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.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
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?)
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?)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
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!
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!
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!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Delectable Lime Buttercream frosting
My dear friend Cathy and I are always trying new things when we get together to cook. What I haven't been totally upfront about is that sometimes I'm totally winging it. This was one of those instances, and I'm happy to say it turned out delicious!
This isn't the best picture for it, but if you squint real hard you can see the lime zest leaves pretty little flecks of green in the white icing. Makes enough for 24 large cupcakes or about a billion tiny ones
Ingredients:
1 stick of SOFTENED butter*
2 cups of sifted powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp (up to you) lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice plus more if needed+
Directions:
Stick the butter in a bowl and hit it with a hand or stand mixer at medium speed a few times. It should sort of smush like melting ice cream (NOTE: if it stays in block form, but with marks on it, it needs to soften more) Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl and blend on LOW SPEED (anything more than that will cover your kitchen in powdered sugar and you can't say I didn't warn you)
At this point, it should look grainy and slightly yellowish. Add in the lime zest and lime juice and blend again (you can turn the speed up now) It should all stick together and look like...well...icing. If it's still grainy or too thick for the texture you want, add more lime juice a drizzle at a time.
Easiest way to decorate with it is to shove it into a ziplock (I'm presuming, like me, most of you don't have actual piping bags) and nick off the corner to the width you want. Then squeeze it on in a spiral pattern. The thickness I described this as making will not spread on its own, so either spread it yourself or make it a tight spiral pattern.
*NOT melted^
^DEFINITELY not melted#
#In no way shape or form should you melt your butter!
+ If you want to dye your icing, you have to subtract an equal amount of lime juice from the recipe or it will come out soupy. I'd recommend adding the dye to the measuring spoon, then filling it the rest of the way with the lime juice
This isn't the best picture for it, but if you squint real hard you can see the lime zest leaves pretty little flecks of green in the white icing. Makes enough for 24 large cupcakes or about a billion tiny ones
Ingredients:
1 stick of SOFTENED butter*
2 cups of sifted powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp (up to you) lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice plus more if needed+
Directions:
Stick the butter in a bowl and hit it with a hand or stand mixer at medium speed a few times. It should sort of smush like melting ice cream (NOTE: if it stays in block form, but with marks on it, it needs to soften more) Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl and blend on LOW SPEED (anything more than that will cover your kitchen in powdered sugar and you can't say I didn't warn you)
At this point, it should look grainy and slightly yellowish. Add in the lime zest and lime juice and blend again (you can turn the speed up now) It should all stick together and look like...well...icing. If it's still grainy or too thick for the texture you want, add more lime juice a drizzle at a time.
Easiest way to decorate with it is to shove it into a ziplock (I'm presuming, like me, most of you don't have actual piping bags) and nick off the corner to the width you want. Then squeeze it on in a spiral pattern. The thickness I described this as making will not spread on its own, so either spread it yourself or make it a tight spiral pattern.
*NOT melted^
^DEFINITELY not melted#
#In no way shape or form should you melt your butter!
+ If you want to dye your icing, you have to subtract an equal amount of lime juice from the recipe or it will come out soupy. I'd recommend adding the dye to the measuring spoon, then filling it the rest of the way with the lime juice
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
You put WHAT in your chilli?!
I came across the basis for this recipe in a vegetarian cookbook I found and had forgotten all about. It called for, get this, carrots. I laughed, but figured that I couldn't really taste anything too subtle anyway (having a cold at the time) so no harm in giving it a go. I was shocked (SHOCKED, I tell you) to find that carrots seem to be the missing ingredient in chilli. They give it a flavor I didn't even know I was missing.
So give it a try. Really. It's super cheap to make and relatively fast, so no harm done.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced no larger than the last joint of your pinky finger!!!*
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of pinto beans, drained
5-10 slices of pickled jalepenos, diced super fine
Black pepper to taste
Directions:
Drizzle olive oil around the bottom of a large pan (I used a spaghetti pot) and heat over medium high. Dump in the onion and garlic and snap a lid on that sucker. (be careful of oil spitting up out of the pan) Lower the heat to medium and let cook for 10 minutes.
If you haven't already done it, chop the pepper and carrots while you're waiting. Lift the lid, dump in pepper and carrots and give it a good stir. Put the lid back on and let cook for another 10 minutes. Take off the lid and get it out of your way, you won't need it again. Jab at the largest carrot chunk you see with a fork: the fork should slide right in. (If it doesn't, you probably didn't listen to me about the size. That's ok, just stick the lid back on and check at 5 minute intervals until you can sucessfully jab that carrot)
Dump tomatoes and beans on top of everything. Turn heat back up to medium high. Stir a few times, till everything is warm, then dump in the jalepenos. Let cook for about 5 minutes (this is flavor-merging stage), then serve into bowls. Very delicious with a sprinkle of cheddar.
Bonus! It's good cold, too.
*If the carrots are too big, you'll wait forever for this to be done
So give it a try. Really. It's super cheap to make and relatively fast, so no harm done.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced no larger than the last joint of your pinky finger!!!*
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of pinto beans, drained
5-10 slices of pickled jalepenos, diced super fine
Black pepper to taste
Directions:
Drizzle olive oil around the bottom of a large pan (I used a spaghetti pot) and heat over medium high. Dump in the onion and garlic and snap a lid on that sucker. (be careful of oil spitting up out of the pan) Lower the heat to medium and let cook for 10 minutes.
If you haven't already done it, chop the pepper and carrots while you're waiting. Lift the lid, dump in pepper and carrots and give it a good stir. Put the lid back on and let cook for another 10 minutes. Take off the lid and get it out of your way, you won't need it again. Jab at the largest carrot chunk you see with a fork: the fork should slide right in. (If it doesn't, you probably didn't listen to me about the size. That's ok, just stick the lid back on and check at 5 minute intervals until you can sucessfully jab that carrot)
Dump tomatoes and beans on top of everything. Turn heat back up to medium high. Stir a few times, till everything is warm, then dump in the jalepenos. Let cook for about 5 minutes (this is flavor-merging stage), then serve into bowls. Very delicious with a sprinkle of cheddar.
Bonus! It's good cold, too.
*If the carrots are too big, you'll wait forever for this to be done
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