"Stuffing" Herb Bread

I came up with this recipe for the markets when I was preggers.  It is just my same old Challah bread recipe, but not braided (although you could for Thanksgivukah), and seasoned with herbs.  I also marketed it under Scarborough Fair Bread, if you remember the Simon and Garfunkel song, which reminded me which herbs to use, although I don't remember the exact amount.  Whatever didn't sell I would turn into stuffing.  Mind you none of this is gluten free.  It makes the most amazing sandwiches, or just plain buttered toast.  Making bread isn't as much work as it sounds, and you'll have 4 beautiful loaves.

7 cups of bread flour*
2 Tablespoons of instant rise (no proof) yeast
3 Tablespoons of sugar
2 cups of hot water (105 F)
1 Tablespoon of salt
1/4 cup Oil
3 Eggs

2 Tablespoons dried Parsley
4 teaspoons dried ground Sage
2 teaspoons dried Rosemary
1 teaspoon dried Thyme

Blend the flour, yeast and sugar.  Pour in the hot water and stir slightly.  Add the remaining ingredients, make sure to break the yolks.  Stir slightly till somewhat incorporated.  Using the dough hook, and a stand mixer, beat on medium-low for 5 minutes.  The dough should be slightly sticky, but not runny.  Pour a couple of Tablespoons of oil over all and flip and turn to grease under and all around.

Trick for a perfect rise:  Fill a tea kettle with water and bring to a boil.  Set it and the dough in the greased bowl inside your oven.  The heat and steam from the kettle create the perfect environment.  If it is particularly cold in your kitchen, do slightly warm the oven, 105 F.

Let rise for 45 minutes.  Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 4 pieces.  Knead slightly and shape into loaves, place in greased (and floured if metal) loaf pans.  Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Let the loaves rise (not in the oven this time) for another 25 minutes.

Bake for 25 minutes in the middle of the oven.  Give an extra 5-10 if the bread doesn't seem done (sounds hollow when you thump it).

*If you don't have bread flour, you can add 1 T. of gluten for every cup to your all-purpose flour.  If you don't have gluten on hand don't go buy it, just buy some bread flour, or else wing it.

Red Bean Curry or Rajma

While looking for recipes of things to do with my already cooked small red kidney beans, that isn't red beans and rice for the umpteenth time this year, I found this recipe, I modified the recipe I tried from the Smitten Kitchen, for ease of use in my kitchen.  Being without fresh ginger or green chilies, I used the paste I had.  And I also ended up using tomato paste and extra water instead of tomato sauce.  It turned out really well, so thought we all, including my 22 month old who wiped up the sauce and slurped it off her fingers.

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
 1 medium onion, finely diced

1 Tablespoon Green Chili Paste (I used Thai Kitchen)
OR
1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large green chili, minced

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 15 oz can of Tomato Sauce
3 cups cooked, and drained red kidney beans
1 cup water
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Heat oil in a 8 quart pot over medium heat for one minute. Add onion and cook for a few minutes until just getting brown.  Add ginger, garlic, and green chili or the paste and saute for one minute. Add the tomato sauce, water, salt, kidney beans, and remaining spices and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Stir in cilantro.  Serve over, or stir in, rice.  Top with plain yogurt or sour cream for extra deliciousness.

Smokey Black Bean Chili

4 cups Cooked Black Beans, drained
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 T. Bacon Fat
1 large yellow onion
Green and Yellow Bell Peppers
1 T. cumin
1 T. oregano
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, blitzed
1 teaspoon Salt

Saute onions in bacon fat until translucent or browned, add tomatoes and remaining ingredients.  As it was I had to add a little water because my diced tomatoes weren't very juicy.  Bring to a simmer.  Let simmer about 30 minutes.  I thought the flavor was good.  It didn't taste too much like chipotles, it had a good heat, but it seemed thin.  I think this would be best served with sour cream to round out the flavor.

Baba Ghanoush: Cold Eggplant Dip

A lot like Hummus, I mean exactly like it but instead of mashed chic peas there is roasted eggplant.  The literal translation means "spoiled father." 

About the same amount of effort as hummus too, but instead of making a pot (or opening a can) of beans, you will need to cook some eggplant.  I have never had success in oven roasting, and it's a lot of time to wait an hour for one or two eggplants to cook.  I always end up not cooking it long enough, and even then I can never get the peel off.  But what harm is there in blitzing the peel, if it's organic.  Often the most colorful part of the veggie is where all the nutrients are.  I imagine an easier way, and less time consuming-if not a bit more labor intensive, would be to peel the eggplant, cube and saute until soft. 

Otherwise:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Using a fork, poke holes all around the eggplant(s).  Roast for 45 minutes or until soft, timing depends on the size of eggplant.  Once they have cooled, scrape the inside into a bowl and discard the peel.  Even better if you can roast them over a charcoal grill or fire to achieve a smoky flavor.

For every 2 cups cooked eggplant add to it:

•  2 Tablespoons Tahini
• 1 large clove of garlic
• Juice of 1 Lemon, roughly 1/4 cup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blitz, or else mash by hand, in which case mince or press the garlic.  Feel free to dress it with chopped fresh parsley and good extra virgin olive oil.

Fritata: Spinach, Red Onion, Feta

1-2 Tablespoons Butter

1 Red Onion, quartered and sliced
10 oz. package Frozen Spinach, thawed
8 Eggs
4 Tablespoons water
8 oz. Feta, crumbled
3 Tomatoes, sliced

Preheat oven to 350.  In a oven-safe skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat and gently cook the onions till they start to brown.  Turn off the heat, add in the spinach and stir.  In a bowl beat the eggs and water, crumble in the feta and mix.  Pour over the onions and spinach, gently lift the vegetables so the egg mixture pours under and around.  Layer the sliced tomatoes on top.  Pop the skillet into the oven until the top is set, about 35 minutes.  Let cool for 15, slice and enjoy.

This recipe was a little spinach heavy which sort of overwhelmed the feta.

Green Onion Schmear

I absolutely can't believe I left this recipe off my blog for so long.  I make this a lot.  I take it to parties.  I serve it at parties.  You won't believe how much you can eat in one sitting until you see it gone.

1 package of cream cheese, 8 oz.
2-3 green onions, washed and chopped, greens and whites
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few dashes of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave, in a microwave safe dish (not plastic).  With an electric mixer, or in a food processer, mix in all ingredients till smooth.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but overnight preferably.  Serve with crudites, bagels or hash brown patties and lox, pretzels, or anything you think would be good.

Fall Harvest Soup with Sage and White Pepper

1 Butternut Squash, peeled and diced
1 large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup of Carrots, peeled and sliced

I finally admitted that I don't actually like Butternut squash, it's the carrots and sweet potatoes I'm after.  This is one of those soups where you could use all carrots if that's what you wanted.

4 Tablespoons of Butter or Chicken Fat
1 large Leek, washed thoroughly and chopped
1/2 large white or yellow onion, diced
1 Granny Smith apple, diced (skin on if organic)
4 cups (1 quart) Chicken Broth, Gluten and MSG Free (watch out for "yeast" and "hydrolyzed protein" ingredients)
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons of salt, depending on how salty your broth is
1/2 cup of all-natural Sour Cream, or if you can find it-Creme Fraiche.

Melt butter or Chicken fat in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute leeks, onions, and apple, adding ingredients separately every few minutes in the order listed. Saute until just turning brown.  Add the broth.  Peel, seed, and chunk Butternut, peel and chunk Sweet Potato, and peel and slice carrots into the broth.  Add seasonings and bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer, lid on, till squash and potatoes and carrots are tender (about 20 Minutes). Be careful, ingredients are boiling hot. Transfer back to the stock pot.

Using an Immersion blender, and the lid as a shield, puree the soup. 

Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.  Serves 8 as a starter, 4 as a meal. 

Very good with brown rice, sausage crumbles, and cooked kale.