Gearing up for Grilling

Aunt D has been on break but she's back now with a summer lineup that will surely make your mouth water. It’s all about the grill this summer – at least that’s my plan. Cooking outdoors is fun, the food can’t be beat and – the best part – you can avoid the never ending saga of Air Conditioner vs. Oven.

I started my grilling season off with asiago bread, bratwurst and chicken. Nothing special about any of those items, but it was my first time cooking bread on the grill. Click here for the recipe. Use a bread machine or stand mixer to make your dough, form two round loaves, cover and let rise for 20 minutes or so. I cooked it for half an hour on a stoneware pan on the top level of my grill. It turned out fabulous!

You’ll notice in the picture that I am using a cast iron griddle to cook the meat. It works wonderfully – seals in the juices instead of letting them drip away (thanks to Terri K. for the tip) and makes it easier to cook your veggies.

My little round grill, even though it has two levels, may not be up to the task. I’m definitely going to need more cooking space. Do I replace the current grill with a larger one? Or do I get another just like the one I already have? I’ll have to think about it.

My plan for next week is breakfast for dinner on the grill. Southwest scrambled eggs, home fries, grilled toast and a meat selection to be named later. Check in with me to see how that turns out!

Are Those Boobs In Your Oven Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

I know it looks bad, but it’s not porn.  I swear.  It’s more like pastry that went slightly awry – but only where appearances are concerned.  This stuff totally rocked the house in the taste department.  To borrow a line from Adrian Monk, here’s what happened . . . . .

I was reading a new food blog I found called Baking My Way Through Germany.  The blogger was writing about how she recently discovered brioche in cooking school.  Of course, that reminded me that I hadn’t had brioche in forever so I decided to make some.  I dug out my recipe and got started.

The dough was in the bread machine doing its thing while I worked on an article and then made some lunch.  Long story short, I got busy and forgot all about it.  Because pastry dough is sweeter than most of its counterparts, it rises really well.  In this instance, it was trying to burst out of the bread machine by the time I remembered to check on it.  I peeled it off the lid of the machine and knocked it back down a bit.

With the dough once again under control, or so I thought, I proceeded according to plan.  I formed six brioches and put them in my muffin pan.  I checked on them about halfway through the regular baking time and that’s when I found the boobs in my oven.  The little buggers had clearly risen way beyond my expectations.  I had to alter the cooking time and temperature, but they turned out pretty well.  I do try to avoid eating food that looks like body parts, but I made an exception this time.  They were totally delish!

If you want to make your own, I recommend paying attention to the dough and making twelve of them instead of six. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup + 3 tbsp of milk (warm it in the microwave before adding it to the bread machine)

4 ½ tbsp of butter

2 eggs

3 ½ cups of bread flour

3 ½ tbsp of sugar

1 ½ tsp of salt

1 ½ tsp of bread machine yeast

As always, follow your bread machine manufacturer’s instructions for adding the ingredients to your machine.  Set your machine to the dough setting and pay close attention to it.  When the dough is ready, remove it from the bread machine pan onto a lightly floured surface.   Separate it into twelve pieces.  From each piece, tear off a smaller piece for the top.

Roll the large pieces into balls and place them into your muffin pan.  I used a stoneware pan from The Pampered Chef and greased each cup with a small amount of butter.

With your fingertips, make a small indentation in the top of each large ball.  Roll the small pieces into balls and place them into the indentations.

Brush them well with a beaten egg and sprinkle with lots of sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

If you insist on recreating my accidental version, here is what I did:

Let the dough rise for at least an extra half hour.  Make six of them instead of twelve.  Bake for 13 minutes at 375 degrees, and then lower the temp to 325 for another 10 minutes.  Turn the oven off but wait another 15 minutes before you remove the pastries.

Serve with butter and your favorite homemade (or store bought) jam.  They are boob-i-licious!!

Italian Herb Bread

Have you ever wanted a pair of shoes so badly that you bought an entire outfit just so you would have something to wear them with?  I have.  Sometimes the accessory gets to drive the bus and that’s absolutely the case with this bread. 

The twenty minutes that it spends baking is nothing less than torture.  The Asiago is the secret ingredient and when it bakes, everyone within sniffing distance drools uncontrollably.  Serve it with anything you want because the main dish always takes a back seat to this accessory!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup water plus 2 tbsp

2 tbsp butter

3 cups bread flour

Grated Asiago cheese

1 tbsp sugar

Italian seasoning

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp yeast

Before adding the ingredients to your bread machine, measure your flour into a separate bowl.  Add plenty of Italian seasoning and freshly grated Asiago cheese.  Blend the flour, seasonings and cheese thoroughly before putting them into the bread machine.

As always, add the ingredients to your machine in the order specified by the manufacturer then choose the dough setting.  When the dough is ready, remove it from the machine and place it on a pizza pan.  Roll it out just like you would pizza dough.  Brush with a small amount of olive oil and top with more grated Asiago.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top of the bread is golden brown.

Slice it with a bread knife and it's ready to serve!

Homemade Pizza Dough

Nothing smells quite like homemade pizza baking in the oven.  It brings to mind images of an old guy in a chef's hat tossing dough into the air with that funny Italian music in the background (you know the tune).  Well, I'm not Italian, I don't own a chef's hat and have failed miserably (repeatedly) at tossing dough into the air.  I can, however, make one serious pizza.  Just wait until summer when I can actually grow my own toppings.  Look out, Papa John!  Here comes Aunt D!!

I'm including two recipes here that came with my bread machine.  One is for a whole wheat crust and the other for a regular white crust.  Each recipe makes two 12 - 14 inch pizzas.  The pizza in the photo was made with a whole wheat crust.  I made the whole wheat version last night for the first time and learned two things about whole wheat crust pizza. 

#1 - The wheat flour really does reduce the calorie count of your pizza.  Two slices of the pizza pictured here weighs in at around 188 calories.  Not bad.

#2 - I do not like whole wheat pizza crust.  Michael gave it a thumbs up, though, so that's the score we're going to be using for the 'official record'.

Here's what you'll need:

White
1 cup warm water
4 tablespoons vegetable (or olive) oil
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I use bread flour)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast)

Whole Wheat
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tablespoons vegetable (or olive) oil
3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast)

As always, add the ingredients to your bread machine in the order specified by your machine.  When your dough is ready, separate it into two equal portions.  Roll each portion flat onto your pizza pan.  Bake the dough for 10 minutes at 350 degrees and allow to cool before adding your toppings.  After you've added your toppings, bake at 425 until the cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

The toppings in the photo are red onion, orange & yellow bell pepper, tomato, pepperoncini slices and finely shredded mozzarella.

Apple Pastries



The wait is over, Brianne!  I’m finally posting the apple pastry recipe.  But before I tell you how to make them, I have to tell you my apple pastry story.

The first time I made these was just before a business trip.  I thought they would be a nice treat for Michael and Riley while I was gone.  I made plenty to be sure that they would last for the four days that I would be gone.  Halfway through my trip I got a phone call from Riley, “Mom! Michael’s eating all the pastries!”  Michael, who is German and has the most wonderful accent I’ve ever heard, called me about thirty minutes later, “Honey! Riley is eating all zee pastries!”

All I could do was laugh.  I was a thousand miles from home listening to each of them complaining about the other’s excessive pastry consumption.  Needless to say, the pastries did not last four days.  At least there was no bloodshed, right?

Here’s what you’ll need to start your own Family Food Feud:

Dough

6 ½ ounces (3/4 cup + 1tbsp) milk

1 large egg

4 tablespoons butter

3 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons yeast (or 1 ½ teaspoons rapid rise yeast)

Filling

Apples (any kind)

Butter

Cinnamon

Brown sugar

This dough recipe came with my bread machine.  It was meant for cinnamon rolls but can be used for any kind of pastry.  Add the ingredients to your bread machine in the order that your machine specifies (either wet first or dry first).  Select the dough cycle and let the machine do it’s thing.

While your dough is . . . . doughing . . . . you want to get started on your apples.  Peel them and chop them into very small pieces.  In a sauce pan, melt your butter.  Don’t ask me how much – I don’t actually measure things unless it’s for the bread machine.  Just use a reasonable amount that seems to make sense with the quantity of apples that you have.  If your apples are small, maybe use a half dozen or so.  That’s the closest thing to a measurement that I can offer you.  Add your chopped apples to the butter.  Then sprinkle in your cinnamon and a generous amount of the brown sugar.  Stir well and let them cook until the dough is ready – on a low setting so that they won’t stick.  They will be really soft and gooey when they’re done.

When the bread machine is finished, put the dough in a large bowl and cover it with a damp kitchen cloth.  Let it rise for another half hour.  Place a large piece of wax paper on your counter.  You are going to roll the dough out into a rectangle, so make sure your wax paper is large enough to be bigger than your dough rectangle.  Once the dough is rolled out, spread your apple mixture evenly leaving an inch or so uncovered on both of the long edges.  Try not to leave a border on the short ends.

When you’re finished, start with one of the long sides and roll the dough tightly.  Wrap the roll tightly in the wax paper and place it in the fridge for at least an hour.  My apple goo always leaks out into the fridge, so you might want an extra layer of wax paper.  When you take the roll from the fridge, remove the wax paper and slice the roll into sections about 1” thick.  Place the pieces into a cake pan or some other pan with a similar depth.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes or until they are just beginning to brown.

If the hubby and kids are fighting over them, then you know you did it right!

Oh So Awesome Breadsticks

Today's delightful delectable is one of Aunt D's favorites.  I know a few other people who are partial to them as well.  Of course, they are best straight out of the oven but they reheat well, too. 

1 cup water
3 tbsp sunflower oil
3 cups bread flour
3 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast

Add the ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed (unless your bread machine calls for dry ingredients to go in first).  Choose the dough setting on your machine then sit back and relax while it does most of the work.

When your dough is ready, separate it into sections one handful at a time.  Roll each lump of dough between your hands until you have a piece of dough about 12 inches in length and then place on a non-stick baking sheet.  Leave a little space between the unbaked breadsticks to allow for rising.

Brush with melted butter and top with freshly grated Asiago (Parmesan or Romano work well, too).  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven when the tops are golden brown.

Be ready to bake more because the family will devour these in record time!

Whole Wheat Oat Bread

After three weeks of almost constant travel, Aunt D is back in the kitchen and so happy to be there.  My friend Brianne requested my apple pastry recipe and I will definitely be sharing that really soon.  It just isn't on the menu this weekend.  Hang in there, Brie, it's definitely worth the wait.

The bread I'm making today is a bit of an experiment.  Have you ever found a recipe that looks really yummy only to discover that you are missing a vital ingredient?  Well, that's what happened with today's bread.  Being the creative type that I am, I found a second recipe that was really close and used it to fill in the gaps.

I am pleased to report that the experiment was a success.  Here is the recipe:

1 cup water
1 egg
2 tbs butter
2 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Add water, egg and butter to your bread machine in that order.*  I use stick butter and cut it into tiny pieces before adding it to the water.  In a separate bowl, combine the bread flour, oats and whole wheat flour and mix well.  Add the oat/flour mixture to the bread machine forming a dry layer on top of the wet ingredients.  Add the sugar and salt in opposite corners of the bread machine.  With your finger, make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients making sure that you don't reach the wet ingredients.  Pour the yeast into the hole.  Set your bread machine to the dough cycle.

When the dough is ready, remove it from the machine and put it into a bread pan.  You may need to lightly grease the pan.  Flatten the dough with your hands and push it into the corners to fill up the bottom of the bread pan.  Sprinkle wheat flour and oats over the top and cover with a damp cloth.  Place the covered bread in a warm dry place to rise for 45 minutes to an hour. 

Before baking, gently slice the top of the loaf with a serrated-edge knife.  Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes.   After baking, remove the bread from the pan and let it cool completely on a baking rack. 

*If your bread machine calls for dry ingredients to go in first, then follow those instructions instead of mine.