Monthly Archives: September 2015

Orange Rhubarb Streusel Bread

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We finally picked our last harvest of rhubarb. Boy it is so beautiful! One of the stalks cut equaled 1.5 cups so it is rather large as well. This year our garden did not do very well; however, our peppers and rhubarb excelled! I am always making new rhubarb recipes. As many of you already know ! I just found out last week that I won 1st place for my rhubarb spiced coffee cake. It will be featured in TOH magazine May/June 2016 edition! I am so excited!

I love making mini loaves of bread! I feel like you can share them with so many more people than just the traditional 8 by 4 loaf or 9 by 5 loaf. My way of spreading the love around.

If you try this recipe you will not be disappointed! My husband said “it is the best breakfast loaf recipe you have ever made”! Wow that is a complement since I make a great many of recipes!

 

This recipe yields 4 mini loaves and one standard 8 by 4 inch loaf

Pre directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cooking spray your mini bread vessels.

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour ( I am in love with Bob’s Red Mill)

2 Cups of AP flour

2 Tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 cup unsweetened Applesauce

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup egg white subsitute

2 whole large eggs

2/3 cup 100% Orange Juice

1.5 cups of granulated sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3 cups of finely chopped rhubarb (6 regular sized stalks but like I said mine one stalk yield 1.5 cups)

 

Streusal topping & filling

8 TB raw sugar

2 TB Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

2 TB melted coconut oil (melted)

1 TB Vietnamese ground cinnamon

 

Streusel Directions:

  1. Mix with spoon all the streusel ingredients in a medium to small bowl.

 

Bread Directions:

  1. In a large bowl mix with whisk both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
  2. In a medium bowl mix canola oil, applesauce, flaxseed, egg, egg substitute, vanilla, sugar, and orange juice. Whisk together to fully incorporate.
  3. Pour the wet ingredient batter into the dry ingredients and whisk together and using a spatula make sure all the dry residue is incorporated. I like to use a clear glass bowl for this so that I can look on the bottom of the dish and see if any dry residue remains.
  4. Fold in chopped rhubarb and make sure rhubarb is incorporated throughout.
  5. If you are using mini loaves take 3/4 cup of the batter and place into the greased pan.
  6. Now take 1.5 tsp of the streusel mixture and spread it evenly on the top of the batter. Then take 1/2 of the bread batter and place on top of the streusel layer. Finish with another 1.5-2 tsp of streusel layer spreading evenly on the top to guarantee cinnamon in each bite. Repeat with all mini loafs. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out of center of the loaf clean.
  7. For the standard loaf take half of the remaining batter and place in greased 8 by 4 inch bread pan and take half of the remaining streusel topping and place evenly on-top of the bottom layer. Finish with placing the remaining bread batter on top of the streusel crumble. Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out of the center clean.
  8. Allow the loaves to sit in the pans for 5 minutes on a wire rack. They do have a tendency to stick. I recommend going around the edges with a plastic knife.  Remove from the pans and allow to cool completely on wire rack (if you can wait). My husband couldn’t!
  9. Enjoy!

 

Dutch Oven Homemade Bread

This time of year is my favorite time to bake in the kitchen. The air is crisp and I often spend most my weekend mornings trying new recipes and baking. As the weather starts to get cooler outside that means I can bake more to heat up the house. I love the smell of fresh homemade bread permeating throughout the house. I do believe Yankee Candle even makes a candle with this fragrance but nothing compares to the actual process of baking.

Fresh homemade bread seems to complete a Sunday dinner at our house. I always remember my mom having an Italian loaf with every Sunday family dinner.  My husband’s mom also always had Italian bread from a local bread bakery with all her supper meals she prepared which makes it all more nostalgic for my husband and I.

I made this Dutch-oven bread the other day with pork tenderloin in the slow cooker. It paired really well with parsley potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water (bath water temp; 80° F–90° F)

1 teaspoon honey

1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

3 ½-4 cups bread flour

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil for coating

Prework: Preheat oven to 500 degrees with large Dutch-oven in the oven.

Directions:

  1. Place warm water, honey, salt, & yeast in a glass measuring vessel. Let the yeast proof (becomes foamy) for 5 minutes (if the yeast does not grow, throw it out).
  2. In the meantime portion out the flour in a large electric mixer mixing bowl.  Start with the 3.5 cups and add more (1/4 cup at time), continue to add if dough is too sticky. Once the yeast has proofed add the yeast water mixture to the flour and on low speed with dough hook attachment knead the dough until the dough forms a ball. This should only take a few minutes.
  3. Remove dough from hook and knead with hands on a lightly floured surface to form into ball.
  4. Place evenly one tablespoon of olive oil on the outside of the dough. Place dough ball back in the mixing bowl and cover with a clean cloth towel on top of the preheating oven. You may be tempted to use plastic wrap however trust me use a cloth towel this will allow the dough to breath.
  5. Allow to dough to double in size this should take 45 to 60 minutes. Which works out perfectly because you want your Dutch-oven hot. The Dutch oven should be in the oven at 500 degrees for at least an hour. Don’t skip this step. 
  6. Once the dough is ready place on parchment paper and cut a few slits on the top surface of the loaf with sharp knife. This method will allow the steam to escape.
  7. With oven mitts remove the lid from Dutch oven and place bread in center of the baking vessel. Using oven mitts cover with the lid. Decrease the oven temperature 400 degrees and bake the bread for 45 minutes. Do not peek, trust the Dutch oven.
  8. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack before slicing into.

 

Apple Pork Tenderloin

  
The seasons are changing and I love that you can get fresh apples just about anywhere with fall around the corner. My favorite are from my grandfather’s orchard! I am a lucky girl, I have about a bushel of his granny smith apples on hand. 

While my husband worked in the garage this morning I threw these ingredients into the 4 qt slow cooker. So when he is done we can enjoy the day! 

I think we will take a run on our favorite trail then head off to the local covered bridge festival. The best part of the day will be we will get spend the day together and come home to a hot meal.

Maybe I’ll make some fresh bread to go with it! 

Ingredients:

2 Granny Smith apples (cored and sliced into wedges)

8 oz of homemade applebutter

Salt and pepper to taste 

1.5 pound pork tenderloin

1 TB dried parsley

4 small garlic gloves minced

1/2 cup orange juice 

2 tsp canola oil 

Directions:

1. In a large sauté pan on medium heat heat canola oil. Add pork to pan and season with salt and pepper. Brown meat on all sides to achieve some added flavor. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Spread the apples evenly on the bottom of the slowcooker. Pour the orange juice on top of the apples. Place the browned meat on top of the apples. Pour the applebutter on top of the pork. Lastly sprinkle the meat with minced garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. 

3. Place the slowcooker on low for 8 hours! Enjoy with some parsley potatoes and homemade bread! 

  

Pumpkin Bread with Flaxseed

 
My wonderful neighbors brought us over some sugar pumpkins! 

  
Which means I need to get to roasting & baking! Tonight I actually made pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread to start us into fall! Okay we still have a few more days of summer left and I am holding onto those a days. 

This recipe yields 6 mini loaves of you use 1 cup of batter per loaf vessel. 
Ingredients: 

3 eggs

1/2 cup egg substitute 

1 tsp high quality pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

3/4 canola oil 

1/2 cup milled flaxseed

1 & 3/4 cup sugar

2 packets of Vanilla Sugar free fat free pudding mix ( I uses one sf ff cheesecake & one vanilla)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt 

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup ap flour

2 cups of fresh roasted pumpkin purée (or 1 can of puréed pumpkin)

Predirections: preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease up with cooking spray bread vessels. 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk together pumpkin purée, eggs, egg substitute, & oil. Set aside.

2. In a separtate bowl mix together pudding dry mix, flours, sugars, salt, & baking soda. 

3. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry using a whisk to fully incorporate. Make sure no dry residue remains. 

4. Measure out 1 cup of batter into each mini pan loaf. I use my stonewear pampered chef 4 mini vessels per pan. 

5. Bake for 40 minutes. Or until toothpick comes out clean. 

6. Remove from pan and allow to cool before slicing into. 


Apple Overnight French Toast!

 

One of my favorite dishes to make for breakfast is Overnight French Toast! I think I like it so much because you can put everything together the night before and the next morning you can spend your time enjoying your coffee instead of making a ton of noise in the kitchen and waking up your guests.

Ingredients:

1 can sweetened fat free condensed milk 

1 cup fat Free milk

1/2 cup egg substitute 

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla pure extract

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 ground mace, cloves 

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt 

1 whole wheat or french baguette a day old would be good 

Topping ingredients:

3 cups Granny Smith Apples sliced thin (no need to peal the skin)

1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 ground mace, cloves 

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

6 TB cold unsalted butter cup up

9 by 13″ baking pan

Directions:

1. Cut baguette into 1.5-2 inch pieces and allow to dry out. Place in 9 by 13 pan in three rows. Set aside. 

2. In a medium bowl place milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, spices, salt,egg and egg substitute. Whisk ingredients together well, pour evenly over bread. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and let soak in  refrigerator over night.

  
3. Bring baking pan out of refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking. While waiting for dish to become room tempature prepare the topping. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Mix in a medium bowl flour, brown sugar, spices, and butter. Mix together between your fingers until wet sand like texture. Set aside. 

5. Remove foil from dish. Place sliced apples in layers on top each of the baguette rows. Sprinkle evenly the brown sugar mixture on top the apple slices.  

  
6. Finally add the toasted pecans evenly on the top of the brown sugar mixture. 

7. Bake the dish at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Cover with foil and bake for 15 more minute. 

~If necessary lower the tempature to 200 degrees if you are waiting for guests to arrive or family members to wakeup. 

  
 

Spiced “fried” Apple slices

  

My grandpa brought me over some homegrown apples last weekend from his orchard. Now I love me a fresh apple a day! But I’ve been always wanting to try them in the Actifry!?

Tomorrow we are having a brunch for the September birthdays in the Family before we head downtown to the Pirate’s game. I think I am going sprinkle these ontop of some homemade overnight French toast!

Ingredients:

8 cups of apples corded and sliced into wedges

1/2 teaspoon of ground Vietnamese cinnamon

Two 2-3 inch cinnamon sticks

2 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of canola oil

1/8 teaspoon each of mace, cloves, and nutmeg

Directions:

1.  Place all the ingredients in the Actifry and allow to cook for 12-15 minutes! 

Ice Box Key Lime Pie

  

This is a tribute to the 2015 Topsail vacation. We were on vacation last week and everyone wanted Key Lime Pie! We didn’t want to spent $18.00 for a pie so we made key lime martinis instead. 

This weekend was Labor Day weekend and we decided to make the pie from scratch. The bonus is everyone that wanted the pie on vacation was at the party (well almost everyone but my sister)! Sorry Jen we didn’t even save you a slice. 

This recipe is a spin off of Ina Garten’s recipe. I changed a few things around including the crust and I tried the milk with fat free since that was the only kind I had at home. 
When we were on vacation we couldn’t find key limes anywhere! The bottled juice you can find in the stores is subpar. When I planned the menu I was nervous we wouldn’t be able to find key limes but low and behold the strip district had them! Yazzie!

Predirections:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a food processor to pulse waffers into crumbs. 

Ingredients for the Crust:

1 2/3 cup of crushed reduced fat vanilla wafers

1/4 cup granulated sugar

6 TB unsalted butter melted 

Filling ingredients:

7 large egg yolks (room temperature) look for pasteurized eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 can (14 oz) fat free sweetened condensed milk

2 TB key lime zest

3/4 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice

Crust Directions: 

1. Place in a bowl wafers crumbs, butter, and sugar combine until butter is incorporated throughout. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie dish. Make sure that the crust is an even consistency throughout the entire dish.

2. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Directions for the filling:

1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed in a electric mixer was fitted attachment for five minutes. I use speed eight and it only took about 4 1/2 minutes. The appearance will be thick and creamy. 

2. Juice speed to medium and Inc. add to the sweetened condensed milk, lime zest, & lime juice.

3. Pour into the cooled prepared pie crust. 

4. Freeze overnight. 

5. Remove from freezer right before slicing into. 

6. Enjoy with a dollop of homemade whipped cream. My go to is on TOH website. The only change I make is I use a whole tsp of pure vanilla extract. 

Whole Grain Raisin Oat Bars

 
 I love baking… I know no surprise!  Today I was reviewing my food network magazine September 2015 edition and came across the 50 bars insert. I must say I adore the inserts of 50 recipes of a specific item!! I couldn’t wait to try one …. Okay so I tried two tonight. I did some mods to the oat bars (#15) and this is what I came up with. 

Pre-directions preheat oven to 350 in line a glass 9 by 13 baking dish with foil. Set aside.

This recipe yields 18 bars

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of rolled oats (not instant)

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter softened

1/2 a cup of unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup Canola oil

2 eggs

2 cups of raisins

3/4 cup of brown sugar (not packed)

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

Directions:

1. In a stand mixture cream together, butter, applesauce, vanilla, and canola oil with both sugars. 

2. Decrease mixer to low and add in rolled oats, flour, salt, and baking powder. Also add eggs at this time adding one egg at a time. 

3.  Finally add in raisins and mix one last time until all raisins are well incorporated. 

4. Place batter in prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven an allow to cool before cutting into bars.