Pizza dough bread with Spanakopita filling.
Spanakopita literally means “spinach pie” in Greek. So why do I call this “bread”? Continue reading
Bonnie Lu’s in downtown Ojai, California.
While enjoying breakfast one morning at one of my favorite restaurants, Bonnie Lu’s Country Café in Ojai, I wondered about the difference between a restaurant and a diner. So, when I got home, I asked a couple of friends for their definitions of restaurant and diner. Continue reading
This is a recipe found on the back of a Pillsbury flour sack. I modified it a little to meet my needs. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
3½ to 4½ cups flour (divided)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
1¼ cups warm milk
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided)
1 egg
1 cup Parmesan cheese (grated fine)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon paprika
5 tablespoons butter (melted)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet or a baguette pan with cooking spray.
Stir two cups of the flour and all of the sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl. Mix until well blended. Add milk and oil. Beat with mixer on low speed until moistened. Blend in egg, mixing thoroughly.
Stir in an additional 1½ cups flour until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl. Knead the dough in the bowl until it is smooth and elastic, adding additional flour if necessary.
Add olive oil to a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat it all over with the oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in size — about 30 minutes.
Combine cheese, garlic salt, oregano, and paprika in small bowl. Set aside.
Punch the dough down and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll pieces into balls. Dip each ball in butter to coat. Roll in cheese mixture to coat then arrange in prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until doubled in size — about 30 to 40 minutes.
Uncover and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before pulling the bread apart and bringing it to the table.
Make these in mini-loaf pans. They make great stocking stuffers.
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh cranberries (cut in half)
1 cup candied green cherries (cut in half)
1 cup pecans (chopped)
2 large eggs (room temp)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons orange zest
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9×5 loaf pans with cooking spray. Dust with flour.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cranberries, cherries, and pecans until combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and granulated sugar together until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and orange zest. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently whisk until there are no more lumps. Do not overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans.
Bake the bread for one hour, covering loosely with foil about halfway through to ensure even browning. To see if it is done, poke the center of the bread with a knife. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. If not, put it back in for another 3 minutes and check again. When done, remove from oven and allow bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
Brunch on the back deck. What could be better?
Savory crepes are generally made with non-wheat flours such as buckwheat. I use a nice blend of buckwheat and rice flours for my crepes; then throw in some zucchini, herbs, and sesame seeds. The filling for the crepes is simple yet elegant: Lightlife Ham Slices, Teleme cheese, sliced tomatoes, and a sprinkling of fresh thyme from my herb garden. Continue reading
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