Southwestern Chili Cheese Bread

This is an amazing loaf of bread. It is full of flavor and goes well with any soup. Our family enjoys it toasted and served with a bowl of chili.

For three loaves or 16 rolls:

• 2 Pkgs active dry yeast
• 1 Cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 Cup oil
• 1 Cup buttermilk
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup cream-style corn
• 1/4 Cup Dried minced onion
• 1 4oz Can green Chile peppers
• 2 Cups cheddar/jack mixed cheese
• 5-51/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• Cornmeal
  

Place your cornmeal, yeast and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

In a saucepan, heat the oil, buttermilk,

salt and sugar to 110 degrees.

I used my homemade buttermilk.

Add the warmed ingredients to the cornmeal

mixture and stir well.

Add corn, onion, chili peppers and mix well.

I used Anaheim chilies fresh from my garden.

If you prefer you can use Jalapeno peppers

for a spicier flavor.

Add cheese and eggs. Mix well.

Add 4 cups of flour. Mix well.

Add enough additional flour to make a

stiff dough that you can turn out and knead.

Put dough on a lightly floured surface and

knead until smooth, approximately

10-12 minutes.

Shantell is my "cook in training".

When the dough is smooth and elastic it is ready to rise.

Place in a greased bowl.

cover and let rise until doubled.

This will take about 1 hour.

Prepare a stone pizza round by greasing

and sprinkling with cornmeal.

Divide dough into three equal parts.

Form into round loaves and place on

prepared cooking stone.

Cover and let rise until double.

This will take 1 hour.

When it has doubled in size

Place in a preheated 400 degree oven.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately take the butter and rub over the top.

Let it cool completely before slicing.

This bread freezes well,

if there are any leftovers.

Sweet Whole Wheat Quick Bread

Things have been so difficult these past few months that I have not had a lot of time to cook, nor have I felt like doing so. But that has all changed and I am anxious to get back to the kitchen. I am excited to share many wonderful recipes with you this summer. Hope you enjoy!

This is a great treat that is quick, easy and delicious. It does not require any yeast and is practically foolproof. According to Kendrick, it makes a great peanut butter sandwich.

It slices beautifully!

I make my own buttermilk.

The recipe is at the end of this post.

For 2 loaves:

• 4 Cups of buttermilk
• 2 Cups brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 2 Teaspoons baking soda
• 6 Cups whole wheat flour

Grease 2 loaf pans thoroughly.

Pour buttermilk into a large mixing bowl.

Add sugar and salt. Mix well

Add flour and baking soda.

Stir just until moistened.

You can see the soda and buttermilk already reacting.

Pour into well-greased loaf pans.

Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees

for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Enjoy with whipped butter or cream cheese

with or without jam. It is very sweet on its own

and the brown sugar gives it a wonderful flavor.

Buttermilk

• 1/2 Cup buttermilk (from the store to be used as a starter)
• 1 Cup powdered milk
• 3 Cups warm water

Put warm water and powdered milk into a glass jar. Stir or shake well until mixed. Add buttermilk and mix well. Cover with a lid and let stand on your kitchen counter until mixture clabbers. It usually takes anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. Refrigerate and use within a week. Be sure to save 1/2 cup to replenish your supply. It is as easy as that and beats adding lemon juice or vinegar to milk.

Honey Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

The other day I made my favorite dinner rolls, one with White Whole Wheat and the other with Red Whole Wheat. Each had a great texture and rich nutty flavor.

For 18 rolls

• 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1-1/2 Cup warm water
• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup honey
• 2 Teaspoons salt
• 1/4 Cup shortening
• 3 Cups White or Red freshly ground whole wheat flour
• 3 to 3-1/2 Cups all purpose flour

When working with your yeast, be careful not to get your water hotter than 115 degrees or it will kill it.

In a large mixing bowl dissolve the yeast in the water. Let stand 5 minutes. In the meantime melt the shortening in the microwave and set aside to cool.

Stir in the eggs, honey, salt, and cooled shortening. Add the whole wheat flour. Mix well. Stir in the all purpose flour one cup at a time mixing well after each addition. Continue adding until the dough become too stiff to stir. Turn out on a lightly floured counter top and knead until smooth and elastic, approximately 10 minutes.

Cover and set aside in a draft free area. Let it rise until double about 1-1/2 hours. Punch down. Form into 18 rolls and place into a lightly greased pan. Let it rise again until double in size, about 1 hour.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

The finished product using White Whole Wheat flour.

The finished product using Red Whole Wheat Flour.

These are the rolls I will serve at Thanksgiving.

Food Storage Class

My life has been unbelievably busy and I have fallen behind in many areas. I still have 3 more menus to post for my two week food storage menu, and while I did cook from it for my family this past week, I was too busy to take pictures or post, so I will get to them soon. In the mean time I just finished teaching a Food Storage class. I am always excited to teach about this subject and am grateful that I was asked to share my knowledge. This class however was unique because my entire audience was men. They say that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach and so I spent countless hours preparing a variety of food to let them sample what food storage takes like. The sample table consisted of:

• Bean Fudge
• Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake *
• Apple Bars Focaccia *
• Sour Dough English Muffins *
• Oatmeal Rolls
• Whole Wheat Bread *
• Chili
• Flour Tortillas
• Wheat Thins
• Hummus

I will try and post some of the recipes throughout the week.

* These recipes have already been featured on my blog. Look them up on the blog archive on the right.

Wheat Thins, Hummus, Foccacia, and

Sour Dough English Muffins.

Apple Dessert, Bean Fudge and

Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake.

I began cooking the night before the class and then that morning I got up at 3:00 AM to continue cooking. I was totally exhausted by the end of the day. Everything was made entirely from food storage, both three month and long term storage.

I will eventually share all of the recipes with you, but today I will feature the Oatmeal Rolls.

OATMEAL BREAD

• 3 Cups uncooked rolled oats
• 3 Teaspoons salt
• 5 Cups water
• 2/3 Cups brown sugar, packed
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons yeast
• 1/2 Cup warm water
• 3 Cups whole wheat flour
• 5-6 Cups all purpose flour

Put water in medium sized saucepan on medium heat. When it begins to boil, add the oatmeal and salt. Stir in sugar and butter. Remove from the heat and pour the oatmeal mixture into a bowl so that it will cool down faster. Let it sit until it has reached 110-115 degrees. (If it is too hot it will kill your yeast.)

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, soften the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm water. Stir in cooked oat mixture. Gradually stir in the flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out on a floured board and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. About 10-12 minutes. Keep adding just enough flour to keep the dough from being sticky.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once. Cover and let it rise until doubled. About 1 hour. Punch down

Shape the dough into 2 large round balls and place in a 9" pie pan. Sprinkle with uncooked oatmeal and let it rise again about 1 hour or until doubled.

Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Immediately brush tops with melted butter.

This recipe also makes excellent rolls. Shape into rolls and place in pie pans. Makes 32 rolls. Bake until golden brown.

Menu 8

My day was almost as long as this post it. I usually only feature one recipe in each menu but today I decided to feature two. I have to admit that it was very time consuming making everything from scratch. I felt like I was in the kitchen for the better half of the day. The plus is that my family is eating healthy.I was devastated when I pulled the last of the bagels out of the oven and called the family over. You spend hours baking away and your hard work is gone in a matter of minutes. I had to scramble to save one for Mar-Kay.

Today's Menu

Breakfast

• Creamy Cracked Wheat
• Strawberries
  

Lunch

• New York Style Bagels
• Yogurt with Blueberries/ Strawberries

Dinner

• Black Bean Cakes
• Vegetable (Zucchini from the garden)
• Rolls
• Salad
  
  

HOMEMADE YOGURT

• 7 1/2 Cups warm water
• 3 1/2 Cups powdered milk
• 1/2 Cup store bought plain yogurt with active cultures

In a large saucepan combine the water and milk. Stir well with a whisk. Let it sit a few minutes and then stir again. Heat the milk on the stove over medium heat until it reaches 180 degrees. Remove from the stove and allow to cool to 110 - 115 degrees. (I was taught by a good friend to fill a large bowl with ice and set the pan in it to help it cool down faster. If it is any hotter than 110-115 degrees it will kill of the live cultures in the yogurt. Once it has reached the proper temperature, take out 1/2 cup of warm milk and stir into the yogurt. Return all to the saucepan and stir well. Let it sit for another minute and stir again.


Pour carefully into a clean thermos and set it on the counter away from drafts to incubate. It will take 6 to 8 hours to set up. Try not to disturb it to ensure good results.




After it has thickened. Pour it out into a container and refrigerate. It is now ready. You can cook with it or just enjoy eating. It will stay fresh for about 2 weeks.

We will often sweeten it with honey

and add a variety of fruits with it.

*Make sure you read the label of the yogurt you are purchasing from the store to see if it contains acidolphilus cultures. This is necessary to make your own yogurt.

*You can use your own homemade yogurt to continue making homemade yogurt, however it will lose it's strength after using if about 3 or 4 times.

NEW YORK STYLE BAGELS

• 1 Large potato, peeled and quartered
• 2 Cups water

Boil the potato in the 2 cups of water for fifteen minutes. Discard the potato from the water (serve it to your family to keep them at bay until the bagels are done) and allow the water to cool to 110 degrees.

• 1/3 Cup potato water
• 1 Tablespoon yeast

Take 1/3 cup of potato water and put it in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water, stir and then set aside for 5 minutes until foamy.

In the meantime sift together:

• 4 Cups flour
• 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 Tablespoon salt

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Stir.

Pour into the mixture

• 2/3 Cup potato water
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup oil
  
  
  

Stir well to form a dough ball.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes

until the ball is firm and elastic.

Place into a greased bowl.

Cover and place in a warm area.

Let rise until double, about 60 minutes.

Punch down and let rest for a few minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.

The easiest way to form the bagel is to roll the dough into a ball.

Nest, poke a hole in the center of the ball

and then stretch the ball into the doughnut shape.

Place on a lightly floured surface

Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.

In the meantime put 8 cups water in a large saucepan with

1 Tablespoon sugar. Heat to boiling.

Drop the bagels into the boiling water and cook

for about 1-1/2 minutes on each side.

Place on a prepared cookie sheet that has been

lightly greased and dusted with cornmeal.


Brush with an egg white and bake in a

450 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Homemade bagels are amazing.

Make sure you make an extra big batch,

they go quickly!

Someday I will have to share my

Sourdough Bagel Recipe with you.

*I have been asked by some people about the other recipes I use in my menus. It would not be feasible to add all of the recipes in each blog entry, they would go on forever. However, I am willing to share my other recipes upon request.

Menu 4 Focaccia

Today's entire menu revolved around Foccacia.

Focaccia is a flattish Italian bread topped with herbs, cheese, peppers, olives, fruits, meats or just about anything you desire. I used it as the main dish for each one of the meals today. The kids had a great time making their own and believe it or not, there were no complaints.

Breakfast:

• Fruit Focaccia
• Fruit Smoothie

Lunch

• Pesto Focaccia
• Green Salad

Dinner

• Vegetable Focaccia
• Fried Zucchini Sticks

FOCACCIA

1 Tablespoon yeast
1 1/4 Cups warm water
1 Teaspoons sugar
1 Teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Cups Whole wheat flour
2 to 2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1/4 Cup olive oil

Proof the yeast by combining it with warm water and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Add olive oil, whole wheat flour and salt. Stir until well mixed. Add flour 1 cup at a time until you can no longer stir it.

Turn it out on a lightly floured work surface and add the remaining flour. Knead the dough for 6-8 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place in a well oiled bowl, cover and let rise until double. About 1 hour.

While it is rising prepare your toppings.

Toppings from my garden.

Once the dough has risen. Punch it down and let it rest a few minutes while you prepare your pans. Coat the baking sheet with olive oil and a sprinkling of cornmeal. (I like to use pizza stones to cook my Focaccia on.)

Heat oven to 425.

Typically Focaccia's are more oval or rectangle in shape, but I like mine circular so that I can serve it in wedges. Call me crazy.

Take the dough on a floured surface and start patting it into a round shape. Do not roll your dough, pat it with your hands. When you have partially shaped it, transfer to your baking sheet and continue shaping your dough to fill the pan. Now using your fingertips, form dimples in the dough. Let it rest for about 10-15 minutes.

Now it is time to top your Focaccia.

By the way, I tripled the recipe for the day since I used it for all three meals.

This Focaccia is topped with Pesto sauce,

sliced tomatoes, olives, and sliced onions.

Place in the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

Topping for this include, olive oil spread over the entire dough,

Feta cheese, bell peppers, tomatoes, onion and minced garlic.

While my favorite was the Pesto Focaccia,

my boys enjoyed this one with Feta Cheese.

Fruit Toppings

Sprinkle olive oil over the dough.

Cover the entire surface with fruit.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Drizzle with icing and serve warm.

We had a blast creating our Focaccias. It was a fun activity to draw the family closer together while teaching them how to cook. The possibilities of this bread are endless and the kids are already talking about what topping they want next time.