Category Archives: Breads

Kale and Feta Braid with pine nuts and caramelized red onion

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As evidenced by my kale chips of yesterday, I bought a ton of kale that I needed to use up, and I wanted to try something new. My mom makes this killer chicken and broccoli braid, which I will make one day, and I thinking of that tasty loaf, I decided to use up my extra kale, some of the BUCKET of feta that Gen brought home from Costco, the red onions I have on hand, and those pantry favourites, pine nuts. This was easy, delicious, and perfect as a meal. I also finally made my challah bread perfectly, so HUZZAH!

Kale & Feta Bread

Time: 1 hour of rest for the challah + 15 minutes prep of braid ingredients + 30 minutes rest of braid + 30 minutes baking= 2hrs 15 mins to deliciousness (totally worth it)

Ingredients

  • 1 large red onion
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1 1/2 cup feta
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds

Directions

  1. Make your challah dough! It has to rest for 1 hr, so prepare for this.
  2. After the challah has rested for about 45 minutes, start the rest of the braid, saves you time!
  3. Wash kale, cut out the spine, and sauté with a drizzle of oil in a pan over high heat for 5-8 minutes, until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside on paper towel to absorb excess moisture.
  4. Sauté onions with another drizzle of olive oil over high heat. Cook for 5-8 minutes until translucent and beginning to brown.  Set aside.
  5. Roll out 2/3 of the Challah dough (reserve the rest for some sugary rolls) into a rectangle, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
  6. Crumble the feta in a row down the centre of the dough. Layer the kale evenly on top of the feta, followed by the onions and pine nuts.
  7. Using a pizza cutter, cut 1 inch strips along the side of the dough. Twist the strips and pull across the filling, alternating sides. Fold the ends in and pinch to seal. Move the braid onto a parchmented cookie sheet. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.
  8. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  9. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork and brush onto the braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.
  10. Bake the braid for 20-25 minutes.

Step-by-step!

  1. Make your challah dough! It has to rest for 1 hr, so prepare for this.

    Dough ready to roll.

  2. After the challah has rested for about 45 minutes, start the rest of the braid, saves you time!
  3. Wash kale, cut out the spine, and sauté with a drizzle of oil in a pan over high heat for 5-8 minutes, until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside on paper towel to absorb excess moisture.
  4. Sauté onions with another drizzle of olive oil over high heat. Cook for 5-8 minutes until translucent and beginning to brown.  Set aside.

    Onions and kale, cooking down.

  5. Roll out 2/3 of the Challah dough (reserve the rest for some sugary rolls) into a rectangle, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
  6. Crumble the feta in a row down the centre of the dough. Layer the kale evenly on top of the feta, followed by the onions and pine nuts.

    Layered and ready for ‘braiding’

  7. Using a pizza cutter, cut 1 inch strips along the side of the dough. Twist the strips and pull across the filling, alternating sides. Fold the ends in and pinch to seal. Move the braid onto a parchmented cookie sheet. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

    Resting away.

  8. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  9. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork and brush onto the braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

    Egg-washed and poppy-seeded, ready for the oven!

  10. Bake the braid for 20-25 minutes.

So flipping tasty!

Challah (Easter Bread)- Updated with proper photos and recommendations!

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Well I am loving bread making, but I’ve only made savoury breads (no complaints about this) and wanted to try my hand at something sweeter. I thought that an Easter Bread would be perfect after seeing them everywhere. I will admit that I am a novice at yeast breads and this one did not come together as attractively as I would’ve liked it to but it was delicious and I made some outrageously delicious french toast from it, so no problems here.

UPDATE: Check out the new process photos. I finally made a pillowy-perfect loaf. I am thrilled. And check out the Kale and Feta Braid I made from this lovely dough!

I am going to try another similar bread soon and see if I can get my kneading technique down. As you can see here and in the finished loaf, the crumb was small and it was not nearly stretchy enough for my tastes. I will figure it out, it is sure fun trying things!

Easter Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 3/4 – 4.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp active dried yeast
  • 3/4 cup milk, just warmed
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbs sugar
  • 1/4  tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom (my favourite sweet spice right now)
  • 1 beaten egg, sprinkle of sugar

Directions

1. Lightly stir the yeast with the milk and a large pinch of sugar, leave until it starts to foam. Whisk the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl then stir in the cardamom.
2. Melt the butter and sugar together until the sugar has disolved (or mostly). Let cool.

Getting ready for the full combination.

3. Whisk the eggs in with the yeast mixture.
4. Add the melted butter mixture and the yeast mixture to the flour. Mix to combine, until a dough has formed that pulls away from the bowl.
5. Knead the dough vigorously for 8-10 minutes on a lightly floured surface. The dough is ready when it feels soft, springy, and smooth and leaves a thumbprint when pressed.
4. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean, damp cloth and leave to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
5. Knock back the dough on a clean surface by punching the air out and kneading for 1 minute. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces then roll each piece into sausages. Braid the dough and tuck the ends underneath.
6. Lift the braided loaf onto a parchment covered baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth then leave to rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
7. Heat oven to 350 F. Brush the loaf with the beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with white sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a rack before slicing.

The dough is cleaning the bowl. Huzzah! Success!!!

Smooth and elastic, finally some wonderful success!

Golden loaf.

Mmm delicious and ready for french toast.

Beer Bread and Caprese Sandwich

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This is my second load of beer bread, the first baked a few months ago when I wanted a grill cheese. Gen and I don’t normally buy bread (he eats it way too quickly) so when I have the rare craving for a sandwich I try to make something from scratch. I’ve made a couple of other breads in the past.

Me in my pjs baking bread circa 2010.

The loaf above was my first, just a plain white bread. Tasty but nothing special. So far last month’s Spicy Cheddar Irish Soda Bread has been my favourite because of its flavour and crumb. But today’s beer bread was a pretty big hit and will come back for sure.

This beer bread is fluffy and light on the inside with a substantial crust. I added some spices for extra flavour but feel free to omit these, it stands up on its own!

Easy Beer Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 (12 ounce) can/bottle dark beer
  • 1/3 cup melted butter

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Whisk together dry ingredients (as opposed to sifting, I don’t have a sifter but I find whisking helps this).

    Ready for the brewski.

  3. Pour beer into dry ingredients and mix until combined, will be sticky.
  4. Plop the dough into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper, cover the dough with melted butter.

    Buttered. Ready for the oven.

  5. Bake appx 1 hour (check at 50 mins, my oven runs hot), remove from pan and cool on a rack for 15 minutes.

    Yum.

    And what should you do with this bread? Oh, how about make a delicious sandwich?!

    Caprese Sandwich made with Beer Bread

    • Beer bread
    • Fresh mozzarella (preferably di bufala)
    • Tomato
    • Basil
    • Olive oil
    • Salt and pepper
    Slice the cheese, bread, and tomato. Lightly drizzle a pan with olive oil, layer in bread, cheese, tomato, basil, salt and pepper, and top with a drizzle of olive oil. Top with another slice of beer bread. Brown both sides of the sandwich, eat.

    Ignoring the holiday plate, this was a gorgeous and tasty lunch.

    New, delicious sandwich made for me by my sister. Beer bread, honey ham, marble cheese, poached egg, grilled together to perfection.

Spicy Cheddar Irish Soda Bread

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St.Patrick’s Day had my head swirling with recipes for Irish Soda Bread, which made me uncomfortable. Bread… without yeast?!

Now, I am not crazy, I don’t think all breads must have yeast, or a sourdough starter, but I’ve been crazy for yeast since I picked up a fresh jar last month. But I just like the sweetness of yeasted bread; I love the smell as it rises and bakes. I love the chewy, stretchy goodness.

So, with all the talk of these soda breads floating around I scuffawed and tried to ignore it. But last night I was hungry. I hadn’t taken out anything for dinner and I didn’t feel like making anything involved. Remembering the tiny bit of shredded cheddar that had been sitting in my fridge for some time I decided that Irish soda bread was worth a try.

I started with Ina Garten’s recipe but made some changes to make it savory, cheesy, spicy, and delicious.

Spicy Cheddar Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk (I used 1.5 cups milk with 1.5 Tbsp of white vinegar to make my buttermilk)
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until well integrated (pea-sized chunks or smaller). Add the cheese (note that I think it would taste best with 1 cup of cheese but I actually only had 1/2 cup on hand). Mix the cheese in so that the pieces are coated in flour.

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk and egg in a small bowl. Slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. The dough will be sticky, at this point I just got in there with my hands and mixed it up until it felt right (helpful huh).

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

When done, tear into it with a pat of butter. Taste particularly good with a glass of beer and 30 Rock on television. Yum.