Saturday, August 23, 2008

King Arthur Flour is DA'BOMB

In order to make all the wonderful breads from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day, I use ingredients from King Arthur Flour. I try to use their Organic Allpurpose White flour in most of my recipes. I have ordered numerous cooking essentials from them in the mail also. Luckily, my Kroger and my Fresh Market carry a lot of their everyday flours.

Anywhos....I opened up my latest catalog and these appeared (okay my link won't work for the exact recipe) Just click on the KAF link above and then click on the "recipes" and type in Gruyere-stuffed crusty loaves. Sorry about that.

I know, I know.......I had to grab a kleenex also and wipe the tears of joy from my eyes. I lay in a puddle of weeping excitement babbling in tongues, until I was finally able to pick myself up and dust myself off and drive furiously over to Fresh Market to get some ingredients.

*side note.....I ALWAYS want to speel ingredients as INGREDIANTS. I may petition Websters to have this changed for my benefit.

Anywhos.....I love Panera's asiago bagels, sooooooo, I decided to make Asiago Stuffed Crusty Loaves.


It all started with a little starter.....you only have to leave this sit overnight. How great is that????


This is what it looks like the next day after the yeast has partied all night. I mean, hey, we all look a little puffy and bloated after a night out, eh???


I used a combo of basil oil, garlic oil, some italian seasonings and grated asiago.


Roll the dough out like you are making cinnamon rolls (provided you have made cinnamon rolls and if you haven't, you really shouldn't be reading this blog). Layer on the oil, seasonings, cheeze.


Roll it up (like you were rolling a dead body up in a carpet to haul out to your pickup for a drop-off in the woods, you know what I am talking about).
~note to self.....don't use the expensive oriental rug in living room


Slice it like a cinnamon roll.......you can do it anyway you want, big slices, lots of slices or only 2 slices to make 2 larger loaves. I did 4, if you can't count.


Bake in the oven.....I just slid my parchment right onto my pizza stone. Ooooh la frickin la la......these were egg-ceptionally great and will be made again and again. Can you imagine these w/a hot steaming bowl of chili?????? What are you waiting for???? GO MAKE THEM NOW!


P.S.Not to toot my own horn but KAF actually "borrowed" a quote from one of my blogs without my knowledge. I was flattered but shocked. It has been in the last 4 catalogs on page 51. As I lay in bed one night leafing through the summer 2008 issue, I see a title for "Baker's Cinnamon Filling" From a Customer Blog: we couldn't have said it better! Then staring back at me....were my words from my January 16, 2008 Blog "Cinnamon Schmear Another One of My Favorite Things". I proceed to say "You mix 1/4 c. of mx with 1 tablespoon of water....THAT'S IT. It makes this gloopy schloppy wonderful cinnamon schmear. You just spread on your dough and bake. It will be better than cinnamon bread or bun you have ever made yourself. This stuff is soooo good that one of the girls that babysits for us requires this cinnamon bread as payment and will except NO MONEY. THAT IS HOW GOOD IT IS!!!"

I was stunned and having deja-vu as I was reading, as the words sounded all too familiar. I just wish they would have at least told me they were going to use it....what if I would have never noticed it??? I could have missed this pivotal moment in my life. I was shocked and stunned and excited. How crazy is that??? Did KAF really read my blog???? Cause I didn't give it to them.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Ham-Burglars vs. Black Bean Burglars


I am sure that Mayor McCheeze would LOVE to take a baseball bat to Ham-burglars knee caps. I just know it.

This recipe was adapted from Vermont Cheddar Bread out of my
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day


I replaced the cheddar with Asiago and Pickled Chopped Jalapenos and instead of a loaf of bread, I shaped the dough into hamburger buns. Sprinkled more Asiago on top.

Hotcha Hotcha out of the oven.



What better to go with an Asiago Jalapeno Bun than a Black Bean Burger!





Allrecipes

This came from Allrecipes.com "Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers", I couldn't get the link to work. LAURENMU is the poster of this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS
If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.


I made some substitutions such as using rolled oats instead of bread crumbs and I pulsed everything in my food processor. I used wet hands to mold into burgers and also refrigerated them before grilling on tin foil. I also cooked my own dried black beans in some water and a bottle of mexican beer and garlic.



I made my homemade salsa and topped off the burger with a big slice of cheddar, shredded romaine, salsa, light sour cream.


Served with a side of sue-weeeet potato fries spiced w/chili powder and cumin and coriander seed. My husband said it was a taco in a bun. I am not sure if it was a compliment or not but I thought they were outstanding!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Unmarked Vehicles Are a Recipe for Disaster

Our Brink's guy came today to install some EXTRA equipment and showed up in an unmarked truck and was in my driveway (backed in) when I was pulling into the cul-de-sac. Unmarked truck BACKED up to my garage door.......threw my PA redneck ass into rambo mode and I flew in the driveway w/my SUV and blocked him off catty corner so he had nowhere to go but through me. Was ready to start out of the jeep w/a baseball bat and beat his sorry ass when Dana calls on the cell phone stating the brinks guy was waiting in our driveway. I have never been anywhere, where all these businesses use so many unmarked vehicles. Too bad, so sad for them if I happen to lop off their balls w/a turkey pump camo shotgun that Dana and Ben use for hunting. I ain't pissing around no more!