Day 70 - Honey Bread

     Honey Bread.  I like the sound of that. 
     I hope it tastes as good as it sounds.
     This comes from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook 13TH Edition, p. 537; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

     "Honey Bread has a fine silky texture and the sweet, mild flavor of spice.  Very long beating is the secret of its tender grain."  - She wasn't kidding about the very long beating.

     Honey Bread

     2 cups white flour
     1 teaspoon baking powder
     1 teaspoon baking soda
     1 teaspoon salt
     ½ teaspoon cinnamon
     1 teaspoon ginger
     ½ cup honey
     1 egg, slightly beaten
     1 cup milk

     Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
     Butter a loaf pan.
     Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl.

   Add the honey, egg, and milk, and beat thoroughly with an electric mixer for about (you ready for this?) 20 minutes.


After mixing for 10 minutes.

Done mixing after 20 minutes.

  Spoon into the pan and bake for about 50 minutes.  Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.


You will then have a Dromedary loaf of bread. What the heck is this?



And it's two-toned!  Who knew?

       20 minutes?!  I've never beaten something for 20 minutes, not even my kids.  (I am SO KIDDING!!!  About the beating part!  Don't one of you dare report me to child services, that was a JOKE!  You know, like when you want to say the word BOMB at an airport, just 'cause you know you can't.)  Twas a LONG time to be beating that batter.  I'm just glad I had a stand mixer because I can't imagine holding a hand mixer for that long.  Wow!
     Going back to the fine, silky texture, that was pretty cool, but I thought the bread was chewier than any bread I had ever had and I chewed it and chewed it.  I liked the taste; the combination of the honey and spices was good, and with butter on it, it was even better.  I'll try some toasted tomorrow morning.
  I have a rating system of 1-4 with 4 being the best and I give this Honey Bread 2 rolling pins.  It was ok, it just wasn't great.  I don't think I'll be making it again.  Why did it come out so funny looking?  I've never seen bread do that.  That was weird.  Something to do with the extended mixing perhaps?  It definitely looked like a camel.
     Happy baking!

Day 59 - Sticky Orange Muffins

     Today was a very full day of baseball.  My son's school team was in a tournament and they played three games.  Needless to say, baking wasn't done during the day and I started at 7:30.  These muffins really didn't take too long to make, so they could easily be done the morning you plan to eat them.  They taste better warm, too.
     The Sticky Orange Muffins came from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, p. 543; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

     Sticky Orange Muffins

     2 oranges
     ¼ cup honey
     2 cups flour
     ½ cup uncooked oatmeal or oat bran (not instant)
     1 tablespoon baking powder
     1 teaspoon salt
     ½ cup sugar
     2 eggs, lightly beaten
     2/3 cup milk
     5 tablespoons butter, melted (about 1/3 cup)

     Preheat oven to 400ºF.
     Grease muffin pans.  Using the small side of a grater, grate the rind from the oranges, removing only the bright orange part; set aside.  With a sharp knife remove all the remaining peel and, if necessary, trim the oranges all around so that the slices will fit in the bottom of your muffin cups.

Cut the oranges into slices about ¼ inch thick, remove any seeds, and set the slices aside.  Put about 1 teaspoon of honey in the bottom of each muffin cup and place an orange slice on top.

     In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal or oat bran, baking powder, salt, and sugar, and stir to mix.  Add the reserved orange rind, eggs, milk, and melted butter, and stir until just mixed. 

Spoon the batter over the orange slices, filling each cup about two-thirds full. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a broomstraw (what the heck is a BROOMSTRAW?) or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm.

     I halved the recipe and unlike yesterday didn't burn anything!  Wait, except the butter when I melted it, but not the muffins. These were easy to make; the only difficulty I had was cutting the orange into small enough rounds to fit into the tins.

     I rate the things I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best.  These Sticky Orange muffins earned 3½ rolling pins.  They were moist on the inside and the taste of the honey combined with the orange was quite tasty.

     Happy Baking!

Day 25 - No-Knead Bread

     I guess for the past 24 days I've had a HUGE brain fart.  I neglected to use spell check with each of my posts and there were a few mistakes that I'm sure you all picked up on.  I'm not a horrible speller, but one of my high school English teachers, Mrs. Fleming, would have killed me!  I can see her red pen marks all over my paper and hear her berating me in her English accent.  Ooh, a chill just went up my spine.  Now, words are fixed and you can bet that from here on in that spell check button will be the last thing I hit before I post.
     It's a very rainy day here in the desert.  Those days are few and far between and it rained yesterday, too.  So, for all you people in New England, I hear that unfortunately, it's headed your way.  Just what you need - more snow.  I looked at the webcams of the Rhode Island roads this morning and can actually see a lot of grass.  So, since it is a bit chilly, some nice hot soup and freshly baked bread would warm us up for dinner - potato soup and no-knead bread.  The bread recipe comes from a high school friend, Tamme Mellenthin.  I'm looking forward to this because my last go-round with the whole wheat oatmeal bread wasn't so hot.  Thank you, Tamme for sharing!
     No-Knead Bread

     5 cups white flour
     2 cups wheat flour
     2 heaping tablespoons buttermilk powder
     2 tablespoons yeast
     ¼ cup vegetable oil
     ¼ cup honey (or anything gooey. ie., maple syrup/agave/brown rice syrup or molasses)
     salt
     3 cups warm water

     Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Cover with a towel.  Let rise at least 2 hours.  Will double/triple in size.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 450ºF.  This batch will make at least 3 medium loaves or even more round boules.  Shape loaves using plenty of flour to prevent sticking.  You do not need to knead, just shape loaves.  Cover for 30 minutes.
     Tamme said she uses a pizza stone in the oven to bake them, but a large sheet lined with parchment paper will also work.  She also sprinkles cornmeal to prevent sticking and puts a broiler pan in the oven filled with water to give the bread a crispy exterior.  Bake for 30 minutes.

     The bread was so easy to make and was really yummy!  I had thought about adding herbs to it, but I'm really glad I didn't because we really enjoyed the taste as it was.  Next time I'll add the herbs.  It was delicious! I sliced it soon after it came out of the oven and the butter melted into it so wonderfully.  Tamme, I am so glad you sent this to me, thank you!
     The rating:  4 rolling pins!
     Just a moment tonight that I couldn't resist sharing...We were watching the Saturday Night Live Specials tonight and there was a scene with two people on a see-saw.  Remember those?  I don't even know if they're around anymore.  When I saw it I remembered being up at the top of the thing and the person at the bottom would get off as fast as they could.  Yes, you know what happened next.  Good ol' gravity.  Wow, I hadn't thought about that in years - it makes me shudder, and my butt hurts.
     Happy baking!