Ciabatta Chicken Sandwiches

These are so good, especially on homemade ciabatta bread. But, if there's one thing this summer taught me it was that making ciabatta is a little bit of a pain. Not that anything about it is really hard, but you run your stand mixer on high for like 20 minutes. Seriously, just buy some nice quality ciabatta from your local bakery.

Ingredients:
2 ciabatta roles
4 chicken tenders
salt and pepper
1/4 c. pesto sauce
3 to 5 T. mayonnaise
1 avocado, sliced
2 to 3 small Roma tomatoes, sliced

Directions:
1. Split roles in halves.
2. Salt and pepper chicken tenders. In a pan over medium-high heat, cook tenders until juices run clear.
3. In small bowl mix pesto and mayonnaise. Add more mayo if you like, but I like mine pesto-y. Smear onto ciabatta roles.
4. Place chicken one half, avocados and tomatoes on the other.
5. Put halves together and take a giant bite. Enjoy.

Jessica's Bread Sticks

These are the best breadsticks I've ever had--and that's including all the restaurant types out there. They're garlicy, cheesy, and ooooooh so soft! I got the recipe from my neighbor who is the queen of tasty treats.

These make a lot, so for my family of 3 I half the recipe and make it in an 8-by-8 pan. This is the full recipe.

Jessica's Bread Sticks


2 c. warm water
1/4 c. oil (I actually use more like 1/8, or maybe somewhere in between)
1/2 T. salt
2 T. brown sugar (I sometimes leave this out, sometimes I don't. I can't really tell the difference)
1 T. yeast
4 c. flour (I do 1/2 all-purpose and 1/2 white whole wheat)
1/2 c. butter, melted
garlic salt
Parmesan cheese

1. Mix the first 5 ingredients (water through yeast). Let stand about 10 minutes until fizzy. Add flour and mix in an electric mixer. Let the mixer also do the kneading. You may need to add a little bit more flour so the dough is soft, not sticky. Set aside and let rise 20 minutes.
2. Pour 1/2 the butter in a 9-by-13 inch casserole dish. Spread dough in the pan as best you can. Cut into desired size, pour remaining butter on top and sprinkle with garlic salt (NOT TOO MUCH!) and Parmesan. Let rise another 20 minutes (sometimes if I'm really hungry I just let it rise another 10 minutes and call it good).
3. Bake at 350 degrees F. about 20 minutes or golden brown and slightly crispy on top.

Popovers

This is a wonderful, no-fail recipe.  I made them for Sunday morning and they turned out to be the best popovers I've ever eaten!

2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease 6 muffin tin cups well (I just spray them well with cooking spray).  In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs.  Add flour, milk, and salt and whisk just until smooth--do NOT overbeat.  Pour batter into muffin cups to fill.  Bake at 450 for 20 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 20 minutes.  Serve immediately.  Makes 5 or 6 large popovers.

Pumpkin Bread

My church has started a test kitchen and we held our first meeting last week. (We also started a blog. Guess who's in charge? You can visit it here.) The theme for our first meeting was pumpkin and other gourds and root vegetables. There was some pretty creative stuff there, but I admit, I was expecting lots of pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread. I also admit that though that was what I was expecting I decided to make pumpkin bread anyway, and yes, I was one of the two people who had brought something someone else did. A food party faux pas, which I am now over.

Anyway, when I found a recipe that seemed good enough, I delved in whole-heartedly, only to come to things like, "3 cups sugar" and "1 cup oil" and think, "I bet I could do better..." and I--well--I don't know if I did or not to be honest, since I never made the original recipe! But this recipe is at least a little healthier, and oh-so-moist! 

Ingredients:

1 can (15 oz.) solid pack pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. yogurt (plain or vanilla)

2/3 c. water

2 1/4 c. sugar

3 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. cloves

1/2 t. ginger

Directions:

1. Mix pumpkin, eggs, oil, yogurt, water, and sugar together. Blend well.

2. In separate bowl, dry whisk the remaining ingredients (flour through ginger). Add to pumpkin mixture in three batches, mixing well after each addition.

3. Pour batter into prepared baking tins (this made two 4-by-9 loaves). Bake at 350* for 50 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

NOTE: My loaves started darkening quite a bit around the edges, so I put some tin foil over just those spots to keep them from burning.

Mama Conner's Pizza Crust

For those of you who have never had it, homemade pizza is to die for. AND it's actually a pretty healthy meal! My mum has made this pizza crust about every week since I was a kid. Since I have a lot of siblings, this pizza crust is designed to make a lot, so you have a choice: (a) you can cut the recipe down to fit what you need, or (b) you can make all of the recipe, divide it into sections, wrap each section and freeze it. It freezes well for up to three weeks I would say. After that, it's certainly usable, but different somehow. (Just so you know, I do option b.)

If you decide to go with option b, do let the dough thaw overnight in the fridge and then set it out on a floured counter (unwrapped so it has room to expand) for a good hour to let it warm up. I'll tell ya, trying to roll out cold pizza dough is not as fun as it sounds--and it really doesn't sound that fun, so that's saying something!

Ingredients:
4 c. flour (plus more, so keep your flour out)
4 c. HOT tap water (most taps will get up to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which is right
where you want it)
4 tsp. dry active yeast
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 oil (I like to use olive oil when I have it on hand, but any will do)
1 Tbsp. salt

Directions:1. Mix flour and tap water. Stir in yeast. Add brown sugar, oil, and salt. Mix well.
2. Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough starts to come away from the bowl and form a ball. (If you are using a KitchenAid type mixer, be sure you have your bread hook on and rest assured, the dough will eventually start pulling away from the bowl and clinging to the hook.) Once the dough is fairly easy to handle, pour it from the bowl onto a clean, floured surface.

For THIN CRUST pizza: divide into 4 or 5 loaves. Roll out all the crusts you will be using. Place on a pizza pan or pizza stone and stick it in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes (this isn't necessary, but it keeps the middle nice and crispy). Top and bake immediately after taking out of the fridge.

For THICK CRUST pizza: Let single loaf rise 15 to 30 minutes. Divide into 3 or 4 loaves. Roll out all you will be using. Allow to rise on pans/stones while oven preheats. Top and bake.

Bake between 475 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wrap the unused loaves securely but loose enough to allow them to expand a little, because they will do so even in your freezer.

Note: I have this same recipe posted on another blog. To view this version and other recipes, please visit Budget Bites.

White Bread

This recipe uses a different method for activating the yeast, and makes it soooo much easier. The bread is ultra soft with a nice thin crispy crust.

4 c. flour
2 T. yeast
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. salt
3 c. hot tap water (as hot as the tap will let it get; it should be too hot for you to keep your finger under)
1/4 c. oil

1. Mix flour, yeast, sugar, and salt together with fork.
2. Add the hot water and oil to the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork until thoroughly blended.
3. Add more flour (about a 1/2 to 1 cup at a time) and stir just until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. It will still be quite sticky, so flour up your hands.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough, adding flour (this time by handfuls) until the dough is reasonably easy to handle. Knead for about 10 minutes. (Avoid adding more flour than is needed to keep the dough from being tough.)
5. Spray your mixing bowl down with a light coating of oil. Tuck the dough into a ball and set in the bowl. Cover with a cloth and allow dough to double in size.
6. Cut in half and form each half into loaves. Set in greased pans and let rise until loaves reach the tops of the pans.

7. Bake in 375-400 degree oven for 1/2-hour.
8. While cooling, grease tops of bread with butter.

Cloud Biscuits

The recipe we use in our household is from an old National Grange Cookbook. This is often Sunday night fare for us--especially if there is any honey, molasses, or, better yet, company on hand! We love them.

Cloud Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg and milk. Knead. Roll until 3/4-inch thick, cut with biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with a little milk. Bake in 450-degree oven for 10 to 14 minutes or until tops are golden brown.