Brown Butter Whole Wheat Soda Bread

We had this tasty bread with cheesy vegetable soup tonight at supper. Try it soon. It is easy, flavorful, delicious. And it doesn't require yeast, for those of you who are yeast-averse. Because it is a soda bread instead, its texture is denser and chewier (the oats and whole wheat flour also contribute to this).

I found the recipe on How Sweet it Is. Everything I've tried from her site as been delicious, and this was certainly no exception.

Brown Butter Whole Wheat Soda Bread

1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)

2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. old fashioned oats

1 TB brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. black pepper (use freshly ground if you can)

1 3/4 c. buttermilk

1 egg white, beaten

Have you ever browned butter before? It's really easy. And, it's the first step. Just take a small saucepan and put the butter in it and place it over medium heat. Whisk constantly as it melts (it will foam and the foam will subside). As soon as you see brown specks in the butter, take it off the heat. (And I even go ahead and take it out of the saucepan so that it doesn't get too brown). Set that aside.

Now, mix together the flours, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and seasonings. Add the butter and buttermilk. Stir together with a fork. Then, turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough comes together (a few minutes).

Divide dough in half, form into rounds, and place 6 inches (mine was more like 4) apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush the top with the beaten egg white. Then, cut an X in the top of each about 1/2 inch deep.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes before eating.

It smells incredible while it's baking!

Menu Planning for the New Year

I'm changing the way I do menu planning for the new year...or at least, for now.

This past summer, I tried using theme nights to plan our meals but it didn't work out so well. I got hung up on the alliterations (like Try Something New Tuesdays). I couldn't come up with one that matched each day of the week. Silly, I know.

So, I'm abandoning the idea of alliterated themes and just focusing on the things we like to eat in categories. Phil & CJ helped with this too. Here's what we've got so far. (I'm leaving Fridays/the weekends open for leftovers or for changing things around when needed).

Mondays - Mexican

Tuesdays - Pasta/Pizza

Wednesdays - New recipe (or perhaps some weeks, an old standby)

Thursdays - Soup

The other thing I decided this time around was that while I will use those themes for planning, I will not be tied to making Mexican on Mondays necessarily, if for some reason we need to switch.

As I planned on the first two weeks of the new year, I really enjoyed using the themes to guide me. Here's what we're having (or had)

Monday, Jan. 2 - cheese and crackers (one last hurrah during Christmas break and CJ's request)

Tuesday, Jan. 3 - Chicken Caesar Sandwiches, roasted sweet potatoes & onions, homemade brioche

Wednesday, Jan. 4 - Lasagna, Salad with Lemon Garlic dressing, Bread, Pineapple (switched Tuesday & Wednesday this first week in order to have company over)

Thursday, Jan. 5 - Cheesy Vegetable Soup, Brown butter whole wheat soda bread, sliced apples

Monday, Jan. 9 - Mexican stuffed shells

Tuesday, Jan. 10 - Grandmother's pizza (from my new Cook's Country magazine)

Wednesday, Jan. 11 - Slow cooker beef & tomato stew (supposed to be served over brown rice, but I'm thinking of serving it over barley...I've never even bought barley before)

Thursday, Jan. 12 - Chicken Minestrone, bread

I'm also experimenting with planning out two weeks in advance (but only shopping for one) to see if that saves me some time.

One other confession: this menu was planned after not cooking on a regular basis for a couple weeks, so it is filled with new recipes I want to try (not just on Wednesdays). If life gets busy, some of these will not happen.

What's Cooking 2012

If you read my book blog, you know that I always have a stack of books waiting to be read. Tonight, I started thinking about what is in my "to be cooked" pile.

Pinterest is a great source of recipe inspiration for me. Feel free to click over and see what has recently caught my eye. I also read a lot of cooking magazines, got a stack of new cookbooks for Christmas and check them out regularly from the library as well. I am not really short on recipes I want to make. But, then there are those things that would be more challenging to me in the kitchen. That's the type of recipes I'm talking about today.

So, in the spirit of the new year, I am starting to work on a list of new things I want to cook.

For starters, I would really like to try to make croissants this year. And homemade crackers. What else? Cook more fish. Master pie crust. Make more bread, sourdough, brioche, etc. Make healthier choices...that still taste good. How about making my own yogurt?

What's on your "to be cooked" list? I'm always looking for ideas.

Treats for Teachers

I have such a hard time know if we need to give something to CJ's teachers for Christmas. He has, like, seven teachers. And, that's not including the librarian (who should count according to CJ). The last couple of years I've done cinnamon rolls for them, but this year, I did not start in time for that project. However, we've really been enjoying this cinnamon bread I found on Pinterest.

So, with CJ's approval, that's what his teachers are getting. (He really liked when I sent cinnamon rolls...he basks in the compliments...hopefully, they like the bread.)

Also...only his four main teachers are receiving loaves. Maybe the other three + the librarian will get one at Valentine's or something.

Cinnamon Sugar Bread

1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

2 c. flour
1 TB baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Combine 1/3 c. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon and set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and 1 c. sugar. In a separate bowl (or measuring cup), mix together egg, milk and vegetable oil. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.

Put half of batter in loaf pan. Sprinkle reserved cinnamon sugar mixture on top (it will seem like a lot). Top with remaining batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto cooling rack and let cool completely. Now, here's the hardest part...wrap the loaf in foil and let sit overnight. It will taste good if you eat it right away, but it will taste even better if you wait.

A couple tips -
-The recipe is easily doubled.
-It would be better to have a little more than half of the batter on the bottom as opposed to a little less. The last time (before today) that I made these, I didn't get quite enough on the bottom and the cinnamon layer leaked through and stuck to the pan. No problems with that today. Just be generous with the bottom layer.

More Soup - Super Easy & Delicious

It is soup season at our house. We easily eat soup at least once a week...at least for now. In about a month or two, I'll be tired of all our soup recipes. But, my husband claims this soup is one he would happily eat once a week. It's so easy...I should take him up on it.

Stuffed Pepper Soup
barely adapted from Chaos in the Kitchen

1 lb ground beef, I use 93/7 beef
1/2 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 lb bell peppers (apprx. 3 large), diced - I use at least one green and one red. The third can be whatever you prefer...orange, yellow or another red/green
2 cloves garlic, minced
1(14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 can low sodium beef broth (you could use more than this if you want more broth)
1 tbsp beef base (I use 3 beef bullion cubes)
salt and pepper
hot, cooked rice

In a large stock pot, brown ground beef until no longer pink. Drain and then add the vegetables. Heat over medium heat until vegetables are softened, about 8-10 minutes.
Add tomatoes, beef broth, and beef base. Simmer 15 minutes or longer until ready to serve.
Taste and season generously with salt and fresh ground pepper.
Put a large scoop of rice in a bowl and ladle soup over the top. If you add the rice to the soup itself, it absorbs all the liquid.

Enjoy!!

Winter Cabbage Stew

So, we are big fans of cabbage at our house. I don't think that's normal. But, I believe there may just be a few other people out there who like cabbage as well. So, if you do, make this soup. It's delicious. And, it's really only got three ingredients, so it's super frugal as well.

We had this earlier this week. It's definitely only a cold weather meal. And, we're all glad it's that time of year again.

Winter Cabbage Stew (from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook)
2 lbs. smoked link sausage
6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp. celery seed (I use celery salt)

Cut sausage into 2-inch lengths. Put in a large soup pot with 3 cups of water. Cover, bring to a slow simmer and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Add potatoes, another cup of water and seasonings. Cook uncovered an additional 15 minutes. Add cabbage and 2 more cups water. Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender, about 15 minutes longer. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with buttered and broiled french bread, topped with strawberry jam. So yummy.

Zucchini Crisp

(photo from the blog I linked)

A year or two ago, I bookmarked this recipe on a blog I follow. It just sounded weird enough to try! I made the crisp for the first time tonight, and it is delicious!!!! It tastes very much like an apple crisp, only I think I liked it better. It has a nice crunchy top and the zucchini slices had a nice firmness to them, compared to how apples can get a little mushy. We ate it without ice cream and it was fine, I'm sure ice cream would be good with it too.