White Bread...Plain ol' White Bread

I have been taking advantage of libraries since I was a wee child growing up in Delaware County Pennsylvania. My first ever library card was handed to me in the third grade at Parkside elementary school. (Thank you Miss Cohen) At the tender age of nine, it seemed a great privilege and responsibility placed in my hands. It also opened doors to foreign lands, to mysteries, the ease of flipping through pages to gaze at treasures I’d never visit in my lifetime. In short – the opportunity to explore what I wanted. Today, many many moons later from my skinny, freckled nine-year old former self – I am still a library and book hound. I am still taking advantage of the all the FREE offerings our local library has available.

So what does this have to do with bread? Well……..my mother was a phenomenal baker and while I did not fully appreciate that way back then (we always had fresh baked goods and home cooked meals. Always.) I find I am drawn to the cookbooks in section 640 and 643 (dewey decimal system)each and every time I set foot into a library. This book has been quite interesting to explore.

Better Homes and Gardens: The Complete Guide to Bread machine Baking by Meredith Publishing



Presently I still utilizing only the dough setting with the bread machine. I’m shaping and baking the bread without the machine. This is a recipe for white bread which came out exceptionally well. Toasted with a bit of marmalade was a true treat. For me.



For the Dough setting I added the ingredients in the order the machine likes, which is liquids first. Then the all dry ingredients with yeast in the middle. Turn the machine on and a hour and a half later, you are ready to knead and shape, allow for the second rise (about 40 minutes) then bake at 375 F for 25 or 30 minutes.

OK, here’s what you need:

1 cup milk
¼ cup water
4 teaspoons butter or olive oil
3 cups bread flour
4 teaspoons sugar
¾ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon bread machine yeast

Simple. Again, the bread came out with a nice texture and a browned crust. Perfect for toast or if you slice it thin enough it could do well for a PBJ.

This came out with the texture I am used to from bakery bread. Sliced well, stayed together and no gummy parts.



Mom would be pleased. For all you library hounds out there, check it out or have it inter-library loaned. If I’m fortunate, I may even find a copy at the used book store. One can hope.

I am participating in BYOB!

Beef Bourguignon from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of French Cooking

I look through this book as if it were a catalog. Remember doing that as a child...flipping through the toy catalogs and circling the toys you wanted? I don't take a pen to this treasured book but I do glaze over, planning meals and making lists of ingredients.








A bowl of Beef Bourguignon



I'm ready to cook..........the seduction of the process and aromas put a smile on my face.

Get your ingredients at the ready



A traditional dish from Burgundy, France, beef bourguignonne is a savory stew of meat and vegetables braised in red wine. You may prepare this using a slow cooker (which produces tender results) but I love my Le Creuset dutch oven. Beef demi-glace adds depth of flavor.

Ingredients:

1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
lb. beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 thick bacon slices, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
2 yellow onions, sliced 1⁄4 inch thick
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
6 fresh thyme sprigs
6 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
1 lb. white button mushrooms, halved
1 bottle Pinot Noir
1 Tbs. beef demi-glace
Steamed baby red potatoes tossed with butter and chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for
serving (optional)

Directions:

Place the flour in a large bowl. Season the beef with salt and pepper, add to the flour and stir to coat evenly. Transfer to a plate, shaking off the excess flour.

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil until almost smoking. Working in batches, brown the beef on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. (Transfer to a slow cooker at this point if you'd like to finish it this way).

Add vegetables and cook over low heat, add wine. If it's simmered a few hours at a very low temperature the results are melt-in-your-mouth stew.

Enjoy!

Weekend Wine Review: Candoni Pinot Noir

Dell Venzie



"Before the days of ancient Rome's greatness, Italy was home to the Etruscans. Their hand painted frescoes depicted figures vibrant with life."

Candoni Pinot Noir is elegant, light and dry. Scents of black currants and vanilla. Beautiful deep ruby red color. Not only is this a gorgeous bottle it delivers on taste and went well with steak.

Weekend wine review - make it short and sweet!

Thanksgiving at Fort Stewart GA

Our Thanksgiving this year was spent in Hinesville, Georgia visiting our son and his wife. Most Thanksgiving holidays are spent at my father-in-law's house; there is a large gathering, lots of food and non stop talking. Alas....Tristan couldn't get the leave time to return home so we went to him. I am so glad we did :-)



Wouldn't you know it, I forgot the camera! All photos here are from my phone.

First off - how cool is it to eat a Thanksgiving meal at an Army post? I loved it. Had delicious turkey and all the chocolate milk I could drink. All requirements of a seriously good meal.

Home of the Third Infantry Division



Me and Doug outside the museum. There were many old vehicles, tanks, helicopters and missle launchers. I wanted to climb inside and on a tank very badly. Not allowed :-(



This old face was just sitting about the compound near some of the antique vehicles from Iraq. The detail is incredible.





I started an ablum of the photos on Facebook so...more there if you are interested.



Unfortunately the only photo I was able to get with our son was this one, him trying to take Aja's photo with his phone.



I was hoping for a family shot with him and his wife...maybe next time. They took us to Savannah for dinner at the Olive Garden and it was very nice. That Olive Garden is much prettier than the one in Tallahassee. There are rock walls, a fireplace and the decor is quite pretty....makes you think you are in a restaurant in Italy. Food was great and it was nice to be treated to the meal :-)

A short trip and of course we'll never have enough visit time with them, but it was good to see their home and get hugs, tour the post and see where Tristan works.

I wish we'd had more time together but hopefully next Turkey day they'll be home.

Still uploading photos from my phone. A challenge for me on the best days.

Grilled Greek Chicken: Recipe courtesy of Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenco and Matt Goulding

We eat a lot of chicken. I love it.

With the economy being in the crapper and most of us pinching pennies where we can, a decent chicken meal such as this one is a welcome addition to the dinner table and won’t hurt the wallet. Win-win! Here is another inexpensive chicken dish we enjoyed this week.



GRILLED GREEK CHICKEN

Ingredients:

1 cup Greek yogurt
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 TB. Olive oil, divided
Juice of 2 lemons, divided
2 pounds bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
1 tsp. dried oregano
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp dried black pepper

How do you make this? I’ll tell you.

Combine yogurt, a third of the garlic, the juice of half a lemon and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix thoroughly and place in the refrigerator.

Combine chicken with oregano, salt, pepper and the remaining garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Cover and marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Get your grill or a grill pan ready. Remove chicken from marinade and grill over flame until skin is nicely caramelized and meat is cooked through (about 20 to 30 minutes).

Serve with yogurt mixture over chicken or on the side.



I grabbed this recipe from the book Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. Mini review of the book is at Novel Meals HERE

Good stuff…..we’d certainly have it again.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Bread. More bread talk. All I know is, I want to make bread and I am not particular about what sort….I just need to make it.

So Lewis Carroll had it right:
“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”



Any recipe….as long as I have the ingredients on hand. So when I came across one for Cinnamon Raisin Bread – it was go-time!

When I hear the words raisin bread……. Thoughts and images of the cheesy egg plate at Waffle House and my mother’s cinnamon raisin toast served on a lazy summer morning pop up. After thinking about it – you just have to have a slice of toasted bread! It’s soooo good and it toasts up with a lovely crust that isn’t too hard and has the perfect amount of browning on the bread.

Then Doug (my husband is brilliant and a good cook) decided this bread would make good French Toast. Did it ever. I heard music.



When love comes in and takes you for a spin
Ooh, la, la, la, la, c'est magnifique
When every night your loved one holds you tight
Ooh, la, la, la, c'est magnifique



Recipe for the bread machine:

1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 cups Bread flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 ¼ teaspoons bread machine yeast
¾ cup raisins

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients except raisins in bread machine pan in the order recommended for your machine. Add raisins at the Raisin/Nut signal or 5 to 10 minutes before last kneading cycle ends.

Select Sweet or Basic/White cycle. Use Medium or Light crust color. Remove baked bread from pan and cool on wire rack.

This is the second loaf I have tried using the entire baking process in the machine. First loaf didn't rise properly but this one was fab.