CRUSTY FRENCH BREAD

This is my favorite bread to use for garlic bread, (this recipe came with my Cuisinart mixer) it is crusty and oh so good! I used brown flour this time, it does change the consistency of the texture but still very tasty!


2/3 Cups warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 1/2 Cups Flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 Cup cold water
Extra flour for dusting bread


(1)Place warm water in mixing bowl. Stir in yeast and 1 Tablespoon of the flour, let stand for 5 minutes. Mixture will foam and bubble. While yeast is proofing, combine 3 1/2 Cups of the flour and salt. Add cold water and the flour mixture to the yeast mixture. Insert dough hook and mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes until batter like.

(2)Continuing on speed 2, add the remaining flour mixture, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until a dough ball forms, and clings tp the dough hook and cleans side of bowl, then then allow the dought o knead for 4 minutes on speed 3.

(3)Dust dough ball lightly with flour and place inlarge greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft free place (like oven) until double in size about 1 hour. Punch dough down and let rise again until doubled in size. Punch dough down and divide into 2 pieces. Shape each into a long narrow loaf about 16-18 inches long, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (parchment is wonderful none of your baking will ever stick) cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled about and 1 hour. Then pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

(4) Dust loaves generously with flour. Make 4 or 5 diagonal slashes on the top of each loaf (that can be omitted). Bake for about 25-30 minutes until browned and hollow sounding when tapped. Cool on wire rack. Bread slices best when allowed to cool complettely!

MONKEY BREAD

I saw this recipe on Food Network, and it looked really yummy, so this morning my son C asked if I could make some for breakfast. It is like a cinnamon bun, but just a different twist on it and they were so good, and the boys had a blast helping make them!


FOR THE BREAD

4 Tablespoons Butter melted
2 Cups Milk
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast
4 Cups Flour
2 teaspoons Salt

FOR ROLLING

1 Cup White Sugar
3 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Butter melted

MAKING BREAD

(1) Pre heat oven at 200, lightly oil a large bundt pan or other baking pan
(2) Put dough hook in mixer, add melted butter, milk, brown sugar, vanilla and yeast. Mix for a few minutes then add flour and salt. Mix until dough comes together and pulls away from sides of bowl, put dough in large bowl that has been oiled and place in preheated oven to rise 1 hour, when you put the dough in oven to rise, turn the oven off.
(3) When dough has risen take out of oven, pour melted butter in a bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.
(4) Punch dough down, then take some dough into your hand and roll into a small ball (about the size of a golf ball) roll ball ain melted butter, then roll into cinnamon/sugar mixture, layer in bundt pan like picture below. If you have extra butter and sugar mixture pour over.


(5) Put pan in oven to rise again, for 45 minutes, until dough balls have risen to top of pan


(6) Heat oven to 350, then when oven is nice and hot bake Monkey Bread for 40 minutes. When done take a plate put pan upsidde down on it, and the bread will fall out but will be all otgether, let it cool slightly, then pull the bread apart and enjoy!

HUNGARIAN PARTRIDGE NOODLE SOUP

There is nothing like homemade chicken noodle soup when you are sick with a cold, to make you feel better, but I don't have chickens I just have wild fowl in my freezer, and hungarian partridge is one of them, the wild meat adds flavour to the broth that chicken just cannot do, for those who don't know what a hungarian partridge is, it is a very small bird that is in quite abundance out here, the picture below shows the size and what they look like, these are cooked already! they are small enough that I can put 3 on a dinner plate, and you would eat like any other kind of bird!

3 Hungarian Partridges feet taken off

3 Bay Leaves

2 star Aniseed

3 Tablespoons chopped Parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

Put birds into stock pot, put enough water in to cover partridges, bring to a boil, when boiling put in seasonings and simmer for 2-3 hours. serve over cooked noodles!

The meat is seasoned from the broth, so you can use it in casseroles, sandwiches or whatever you like!

BEEF VEGGIE SOUP

My Hunny was craving veggie soup, so I decided to come up with my own hearty version, and all the flavours blended together makes a tasty full bodied soup, and I made my Hunny's day!

2 Lbs ground beef scrambled

6 medium Potato's peeled and cubed

1/2 bag frozen mixed Veggies

1 medium Onion chopped

10 Cups Water

2 cans Tomato soup

2 Tablespoons Oregano

2 Bay Leaves

3 Tablespoons Parsley

4 Tablespoons Beef Stock Mix

Salt and Pepper to taste

Scramble ground beef, put into stock pot pour in the water, then the 2 cans of Tomato soup, mix that together till the T soup is well blended in, add the Potato's, Onions and Veggies mix together, then add Spices let that all simmer on low for 3 hours, then take out Bay leaf! This makes a big recipe, so I always can the leftovers.

CANNING SOUP

Bring soup to a roaring boil, (soup has to be very hot in order to seal jars) then ladle into jars to about an inch from the rim, put on lid, and they will seal on their own.

SPINACH OMELETTE

I was craving an omelette this morning, so I looked in the fridge to see what I could mix up, I don't like meat in my omelette's, so the spinach and mushrooms make it hearty and the whipping cream gives it a creamy texture!

2 Eggs

4 Tablespoons Whipping Cream

2 Tablespoons Spinach chopped

2 small fresh Mushrooms sliced

2 Tablespoons Onions chopped

1 Cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

Whip eggs with fork, put in whipping cream and mix together, put in spinach, mushrooms, onions and 1/2 Cup of the cheese mix all together and seasonings to taste. Pour into pan that has ben heated on low cover, cook until it gets fluffy take off heat flip one half overthe other, sprinkle the rst of the cheese on top, cover again and let the heat from the omelette melt the cheese!

GERMAN PANCAKES

My oldest son C tried these and wanted me to make them, I had never heard of german pancakes before, and I thought where in the world am I going to get the recipe, then it came to me, I bet you it would be in the Mennonite Treasury, so I looked and sure enough it was, they are very easy to make, and you can serve them with anything, dip them in sugar pour syrup over, or do like my youngest son J did today, spread crabapple jam on it and then roll it up. Very tasty!

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

3 Eggs

1 3/4 Cups Milk

Make a well in the flour and add salt, unbeaten eggs and 1 Cup of the milk. Beat with mixer until there are no lumps, then add rest of milk, and keep beating until you have a nice thin batter (it will be runny) Heat a iron skillet (pancakes work best in it) brush butter on, pour 1/4 of the batter in pan, and move it around until you have a thin layer, and it covers entire bottom of pan, cook until batter is set. Then flip over and cook until golden brown underneath!

BEEF STROGANOFF CASSEROLE

2Lbs ground beef scrambled
1/2 Onion chopped
1 can Mushrooms
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
3 Tablespoons chopped Parsley
3 Tablespoons Beef flavouring
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
5 Cups of cooked Spaghetti
1 Cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

Saute onion and mushrooms in a little oil until tender, add ground beef, fry until beef is cooked through and no longer pink, add beef flavouring, parsley, salt and pepper, mix together add the mushroom soup mix together add the worcestershire sauce, mix all together let simmer for 1/2 hour, mix with spaghetti, pour into casserole dish, sprinkle the cup of cheese over casserole, and broil until cheese bubbles.