Home Made Bread

Can anything be better than the smell of freshly baked bread? I'm not sure, a few things come to mind like Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe below this one) perhaps, but there is something about the smell of fresh bread. It sucks you in and makes you feel all warm and cozy.

We make our bread daily. I bought a Zojirushi breadmaker well over 6 years ago now and have used it like no other appliance in the house. Not an inexpensive investment at nearly $400 Canadian but well worth every penny. It owes me nothing and I think will outlast my poor decrepid van. Once again, this was bought at GoldasKitchens. (I think their ad is floating about my blog somewhere...it's my alltime favorite kitchen store and the brick and mortar one is only a few minutes from me)

The task of dough making goes to our soon to be 14 year old Cameron. It's a trade off. We save money by making it ourselves and since he is the one making it everyday now I pay for his cell phone. I think that's fair.

I have played with different recipes in the breadmaker for a long time but found this one works the best. It's soft, and perfect for sandwiches, shaping into buns etc. I use it as a base for my family famous cinnamon buns (move over Cinnabon). It's very versatile. Sometimes we make sandwich buns instead of bread. This is the recipe I use to make hamburger buns as well.

Here it is: Sour Cream Bread/Bun recipe

Main
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 3/4 all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp bread machine fast rising yeast
1 slightly beaten egg

Optional
sesame seeds
1 large egg (optional) ..but damned good

Add the first seven ingredients in order to the bread machine. Put on dough cycle. (I use quick dough cycle...45 minutes). Remove from machine.

From here, we flour the surface of our large wooden board and divide the dough in half. Placing each loaf in a seperate loaf pan lined with parchment paper (Lining it with parchment is very important as this one will stick. If you forget the parchment paper, you can use "Pam", but be prepared to leave the bread to cool completely in the pan before trying to remove it). I find using parchment paper the best as you can immediately remove the finished loaves onto a cooling rack and dig in!!

The loaves are now split into the two pans, cover with a tea towel and let rise for about 45 minutes or so, checking on them periodically to ensure they aren't getting too big. I usually set the oven at 425 at this point, put the loaves on the stove and cover them. The heat from the oven will help them rise faster.

Once risen, bake at 425 for 12 minutes and remove. If you like prior to rising you can brush on the optional scrambled egg with a pastry brush and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

For buns: Again, remove the dough from the machine and place on a floured surface. Roll the dough into a log shape and cut the dough into rounds approx 1 inch thick. Shape them into a bun shape and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (You may need two sheets but generally I get about 12 buns and fit them on one). You can brush on the egg and sesame at this point if you like. Again, cover with a clean tea towel on top of the stove and let rise for about 45 minutes.

Pop them into the oven after rising for 12 minutes at 425 and there you are. Fantastic sandwich buns.

Traditional Devon Cream. Homemade Buttermilk Scones. A little bit of heaven on Earth

Whilst some of you know, many do not, I temporarily lived in England before my oldest was born. I had visited several times in my teens as well. Everytime I step off the plane in London I feel like I'm home. I feel so connected to Wales courtesy of stories from my beloved Grandfather of his youth.

One of my most favorite things in the world is teatime. Wafer thin cucumber sandwiches, tea and scones with cream and jam. Oh be still my heart.

The last time I had a traditional tea time snack was one evening staying at the Four Seasons hotel. I pampered myself, ordered traditional teatime fair, and a fabulous bottle of french wine. I indulged in the luxury of the room and savoured the flavours of my memories. I have yet to have found imported devon cream anywhere except one shop very very far away.

Saturday???? I FOUND IT!!! Our local grocer has started to import it. Bless his heart. Here I was calculating how much I could save if I bought no name vs brand name, penny pinching my normal modus operandi in the grocery store and there it was!!!! SCREW the budget...I was getting my real, Devon Double Cream....:heart: I have been making "mock" devon cream for several years now...it just doesn't compare.

Today I made some scrumptous buttermilk scones, put a little dollop of cream on and some strawberry jam. I went out to my backyard in the shining sun and pretended I was in my favorite park in Bath and just enjoyed both the flavours and the memories as they came through me. Silly sometimes what makes us feel good. It's been 6 years since I've been back to England and am now yearning to return.

I have an excellent Scone Recipe that I will share. They are fabulous. I am indulging in my lovely Devon Double Cream at the moment but there is also a recipe for Mock Devonshire Cream included. (although it pales in comparison to the real thing it's not bad)

BUTTERMILK SCONES

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbl sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbl cold butter (3/4 of a stick) cut into small pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbl sweet milk

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add butter pieces to dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or two dinner knives, cut butter into flour until the mixture takes on the size of small peas. Make a well in the center of mixture. Pour buttermilk into the well. Using a fork, pull the mixture into the buttermilk to form a soft dough. Turn out dough onto a floured surface. Knead gently. Cut into shapes using biscuit cutter or heart-shaped cookie cutter. Brush tops with sweet milk and bake at 425 for 12 min or until lightly browned. Yield: 8 scones, approx. 2 1/2" in diameter Recipe can be doubled.

Variations:
1) Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar after brusing with milk
2) Add 1/2 tsp grated orange peel to dry ingredients.
3) Add 6 Tbl currants to dry ingredients.

I like my Mock Devonshire Cream made with less granulated sugar for the same reason. I also make my Mock Devonshire Cream with less cream so it will have more of a spreading consistency rather than being so much like plain ol' whipped cream. I have also found that making it this way eliminates the need to whip the cream again just before serving.

Here's my recipe for Mock Devonshire Cream:
1 3 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 Tbl sugar
dash salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup whipping cream

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cream cheese on high speed of an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and salt. Gradually add the whipping cream and continue beating until mixture is stiff. Store in refrigerator.You could also try adding 1/4 tsp vanilla extract to that recipe for Mock Devonshire Cream.

Montreal Style Bagels

Sunday Morning is our traditional big breakfast day. My eldest niece (and goddaughter) asked if I'd teach her how to make bagels. My three neices were visiting us this weekend. The two of us got up early and I brought her through the steps of Montreal Style bagels. It was fantastic. She was a great little helper and was totally into it. We made a feast of fresh bagels, cream cheese, sliced fruits, and some cold cuts and scrambled eggs.


Montreal Style Bagel recipe and instructions:

I found this recipe on the web in a nostalgic mood for Montreal style bagels. I first was introduced to them in University, got spoiled and have never eaten another style of bagel since. There are no places I can get them locally so I went on a hunt. I tried this recipe out and first time out they were fabulous!!! Easy to make, especially if you use a breadmaker on dough cycle (mine is programmable), but easy by hand as well. I made some minor adjustments and here it is. This is imported from my recipe collection at BigOven.com


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Water warmed
5 tablespoons Sugar
3 tablespoons Canola Oil
1 package Dry yeast 8grams
1 small Egg beaten
1 tablespoon Malt drink powder or syrup
4 1/2 cups Unbleached flour You may need a little more (you can use all purpose flour as well
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (or regular salt)
1/2 cup Poppy seed or sesame seeds
6 quarts Water
1/3 cup Honey

Instructions
1, In a large bowl stir together the warm water, sugar, canola oil, yeast (not instant), egg and malt: Keep combining until the yeast dissolves. Then, stir in salt and one cup of the flour.
2. Gently add enough flour to make a soft dough, about 3 cups
3. Knead your dough for 10-12 minutes, stirring in extra flour as you need it. When your dough is firm and smooth, cover with inverted bowl and let sit 10 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts. Roll each piece into a 10 inch rope, then curve each one pressing together ends to make a bagel shape. You may need to use a few drops of water to help the ends stay together.
5. let bagels rise for 30 minutes
6. When ready, fill a large pot with the 6 quarts of water and stir in the honey. Bring that to a boil.
7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper
8. When the honey water has come to a boil, drop the bagels in (four at a time), and let boil for 90 seconds, flipping once at 45 seconds. Remove and pat dry on clean tea towels
9. Sprinkle the bagels with sesame seeds or poppy seeds, generously covering both sides. Place on parchement paper.
10: Bake at 425 for 8 minutes, then flip and bake another 8 minutes. This is really going to depend on your oven temperature. The recipe originally called for 10 minutes per side but I was watching them and they were heading near burn mode by 8 minutes. After flipping they only had to bake for approx 5 minutes. Watch them first time through to ensure even baking.
These were really terrific. My family gobbled them up like lunatics. I was surprised how easy they actually were to make. When I ran the nutritional numbers they were a little off my original recipe which measured Cholesterol at only 1% (5mg), Sodium 6%, 163 mg; Potassium 122 mg, 3%, the calorie count was bang on but the other measurements differed.

Wonderful memories are made by impromptu visits, and spontaneous fun. I loved having the girls here and welcome a crazy house anytime. Here are pics of my lovely goddaughter helping with the bagel making. I hope she treasures the memory when she gets older as I do.

Making the bagel shapes

Spreading the sesame and poppy seeds

Making her fruit tray to go with the first batch of bagels out of the oven.

Recipe originally posted in my Bigoven account