Early American Cottage Loaf

As the saying goes, we are living in interesting times.  As a baker, finding flour and yeast has been challenging, and I’ve resorted to bartering and using unconventional sources.  I did find a 16-ounce package of yeast buried in my pantry, which was a plus.  And, I have an order placed with a local bakery for a 16-ounce package of instant yeast along with some bread flour.

This month’s BBB bread, Easy American Cottage Loaf, from Kitchen of the Month, Cathy, calls for a variety of dry ingredients, all of which I had!  Yay!  I did revert to the original recipe, and used the bread machine option as well as my 1 ½ quart soufflé dish.  The bread turned out well and has a great flavor and texture.  Wonderful toasted.

Don’t miss out on this easy and delicious bread.  As a Buddy, share your experience and photographs with Cathy before the end of the month.  The recipe can be found either on Cathy’swebsite or the Red Star Yeast website.

I’m too busy baking to say much more!

Stop by the websites of the other Babes to see how they did.

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth 
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna 
• Bread Experience – Cathy (Kitchen of the Month)
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle

Hungarian Chimney Cakes

I started fretting about this recipe as soon as I saw it.  What would I use for molds?  Yesterday (the 15^th  and the day before posting), inspiration smacked me in the head.  With a bit of research, I managed to create my own molds from a heavy paper covered with non-stick foil. 

This morning I did the baking.  It took somewhat longer for the initial proof since it is an enriched dough, but after an extra hour, it was finally ready.  The experiment began.  I pretty much followed the recipe from this point on.  The first batch was a little too crispy, so I reduced the baking time by about 5 minutes.  The second batch was better.  (And the molds didn’t even ignite and burn up!  Guess that’s 451 F. for you.)

These are sort of crisp, crunchy, and soft, all at the same time, and the outer coating of butter and cinnamon sugar is delicious, but then, I am a sucker for cinnamon.

Hope you all will bake with us this month.  Our Kitchen of the Month is Aparna at My Diverse Kitchen.  She will have the recipe posted on her website. 

Also, check out the baking efforts of the other Babes.

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth 
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna  (Kitchen of the Month)
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle

 
These remind me of Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico, one of my favorite places.

Novel Food #38

Because I essentially read books for a living, finding time for pleasure reading is challenging.  I’m lucky to get in 15 minutes a day.  In between projects, I have a bit more time, and light books are best, so I don’t have to think too hard!

The latest book I chose was The Second-Worst Restaurant in France by Alexander McCall Smith.  It’s the second in the Paul Stuart Series, the first being My Italian Bulldozer.  Needing time to work on his current book on the philosophy of food, and thinking that a stay in a sleepy French village would be perfect, Paul is being constantly pulled into little dramas and adventures. After a bought of food poisoning, he finds himself drawn into the challenge of turning the restaurant into the Second-Best restaurant in France.   One new dish that goes on the menu is Griotte Cherry Clafoutis.  Griotte cherries are simply canned/jarred sour morello cherries, available at Trader Joe’s.  

It doesn’t take much time or effort to create this delicious dessert, and having the jar of cherries in the pantry means it can be put together and baked in no time at all.  I searched for different versions among my cookbooks, and they were all very similar, so I ended up using a recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table.

Simona is hosting this 38th event.  Take a look at the other entries at Novel Food, where you will find a wonderful selection of books and recipes.