Potato Bread

potato bread reminds me of going to the farm. its a staple at the house and ever grocery store (there is really only one and a gas station) offers potato bread as the main option. i have never really been all that interested in the stuff mainly because i couldn't understand why it donned such a bright yellow color. that just doesn't seem right to me nor does it say "nutritious" or "delicious" for that matter. where is the fiber and protein in yellow? no to mention the yellow stuff tastes exactly like wonderbread - which is just thick air.

anyways enough about the yellow. so as you know i love to make baked goods with alternative materials and last week when josh took a bite of the challah i made he promptly asked why i hadn't made him a loaf of potato bread yet. huh. good question - why the hell haven't i made potato bread yet? with a bag of russets withering away in my kitchen i set to work. i have to say i am more than impressed with this bread, its light due to the potatoes yet still fulfilling and the taste is surprisingly layered and "warm". wow - i know that such a foodie description but really guys this bread rocks! its a perfect pairing for turkey sandwiches. i did a good amount of researching for this recipe and i think its pretty perfect. you'll notice the saffron i added in there as a nod to the odd yellowness afore mentioned, yet its still didn't reach anywhere near the hue of that cheap grocery aisle version. i wouldn't leave it out though, like i said before; it lends for a nice layer of flavors.

POTATO BREAD

1 large russet potato, peeled, cut into cubes

1/2c warm (110F) water from boiling the potato

pinch saffron thread, crumbled

2 1/4 tsp yeast

3 tbs honey

4c flour

1/2c warm milk

1/4c oil

1 egg, beaten

1/2c riced boiled potato (from above)

1 tsp salt

*boil the potato, save the water, rice the potato.

*let water cool down to 110F

*once cooled, dissolve the yeast and saffron in 1/2c of the potato water. stir in 1/2 of the honey and let sit 10 minutes to activate yeast (you will see it "bloom").

*stir in 1/2c of the flour, make smooth paste, cover and let sit 30 minutes.

*in a separate bowl combine the remaining honey, milk, oil, egg, riced potato and salt

*stir in starter "paste" and stir well

*beat in 1c flour until smooth, slowly add in more flour until you get a ball of loose dough

*turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes adding small amounts of flour as needed to get a smooth and elastic dough.

*grease bowl, cover and let rise to double (about 1 1/2 hours)

*punch down, quickly knead for a minute

*shape into smooth ball, place in greased loaf pan and let rise to double (about 30-40 minutes)

*preheat oven to 375F, cook 30-35 minutes to golden brown

Its winter here

** view from (inside) my living room window - i couldn't brave stepping onto the balcony **

it's christmas here - and i have the eating habits to verify that. buckwheat pancakes, beef stew, chocolate crinkle cookies and way - way too many homemade orangettes (recipe to follow once i can free my right hand from the jar they live in).

GF_Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

where do you draw the line when on what can and can't be a chocolate chip cookie? there are some recipes out there that have dried fruit, mashed fruit, dried fruit purees, chopped nuts, nut butters, ground nuts, various extracts and spices that all label themselves as "chocolate chip cookies" with an addition of "with xyz" - for example: "chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, banana, oatmeal and raisins".

don't get me wrong; i love cookies made V8 style - everything crammed into one serving. as a matter of fact i love to sneak a good prune into my chocolate cookies. but alas sometimes you have to just make "plain" old chocolate chip cookies. no walnuts, no fruit, no espresso powder - just sugar, flour and chocolate. but you know me and you know i can't just leave it at that. although these are "just" chocolate chip cookies - they are special: vegan and gluten free. so anyone and everyone can indulge themselves and that they will; indulge!

1/2c coconut oil - melted

1/4c unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs vanilla extract

1/2c packed light brown sugar

2 tbs flax meal

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

1c gluten free flour (bob's red mill)

1/2c chocolate chips

*preheat oven to 325F

*mix together oil, applesauce, salt, vanilla and sugar

*in separate bowl sift together flax, soda, xanthan and flour

*stir dry ingredients into wet

*fold in chocolate

*drop by tbs full onto lined baking sheet

*flatten a bit and cook 13 -15 minutes

Challah

we got invited to a Hanukkah party - pot luck party to be specific. so the story goes that at somewhere between 12-1am when we got the email i was on my way into dreaming about cookies or something and that was when josh asked what i was going to bring so he could RSVP our dish (?). before i finish with this mildly interesting story let me ask you: have you ever been in bed, in a kind of mental state that you think is on the verge of falling asleep when someone asks you a question that requires a response other than "yuh" or "nuh"? and you find yourself answering with some garbage but not caring what the hell you just said because you're to pleased with yourself for getting some form of english out of your mouth and that it sated the questioneer long enough that they left you the hell alone so you can get down to your sleep business? yeah well, that's what happened here - but it seems that i wasn't on the verge - i was just flat out sleep talking. because somewhere around two (office working) days prior to this party i asked josh what we were going to bring and he replied with: matzoh crunch and bread. "bread" what does that mean?? so general and open for others to get really excited. all this expectation now - the great mystery of "bread"!

Matzoh crunch i can handle as we all know (yes there is a guy out there in brooklyn somewhere who knows my name to be MC - true story) and i can cook bread - but come on, it has be some kind of fun hanukkah themed thing right? why would i just bring a loaf of whole wheat sandwich bread to a party? that my friends is just a reminder of what you should be eating and not all the other delish, deep fried, cooked by other people foods what you could be shoveling into your guilt ridden face. ugh! so what the hell?!

alright so firstly - i know nothing about jewish cooking much less baking. secondly i don't know what is traditional Hanukkah foodstuff. in steps wikipedia - and out comes a fresh loaf of challah.

full disclosure here: the loaf is missing a "bump" because i braided it with 3 instead of the traditional 4 ropes. i fubbed it up due to making it at 7am on a sunday, pre-breakfast - and anything pre-breakfast is subject to fubbs. but the good news is all the jewish party people (the ones' who opinion here really counts) said i got the challah spot on and it was one of the best they ever had. maybe they where lying, but who cares.

i came up with this recipe after hours of research, but if you think i can use some help by all means let me know.

CHALLAH (minus a bump)

1 1/4c warm water (110F)

2 1/4 tsp yeast

pinch of crumbled saffron threads

1/3c honey

2 tbs oil

1egg + 3 egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp salt

4c flour

poppy seeds

*activate yeast in water, add saffron threads

*stir in oil, egg and salt

*start adding in flour in 1/2c - 1c at a time until you get a ball of soft dough, let sit 15 minutes

*turn onto floured surface, knead 8 minutes adding as little flour as possible, until you get a elastic smooth dough

*let rise 1 1/2 hours to double in size

*punch down and let sit 10 minutes

*divide into 3 parts, roll out to long ropes and braid (you should use 4 for traditional challah look)

*let rise on prepared baking pan 20 minutes or double in size

*preheat oven to 375F

*mix together 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp water, brush over braided down, sprinkle w/ poppy seeds

*cook for 35 minutes to golden and sounds hollow when tapped

Snappy Gingersnaps

i find there are two breed of people when it comes to gingersnaps - chewy snap or snappy snap. the ladder of which i belong to. as a matter of fact i like everything snappy, i like to think i am a rather snappy person. SNAPPY.

ok- sorry about that. back to what i was saying: there seems to be two kinds of gingersnaps. in england they are called "ginger nuts" and in Scandinavia they are lovingly named "brunkage" - or "brown biscuit" to us english speaking savages.

is it just me or does "brunkage" lend itself more towards the snappy group than the chewy group? i'm so european.

this cookie dough is great because you can roll it into a log, freeze it and as you feel the urge for something snappy and delish just slice off a few rounds and bake. what more can you ask for?

SNAPPY GINGERSNAPS

8 oz butter, softened

1c sugar

1c molasses

1 tsp baking soda (generous)

2vtbs hot water

3 1/2c AP flour

1 1/4 tsp ginger

1 tbs cinnamon

pinch salt

*cream butter, sugar and molasses until smooth

*mix soda w/ hot water and then beat into butter mix

*in separate bowl sift together flour, spice and salt

*stir in flour mix into butter mix

*shape into (2) 2"-3" dia. logs, wrap in plastic and chill a few hours or overnight (or freeze as mentioned above)

*preheat oven to 350F, place parchment on your baking sheet

*slice into 1/8" - 1/4" disks, bake 10 minutes until edges are golden -- do not burn them (although i will still eat them).

Cashew Brownies_GF

i haven't made brownies in somewhere over a year (i think). it seems that i have a tendency to get hung up on other such fantastical journeys like - mini lemon meringue pies & real glazed donuts. as delicious as these were sometimes you just have to get back to the basics, you know?

yeah well i kinda did that. i mean they are brownies, just not basic. sticking to my pseudo gluten-freeness trial i found a recipe from elana's blog for brownies made with almond butter. but considering i eat an almond butter and (delicious Louisiana homemade) jelly for lunch Monday thru Friday i opted to hoard my supply of the jarred gold and use up josh's share of cashew butter which i can't eat with out getting ill (i have no explanation for this). so in it went and i crossed my fingers that the same digestive effect would not happen once combined with chocolate and agave - i mean what can't be fixed with those two? seriously.

i am happy to say that i love these. josh had two with his eggs for breakfast - don't judge - and it didn't bother me. they remind me of a brownie "flavored" cliff bar but way, way better. if you want a more fudge like texture you can try leaving out the baking soda and amping up the cashew butter to 9oz. next time i make them, and that will happen, that is what i will try. these treats are high in protein, low in sugar, dairy free and gluten free. enjoy that!

CASHEW BROWNIES

8oz unsalted creamy cashew butter

1 egg

1/2c + 2 tbs agave nectar

1 tbs vanilla extract

1/4c cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt (scant)

1/2c dark chocolate chips

*preheat oven to 325F grease a 8x8 pan

*cream cashew butter to smooth w/ an electric mixer

*beat in egg then agave and vanilla

*in a separate bowl sift together the coco powder, soda and salt

*combine the cocoa mix into the cashew mixture

*fold in the chocolate chips

*pour into to prepared pan, cook 30-35 minutes

Birthday Cake!

ahhh yes its once again josh's birthday - and what kind of a wife / crazy person would i be if i didn't bake an entire layered cake, sized to feed 8 -10 for the two of us to enjoy on a Tuesday evening? every year i ask josh "what kind of cake do you want this year" - as if he's in kindergarten (seriously that's how i speak to him). and every year he just shrugs as if he will eat any cake i make, which is just untrue. and with high spirits i start naming off all kinds of fancy pretentious crap hoping that he will either: a) get tired of the sound of my over enthused voice and just say yes to one of them or b) cave and think of something he really wants. alas neither happens and i end up getting tired of the sound of my own voice and say something along the lines of "or do you just want a generic yellow cake?". Bingo - every friggin time; that's what he wants. so then i have to launch into the frosting options... i'll spare you.

so here we are - one super cute birthday cake, made for a man but designed for a child.

YELLOW CAKE

5oz butter softened

1 1/4c sugar

2c flour

1/4c cornstarch

4 eggs

1tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4c buttermilk

*preheat oven to 350F, grease two 9" cake pans

*sift together flour, starch, leavenings & salt

*in separate bowl cream butter to light

*add sugar and beat to light and fluffy

*beat in eggs one at a time just to incorporate

*beat in vanilla and almond

*(by hand)add in flour mix and buttermilk alternatively - ending on the flour

*pour into prepared pans and cook 20-25 minutes until toothpick is clean

*allow to cool completely before icing

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

6oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

8oz butter, softened

1c powdered sugar

2 tbs water or milk

1 tsp vanilla

*melt chocolate over double broiler, take off heat and allow to cool

*cream butter to light and fluffy

*add vanilla and water / milk, cream for 3 minutes

*beat in sugar to combine

*add in chocolate and beat just to combine - do not over whip

Gluten Free _ Bread

it is official - i am going to go pseudo gluten free for the next few weeks. i say pseudo because well, as with most things in life it just doesn't always work out. so my newest mantra is something along the lines of "don't label yourself". if you are pessimistic (like me) that would translate to: "don't fully commit to anything because you are kinda lazy and will only fail at the given task then feel all guilty about not reaching your goal and end up setting another one to try and make up for the one you just broke, only to continue this cycle". if you are optimistic (like anyone who thinks its cute when an entire class of 2nd graders are piled into the same subway car you just barely eked into) that would translate to: "be free and live life the way that makes you happy, you are an individual and whatever you do makes you the special person you are."

so take your pick but non-the-less you are going to start seeing a bit more gluten free items around here. if you are unfamiliar with gluten free-ness then just use your judgement - if you don't know what coconut butter is - lets chat first before you dive into some of these.

i love this bread - adapted from elana's kitchen- toasted with almond butter and mayhaw jelly (straight from my aunts kitchen in sunny louisiana) - it almost reminds me of the satsuma cake i made a while back. but i nosh on it for lunch - rock out!

GLUTEN FREE_BREAD

2 1/4c almond meal

1c + 2tbs potato starch

6t bs flax meal

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

6 eggs

1 1/2 tsp agave

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

*preheat oven t0 350F, grease 8 x 4 loaf pan

*sift together the almond meal, starch flax and soda

*in separate bowl beat eggs to foamy

*add in vinegar and agave

*add almond mixture into egg mixture, stir to combine

*pour into prepared pan, cook about 40 minutes until toothpick is clean

*cool completely then slice.