Breads

Garlic Herb Braid

(Photo Credit: Taste of Home)

Mmhmmm...this bread is boy-howdy good. The recipe is, again, from my dearly loved Simple & Delicious magazine. love, love, love it! The combination of flavors is savory and they blend so well together. I strongly recommend this bread to you - even if you are somewhat skeptical of herbs in bread. I used to be but I have been whole-heartedly converted. :) Now, if you want a meal pairing, I suggest the creamy tomato soup with this garlic herb braid. Now that is a winner. Truly. Plus, this bread looks so impressive anyway. Even if it didn't taste good, you could make it just as a centerpiece. (ha! As if I ever spend time on centerpieces anyway. Another skill for another day. One of those days far off in the future. As in faaaaaaar off.) Instead of honing your centerpiece skills, why not try this bread? Plan it for one of your meals this weekend. You'll be glad you did. :)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) quick-rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1-3/4 teaspoons dill weed
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 3/4 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

• In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and seasonings. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and cubed butter to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add egg; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Divide dough into thirds. Shape each into a 15-in. rope. Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes.
• Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool. Eat half the loaf. Prepare to be amazed by the fabulous taste. Begin to formulate an excuse to your husband for why there's only 1/2 a loaf of bread left. Good luck with that one. :)

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Herb Bubble Bread

(Photo Credit: Taste of Home)

I made this herb bread the same night I made Butternut Soup. Let's just say its a good idea I decided to make this bread. Soup = not so hot. Bread = one of the best things ever. ;) Seriously, this bread is so good! I found the recipe in my Simple & Delicious magazine and followed it except for using the frozen french bread dough. I decided to make my own bread (1/2 white; 1/2 wheat) and it turned out marvelous-ly. The only problem was I used too much salt. My hubby liked it just the way it was, but next time I will follow the recipe and only add as much salt as it says to add. This recipe is from Jen (only I halved it). She even has a video to show you how easy it is. :) Feel free to use your own bread recipe if you have a fav. Otherwise, here's the recipe:

• 
  
  Ingredients
  1 Tbsp (or 1 package) active dry yeast
  1 1/4 cups warm (105-115 degrees) water
  2 tsp salt
  2 tsp olive oil
  3 1/2 cups flour (I used 1/2 white & 1/2 wheat)
  
  
  Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add rest of ingredients and mix until it looks like a big ball of dough. Dump the dough on a floured surface and knead for a few minutes. (If you don't know how to knead, all I do is basically fold the dough over on itself while making sure to get the flour incorporated all throughout the dough. If the ball gets sticky, add more flour to your kneading surface.) Place dough in greased bowl and turn once to cover. At this stage, I always have my oven warm, put a wet towel over my bowl of dough, and put the bowl of dough in the oven. Keep the dough in there to rise until its doubled - or about an hour.
  
  
  Fast forward 1 hour. Take the lovely dough out. Sprinkle more flour on your kneading surface and knead the bread until the little bubbles are gone. :) Divide your dough into 16 balls.
  
  
  Ingredients for the herb part
  1/4 cup butter, melted (I used oil instead)
  2 tsp minced garlic
  1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  3/4 tsp parsley
  1/8 tsp each basil, rosemary, thyme
  1/4 tsp dill weed
  
  
  Mix oil and garlic in Bowl One. Mix cheese & herbs in Bowl Two. Dip each ball in Bowl One, then in Bowl Two. Place each ball in greased loaf pan. Let rise for an hour. Bake at 350 for 22-26 minutes. The directions say to put a piece of foil lightly on top if it gets brown too quickly. I can never tell when I'm baking with wheat flour and I hate it when I burn things, so I put a piece of foil on top after about 10 minutes of baking time, just to be sure... :) Cool for a few minutes. Serve warm with butter.
  
  
  Mmmmmmmm... let your mouth water! Its that good! Now, go try it for dinner tonight, and come back and let me know your rating. :)