Recipe: Brioche Dinner Rolls

Have I told you how dangerous bookstores are for me?

Source: etsy.com via Lauren on Pinterest

This is completely true. About a month ago I found myself in B&N in the cookbook section. Bad idea, friends. I walked around with around 5 books until I got realistic and put most of them back. Except this one:

Source: barnesandnoble.com via Lauren on Pinterest

And in that book, there is a recipe: Brioche Dinner Rolls. 

Can you say yum?! These are similar to the Challah I make. This is an eggy dough with three rises. However, the crust is a bit flakier, and the inside a bit lighter. Indulgent and decadent if I ever saw it. I will warn you: this is a fairly arduous process and I have no idea how to knead butter into a dough without a stand mixer. But, the results are well worth it.

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast

1/3 cup warm 2% milk

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

4 large eggs

6 1/2 teaspoons of softened, unsalted butter + 2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon water

1 large egg white

cooking spray

Directions: 

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water for for 5 minutes.
Add salt, eggs, and slowly add flour.
Stir until you can't comfortably stir any longer and turn out onto a floured surface.
Continue adding flour by kneading until dough is smooth and elastic.
Continue to knead for 5 minutes.
Add butter kneading {first half, than the next half} until fully incorporated {I used a stand mixer with a dough hook for this}
Knead for approximately 4 minutes until dough is elastic and smooth {again!}
Place dough in a large, greased bowl and place in a warm location to rise {I turn on my oven to warm, then turn it off}
Let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Punch down dough and then form into a ball.
Cover dough and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Uncover the dough and let stand for 1 to 1 1/2 hours {bring back to room temperature}
Divide into 24 equal pieces {I made 4 sections, then cut into 6} and roll each piece into a ball.
Place rolls in muffin tins, cover and let rise for 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Uncover rolls and brush with egg-white and water mixture.
Bake for 14 minutes or until golden.
Brush with melted butter and serve! 

Yum!

 

Recipe: Pull apart pumpkin bread

Oh, Pinterest, how I love thee {have I said this, perhaps, a bazillion times on this blog?}. Without you I would not have found the most scrumptious recipes I have found, like my crock-pot pepper steak, or my. And I certainly wouldn't have found this.

Oh. my. goodness. You guys. I gained 10lbs just smelling this rising in the oven. I gained more eating some of it, because I couldn't put it down. Even my mom {who hates pumpkin} liked this bread. She called it "tasty."My grandmother loves it. I made it Tuesday, and we don't have any left {between 3 of us}. That is how good this stuff is.

I changed the recipe a bit {mostly through my own error}, but this is a forgiving bread, and still tastes wonderful {especially with morning coffee!}.

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 package dry active yeast
1 cup canned pumpkin puree {this can be omitted if you really don't like pumpkin}
2 1/2 cups bread flour {I only use King Arthur}
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
In a saucepan on the stove melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and let it turn brown {don't let it turn black, then it's burnt}
Add milk and warm through {you probably don't even have to let it warm. The butter will probably make it warm enough}
Add butter/milk to the bowl of a stand mixer {or regular bowl if kneading by hand} and let cool to warm temperature.
Once butter/milk has cooled, add 1/4 cup sugar and the yeast.
Let it proof for 5-10 minutes until the top is foamy.
Add pumpkin, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Mix with a paddle attachment {or spoon!}
Continue adding flour 1/2 cup at a time {I switched to the dough hook at about 2 cups}.
Knead for 6 minutes in the stand mixer*. Dough should act like well-kneaded dough does except be a bit sticky {dough should be elastic and not come off onto your hands}.
If its too moist, add flour about 1 tablespoon at a time until its better.
Placed in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel.
Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour - 11/2 hours, or until doubled in size.
While the dough rises, melt the remaining butter {I got lazy and used the microwave!} and in a separate bowl mix remaining sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Punch down the dough, and knead on a well-floured surface for 1 or 2 minutes.
Use your hands to shape into a big "flat" sheet {um, you're supposed to roll it out. I couldn't fine my rolling pin}.
Brush with butter then sprinkle with a generous amount of the sugar mixture.
Cover {again} with a towel, and let rise 30-45 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, and be sure to inhale the wonderful aromas coming out of your oven.
Let cool on a rack {the loaf comes out easily with some spatulas}
**Dig in! Yum!

Some notes:
*If you're not using a stand mixer, just stir in flour until that gets too hard, and knead the rest of the flour in and then knead for a little bit longer to activate the yeast. When you've gotten to the right texture, you're done.

**This recipe calls for a glaze. I am not a glaze person, so my bread is nekkid. But delicious.

P.S. Some of my other favorite recipes can be found by clicking the "recipes" tab right under my header, or by clicking here.

Guest Post: Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Today, I have a special treat for you: a guest post from one of my very favorite blog people, Diana from Dianapantz! She has some really great recipes, and has agreed to share on with you. And really, how can you go wrong with pumpkin and chocolate chips?

Here she is!

hey everybody!

my name is diana and i wanted to share a fun [vegan & healthy!] fall dessert recipe: healthy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

[original recipe found here; vegan modifications made by me]

what you need:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt [*i never add salt!]
3 tablespoons flax meal
1 cup of pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons vegan butter {at room temperature}[i use earth balance]
3-4 tablespoons of soy/almond milk in place of eggs {i pour enough milk in to equal the liquid of two eggs}[if you want to add eggs in place of milk ; add two eggs]
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips

how to do it :
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350.
2. Cream together the veg butter and sugar with an electric mixer until well combined [*if you dont have a mixer, just use your muscle ;)].  Add in the milk and continue to blend.  Once milk has been mixed in, mix in the pumpkin and flax meal.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Coat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheet and bake for about 13 minutes.  


enjoy! these are really great heated up in the microwave for a few seconds!

if you want more vegan recipes, head over to my blog.

or stop over anyway ; i have pretty great manners!

Thanks Diana! Her recipes are really pretty awesome. I'm so excited to try the one she posted yesterday, spicy stuffed spaghetti squash! Yum! Y'all head over and show her some love!

Challah {Challah back?}

For those of you who have never had the privilege of smelling Challah when it bakes, you are SO missing out. You think you've been there, done that, because you've baked bread, but Challah is different. Its heaven. And that's before you even get to dig in.

I'll admit that my braids are not as well-executed as the women who make these every week for Shabbat. But, I did find this excellent Challah-braiding tutorial which I will  be using the next time I bake this bread {soon!}. I used this exact recipe from Smitten Kitchen {except I found her braiding instructions confusing} and, oh. my. goodness. Yum.

If you bake bread at all {don't be scared if you don't! It's not hard!}, you MUST try this.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 packets {approx. 1 1/2 tablespoon} dry active yeast
1 tablespoon + 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 - 8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour {I ALWAYS use King Arthur}

Note: This is the basic recipe. You can add sweet things, poppy seeds on the top, etc.

Directions:
Dissolve yeast & 1 tablespoon of sugar in 1 3/4 cup of lukewarm water.
Wait for the top to look foamy, then whisk in olive oil, sugar and salt.
Beat in 4 eggs, one at a time.
Whisk in one cup at a time until the dough can no longer be whisked or stirred.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead, continuing to add flour until the dough is smooth.
Oil a bowl {I use the same one I mixed in; I just let it soak with hot soapy water while I knead} and place the dough inside.
Cover with a damp towel and put the bowl somewhere warm {I heat my oven to 150, then turn it off for this step}.
Let the dough rise until double {about 1 hour, but watch it}.
Punch down the dough and let rise again for another 30 minutes or so.
When dough is risen, cut the dough in half, and then into 6 portions per half.
Roll each portion into a log about 12 inches long, and braid according to these instructions.
Place each loaf on a greased baking sheet.
Beat an egg and brush with egg wash.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
When oven is ready, re-brush with egg wash.
Bake for 30-40 minutes {try not to overcook; that is the secret to good challah}.
Let cool and try not to tear into these; it is a challenge, let me tell you!

{This is what one loaf looked like after 15 minutes. Seriously}

And, just as an FYI, this makes excellent French Toast.

{Yes, I eat French Toast with granulated sugar instead of powdered}

Honey Apple Bread with Walnuts

I have been clamoring to make apple bread ever since I stumbled upon this recipe. Rosh Hashanah seemed like the perfect time to make anything to do with apples {nevermind that Rosh Hashanah was two weeks ago; I'm slow, OK?}, so I added some honey, replaced the oil with applesauce, pumped up the apples and walnuts and snuck in a little bit of whole wheat flour. The result?

Well, you can judge for yourself, but I was mighty impressed with it. It's moist, chock full of apples and walnuts, and is just yummy! It's also ridiculously easy {you should know that I love easy recipes by now}.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup applesauce
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon cinnamon {I admit, I just sorta....sprinkled some in, I have no idea how much}
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
3 smallish to medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced
3/4 cup broken or chopped walnuts

Directions:
Sift/mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Combine with remaining ingredients {apples, egg, walnuts, applesauce & honey}.
Grease a loaf pan and dump ingredients into it.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Crock-Pot Pepper Steak

We were sitting in the living room, my madre and I, and she said, "you know, we really need to find a good pepper steak recipe."

"Done, and done," said I {mmk, I didn't *really* say that, but I did quickly locate a recipe on Pinterest}.

I was expecting a tangy, spicy recreation, similar to my stand-by order from my favorite college Chinese Takeout place. This wasn't it, despite what the reviews say.

However, it WAS delicious. Rave reviews from both parents {THAT, my friends, is rare}. And, it was SUPER easy. Yum.

{Dump and turn-on: how easy is that?}

 I copied this recipe from Food.com. I did not add the garlic {Couldn't find it. It was in the back of the fridge. Oops.} or the red pepper flakes {The madre does not do spicy}, and it was STILL. SO. GOOD.

You must try it.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless beef chuck steak {I used 2.5}
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1green bell pepper, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow onion, sliced into half rings
1 tomato, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Slice the steak into strips.
Saute in olive oil until most pieces are brown.
Dump into crock-pot.
Add julienned/diced veggies into crock-pot.
Combine teriyaki sauce, Worcestireshire sauce, flour, brown sugar, and beef broth in bowl or large mixing cup.
Pour over meat and veggies.
Cook on low approximately 7 hours.
Thicken if desired {see the bottom of this post on thickening}
Serve over rice!

Enjoy!

Honey-wheat oatmeal rolls {with cinnamon honey butter}

I've actually been making versions of these rolls for awhile {rolls, loafs, stuffing}, since I taught myself to bake bread.

Its kind of a mixture between this recipe, and this one. The quick-cooking oats give a great texture, and the honey adds a wonderful sweetness that is subtle and understated. I'll admit, its pretty hard to not eat this straight out of the oven {especially when you can smell the cinnamon butter}! For those of who you have been blessed enough to go to Texas Road House and eat those rolls, these are similar. A bit more dense, and not as yeasty, but hearty and delicious in their own way!


Ingredients:
1.25 cups warm water
1 cup hot water
1 package dry active yeast
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey {divided}
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
2 cups whole wheat flour {I SWEAR by King Arthur Flour}
1.5-3 cups bread flour
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Combine honey, yeast, and warm water in a bowl.
Let sit until the water gets foamy like this:

In the meantime, combine hot water and oats {this isn't an exact science; you just want the oats to get wet and soggy}.
When the yeast water is ready add the olive oil, salt, and oats.
Add the whole wheat flour and stir {I do this 1/2 cup at a time}.
Now add the bread flour a 1/2 cup at a time until it's hard to stir with a spoon.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and add more flour by kneading until you have a ball of soft but not sticky dough.
Knead the dough for about 3-5 minutes.
Place dough into an oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel.
Let sit for approximately 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Form dough into long log and cut into small pieces to roll into balls {remember that they'll double in size again!}.
Place dough balls into buttered pan/pyrex:

Cover pan with damp towel and let rise for about 30 minutes {ish}.
While you wait, combine butter, honey and cinnamon by stirring and preheat oven to 425 degrees.

When your rolls look like this brush butter over the tops.

You can see the butter smeared over the tops!

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Note: Two in the top left corner look weird because my mom doesn't like honey butter. So they're dry.

Try not to eat all of them immediately!

Enjoy!

Homemade Smoothie

It has been awhile since I have posted a recipe, hasn't it? Not much time for cooking lately, but I've gotten a lot of questions in real-life about my breakfast habits. So, I thought I'd share one of my easiest recipes.

I make a ginormous smoothie, put it in a travel cup with a lid, and sip on it all morning until a little before lunch. I find that I don't get hungry that way {eating breakfast makes me ravenous for the rest of the day for some reason} and its a much better thing to be sipping on than coffee or soda.

I've noticed more energy and better digestion {aren't you glad I gave you that little detail?}. All around, this is an easy, delicious, healthy way to eat or snack. The best part is, you can really customize it to your tastes and needs. I put non-fat yogurt in mine for the protein and orange juice because I like the tang. I avoid bananas because even though I don't hate them, I'm not sure I'm sold on them yet.

Ingredients:
Approx. 1.5 cups frozen fruit {I used peaches, blueberries and strawberries for this one}
1/4 cup non-fat yogurt
OJ {any liquid; milk, juice, etc.}
Ice {usually I add about 3/4-1 cup}

*Keep in mind I sort of eyeball everything and dump it into the blender. Your mileage may vary.

Directions:
Combine in blender and pulse.
If it looks like anything is getting stuck, add more liquid!
Pour into your favorite glass/cup/thermos and enjoy!

Enjoy!

Black Bean Fiesta Salad

You know those recipes that you can use to make a pot-luck dish, and you leave the pot-luck with everyone thinking that you're some sort of magical culinary genius? This is one of those recipes. Its frugal, its vegetarian, its delicious; and people now ask me to please bring that salad to pot-lucks.

Do you want to know something funny?  I got this recipe during my first semester of grad school. I was in a communications class that met from 6-9pm every Wednesday, and towards the end of the semester, the prof asked us to plan on coming early and staying late one night so that we could finish our final presentations of the semester. I don't remember what I brought {(mushroom and rice casserole?)}, but Cheryl brought this. Yes, I got the pot-luck magic recipe from a pot-luck. So, what better way to acknowledge that than to share it in an online recipe swap. Linking up to This Weeks Cravings!

 Ingredients

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained, or equivalent of slow-cooked dried black beans

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 green pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 cup diced red onion {(this usually works out to about half)}

1 cup celery, diced {(usually 2-3 stalks)}

1 brick pepper jack cheese with jalapeno {(anyone know how to make the tilde on a mac?)} cut into itty bitty cubes

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced {(extra fine)}

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:

IN large bowl combine beans, corn, peppers, onion, celery and cheese.   

In a separate bowl/container {(I use my measuring cup)}, combine the remaining ingredients

Pour over vegetable mixture and toss gently.  

Cover and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry for the super pixelated photos. My camera's battery died right as I was trying to snap the picture, and well, my phone is not so technologically advanced. 

Crock-pot beans and barley

Have I mentioned {(at least 1000 times)} how much I love my slow-cooker?  Because, I do. If I had to pick just one thing to take from my kitchen when I move, I would pick my crock-pot. In fact, I shipped it up to D.C. when I did my internship, took it to camp, and might even take it with me if I go abroad {(with a power converter, of course!)}

This recipe comes {(loosely)} from this book:

I highly recommend it this book, by the way. I got mine for about $6 at Half-Price books, and there are so many recipes in here that I want to try, its ridiculous. Can you say peach and blackberry cobbler, or potato and pea curry?  Yum!

Anyhoo, I finagled the recipe a smidge to fit my crock-pot size, and my mistakes {(like when I pre-cooked the beans I forgot to reserve the starchy cooking liquid; hello beer, nice to meet you!)}, so you should feel free to finagle however much you want. This can be made vegan, alcohol-free, whatever. It's so versatile and fairly inexpensive.

Ingredients:
1 bag dried white beans
1 package turkey bacon, roughly chopped
1 cup {or so} of barley {I used pearl barley sold in bulk}
1 yellow onion cut in half then sliced
1/2-3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup pure maple syrup {check the labels! don't buy fake syrup!}
1.5 tsp dried mustard
3/4 tsp ginger
1.5 tsp dried garlic
1 bottle of your favorite beer {I used Shiner Bock; I'd recommend a light ale or amber beer}
butter or oil to saute onions
water

Directions:
Rinse and pick over beans for stones, etc.
Combine beans and 6 cups of water in a bowl {I just tossed them in my slow cooker crock}
Let sit for 6 hours or so
Drain and rinse beans
Place in the crock and fill to the top with water
Cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5-6 {(I cooked mine overnight on low)}
Remove beans from crock and reserve the liquid if you're not using beer.
In a skillet brown chopped bacon to render the fat and transfer bacon to a bowl.
Saute onions until they're soft and caramelized and add to bowl
Rinse barley and add to bowl
Add beans and remaining ingredients minus the beer
Mix all ingredients together and put back into crock
Add beer until the liquid comes just below the top of the crock
Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
Serve with corn muffins and enjoy!

Shakshuka (Poached Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce)

I was all set to post my recipe for slow-cooker pineapple porkchops. But, I thought that might be blasphemous considering we're in the middle of Pesach (Passover). Now, I don't keep Passover anymore, but some habits die hard {(quick explanation: Jews do not eat pork ever, and they don't eat bread on Passover. Being the, erm, non-traditional Jew that I was, I still ate pork, just not on Passover, and I definitely didn't eat bread on Passover. Make sense? It doesn't really make any sense, but I'm human, and thus inexplicable)}. Instead, I'm posting a recipe that is not only Chametz-free {(another quick explanation: chametz is the stuff you don't eat during Passover; these include yeast, corn, lentils, legumes, barley, peanuts, flour, etc.; Passover is a long week if you don't know how to cook for it!)}, and vegetarian, but also super-simple, delicious, and cheap!


As a side note, I'm also posting the recipe on the link-up for "Easter Dinner" recipes on Delightful Country Cookin'. I haven't had an Easter Dinner in years {(although, my family does still have Easter dinner)}, but since Passover and Easter usually coincide, I figured that was a good alternative for This Week's Cravings.


Shakshuka is an Israeli dish which consists of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. Our last night in Israel was spent in this little restaurant in Jaffa where we all had shakshuka served family style with beans {(um, not something you should necessarily feed a group of people about to get on a 12 hour plane ride)} and bread. It seemed so easy to make, and so when I got home, I searched for a recipe and found this one from Smitten Kitchen {(her pictures are WAY better than mine!)}.


A few tips for this recipe:
*Make sure that you really let the tomatoes thicken before you add the eggs. It should be really thick and saucy (I didn't let mine get thick enough; it still tasted fabulous, but was soupy).
*Don't over-poach the eggs; its not the end of the world if you do, but part of the fun of this dish is to break the yolk and sop it up with some naan or matzo {(although in Israel we just had baguets)}
*I used feta cheese instead of the traditional Haloumi because, well, I live in Central Texas. We're lucky I can find feta.
*The recipe calls for 3 jalapenos. I didn't taste ANY spice, so I'd recommend either WAY more chiles, or spicier peppers. Or you could just add some red pepper flakes. Either way.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil (I just covered the bottom of the pot with some)
3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
2 14ish-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
6ish eggs {(I used more; whatever will fit in your pot!)}
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Warm naan for serving {(recipe to come after Passover is done)}


Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet or a dutch oven over medium heat {(I had to use my dutch oven because I don't have a super deep skillet)}
Saute onions and chiles until the onions are soft {(5-10 minutes based on preference)}.
Add garlic and spices and stir {(to prevent garlic from burning)} until garlic is soft.
Crush canned tomatoes by hand and add tomatoes + juice to pot.
Let simmer until it has a fairly thick consistency {(gravyish)}.

Add eggs by cracking them directly into the pot/skillet {(it will look like this)}

Cover and let simmer until the yolks are *just* set {(this is a bit overdone, but still delicious!)}

Carefully stir the whites into the sauce without breaking the yolks.  Top with feta cheese and eat with naan {(or matzo!)}.


Yum!