Garlic Parmesan pull apart bread

I kept seeing all these post about pull apart bread on Pinterest (damn you, Pinterest) so last night I finally gave in and tried one out since I was making chicken soup for dinner. Here is a recipe for Garlic Parmesan pull apart bread:  http://smells-like-home.com/2012/09/garlic-parmesan-pull-apart-bread/

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread
source: adapted from Pastry Affair

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) instant yeast
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tbsp (1/4 cup) salted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes or 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

The dough after the first proof

Butter, parsley, seasoning, and mmmm garlic!

1. In the bowl of the stand mixer, stir together the yeast and water. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes until yeast is somewhat dissolved. Mix in the olive oil, salt, and flour. Using the dough hook, knead the dough for 5 minutes, or until elastic. (Alternatively, you can mix the ingredients in a large bowl then knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is elastic, 7-10 minutes.) Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.   

 2. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, parsley, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic. Set aside.

 
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ready to go in the oven

4. Gently push the air out of the dough. Tear off a golf ball-size piece of dough, roll in the butter mixture, and place in the bottom of a Bundt pan. Repeat this process until you have one layer of dough balls. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Continue layering the dough balls and cheese until you have 3 layers. (Note: We ended up with only 2 layers but the bread still turned out fine.) Cover the pan with a clean towel or plastic wrap and allow the dough to double in size, 20-30 minutes.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes then invert the pan onto a large serving plate and let the bread fall out of the pan.  Serve hot.

the end result

My notes: Since you have to proof it twice, it actually took a lot longer than I thought it would. But with my Kitchenaid mixer, this recipe was a snap. And fresh out of the oven? Heaven and loveliness. I modified the recipe by putting FOUR (yes, count them FOUR) cloves of garlic because the husband is Romanian and a bigger garlic lover than I (who would have thought it possible, but it is). I also used Trader Joe's romano parmesan instead of fresh because I was too lazy to actually grind it up in the food processor. I'm not sure if I had "Italian seasoning" (it's an Italian spice mix), so for good measure, I threw in a few dashes of Johnny's Garlic spread and seasoning. I use that stuff on EVERYTHING (goes great with roasted potatoes) and available at Costco in of course, Costco-size.

I don't own a bundt pan so I used my tube pan instead. Hopefully I didn't ruin it by spraying Pam all over it. It didn't make three layers of dough, just one and a few balls in the second layer. Still took about 20 minutes to bake.

The end result was a little salty but tasty! It was fun pulling it apart and dipping it into our soup. To store, I put in a plastic bag and knotted the top to seal the air out. Had another piece today and it's still soft and lovely and yes, very garlicky. Will make this again but will consider using another pan instead of the tube pan. Maybe a loaf pan instead?

Mac N' Cheese

My friend Janine is a vegetarian and the other day came into work complimenting a recipe she had tried the night before. It's Rachael Ray's mac n' cheese with roasted parsnips and cauliflower. She said it was easy to make and soooo delicious.

Having a toddler, mac n' cheese was a surefire win, right? (then again, my kid eats anything so that's not much to go by). Without reading the recipe, I bought a parsnip before I headed home.

It took me a few days before I finally had a night to try the recipe and by this time Mommy-brain had kicked in and I was convinced it was a risotto recipe. *sigh*. Anyway, I googled the recipe and tried it out. Turns out I should have bought TWO large parsnips (not one) but it did still turn out quite well. I had also run out of my regular extra virgin olive oil so I used less than what was called for (I only had super good extra virgin olive oil that I use for salads).  Also, instead of roasting the garlic with the oil (to make garlic oil), I just wrapped it in foil and tossed it in the oven along with the cauliflower.

The end result? 8 out of 10. I saw Nica sneak at least three bowls and Ariana finished off her plate too. Would be great for a children's party!

Here's the website link: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4566

And here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, halved
• About 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Fontina cheese or Gruyère cheese
• 1 pound regular or whole wheat ziti or Italian-style, straight-cut macaroni

Serves 4-6

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

In a small pot, combine the garlic and EVOO; heat over a low flame and gently cook until the garlic is light golden in color and very fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves and reserve.

Pile the cauliflower on a baking sheet and dress with the lemon juice, about 3-4 tablespoons of the garlic-infused oil and the thyme, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread the florets out in a single layer. Roast to brown at the edges and until tender, 20-25 minutes. Cover with the Parmigiano Reggiano and roast for 5 minutes more. Turn the oven off.

Meanwhile, boil the parsnips in salted water to tender, 10-15 minutes. Puree in a food processor with the garlic cloves.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

In a saucepot, combine the remaining garlic oil and butter over medium heat. When the butter foams, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute; add the stock and milk and thicken. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg; combine the sauce with the parsnip puree and melt in the cheese.

Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Arrange in a serving dish topped with crispy cauliflower florets on top.

This is one of many "Yum-o!" recipes – it's good and good for you. To find out more about Yum-o!, Rachael's nonprofit organization, visit
www.yum-o.org.

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars

Well Sandy has done it to me again. She has introduced me to a new food that I can't get enough of! We went for coffee the other day at Starbucks and she convinced me (didn't take very much, mind you) to buy a Cranberry Bliss bar.

OMG, it was DIVINE. I meant to share it but ended up eating the whole thing.

I found this website that has the "secret recipes" to everything. Here is the one for Starbucks' cranberry bliss bar:

Cake
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries
4 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks

Frosting
4-ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening



1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Make cake by beating the butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder until smooth. Mix the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks into the batter by hand. Pour the batter into a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top. Allow the cake to cool.

3. Make the frosting by combining the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

4. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

5. Make the drizzled icing by whisking together powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Drizzle this icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion with a squirt bottle or fill a small plastic storage bag with the icing and cut off the tip of one corner.

6. Cover the cake and let it chill out in the fridge for a couple hours, then slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times, making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.

Makes 16 bars.

I have no idea where to buy crystallized ginger. I know Trader Joes sells it but the last couple of times I've gone down, they've been out of stock. One of the staff told me there was an issue with their packaging. d'oh!! I can't WAIT to try this recipe out.

Update December 20, 2011: 
I made this after finding crystallized ginger at my local Save-On-Foods. It wasn't bad but it was so SWEET! It seriously hurt my tooth when I ate it. Nica kept sneaking into the fridge to eat it. I meant to take some into work but by the time I went to plate it, it was half gone. *sigh* I did let a couple girls at work try some since I took one piece in as an after-lunch snack and they said it was really good. Not sure if they were just saying that though.

Things to remember for the next time I make this: 
* I cut a hole much too large when I was covering it with the drizzled icing. I think I could have skipped that part of the bar entirely and it would have been fine. 
* The entire bar was WAY too sweet. Next time, I will definitely cut back on the sugar. 
* Don't put crystallized ginger in the mini food processor. The ginger gets caught in the blades and just makes it a gooey mess. I'm guessing it would be ditto for the cranberries although I smartened up and chopped them with a french knife after the ginger fiasco.
* line the baking pan with parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to the sides.

Interestingly, it seemed to taste a lot better after a few days in the fridge and then eaten at room temp.

Strawberry Cream Cheese

Trader Joe's is such a fun place to try new things. On my last trip, I picked up some Strawberry Cream Cheese Spread (made from RBST-free milk). I'm not sure what was wrong with me that day. I probably bought around 5 different cheeses and I'm lactose intolerant. On top of all that, I always find myself buying sweet cream cheeses (like the strawberry one up above) when really, I'm a savory fan!

Anyway, I was not disappointed. Tried this cream cheese on some toast this morning and I was impressed! It reminded me of the double whipped cream cheese that you can get down in San Francisco. It was light and easy to spread. Plus, if you can see in the picture, there are actual bits of STRAWBERRY in it! Wouldn't buy it every time I go down, but it's a nice treat.
Cost: $2.49