Category Archives: BREAKFAST RECIPES

LIGHT RYE BREAD

When I think about bread, and I think about bread a lot, my thoughts always drift to the types of bread I have yet to perfect. And light rye has always been one that I could never get just right.

I have a great recipe for pumpernickel, but I could never get a light rye to come out with just that perfect balance of sweet and pungent. And as much as I like caraway seeds in some things, I just don’t like them in rye bread. So never one to be discouraged, I went on line and tried once more to find the rye bread of my dreams. And believe me, there are lots of recipes out there for light rye bread. But only one caught my eye. So I decided to give it a try and see if I could finally check light rye bread off my list. And yes indeed ladies and gentlemen, I made the perfect loaf of rye bread this weekend, thanks to George. I found the recipe on a great blog www.simplyrecipes.com and I recommend visiting this wonderful cooking resource at your earliest convenience. And yes, of course, I changed the instructions to fit my way of bread baking, but the ingredients, except for the optional 2 tablespoons caraway seeds (and yes, you can add them if you must), is right off George’s recipe. So thank you George, whoever and wherever you are, for this amazing recipe. I will send good thoughts your way every time I sit down to a Reuben sandwich or smear soft butter over a warm piece of your incredible bread.

2 T. or 2 pkgs. active dry yeast
2 1/2 c. warm water
2/3 c. molasses
1 T. kosher salt
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. cocoa powder
2 c. rye flour
5 c. bread flour
cornmeal

In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water; add the molasses. Let proof for about 10 minutes. Add salt, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, 2 cups of the rye flour and 2 cups of the bread flour. Mix until all of the flour is absorbed. Add the remaining 3 cups bread flour until the dough pulls away from the bottom of the bowl and the dough is smooth and elastic. (This step may take more or less than 3 cups of bread flour.) Pour a small amount of vegetable oil over the dough, turning it so it gets coated in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, gently punch down the dough and divide it into 2 equal parts. Shape each half into a torpedo shaped loaf and place both loaves well separated on a greased baking sheet that has been lightly sprinkled with corn meal. Cover with a clean tea towel. Let rise again for about 45 minutes. Just before placing in a pre-heated 350 degree oven, cut 5 shallow diagonal slashes across each loaf. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when gently tapped.

CINNAMON NUT COFFEE CAKE

I never really liked coffee cake as a kid or as a young adult because I found the cake part way too dry and the topping way too sweet. So for many years I never even attempted to make one myself because I assumed (you know what that makes me!) mine would turn out the same. (During all that time I had watched other people buy coffee cake with their morning coffee, but I just thought they were folks who were clueless.)

Well I was in a hurry last Friday but still wanted to bring a little treat for our BlueStreet Jazz Voices Saturday morning rehearsal. So I thought about coffee cake. I went on line searching under “coffee cake made with cake mix”. I found a veritable plethora (love that word) of recipes from which to choose. They all looked easy, so I picked one and made a few changes. As it turns out, I’m the only one who was clueless! The coffee cake turned out to be moist and delicious and the filling/topping delightful and not overly sweet. And it could not have been easier to prepare.

So if I were still gainfully employed, this would definitely be a treat I would bring my fellow staff members to brighten their day. I can just picture the smiles on their faces when I showed up some dreary winter Monday morning with one of these babies in hand. You know, working for a large financial institution (or any large corporation, for that matter) can have its rather dull moments. I know that shocks you, but it’s true. But something as simple as a homemade coffee cake sitting on the counter near the coffee pot can truly lift people’s spirits. It’s just a nice way of bringing a little of the comfort of home to the sterile environment of the office. In the immortal words of the now middle aged Pillsbury Dough Boy – “nothin’ says lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven”. (You know, it’s pretty darn scary when you find yourself quoting a man shaped marshmallow wearing a chef’s hat! But basically, that’s exactly how I feel!)

Enjoy the recipe.

1 (18.25-oz.) pkg. yellow cake mix
1 (5.1-oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix (that’s the large package of instant pudding)
½ tsp. instant espresso, opt. (I use Medaglia D’oro)
4 eggs, room temperature
1 c. water
1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, and espresso powder. Add the eggs, oil, and water; beat for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in another bowl stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. Pour just under half of the batter into a buttered 10×16-inch pan (glass is best). Spread evenly. Sprinkle with half of the brown sugar mixture. Carefully spread the rest of the batter evenly over the filling. Sprinkle with the remaining nut mixture. Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven (glass) or 350 degree oven (metal) for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the cake comes out clean. Do not over-bake. Allow to cool completely before serving. Best made the day before.

OATMEAL PANCAKES

My daughter Paula asked me if I had any good gluten free recipes. One of the ladies she works with recently discovered that she can no longer tolerate gluten. I reminded Paula that “gluten free” was not really my specialty, but that I did have a few fabulous recipes I would be happy to share.

The first recipe that came to mind is this recipe for Oatmeal Pancakes from Bob’s Red Mill Flour. Now, the foremost thing you need to know about my choice of featuring this recipe is that I basically hate oatmeal. I could no more eat a bowl of oatmeal than I could, for example, ride a horse for eight hours downhill! (If you have never ridden a horse, then you haven’t had the joy of being over 60 with knees that scream at the merest suggestion of an incline or decline to begin with! Then multiply that by 100, and you will know how I was feeling after I got off a horse after only riding 2 hours, the last 30 minutes of which were downhill!) So for me to tell you that oatmeal pancakes are my favorite should give you some indication that they are very, very good indeed!

I found this recipe a few years back when I was researching a gluten free diet. I thought I might possible have an intolerance, but tests revealed that gluten was not the problem. And even though I am not sensitive to gluten, a few of the recipes I found during my “gluten free” phase are still part of my life. During that time I also discovered that cornstarch and potato starch/flours are fine thickening agents for sauces, gravies, and soups. That rice pasta isn’t half bad (beats no pasta at all)! Polenta and grits are food from the Gods. And soy bean and sorghum flours are about the worst tasting ingredients I ever tasted!

So setting my scary memories of bread made with sorghum flour aside, I am going to swear off gluten for the next couple of weeks, and feature a few fantastic recipes that contain not a hint of protein composites found in foods processed from wheat or related grain species.

So please join me as I explore the gastronomic gourmet world of “gluten free”. You might even find that you can actually reduce the amount of gluten in your life without feeling like you have lost your best friend. And don’t forget – “gluten free” is trendy. It’s totally hip, cool beans, groovy, the bee’s knees, and in-like-Flynn. Be there or be square!

1 c. milk
¾ c. quick cooking rolled oats
2 eggs, separated
¾ c. oat flour
2 T. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 T. vegetable oil

Heat milk in a saucepan until it feels very hot to the touch. Remove from heat and stir in the oats; let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile whip the egg whites to stiff peaks; set aside. Combine the oat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the cooled oat/milk mixture, egg yolks, and oil. Fold whipped egg whites into batter. Fry as you would any pancake. Serve with butter and your favorite syrup. Hint: Always warm syrup before serving. It’s just the right thing to do!

TOASTED COCONUT AND LEMON SCONES

Mr. C. and I recently spent the day on Orcas Island. Mr. C. had been wanting to go on this one particular hike on Mt. Constitution for some time. So when a beautiful spring day presented itself, we jumped in the car and headed up to Anacortes to catch a ferry. While Mr. C. was playing mountain goat (I don’t do mountain goat hikes anymore), I drove into the big town of Eastsound and tried desperately to spend some of the kids inheritance on a piece of art, but nothing followed me out of a shop except a lemon coconut scone. And as it turned out, it actually wasn’t a lemon coconut scone. It was a blackberry scone. Thus begins my little tale of the pleasantries associated with rural life.

Since we retired from our jobs in Seattle and moved from the big city of Bellevue about 5 years ago to a rural setting, I have learned to truly appreciate how pleasant it is to be treated with respect by people working retail. Unlike what often passes for “customer service” in a city, most people who wait on the public in small towns actually treat their customers as friends. (How weird and refreshing is that?) And living on an island seems to further deepen that bond. There just seems to be something that happens to folks when they live on an island. People change gears, life slows down, and strangers aren’t assumed to be bad folk just waiting to do you wrong. And good customer service is rampant. I mean you can’t walk in a parking lot or into a store without someone saying hi or offering you an unexpected level of thoughtfulness. Which brings me back to scones. (Isn’t thoughtfulness always a natural progression to scones?)

Anyway, I had parked my car a couple blocks back from the town’s main drag which runs along the water in Eastsound. After slowly sauntering around town I realized I still had about an hour before I needed to pick up my weary hiker. So knowing that there would not be time to get dinner before we needed to catch our return ferry, I decided to go into a nearby coffee shop and fetch us a little nibble to tide us over until we reached Anacortes and the safety of a good hot late dinner. While I was in the shop buying my scone, I asked the nice proprietress where I could go to enjoy a view of the water while I read my book? I told her I wanted to leave my car parked where it was and walk. She directed me to a lovely place to sit and enjoy both the afternoon sun and the amazing water view. I thanked her for both the scone and the information and went on my merry way. Since my car was right there, I stashed the un-tasted scone in the car and started my long 3 block walk to my reading destination.

I was walking along the waterfront road (Main Street), when a gentleman on a bicycle peddles up to me and asked if I was the lady who had just bought a scone at Teezer’s? I said I was indeed that woman. He then preceded to hand me a scone explaining that I had been given a blackberry scone by mistake. I told him I didn’t have the other scone with me; that I had left it in my car. He said he didn’t want the wrong scone back. The shop keeper merely wanted me not to be disappointed when I realized I had not received what I had ordered. Now that my dear readers, is what I call fabulous customer service!

So next time I am on Orcas Island and need an espresso or a sweet, you can bet your last chocolate covered coffee bean that I will head directly to Teezer’s Cookies and Coffee House, 330 North Beach Rd., in Eastsound. And even though I enjoyed bites of both the scones, the lemon coconut scone was simply off the charts good. So of course, I had to recreate this fabulous scone at home. So in gratitude to the lovely folks at Teezer’s for both their superior customer service and baking skills, I dedicate this recipe and this post to them. And next time I’m in town, I will be stopping by to say hello. And yes, I will probably order another lemon coconut scone, because they are just that delightful. So if you ever find yourself on Orcas Island, in the charming little town of Eastsound, stop in at Teezer’s and tell them Patti sent you!

2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. sugar
4 T. cold butter, cut into small dice
2 T. vegetable shortening
zest of 2 lemons
1 c. toasted coconut*
3/4 c. whipping cream
1 egg
lemon juice
powdered sugar

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of your food processor. Whirl until mixed well. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse until butter broken down into small bits. (Don’t over process.) In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream and eggs. Stir in the lemon zest and toasted coconut. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined with a table knife. (One of the best stirring tools in your kitchen, by the way!) Dough will be very moist. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Pat dough out with your flour covered fingers into an 8×8-inch square. (Using a bench scraper dipped in flour works great to create straight sides.) Cut the dough into 16 pieces and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet fairly close together.(As the scones bake they will spread into each other.) Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Whisk about a tablespoon of lime juice with enough powdered sugar to make a semi-stiff frosting that can be drizzled easily. (I make my drizzle in a glass measuring cup with a spout. Makes drizzling frosting easy.) Add more lemon juice and/or powdered sugar if you feel you need more drizzle. Some people like just a tiny amount of drizzling frosting; others want almost all the top covered. Remember, you can always start small and make more drizzle as needed. Allow drizzle to harden before storing the scones in an airtight container.

*To toast coconut, place it on a baking sheet in a single layer. Place pan in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 6-7 minutes or until some of the flakes start to turn a nice golden brown. Watch carefully the last couple of minutes. Cool before adding to recipe.

GRANOLA

Habits are interesting. Your body doesn’t even have to be reminded that it’s time to exercise or take your morning vitamins when you are in the “habit” of performing that action. So naturally when I started thinking about writing up this granola recipe, I thought about our habit of having a parfait starring this granola almost every morning for breakfast. So then I thought to myself, where does a habit reside in my body? (It’s pretty full of organs and other stuff already!) It turns out habits live in our brains.

According to Chris Adams in an article entitled “What is a habit?” on his Ergonomics site, “When you learn something, your brain makes connections that create pathways for neurological activity. When you routinely perform the same actions, your brain learns this pattern of behavior and sets up a pathway. This pathway is a more efficient way for the brain to process the routine, as opposed to a new series of discreet tasks. That is a habit. Think of ruts dug into the mud. It is much easier to drive your car with the ruts than trying to drive through, over or against them. Cache memory in a computer is another good analogy. The computer stores commonly used actions where it can access and process them faster. The brain does the same thing. Setting up these pathways is actually quite simple. With daily repetition, you can institute a new habit in as little as 10 days. That is, of course, if the new habit is not competing against an old one. Unfortunately, once a pathway is set it is extremely difficult to get rid of, which is why breaking a bad habit is so hard.” Thank you Chris, I couldn’t have stated it better myself!

You know, learning that habits live in my brain explains a lot! It clarifies why I just can’t rid myself of some of my bad habits, and why some that I really need to incorporate into my daily routine are just not happening! My brain is full! I’ve felt it coming on for years! I can’t remember names the way I used to. I forget the ending words of sentences. I go into rooms wondering what in the world I was there to retrieve? Thank goodness I’m already in the habit of eating granola for breakfast! Or eating granola might just end up in the same over-stuffed part of my brain where all of my forgotten words remain reclusive, things I started out to fetch remain unclaimed, and new habits are rejected for lack of RAM!

So all of you who are still able to make and change habits with alacrity try eating granola as part of a perfect breakfast. When layered with yogurt and fresh fruit it is just a lovely addition to or diversion from, the standard toast and egg routine. Breakfast can be a tad bit boring. But I am sure you will find that there is nothing boring about this granola. It’s crisp and chewy and fabulous. Give it a try.

3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ c. slivered almonds
¾ c. coconut
1 c. chopped pecans
¼ c. chopped dried dates
¼ c. dried apricots, chopped
½ c. dried cranberries
4 T. butter
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. honey
½ tsp. vanilla

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven, stirring occasionally, until coconut lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and immediately add chopped pecans and dried fruits. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in cinnamon and honey. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour butter mixture over oat mixture and stir until well combined. On a large rimmed baking sheet, spread the granola evenly in a thin layer. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake, stirring every 5 minutes until light golden brown, about 20 minutes. (Do not over-bake; the granola will crisp as it cools.) Cool completely and store in an airtight container. Makes a wonderful parfait when layered with vanilla yogurt and mixed berries.

CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES

Since I am getting close to the end of my St. Patrick’s Day recipe series, I thought I better include a recipe for scones. Now, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think these scones would actually qualify as Irish. They are just a little too healthy to be categorized as such. But before you abandon this recipe because of what it isn’t, first let me tell you about what it is! First of all, these scones are delicious! When I first bit into one, I thought I might have made a mistake in not using more sugar; that the scones weren’t sweet enough. I also found the scone to be a bit on the heavy side because of the whole wheat flour; not as tender as most of the scones I prepare. But the more I chomped away, the more I began to enjoy actually being able to taste the whole wheat flour and the lovely tartness of the fruit. By the time I had finished my scone, I was hooked. The scone was actually sweet enough and the complimentary tartness of the fruit was refreshing. And because these scones are prepared with less sugar than most, and contain at least some whole wheat flour and fruit (don’t forget we are supposed to eat several servings of fruit a day), they are in general healthier for us than some varieties. And yes I know no scone is the embodiment of nutritional virtue. That’s a given. But some scones are inherently less harmful to our bodies than others. (That’s my justification for eating these scones, and I’m sticking to my guns with reduced capacity ammunition clips on this one!) Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

2 c. whole wheat flour
1 ½ c. unbleached white flour
6 T. sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
10 T. unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. diced candied orange peel
2/3 c. half and half
2 T. orange juice
2 large eggs, room temperature
milk
course white sugar, opt.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and allspice. Take about a quarter cup of the flour mixture out and combine it with the dried cranberries and candied orange peel in a separate bowl. Set aside. (Coating sticky fruit with part of the flour in a recipe helps ensure that the fruit doesn’t clump together when you add it to your batter or dough.) Add the cold butter pieces, and using your fingers, rub the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in the reserved fruit. In a separate bowl, whisk together the half and half, orange juice, and egg. Add the liquids to the flour mixture and stir till the dough just comes together. (I use a plain table knife for this purpose. It does a wonderful job without over-mixing the dough.) Transfer the dough to a thoroughly floured work surface, knead it a couple of times, and shape it into a 9 ½ x 11-inch square. Cut the square into 24 scones. (The best implement for this task is a bench scraper.) Transfer the scones to a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with milk, and sprinkle with coarse white sugar, if desired. Bake the scones in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until they are a nice golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature unadorned or if you are feeling particularly worthy, with a smearing of unsalted room temperature butter and a dollop of honey. Life is good my friends, life is good!

CHALLAH

You might be wondering why I am including a recipe for a type of bread that few people besides the Jewish faithful eat routinely. (Challah is a yeast-risen egg bread that is traditionally eaten by Jewish people on Shabbat (Friday – the Jewish day of rest), on ceremonial occasions and during festival holidays.) Well my dear readers, I am including this recipe for two very good reasons. 1) Challah (pronounced correctly sounds like a soft “k” before halla.) is lovely. Like Brioche, Challah is slightly sweet and quite rich from both eggs and fat. Where Brioche uses butter instead of oil, and more of it, Challah uses more eggs. Both are quite decadent and absolutely delicious. 2) The second reason I decided to include this recipe is because I am going to post my Bread Pudding with Spiced Rum Sauce recipe next. And my bread pudding uses cubed Challah. So I wanted you to know how easy and affordable it is to build before I posted the bread pudding recipe. (Also, Challah can be a little spendy to purchase, not to mention difficult to find.) Remember, I am on your side. If I can help you cut cost while you prepare delicious food at home, I feel I will have justly deserved the very large income I receive for writing this blog!

1 pkg. dry yeast (1 tablespoon)
3 ¾ c. bread flour, divided
¾ c. warm water
3 lg. eggs, room temperature, divided
½ c. vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp. salt
¼ c. sugar
poppy or sesame seeds, opt.

Combine the yeast, 3/4 cup of the bread flour, and the warm water in a large mixing bowl. (I use the bowl of my Kitchen aid mixer.) Let the yeast slurry stand uncovered for 10-20 minutes, or until it begins to ferment and puff up slightly. Add 2 eggs, oil, salt, and sugar into the puffed yeast slurry and beat until the eggs are well incorporated and the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the remaining 3 cups flour all at once. Knead the dough until smooth and soft. Cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. (The dough can be refrigerated before it has been allowed to rise, but it will take an additional 30 to 60 minutes to rise after you take it out of the refrigerator.) After the dough has doubled, punch it down and divide into 2 pieces. Shape into 2 elongated loaves and place on a lightly buttered baking sheet or parchment paper. (Alternatively, the dough can be divided into three-six equal balls, rolled into skinny strands, and braided for a more traditional appearance.) Beat the remaining egg with a few drops of water and brush the loaves/loaf. Allow the loaves/loaf to rise until doubled. Brush again with any remaining egg wash. Unless you are using the Challah for bread pudding or French toast, sprinkle the braided loaf with seeds before baking in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until the loaves/loaf sound hollow when gently tapped. If the Challah is browning too fast, gently tent with aluminum foil. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Note: Challah bread makes incredible French toast. Just dip thick slices of bread in a mixture of eggs, milk, a wee drop of vanilla, and a dash of cinnamon; fry in butter. Serve with warm maple or fruit syrup topped with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.

REFRIGERATOR WHOLE WHEAT ROLLS AKA HONEY BUNS

One weekend a month Mr. C. and I provide food (or help provide food) for in-home jazz concerts. The first concert of the weekend is at someone else’s home Friday or Saturday night. The second concert of the weekend is at our own home on Sunday. Often the Sunday concerts begin at 2:00pm, preceded by a large lunch at 1:00pm. (By-the-way, for more information on these in-home jazz concerts, please visit www.jazzvox.com.) And most of the time when I do my planning for the Sunday meal, I include some sort of homemade bread. As was the case this past weekend, I was not home at all on Saturday (I absolutely hate it when that happens), so I needed to do as much of the prep work as possible on Thursday and Friday for both the Saturday night concert at our friend’s home, and the Sunday afternoon concert in our home. (Did I not casually mention on an earlier post that I am just ever so slightly out of my flippin mind?) Well keeping that in mind, and knowing that I wanted to serve hearty whole wheat rolls at Sunday’s luncheon, I decided to be brave and mix my dough on Friday, place it in the refrigerator, and bake it off Sunday morning before my guests arrived. (Why I always further stress myself out by not trying my little ideas in advance, I will never know. But luckily for me, the rolls turned out beautifully. One of these days however, that is not going to be the case, and I am going to find myself up that proverbial creek without a KitchenAid paddle!) But like I stated, the rolls worked. I did get a bit of a shock however when I removed the plastic wrap Sunday morning and got a whiff of the dough. It smelled fermented. I think it’s because the dough contained buttermilk. That and the fact that I had used locally grown and milled organic whole wheat flour, with nary a trace of anything in it that I couldn’t pronounce. (I always try to stay away from products that contain words in the ingredient list with more than 16 letters or that require a degree in chemistry to decipher!) So between the buttermilk and the whole wheat flour that contained no preservatives or additives, I think we had a little party happening right there in my very own refrigerator. Whatever happened, the result was fabulous. So next time you know you are going to be short on time but would still like to serve homemade rolls, make room in your refrigerator and try this recipe. Your dough may not start to party in your refrigerator like mine did, but when you bite into one of these rolls, your taste buds will feel like it’s party time for them!

1/2 c. warm water
2 T. active dry yeast (or 2 packages)
1/2 c. honey
1 ½ tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
3 eggs, room temperature
1 c. buttermilk or milk, room temperature
4 c. course or stone ground whole wheat flour
unbleached white flour
1 T. olive oil
kosher salt or course sea salt for sprinkling

Place warm water in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add yeast, honey, salt, butter, eggs, and buttermilk. Mix just until blended. Let rest (proof) for 5 minutes. Add the 4 cups of whole wheat flour and mix thoroughly. Knead dough for 15 minutes by hand or a few minutes by machine, adding white flour as needed to prevent sticking or until dough no longer sticks to the bottom of the mixing bowl. (Don’t add too much flour at this point. You want a fairly soft dough for this recipe.) When fully kneaded, pour the olive oil into the bowl, and using your hands, pull dough away from the sides and bottom of the bowl until dough is in a ball and all sides are greased. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled or place in refrigerator for up to two days. When ready to bake, punch down the dough and form into 28 balls of equal size. (The easiest way to divide dough into equal parts is to roll it first into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Then cut the dough by either using a bench scraper (my choice) or a buttered knife into the desired number of equal sized pieces.) With your hands, roll each piece of dough into a ball and place in a buttered 10×16-inch baking dish. The pieces should be close to each other, but just not quite touching. If, while placing the dough balls in the pan you find you have extra dough, form it into a loaf and place in an appropriate sized buttered loaf pan. Sprinkle each roll with a tiny bit of course salt. Cover pan with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place until about doubled (about an hour) or up to 2 hours if the dough has just come out of the refrigerator. Tip: When the rolls are ready to be baked they will look soft and bloated. When you touch the dough, it will feel soft and your finger will leave an indentation when the dough is lightly pressed. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

CHUNKY APPLESAUCE

This is another one of those simple foods that sometimes doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Many people are content to buy applesauce in a jar, or try to emulate in their own kitchen the apple puree they have previously purchased. Well I am here to try and change your thinking on the subject of applesauce. While I realize that it isn’t difficult to throw some peeled and cored apples in a pot, boil them until the pieces are tender, and then puree the lot in a food processor, I would like you to consider another way of approaching applesauce preparation. Instead of pureeing those darling tender little chunks of apple, mash them ever so tenderly with your favorite potato masher. Then when you have an equal proportion of saucy stuff to chunks, add some brown sugar, a bit of spice and some lemon juice, and walk away from the kitchen. (That way you won’t be tempted to keep messing with the apples until they resemble baby food!) I promise, after you take one bite of this spicy, not too sweet chunky applesauce, you will never settle for bland flavored pureed applesauce again. And yes, I do know that I have a tendency to be a wee bit dogmatic. I’m working on it, but I kind of think I must have been a politician in a former life. That would explain a lot!

10 apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks (I recommend a combination of Gala, Honeycrisp, and Granny Smith)
½ c. water
½ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1 T. fresh lemon juice

Place apples and water in a large, covered sauce pan. Cover pan and place over medium heat; cook apples for about 30 minutes or until tender. Stir occasionally during cooking time to prevent sticking. When tender, remove from heat and mash together with brown sugar, spices* and the lemon juice. (Just remember that you want those little lumps. They add to the overall appeal of the sauce.) Allow sauce to cool completely before storing in your refrigerator or freezer.

Hint: It is always a good idea when using ground spices to mix them together before you add them to whatever you are cooking. Ground herbs and spices have an annoying tendency to ball up in their containers while they are patiently waiting to be used. These little “balls” if not broken up first, can be the very devil to deal with if they are already added to other ingredients. A fine mesh strainer also works very well. Just hold the strainer over the other ingredients and pour the spice through. Voila. No lumps!

MEXICAN HOT COCOA

You know, there are just times when you have to make the supreme sacrifice and learn how to prepare something that you yourself have no desire to consume, or in this case imbibe. And because I am not inherently a martyr, (that was my mother’s specialty), I don’t often “put myself out” enough to play around with a recipe I just know I am not going to like. But some people really love hot cocoa and one of them happens to live with me! (Actually it turns out that most people like hot cocoa. I am definitely in the minority on this one.) So I suppose at this point you think you have figured out the end of this story. That I have had some amazing revelation and I am now transformed into a cocoa lover because truly, has there ever been a better taste combination than chocolate and orange? Wrong! I still don’t like hot cocoa even if it does contain chocolate and orange. However, my husband and everyone else I have ever served this to think it is just delicious. So if you enjoy a cup of cocoa on a cold winter day, give this recipe a try. As for myself, I’ll have another cup of coffee, thank you!

1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ c. sugar
pinch salt
1/3 c. boiling water
1 tsp. orange zest
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
4 c. whole milk
½ tsp. vanilla
1 c. heavy cream
2 T. powdered sugar
1 T. Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur

Combine cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and boiling water in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring the entire time. (Will scorch if not stirred.) Stir in orange zest, cinnamon, and milk. Bring to just under a boil, remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Whip cream to stiff peaks. Add powdered sugar and Cointreau. Ladle cocoa into 4 cups and dollop with whipped cream. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

CHEZ CARR CUISINE

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