Friday, March 14, 2014

March 14, 2014

Two keeper recipes this week...potato bread and chicken & quinoa soup.  Both were really delicious!  I must admit, though, there is just nothing better then bread warm, just out of the oven.  I think we devoured the loaf in record time.

Not much time to write...gotta get back to my son's sleep-over party...not  sure why they call them "sleep-overs"... I don't know how much actually sleeping these boys will be doing?!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Potato Bread
Chicken & Quinoa Soup

Potato Bread


Ingredients
* 1 tbsp yeast
* 3 1/2 oz sugar
 * 12 oz lukewarm water or potato water (the water the potatoes were boiled in)
* 6 oz softened butter
* 2 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 large eggs
* 7 oz mashed potatoes (from about 1/2 lb potatoes)
* 27 1/2 oz AP flour

Directions
1. Beat together all of the dough ingredients, using the flat beater paddle of your stand mixer.  Beat for 4-5 minutes at medium high speed, stopping the mixer twice to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.  The mixture should start to become smooth and a little shiny.
2. Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough at medium speed for 7 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl twice.
3. Scrape the bowl into a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover.  Refrigerate the dough overnight, or up to 24 hours.
4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, divide it in half, and shape it into two 9" loaves.  Place them each in a lightly greased 9 x 5 loaf pan.
5. Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it has crowned 1" above the rim of the pan.  Since the dough is cold, this may take 2- 4 hours.
6. Bake the loaves for 25 minutes in a preheated 350 F oven.  Tent the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
7. Remove the bread from the oven and place the pans on a rack.  After 5 minutes gently turn the loaves out onto the rack to cool completely.  Store, tightly wrapped at room temperature for several days.  For longer storage, wrap well and freeze.

Notes
This makes two loaves.  When the loaves came out of the oven, I think we all ate almost a whole loaf!  There really is nothing like warm bread...yum!  And there is something about potato bread...extra soft and really delicious!  We have had potato rolls before, but never a full loaf.  We loved this so much that I am sure we will definitely make this again and again! 

Chicken and Quinoa Soup


Ingredients
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 3 celery stalks, diced
* 2 cups carrots, diced
* 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, plus more for sprinkling on bowls of soup
* 1 cup quinoa
* 1 qt chicken broth
* 3 cups water
* kosher salt and black pepper
* 2 1/2 cups shredded or diced chicken (fully cooked)
* sour cream, optional


Directions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, celery, carrots and Cajun seasoning and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are slightly soft, about 4 minutes.
2. Stir in the quinoa, then add the chicken broth, water, and salt & pepper to taste.  Partially cover and bring to a simmer,  then reduce the heat and cook until the quinoa starts to soften, about 12 minutes.  Add the chicken and cook about another 10 minutes.
3. Serve the soup.  Sprinkle each bowl with additional Cajun seasoning, and sour cream if desired.

Notes
We used Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning (reduced sodium version).  At first we had the soup without the additional sprinkle, but then we added it to our individual bowls.  What a difference!  This was a great soup, and a nice alternative to chicken noodle soup.