the remaking of a kitchen

last monday night was edesia at barnes and noble; edesia being the roman goddess of food preparation. each month for over a year, bn has hosted this event where community cooks or chefs, cookbook authors or other food industry people discuss their fave cookbooks on a certain subject. this past one was on chicken....and the guest speaker has authored several books on this subject. but i digress.....the deal is i googled the recipe and made spanish chicken salad which was in a cooks illustrated book and was our tasting treat made by kim ode.
i decided we would have a few salads for our evening meal, and prepared sweet potato salad yesterday and the chicken salad today. i also made the dakota bread rolls, and i can tell that as i get more experienced, this bread making thing is going ever so much easier!! the bottom of the rolls do not look wrinkled and deformed.....smooth and carefully tucked in is definitely more appealing. the dough reacted better.....it was elastic and it raised much more quickly. i think i didn't mention that i purchased a LARGE amount of yeast at cosco, then wasn't sure how to store it. i called red star, and the woman suggested i put it in freezer bags and then keep it in the freezer until i wanted to use it. worked perfectly!!
the chicken salad was easy.....a little fussy on the deets, but really went together well and is tasty!!
now i have to go eat! yummmmmmm

Labels: dakota bread, salads, spanish chicken, sweet potato

st paddy's is always a good day for us; we met in 1962 on that day! we talked about corned beef and cabbage, mentioned reubens, and then remembered that we had been thinking about italian sausage sandwiches.
it's possible i went over the edge, but i'd been thinking about making the dakota bread recipe into rolls ever since judy told me she'd had them at cafe latte'. so, i made them, roasted green peppers, made the tomato sauce, added the peppers and the sausage. oh yeah, i made the crushed italian olives with garlic and celery too.
i guess it's just about time to EAT!

Labels: corned beef and cabbage, dakota bread, olives, reubens, roasted green peppers, st paddy's

we liked the bread so much that i decided to make another batch. it was nice to be using the recipe the second time around.....a bit easier. this time i used the peel with corn meal and the new pizza stone. i think the texture was better and the bottom of the loaf was as crisp as the top. good ideas sarah and david.....thanks!
we sampled some this evening with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and some corn pudding that gary shared. all quite yummy and EASY!
it's so nice to feel good today.....i raked and planted some grass seed outside the fence, pulled grass in a couple of beds and then the baking. yea!

Labels: dakota bread

i mentioned earlier that i purchased seeds etc to make the dakota bread i had at cafe latte. well, today i decided to just do it.....it's just out of the oven and it looks good, so we hope it tastes just as good!
i kneaded it for 20 minutes and then added the seeds and kneaded them in as directed. that part was interesting. the seeds kept forming pockets in the dough so it took quite a bit of elbow grease to get them really worked in and part of the whole. i checked the cafe's website and they call it black hills dakota bread. this was certainly more complex than any other bread i've made, but it was fun and easy to do. i have to confess that i checked out the kitchenaid mixers when i went shopping for a pizza stone this afternoon. the woman who wondered if i needed help was great....she even owns one, and listed its advantages. i told her i was concerned about the weight of the mixer so she drug out an unopened box and i was able to lift it from the floor. i think the problem would be lifting it from the counter, but the heavier mixers have a neat feature...you can raise and lower the mixing bowl, so that would help. i am thinking that it might become sculpture and just rest in all its majesty on the counter.
this is all just talk so far....i enjoyed kneading today more than i counted on....thank you new found muscles!! :) it was much easier than ever before....i have struggled in with past kneading experiences. this was nice.

Labels: dakota bread, kneading, seeds