Harvest Bread

I found this recipe on the Cookingbread.com website.  It sounded so good and perfect for this time of year.  What made it sound interesting is that it is made using acorn squash and it is a yeast bread!  I thought to myself I've got to try this bread.  Fortunately my farmer's markets were still open and I knew the perfect place to get good acorn squash!

Harvest Bread

Ingredients:

Squash:
1 to 2 acorn squash
2 t butter
2 t brown sugar
4 T syrup (maple if you have it)

Day before you bake:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 t instant yeast

Day you bake:
2 3/4 cups to 3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup mashed squash (see above)
1 t instant yeast
a dash of salt
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup flax seed meal
2 T flax seeds (I couldn't find flax seeds, so I used sesame seeds instead)

Directions:

Squash
Take your acorn squash and cut in half ( length wise ). Spread butter all around the inside of both halves. Pour equal amounts of brown sugar and maple syrup between both halves. Place the squash into a baking dish and add enough water to fill the dish about 1 to 2 inches. Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour or till the squash is soft when poking with a fork. After baked, remove the inside of the squash and mash with a fork. Reserve one cup of the mashed squash and eat the rest. ( You can do all this the day before ).

Take the "day before" ingredients and mix together in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the counter for 12 - 16 hours.

To make bread:
In a large bowl pour out the " day before"  mixture (above). It should have grown and bubbled. Add in the mashed squash, water, salt and instant yeast. Mix with a wooden spoon till the mixture is smooth. Add in the flax meal. Mix until well blended. Add in half the whole wheat flour and mix till smooth (I found it easier to knead with my hands in the bowl than trying to mix with a spoon).  Slowly add the rest of the flour a little at a time, about a heaping tablespoon. When it becomes to hard to mix, pour out onto a flat surface and knead the dough for about 8 minutes. You may need a little more flour, but you want the dough to be a little on the sticky side. After kneading, add a little oil to a large bowl. Place kneaded dough and flip over a few times to lightly coat all sides of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 1/2 hours or till double in bulk. Remove dough from bowl and press to release the gas. Cut into 2 equal parts. Shape into 2 round balls and place onto a piece of parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal ( optional). Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour or doubled in bulk. Remove the plastic wrap. Take an egg white and beat till foamy. Brush the tops of the dough with the foam and sprinkle a little flax seeds on top. Score the top of the breads with a sharp knife. Place into a preheated 375 degree oven with a baking stone or on a cookie sheet. Create some steam by placing a cast iron pan on the bottom of the oven the same time that you turn on the oven. Once you place the breads into the oven pour about a cup of boiling water into the hot pan and close the door. Bake for 30 minutes or till when tapped on the bottom of the loaf it sounds hollow.

This recipe makes two small loaves. 

Verdict

I have to say that this is one of the best homemade whole wheat loaves I've had  in a long time!  Definitely a keeper recipe!  Most of the homemade whole wheat breads turn out very hard - made great doorstops!  Interestingly, you don't taste the acorn squash in it.  Don't think you will be disappointed with this bread!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

I am so in the Fall Spirit!!  I don't know where I got the idea for these, but aren't they just so cute!!

OK, I know it is not the greatest picture!!  I am not the world's best photographer.  Let's just say that Vogue Magazine is not knocking down my door begging me to be their next photographer!!

Back to the cookies  . . . this is just your basic sugar cookie recipe with orange colored sugar and mini chocolate chips.  How simple is this and they turn out so cute!  And if you don't have a pumpkin cookie cutter, you are in luck!  Almost every store in the whole nation has pumpkin cookie cutters in every shape, size and price!

Just in case you don't have a good sugar cookie recipe, here is the one I used today.  It is a crowd pleasure, well, it does please the "crowd" that lives in my home.

Sugar Cookies

2/3 cup shortening (I use Crisco Butter Flavor shortening)

2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
4 tsp. milk
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder

Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla; add egg –– beat until fluffy
Stir in milk. Sift in dry ingredients
Divide dough in half. Chill at least an hour. Roll on floured surface
Bake greased sheet 375 about 8 minutes
Cool a little before removing from pan. About 2 dozen depending on size of cutters.

I usually double this recipe.

I ice them with about a cup or two of powdered sugar and carefully add milk to get the consistency of icing that I want.  If I am really lazy that day (and it does happen), I will just open a can of store-bought icing.

Chunky Applesauce

It is a rainy, dreary cold day in Cincinnati.  The type of day that makes you want to curl up in a warm blanket and ignore the world.  BUT if you are a Mom, you can't always do that!  So you look for something to do that will make you feel "warm and fuzzy."  Not that applesauce will make you feel "warm and fuzzy" but it sure will make your house smell good!!

Last weekend, my husband and I took a mini-vacation to Gatlinburg.  When we were leaving, we decided to by-pass Pigeon Forge (traffic is terrible!!).  So we left on Route 321 - beautiful scenic route - highly recommend it!!  Anyway, along the way is a wonderful apple orchard called Carver Apple Farms.  Wonderful people, very nice produce and the prices are equally wonderful!!  Tell them the "Goat Lady" recommended you.  They will say "WHO???"  Well, never mind that!  Anyway, if you are ever in Gatlinburg, do make a point to stop in their farm!

I only bought $30 worth of their apples - wish I had bought more.  They were really great!  So I decided to make homemade applesauce!  This recipe is compiliation of several recipes and is WONDERFUL!

Word of warning . . . this takes a bit of time to make.  So if you are short on time, don't attempt it. You are looking at about a 2 hour commitment!

Ingredients:

7 pounds Apples*

2 cups apple juice or water**

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 T lemon juice

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

Oh my - can't you just smell this simmering on your stove - feeling warm and fuzzy yet??

Now the tedious part - core, peel and chop ALL 7 pounds of apples.  Did you notice the *?  The recipe calls for using Granny Smith apples.  I used a combination of Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Red Delicious.  Gives a really nice flavor.  Just make sure you are using a "baking" apple.  Now for the ** - I used apple juice, I thought water would be too bland.  I wonder what apple cider would do to this recipe?

OK, back to the recipe.  Once, you have cored, peeled and chopped all 7 pounds of apples and set them aside.  Pour the apple juice or water into a 8 quart pan and mix in the granulated sugar.  Turn on the burner to medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Add (carefully as this will splash) the 7 pounds of chopped apples to the apple juice or water/sugar mixture.  Now bring this to a boil, cover the pot and let it boil for about 15 to 20 minutes - until the apples become soft.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Now comes the million dollar question.  Do you want chunky applesauce or smooth?  If you want chunky, get out a potato masher and mash those babies!  If you want smooth, process the apples through a blender or a food mill and return to pot. 

This recipe will make 5 pint jars of applesauce.  At this point, you will want to start warming the water in the pot you use for canning and put your jars and lids in there.

Stir in the brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg into the mushed up apples.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes - enjoy the heavenly smell of apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg - feeling warm and fuzzy yet?

Remove the pan containing the applesauce from the heat.  Carefully ladle the sauce into the hot jars.  WARNING - the sauce is VERY hot and it will burn. Trust me, I know!  Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings.  Process the pint jars in water bath for 20 minutes. 

Your family will love you this Winter for the wonderful applesauce!

Challah Bread

Oh my, it seems like it has been such a long time since I have baked bread.  And I miss it.  But it is time to get back to what I love doing!

Challah bread!  This is a wonderful rich bread.   It is also known as the traditional Sabbath bread of the Jewish faith and is sometimes made even more ornately for major celebrations such as weddings and Bar and Bas Mitzvahs.  When it is made properly, it is an appealing loaf, its braided strands are plump and shiny.  If you are really adventuresome, you can try a 6 strand braid!  I haven't quite master that yet!  I stick to either 3 or 4 strands.

BUT, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy this wonderful bread.  Challah is not a difficult bread to make.  It doesn't have to ferment like sourdough.  AND you don't have to feed it!  Please hold your applause down. 

This bread makes wonderful French Toast.  So that is why I am making this bread today.  My husband loves French Toast and I haven't made it for him in a long time.  Thus time to make Challah bread!!

The recipe comes from Peter Reinhart's "Crust and Crumb" Book.  This will make 1  large loaf.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups Bread Flour
1/4 cup sugar
 2 t instant yeast
2 T unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, beaten
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup milk, room temperature
1/2 cup water, room temperature

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl using a dough hook.  When completely mixed, you can either knead this by hand for 10 to 15 minutes or use the dough hook to mix the dough for 12 minutes - your choice.  I usually do it by hand since I love the feel of this dough.  You can always tell how good the bread is going to be by the feel of the dough and this dough has a great feel to it!

Now you will cover the bowl with saran wrap and a towel and let it rise for an hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured board or countertop.  Knead for 5 minutes.  Place back in the bowl.  Cover again with the saran wrap and towel.  Let it rise again for 1 hour.

After the second rise, you will divide the dough into 3 separate balls and cover each with saran wrap.  Let them rest for 20 minutes.  This helps to relax the gluten. 

For this baking, I will only be doing a 3 strand braid because I don't feel very adventuresome today!  So I will roll each of the balls of dough in a long roll about 8 inches and attach them together as shown below.

You will now braid the 3 strands.  Peter Reinhart does illustrate in his book how to do the more complicated braids if you want a challenge!!

This is how a 3 braided challah turns out.

Place the braid on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let it rise for another hour. The bread will be baked in a 375 oven for 35 to 45 minutes.  Halfway through the baking, you will rotate the bread front to back to ensure that you get even browning.  The loaf is done when it is golden brown.

Garlic Pizza Dough

Yesterday, while searching for another file on my computer, I came across this file - Garlic Pizza Dough.  Mmmm, where did this come from??  Pizza sounds good for dinner and I do have to go to the store today so I can pick up the necessary ingredients to make pizza.

The recipe makes two large pizza crusts.  Since there are only 3 of us, I cut the recipe in half.  I also added some fresh chopped oregano to the dough.  The recipe below is the full recipe, not halved.

Garlic Pizza Dough

2 pkg. yeast (I use 2 T. of bulk yeast)
2 c  water (90 degrees)
2 T white. sugar
1/2 c oil (I used olive oil)
1 tsp. salt
5 1/2 - 6 cups flour
3 cloves crushed garlic

Dissolve yeast in water and add sugar.. wait a few minutes.. add oil and salt and garlic .. add 3 cups flour and mix for about 10 minutes until the dough leaves the sides of the mixer bowl.. add remaining flour and mix with a dough hook or by hand.  NOTE:   the green specks in the dough is chopped up oregano

allow to rise twice in the bowl.. punch down.. (this rises fairly quickly - about a half an hour for each rising)

Spray Pam on 2 baking sheets ..using your fingers press the dough out to edges.. Makes 2 pizzas, cookie sheet size, let rise a bit and top with your favorite toppings (cheese, pepperoni, etc.) .. bake at 425* 20 min..

Since this was a spur of the moment pizza, I cheated and used Ragu Pizza sauce.  Next time, I promise I will find a homemade pizza sauce!!  For the cheese, I used a package of Italian Blend cheese and, obviously, topped it off with pepperoni. 

NOTES

I loved the feel of this dough.  As you all know, I bake bread and love the feel of bread dough.  This dough has a really nice feel to it.  To me, that means it is going to be good!

The garlic in the dough is not overpowering.  You don't come away with garlic breath (whew!!)  Was afraid my husband and I might have to sleep in two separate rooms!

The critics, my husband and son, both loved the pizza.  Said it tasted like what you find in a pizza restaurant.  So this is defnitely a keeper recipe.