Sally Lunn Bread

MY LOVE OF VINTAGE RECIPES should come as no surprise to anyone. I have talked about it for years. Here is a short post I wrote about it a few years ago.

I have known Sally Lunn Bread all my life as a Southern recipe. I can remember ladies sitting around my Mother's kitchen table drinking coffee and eating warm slices of this bread with butter and honey or jam, while talking about what ladies talk about.

Sally Lunn bread is a slightly sweet brioche type bread. It is fantastic with pimiento cheese and makes delicious toast. It also freezes beautifully. This is a no knead recipe but it does require two 1-hour risings plus a 25 minute baking time, so allow plenty of time to make it. It is made in a tube pan or bundt pan. The craggy top crust is a result of a very thick and sticky dough and is a signature of this bread.

Sally Lunn Bread
1 package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
5 1/2 - 6 cups flour

In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the warm milk, butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Do not knead.

Place dough into a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Stir the dough down and spoon into a greased and floured tube pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan onto a clean kitchen towel.

"Homemade" Pita Chips with Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

 "HOMEMADE" IS IN QUOTES because I question whether these pita chips are actually homemade. Would homemade pita chips require homemade pita bread? Is this even a recipe?

I had a partial package of whole wheat pita bread sitting around for a few days. I knew they wouldn't be fresh for sandwiches so I decided to turn them into pita chips. As I browsed ideas for doing this, I noticed a common theme. People cut the pita bread into wedges and spread onto a sheet pan. Then in a mixing bowl, combine olive oil with desired spices. Then brush the front and back of each chip with the oil mixture.

I nixed that idea. If I did want to brush each side with the oil mixture, I would do it before cutting into wedges. I couldn't see brushing each individual chip, on each side. . .we are not making fancy canapes here. 

These are crisp and delicious and so easy to make. Did I mention they are much more economical than bags of pita chips?

Taylor the spices to what the chips will be served with, garlic is always good, smoked paprika, chili powder, and more. I used sea salt and cracked black pepper.

"Homemade" Pita Chips

Stale pita bread
Olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut each pita into 8 wedges. Place in a bowl. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Toss together (I do this with my hands) until all wedges are coated. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake 8 --10 minutes until golden brown.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

AT THIS MOST GLORIOUS TIME OF YEAR, my camera had to go to the shop. Sigh.

Last week, I was on a retreat. I stayed in a lodge at a mountainside lake which was unbelievably beautiful with the peak of autumn color. The weather was perfect--chilly enough for sweaters, jackets, scarves, and gloves but not so cold as to need to bundle up. The sky each day was perfectly cloudless and mazarine.

I was feasting my eyes and every place I looked I saw something else I wanted to photograph. The food was delicious and I wanted to shoot that too. Fortunately, my cooking and photographing got ahead of my blogging, so I have some material to post for a while (while my poor camera is in the hospital).

I first learned of sweet potato biscuits from my beautiful aunt, my mother's sister. She makes the most delicious biscuits I have ever eaten. Hers are the standard to which I hold all other biscuits. The children of the family always called her "Aunt Biscuit".

For a special occasion we catered ourselves, she made sweet potato biscuits which she cut very small and served with ham. They were amazing and very popular. I recently tried my hand at them.

Sweet Potato Biscuits
3/4 cups flour
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. chilled butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup cold mashed sweet potatoes
1/3 cup buttermilk

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. In another bowl, stir together sweet potatoes and buttermilk. Pour into the flour mixture and combine until mixed.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead very gently until dough comes together but is still lumpy. Shape into a disk and pat into 1-inch thickness. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter.

Place biscuits on a buttered sheet pan, arranging them close together. Brush the tops with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until golden.

Black Skillet Parker House Rolls

A VERY OLD-FASHIONED STYLE of bread, Parker House Rolls are soft, buttery, and slightly sweet. These rolls are unlike the rustic, crusty, dense, seedy, whole grain breads so popular today. I do love the artisan breads being created nowadays, but these fluffy rolls hit a comfort zone I needed to feel.

I usually find "talk about the weather" to be so dreary, boring, mundane. In ordinary conversation it seems  so redundant, but in relation to food it seems more pertinent. Cold weather equals warming food. And it has been cold! record-breakingly so, here in the mountains of western North Carolina.

I decided to make a beef stew and wanted bread to go with it.

I had recently had a couple comments on my blog from one of our fellow bloggers. To acknowledge and respect,  I visited her blog. That is where I got the idea for these rolls. You just never know where inspiration will come from do you?

The recipe made 2 dozen rolls for me. I baked the first dozen, then covered the remaining dough and refrigerated it overnight. The next day, I took the dough out and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour. Then I kneaded it down a bit and formed another dozen rolls and let them rise an additional 2 hours. I must say, the rolls were much more delicious the second day and in my experience working with yeast breads, it should never be rushed. Allow plenty of time for resting and rising.

Black Skillet Parker House Rolls
(adapted from My Catholic Kitchen)
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup honey
1 packet yeast
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp salt
5 - 6 cups flour

Combine the warm water, milk, honey, and yeast and set aside for about 10 minutes.

In a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine the yeast mixture, butter, salt, and 5 cups of flour. Mix and knead, adding more flour until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and clings to the dough hook, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead a few times. Pinch off balls of dough and form into rolls, pinching the seams on the underside to make a smooth top. Place the formed rolls into a well buttered cast iron skillet, leaving space between each one. Let the rolls rise in a warm place  for 2 hours, until doubled in size. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Brush generously with butter and serve piping hot.

Cheesy Garlic Butter and Angel Biscuits

OUR RESIDENT FIVE-YEAR-OLD, loves helping me in the kitchen. She especially likes baking. Because she was out of school Monday, for Martin Luther King Day, I thought it would be a perfect day to make a batch of Angel Biscuits. We were having a Tomato Soup for dinner and I thought the biscuits would be delicious with it.

Especially with the Cheesy Garlic Butter we made. My blogging friend Melynda, from Our Sunday Cafe, recently posted a recipe which originated in a now closed but once popular restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I adapted the recipe to our tastes.

We have eaten all the biscuits, but we still have some of the cheesy garlic butter. Tonight, we will be having some on French Bread.

Cheesy Garlic Butter
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
8 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. (more to taste) cayenne pepper

Have cheese and butter at room temperature. Beat all ingredients with a mixer, beginning at low speed and increasing speed, until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Angel Biscuits
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 packet yeast, dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm buttermilk

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add yeast mixture and buttermilk; stir to combine. Turn onto a floured surface and fold the dough over itself a few times until all is blended.

Roll out to 3/4 inch thickness, then cut into 2 1/2 inch biscuits. Place biscuits on a baking pan which has been spritzed with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until done.

Note: Some cooks skip the rising step and put the biscuits directly into the oven after placing them in the pan. My grandfather could have done it that way, I don't know. I do know from experience, if you let yeast dough have plenty of time to rest and rise, you will be richly rewarded.

Muffuletta Sandwich for a Fall Picnic

THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY is scenic highway which runs from the boundary between The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina to The Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

The Parkway is a product of the New Deal's efforts to provide jobs to the unemployed during the Great Depression of the 1930's. Construction began in September, 1935, took 52 years to complete, and runs for 469 miles.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is my favorite part of living where we do. While driving the parkway, you encounter 26 mostly hand dug tunnels which were designed to reduce excessive landscape scarring. They are so beautiful! You will encounter old farmsteads, an old grist mill, hiking trails, waterfalls, scenic overlooks to park and take in the beauty. You might see a bear, fox, coyote, skunk or another animal. What you will not see are power lines, traffic lights, billboards, or any other sign of commercialism. It is a two-lane highway and the speed limit is never more than 45 mph.

Lucky for us, there is an entrance to the Parkway just about 5 miles from our home. We have taken a few drives in the past couple of weeks to enjoy the glorious fall colors. This has been an especially brilliant fall.

I am not equipped to photograph the sweeping and breath-takingly beautiful mountain vistas, but I recently packed a picnic and shot some photos around a picnic area where we lunched. It was a glorious day. The skies were brilliant blue with fluffy white clouds floating about. The air was crisp but quite warm in the sun.

I made Muffuletta sandwiches because they are delicious and travel well.

Muffuletta Sandwich
1 round loaf Italian bread
1/4 pound each thinly sliced:
   Genoa salami
   Cooked ham
   Mortadella
   Mozzarella cheese
   Provolone cheese
Olive Salad:
   1 jar Giadeniera, chopped
   1 1/2 cups pimiento stuffed olives, chopped
   3 - 4 cloves garlic, crushed
   1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
   1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
   Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
   1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

Combine the olive salad ingredients and stir well. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. Stir well again before applying to the sandwich.

Cut the bread in half around the horizon. Tear away some of the fluffy interior to hollow out the bread a bit. (Save to use for bread crumbs later).

Generously spread olive salad on each half of the sandwich. Layer the meats and cheese. Close the sandwich and press down. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until later or serve right away, cut into wedges.

Leftover sandwich wedges and leftover olive salad keep well.

White Cheddar Cheese Bread

I USED TO BAKE HOMEMADE BREAD ROUTINELY. For one thing, I love delicious bread. For another, good bread used to be almost impossible to find commercially and I have never lived in Paris.

However, over the past few years, good artisanal quality loaves have become easy to find in almost every grocery store.  I look at them and admire them and want to eat them. So many delicious flavors and combinations, olive oil and rosemary, roasted garlic and kalamata olive, multi-grain, sesame tahini, tomato basil, sour dough, cinnamon raisin. . .

Now I only bake bread for special occasions--because homemade is still the best.

I do still enjoy baking quick breads--biscuits, cornbread, banana bread, and this easy and delicious cheddar cheese loaf. This recipe welcomes many add-ins, diced apple, olives, spices and herbs, black pepper is good as is rosemary. Mustard powder works well and cayenne give a nice punch. Garlic is always good. I have made it with different cheeses, but cheddar is my favorite (and good with apples).

Here, I have used an extra sharp Vermont white cheddar and refrained from any additional ingredients. It depends really, on what you will use the bread for. The day I baked it, I was making omelets for supper. The next morning, I made toast and spread it with apricot jam. Then I used it as a base for Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwiches. And the next morning, because I had secreted away a thick slice of bacon, I had a bacon sandwich. Mmmm.

White Cheddar Cheese Bread
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of a standard loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl whisk together milk, melted butter, and eggs.

Add the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and stir until combined. Stir in cheese. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 - 55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely about 1 hour.

Broiled Welsh Rarebit

WELSH RAREBIT (OR RABBIT) IS A WELSH DISH consisting of a mixture of cheddar cheese, beer, and seasonings served over toast. The cheese mixture can also be toasted on the bread, which is what I did. It is usually served as a main course, or for high tea, and often accompanied with tomatoes.

Did you know that if you top it with a poached egg it becomes a Golden Buck? 

Most Americanized versions of this dish are truly not much more than a Mornay sauce with a splash of beer for tradition's sake. Also the Dijon or whole grain mustards used in many recipes are too sharp for my taste. I prefer using English mustard powder and of course Worcestershire sauce. I will pass on the hot sauce and cayenne called for in many recipes--the English mustard gives just the hint of heat desired, for my palate. 

I did not start my sauce with a roux. No flour was used. Instead, I used egg yolks to thicken the sauce a bit. I also used stout as my beer of choice. And I chose a lovely Lancashire cheese which I hand grated. 

For the bread, I selected a dense and seedy whole grain loaf. It was perfect to absorb the thinnish cheese sauce. They melded together while baking. After baking, a short trip under the broiler made the rarebits nicely browned and crunchy on top while the inside remained moist, cheesy, and tender. Superb. 

Welsh Rarebit

1/2 cup stout 

1 1/2 tsp. English mustard powder

2 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, more to taste

10 ounces Lancashire cheese, or other English cheddar, grated

3 egg yolks

4 slices bread

Mix the stout, mustard powder, butter and Worcestershire sauce in a small pan. Stir to combine well and heat gently until the butter has melted. 

Stir in the cheese until melted and don't let it boil. When the mixture is smooth, taste for seasonings and take off the heat. Let cool until only slightly warm, stirring occasionally to prevent it from solidifying. 

Toast the bread lightly on each side and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Beat the yolks into the warm cheese until smooth. Spoon onto the toasts and cook until bubbling and golden, about 15 minutes. Place under broiler to brown, if desired.

Serve piping hot.

Dilly Casserole Bread

 WHEN NADINE SHARED THIS RECIPE, she told a story.

She had clipped the recipe from her hometown newspaper--The Opelika Daily News, on Wednesday, August 22, 1973. At the time, she was 8 months pregnant, expecting her third child. She was already Mother to a 3-year-old little boy and a 1-year-old baby girl. She was living in a small un-air-conditioned home, in Alabama, in the August heat, and there she was baking bread. I love her for that.

I have baked this bread several times and each time I wonder why I don't make it more often. It is easy and extremely flavorful. The additions of cottage cheese, finely minced fresh onion, and dill seed--not dill weed--provide a subtle savory flavor no one could guess.

It is a very old fashioned recipe. Not like the dense, chewy breads with a crispy crust so popular today.

I like baking it in a well buttered, smaller, 1 1/2 quart casserole. It rises and puffs up tall, looking like a giant cupcake. Indeed, the texture of the bread is very cake-like with a soft and delicate crumb and tender crust.

And the next day, toasted? Exceptional.

Dilly Casserole Bread
1 pkg. yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup cottage cheese, room temperature
1 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. fresh minced onion
2 tsp. dill seed
1 egg
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups flour

Soften yeast in warm water and let stand 10 minutes. Combine in large bowl, the cottage cheese, butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, onion, dill seed, and the softened yeast. Beat well to blend. Add flour and beat well.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Stir down dough. Turn into a well greased 1 1/2 to 2 quart casserole. Let rise until light, 35 to 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Brush with soft butter and sprinkle with salt.  Cool 10 minutes, then remove bread to cooling rack.

Navajo Fry Bread

Several years ago, I read a few of Tony Hillerman's mysteries, set on the vast Navajo Indian Reservation, featuring the legendary detective Joe Leaphorn and the younger and impetuous tribal police lieutenant Jim Chee. I loved reading the descriptions of the American Southwest landscape and about the customs of the Navajo.

Of course my interest is always piqued when novels contain passages about cooking, eating, and food. In the Hillerman books, Navajo Fry Bread was talked about frequently and almost became a character itself in my mind.

I tried my hand at making it but it was a terrible flop.

Currently, I am reading The Round House by Louise Erdrich, an author who chronicles life on the Objibwe Reservation in North Dakota. Once again fry bread is featured.

I decided to try again; this time with better results. This is probably not traditional at all, and I would welcome a recipe that is. I used baking powder for rise and a small amount of yeast for taste. A great boost in flavor, and probably more traditional, would come from frying in animal fat. I didn't have lard so I used peanut oil, which is quite flavorful.

Navajo Fry Bread
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup warm milk
1 Tbsp. melted butter

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, yeast, and salt. Stir in the milk and butter until well blended and a stiff dough forms. Add a little more milk, if needed. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times. Divide the dough into 12 balls. Roll each ball into a 6-inch diameter circle.

Heat about 1 inch of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the flattened dough circles flipping with tongs until well browned on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Serve the breads with soups or salads. Great to use for tacos. I made breakfast tacos with spinach scrambled eggs topped with cheese, salsa, and sour cream.

Cornbread Casserole

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe, which came from her church's cookbook, quite a few years ago. I like to make it when the cornbread is co-starring in the meal rather than playing a background role. It is perfect with chili and I recently served it with Braised Greens with Apples for a simple supper. 

This recipe makes enough for a crowd and also freezes well to reheat later. 

Cornbread Casserole
2 large onions, chopper
6 Tbsp. butter
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. milk
1 (15 ounce) can cream style corn
1 (1 pound) package corn muffin mix
1 cup sour cream
2 cups (8 ounce) sharp cheddar cheese

Saute onions in butter until golden. In medium bowl, mix eggs and milk. Add corn and muffin mix. Spoon batter into buttered 13x9 inch casserole dish and spoon sauteed onions on top. Spread sour cream over onion and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes or until puffed and golden. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into squares to serve.

Fantastic Apple Bread

 This tasty apple bread was so easy to make. I love simple and delicious recipes for made from scratch foods which are simple to put together, don't involve machinery, and don't make a lot of mess to clean up. This is one of those. 

This moist, sweet and spicy bread is perfect for brunch or for dessert. I served it with quiche and it made a very satisfying light meal. 

The crunchy crust that forms while baking is the best part!

 

 

Fantastic Apple Bread

3 - 4 medium fresh apples, peeled cored and sliced

1/2 cup light vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 - 1 cup sugar, to taste

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, optional

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a standard loaf pan.

 

Combine apple slices, oil, milk, and beaten eggs in a large mixing bowl and stir well. Add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, if using. Stir again, by hand, until well mixed.

 

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 - 15 minutes in pan.

 



 

Toast with Blue Cheese, Figs & Honey

Spread some blue cheese on a slice of toast. Add a few slices of fresh fig and drizzle with honey. Place under the broiler for a couple of minutes to heat the fig, bringing out the juiciness, and to melt the cheese. 

Ambrosial.