Tuesday, December 30, 2008

English Muffin Bread

Prep Time: 13 minutes
Rise Time: 45-60 minutes
Bake Time: 22 minutes


Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baker's Banter Blog

I've been wanting to try real English Muffins for a while now, but haven't done it yet. Then I saw this recipe and had to try it since it seemed to be so quick and easy. It was quick and easy. No kneading, and a fast rise. The only remotely hard part was getting the dough level in the pan.

I do really like this, but I will try regular english muffins before I do this again. The bread is very good toasted with butter or peanut butter. I don't think it is great untoasted (just like an english muffin wouldn't be great.) This is nice recipe to have on hand.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Lasagna Carnivale

lasagna carnivale
Prep Time: 65 minutes
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes
Rest Time: 5 minutes
Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Best International Recipe

This recipe calls for making tiny meatballs (with a scant teaspoon of meat.) The first time I made this, I made the meatballs a little too big, which made the structure of the lasagna a little bit of a problem. I also felt like there wasn't enough tomato sauce. Overall, though, I loved it, so I decided to make this again for Christmas Eve dinner with my family.

I made one with beef and one with Turkey. I also made more sauce (50% more.) I made the meatballs a little smaller, althouth probably still a tiny bit bigger than a teaspoon. No doubt, it is tedious to roll the meatballs, but this is a great dish to make ahead, so it was done the day before the dinner, when I was less stressed. (I had some help with this, thankfully.)

The beef version was better than the turkey. The first time I did this, I used turkey and liked it, but this time I used Trader Joe's Turkey, instead of Jenni-O. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't love the flavor of the TJ turkey in this. I had added some oregano and red pepper to the turkey the first time, and forgot that this time, so maybe that was my problem.

In the end, this is a keeper recipe for me, since lasagna can be made ahead of time, and makes great leftovers.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Chocolate Snowcaps

snowcaps
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 45 minutes
Roll Time:10-15 minutes
Bake Time: 12-14 minutes per sheet

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (December 2003)

I like these cookies, but they are messy to eat sometimes. There is a strong chocolate flavor with both cocoa and melted chocolate. These are supposed to be Espresso Snowcaps, but I cut the espresso powder by 75% so I use just enough to enhance the chocolate flavor, but not taste like it.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Beer Batter Cheese Bread

beer bread
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cook Time: 45-50 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (December 2007)

Quick breads are supposed to be quick, and this one is super-quick. The only effort you have to put in is dicing and shredding the cheese and melting the butter. I only used 2 T of butter (instead of 4) and I think that was fine, since you just pour it on top. It still tasted buttery.

I had two minor problems. 1) The crust was hard to cut and 2) it was hard to get out of the pan, because there was a bit of cheese on the bottom, and it ripped a little. Also, sometimes I feel like quick breads baked in my larger 9x5 pans don't cook perfectly through the middle of the pan. For that reason, I think that I might prefer to stick with muffins. The Savory Cheese Muffins I tried last year might be a better option in the future. (I did enjoy just pouring in an old bottle of beer in here though, since I had some to use up.)