Recipe: Garlic & Herb Swirl Bread

Garlic & Herb Swirl Bread
Better Homes & Gardens, Dec 2021, p. 171
4.7 stars

This is only the second bread recipe I've ever made, and it turned out pretty well! It was focaccia-like in texture. While there were a number of steps to make this, the most work was planning ahead and chopping up all of the herbs. Otherwise, it was actually pretty easy to make.

Despite all of the butter in it, it wasn't buttery and it actually needed butter at the table. The herb flavors also mellowed out as I thought the herbs would be overwhelming.

Looks impressive if I can say so myself!

Ingredients: all-purpose flour, active dry yeast, eggs, milk, butter, sugar, Parmesan cheese, oil-packed dried tomatoes, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, red pepper

Recipe: Cheddar Chive Mini Popovers

Cheddar Chive Mini Popovers

3 stars

KerryGold.com recipe

I love popovers, plus we had chives that we needed to use so I tried out this recipe.  It wasn't as good as other popover recipes I've tried.  These were denser (not light/fluffy).  They were fine -- and I'd make them again if we need to use up chives in the future but wouldn't serve these at a dinner party.

Ingredients: eggs, milk, cheddar cheese, flour, unsalted butter, chives, salt

Tips/Notes:

• This says that it makes 12 mini popovers. I used a regular muffin pan, and this made 12.
• The popovers had a slight green hue to them because the chives are blended in the batter.
• Served these with Magic Crispy Chicken and Skillet-Roasted Cauliflower with Panko.

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

No-Knead Bread
nytimes.com;  Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
5 stars

Impress your friends and offer to make the bread for your next get together.  Crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, you'll think you're in Paris!  There are just 5 ingredients (including water), and the recipe is so simple. . .  it just takes time.

Ingredients:  all-purpose or bread flour, instant yeast, salt, cornmeal, water

If you want to have the bread by dinner at 7pm, here's how to time it:

• 9:15pm (the night before):  step 1 - mix the ingredients together
• 3:15pm (the next day): step 2 - fold the dough over itself once or twice
• 3:30pm:  step 3 - shape dough into a ball
• 5:30pm:  step 4 - heat the oven
• 6:00pm:  step 5 - bake

Tips:

• I use all-purpose flour
• Bake time is 45 min altogether (30 and then 15 min)

Recipe: Sour Cream and Scallion Drop Biscuits

Sour Cream and Scallion Drop Biscuits
Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2016, p. 27
5 stars

Can I just say YUM?!

These are now my favorite biscuits that I've ever made.  They're so flavorful and moist.  It might sound odd to put scallions in them, but that's what differentiates them and gives them a unique flavor.  Definitely something I'd made for guests.

It doesn't take very long to prep the 9 ingredients.

Ingredients:  all-purpose flour, melted butter, scallions, sour cream, baking powder, kosher salt, sugar, baking soda, hot paprika.

Tip:

• The biggest tip is to bake them longer than the 12-15 min that's called for in the recipe.  Make sure the tops of the biscuits get brown (don't get fooled by the paprika that is also reddish brown), and make sure the bottoms get a little brown as well.  It took me about double the bake time.

Recipe: Three-Cheese Gougeres

Three-Cheese Gougeres
Saveur, Issue #172, p. 66
4 stars

These gougeres were very nice -- would be a great hors d'ouevers for a party!

This recipe calls for just 8 ingredients which includes 3 different cheeses:  whole milk, unsalted butter, flour, 5 eggs, kosher salt, Comte cheese, Emmentaler cheese, Gruyere cheese

For a dinner side dish, I would actually make the Popovers with Gruyere recipe instead which are full-size popovers/muffins, not mini ones like this recipe, and are actually even simpler to make.  The popovers recipe also doesn't require butter or the mix of cheeses and requires fewer eggs.

Recipe: Jalapeno-Cheddar Popovers

Jalapeno-Cheddar Popovers
Southern Living, March 2014, p.104
My rating:  3 stars

Of all the popover and savory muffin recipes I've made, this one was ok -- not my favorite.  It didn't have a ton of flavor (yet they smelled amazing), but I think I'll try the recipe again with the following tweaks:

• Add more (maybe double) the amount of cheese
• Add red pepper flakes

Notes:

• The batter was very watery but was fine!
• I let the batter stand for 10 min instead of 30

I'll update this post after I make the recipe again. . .

Recipe: Jumbo Pancetta, Thyme and Gruyere Muffins

What to do with extra buttermilk we had in the fridge?  I hate waste.

Fortunately, I saw the Jumbo Pancetta, Thyme and Gruyere Muffins recipe in Food and Wine Magazine (April 2014, p. 55) and made these this past weekend.

Warning:  They're addictive.
I'm definitely making these again.

Tips:

• We made half the recipe which filled 8 regular muffin cups (I don't have a jumbo muffin pan)
• Used finely diced prosciutto instead of pancetta
• Used dried thyme instead of fresh
• The batter was thick (thicker than I thought it'd be)
• It only took 27 min to bake, not 30

Bon Appetit!

Recipe: Salt-and-Pepper-Biscuits; Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Chanterelles

You know you've cooked a lot . . . 

Salt-and-Pepper Biscuits
Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Mushrooms

We literally cooked up a storm last night -- there were pots and pans everywhere!

• Thomas Keller's roast chicken recipe (without the bed of root vegetables) - always delicious
• Salt-and-Pepper Biscuits (Bon Appetit Magazine - Nov 2013, p.128 with photo on p.126)
• Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Chanterelles (Bon Appetit Magazine - Nov 2013, p.139 with photo on p.138)
• Homemade vanilla ice cream with mint chocolate chips

The biscuits and Brussels sprouts recipes were new for us, and they both get huge thumbs up.

The Salt-and-Pepper Biscuits were absolutely delicious.  It was my first time making biscuits from scratch, and it was so easy -- something I'll be able to whip up anytime (and in 30 min max) as long as I have sour cream and heavy cream in house.  There are only 9 ingredients in this recipe: sour cream, heavy cream, baking powder, kosher salt, sugar, black pepper, flour, butter, sea salt.

We modified the Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Chanterelles recipe, and it turned out great:

• Used baby bella mushrooms instead of chanterelles
• Roasted the Brussels sprouts with my roast chicken instead of grilling them
• Didn't use all of the bacon fat to cook the mushrooms, shallot and garlic (it would've been way too greasy)

I can't wait to eat the leftovers this week.  Tonight we're going to try the Thai Beef with Basil recipe (Bon Appetit - Nov 2013, p. 54).

Recipe: Popovers with Gruyere

I made popovers for the first time this past weekend for a party we attended. 

Who knew they were so easy to make? 

This Popovers with Gruyere recipe from Bon Appetit (Sept 2004) requires just 5 ingredients:  flour, salt, milk, eggs and gruyere.  Impress your guests!

2 tips:

• Baking time was only 35 min (not the 40 min noted in the recipe) so watch them so they don't overbrown or burn.
• Make a slit in them as people have noted in the reviews so that they don't deflate completely.
• Think about adding dry mustard and/or mustard seeds like the XXL Gougeres.

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

If you love bread, you must try this recipe!  It is incredible.  The texture of this bread is perfect -- not too light, not too dense; the crust is crunchy, and well, perfect.

Amazingly easy, no need to knead the dough, and it only requires 4 ingredients.  My friend's dad made this recipe, and I literally wanted to eat the entire loaf (and I'm not even a huge bread person).  As you can see from the photo, we ate half the loaf last night. 

Tips:

• Make sure you use instant yeast.
• Plan ahead.  If you want the bread for dinner, you'll need to start the bread 20 hours in advance.  Here is an example timeline:
• Start making the bread @ 10 pm
• Tend to the dough 18 hours later @ 4 pm
• Tend to the dough again 15 minutes later @ 4:15 pm
• Start baking the bread after 2 hours @ 6:15 pm
• Bake the bread for 45 minutes; it'll be done @ 7 pm
• Note:  At the end of the recipe, we only needed to bake it an additional 15 minutes, not 30.

The recipe was printed in The New York Times back in 2006, and I'm so glad it's still posted online!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0
I just watched the 5 min video (at the link above) where The New York Times' Mark Bittman talks to Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery about his recipe.  Jim provides a faster version of this recipe that involves adding red wine vinegar and using hot water so that the dough only needs 4 hours to rise instead of 18 hours.  I may try this next time!