Recipe: The Best Bread Recipe Ever

I've tried a lot of bread recipes and receive frequent requests for my dinner rolls. This recipe is my new favorite. It's easy, fast, delicious, and makes two huge loaves. It's the bread recipe that has it all. (Thanks to Amy for tipping me off to this.)

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 Tbsp yeast

2 Tbsp sugar

2 cups bread flour

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

Note: you can use just all-purpose flour if that's what you have. The way I measure flour is to tap the measuring cup A LOT before leveling off.

Combine the first three ingredients and allow to sit and get bubbly (about 5 minutes).

Stir slightly, then add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine ingredients until you can begin to knead.

Knead for 5 minutes by hand or 2 minutes in your Kitchenaid mixer using a dough hook. (The dough may be sticky and "climb" the hook. Normally you would add more flour, but I believe the bread turns out better if you don't. The only batch I've ever had that turned out less than fabulous did not have a sticky dough.)

Cover bowl with a towel and let dough rise for 15 minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle. The dough will be sticky, so use plenty of flour. Roll up lengthwise and tuck the ends under.

Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with PAM, cover with a towel, and let rise 15 minutes.

Slice dough with a sharp knife right before baking.

Bake in a 450 oven for 12-15 minutes. Immediately brush with butter for a soft, golden crust.

NOTE: The original recipe calls this French Bread, but I don't think it has the flavor of French Bread. It does, however, make an excellent-tasting white bread. I also tried brushing the dough with egg whites for a crunchy crust and it didn't work. I probably did something wrong, but I'm just as happy with a nice, soft crust, so I'm not that fussed about it.

And for all those who have asked for the recipe, sorry it took so long!!

Recipe: Wild Rice and Turkey Casserole

Thanks to Kathy for this delicious recipe!

2 cups cut up turkey or chicken
1 package seasoned long grain wild rice
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a 2 qt casserole (or 9x13 pan). Cover tightly and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer. Yummy!

Dutch Oven Apple Cobbler

I still haven't had a chance to blog about our vacation yet, but this is something I can put up right now. I learned how to make this from my mother-in-law Kathy, and it's become a camping MUST in my book ever since. It's easy and super delicious. (Thanks for letting us borrow your dutch oven, Kathy!) This can be made in a regular oven too, at 350 degrees. I've never made it that way though, so I don't know how long it's supposed to bake.


Dutch Oven Cobbler

2 cans apple pie filling (or fruit variety of your choice)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter/margarine

First, get ready to use your oven by getting 20 or so charcoal briquets and forming them into a little pile on the ground where you plan to bake your cobbler. Douse with lighter fluid and light. Let this burn while you prepare your cobbler.

Spread the pie filling on the bottom of your dutch oven. Pour dry cake mix on top. Cut the stick of butter into small pieces and randomly drop on top. It'll look something like this:

(We used dutch oven parchment paper lining for the first time on this trip, and it worked out nicely.)

Once your coals are no longer flaming and turning white, you can use a little shovel (or whatever) to get them arranged. We put about 14 on the bottom, pretty evenly spread out. Then put six on the top, around the edge. Like this:



Like I said, this was my first time doing this, so I could have gotten the coal placement wrong. But it turned out just fine, so I'm not sure how much it matters. Lift the lid every 15 minutes or so to check it. If the middle is boiling and done but the edges aren't (or vice versa) you can just rearrange your coals to put the heat where you want it. Honestly, I think it's hard to screw this up.

This took around 30-40 minutes to bake (but I didn't have a watch on, so I'm just guestimating) and I let it cool for awhile before serving.

We had about a million kids at our campsite when I made this for the second time (and took the pictures) and totally forgot to take a picture of the finished product. I found this pic online:



This is more brown than I cook mine (and, you know, more blurry) but you get the idea. Yum, yum, yummy!

Recipe: Barbeque Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This is easy, low cal, and VERY good! This ingredient list is for each sandwich:


2 slices wheat bread
3 oz chicken breast, grilled and thinly sliced*
1 Tbsp barbeque sauce
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 tsp Ranch dressing

*The chicken doesn't have to be grilled, just as long as it's cooked. This is a great recipe for using up leftover chicken.

Toss the chicken with 1/2 Tbsp of barbeque sauce and warm in microwave for 30 seconds (optional). Spread 1 slice of bread with barbecue sauce and the other with Ranch dressing. Layer sandwich with chicken and cheese (sauce and dressing go on the inside of the sandwich) and grill in nonstick pan coated with cooking spray until cheese melts and bread is golden brown.

Recipe: Homemade Tortillas

I think people tend to be nervous to try things like this, so I decided to post some pictures to show that you don't have to know how to roll perfectly round tortillas to enjoy this recipe. As you can see, mine come out in unpredictable shapes, but are oh so yummy! When they're warm off the griddle, me and the kids like to eat them plain. (Brian is a total guy and only eats them with meat, of course. Our new favorite filling is Mexican Love.)

Homemade Tortillas

4 1/2 cups flour*

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups water

*Note: The way I measure flour is to tap the top of the measuring cup (a lot) to get out any bubbles and settle it, before leveling off. I know some do the "lightly scoop" thing, so I thought I'd better clarify.

1. Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix. You may have to do the final mixing with your hands.

2. Cover dough with a wet towel and let rest for 20 minutes. (This is optional and I skip it half the time.)

3. Pinch balls of dough through your first finger and thumb, and roll out on a lightly floured surface. I've seen some ladies from Mexico do this and I was AMAZED at their technique. They were fast and their tortillas thin and perfectly round. I tried, but just could not match it. Fortunately for me, an odd shaped tortilla tastes just as good! :)

4. Place on a griddle on medium-low to medium heat. Heat just until light brown spots appear, then flip and repeat on other side. This takes 20-60 seconds each side, depending on how high you have your heat.

When you heat the first side, little bubbles like this are normal. You don't have to do anything:

If you get big bubbles like this, they should be popped:

Nice, golden brown:



This is a fun treat and less fattening than Indian Fry Bread (which I'll try to remember to post someday).

Recipe: Mexican Love

This is a creation of Eric and Ann's which they made for us in Texas. Everyone loved this and we (me) ate way more of it than we should have. Even though they named it Mexican love, and even though it's all wrapped up burrito style, the flavor isn't what I'd think of as Mexican. It's more... um... okay I don't know what. American? Is that a flavor? I don't know, but trust me, it's good. And for something that's so easy to make, you can't go wrong. Without further ado, I give you...



Mexican Love

1 lb ground beef
1 large can Bush's Homestyle Baked Beans (did I get this brand right Ann?)
around 1 cup or so hickory-flavored BBQ sauce (they use a brand I've never heard of, I don't think you can get it here)

Ground the beef and mix in remaining ingredients. Heat through.

On large, soft, warmed flour tortillas, assemble the burrito. Shredded cheese first, then the meat mixture, sour cream, salsa, and a tiny bit of lemon juice (trust me on this, it's good). Roll up burrito style. (Eric demonstrated the correct way to do this a la Taco Bell, but I can't really describe it.)

Eat, enjoy, and prepare yourself for seconds.

Recipe: Oreo cookie balls

The Texas trip was the first time I had the opportunity to meet Ann's family. I thought her mom was really neat and I enjoyed talking to her. She's in a very well-established book club (going on 20 years now or something) and so she's sending me some of their book lists. (Yay!) PLUS she made these incredible treats for everyone to enjoy. They're so good that I was happy to hear how easy they are to make. You should definitely give these a go.

Oreo Cookie Balls

1 package Oreo cookies, crushed in a blender
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese

Mix ingredients together with a mixer. Roll into balls. Dip in melted chocolate if desired and sprinkle with leftover Oreo crumbs.

I actually had them without being dipped in the chocolate and thought they were perfect, but Caroline insists it's better with chocolate. Yum, yum, yum.

Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup Recipe

Here's something that, shockingly, all my kids will eat. Even Ben (provided I serve it with crusty bread he can dip into it). This made enough that we froze half of it for a future meal. Later I read that potatoes aren't supposed to freeze well, but our leftover soup turned out just fine (the mystery is solved, Mom :).

6 cups water

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

4 potatoes, chopped
1 pkg frozen broccoli (I used a head of fresh, chopped)
1/2 Tbsp pepper
1 tsp garlic
1 dash salt

1 cup grated cheese

Milk

Boil water. Add chicken until almost cooked through. Add all remaining ingredients except cheese and milk. Cook till thickened. Add cheese and enough milk to bring to desired consistency. (I kept mine pretty thick, but Brian said he would have added more milk.) Stir till cheese is melted in.

Easy and yummy.

Sourdough Bread Recipe

This is so easy and sooooo good!

For the starter:

* Mix 1 Tbs yeast with 2 cups of chlorine-free water (you can allow your tap water to "air out" in a jug for a couple of days) and two cups of white flour.
* Combine these in a glass, plastic, or earthenware container (no metal).
* Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow this mixture to sit at room temperature for at least 48 hours, until it foams and develops a pleasantly sour smell. (The mixture will rise a bit intially, so I wouldn't fill your container more than half full, that way it doesn't overflow.)
* Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. (A general sourdough warning is that if starter turns orange, pink, or any other weird color, throw it out. This is rare though, so don't let that scare you.)

Each time you remove starter for the recipe below, "feed" it with 1 1/2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups flour. Stir well. Cover loosely and return to the refrigerator.

To make two loaves of bread:

5 1/2 cups flour (1 or 2 cups can be whole wheat, but I haven't tried it that way yet)
2 cups starter (stir really well before you remove starter - it will have separated)
1 Tbsp salt
1 cup water

*Dissolve the salt in the water in a mixing bowl. (I use the bowl for my Kitchenaid mixer.)
*Add the starter, then the flour. Stir, then knead into a ball. (You can use the dough hook for this.)
*Cover with a damp towel and let rise overnight at room temperature. (Needs to double in size. The nice thing about sourdough is this initial rising is not too picky. You can let it get as much as quadrupled in size and it will be fine - some say this makes it better. I set the dough out in the afternoon or early evening and let it rise all the way until lunchtime the next day.)
*The next morning (or afternoon) punch down risen dough and divide in half.
*Shape each half into a round loaf, make an X-shaped slash on each top, and place the two loaves on a greased baking sheet. (You can spray with PAM)
*Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise at room temperature for about four more hours.

*Place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven and pre-heat to 400 degrees.
*Bake for 35 minutes. (My oven runs hot, so I baked for just over 30 minutes and it turned out perfect. It's pretty light when I take it out of the oven, but then I brush on just a little butter and it turns a perfect, light golden brown!)

* You can use this starter, fresh from the fridge, for weeks at a time. Eventually the loaves start to rise a bit more slowly. Whenever this happens, leave the starter out at room temperature overnight to speed its fermentation.
* Apparently the brand of yeast can have an effect on this bread. (I have one of those big bags of yeast I bought from Costco for around $3 over 5 years ago. I've kept it in the back of my refrigerator and it's still good. If you bake at all, get yeast this way. It costs the same as just a few packets in the store, keeps for a long time, and even if you end up throwing half of it out you've still saved a ton of money.)
* Sourdough baking is less predictable than yeast baking. Sometimes it takes longer than expected for your dough to double in size. If you're not in a time crunch, that's fine. If you are, set your dough over a pan of warm water and it will rise much more quickly.
* Baking once or twice a week keeps this starter fed and healthy. If you are an infrequent baker, you'll need to drain off some starter and feed it at least once every two weeks to keep it alive.

This dough can also be used to make pizza.

Vietnam Fried Rice Recipe

This is my new favorite recipe.

4 Tbsp oil
1/4 to 1/2 lb raw or cooked meat, sliced thin
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 cups cooked rice (can use leftover rice)
1 cup raw or leftover veggies (such as green beans, carrots, etc)
2 eggs, beaten


Heat oil in a large skillet. Add meat, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, and soy sauce.
Cook until meat is tender (1-2 minutes).
Add cooked rice and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
Add veggies. (Turn down heat to medium as you heat the veggies, to prepare for adding the eggs.)
Carefully add beaten eggs and stir fry over medium heat until eggs are cooked through.

Enjoy!!

Monkey Bread Recipe

3 cans Hungry Jack Biscuits

1 c. sugar

4 Tbsp cinnamon

1 c. brown sugar

1 cube butter



Cut biscuits into quarters. Combine white sugar and cinnamon. Coat biscuits with sugar/cinnamon mixture (either by rolling in a bowl or shaking in a bag). Drop into a greased bundt pan. Melt brown sugar and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it boil for a minute, stirring constantly. Pour over biscuits. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Cool slightly and invert.



Note: Nylene said she should have used 2 cans of biscuits because it wasn't done in 30 minutes. I actually made my own biscuits (with a new recipe that is FABULOUS!) and it cooked up just fine.