Fresh Rosemary Bread

I love bread. There is something so wonderful and comforting about a firm crust and a soft, chewy interior, especially fresh out of the oven. And the smell! If they made a perfume called "French Bread", you can bet I'd be dabbling that behind my ears every morning.

And it's surprisingly easy to make. My advice for a good loaf of bread? Patience and a warm kitchen. Since our little guest house has no insulation, it gets really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter. So cold, that during the winter months my past bread attempts have fallen flat (get it?)

So I have a new trick. I've taken to leaving my oven on while I'm waiting for the loaf to rise. Just 200 degrees with the covered dough on the stove top where it's the warmest.

So here you go - an easy bread recipe that goes exceptionally well with pasta. Yum!


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon honey
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. In your standing mixer with the dough hook mix the flours, salt, yeast and rosemary
2. In a separate bowl mix the warm water, honey and olive oil
3. Add to dry ingredients in the mixer. Combine on medium speed until everything comes together
4. Let rest covered with saran wrap in the mixer for 15 minutes
5. Knead on medium speed until dough forms
6. Gently mold dough into a smooth ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl
7. Cover and let rise for one hour
8. Shape your dough: Flatten the dough into a circle by pressing your fingers into it and dimpling it. Once flattened, bring the edges into the center of the dough. Lift the dough by those edges and shape it into a smooth round roll, placing the seams down.
9. Preheat oven to 500 degrees - place baking stone or upside down baking sheet in the center rack
   
10. Place dough on a rimless baking sheet or upside down baking sheet on the counter and cover. Let rise for one hour
11. Scour top with sharp knife
12. If you have a spray bottle, spray the loaf with water before putting it in the oven. Repeat this ever minute for the first three minutes and then let back for another eight minutes. If you don't have a spray bottle, the recipe says you can place an empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven and fill it with two cups of boiling water when you put the bread in the oven.
    
13. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. I never check internal temperatures (bad baker, bad!) but if you do - this bread is ready when the internal temperature is 200 degrees
14. Place on a wire rack to cool

Adapted from: Bakingdom (with instructions on a vegan substitute for honey. Hint: it's sugar)

Butter Brownies

There is a lot of butter in this recipe. But if you're like me and your brownie preference leans towards fudgy over cakey then butter is a necessity.

Having said that: these are RICH and therefore best enjoyed in small pieces. If you feel the need to add them to a bowl of mint chip ice cream, so be it.

Ingredients

• 10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
  
• 1 1/4 Cup Sugar
• A Dash of Cinnamon
• 3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  
• 2 Teaspoons Water
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1/3 Cup Chocolate Chips
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line a brownie pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
   
2. Mix together the sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and salt. Set aside
3. Mix together the water and vanilla. Set aside
   
4. Place the butter in a medium sized saucepan (the rest of the ingredients will be added to it, so make sure it's large enough) and melt over medium heat. Stir and watch for it to foam. It will be about 6-8 minutes before it starts to brown and smell nutty.
   
5. Once browned, remove from heat and immediately add the dry mix from step 2 and the wet mix from step 3
   
6. Cool for about 5 minutes, then add in the eggs one at a time.
7. Add flour
   
8. Add chocolate chips.
9. Bake for 20-30 minutes - start checking at 20 minutes. Toothpick should have some small crumbs on it, not be completely clean.

Adapted from: Goddess of Baking