Non-Traditional Soda Bead

After my success with Food and Wine last weekend I went back to the website to find a recipe to use my leftover buttermilk. I also decided to search for an Irish Soda Bread recipe. I was pleasantly surprised to learn buttermilk is one of the ingredients in Irish Soda Bread.

The recipe was very simple and while it was baking I did a little research on Irish Soda Bread and came across this website: http://www.sodabread.info/. It's dedicated to the preservation of traditional Irish Soda Bread. Contrary to popular belief Traditional Irish Soda Bread is made of only flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. So when people talk about making Traditional Irish Soda Bread and then post a recipe for Spotted Dog, it's not really Irish Soda Bread. Interesting, isn't it?

So was my Irish Soda Bread traditional? Nope. The recipe includes sugar which is an absolute no. It also includes butter. The website says butter is ok if you want to deviate a bit.

According to the website,Traditional Irish Soda Bread does not contain:

*"zest", orange or any other kind
*Irish Whiskey
*Honey
*Sugar
*eggs
*Garlic
*Shortening
*Heavy Cream
*Sour Cream
*Yogurt
*Chocolate
*Chiles/Jalapenos
*Fruit

Anyway, back to my experience with the Non-Traditional Irish Soda Bread... it was delicious, very dense and moist. It was amazing warm with some butter. Matt and I almost polished off half the loaf right after I took it out of the oven. I was surprised at how my finish loaf turned out... it didn't maintain the shape of the original ball of dough. ..

Getting ready to go in the oven...


Right out of the oven.. woah!

Irish Soda Bread

Source: Food and Wine Magazine

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour with the whole wheat flour, rolled oats, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Add the buttermilk and cooled butter and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is well combined.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it 10 times. Shape the dough into a 9-inch round loaf and transfer to a baking sheet. Slash an X about 1/4 inch deep in the top of the bread. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the bread is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Transfer the soda bread to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Conquering My Fears

When I asked Matt what he wanted for his birthday he told me cinnamon rolls. I cringed on the inside. Cinnamon Rolls?

That involves yeast. Yeast is complicated and scary.
That involves time. I don’t have a lot of time.
He loves his mom’s cinnamon rolls. I can’t compete with that.
Cinnamon Rolls? Yuck

But, being the stellar wife I am, I cowboyed up and accepted the challenge. I’ve had some packages of yeast in my cabinets for a few months, but have just been too intimidated to try and use them. I did a little research and decided I could handle it.

Next was the search for a cinnamon roll recipe. I would have loved to use the recipe I saw on all the Daring Bakers Blogs from Peter Reinhardt's The Bread Baker's Apprentice, but there is that whole time thing again. I just don’t have much. So I searched allrecipes and found Cinnamon Roll recipe that requires a bread machine. The bread machine does all the hard work – perfect!

Since his birthday was yesterday, I prepared these Sunday night and stuck them in the fridge. We got up at 5 Monday morning to work out and I took them out of the fridge and let them come to room temp before poppin them in the oven (almost 2 hours.) I topped them with a cream cheese frosting.

The results? Well, I don’t like cinnamon rolls, but Matt ate three of them so I take that as a good thing. I made a dozen and asked if he was going to take some to work. He told me he planned on eating them every day for breakast. He had two this morning. I think he likes them. This recipe got excellent reviews on allrecipes, a few people said this was a lighter cinnamon roll. I tried a small one and thought “meh, it’s a cinnamon roll”.

Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted From: Allrecipes
(I used cinnamon rolls II for the dough and clone of a cinnabon for the filling and frosting )

note: originally I didn't put that much frosting on them. The husband insisted I use all the frosting and drown the cinnamon rolls in that sticky, yummy goodness

Dough:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1 eggs

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened
This made way more filling than I needed. I put the cinnamon/sugar mixture in a container and will make another batch of cinnamon rolls with it soon

Frosting:
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt



In saucepan, heat 1 cup milk, water, and 1/4 cup butter until very warm (butter doesn't need to be completely melted).

Place milk mixture, salt, flour, yeast, sugar, and eggs in the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle. Press Start.

Once Dough cycle is complete, remove the dough from the bread machine. Punch down.

On a floured surface, roll dough into a large rectangle. Smear rectangle with the softened butter. Combine cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle over the rectangles.

Roll the dough up into a log starting at the long side. Cut the log into 12 slices. Place the rolls cut side down into two 9x13 inch greased baking pans. (I used two pans - I didn't want pull-apart rolls) Cover, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled. (I covered the pans with saran wrap and stuck them in the fridge at this point. The next morning I set them out for about 2 hours before I baked them.

Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden. While rolls are baking beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Spread frosting on warm cinnamon rolls before serving.


There's the birthday boy! I even pulled out the Special Plate for him. Apparently I can't take clear pictures early in the morning.

Funny Story

Last week I asked Matt to run to the farmers market and pick up some fruits and veggies for while I was at work. When I got home, I was looking through the bags and saw one bag had 3 Zucchini in it and another had 2 Zucchini it. I made a comment about having a lot of Zucchini and he said, I didn't get that much Zucchini, I went to one stand and they had Zucchini 3 for $1 and another stand had Squash 2 for $1. I busted up laughing and explained to him that Zucchini is Squash. His reply "oh, so that's why they look alike." Men....

So now i have all this Zucchini I need to use up!

Zucchini Bread
Source: BHG New Cookbook
Prep: 20 min Bake: 50 min
Oven: 350 Makes: 1 loaf (16 servings)



1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 beaten egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

1. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. In a medium bowl combine, the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside

2. In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into a prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350 for 50 - 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Carrot Bread

I marked quite a few recipes out of the July Cooking Light. After we got back from STL last night I decided to give this one a whirl because I had all the ingredients on hand. The Carrot Bread turned out very moist and delicious - similar to a Zucchini Bread. I'll definitely be making this again, next time with some walnuts.

Carrot Bread
Source: July 2008 Cooking Light



Ingredients

3/4 cup sliced carrot
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup vanilla fat-free yogurt
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cook carrot in boiling water 15 minutes or until tender; drain. Place carrot in a food processor; process until smooth.

3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine whole wheat flour and the next 6 ingredients (through cloves) in a large bowl. Combine carrot, sugar, and the next 4 ingredients (through egg white) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add carrot mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined.

4. Pour batter into an 8-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. I baked mine for 40 min and it was pretty dark (but not dry). I think closer to 35 would have been better. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut bread into 12 slices





Yield
1 loaf; 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 151(32% from fat); FAT 5.3g (sat 0.5g,mono 3g,poly 1.6g); IRON 0.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 34mg; CARBOHYDRATE 24g; SODIUM 240mg; PROTEIN 3.2g; FIBER 2.1g

Nanner Bread

This was my first time making banana bread. I'm not really sure why I never made it before. It was so easy. Usually when I bake things, I never bake for as long as the recipe states. Since this bake time is 50 - 75 minutes, I didn't even think to check it before 50 minutes. This still turned out so good, just a little darker than I would have liked. I will definitely be making this again!

Banana Bread
From: Amber's Delectable Delights



Ingredients:
3 bananas, smashed
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc)

Directions:

1) Combine all ingredients except for nuts, using a mixer. Add nuts and mix by hand
2) Grease bread pan, Cook for 50 minutes at 350 degrees
3) Check with toothpick for doneness (may need to cook longer, possibly 15 more minutes)

This recipe can also be turned into muffins. Simply scoop the batter into 12 muffin cups. Cook at the same temperature but reduce bake time to 25 minutes

Corn Muffins with a Kick

Lately I've become a big fan of corn bread. When I saw this recipe on cooking light I knew I had to try it. It was the perfect companion to the black bean soup and would also be excellent with chilli. If you don't like peppers or onions, these would still be good.

Whole Grain Corn Muffins
from cookinglight


3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
1/3 cup minced red onion I used white onion
2 tablespoons minced jalapeño pepper
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, oil, honey, and egg. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in corn, onion, and jalapeño.

Coat muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon batter into pan. Bake at 425° for 1oish minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan immediately; serve warm.

CALORIES 120( calories from fat 27%); FAT 3.6g ( SATFAT 0.8g, MONOFAT 2.1g, POLYFAT 0.4g ); protein 4g; carbohydrate 19g; fiber 2g; cholesterol 19mg; iron 0.7mg; sodium 325mg; calcium 96mg;

Feelin' Cheesy

Since work was slow today I spent the day looking at food blogs. When I came across .... and a cookie for dessert , I was so excited. There are a ton of delicious recipes on there. I knew I wanted to make my Tastefully Simple Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup Mix for dinner.



When I found this recipe and I knew it be the perfect accompaniment to my soup. I decided to alter the original recipe and add some cheese to it.

Cheesy Drop Biscuits
(originally from cooking light)



Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
1 cup fat-free milk
1-ish cup of shredded cheese (I used a Colby/Monterrey/Cheddar Mix)
Cooking spray

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450º.Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and cheese; stir just until moist.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from pan immediately, and place on a wire rack.



These were so good! I don't know if I'll ever buy frozen biscuits again. When I make them with cheese again, I'm going to add more than a cup of cheese. The soup was great too! I added green and red peppers and carrots to give it more flavor, although it would have delicious without it.