Thursday, May 3, 2012

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

I had started making dinner yesterday and as I was kneading the dough I remembered that it would be Thursday soon. OK fine I wasn't kneading the dough. No need to be picky about it. Get it? Knead, need? OK I'm getting punchy. It is drizzling AGAIN. And the forecast says that I have no respite until maybe Sunday. Which wouldn't be so bad if it were warm outside. But when I go out I start shivering. I spend way to much time trying to get warm by drinking tea. Anyway I digress.

Since it is Thursday I'll show off dinner last night. Or at least the parts of dinner that contain things from the garden. The bread is a rosemary olive oil bread whose recipe resides on Allrecipes. Then I look at the recipe and think, "Well sort of." The one I make is slightly different, but mostly just double in size. My Kitchenaid mixer really likes about 4 cups of flour in the bread. And I really don't feel a great need to add sugar to a savory bread. I don't usually need to proof the yeast which is the only reason I could see to use sugar here. And I have to add whole wheat flour to the dough to make it a bit more healthy. And I don't use a bread machine.

  • 2 c warm water
  • T yeast
  • 3/8 c olive oil
  • T salt
  • 1/4 t oregano
  • 1/4 t basil
  • 1/4 t thyme
  • 2 T rosemary
  • 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 1/2 c bread flour
  • 2 c whole wheat flour

As you might expect this was all about the spices. They were from last year's garden. The bread was served Italian style, with a side of olive oil and black pepper. Yummy.

Then I thought about the beautiful radishes that I picked earlier in the day. They were just so lovely little red jewels. You will have to wait for Monday for their photo.

But you can see a preview of them in their salad. They are paired with some freshly picked Fun Jen (an Asian green that is perfect for salads) and romaine lettuce. It was topped with a homemade honey mustard dressing.

As you have probably all guessed, this is part of Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard hosted by Robin at the Gardener of Eden.

19 comments:

  1. I don't make bread very often - partially due to laziness and partially because when I do i tend to gorge myself on the whole loaf. Those breads wouldn't last long at all if they taste as good as they look.

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  2. Beautiful bread. As summer arrives, I get less inclined to bake breads, but that looks so yummy I feel inspired to go back some.

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  3. Boy that bread looks and sounds very tasty. I try not to make too much bread since I cannot resist it and I gain weight just looking at it.

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  4. I don't make it very often either. I've put three of the loaves in the freezer. The other is half gone and will probably disappear today. If not I'm going to turn it into breadcrumbs.

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  5. That bread sure looks great. I make bread most every week but generally a white bread for my brother's weekend lunches. A good portion of it ends up as bread crumbs or stuffing mix as we don't eat a whole loaf in a couple of days so it is stale. I have small loaf pans but they aren't big enough size to make a good sandwich slice. I wish there was a pan the width and height of a bread pan but half the length. Ever see such a thing?

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  6. OOooo! Those look wonderful! Recipe sounds good too. I love a good herb bread.

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  7. Tea help here, too. Your bread looks wonderful.

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  8. Looks like a good meal. I love baking bread, especially sourdough.

    I was looking at your seed list and wondering what the difference between Joi Choi and White Stem Bok Choy?

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    1. Well Joi Choi is a white stemmed bok choy, but the other one I was referring to was a baby bok choy that has white stems. I don't know the variety name. It was given to me.

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  9. that bread looks great. Don't you love not needed to kneed your dough!!

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  10. Oh gosh, if it weren't so late in the day, I'd be heading down for dinner LOL! Those little bread loaves are fabulous. I agree about the 4 cups of flour for the Kitchenaid.... you need to have enough volume to be able to use the dough hook. But you've inspired me to try this. Thanks for the recipe!

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  11. I got my Kitchenaid just to knead bread dough. It's seen a lot of use over the years. I love herbs in bread, and rosemary is really a favorite, so I think I need (pun intended) to make this one! Thanks for sharing.

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  12. You are harvesting radishes and fun jen already, when did you plant them in the garden? Do you direct sow your fun jen or start indoor?

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    1. They were direct sown at about March 18th. I find they grow pretty quickly as do most of the Asian greens. Tomorrow I have to go out and pick some Komatusna.

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  13. You are an insanely talented gardener and equally amazing in the kitchen!!

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  14. The salad looks very tasty! We're always looking for good bread recipes around here. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. The bread looks delicious and I need ways to use my herbs...I will have to give it a try!

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  16. I am making this right now. I'm definitely not an accomplished bread baker so I'm waiting to see how it turns out...

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