Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes A Day

My dear mother in-law, Betty, visited Benjamin and I last weekend. It's always great when she visits (because of many things, but for the purpose of this blog) because she creates fun things in the kitchen I have never thought of. My favorite from this past trip was a homemade bread she shared with me. It's the easiest bread I've ever made, and extremely delicious! This recipe makes a lot of bread, but you can refrigerate (or freeze it, more directions to come) the dough for up to 2 weeks. There are a lot of directions, but it really is easy. The rising is the longest part, and everything else literally takes about 5 mins.

Ingredients:
-3 cups of lukewarm water
-1 1/2 tbsp. yeast (1 1/2 packets)
-6 1/2 cups all purpose white flour
-cornmeal to prevent sticking

Directions for dough:
-Warm your water. It should be slightly warmer than body temp. If it's too cold your bread will just have to rise for longer, no biggie.
-Add yeast and salt to water in a large bowl. If you have a bowl with a lid, that will be perfect for later.
-Mix in the flour. Do NOT knead, this recipe doesn't need it. (Isn't that great to hear??) Mix until everything is uniformly wet with no dry patches. You should have a loose, wet dough mixture.
-Cover the bowl with a lid that is not airtight. My Mother In-Law used a plate that covered the bowl and tilted it sideways, I copy her.
-Allow to rise for about two hours, or until top of dough is flat. Or, if you wish to refrigerate some dough do so now.


Baking:
-Sprinkle cornmeal onto pizza pan, or wherever you want the dough to rise. They suggest pizza pan, but I don't have one so I use a cookie sheet.
-Flour the top of the dough and cut off the piece you wish to use. They suggest a 1 lb. loaf, which is about the size of a grapefruit. The recipe makes 4 loaves this way. Put the rest in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. They suggest putting it in the fridge the first time you make the dough because it's easier to shape. I didn't, but my loaves aren't very attractive. (See pic. A.)
-With floured hands take the dough and shape it by gently stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. (I stink at this part, but am getting better.) What you want is a smooth rounded dough. Shaping should take 60-90 seconds. (See pic. B)
-Allow to rest and rise on the cornmeal-ed pan for about 40 minutes (no covering is necessary)
-20 minutes before baking preheat your oven to 450, with a baking stone on the middle rack (I also don't have one of these, but it's okay). Place an empty broiler tray (in my house we use a pie tin) for holding water on any other shelf.
-You can flour the top of your dough and slash in pretty designs. You ladies are creative, I'm sure you'll think of cooler stuff than I can write.(See pic. C)
-Slide the loaf off of the aforementioned cornmeal pan and onto the baking stone (or whatever else you use) (Also, see pic. C)
-Carefully, but quickly, pour 1 c. of water into broiling pan (this allows the bread to become crunchy on the outside while remaining moist on the inside). Close the oven door quickly to trap steam.
-The recipe says to bake for 30 minutes, I bake for 18 and it's fine, but my oven is extra hot. Just check on it until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. It may be a lil' soft initially, but will harden more with cooling. (See pic. D)
-Cool completely before slicing and enjoy! It's perfect dipping bread for soup season =).
-Be sure to use your remaining dough in the next 2 weeks. Storing it improves the flavor and texture. It can also be frozen in 1 lb. portions and defrosted overnight in the fridge before baking day.

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B.

C.

D.

By: Rachel 

Baked Potato Soup

Oh, I love fall!  I love fall for lots of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is that it is soup season!  I love love love soup and you can make soup out of almost anything on hand!  One of Joshua's and my favs is Baked Potato Soup.  It makes me happy that I can make it and it makes both of us happy because we can eat it!
Disclaimer - I'm sorry!  When I cook I usually don't measure anything, so I'm guessing a little on my measurements!  I hope your soup still turns out!

10 medium potatoes, peeled and cut up bite sized
1 large yellow onion, diced small
2 t minced garlic
1 can cream of chicken soup (I used the 98% fat free)
1 T salt
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1 t pepper
3/4 C cheddar cheese
1/3 C sour cream
4 or 5 strips turkey bacon (less fat!) cooked and cut into small pieces
Green onions, chopped

Fill up a stock pot about half way.  Roughly 10 Cups of water. Bring the water up to a boil.  While you are waiting for your water to boil, dice your onion and add that and the garlic to the water.  Peel and cube your potatoes into bite size pieces.  Add them to your water.  Let the potatoes and onion boil together until the potatoes are soft, but still keep their shape.  About 30 minutes.  

When the potatoes are soft pull out about 1 cup of water and 4 cups of potatoes.  Mash them together until there are no lumps.  We are thickening the soup with actual potato to help keep the flavor.  Put the mashed potatoes back into your soup and add in the can of soup.  This also helps to thicken.  (If your soup is still to thin after this, you can add in powdered potatoes or potato pearls.  Add slowly, dry potatoes thicken up fast!)

Add in your "baked potato ingredients."  When adding in the sour cream, keep the soup moving so that it doesn't curdle.  These are what I put in mine - but you can add whatever you'd like.  Taste your soup before you add the salt!  Remember that the bacon carries a lot of salt in it and you don't want to over season.  Salty soup is not yummy!  :)  Add in your spices and stir to incorporate.  When serving save some green onions as a garnish on top.  Chives also look lovely!  Enjoy!

Posted by: Em

The Greatest Banana Bread

I was debating for several days whether to post this recipe or not. I figure everyone has a banana bread recipe they like, so why post mine? However, after making it again my mind was made up. This recipe is the best (although not the healthiest) I've found. If you have another that you think can match it, I'd love to have a bake-off and prove its worth ;).

Banana Bread
-3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
-1/3 cup melted butter (I use unsalted)
-1 cup sugar (I reduce it to 3/4 and it's still delicious)
-1 egg, beaten
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-Pinch of salt
-1 1/2 cups flour (I use half whole wheat and once again, still delicious)


*Hint* I always use 4 bananas because it makes the bread tastier. My problem is, I always eat most of my bananas before they're ripe enough for banana bread. (Don't be afraid to really let your bananas turn brown.) Typically I only end up with one that is too ripe to eat. When that happens, freeze them one at a time. When you have four defrost them to a nice warm pile of mush. They still work fine in the recipe, you might just need to add a bit more flour. They add a little extra water when they've been frozen.

No need for a mixer in this recipe.
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 4x8 inch loaf pan (or whatever else you want)
Using a wooden spoon (if you have one) mix melted butter into smashed bananas in large mixing bowl.
Stir in sugar, egg, and vanilla.
Sprinkle baking soda and salt over mixture and stir in.
Add flour and stir.
Bake till brown on top and a knife comes out fairly clean when stuck in the middle. The original recipe says 1 hr, I've never had to bake it for more than 45 mins. My oven is crazy though.


Normally I'm not a big fan of banana bread unless it has chocolate chips and some butter spread on top. However, I eat this one plain and am perfectly happy!

Posted by: Rachel

Mint Chocolate Cookies

A friend of mine gave me this recipe awhile ago, and I LOVE it because it is so easy and so yummy. Here it is, for all you mint chocolate fans out there!

1 box Devil's Food Cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1 box Andes mints

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. Stir in chocolate chips. Make dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Press down on each one for flatter cookies. Cook at 350 degrees F for 7 minutes. Right after they come out of the oven (while they are hot), place one mint onto each cookie. Wait 1-2 minutes and then spread mint (like frosting). Can serve warm or chilled.

Happy eating!!

Fresh Peach Salsa

This recipe is admittedly not one of my own, but from the Betty Crocker cookbook I love so dearly. In the original recipe cornmeal chicken is included, but I figure most of you ladies know how to bread chicken and fry it up. It was a nice means to an end, but mostly the salsa was my favorite part.

Peach Salsa:
-5 medium peaches (or 3 cups), peeled and chopped. We used nectarines instead because they were on sale, not peaches, and it was fine.
-1 large tomato, chopped (1 Cup)
-1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
-3 tbsp. vegetable oil
-2 tbsp white vinegar
-1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all together and serve! I know summer is ending soon, but if we happen to get another warm spell I highly suggest this. Delicious!

Posted by: Rachel

French Onion Soup

One of our favorite meals to have on a cold night. Or any night, really.

French Onion Soup

• 2-3 thinly sliced sweet (or yellow) onions
• 2Tb. butter or margarine
• 2 Tb. flour
• 6 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/4-1/2 cup creamed sherry (cooking sherry and red wine work well too)
• salt, to taste
• shredded white cheese (mozerella, swiss and even parmesan have worked for us)
• baguette, sliced and toasted

Saute the onion slices with the butter over medium heat in a medium to large sized pot.  Cook until the onions shrink and become soft and a golden, caramelized color. ( I normally cook the onions for almost an hour, since I've found the longer they cook the better the soup tastes.)

Add the 2 TB of flour  to the onions and stir til the mixture becomes thick and bubbly.  Stir in the 6 cups of beef broth and 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and add the creamed sherry.  Boil for about 2-3 minutes then add the salt to taste. 

For oven proof bowls: Pour soup into individual oven-proof bowels. Top with a baguette slice and shredded cheese. Place bowls on a cookie pan and broil in oven til cheese melts and goldens a little.

For non-oven proof bowls: Place a baguette slice, top with cheese in bottom of each bowl and then ladle soup over the baguette, to melt the cheese.

by Jen Eyring

Guilty-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ben has a major sweet tooth, really all of the Allred's do. But they all want to be healthy as well.. a combo that doesn't usually go over to well. I used to tell him that he couldn't have his cake and eat it too -a literal statement in my house. But when I found this oatmeal chocolate chip recipe, I decided to half the butter and sugar and see how it went. The combination was a low fat, reduced sugar recipe that truly doesn't taste like one. Now Ben can have his cookies and eat them without guilt.

Guilty-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cups Butter- softened
1/2 cups Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cups White Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
3 cups Quick-Cooking Oats
1 cups Chocolate Chips - I use milk chocolate chips, cause they're the best!
1 cups Chopped Pecans- Optional

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. I have adjusted the oven temperature to accommodate our high altitude.
In a large bowl cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the Vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into creamed mixture, until just blended. Mix in the oats, chocolate chips and pecans- if using. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Cook for 10 minutes- then check every two minutes until slightly golden brown on the top. Nobody likes a dry cookie, so try not to over cook. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.

Sheryl

Hearty Cheese Soup

I've always loved a good cheese soup, but it's hard to find one that's not full of processed cheese or lots of cream. So when I found this recipe, I knew I just had to make it.

3 Tbs Butter
2 Carrots, chopped
1 Head of Broccoli, chopped
1 Medium Onion, diced
1 Medium Potato
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1/2 cup Cooked Ham or Bacon, chopped*
1/2 cup Flour
2 Tbs Cornstarch
4 cups Chicken Broth
4 cups Milk
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Ground Mustard
1 lbs Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large, heavy stockpot, melt butter. Add chopped vegetables and cook over medium heat until veggies are slightly tender, about 10 minutes. Pour in 3 cups of chicken broth. And continue cooking the veggies until almost done, about 10 minutes. Mix flour and cornstarch into the reserved 1 cup of chicken broth. Whisk until there's no clumps. Add flour mixture into the pot. Continue to stir soup until it slightly thickens. Add milk and spices. Gradually add the cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. To avoid curdling, do not allow soup to boil after cheese has been added. Season to taste with Salt and Pepper. Serve pipping hot!

*If you want this dish to be vegetarian, leave out the ham and bacon, and substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Sheryl