4-3-2-1 BREAD!

Back in the day I discovered (detected, more like) in Bernard Clayton’s (may he rest in peace) Complete Book of Breads, a recipe for Cuban Bread.  It’s a very good story, and I encourage you to buy the book and read it ::: wink :::

It’s a versatile bread and VERY easy to make.  So you can impress your friends, your neighbors…heck even the POPE**!!! (**Audience with Pope is your own responsibility).

 

So whay do I call it 4-3-2-1 bread?  Good question…read on.

5 – 6 cups of White flour.  You choose, some swear by bread flour because of the bromation, etc

2 packages of active dry yeast (or 3 tablespoons of instant yeast)

2 Tablespoons of sugar

1 Tablespoon of salt

2 cups of hot water (between 120 and 130 F).

Oh no! He hasn’t told me what to preheat my oven to!  Whatever shall I do??  Relax! Relax, that’s coming.

Combine 4 cups of flower, yeast (3 tablespoons), sugar….yeah you’re getting it now …4, 3, 2, … and salt!  Stir.  Stir some more.  Get all those dry ingredients mixed together.  Now would be a good time to day dream about the comforting springs by the lakeshore when you first met that special inner tube you loved so much…ah it was in those days that…oh wait.  Oops, sorry, sidetracked.

Ok, pour in the water.  Stir Stir.  I guess by now you’re thinking “I could do this in the mixer!”  Yes!  By all means!  Until you have a soft ball of dough.  At this point, either transfer the dough to a work surface or attach a dough hook to the mixer.

If you go by mixer, then add about a half cup of flower and let it knead for about 4 minutes.

If you go by hand, boy oh boy, I hope you have some more fond memories to…well…remember, as you knead the dough for about 8 minutes.  Be sure to add flour as you go!  Raise that dough up and slam it down a couple times, Bernard would instruct you! The English would say that you’re “knocking up” a loaf of bread!

Ok, put the dough under some plastic wrap or in a sealed bowl.  Let it rest for 15 minutes.

Cut the dough in half, make two rounds and put them on a semi-greased cookie sheet.  Pop them in the oven.  Put a baking pan half full of hot water on the rack below.  If you’d like to use a pan half empty of hot water, be my guest.  Close the oven door and turn the oven on to 400F.

Check it in 45 minutes.  You can either insert a thermometer into it and check for 170F or thump the bottom of the loaves.  If it make a hollow sound…after a sound thumping…then it’s done!

Great bread, easy to make.  Here are some Variations.

DILbert Bread – just add a teaspoon of dried dill.  And substitute a half cup of potato flakes for the same amount of flour.

Go to Rome – Add a teaspoon of oregano, basil, and heck, throw some thyme in there!

Cinco De Mayo – One TSP of chili powder and if you dare, a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Sprinkle Cheese – add about a half a cup of Parmesan Cheese

 

Well that’s it for now!  Happy Bread making!

Garlic! Butter! Cheese! Bread! What’s “Knot” to Love??

WARNING!  THIS RECIPE WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO CRAWL INTO THE PAN AND PULL THE LID DOWN!!!  DO NOT ATTEMPT IF YOU DON’T WANT TO EAT ANY OF THESE!

So my wife came back from her California trip with recipe in hand.  Well, she sent it to me via e-mail.  Gotta love my 21st Century woman!  It’s called Buttery Garlic Herb Knots, and she Got it off the internet from this place called Cooking Channel TV.  They sounded awesome, so they went in the “To Make” pile!

So, after a trip to the grocery and some other driving around, that we like to do, I arrived with all the ingredients to do my thing.

Ok, so here’s the recipe as it sits on the site (The Printer Version)…

Buttery Garlic Herb Knots

Recipe courtesy Kelsey Nixon

Total Time:

2 hr 30 min

Prep:

15 min

|Inactive Prep:2 hr 0 min

|Cook:15 min

Level:

Easy

Yield:

18 knots

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 recipe Simple Pizza Dough, recipe follows
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, minced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided

• 10 cloves garlic, grated
• Bench flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• Simple Pizza Dough:
• 1 3/4 cups warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)
• 1 envelope active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Nonstick spray

DIRECTIONS

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the recipe for Simple Pizza Dough. While the dough is rising, prepare the remaining ingredients for the garlic knots and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix the butter with the thyme, rosemary, 2 tablespoons Parmesan and garlic.

Turn the risen dough out onto a floured surface. Stretch the dough into a rectangle. Spread half of the butter mixture on half of the dough. Then fold the dough in half, covering the butter with the dough.

Using a pizza wheel, divide the dough into 18 strips. First cut through the middle, then you can cut each half into 9 pieces. Stretch each strip and tie into a knot and tuck the ends underneath the center of the knot. Place the knots onto a baking sheet.

Sprinkle the knots with some of the Parmesan and bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt the remaining herb butter.

Printable Area

Page 2 of 2

Buttery Garlic Herb Knots (cont.)

DIRECTIONSDIRECTIONS (CONT.)

DIRECTIONSDIRECTIONS (CONT.)

Once the knots come out of the oven, baste them with the melted butter and sprinkle them with the remaining Parmesan. Serve warm and enjoy!

DIRECTIONS

In a liquid measuring cup, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Allow the yeast to dissolve and bloom, about 5 minutes. Once bloomed, add the olive oil.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour and salt. Stream in the water/yeast mixture and as the dough begins to come together, switch to a dough hook attachment. Allow the dough to knead, adding a bit more flour if needed, so that the dough releases from the sides of the bowl, 1 to 3 minutes. You should be able to touch the dough and not have the dough stick to your fingers. Once the dough has kneaded and has pulled away from the sides of the bowl, remove the dough from bowl to a floured work surface and, with floured hands, continue to knead it by hand for 1 to 2 minutes. Then form the dough into a round ball and place it into a large bowl sprayed with nonstick spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and let the dough rise in a warm area of your kitchen until it doubles in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. After the dough has risen it is ready to be cooked however you’d like!

Cook’s Notes: This dough is wet dough, keep bench flour at the ready and make sure to flour your hands when working with the dough. Trust your gut as a chef, if the dough is to wet, add more flour, if it is too stiff, add a little water.

Sugar is used to feed the yeast which will help the dough to grow. Bread flour will give you a chewier texture because the flour has more gluten. You don’t need to use a thermometer to get the water temperature, it should just feel warm to the touch.

MY TAKE

So the recipe is sectioned into the butter mixture ingredients and the “Pizza Dough”  ingredients.

The Dough recipe is fine the way it is.  But if you’re using dried yeast, bump the water temp to 120, mix all the dry ingredients together, stir, then add the oil and the water. Mix 2 minutes with the flat beater then the with the hook.  And instead of hand kneading at the end, let the dough hook do the work.  5 minutes under the hook.  Trust me, I’ve made more bread than this lady.  And you like me anyway, why would I lie??

If you are doing this all by hand…mix the dry ingredients, pour in the liquids, mix a little and then dump out on the counter and kneed for 8 minutes.  Don’t be shy!  Lift that dough up and bash it onto your counter a few times!  Turn and fold, turn and fold, bash, turn and fold….That’s it, you got the hang of it!  Your friends and neighbors will think you’ve been working out!!  And that’s a good thing in anyone’s book!

This will make approximately 2.8 lbs of pizza dough.  Cut it in half after the first rise, and put the half you’re not going to use in a ziplock and pop it in the freezer!  For next time!

Enough said about the dough.  As far as pizza doughs go, this one is pretty good!

The butter mixture…and the rest of the instructions!

Where do you use the salt??  That’s right, the only salt accounted for is in the bread dough.  So pop the salt in with the garlic.  It’s just that easy.

Oh and there’s no need to divide the cheese.  I spent the longest time trying to to the math on how to half 3/4 of a cup of cheese.  Granted my math’s not that bad, but don’t worry about it.  She never uses exactly one half of the cheese.  So keep that in mind while cooking.

And when you get to the part where you spread this dough out and put the butter on half.  Go ahead and fold it over, but seal the edges!  because that butter will come squirting out if you don’t.

And before cutting, put that dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes.  Room temperature butter mix is crazy messy.  Trust me, again.

And that’s it.  Otherwise a simple and SUPERB recipe.  I recommend it too all my friends!  Remember to eat in moderation!

Returning!

Hey folks….I’m back.  Hope you didn’t miss me.  I had a lot of things going on, but I am still trying to lose weight (just a mind game) and all that.  I’m changing this up a little bit.  I’m gonna share some of the recipes I’ve used off the internet and give my opinions of them.  See if you like that.  Maybe I’ll go back to telling you how great it feels to lose weight too, but that remains to be seen!

 

Hang in there!

6:44 – Wednesday, July 25

Ok,  So I took my Splenda out of the huge box we bought from Sam’s Club years ago and put the rest in a baggie.  This was 2 days ago.  Last night I couldn’t find it.  Just thought I’d share.

The wife and I, in the summer time, like to use the toaster oven for the small baking jobs in order to minimize our big oven use.  It was around 7:30 last night when we decided to bake the Sarah Lee Peach Pie we have had in the freezer for some time.

I can’t resist that.  I wander over to the kitchen, place some foil on the baking rack in the toaster oven and prepare the frozen pie for bake-age (new word).  These pies have a tendency to brown around the edge of the crust quickly, so we have this little edge cover we made when we first started baking these.  It’s just an aluminum pie pan with the bottom cut out.

So the “crust guard” at the ready, the toaster oven set and pre-heating (yeah, actually you’re supposed to pre-heat the toaster oven if you’re using the “convection” setting), the frozen pie with little slits cut on the top, and hunger still at bay, we set forth to anticipate warm pie/ice cream goodness in the near future.

45 minutes later and the timer goes off.  We’re all excited, but this is only when I put the crust protector on!  I get up and the wife follows me into the kitchen.  She’s going to get the ice cream out so it will be soft.  I remind her we still have about 15 minutes before it comes out of the oven, then another 45 before it’s cooled and set.  Who knew that baking pie was such extreme torture!  You have to sit there, enveloped in these intoxicating flavors floating through the house!  Additionally, all the timers I set!  Is that it?  Can we eat now???  Nope…one more…one more….ok this is the las…   DIIIIING!  The oven reminds us.   Time to take this thing out.

I see it all unfolding now, in one helpless moment…I’m holding the pie with both hands ensconced in oven mitts as I watch in horror as the pie folds neatly in the middle, between my hands, slips from my mitted fingers, does a graceful 180 degree flip and lands, peachy goodness side down on the tile floor.

EXPLITIVE……EXPLITIVE!!!!!

I throw down the mitts and step out the front door for some fresh air.  Clearly I’ve overreacted.  What do I see in the pie incident that makes it so frustrating?

Was that pie destined to do a crust plant on the floor?  Is the universe sending me a message…

“Yeah man, you just got back on track…it’s 9:30 and you’re going to eat pie?  We don’t think so!”

After a while I was grounded by the soothing words of my loving wife…when I’m on the ledge, she has the uncanny ability to talk me down.  I don’t know what came over me, but it was over in 10 minutes.

It’s funny how you can take a situation like this dessert disaster and apply it to life situations.  Here you are.  You’ve carefully prepared for this event, you executed your plan to the letter…at the last moment…you watch as seconds drag on and your plan just slips from your fingers and there’s nothing you can do but sit and watch as it tumbles and falls…becoming, no longer what you want it to be, but what it became.

Some things are out of your control….you can’t be expected to manage your entire life, step by step, even if you have a plan that detailed.  And when a plan erupts, you need to be ready to make the most of it.  Learn from it.  Do better next time.

As for life, one situation at a time, and expect what I expect, but cope when it doesn’t go my way and move on.

As for the pie…I can tell you, next time…I’ll use 3 hands.

06:00 AM – Monday, July 23

Yep, I’m not going to make excuses.  I’ve fallen off the wagon.  I need to get back on.  I have 8 days left in this first attempt to turn this train around.  So I’ve decided to have a Q&A today…asked and answered by…yours truly.

Q. Where did you go?

A. I just took a big break from everything

Q. Why did you take a big break from everything?

A.  Pfft…who knows.  I think it was a culmination of things.  But I’ve decided to push and get back into the swing.

Q.  Do you still think that eating in moderation and exercise are the cornerstones of your weight loss?

A. ABSOLUTELY!  I know the rules…but I need to play by them.

Q. How much weight have you lost?

A.  I was up to 25 lbs at my best, but I’m back down to 21 lbs.

Q. Did that get you down?

A. Yeah…there are a lot of things that “get me down”.  It’s all how I choose to deal with them.  Sadly, lately I haven’t been dealing with them well.

Q. Do you have support at home?

A. Yep!  My wife reminds me how easy it is for me to lose weight.  Wants to know what happened to that guy enthusiastic about his changes.  She is my rock.  She gives me motivation and I love her for it.

Q. So what are you doing this morning?

A. uh…blogging?  And I plan to hit the treadmill.  What are you doing?

Q.  So anything cool happen while you were “vacationing”?

A.  Yeah! as a matter of fact.  I got my Roomba working again and my little buddy Chester decided he was going to hitch a ride! He rode it for a good 2 minutes before he became bored.  Or maybe it was his stop?

Q. Read anything interesting lately?

A. Well, yeah.  There’s this article that healthdemystified wrote that I keep going back to. I won’t spoil it…just go read it.  Then I found this site…I love Crackers!  Strangely enough, it’s really nice.  Reminds me of my time back in SC and GA.  I miss all my southern friends.

Q. Did you meet any people?

A.  Actually, I got to see a great friend that I used to work with.  It was kind of cool because she came to one of our local places to eat…and I was there at the same time!  She confided in me later that she was thinking “wouldn’t it be cool if he was here today?”  Cool Huh?  yeah it was….one of the friends I miss the most.  It was a boost I needed.

Q.  Are you going to blog regularly again?

A.  I don’t know…should I?  I talked this over with a friend and they said absolutely.  I think I’ll see how this goes, then go with that.

Q.  Do you have a favorite in the upcoming election?

A.  Haha OH NO…you’re not going to draw me in on that one…no way!

Q. How many belt loops have you gone down in size?

A. It was 4 but then it was back to 3.  But still positive!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my blathering over stuff I think you all should know!  I’m back on the wagon…forging ahead.  Thanks to all who have had nothing but kind words to share.  And thanks to the others who were … less than positive but still meant something good in your hearts.  Keep reading…Keep hoping….Keep losing (weight).

06:24 – July 2 – I sit in silence…

I await in silence. Because that’s what I do every year about this time.
It’s coming.
It’s on the wind.
I can’t avoid it.

It’s my birthday. It lurks out there like an intrepid predator. And it strikes every year like it always does. But this year, I’m not ready for it.
I always take an inventory. What do I have for the annual beast that shows up at my door?
My birthday is always something, for others, that just passes. And for a good many years, it was like that for me. But, over the past 20, it has become more and more obvious that it’s there…and coming, and gone.
“What am I doing with my time?” I ask myself
So here I sit…in silence. After 45 of these, you would think I’d know every thing about my own life. Not true. You would think I’d know of the other things lurking…like guilt. I don’t. You would think I’d resolved deep rooted issues in my sub-conscious. I haven’t. I just wish I knew this guy…the one I see in the mirror…I wish I knew him better…he seems to…
“Hey dude! what’s up?”
“Who are you?”
“You know…I’m THAT guy”
“What guy??”
“That guy…do we really have to play ‘Who’s who’ this morning? I’ve got a really tight schedule”
“Ok you’re that guy. But I still don’t know you…not that well”
“I’m the guy who is happy. I’m the guy who is polite and everyone likes…

I’m the guy who loves to make cheese.
I’m the guy who is a gentleman to others.
I’m the guy who is not bitter
I’m the guy who loves to bake bread
I’m the guy who Loves his job
I’m the guy who is thin
I’m the guy who goes out of his way to make that one person smile by showing them that even random strangers can do kind things for them….THAT GUY”
“Hmm…I remember you…you’re the guy who….
Helped his best friend see there was so much more to life than work.
Rode 75 miles in one day on a road bike
Planted flowers for a total stranger
Helped that elderly person with her groceries even though she was across the parking lot
Who loved
Who laughed
Who sang out loud…with no music around
Who didn’t give up…
didn’t need motivation to try
….
You’re that guy”

“DUH…yeah! Where have you been dude?”
“To be honest…I don’t know….I miss you, that guy”
“PFFT…dude, get off your butt, you’ve got things to do. People to see! Bread to bake! Lives to touch. Stop being this guy…and be that guy again. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. Because, that guy is cool. And these birthdays will stop being regrettable and they’ll become enjoyable.
I’m no saint…I’m not Mr. wonderful, but hey I’m the you that you used to be…come back…share and sing and laugh and play…love and care and hug and do.
Come on….you know you want to…you know you like being this way. It’s time…be that guy.”

It’s hard sometimes for me to remember things about my past in a positive light. I need to take stock. I need to get back to basics. I need to resolve The bad and keep the good. I need to bring “That guy” back.

Can it be done? Of course. What about you folks? Are you in touch with that much happier self that you feel you used to be? Or has “That guy” been with you the whole time?

This year, we’re bringing it back. We’re going to make some well-planned backtracking. “That guy” was pushed off the bus for me some time ago. I’m going to go look for him. And make a few stops along the way. It’s that time…it’s that day…it’s that moment.

Happy Birthday, “That guy”…I’m coming to find you. Look for the big dude that has your smile, your laugh, your compassion….and your heart.

Stay well people.

(July 2nd, day before my birthday – nearing 25lb lost)

6:40 am – Wednesday, June 19

Where is the time going?  Seconds consumed by minutes consumed by hours consumed by days consumed by months consumed by years …..

It’s Wednesday already and time has flown.  I don’t know where it goes.  The significance of time has waned this week as I push to find more meaning in the day.  There is time for things but it seems so fleeting.  We cannot hold on to it, because it’s not tangible.  We’re bound to something we created.  Was “time” the first thing we invented to control people?  Sure it has many uses.  When to plant, when to sow.  When to prepare for the cold weather.

But sometimes, time is overwhelming for me.  Our point in time is very brief, so we have little of it to actually do something with.  People complain about lack of money…but time…haha…that’s something you cannot add to.  Your time is your time on this planet, at least.  You may lengthen it with a healthier lifestyle, but time is finite to us humans.

Today, I intend to begin taking better care of my time by spending more quality time with my wife and those close to me.  I will still continue to push my fitness because it’s important that I expand the time I have with the ones I love.  I want that time…as I’m sure you all do as well.  And I need to take some more time to improve things around me.  I’ll take the time to wash the car this weekend…walk the dogs longer, clean a little bit more.

It’s about time to make more use of it.  I’m going to, I plan to.  What are you going to do with your time?

Tick

Tock

 

6:11 am – Monday, June 18

What a day for a Daydream!  Well, it wasn’t a daydream.  It was just a dream.

I was sitting in a coffee house against the front wall with a bunch of other people sitting and waiting for something.  I got the feeling it was regarding a new release of a film I made or something.  The space beside me was vacant, on the couch (you know how those coffee houses have furniture in them like that).  On a hanger, near the open space was my chef’s smock, which was stained and worn.  I explained to one person sitting near me I didn’t have time to get it cleaned.

Then Kate Hudson walks in.  She was here for my premiere!  She was walking around greeting people.  Then I woke up!  I never found out who the space beside me was for.  Was it for Kate?  The world will never know!  Was everyone there to see “My” movie?  Did I make it or star in it?  I guess that’s up to me!

Back to the empty seat beside me.  I wonder what that means in my head.  Am I saving a “Spot” in my life for some event?  Is this my fear of losing someone else in my life?  It’s a very daunting piece of empty air.  Emptiness, in life, can be far more terrifying than occupancy, it seems.  I’ll have to think of it as I’m walking this morning.

Over the weekend, my wife told me my shorts looked bad.  Awesome!  Bad looking shorts.  But then she explained, because they looked so big on me, they looked bad.  I’ll have to admit, I caught my shadow the other morning on the ground and I look like I’m wearing a parachute around my waist!  Lol  So that’s sort of awesome!   So I’ll keep going!  every day is one day closer to the brand new pants that she bought for me YEARS ago, that were too small for me at that time.  I don’t want to rush, but I’m looking forward to the day that my backside slips comfortably into them!  There’s a visual for ya.

So no great news this morning on the scale…still maintaining around 22 lbs weight loss, but it’s never fast after this amount of time.  Not discouraged.  This too shall come to pass.

So did any of you have a dream this weekend?  Share it with me!  and have fun this week.  I’ll certainly try to!

Biscuits and Jelly – Another Memory

When I was living under the roof of my parents, dinner was at 6pm every weeknight.  This is a southern family I’m talking about here, so dinner was DINNER.  Delicious food and, just so you yankees know, every woman could cook like Paula Deen back then.  My mom was no exception.  The food was awesome.  Especially the biscuits.

Dad was mom’s biggest fan when it came to dinner.  No one liked mom’s food like dad.  And he loved the biscuits.  There were very rare occasions when biscuits would actually make it to the left over category.  I think on meatloaf night, there were a couple left over, so that Dad and I could chow down on them at breakfast time with the gravy left over from the meatloaf.

Every night just as the dinner was winding down, dad would go to the kitchen and get the jelly.  Dad loved biscuits with butter and jelly.  And when he got back, someone would always ask.  “Dad, how many biscuits have you had?” and he’d always reply “Just 2”.  It was his joke.  Then the math would start.  Mom knew how many she made.  We’d go around the table confessing how many biscuits we’d eaten until we knew dad’s magic number that night.

Strange how these things stick with you.  I was in a Cracker Barrel the other day with my wife, and my meal had biscuits with them, so I relayed the story to her…with tears in my eyes.

It hit me how much I miss him.  How I regret being such a rebellious kid and not thoroughly enjoying my time with my family…every night at six.  How I could have been more a part of the fun at dinner time when dad said “Two”.

Cracker barrel was bittersweet that day.  After telling the story, and looking at the plate of biscuits they brought…and how many there were.  Just two…

I know that’s not nearly enough.

6:28 – Thursday, June 14

Morning folks!

It’s gonna be another warm day.  And it’s time to let you all know I haven’t lost any weight again.  I know these times are going to occur, but I was honestly hoping for more loss this week.  It’s not awesome news, but it’s also good that I haven’t slipped.  Just takes a lot out of the fun of jumping on the scale! haha

One of my friends is going to Vegas to participate in the World Series of Poker (WSOP)!  How exciting is that?  He is totally pumped and ready to go.  You can tell these last few days have dragged on for him in anticipation of leaving on his vacation.  It’s really cool.  He’s been playing hold em poker for years.  If he gets a good run, he says, then he’ll sign up for the main event.  I hope he does!

It reminds me of how badly I wanted to be a comedian/actor.  But it wasn’t in the cards…oh no, I went there…cards, Vegas!  Maybe some day I’ll step on that stage again and try to be funny but I’m worried I’m too old for the content that the young folks really want to hear.  I believe I’ve missed that boat.

Well it’s off to exercise.  This should get the day started.  Have fun today, folks!