Herb bread

For this recipe you can make small double loaves or dinner rolls (and about a million variations beyond that, but for now we're keeping it simple).

This recipe can be halved if you find it makes too much.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast or 1 heaping tsp  (adding a touch more yeast if doing more whole wheat than white wheat so it will help the heavier wheat rise well)
• 1 Cup warm water (you may need a standby 1/4 - 1/2 Cup warm water for later when mixing)
• 1 tsp vegan sugar or granulated
• 1-2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 tsp or more of each favorite herb if dried,  Unless your herbs are especially potent then cut in half -1 TBSP of each if fresh
• (basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme nearly anything)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 slightly heaping Cups unbleached white flour (you can do a whole wheat version by doing 50/50 or 75/25 whole wheat -white but adding a touch more yeast to help the heavier whole wheat rise well)
• 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
• Small amount of cornmeal --  I use polenta cornmeal grits, to keep bread from sticking to the pan while cooking.  You don't need more than a sprinkle and the extra will just burn around the bread smelling like burnt popcorn.

This bread can have cured olives, red pepper, hot pepper flakes with seeds and/or feta worked into the dough and voila! Mediterranean table bread for kings! Get freaky and make it "wow wee" (said like Christopher Walken).

You can leave out the herbs and add a dominant other ingredient to gear it towards whatever your meal may be.  This dough makes an excellent Soft Pizza Dough and a wonderful Stromboli (both coming soon).

Preheat oven to 200 degrees to create a warm environment for the dough to rise on and to help the yeast be happy.

In the 1 (or more as needed) Cup of warm water, add your yeast and within 5-10 minutes the yeast will become frothy and foamy.  You can add the sugar to the water and yeast or you can add sugar to the flour.  It doesn't matter so much in this case.

In a bowl, mix flours, salt, herbs, olive oil and then the water and yeast. Stir with spoon until a silky ball starts to try to form.

If a lot of the flour is on the sides of the bowl, add a touch more water and press into the dough.  On a floured surface, turn out your dough.  Knead the dough by bringing in the outer edges to the center and then with the heal of your hand work gently in towards the table and away from you.  Repeat this motion until a ball forms collecting light amounts of flour from the surface and a silky dusty dough ball is within your hands.  The underside will not be so pretty, but that is fine!  In a clean bowl large enough for the dough to double in size, pour a TBSP of olive oil.  Put the ugly side of dough down into this and gently slide and swirl the dough around the the bowl to coat the sides in the oil and now as the dough rises it will not cling to the bowl and will come right out for your next step.

Cover with a clean towel and place in a warm spot to rise for 45 minutes.  I usually use the stove top since the oven is already heated to 200 degrees.

Nearing the last moments of the rise, preheat your oven to 400.

Make sure the oven rack is in the middle of the oven.

On a lightly floured surface, cut the dough ball in half.  Form it into the final result (a silky dough ball, a tad tighter feeling than the first time) slicing an X on top of the bread.  You want to make a shallow cut so the bread doesn't spill out of itself as it bakes.  The X gives it room to grow, helps it bake thoroughly and makes it look pretty swell.  Place onto the cornmeal grit coated baking sheet with good space between the loaves. I wet my clean hands with water and just touch the tops of the loaves with my wet hand.  It helps the crust to not burn and also helps it get crispy.  Bake at 400 for an uninterrupted 15 minutes. Check and cool, or check and add 5 minutes.  When the bread crust does not yield to your touch and it sounds hollow when knocked on it's bottom then it is done.

This is a very moist bread and keeps for a couple days easily (unless its eaten).  I just slice pieces off as needed then keep the cut side flat against the counter or cutting board. This keeps the crust crusty and the inside moist where bagging it can ruin the crustyness.  ENJOY!

Whole Wheat Focaccia

This is a FAST focaccia.  It wont have the complexity of a tenderly loved overnight focaccia. Chances are no one will complain. You can get wild with what goes on it or in it. ( I like to add jalapeno seeds on top) This recipe makes one loaf and you can make a smaller loaf which is much thicker by not rolling it out too vigorously in the end stages and that way you have something thick enough to cut for sandwiches and roll it out thinner if topping with cheese or sauces.

Directions:
3 cups whole wheat flour (this recipe isn't JUST for whole wheat so you can mix it up and half it with another fluffy flour)
1 teaspoon or 1 packet active dry yeast (you're safe with it rising as long as you cover the top of the water in the measuring cup, little more, little less wont hurt)
1 1/4 cups warm water (if the water is too warm it kills the yeast, so it should be warm to the inside of the wrist and a little less warm to the fingers)
6 cloves fresh garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt (my house likes it's salt so we use a coarse sea salt to top it with so it has that kick to it)
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
3 Tbsp olive oil

Oil for brushing
fresh black pepper and coarse sea salt to taste (my house likes it's salt so we use a coarse sea salt to top it with so it has that kick to it) Garnishes include but are not limited to: oil, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper(s). Anything like olives or softer things (feta) I recommend blending into the bread.


In the mixing cup:
Combine warm water and yeast. (let stand for at least 5 minutes so the yeast can activate and becomes foamy, if nothing changes stir the yeast with a spoon to get it saturated and let sit another 5 minutes)


In a large bowl:
Mix 1 tsp salt and flour together, you want the salt either already blended in or under the flour as it will kill the yeast. Stir in olive oil, 2 Tbsp chopped rosemary, pour in the water and yeast.

Work into a dough.
Add more flour if dough is too sticky.

Turn the dough on to a floured surface.

Knead the dough for a few minutes, in a folding motion until dough is smooth and 'happy' - when you see this in bread books it means silky and bouncy. Too much and it will be leather.

Grease the large bowl with olive oil and plop dough into it. Roll around a few times to coat dough in a gloss of oil.

Cover bowl with a warm damp cloth or clean dish towel. It is best to have towels just for bread and pastry baking, keep them clean and make sure they haven't any terry cloth loops to catch debris.  Paper towels may sink into dough, so are not recommended! I keep the dough near the stove and set the stove to a low warm setting to help the dough have a warm environment.

Let dough rise for 30-60 minutes. {Quick-rise yeast allows for only a 30 minutes rise time. Regular yeast is about an hour. Generally the longer you give a dough time the better it tastes, this isn't a wife's tale of patience making you hungrier it is the nature of the yeast  PUN NOT INTENDED like with sourdoughs which use a poolish (dough reserved from past recipe kept in the fridge and then added to the new dough) it adds a punch of flavor. But this at it's under 2 hours total prep time is considered a fast focaccia although faster if you use rapid yeast, I use Bob's Red Mill and not the rapid yeast, I have found that there is something in Redstar that kills me.  BRM is in the refrigerated section of many stores.} Be careful of yeasts as a lot of them are tainted with the bad stuff.

After the rise:
Punch out the dough. Just the one will do to collapse the dough.
Place it on your floured surface and knead gently a few more times. Should be silky and stretchy.

With a rolling pin, roll out dough to about 1 inch thick. You may modify this based on how thick you can your bread. 

Place dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Poke rows of holes in the dough with your fingers.

Brush or drizzle or spritz top of dough with a mixture of your remaining ingredients: olive oil,  chopped and whole rosemary and chopped garlic. Sprinkle some course sea salt on top as well.  Let rise again for 20 minutes, in a warm spot. ( I often skip this last step - put my temp on the oven and let it rest on the pan just until the oven is hot enough after transferring the dough and then popped it in the oven, so maybe 5 or 10 minutes - this is just to regain a little fluffiness from its handling trauma and seems fine enough) A good time to have the oven near ready.

Bake:
Place your dough in a 350 degree pre-heated oven. Let bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a light brown crust forms. Check bread for firmness with a toothpick. Let the bread cool for a few minutes before slicing.  You can cook it to you own preference. Behold the glory you have created.

Berry dressing

Dear God, do I love berries.  Nothing is more amazing than a berry vinagrette drizzled over soft buttery leaves!  Want to power pack that chicken or turkey sandwich?!  Put a berry dressing on it!

Yes, that was a lot of exclamations.  I mean it.  I can't get enough of them.  You can alter any of these basics to yield the most sumptuous sauce and add your own complexities as well.

I used frozen blueberries, but of course you can use fresh.
Blueberry dressing:
1 c blueberries
3 tsp sugar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
a tiny sprinkle of salt

Pour berries into a pan and simmer them until they leak some of their juices as they look and smell warm add sugar and salt, mash loosely with a fork and let cool... while still warm add vinegar to the berries.  Pour this into a container and let sit in the fridge for at least 3 days.  The wait is hard, but the berries become more infused through the vinegar.  You can always add things to this to get other tones.  Sprig of mint during the heating stage, a dash of cinnamon... its a good base for going nuts.

I like this on spinach and butter lettuce.  I had it on a turkey sandwich and I made a pasta salad with spinach and turkey with it.  It's a delight and helps me get through the end of the winter.

 

Blueberry dressing