Zucchini Bread

This has been one of my favorites since I was a wee one.  I have never found another Zucchini bread that tastes even close.  If you use butter (what else would you use, right?) to grease your loaf pans, the edges get a delectable crispiness to them....and I will fight you for that end piece. ;)

If you're feeling really frisky, try it warm with a layer of luscious butter - and if you aren't too busy getting yourself a second slice, you'll thank me. :)

Do you think the fact that the zucchini was free makes it taste better?  I might have to eat an extra slice just to be sure. ;)

Zucchini Bread

What's In It:
3 eggs
1 c brown sugar*
1 c oil
1 t vanilla
2 c grated zucchini with skins
2 c flour
1 T cinnamon
2 t baking soda
1/4 t cream of tartar
1 c nuts, chopped (optional)

What To Do With It:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla until thick.  Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.

Pour evenly into 2 greased loaf pans and bake 45 min - 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out, and cool on a wire rack.

*The original recipe calls for 2 c white sugar, but in an attempt to reduce the sugar, I go with 1 c brown sugar.  To be honest, you really can't tell the difference and I figure an entire cup less is awesome!

Who Needs Sonic with Chili Dogs like these?

Chili Dogs were on the menu Friday and WOW were they amazing!

We had left over Venison Chili from the night before and Super Parents gave us some hot dogs from a meat market in IL and it was Kismet!  But wait....I didn't have any hot dog buns.  Wouldn't it be easier to run to the store to get some buns?  Sure it would, but wouldn't they taste like card board and fall apart in your hands? Sure they would.  How could I subject such delicious chili and hot dogs to such a dismal fate?  I could not. 

These phenomenal dogs were topped with chili, onions, smoked cheddar, mustard, and this surprisingly fantastic zucchini relish from One Hundred Dollars a Month.  

I yet again proved, in my procrastination and subsequent haste to quickly make a recipe, my reading skills are sub-par.  Here is the recipe that I found: Homemade Hot Dog Buns.  You should definitely go check it out for the pictures.  I have included the actual recipe below and then my notes about the changes I made - some purposefully and some accidentally. Ha Ha

What's In It:

1 1/4 c lukewarm milk (1 1/2 c lukewarm buttermilk)

1 lrg egg, beaten

6 T softened butter (more like 4T because that's all that was in my butter dish)

3 T sugar

4 c bread flour (I had All Purpose Flour and to compensate for the extra liquid I added, I used 5 c)

3 T intant potato flakes*

1 T vital wheat gluten (I didn't use this becuase I didn't have any, though I might get some to keep on hand)

2 t kosher salt (I used morton's regular salt)

2 t instant yeast

1/2 c buttermilk for brushing buns.  

What To Do With It:

Put all ingredients except the buttermilk into a mixer  Mix on low speed with a dough hook, for 10 minutes, or until a smooth, elastic dough is formed. (I only needed to mix for about 5 minutes) 

Allow to rest in the mixer bowl, covered with a tea towel, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-2 hours.  (I was rushed for time and I only let it rise for an hour, next time I will plan ahead, and let it rise for 2). 

Lightly grease a large baking sheet or line with a silpat or parchment paper. (I needed 2 baking sheets)
Divide dough into 3 equally sized pieces and form into logs.
Divide each log into 5 equal pieces for standard sized rolls or 4 equal pieces for larger Italian sausage or hoagie rolls.
Working with one piece at a time, pat and stretch each piece out into an oval.
Press an indentation down the length of the center of the oval.
Roll the dough up around the indentation.
Pinch the seam together lightly.
Roll the pieces gently seam side down until about 6-inches in length.
Transfer to the lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between the pieces, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Brush the puffy dough generously with buttermilk.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until deep golden brown.
Cool the rolls on a rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

These were so good!!!  I think because of my recipe alterations, they turned out a little skinnier than the ones on the original sight, but that didn't stop us from downing them and using them to mop up any chili that jumped ship from the dog.  

Saturday, we used the left over hot dog buns as bread sticks with our spaghetti.  We brushed them with garlic butter and warmed them in the oven - why did dinner take so long to get here?!

They were delicious!  I'll be posting about them early this week. :)

*This was the first time in my life that I ever used instant potato flakes.  I bought them about 6 months ago for a camping trip and was too grossed out to even open the package.  I had to run out the camper to get them - and now I don't know what I'm going to do with a whole box of potato flakes...guess we'll be eating a TON of hot dog buns! Man life is HARD! :)

Spice It Up!

Let's start off the week with something easy - homemade pumpkin pie spice.  I'm not sure about you, but I can't bring myself to pay almost $5 at the store for a spice that I can make with spices I already have in my cabinet.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

What's In it:

2 T ground cinnamon

1 T ground ginger 

1 1/2 t ground nutmeg

1 1/2 t ground allspice

1/4 t ground cloves

What To Do With It:

Combine

Store in an airtight container.

See?! I told ya it was a snap! :)   What do I use it for?  I use this in pumpkin pie pancakes, homemade pumpkin butter, pumpkin muffins, and also pie - just to name a few!

Later...I'll tell you about the very first pumpkin pie that I ever made - and it was just last week! Can't believe I'm 30 and just now made my first pumpkin pie!  Why did I wait so long!? 

Wolverine Says: "I could eat this every day"!

So what's a girl to do when she has artichokes and spinach and a batch of bread just sitting around....oh...I don't know....make spinach and artichoke dip with artisan bread? Heck YES!  Everyone downed it with happy little smiles on their faces, which puts a smile on my face.  Wolverine even said he could eat this every day! I'm sure that's not gonna happen, but it will definitely be in the rotation.

So, this is the third loaf of this bread.  I made the first two loaves of this the other day and then experimented by putting the third loaf in the fridge.  It tastes really good, the bread is nice and light but still a bit of a chewy texture (think baguette from Panera).  But, mine didn't look nearly as pretty as theirs :(  The top looked dull and the cracks didn't split nearly as wide.  Well - turns out, things like that will happen when you don't actually read the entire recipe.  Today, when I was getting ready to bake the third loaf I noticed that it said I am supposed to put a pan of water in the oven with the bread when it bakes.  OH! That makes a big difference.  Sheesh - and I thought reading comprehension was a strength of mine.  Also, do not over bake this bread.  The original recipe says 30-35 minutes.  The first batch I went with 30 minutes and it almost burned!  For this loaf, I did 25 and it was 100x better than the first batch!!  So here's the recipe with some changes/notes.

Artisan Bread 

Recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes

 What's In It:

3 c lukewarm water
1 1/2 T Morton's salt
1 1/2 T active dry yeast
6 1/2 c Unbleached All Purpose Flour

What You Do With It:

In a very large bowl, mix dry ingredients.

Pour in the water and stir just until thoroughly combined.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap (or aluminum foil).  Let the dough rest for 2-5 hours.  I wait the full 5.  The dough will roughly double in size, so if your bowl isn't big enough to handle that, be sure to grease your plastic wrap or foil.

"Divide" dough into 3 sections.  I took a knife and just kinda drew a peace sign in the bowl to use as a rough guide.  I then removed one section* at a time and worked with it.

Using well floured hands and adding more flour as necessary to prevent the sticky glob from fusing permanently with your skin, form each section of dough into a ball by tucking the sides under the ball until it is  in the shape you want.

Place on a non-stick mat or parchment lined baking sheet and allow to rest for about 30 min.

Place a pan of water into your oven below the rack where your bread will cook.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Just prior to placing bread in oven, make a few slash marks on the top of each loaf to allow for controlled cracking while the bread expands.  (My bread seems to flatten and expand quite a bit during it's resting stage, so for my second attempt at this bread, I floured my hands and "re-tucked" the bread to make into a tighter ball.  I then scored it - I'm happy with how it turned out, but I think I'll do it once or twice more before I completely recommend it without a "at your own risk" warning.)

Bake for 25-35 minutes.  Bread will be lightly browned when finished.  Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing.  If you slice it before it cools, you run the chance of it having a much more dense texture.  

*If you don't want to bake all three loaves at once, you can store the unused dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.  I transferred my unused dough to a smaller bowl that would fit in my fridge and just kept it wrapped with plastic wrap.  I waited 5 days between bakings and just let the dough come to room temp before I formed it into a ball with well floured hands.  Follow the recipe as normal from there on.


And now....on to the Dip!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Recipe from Pioneer Woman

What's In It:
6 T butter, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bag spinach (or spinach mix)
Salt and Pepper to taste
33oz jar artichokes*
3 T flour
2 c Milk
1/2 c Mozzarella Cheese
1 c Cheddar Cheese
8oz Cream Cheese
1/2 t Cayenne pepper

What To Do With It:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt 3T butter over medium low heat.  Add garlic and cook til fragrant.  Increase heat to medium and add spinach.  Stir and cook until wilted.  Remove from pan and put in strainer, press as much liquid as possible from spinach.  Return strained liquid to pan.

Add artichokes to spinach liquid and cook over medium heat until liquid has cooked off and artichokes start to take on a little color.  Remove the artichokes - I put them in the strainer with the spinach.  Chop spinach and artichokes.

Using the same skillet, melt the other 3T butter.  Whisk in 3T flour until a paste forms.  Stirring constantly over medium low heat, cook 2-3 minutes.  Whisk in milk and continuing stirring until slightly thickened.

Add Cheeses and cayenne and stir until melted.

Add Spinach and Artichokes, stir to combine.

Pour mixture into a greased baking dish and place in oven.  Or, if your skillet is oven safe, simply place skillet into the preheated oven.

Bake for 15 min or until bubbly. Serve with chips, crackers, or the amazing Artisan Bread listed above!

*Yes, I used a jar of artichokes.  Today was my first attempt at steaming whole artichokes - let's just say I need some practice and I am glad that I had a Sam's size jar on hand so I wasn't sitting crying in my kitchen.


You could even serve the Spinach Artichoke Dip with Spaghetti Squash for your little Te-Man! He much preferred the spinach and artichoke sauce to the marinara sauce that he didn't even touch!  :)