WFMW

I was reading over at Kristens blog (which has become a new favorite blog of mine) and love her Works-For-Me-Wednesday linky she has going today. I read through a few of them debating if I'd participate. I'm a bit of a newbie to her blog so the debate was partially if that was cool or not....then I read some others and found she has quite the variety of readers so I decided to play.

Then to figure out what to post about. How about bread. I love making bread. The yummy artisan kind of bread you get at fancy Italian restaurants. It works for me. My sister in law originally gave me this recipe and I've added just about every kind of variation, I'm almost certain its fool proof. Its super easy, I've been teaching my girls how to make it. I want to leave a multi faceted legacy with my daughters not only to love Jesus and love others but give them tools to show that in tangible ways. You know like making bread. Not just bread but good bread. Homemade bread that leaves an impression. :) The other day my oldest daughter made banana bread. She did a fabulous job! I reminded me that I need to invest more into that part of child raising.

Pizza dough, artisan bread, banana bread, all of those things are simple ways to teach my kids while using time wisely in prepping for breakfast, dinner, or desert. Here's a couple recipes that work for me!


BEST BANANA BREAD!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Alterations: Add 1 cup chocolate chips for banana chocolate chip bread. For low fat version replace butter with applesauce, I usually do 1/2 butter and 1/2 applesauce.


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, vanilla and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Artisan Bread
NO-KNEAD ARTISAN BREAD

(original recipe came from The Oregonian FoodDay, 3/13/07)

* 3 ¼ c. flour
* 2 t. salt
* ¼ t. instant or rapid-rise yeast
* 1 ½ c. lukewarm water
* Little bit of cornmeal


Bread pan requirements: Use a three to six quart covered casserole dish, round or oblong. A heavy dish woks best (cast iron, Corningware (French White 4 qt. oval is what I use), etc. Probably not glass).

1. Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl and then add water and stir well. Dough will be wet and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm location (like 70 degree or so) for 12 to 18 hours. You’ll know dough is ready because it will bubble on top.


2. Dump dough onto a floured surface and fold a couple of times until it's in a ball. You don't want to handle it too much. Cover again with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.


3. Shape into a ball (or oblong roll) and pinch seam. Don’t handle dough too much. Flour a cotton dishcloth (not terrycloth) and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough on cornmeal seam-side down and sprinkle top with cornmeal. Cover with cotton cloth and let rise 2 to 3 hours.


4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. While oven is heating, put pan (without lid) in oven and let both pan and oven heat up for 30 minutes or so. Remove pan (it’s HOT so be careful), pick up cloth, and roll off cloth into pan seam-side up. If it’s uneven, just shake pan a bit and it will settle in. Dough will be wet. Put lid on pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more until bread is golden brown. Take bread out of pan and let it cool on a wire rack. Yum!


For variations, add whatever spices or things you want. I roast a garlic bulb in the oven and add roasted garlic cloves to the bread right before baking. If it doesn’t work feel free to email me and we’ll figure it out. If you want a faster version, you can do two teaspoons of yeast and let it rise for two to five hours instead of overnight. The interior crumb of the bread is a little bit different if you do it that way. I turn mine out and let it rest on a silicone mat because it's much easier to clean up.