Does anyone remember that song from "Schoolhouse Rock?" I have the DVD set of the original cartoons, and a CD called "Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks," with popular bands covering some of the better-known songs. A group called Goodness did "Electricity, Electricity." It's a really fun CD for those of us who grew up with "Schoolhouse!"
I am such a rebel today -- not only am I not participating in IMBB?9, but I am posting without pictures! My reason for skipping IMBB? The theme is terrines, and I'm not saying this to offend anyone, but they're just not my thing. As far as I can tell, they tend to consist of pureed things, or jellied things, and I am not really into either. I have to admit, though, that Cathy's individual Potato and Garlic Terrines don't look half bad! =)
My reason for posting without pictures? I forgot to take any! Yesterday, as you may remember my mentioning last week, was "Thanksgiving" at my aunt's house. I, of course, am the designated bread maker for such gatherings, and yesterday was no exception. So I spent all morning making dinner rolls, got caught up in the excitement and wanting to get to my aunt's house, that I forgot to photograph my rolls! But here are the recipes for what I made... I decided on one batch of something sweet, and one batch of something spicy. Both were well received.
The first recipe comes from "Electric Bread" by Suzan Nightingale. It was one of the first bread machine books I bought. It has some great recipes, but a lot of them call for a lot of ingredients that I don't normally keep around. The book tends to come out only for very special occasions now.
Fall Harvest Rolls
makes one 1-1/2 pound loaf, or 12 large dinner rolls
1 cup water
2 cups white bread flour
1 cup whole-wheat bread flour
2 tbsp dry milk
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin (plain pumpkin -- not pie filling!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
3 tsp active dry yeast (or 1-1/2 tsp rapid-rise)
The original recipe calls for 3 cups of white bread flour, and no WW bread flour. I, of course, always try to replace 1/3 to 1/2 of the white flour in recipes with WW flour.
I mixed everything in the bread machine and let the dough rise for an hour. I chose the simplest dinner roll method for these -- I made 10 golf ball sized balls of dough and arranged them in a round cake pan. I let them rise again for about 40 minutes, then baked them at 350 for about 25 minutes.
These rolls didn't turn out quite as sweet as I'd hoped, and the ginger and allspice were barely detectable, but they were still very good. I love the crunch of the pumpkin seeds. And the pumpkin adds a lovely, festive, autumnal touch of color.
***
The next recipe, oddly enough, comes from "More Electric Bread." I haven't used these books in at least a couple of years, and now they've both reared their heads on the same day. =) This is a recipe I have made in the past. I'd forgotten how good it is!
Pepper Corn Rolls
makes one 1-1/2 pound loaf, or 12 large dinner rolls
1-1/8 cups water
2 cups white bread flour
1 1/3 cups whole-wheat bread flour
2 tbsp dry milk
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp seasoned pepper (such as Lawry's)
1/3 cup cornmeal
1-3/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 1-1/2 tsp rapid-rise)
Again, I substituted whole-wheat bread flour for some of the white -- the original recipe calls for 3-1/3 cups white.
I made my own seasoned pepper, since I had forgotten to buy any. I threw some mixed peppercorns, crushed red pepper, and Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt into my spice grinder and let 'er rip. It came out quite good, if I do say so myself. =)
For the cornmeal, I used about half fine and half coarse.
Same as above, the dough mixed in the machine and rose for an hour. After the first rise, I divided the dough into 12 equal pieces. I rolled each piece into a 7" rope, and tied each rope into a little knot. Eact knot went into a cup of my nice, new muffin tin. The rolls baked at 350 for about 25 minutes, though they probably could have come out after 20. They came out slightly crustier than I usually like.
I love this bread, of course, for its cornmeal crunch. I also love the pepperiness (is that a word? it is now!), having been a pepper addict for as long as I can remember. My dad was especially fond of these for that very same reason.
OK, so I told a bit of a white lie earlier in this post -- I do have a picture. I had a bit of the pumpkin dough left over, which I baked into 4 cute little mini-rolls this morning. It's not the greatest picture, but it at least shows off the pretty color:
My latest frozen, not-necessarily-so-healthy-but-not-so-terrible-either, Kevin's away, lazy-day supper addiction. I like them just the way they're shown on the package -- sauteed until crispy, golden brown, and heated through. No offense intended, Jackie. Your recipe looks great, and I will definitely try it sometime soon! But for now, this is a super-quick fix. Thank you, Mrs. T! I wonder if she's related to Mr. T... yikes!
honey 1 tbsp 4 tsp
salt 1-1/2 tsp 2 tsp
lightly toasted sesame seeds 1/4 cup 1/3 cup
poppy seeds 2 tbsp 3 tbsp
raw pumpkin seeds 1/4 cup 1/3 cup
rye flour 1/4 cup 1/3 cup
whole-wheat flour 1/4 cup 1/3 cup
bread flour 2-1/2 cups 3-1/3 cups
dry yeast 2-1/4 tsp 2-1/4 tsp
1. All ingredients must be at room temperature. Liquid ingredients should be approximately 80 degrees F. Add ingredients in the order specified in your bread machine owner's manual.
2. Select Basic or French cycle and normal or medium crust.
3. Remove baked loaf from pan at the end of the baking cycle and cool on a wire rack at least one hour before slicing.
I know, this bread is a lot "whiter" than I usually make. But it's so damn good! I made a "regular" sized loaf today. I used 3/4 cup WW flour and 2 cups bread flour, just to make myself feel slightly better about using so much white flour.
While Kevin calls almost all the bread I bake "chewy and seedy" (on account of most of it is, in fact, chewy and seedy!), this is the official "Chewy Seedy Bread" of the Kelli-Kevin household. Forgive us, Tony, for renaming this loaf!
Yesterday I mentioned my mom's potato soup recipe. I should clarify that the word "recipe" is used very loosely. I'm sure that everyone's mother has a version of this, and neither Mom nor I ever makes it quite the same way twice... but here's how I made it today:
Chop one medium- to large- sized onion. In a large saucepan or soup pot, saute onion in a little butter, until it is translucent and slightly softened. While the onion cooks, chop two large potatoes. I don't even peel them. Add potatoes to onion, and pour in enough milk to cover. Salt to taste -- moderately to liberally. I find it needs more salt than I usually use in my cooking. Simmer until potatoes are tender, or to the texture you like. I let mine go until they are still chunky, but start to break down slightly, thickening the broth. My mom likes them a bit more firm. Add pepper to taste, and serve!
When I made this for my parents last week, I caramelized the onions before adding the potatoes. I seasoned it with Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt, Mixed-Up Pepper, and some ground dried sage. Yummy. But this is the "recipe" in its simplest form. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it this way! Of course, ingredients can be scaled to make as much or as little as you like. And you can go crazy with seasonings. Next time, I think I'll throw in a can of Niblets. And more onion.
I know I'm not alone here... but what a crazy month this has been so far! My poor, neglected blog... first I was gone for almost two weeks, then I was without my vehicle last week, and therefore unable to shop much... for three weeks, I've either been away, extremely busy, or extremely lazy! Needless to say, there hasn't been a lot of cooking going on in that time. I do, however, have a couple of projects up my sleeve for the week: first, my mother has resurrected her potato soup recipe from my childhood. I've eaten it several times at her house this month, and I bought provisions today to make my own. It's painfully simple, but soooooo good and comforting. Second, my cousin Emily is home for a couple weeks, in between various and assorted Worldly Adventures. She's leaving soon to go to grad school in South Africa(!), so her mother (my aunt Anne I refer to occasionally) is having Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner this Saturday, since Em will miss the real things. Emily has declared that it's just a dinner party, but I'm still thinking of it as Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday -- I'll use any excuse to have two in one year! =) I'm usually the designated bread baker for such family events, so I need to start thinking about what I should make this week!
And speaking of sleeves, here's a funny thing I noticed this morning:
If any of you use weatherpixie.com, you know that there are only a few "models" to choose from. This one is the only one with my coloring, though her hair is a lot shorter (and a bit darker) than mine. I like her, despite these facts. =) Anyway, the above is what she was "wearing" on this chilly morning. And here's the coat I wore on this chilly morning:
Completely pointless, I know, but I thought it was cute that the Pixie I chose has my coat! And yes, you can be assured that the crazy veg-head's coat is trimmed with fake fur!
Oh! I almost forgot! It's that time again -- my Annual Reading of the Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House" Series has begun! If you read this blog regularly, you know how into Laura's books I am, and that I also have "The Little House Cookbook." Hmmm... could there be some cooking happening along with the reading...?
On that note, thanks for your patience with my neglected blog. I will get back into the cooking groove this week, and back into the posting groove! Now I must start poring over my bread books... =)
