Welcome to the 9th HBinFive Bread Braid

This week for our HBinFive Bread Braid we made Gluten-free Bread. I have to say that this was the strangest bread recipe I've ever made and I've made quite a bit of bread! The bread did not taste badly at all and was actually good toasted with lots of butter and if we were having guests that had a wheat restrictive diet, I would not hesitate to make this bread! Mr. Tastebuds said that "it tasted better then Wonder Bread"

Like I said the taste was not that bad but the texture was dry probably due to the amount of cornstarch in the recipe. But I'm going to play around a bit and substitute some of the bean and nut flours and maybe add butter or sour cream just to see if I can improve the texture a bit. But I am certainly more sympathetic to people with Celiac Disease and food allergies now. The dough rose and baked beautifully as you can see from the below photo.

I did make some changes to the recipe. For 3 1/2 c. cornstarch I used 2 1/2 c. cornstarch and 1 c. Garbanzo Bean Flour. I skipped the xanthan gum altogether and I used Fresh Yeast.







And I made my very favorite bread, Italian Semolina, from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" which made scrumptious Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!


Grilled Cheese...The Ultimate Comfort Food





If you are participating in the HBinFive Bread Braid, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general address.

Please leave a comment. Every once a while Mr. Linky flies the coop and we can then find your photos by clicking on the comment links.

Don't forget to copy and paste the HBinFive Badge in your Bread Braid post or somewhere on your FB Page. Or you can mention HBinFive but your blog post must be identified with HBinFive.

Please be sure to link back to the host blog, Big Black Dog, so your fellow bloggers who are participating today, will get lots of visits, as well.

Please do not add your link below until your HBinFive post or pictures are actually published.

***If any HBinFive member is concerned about linking up to the Bread Braid Gadget please send an email to me at ms dot bigblackdog at gmail dot com with your name and the URL of your pictures and I will link you up as soon as I can.


Please feel free to click on any of the links below and visit some of our HBinFive Members and see their wonderful interpretations of this recipe!








All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Grilled Cheese..the Ultimate Comfort Food!

Did you know that April is National Grilled Cheese month? Well, I didn't know that either until Kathy of Panini Happy filled me in when she hosted her first Grilled Cheese Pageant last year. And of course I had to enter again this year being that Grilled Cheese is one of my very favorite sandwiches.

Although I do have cookbooks on nothing but gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, I tend to enjoy a simple sandwich of just cheese and homemade bread, slathered with butter and grilled to a perfect toasty goodness so that every bite is a crunch!

This year was no exception for a simple sandwich. Mr. Tastebuds wanted Mild Cheddar, Mozzarella, Bacon and Ham with Tomato and I made mine with Horseradish Cheese and Bacon and both sandwiches were on homemade Semolina Bread. Although I used the Semolina Bread recipe from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" that recipe is under copyright and can not be reproduced. But below is another favorite Semolina Bread recipe that I make often and it is just as good!





Semolina Bread
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Starter:
1/4 cup warm water (105°F. to 115°F.)
1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
3/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons water, room temperature
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Bread:
2 1/2 cups warm water (105°F.°F. to 115°F.)
2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3 3/4 cups finely ground semolina flour
2 teaspoons sea salt

Additional semolina flour

For Starter:
Combine 1/4 cup warm water and yeast in medium bowl. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons room temperature water. Add flour in 3 additions, stirring well after each addition Stir until mixture has consistency of thick sticky dough, about three minutes. Light oil large bowl. Transfer starter to a bowl. Cover with plastic; let rise at cool room temperature until tripled in volume (starter will be slightly wet and thick), at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Stir down starter, cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)

For Bread:
Pour 2 1/2 cups warm water into large bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Sprinkle yeast over; let stand until dissolved, about 10 minutes. Measure 2/3 cup starter (reserve remainder for another use). Rub between fingers, allowing starter to drop into yeast mixture (starter will be stringy). Beat until some of the starter dissolves. Combine flour, 3 3/4 cups semolina and salt in large bowl. Add to yeast mixture in 3 additions; beat until incorporated. Turn out unto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes.

Oil large bowl. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic. Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. Punch down dough. Divide into 4 pieces. Cover 3 pieces with clean towel. Roll remaining piece on floured surface to 14x8 inch rectangle. Starting at 1 long edge, roll up dough jelly roll style. Press ends and seam to seal. Bend dough into half-circle. Using sharp knife, cut 1/2-inch-deep incisions every 1 1/2 inches in the top of the dough. Sprinkle with additional semolina. Place on a prepared sheet. Repeat rolling and shaping with remaining dough pieces.

Cover shaped dough with clean towel. Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled, about 45.

Meanwhile, position 1 rack in bottom third. If available, place baking stone on rack and preheat oven to 450°F. Let stone heat at least 30 minutes.

Place 1 baking sheet on each stone. Bake until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, alternating sheets between racks halfway through baking, about 25 minutes. Cool bread on racks.







All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Welcome to the 8th HBinFive Bread Braid

Spring is such an interesting time of the year. One day it can be 70 degrees with everyone in short sleeves and the next day we could have snow! But Mother Nature has finally turned over and we're heading into Spring! The Garlic that I planted last October is coming up and so is my Rhubarb, Egyptian Onion and Parsley! And my Bluebirds have been busy checking out the Bluebird houses and deciding which one to claim as their own. I have five Bluebird houses and I'm hoping this year all are filled with little blue eggs. The below picture is from my 2008 Bluebird Nesting Census.





For our Spring Celebration HBinFive Bread Braid we made Carrot Bread and Olive Spelt Bread and both were unique and delicious, with our favorite being the Olive Spelt Bread. Mr. Tastebuds thoroughly enjoyed the Olive Spelt Bread and almost ate the entire loaf by himself!

The Carrot Bread was wonderful toasted served with some of my homemade Carrot Cake Jam. And the Olive Spelt Focaccia turned a simple Drunken Red Wine Pasta into a very special meal. If you would like to read more about these recipes, please click on the below titles for more information.


Carrot Bread with Carrot Cake Jam





Drunken Pasta and Olive Spelt Focaccia





If you are participating in the HBinFive Bread Braid, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general address.

Please leave a comment. Every once a while Mr. Linky flies the coop and we can then find your photos by clicking on the comment links.

Don't forget to copy and paste the HBinFive Badge in your Bread Braid post or somewhere on your FB Page. Or you can mention HBinFive but your blog post must be identified with HBinFive.

Please be sure to link back to the host blog, Big Black Dog, so your fellow bloggers who are participating today, will get lots of visits, as well.

Please do not add your link below until your HBinFive post or pictures are actually published.

***If any HBinFive member is concerned about linking up to the Bread Braid Gadget please send an email to me at ms dot bigblackdog at gmail dot com with your name and the URL of your pictures and I will link you up as soon as I can.


Please feel free to click on any of the links below and visit some of our HBinFive Members and see their wonderful interpretations of this recipe!








All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Drunken Pasta and Olive Spelt Focaccia

I was on Ju's blog, Little Teochew, about a month or so ago and she posted Drunk'n Pasta and it looked so interesting and I immediately added it to my ToDo List and there it sat until today!

The Drunken Pasta is super easy to make and it's basically a pasta cooked in red wine until it becomes a gorgeous red color or al Dente which ever comes first. And then the pasta is mixed with an Aglio E Olio sauce which is so silly easy one does not even need a recipe! And I so enjoyed this pasta! Not only it is a gorgeous color red but you can taste a bit of the sweetness of the wine! I think the Drunken Pasta would be a wonderful side dish for any special dinner. Or you could make it like I did for our Sunday snack while watching the basketball tournaments. :)





Also this week for HBinFive we made Olive Spelt Bread and I made a loaf of focaccia which was totally and absolutely outstanding! What makes this bread so good is the chopped green olives and I did add the pimentos to add a bit of color and luscious Greek-style Yogurt! This is a gorgeous dough and I will most definitely be making this recipe again. I think so far this is absolute favorite bread!





Drunken Spaghetti
Recipe adapted from David Rocco

1 lb. spaghetti
3 to 4 anchovy fillets, chopped (I used 2 tsp anchovy paste)
3-4 cups of red wine (I used Merlot)
1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese
Small bunch of Italian parsley, finely chopped
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (I used 3 cloves of garlic)
3 dried chili peppers, crushed (optional) (I skipped)
Salt to season

My Additions: Toasted Pine Nuts and Freshly ground Black Pepper

Bring salted water to boil in a large pot. Add spaghetti and cook until just par boiled about 2-3 minutes. Drain.

In a second large pasta pot, put your wine on to boil.

When the wine is boiling add the partially cooked pasta and cook until pasta has completely absorbed the wine and turned a gorgeous red color about 7-8 minutes. Be careful to not over cook the pasta. Drain and discard wine.

In a saucepan, heat extra virgin olive oil. Add minced garlic, anchovy fillets and chili peppers, pepper, nuts and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add cooked pasta to the oil/garlic sauce, heat through and toss well.

To serve top pasta with freshly chopped parsley and grated pecorino cheese.











All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Carrot Bread with Carrot Cake Jam

We've had such gorgeous weather the last few days, I'm almost ready to put my flannel-lined bluejeans away for another season! Today I was outside for the better part of the day in a long-sleeved t-shirt and I loved every minute of it! Spring is such a fun time of the year! And I am anxious to get into spring cooking which always means lots of vegetables, big salads and grilled beef!

One of my favorite vegetables is carrot so I was happy to see that Carrot Bread was on the agenda for HBinFive. Besides the usual Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Salt and Yeast, the recipe calls for Coconut, Carrots, Walnuts and Dried Fruit. After much indecision, I decided to use dried apples and cherries for the fruit.

Then I took a look at my somewhat long ToDo List which is always lurking in the back of my mind and decided to make some Carrot Cake Jam which I thought would pair nicely with the Carrot Bread. But the jam recipe called for Powdered Pectin and I've never worked with it before. I have no problem with Liquid Pectin but the Powdered can be tricky. My fears were unfounded because my jam came out just fine but don't you think I need more practice? One success could have been a fluke, right? Just to be on the safe side, I think I should make more jam!



See that gorgeous blue sky..spring is finally here!


Carrot Cake Jam
Recipe adapted from The Complete Book of Home Preserving

1 1/2 cups grated, peeled carrots
1 1/2 cups cored, peeled pears
1 3/4 cups canned pineapple, including juice
3 TBL lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 package of powdered pectin
6 1/2 cups sugar

In a large saucepan, combine carrots, pears, pineapple with juice, lemon juice, and spices. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in pectin until dissolved. Bring back to a full boil, add sugar all at once, bring back to another boil and boil hard for 1 minute.

Remove from heat, skim off foam. Ladle into sterilized jars with 1/4 inch head space. Process jars in a BWB for 5 minutes.

Makes 6 half pints.











All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Welcome to the 7th HBinFive Bread Braid

This week for our HBinFive Bread Braid Challenge we made two very unique recipes, Avocado-Gaucamole Bread and Pesto Pine Nut Bread. Originally when I was planning the baking schedule, I thought these breads would be slightly green colored for St. Patrick's Day but as you see they are not green at all! But we enjoyed each of the breads although I do think the Pesto Pine Nut Bread was our favorite!

For the Avocado-Gaucamole Challenge I made Pulled Pork Sandwiches and All-American Cheese Burgers. And then with the Pesto Pine Nut Bread I made a Fried Egg Sandwich Deluxe with Bacon and by clicking on the below titles you can visit the posts for more information.



Pulled Pork Sammie





All-American Cheese Burger





Fried Egg Sandwich Deluxe with Bacon





If you are participating in the HBinFive Bread Braid, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general address.

Please leave a comment. Every once a while Mr. Linky flies the coop and we can then find your photos by clicking on the comment links.

Don't forget to copy and paste the HBinFive Badge in your Bread Braid post or somewhere on your FB Page. Or you can mention HBinFive but your blog post must be identified with HBinFive.

Please be sure to link back to the host blog, Big Black Dog, so your fellow bloggers who are participating today, will get lots of visits, as well.

Please do not add your link below until your HBinFive post or pictures are actually published.

***If any HBinFive member is concerned about linking up to the Bread Braid Gadget please send an email to me at ms dot bigblackdog at gmail dot com with your name and the URL of your pictures and I will link you up as soon as I can.


Please feel free to click on any of the links below and visit some of our HBinFive Members and see their wonderful interpretations of this recipe!








All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Fried Egg Sandwich Deluxe with Bacon on Pesto Pine Nut Bread

This week for HBinFive we made Pesto Pine Nut Bread and I made two baguettes and 6 hamburger buns. The Pesto Pine Nut Bread not only tasted wonderful but the aroma while it was baking was fabulous!

Originally I thought I would make meatballs for a delicious meatball sandwich. So I made the meatballs and my special Red Sauce. Although the meatball sandwich was wonderful, my photos were horrible and very out of focus. Yes, I had my camera on the wrong setting! And by the time I discovered my photos were not the best, the meatballs were long gone. On to plan "B"....

Then I remembered a dip that I had been meaning to try and I could serve it with Pesto Bread Crostini. So I sliced up the baguettes into thin 1/4" slices to make some crostini. But once the bread was toasted, I really was not in the mood for a cheesy, rich dip. Scratch the dip....

Finally, I just decided to make a Fried Egg Sandwich Deluxe with Bacon and it was delicious!





Fried Egg Sandwich Deluxe

1 egg
Butter
Lettuce
2-3 slices of fresh tomato
3-4 pieces of fried bacon
Salt and Pepper
2 slices of bread or a bun

1. In a skillet, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels.

2. Put the slices of bread or the bun in the toaster to lightly toast. When the bread is toasted spread the mayonnaise on one slice of bread or the bun, then top with the bacon, tomato and lettuce.

3. At the same time as you put the bread in the toaster, in a nonstick skillet over medium heat melt the butter. Carefully add the egg and fry for 45 seconds and then flip it over to fry the opposite side, careful to not break the yolk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slide the egg onto the sandwich.










All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Braised Pulled Pork, All-American Cheese Burger and Avocado-Gaucamole Bread

Tonight if the Season Finale for The Real Housewives of Orange County. I know you are probably surprised that I watch it. Yep I.am.addicted and can't help myself. I watch it every week and never miss an episode. I am totally and without a doubt amazed by the behavior, dress and overall attitudes of some of the major players. I know they call each other friend but geesh, my friends don't act like that! Mr. Tastebuds thinks it's a waste of time, so I watch it in my office and I love it! And sometimes I watch an episode twice, just to make sure I did not miss anything...LOL!

Thursday nights are reserved for me and the Housewives and dinner is usually something quick and tasty with little clean up so I can enjoy my TV viewing with limited interruptions. I decided to braise a Pork Loin in the afternoon for Pulled Pork Sammies which Mr. Tastebuds would enjoy. And being I still have to be careful with spicy food, I had a Cheeseburger Deluxe. Both served on Avocado-Gaucamole Buns which is our assignment for this weeks HBinFive Bread.

I was a little hesitant to make this bread being that Avocados are not a favorite of mine, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and try it out anyhow. The dough was fabulous to work with, very smooth and elastic and I had the hamburger buns formed in no time and they were delicious.





Oven Braised Pork Shoulder With Apple Juice
Recipe adapted from Southern Food

1 bone-in pork shoulder roast, about 6 pounds
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced or coarsely chopped
2 1/2 tsp of a seasoning blend for pork or chicken or salt and pepper
1 c apple juice
1 to 1 1/2 c barbecue sauce

Lightly grease a large covered Dutch oven or casserole.
Heat oven to 300°.

Put onions in the casserole. Rub the pork with the seasoning blend or sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the roast on the onions and add apple juice. Cover and bake for 5 hours, basting occasionally.



Remove the roast to a large platter and shred or chop the meat. Discard bones and fat.

Strain the juices and put the solids back into the casserole or Dutch oven. Discard the liquids. Add the shredded or chopped pork. Add barbecue sauce and stir to blend ingredients. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.










All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Welcome to the 6th HBinFive Bread Braid

This week for HBinFive we are making 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil which makes a good flatbread. I decided to add some sourdough starter to the dough and bake the bread on our gas grill.

Baking bread on a grill is very easy but with my first attempt I had my doubts and thought for sure the raw dough would ooze down between the grates! And I could just hear Mr. Tastebuds' frustration if I made a mess of his brand new grill! But the bread baked perfectly and the taste of fresh bread grilled directly over an open flame is unique and so delicious! Baking bread on a grill is fun and I do have the entire process, in a simple Step-by-Step if you're interested.





Due to some tummy problems, I am staying away from spicy, hot seasoning until my stomach settles down so I made a unique vegetarian pizza type flatbread by topping it with fresh Mushrooms, Arugula, fresh Tomatoes and a mix of Mozzarella, Parmesan and Provolone. I was not sure how the Arugula would taste but it was delicious and the pseudo pizza did not bother my stomach at all! WOW...a dinner that did not involve oatmeal sure tasted good! But the 100% Whole Wheat Bread with the added sourdough starter was definitely the star of this meal!





For my other two breads for this challenge, and again taking care to eliminate any spicy seasoning, I made Welsh Pasties and Aloo Partha. If you would like to read more about this breads please click on the below title to visit the post.


Welsh Pasties and Aloo Partha









If you are participating in the HBinFive Bread Braid, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general address.

Please leave a comment. Every once a while Mr. Linky flies the coop and we can then find your photos by clicking on the comment links.

Don't forget to copy and paste the HBinFive Badge in your Bread Braid post or somewhere on your FB Page. Or you can mention HBinFive but your blog post must be identified with HBinFive.

Please be sure to link back to the host blog, Big Black Dog, so your fellow bloggers who are participating today, will get lots of visits, as well.

Please do not add your link below until your HBinFive post or pictures are actually published.

***If any HBinFive member is concerned about linking up to the Bread Braid Gadget please send an email to me at ms dot bigblackdog at gmail dot com with your name and the URL of your pictures and I will link you up as soon as I can.


Please feel free to click on any of the links below and visit some of our HBinFive Members and see their wonderful interpretations of this recipe!







All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Welsh Pasties and Aloo Partha

This week for HBinFive we are making 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil which makes a good flatbread. I had some trouble with this recipe in the beginning and I don't know why. Maybe it just wasn't my week for making bread, but then I settled down and got to work!

For some reason I've been thinking so much about Michigan lately and many of my memories involve food. When I lived in Flint, right across the street was a tiny restaurant, King Arthur Pasties, pronounced PASS-tee. King Arthur's had a very limited menu with Welsh Pasties, some people call them Cornish Pasties, being the main item and they were excellent. The unique flavor in the Pasties is Rutabaga, a large, clunky looking root vegetable with a flavor similar to a peppery potato and when cooked it turns a beautiful deep yellow.

Instead of adding Olive Oil to the HB5 Whole Wheat Dough I decided to use butter and make a flaky pastry dough or detrempe and whip up some Pasties. Detrempe is easy to make, just mix up the dough and chill. Then roll out the dough about 1/4" thick, spread a thin layer of soft butter, fold up the dough letter style and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Then again roll out the dough, spread with soft butter, fold and refrigerate. This makes the dough nice and flaky similar to puff pastry.

The Welsh Pasties were outstanding..totally delicious..definitely a keeper recipe!





Welsh Pasties
Recipe adapted from Milwaukee Journal March 28, 1943

Dough:
3 c. flour
1 1/2 sticks butter (cold and cut into bits)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. water

Filling:
1 lb. round steak, coarsely ground
1 lb. boneless pork loin, coarsely ground
5 carrots, chopped
2 lg. onions, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. rutabaga, chopped (can substitute turnip)
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Dough:
In a large bowl, combine flour, butter and salt. Blend ingredients until well combined and add water, one tablespoon at a time to form a dough. Toss mixture until it forms a ball. Kneed dough lightly against a smooth surface with heel of the hand to distribute fat evenly. Form into a ball, dust with flour, wrap in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.

Filling:
Combine all ingredients in large bowl. I browned the meat and added the vegetables and sauteed for a few minutes.

Making the Pasties:
Divide the dough into 6 pieces, and roll one of the pieces into a 10-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Put 1 1/2 cups of filling on half of the round. Moisten the edges and fold the unfilled half over the filling to enclose it. Pinch the edges together to seal them and crimp them decoratively with a fork. Transfer pasty to lightly buttered baking sheet and cut several slits in the top. Roll out and fill the remaining dough in the same manner. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Put 1 tsp. butter through a slit in each pasty and continue baking for 30 minutes more. Remove from oven, cover with a damp tea towel, cool for 15 minutes.





For our second recipe we made Aloo Partha. For the filling I used white potato, sweet potato, peas, garlic and salt/pepper. I have to admit this was not one of our favorite breads but in all fairness, if I had rolled the dough thinner I think the loaf would have been better. But you can see in the below photo that the "crust" is far to thick. In the dog world we call this a handler error meaning the dog was not at fault but rather the handler had made the mistake but in this case it was the cook!





Whole Wheat is a strong flavor and if I was making this bread again, instead of making one large loaf, I would roll the dough thinner, less then 1/8" thick, into individual loaves and add a bit more garlic and maybe some bacon bits to the filling.





If you'd like to see Tradtional Aloo Partha, Aparna, a member of HBinFive, has a wonderful post on her site My Diverse Kitchen. And please take a minute to watch the video embedded in her post, definitely worth your time.







All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Welcome to the 5th HBinFive Bread Braid

I was so looking forward to making the Red Beet Bread for HBinFive. **WOW** I was not disappointed in the least! This bread was over-the-top fabulous!

One thing this recipe taught me is that I am not a very tidy baker. But grating has never been one of my specialities and grating juicy, red beets is an accident just waiting to happen. I tried to keep the juice contained but honestly afterwards I felt like a member of a CSI team at a multiple murder investigation! Geesh, there were spatters of red beet and juice every where! I was careful to not use anything that could stain easily but one of my spatulas did suffer and it's now a gorgeous shade of pale pink!

I made Hamburger Buns with the Red Beet Dough and served Grilled Turkey Burgers Deluxe. And to dress up the Turkey Burgers just a bit I made a Mayonnaise with Tarragon and Roasted Garlic which is definitely a keeper recipe!







Mayonnaise with Tarragon and Roasted Garlic
Recipe developed by BigBlackDog

6-8 large cloves of garlic, not peeled
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon water, or more if mayonnaise is too thick
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp dried Tarragon
5-6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups canola oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 Green Onions, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Topping: Save some of the chopped green onion stems for garnish.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Take a small piece of aluminum foil. Put the unpeeled garlic cloves in the middle and fold the aluminum foil letter style so it covers the garlic cloves. Roast in oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the cloves are soft. Set aside.

In a food processor or blender add the egg yolks, mustard, water, Thyme, Tarragon, salt and pepper. With the machine running, drizzle the oils in a thin stream until completely blended. If the garlic has cooled squeeze out the softened garlic. Add softened garlic, onions, lemon juice and blend thoroughly.





With the Chocolate Espresso Bread I made Chocolate Cherry Pocket Pies and Mini Loaves of Bread which I sliced and served with fresh Kiwi Fruit drizzled with Ganache. Just click on the title to visit the post and recipe.


Chocolate Cherry Pocket Pies




Mini Espresso Bread with Kiwi and Ganache





If you are participating in the HBinFive Bread Braid, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general address.

Please leave a comment. Every once a while Mr. Linky flies the coop and we can then find your photos by clicking on the comment links.

Don't forget to copy and paste the HBinFive Badge in your Bread Braid post or somewhere on your FB Page. Or you can mention HBinFive but your blog post must be identified with HBinFive.

Please be sure to link back to the host blog, Big Black Dog, so your fellow bloggers who are participating today, will get lots of visits, as well.

Please do not add your link below until your HBinFive post or pictures are actually published.

***If any HBinFive member is concerned about linking up to the Bread Braid Gadget please send an email to me at ms dot bigblackdog at gmail dot com with your name and the URL of your pictures and I will link you up as soon as I can.


Please feel free to click on any of the links below and visit some of our HBinFive Members and see their wonderful interpretations of this recipe!







All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Welcome to the 4th HBinFive Bread Braid

I know..I really pushed the envelope this week HBinFive's Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread! But I had so much fun in the process!

And I had just enough of the laminated dough left over from the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza to make six Pocket Apple-Cranberry Pies and oh were they good! And I used my 5" Dough Press which always does such a great job and it's so easy to use. I filled the Pocket Pies with a mix of Chopped Apple, Fresh Cranberries, Cinnamon, Granular Artificial Sweetener and Chopped Pecans.







To make the Pocket Pies:



The Dough Press is actually two tools in one. On one side there is a cutting edge similar to a cookie cutter and you can cut a disk of dough. And on the other side is a crimping edge where you can crimp the dough and form a moon-shaped Pocket.

1. Roll out the dough to about 1/8" thick.

2. Press the cutting edge into the dough and cut a disk of dough. Flip the Dough Press over and position the disk of dough so that it's adequately covering the Crimping Edge.

3. Sprinkle about a 1/2 tsp cornmeal or semolina on the filling area of the dough. The cornmeal/semolina helps to soak up any juices released during baking and keeps the bottom crispy.

4. Then add 2 TBL of filling on just one side of dough disk, making sure that no filling is spilling into the edges that are going to be crimped together.



5. Brush egg wash on the edges.

6. Using the hinge, flip one side of the Dough Press over the other and with both hands press, lightly but firmly, making sure that the crimped edge is completely sealed.

7. Place the Pockets on a parchment lined baking sheet.

8. Brush the Pocket with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar or topping of your choice.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until the Pocket is a nice golden brown.








With the rest of the Soft Whole Grain Sandwich Dough I made a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and Angelo's Coney Island Hot Dogs served on a homemade Bun. If you'd like to read more about these recipes, just click on the below titles to visit the post.



Chicago Deep Dish Pizza





Angelo's Coney Island Hot Dog





If you are participating in the HBinFive Bread Braid, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general address.

Please leave a comment. Every once a while Mr. Linky flies the coop and we can then find your photos by clicking on the comment links.

Don't forget to copy and paste the HBinFive Badge in your Bread Braid post or somewhere on your FB Page. Or you can mention HBinFive but your blog post must be identified with HBinFive.

Please be sure to link back to the host blog, Big Black Dog, so your fellow bloggers who are participating today, will get lots of visits, as well.

Please do not add your link below until your HBinFive post or pictures are actually published.

***If any HBinFive member is concerned about linking up to the Bread Braid Gadget please send an email to me at ms dot bigblackdog at gmail dot com with your name and the URL of your pictures and I will link you up as soon as I can.



Please feel free to click on any of the links below and visit some of our HBinFive Members and see their wonderful interpretations of this recipe!









All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog