Breads: Broiche

This time I wanted to make something different, so I decided to make broiche. I hadn't made a French bread before. I was really enjoying baking breads.  So this time I went to Better Homes and Gardens Complete Step-By-Step Cook Book again to see if they had a recipe. Here is what I found.

So I began making the broiche. This recipe was different then the other breads I had made. It sat in the refrigerator overnight, then it was suppose to rise again, and so it was baked the next day. The other breads I made all were made and rose the same day.
Here is what the bread looked like as it came out of the oven.

They were very tasty, if fact I shared some with my parents when I went for a visit. They were absolutely delighted. The bread is a buttery goodness, just as you would expect from French cooking.

Related Recipes
The Italian Loaf
English Muffin Toasting Bread
Homemade Cinnamon Bread

Related articles

• Edith Wharton was Born
• Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the First Female Doctor
• Elvis Aaron Presley was Born
• A Streetcar Named Desire

Cream of Wisconsin Cheese Soup

Growing up my mother made us Welsh Rabbit. Our welsh rabbit contained no beer but was rather just a cheddar cheese sauce she had made, which she served on toast with a fresh slice of tomato. It was a very simple dish.  Since I had enjoyed this dish growing up, I decided to try something new, Cream of Wisconsin Cheese Soup I found in the recipe book, Dining By Rail by James D. Porterfield.

I had made a recipe previously from this cookbook. A Cuban Sandwich. The soup I am sharing with you today was a menu served by The Fred Harvey Company. It was also a favorite of President Harry S. Truman.

This was my first time making a cheese dish before. I have made items with cheese in them, but not an actual cheese dish, so it was definitely an experience. After I added the roux, I thought perhaps I made made a mistake, then a added the cream, but the soup was wonderful. The only thing I did different was I used black pepper instead of white.

The one thing I can say is that I will be better when it comes to my next cheese dish. I don't cook with dairy that often, so making a cheese soup was new for me.

Related articles

• Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was Born
• General Tom Thumb was Born
• Elvis Aaron Presley was Born
• Hattie Caraway became the First Woman Senator on January 12, 1932
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was Published on December 10, 1884

Breads: The Italian Loaf

This time I decided I wanted to make an old world time of bread. Like the loaves people carry when they walk home from the European bakeries.  I found this recipe for Italian loaves in  Better Homes and Gardens Complete Step-By-Step Cook Book and I decided that was the recipe I was going to try.It was published in 1978. Slightly outdated since it is 2014, but baking hasn't changed that much. This was the result.

They were beautiful, so I definitely felt I was doing something right.
Here is the recipe directly from the book.

There is one change I made. I had a container of active dry yeast not packages. So 2 packages of active dry yeast is equal to 4 and 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast. I discovered this thanks to a little research on the web.
With all the problems I had with yeast and temperature, I have discovered that you can usually tell if the yeast is work if the dough sticks to something but comes off cleanly (this is after all the flour has been added, even if it is slightly sticky, it will come off cleanly).
As you can see from the recipe there are a couple of ways you can fashion this recipe. I just followed the top of half of the recipe. It is nice and simple.

There is my beautiful loaf of bread. Cut open and ready to be munched on.

Related articles

• Rosa Ponselle was Born
• Elvis Aaron Presley was Born
• Edith Wharton was Born
• The Birth of Joan of Arc
• It is Gypsy Rose Lee's Birthday!
• The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn is Played at the Marriage of Queen Victoria's Daughter and Friedrich of Prussia
• Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the First Female Doctor
• General Tom Thumb was Born

Apple Crumb Pie, Too

Autumn has arrived, and its time for more apple pie. In my home we love apple crumb pie. This recipe is as simple as they come. My Aunt came to visit from Hawaii. They live on the prettiest island Kauai. Her son and my youngest cousin who is in the army is going to Afghanistan soon. She stopped by to see us and her family in her travels.
For lunch my Mother served us a Pumpkin Curry soup and a Tortellini salad, and tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and a balsamic vinaigrette. My Grandma who is in a nursing home came to visit, and after we went back to the nursing home and saw a show and talked. We finished the evening with pizza from Fiore's in Old Saybrook. It was such a big day!

APPLE CRUMB PIE

1 9" unbaked pastry shell (If frozen allow to thaw)

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

7-9 green cooking apples, peeled , cored and sliced (I used Granny Smith)

½ cup of butter plus 4 teaspoons 

½ cup of Sugar (or ¼ cup for sweeter apples are used)

 Melt butter in pan under a low heat.  Each of the prepared apples should have been cut into about 8-9 pieces. Add apples to butter and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, covered.  Stir apples and butter mixture every few minutes till they start to look a little cooked and there is some apple juice in the bottom of the pan. 

Uncover and add sugar and cinnamon. Coat apples by stirring, and leave uncovered allowing a syrup to form as the juice evaporates.  Keep stirring apples till the syrup forms. Place partially cooked apples and syrup into a unbaked pastry shell and set aside, then prepare topping.

Topping

6 tablespoons butter (butter should be cold not at

¾ cup flour

room temperature)

⅓ cup sugar

Cut butter into ½" pieces and drop on top of flour, using a pastry blender (or 2 forks).  Blend flour and butter mixture until it is crumbly.  Add the sugar and keep blending till crumbs are formed. 

Place topping over partially cooked apples in 9" pie crust working to spread evenly. Bake at 375°F for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven, top should be a little brown and juices should be bubbling. 

Place your pie on a baking sheet or a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any juices if the pie may boil over.

Cool before cutting serve plain, with cheddar cheese or ice cream.

So that was lunch and dessert.

Related articles

• Dining at the River Tavern and the Theater
• Roasted Chicken with a Herbes de Provence Stuffing
• The Resourcefulness of Peasants
• Butternut Acorn Squash Bisque
• Mummies and Egyptian Chicken
• It is Time to Get Artistic in the Bakery ... How about a Zebra Cake
• Ratatouille and Podcast to Feed the Soul

Roasted Chicken with a Herbes de Provence Stuffing

Originally I was going to make Roasted Chicken with Za'atar Stuffing from Avec Erci by Eric Ripert. Well this round I definitely did not plan very well, because I didn't have any za’atar spice in the spice cabinet. It was either that or purchase sumac and mix together za’atar spice myself. I just wasn't having any luck. So there was only one thing to do, make a replacement - so I did. I replaced the za’atar spice with herbes de Provence.

I followed Eric Ripert's recipe exactly except for the change with the spice. Above you will see I de-strung the bird. and you can see the beautiful stuffing. I used a hearty french bread to stuff the bird. The garlic was wonderful roasted at the bottom the pan. It was so aromatic.

Roasting birds is so easy and fast. This recipe is just as easy, whether you use za’atar spice or herbes de Provence.

Eric Ripert says "Every cook should know how to roast a chicken properly. The process is one of the most basic recipes and a good, roast chicken is one of my favorite things to cook and eat."

Chickens are always in season.

Related articles

• The Resourcefulness of Peasants
• Butternut Acorn Squash Bisque
• Mummies and Egyptian Chicken
• Dining at the River Tavern and the Theater
• It is Time to Get Artistic in the Bakery ... How about a Zebra Cake
• Ratatouille and Podcast to Feed the Soul