Cucumber-Tomato Sandwiches on Artisan Bread

These are one of my favorite things to eat in the summer...my grandma always used to make them for us when we were at her house during the summer time.

Cucumber-Tomato Sandwiches on Artisan Bread

Artisan Bread
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Mayo
Lemon Pepepr


Artisan Bread
from theitaliandishblog.com
(this is seriously the EASIEST and TASTIEST bread I have ever made and it's $.40 per loaf!)

makes four 1 pound loaves

3 cups lukewarm water
1-1/2 tablespoons granulated fast acting yeast (2 packets)
1-1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
6-1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached all purpose white flour *

Mixing and Storing the Dough

1. Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100 degrees F. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours.

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5 quart bowl or a plastic container with a lid (I used an ice cream bucket).

3. Mix in the flour - kneading is unnecessary. Add all of the flour at once, measuring the flour by scooping it and leveling it off with a knife. Mix with a wooden spoon - do not knead. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. This step is done in a matter of minutes. The dough should be wet and loose.

4. Allow to rise. Cover with a lid (not airtight). You want the gases to be able to escape a little. You can also do this in a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and puncture a small hole in the top. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on top), about two hours. Longer rising times will not hurt your dough. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temperature. So, the first time you try this method, it's best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or at least 3 hours) before shaping a loaf.

Baking

5. Shape your loaf. Place a piece of baking parchment paper. Sprinkle the surface of your dough in the container with flour. Pull up and cut off about a 1-pound piece of dough (about the size of a grapefruit), using scissors or a serrated knife. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball as you go. Dust your hands with flour if you need to. This is just to prevent sticking - you don't want to incorporate the flour into the dough. The top of the dough should be smooth - the object here is to create a "gluten cloak" or "surface tension". It doesn't matter what the bottom looks like, but you need to have a smooth, tight top. This whole step should take about 30 seconds! Place the dough onto your parchment paper.

6. Let the loaf rise for about 30 - 40 minutes (it does not need to be covered). If it doesn't look like it has risen much, don't worry - it will in the oven. This is called "oven spring".

7. Preheat a baking stone on the middle rack in the oven for at least 20 minutes at 450 degrees F. Place an empty rimmed baking pan or broiler pan on a rack below the baking stone. This pan is for holding water for steam in the baking step. (If you don't have a baking stone, you can use a baking sheet, but you will not get the crisp crust on the bottom. You will still have a great loaf of bread.)

8. Dust the loaf with a little flour and slash the top with a knife. This slashing is necessary to release some of the trapped gas, which can deform your bread. It also makes the top of your bread look pretty - you can slash the bread in a tic tac toe pattern, a cross, or just parallel slashes. You need a very sharp knife or a razor blade - you don't want the blade to drag across the dough and pull it. As the bread bakes, this area opens and is known as "the bloom". Remember to score the loaves right before baking.

9. Bake. Set a cup of water next to your oven. Slide the bread (including the parchment paper) right onto the hot baking stone. Quickly pour the water right into the pan underneath the baking stone and close the oven door. This creates the necessary steam to make a nice crisp crust on the bread. Bake at 450 F for about 30 - 35 minutes, depending on the size of your loaf. Make sure the crust is a deep golden brown. When you remove the loaf from the oven, you will hear it crackle for a while. In baking terms, this is called "sing" and it is exactly what you want.

10. Cool. Allow the bread to cool for the best flavor and texture. It's tempting to eat it when it's warm, and that's fine, but the texture is better after the bread has cooled.

11. Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in your lidded (not airtight) container and use for up to 14 days. Every day your bread will improve in flavor. Cut off and shape more loaves as you need them. When your dough is gone, don't clean the container. Go ahead and mix another batch - the remaining bits of dough will contribute flavor to the next batch, much like a sourdough starter does!


Tip: If your bread is gummy on the inside, try either increasing the amount of flour by 1/4 cup and/or increasing the baking time by 5-10 minutes.

Stuffed Focaccia with Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette

This recipe comes from myrecipes.com .

Stuffed Focaccia with Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1 (9-inch) round loaf focaccia bread (we used this recipe)
Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette, divided
1 (3-ounce) log goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds
1 deli-roasted chicken
3 cups mixed baby lettuces
1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Preparation
Cut bread in half horizontally, using a serrated knife; place, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle evenly with 1 cup Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette. Sprinkle evenly with goat cheese and pine nuts.
Bake at 400° for 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove meat from chicken, and coarsely chop. Sprinkle chicken over bottom bread half. Top with lettuce and tomatoes; cover with top bread half. Cut into 6 wedges. Serve immediately with remaining 1/2 cup Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette.

Rustic Italian Artisan Bread

This is my new obsession, This bread is crazy good and crazy easy! you can start it the day before and use the dough for up to 14 days!

This recipe is modified from the book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day:
The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
By Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

Both of these links are worth checking out. The you tube video is a demonstration.
/www.artisanbreadinfive.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMxJgIpe38Q



Master Recipe: Boule (Artisan Free-Form Loaf)
Makes four 1-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.
3 cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons yeast
1 rounded tablespoon kosher or other coarse salt
6-1/2 cups un-sifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured with the scoop-and-sweep method
Cornmeal for pizza peel

For all my Utah peeps: for high altitudes Decrease the yeast to 2 teaspoons and increase the salt to 1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon.

Mixing and Storing the Dough:
1. In a stand mixer or a re-sealable lidded (not airtight) plastic food container add warm water (100 degrees), yeast, salt and flour.
2. Attach dough hook or use wooden spoon and incorporate all ingredients. Do not knead.
3. Option one: Allow dough to sit on counter 2 hours, then refrigerate for 5 additional hours and use. Or option two: refrigerate immediately and use dough the next day.
Store the dough in the refrigerator in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days: You’ll find that even one day’s storage improves the flavor and texture of your bread. This maturation continues over the 14-day storage period. Refrigerate unused dough in a lidded storage container (again, not airtight). Cut off and shape more loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1 pound portions in an airtight container and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.

On Baking Day
1. Prepare the pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal.
2. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up the dough and cut off a 1- pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough, using a serrated knife or kitchen shears.
3. Shape the loaf, do not knead. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter –turn as your go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it’s not intended to be incorporated into the dough. This should take 30 to 60 seconds. The bottom of the loaf will not be beautiful, but the top should be smooth.
4. Rest the loaf on the pizza peel and let it rise for 40 minutes. You may not see a significant amount of change in the loaf-the loaf will continue to grow in the oven.
5. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray below on another rack.
6. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour (this allows the knife to cut more easily through the dough), and slash a 1/4- inch – deep cross, scallop or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated bread knife.
7. Fill a measuring cup with a cup of hot water and set it by the oven. Place the loaf in the oven by sliding it off the pizza peel onto the preheated baking stone. Quickly, but carefully, pour the hot water into the broiler tray and close the door. Set timer for 25 to 30 minutes. You are cooking with steam for at least the first 10 to 15 minutes of the baking process. This will help to form the hard, crackling crust of artisan bread that we’re familiar with.
8. Remove loaf with pizza peel and let cool.
To achieve a sour dough taste, hold over some of the dough from batch to batch and mix it with your new recipe of dough. Soon you will have a sour dough flavor.

Orange and Dark Choclate Buttermilk Scones

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons orange zest

2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 large egg yolk

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. I use my fingers to rub the butter and dry ingredients together.

3. In another bowl, combine egg yolk and buttermilk and beat lightly with a fork. Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough. Fold in the chocolate chips.

4. Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times. Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness. Cut into 4 large or 6 small squares. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. These are best when served immediately with butter and jam!

Free Form Bread

Here is the basic recipe, we have had fun adding all sorts of stuff, cloves of garlic halved, fresh chopped rosemary, kalamata olives halved, handful of asiago cheese, substitute 1/2 cup flour for freshly ground wheat flour, really whatever you can think of!
But i usually just make it as is:

1 package dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
0il
corm meal
melted butter

Place yeast water and sugar in bowl stir until warm and let stand 2 mins. Add flour and stir until blended, do not knead. cover and let rise 1 hr or until double in size. Flour hands remove from bowl and place in two rounds on oiled baking sheet that has been dusted with cornmeal. let rise an additional hour. brush the top with melted butter being careful not to deflate. Bake at 425 for 10 mins. reduce oven heat to 375 and bake an additional 15 mins. remove from oven brush with butter and sprinkle with salt. serve warm.

Better than KFC Biscuits

These are SOOO good. I did not make the butter, just served them with eggs and Bacon!! Loved it, thought I would share!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys/buttermilk-biscuits-recipe/index.html

Sweet Berry Bruschetta

Perfect Valentine's Day Breakfast!

**Recipe from Melinda Christensen**

10 slices french bread, 1/2 inch thick

5 tsp sugar, divided

6 oz. fat free cream cheese (I did the 1/3 less fat kind)

1/2 tsp. almond extract

3/4 c. fresh blackberries

3/4 c. fresh raspberries (I substituted both berries for strawberries because that's what I had)

1/4 c. slivered almonds, toasted

2 tsp. powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting

Place bread on an ungreased baking sheet; lightly coat with cooking spray.

Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar.

Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned. ***I WOULD RECOMMEND WATCHING THE WHOLE TIME, it doesn't take long at all..... TOTALLY BURNED MY FIRST PAN WHILE I WAS CUTTING STRAWBERRIES!**
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, almond extract, powdered sugar, and remaining sugar.

Spread over toasted bread. Top with berries and almonds; dust with powdered sugar.

Maple Cinnamon Rolls

These are Grandma Joani's famous cinnamon rolls. They are the delicious love child of a Cinnamon Roll and a maple doughnut bar. You must try this recipe.
But beware... It literally takes all day, especially in the winter when dough rises a little slower!


In measuring cup combine:
• 2 packages yeast
• ½ cup water
• ½ tsp sugar
In mixer combine:
• 2 cups milk, warmed
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
Add:
• 2 cups flour , beat.
• 4 eggs, then beat
• yeast mixture that has ripened
• 5-6 cups of flour some times i have to use 6 1/2 cups
“dough should be sticky but shouldn’t stick to you”


Pour into Oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until double in size(2-3hrs)Punch down and let rise again. Divide dough into 2 portions. Roll 1/2 inch thick into an 8 x14 inch rectangle. Spread with a generous amount of butter, white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll tightly from the long end sealing at the end. Cut into 1 1/2 inch rolls using dental floss. Lay on greased pan. Let rise until double in size. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 mins. cool completely before frosting
Maple Frosting
cream together 2sticks softened butter
baby size can of evaporated milk
maple flavoring to taste
and powdered sugar to desired thick fluffy consistency

Leftover Roast on Focaccia

The best Sunday dinner is roast and potatoes and rolls, but even better is using the leftover roast for a sandwich! And my sister in law came up with the greatest idea to use homemade focaccia bread for the sandwich.

First, the Roast:
We usually sear the roast in butter, then cook some onions in the pan afterward and throw it all in the crockpot. Add some water and a few seasonings (salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, etc) and let it cook as long as possible. An hour or so before it's done, shred the meat and let it sit in all the juices for a bit.

Focaccia Bread
Put the following in to the bread machine in this order:
1 c lukewarm water
1 t sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1/3 c olive oil
2 1/2 c flour
1 t dried basil
1 t rosemary
2 t yeast
Set to dough. When done roll out, cover with towel and let rise at least 40 min. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 for 15 min.

We add cheddar cheese, tomatoes, mayo, and avocado to our sandwiches.

Overnight Orange French Toast

• 8 (3/4-inch-thick) slices French bread
• 4 large eggs
• 1 c milk
• 2 T fresh orange juice
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/8 t salt
• 2 T butter/margarine
• Powdered sugar
• Orange Sauce

Place bread in ungreased 13x9-inch backing dish. Combine eggs and next 4 ingredients; beat well. Pour mixture over bread slices; turn slices over to coat evenly. Cover and chill overnight.

Melt 1 T butter in a large skillet over medium heat; remove 4 slices bread from dish, and cook in butter 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Repeat procedure with remaining butter and bread slices. Sprinkle toast with powdered sugar; serve immediately with Orange Sauce. Yield: 4 servings

Orange Sauce

• 1 c firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 t grated orange rind
• 1/2 c fresh orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, stirring well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until thickened (about 5 minutes), stirring often. Yield: 1 1/4 cups

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

This makes a great breakfast. We love it toasted with butter or cream cheese. Or you can use it to make irresistable french toast. Also tasty with peanut butter. My family loves it!



Directions:

Make your favorite bread dough. (Wheat or White) My favorite is shown below

Divide dough into 1 1/2 lb. sections

Roll out one at a time into a rectangle 1/4" thick. Sprinkle with Cinnamon sugar. (2 parts sugar/ 1 part cinnamon) sprinkle raisins over the entire rectangle. I use about 1/3 c. per loaf. Raisins can be omitted. Roll up like a cinnamon roll. Instead of cutting into rolls, place into well-greased or sprayed loaf pan. Bake according to regular bread baking instructions. Remove from pans immediately. Cool completely before storing.

Little Red Hen (Whole Wheat) Bread

Happy Independence Day!

I filled this loaf pan a little more than I like... so it's really big!

Ingredients:

7 c. freshly ground whole wheat flour

5-7 c. high gluten bread flour

2 Tbsp. SAF yeast

6 c. hot water (140 degrees F.)

1/2 c. canola oil

1/2 c. honey

2 Tbsp. salt

2 Tbsp. dough enhancer (optional; however, it improves the texture and shelf life of the baked bread)

Directions:

Combine 7 cups wheat flour, 2 cups white flour and yeast in Bosch bowl with dough hook. Pour in hot water and mix 1 minute. Let sponge (sit) 10-15 minutes. Add oil, honey, salt and additional flour until dough cleans the sides of the bowl.

As the motor bears down, turn to speed two, add dough enhancer and knead on speed two for 4-5 minutes. (This develops the gluten.) If too sticky, add additional white flour to eliminate stickiness. Take immediately out of bowl. Fill loaf pans 1/2 to 2/3 full. Cover with plastic wrap. Let raise until doubled. Remove plastic.

Place in cold oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake appx. 20 minutes. The best way to test doneness is to insert a thermometer into the center of the loaf. The bread is done when it reaches an internal temp. of 190 degrees. The next best way is to tap on the top crust. It should sound hollow.

Dump bread from pans immediately onto cooling racks. Cool completely before storing. (Steam makes the bread soggy and more likely to grow mold.)

I got the recipe from my local Bosch store's cooking class.