Wednesday, May 30, 2012

30 Minute Rolls

I saw this idea on Pinterest and checked it out.  My first thought was,"I don't think so."  How can you make rolls in 30 minutes and still have an edible product.  Well, Sunday I had company for dinner and decided to give it a try. (#1 rule when having company is DON'T try a new recipe!!!) Anyway, I tried it and they were wonderful.  I will definitely try them again.  Next time I will try and use at least 1/2 whole wheat flour. 


30 Minute Rolls
adapted from: Real Mom Kitchen

1 c. plus 2 Tbl. warm water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 Tbl. active dry yeast (yes, you read that right! 2 tablespoons!)
1/4 c. sugar 
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water, oil, yeast and sugar; let rest for 5-10 minutes or until frothy and bubbly.  With a dough hook, mix in salt, egg and 2 cups of flour until combined.  Add remaining 1/2 cup flour at a time (dough will be sticky).  Spray your hands with cooking spray and shape the dough into 12 balls.  After shaped, place on lightly greased cookie sheet and let rest for 10 minutes.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until tops are lightly golden.  Yield: 12 good-sized rolls.  You can also use this same dough for cinnamon rolls!  

They were good sized rolls. If you wanted smaller rolls you could probably get 15 rolls.   Very tasty.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Flatbreads with Creamy Red Pepper Scallion Spread

Well, I've been surfing the net and this is tomorrow nights dinner.
Flatbread
For the Flatbread:
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
  • 2 cups bread flour (or a little less, see directions)
  • 1/2 cup medium grind cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon salt
For the Scallion Spread:
  • 1/2 cup cashews (unroasted)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 pound extra firm tofu, drained
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional, but it makes it a bit more creamy)
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • Fresh black pepper
  • 1 cup chopped scallions
  • 1/2 a red bell pepper, seeds removed, chopped
For the salad:
  • 6 cups baby mixed salad greens
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Big pinch salt
To serve:
  • A handful of toasted walnuts
  • Additional thinly sliced red bell pepper (the remainder of the half you used for the spread)
Make the spread:
In a food processor, chop the cashews into coarse crumbs. Add the garlic and pulse to incorporate. Crumble the tofu in your hands and drop it in. Add the lemon juice, olive oil (if using), nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and blend until relatively smooth, a little texture from the nuts is great.
Add the scallions and red pepper and pulse until they’re chopped into tiny bits. You don’t want them to be completely pureed, make sure that there’s some crunch from the red peppers.
Taste for salt and seasonings. If it needs anything else, don’t puree again, just remove the blade, scrape everything into the bowl and gently mix in with a fork. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the flatbreads:
Add water and sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer fit with a dough hook. Sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes to bloom.
Mix in the olive oil then Add one cup of the flour along with the salt. Mix on low until well incorporated, and then turn the speed up to medium and mix for 3 minutes.
Add another 1/2 cup of flour and the 1/2 cup of cornmeal, and mix well, starting on low and then switching to medium speed. Then add another 1/2 cup of flour, again starting on low and switching to medium. Knead on medium for about 5 minutes. You may occasionally have to get in there with your hands if the dough starts climbing up the hook. It should become smooth and elastic and slightly tacky. At this point, incorporate flour by the tablespoon, with the mixer running. When it starts to seem dry, stop adding flour. This could be anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2 cup. Knead again on medium until it is elastic easy to stretch, about 8 more minutes.
Meanwhile, drizzle about two tablespoons of olive oil into a large mixing bowl. The dough will double in size, so make sure you have enough room. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl, tossing it around to coat with oil. Cover the top in plastic wrap and put in a warm place. Let dough rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
When dough has doubled, fire up your grill. Keep the flame high and close the lid. If you have a thermometer, it should be at about 500 F.
Punch the dough down, give it a quick knead and tear it into 4 equal-ish pieces. On a large cutting board, form each piece into an oval that is about 8 inches long and 5 inches across. I just use my hands for this, but you can use a rolling pin if you prefer.
Place the dough on the grill. It should take about 3 to 4 minutes for the bottoms to get grill marks and become firm. If it takes a little longer that’s cool, but definitely check one after 3 minutes. Use tongs to flip the bread over and cook for another 2 minutes or so, until grill marks appear.
Remove breads from the grill with tongs and place on the large cutting board. Keep covered with a kitchen towel to keep warm until ready to use.

Prepare the salad:
At the last minute so that they’re as fresh as can be, use a large bowl to toss the salad greens with lemon, olive oil and a big pinch of salt.
Assemble:
Use the back of a spoon to spread the Scallion Spread onto the flatbread. Top with handfuls of dressed greens and scatter on toasted walnuts and red pepper, if desired. Slice in half with a pizza slicer, if you like, and serve! (Confession: we did not slice these in half, we just gobbled them down.)

Raspberry-Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

Raspberry season is fast approaching, about 5 or 6 weeks.  Here's a recipe I think sounds great.  I'll have to give it a try and let you know how it turns out.

 
Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 50 min
I love raspberries more than any other fruit, so it was time to add them to banana bread!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated white sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup halved raspberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in the flour mixture; just until moist. Don't over-mix. Stir in the chocolate chunks and then gently stir in the raspberries. If you want, you can sprinkle a few additional chocolate chunks and raspberries on the top to make it look pretty.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

Raspberry- Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

MAKING FOIL DINNERS

I remember when I was dating my now husband.  We loved to go on hikes.  I remember the first time we made foil dinners.  I had never done them before.  In fact, I had never heard of them.  The boy scout that he was, told me how to do them and he got the fire ready.  I prepared them and had them all ready to put on the coals.  I asked, "how long do you cook them?"  His reply, "I think about 20 minutes, 10 minutes on each side".  For those of you that have done foil dinners know that we ate cremated foil dinners.  Time varies, but it should have been 10 minutes total, 5 minutes on each side.  Thru the years we now have foil dinners down to an art.  There are lots of things you can put in a foil dinner, but we always seem to go back to the basic hamburger, onions, potatoes and carrots.  Here's a website that tells of 9 different foil dinners.  Not all are main dishes, some are sides, some are desserts. http://artofmanliness.com/2010/07/20/cooking-around-the-campfire-9-easy-and-delicious-foil-packet-recipes/

Didn't realize it had been so long since I posted last.  You know the saying "time flies when you are having fun".  Well, I can't say I was having that much fun, but time did fly.  It has been so wet and rainy here.  Once the rain sets in, it doesn't seem to know when to quit.  Have had a little time to surf around Pinterest.  I love Pinterest.  Have found lots of great ideas there.  Here are a few of the recent ones I have found. 
http://www.tipjunkie.com/gifts-in-a-jar/  This website has 37 gifts you can do in a jar.  Very creative.
all crafts 37 Recipes How To Make Gifts In A Jar

Have always thought mixes in a jar were a great gift.

all crafts 37 Recipes How To Make Gifts In A Jar

all crafts 37 Recipes How To Make Gifts In A Jar

A couple of years ago for Christmas, my daughter gave us several of these mixes in a jar.  They were great. 
We really enjoyed them.