Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

I haven't posted for a long time but I am going to try to do better.  It isn't that I am not trying new recipes, it just seems like a long ways to go and get the camera to take a picture of what I have made.  I have become addicted to watching a cooking show on TV and now have some of their magazines and recipe books.  My next few posts will be from these.  This bread is from the show Cooks Country and also published in a Cooks Illustrated magazine.  It is a show on PBS.  I know that the recipe seems long and complicated but not really when you get to the end and you taste the best wheat bread in your life.  It is so light and soft and moist.  So take a little time and try it.  I will add a few comments of a few changes that I made to the recipe.

Biga

2 cups bread flour

1 cup warm water

½ tsp. instant yeast

 

Soaker

3-5 cups whole wheat flour(It calls for 3 and use 3 if you are using store bought whole wheat flour but if you have just ground your own it might take more.  You want this to form a stiff ball, when you knead it.  They probably used store bought flour and  I grind my own flour and found that it needed about 5 cups to get it to this stage.)

½ cup wheat germ

2 cups milk

 

Dough

 

¼ cup honey (I like my bread a little sweeter so I added a little extra honey, maybe a tablespoon)

4 tsp. table salt

2 Tbl. Instant yeast

6 Tbl. Butter

2 Tbl. Vegetable oil

 

For the biga:  Combine bread flour, water and yeast in large bowl and stir until completely mixed.  Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temp. overnight. (8 – 24 hours)

For the soaker:  Combine whole wheat flour, wheat germ, and milk in large bowl and stir until it is stiff.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth.  Return to bowl and cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge overnight – same as the biga.

For the dough:  Tear soaker apart into 1 inch pieces and place in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook.  Add biga, honey, salt, yeast, butter and oil.  Mix on low speed until it starts to mix together.  Increase speed and knead until dough is smooth and elastic.  At this point I usually have to add an extra cup of bread flour because of the extra honey that I add.  Be your own judge of how you want your dough but mine is not real stiff.  Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and shape into ball and place in greased container.  Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes.

Gently press down on center of dough to deflate.  Holding edge of dough with fingertips, fold partially raised dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle.  Turn bowl 90 degrees and fold again.  Do this 6 more times.  Cover and allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

Spray two bread pans with nonstick cooking spray.  Turn dough out onto floured surface and divide into 2 pieces.  Pat each piece into an 8 by 17 inch rectangle.  With short side facing you, roll dough toward you into firm cylinder, keeping dough tights.  Pinch the dough together.  Place the seam side down into loaf pan.  Repeat with second piece of dough.  Cover loaves and allow to rise at room temperature until double in size. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with baking stone on shelf.  Place a pan on the next rack down under the baking stone and fill with boiling water.  Place bread pans on baking stone and turn the oven temp. down to 350.  Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes until the internal temperature of the bread is 200 degrees.  (It is important to use a thermometer. I thought it looked done after about 25 minutes, but when I used a thermometer it really took about 40-50 minutes and the bread was perfect.)  Let cool in pans for 5 minutes and then remove to cooling racks.

Hot + Cheesy Corn Dip

For dinner the other night chips and dip just sounded amazing so I found this recipe from http://www.howsweeteats.com, and it was to die for. So here it is. Hope you enjoy!

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped

1 teaspoon olive oil

3 1/2 cups sweet corn

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

4 green onions, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 (17 ounce) container of 2% Greek yogurt

5 ounces cheddar cheese, freshly grated

5 ounces monterey jack cheese, freshly grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add bacon. Fry until crispy and all fat is rendered, the remove bacon and let drain on a paper towel. Add corn to the skillet, cooking and stirring until golden and a bit caramely – about 6-8 minutes. Remove corn and add it to a large bowl. Add olive oil to the skillet, then add onions and red peppers with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in jalapeno, green onions and garlic, cooking for just 2-3 minutes. Transfer mixture to the bowl, adding in the yogurt, paprika, bacon and 4 ounces of each cheese. Stir until combined, then top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is golden on top. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or crackers.

Buffalo Chicken Eggrolls

These are absolutely amazing, and everyone needs to try to them. I adapted this recipe from canyoustayfordinner.com. She has lots of great recipes.

2 chicken breasts
Frank's Red Hot Sauce
Crumbled Feta Cheese
12 egg roll wrappers

First cook the chicken(I boiled it), then let it cool and shred. Then add some Frank's Red Hot Sauce to the chicken just until it is pretty well coated. Then layout your egg roll wrappers, and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the chicken and a little bit of feta cheese. Wipe the sides of the egg roll wrapper with water, and wrap it up like an egg roll. Then fry them in oil, about two minutes on each side. Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Creamy Quinoa Primavera

Okay, so here is another quinoa dish for you that my family really enjoys. This includes my husband who isn't a big veggie fan but there are a ton in this and they are just so finely chooped you don't even notice them. I originally found the recipe at http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/2011/03/creamy-quinoa-primavera.html but I did make a few changes.

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
3 cups chicken broth
2-4 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon butter
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3-5 cups finely chopped pieces of assorted uncooked vegetables (I do these really fine and use my little food processor so they are about the same size as the quinoa.  This way if you have a picky eater they won't even notice the vegetables)
1/4 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Directions
Rinse quinoa thoroughly; drain. Bring quinoa and broth to boil in a 2-quart saucepan; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until broth is absorbed. While quinoa is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook garlic in butter for about one minute, stirring frequently, until golden. Stir in vegetables. Cook about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir cream cheese and basil into cooked quinoa. Toss vegetables with quinoa mixture and sprinkle with cheese. (You can use any vegetables you want.  I've used zuchinni, corn, carrots, onions,  and peppers.)

Cheesy Quinoa

Okay, so I got the original recipe from http://aroundthetableri.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-quinoa-mac-cheese.html.  However, I did make several changes and I changed the name because the original blog gave you the impression that this was going to be like mac n cheese but with quinoa and I didn't feel like it was but it was still very good.  So here's the recipe how I made it.  Enjoy!

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 3 cups of chicken broth 
• good pinch of salt
• a few grinds of seasoning salt
• 1  clove of garlic, minced
• 1  egg
• 1  cup milk
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling
• Optional Panko Bread crumbs or crushed ritz for topping

Cook quinoa using chicken broth and garlic according to package instructions. (About 15-20 minutes)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 13x9 inch dish or large casserole dish with cooking spray.Whisk together egg and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt. Transfer to prepared baking dish and if using Panko Crumbs or Bread crumbs add now and bake 20-25 mins, until bread crumbs are browned.