French Loaves

This is a recipe i found in a Taste of Home magazine. Is one of the fastest recipes i have so far. I love eating it with soups and stews!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

4 1/2 to 5 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon cornmeal

Directions:

• In a large bowl, dissolveyeast in warm water. Add the salt, sugar, and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic( i usually use my kitchen aid), about 6-8 minutes. Place in a grease bowl, turning once to grease the top. Coverand let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 12 inch long loaves.
• Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. sprinkle with cornmeal.
• With a sharp knife, make 4 shallow slashes across the top of each loaf.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown( i also spray the inside of the oven with water several times to get really crispy crust).
• Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each)

Hearty Lentil Soup with Spinach

Ingredients:
3 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces large
1 onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
1 bay leaf
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves (i use half tsp dried
1 cup lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 tsp salt
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
5 ounces baby spinach ( i use regular)

Instructions:
Fry bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring occacionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions and carrots; cook, stirring occacionally, until vegetables beging to soften, about 2 minutes.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, bout 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, bay leaf, and thyme; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stir in lentils, salt and pepper to taste; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until vegtables are soften and lentils have darkened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Uncover, increase heat to high, add wine, and bring to simmer.

Add chicken broth and water; bring to boil, cover partially, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until lentils are tender but still hold their shape, 30 to 35 minutes. discard bay leaf.

Puree 3 cups soup in a blender until smooth, then return to pot; stir in vinegar and heat soup over medium-low until hot, about 5 minutes.

Stir in spinach and continue to heat soup, stirring frequently, until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes; serve. (serves 4- 6)

I get my recipes from different sources and this one i found on the Cooks Illustrated website. They have really good recipes that work. My whole family loves this.

Peach Crostata

Photo Taken by Sally Anderson

For the pastry:
2 -3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1- 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
grated zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
1 large whole egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder salt and lemon zest in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender as you would when you are making pie crust.

In a small bowl, whisk whole egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and stir until the dough is evenly moist and begins to come together(if the mixture seems dry, add a tsp or so of cold water). Transfer the dough to a work surfaceand divide the doughinto 2 discsone slightly larger than the other. Wrap separately in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to overnight.

For the filling:
2 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced peaches
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

Position a rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. To make the filling, in a bowl, toss together the peach slices, granulated sugar, and flour. Set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the larger dough disk into a 12 inch round. Carefully roll the dough around the pin, position the pin over a 10 inch (or 12 inch, but double peaches if using a 12 inch tart pan) tart pan with a removable bottom, and unroll the dough, pressing it gently but firmly against the bottom and sides of the pan. Trim the edges of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch overhand. Fold the overhang over against the inside of the rim of the pan. Pour the peaches into the pastry-lined tart pan, spreading them into an even layer.

Roll out the second dough disk into a 10-inch round. using a pastry wheel or a knife, cut the dough round into 10 strips each 1/2 inch wide. Arrange half of the strips across the top of the tart, spacing them evenly. Give the pan a quarter turn and place the remaining dough strips across the top to form a lattice pattern. If the strips break, patch them together with a drop of water. Press the ends of the strips against the sides of the tart shell to seal.

For the Topping:
1 large egg
Demerara, turbinado, or other coarse sugar for sprinkling

to make the topping, in a bowl, whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the dough strips with the egg mixture. Sprinkle the strips generously with the course sugar. Bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the outer ring and cool until warm or room temperature. Cut into wedges and serve.

Photo Taken by Sally Anderson

This recipe was obtained from the Willams-Sonoma Essentials of Italian cookbook. We love the recipes in this book. I have become a big fan of italian food through cooking the recipes in this book.

Photos of Madelin's Peach Tart






 Baked today and beautful.