Whole Wheat Loaves: Tuesdays with Dorie

Okay, I wasn't going to make this recipe.  I don't like whole wheat bread from the store.  But I read some blogs this morning on Tuesdays with Dorie and they were raving, yes RAVING about this recipe...so I put the pedal to the metal...(the KA metal!).  Mine didn't get too tall, but I used a slightly larger bread pan...it's okay, they taste GREAT!  (I think I'm raving).

After first rise.  I used fresh ground whole wheat.  Had wheat berries in the freezer and ground them up in the VitaMix.  It worked great, I think it helped with the GREAT taste. (I am raving again, aren't I?)

I just hand flattened out each half of the dough to get it into shape for the bread pans.

Rise 2:  it took a little longer than the hour, but by then I was so invested in getting this recipe done.

This was my wake up call this morning.  Guinea hens in the neighborhood looking for bug food in my backyard.  Not the smartest animals out there, but certainly very loud.  Little Sadie came looking for them later in the morning....she calls them "Click-Clacks"...that's what they sound like to her.  It was a Click-Clack morning, and a RAVING whole wheat loaves afternoon!

While I am trying to do Clean Eating right now, I decided that half white flour was better than all white flour, so I jumped into the recipe at the last minute.  I was glad I did.  This bread is nothing like the store bought whole wheat bread that I won't eat.  THIS I will eat!!!  To see what others did with this recipe this week, you can visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

minted zucchini tagliatelle with cucumbers and lemon: French Fridays with Dorie

I feel like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland....I'm late, I'm late, you know?  

It was such an innocent change to my home computing...so I thought.  HA!  I changed out my wireless router.  There, such a simple thing.  That took 6 hours (not the 10 minutes all the commenters on Amazon quoted), and the end result, my quirky 3 year old pc laptop was kaput.  SCREAM!!!  I admit to not being a techie, but I can usually figure stuff out.  

SO....The happy ending to the story:  New wireless router works great, new wireless camera in dog room works great (so cool!), and my NEW iMac (yes, I am through with PCs and windows) works great too.  A quick trip to the apple store, and life is good again!  

That was the long version of why this blog is being published and linked one day late.  So, onto the recipe:

I do like my de Buyer mandolin.  I forget I have it until recipes like this one pops up in the rotation, since I put it far away from grandkids' reach.  I used very fresh zucchini, which sliced up nicely.  I then tried to use an older cucumber I had in the refrigerator...yuck, it was bitter.  So I pitched that one, and used the fresh one I just got from the farmers market....much better!

I had to use dried mint leaves.  It's another sad story for another day.  Hint:  Crazy Raspberry Ants in the garden.  I'm sure it would be much better to use fresh mint, sigh.

After the hour wait it plates like it is supposed to.  It tastes okay in general, but when I factor in the ingredient zucchini, I rate it higher.  I do not care for zucchini much, so if I find a zucchini recipe I will eat, then I give it extra stars.

Oh, and that camera in the dog room?  Here's my beagle-mix, Maddie, on her couch, tucked back behind an extra blanket.  She was napping as I blogged this and I took this picture from my iPhone app that allows me to view the dog room from wherever I am.   Now I know who's naughty and who's nice!!

Yes, another keeper recipe from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.  To see what others did this week with this recipe you can visit French Fridays with Dorie.

Popovers: Tuesdays with Dorie

Well, it doesn't get much easier than this.  (I think I hear Ina Garten speaking in my head!)  I haven't made popovers in years.  I used to make them all the time when my girls (aka "the mommies" to the grandkids) were little.  Big decision...the food processor or the blender....food processor won!

I got rid of my popover pan because it was teflon coated....so I used an old aluminum muffin tin (medium size popovers) and a newer stainless steel one (large size popovers).  Very interesting that the old aluminum one didn't have any "sticking" problems.  The popovers popped right out.  With the stainless steel, the muffins puffed up big, but they stuck, some pretty bad.

Ahhh, but the beauty of a popover is hard to beat.  This is a large one, which I had to prop up with a knife, because part of the bottom on the back stuck to the pan...still tasted great.

And, had the right insides!  Even better filled with melted butter and pomegranate jelly!

So easy and so good.  I will be making these again.  Another great recipe from Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.  To see what our other bakers did with this recipe this week, you can visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

cafe-style grated carrot salad: French Fridays with Dorie

Carrot Salad.  St. Louis.  Miss Hullings Cafeteria.  Such old memories coming back to me from childhood with just the mention of carrot salad!  So old I can use the word streetcar in the same  sentence!  The carrot salad of my childhood was super sweet, with Hellman's mayo and whipped cream and pineapple and mini marshmallows and coconut and yes, raisins.  No mustard there.  You can even find the recipe if you search for it on google (which I did and will make one day soon for grandkids). 

So of course I opted to use raisins in Dorie's recipe, but then I stayed the course and used oil (avocado) and dijon mustard and honey. 

This is the start....

...and this is the finish.  My plate was so bright it was blinding!  Fork Smashed Purple Potatoes (thanks, Smitten Kitchen for sharing your recipe) and some sliced strip steak.

I did like this recipe for a "savory" carrot salad.  My childhood one was really more like a desert compared to Dorie's.  I think maybe adding in the pineapple might work though.  To see what other Doristas did with this recipe this week, you can visit French Fridays with Dorie.  Another good recipe from Around My French Table.

Happy 100th Birthday Julia

Today, Julia Child would have been 100 years old.  She is being remembered by many, from Google (see photo above) to Tuesdays with Dorie to Dorie Greenspan to PBS.....

Julia, you are still loved and not forgotten!

lemon barley pilaf: French Fridays with Dorie

I have a "Wall-O-Carbs."  It serves me well on these types of recipes.  Yes, the Wall had barley!

Barley mixing with the butter and onions.

Almost done.  Just need to stir after adding the lemon rind and chives (subbed for green onion...it's what I had on hand - and tasted just fine in the recipe).

Yum, the lemon barley pilaf was very tasty.  Especially with Spicy Pork Chops, a favorite recipe of mine from Lidia's Italian Table.  Ha!  I had dinner with both a French and Italian table influence!!

Yes, I did like this recipe.  Another winner from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table.  To see what others' did with this recipe this week, you can visit French Fridays with Dorie.

Semolina Bread: Tuesdays with Dorie

Well, it's good to be back from vacation and get back into the "Dorie" schedules on Fridays and Tuesdays.....and Semolina Bread is a fine recipe to jump back in with....

But really, mine is Einkorn bread....I didn't get semolina flour since I had some einkorn flour and it seems to be very similar.  Gives the bread a yellowish tint, slightly nutty flavor....

After 1st rise.  Since einkorn flour uses less liquid in baking, I ended up using the extra 1/4 cup flour, plus about 2 tablespoons more.

After third rise, took a little less than the 2 hours, but I had the house pretty warm...

Couldn't figure out the directions for making the cuts on the bread dough, so just scissored it down each side.

One of the best finds on this vacation, Dyer Pond in Wellfleet, Cape Cod.  It's one of those ponds that has no parking, so you have to walk trails to get there.  Once you do, you pretty much have the pond to yourself!  See one grandkid with one parent out in deeper area...  Nana stayed where her feet could still touch the sand!

It's good to be home and get back into regular routines.  This bread was fun to make because it was a little abnormal...very sticky and soft, funny rises, and strange baking (just cooked, didn't rise more in oven).  But it made a really nice crust, and a good fine crumb.  I might make this again, it was kind of quirky!  To see what others did this week with this recipe, you can visit Tuesdays with Dorie, where we cook along 2 or 3 times a month in Dorie Greenspan's Baking with Julia cookbook.