Joining the Green team

I've decided to jump on the "green smoothie" band wagon.  I figured, what the heck?  I absolutely love smoothies, so what's the big deal in adding a little bit of greens to the recipe?  I've seem many recipes that include kale, but I decided to just stick with spinach.  I've also heard that kale has a very strong flavour, so if you don't want to really taste the green stuff, use spinach as it doesn't give off too much flavour.  If you use the right fruits (very strong colouring), you don't even end up with a "green" smoothie just a super healthy one!  Here is the recipe I like to use:

"Green" Berry Smoothie

Ingredients: 

1 cup frozen mixed berries

1/4 cup skim milk

1/2 cup Ocean Spray diet pomegranate blueberry cocktail

1 container (100g) vanilla yogurt (or 1/4 cup)

1 1/4 cups baby spinach leaves

 

Directions:

1.  Place fruit in blender and blend like you would if crushing ice.  Doing this first helps to eliminate chunks of frozen fruit that just won't blend.

2.  Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

3.  Enjoy!

See? Mine did not turn out at all green!  Now, if you want to make this into a meal, you could add some protein powder, or tofu, or maybe even a tbsp of peanut butter for added protein (I added peanut butter).  And feel free to use whatever flavour of juice you like, or have on hand, and any kind of frozen fruit.  Mine was mixed berries; strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  The raspberry colouring tends to overpower anything else, hence why I ended up with a pink/red smoothie instead of a green one!

Let them eat cake!...I mean bread

There is nothing better than the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven, wafting through the house.  Especially on a cool winter's day.  Today was one of those days; a bread making day.  The kids finished up the last of the previous loaf with today's grilled cheese sandwich lunch, so it was time to make more.  I enjoy the bread-making process.  Using my KitchenAid stand mixer makes it so easy!  It mixes AND kneads all in one easy step!  Then all I need to do is let it rise and then pop it in the oven.  Presto, I have a delicious smelling loaf (or two) of bread!  We do have an automatic bread-making machine that we used to use all the time to make bread.  But we never really liked the shape and size of the loaf that came out of the machine.  The slices were far too large to put in the toaster, and super huge for sandwich making!  So then we started just making the dough in the machine and then baking it in the oven, until we discovered that our KitchenAid mixer, fitted with the dough hook, could complete this process for us!  And with almost better results.  Since then, the mixer has been put to extremely good use.  

I have experimented with various recipes, from white, to whole wheat, to a combo of the two, to French and Italian and herb bread.  Today I used a modified version of the King Arthur Flour Classic 100% Whole Wheat bread recipe.  I doubled the recipe. It has worked nicely for me in the past, so I figured I'd try it again.  Last time I attempted the recipe I forgot to add the salt.  And since salt helps in the rising process and the retention of moisture, it is needed, as my loaf turned out slightly dense and incredibly crumbly!  Which with 2 small children, who can make a mess without increased crumbing, was a disaster.  I'd have a panic attack at each lunch time when they ate a sandwich that would crumble like crazy! So today I made sure that I did NOT forget the salt! 

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Yield: 2 loaves (I was able to make a 1 1/2 lb and a 1 lb loaf)

Ingredients:

6-6 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

5 tsp active yeast

2 1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or olive oil)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Combine 4 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Mix to combine and allow to rest, 5 minutes.

2. Combine warm water, oil, honey and syrup in a measuring cup and add to flour mixture.  Mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes.  

3. Add as much of the remaining flour as you can, mixing on speed 2, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and a smooth ball begins to form.

4. Continue to knead, on speed 2, for 6-8 minutes.  This dough should be soft, yet still firm enough to knead. Adjust its consistency with additional water or flour, if necessary.

5. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel, and allow the dough to rise doubled in size, about 1 hour. 
6. Remove from the bowl and shape it into an 8" log. (You can either do this by tucking under and shaping with your hands, or roll to a rectangle and roll up from the long side, pinching at the bottom) Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan and cover the pan with the kitchen towel again and allow the bread to rise for about 45 mins. to an hour, or till the center has crowned about 1" above the rim of the pan. 

7. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F.

8. Bake the bread for 20 mins., then tent with aluminum foil (to prevent over-browning) and continue to bake for another 15-20 mins.  Bread is done when it sounds hallow when tapped. 

9. Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. If desired, rub the crust with some butter to soften the crust. 

10. If you can resist, cool completely before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature.

Doesn't it look delicious?!

 

Alternately:  This recipe can be done by hand, with a wooden spoon to mix and your hands to knead.  A mixer with dough hook is so much easier though! 

Now, what do you do with the crusty ends that no one wants to eat? Or with left-over bread that goes stale before you can eat it (if that ever happens)?  Make homemade whole wheat bread crumbs of course!

 

Fondue Who?

Mark and I decided on a last minute in-home date night last night; an impromptu fondue-Chinoise, which meant last minute thawing and preparing of meats and cheese, and last minute baking of a tasty baguette to accompany the meat and cheese!  Not wanting to drive to the grocery store to pick up a baguette, I decided to open up my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and whip up my own!  This was definitely a recipe that I decided not to alter.  Usually I like to experiment with whole wheat flour and other grains when I bake bread.  But for the night's feast, I decided to stick to the all-purpose flour.  I did halve the recipe, only because I figured that Mark and I didn't need 4 baguettes, and I wasn't sure if I had the 6 cups of flour the recipe called for!  When it came out of the oven Mark decided that I should start my own bread-making business, it looked so good.  Tasted fantastic too!

French Bread (Baguette-style) From Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp) 
3/4 tsp salt 
1 1/4 cups warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)

Cornmeal 
1 egg white, slightly beaten 
1 tbsp water

Directions:

1.  In the bowl of a KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, (or large mixing bowl) stir together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt. Add the warm water to the flour mixture. Mix on speed 2, scraping bowl constantly. (Alternately: beat on medium speed with hand mixer for 30 secs, then on high speed for 3 minutes). Continue to mix on speed 2 and add as much of the remaining flour as you can (Alternately: stir in as much of the remaining flour as possible, mixing with a wooden spoon).

2. Knead, on speed 2 for 8-10 minutes.  (Alternately: turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).

3. Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal.

4. Roll each portion of the dough into a 15x10-inch rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side; seal well. Pinch ends and pull slightly to taper. Place seam side down on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl stir together egg white and water. Brush some of the egg white mixture over loaves. Let rise until nearly double in size (35 to 45 minutes).

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

6. Using a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across the top of each loaf. 

7. Bake for 20 minutes. Brush again with some of the egg white mixture. Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes more or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Immediately remove bread from baking sheet. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 baguettes (or one French loaf).

So delicious!  Especially when warm!  Crusty outside and soft on the inside!  Mmmm...I'm drooling just thinking about it again!  While super tasty toasted with our fondue dinner, it would also taste really great with some brie!

Nutrition Facts (French Bread)

Servings Per Recipe 14 (2 baguette slices)

Calories 85
Protein (gm) 3
Carbohydrate (gm) 18
Dietary Fiber, total (gm) 1

It's about time

As I was baking some scones yesterday, it hit me.  I have been spending WAY too much time in the kitchen lately.  Baking and cooking have sort of become an addiction to me.  A stress reliever of sorts.  So I thought maybe I would start keeping track of the various recipes that I'm trying out these days, noting which ones have been a huge success, and which ones have been a flop.  Which ones have had successful modifications and personalization, and which ones should really stick to the original recipe.  I figured, with all the baking and cooking that I've been doing lately, that I'd start up an area where I can let everyone else know what I've been doing and hopefully pass along some great recipes to everyone!

So, for my first post, I thought I'd start with the fantastic raspberry scones I baked yesterday, sort of making up my own recipe that combined a couple of other recipes that I had in my recipe folder.  Here you go!

Fruit n' Oat Scones

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold butter, cubed

1 cups skim milk (you may need to add a bit more, a tbsp at a time to get the right consistency)

1/2 cup fruit (fresh, frozen or dried)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl of food processor (or just a mixing bowl).

3.  Add cold cubed butter and pulse until coarse crumbs produced (alternatively, you can cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives).

4.  Pour mixture into mixing bowl and add milk, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  You may need to use more or less milk (I just kind of eye-balled it) to have a moist mixture you are capable of dropping onto a baking sheet.

5.  Carefully fold in fruit of your choice, (I used frozen raspberries).

6.  Scoop and drop onto greased baking sheet (or baking stone).

7.  Bake for about 20 mins or until tops spring back when pressed.

8.  Serve warm.

Yield: 13 (by my sizing, more or less depending on how big or small you want to make them)

Enjoy!  They are fantastic!  My husband begs me to make them all the time!  Some optional mix-ins include dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, blueberries (fresh, frozen or dried) or even raisins!