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

Yes, I ate something with chicken liver AND mushrooms

As I will be living in Miami for the next few months and visiting my Grandma pretty frequently, I plan to steal as many recipes as I can from her. Here's the first of (hopefully) many to come. We ate it with grilled chicken breasts and salad. And of course Diet Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey.

GRANDMA'S NO-FRILLS RISOTTO

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 chicken liver, skinned and finely chopped
• Several pieces of dried Porcini mushrooms, soaked in water until soft (about 1/2 hour) and coarsely chopped to make about 2 tbsp
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup rice, preferably arborio
• 2.5 cups chicken stock*
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Soak the mushrooms.  Chop liver and onions.
2. In a medium-sized pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion, liver and mushrooms. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are wilted and translucent.  Bring chicken stock to boil in a separate pot.

3. Add the tomato paste and rice. Stir the rice to coat.

4. Add the boiling stock to the rice, and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.

Serve with a pat of butter and parmesan cheese.

Yield: 4 servings

*You may substitute some of the chicken stock for the liquid obtained from soaking and draining the mushrooms.

Update: 10/20/09

I made this recipe on my own for the first time.  It wasn't too hard, and it actually tasted good! I think I burned the liver/onion/mushroom bit a little, so make sure you stir it a lot and maybe put some extra oil in.  And don't turn the burner on too high! Cutting up the chicken liver was def the most adventurous part for me.  I went to Publix and bought a pack of like 9 or some similarly ridiculous number.  Then I put them in individual baggies and froze them.  It was gross.  There was blood dripping off them.  I sugggest rinsing them, then freezing them in the bag.  Mostly because then when I went to use one tonight, as it thawed and I cut it, the blood sort of oozed out in a really disgusting and unappetizing manner.  I may have cried more over this than I did when I was cutting the onions (okay that's a lie, but it really was gross, and as an ex-vegetarian I felt pretty guilty).  Anyway, it was an overall success, delicious, and I definitely recommend it!