Whole Wheat Pita Bread

I love this bread for making paninis, and it's also awesome with hummus!

3 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour (or a combination of all-purpose flour, pastry wheat flour, etc)
2 tsp. salt (I use kosher)
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 Tbps. Olive oil, plus some for greasing bowl
Approx. 2 Cups water


**The recipe I originally used comes from (surprise, surprise) Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. He uses a food processor to make the dough; which I bet is quicker, but I don't have one big enough to 'do' bread dough so I just mix it and knead it by hand and give it ample time to sit. (I usually make the dough the night before -- it takes less than 15 minutes -- and then just let it sit covered overnight to cook the next morning.) But I'm sure you could get away with letting it sit for a few hours and then baking. **

• Add dry ingredients in large bowl and give a rough mix with a large serving fork.
• Mix in olive oil.
• Begin to add water a few tablespoons at a time until dough is "a well defined, barely sticky. easy-to-handle ball." (I am using my hands to mix and knead the dough still in the bowl at this point. If you've added too much water, just add a tablespoon or two of flour until you get the right consistency.)
• Lightly oil around the outsides and bottom of your bowl and cover the bowl. (Obviously the dough round is inside.)
• Let rise until the dough ball has about doubled in size. (Like I said, I just let it sit overnight, but with instant yeast, it probably only takes a couple of hours.)
  
• Deflate and divide into 6 - 12 pieces.
  

Enter Bittman's Fabulous instructions (taken pretty much word for word) noted in italics.

Keep all pieces lightly floured and covered. Preheat oven to 500 F. If you have baking stones, use them; if you so not, place a baking sheet on each oven rack.

On a lightly floured surface, flatten each piece into a disk, then roll it out to a 6- to 8-inch circle.

(Sometimes my 'rounds' are more of a lose interpretation of the word.)

Lightly flour each circle as you finish it, and cover it; do not stack.

When the oven is preheated, place as many of the pita rounds as will comfortably fit on your stones or baking sheets (start with the rounds you rolled out first.) In 2 to 3 minutes, the dough will puff up; remove it form the oven and repeat the process. If the breads do not puff up, they will still be fine, but next time try to make sure that there are no creases or seams in the dough after rolling it out.

Sometimes they don't puff up much.

And sometimes they puff up a lot, but just on one side. :)

I do prefer to use a pizza stone and I like the size of using 8 pieces from the dough (as opposed to 6 or 12). Enjoy!

Easy Garlic Hummus

Yet another adaptation from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Time: About 20 minutes with pre-cooked/canned garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)

2 Cups chickpeas (if you're cooking them instead of using canned, make sure they're well-cooked)
1/2 Cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/4 Cup olive oil (Bittman says you can also use the sesame oil from the top of the tahini, but I swear olive oil is easier) plus some to drizzle for garnish
1 clove garlic, peeled or to taste (roasted would be awesome but I still haven't tried it that way)
Salt & Fresh ground pepper to taste
Ground cumin to taste (1 Tbs. is a good starting point) plus some for sprinkling as garnish
Juice of 2 lemons or to taste (Bittman's recipe just calls for 1, but I use more)
About 1/2 Cup of water

Place everything except water in food processor.
Process.
Add water as needed for the smoothness desired.

Taste and add more garlic, salt, cumin, etc as needed (maybe lemon, but with 2 you should be covered!)

Serve with vegetables, crackers or pita bread.

Sesame Soy Cream Cheese App

Sesame Soy Cream Cheese App

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese
1/2 - 1 cup of soy sauce
1-2 T roasted sesame seeds
crackers

Pour sesame seeds on a plate. Unwrap the cream cheese and roll in sesame seeds. Place the block of cream cheese (covered in seeds) in a baking dish. Pour soy sauce over the cheese. Let this soak for a few hours in the fridge.

Bake the cheese in this dish at 200 for 30 or so minutes. Carefully, or this is optional, transfer the cheese to a new dish.

Serve with crackers, pears, or apples.

ENJOY!

Chicken Crescent Roll-ups

Chicken Crescent Roll-ups

4 chicken breasts, cooked, diced
8 oz. cream cheese
4 T butter, melted
2 T milk
2 pkgs Crescent rolls
Onion Powder
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Bread Crumbs

Mix together, chicken, cream cheese, 2 T butter, milk, onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper together. Place a spoonful onto the triangle cresent. Roll up the crescent and dip in 2 T butter and bread crumbs to coat. Bake at 400* for 20 mins.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

1 package of fudge cake mix
2 3/4 oz instant chocolate pudding
6oz chocolate chips
8oz sour cream 1/2 C butter
4 eggs
3/4 C water

Combine butter and sour cream until soft and blended. Add all other ingredients except chocolate chips and blend well. Stir in chocolate chips. Grease and flour an angel food cake pan and bake at 350 for one hour.

Frosting

1 C milk
1/3 C flour
dash of salt
1 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1/4 C Crisco

Cook first three ingredients over low heat, stirring constantly until thick. Cool in fridge until cold. Have next three ingredients at room temp and then beat until creamy. Combine both mixtures, add 1 tsp. vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

• 
  
• 1/4  cup  red wine vinegar
• 1-2  tablespoons  olive oil 
• 2  tablespoon  Dijon mustard
• 2  tablespoon  honey
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground pepper

Whisk ingredients together and pour on your favorite salad.

Berries on a Cloud

• 
  
• CRUST:
• 6 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 
  
• FILLING:
• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powder sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pint whipping cream
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 
  
• TOPPING:
• 1 (21 ounce) can raspberry or cherry pie filling
• 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form (do not underbeat- could take up to 15 minutes). Spread evenly in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 275 degrees F for 1 hour; turn off oven (do not open door). Let cool in oven overnight or at least 12 hours.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Add about 1/2 cup whipping cream and continue to mix until creamy smooth.  Slowly add the remaining whipping cream and mix until thickened.  Spread filling over meringue. Chill for 4 hours. Cut into 16 pieces. Combine topping ingredients; spoon topping over each serving.

WHole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Instead of reposting, I am linking to the recipe I used. (Is that cheating?)
It's just a click away....

Heavenly Homemakers Whole Wheat Rolls

Enjoy!

Favorite Whole Wheat Bread

1/2 cup water (hot from tap)

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 Tbs. yeast

2 eggs

3 Tbs. lemon juice

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup olive oil

3 cups water (hot from tap)

12 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbs. salt

3 to 4 Tbs. dough enhancer

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/3 cup whole flaxseed

3/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup cracked wheat

1. Put the ½ cup water and the applesauce in a bowl with the yeast.

2. If you need to grind your wheat, now is the time to do it.

3. In a large bowl, beat your eggs. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, honey, molasses, and 1 cup of hot water together.

4. Measure 10 cups of flour into another bowl. Add salt, dough enhancer, flaxseed, oatmeal, chia seeds, and cracked wheat. Mix together.

5. Add the last 2 cups of hot water to the wet ingredients. Add the yeast mixture. Mix well, then start adding the dry ingredients, one spoonful at a time, adding and mixing it until the dough starts to climb the beaters.

6. Pour the rest of the flour mixture in and mix it with a spoon.

7. Flour the surface where you will be kneading the dough. Drop the dough onto the flour and knead for 7-10 minutes, adding extra flour as you need to keep it from sticking.

8. Grease your original dough bowl. Place your dough ball back in the bowl. Grease the top of the dough, also.

9. Place a clean cloth on the bowl and let in rise for about an hour. Punch it down and form your 4 loaves. Cover, and allow these loaves to rise for about 15-30 minutes, depending on how light you like your bread.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, depending on your oven.

11. Pull out of oven and let cool.

Note: This recipe really is for some of the best bread I have ever eaten- if you do it right. When I made this for Recipe Night, I made two loaves out of the dough that should have made 4 loaves. I also added too much flour so when I was kneading the bread, stop adding flour when the dough is barely sticking to your hands. However, if you love your bread super duper over-the-top dense, then I guess these mistakes/techniques are for you (Becky).

This recipe is

-By Lee Ann Crockett-