TFF - Creamy Garlicky Mussels

This week my market had Mussels on sale and since I've been craving shellfish I picked up 2 lbs. I thought 2 lbs would be plenty for the two of us. I was wrong.

The recipe suggests serving the Mussels with a crusty French Garlic Bread. We have a wonderful French Bakery right in town and so this morning I picked up a loaf of freshly baked bread. I cut the loaf into thirds thinking that 1-10" piece of garlic bread would be enough. I was wrong.

Tyler's Creamy Garlicky Mussels was fantastic!! Oh how I wish I had bought 4 lbs of mussels and made an entire loaf of broiled Garlic French Bread. While making the dish it smelled so fabulous, my mouth was watering and this does not happen to me very often! Tyler's recipe for Steamed Mussels is very similar and I think I might make that next week!

I made the recipe as written but I did add about 10-12 large fresh minced basil leaves and 2 TBL of minced fresh Tarragon. And this recipe was so easy and took less then 10 minutes to prepare so I am putting it in my "Call-it-Dinner" category!







Creamy Garlicky Mussels
Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence

4 pounds mussels
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Optional:
10-12 fresh, minced basil leaves
1 TBL minced tarragon

Serving suggestion: crusty French bread

Scrub the mussels with a vegetable brush under running water; discard any with broken shells or that remain opened when tapped.

In a large pot over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter in the olive oil. Add the garlic, thyme, and lemon slices and cook until everything has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the mussels and stir to coat them with all the flavors. Add the wine, then the chicken broth; cover the pot and steam for 10 to 12 minutes until the mussels open.

Remove the mussels from the pot. Take the meat out of 10 of the mussels and put them back into the pot along with the remaining butter. Using an immersion blender, buzz the liquid until the sauce thickens and becomes creamy; taste and adjust seasoning.

Divide the remaining mussels among the serving bowls and spoon over the sauce. Serve with plenty of crusty French garlic bread to dip in the sauce.


Garlic Bread

1 small loaf of crusty French bread
4 TBL soft butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced.

Cut the bread in half, horizontally. In a small bowl mix the butter and garlic. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves. Place on a sturdy baking pan and pop under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. Watch this carefully as it will burn quickly.







Please visit Tyler Florence Fridays and see what the rest of Tyler's groupies are up too this week.








All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

BBA -- English Muffins

The week for our Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge we made English Muffins. I've always loved English Muffins and prefer them over toast any day! I make English Muffins all the time and have two recipes on my blog both with excellent results. To see the recipes please click here and here.

I did change Reinhart's recipe and added about 1/2 c. sourdough starter and I used kefir instead of milk.







Chicken Salad is one of my favorite sandwiches and I can't think of anything better then a Chicken Salad and Tomato Sandwich on a toasted Sourdough English Muffin! And to make this sandwich even better, I used our first picking of tomatoes out of our garden! It was delicious!







Google Books has the entire book, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread", by Peter Reinhart, scanned and you can find the recipe on Page 157 by clicking here.






Please feel free to visit some fellow BBA'ers and see their interpretation of this recipe.

Deb of Italian Food Forever
Oggie of I can do That!
Mags of The Other Side of Fifty
Susie of Susie's Home and Hobbies



All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Chicken with Fresh Raspberry Balsamic Cream

A few weeks ago I was searching for a new and different recipe involving Red Raspberries and I stumbled upon an interesting recipe at Cooks.com, Raspberry Chicken with a savory sauce of Raspberry Vinegar and Tomato Paste?? I wasn't sure how this recipe was going to taste with such a unique combination of flavors but went ahead any ways and was very pleasantly surprised. It was delicious and even Mr. Tastebud's loved it!

I've given up on the small cans of tomato paste! Even though the cans are tiny, I rarely ever used a full can. I tried freezing the leftover tomato paste but I would forget about it and find it months later in some dark corner of the freezer. A few years ago I discovered the tubes of tomato paste and I've not bought canned tomato paste since. The tube is so convenient to use, just squeeze out the desired amount, recap and refrigerate until you need it again.







Chicken with Fresh Raspberry Balsamic Cream Sauce
Recipe adapted from Cooks.com

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 2 lbs.
2 TBL sweet butter
1/4 c. finely chopped yellow onion (I used 5-6 green onions finely sliced)
4-5 TBL raspberry vinegar (I used 4 TBL Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar)
1/4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. sour cream or heavy cream (I used cream)
1-2 TBL tomato paste
Fresh raspberries for garnish

Over medium heat melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the chicken breast and cook for about 3 minutes per side or until they are lightly colored. Remove and set aside.

Add the onion to the juices in the pan and cook, covered, over low heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the vinegar; raise the heat and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until vinegar is reduced to a syrupy spoonful. Whisk in the chicken stock, heavy cream (or sour cream) and tomato paste. Simmer for 1 minute.

Return the chicken to the skillet and simmer gently in the sauce, basting often until juices run clear and the sauce has been reduced and thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook.

Remove chicken breasts with a slotted spoon and arrange on a heated serving platter. Pour sauce over the chicken, garnish with fresh raspberries and serve immediately.







All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Whisk Wednesday -- Velouté Du Barry

I've been so bad with posting my Whisk Wednesdays recipes and I feel terribly guilty. We have just a few recipes to go and we will be finished with the entire Cordon Bleu cookbook which is quite an accomplishment. I did not start at the beginning of the group but jumped in at about the half way point. It really is amazing how much I've learned and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

This week for Whisk Wednesdays we made Velouté Du Barry or Cream of Cauliflower Soup. Although I've made Cream of Cauliflower Soup before, I've always used cheese. In fact I usually use all the little bits and pieces leftover from holiday cheese logs and other appetizers. The Velouté Du Barry had no cheese but a delicious Veloute sauce made with crème fraîche and egg yolk.

The soup was creamy, rich and delicious and both Mr. Tastebud's and I had two bowls each! Definitely a keeper recipe and one I will make again!






Velouté Du Barry (Cream of Cauliflower Soup)
Recipe adapted from Le Cordon Bleu at Home

1 small cauliflower
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large leek (white part only), chopped fine
1 large onion, chopped fine
¼ cup rice flour
6 cups Chicken Stock or water
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 slices firm white bread, crusts removed
1 egg yolk
1 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
Chervil or parsley leaves for garnish








Gadgets that Work



Charm Graters are available at Ikea, 2 for $5.99 and it is the handiest grater I've ever owned. The slim, oval shape measuring 6 3/4" by 4 3/4" by 2 3/4", easily fits my hand and it is dishwasher safe.

The food saver lid securely locks onto the oval bowl. Since it basically spill proof, whenever I need cheese grated, I hand the Charm Grater over to Mr. Tastebuds and he can grate while watching the evening news with no fuss...no muss.

The Charm Grater makes grating just about anything so convenient and easy. Buy it, you'll like it!



All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Checkerboard Cookies laced with Orange

I've been wanting to try my hand at Checkerboard Cookies for a l-o-n-g time now. And finally had slight gap in my schedule so I got to work. But first I had to find a recipe and whenever I'm searching for an adaptable cookie recipe I always start by looking in my handwritten 3by5 family recipe file. It's fun to go back and look at these recipes. I usually recognize the handwriting of the person who gave me the recipe or the name of a long ago neighbor.

When I was looking for a recipe I knew it was important that the vanilla and chocolate doughs be as close as possible in bulk, so I was looking for a dough that I could easily divide for the vanilla and chocolate doughs. When I came across my Great Grama's Ice Box Cookie recipe, I knew I had found the right one!

I remember whenever we were at Grama's house she always had what she called Ice Box Cookies. And she did keep them in a long small bread box container in the refrigerator. I remember whenever we were especially good Grama pulling out the box of Ice Box Cookies and sitting at her small kitchen table and eating them one by one.

Grama's recipe was easily divided into 2 bowls. I eliminated the brown sugar and because I added vanilla I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup and of course added cocoa powder to the chocolate dough. Also added some orange zest to the vanilla dough because I have a thing for Orange!






Ice Box Cookies
Adapted from my Great Grandma Will

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c. finely chopped nuts

Mix well in order given one at a time.

Press and shape dough into three loaves, about 2 inches square and 5 inches long on sheets of waxed paper.

Wrap tightly in waxed paper and put in refrigerator.

Chill at least 2 hours.

Place on inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 350 degrees until just lightly brown on the bottoms.






Checkerboard Cookies
Recipe developed by Big-Black-Dog

Vanilla Shortbread:
3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg, slightly whipped
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
Optional: Zest of 1 large orange

Chocolate Shortbread:
3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg, slightly whipped
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. flour

1 egg white, slightly whipped with 1/2 tsp water (for sealing layers of dough)

In 2 separate bowls cream the softened butter and sugar. Add the egg, baking powder, salt, baking soda and vanilla. For the vanilla dough blend in the orange zest. And for the chocolate dough blend in cocoa powder. Add the flour and mix just until all flour is incorporated.

Lay 2 pieces of plastic wrap on your counter. Put the vanilla shortbread on 1 piece of plastic wrap and pat it into a rough 5" by 8" rectangle, making sure that it is of even thickness. Now with light pressure roll over the top with a floured rolling pin to smooth the top. Repeat for the Chocolate dough.


Now I'm going to refer you to the below video by Dyann Bakes for an excellent demonstration on the construction of the Checkerboard Cookies.







All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

BBA - Cinnamon Cranberry Mini Challah

Cinnamon - (Cinnamomum verum, synonym C. zeylanicum) is a small evergreen tree 10–15 metres (32.8–49.2 feet) tall, belonging to the family Lauraceae, and is native to Sri Lanka.


The name cinnamon is correctly used to refer to Ceylon cinnamon, also known as "true cinnamon". However, the related species, Cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum), Saigon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi), and Cinnamomum burmannii are sometimes sold labeled as cinnamon, sometimes distinguished from true cinnamon as "Chinese cinnamon", "Vietnamese cinnamon", or "Indonesian cinnamon"; sometimes referred to as being cassia. Ceylon cinnamon, using only the thin inner bark, has a finer, less dense, and more crumbly texture, and is considered to be less strong than cassia. Cassia has a much stronger flavour than cinnamon, is generally a medium to light reddish brown, hard and woody in texture, and thicker, as all of the layers of bark are used.







I am a cinnamon addict. My favorite cinnamon, Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cassia, is not a true cinnamon, but it has the most exquisite aroma and flavor and I just love it. I buy my Vietnamese Cassia, 1 lb at a time, from Penzeys Spices. And I always use more cinnamon then the recipe calls for, yes I am a true cinnamon lover!

This week for our Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge we are making Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Of course with me being me I have to mix things up and change it around just a little. I substituted orange-flavored dried cranberries for the raisins and decided to make 1-piece mini challahs instead of a loaf. The orange-flavored dried cranberries were so good in this recipe that I think I found a permanent substitute for raisins!

And the 1-piece braided challahs, video below, were so easy, I can't wait to try this technique again. I made my braids much smaller and only used an 18" dough rope to begin which amounted to a finished 8" challah.







Google Books has the entire book, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread", by Peter Reinhart, scanned and you can find the recipe on Page 147 by clicking here.






Here's some links to other BBA'ers and their interpretations of this recipe:

Oggie at I can do that!
Caroline at Two Skinny Jenkins
Angela at Gourmet Hotdish and other Culinary Disasters
Jia at Sweet and Savory



All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Pink, Pink, Pink and more Pink for Pink Saturday

Welcome to my 11th Pink Saturday! I can not believe I've done 11 Pink Saturdays. And what's more amazing is that there is so much pink in my life. I never thought about it but pink is everywhere!

First of all my gardens are bursting with pink blossoms!
















And we're having wonderful summer berries are on our plates almost daily! If you would like the recipe for my Mom's French Toast please click here.







And of course you can't have summer without Pink Lemonade! If you would like the recipe for my Pink Lemonade please click here.







Thank you so much for visiting my blog for Pink Saturday and please visit Miss Beverly of How Sweet the Sound and see what the other Pinksters are up to!

And don't forget our Pink Saturday motto:

Get Pink !!!
It's not just a color, it's an attitude.




All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

TFF - Risotto-Style Strawberry Rice Pudding

I was thinking today that summer is almost half over and I'm not very happy about that. This is the first summer in three years we have not been in construction on the house. And I really have enjoyed relaxing without the sound of power tools in the background. So far we've had a gorgeous summer here in Illinois with warm days and cool nights and I've taken full advantage of it.

With all the construction behind us I've had time to concentrate on summer themed meals and it's been fun. Our dinners have been light meals and my desserts pretty and refreshing. When I found Tyler's recipe for Risotto-Style Strawberry Rice Pudding I knew I had to try it.

But when I read the reviews of this recipe, many people had problems with it being too runny so I decided to try a different method. Although I did make the rice pudding on the stove top, to finish I put the pudding in a baking dish and baked it at 350 degrees for almost an hour and it turned out very nice. For the strawberry sauce I cut down the lemon juice to 2 TBL and added about 1/2 cup of Riesling and it was scrumptiously delicious! (**See Note on Riesling) I topped the pudding with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

The Risotto-Style Strawberry Rice Pudding was absolutely delicious. So much so that I had 2 bowls full this morning for breakfast. I'd like to try this with fresh raspberries or blueberries too. Definitely a keeper recipe and one that has room for much experimentation!






Risotto-Style Strawberry Rice Pudding
Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence

1 quart strawberries, rinsed and hulled
1 cup sugar
1 lemon, zest finely grated and juiced
1 quart milk
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup Arborio rice
Pinch kosher salt

Cut strawberries into medium-size dice. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Cook until berries are soft and the juices have thickened slightly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until it starts to steam. Remove one cup of milk, set it aside, and keep it warm. Stir into the larger pan of milk the remaining sugar, the vanilla bean and seeds, and the rice. Lower heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Add the reserved milk, lemon zest, butter, and salt. Stir well and remove from the heat. This should have a more liquid consistency than regular risotto.

To serve, layer rice pudding and strawberry mixture in tall clear glasses. Chill.


**Wine Note: Chateau St. Jean's Riesling is a very sweet white wine. Personally I did not care for this wine but used in desserts it is excellent.






Please visit Tyler Florence Fridays and see what the rest of Tyler's groupies are up too this week.








All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Tablescape Thursday **There she blows

I had big plans for tonight's dinner. On the agenda was a light dinner of salad and freshly baked bread and I thought it would be wonderful to eat outside on our porch. But as soon as I started setting up my small bistro table I knew it was never going happen.

Even though it was a perfectly gorgeous day today, warm and clear blue sky, it was so windy! Geesh, I could hardly hang my wash out! When I finally did get everything hung, the laundry was really flying around and sometimes it was completely horizontal! Almost as soon as I got everything hung, it was dry and not a wrinkle in sight!













Tablescape Thursday is graciously hosted by Susan of Between Naps on the Porch. Please visit Susan's site and see the wonderful tablescapes set out especially for you!





All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Summer Strawberries!

Isn't summer fun! I love opening my refrigerator and seeing containers of fresh berries and it's so tempting to just grab a handful and snack! Berries are very versatile and everything tastes extra special when topped with fresh berries.

Even a simple salad comes alive with color and taste with the addition of berries, especially strawberries. I started making Fresh Strawberry Salad a few years ago and I have to admit that my first batch of Strawberry Dressing never saw a salad, I ate every delicious spoonful right out of the food processor!







Strawberry Basil Poppy Seed Dressing
Recipe developed by Big Black Dog

2-3 handfuls of whole fresh strawberries
2/3 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 TBL lemon juice
1 tsp honey (add more if you'd like it sweeter)
6-8 fresh Basil leaves
1 TBL poppy seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put everything sans salt in a food processor and blend until creamy. Taste if and if it needs a little salt add a shake. Keep refrigerated.

I usually serve this over a spinach and romaine lettuce salad topped with toasted sliced almonds and sliced fresh strawberries.







I served the Strawberry Salad with my new favorite summer wine, Sineann's Pinot Gris! I just love this wine and it's fairly inexpensive at $8.99 a bottle! And it has a very sleek glass cork which makes the wine so easy to open. And if you don't finish the bottle, the glass cork just pops back into the bottle with an airtight seal.







All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Church Ladies and an Ice Cream Social

Remember Ice Cream Socials?

When I was growing up it seemed like every summer we always had at least two or three Ice Cream Socials to attend and the best ones were always at our church. Let's face it those church ladies really know how to put on an ice cream social! The ice cream was usually vanilla but the homemade pies and cakes were fabulous. And I'm pretty sure that there was more then just a little bit of mine is better then yours going on!

After eating the cake and ice cream the adults would socialize and my cohorts and I pretty much ran wild through the church and sometimes even spilled out into the parking lot! Of course now our hyper activity would be blamed on the sugar but then it was just considered normal. It's always so funny how food brings back so many vivid memories almost like it happened just yesterday!








Homemade Sweet Black Cherry Ice Cream
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar (I used 1/4 c. Splenda Sugar Blend)
3 c. heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean
1 qt of fresh black sweet cherries, pitted and chopped

Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the dark seeds. Set aside.

Whisk eggs, add cream and beat for several minutes gradually adding sugar. Pour mixture into a small sauce pan and heat until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and add scrapings from vanilla bean. Cool to room temperature and then add the cherries. Then put mixture in the refrigerator and cool completely. Pour chilled ice cream mix into your Ice Cream Maker and follow manufacturer's directions.

Top with a few sweet black cherries.






The Ice Cream Social is hosted by Susie of Kitchen Bouquet please visit and see what other wonderful flavors of ice cream are in the collection plate this week!





Gadgets that Work






Who likes pitting cherries? Anyone? Pitting cherries is a terribly boring, tedious process. It's very messy and the juice turns your fingers purple!

I found my vintage cherry pitter at a local garage sale several years ago and jumped at the $2 price tag. It looked brand new, probably only used a few times and it works great.

The pitter is all in one piece so no assembly is required. And it's very easy to clean, just a quick rinse with hot, soapy water is all that is needed. As of yet I've not put it in the dishwasher. Along with the cherry pitter you do have to use two bowls, one bowl to catch the fruit and one to catch the pits.

Just fill the hopper with cherries and then start turning the crank. The cherries move down the shoot and somehow the large disk separates the fruit from the pit. The fruit comes out as the disk turns and the pits continue down the spout and finally are expelled at the end. It's very simple, effective and saves hours of time. And whenever I need to pit a large amount of cherries, I'm so glad I have it!

If you don't want to bother with a large cherry pitter I did find a very cool, simple one at The Honey Jar Online. In fact I think I might buy one! The below vintage-format video will show you how it works.






All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Finally a good Butterscotch Pudding!

Why are some good recipes so hard to find? I've been looking for a good butterscotch pudding recipe forever. I've tried at least 5 recipes and most seemed pretty anemic until I found Aunt Jimmy's! WOW...what a fabulous pudding! Although you can't really taste the alcohol, the 2 TBL of scotch whiskey, make the pudding taste so buttery and smooth. DELICIOUS!

I've made this recipe twice within seven days. The first time I made it exactly as written and the second time I substituted tapioca for the cornstarch. Personally, I like the tapioca version better. But I grew up with tapioca and almost lived on it while in college!







Aunt Jimmy's Butterscotch Pudding
Recipe adapted from Food Network

2 1/4 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch or 3 TBL Tapioca
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Scotch
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Topping: Whipped Cream, Sweet Cherry

In a large saucepan, combine the milk and cream and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately remove from the heat and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring constantly, until caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes. (You'll smell a characteristic nutty caramel odor when the butter browns, signaling that the mixture is ready.)

Whisking constantly, gradually add the butter/brown sugar mixture to the hot milk/cream mixture. If the mixture isn't smooth, blend for 20 seconds with a hand blender or pour through a fine sieve.

Put the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk in about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture. Whisk in the cornstarch and salt until dissolved. Whisk the cornstarch mixture back into the hot milk mixture in the saucepan. Whisk in the Scotch.

While whisking constantly, cook over medium-high heat until thick and just boiling. When the mixture thickens, the whisk will leave trail marks on the bottom of the pot and the mixture will have a few large bubbles boiling up to the top.

Turn off the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract.

Spoon into dessert cups. Chill and top with whipped cream.






All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Crab and Roasted Red Pepper Fougasse

Our July 4th weekend began on Friday and I thought I would make something special to start the weekend off. Earlier in the week I found crab legs on sale and just could not resist! We love crab and I bought 4 bunches, not quite 2 lbs worth which I knew would be plenty. But I needed something else to grace the gorgeous crab and decided that some Roasted Red Pepper Fougasse sounded good!


Crab Legs are such a gorgeous color and so dramatic to serve, really nothing is needed except butter and a few minutes for steaming. Thaw crab legs. Put a few inches of water in a pot and bring to a boil. Insert a drop-in steamer (pictured to the right), layer crab legs, cover and steam for a 4-5 minutes until crab is warm to the touch, careful to not over cook!

If you are looking for something to serve for a special dinner and you want to splurge a bit, crab is an excellent choice. But do take into consideration that eating crab is a long, tedious process. It took me almost an hour to finally savor the last morsel of crab but so worth it!






Drawn Butter
Recipe adapted from just about anywhere

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

Cut butter into TBL pieces. Melt the butter over medium low heat or you can melt the butter in the microwave. Bring to a simmer until the milk solids have separated and sunk to the bottom of the pan. Ladle out the clarified butter that is on the top.






For the Roasted Red Pepper Fougasse I used the Italian Semolina Bread from my very favorite bread baking book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day". The recipe makes 3 loaves of bread, so I halved the recipe for 1 large loaf of Fougasse. I love Semolina Bread and the recipe and technique from ABin5 is about the best I tasted and it's so easy.





Also I baked the fougasse on the grill and the taste was outstanding and so much better then baking it in my oven! Although I've baked pizza on my grill, click here for a step-by-step, this was my first experience with baking bread and it will not be my last! The above picture was taken just a minute or so after I had put the dough on the grill and it had already tripled in size...WOW!

You can find detailed step-by-step instructions on how to roast the red peppers and construct the Roasted Red Pepper Fougasse here.



All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog