Monday, November 16, 2015

Pesto Parmesan Chrysanthemum for the Babes

So, there was this rat . . . .      

No.  Wait.  This post is about bread, so the rat will have to wait.

Lovely Babe, Lien, was this month's hostess, challenging the rest of the Babes to bake a filled, Russian Chrysanthemum bread.  The filling was up to us.  Because I didn't want to refrigerate the final bread, I opted for a non-meat filling.  I used pesto and grated Parmesan cheese, and it turned out to be delicious.  The dough, itself, is very nice and satiny.

My only miscalculation was with the baking dish, which is why my bread doesn't look like the original photo.  I started out with a 10-inch pie plate (the size specified in the recipe), but the poor, little petals looked lost in that vast baking dish.  So, I went down a size, using a 9-inch pie plate.  Too late, I realized that I had forgotten about the 'rise'.  The bread was nearly exploding out of the container.  Next time around, I will use the larger dish, and hope that, between the final rise and the bake, the flower will fill the pan.  Still tastes good, even so.




So, for the recipe, and the round-up, head over to Lien's website, Notitie Van Lien, and see all the perfect chrysanthemums from the other Babes.  And, of course, feel free to bake along as a Buddy.  Just send your link to Lien by the 29th.

Perhaps I can use the excuse of being distracted by the rat, which showed up in early November, and stayed about 10 days, until it met its demise.  I'm still a bit wary of going around corners, and leaving any kind of food out was discouraged for awhile, so I didn't get the bread baked until yesterday.  Hopefully, the house will continue to be rat-free.

Thanksgiving wishes to all!



The Babes are:

Bake My Day - Karen
blog from OUR kitchen - Elizabeth
Bread Experience - Cathy
Feeding my Enthusiasms - Pat/Elle
All Roads Lead to the Kitchen - Heather
Judy's Gross Eats - Judy
Karen's Kitchen Stories - Karen
My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
My Kitchen In Half Cups - Tanna
Notitie Van Lien - Lien
Thyme for Cooking - Katie (Bitchin’ Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire)
Life's a Feast - Jamie
Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya
Ilva Beretta Photography - Ilva

9 comments:

Lien said...

OMG a rat, now I'm distracted how awful, glad you got rid of it eventually. A pesto filling, I can already imagine how good that must have smelled! Great choice. I can understand your sizing down, that's what I thought too when putting the petals in. But it doesn't matter, it still looks and tastes good right?!

Karen said...

Your bread looks fab! Love your filling idea!

Now for the rat. Ew ew ew! I had some in my attic when a hoarder in our neighborhood died and the heirs sold the house. The rats left and came to my attic. ..... Long story. Couldn't sleep for days! . My sympathies!!

Elizabeth said...

At least you didn't use a tall sided container like I did. I think your bread looks wonderful. Mmmmmmm, pesto with parmesan cheese....


(There was a rat?! Eeeeeeeek.)

Elle said...

If that is an exploded flower, then let's explode 'em...looks great Judy! I can almost smell the pesto...such a great choice. Sorry about the rat. We had them in the barn last year and it was a process to get rid of them. Hope your home stays pest free and that you, too have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Cathy (Bread Experience) said...

Pesto and Parmesan cheese, now why didn't I think of that! It sounds wonderful! So many great variations on this bread. I need to go make it again.

Katie Zeller said...

I found a dead rat in the middle of the lawn a few weeks ago.... important word here being 'dead'. Love the pesto filling.... Pesto with anything!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Good grief RAT, mice are bad but a rat in the house with this bread ... sounds like the making for a movie😉
Forgot the rise, I say you got a gorgeous bloom!

Sweet and That's it said...

The perfect combo: parmesan and pesto! And even if you used a smaller pie dish, your chrysanthem do look beautiful.

Aparna said...

I had a smaller pie dish too so I went with 2/3rds the recipe which worked well luckily.
Love pesto, must try this with it next time.