Rosemary Asiago Cheese Bread {Whole Wheat}

Why would anyone want to bake their own bread?  That's crazy.  People who bake their own bread are weird I used to say.  Mind you, I am not a baker - at all.  I don't consider myself skilled in cakes, pies or pastries.  Now, after discovering how easy it is to make my own pizza dough, I felt courageous enough to give a loaf a bread a shot.  So fun!  And I was delighted to find it also pretty easy.  This bread is dense, yet full of flavor.  I love the idea of being able to control exactly what goes into your bread, no preservatives, or crazy unrecognizable ingredients.

This week, I was encouraged to give baking bread a shot by the Food Matters Project.  I love, love, love being a part of such a food conscious, healthy yet creative group of food bloggers.  For those unfamiliar, every week a fellow blogger chooses a recipe from Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook, and over 40 bloggers take to their kitchens to create recipes inspired by that week's selection.

Real Whole Wheat Bread was this week's recipe chosen by Melissa of The Faux Martha.  When I'm at Whole Foods, I sometimes can't resist picking up a fancy loaf of bread with cheese in it.  So of course my take on the recipe involves cheese!  Fresh rosemary is also a obsession of mine.  So good!

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp active yeast
2 cups freshly grated asiago cheese, 1/2 cup reserved
1 tsp of fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup water

Method

In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, yeast, salt, rosemary, Italian seasoning and 1 1/2 cups asiago cheese.  Add 1 3/4 cups water (I used room temperature water) and stir until blended. The dough should be wet and sticky, but not liquid.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on your counter for 18 - 24 hours.  Try to give it the full 24 hours for the best taste!

Grease a metal baking sheet pan with olive oil.  Place the dough on the sheet.  With a sharp knife, gently cut a large X into the top of the dough.  Brush the dough with the remaining oil and sprinkle with reserved asiago cheese, use from 1/4 to 1/2 cup.  {I won't judge you if you use a full 1/2 cup, go ahead, do it!}  Top with extra rosemary.  Cover with a towel and let the dough rise again for about an hour or two.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes until it is golden and sounds hollow when you tap on it. Immediately place bread onto a cooling rack and let it cool before slicing.  This tastes amazing on its own, with a little bit olive oil, or with some hot soup! Enjoy!

Turkey Caprese Panini

Turkey + sun-dried tomato goat cheese spread + red onion + spinach = Turkey Caprese

This panini was inspired by a sandwich at one of my favorite spots in Charlotte, The Common Market.  The Common Market is quirky, eclectic, non-pretentious deli with a large beer and wine selection and a slew of kitschy knick knacks.  They're also dog friendly, and have a awesome outdoor patio.  Excellent for an afternoon with the hubs and the pup.  Love this spot!

I tend to order their turkey caprese over and over again, it's that good.  Over the weekend I was craving it and decided to make my own version.  The secret to this sandwich is the sun-dried tomato and goat cheese spread...  It is definitely why I ordered it the first time, and why I keep going back for it!  Turkey breast, red onion and spinach keep this sandwich fresh and healthy.  When I eat it, I feel good.  You will too.  Give it a shot! :)

Ingredients
serves 1

2 slices hearty whole grain bread
1 oz honey goat cheese
1/2 tbsp sun-dried tomato pesto
4 oz turkey meat
1 tbsp thinly sliced red onion
2 tbsp baby spinach leaves
extra virgin olive oil

Method

Combine goat cheese and sun-dried tomato pesto in a small bowl.  Spread mixture onto one slice of bread.  Pile turkey, red onion and spinach on the same slice, top with other slice of bread.  Spray each side of the sandwich with a little bit of olive oil (or brush on lightly).  Place panini on a panini maker on medium high heat until bread is toasted and cheese begin to melt (about 3 minutes).

White Bean Basil Dip with Whole Wheat Rosemary Flatbread

I once spent a weekend at a friends house who served a white bean pesto dip during happy hour.  I had never had such a dip and instantly fell in love.  When I find a dip that isn't mayonnaise or sour cream based, I get pretty excited.  I despise mayonnaise.   Anyone else out there feel that way?  Yuck. There is something about it, the taste, texture, that will never win me over.  And since it isn't the best for you, I'm not upset.  Alright, enough mayonnaise hate...  I am however a huge fan of white beans, I tend to use them a lot.  They are especially good in a dip!  Add some fresh basil.... and you are at amazing, without any mayonnaise.

I wanted something to dip into this dip with (does that makes sense?), but didn't feel like going to the store last Sunday.  So I decided to whip up some easy flatbread.  I used white whole wheat flour to keep things a healthy as I knew chances were this, and many a glass of Louis Latour's Macon Villages Chameroy (a DIVINE french wine that isn't too expensive) would probably be my dinner.  The secret tastiness is adding chopped rosemary into the the dough. 

  

Ingredients

White Bean Basil Dip

1 can of white beans
1 cup of fresh basil, rinsed
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Rosemary Flatbread
source: Gourmet Magazine 
  
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
1 tbsp chopped rosemary 
1 tsp baking powder 
3/4 tsp salt 
1/2 cup water 
1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing 
Sea salt

Method

For the dip, add beans to a food processor, process until the consistency of hummus.  Add fresh basil, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Process until smooth.

For the flatbread.  Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.  In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times.

Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).

Lightly brush top with additional oil and a few pinches of sea salt. Place parchment on preheated baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces and enjoy with the white bean and fresh basil dip! 

P.S. The white bean basil dip tastes amazing on a sandwich or wrap the next day for lunch.  Just sayin!  Enjoy! :)

Bacon Cornbread

Disclaimer:  This post is not for anyone sticking to their New Year's diet

It's funny, there are certain dishes that only I make, and certain dishes only my husband makes.  It's like we have an established unspoken rule.  For instance, I don't touch a steak, and he doesn't go near salmon.  One of Chris' specialties is his chilli.  It is soooooo good, he doesn't stick to a recipe each time, it's more about what we have on hand.  On Sunday, we woke up took the puppy for a long walk, and then Chris started prepping lots of ingredients and got a pot of chilli on the stove.  This time he used a little bit of leftover coffee and also added some Abita Turbo Dog (a dark brown ale), two surprisingly excellent flavors that might of made this chili his best batch yet.

As he was busy tending to the chili while watching some football, I got the urge to add my own touch to our Sunday dinner.  Other than topping your chilli with lots (and lots) of cheddar cheese, what else goes best with it?  Cornbread!  Then, I thought what makes ordinary cornbread amazing cornbread... bacon.  Yummmmmmm.  I was also inspired to make this after having some amazing bacon skillet cornbread in Charleston's Husk Restaurant.  Husk was voted Bon Appetit's number one new restaurant in 2011, and it was simply one of the most amazing meals ever.  This is my version of their to-die-for bacon cornbread (pictured below in Charleston, SC).  


My cornbread is moist and fluffy, yet still holds together after you cut into it.  I added a little bit of honey into the batter for a touch of sweetness. The secret to this cornbread is to whisk the bacon drippings into your wet ingredients.  It makes a huge difference and you'll start to ponder what else you can whisk bacon drippings into....

Ingredients

1/2 lb bacon
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk (I used non-fat b/c that's what we had on hand)
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup frozen yellow corn
5 tbsp bacon drippings

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a cast iron skillet, cook bacon and crumble into small pieces.  Set aside.  Pour most of the bacon drippings into a separate bowl leaving enough fat so it still coats the pan. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and frozen corn.  In another mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, honey and egg.  Add 5 tablespoons of the bacon drippings, whisk together.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients into one bowel.  Pour into the skillet and top with cooked bacon pieces.  Bake for 30 minutes until you can cleanly stick with a toothpick.  Enjoy with a bowl of chili for dinner or on its own with some honey butter for breakfast!