No Fail French Bread

This bread is DELICIOUS and the recipe makes two big loaves! Totally worth the time. Goes great with a ladies' lunch salad or even for french toast!

Diane's No Fail French Bread (from abountifulkitchen.com)

2 tablespoons dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups hot water

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon (yes tablespoon) salt

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 cups flour, divided

1 egg, beaten- for glazing bread

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

In a separate large bowl combine hot water, sugar, salt, oil and 3 cups of the flour. Stir well.

Add the yeast mixture to the hot water-flour mixture. Mix together with large wooden spoon or paddle attachment.

Add the remaining 3 cups of flour a cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.

After all of the flour is added and mixed in, let sit in bowl for 10 minutes.

When the dough has risen, stir down with a large spoon. If making in a stand mixer, turn the machine on low for a few seconds until the dough is deflated.

Repeat 5 times, every ten minutes, for a total of 60 minutes of rising and then punching down.

Divide the dough in half. Roll each half of dough in a 9x12 rectangle on a floured surface. Roll the dough up like a jelly roll (long way).

Place the dough on a greased baking pan (jelly roll pan), with the seam side down. Both loaves fit on one pan.

Score the bread across the top 3 or 4 times, and brush with beaten egg.

Let rise for 20-30 minutes in warm place.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes in lower half of oven, until golden brown. Or you may bake at 350 convection for 20 minutes.

Yield 2 large loaves french bread

Tips:

-I make this all of the time in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Just use the paddle attachment until you have mixed in the first 3 cups of flour. Then switch to the dough hook to mix in the final 3 cups of flour.

-I often forget the mixing down step (5 times every 10 minutes) and have never had a problem with the bread turning out perfect. Just make sure the bread raises in the bowl until it has almost doubled in size, or for about 45 minutes. Then proceed to the rolling out step.

Sprite Grilled Chicken and Kale Citrus Salad

This Chicken is FABULOUS on its own! Great ladie's lunch salad!

PREP 20 MINS

TOTAL 20 MINS

AUTHOR SI FOSTER, A BOUNTIFUL KITCHEN "Grilled Chicken and kale salad with apricot vinaigrette"

YIELD 10 -12 SERVINGS

Ingredients

• marinade:
• 1 cup (not can) of Sprite or other Lemon Lime soda, not sugar free
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon lemon pepper, plus additional for sprinkling on chicken before grilling
• salad:
• 2 chicken breast halves
• 1 bunch of Kale, washed, trim away tough stem, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1- 6-10 oz bag spinach
• 1 pint strawberries, washed and sliced
• 1 pint blackberries or blueberries, washed
• 1 cup Craisins
• 1 cup Cilantro, washed and cut from stem, rough chopped
• 1 avocado, cut into chunks
• 4 oz Gorgonzola cheese (1 small container)
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• dressing:
• ¾ cup canola oil
• ⅓ cup orange juice
• ¼ cup white balsamic or cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons apricot or peach jam or honey about 2 tablespoons honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place the marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag and whisk. Add chicken to bag and place in refrigerator for at least 1-4 hours, or overnight. When ready to grill, remove chicken from bag and discard marinade. Grill over medium heat for about 8 minutes per side. Remove from grill when cooked, let cool and slice chicken against grain. Set on plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining all ingredients in a blender or use an immersion blender to mix well. Refrigerate until ready to assemble salad.
3. To assemble salad, place kale in a large bowl or on a platter. Squeeze fresh lemon over kale and using hands, massage the fresh lemon juice into the kale to break down the fibers in the kale. Gently toss the spinach with the kale. Do not massage the spinach!
4. Arrange the remaining salad ingredients on top of the fresh kale and spinach mixture. Drizzle with prepared dressing and serve remaining dressing on the side of the salad.
5. Serves 6 as a main dish salad, or 10-12 as a side dish.

Notes

Notes:-When serving as a side dish, you may omit the chicken. -The marinade is enough for 6-8 chicken breast halves. -If preparing salad ahead, add avocado and pumpkin seeds to salad, and dress salad just before serving.-I often grill extra chicken, cool ,slice and then use throughout the week in salads, pasta dishes or to throw in grilled tortillas with cheese and then add lettuce for a quick lunch!

Silver Dollar Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

From: Jaime Pace
 Really Yummy. Silver dollar size is perfect for a couple of delicious bites.

Sour Cream Cookies

1 cup sugar

½ c. butter softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

2 ⅔ c. flour

½ c. sour cream

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. nutmeg (optional, I don’t add)

Heat oven to 425.  Cream sugar and butter until pebbly. Add vanilla, and egg. Fold in sour cream. Sift together flour, powder, soda, and salt, and add to wet mixture just until mixed.  

Stick one piece of saran wrap to the counter with flecks of water.  You will cover the dough with another piece and roll it between the saran wrap. This way you can add minimal flour to keep the stickiness down and it won’t change the flavor too much.

Spoon about a baseball size of dough onto the plastic wrap, and roll ¼ inch thick.  Cut with 2 in diameter circle cutter, dipped in flour each cut. 12 fit on a sheet. Use left over dough to roll out again with the next dough blog.

Bake 6-8 minutes.  Approx 2-3 dozen cookies. Just until edges and bottom are barely golden brown.

The smaller the cookie the less time you cook them.  If you make super small ones like I do, they only need to cook for 4 min.

Let cool completely before frosting.  

Cream Cheese Frosting (1 batch will frost 1 batch of cookies)

8 oz cream cheese, room temp.

½ c. margarine or butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla

4 ½ - 4 ¾ cups powdered sugar

Frosting tip:  Put more than you think you should, and then put some more! About a 1:1 ratio of frosting to cookie.

Spread frosting on the cookie and then dip, upside-down into a bowl of Sanding Sugar. Cover frosting completely with sanding sugar. Let sit for frosting to set a bit. To transport you need a tray with a lip of some sort.

Sanding sugar can be purchased online or at ABC Cake Decorating Supplies, 2853 E. Indian School Rd.  Phoenix, Az. 85016

Peach Crisp

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
10 medium peaches or apples

In a mixing bowl combine oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Peel and core peaches or apples; slice and put into a baking dish. Sprinkle oat mixture on top of fruit and bake at 350°F degrees for 40 minutes or until fruit is tender

Crispy Pork Bowls

CHIPOTLE PORK POWER BOWLS

FEBRUARY 17, 2017 LEAVE A COMMENT

Recreating my favorite dish from Cafe Zupas today. It’s a tasty copy cat of the Mexicali Braised Pork bowl– except I’ll give you more than one measly scoop of veggies! I love the selection and fresh options Zupas has to offer but I’m not a fan of their skimpiness. I need more than 8 black beans and 1 tbsp of peppers in my life. I mean really. I decided to take matters into my own hands…. behold the Chipotle Pork Power Bowl.

Packed with protein, fiber and an abundance of flavorful nutrients this dish is sure to please! The key is crisping up your pork! It’s crutial to the flavor. I used our Instant Pot to cook the pork and then once shredded I crisped it up nicely in my Lodge cast iron skillet. This step is NOT optional! It gives it that wow factor that sets it apart from the rest! You can drizzle with fresh lime, balsamic glaze or citrus vinaigrette. All combinations are delicious! Enjoy!

PRINT

Chipotle Citrus Pork Roast

yield 8-10 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (2-2 1/2 pound) boneless pork roast, trimmed of all visible fat. I prefer Boston butt.
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 5 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1 chopped chipotle chili pepper in adobo, seeds removed (two if you prefer more heat)
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/4 cup organic lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp olive oil + more to crisp

Instructions

1. Clean and trim roast.
2. Sprinkle with salt, cumin, garlic powder and cinnamon and rub well.
3. Add 1 tsp oil to the Instant Pot.
4. On the sauté setting sear roast on all four sides. Remove from pot and set aside.
5. Add chicken broth and orange juice into the bottom of Instant Pot, scraping the bottom to deglaze..
6. Add the roast back to the pot.
7. Top with onion, peppers and garlic.
8. Cook on high pressure for 75 minutes. Allow for a natural release and check roast. If it needs more time, close the lid and continue cooking. Reset and cook on high for an additional 30 minutes. Again allow for a natural release. It should be easy to shred at this point.
9. Shred the pork using two forks and then add lime juice. Stir until all juices are well blended.
10. Remove shredded pork from the Instant Pot with tongs and set aside.
11. Reduce remaining liquid down to 1 1/2 cups and reserve for later.
12. To crisp-- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large non stick pan over high heat. Place shredded pork into the pan, drizzle over some juices. Wait until the juices evaporate and the bottom side is golden brown and crusty. Turn and quickly sear the other side.
13. Repeat in batches being sure not to crowd the pan. I usually do three or four.
14. Remove pork from skillet. Drizzle over more juices and serve immediately.

Notes

**You could also use a crock-pot if you don't have access to an Instant Pot. Just increase broth to 1/2 cup and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 6 hours.

To make bowls layer:

• 2-3 cups shredded kale
• 1/4 cup tri-colored cooked quinoa (try this easy cooking method)
• 1/4 cup corn1/2 cup sliced bell peppers
• 1/2 cup heirloom tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup black beans, rinsed2 tbsp mashed avocado or guacamole
• top with citrus vinaigrette dressing or balsamic glaze

Citrus Vinaigrette dressing

 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Whisk all ingredients together and enjoy!

FILED UNDER: DINNER, LUNCH

« Love Beet Hummus

Garlic-Basil Paleo Meatballs »

READER INTERACTIONS

LEAVE A REPLY 

Best Ever Banana Bread

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
(Tiff-I made these into mini-muffins, and they were perfect at 325 for 15-20 minutes)
Author: Divas Can Cook
Makes 1 large loaf

Ingredients (All ingredients should be room temperature)
3 large extra ripe banans (1 1/2 C mashed)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2-3/4 C brown sugar (Mom uses 1/2C)
8 Tbls butter, softened (1 stick)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C buttermilk (Buttermilk is best, but if you don't have any. Mix 1/2 milk and 1 tsp cider vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes)

For short bread topping:
1 C flour
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C butter
1/4 C chopped nuts

Topping:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix ingredients together and spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, just until golden brown.

Let cool and crumble.

Bread:
Preheat oven to 325F
Grease and flour a large loaf pan

In a medium size bowl, mash bananas until creamy and stir in lemon juice. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs until combined.

Fold in bananas. Add in vanilla extract and buttermilk. Beat until combined.

Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture. STIR GENTLY AND JUST UNTIL THE FLOUR IS INCOPORATED. DO NOT OVER STIR.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle crumbled topping onto the top of the batter.

Bake on the center rack for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cooking times may vary. Check on the bread at the 1 hour mark. Toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean and bread should be golden on the outside.

Brush the top of the bread with butter if desired when it comes out of the oven.
Let it cool for 5 minutes and then remove the bread from the pan and place it on a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Slice and enjoy. Flavors with intensify the next day.

Kneaders Overnight French Toast

This recipe was in a Kneaders brochure. I am pretty sure you could sub is Texas Toast, but it won't have the cinnamon swirl!
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 Loaf Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon Bread
8 medium eggs
1 Tbls brown sugar
1 Tbls vanilla
3 C milk
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs butter

Slice the Chunky Bread into 8 pieces. Generously butter a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Place 6 bread slices in the baking dish. Cut the remaining 2 slices into smaller pieces and fill in the spaces in the pan.

Mix eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt. Pour the mixture over the bread slices. Cut the butter into small pieces and place over the top of the bread slices. Cover the baking dish and refrigerate overnight (or for at least 4 hours).

Uncover and bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes.