Fabulous, Flexible Flatbread

Navajo fry bread type of flat bread

I am so excited about this bread! It's so easy and simple anyone can do it. It takes maybe 10 minutes (I'm being very generous here) from beginning to end, it's delicious and dirt cheap. (Well nothing is cheaper than dirt, but almost.)
Flatbread is the most elementary type of bread. It has hardly changed in thousands of years. When people started cultivating grain, flatbread was an obvious solution of how to turn hard grain into edible food. The grain was pounded into flour, mixed with water and cooked on a hot stone. The earliest method of cooking flatbread probably involved spreading the dough over a very hot rock then peeling the dough off the rock when done cooking. This method is still used by the Hopi Indians in making their blue corn piki bread.

mixing up the dough (seriously this took 2 minutes tops)

I'm going to post a basic recipe here, but really there is no recipe. If you add flour and water together to make a dough, roll it out to your desired thickness, heat it, you will have made flatbread.

The versatility of this is phenomenal. You can roll it out to any thickness you desire. Thinner it will resemble the middle eastern bread, lavash, or a tortilla, or Indian naan bread. Thicker, (about 1/4 inch thick), it will be like a Navajo fry bread.

It may be cooked in a pan like I did, with butter, oil may also be used, or it could even be heated in a dry hot pan. It may be grilled on a bbq, cooked over a camping stove, over an open flame, in an oven, or old school style, over a hot rock.

rolling out the dough to make a flatbread, this one is a little thinner, similar to naan or lavash

It can be flavored any way you can possible imagine. Just mix it into the dough. Here are some examples.
*Garlic and Rosemary
*cinnamon and sugar
*flaxseeds and sesame seeds
*Italian herbs, or oregano and basil
*Parmesan cheese and minced onion
*finely chopped kalmata olives
You can also experiment with different flours, use any type you like!

frying it up!

The uses for the bread are endless as well. My husband likes to use it to dip into stew. It can be served with dip instead of crackers, used as a taco shell, a pizza crust, or used to wrap a sandwich.

Basic Flatbread

this recipe makes 2 or 3, if you need more, just double or triple it.

Ingredients
1 cup white unbleached flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup water (to start, you may need more)
a tsp olive oil (optional, will make the bread more elastic and easier to roll and deal with as well as adding flavor)
oil or butter for frying
Directions
In a large bowl add all ingredients (except the butter or oil for frying, or course.) Mix with a spoon until it becomes a dough.
Take out the dough, on a cutting board covered in flour knead the dough a few times. If it feels too wet, add a little more flour, conversely, if it feels too dry, add a little more water. Roll it out into rounds, or the shape you desire.
Heat a pan to medium high heat. Add butter or oil (if using) (you can also cook these in a dry pan, if cooking dry, you will need a pan on high heat) If using butter, you need a med high heat, because butter will burn on high heat.
Cook in hot pan, about 2 minutes on first side, then flip and cook another 1 min. or so on the other side.
That's it! Eat and enjoy! Could it be any easier?

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Triple Chocolate zucchini muffin/cupcake

O.K. if you are lucky enough to grow zucchini or know someone who does and is happy to gift you with the lovely vegetable this bread is quite a worthy recipient.

I have been growing zucchini for the past 3 years, mostly to use for baking yummy items such as this. I shred quite a bit of it in my food processor, (you can also use a box grater for this task) and freeze it in gallon size freezer bags so I can use it for baking throughout the year.

This bread is delightfully moist, rich and very chocolaty due to the three types of chocolate involved. You would never know the zucchini is in there, you can't taste it but it adds moisture, fiber and nutrition.

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

2 (one ounce) squares of unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (or whatever type of neutral oil you prefer)
2-2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (with the moisture squeezed out of it)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups white unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips (plus more for sprinkling on top of bread)
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C. ) Lightly grease 2 loaf pans, (or 1 big loaf pan plus 2 or 3 small loaf pans, or muffin tins if you prefer) If using a large loaf pan I recommend greasing the pan then using a parchment paper sling as show here. Grease the parchment paper also. The reason for this, is the chocolate chips like to stick to the bottom of the pan, no matter how much grease I use. It's not too bad with the small pans.

Melt the unsweetened chocolate in a pan over low heat, stir until smooth, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and melted chocolate.
beat well with electric mixer. In another large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and chocolate chips. Add to wet mixture, beat until combined well, 2 minutes or so. Add sour cream or yogurt mix until incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pans 3/4 of the way full, sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top of loaves before baking if desired. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of bread comes out clean. For muffins it will take about 25-35 minutes, for small loaf about 35 minutes, for large loaf it will take about an hour, (give or take 5 or 10 minutes.)

When loaves have cooled, remove from pans and wrap with plastic wrap or foil to keep airtight.this recipe made one big loaf, the 2 small ones and one muffin/cupcake (above)
or it will yield 2 large loaves

Strawberry Bread and Butter

Strawberry bread and butter

It's late Spring, and here in the Pacific Northwest that means it's Strawberry Season! I absolutely love fresh strawberries. I think it's my favorite thing about the season.

I bought, well, way too many strawberries from a local farm. This strawberry bread and butter is a lovely manifestation of that wonderful excess.

Strawberry Bread


You will get a lovely moist quick bread bursting with strawberry flavor from this loaf.

Strawberry Butter

The strawberry butter is a delicious, decadent way to bring all of that fresh strawberry flavor home.

Strawberry Quick Bread

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cup fresh strawberries, washed, stems removed and chopped into small pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x4 loaf pan, set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, in medium bowl, set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beat 1 minute or until light and airy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

Stir into flour mixture only until dry ingredients are moistened.

Fold in strawberries.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let stand 10 minutes in pan.

Turn out on rack to cool.

To make Strawberry Butter

1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed and washed.

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

Place strawberries and sugar in bowl and stir. Let sit for 20 minutes or so. After 20 minutes is up the sugar should have turned to liquid. Drain the liquid from the strawberries, and set aside for another use. In the bowl of a food processor, add drained strawberries and butter and whirl. Put in a jar or container in refrigerate to firm up.

Serve with strawberry bread. This would also be great on toast for breakfast.

Beer Bread

original beer bread

I'm all about baking things that are 1. easy and 2. have a huge payoff. Beer bread is one of those things. It may just be the easiest bread in the world to make. It has a minimum of ingredients, and I'm not kidding when I tell you it takes literally 5 minutes to get the dough together for the oven which means you can decide to make it when you start making dinner and you will be rewarded with a sumptuous loaf of warm, homemade, absolutely delicious bread to enjoy with your meal.

Beer bread is a quick bread, meaning it gets it's rise from baking soda. The yeast in the beer gives it a boost while adding a nice beer flavor, how much or what kind of flavor is up to you and the beer you decide to use.

garlic, Parmesan and fresh basil beer bread made with pale ale

The possibilities are endless when it comes to deciding on what type to make. I made a plain loaf (pictured above) with a mild beer (Miller Genuine Draft to be specific) and the taste of the beer did come through. It was mild, but still delicious. It produces a slightly dense loaf great along with a soup or stew, or even cut for sandwiches.

garlic, Parmesan and fresh basil beer bread ready for the oven

Next I made the garlic, Parmesan and fresh basil variety. It was absolutely delicious. This bread I made with a pale ale. I used a beer with a more pronounced flavor to stand up to the strong flavors I used. I thought about using it to make a grilled cheese sandwich, or how about an open faced chicken sandwich? Or I might just eat it all warm with butter, this bread is so good!

banana beer bread made with a mild beer

O.K. I know this sounds weird, but I even made a banana beer bread. The results? A distinctly banana flavored bread with a slight background taste of mild beer. I thought it was yummy. A nice snack bread for sure.

So go ahead! Use your imagination and create a one of a kind beer bread of your own!

(I'll give you some more suggestions below to get your ideas flowing.)

Basic Beer Bread

3 cups unbleached white flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz. bottle or can of beer (use whatever type of beer you like. just keep in mind that the stronger the beer, the heartier flavor it will give the bread.)

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan, set aside.

2. Get a large bowl. Place a fine strainer atop bowl (to use as a sifter). Place all dry ingredients in strainer and sift into bowl. *

*Or alternately, if you don't have a strainer, place all dry ingredients in bowl and stir with a whisk. The point of sifting or whisking the dry ingredients is to incorporate some air into the flour, because when you add the beer it's going to get sticky. We want to keep things as light as possible so our bread doesn't turn into a brick.

3. Pour in beer and mix, making sure to incorporate all of the dry ingredients with the beer.
Put dough in prepared pan. Bake 45 min. or until a toothpick inserted into bread comes out dry and clean. That's it!

You can brush some melted butter onto the hot bread when it comes out of the oven to give it a nice shine if you wish.

Flavor Options

garlic Parmesan, basil bread- add 3 cloves of chopped garlic, or a few teaspoons of dried garlic powder, 1/2 cup or so of grated Parmesan cheese along with 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil, or 2 teaspoons dried basil to the dry ingredients.

banana beer bread- add 3 mashed very ripe bananas to the dry ingredients.

garlic and herb- add 1 teaspoon dried rosemary , 1 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1 teaspoon dried thyme with 3 minced garlic cloves, (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder) to dry ingredients. If using fresh herbs, use 1 tablespoon each.

onion cheese- add 1/2 cup finely diced onion (you can cook the onion if you like on the stove and let cool. or use raw)or you can also use scallions. along with 1/2 cup of the cheese of your choice to dry ingredients.

Feta and Olive- add 1 cup diced olives (kalamata or black) along with 1/2 cup feta cheese to dry ingredients.

Bacon and cheese-add 1/2 cup cooked diced and cooled bacon along with 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese of your choice. Sharp cheddar would be good.

Sun dried tomato- add 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes with 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan to dry ingredients, also a few teaspoons of dried Italian seasoning would be good here.

Basically you can add any herb you like, or any flavor that suits you. Just stir into the dry ingredients before adding the beer.

Also if you'd like to use whole wheat flour, you can substitute 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour with great results. Also you can replace 1 cup of the white flour with oats.

Pear Bread

This is a fabulous, moist and delicious quick bread. Perfect for a snack or with tea. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of this bread at this time, but I did say I'd post the recipe for it when I gave Nancy and Elena a loaf for themselves the last time I did my radio show for Beyond The Ordinary. I promise the next time I make it I'll add a picture to this post. :)


Pear Bread with walnuts (you could leave out the walnuts, but I would recomend them, as this bread has a mild flavor, since pears aren't the strongest tasting fruit.)

makes 1 loaf

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled pears
3/4 cup chopped walnuts-optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Combine the sugar and oil in a large bowl and beat well with an electric mixer for best results.
Add eggs and beat well.
Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
Sift together the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Beat into the sour cream mixture in 2 batches. Stir in pears and walnuts.
Scrape into loaf pan and level off the top.
Bake for 1 hour and test with a toothpick in the center.
If done, remove and let cool on a rack for 20 minutes.
Turn out onto rack and cool completly.

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” -James Beard

I love bread, and I love baking breads of all kinds. Of course, I love eating delicious bread, that goes without saying, but baking bread is a whole experience. It's getting your hands dirty, and being a part of the bread when you knead it, and the smell it imparts on your kitchen, is nothing short of heaven.


Unfortunately, many good cooks find bread making elusive. While it is an art, it is also an exact science. If you add too much or too little of this or that, it may result in disaster. Whereas with cooking a stew, you add what suits you, or what you think it needs. A luxury not afforded to the baker.

Well, I'm here to say give it a try! Once you get good at it and find a recipe you like, you may be like a friend of mine who bakes 6 loaves of Italian bread at once and freezes what she won't use within a few days.

Irish soda bread is a good bread to try if you've never baked bread. The recipe is simple and straightforward, even a child could manage it. It has no yeast, and unlike most breads, once you get the ingredients together, you bake it right away, there's no waiting. The breads crust is coarse and firm, the inside is dense and moist. It lends itself particularly well to mopping up a stew, or simply toasted with butter.

Here's a recipe I use. (Most recipes call for buttermilk, I prefer using yogurt.

Irish Soda Bread


This recipe makes 1 loaf a little over a pound and a half

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons cold butter cut into small pieces
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup oats. Quick or Old fashioned, not instant
• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
• Milk if needed

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl mix all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until fine crumbs form. Stir in whole wheat and oats.

2. Add yogurt, stir gently. If mixture is too dry to hold together, stir in milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, just until dough holds together. It should not be sticky

.3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead gently 5 times to make a ball. Set onto lightly greased baking sheet, or baking sheet lined with a Silpat liner, or parchment paper.Pat dough into a 7 inch circle. With a knife cut a large x on top of loaf

.4. Bake in 375 degree oven until well browned, about 45 minutes.Cool on a rack.

"[Breadbaking is] one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world's sweetest smells...there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel. that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread."M. F. K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

Coconut Cookies

These are my husbands favorite cookie. I like them because they are very simple and straightforward to make. They are a bit crisp on the outside, and chewy inside. Like a good chocolate chip cookie. Only if you make cookies all the time like I do, it's nice to try new and yummy ideas.

Recipe
1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1-2 cups macadamia nuts, chopped -optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars until smooth.

Beat in the eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add the flour, baking soda and salt. Once that is incorporated add the coconut. Drop dough by teaspoonful onto baking sheets covered with parchment paper or a Silpat a few inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Makes about 4-5 dozen cookies