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monkey bread
Showing posts with label monkey bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monkey bread. Show all posts
Saturday, August 13, 2011

cookbook review: The Artisan Bread Machine by Judith Fertig

Saturday, August 13, 2011

cookbook review: The Artisan Bread Machine by Judith Fertig


Author: Judith Fertig
Publisher: Robert Rose
Soft Cover: 317 Pages
Photos: yes

Chapters/Sections:  Using Your Bread Machine, Classic White Breads, Whole-Grain Breads, Flavored Breads, Sweet Breads, Sourdough and Slow-Rise Breads, Flatbreads and Pizzas, Savory Rolls, Sweet Rolls, Festive Breads, Gluten-Free Breads, The Artisan Bread Machine Pantry, Bread Machine Ingredients A-Z, Resources

Unique or Cool Features: A fabulous section at the beginning of the book entitled Using Your Bread Machine.  This is a comprehensive section on how to use your bread machine, no matter the model.  Fertig includes hands-on tips and information on "how-to's" like timing, temperature, size, measuring, scalding, adding ingredients to your bread machine, kneading in, topping, forming, and filling.  You will also find info on letting the dough rise, baking, cooling, glazing or icing as well as what to do if you forgot to add something.  There are tips on storage of the bread and cleaning your machine.  Plus, there is a handy chart on which cycle to use when.  In the back of the book are two more helpful sections, one being the Bread Machine Ingredients, A to Z and the other being a Resources page in which you can find websites and phone numbers for some bread machine manufacturers so that you may be able to locate that long-lost instruction manual...or have questions about discontinued models.

(a few of the many) Recipes Destined for my Kitchen:  Bolillos, Chipotle, Cilantro, and Pepper Jack Bread, Bacon, Green Onion and Blue Cheese Bread, Cheddar Beer Bread, Cheddar and Green Olive Bread, Brewhouse Bread, Orange-Caramel Sticky Buns, Almond-Filled Bear Claws, Pan de los Muertos, Sweet Applesauce Bread, Ciabattini, Iced Almond and Cherry Babka

My Thoughts/Review: Once upon a time I had this crazy notion in my head that using a bread machine was cheating, somehow.  That all changed one day last autumn.  I've come to think of my old, trusty bread machine as an indispensable tool in my kitchen.  I enjoy the fact that I don't dirty bowls, utensils, or my counter excessively.  I'm not exclusive, I mean...sometimes I just need to get my hands into some dough and feel the love...or sometimes I give my KitchenAid a chance at the fun...but I do love my bread machine.  This is the perfect book for those who either already love their bread machine, those who want to fall in love with their bread machine all over again, or those who are interested in using one for the first time.  There are so many types of recipes.  From ones that can be baked right in the machine to doughs that you let the machine mix, knead and rise for you before you turn them out and shape or form them yourself.  Many recipes have ingredient amounts for different size loaves (depending on the capacity of your machine or the size of the loaf you want to make).  I will be keeping this book close at hand and making the most of it.  A++.

Recipes I have already tried: 
Pan de Mie (Pullman Loaf) 
...yay, I finally bought a lid for my pullman pan!
Bacon, Green Onion, and Blue Cheese Bread

about the author:  Food/lifestyle writer and cookbook author, Judith Fertig, spends a lot of her time these days working life in a tiara - as one of the BBQ Queens. With co-author Karen Adler, she has written eight barbecue books, including 300 Big & Bold BBQ & Grilling Recipes and 200 Fast & Easy Artisan Breads: No-Knead, One Bowl. Fertig’s food and lifestyle writing has appeared in Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Vegetarian Times, Natural Awakenings, Better Homes & Gardens, Saveur, Country Living, Cooking Pleasures, Family Fun, Coastal Living, Southern Living, Family Fun, La Vie Claire, and Cooking Light. Judith's work has appeared internationally in Country Homes and Interiors (London), The New York Times, and The London Sunday Times.

Judith recently ended a six-year run as a columnist for the James Beard and Association of Food Journalists’ award-winning Kansas City Star newspaper. She has taught culinary classes throughout the country, does TV spots around North America, and her professional culinary training includes La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, the Cordon Bleu in London, and a Ph.B. (Doctor of Barbecue Philosophy) from the prestigious, if fictitious, Greasehouse University. Judith is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, Slow Food, The Kansas City Barbeque Society, and IACP. She lives in Overland Park, KS

*I received a free copy of this book to review from the publisher.  All thoughts and opinions stated in this post are 100% mine.
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Monday, August 8, 2011

Sugar and Spice Monkey Bread

Monday, August 8, 2011

Sugar and Spice Monkey Bread

Sweet Thang told me that he doesn't like this bread.  He loves it! Ha ha ha...from the mouths of babes.  I mean, you expect that sometimes when it's coming from an adult, but he was so serious.  It shocked me that he didn't "like" it since he asks me weekly to bake a loaf of the cinnamon-sugar pull-apart ricotta bread that he craves.  And yes, this is along the same lines. He totally gets his sense of humor from me. {wink, wink}  In all seriousness, though...the actual taste, texture, and consistency of the actual bread hiding inside that glimmering layer of cinnamon-sugar goodness is to die for.  It's substantial, yet soft...enriched with eggs and butter...and would make a great base for many sweet breads.  Do I need to tell you that this was gone in much less time that it took to make it?  I thought not.
Sugar and Spice Monkey Bread
adapted from The Artisan Bread Machine
yield: 1 loaf

dough:
½ c. sugar
¾ tsp. fine sea salt
2 large eggs, beaten
⅔ c. lukewarm buttermilk
⅓ c. unsalted butter, softened
3½ c. bread flour
1½ tsp. instant yeast

topping:
scant ¾ c. granulated sugar
1 heaping Tbs. ground cinnamon

½ c. unsalted butter, melted
Add the dough ingredients, in order listed, to pan of bread machine (ending with yeast).  Select the dough cycle and press start.  When the cycle is finished, turn dough out onto work surface and punch down gently.  Divide dough into 20 equal pieces.  Form each piece into a ball between your palms.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a small, wide dish/bowl.  Dip each of the dough balls into the melted butter, then roll each in the cinnamon-sugar.  Arrange them in a silicone (or well-greased) bundt pan in even layers.  Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for ~30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° F during last 15 minutes of rise time.  Slide remove plastic, slide into oven and bake until lightly browned on top and 190° F in center, ~35-40 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack for ~15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.  Serve warm or at room temperature.
There are many theories as to why monkey bread is called monkey bread.  Once you've made it, all suspicions will be confirmed.  The scent of the loaf baking will start to drive the little monkeys mad.  They will all be eagerly awaiting the moment it can be turned out onto a serving plate.  And it will be totally irresistible sitting there beckoning from its perch.  Hands will reach out and in the seconds that follow,  you will hear "ooooh...ooooh...aaaah" as those tender fingers try gingerly (yet madly) to pull steaming bits of sticky bread from the loaf sitting in front of them.

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