Rosemary Focaccia Sandwich Bread

I woke up on Friday morning thinking about fresh rosemary bread. I had been indulging in my favorite past time...reading cookbooks, and stumbled on an amazing recipe for Rosemary Focaccia that I dreamed about all night. Literally dreamed about bread. Do I have a problem or what? So I checked the recipe in "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison, which I took out from my local library. I was so excited to see that I had all the ingredients to make it, thanks to the pot of rosemary that is growing out of control on the south side of my house.

When I turned on my oven to preheat, I thought I smelled my fireplace burning again (this has happened a couple times now), so I looked for the smell and couldn't find anything. When I thought the oven should be heated up, I came back and noticed the clock on the stove wasn't on. I opened the oven and the light didn't come on. I went downstairs and flipped the circult breaker. Nope, that wasn't it, either. So I grabbed a screwdriver and took apart the back of the stove, only to find this:

Yep, whatever that piece is called (I looked it up, it's a "terminal block") was all melted. There was an electrical fire in the back of my oven. Crap. No bread for me today. For most people, a broken oven is cause for celebration, as in "Yay,I can't cook, let's go out!". For a foodie like me it was a huge tragedy... Then my awesome neighbor came to the rescue. The next morning (after an extra slow rise in the refrigerater overnight), I baked my pan of bread next door. It seems like a mean trick...I made their house smell like amazing fresh rosemary bread, then I took the bread home with me. I did share about a third of the pan with them later, so I paid them back.

Sandwich Focaccia with Rosemary
2 c. warm water
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 t. sugar
3 T. Olive oil, plus extra for the top
1 1/2 t. salt
3 T. finely minced rosemary
6 c. all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water and set aside until foamy.

After about 10 minutes, in a large mixing bowl, combine yeast mixture, olive oil, salt, 2 T. rosemary and 1 cup of flour. Wisk together until smooth. Slowly add the remaining flour, until too hard to stir, then turn out onto counter and knead until all the flour is worked in and the dough is smooth. Place it in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Oil a large sheet pan. Place the dough in the pan and press out to the edges with your fingers, making sure it is all the same thickness. Cover and let rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 during the last 15 minutes. Right before putting in the oven, dimple the dough by poking it with your fingertips, then brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining rosemary. Bake in the bottom third of the oven until evenly browned, about 30 minutes.

After allowing to cool most of the way, I cut 4 squares of the bread through the middle crosswise to make sandwich bread for lunch on Saturday. It was fresh bread, so it was delicious, of course. I put the rest in the freezer and I know someday soon it will go well with another meal. I cannot wait to try it warmed and dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar!

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison.

Favorites II

I haven't been very creative in the kitchen lately. For that matter, I haven't cooked very much lately. Between the kids activities, work, grad school and a bum tooth, food hasn't really been a priority. For today's topic, we'll have to make to with a favorites list: 

1. Homemade Artisan Bread.  This is seriously easy.  Flour, water, salt and yeast are all the ingredients you need.  Oh, and time.  You need at least 12 hours of rising time for this recipe, but it is so worth it!  Total hands on-time is about 15 minutes and you end up with a delicious round loaf of bread that you would have paid a lot for in a bakery.  That's my loaf shown above...I could hardly believe I made something that looked so professional!  Eat it with soup, slice for sandwiches, or my favorite, put in pan while cooking eggs so it gets toasty and spread with jam.  Yummy!

2. Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup.  Another super easy one...potatoes, garlic, onion, chicken broth in slow cooker for hours, then made creamy with cream cheese.  Of course it's delicious, just don't make a habit of it... this is not a healthy way to eat your veggies!

3.  Home Made Body Wash.  I don't know why, but when I saw this recipe,  I just wanted to try it.  It seems like I always have body wash on my shopping list.  It's kind of expensive and doesn't really last very long.  I ordered soap (Tom's of Maine) and vegetable glycerin from Amazon.com and bought distilled water at the grocery store.  Grate the soap and combine it with the glycerin and distilled water in a big soup pot.  Heat until melted and combined, then put in bottles to use. I use it for body wash and hand soap.  Kind of a lot of work, but I like knowing that I made it and I don't freak out when the kids dump a half a bottle down the drain "by accident". 

A couple weeks ago, I attended a Taste of Home Cooking School event in Fargo.  It was a lot of fun and I got some great recipe ideas from the presenter.  We also got two limited edition Taste of Home magazines full of recipes and a year subscription to Healthy Cooking.  A few of the recipes I have tried so far:

4.  Johnsonville Sausage Meatballs.  Using Johnsonville Italian sausage links as the meat in these meatballs adds great flavor.  These were really quick to make and went great with my homemade marinara and pasta. 

5.  Emeril's New Orleans Garlic Chicken.  All I can says is Yummy...try it and you will see.  Emeril takes "simple" breaded chicken breasts to a whole new level.  Phil doesn't eat breading, but he said this chicken was so moist and tender I can make it again.  That's a definite compliment coming from him!

6.  Grilled Chicken, Pesto and Two-Cheese Naan Pizza.  Using naan (Indian flat bread--I just buy it at Walmart off the clearance cart) as the crust, this pizza is super easy.  Pesto sauce (which I still have a ton of in the freezer from last summer), chicken red peppers, olives and cheese all combine into this delicious meal.  Try cooking it on the grill for a summery twist!
A few that I have bookmarked and will be trying in the near future:

1.  Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas.   Any excuse to get veggies on the table is a good one in my book.  Roasting the veggies before putting this dish together just adds another dimension of deliciousness!

2.  Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Pepper Flakes  Simple as that, nothing else.  Whenever I cook pasta, I try to make double and stash some in the fridge for later in the week.  I have a big baggie of spaghetti just waiting for some garlic and hot pepper flakes.  As Rachel Ray would say...Yum-o!

3.  Tomato, Basil, and  Fresh Mozzarella Salad.  I can't wait until summer comes and we start getting our weekly CSA boxes...this is what I dream about all winter when I'm eating frozen or store-bought produce.  Maybe with the early melt, the deliveries from Red Goose Gardens will start early?

Popovers!

Okay, so Popovers is one of those recipes that should be easy.  Flour, milk, eggs, salt.  Simple, right?  Wrong.  I have had problems with them burning, falling and sticking to the pan, sometimes all at the same time!  I think I've finally solved most of those problems, though.  A guy I work with brought in a "Foolproof Popover" recipe a few weeks ago, and so far, the recipe doesn't lie.  They turn out nice and poofy and don't stick to the pan.  Just to be safe, though, I am in the market  for a silicon popover pan so they never stick again! 

Foolproof Popovers
butter for greasing pan
1 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt

Heavily grease the popover pan/cups with butter.  Place in freezer while you mix the batter. 
Mix flour, milk, eggs and salt together until combined, don't worry about lumps.  Divide batter evenly between 6 popover cups. 
Place in a cold oven.  Turn on oven to  450 and bake for 30 minutes.  Do not open the oven until you are ready to take them out!  The popovers will fall.  Remove from oven and prick each popover with a knofe to allow the steam to escape, otherwise they'll be soggy.

These are amazing with most kinds of soup but sometimes we have them for breakfast with jelly or nutella.  Delicious! 

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Whenever we go to the mall, my kids beg me to buy them a hot pretzel.  Every time we walk down the freezer aisle at the grocery store, they ask for the frozen soft pretzels.  Sometimes I give in...they are pretty delicious, but they're kind of expensive.  The other day, I tried out a recipe I found for homemade soft pretzels and I may never buy soft pretzels again.  These are amazing.  Yes, they take a little time and there are a few steps involved, but I bet you could make a double batch and freeze the leftovers, reheating them in the microwave or oven.  This batch I made didn't last long enough for a visit to the freezer, so someday soon I'll have to make them again. 

Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 packet yeast
4 - 4 1/4 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. salt
1 T. olive oil
8 c. water
1/2 c. baking soda
1 egg
Topping for pretzels:  sea salt, parmesan cheese, poppy seeds, italian seasoning

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  In large bowl, combine 2 c. flour with sugar and salt, adding yeast mixture.  Stir until smooth.  Add remaining flour and stir until a firm dough forms.  Knead on floured surface for about 5 minutes.  Coat dough ball with olive oil and cover.  Let rise in a warm place for one hour.  Punch down dough and divide into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into 18 inch ropes and shape into pretzels.  Meanwhile, boil water with baking soda.  Boil pretzels for 30 seconds each and remove to greased cookie sheet.  Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt, poppy seeds, parmesan cheese, etc.  Bake at 425 for 12 minutes.  Serve warm. 

The girls and I had these pretzels for an afternoon snack and ate the leftovers with chicken wild rice soup for supper.  I topped them with italian seasoning and salt this time and would definitely do that again.

I had to look up why the pretzels were boiled in the baking soda before baking and basically the answer is that they turn out better that way.  The cooking process starts in the boiling water, the pretzels get chewy, and the baking soda makes them brown and crackly on the outside.  If you don't boil them, they will be bready tasting pretzel shapes, but they won't be pretzels.  Trust me, it's worth the extra step.

We're popping!

This post could just as well be titled "Things I could buy but I make them instead".  My goal today is to share my recipe for Jalapeno Poppers, but in order to get there, I need to talk about bread crumbs first.  Why buy a can of bread crumbs in the store for $2 when you can make your own out of the heels and leftovers of the bread in your fridge and freezer?  I save up these leftovers until I have quite a few pieces.

I usually try to dry them out a little by putting them in a low oven or leaving them on the counter for a day or two.  When they get a little crispy, I just put them in my food processor and grind them until they are crumbs.  This tray of bread made about 2 c. of crumbs. 

I freeze the crumbs in a big baggie and take them out as needed.  I use them for meatloaf filler, eggplant Parmesan, breading chicken or, in this case, jalapeno poppers.  

Jalapenos are not something I usually buy, but we have been getting an unusually large number of them in our weekly boxes from Red Goose Gardens.  As I showed in this earlier post about tomatillos, I sometimes roast them for later use or use them in salsas. 

Since Phil and I both like to order Jalapeno Poppers in restaurants, I wanted to find a recipe for baked poppers that would still be delicious but not so bad for us.  I hit the nail on the head on the first try with this recipe from Emeril.  I have made it many times and the only problem is that sometimes what I think are jalapenos are serranos and they are way too spicy for me to eat on their own like this.  Luckily, Phil doesn't care if I take a bite and decide they're too spicy, he'll eat my leftovers. 

This recipe is a little putzy, especially if you don't have the "Essence" herb/spice mix on hand, but it's easy to mix and the end results are delicious.  As I stated, this recipe is 100% stolen from the Food Network's website, so  Emeril gets the delicious credit for this one. 

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

12 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise, stems, seeds and membranes removed

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese

1/2 t. cumin

1/2 t. cayenne, or less, to taste

2 large eggs

2 T. milk

8 t. Essence, recipe follows

1 c. dry breadcrumbs

1/2 c. flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.  In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, cumin, and cayenne.  In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, and 2 teaspoons of the Essence. In a shallow dish, combine the breadcrumbs and remaining 4 teaspoons of Essence. In a third dish, combine the flour and remaining 2 teaspoons of Essence. Spread 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture into the middle of each jalapeno half. One at a time, dredge in the flour, dip into the egg mixture, then dredge in the bread crumbs, pressing to coat. If necessary, repeat the process. Place the coated peppers, cut side up, on the prepared baking sheet and bake until the filling is runny and the crust is golden, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with ranch dressing.

*Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

2 1/2 T. paprika

2 T. salt

2 T. garlic powder

1 T. black pepper

1 T. onion powder

1 T. cayenne pepper

1 T. dried leaf oregano

1 T. dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Obviously this is too many for the two of us, so I try to make them when we have company or when we are at the lake.  Hopefully, they reheat well because about half the pan is leftover in the refrigerator.  Lunch anyone?