Basic Bread

Sometimes, I just want to eat some homemade bread.  My father bakes the most delicious bread, and it's always so perfect.  Naturally I wanted his recipe so I could recreate his masterpiece.  However, he lives on top of a mountain in NY, while I am at Sea Level.  This can cause some problems for baking.  I have tweaked the recipe a bit, adding less water, more flour, extra oil, etc until it came out like my father's bread.

This is a process that takes 2 hours with mixing, rising, punching, more rising, and baking.  I typically preheat my oven to 350 degrees F, so I have a warm spot for the dough to proof.

I combine 4 1/2 cups of flour with 2 Tbsp sugar and 2 tsp of salt in my standing mixer, using the dough hook.

While that mixes, I combine 1 1/4 cups hot water, 2 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast and 2 Tbsp of olive oil.

I add the wet to the dry, and see what happens.

Sometimes I need to add an extra 1/4 cup of water to the mix.

Once the dough forms a ball, I place it in an oiled metal bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm space for 1 hour.

After the first rise, I punch it down, and let it rise for another half hour.

After the second rise, I turn it out onto a floured surface, form it into a loaf, and place it in a loaf pan.  I then let it rise for another half hour.

Using a sharp knife, I slice into the raw dough, creating a seam down the center.

Brush with a little egg-wash, and coat with some sesame seeds (any seed you like will be ok).

I then let it bake for 25-30 minutes.

The smell is always so intoxicating, it's hard not to cut into it right away, but I let it sit for at least an hour before slicing it.

And there it is!  I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and it you find yourself with 2 hours to kill, perhaps you could bake a loaf of bread.  This recipe can be modified to used wheat flour, or the replace 1/4 cup of flour with gluten to make it more robust.  My father also enjoys adding flax and other grains into the dough.

Enjoy!

Bacon Bourbon Brownies

So, for Labor Day weekend, my husband and I went for a visit to friends of ours in Oneonta for some fun, and games.  RPGs to be more accurate.  When we lived in NY, I would bake a treat every week, and bring it with us.  Because we live so far away now, I wanted to bring a couple of things.  I made the peanut butter cookie sandwiches that I made earlier this summer, but I also brought Bacon Bourbon Brownies.

A friend of mine posted a recipe for these on Facebook, and I decided to give them a try.  I modified my Eggnog Brownies, using some bourbon instead of brandy, and using bacon instead of almonds/nuts.

Now, according to the recipes I found online, I needed 1/4 pound  of bacon, but alas I only had 4 slices.

Even with a sever lack of bacon, these brownies were still very fudgy and boozy, two things that I like in a desert.  Sometimes while eating these you would get a sudden taste of bacon.  However, should I make these again, I would go back on the bourbon, and cooke the bacon crispier, maybe have it baked on top of the brownies instead of inside of them.

Enjoy!

Lavender Vanilla Ice Cream

I have made vanilla ice cream before.  It's simple, it's clean, and most importantly, it's delicious.  However, there is another flavor that I enjoy with vanilla, and that is Lavender.

My mother would always keep lavender growing somewhere while growing up.  She would make heating pads containing lavender, so while we used them we could also relax.  I even have some dried lavender she had grown in my Herbs de Provence.  But, I wanted to infuse vanilla ice cream with lavender, and the result came out quite interesting.

Firstly, I used a different recipe, requiring less eggs.  This was done out of necessity, because I didn't have many eggs left in my house, and I didn't want to go shopping.

First, I combined my dairy products 2 cups of whole milk with 2 cups of half and half.  While in the pot, I split 1 vanilla bean and added it to the mix, as well as a washed bundle of fresh lavender.

While these flavors worked, I whisked together 3 eggs with 1 1/2 cups of sugar.

I tempered the egg mixture with the dairy, and then I whisked to combine it all.

Once the mixture became thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, I strained it into an airtight container, letting it cool to room temperature before placing it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I broke out my ice cream machine, and poured in the mix.  After an hour, I got some ice cream.

I made this so we could have root beer floats, but I would also recommend eating with with some fresh cut strawberries and whipped cream.

It tasted like a frozen creme brûlée, which is funny since there are so few eggs in this recipe.  The vanilla and the lavender don't fight for flavor domination.  They work very well together, and it really tastes like summer.

Enjoy!