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!

Radishes with Herbed Butter

Happy Wednesday guys!  It's mid-week and I'm definitely anxiously awaiting for the weekend to arrive!  I need it!

Now, it's kinda late, so I'm gonna post something rather quick.

Radishes are one of those things I can take or leave.  They're okay, but I think besides their somewhat peppery taste - just don't do anything for me.  But add some butter (that's been laced with garden fresh herbs), and we have a different story.  A quick and easy snack - or even a snappy appetizer in a pinch for a dinner party.


Ingredients:

1 bunch of radishes, cut in half
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
small handful of fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, oregano - whatever you prefer)
salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, combine the butter and herbs of your choice - I think I went with some cilantro here.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

You can be fancy and put the butter in a pastry bag to top the radish halves, but I went old fashioned and just slathered a bit on with a knife. 

And voila, instant snack.

And really, the herbed butter can go on practically anything you put butter on - not just radishes!

Have a great rest of your Wednesday, even though there's only about an hour left of it!

Don't forget, if you have a CSA or Farmer's Market haul you'd like to share - e-mail me at mtlabor85@yahoo.com and I'll include you in the roundup tomorrow afternoon!

Coffee Ice Cream Pie

One of my favorite parts of our wedding planning is the fact that we'll be having an ice cream bar.  Yeah.  Ice. Cream. Bar.  Need I say more?

And the Comfy Cow here in town will be providing said ice cream bar.  The Comfy Cow is known for it's unique flavors like Cookie Monster Dough (jam packed with cookies galore!), Cake Batter Up, Red Velvet (we both swear you can distinctly taste the cake AND icing separately, it's amazing), and Banana Nana Fofana. 

But on a recent trip to the Cow, and after a recent blog search (and not to mention this was last week's poll winner), I was after one thing - Freshly Brewed Coffee.  Ice Cream.  This is definitely one of the best coffee flavored ice creams I've ever had, and I could totally eat the whole quart by myself... but I decided to share and put that sucker in an ice cream pie!  So enjoy!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Handle the Heat's recipe

Crust:

10 Oreos
10 Golden Oreos
Pack of Chocolate Graham Crackers (about 10-12)
10 Grasshopper Cookies (they're the Keebler version of Thin Mints)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:


1 quart coffee-flavored ice cream


Chocolate Ganache Topping:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the oreos, golden oreos, graham crackers, and grasshopper cookies.  Pulse until cookies are crumbled finely.  Obviously, I was cleaning out all of the cookies from the pantry.  Feel free to just stick with one cookie for the crust if you'd like, but I thought the crust was pretty awesome with all of the different types - or maybe I just had that Cookie Monster Dough ice cream on the brain and decided to implement it into the crust.

Add the melted butter to the cookies and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.

Pat the mixture into a 9 inch spring-form pan, going along the sides, as well. 

Bake the crust for about 10 minutes or until slightly hard.  Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.  Then place in freezer for 30 minutes to harden up.

Meanwhile, remove ice cream from freezer and sit at room temperature to soften.

You can also make the ganache during this time, as well.  Place heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and add chocolate chips.  Let sit for about 5 minutes.  Stir in tablespoon of butter until mixture is smooth.  Let cool slightly.

Remove crust from freezer.  Dump ice cream into a large bowl and stir until it becomes smooth and spreadable.  Spread the ice cream on the chilled crust.  Top with ganache and chill for at least 3 hours.

Andy and I both loved this pie!  The jam-packed cookie crust went perfectly with the awesome coffee ice cream.  And it's not just limited to coffee ice cream.  The possibilities are endless with this one!  As the days get hotter, this is the best way to end the day and cool off =)

Hope you guys have a great Wednesday and see you all tomorrow!

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 =)

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!

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? 

Cabbage Au Gratin

Have you ever had one of those weeks, or days, where everything seems to be too good to be true? Or things have just been going so well lately, that you know something is bound to just screw it all up? Yeah, well we've had one of those weeks. Andy's been having Jeep trouble, and so we've been having to survive on one car, and let me tell you... it's not pleasant. Especially when our schedules differ so drastically. And it's not like we can afford having an extra bill of fixing a car, right? But it hasn't killed us, so I suppose it's making us stronger. But I really wish his Jeep would get fixed faster, hehe.

Anyway, I made it through the 1st week of the semester without any problems, so I suppose that's good. Definitely going to have my head buried in a bunch of books this semester though. I think I've already done more reading in this 1st week than I have an entire semester. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I blame my current headache on this reading.

So I figured today would be a good day for a comfort recipe. You can practically "au gratin" any vegetable, and most of us associate this with potatoes. While potatoes are all well and fine, I had an abundance of red cabbage from our CSA's a while back, and decided to apply this au gratin method to them. I was not disappointed.


Ingredients:

1 cup red cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small onion, sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup white wine
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Bring a medium sized pot of salted water to a boil. Add cabbage and boil to about 2-3 minutes. Drain and quickly submerge into a bowl of cold water in order to stop the cabbage from continuing to cook. (I added ice cubes to some tap water to make sure it was really cold) Drain the cabbage again and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large skillet, melt the butter under medium high heat. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Stir in the garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir until fragrant and cook for an addition 3-5 minutes.

Add in cabbage and toss well. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add in wine, and cook until almost entirely reduced. Lower heat to a simmer and slowly add cream and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Place in a medium sized ramekin and top with additional parmesan cheese, if you wish. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is browned.


This definitely turned out way better than I had ever imagined. The flavor is so rich from cream, butter, and cheese that there's no way that this could go wrong. And with cabbage? This definitely will turn any anti-cabbage person into an instant cabbage lover. Enjoy and happy weekend!