Black Olive Bread

About 5 months ago I bought a West Bend High Rise bread machine. It just broke. Thankfully the warranty was still valid and we are going to get a replacement in a month, but now I don't know that I would recommend it to anybody. Up until the breaking though it was a great bread machine and I made many wonderful loaves with it. I took most of my recipes from the book The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger which has hundreds of bread recipes, some great and some decent but I yet have to find one I truly don't like.

The one I am going to post here is absolutely my favorite, the only warning that I want to give you though is that this bread is so good you are just going to eat too much of it too quickly! 

INGREDIENTS FOR A 2 POUND LOAF

A

1 1/3 cup of milk

1/3 cup of olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoon of honey

3 1/4 cup of bread flour

3/4 cup of rye flour

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons of gluten

3/4 teaspoons of salt

1 tablespoon of bread machine yeast

1 1/4 cup of pitted black olive pieces

PREPARATION

Place all the ingredients in the pan except the olives. 

Set the machine for the French cycle and the crust on medium.

When the machine beeps add the olives.

When the machine is done take the loaf immediately out of the pan and let it cool before eating ( if you can wait that long!)

An Italian Comfort Food: Stracciatella in Brodo

This is a very traditional Italian dish and it is ideal for a cold winter night, when you feel a little under the weather and need something to comfort you and make you feel taken care of, even if you made it yourself. The ideal would be to have a homemade chicken broth, but a good organic low-sodium broth will also work. In Italy this dish is traditionally recommended to nursing mothers as a way of increasing their milk supply, but also to infants for its easy ingestion. Although it is good also with American Parmesan cheese, I definitely prefer it with the Italian one. Whatever cheese you choose, at least take the time to freshly grate it for this recipe as it will taste a whole lot better.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups of organic low sodium chicken broth
4 eggs
4 tablespoons of freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of bread crumbs
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1 lemon ( for peeling)
salt

PREPARATION

In a large pot bring the broth to a simmer on medium heat.
In the meantime, in a bowl mix the other ingredients.
When the broth is hot enough throw the mixture in the broth whisking immeditaely to create little "flakes" of dough.
Cook for about 5 minutes and serve.

Chicken with Green Olives

I found this recipe very fresh and easy to make, but at the same time different from the usual. chicken can be very boring and bland so I welcome any creative way of serving it to make it more interesting, especially if it doesn't involve ours and ours of slow cooking or roasting. I am not usually a fan of cooking with olives, but in this recipe the slight bitterness of the olives is nicely contrasted by the freshness of the lemon peel and the sweetness of the raisins all perfectly brought together by the sweet acidity of the balsamic vinegar. This recipe is perfect accompanied by an Olive bread or a brown rice pilaf.

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts
15 pitted green olives
3 shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
1 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 lemon ( for peeling )
1/3 cup of golden raisins
salt
pepper

PREPARATION
Cut the chicken breasts into long strips about 1/2 inch thick.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
In a large pan warm up the olive oil then cook the chicken strips until browned and cooked through ( about 3-4 minutes per side).
Put the chicken on a platter covered with tinfoil.
In the same pan add the shallots and garlic and cook until the shallots are translucent and soft, about 8 minutes  (time varies).
Add the olive and stir until warm for about 1 minute, then turn off the heat.
Add the raisins, the vinegar and the lemon peel.
Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Super Easy Chocolate Walnut Brownies

A lot of the people I know make brownies from some box mix. Well, I just found this recipe and decided to try it and I have to say it is as easy as making a recipe from a box, plus the ingredients are not that hard to find in your pantry. I recommend anyone who has made boxed brownies before to try this one and tell me if they don't taste a lot better with the same amount of effort!

INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/4 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of bittersweet cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of chopped walnuts

PREPARATION

Turn on oven at 325.
Put foil inside an 8x8x2 inches pan leaving 2 extra inches on the sides.
Butter the foil or use non-stick spray if you have it.
Melt the butter in a pot on the stove until is bubbly and slightly browned. Remove from heat.
Add the sugar, the cocoa powder, the water, the vanilla extract and the salt while stirring.
Let cool 5 minutes.
Add the eggs while stirring vigorously then add the flour and stir 60 times.
Add the walnuts and mix.
Pour the mix in the pan.
Cook for 25 minutes.
Take out of the oven and let cool off. Then remove the foil from the pan and cut into 16 squares.

(This recipe was adapted by the February 2011 issue of Bonappetit Magazine)

Curried Lentil Soup

Today I was looking for a vegetarian recipe, because we have been eating a substantial amount of meat in the last few days, so I decided to go through my old issues of Bonappetit. In the December 2010 issue I found a wonderful recipe for a Curried Lentil Soup, but, as it often happens with Bonappetit, I didn't have all the ingredients they called for and had to adapt it a little bit with what I already had in the pantry. The result was simply amazing! I think this is by far the best lentil soup I have ever had. It has an Asian flavor to it, thanks to the use of curry that is beautifully counterbalanced by the fresh notes of the lemon juice. It is creamy and rich without being too hearty or heavy and with a limited amount of fat added to it. It can easily become a vegan recipe by substituting the butter or even completely eliminating it. It would be great accompanied by warmed triangles of pita bread or even better with that wonderful Indian bread that is called naan.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

extra virgin olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons of curry powder

1 cup of dry lentils

4 and 1/4 cups of water

1 can of  beans ( I have used pinto beans, but cannellini or garbanzo beans would work too), drained and rinsed

the juice of 1 lemon

1/4 stick of butter ( optional )

PREPARATION

Cook the onion and the carrot in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until the onion is translucent.

Add half of the garlic and cook the vegetables until soft.

Add the curry powder and stir until well seasoned.

Add the lentils and the water.

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until the water is mostly gone and the lentils are cooked, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.

In the meantime, puree the beans with the lemon, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the rest of the garlic, the lemon juice and the water.

When the lentils are cooked add the pureed beans and the butter to the soup, mix well.

Serve with a garnish of green onion finely chopped (optional).

To see the original Bonappetit recipe go to

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Curried-Lentil-Soup-362489