Happy St. Patty's Day

Nothing says the 17th of March more than good, ole-fashioned soda bread! And do I have a recipe for you. You will need a bread machine - if you don't have one, you need one. There is nothing more comforting than homemade bread. 

Wet ingredients - they go in first:

1 cup of buttermilk

1 large egg

2 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp melted butter

Now, put in the dry ingredients:

2 cup bread flour

1 cup wheat flour

2 tbsp cornmeal

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1-3/4 tsp yeast (best if bread machine-type)

Optional:

3/4 cup raisins, craisins, or currants

Choose the dough setting and let it go.

When it is done, allow it to sit and rise to fill the machine (about an hour or so).

Take out the dough, punch it down and form into a ball.

Place on a baking stone (I used parchment paper, and it worked great!); cover with a towel and let rise for another hour.

Preheat oven to 375* - slash an X on top of the risen loaf and place in oven for 15 minutes. When the timer sounds, reduce the heat to 350* and bake another 15 minutes.

Remove and let cool on a rack.

Cut, smear with butter, and bask in the homemade bread feeling!

Dinner Rolls

Into the bread machine (in this order):

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
3-3/4 cup bread flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2-1/4 tsp bread machine yeast

Mix on dough cycle.

Remove, arrange in balls in baking stone.

Let rise 1-2 hours.

Bake at 375* for 18 minutes.

We liked them with butter and homemade plum jam.

Country Bread in the Machine

I only make bread with a bread machine. I have no reason other than I am a product of my generation.

Today, we gave this country bread a try. We were looking for a seedy type bread, and I think this one fills the bill...

I only let it rise for an hour or so...
it would have doubled in sized if I would have let it!

Country Bread in the Machine

3/4 cup water
3 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp veggie oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1-1/3 cups bread flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp flax seeds
3 tsp sesame seeds, raw
a palm-full of sunflower seeds, raw
1-1/4 tsp yeast for bread machines

Place ingredients (in order listed) in your bread machine. Set to dough cycle and start. Upon completion, let it sit for 30 mins or so.

Remove dough and place in loaf pan (no need to oil pan, if it is non-stick). Cover and let rise again for about an hour or so. Preheat oven to 350*

Bake for 35 mins.

Banana Bread for Alex

"Mom, I'm coming over 
so you can bake me some banana bread...OK?"

Really?

*smirk*

Best Banana Bread

from Food.com

Cream together:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar

Add:
4 eggs, beaten
8 bananas, mushed
1 tsp vanilla
mix thoroughly, then...

Mix together in a separate bowl:
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt

Add flour mixture gradually to creamed mixture.

Split batter into two loaf pans (greased).
Optional: sprinkle walnuts on top.

Bake in a 350* oven for 1 hour.

I think I like to take photos more than bake! 

Challah Bread Pudding

This is the best!

Challah Bread Pudding

2-1/2 cups milk (2% or whole)
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 loaf challah; sliced, toasted & buttered
1 cup black or golden raisins, or craisins
1 pear or apple, peeled & diced
1/2 cup sugar (1/4 cup in the egg mixure, 1/4 cup sprinkled over top prior to baking)

Preheat oven to 375*

Cut toasted challah into bite sized pieces.  Mix together in large bowl milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar and salt.  Fold in challah, raisins, apple (or pear).  Dump mixure into stone baker (sprayed with cooking spray), and bake, uncovered, for 40 - 50 minutes.

Serve with heavy cream drizzled over top, or with whipped cream on the side.

Orange Sour-Cream Loaf

Time for a new (for me) recipe, Orange Sour-Cream Loaf, from the Don't Panic...It's In The Freezer! cookbook that I bought over a decade ago. A fab little cookbook with some really great ideas about cooking ahead. Each recipe features the single making, but then gives measurements for doubling, quadrupling and sextuplet'ing (is that even a word??).

Orange Sour-Cream Loaf

(This recipe makes enough for two 9x3 loaf pans.)

2 sticks butter (room temp)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 T freshly grated orange peel
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sour cream

Cream butter and sugar with a mixer on high for 5 - 7 minutes, until fluffy.  Scrape sides of bowl, then add eggs, one at a time, beating after each.  Add orange peel.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in separate bowl. With mixer on low, add 1/2 cup flour mixture.  Without waiting for it to mix, add 1/3 cup sour cream.  Continue alternating flour and sour cream until ending with flour. Mix only until well blended.

Spray loaf pans with cooking spray or grease with butter. Split batter into loaf pans and smooth tops.  Bake at 350 degrees until pick inserted comes out clean, approx. 55 minutes.

can anyone bake without a KitchenAid??
Surely, I cannot!

The batter tasted pretty good!  I'm planning on preparing a simple orange glaze to drizzle over the top of the cooled loaves.

Orange Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
freshly grated orange peel (optional)

Combine and whisk until smooth.  Drizzle over loaves.

Our Family's Zucchini Bread

I grew up with this bread.  My grandfather, Erving Morgan, was an avid gardener and grew some of the most beautiful zucchini you did ever see.  However, the family was inundated with this rather awkward produce (which technically is a fruit), hence the zucchini bread.  My grandmother would make many loaves at a time and freeze them.  Then, my mother made it, as well.  There was never a time when we didn't have zucchini bread in the freezer.

I was absolutely thrilled to find the recipe in my mom's recipe box.

I'm pretty excited to have this in my possession!

Our Family's Zucchini Bread

1 cup veggie oil
3 large eggs
2 cups peeled & grated zucchini
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp soda

Beat together:  eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla and zucchini

Sift together:  flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and baking powder.

Add dry ingredients to egg mixture.  Beat well.

Can be plain or add any of these ingredients:  nutmeats, raisins, candied fruit

Bake in loaves at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Makes 3 medium, 2 large or 6 small loaves.

in my grandmother's handwriting;
may her memory be blessed

The Best Cornbread

This is my favorite cornbread.  In fact, everyone who has tried it loves it.  It is even been given the stamp of approval by my husband who is the pickiest eater in the entire world. No, really.

The Best Cornbread Ever

1/4 pound butter (1 stick), melted
2/3 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal (I use medium grind Red Mill)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Melt butter and then put in large mixing bowl.  Add sugar and mix well with a rubber spatula.  Then add eggs and buttermilk; mix until well combined.  Add in the remaining ingredients and stir until batter is completely mixed together, but it can have a few lumps.  Pour into buttered (or well seasoned) 9x9 baking stone.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I highly recommend serving with honey butter.  What, you don't have any honey butter?  Well, Miss Marilyn can help you with that...

Miss Marilyn's Famous Honey Butter Recipe

1 stick sweet butter at room temperature
1 cup honey

Place butter and honey into a mixing bowl and blend on medium until honey is completely incorporated into butter.  Transfer to a container with a lid and store in the fridge until ready to serve.  I prefer to leave it out for a bit prior to service to soften the butter a bit.

The first post.

"Can I have that recipe?"

This comment the impetus for this blog.  A place to record recipes that I use frequently enough to elicit the aforementioned response, as well as a historical record for my beloved daughter who will, one day, request them of me.  I suppose I should start with the most popular and most requested recipe in my repertoire, my bread machine challah.



Henderson Challah for the bread machine

Add your liquids first:

7/8 C lukewarm water
1/2 stick of melted butter
2 large eggs
1/4 C honey

then add the dry ingredients:

1 tsp salt
4 C Better for Bread flour
2 tsp yeast for bread machines

Set bread machine for dough cycle and let it run. After the cycle has completed, I let the dough rise until it reaches the top of the canister.

Remove dough and split into two lumps. Split each lump into three strands and braid (I do a simple braid, but you could do more fancy multi-strand braids, if you wish). Place braids on baking stone or pan and cover to let rise. I usually let it rise for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an egg wash (one beaten egg plus a splash of water) and brush over braids. Bake 35 minutes or until golden.

Shabbat Shalom!