Irish Soda Bread

 Another great bread from Baking with Julia and a perfect one for St. Patrick's Day, Irish Soda Bread! Who knew it would be so easy? Honestly, this takes about 8 minutes to put together and 50 minutes to bake and about 5 minutes to eat! OK, I'm kidding it didn't take 5 minutes to eat but it's so tasty that I'm sure it can be done. The buttermilk adds a great amount of sweetness. 

I decided to bake it plain (you can add dried fruit or even make it savory with herbs) and it was simply delicious! I love a nice easy and delicious bread! I'll be making this again!

Thanks to Cathy of My Culinary Mission  & Carla of Chocolate Moosey for hosting this week! You can find this week's recipe by visiting their blogs!

White Loaves

I had a short hiatus from my blog but I'm happy to report, I'm back! The end of 2011 was hectic to say the least. I can't believe this is my first post of 2012. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and your New Year is off to a great start. Even though I've been absent on the blog, I haven't been completely absent in the kitchen. I enjoy blogging but for whatever reason it's always put on the back burner. I decided for 2012 to join an online baking group. This group has been around for a while, I know because I've drooled over the computer every Tuesday for the last couple of years. Tuesday's with Dorie is an online baking group which tackles recipes from one cookbook. The group recently finished From Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (hence the name of the group). Now they're tackling Baking with Julia and I'm happy to be a member. I'm really excited and think this is going to be a fun journey. I know I'm going to learn a ton along the way.

So let's get this started...we made white loaves for our first week. This was my first time making white loaves (without using a bread maker that is).  This was a pretty simple recipe the hardest part was 1. waiting for the dough to rise & 2. kneading the dough by hand after my KitchenAid mixer got a bit overheated (anyone else have that trouble?). I'm not going to lie...it was a pretty good workout and I'm happy to report my KitchenAid is just fine. Thank goodness! 

The bread was so very tasty! It was good warm with some butter. It was good the next morning as toast. AND it was a great bread to use for grilled cheese. What did everyone else do with their bread? 

The organizers of Tuesday's with Dorie, Jules & Laurie, selected this week's recipe. I think it was a great pick for our first post. I'm excited to continue the journey! 

If you're interested in the recipe, hop on over to Jules blog.

Roasted Red Pepper Bruschetta

 

I love a crunch which is one of the main reasons why I love bruschetta. There are so many types of bruschetta that you can make. Really you can put any thing on top of grilled bread and call it bruschetta, right? I love roasted red peppers! So I decided to make a roasted red pepper bruschetta on New Year's Eve. So simple! You and your guests will eat it right up!! 

Roasted Red Pepper Bruschetta with a Balsamic Reduction
by: Lots to Ladle


Ingredients:
1 loaf french bread, sliced into 1 1/2" pieces
1 clove of garlic
6 tablespoons of olive oil2 red peppers
1/2 tsp of thyme
1/4 tsp roasted red pepper flakes 
salt & pepper
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar


Preheat oven to 375. Cut peppers in large chunks. Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, thyme, red pepper flakes. Spread peppers on baking sheet and roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Chop peppers once roasted.


Meanwhile, brush olive oil on both sides of bread slices. Toast on heated grill pan, about 3 minutes per side. Rub each side with garlic clove.

Heat balsamic vinegar in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until thicken and reduced by half. 

Place chopped peppers on toasted bread drizzle with balsamic reduction.