Duck Breasts w/ Panzanella

Happy Monday everybody! 

How was your weekend?  Ours was pretty relaxed, nothing new right? 

We had our first Fantasy Football draft of the season (we're in 3 leagues!) yesterday and I ended up with a pretty solid team.  I'm just so happy that #1.  NFL Football is actually happening this year. & #2. That the season is actually here!  Sundays = Football in our house!  And I can't help but laugh when I think about when I first met Andy, he didn't like any sports whatsoever.  I guess we do rub off on eachother.

Anyway...

I usually don't post something I've made right away.  I usually wait a day or two most of the time.  I've just got tons of things in my Lightroom gallery that it's hard picking what to do next.  However, we had this for dinner last night, and it was so amazing that I couldn't wait to share it.  Seriously, if you like duck (it's probably my favorite protein) and want something special and elegant - this is it.  Trust me.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's recipe

2 boneless duck breasts
4 ears of corn
2 potatoes, scrubbed and diced
15 asparagus spears, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
4 slices of bacon, chopped
5 slices of bread (we used a local bakery's Cereal Loaf), cut into 1 inch cubes
salt and pepper, to taste
1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

I'm so glad I decided to buy a whole duck instead of just the breasts.  It's a lot cheaper, plus I have the rest of the duck to use to make a confit (which is actually in the works as we speak! The house smells so good right now!).

Food & Wine recommends aging the breasts for 4 days - but I didn't have 4 days.  So I quickly aged the duck breasts for about 2 hours.  Just place the duck breasts in a glass dish, skin side up.  Season with salt and pepper and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, and up to 7 days.

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Line up corn, asparagus, and potatoes on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown, stirring occasionally.  You'll want to flip around your corn every once in a while too.  Let vegetables cool slightly, then cut off kernels from corn cob.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat a large cast iron skillet under medium heat and add bacon.  Cook until bacon is crisp, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel-lined plate.

Add the bread cubes to the bacon fat (this was genius!) and coat well.  Transfer skillet to the oven (on a rack underneath the vegetables) and bake until crisp, about 13-15 minutes.  Season croutons with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat.  Add duck breasts, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden and crisp - about 12-14 minutes.  Turn duck over and cook until medium-rare (if you're not comfortable with that, cook it a little longer) about 4-6 minutes. 

Transfer duck to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.  Slice thinly.

While the duck is resting, you can prepare your panzanella.  In a large bowl, combine the corn, potatoes, asparagus, bacon, croutons, tomatoes, scallions, and oregano.  Toss well. 

In a small bowl, combine the red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil.  Season dressing with salt and pepper and drizzle over vegetables and croutons in bowl.  Toss to mix well.

Divide the panzanella among plates and top with slices of duck. 

Seriously, this was absolutely amazing.  I think it took Andy all of 5 minutes to clear his plate.  He said it was so good he couldn't help but keep shoving it in his mouth.  Me, I took it slow.  So I could enjoy every bite because it was really the perfect meal! 

Have a great Monday guys!

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

The weekend just wasn't long enough, was it?  I can't believe it's already Monday!

We spent our weekend with friends - enjoying sushi... and not-so-much enjoying Cowboys & Aliens.  Seriously - worst way to spend $19. 

But this isn't a movie blog, it's a food blog.  And I thought I'd share with you the winner of the last bi-weekly poll - Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread.

It's nothing new.  Tons of bloggers have done it.  But this last week was my first experience with it - and judging from the positive reaction of my co-workers and Andy - it won't be my last!  So here's to starting the week on a sweet note!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Zoomy Yummy's recipe 

Dough:

3 & 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:

1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs.

In another small bowl, melt 4 tablespoons of butter with milk.  Add water and vanilla and stir until combined. 

Pour milk mixture into bowl with flour.  Add eggs and stir until incorporated.  Add remaining flour, in 1/2 cup increments, until a ball of dough forms.  The dough should be somewhat sticky, but capable of holding shape.

Knead dough on a floured work surface for about 10 minutes.

Grease a large bowl and place dough inside.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.

Deflate dough and knead on a floured work surface for a couple of minutes.

Roll dough out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness (you should get a large rectangle - about 12x20).

To make filling, melt remaining 4 tablespoons of butter.  In a separate small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

Brush the butter onto the rectangle of dough and sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over top. 

Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into 1 to 1 & 1/2 inch strips.  Then cut across to make squares.  Stack dough in groups of 6's (I had 8 stacks). 

Grease and flour a loaf pan and place as may stacks as possible (I fit about 6 stacks).  I had 2 leftover stacks that I just put it individual ramekins.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Bake bread for 30 minutes, or until golden brown (If you do individual ramekins, decrease time about 5-8 minutes).  Let bread rest for 20 minutes before digging in.

This was definitely some really good bread!  Not to mention it looks stunning!  I think there was the perfect ratio of cinnamon to sugar, and I just couldn't stop eating it.  The individual portions were gone within an hour - and it took a lot of will power not to devour the loaf pan that I was taking to work!

Hope you all have a great Monday!

Garden Update & My New Favorite Sandwich

The garden is really freakin' green right now!  It's definitely in better shape than last year's garden!  We've got tons of lettuce, that's for sure!  The onions are doing pretty well too, well, besides the fact that I planted the pumpkins right next to them.  Maybe next year, the pumpkins will have their own patch of land - I'm still learning =)

The herbs are growing nicely too - parlsey and cilantro are practically a-plenty... anybody need some?  Hehe.

And my tomatoes!  They're flowering, which is exciting - because they didn't even get to this stage last year.  Looks like I'll be buying plants from now on, as opposed to seeds like I did last year!

Anyway, with all the lettuce we've been having, in our CSA and in the garden - salads seem to be a go-to lunch.  But when we tire of salads, I like to make a nice little sandwich!  And this just happens to be my fave at the moment:

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread, toasted
lettuce
hummus 
smoked gouda slices
cajun turkey

Assemble all ingredients into a sandwich and enjoy!

Hummus is seriously my favorite sandwich condiment... especially since I HATE putting mayo on sandwiches =)

What's your favorite sandwich?  How's your garden (if you have one) shaping up??

Have a great Tuesday guys!

Grilled Naan

Yes, my basting brush is a man figure - and I love it.

I seem to like making naan bread.  It may not be the most authentic versions ever, but I manage to make it taste pretty darn good - and in the end, that's what matters right?

We got some green garlic in our CSA a couple weeks ago and it was really just sitting in the fridge waiting to be used.  I thought it would be a welcome addition to this naan.  Next time though, I may roll it in with the dough, instead of just using it as a topping in order to incorporate the flavor a bit more.

I love this grilled version because it provides a little bit more of a crispier naan, which I have no complaints about.  And hell... I just like using my grill, so why not?  Right?  Right.


Ingredients:

2 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup warm water
2 & 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, melted plus more for brushing
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 stalk of green garlic, sliced thinly

In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and warm water.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift 2 & 1/2 cups of flour with salt.  Pour in melted butter, yogurt, and yeast mixture.  Mix well. If dough is too sticky, add remaining 1/2 cup of flour a little bit at a time, until you reach your desired texture.

Knead for about 15 minutes (yes, I got in my arm workout for the day with this one), or until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a clean and oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel.  Let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Punch dough down and knead for about a minute.  Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each one out into a circle/oval about 1/4 inch thickness.

Light a charcoal grill under medium high heat. 

Before placing on grill, brush each flatbread with melted butter and place on grill.  Brush top of bread with additional butter and top with green garlic.  Grill for about 2-3 minutes, or until dough is crisp on the bottom.  Be careful not to leave it on there too long because it will burn easily (trust me, I had a casualty or two, lol). 

I'm working on my food styling - comments/criticisms welcome!

We served this with some freshly made raita and Indian spiced salmon fillets (recipe soon to come, of course) and it was just a great dinner all around. 

So next time you're in the mood for some naan... bust out that grill and throw those dough pieces on there!

See you guys tomorrow for a CSA Week #4 update - we got some more great stuff!  And let me know if you want me to feature your CSA, as well - there's still time to e-mail me =)

Semi-Wheat Bread

Happy Wednesday guys!  I'm glad you guys liked my wedding bouquet idea! 

I'm pretty excited because tonight is our first sand volleyball game of the season.  It's just the start of more "active" nights.  During the winter, it's so hard to get motivated to do anything, but once spring hits - it's volleyball and softball season so I'm outside all the time!

It's actually a big weekend coming up too.  It's Thunder Over Louisville (one of the largest fireworks shows in the US!) and it pretty much signifies the start of 'Derby Season' (I don't think that's really a season, but everyone does start talking about Kentucky Derby this and Kentucky Derby that).  So looking forward to posting pics from the weekend to come!

Anyway, Andy's favorite type of bread is wheat bread, so when Sunday rolls around (my usual bread baking day) he's always begging for wheat bread.  I've got to give in to him every now and then, right? 

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

In a large bowl, combine the water, milk, olive oil, honey, and brown sugar.  Add in both flours, yeast, and salt.

Knead dough for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Whole wheat flour always requires a little more elbow grease, so be prepared!

Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a kitchen towel.  Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and knead for a couple more minutes and form into a loaf.  Please in a greased loaf pan and cover with a kitchen towel.  Allow to rise for another hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake bread for 35-40 minutes.

Allow to cool for a couple minutes and turn onto wire rack to finish cooling.  Or if you can't hold back (like us), slice it up while it's still warm and serve with a pat of butter!

This was really great bread!  I'm actually using it tonight to make some Vietnamese Shrimp Toasts (hopefully a recipe is sure to come if all goes well!).

Well, I've got some last minute studying to do before my volleyball game tonight!  Wish me luck!

Have a great rest of your Wednesday guys!

Homemade Naan Bread

Happy Friday everyone!  This particular Friday is a very special one.  Not only is it April's Fools (don't worry, I'm not going to try any trickery on you guys!), but as of 8:30pm tonight, I'm officially on vacation! 

It's definitely more of a "stay"-cation, but hey, I won't have to work for a full 11 days.  So it's going to be amazing.

What will I be doing? 

SPRING CLEANING.  There's so much I want to throw out and do over, it's not even funny.  Will I get to it all done in one week?  Umm... no.  I highly doubt it.  I'll probably only get through 3, maybe 4 rooms out of the house, but hey, it's a start.

Anyway, let's get on with some naan!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food for my Family's recipe

3/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 cups flour, plus more if needed
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch baking powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 & 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
cornmeal, for dusting
unsalted butter, optional

In a small bowl, add the water and sprinkle yeast over top.  Allow to sit for about 10 minutes until foamy. 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  Mix in olive oil and sour cream until mixture is crumbly.  Slowly stir in the yeast and water mixture until a ball of dough forms.  My mixture was still a tad wet, so I added maybe 1/2 to 1 cup extra flour to get a desired consistency.

Knead dough on a floured surface for a few minutes until smooth.  Place the dough ball in a clean and greased bowl.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 500F with a baking stone or an upside-down rimmed baking sheet (i don't have a baking stone, so this is the method I used). 

Flip dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple minutes.  Divide dough into about 5-6 equally sized balls.  Dip each ball into flour and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness.

Dust preheated baking stone or baking sheet with a light layer of cornmeal.  Wet hands and gently wet each piece of dough before placing them on hot baking stone or sheet (I did batches of 3).

Bake for about 5-7 minutes, or until tops are starting to brown and get bubbly.

Transfer each piece of naan to a plate and top with a pat of unsalted butter.

This was my first attempt at making naan and I must say that it couldn't have been easier!  Or more delicious!  I had a 1/2 piece of naan with each of my dinners this week, and it was the perfect accompaniment to my curried lentil soup I had the other night!  It's even great by itself!

How about you guys... have you ever made naan at home? 

Have a great weekend guys!  I'll see you next week for some goodies (and maybe some before and after pictures of the rooms I clean out!)

Honey Oat Wheat Bread

I apologize for the cruddy pictures... this is what happens when I get in a rush I guess =)

Happy Monday guys!  How was everyone's weekend? 

We went out for sushi on Friday night and for dessert afterward.  Andy was holding a grudge (not really) because I wouldn't let him go get ice cream the night before, so I told him we could go this weekend.  And after pondering what to eat for dessert, we stumbled upon the Comfy Cow, and came up with a genius idea.  Get this... we're gonna have an ice cream sundae bar at the wedding!  The Comfy Cow caters, so hopefully I can book that soon!  We figure it'll be something different for dessert, although we're still planning on having a little wedding cake too.  Neat, eh?

Anyway, today's bread is probably the best I've made yet.  It's definitely the softest, fluffiest loaf I've produced this year.  And Andy has been begging me to make some wheat bread, so I finally did it! 

Man, I've been caving into a lot of his needs and wants lately, haven't I?  First with the Velveeta, and now the wheat bread.  At least with the wheat bread, we both can agree it was fantastic!


Ingredients:

Adapted from Radishes & Rhubarb's recipe

1/2 cup oats

1 to 2 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons of honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-2 teaspoons salt

1 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 & 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 & 1/4  teaspoons instant yeast

2 tablespoons milk
oats, for dusting (optional)

In a large bowl, combine oats, 1 cup boiling water, honey, butter, and salt.  Mix until butter has melted.  

Allow mixture to cool slightly and stir again. You've basically made some oatmeal porridge and this is going to rock your world when mixed with the flour.  Seriously.

Stir in all three flours and yeast.  The dough will be relatively shaggy.  Add water (in 1/2 cup increments) until you have a manageable dough.

Turn bread onto floured worktop and knead for about 7 to 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
 

Oil a large, clean bowl and form your dough into a ball. Turn dough ball to lightly cover with oil in bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a warm, damp towel and leave for about an hour until it has roughly doubled in size.

Turn dough ball onto floured surface again and punch down.  With a floured rolling pin, roll dough out into a rectangle and fold like a business letter (top half down and bottom half up).  Turn once and roll out and fold once more.

Fold in the sides to get a nicely shaped loaf.  Grease a bread loaf pan/tin and place dough, smooth side up in pan.  Using a pastry brush, brush on enough milk to lightly coat the top.  Lightly sprinkle oats on top, if desired.  Cover with warm towel and let rise for another 30-45 minutes.

 

Cut 3 diagonal slashes on top of bread and place in oven on middle rack. 

 

Place a baking sheet underneath and add about 1/2 to 1 cup of water.  

 

Heat oven to 375 F and bake for about 45 minutes, or until outside is golden and bread is cooked through.

 

Cool on a heating rack before cutting.

Serve with your favorite jam or a slat of butter.  This bread is THE bomb.

 

Through my bread-making escapades this year, I've found when I place the loaf in a cold oven, it results in a softer bread.  And when there's steam from the water in the pan below, it created a crispy crust.  I'm no bread expert, trust me.  This is just what I've found works for me! 

Hope you guys have a great rest of your Monday and see you tomorrow!

Spelt Flour Bread

Happy Wednesday guys!  It's the middle of the week and I'm just counting down the weekend! 

I've got a bookclub meeting tonight with the girls to discuss this month's book - Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.  And honestly... I wasn't a fan.  I know Pride & Prejudice is a classic, but I just couldn't bring myself to be interested.  The other books we've read (The Help, Running with Scissors, Water for Elephants) all had me wanting to read more and more and not put the book down.  But this just had me yawning and not very interested.  Oh well... to each their own.  Have any of you ever read Pride & Prejudice?  Or this Zombie-infused version?  What did you think?

I'll tell you what is interesting to me though.  Spelt.  And spelt flour.  Perusing the Whole Foods bulk bins a couple weekends ago, I came across this little gem of a flour.  I'd honestly never heard of it before, and well, for $2.49/lb., I thought it was reasonable enough to experiment with.  So I took to the good old Internet and of course found a no-knead bread recipe to try!  The results were more than satisfying! And in case you wanted to know (as if I'm not going to tell you regardless), spelt is similar to wheat in it's appearance, but is a little bit nuttier and sweeter in flavor.  It's also higher in protein than wheat, so if you're trying to increase proteins, spelt is the way to go!  So if you're looking for something different, but not too different (really only some subtle, but delicious differences)... give it a go!


Ingredients:

Adapted from Prairie Table's Recipe

 

With only 4 ingredients, how can you go wrong?

3 cups white spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 & 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
 

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and water.  Stir until combined.  The dough will be quite sticky, but that's okay.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for at least 10-12 hours (This is ideal for doing the night before, or in the morning before work).  

On a floured work surface, dust dough with flour and gently flatten into a rough square/rectangle.  Fold dough into thirds.  Gently flatten one more time, and fold into thirds one more time before shaping dough into a ball.  Place dough, seam side down, in a clean, lightly floured bowl.  Dust dough ball with flour and cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Leave in a warm, dry place to rise for about 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.

At least 30 minutes before the end of this rise, preheat oven to 500 F.

Place a baking sheet on the center rack and another baking sheet on the bottom rack (this will help absorb some of the heat).  When dough is finished rising, carefully turn it out onto the hot baking sheet, seam side up.  It won't look too pretty, but seriously, it gives it some rustic beauty when it's all done.  Who wants an absolutely perfect shaped loaf anyway?  Not me.

Pour about a cup of water into the pan on the bottom rack and quickly close the oven door.  Turn the oven down to 450 F and bake loaf for about 45 minutes, or until crust is a deep golden brown.

Serve warm with some butter or jam, or you can make sandwiches, like we did!

 Seriously, this is probably my favorite loaf of bread I've made so far this year.  It's so good, that I made it 3 times!  In 1 week!  That good.  And I'm sure if you can't find spelt flour, regular all-purpose will do, but I highly suggest that if you get a chance to come across some spelt, you won't be sorry!  Enjoy your Wednesday guys!

Loaded Turkey Sandwiches

TGIF!

I know, I say that every Friday.  But seriously.  Friday is a great day, isn't it?  The end of the work week (well, for people who don't work weekends, unlike me).  A day that begins the much sought-after weekend.  And in my case, a day off.

It's snowy and sunny today, so practically perfect to just lounge around the house.  Maybe I'll do some cleaning.  Maybe I'll do some studying.  Or maybe I'll just do nothing.  Actually... I've been pretty productive today - looking at wedding venues!  Andy and I kind of silently decided that we need to have one booked by March and get this planning underway.  We've been procrastinating for too long! 

I checked out the website for The Green Building in downtown Louisville and was pretty impressed.  It's a somewhat small space (probably couldn't have more than 100 people), but you know... the more I think about it, the more I want an intimate small wedding.  Less to plan, more to be extravagant about (like the food!).   And speaking of the food, I also contacted 732 Social (which is a restaurant in the Green Building that we LOVE), to see if they could possibly cater!  So, while nothing is set in stone... a vision is coming together!

Anyway, I thought I'd end the week with an easy recipe.  Everyone knows how to make sandwiches so this really isn't a recipe, but more of just a showcase of the awesome sandwiches we ate the other day!  Sometimes easy and quick dinners like these are just what you need!

Ingredients:

Fresh homemade bread (I've been using this recipe here, and I LOVE it!)
Cajun turkey slices (for Andy's sandwich)
Maple-glazed chicken slices (for my sandwich)
fresh spinach
sliced tomatoes
chopped artichokes
mayo or miracle whip
slices of mozzarella cheese

I don't have to tell you guys how to make a sandwich.  I'm sure you're well-capable of doing that =)

But I did lightly toast the bread (so that the cheese could melt slightly) and sauteed the artichoke in a dry pan for a few minutes (I love warm artichokes!)  Then pile your chosen toppings on the bread and close!  Serve with some chips and voila!  Easy dinner or lunch!

Enjoy the weekend guys! 

Homemade White Bread

Okay... I did it!  I've committed myself to making our own bread.  No more grocery store bread.  This wasn't on my goals list from last Thursday's post, but I've personally committed to adding this on there.  And I'm excited.  Because I actually made a fantastic loaf of bread.  And yes, I'm still excited.

Now that I got that off my chest... how was everyone's weekend?  Ours was pretty laid back, just ringing in the New Year with some good friends and some great food.  It's amazing that the older I get, the more I want peace and quiet for big days like New Year's Eve.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love a rip-roaring good party, but not as much as I did say, 3 years ago.  I just don't have it in me anymore.  My life revolves around other things now, and it just always amazes me how true that is.  I've grown up.  And it makes me sad.  But it makes me happy at the same time, because well... I'm growing up.  Does that make sense?

Oh, by the way, Pear-Caramel Ice Cream won the poll by a landslide on Friday so look forward to that sometime either this week or next. (I can't really be definite on when because I've got a few night shifts this week, so the week will be hectic - but I've got a 3 day weekend, so I'm sure there will be plenty of time then!)

Anyway, I was just so excited that I made this loaf of bread that I had to share it with you guys!

Ingredients:

Adapted from Pass the Sushi's Recipe

1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 & 1/2 cups lukewarm water
5 & 1/2 cups flour

In a small saucepan, heat milk, sugar, salt, and butter under low heat.  Stir until sugar is completely dissolved and butter has melted.  Take off heat and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast with warm water.  Add milk mix­ture and 4 & 1/2 cups of the flour. Mix with wooden spoon until a sticky dough starts to form.

Add remain­ing flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a ball of dough starts to form, and it is less sticky.  On a floured work surface,  knead the dough for about 2 min­utes longer, or until dough is smooth and elas­tic.

Grease a large, clean bowl with olive oil and add dough, turn­ing to grease top.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a slightly damp towel and let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour or until dou­bled in size.

Punch dough down and divide in half. On a lightly floured sur­face, roll each half into a rec­tan­gle approx­i­mately 9″ x 14″. A rolling pin will smooth the dough and remove any gas bub­bles.  Starting at the shorter end, roll the dough and pinch to seal the seam.  Place the dough seems sides down, in a greased bread loaf pan.  You could do this with both halves if you want, but I used my other dough half to make clover dinner rolls - just roll the dough into 36 even balls and place 3 at a time in a greased muffin tray.  Cover and let rise again for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 F.


Bake bread for about 25-30 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and crisp on the outside.  Remove from pans immediately after taking out of oven and let cool on a wire rack. 

We enjoyed the rolls with our turkey dinner (yes, I decided that I wanted to experience cooking a turkey this weekend, so I roasted one on a lazy Sunday afternoon - details to come!)  But this bread would definitely be great just on it's own with a pat of butter or jam.  Enjoy guys!


Have you ever made your own bread? 

Monkeybread

Happy Monday!  Everyone have a good weekend?  We surely did.  And anybody see that Eagles vs. Giants game yesterday?  Purely awesome!  And that's why Philly is going to the Superbowl!  Well, I hope so anyway.

It's going to be a busy week because I'm making myself make a different baked good/treat every day and then by Friday/Saturday, I'll have a variety of treats to wrap up and gift!  I've got some lucky recipients! 

I should have known this by some of the comments on the Chocolate Chip Cookie post, but a Dessert Bread won the poll by a landslide!  You guys must love your breads! 

Lots of people talk about Monkeybread as a treat they remember from childhood or whatnot, but I don't think  I actually learned about it's existence until a few years ago.  So I figured, why not.  Let's tackle it.  I just had one minor setback.  No bundt pan, and I really didn't feel like going out to buy one.  But I also didn't want to change my dish.  So, my inner Macgyver devised the perfect vessel for my Monkeybread.  Basically, if you don't have a bundt pan, take a deep cake pan, or a spring form pan (this is what I used) and place a small heat proof bowl in the center (in my case, I used a ramekin), and voila!  Instant, ghetto, bundt pan!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Itsy Bitsy Foodies' Recipe

Bread Dough:



4 & 1/2 cups flour
4 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt



Monkey Bread:


1 & 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 & 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

This is actually the first recipe I've tried using yeast that didn't require "proofing" it first.  I was skeptical, at first, but everything panned out, so you have my assurance that this should work!

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of the flour and the yeast.  Add the water, vegetable oil, sugar and salt.  With a hand mixer, beat on low for about a minute and then increase the speed and mix for a 2-3 more minutes.  Add in the remaining flour until you achieve a good, sturdy dough.  Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, until it is smooth and elastic.  Grease a large, clean bowl and form the dough into a ball.  Place the dough ball into the bowl and cover with a damp cloth.  Let dough rise for 1 & 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.  Punch the dough down and divide it into half, and let rest for and additional 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the monkey bread "sauce", combine 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, milk, butter and 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium high heat.  Bring the mixture to a slow boil and cook it for about 1 minute, or until slightly thickened.  Remove from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a shallow bowl.  Pick small portions of dough and form into small balls, until you've used up all the dough.

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a bundt pan (or use my alternate pan that I've described above!).

Roll each portion into the cinnamon sugar mixture and layer the balls of dough in your chosen pan.  Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the layers.  Pour the cooled sugar syrup over the dough.  Cover the pan with a damp cloth and let it rise for 35 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake the bread for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Loosen the edges of bread from the pan using a knife.  Place a plate over the top of the pan and carefully invert the bread onto the plate (or you can just release the springform pan).

Serve while it's warm (it's better this way!) and with a scoop of ice cream (it's better this way too!).  I definitely liked this, if I make it again, I might be a little more gluttonous with the syrup and double it so the bread is extra gooey!  But the flavor is definitely there!

Hope you guys liked the bread recipe and hope to get some more treats posted this week (but I've got some good dinners planned too, so savory might win out over the sweet stuff!)  Have a good rest of your Monday!  Enjoy guys!