50/50 Bread

We are a family of bread lovers.  We eat loads of it.  There, I said it.  We can't help it.  Homemade is the absolute best.  I'll be honest, just the smell of the dough as it's rising  puts a happy smile on my face.  Then, there's the antipation of that yummy, warm and fresh out of the oven, slathered with butter and honey slice of bread. Yeah baby, it is worth the wait. 

Today I decided to play around a bit and make a loaf of bread using a 50/50 mixture of all purpose and whole wheat flour.  Insert disclaimer here~Not every one of my kitchen adventures are a hit.~ This one however, got rave reviews from my oldest son, so, yep it's a keeper.

Here's what you'll need to make this delicious bread should you decide to try it.  

50/50 Bread

3 cups All Purpose Flour

3 cups Wheat Montana whole wheat flour, white

2/3 cups sugar

2 cups water

1-1/2 tablespoons yeast

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix warm water with 2/3 cups sugar.  Sprinkle the yeast on top and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until frothy.  Add three cups of flour, salt and oil.  Mix with the paddle until combined.  Switch to the dough hook and gradually add the remaining flour and allow to mix for about 7-10 minutes until a smooth ball forms.  Place on a greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour or when doubled in size.  Punch the dough down and divide into two equal parts.  Roll each half into a rectangle the width of your bread pan.  Pinch seam to seal. Place seam side in a greased loaf pan. Cover loaves with a warm damp cloth and let rise in a warm spot for another hour.  Bake loaves in a 350* oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and baste the top of each loaf with melted butter, or honey butter.  Allow the loaves to rest in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out.  Cool completely on wire before storing in Ziplock bag.

Amish White Bread

Homemade Amish white bread on a Friday morning?  Yes, I say.  French toast made with the homemade Amish white bread?  Yes, I say. It's all kinds of yummy.  Thanks to my friend Kurt for posting this recipe. I'm passing it along so that y'all can try it.

                

Amish White Bread 

2 cups warm water (about 110-120 degrees)

2/3 cups white sugar 

1 1/2 Tbls yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups flour

Put sugar in bowl and add water.  Sprinkle yeast on top and let dissolve 5-15 minutes.  Add salt, oil and half the flour mix together.  Add remaining flour change to dough hook and mix.  Pull out on lightly floured surface and knead shortly to form a soft round ball.  Place in greased bowl flipping to cover both sides.  Top with a damp warm towel.  Set aside in draft free area and let rise till doubles in size about 1 hour should do it.  Remove the towel and punch down.  Lay out on lightly floured surface and cut in half.  Flatten out in rectangle and jelly roll into a loaf.  Pinch ends together and place in greased 9×5 bread pan.  Cover and let rise till double in size (about 30 mins.)  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Once double in size bake for 25 minutes.  Pull out and brush top with butter.  Let rest for 10 minutes before removing to cooling rack.  Makes 2 loaves.

Chicken Salad Roll-Ups

Here's a super easy and tasty Saturday supper idea. It takes no time to prepare and chances are you have everything you need in the pantry. Do try it with the walnuts. They add a nice flavor and crunch 

Chicken Salad Roll-Ups-Ups

1 large can chicken breast, drained

2 stalks of celery chopped

1/4 cup minced onion

1/2 tbls. Ranch dressing mix

Pepper to taste

1/3 cup of chopped walnuts

For an added kick add a little chopped jalepeño 

A tbls. or two of mayo

Mix everything together and serve rolled up in fresh flour or corn tortillas. If you want to go really lo cal serve the chicken salad rolled up in leaves of romaine. A super tasty supper in no time.

Mexican Table Cream

A super simple Saturday morning breakfast suggestion y'all.  If you have never tried Mexican table cream you really should. It's magically delicious.  My in laws always made it fresh on their farm and we used to make our own when hubby worked at the dairy.  Mmm.... Those were tasty times. 

My sweet father-in-law taught me me how to eat my cream with Mexican cucharas, AKA tortillas, as a spoon. His preference was corn and mine is flour.  They do make the perfect little scoop for eating up the cream and a host of other tasty vitals. 😀  I've been enjoying my cream this way ever since. 

With a little cracked sea salt and jalapeño or serrano pepper it's so yummy.

If you give a cook a Kindle...

The possibilities are endless.

In January I bought myself a new Kindle.  A bigger and better 32gb Kindle Fire HD.  The first thing I did after firing that baby up was go app searching.  After all, a few good apps...

Well let me tell you there is a veritable Smörgåsbord of apps out there. It's a virtual app feast for anyone who loves cooking, baking and just plain anything food related. 

While perusing the multitude of apps out there in Kindle Land I found an app for coffee recipes. Being the coffee lover that I am I knew that I had hit the coffee jackpot and I downloaded that app faster than you can say, "Give me a double chocolate frozen frappachino with whipped cream."

As I glanced through the app I spotted a recipe for Canadian Coffee.  I knew I had to try it because it sounded so doggone yummy.  And with a dollop of maple whipped cream on top how could I resist? I was certainly not disappointed as it was very yummy.

Here is the recipe in case you'd like to try it.  I gotta say that with or without the whiskey it's plum delish. I know 'cause I tried it both ways.

Canadian Coffee

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup whiskey

8 cups of coffee hot, black and strong

Topping:

3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

4 teaspoons pure maple syrup

Whip the cream and the maple syrup until soft peaks form.  Serve over hot coffee.

Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken

I'm pulling out the slow cooker for tonights supper easy supper idea.  I'm  roasting a whole chicken in one of my favorite kitchen toys, the always popular and oh so versatile slow cooker.  This is one item my kitchen can not be with out.  For tonight's recipe everything went into the slow cooker this morning and at supper time tonight voila~~~ a super easy, super delish meal that feeds the whole family.   

Here's what you'll need to pull it all together~

Spice Ingredients for the rub

• 4 tsp freshly ground sea salt
• 2-1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chopped garlic

Make a bed of veggies for the chicken to lay on. It will add flavor and help keep the chicken moist.

Use~

• 2 onions cut in half
• 5 carrots, cleaned, unpeeled, chopped in halves or thirds
• 4 celery stalks, cut in thirds
• 1 whole lemon quartered
• 3-4 pound roasting chicken. 

Directions:

1. Combine rub ingredients and set aside.  Prep all the veggies make a bed inside the slow cooker. An oval one works well.
2. Remove the neck and pouch from the chicken.  You could freeze them for using in another recipe. Rinse chicken thoroughly and pat dry.
3. Add quartered lemon to the inside of the chicken.  Now rub the chicken down with the spice mixture and place it on top of the veggies in the slow cooker.  Cover and cook chicken on low for 6-8 hours. (I used a 4 lb chicken, and it took about 6 hours.)  I cooked it until the internal temperature was 160 degrees F.  If you want the skin to have some crunch remove it to a ceramic baking dish and place it in the oven under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes.  Allow chicken to rest after removing it from the broiler.  I'd say about 5-10 minutes is good.

Serve with steamed rice and side salad.