Daring Baker's Challenge - French Bread

I have always wanted to learn how to make bread for a while now. One of my favorite places to buy bread is at The Rockland Bakery where you can get bread hot out of the oven. It brings me back to one of my favorite childhood memories...going with my Mom to buy rolls that were fresh out of the oven and eating a couple on the drive home (which was only about a 5 minute drive). Also it was super hard to be any where near the bakery during Passover when you can not have bread but crave it because that is all you smell in the air.

So I was super excited when I saw that this month's challenge was French Bread. This was just the thing I needed to push me towards my goal of baking my own bread. I sort of had a feeling it would be something along those lines because this month's hostesses are Breadchick Mary (The Sour Dough) & Sara (I Like to Cook).

After the initial excitement of the thought of actually making my own French Bread I got a little nervous for a couple of reason. One the recipe was the longest Daring Baker Challenge recipe I have ever seen in my life as a DBer and two it wasn't any French bread recipe it was a Julia Child French Bread recipe. I got a little worried but I didn't let that stop me from trying because after all that is why I joined this group. So I can challenge myself in baking that I would not do on my own.

I don't have a well working printer at home and I didn't think Mike would print out a 13+ page recipe for me at work. I decided to take out a copy of the cookbook from the library but then I found out my mother-in-law owned a copy of the cookbook which was even better. Part of me wanted to see if the recipe was really as long as it was posted...yes it is really that long. I am glad I got the book and I am glad that I had the hostesses version to look at because both had great tips. Where the book at illustrations of parts of the recipe and the hostesses version had great tips to go along with it.

The recipe is way too long to post but here is a link to Breadchick Mary's website:
Julia Child's French Bread Recipe

Review: I really really enjoyed making this recipe and I plan on doing it again and again. I am going to start with the bad because there is only one thing that is bad about this recipe. It is very time consuming and you really need all day for it. That being said most of the time the bread was doing the work and not you so I really shouldn't complain about that part of it. So the next time I make this I am going to try and retard the dough by letting it do the first rise in the refrigerator overnight to see if that cuts down on the time for me.

I took a fellow DB advise and read this recipe a lot before I started so I totally understand each step of the way. I felt this wasn't really one of those recipes where you can just wing it and get by with doing that. I got up a little early to start the bread since the first rise needed at least 3 hours to triple in size (mine took about 4.25 hours). My house is on the cold side these days and I needed a little help in having a place that is at least 70 degrees for the dough to rise. I actually used 2 of the tips to achieve this...I turned the oven onto the lowest setting for 5 minutes and then turned it off. By the time I put my dough inside it was a perfect temperature...it keep the temp around 70 I kept the oven light one which was the other tip.

Everything else went really well but then came the part to shape the dough...which I really need practise on but I managed as best as I could. I decided to make 3 batards instead of experimenting with other shapes. The instructions where very detailed on this part and I thought that would be my best option. Next time I make this I am going to try and make one big round bread.

I was in a little rush to go over to my in-laws house for dinner the night I was making the bread and I let it have the final rise for about 2 hours but I really couldn't wait...so I put it in the oven. Ok that wasn't my only mistake but for some odd reason I had an oven temperature of 400 stuck in my head. Even after reading the recipe a million times before and while I was making the bread...400 was still stuck in my head. Luckily for me I realized this after 10 minutes and turned up the temperature for the rest of the baking time.

I am really glad that I had to go some where right after I took the bread out of the oven because as a lot of fellow DBers have said the hardest part of this recipe is the part where you have to wait at least 2 hours before you should cut into the bread.

Once we got home from visiting my in-laws Mike and I ate an entire batard at midnight before we went to bed. OH MY GOD IT WAS HEAVEN!!! The first thing I thought was holy cow did I just make this...and the second thing I thought of was that I needed to go out and get some Brie cheese for this bread. Mike said that this was by far the best bread that I have ever made. The only thing he thought was that the bread was too salty but I liked that about this bread.

So once again Thank You Breadchick Mary (The Sour Dough) & Sara (I Like to Cook) for picking this recipe and for getting me started on baking my own bread.

February Recipe Summary

The month of February's category was chocolate or something red.

Jenn's Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup or Red Velvet Cake
Heidi's Chocolate Truffle Cake

I did make something for this month but I didn't really like the way it tasted or looked so I didn't post about it. I also made this month Chocolate Chip cookies but I used the recipe on the back of the bag so I don't feel like I can use it as this months requirement.

When Bananas go bad...but end up Good!

My son is really starting talk now and it is really cute with some of the words he says. One word that I love is his word for banana...he just says Nana. So when we got to the supermarket for our weekly trip and he points and says Nana...I have to buy a bunch. The only thing is that we aren't really big banana eaters. He will eat one or two but after that he is done for the week. So I always end up having a few left over that just start to go but this time I remembered in time to make some banana bread!

A couple of months ago my husband was going to have a bake sale at work that he volunteered me to make my pumpkin bread recipe. So I went out and bought what I can only discribe as a mini loaf pan. I also went out and found extra large cupcake paper to line the pan with so I didn't have to worry about them sticking to the pan. Then Mike told me that I didn't have to bake because someone else already signed up for pumpkin bread and he didn't know what else to sign up for. So I have been waiting for the chance to bake something in my pan.

I usually make a Honey Banana bread recipe but the last time I made it I wasn't too happy with the taste. So this time I made the recipe Heidi gave me which is her husband's grandmother's recipe. I really only made half a recipe because I only had 3 bananas and the full recipe calls for 6 bananas. I also put sparkeling sugar on half the loaves and kept half plain.

I haven't tasted them yet but I remember them being really super yummy.

Lasagna Rolls

Here is one of the meals I've made for Kevin since he's been getting busier at work. This is just a twist on his favorite meal. Thanks to Heidi for giving me the idea of rolling the lasagna noodles instead of laying them flat. I had one roll when I was over Kevins and it was very good. I'd do it again, and maybe next time add something more too it, like spinach or something.

Dutch Windmill Cookies

I was at Mrs. Pennings on Sunday and she made me some tea ( coffee for her and Kevin ) and she served us these Dutch Windmill Cookies. They are awesome!! They taste like a gingerbread cookie. I tried to read the box, but it was in Dutch =). Kevin said he grew up on these cookies and they were one of his favorites. They were perfect for dipping in a nice hot cup of tea. I'd love to find a recipe for cookies like these. I'll have to do some serching and see what I can find. If anyone out there has one and wouldnt mind passing it along, I'd be grateful. I've had other really good Dutch treats over there...one of these days I'll ask Mrs. Pennings how to make some of them. I know Kevin loves them, and he's not a hugh sweets fan. I've noticed the Dutch treats arent too sweet.

Shrimp and Cabbage Lo Mein

For this past weeks Friday night Lent meal a recipe from the current EveryDay Food magazine caught my eye. Well actually 2 recipes caught my eye and I had planned to make both but it didn't end up happening.

Every month the magazine has a section in it called In Season and for March the vegetable/fruit that is in season is Green Cabbage. They have a recipe for homemade sauerkraut (which I am going to try the next time we have hot dogs for dinner), cabbage and fennel slaw, and sweet and sour cabbage wedges. However, the one that really got my attention was the Shrimp and Cabbage Lo Mien. The picture looked super yummy and it was a perfect dish to try out for our Friday night no meat meal.



Shrimp and Cabbage Lo Mein
Everyday Food - A Martha Stewart Magazine
Serves 4

8 ounces linguine
coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 head green cabbage (about 2 pounds), halved, cored, and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, for serving (optional)


1) Cook linguine in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, return to pot, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, sugar, and red pepper flakes; set mixture aside.

2) While pasta is cooking, heat oil in large skillet over medium. Add shrimp and half the garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until shrimp are opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate (reserve skillet).

3) Place cabbage, remaining garlic, and 1/2 cup water in skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is crisp-tender, 6 to 7 minutes. To pot with linguine, add cabbage, soy-sauce mixture, and shrimp; toss to combine. Serve, garnished with cilantro, if desired.



Review: Mike and I both liked the taste of this recipe and thought it was good. The other comment Mike made was he liked this dinner because it was light and not heavy...something perfect for the summer. Recently I have become a really big fan of cilantro and in this dish it really does add that little extra something to the recipe. The one pet peeve I have about this recipe is the time it says for prep (which I didn't put on the recipe above). I guess it estimates that it would take you 20 minutes to prep this recipe...I think i might have taken me 20 minutes just to prep the ginger alone. The next time I make this recipe I will buy a smaller cabbage or just use half instead of the amount I used or maybe I just needed to slice it thinner then I did. Overall this recipe has a nice flavor and is something I would make again.

Disney Vacation

This past week, Mike and I went to Disney World for his brothers wedding, he got married on Tuesday at the Grand Floridian. Since Mike has never been to Disney World and the last time I went was about 16 years ago, we decided to make a vacation out of it. We arrived on Friday and did not stop moving until we came home on Thursday. For the most part a lot has stayed the same, but there as been some additions and improvements.

We stayed at one of the Disney Resorts, Port Orleans Riverside. It was a really nice place to stay and Disney makes it very painless to get around if you don't have a car. We took advantage of their Disney Express package, which is that they pick you and your bags up from the airport and bring you to your resort. Your bags arrive about 3-4 hours after you do, but that wasn't a big deal for us since we arrived at the hotel around 11:00am. Our room wasn't ready since check-in isn't until 3pm. So we walked around the resort a little and had lunch. They had given us a number to call to check to see when our room became available. The guy that helped us said to check after an hour or so, because a lot of the time they are ready earlier. So we called around 12:00pm and it was actually ready. We then dropped off our jackets and carry on bags and was off to the Magic Kingdom. The nice thing was when we got back to our room later that night our bags were in there waiting for us.


While at Disney I saw some thing that I knew I had to post about. The first thing I saw rice krispy treats in the shape of Mickey heads. I was like I so can make those. They had two kinds. Huge and normal size. The normal size ones had sticks in them to make them rice krispy pops...or should I say Mickey Pops! I bought a Mickey Head cookie cutter so I can try to make them.


Another thing I had to show you is the breakfast Mike had the next morning at our resort . He had Banana Stuffed French Toast....oh my...they were soooooo good. Need I say any more.


Now two things I had to show you from the wedding...the cake and the dessert. Both were really tasty.

Wedding Cake was white cake with chocolate filling and the dessert was white chocolate mousse in a white chocolate slipper and chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup. The red sauce was raspberry. Yum!!


Another cool thing about the wedding was that they had Mickey and Minnie there. Of course we had to get our picture with them.



















Mike and I both had a great time, and was bummed when we had to go from 75 degree weather to 20 degree weather and snow. Oh well that's life I guess! Till next time!

I Need My Coffee!!!

Oh my...who would think finding a new coffee pot would be so hard! Last Friday Jacob decided to grab the carafe and dropped it on the floor. We have a Braun coffee maker that you can't find in any store and can only replace the carafe from an online retailer. Which means we would have to wait at least a week before we get it...I need my coffee I can't wait a week for it.

So Friday and Saturday night we spent a lot of time looking for a replacement because this is going to keep happening to us. One time Mike just grabbed the carafe to wash it and it cracked. I think we are on our 5th replacement so it is time to replace the whole thing...so we thought.

There is nothing out there that we both liked and believe me we saw everything. I was so sick of looking that I was even thinking of just switching to tea...don't worry I came to my senses really quick on that one. Thankfully my in-laws had a spare carafe to our coffee maker which they are letting us borrow.

We decided to order coffee from an online retailer that gives away one of their coffee pots for free. So for a quarter of what it would have cost us to buy a new system we are getting 2 different 1/2 lb packages of coffee, a free stainless steel coffee maker, a travel mug and a thermal carafe. I figure if this coffee maker doesn't work out maybe there will be something else on the market that we might like...if nothing else I get some coffee out of the deal.

While I am talking about drinking coffee here is a recipe I might try the next time I have people over for brunch.

Thai Coffee
2 tablespoons ground coffee beans
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
water
2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

DIRECTIONS
Place coffee and cardamom in the filter of your coffee machine. Place enough water to make 2 cups of coffee in the machine. Turn on the coffee machine.

Pour brewed coffee into 2 coffee cups, and stir 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk into each cup. Serve.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

I am happy to say that I made my first new non-pizza/pasta Lent meal and it was a success. I have a ton of cookbooks and decided that I would find a recipe from one of those to make first before I hunt for a recipe on the web. I am also excited to say I got it from my friend Martha Stewart's Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook. One thing I loved about this cookbook is that every recipe has a picture of the dish. It is one of the things the made me want to make this dinner for tonight.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

Serves 6

Prep: 25 minutes

Total: 1 hour

4 flour tortillas (10-inch)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 jalapeno chile, minced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
12 ounces beer or 1 1/2 cups water
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn
4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a paring knife, trim tortillas to fit a 9-inch springform pan, using the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeño, garlic, and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add beans and beer to skillet, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in corn and scallions, and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Fit a trimmed tortilla (To trim a tortilla: Center the bottom of the springform pan on top of a tortilla. Trace around it with a paring knife. Remove excess.) in bottom of springform pan; layer with 1/4 of the beans and 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat three times, using 1 cup cheese on top layer. Bake until hot and cheese is melted, 20 to 25 minutes. Unmold pie; sprinkle with scallions. To serve, slice into wedges.

Notes: Serve this brightly colored, layered tortilla pie with salsa and sour cream on the side. You can assemble the pie ahead of time, then bake it just before serving.

My Review: I have to say at first I didn't think that this would be satisfying as a meal for Mike and I. So I had bought a couple of extra stuff in case it wasn't and we were still hungry after eating it. I was SO wrong because it was so filling. Even while I was putting the pie together I was still a little concerned about it being enough for us. I really liked the taste of the pie and wouldn't really change anything in the recipe. Mike said it needed more cheese but other then that he liked it very much. One of the best parts is that I put this together while Jacob was taking his nap and stuck it in the refrigerator. I never know when Mike is coming home from work and thought this would be the best thing to do. I put it in the oven for about 20 minutes...all the cheese was melted on top but it was still sort of cold in the middle. I was super hungry and couldn't wait any longer but the next time I think I would put it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Oh the only changes I made in the recipe was I used a quarter of the jalapeno just incase Jacob wanted to try some. He loves black beans, corn, cheese...really everything this pie has and I was afriad too much jalapeno would be bad for him. I also forgot to buy scallions so I used a red onion instead which I thought went well with this recipe. Next time I might add some cilantro on top if have some on hand. This might also make a great appetizer...maybe make it in a mini form or use muffin cups and do a couple of layers instead of four layers.

Snickerdoodles for my Snickerdoodle

So every year I make something for Mike for Valentine's Day. I was going back and forth on what to make him. I finally settled on Snickerdoodles. Something that I have been wanting to make and since he's not a big fan of chocolate stuff I figured these cookies would be perfect.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

My Review: This was an easy recipe to make. I haven't given them to Mike yet, so I don't know if likes them . But I have already sampled two cookies. They are yummmy. I was also pleased that the recipe actually made about 40+ cookies. Definitely something to add the keeper pile.