Focaccia Bread

Our small fellowship gets together on the weekends for Bible study and eating.

Yes, eating.

We have pot-lucks that make a cruise ship's layout look sad.

And, as in everything in life, you need to make good choices, even when going through a pot-luck line.

It gives us opportunity to break out the old favorite recipes and also to try some new ones.

This particular weekend, we are having soup and bread.

That is loosely interpreted, as there will be soups and chili. Uh, I'm making the chili.

One of our ladies makes fantastic homemade bread and we regularly buy

a loaf or two to enjoy. So, when it was decided to have chili, I mean soup,

I hesitated to make my focaccia bread, but then I thought, well, someone will like it.

After all, I like it...

What is there not to like about focaccia bread?

****

So, the story behind this recipe is this:

We have a restaurant called Macaroni Grill. Perhaps you have it in your area.

Years ago, I saw the recipe in the local newspaper. I don't usually read that section,

but, for some reason, I did that day, and there it was.

This recipe was given by the chef there and since then, they have changed it somewhat.

I still like this one.

The recipe uses the "cool rise" method and if you have never tried it, then please do.

If you have a busy day planned and time is of the essence, 

a little planning ahead makes this method a winner.

You basically make the bread, put it in the refrigerator and let it sit...

for at least 3 hours and up to 48!

Can you imagine? All the fuss is done, all you do is bake it.

Go to that soccer game and come home and bake up the bread or rolls.

I have used it to make other breads, and they turn out fantastic.

Well, on to the recipe, did you think it wasn't going to happen?

I have taken a picture of the recipe as it is in my favorite recipe book,

but I will walk you through it too.

 First off, notice that is says you are going to use 2 Cups of water, divided.

That means that the total amount is 2 Cups.

I take a 2 cup measure, run the water in the sink until it is hot and then measure out 2 cups.

Then I pour about a 1/4 cup into a little bowl for the yeast.

Sprinkle the yeast in and stir it around.

Now, a little secret about yeast, as it "works" it will get bubbly,

like this if it is "good". If it doesn't, then two things, it could be old,

or your water was too hot and killed it. But I think you will do just fine.

 Yeast keeps a long time in the refrigerator.

A little packet that you buy at the store will keep in there too.

I have bought in bulk and the yeast I have, in an airtight container, is probably several years old.

Yep, just can't seem to use it up. And, it is still "working".

OK, now measure your flour into your mixing bowl.

It calls for 4 1/2 cups, you will need more, just saying,

but go for the original amount now.

Add in the olive oil, if you don't have olive oil, then use regular oil.

Mix it up and it will look like cornmeal.

Now add the water which you have added sugar, it will be soupy,

Add the yeast water, and then the vinegar and don't forget the rosemary and salt.

Now, you have all the ingredients in. But...

Doesn't look like bread dough, huh?

Well, keep mixing and add in about a 1/4 Cup of flour at a time.

About a cup later, it will start to leave the edges of the bowl.

At first it will be kinda stringy, but keep on going.

Sometimes more flour is needed. I don't know where they came up with 4 1/2 Cups!

Here it left the sides of the bowl, just like it said it would, I did not scrape it down.

 Now transfer it to a floured board, or as I hate the clean-up, a floured wax paper.

Put a little more flour on it, and cover it with plastic wrap and a towel.

Let it rest for 20 minutes.

Now, you can go have a cup of coffee, make a phone call, take a short nap,

or clean up the mess you have made in the kitchen.

You have the choice!

OK, now take that clump and kinda roll the sides into the center and either

make one large ball, or divide it up.

Here I have four. They look sorta little, but they will rise to the occasion.

I have used cake tins, I think three, and when it cooks, it has a delicious outer rim

and makes a great large sandwich when sliced across.

I put my hand here to give you an idea of the size.

Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

At least 3 hours, as long as 48.

That means you can make them ahead and cook some tonight,

one tomorrow and one the next day if you like.

After they have risen in the refrigerator,

take them out and while the oven is heating to 350',

punch them down with your fingers.

Let it bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, get ready the olive oil, rosemary and I used kosher salt here.

After they bake for 20 minutes take them out and brush on olive oil and sprinkle on the salt and rosemary.

It is not finished baking, though, put it back in and let it bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is brown.

I took the liberty of separating the loaves, as they were getting pretty chummy.

A few more minutes, and yes, you will have to sweep after all. The rosemary and salt just want to coat everything, including the floor.

Ready to share at our lunch.

*****

After I reread this post, I realized that I didn't tell you about how wonderful

this tastes dipped in olive oil, with maybe a tad (or more for my taste) of balsamic

vinegar. Pour the oil in a shallow dish and add the vinegar on the side. It makes my

mouth explode with wonderful sensations.

Also, after you have enjoyed this straight from the oven,

you will want to slice and toast it later. Smear on the butter.

The rosemary will "revive" and you will remind yourself that you have to make this again.

If you have any questions, successes and such, be sure to comment and let me know how it turned out.

Shared on "Made By Me Wednesday"



Also: Adorned From Above

Fresh Fruit Cobbler

There's nothing like the taste of fresh fruit.

In season it can be rather overwhelming, though.

We have many apple trees and when it is apple time,

we are hard pressed to use up all the fruit.

The same holds true with berries,

peaches,

strawberries,

pears,

and other fruits.

Here is a recipe that can be used with fresh or frozen

or even canned fruit.

It is very simple.

1 Cup flour

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup milk

1 stick butter

4 Tbsp baking powder

My local grocery store carries freshly frozen fruit in 1 lb bags.

It is simply fruit, with nothing added.

Here is a bag of frozen peaches.

It makes roughly about 4 cups.

I added about 1/4 cup sugar and let it sit for a few minutes while I prepared the other ingredients.

Melt 1 stick of butter (margarine can be used if you like)

In a bowl, mix 1 Cup all purpose flour,

1 cup granulated sugar,

and 4 Tbsp baking powder

Kinda mix it up a little and then

Add 1 cup milk.

A tiny splash of vanilla extract makes this taste and smell even more wonderful.

Mix it up, it will be kinda thin, about like pancake batter.

Pour it over the melted butter. Don't mix.

That's right, batter on the bottom, don't worry it will turn out right.

Take your sweetened fruit and place it over the top of the batter/butter

Arrange it so that the fruit is evenly distributed, so that everyone gets a bite or two.

Sprinkle on a little cinnamon and bake.

This is a before it baked picture, sorry I just seem to forget

to take the after, I am so eager to jump in and sample.

The batter will surround the fruit like a down comforter surrounds you.

It will come up over the fruit and the fruit will disappear in fluffy goodness.

Bake it at 350' for around 45 min to a hour, depending on if the batter is still gooey in the center.

if so, let it cook a little longer.

Easy, so much so, you can allow you 10 year old to experiment with

cooking, if you are really adventuresome.

******

I have used peaches, apples and berries for this recipe.

They have all been awesome.

Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes

I guess everyone has what is called a favorite recipe.

This is one that my mother made.

It is one that has been passed down, by word of mouth for a long time.

 Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes

Just to let you know, this does take a little work

but the rewards are great.

These are a sure winner with 

Ham

Meatloaf

Pork Roast

Chicken
Turkey

(what's left?)

I don't personally make this for Mr and I as a side dish,

probably because if I am going to go to the effort,

I make enough to feed a small army.

Let me give you the cast of characters

We have potatoes in the background - for this size dish I used probably about 5 lbs

(notice the precise measurement? Sorry, it's like that throughout)

You need shredded cheese, here is mild cheddar and some leftover pepper jack

Salt and Pepper

Sliced onion

Butter

Milk

And, flour - I used rice flour today to make this gluten - free.

But, "normally" I would use regular flour.

Your choice.

I get mine in the bulk section of my favorite grocery store.

Gotta love the bulk sections, right?

There is a scientific explanation as to why you use flour, butter and milk.

All I know is that they work together to make a sauce.

It bathes the potatoes and onions, to make your mouth sing,

add cheddar cheese and you will be joining the choir.

My little work horse of a peeler.

It not only peels apples, but also potatoes.

If you run across one in a yard sale, thrift shop, I consider this worth

more than a handful of silver coins. 

Mine is well over 20 years old and it keeps on giving.

A little like the Energizer Bunny

Poor box, it has seen lots of years.

Another beauty shot

You do need to unscrew the corer part and drop it down,

but even if you didn't, the potatoes would turn out OK.

The main idea is to get them into slices.

And, sure, they have some funny ridges and the ends need to be 

trimmed, but overall, it is worth it to me.

Not everyone is perfect.
You could leave them unpeeled, if that is your thing.

OK, now, slice those potatoes and layer them in your dish.
(Some graters have a side that slices, I don't use mine because
I am deathly afraid that I will slice off a digit or two)

It is a good idea to spray the dish before so that you don't have to

dump out what you put in it and spray it and then reassemble.

Here are potatoes, salt and pepper, onions, rice flour sprinkled on,

"dots" of butter and ready for a layer of cheese.

Now after everything is layered in,

carefully pour in milk on the corner.

You don't want to mess up your creation.

Pour, pour, pour until you just see the milk peeking around the sliced potatoes.

Not over the top, because that is too much, but just enough...

I have made these in shallow dishes and deep bowls.

It is always the same as to the milk, just when you see it, stop.
I prefer the shallow bake pans, because then there is more of the
cheese baked to a dark brown to eat.

Bake, bake, bake. It will seem like forever, so allow that much time.
At 350'.

A word to the wise, put a baking sheet under
the pan. There have been more times than I want to
remember of having these bubble over and splash onto the floor of my
oven and make smoke... not a good sign for your guests...

If you have ham going, put them in with it.

Meatloafs take around an hour and half to bake, so bake these too, if it is a smaller dish.
Turkeys, chickens, the idea is to use the same oven temperature and save
a little energy in the making of these.

Mine, in this dish were finally finished about 2 hours later.

And, that is a long time to smell those onions baking, nothing better.

A word, as they are "nearing" the end, they will show a watery

bubbling around the edges, let them cook more.

Even if your fork or knife tester shows that the potatoes are

done, Let them cook more til the water is absorbed.

You will thank me for that.

No one wants watery scalloped potatoes.

I'm sorry that I don't have a picture of the finished product.

That alone would sell you on these.

The same my mother made, perhaps she got the recipe from her mother...

Just old fashioned cooking.

P.S. they are great left-over

Easy Hamburger Patty Press

I love hamburgers, although I don't make them a lot.

Even better, I love the condiments that go on to make a great hamburger.

Every once in a while, Mr and I get the notion that we must have a good hamburger.

Our local store has specials on Mondays and this was one of the deals of the day.

It is a 2 lb "chub" of hamburger. Good stuff.

The butcher on staff saw us looking at it and he was very helpful in pointing out the

pros and cons of different brands.

He told me of a way to make patties that is really easy.

You will need a flat bottomed plate to use to push down the patty,

and a surface to push onto...

that sounds like I could have said it easier...

Here is a flat bottomed pie dish and I chose a plate to contain the burger patty.

Cut the "chub" into large slices, probably about 1 1/2" to 2" thick, it all depends on the diameter

of the original chub.

Peel off the surrounding plastic and place it on your surface.

Put the flat bottomed plate over it and press down.

A perfectly formed patty without getting your hands all messed up.

I like to make up the chub and then wrap the patties, two at a time,

in plastic wrap and then into a zipper-type freezer bag.

I then freeze them until time we want to use them.

It is simple to pull out what is needed.

Time to "fire-up" the grill.

Gophers and Such

This morning I was out watering my "garden", which consists of two pots. One has a tomato plant that has given us one under ripe tomato (which rotted before it ripened), and a another container that holds a lemon cucumber. The cucumber has produced well beyond my expectations. My local deer has made sure that the tomato will not produce any tomatoes.

(early in the year, just planted)

Back to the watering. As I was pulling the hose down to the plants, I noticed the gopher holes in the lawn. It took me back to nearly 50 years ago and memories of the garden my dad had planted.

After being retired at a young age (young to me, I have already lived passed the age when he died), he had a lot of time on his hands. He dabbled in restoring a few furniture pieces, was a super auto mechanic, and planted nearly an acre of garden. The garden held onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, cantaloupe, okra, and other plants I don't remember.

One of the banes of gardening was the many gopher holes that would appear here and there and the wilted plants where they had eaten the roots. My dad had a personal war going on with these little creatures. He would painstakingly follow their holes, trying to get to the end. He somehow obtained dynamite, (yes! dynamite!) and would blow up places he thought they lived. (We would probably be on a terrorists watch list now).  Flares that make a lot of smoke were pushed down holes and we kids (12, 10, and 9) were told to watch for the smoke and run over and cover the holes where it was coming out to smoke the creatures to death! Traps were set in known "runs". I don't remember ever seeing one dead.

Water was used also. The running hose was pushed into a hole and we were to run and cover up the wet holes wherever they appeared.

Now, keep in mind that my dad had a "heart condition". He had already had a heart attack and we kids were just waiting for the other shoe to drop. We would watch him get all sweaty and out of breath and then take out that little nitroglycerin bottle from his pocket that he carried everywhere. Anxiously, I would watch him pop one under his tongue and wait for it to "kick in". It always worked.  (He later died in his sleep without an audience).

I think that many times we, as parents and grandparents don't think that the kids know what is going on around them. Think again. Whatever stress you are dealing with in your life is going to affect them also. My parents never talked in front of us kids about how he could die at any time, but it was the elephant in the room. You walked around it, never looking straight at it, and pretended it wasn't there. A wise teacher and principal noticed a little lost girl and "created" a job of watering the principal's African violets. They also talked to my parents.

If you or your family is facing stress, loss of work, strained relationships, ill health, or change, go to the Lord of all, ask for help to get through it and include your children in your solutions. You may "take care of it", but if the children don't know, they carry the burden that you have laid down at the Savior's feet. Be sure, they know more than you think and they interpret what is going on in their own way.

Just a thought....