Olive Cheese Bread

This is a result of a Dad not coming home for dinner. My husband was out of town and I wanted something cheesy, and bready, salty, and... just plain good. I'm easily making this to take to a party or if there is football game on.  It was goooood. I may or may not have eaten just a few pieces shy of the whole thing. 

The crust is fantastic and was found on Carlsbad Cravings

Olive Cheese Bread 

Makes 2 large pizzas 

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups luke warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for brushing onto dough

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup chopped pimento green olives

1 cup cheddar cheese

1 cup mozzarella

dried parsley

Directions

Combine yeast, water, olive oil, sugar, flour and salt into a stand mixer (can do by hand as well) until it forms a smooooth dough ball.  If the dough is too wet and not pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it becomes smooth and uniform.  

Place in a bowl and cover to rise until double in size.  about 1-2 hours

Preheat oven to 475 degrees with the pizza stone in the oven.

Punch down the dough and divide into equal balls. Cover with a towel and rise another 15 minutes

Roll out one dough ball into a rectangle on top of a parchment paper.

brush with olive oil, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and top with half the cheese and olives then sprinkle with some parsley.

Bake about 12 minutes 

Repeat with second dough ball.  

Yummm

Market Street Grill Clam Chowder

I am loving fall in the desert so far. Almost every year my husband asks for this clam chowder for his birthday because it's during "jacket weather", as he calls it. Well now where we live it's still "shorts weather" but the clam chowder still prevailed. 

It's nice we still get a taste of one of our favorite restaurants up north, without leaving our perfect weather. My mom got this recipe from the newspaper forever ago. I'll assume Market Street actually posted it themselves since it tastes the same (I actually prefer my family's at home version than at the restaurant). 

I made this bread to go with it and I would recommend it over and over. 

Market Street Clam Chowder 

Serves a lot, haha I use my biggest pot so probably 8 to 10. It's easily halved

Ingredients 

4-6 cups diced potatoes 

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup chopped celery 

1 cup chopped leeks (about 2 small)

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup flour

2 quarts whole milk or half and half

2 cups water

2/3 cup white wine (cheapest you can get, will keep in the fridge for a long time for other cooking, not interested in preserving the alcohol just want the flavor) 

3/4 cups chopped clams and juice, about 2 cans (I chop them even smaller)

6 bay leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

3/4 tablespoon pepper

A few splashes of Tabasco 

Directions 

In a large pot over medium heat melt the butter

Add flour and whisk, cooking the roux well stirring occasionally for maybe 10 minutes.

Pour in milk and whisk well.

Add water and wine.

Add vegetables, clams and juice, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and Tabasco. 

Stir occasionally keeping the bottom from sticking to the pan. 

Cook until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. 

Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with bread and add another splash of Tabasco to your bowl if you'd like :)

Light Brioche Hamburger Buns

These are some pretty buns.  They taste just as good as they look, if not better.  Like most breads, they are easy to put together but the time it takes for the yeast to do its magic can influence whether you decide to make them. Please, I beg you, think of these for your next burgers and take the time! They freeze well so make a double batch if you eat sandwiches that require buns often. I will forever kick myself if I don't plan ahead and make these.

The recipe was printed in the NY Times from Comme Ca restaurant in LA but I found them, of course, on Pinterest via Parsley Sage and Sweet.

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Makes 8 buns

Ingredients

1 cup luke warm water

3 tablespoons warm milk

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

3 cups bread flour (I use all-purpose)

1/3 cup all-purpose

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Black and white sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

In a small bowl combine water, milk, yeast, and sugar. Wait a few minutes to get foamy

Beat one egg and add to water and yeast.

In a large bowl (or stand mixer), combine flours and salt. Squish butter into the flour and salt with your hands, or cut it in using a pastry cutter.  

Stir/mix in the yeast mixture and egg until it forms a smooth, elastic dough ball, about 8-10 minutes

Place in a greased bowl and rise until doubled, 1-2 hours

Line baking sheet with parchment

Divide dough into 8 even balls onto the pan, cover and rise about 1-2 hours. My kitchen was warm and they were big enough after just letting the oven heat up. Although, mine takes a while.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

recipe says to put a pan of water in bottom of the oven, but i didnt and they were great without it :)

brush with egg wash, and sprinkle on poppy seeds.

Bake 15 minutes and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Jalapeño Guacamole Burger with Cilantro Ranch Mayonnaise

Sometimes you just want a burger. I normally go for the traditional toppings but I had some avacado that needed to be used and I also like to give my husband what he wants... occasionally.  

You can put the jalapeños in the guacamole to make it a bit easier but with our kids it works better for us to leave them separate. 

Jalapeño Guacamole Burgers with Cilantro Ranch Mayo

Serves 4 

Ingredients 

1 lb ground beef shaped into 4 patties and salt and peppered

4 of these hamburger buns

This guacamole omitting the cilantro, or keep it in there :)

Jalapeño, seeded 

Lettuce

Tomatoes 

Mayo

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1-2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon chili powder 

1 Tablespoon prepared Ranch Dressing

Directions 

Mix together guacamole, cover and refrigerate 

In a small dish combine mayo, cilantro, chili powder, and ranch. Cover and refrigerate.

Grill burgers over medium heat about 5 minutes per side (Topping the patties with cheddar cheese after flipping). 

Build your burger with mayo on the buns, followed by, lettuce, tomato, beef, guacamole, and then jalapeños. 

Enjoy. 

Ciabatta Bread

A few years back I searched for a good homemade, artisan like, bread that had a thin crust that my little one could chew. I was trying to make our own bread for a while and I wanted more than just soft sandwich bread. I found this recipe from thefreshloaf.com and it's one of my favorite breads. There are two variations and is suggested to make with bread flour but I've always used the first variation and just all purpose flour. I also weigh my ingredients to make sure it turns out but I have approximations to help if you don't have a scale. When I make this ciabatta bread we go through it pretty quick. Sometimes I double it and freeze all the extra loaves. It's great for sandwiches, and bread at dinner, but I mostly like it toasted with butter and jam. 

Ciabatta Bread

Makes 3, 10 inch loaves

Ingredients

50 g flour (about 3 1/4 cups)

475 g water (2 1/2 cups)

2 teaspoons yeast

15 g salt (3 teaspoons)

Directions

Mix ingredients in a stand mixer. Let sit for 10 min to let the yeast do it's magic. 

Beat the living daylights out of the dough (I use speed 6 on my Kitchen Aide) for 10-30 min. To help it move faster I start with the paddle attachment then move to the dough hook when the dough begins to climb high on the paddle. 

Mix until the dough is only sticking to the bottom of the bowl as you mix.

It will be a sticky, goopy, booger like dough ball. Haha sorry, but it is. 

Place in well oiled large bowl and let rise until it has tripled in size. About 2.5 hours. Check every hour to half hour.

Empty out on a well floured surface. *This can be a difficult dough to work with but it's very doable with well floured hands and quick hand motions. 

Cut into 3 or 4 even sections and shape them into 10 inch oblong loaves on parchment paper. (I basically cut then gently stretch)

Cover with towel and let raise another 45 minutes. I often just let it raise near the preheating oven and put them in when it's heated. My oven is slow :)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a pizza stone or upside down cookie sheet on the middle rack. 

Bake in 2 batches if needed. 

Bake 20 minutes 

Let it cool completely 

Enjoy!!!