| Breads |
| chefmike's Basil Bread In agreement with my mentor, Chef Roy, I, too, am a saucier, not a pastry chef. This bread is definately the most awesome thing I ever invented as far as baked products are concerned. If baking does not bother you and you want to make an awesome Italian/French style bread, look no more. An integral part of this recipe is my roasted garlic-basil oil. Roasted garlic/basil oil Heat 4c oil and remove from heat ( I use walnut oil ) Add 10 cloves of roasted garlic-crushed Put about 15-20 basil leaves in a jar When the oil is cooled place in the jar with the basil, include the garlic cloves. Cap the jar and allow to sit for 30 days. I always have some of this around. My latest favorite is the same as above, but I also added 2 cayenne peppers to the jar. Bread 3c bread flour (lightly spooned into measuring cup and leveled off) 1 pkg yeast 1t salt 2 T basil 2 t oregano 2 t thyme 2 t granulated garlic 2 t sugar Put all in a mixer and mix dry ingredients together. Shut off the mixer. Add 2 T Honey 2 T roasted garlic oil 1c water-120-130 degrees Mix until it combines and forms a dough. Dump on floured surface, knead for about 10 mins, or until it is smooth and elastic. Put it in a warmed ceramic bowl or atop a warmed bread stone (warmed, not hot, about 80-90 degrees) Cover with plastic and towel/rag. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.Remove the plastic and towel and flip bowl over on a lightly floured surface and allow to rest for 15 minutes, covered. Punch down dough and divide into desired sized loaves. Make an incision down the middle of the loaf. Cover with plastic and towel and allow to rise for another 30 minutes or until doubled. Brush with a beaten egg seasoned with granulated garlic. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes chefmike notes-- OK, Chef Roy, are ya' happy?!! You win, I will never do that again...Promise!!! For a thicker crust put a pan of boiling water in the bottom of your oven. Any type of oil will suffice in this recipe ( although I would not recommend motor oil-ha-ha) |
| On this page chefmike's Basil Bread Roasted Garlic and Basil Oil Brushetta Bread Jalapeno Corn Bread |
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| Brushetta Bread This is the original garlic bread. It is traditionally made by slightly browning a slice of country bread, like French or Italian, then rubbing with a garlic clove, brushing on olive oil, and sprinkling with a little parmesean cheese. My version is different, and more flavorful, but when browning the bread you need to be careful not to allow the parmesean and chopped garlic to burn. 3 cloves of minced garlic 1/2 cup of olive oil 1/4 cup of grated parmesean cheese Combine all the ingredients and brush onto slices of Italian/French bread and brown under a broiler. This is great with chefmike' s Basil Bread. |
| Jalapeno Corn Bread 3 cups of cornmeal 2 cups of buttermilk 6-8 jalapenos, split lengthwise, seeded then chopped finely 1 large onion, diced fine 3 eggs 1/4 cup of peanut oil 1 t seasoning salt Pre-heat a well greased cast iron skillet at 350 degrees. Mix the cornmeal, buttermilk and oil. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl and add to cornmeal mixture. Add your onions and jalapenos. Combine all ingredients well. Pour batter into cast iron skillet, Pat the top with a little bit of peanut oil and bake for 40 minutes or until the top is a golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn onto a plate when you take it out of the oven and the cornbread should come out easily. I love this with a good pot of baked pinto beans....mmmmm |
| Amish Yeast Rolls This recipe was sent to me from Carol, St Joseph, Mo. 6 c flour for bread- additional 1c for kneading 2 packages of yeast 1/2 - 3/4 c sugar 1/4 tsp salt Wet ingredients 1/2 lb butter 1c sour cream 1/2 - 1c milk Melt butter, do not overcook, you want to be able to stick your finger in it without screaming profanities because the butter was hot. ( There is something about hot fat and skin that is not agreeable with some people...) Mix wet and dry ingredients and knead about 10-15 mins. Put in warm place(80-90 degrees) Put dough on floured board and punch down. Shape the dough into the desired shapes and let rise another 20 minutes or until doubled. Brush the tops with melted butter and bake 20 minutes at 350. Makes around 2 dozen. ***chefmike notes- Thanks Carol...I found that most of the hardroll recipes were pretty close to this yeast roll recipe. I did not write down my variables when I used this for hard rolls, but I do remember the methods. I brought the milk to 110 degrees. I added my seasons to the sour cream and mixed smooth before my addition. I used roasted garlic, dehydrated onion, basil and parmesean cheese on one that was pretty awesome. I placed a water bath with boiling water on the bottom rack of my oven. If you have a gas oven you can place this water bath on the bottom of your oven. And I also brushed the tops of the rolls with egg wash instead of butter. |