Fresh Baked Dilly Bread

Well foo. A small bout of food poisoning (not from my own cooking; stop laughing!) put my good intentions to get back on schedule to waste. Bleargh. Oh well. Here's a recipe post a day or two later than planned. I hope you all enjoy it!

This particular recipe has been in the family for a while. My grandparents used to make this and my mom's been raving about it for years. I had never had it before, but I do have access to all my grandparents' old recipes. That, combined with some texting to my mom/consultant, enabled me to recreate their process.  She seems to think it turned out pretty well. It was certainly tasty and delicious. Fair warning, this is not a difficult recipe but it does require a significant time investment for rising of dough.

What You'll Need

Supplies

Large mixing bowl                                                       Measuring cups

Small bowl                                                                   Wooden mixing spoon

Measuring spoons                                                        Plastic wrap

Mortar and pestle                                                         Round casserole dish

Spoon

Ingredients

1 packet dry active yeast                                            1 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup warm water                                                   1/4 tsp baking soda

8 oz small curd cottage cheese                                    1 1/2 Tbsp dill seed, divided

2 Tbsp sugar                                                               1 egg

1 Tbsp butter, soft + some for greasing                     2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Now Let's Make Dilly Bread!
Start by making sure you have a warm, dry place around 85-90 F to place the dough while it rises.  If you don't (I live in an apartment that's generally cold and drafty), you can set your oven on warm and put it in there. I also find (if its not summer) that a car parked in the sun does the trick. Warm on my oven is about 100 F so I let it heat, then turn it off, then repeat until the dough has had enough time to rise.

Measure out 1/4 cup warm water and pour it into the large mixing bowl. Make sure the water is very warm but not very hot. You want to activate the yeast, not kill it (like a visit to the spa instead of the Sun). Add the yeast to the water, sprinkling it evenly along the surface and allow it to soften. Softening yeast is a fancy term for letting it foam (I like to picture a little yeast disco). Leave your yeasty water alone for about 10 minutes, and when you come back it should be nice and frothy. If it's not, throw it away, get new yeast, and start over.

Beginning to foam

While you're waiting for your yeast to froth, measure out 8 oz of small curd cottage cheese (at least 1%; none of this nonfat junk, please) into your small bowl. Heat it to lukewarm in the microwave; about 20 seconds out to do the trick.

Then, measure out and add to the small bowl 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp soft butter, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda. Don't bother mixing it yet, this is just a prep bowl. If you're using a stand mixer, don't worry about having soft butter, but if you're doing it by hand it's a must.

Pile'o'ingredients

Add 1 Tbsp of dill seed to the small bowl. Put the other 1/2 Tbsp of dill seed in your mortar and pestle and grind until partially crushed. You don't need to go for a powder, but you want all the seed to be broken up. This releases more of the dill flavor into the bread. Add the crushed dill seed to the small bowl.

Crush, crush, crush

By now, your yeast should be foaming. Add the small bowl of ingredients to the yeast. Crack your large egg into the bowl as well. Mix the ingredients together until everything is well blended. You'll especially have to watch that egg, as the whites will resist mixing with the other liquids (snobs).

Dental floss, anyone?

Begin adding your flour to the liquid mixture 1/2 cup at a time. Beat well after each addition. I find that by the last addition I have to get in there with my hands because the dough begins to get stiff and hard to mix with the spoon. Make sure as much of your flour gets squished into the dough as possible. By the end, you should have a rounded floury ball of dough. If, for some reason, you find that your dough is too wet, you may add and addition 1/4 cup flour; just be careful.

 After addition 1                                                  After addition 2

 After addition 3                                                  After final addition

Place the dough ball in the center of the large bowl and cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap (ie attach the wrap firmly but don't vacuum seal the thing). Place the bowl in a warm place and allow it to rise for 50-60 minutes. The dough should double in size and be nice and light.

Bundled up and ready to rise

While you wait, grease the bottom and sides of your round casserole dish with butter. I use a 9", 2 qt. round dish.  Once the dough has risen, stir it down and turn into the casserole dish. Let it rise for an additional 30-40 minutes in a warm place until the dough is light.

First rise

Stirred down

Second Rise

Bake at 350F for about 30-40 minutes until bread is golden brown.

Extract carefully with butter knife and fingers

Cut, serve, and nom!

   

Cooking the Books - Southern Living's Cooking For Christmas

Okay, so this is last year's copy and I'm pretty sure they put this bad boy out yearly. But! There are some really awesome recipes in this particular edition.  I'm going to stray a little from my typical review format, since it goes without saying that Southern Living is going to put out a fantastic product.  Since Holiday meal planning can be a little... chaotic, I thought I'd highlight some recipes that are just plain fantastic. Allow me to direct your attention, if you will.

The Basics
Southern Living. Cooking for Christmas. New York: Oxmoor House, 2011. Print

What do you need to know? Southern Living + holidays + recipes = awesome. The end.

The (Cook)book
First, let me direct you to the eye candy that is the front section of this book, which focuses on table settings. Yes, I could look at this stuff for a ridiculously long period of time (seriously, don't take me anywhere near a home store). Even if you don't go all out, this section is great place to get some ideas and inspiration.

And don't pass up the menu section.  Do I follow the menus in books? Ever? No. But this section is a great place to start thinking about putting together your own menu. Plus, it's got recipes. (I'll admit, I mostly come for the recipes).

But let's get to the good stuff: recipes!  This book is stuffed with them, but let me highlight a few of my favorites. (I've tried all of these, so I already know they're tasty and delicious).

Cherry Pecan Brie: This recipe is great. If you get the ingredients together in advance you can churn this sucker out in no time. Mix, pour, serve. And, voila! You've got an elegant appetizer to serve your holiday guests. It looks and tastes wonderful, and no one will guess how little effort it took. And believe me, if you're prepping a huge Christmas (or holiday) Feast, having a few simple dishes on the menu will save you a lot of stress (and sanity; sanity is good). See page 47.

Two-Cheese-and-Honey Fondue: Can you say "nom"? Admittedly, that probably has a lot to due with the heavy cream and the cheese. (Cheeeeeeeese). See page 71.

Grandma Erma's Spirited Cranberry Sauce: Sound familiar? That's because this recipe turned out to be so wonderfully tasty that I had to share it with y'all. It's one of the few test recipes I've done from a cookbook on this blog. I can tell you that I will never serve another cranberry sauce other than this ever again. (You think I exaggerate, but this was my favorite part of last years holidays). And heaven help you if you've been eating the stuff from the can. Stop it. Now. And make this! See page 173.

Recipes I haven't tried but plan to because they look freaking delicious:

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake - the name really says it all on this one, and if you look at the picture that snowflake is way too pretty. (likelihood that I can pull this off: excellent for the cheesecake, slim to none for the snowflake. Curses!). See page 50.

Classic Bake Macaroni and Cheese - sadly, I'm still searching for the perfect Mac'n'cheese recipe. Martha failed me last year, so perhaps I'll go for this on holiday season. If nothing else the sheer amount of butter, cheese and milk should make several family members squirm nicely as they calculate fat content. Heh heh heh. See page 191.

The entire section on breads - What can I say? I like carbs. See pages 201-211.

I hope you pick up the book and give some of these a whirl. There's plenty of recipe to choose from. Needless to say, I'll be first in line for this year's copy. And before you go, let me direct you to one last recipe not in the book: Southern Living's Pumpkin-Pecan Cheesecake. I made this bad boy last Thanksgiving. Perfection.

   

Super Easy Sunday: An Appealing Appetizer

Yeah, so I said I'd be doing a slow cooker recipe; about that.... it usually helps if you remember to throw it together in time before you leave for work. Oops.  Next Sunday? That gives me a whole week to get used to the slow cooker concept.

Anywho, our pinch hitter for the night is the Ranch Cheese Ball.  I've been saving this one especially for football season, and what better way to celebrate Alabama's latest win, yes? (Or Auburn's, you know, if you swing that way; no sides here). This is a great recipe for hosting those football gatherings: easy to whip up and hard to knock over as you scream and wildly gesticulate at the television (you know who you are...).

What You'll Need

Supplies

Large mixing bowl                                                    Wooden mixing spoon

Cutting board                                                             Measuring cups

Knife for dicing

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese                                                      1 small packet ranch mix

1/3 cup red bell pepper                                              8 oz shredded cheddar

1/2 cup onion                                                            Flour

1/2 cup pecans + some for rolling

Now Let's Make a Ranch Cheese Ball
Unwrap and place 8 oz of cream cheese in the large mixing bowl.  Reduced fat cream cheese works as well as regular, but I'd steer clear of fat free. Soften your cream cheese, if it isn't already. I usually leave mine out to let it soften, but a short stay in the microwave will do the trick.

Oh, cheese blob, just look at you, so blobby

Dice enough red bell pepper to make 1/3 cup. Add to bowl.  Next, dice enough onion to fill a 1/2 cup, and add it to the bowl.  Then measure out 1/2 cup of pecan chips and add them to the bowl. If you chop your own pecans, just make sure to get them very fine.  Lastly, add the small packet of dry ranch mix. Use your wooden spoon to whip the ingredients together. Make sure to mix them thoroughly as you don't want any large areas of a single ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally to prevent the ranch mix from escaping the mixing process. (Watch it, it's sneaky).

Note the red spoon, which swiftly transforms to wood
in the next photo. Magic!

Once you're all mixed, add 8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese.  I use pre-shredded for this instead of my usual hand shredded; it's easier and doesn't seem to have any effect. Use your favorite cheese or cheese blend, but note that sharper is better. Blend the cheese into the cream cheese mixture. Once mixed, microwave the cheese for about 20-30 seconds to melt the shredded cheese into the rest a bit and mix again.

Mmmm.... cheese

Form the cheese into a rough ball in the bottom of the bowl, using your spoon to shape it. Wipe down your cutting board and spread out some more pecan chips. I used about another 1/2 cup.  Spoon the cheese out of the bowl and onto the pecan chips, keeping in ball form as much as you can. Lightly flour your hands and shape to cheese into a more distinct ball shape, rolling it in the pecans to completely coat the outside of the ball.

Yes, I got pecans EVERYWHERE.

Place on serving plate and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with your choice of crackers. Enjoy!

   

Super Easy Sunday - Vegetarian Wraps

So, I figured it was time again to do a recipe that was delicious and healthy on the blog.  It's been a while.  This recipe comes from my sometimes-Vegetarian friend, Rachel.  (Everybody wave and say "Thank you, Rachel!")  The best part is that in addition to being yummy, these wraps are also easy to make.  And, once you've got the ingredients on hand and a little basic prep work down, you'll have fixings for even more wraps in the future. Yep, awesome.

What You'll Need

Supplies

Cutting board                                                            2 spoons

Knife for slicing and dicing                                       Plate

Ingredients

Bell pepper                                                                Morningstar "bacon"

Tomato                                                                      Shredded cheese

Wraps                                                                        1 can black beans

Mayo                                                                         Head of lettuce

Mrs. Dash

Now Let's Make Vegetarian Wraps!

Start by prepping your "bacon." You'll need two pieces for one wrap, so plan accordingly. Lay the "bacon" out on your plate and heat it according to packaging directions, which should be on one of the thinner sides of the box (Hey, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for those the other day). Set aside when done.

Only real bacon deserves a photo, hoomans. You'll thank me.

While your "bacon" is heating, prepare your bell pepper. Insert the knife at the top of the pepper around the stem and remove the stem.  Slice the pepper in half and carefully excise the pith (the whiteish looking flesh). Rinse the inside of the pepper to remove any remaining seeds. Starting with one half of the pepper, slice it vertically (beginning at what was the stem end). Turn yours slices so that they are perpendicular to your knife and dice the pepper. Repeat for the other half. Unless you're making a ton of wraps today, you won't be using all that pepper, so store it in a plastic baggie for later use.

Now it's time to slice up your tomato. You need about 1 - 1 1/2 slices of tomato per wrap, depending on the size of your tomatoes (mine were puny small). Slice the tomato beginning at the end opposite the stem. You want thick slices, about the size you'd use if you were planning to dice it. When you have enough slices, cut all of them in half.

Let's build some wraps! Start by placing one wrap on a plate. Take a spoon of mayo and smear it around the wrap with the back of the spoon.  I used about 1 Tbsp of mayo per wrap, maybe slightly less.  You want the mayo to be pretty thinly spread; you really don't need much.  I always use mayo made with olive oil, but follow your bliss (say the words Miracle Whip and I'll throttle you. Just as soon as I cease gagging). Top the mayo off with a liberal dash of Mrs. Dash (see what I did there? huh? huh?). I usually use the table blend, but pick your favorite.

Next, add two slices of "bacon." Pick and end of the wrap to be the top and use that as a reference point. You want to place the bacon slices starting about half and inch away from the top. It's important to leave the bottom of the wrap (about 1 1/2 - 2 inches) clear for folding.

Now place your tomato halves running down the wrap on top of the "bacon." I like to lay them so the rounded edge faces alternate directions. I find this creates a more stable wrap.  Sprinkle the top with diced bell peppers in the color of your choice.  You might also want to add some red onion slivers here. The Rachel's recipe doesn't call for them, so I didn't include them, but I bet they'd be tasty.

Liberally sprinkle the top of the wrap with shredded cheese.  I'd say you need no more than 1/4 cup, but choose your amount according to taste.  Now, open your can of black beans and drain them (I also rinse mine out, because the black juice creeps me out. Looks like octopus ink). Add the beans to the top center of the wrap in a line over the tomatoes. I used at least two heaping spoonfuls and then added a few more for good measure. Don't be shy with the beans, as they will be the protein that makes the meatless wraps satisfying.

Top everything off with several leaves of lettuce. Tear the lettuce up so that it fits over the center strip of the wrap. There's probably three or four layers of lettuce there.

Fold the bottom of the wrap up and over the veggies. The fold should be right where the veggies end.  Then fold the side of the wrap in, tucking the edge slightly under the veggies. It's helpful to choose the side of your dominant hand.  Turn the plate so the open end faces your dominant hand and the side fold is toward your body. Tightly roll the wrap away from your body. And, voila! You now have a tasty wr - om nom nom nom. (sorry I still haven't eaten breakfast).

   

Chicken Berlin

Yep. I'm just too tired to come up with a cutesy title tonight, guys; I'm afraid utilitarian will have to do.  This recipe is loosely based off a dish at one of my favorite local restaurants, Ol' Heidelberg, which serves up fine German cuisine.  I've no idea if this is an authentic dish or not, but it's darn tasty!

What You'll Need

Supplies

Cutting board                                                         Measuring spoons

Knife for slicing                                                      Small pan

Small mixing bowl                                                  Large pan
2 forks                                                                    Large Cast Iron Skillet
Plate

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts                                                   1 tbsp thyme

2 eggs                                                                     1 tsp rosemary

1 tbsp mustard                                                       Swiss cheese

Bread crumbs                                                         Large onion

1 tbsp salt                                                              Apple

Black pepper                                                           Olive oil
2 Tbsp butter

Now Let's Make Chicken Berlin!

Start by preheating your oven to 375 F.

While the oven heats, begin your prep work.  Slice your onions thinly and separate the layers so you have lots of rings.  Set these aside. Position your apple so that the stem is facing the palm of the hand that you use to steady what your cutting. Slice the apple thinly until you have 8 rounds. Remove any seeds and core. Set aside.

Crack two eggs into your small mixing bowl. Measure and add 2 Tbsp of mustard. Beat the eggs together with the mustard until there is little visible egg white left.  On your plate, pour out enough bread crumbs to cover the plate in a small heap.  Add 1 Tbsp salt, 1 tbsp thyme, 1 tsp ground rosemary and black pepper to taste. Use your remaining fork to mix the dry ingredients together.

Coat the bottom of your large skillet with olive oil. Trim any fat off the chicken breast. Take a chicken breast and dip it into the bowl of egg, thoroughly coating all sides of the chicken.  Hold the breast over the bowl, allowing any excess egg to drip, then place the chicken on the plate of bread crumbs. Using your fingers, lightly press the breast into the crumbs to coat, flip the breast and press again. Transfer the breast to the large skillet. Repeat for remaining chicken breasts.

Bake the chicken at 375 F until cooked; chicken should be white throughout.

While the chicken cooks, heat your pan to medium heat. While you allow the pan to come up to temperature, take your swiss cheese and slice it.  You want enough slices to cover the top of your chicken, so judge according to the size of the block your using. I highly recommending using a higher quality swiss cheese, like Jarlsberg, to get a better flavor. It matters, trust me. Set aside

I ate the cheese, so the only picture you get is me, hoomans

Once the pan warms, add 2 tbsp butter and allow the butter to melt.  Add your onions and saute until translucent and tender.  By the time your down sauteing your onion, the chicken should be done. Reduce the heat of the eye to low until your ready to use the onions.

Turn the oven off. Place your slices of swiss over the top of the chicken. Put the chicken back in the oven and allow the cheese to melt. While you wait, take your small pan and add a little butter. Heat the pan to medium, and place your apple slices in the pan. Saute lightly, just enough to warm the apple. Plate the chicken breasts. Top with apple slices, then add onions over the top of everything.

Serve with other delicious German sides, like pan fried potatoes and slaw.

I put my apples on top, but it's better if they're under the onions. True story.