until the pancake is set crisped and golden underneath. Carefully turn over and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Slide onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges, sprinkle with salt and generous grindings of pepper. Serve immediately.

Cover and refrigerate the remaining batter for up to 2 days.

NOTE: If making a second pancake right away, you'll need the leaves from a second sprig of rosemary and another 2 tablespoons of oil for the skillet.

Results: I'll be honest, I had my doubts about this. It seemed too easy, and I've ever had chickpea flour before so I was pretty sure that this recipe for La Farinata would turn out to be a recipe for disaster. I was able to make two pancakes. The first one was a put gummy and dry, and I think it was a heat control issue. For the next pancake, I let the pan heat up more before I poured the batter. You don't want to heat it too much, though, if you're using a non-stick skillet since at that temperature the Teflon could start to give off fumes if you let it sit on the stove too long before adding the batter.

The second pancake was much better. It was the texture of a thick American flapjack, not as puffy but still a little puffy. I have no idea if this is the right texture for this dish since I've never had it before, but it was good. And, if you're wondering where to get chickpea flour, I found some in the organic section for way less than I was expecting. It was about $3 for a 1 lb, 6 oz bag.

Soda Bread with Dark Chocolate and Candied Orange Peel

Yield: Makes 1 large round loaf
Ingredients:

• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/3-inch pieces
• 6 ounces candied orange peel, diced
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; butter parchment. Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in chocolate and orange peel. Whisk buttermilk and egg in medium bowl to blend; add to dry ingredients. Stir just until incorporated.
2. Turn dough out onto floured work surface and knead gently just until dough comes together, about 5 turns. Form dough into 6 1/2-inch-diameter round, about 2 to 2 1/2 inches high. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Using sharp knife, cut 1-inch-deep, 3-inch-long slits in top of bread, forming sunburst pattern.
3. Bake bread until well browned and very firm when pressed and tester inserted into center comes out clean, turning baking sheet halfway through baking, about 1 hour 10 minutes total. Transfer bread to rack and cool completely, at least 3 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil and store at room temperature.)

RESULTS: This tasted more like a very large and rather less dense scone to me than Irish Soda Bread. It makes a GIGANTIC loaf, so currently I'm experimenting with how well it freezes (wrapped in tin foil and then put in a freezer ziplock bag). It was rather tasty, though, if a little on the sweet side. I'm not sure it's the best one I've made this year, I prefer the second one from Gourmet. Mom, how'd yours turn out last weekend?

There are many reasons why I adore Jean. Today it's because she emailed me this. Stay tuned for the chocolate one.

After reading the article, I think a major mistake I made with the Alice Waters loaf (apart from my screwy oven) was I over-mixed it. I used my KitchenAid mixer, and I think that was too much, I should have just hand-mixed it. That's what I did with the Gourmet loaf (literally, I mixed it with my hands, I didn't even use a spoon) and it turned out so much more tender (tenderer?).

About that Alice Waters loaf: I know normally I'm really quick to dismiss a recipe that didn't turn out as being the fault of the recipe (which is probably a fault of mine) but with this one, I'm more inclined to think the recipe was fine and I just didn't follow it well enough. Everything else in that book has been terrific, or I made it wrong. In fact, really the only thing about her cookbook that I haven't loved is that it doesn't have ribbons attached to the spine for easy bookmarking, a minor flaw at most. I would recommend it to everyone, especially if you're like me and can't really cook even simple things without help. Thanks, Nancy!

Gourmet's Irish Soda Bread

From the Gourmet Cookbook:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, well-shaken
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter and flour a large baking sheet, knocking off excess flour.
2. Sift together 4 cups flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and stir in sugar, caraway, and raisins. Add buttermilk and stir just until dough is evenly moistened but still lumpy.
3. Transfer dough to a well-floured surface and gently knead with floured hands about 8 times to form a soft but slightly less sticky dough. Halve dough and form into 2 balls. Pat out each ball into a domed 6-inch round on baking sheet. Cut a 1/2-inch-deep X on top of each loaf with a sharp knife, then brush loaves with butter.
4. Bake in middle of oven until golden brown and bottoms sound hollow when tapped, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer loaves to racks to cool completely.

RESULTS:

This turned out much better, really moist and not at all comparable to an anvil. I really like that it made two small loaves and that I could bake it at a lower temperature for shorter time, I may try that with the Alice Waters recipe if I do it again this year. (The key problem with the AW recipe was that at higher the temperatures my oven becomes increasingly eccentric, which is partly why it turned into a rock-hard lump.) So far this year, this recipe is running away with the competition.

I left the raisins in, even though I hate raisins, because I was a little afraid that taking them out would affect the overall moisture of the bread. Any thoughts?

Alice Waters' Soda Bread

Makes one loaf

• 3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (or a combination of whole wheat flour and white flour: use at least 3/4 c white flour)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk
  

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Measure flour, salt and soda and mix together in a large bowl.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk. Stir, adding more buttermilk if needed; the dough should be soft, but not wet or sticky.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead just enough to bring the dough together. Turn it over and pat it into a round loaf about 1 1/2 inches high.
5. Place on a baking sheet and cut a cross into the top of the loaf with a knife. Cut fairly deeply into the bread, being sure to cut all the way to the edges; this helps the bread to rise properly.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400°F and bake for another 30 minutes or until done. To test, tap the bread on the bottom. It will sound hollow when done.

RESULTS: First off, I'm trying to use more wheat flour so I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and the rest was white. I also cheated(?) and used my mixer instead of doing this by hand. Why have a nice mixer if you're not going to use it to make bread?

Anyway, this was super easy to pull together, and you don't need to let it rise. I can't tell you if it was good or not, though. My oven ruined it by shooting up 50 degrees and cooking at 500. I'll try again.

Battle of the Irish Soda Bread 2009

I saw some crocus buds yesterday, today is sunny and brisk with the wind going every which way--Harper and I saw several piglets flying by on our walk--and I just turned my calendar to March. You know what that means: it's Irish Soda Bread Time!

If you recall last year I made two different recipes for Irish Soda Bread (I seem to have gotten the craving a week later last year, but I think spring is a week earlier this year, so it seems about right). One recipe was a brown bread recipe Beth found in the Washington Post. Another was my mom's. It was close, but my mom's won. However, it was also a rather complicated recipe and work has been so insane since September that, darn it, I'm just too pooped for complications right now. (Hence the dramatic drop-off of postings.) So, I'm going to try out two different recipes from my two new cookbooks: Alice Waters and the Gourmet cookbooks. Today is Alice Waters', which definitely wins points for simplicity.

Kalamata Olive Bread with Oregano

Yield 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
Cooking spray

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Set aside.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, and egg whites, stirring with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in onion, olives, and oregano.
4. Spread batter into an 8 x 4–inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

RESULTS: Neither of us were wowed by this bread, so I wasn't going to post it. Plus, now I have all this buttermilk and no idea of what to do with it. Last night, however, I cut a couple pieces up into small cubes and put it on macaroni au gratin before putting it in the oven as a couton topping. Wow. That was good. It added some flavor to what it, lets face it, a fairly homogenous dish. I hit the bread with a few sprits of olice oil from an oil atomizer and baked it for the normal time. And tonight, we're going to have buttermilk pancakes for dinner. Problem solved.

Mmm, delicious delicious naan bread...

INGREDIENTS
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

RESULTS: Mmmmm....delicious. I put the garlic in, and next time I will leave it out; it didn't really ever cook, so it was still the pungunt raw garlic flavor. Otherwise, very tasty. I would advise taking out the smoke detector in the kitchen if you do this inside. Oh, a note on that: I just used our grill pan to cook them, since we don't have an indoor grill. Worked just fine. I would also advise you not to roll them too thin, since then they get kind of tough. By the end I was just giving it one roll with the pin, without too much weight, just to get it flat-ish. I didn't worry about getting it round. Also, I think this would be easiest as a two-person operation, one rolling and one manning the grill since they cook really fast, but you don't want to roll them out beforehand.

Angel Biscuits

From Cooking Light:


1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
5 cups all-purpose flour (about 22 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water in a small bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yeast mixture and buttermilk to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Cover and chill 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450°.
Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface; knead lightly 5 times. Roll dough to a 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush the melted butter over the biscuit tops. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until golden.


RESULTS: Well, these didn't turn out like the picture, but they werew still good. I think I was having, in part, a similar problem as the fritters. The dough was really really moist, more like drop biscuits. It didn't really occur to me that it was too moist until I tried to "knead" the dough and got nowhere. The taste is really good, though, and I think as long as you add more flour if you need it, it's good. I put butter on it, and froze the rest for a rainy day.

scones

Suz had me over for high tea a couple months ago and we made scones. I thought I'd make them for breakfast this morning for Syd and Jan. This is another from Mary Jo's cookbook.

8 oz (1 3/4 c) flour
1 TBS sugar
scant 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbs unsalted butter
1 egg
3.5 oz (1/2 c minus 1 Tbs) milk
1/4 c raisins (optional)
1 Tbs sugar fro sprinkling.

Preheat over in 450. Have ready a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon sheet.

Beat egg. Remove one Tbs and save for egg wash. Whisk milk into remaining egg.

Sift together four, 1 Tbs sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut butter into slices and rub into flour with fingertips.

Make a well in dry ingredients and add milk mixture. Mix together with your hand, and sprinkle in rasins. Once it's thoroughly moistened, scrape dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead lightly, 3 or 4 times. Pat or roll into a circle 3/4 inch think. Cut into seven 1/2-inch scones. Place on baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly brown. Serve butter and jam or whipped cream. May be frozen and reheated.

RESULTS: These weren't as light and fluffy as Suz's, and I think it's because I forgot the butter and also warmed it up too much in the microwave, so by the time I got to it, the milk was already mixed into the flour, and I couldn't rub it in anyway because it was melted. But, it tasted fine, and wasn't chip-you-teeth hard.

Friendship Bread with yogurt

I tried replacing the oil with plain low-fat yogurt in the final step of making the friendship bread. I chickened out as I glopped the yogurt into the measuring cup, so I actually only replaced about 2/3 of a cup of the oil with yogurt. An informal poll said there was no difference in flavor or texture, so I think it would be safe to replace all the oil in that last step. I feel a lot better about the whole friendship bread enterprise, making it a little healtier with the whole wheat flour and the yogurt. Next step: cutting back on the sugar. I might try it with zucchini once that all starts coming in.

Here's a quick fact sheet for oil substitutions. I have a lot of recipes that call for heavy cream, so I might try that skim milk and cornstarch one....

Mary Jo's French Bread

After two and a half long weeks of nothing but work and two days off, I took off from work early yesterday and am taking all day today off. I've been having work dreams (dreams about work that turn into to-do lists that I tell myself I have to remember to do the next day) for the better part of a month, and I needed a vacation. So, when I got home for work, the only thing that I wanted to do was make bread! John and Kathy got me Mary Jo's Cuisine, a cookbook by a chef who recently retired from her restaurant in Oxford, OH. It's got a lot of instructions, so I'm not going to try to type it up here (sorry!). It did, however, turn out amazing, and she says that homemade bread freezes really well, so I would recommend trying SOME sort of homemade bread, the next time you need to de-stress. I would recommend following the recipe exactly, at least the first few times, before you make flour substitutions or herb additions or anything like that.

Mom's Bells and Whistles Irish Soda Bread Part 2: The Bread Itself

1/2c currants or raisins
3T Irish Whiskey (Bourbon may not be used as a substitute though Scotch may be)
3c sifted flour
1t salt
1 1/2t baking powder
1t baking soda
1T light brown sugar
1/4c chopped candied orange peel
2t caraway powder or seeds (I prefer the seeds)
1 1/2c or more buttermilk (see directions below)

Soak currants or raisins in whiskey an hour or more.
Sift all dry ingredients together.
Toss currants/raisins & whiskey marinade through flour mix.
Mix in orange peel & caraway.
Stir in enough buttermilk to make a light dough, like muffin dough.

Use greased, floured 10" circular pan or skillet.

Bake at 350 for 35 min.

Cake should shrink from sides of pan when done.

Cool 1 1/2 - 2 hr. before serving.


RESULTS: Victory!! This was what I wanted. I don't care for the orange peel in the bread, though, but everything else is great. This is a little wetter and softer than the other bread, and if you don't put it in the round pan like it says to, it spreads out a bit like a giant cookie. Still good though. I'm not sure the currants and whiskey add much, so if you don't care for those, I think you can leave them out. The dough is just really tasty. Sorry Beth, Mom wins!

PS: I gave some to Suz and Brad WHO JUST GOT ENGAGED!!!! and Suz said she COULD taste the currants (couldn't taste the whiskey) and the oranges were her favorite part, and thought they worked perfectly with the currants. So, I'd say, if your tastes lean that way, go for it. The oranges were fun to make, anyway,

Dark Irish Soda Bread (Cuisine: Irish; Course: Bread)

Well, I'm trying the one that Bethie sent first. Lest you think I had a specific reason for doing so, I made the decision based solely on the fact that I had neither candied orange peel nor Irish whiskey (I have Seagram's... is that ok? There's only going to be a little whiskey in there...). Mom just sent me a recipe for candied orange peel, and I found a recipe in my Joy of Cooking. Maybe the next thrown-down can be the candied orange peel throw-down! (although, Mom's has much better directions, so I might just go with that.) Regardless, I am NOT avoiding the currants, aka tiny raisins.

Dark Irish Soda Bread

The Washington Post, March 5, 2008

• Cuisine: Irish
• Course: Bread

Summary:

This soda bread gets its appealing brown color from molasses and whole wheat flour. The flour used here is the traditional whole-wheat flour that is made from red-wheat berries.

It's best eaten on the same day it is made, but it tastes great toasted the next day. The bread can be wrapped well and frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost with the wrapping on so that any condensation will form on the foil and/or plastic, and not on the bread itself.

Makes one 8-inch oval loaf (12 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (plus softened butter for greasing the baking sheet)
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, plus more for the baking sheet
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon dark or light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 cup low-fat or regular buttermilk

Directions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet with softened butter, then sprinkle lightly with whole-wheat flour; tap to discard any excess flour.

Combine both flours, brown sugar, caraway seeds, baking soda and salt in the large bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Mix to combine on low speed; add the melted butter.

Combine the molasses and the buttermilk, then add to the mixer bowl, on low speed; beat for a minute or two, until a soft dough forms. Gather the dough into a ball and roll it around in the palms of your hands to smooth it; the dough will not be perfectly smooth. Form into an 8-inch long oval and place on the prepared baking sheet. Use a smooth-edge knife to cut a slash about 5 inches long and about 1 inch deep along the length of the loaf.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the bread feels firm and crisp and you can see that the bottom has browned when you lift it carefully. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

RESULTS: some of the molasses seeped up from the knife cut and caramelized, which was really good. The next time I make this bread I might try just drizzling a little bit in the cut (although you don't want to put so much that the bread would be soggy or the sugar might burn. It's a fine balance). The texture was light and fluffy, and the whole wheat had a good chewy-ness. I love the caraway seeds and the bread smelled really good as it was cooking.

However, did this meet my Irish soda bread craving? I have to say, not really. It was excellent bread, and especially for being a whole wheat bread, it was really fluffy. But I like my Irish Soda Bread to be a little denser, so you KNOW you're eating bread, like, for hours later when you're still not hungry. It could be that I didn't wait for it to cool all the way before slicing, I really don't know what that does to the final texture. I was hungry! Or, I might have needed to stir it longer to get the dough a little tougher.

Anyway, bottom line, this was a great recipe and hats off to Bethie for finding it, but it didn't quite feed the need. The search continues.