Bread machine books

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Pat S

bread machine baking
Wintertime is soup and homemade bread time at my house. There is nothing more comforting to have good smells wafting from the kitchen on a cold winter’s day. I will admit that I have never mastered the whole kneading and rising process of making bread, instead I opt for using my trusty bread machine. After all, it’s still homemade in my book!

Country White Bread – 1 1/2 pound loaf

½ – 5/8 cup water

5/8 cup milk

1 ½ Tablespoons butter or margarine

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

1. Place all ingredients in bread pan, using the least amount of liquid listed in the recipe. Select Medium Crust setting and press START.

2. Observe the dough as it kneads. After 5 – 10 minutes, if it appears dry and stiff, or if your machine sounds as if it’s straining to knead it, add more liquid 1 tablespoon at a time until dough forms a smooth, soft , pliable ball that is slightly tacky to the touch.

3. After the baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan, place on cake rack, and allow to cool 2 hour before slicing.

For more bread machine recipes, check out these books:

The bread lover’s bread machine cookbook: a master baker’s 300 favorite recipes for perfect-every-time bread, from every kind of machine by Beth Hensperger

Biggest book of bread machine recipes.

Bread machine magic: 138 exciting new recipes created especially for use in all types of bread machines by Linda Rehberg

The breadman’s healthy bread book: use your bread machine to make more than 100 delicious, wholesome breads by George Burnett

Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Pat S

strawberry Hearts and chocolate = Valentine’s Day!! Are you ready? It’s not easy to find the perfect card that expresses exactly how you feel about a loved one, or what gift to get them. How about whipping up some sweet yummies in your kitchen? For me, two chocolate recipes come to mind, chocolate truffles and chocolate covered strawberries. Word of warning, Who Wants Candy? by Jane Sharrock is loaded with yummy candies. Your waistline may not like you after you start making some of the recipes.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

8 – 10 fresh medium strawberries

1 ounce semisweet chocolate baking square

1 tablespoon evaporated milk

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Leaving the green stems intact, wash, drain, and completely dry the strawberries by patting with a paper towel. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

2. In a top pan of a double boiler over hot but not boiling water, melt the chocolate, milk and vanilla extract together, stirring until smooth.

3. Insert a toothpick into the stem end of the strawberry and dip the lower two-thirds of the berries into the chocolate. Drop the berries onto the lined baking sheet. Let stand till the chocolate is firm.

4. Serve immediately or lightly cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, storing no more that 4 – 8 hours. The berries can be refrigerated for up to 2 days but may lose their eye appeal when stored more than a few hours.

Tip: To keep the berries from having a flat side, turn a plastic colander upside down and place the toothpicks holding the dipped berries into the holes of the colander. Place the colander filled with berries into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

The Chocolate Truffle recipe is also included in this book on page 171. Check it out!

CHICKEN WITH PARSLEY DUMPLINGS

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Cindy

If you love dumplings, you simply must make this recipe. I promise you will not be disappointed with this easy-to-fix cold weather dish.

Chicken

1 (5 lb) stewing chicken

1 branch celery

2 carrots, pared and sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 Tsp. salt

1 Qt. water

1 Cup milk

1/3 Cup flour

Place chicken, celery, carrots, onion, salt and water in Dutch oven. Simmer, covered, 2 ½ to 3 hours or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken from broth. Cool well. Remove meat from bones; cut in large pieces. Discard bones.

Strain broth and add enough water to make 3 cups. Return broth to Dutch oven. Combine milk and flour in small jar. Cover and shake until smooth. Slowly stir into hot broth. Cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Add chicken to gravy.

Prepare Parley Dumplings. Makes 8 servings.

Parsley Dumplings

2 Cups sifted flour

3 Tsp. baking powder

1 Tsp. salt

1/4 Cup minced fresh parsley

1 Cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. Mix parsley. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Add milk; stir to make a soft dough. (Do not over mix.)

Drop dumpling mixture by spoonfuls onto simmering chicken gravy. Simmer, uncovered 10 minutes. Cover and simmer 10 more minutes. Serve at once.

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Apricots and White Chocolate

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Laura S

My mom stopped by the library today and brought the staff a surprise batch of cookies!

We found this recipe in the back cover of a Martha Stewart Living Magazine several years ago (I looked it it, it was March 2009), and it’s been a family favorite ever since. A classier take on the traditional oatmeal raisin cookie, the apricots and white chocolate give these cookies a much lighter, delicate taste. Our magazines are a great place to find recipes and you can check out back issues to bake all you want at home.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
7 ounces dried apricots, preferably California, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, oatmeal, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cream butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs, and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture gradually, beating until just combined. Stir in chocolate and apricots. Cover, and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges but still soft in the center, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

If your interested in some of the other amazing baked goods that the amazing Ms. Stewart has to offer, try checking out Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook or Martha Stewart’s Cookies.