Delicious Home-baked Bread

What is more home-y, more comforting, and more delicious than the smell of bread baking?  Eating it, of course!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 package of yeast or 2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast
2 cups whole milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
6-8 cups flour (I prefer to use bread flour for the fluffiness, but there's no harm in using all purpose)

Directions:

Dissolve the 1 tsp sugar and package of yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water in a 1 cup measuring cup.  Let rest for 10 minutes or until the yeast has puffed up and doubled (thus explaining the need for a 1 cup measuring cup)

Meanwhile: in a microwavable bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, heat milk and butter on high for 3 minutes.  WARNING it's going to come out HOT.  Pour the milk mixture into a large mixing bowl with the rest of the sugar and the salt and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Now wait on your yeast if you still need to (the times usually mesh up about right for me)

Add yeast mix and 4 cups of flour to the bowl and stir vigorously.  Add in more flour until you can't stir anymore, then push the dough stuck to whatever you're using to stir with off.  Dump about 1 more cup of flour in the bowl, pat your hands in it, and knead the dough (adding more flour as necessary) until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes or until your arms get tired)

Butter the outside of the dough thoroughly, set back in the bowl, and cover with a dish towel.  Let rise 1 hour or until doubled.

Punch down, knead a few times, and cover with dish cloth again.  Butter two bread pans very VERY well. (good luck getting your bread out if you don't.)  Divide the dough in half, knead a few times again and shape into a tube.  Set seam-side down in the pan.  Repeat with second half.  Cover both halves and let rise again for 1 hour until doubled.

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.  Tap the top of the loaf: you want to hear a hollow "pock pock" sound.  When you take them out of the oven, brush the tops with butter for a soft crust.

Your hump-day holdover: Forgetting my own advice

Every so often I do something really stupid.  Embarrassing enough by itself, but when I've advised other people not to do it, I really have to hang my head in shame.

Today:

Do not turn your motorized whisk on high when you first start blending powdered sugar.

The Sasha-coated-her-glasses-in-powdered-sugar (because she got impatient) edition.

Souped-Up Tomato Sauce

You may recall my most recent post, Sasha's Super Simple Tomato Sauce.  This is what I like to do to it when I have more time and some fresh veggies to hand.  It goes great on cheese ravioli (my personal favorite use) or even as a vegetarian soup (hence the lame pun).
Souped-Up Tomato Sauce
One batch of Sasha's Super Simple Tomato Sauce
1 bell pepper, diced
1 zuchinni squash, sliced and quartered
1 yellow squash, sliced and quartered
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
Toss all ingredients in already simmering tomato sauce and let simmer until mushrooms appear slightly shriveled and browned.  Chow down with some delicious crusty bread!  (coming up neeext?)

Super basic tomato sauce

Sometimes I want a little sauce for my pasta, but I really hate the canned stuff.  Also I always forget to buy it.

This recipe is best when tomatoes are at their best (Late June-early September.  This year doesn't count.  It's weird.) and with your own or farmer's market tomatoes.  The stuff you get at the store usually ripens on the shelf and just lacks a certain...tomato-ness.

Great with some ricotta and lemon zest on twirly noodles (the name currently escapes me...)

Sasha's Super Basic Tomato Sauce
6 medium tomatoes, roughly diced or 2 quarts of cherry tomatoes, halved or 12 roma/plum tomatoes diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste.  I like more.  LOTS more.)
2 tbsp olive oil

Putting the olive oil in first (so it coats the bottom of a sauce pan), toss everything in all together.  Heat over medium high until the mixture starts to boil, then give it a few good stirs and drop to medium low.  Cook whatever you're having with it, preferably letting it simmer at least 10 minutes to meld the flavors.

That's it!

A welcome-back rant: Seller-Chefs

I know, bad me.  I've wandered off for a while.  My deepest apologies (imagine, if you will, a deep bow here)

Now, on to what turned my mind back to the recipes:

If a "chef" is telling you that you have  to have something to make a recipe (other than the usual flour, butter, salt, sugar style stuff) then that is not a chef.  That is a Seller-Chef.  Which is to say, a marketing person who can cook.

I am so sick of watching cooking shows or reading cooking magazines and hearing about how Rachel Ray (sorry, you're my number 1 pet peeve, sweetie) cannot do without her EVOO dispenser (oh yes, don't get me started on how she is single-handedly trying to turn olive oil into EVOO.  The chef's version of trying to start a new "LOL") or walking through my local store and seeing shelf upon shelf of her product.  Ditto Paula Dean, Mario Battali (who at least does not have his own show to flaunt on), and half a dozen others from all walks of cooking.

Now, don't get me wrong, some people are going about it the right way.  Alton Brown, for example, tells you why you need a specific item (usually an upgraded version of something you'd usually use like bread flour instead of all purpose).  So far as I'm concerned, that's fine and dandy because it's saying "Hey, you can do this however you want with whatever you want.  Just warning you, though, your bread will be tough."  Also I don't think he actually has products to sell other than his cookbooks...

Anyway, back to your non-so-regularly scheduled recipes!  Thanks for bearing with me!