Whatever you do...

Make this bread!

Our neighborhood has several bakeries, excellent bakeries from what we have tasted. However, when my husband tasted his first bite of this bread, he said, and I quote:

"Mmmm, where did you get this bread?"

To which I replied, "I made it."

The rest of the conversation was inarticulate, a series of grunts and groans and happy husband sounds. I think that I heard "make again" somewhere in there.

Herbes de Provence Bread

1 cup warm water

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 1/2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence (or italian herbs, or a mix of italian herbs and rosmary, or whatever herbs you like in your bread)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 1/2 cups flour

Using a dough hook, mix the water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes, or until bubbly. Add 1/2 cup flour, the salt, olive oil, herbs and pepper and mix, on medium speed, for a minute or two. Gradually add the rest of the flour, mixing on low speed until all of the flour is incorporated, and the dough starts to pull away from the bowl, about 6 minutes. Grease a clean bowl, and transfer the dough to the greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour. Press the dough down, and transfer to a baking sheet (or a pizza stone, your call). Form the dough into a loaf shape, cover with the towel, and let the dough rise for another hour. Carefully remove the towel (some of the dough may want to cling to it), and bake the dough at 375° for about 30 minutes.

Enough of the Sweets!

Well, it is time to take a hiatus from all of the sugar-filled baked goods that I have been turning out lately. It's not that we haven't been enjoying good (non-sweet) food, but either I have forgotten to take pictures or it has turned out looking disastrous (like Monday's fajita quesadillas, which completely fell apart when the tortilla stuck to the pan, but tasted great). And besides, sweets are just a lot of fun to make and talk about! I'll move on. I promise.

Our lives have been pretty quiet lately. With my husband studying most of the daylight hours, I have spent time reading, cleaning, cooking, and planning our meals into November! This meal-planning process involves looking at recipes and planning a week's or month's worth of menus on a calendar. It's a process that I love, but once I finish, I want to do it all over again, because there are always more recipes out there that I would love to try. Don't get me wrong, we probably will not follow my little calendar very closely, because usually we get whims for different foods and aren't always good about ignoring those whims. However, I have good intentions, and it is a great method of planning and incorporating fall flavors and seasonable vegetables into our life, and making sure that we get plenty of variety. Besides, my classes will start September 10th, and it will be easier to have a meal plan to go by.

Menu planning gives us a lot of room to try new things, but there are always a few tried and true dishes that I try to occasionally add to our repertoire. Curry chicken, beef stroganoff, roast chicken, low country boil, and shrimp and grits are all menus that the husband has deemed "make again," and that we return to often. That is exactly what we did earlier this week; we had shrimp and grits.

Creole Shrimp and Grits
From Southern Living, January 2009

2 pounds unpeeled, medium-size raw shrimp
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup stone ground grits
1-2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons half-and-half

Peel shrimp, reserving shells; devein shrimp, if desired. Bring shells and 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low, and cook 20 minutes. Pour shrimp broth through a colander over a large bowl, pressing shells with back of a spoon; discard shells.*

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat; stir in flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until flour is caramel colored (about 8 to 10 minutes). Add onion and next 3 ingredients, and cook, stirring often, 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Stir in 2 cups shrimp broth, tomato paste, and next 4 ingredients. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes. Add shrimp, and cook 10 minutes, stirring in 1/4 to 1/2 cup remaining shrimp broth to reach desired consistency.

In a medium pot, whisk together the water, grits, salt and butter. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk in the half-and-half.

Serve the shrimp over the grits.

*I have made the shrimp stock before using this method, but this time I bought peeled shrimp and used store-bought seafood stock. You could also use half/half clam juice and chicken stock.

Stay tuned for the fabulous herb loaf recipe, pictured in these photos.

Dinner with the Neighbors

When we were young, we would spend almost all day every day with our next-door neighbors. We would ride bikes in their cul-de-sac and have lemonade sales on hot afternoons. We would jump on the trampoline and choreograph dances to Wilson Phillips' "Hold On." When it was getting close to dusk, our mother would ring a bell and we would come home for dinner. Occasionally, however, we would eat dinner with our neighbors. I don't much remember what we would have to eat at their house, but I do remember having what we thought then was a fabulous treat: Kraft macaroni and cheese.

It was not that our mother didn't make macaroni and cheese. She just didn't make Kraft macaroni and cheese, with all of it's fake-cheesy-ness. She would make what she called "Macaroni Casseroni," with real cheese and real wholesome goodness. To our unrefined pallets, it was just wasn't the same (and, unfortunately, we let her know it). Thankfully, I have grown out of that phase of life.

I tell you this story because, thanks to my mom's love for good food, we very rarely ate any pre-packaged or box-mix fare. I don't mean to be a snob about it, but aside from the fact that home-prepared foods are generally much healthier, they are also usually much, much better tasting!

All of that said, I have to apologize for this recipe. It contains a box mix. Actually, it contains two. Please don't disown me. You know that I wouldn't put it on here if it wasn't wonderful.

I made this (and some of those wonderful molasses cookies) for my little brother's birthday, which is today. He still enjoys Kraft macaroni and cheese. Happy Birthday, little brother!

Black Russian Cake

Cake:
1 Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix
1 3.9 ounce Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
4 Eggs
1/4 Cup Vodka
1/4 Cup Coffee Liqueur, such as Kahlua

Glaze:
1/4 Cup Coffee Liqueur, such as Kahlua
1/2 Stick Butter (4 tablespoons)
1/2 Cup Sifted Powdered Sugar

Combine the first seven ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute; increase speed to medium, and beat 4 more minutes. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine remaining liqueur, powdered sugar and melted butter, stirring until smooth. Prick warm cake at 1-inch intervals with a long skewer. Brush a third of the liqueur mixture over the bottom of the cake. Wait 10 minutes, and invert the cake onto a serving cake. Prick the top of the cake with a skewer, and brush the rest of the liqueur mixture over the top and sides of the cake. Cool completely. Sift additional powdered sugar over the cake before serving.

Serve with coffee ice cream for a special treat!