Braided Pesto Bread

Bread is one of my favorite things ever.  I love all kinds of bread.  Cinnamon bread, sweet rolls, biscuits, I love all of it.  So why wouldn't I love some bread with pesto and cheese thrown in it?!  And it's super pretty. A fat wreath of warm soft gooey bread.  It looks like it might be kind of tricky to make, but it's really not!  It's pretty easy, and delicious.  I served this bread alongside of spaghetti and a salad.  

Braided Pesto Bread

From Confectionsofafoodiebride

For the bread:

1 cup warm water

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Other ingredients:

1/2 cup pesto

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Pour warm water into the bowl of a mixer, fitted with the dough hook (or just a big bowl if you are kneading by hand).  Sprinkle yeast over the water.  Let it set for 10 minutes, until the mixture has become frothy.  Add in the flour, oil and salt, and mix with the dough hook (or mix together by hand).  Continue to knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until the dough is elastic and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl (you may need to add a little more flour if it's still too sticky).

Form the dough into a ball and let it rise in an oiled bowl for about 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.  Preheat oven to 425.  

lightly flour the counter you plan on rolling the dough out on.  Roll the risen dough into a rectangular shape, about 18x12 inches.  Spread the pesto over the rolled out dough, leaving about 1/2 inch clean border around the edges.   Roll the long side of the rectangle toward you, and pinch the seam closed.

Slice the roll lengthwise down the middle, making two long halves.  Pinch the ends of each together.  Braid the 2 pieces together, and try to keep the cut sides of the dough outward, so that the green layers are seen.  once it's all twisted together, pinch the ends and bend around into a wreath, pressing the 2 ends together.

Transfer to a greased baking sheet and let it sit for 30 minutes.  Top with shredded cheese and bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown.  

Zucchini Cheddar Biscuits

Zucchini.  Not an ingredient you would think would be found in biscuits.  

It's very surprisingly delicious.  The recipe intrigued me when I saw it on A Cozy Kitchen, and I made them as soon as I got a chance. Jeremy hates zucchini and everything in the squash family, but he loved these.  

The zucchini pairs really well with the cheddar cheese and the biscuits turn out light and fluffy.  Make them ASAP!

Zucchini Cheddar Biscuits

From A Cozy Kitchen

3/4 cup zucchini, shredded

2 tsp salt

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

2 1/2 cups  flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 stick butter, cold and cubed

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450.  Add the shredded zucchini to a cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess water.  Transfer to a bowl and add 1/2 tsp salt and a dash of flour.  Mix and let stand for 10 mins.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and remaining salt.  Add the butter and mix up until they're the size of small peas.  

Add milk, zucchini and cheddar until moistened.  Drop batter by the tablespoon onto a non stick baking sheet.  

Bake for 10-12 mins until edges are golden brown. 

Meatloaf + Bacon biscuits.

Meatloaf.

Ick.

I think it's the two words together more than anything.  A loaf of meat does not at all sound appetizing.  Meatloaf was voted as the 7th top food among americans in 2007.  REALLY?!  Slices of meat that could be mistaken for a piece of banana bread laying there slathered in a big puddle of ketchup.  Eww.
Not grossed out yet?  Take a look here...

It's like a raw bacon covered rolly-polly. I was so unbelievably grossed out while making this thing.  

There was a constant "this is soooo disgusting" snarl on my face.  I deal with much, much more gross things at work, but for some reason, I have a lot of trouble getting past raw meat, especially when I have to lump it all together and cover it with even more raw meat.  

So why am I writing a blog post that has surely grossed out both you and me already?  Because this meatloaf actually turned out delicious.  Don't believe me?  Yeah, I didn't believe me either.  But it is.  

Prior to this dinner preparation of the repulsive raw meat-log, I hated meatloaf.  but after trying the first bite, my mind was forever changed.  

  

Made something else including bacon in the batter to go with the loaf.  Bacon, onion and cheddar biscuits.  The picture doesn't do too much justice, but these guys are really good.  (I did not have to be convinced on this one).

Enjoy, if you dare! You will not be disappointed. 

Meatloaf

Adapted from ThePioneerWoman

*this recipe makes 8 servings as written here.  When I cooked it, I halved all the ingredients.

1 cup milk

6 slices bread

1 lb ground beef

1 lb spicy (or mild, depending on your taste, I used spicy) italian sausage

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp seasoning salt

3/4 tsp salt

pepper

1/3 minced fresh parsley

4 eggs, beaten

10 slices regular bacon

2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce

preheat oven to 350.  pour milk over bread slices and let soak for a while.  

put ground beef, sausage, bread slices, parmesan, seasoned salt, pepper, and parsley in a large bowl.  pour in eggs.

Mix the ingredients with your hands until combined.  shaped into a loaf and place in a broiler pan.  Lay bacon strips over top, tucking the ends underneath.  

Cover with 1/3 of the sauce.  Bake for 45 mins.  pour over another 1/3 of the sauce.  Bake another 15mins.  (mine took longer than this to cook through...about 1 hr, 15 mins.)

Bacon, onion and cheddar biscuits

Also adapted from ThePioneerWoman

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 shortening (I used crisco)

10 Tbsp milk (possibly more)

4 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

10 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup diced onions, sauteed until light brown (cook them in the bacon grease)

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Cut in shortening until pea-sized crumbles appear.  Combine milk, oil and egg, and whisk together.  

Combine flour mixture, milk mixture, onions, bacon and cheese.  stir until combined.  

spoon into greased muffin tins (makes about a dozen).  Bake 20-22 mins at 375.  serve warm.

Pumpking Spice Latte and Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Everyone in my house decided to take a nap today.

I don't like to take naps.  So what do I do while all my housemates are fast asleep?  I make bread.  Not just any old loaf of bread, I made cinnamon bread.  And man oh man.  This. Bread. Is. Amazing.  Do those periods in there emphasize the importance of this tasty bread enough?  Probably not.  You need to make this bread ASAP.  It's just that good.  I just made it last night and the whole loaf is almost gone.  Oops!  

It always amazes me how a little packet of yeast and some flour can turn into a pretty loaf like that.  It does take quite a lot of massaging, coaxing, and rest though.  Anyhow, I am always impressed.

After mixing it all up, kneading the thing and letting it rise, I rolled it out, slathered it in butter, and sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar.

Then rolled it up into a cute little log of sugary goodness.

and let it rise some more.

It's ready to bake!

It's done!  The aroma that fills the house while this is baking is utterly delightful.  It smells like you have a dozen cinnamon flavored candles lit throughout.  So yummy.  I have low expectations for myself when it comes to bread, because I have baked so very little of it, but the result of this bread completely blew those expectation out the window.

It started raining and got really cold while baking this bread.  This means to get your favorite hoodie, put on some Mumford and Sons, light some candles and grab your book.  This is what I did while waiting for the bread to rise, and it was awesome.  Do you know of Mumford and Sons?  Well you should.  They're amazing.  They're an English folk rock band.  They're awesome!  Their music gives you that nostalgic, I-feel-so-good-right-now-nothing-can-put-me-in-a-bad-mood kinda feeling.  

To go with this lovely bread, I made my own rendition of the popular "Pumpkin Spice Latte" from a certain well-known coffee corporation.  It's delicious.  I have not really mastered the art of making really good coffee at home, but this one, this one is good.  On to the recipes...the part you probably actually only care about!

Cinnamon Bread

From ThePioneerWoman

1 cup milk

6 Tbsp butter

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (one little package)

2 whole eggs

2/3 cup sugar, separated into 1/3s

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp cinnamon

egg and milk, mixed together for brushing

softened butter for smearing and greasing

melt butter and milk.  Heat until warm, but not too hot to touch.  No boiling. Sprinkle yeast over top and stir gently.  Let it sit for 10 mins.

Combine flour and salt.

Mix together sugar (1/3 cup) and eggs.  Pour in the butter/milk/yeast stuff and stir to combine.   Add half of the flour/salt mixture and beat on medium until well combined.  Add the other half of the flour mixture and combine.

Now knead the dough for about 10 mins (or, if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, just use that.  It's on my Christmas list!)  Dough should be sticky but not too sticky so that it cannot be kneaded.

Oil a metal bowl, put the dough in it, cover it with plastic wrap and find a nice warm spot for it to sit for a few hours (about 2 hrs).     

Roll the dough out into a long rectangle, but make sure that it is not wider than your loaf pan.  Smear with 2 Tbsp softened butter.  Mix together the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, and cinnamon.  sprinkle evenly over the bread.  Roll the bread up into a tight roll, starting with the short side of the rectangle, and roll towards you.  Pinch seam to seal.  

Grease loaf pan with softened butter.  Place dough roll, seam side down, into loaf pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 2 hours.  

Preheat oven to 350.  mix egg and milk together, and brush over risen dough loaf.  Bake for 40 mins with the oven rack in the middle/lower oven.  

and to fulfill the many requests...  (if you have "pumpkin pie spice", you can just use a few dashes of that.  I did not have any, so I improvised and used the normal spices that are found in it).

Pumpkin Spice Latte

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups strong brewed coffee

1dashes cinnamon

1 dash nutmeg

1 dash ground cloves

1 dash ground ginger

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp sugar 

2 tbsp pumpkin puree

Brew double strength coffee.  Steam the milk, pumpkin and sugar (I put it in the microwave for about a minute, until its frothy).  Add spices the spices and vanilla to the milk, and whisk together until well combined.  Add coffee, and stir.  

It's delicious!  and not $4.00 for a little cup! 

Butter Pecan Bread

I'm a Nurse.  I don't wear a hat like this, although sometimes I wish I did.  I have an old hat similar to this one that Jeremy's great aunt wore when she worked as a nurse.  It's currently residing in my closet.  I have not decided the best thing to do with it yet.  Frame it maybe?

Being a Nurse means...

You will never be bored.

You will always be frustrated.

You will be surrounded by challenges.

So much to do and so little time.

You will carry immense responsibility, 

and very little authority.

You will step into people's lives, 

and you will make a difference.

Some will bless you.

Some will curse you.

You will see people at their worst,

and at their best.

You will never cease to be amazed

at people's capacity for

love, courage, and endurance.

You will see life begin, and end.

You will experience resounding triumphs,

and devastating failures.

You will cry a lot. 

You will laugh a lot.

You will know what it is to be human,

and to be humane.

So sometimes, after a 12 hour shift of dealing with difficult patients that sometimes bite, hit, curse, and almost fall on top of you, you need some good bread.

This bread did it for me.  What's your favorite ice cream flavor?  Mine's butter pecan.  This bread is butter pecan flavored.  Can we say perfection?

                                      

Warm bread, straight from the oven filled with sugar-coated toasted pecans.  So good!  Must...make...more...bread...!

The recipe...

Butter Pecan Bread

Adapted from PB and Graham

2 1/4 cups flour, sifted

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted with cinnamon and sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar.

Combine egg, buttermilk, and butter, and add to flour mixture.  Stir well to combine.  Add pecans.  

Put batter into a greased and floured loaf pan.  

Bake 45-50 mins.  A toothpick should come out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf.  

Irish Soda Bread

So, this half marathon that I am running is coming up quite quickly.  Actually, it is this Saturday (that's in 3 days!!!).  Then the following saturday I am running yet another one.  Yes, I know, I'm stupid. I keep telling myself that it will be worth it. and fun.  I love to run while I am running, but thinking about it makes me crazy.  And the trip to Disney World will make it all worth it as well.  Now onto the food.

Jeremy and I went to Mulligan's a while back, and both have been raving about Irish soda bread ever since.  So I decided to try and make some at home.  Traditional soda bread usually contains raisins, but I left those out.  This is the easiest bread ever to make.  It requires very little kneading and no yeast to let rise.  This means I do not have to go put the bread in my closet for 2 hours : ).  

                             

It's delicious.  Jeremy especially likes to eat it dipped in this BBQ sauce.  Not at all the irish way to eat it, but it tastes good.  And that's what matters right?  Maybe next time I make it, I'll make some irish stout stew to go with it.  mmm.

Now to go to work.  and try to not think about running 13.1 miles in 3 days.

but first, the recipe.

Irish Soda Bread
Adapted from SimplyRecipes


4-4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 T butter
1 cup raisins (I skipped this ingredient)
1 large egg
1 3/4 cup buttermilk

1.  Preheat oven to 425°. Whisk together 4 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.

2 Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, then stir in raisins.

3 Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. If the dough is too sticky to work with, add in a little more flour. Do not over-knead! Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a round loaf. The dough will be a little sticky, and quite shaggy. You want to work it just enough so that it comes together. If you over-knead, the bread will end up tough.

4 Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iron skillet or a baking sheet (it will flatten out a bit in the pan or on the baking sheet). Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about an inch and a half deep in an "X" shape. The purpose of the scoring is to help heat get into the center of the dough while it cooks. Transfer to oven and bake until bread is golden and bottom sounds hollow when tapped, about 35-45 minutes. (If you use a cast iron pan, it may take a little longer as it takes longer for the pan to heat up than a baking sheet.) Check for doneness also by inserting a long, thin skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, it's done.

Banana Bourbon French Toast

Had some Challah bread leftover.

Decided to do something fun. and delicious.

Banana Bourbon French toast.

crusty challah all baked together with a bourbon custard, bananas and pecans.  

Gave Jeremy heartburn!  

Short and sweet today.  

Banana Bourbon French toast

Taken/mixed-matched/jumbled from Smitten Kitchen and Joy The Baker

Loaf of bread (any kind would work, preferably a day or two old loaf, or thin bread, toasted

1/2 butter, melted

3 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 brown sugar

3 T Bourbon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 bananas, sliced

2 T sugar

1 T cinnamon

Pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  butter/grease a casserole dish.

If you are using a crusty bread loaf, drizzle with butter and broil for just a few minutes until edges are brown.  If you are using bread slices, put butter on each piece and toast in the toaster.

In a saucepan, heat milk and brown sugar until dissolved.  whisk the eggs, and pour the milk mixture into the eggs, while whisking.  Add bourbon and vanilla.  

Layer the bread, banana slices and pecans in the casserole dish.  Pour milk mixture overtop.  Bake 30-40 mins.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.

Enjoy.

Challah

Ok.  


So I've never made bread before.  


When I say bread, I mean bread that starts out as yeast, is mixed with sugar and flour and warm water and kneaded.  I've made plenty of Banana bread, but that doesn't count.  Challah is fairly ambitious to make as my first bread, but it turned out surprisingly well.  

Aren't they pretty?   One has poppy seeds on the outside, and one is without.  Making this bread is a very long and tedious task, but it is oh so worth it.  It's soft and moist and makes fantastic french toast!  (a post on that coming soon...).  I think it took me about 3 1/2 hours total to make these two loaves.  This includes rising times, so it was not all of me doing something constantly. 

Now, this yeast stuff.  As one of my nursing friends and fellow food blogger, Lane, once said, "It's like this sneaky magic thing that's alive and grows and completely eludes me."  Yeah. well it kind of freaks me out as well.  When mixed with warm water and sugar (honey, actually) it comes alive and smells like beer!  So after I woke up these little guys, I added some oil and eggs to it...

It looked very strange. and frothy. and gross.  But I went with it anyway. So then comes the flour.  5 cups, 1 cup at a time, being sure to mix in between each cup.  This is only the first of the tedious tasks.  Then comes the kneading.   then comes the waiting. and the kneading.  Kneading for 10 mins straight goes by quite slow.  As you might can see, my ipod kept me company.  After the kneading is more rising. then a little more kneading.  Then some more rising.  Goodness.  This yeast stuff is a pretty cool, but they are quite slow.  

So the braiding.

My favorite part.  Aside from the eating, of course.

I did two types of braid...a typical hair braid and an "under 2, over 1" braid.  (which could definitely use some more practice!) and yet some more rising. surprise surprise.  They are suppose to rise in a warm, draft-free place, and since our upstairs is much warmer than our downstairs, (and also since we have mischievous cats), I put the bread on our closet shelf upstairs.  Every time I would go back up and come down with bread, Jeremy and Ashley (our summer roommate) kept laughing at me, as if I had a secret bakery upstairs or something.  

Into the oven and...

deliciousness ensues.

Challah Bread
From Allrecipes


1/3 cup honey
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup olive oil
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup milk
2 T olive oil
1 egg white
1 T sugar

1. 
   

1. Turn it out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Lightly oil a bowl, place the dough in the bowl, turn the dough over a few times to oil the surface, then let rise until doubled in a warm, draft-free place, about 90 minutes.
2. To make the loaves, punch down the dough, and cut it into 2 equal-sized pieces. Cut the first piece into 4 equal parts. Set the second piece aside under a cloth to prevent drying out while you braid the first loaf.
3. To braid the first 4-strand loaf, roll the 4 pieces of dough into thin ropes about the width of your thumb, and about 14 inches long. Make the tops and bottoms of each rope thinner than the middle area. Pinch the tops of the 4 ropes together, and fan the 4 ropes out so they don't touch.
4. To make an "under-2, over-1 braid," take the left-most rope, and move it to the right to cross underneath the next 2 ropes, then move it left to cross back over the strand immediately to its left. Take the far right strand, and move it to the left and cross it under the two strands to its left (they are already crossed from the previous braid); then move it right to cross back over the strand immediately to its right. Repeat until the 4 strands are braided together all the way to the end, and pinch the ends tightly together. Repeat the steps to braid the second loaf, and let the braided loaves rise for 1 hour.
5. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Make a glaze by whisking together the milk, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the egg white, and the sugar in a bowl. Brush the braided loaves with the glaze, to make a shiny crust, and bake the loaves on the prepared baking sheets in the preheated oven until they are light golden brown, about 30 minutes.

That's it! Have fun!