Honey Wheat Bread

Making homemade bread for my family has been a quest of mine for years.  I've tried lots of recipes, but haven't been satisfied with any of them.  Both my husband and son say they don't care for wheat bread (even though that's all I ever buy in this house), so during hunting season I will either make or buy white bread as a treat for them.
 

I've collected many recipes for both wheat and white bread over the years, and this one is my latest attempt at finding the perfect homemade wheat bread.  If 4 stars are the best, then I give this one 3 stars.  The taste and texture were perfect, the only thing that bothered me was the "height" of it.  However, that could have been my fault because as I was putting it into the oven I knocked the pan on the side of the oven pretty hard and I could see it deflate a little.  Either that or the altitude is to blame, but either way I would have liked it to be a little taller.  I will give this recipe another try before moving on to another, because all things considered this really was a wonderful tasting wheat bread.  My husband said he thought it was really good, so I think I'm on to something here.   

 

 Honey Wheat Bread (adapted from Dorie Greenspan)

1 cup + 2 tbsp warm water (105° F - 115° F)
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp honey
1 3/4 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp canola oil
1 1/2 tsp barley malt syrup or malt extract
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine 1/4 cup of the water with the yeast and honey. Let the mixture to set until the yeast is creamy, about 5 minutes.  In a separate bowl, combine both flours and the salt together and set aside.

Fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Add the remaining water, oil, barley malt, and about half of the flour mixture to the yeast, and mix on low speed for one minute.  Add the rest of the flour mixture and increase the speed to medium, mixing until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn't come together, add 1 tbsp at a time of white flour until the dough starts to form a ball. Continue to mix at medium speed for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will still be sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a ball. Place it in a large lightly oiled bowl, and rotate the dough to coat it  lightly in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm area until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Spray an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  Punch down the dough lightly to deflate it and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 9" by 12" rectangle with the short side facing you. Fold the top of the dough 2/3's of the way down then fold again so that the top meets the bottom edge, and seal the seam by pinching. Turn the dough so that the seam is centered, facing up. Tuck the ends of the roll in so the loaf will fit in the pan, and pinch to seal these seams.  Plump and shape the dough with your hands, and place seam side down in the loaf pan. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size again, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375, and place oven rack in center of oven. After the dough has risen, bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.  An old-fashioned way to see if it's done is to take your knuckles and knock on the top & if sounds hollow, then it's done.  Remove from pans and let cool on a wire rack.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

 
This is for all you out there who have been slaving away, blanching and peeling your tomatoes to make sauce from your garden tomato harvest (or from store bought tomatoes) - STOP!  You don't need to do that anymore.....I have a much easier way to make sauce, and all it takes is this one kitchen gadget that will change your life forever!

In case you don't know already, this is called a food mill.  This tool will do all the hard work for you.  There's no real "recipe" for this, but I will walk you through the steps.  First, you take out a large sauce pan.  Next, cut all your tomatoes up - for large tomatoes, quarter them then cut each quarter in 1/2 (no need to chop) and for cherry tomatoes, just cut them in half (my sauce is always a mixture of all the different tomatoes I grow).  You can fill the pan right up to the very top.....like this:

This is a 6 quart sauce pan, so I fill this to the top, then add 2 tsp of salt (which of course you can leave out if you prefer).  Place it on the stove-top and turn the heat on medium-high.  Let it come to a boil, stir, then lower the heat to medium-low.  Now you want to let it simmer (you don't want to let it boil at a high heat for hours because the flavor can become bitter) for at least two hours, but you can definitely let it go as long as you want - make sure to stir about every 1/2 hour.  What you want is for most of the water/moisture to boil off and evaporate.  The longer it simmers, the more moisture will cook off, and the thicker your sauce will be.  If you only let it go for 2 hours, you may need to add some tomato paste later to thicken it up, but this is all a matter of personal preference.  

Once it has cooked down, you want to turn the heat off.  Take the food mill and place it over a deep bowl, then start spooning your tomatoes into the bowl of the food mill.  Keep turning the handle on the food mill until all the tomatoes are processed through and all that is left are the tomato skins and seeds in the bowl of the food mill, or until no more sauce is coming out the bottom (don't forget to reverse direction a few times so it doesn't get clogged up). 

After you put all the tomatoes through the food mill you will be left with just the sauce, no skins and no seeds!  Now you can add all your herbs, onion, garlic and any other things you want in there.  I make about 4-6 batches of sauce every summer and freeze some of it.  I love pulling it out in the dead of winter.....makes me feel good knowing I can have my homemade sauce even when it's snowing outside.  This whole process has made my life easier, and hopefully now yours too!

Perfect Biscuits

I have to admit that biscuits aren't my bread of choice.  If I had to choose, I would pick cornbread or a dinner roll over biscuits.  I've never understood the whole biscuits and gravy for breakfast thing either....well, until I tried it at Penny Cluse in Burlington, VT - they make the most AMAZING gravy, definitely the best I've had in my life!  Alas, the only time I make biscuits is when I make chicken and biscuits.
 
Over the years, I've tried lots of different biscuit recipes.  However I always came back to this one, and unfortunately, I don't know where I got it from.  When I first started to take an interest in cooking I would see recipes that interested me in magazines and I would write them down in a notebook, but I never jotted down the sources.  This one just never fails - it's always fluffy, moist and just plain perfect.  At this point in time, I don't feel the need to try any other biscuit recipes...this is the one for me.....for now......

Biscuits 

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425, and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Add the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk to combine.  Cut in the shortening until crumbs form.  Gently stir in the milk to combine.

Turn out onto floured surface and knead 15-20 times.  Pat dough down to 1 inch thick, then cut biscuits with a biscuit cutter or a glass dipped in flour.  Place biscuits onto cookie sheet and bake for 14 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.  Makes 6 biscuits.

Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Grapes

I recently made homemade ricotta, and one thing I was dying to make was grilled peaches topped with ricotta and honey.  However, I forgot to leave out a peach when I made my peach pie the other day.  So, I looked around my kitchen to see what I had on hand.  Since I had lots of grapes, I decided to roast them up to use with my ricotta.

I then toasted up some bread, added some herbs to the ricotta, slathered it on the toasted bread and topped it with the roasted grapes...YUM!  This was a really mild, yet delicious treat, and would be perfect for an appetizer when company is over.  The flavors went really well together, and I actually ended up having it for lunch!  

Ricotta Crostini with Roasted Grapes

1 cup homemade ricotta (click here for recipe)

1tbsp minced scallion

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

loaf of french baguette, sliced and brushed with a little olive oil & toasted until golden brown

4 cups grapes

olive oil

Mix the scallion, salt & pepper into the ricotta and set aside.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and preheat oven to 425.  Place grapes on sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and toss to combine.  Place grapes in oven and cook for about 8 minutes, or until grapes start to burst. 

Take the toasted bread and spread each slice with a good slathering of the ricotta (the amount depends on your preference), and top with the roasted grapes.  Enjoy!

Peach Pie

 

Ahh, peach pie.  My husband has been requesting that I make this pie for a couple of years, and I kept meaning to but peach season would come and go and I just never ended up making it.  I think I was a little intimidated by it because not only had I never made a peach pie before, I don't think I'd ever even tried one!  I've seen them, and I've read many recipes over the years for them.....but, I was never really interested in making them.

I always thought it seemed like a lot of work (you know, trying to blanch and peel the peaches) and then it seems like there is always a guessing game as to how the pie would come out in the end because of the different factors - the type of peach you use, how ripe they are & how many you use in the pie.  Everything impacts the end result, and I don't like it when I can't control the outcome of things.....does that make me a control freak?  

Since Cook's Illustrated nailed the pie dough recipe, I figured I'd try out their peach pie recipe from their Best Recipe cookbook I bought last year.  While blanching and peeling the peaches wasn't that bad, it sure was messy!  My son came in the kitchen when I was almost done putting the pie together and said "Wow, you've made a mess in here!"  Too bad he didn't offer to clean it up.  Needless to say, he wasn't overly excited about peach pie either.  I was worried that the pie would turn out to be a sloppy mess, however, it turned out perfect!  I was so thrilled with how it came out, and even more thrilled at how yummy it was.  Who knew peach pie was so good???  Now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to make it!  Both my son and husband loved it....in fact, my husband said he liked it better than apple pie.  Now that was shocking because apple pie is his FAVORITE!  I guess peach pie will be making a more regular appearance in my home ☺

Peach Pie (Cook's Illustrated)

1 recipe for double crusted pie dough (click here for recipe)
7 medium ripe peaches
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup sugar, + 1 tbsp
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp minute tapioca

Preheat oven to 500, and bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.  Add all the peaches & boil for 2 minutes, then remove them and immediately plunge them into a large bowl filled with ice water.  Roll out your bottom crust and place it in a shallow pie dish (you don't want to use a deep dish pie plate for this pie).  Peel the peaches, using a pairing knife, then cut them into about 3/8" slices.

Place the sliced peaches into a large bowl and add the tapioca, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Toss to combine, then pour mixture into your dough lined pie plate.  Roll out your top dough and cut into strips to make a lattice topping, and add it to the top of the pie.  Lightly brush or spray the lattice topping with water and sprinkle with sugar.  

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray, then place your pie on the tray.  Lower oven temperature to 425 and place pie in oven and cook for about 25-30 minutes, or until crust begins to brown.  Rotate the pie and reduce the oven temperature to 375 and continue baking for another 25-30 minute longer, or until crust is a deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling.  Remove from oven and cool for 2 hours before serving.

Homemade Ricotta

I've always had an interest in making my own goat cheese.....mostly because I wanted to get goats as pets and my husband isn't interested, so I thought maybe if they serve a purpose then he'd be good with it.  He's still not interested though - he said making goat cheese is a lot of work.  I'm thinking he just doesn't want me to get a goat!

Anyway, I saw Ina Garten make ricotta cheese on her show a while back and I couldn't believe how simple it was!   I had printed out the recipe and put it in my ever growing pile and forgot about it.  Then this past weekend I had a little time on my hands, so I pulled out that pile of recipes I've been meaning to try and there it was.  Since I had some whole milk needing to be used up I decided it was time to give making homemade ricotta a try.

This turned out to be super easy, and super delicious.  Big difference from store bought ricotta.  This was smoother and creamier, and the overall taste was just better.  Totally worth the effort/time, and from now on I will make my own.  I love when I find things like this that take so little time...just goes to show, homemade is always better!

Homemade Ricotta (Ina Garten)

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Set a colander over a bowl, and line it with 2 layers of dampened cheesecloth.  Add the milk, cream and salt to a medium sized saucepan.  Bring to a full boil over medium heat, then turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar.  Let the mixture stand for 1 minute, or until it curdles.

Pour into the cheesecloth line colander and allow it to drain into the bowl beneath for about 20-25 minutes.  The longer it drains the thicker the ricotta will be.  Once it's reached your desired thickness, transfer the ricotta to a bowl and discard the cheesecloth and remaining whey/liquid.  Will keep in refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Makes 1 cup.

Perfect Pie Dough

Is it bad that it's only Tuesday and I am wishing it was Friday???  This week my son's school decided to hold "pre-season" soccer practices from 6:30AM to 10:30AM EVERYDAY!  Now for those of you city people that may not seem like a big deal, however for those of us that live out in the country it really makes for a ruff morning.  See his school is 20 minutes away (with no traffic and if road conditions are OK) and they have to be there at 6:20am AND I stop to pick up one of his friends on the way....oh wait, I left out the part where I have to get up at 5:20am to hop in the shower!  We leave at 5:45am to pick up his friend, and after I drop them off I have to go all the way back home to get ready for work, THEN drive another half hour to work........ummmmm, I think someone forgot to tell the coaches that a lot of these kids don't drive yet!!!!  Needless to say, please be a little lenient if my posts later in the week are a little short and sweet, or if they have a lot of run-on sentences and lots of mis-spelled words!

OK, I'm done complaining.  Now on to pie dough.  I have to start by saying that I have used the same pie dough recipe for a loooonnng time and it's always been perfect (click here for recipe), and I have never felt the need to look elsewhere.  I have never even been tempted to try a different recipe....until recently.  This past year I got a subscription to Cook's Illustrated magazine, and in it they talk in length about this pie dough recipe where they use Vodka in it.  Intriguing right?  I won't get into all the science behind, but the gist of it is that the Vodka allows you to add more liquid without (making it a more tender dough) while not making it tough when it bakes.  I will admit that I was skeptical that it would be better than my pie dough, but I had to give it a try....you know, to test out their theory.

Well, as much as it pains me to say it, they were right.  The Vodka made a big difference in the dough, and in the end I have to admit it really is better than my recipe.  The dough is perfectly tender and flaky all at the same time, and that is not always an easy thing to accomplish.  So, hats off to Cook's Illustrated for getting this one right....I just might have to use this as my go to pie dough recipe from now on.

Perfect Pie Dough (by Cook's Illustrated)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (they said it should be cold, but I didn't bother chilling mine)

1/4 cup cold Vodka

1/4 cup cold water

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse 1 1/2 cups four, salt, and sugar until combined.  Add the butter & shortening and process until clumps that look like cottage cheese start to form, about 15 seconds.  Add remaining flour and pulse 4-6 times, or until mixture has been broken up.  

Place mixture into another bowl and add the Vodka and water.  With a rubber spatula mix by folding the liquid into the dough, pressing down as you go until dough sticks together.  Divide into 2 even disks, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before using - this is important because this is a pretty wet dough and you will have a hard time rolling it out if you don't refrigerate it first.  Dough can also be frozen for later use.  Makes one 9" double pie crust.