My First Braided Bread!

I love baking bread. There's something so wonderful about the aroma of bread in the oven, permeating the whole house. Sometimes I'll go outside and come back in again just to smell that bread fragrance fresh all over again.

Being a bit on the lazy side, I love the convenience of the bread machine. But that square loaf it makes is really ugly. So I'll often use my bread machine to mix up the dough, then I'll pull it out, shape it, and bake it. Today, however, I decided to do it all by hand.

I found a fun-looking recipe that called for onion soup mix (which we just bought at Wal-Mart from one of those clearance racks. I usually don't buy mixes like that, but it was very marked down and I couldn't resist). I love a good savory loaf, so decided to give it a try. This particular recipe makes two braided loaves. I was excited to be able to try a bread braid for the first time.
Sesame Onion Braid
1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast (I used 1 tbsp. - it's not exactly 1/4 oz, but it's close enough)
1 1/4 cups warm water, divided (110-115 degrees)
1 cup warm sour cream (110-115 degrees; I heated mine up on the stove, over medium heat, stirring frequently. It worked well)
3 eggs, divided (that's divided, not separated)
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
6-1/2 to 6-3/4 cup all-purpose flour (here I deviated from the recipe and substituted 1 cup bean flour for 1 cup of the flour. It adds more nutrients, and makes it change color a bit. This is, of course, optional)
1 tbsp. cold water
3 tbsp. sesame seeds

The recipe also makes a Caramelized Onion Butter, but it calls for cream cheese which I don't have at the time. I'll post that too, but I'm not making it this time.

Caramelized Onion Butter:
1 tbsp. diced onion
6 tbsp. butter, softened, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, cubed
1/2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water; let stand for 5 minutes (I had an oopsie here; I missed the part where it said 1/4 cup water, and instead dissolved the yeast in the whole 1 1/4 cup. It didn't affect the finished bread). Add sour cream, 2 eggs, onion soup mix, butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, and remaining warm water; mix well. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough.

Not having a powerful stand mixer, or any stand mixer at all, this is the part where it gets hard for me. I usually stir with a wooden spoon for as long as I can, then finally toss the spoon aside and start mixing it with my hands. This is fun, because they get goopy and I start looking and feeling like a swamp monster, with all that doughy gooey mess all over my hands! But I digress...

Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (a sink full of hot water works great; I got the idea from Michelle) until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into six portions. Shape each into a 15-inch rope (It might be a good idea to let the dough rest for five to ten minutes after dividing it. It was elastic at first and snapped back into its original shape when I tried the first few, but after a while it got easier as the dough rested). Place three ropes on a greased baking sheet; braid. Pinch ends to seal; tuck under. Repeat with remaining three ropes. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. I think I did a pretty good job of braiding the bread, considering that I've never done it before.
Beat cold water and remaining egg; brush over dough. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.For the onion butter:
In a large skillet, saute onion in 1 tbsp. butter until golden brown. Add garlic; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until golden.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, onion mixture, parsley, and remaining butter until creamy. Serve with bread.

Even though I didn't make the caramelized onion butter, this bread turned out really good. It has a yummy onion flavor, and is very light and fluffy.

Not Quite White Chili...

I have TONS of dried beans from WIC, and don't use them nearly often enough. They are healthy, inexpensive (even when we don't get them for free). They have no fat, are low in calories, and are rich in iron, protein, fiber, and all sorts of good healthy things. Plus they taste great! The catch - they take forever to cook!

The long cooking time isn't so bad if you cook things in a slow cooker. So I looked up on the Internet how to do beans in the slow cooker, and put together some beans this morning. By this evening, I had decided how I wanted to prepare them. I had ground turkey thawing in the fridge, and thought it would taste really good to cook that up and add it to the beans with some seasonings and make a chili-like concoction. It was a fairly successful culinary venture, even though I was the only one who could really enjoy it. Zaylee didn't care for it, I guess she's just not into chili. And Jeff, being sick, could only eat about 1/4 cup of it, and shouldn't even have had that much.

I said it was not quite white chili because, although it's made with white beans and turkey, it just isn't white! Oh well, it still tastes good.

Turkey White Bean Chili
1/2 lb. small white beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked
A bunch of water (about 4 cups)
1/2 small onion
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1/3 cup bean flour (dried beans, ground up in a wheat grinder. I added this as a thickener, so other thickeners could be substituted - flour, refried beans, etc.)
1-2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1 packet Sazon Goya (pink and orange box in Hispanic foods aisle)
Salt to taste

Place beans, onion, and garlic in slow cooker. Cover with water. Cook on high heat for lots of hours, until the beans are done. I think I had them in the cooker for about 6 hours or so.

Brown the ground turkey on the stove, then add to the beans. Whisk in the bean flour and seasonings. Heat through, and serve.Yield: about 5 cups
220 calories per cup

Microwaved Chicken

In high school, I used to frequently cook chicken in the microwave as a snack. Take out a frozen chicken breast, add some Italian dressing and water, and nuke that sucker until it was cooked up tender and moist. I made a variation of that for dinner tonight. It only made enough for a couple servings, but that's good. I just went through the fridge and threw out a ton of gone-bad leftovers, and didn't want to make any more!

Take one frozen boneless skinless chicken breast. Place it on a microwave-safe plate. Drizzle ketchup on it, then spread 2-3 tbsp. unpacked brown sugar on top. Drizzle it with some salad dressing (I would usually use Italian dressing, but tonight I used Asian Sesame with Ginger). Add some water in the plate, up to 1/4-1/2 inch. Microwave at 80% for 10 minutes, then 100% for 5 minutes. At this point, break up the chicken into chunks and spoon the sauce that's collected on the plate over the chicken. Cook for another 5 minutes or so until done. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice.

I realized as I was eating it that this would be great as Hawaiian Haystacks, topped with pineapple, green pepper, tomato, cheese, etc.

Chocolate Chip Life Cookie Bars

These bear a striking resemblance to the muffins I made yesterday, in that they contain Life cereal, chocolate chips, and walnuts. But these are much more gooey and dessert-like. This time the recipe called for Golden Grahams, which I didn't have. Loving to improvise, and encouraged by the success of the muffins, I chose once again to substitute Life cereal, and am very pleased with the results. I also changed the recipe by not sprinkling additional nuts, chocolate chips, and oats on top of the bars before baking. I was high on calories today and didn't need the extra calories all those toppings would have added (well, technically I didn't need these cookie bars at all, but I digress...)
Chocolate Chip Life Cookie Bars
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed firmly
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups crushed Life cereal
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cereal, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.

Spread mixture into a greased 9x13 pan (the stuff is pretty thick, I ended up having to use my hands). Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.Here, have a bite! :)

Banana Life Muffins

I love taking a recipe and making it my own. This recipe originally called for Raisin Bran. I didn't have any, because they're not available through WIC. Lately I only buy cereals I don't have to pay for, it's cheaper that way! :)

So I looked through my cupboards and tried to decide what cereal to use instead. I decided to go with Life cereal because I really couldn't see this recipe working with Frosted Mini Wheats or Multi-Grain Cheerios. Well, maybe the Cheerios, but the Life was open already and the Cheerios weren't. And so a new muffin was born.
Banana Life Muffins
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup buttermilk (or use about a teaspoon of lemon juice plus enough milk to make 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups Life cereal
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Add the egg, banana, and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in the cereal, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full (I must have made mine fuller than that because I ended up with 11 muffins instead of 12). Bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Conference Menu - Part 3

For lunch yesterday between sessions we had canned chili, crescent rolls, tortilla chips, and potato salad, with lemon-lime cake for dessert. I had wanted to make corn bread to go with the chili, but was astounded to find that Mom didn't have any cornmeal. I was like, "But Mom, it's a staple!" She responded nonchalantly, "Not to me." Hmm. So I made canned crescent rolls instead, which still turned out great. As I mentioned in my family blog, the potato salad and cake turned out great. I took lots of pictures because I just really like practicing my food-picture-taking skills. I really think I am getting better, though I still have lots to learn.

Conference Menu - Part 2

This is a moist, refreshingly citrusy cake that tastes just like Spring! I used lime jello to make it a bright green, but other jello flavors can be used to make different color and flavor combinations, which would be cool for holidays (i.e. - raspberry or strawberry for Valentine's Day, orange for Halloween, etc.).

Refreshing Lemon-Lime Cake
1 box lemon cake mix
1 small box lime jello mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 tbsp. lemon juice
Whipped Topping (I used about 3-4 oz, because that's how much we had. More would work fine!)
A little more jello mix

Combine cake mix, jello mix, eggs, oil, and water. Beat with electric mixer for 4 minutes. The batter will be brightly colored and you won't be able to resist taking a picture because it looks so fun!
Grease bottom only of 9x13 pan; pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

While cake is still warm, use a long-tined fork to poke holes all over the cake. Beat together powdered sugar and lemon juice. Pour over cake, spreading around and making sure it soaks in the holes all over. This is what makes the cake so moist, tangy, and absolutely delicious! Let the cake finish cooling. I let it sit out overnight.

Spread the cake with whipped topping, and sprinkle additional jello mix over the top. Chill until ready to serve. Then comes the fun part - eat and enjoy! Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.