Garlic Cheese Flatbread

Garlic Cheese Flatbread

INGREDIENTS
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a cup or small bowl, sprinkle yeast over the surface of the lukewarm water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to dissolve.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and sugar. Pour in the yeast mixture along with the olive oil. Beat with a sturdy spoon until dough is stiff enough to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Cover, and set aside until doubled in size, about 35 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl and knead briefly on a floured surface. Roll the dough out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness or to the size of your baking sheet. Place on a greased baking sheet and spread butter over the top. Sprinkle with garlic powder, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Let rest while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Serve warm.

Boston Brown Bread

Well I wasnt quite sure what to think of this. I thought it would be like the bread you get at The Outback, which I LOVE. It wasnt. That's not to say it wasnt good. It's a heavy bread and was great with our porkchops the other day. Especially when honey butter is spread over a warm piece. I dont know that I'll make this alot because I do have other breads I enjoy more but I will make it again.

Boston Brown Bread

found via All Recipes

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan, knocking out excess flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and brown sugar. Mix in molasses and buttermilk until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake for one hour, or until done. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, and then remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing.

Gawd I am a cookbook addict!!

I received a 40% off coupon for Borders and thought I'd swing by and finally pick up Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day because I've heard such great things about it. I did pick it up! YAY! But I also picked up 7 other cookbooks! Oy!

Now in my defense they were ALL on clearance sale. $3.50/ea. Seriously, how could I pass that up?? *G*

Now it will just come down to when I am able to actually use them. I've been down for the count with my knees this past week and missed waaaay too much work so I'll be making up time there for at least the next week. Dont see any baking time in the near future.

I'm still happy I got my book though!

Darn those smokey steaks!

Ok I have to admit something. Something embarrassing.

I can not cook a steak without setting off at least 1 of our 3 of our smoke alarms. Even then it's a good thing I like my steak rare because they are barely cooked. Last night I managed to set off all 3 smoke alarms! *hangs head in shame* The steaks were good but my apt was filled with smoke which is annoying to say the least.

Any tips on how to grill the perfect steak indoors?

Anyway I do bring a gift of yummy recipes with me today and not just whining! The cornbread was soooooooo yummy I couldnt stop eating it. *LOL*

These are both from 30 Minute Meals 2

Rio Grande Spice Rub Strip Steaks

4 sirloin strip steaks, 1 inch thick (8 to 10 oz ea)
1.5 Tablespoons ground ancho chili or dark chili powder (a palmful)
1.5 Tablespoons ground cumin (a palmful)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 large red onion, cut into 4 thick slices
Extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil, to coat onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Remove steaks from refrigerator and let them rest for a few minutes to take the chill off.

2. Preheat grill pan or indoor electric gill to high heat. Combine spice rub ingredients: ground ancho chili, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, and rub well into steaks.

3. Coat red onion slices in a drizzle of oil. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Grill steaks and onion slices, 5 minutes on each side. Remove from heat. Let meat stand 5 minutes for juices to redistribute. Season with salt. Top with seperated rings of grilled onions. Serve with hot Cracked Corn and Cheese Squares and Mexican Fiesta Salad.

Cracked Corn and Cheese Squares

1 package (8 1/2 ounces) corn muffin mix, mixed to package direction
softened butter, to grease baking dish (I actually used Crisco Cooking Spray instead of butter)
1/3 pound Monterey Jack cheese or Pepper Jack cheese, cut into 1/4 inch dice (I used Pepper Jack and think it gave the squares a nice little kick)
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1 scallion, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease an 8" square baking dish with butter. In a mixing bowl, stir cheese, corn, and scallions into corn muffin batter. Pour batter into baking dish and bake until golden, 15 to 18 minutes.


These recipes are included in my 2009 Cookbook Challenge!!

Peanut Butter Bread

Paula Deen is really my hero. She normally has the best recipes for good old comfort food. One day I was watching and she made "Peanut Butter Bread" and I immediately was up making it. This bread is best with your favorite jam. It's definitely not one I'd eat alone or with just butter. It has a very strong peanut butter flavor so the jam helps with that. This is a great recipe to make afterschool snacks for the kiddos or even for breakfast!



Ingredients:
2 c all purpose flour
1/3 c sugar
1 t salt
4 t baking powder
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c peanut butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Combine dry ingredients. Add milk and peanut butter.

3. Pour into a greased 8 by 4 by 3-inch loaf pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes.

4. Serve with your favorite jam.

Rolls Rolls Rolls!

mMm. Bread is soooo good! I was excited that I finally was able to make rolls that rose and were not uber dense and could essentially be used as hockey pucks! I was determined that this year I would make some fabulous rolls for Thanksgiving and this is the recipe I'm going to use!



Sunday Dinner Rolls

Found via All Recipes

1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
1 pinch white sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 c warm water
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 t salt
3 c all purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash

1. In a large bowl, stir yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and a pinch of sugar.

2. In another bowl, beat eggs in 1 cup warm water; add oil and salt. Mix egg mixture into yeast, and add sugar. Gradually add flour.

3. Cover with a damp cloth, and allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour, then place in the refrigerator and allow to rise overnight. This dough is rather sticky, and will raise to at least twice it's size.

4. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each section out into a circle on a floured board or wax paper. Cut into pizza slice shapes, and roll slices large end to small end.

5. Place on greased flat baking pans, and allow to rise for 2 hours. Brush tops of rolls lightly with egg wash. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 8 minutes.

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread With Sugar Crust

I know I havent been posting much the past few days but my cooking has been....more then a little impaired this week. I've pretty much been staying on my pain pills since I started my knee injections Friday and it's had me feeling a bit "off" which is showing in my cooking.

Fortunately, I made this before my injection and it turned out soooo well. I really love this recipe. I found it via Baking Bites and when I saw it I knew I had to make it. I had it in the oven about 1 1/2 hrs after I found the recipe. YUM!


Chocolate Cinnamon Bread With Sugar Crust

Baking Bites

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
pinch of ground cloves

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and thoroughly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, waiting until the previous egg has been completely incorporated before adding the next.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together all purpose flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

4. In a measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, water and vanilla extract.

5. Working in two or three additions, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the sugar mixture. Begin and end with an addition of the flour mix.

6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

7. In a small bowl, whisk together topping ingredients: sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder and ground cloves. Sprinkle evenly on top of the loaf cake. (Next time I will probably half the amount of the topping. A lot of it ended up coming off when the bread was turned out of the pan and it was excellent with the amount that did remain)

8. Bake at 350F for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

9. Allow cake to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn out onto a wire cooling rack.

10. Cool completely before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf.

Pork Medallions with Tarragon Sauce & Savory Biscuit Bites

RLD loves pork. I think if I'd let him that would be the only meat we would have in this house. heh. I have another one of my odd quirks about pork. I like Pork Medallions but I'm not too fond of any other pork (sausage doesnt count). I do love Pork Medallions though. I havent had them cooked in a way that I dont like them yet. Maybe it's the "it's tiny so it's cute" factor. My brain works in very odd ways sometimes. ;)

This yummy dinner was Pork Medallions with Tarragon Sauce over white rice, Savory Biscuit Bites, and Salad with Italian dressing for me and Ranch for RLD.



Pork Medallions with Tarragon Sauce

1 1/4 lb pork cutlets (1 1/2 inch thick)
1 T Dijon Mustard
2 T butter
1/8 t salt
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 T dried tarragon, crumbled
1/2 cup half and half
pepper to taste

1. Spread one side of meat slices with mustard. In heavy skillet, melt butter and pork, mustard side down. Sprinkle with salt.

2. Reduce heat and cook 5 minutes on each side or until no longer pink. Remove meat to platter and keep warm.

3. Add beef broth and tarragon with pan drippings and stir. Simmer until half the liquid remains, add Half and Half, simmer stirring until sauce is slightly thickened. Season with pepper and pour over pork, then serve.

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RLD found biscuits on sale one day and bought a whole bunch of them. Since plain ole refrigerated biscuits are really dull I looked around for ideas on how to dress them up a bit. These really are wonderful and super easy of course!

Savory Biscuit Bites

Recipe found via All Recipes

1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 T grated Parmesan Cheese
1 T dried minced onion
1 1/2 t dried parsley flakes
1 (12 oz) package refrigerated biscuits

1. In a bowl, combine butter, cheese, onion and parsley.

2. Cut biscuits into quarters; roll in butter mixture. Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 2-in. baking pan; let stand for 25 minutes.

3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes or until lightly browned.

Coconut Bread

RLD loves coconut and I have to admit I have a bit of fondness for it too so when I stumbled across a recipe for Coconut bread I had to try it. The coconut flavor is very subtle and I was a bit disappointed it wasnt stronger but it's a good bread and is very good toasted with butter.


Coconut Bread

Adapted slightly from recipe found at Baking Bites

2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups coconut, sweetened, shredded
1/3 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.

3. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Sift those combined ingredients into a large bowl. Add sugar and coconut. Stir just to combine.

4. Make a well in the center and pour in egg mixture. Stir until combined.

5. Add melted butter and stir until smooth. Do not overmix.

6. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.

7. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Spaghetti, Mozzarella Bread, & Peach Cobbler! Oh my!

Tonight's dinner wasnt anything terribly exciting or innovative. I have 3/4 jar of Ragu left from making meatloaf the other day so I just made spaghetti w/mozzarella bread. The sauce I just dressed up a tiny bit by sauting fresh garlic with the ground beef then adding the sauce along with oregano, basil, and a small can of tomato paste. I had a loaf of "neo rustic" bread that I'd picked up the other day so I used butter, minced garlic, and shredded mozzarella to make a tasty cheesebread. They both turned out rather well soI wasnt too disappointed that I broke my pact of not buying jar spaghetti sauce anymore. heh.

For dessert I made RLD a peach cobbler. I know it doesnt really go with Spaghetti but I was already planning the cobbler before I decided on spaghetti and RLD had his heart set on it. The crust for the cobbler was very good. It definitely had the "cobbler" taste and texture to it. RLD suggested using frozen peaches or fresh peaches instead of canned next time because the peaches were a bit on the soft side.



Peach Cobbler

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 large can peaches, drained (use fresh/frozen peaches next time)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. Pour into 8x11 baking dish sprayed with PAM.

3. Bake at 400 for 40-50 minutes until golden brown.

Sausage Biscuits

I love biscuits and I love sausage so what could be better then a sausage biscuit?! When I saw this recipe in one of the cookbooks I stole borrowed from my parents I had to try it. I havent ever baked with self rising flour before so I'm not sure what was supposed to happen. They rose a bit but not a lot. They were very dense and definitely not the light and fluffy kind of biscuits. RLD says they taste like KFC biscuits. I think that next time instead of using self rising flour I'll use AP and adjust from there. I think the ratio is 1 cup AP + 1 teaspoon baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt = 1 cup self rising flour. They werent fluffy but they were pretty good. Would have been great with a white gravy over them.



Sausage Biscuits

1/2 lbs bulk sausage (use 1 pound bulk sausage next time)
1/4 shortening
2 cups self rising flour (use 2 cups AP flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt next time)
3/4 cup buttermilk
butter, melted

1. Cook sausage until done in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring to crumble.

2. Drain. Cut shortening into flour until mixture resembles meal.

3. Stir in buttermilk, mix, and add sausage.

4. Roll dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut out with a 2" cutter.

5. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.

6. Immediately brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter once you take them from the oven.

Cinnamon Bread

Bread rocks. Really. Bread is the reason I could never do Atkins indefinitely. I need bread. I crave it entirely too much. I like making it and I like eating it. Yum Yum. RLD picked up a quart of buttermilk for me the other day for another recipe I was making and I wanted to make sure I used it all up. So a quick search for bread and buttermilk on allrecipes.com netted a couple of great finds that I'll be whipping up in the next few days. Today's find was Cinnamon Bread.

Cinnamon Bread

Recipe found via allrecipes.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Measure flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, salt, buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla into large mixing bowl. Beat 3 minutes. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top.

Combine 2 tablespoons white sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and butter, mixing until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over smoothed batter. Using knife, cut in a light swirling motion to give a marbled effect.

Bake for about 50 minutes. Test with toothpick. When inserted it should come out clean. Remove bread from pan to rack to cool.

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I used this delightful bread to make french toast this morning. The cinnamon is not overpowering at all but it still makes for a very rich breakfast. This is more of a french toast to have just powdered sugar on though. RLD said the syrup on his covered the taste of the bread too much.

Pumpkin Bread

mMm My apartment smells so incredibly good. It smells like Autumn! Autumn makes me hungry! *drool* Whenever I'm stressed or depressed the first thing I want to do is bake. Bake bake bake. I remembered I had a can of pumpkin in the pantry and it is autumn so you figure it out. Really how can you not be cheered by the smell of pumpkin bread baking in the oven? Hmm. I wonder if that's a scent they bottle. Oh there's probably a pumpkin bread candle out there somewhere. heh.

Pumpkin Bread

Recipe found via love_x_c0re

1/2 C Corn Oil (vegetable oil is okay too)
2 Eggs, beaten
1/3 C Water
1 C pumpkin (canned)
1 2/3 C Sifted Flour
3/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 C Sugar

Mix wet ingredients: corn oil, eggs, water, and pumpkin (this will look really gross)

Add dry ingredients: flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar.

When everything is all mixed, it will be slightly thicker than cake batter.

Pour into greased & floured bread loaf pan (I used cooking spray with flour *built* in)

The original recipe said to bake on convection at 350 for 45 minutes. However, in a regular oven, I've always had to cook it for 75 minutes on 350. Just check it after an hour or so, poke it with a toothpick and see if it's still gooey in the center or not.

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While this yummy bread was baking away I decided to peruse the cookbook list at amazon. Bad idea for a cookbook addict. heh. Did you know there is a Star Trek cookbook, 2 - that's two! - Star Wars cookbooks, and a Shrek cookbook!?! I want to order them just to see what the heck kind of recipes are in there. Gosh there sure are a lot of things I could happily walk away with in the kitchen area of Amazon. heh. I need to win the lotto and get the kitchen of my dreams!