Pita Bread

From Food Network
makes 16 pitas

Ingredients

* 1 teaspoon dry yeast
* 2 1/2 cups warm water (approximately 105 degrees F)
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* About 4 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

You will need a large bread bowl, a rolling pin, and unglazed quarry tiles or several baking sheets, or alternatively a castiron or other heavy skillet or griddle at least 9 inches in diameter.

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bread bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, then 1 cup white flour. Stir 100 times (one minute) in the same direction to activate the gluten in the flour. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes or as long as 2 hours.

Sprinkle salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add white flour, one cup at a time. When the dough is too stiff to stir, turn it out onto a lightly floured bread board and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a lightly oiled bread bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least double in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours. Gently punch down. Dough can be made ahead to this point and then stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 5 days or less.

If at this time you want to save the dough in the refrigerator for baking later, simply wrap it in a plastic bag that is at least three times the size of the dough, pull the bag together, and secure it just at the opening of the bag. This will give the dough a chance to expand when it is in the refrigerator (which it will do). From day to day, simply cut off the amount of dough you need and keep the rest in the refrigerator, for up to one week. The dough will smell slightly fermented after a few days, but this simply improves the taste of the bread. Dough should be brought to room temperature before baking.

This amount of dough will make approximately 16 pitas if rolled out into circles approximately 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4-inch thick. You can also of course make smaller breads. Size and shape all depend on you, but for breads of this dimension the following baking tips apply:

Place unglazed quarry tiles, or a large baking stone or two baking sheets, on a rack in the bottom third of your oven, leaving a one inch gap all around to allow air to circulate. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide dough in half, then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide dough into eight equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter. You may wish to roll out all eight before starting to bake. Cover rolled out breads, but do not stack.

Bake 2 at a time (or more if your oven is larger) directly on quarry tiles or baking sheets. Bake each bread for 3 or 4 minutes, until the bread has gone into a full "balloon" or until it is starting to turn lightly golden, whichever happens first. If there are seams or dry bits of dough - or for a variety of other reasons - your bread may not go into a full "balloon". Don't worry, it will still taste great. The more you bake pitas the more you will become familiar with all the little tricks and pitfalls, and your breads will more consistently "balloon." But even then, if you're like us, it won't always "balloon" fully and you won't mind because the taste will still be wonderful. When baked, remove, place on a rack for about five minutes to let cool slightly, then wrap breads in a large kitchen towel (this will keep the breads soft). When first half of the dough has been rolled out and baked, repeat for rest of dough, or store in refrigerator for later use, as described above. You can also divide the dough into more, smaller pieces if you wish, to give you smaller breads.

Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic

From Kraft Food & Family magazine Spring 2009 pg 29

Prep 5 minutes
Total: 20 minutes

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves
20 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup Caesar dressing
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat a large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook 4 minutes,turning chicken after 2 minutes.

Stir in broth and dressing;cover with lid. Cook chicken 4 minutes on each side or until done (165 degrees)

Sprinkle with Parmesan. Remove from heat. Let stand covered 1 minute.

Serving suggestion: roasted vegetables

Midnight Brownies

From Dr. Oz show 1-6-10


Brownies

Ingredients

1, 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup agave syrup

½ cup self-rising flour

½ cup egg whites

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

In a food processor, mix all brownie ingredients (except chips) together. Chop on high, until smooth. Clean off sides and blend for another 20 seconds. Add the chips in and stir well. Spread into the 8x8 baking dish. Cook for 20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for about 1 hour in dish at room temperature.

Frosting

Ingredients

6 oz fat-free cream cheese

¼ cup agave syrup

2 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp semisweet mini chocolate chips, melted.



Directions

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly spray a 8x8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. With a whisk attachment on an electric beater and blend all ingredients until light and fluffy. Spread evenly over the top of the cooled brownies. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the 2 tbsp of chips with a 2 second spray of nonstick cooking oil. Using a spoon, swirl the chocolate on top. Allow it to set in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy. Don't forget to have seconds!

Artisan Bread

From Well Tell Me

So.............here is the Artisan bread we have been using.
In a bowl, bucket,whatever:
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
6 1/2 cups flour (all purpose is fine but you can play with this and add fresh ground and even herbs etc.)
3 cups warm water
You stir this together until it is all moist and there are no dry clumps.
Let it sit on the counter for 2 hours. It is really moist!
To form----------sprinkle with flour and take a piece of dough the size of a grapefruit----------sprinkle your hands and the dough with flour to prevent sticking. (The hardest thing about this is that I wanted to work the flour into the dough so it wouldn't be sticky. You really don't need to, just sprinkle flour on and form the dough into a round bun shape.)
Put your dough on a cookie sheet or pizza peel that is liberally coated with course corn meal or course flour. Let it raise for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the loaf with a light dusting of flour and slash a couple of times.
About 20 minutes into the raising time pre heat your oven to 450 degrees. If you use a baking stone it should be put in the oven to pre-heat. Also place a pan in the over to hold water.
After the 40 minutes slide the dough unto the heated stone in the oven and put 2 cups of water into the pan that is in the over. This steams the bread and causes a hard crust. Bake about 30 minutes. I guarentee the whole loaf will be gone in no time at all!
This recipe make 4 med. round loaves. The rest of the dough can be put in the fridge for up to 10 days. When you want fresh bread take out a chunk, form and let raise 40-90 minutes (because the dough is cold) and bake like above. HTH Sorry this is so long.