Caitlin teaches me how to make bread

I suppose this is technically a recipe from the Joy of Cooking, but when Caitlin and I made bread this weekend, she seemed to know it by heart, and add her own little twists, so I'll give her recipe cred.  The recipe below is my own re-write, drawing from what Caitlin told me as well as the recipe from the Joy of Cooking.  This bread is great-- we made one loaf with cinnamon and raisins, and I eat it with some awesome peach-raspberry jam I found.  The other loaf we made rosemary and sage, which is good with savory dinners or just for lunch.

Whole-Grain Bread

--Water, about 3 cups
--One packet of yeast
--One egg
--1/4 cup melted butter
--1.5 tsp salt
--Honey to taste, probably at least 1/2 cup
--Whole grain bread flour, about 8 cups but probably more

• Heat up some water.  Dump in one packet of yeast.  Let it sit for a while.  Observe how weird it is that you are cooking with something that is actually alive.
• Beat an egg in a small bowl with the melted butter and salt.  Add this to the yeast mixture. Mmm
• Pour in the honey.  (you can also use maple syrup or plain sugar) As Caitlin says, no matter how much honey you put in, it usually won't overwhelm the taste.  However, be warned that your bread will be on the sweet side, so if you're going for an herb bread like rosemary, you might want to ease up on the honey.  But definitely don't skip it all together.
• Add any other mix-ins you want: herbs, seeds, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.  This is the time to be adventurous.
• Add flour.  A lot.  Stir until you can't, then knead.  Don't knead it too much or else the bread will be too tough.
• Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for at least an hour.  
• Transfer it to a small loaf pan, cover it again with plastic wrap, and let it rise for another half hour minimum.  More time is fine too.
• Bake it at 350 for 45 minutes.  Bask in the delicious smell that fills the air in your kitchen (or your whole house if you're lucky).  Think about how cool it is that you actually made bread.

Yield: 2 loaves

Is it a pasta or a rice?

Orzo: a food that amazes me.  If you don't know, it's pasta that is roughly the shape and size of rice.  What I'm wondering is what would happen if you made rice the shape and size of pasta.  But I'm sure there are gluten-free people who are far ahead of me and have created various rice pastas.  Needless to say, the following recipe is delicious.

Orzo with Chicken and Asiago

(My mom's version of a Cooking Light recipe.)

24 oz. fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

12 ounces chicken cut into bite-size pieces

1-1/4 cups uncooked Orzo

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup grated Asiago (divided)

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp dried basil (or rosemary, or oregano)

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

• Cut up a couple of chicken breasts into small pieces and sauté in a little chopped garlic until no longer pink (if you have left over chicken, just use that instead)
• In a heavy sauce pan, bring the broth to a boil and add orzo
• Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. (The orzo will still be pretty wet – all of the broth does not cook out.) 
• Remove from heat. Stir in peas, chicken, herbs, ¼ cup of the Asiago, salt and pepper. 

Makes 4 servings. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon of the remaining cheese.

Unpredictably delicious

You'd never expect to find a favorite cookie recipe on the packaging of Crisco, the gross gelatinous vegetable shortening.  And yet I've been making these cookies for years and still can't get enough.  Thanks, Crisco.


Chewy Brownie Cookies
Makes 4.5 dozen
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 9-10 min                    

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup Butter flavor Crisco (vegetable shortening)
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips


Heat oven to 375 degrees


In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, shortening, water and vanilla; beat at medium speed until well blended. Beat eggs into creamed mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda; mix into the creamed mixture at a low speed just until blended.


Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon, 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.


Bake 9 minutes or until cookies are set. If you bake 2 sheets at one time, alternate their positions in the oven half-way through.


Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. When completely cool, dist with confectioner’s sugar if you like.


Variations: you can use any kind of chips you like (white chocolate, peanut butter) or replace some of the chips with chopped nuts