Honey Oat Bread

I wouldn't consider myself an experienced bread baker, but I do think I have the potential to be a professional homemade bread taste-tester. I love homemade bread. Although I haven't been the one to always do the baking, I rarely pass up the opportunity to eat the deliciousness that is homemade bread.

Now, I'm not the type of person to load up on pre-sliced loaves from the grocery store. Yes, they are usually pretty tasty (especially when you get the loaves filled with nutty goodness!), but I don't crave it like I crave heartier loaves of bread. The thought of a fresh loaf of Mom's Homemade Bread coming out of the oven, or buttering up a crusty slice of Artisan Bread is like food heaven.

Which brings me to my post for today. This recipe for Honey Oat Bread is one of my new found favorites. I came across it a few months ago and haven't looked back. Not only does it smell divine while it is in the oven, it has the perfect amount of "bready-ness" with a slight sweetness that makes you want more than one slice. (Or maybe half of the loaf, but let's not talk about that...) Inside, it is soft and chewy while the crust has a coat of baked honey and oats that is absolutely irresistible.

I like to have everything set out so it's ready when I need it. This recipe is a bit different than the normal bread recipes where you dissolve the yeast before adding additional ingredients. It may seem strange and throw you out of your bread-making comfort zone, but give it a shot. At least once. You will be surprised at the outcome.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, yeast and salt. (Yes, I know it's weird. Just go with it.)

In a separate bowl, warm the milk and butter.

Then add the water and honey to the milk.

Pour the milk and honey mixture into the flour mixture.

Stir until you have a rough dough.

Transfer dough to a clean, dry counter.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes.

When you first start out, the dough will be rather sticky. Just keep working it and you will see it transform into a smooth, elastic dough. It seems excessive, but kneading it for the full 10 minutes is very important for this bread. (You could use a Kitchen-Aid mixer with a dough hook instead if you have one.) I usually set a timer and get a rhythm going. Ten minutes gets to feeling like a long time, so it's best to make it a little more fun. Maybe crank up the music, too. :)

Turn the dough over in a large, well oiled bowl. 

Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until doubled.

While it's rising, line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper.

Divide the risen dough in half. Using your hands, press one half into a rectangle (about 9x12 inches).

Begin tightly rolling the dough into a log. Pinch and tuck the ends underneath.

Transfer to prepared loaf pan and repeat with the other half of the dough.

Cover and let rise 30 minutes.

Warm the honey in the microwave and scoop up some oats.

Set an empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Turn the oven on to preheat to 350 degrees. On the stove top, bring about 2 cups of water to a boil.

Drizzle the warmed honey over the tops of the loaves.

Gently brush them to coat.

Sprinkle the oats over the honey.

Place the loaves in the oven and carefully pour the boiling water into the empty loaf pan that is on the bottom rack of the oven.

Quickly close the oven door and bake the loaves for about 40-50 minutes or until they are golden brown and the internal temperature is 190 degrees.

Remove from the pans and transfer to a cooling rack.

Once cooled, store in a large ziploc bag.

Ingredients

6 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. oats (I have used quick and old fashioned, both work great)
4 1/2 tsp. yeast (instant or active dry)
3 tsp. salt
2 c. milk (almond milk works, too)
1/2 c. lukewarm water
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 c. honey

For topping:
4 tablespoons honey, warmed
1/4 c. oats

Directions

In a large bowl combine the flour, oats, yeast, and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, warm the milk so that it’s hot enough to melt the butter, but not boiling. Add the butter, stirring until melted, then stir in the warm water and honey.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, mixing with a dough hook or wooden spoon, until it just comes together to form a rough dough. 

Knead the dough on a clean, dry surface for 10 minutes. Dough will be very sticky at first. Just be patient. :)
(If the dough is still very wet and sticky after 5 minutes of kneading, add a little more flour until the dough is barely tacky. If the dough is too dry, add just a bit of water to soften it up.)
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Line two loaf pans with parchment paper and set aside.
Once doubled, divide the dough in two. With your fingers, flatten the dough into a 9 by 12-inch rectangle. Tightly roll the dough into a log. Flatten each end and tuck underneath. Transfer to a prepared loaf pan and repeat with the other half of the dough. Cover the loaves and allow to rise again for 30 minutes.

Place an empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. 
Bring 2 cups of water to boil on the stovetop.
When the loaves are done rising again, brush the tops with the warmed honey and sprinkle the oats on top.

Place the bread on the middle rack in the oven and carefully pour the boiling water into the empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Quickly close the oven door.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the bread is deep golden brown and the internal temperature is about 190 degrees. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.

*If you don't need both loaves right away, I have been known to freeze this bread. It works wonderfully!

I wrapped the completely cooled loaf with 3 layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. When you need to take it out of the freezer, just set it on the counter and let it thaw overnight.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Pie crust

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into cubes

2 to 4 tablespoons ice water, as needed

Ingredients

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 can peas

1 can corn

1 can beans

 pie crust

2 tbsp of milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

First, if you are planning on making your own crust you will want to do that right away. With the recipe above I had mixed the flour and salt together. After that I mixed it the butter by using a fork to cut the butter into the flour mixture, then added the water. Roll out crust, and lay into greased or nonstick pan. Also roll out enough dough to lay on the top of the pan. Set aside.

Cook chicken in a small skillet.

While you are waiting for the chicken to finish, melt butter in a large pan. Once it has melted add flour, salt, and pepper and mix for a few minutes on medium heat.

 I didn't have any chicken broth on had but I did have some bullion cubes so I boiled 2 cups of water and added  3 bullion cubes (ratio is 1 to 1 cup, but I wanted a little more flavor.) And there you have it...chicken broth!

Remove broth from heat and pour into your pan of butter, flour, salt and pepper mix; bring to a boil and cook until it is slightly thickened.

Next, add the beans, corn, peas and chicken into the mix.

Mix well and pour evenly over the pan of crust.

Lay your remaining pie crust you set aside earlier over the top and press edges together with the crust on the sides. Poke crust with a fork and spread milk on crust.

Cook in oven for about half an hour or until golden brown on top.

Cut yourself a piece and enjoy! 

Peppery Chicken Noodle Soup

As you know, a couple of weeks ago I made my first rotisserie chicken. Since it's just my husband and me, we obviously had leftover chicken to use up. I deboned it and threw the meat in the freezer until I decided what to do with it. We settled on making a homemade chicken soup. I was looking at recipes for Sicilian Chicken Soup which looked delicious so we decided to make a version similar to that.

I'm not sure what technically classifies a soup as "Sicilian Chicken Soup" so we decided to call our version something else. We chose Peppery Chicken Noodle Soup because that is exactly what it is. This is a very flavorful soup with peppery broth that is chock full of veggies, shredded chicken, and hearty pasta. It's pretty amazing.

My hubby (who isn't even a big fan of soup) ate 2 big bowls, told me it was "nummy", and suggested I send the recipe to his Mom. For me, that is the ultimate compliment!

I should mention, however, that I am not very good at making meals for just the two of us. Somewhere in my brain, I'm still programmed to make meals for a big family growing up. This recipe filled my dutch oven! So if you don't want a full pot of soup, just go ahead and cut the recipe down. I'll eventually find the switch to reprogram my crazy brain to make meals for just 2 people, but for now...we eat a lot of leftovers. :)

Like my husband said, this is such a hearty soup that you could easily nix the chicken and it would be a very filling vegetable noodle soup. Also, if you aren't a big fan of peppery things, just cut back on the amount of pepper you add. It will still taste delicious. I promise. :)

Peppery Chicken Noodle Soup

{Since we had so much leftover, we realized that next time we won't add all the pasta at once. After a couple days, the pasta soaked up most of the broth and got a little soggy. So, if you're making this in hopes of having leftovers, I would suggest only adding the pasta to the soup you are serving at the moment.}

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 red onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

3 celery stalks, diced

6 small potatoes (about 2-3 cups), diced

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes

32 oz. chicken stock

32 oz. vegetable stock

3 c. chicken, cooked & shredded

16 oz. rigatoni pasta

salt & pepper

parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions

Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot on med-hi heat. 

Add the olive oil and garlic and saute until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes).

Add the onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, and potatoes.

Add a little salt, and generous seasoning of pepper and parsley.

Saute for 15 minutes or until onion is becoming translucent.

Add the chicken, diced tomatoes, and stocks.

Season again with lots of pepper and parsley.

Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes, or until carrots and potatoes are tender.

While the soup is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions.

Once soup is ready, stir in the cooked pasta.

Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot on med-hi heat. 

Add the olive oil and garlic and saute until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes).

Add the onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, and potatoes.

Add a little salt, and generous seasoning of pepper and parsley.

Saute for 15 minutes or until onion is becoming translucent.

Add the chicken, diced tomatoes, and stocks.

Season again with lots of pepper and parsley.

Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes, or until carrots and potatoes are tender.

 While the soup is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions.

Once soup is ready, stir in the cooked pasta.

Paprika Chicken & Spinach with White Wine Butter Sauce

   

I felt like I totally stepped out of a movie while I was preparing this meal. Bare feet, sipping wine, apron, a little Sinatra in the background--you know...like the adorable scene in the old Parent Trap (minus the Sinatra ;).  I did not, however, prepare veal parmesan. Also, my man, although just as adorable as Brian Keith, was not present until the meal was completely ready. Nonetheless, I still felt like it was out of a movie.  I can sometimes romanticize the most basic things.  Today, it is preparing a simple meal, but it put a smile on my face while it was happening. 

So take off you shoes, sip some wine, and prepare a "sophisticated" meal for that family you love.  Or...for yourself.  Everyone wants to be an actor at sometime in their life.  Maybe 5:00 tonight is that time!

Now, I shall go watch a classic. 

Paprika Chicken & Spinach with

White Wine Butter Sauce

2 large chicken breasts

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 large handfuls of spinach

1/4 cup fresh thyme

1 tsp. paprika

salt and pepper

5 T. butter

Pinot Grigio or dry white wine    

1.  Gather all your ingredients. 

2.  Mix your paprika and a little salt and pepper.  Remember, you will be adding more salt and pepper later. 

3.  Chop your garlic. Set aside. 

4. Rub the spice mixture on both sides of chicken. 

5.  In a large saucepan, melt 1 T. butter on medium/high heat. 

6.  Cook the first side for about 3 minutes or until a nice crisp is present.

7.  Turn heat down to medium. Flip and cook other side for the same amount of time. 

8.  Add remaining butter. 

9. Then thyme. 

10. And garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the butter, garlic, and thyme. 

11. Add wine. 

12. Bring wine to gentle simmer.  (Not displayed well here ;) Cook for about 20 minutes.  Sauce will reduce, so feel free to add a little more wine as necessary. 

13.  Load with spinach.  The recipe calls for 2 cups;however, I decided next time I will use more as it wilts to so little and we loved the spinach. 

14. After spinach is done, season with salt and pepper. Double check to make sure the chicken is fully cooked.  

15.  Serve with a grain of your choice and another veggie if wanted. 

Cloud Dough

My sister told us about this, so she helped us make it. It's FUN doing things with our sister! I wish all our sisters still lived with us. I have SIX sisters! All of them love to do all kinds of things. I will tell you one thing about each of them.

Sarah: takes care of her kids

Tricia: cooks 

Renae: does crafts  

Laura: cooks when she's in the mood  

Lucy: babysits 

Clara: plays with baby dolls

INGREDIENTS:

Corn Starch

Food coloring

Conditioner

TOOLS:

Small mixing bowl

spoon

1. Put conditioner and food coloring in bowl and mix.

2. Put some corn starch in, mix until the way you what it to feel.

Hint: If you put yellow in blue conditioner you get green.

HAVE FUN!!!

Rotisserie Chicken Dry Rub

A few years ago my husband and I received a toaster oven from my parents for Christmas. We had been wanting one for awhile and we were super excited to get it! It's gone through a lot of use over the years. However, the rotisserie attachments were still brand new. After all this time, I decided to finally try them out last week.

When I think of rotisserie chickens, I think of my Grandpa. My Dad's father had to learn how to cook after Grandma passed away. He did. And he was good at it. He made soup, bread, awesome chocolate chip cookies... (I think that's where my Dad gets his cookie baking skills. It's in the genes...) Grandpa used to sit and watch his cookie dough bake, then when they were baked perfectly, he would pull them out and place the chocolate chips in just the right spots.

He definitely took pride in what he made and it was adorable. I remember being at his house one day and he was sitting at the kitchen table staring at the wall. At least that is what it looked like at first glance. When I came fully into the room I realized that he was looking at his rotisserie oven. But he wasn't just checking on it. We was actually watching it cook. The whole time it cooked. I'm not sure if he was just bored or if baking and cooking just fascinated him enough to take the time to actually watch his concoctions from start to finish. But it also made everything he created that much more special. He was proud of it. And he always wanted to share what he made. You couldn't visit Grandpa without him offering you some sort of treat or homemade ham soup he just finished making. Even to this day I think of him whenever I see recipes for ham soup and rotisserie chickens. It makes me miss him even more.

I was a little bit wary of making a full rotisserie chicken. I didn't know if it was going to take a long time, if it would be dry, or just be way more work than I wanted. But I'm so glad I tried it!

I whipped up this dry rub, let it rest overnight, then popped it in the rotisserie when I got home from work. It was done in an hour and a half and was perfect. Super easy!

Now I don't have a lot of pictures for this one because full birds weird me out a bit. Not so much when they are fully cooked, but when they are raw...let's just say the less I need to handle it the better. Looking at the directions on the label that came with the chicken, it said to remove the giblets and rinse it in cold water. I did that and then patted it dry with paper towels. Once I mixed up the dry rub, I rubbed it all over the bird, inside and out! Then you quarter up your onion and stuff it in the cavity. I didn't have kitchen string so I just used dental floss to tie the legs and wings together. Then I sealed it in a gallon ziploc bag and refrigerated it for about 20 hours before cooking it.

According to the directions, it said to cook it at 350 degrees for 20 minutes per pound. (You want the internal temperature to be 180 degrees and all the juices to run clear.) That is what I did and it worked perfectly. We served it with roasted broccoli & cauliflower and brown rice for dinner, then deboned it and froze the remaining meat to use in my Peppery Chicken Noodle Soup later on in the week.

Ingredients

4.5-5 lb. chicken

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

1/2 tsp. ground oregano

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. sea salt

1 onion, quartered

cooking string

Directions

Remove giblets and rinse chicken in cold water.

Dry well with paper towels.

Combine the seasonings in a small bowl.

Rub all over the chicken, inside and out (even under the skin).

Place quartered onion inside the cavity of the chicken.

Using the string, tie the legs together, then the wings.

Place in a gallon Ziploc bag and refrigerate at least 12-24 hours.

Preheat rotisserie oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for approximately 1 1/2 hours (about 20 minutes per pound) or until thermometer reads 180 degrees and juices run clear.

Let rest 10 minutes (breast side down) before slicing.