White Bread

I once asked my hubby (knowing how he loves having "traditions" in the family) that if he would have to choose what bread to have for a meal, what would it be. "Give me either whole wheat bread or white bread and I'll be happy."

Well, I have not really made white bread (thinking it was too boring and basic), and I personally preferred basic egg bread and buttery sweet bread over white bread. White bread would be the equivalent of pan de americana (or what we referred to as "Tasty" bread in the Philippines) so I have somehow subconsciously equated it to the commercial white bread that I never considered making it at home...until that conversation with hubby. We all liked it, and despite it being baked in the bread machine itself, it had a nice crunchy yet soft crust.

Ingredients: from breadworld.com

1-POUND LOAF	INGREDIENTS	1-1/2-POUND LOAF
2/3 cup 4 tsp 3/4 tsp 2 cups 3 tbsp 1 tbsp 1-1/2 tsp	water butter or margarine salt bread flour nonfat dry milk powder sugar bread machine yeast	3/4 cup + 2 tbsp 2 tbsp 1 tsp 3 cups 1/4 cup 4 tsp 2 tsp

Instructions:

Add ingredients to bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer.

Recommended cycle: Basic/white bread cycle; medium/normal color setting. Timed-bake feature can be used.


Nutritional Information:
Per Serving:
Serving size: 1 slice (1 / 12 of recipe)
Serving weight: 2 ounces (58 grams0
Calories 150; Total fat 2.5 g; Saturated fat 1.5 g; Cholesterol 5 mg; Sodium 220 mg; Carbohydrates 27 g; Dietary fiber less than 1 g; Sugars 3 g; Protein 5 g

Bread Bowls

I felt like playing with bread and making a somewhat fancy yet simple and satisfying dinner, so I made bread bowls to serve Chicken a la King in.

Ingredients:
6 cups bread flour
2 envelope Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water
1 cup milk
2 tablespoon butter

Instructions:

Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl; make a well at the center. Heat water, milk and butter to between 120º to 130ºF. Pour into the well and gradually stir into flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally, until a soft dough is formed.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface; knead 6 to 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover dough and let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 4 (or 5, in my case, about 10 oz each) equal portions; shape each into smooth ball. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

With sharp knife (I use a new blade for cutter, greased with shortening), make 4 (1/4-inch deep) slashes (swiftly!) in crisscross fashion on top of loaves. Bake at 375ºF for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Remove from baking sheet; cool on wire rack.

Cut off 1/3 of loaf; hollow out loaf to form 1/4-inch thick bowl. Fill bowl with soup.[Actually, I cooked chicken a la king for this. Recipe up next.]

All the boys said, "Kewl!"

Potato Peasant Bread

My husband is so fond of whole wheat type of breads. This one combines whole wheat with mashed potatoes, and is very soft and tender, like my pandelimon de patatas (which my husband also loves because they are so soft even on reheating), only healthier. Any leftover is good for garlic bread. So if you are like me who end up wondering what to do with leftover mashed potatoes, this is another wonderful way to use it. Of course I got the recipe from my favorite baking site, breadworld.com .

Makes 2 loaves

3 to 3-1 / 2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 / 4 cup sugar

2 envelopes FLEISCHMANN’S RapidRise Yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1-1 / 2 cups potato water or tap water

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 / 4 cup mashed boiled potato*

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat water, butter and mashed potato until very warm (120o to 130oF). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 8 x 12-inch oval. Beginning at short end, roll up tightly as for jelly roll. Pinch seam and ends to seal. Place on large greased baking sheet; flatten loaf slightly. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

With sharp knife, cut 3 diagonal slits (1 / 4-inch deep) on top of each loaf. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon flour. Bake at 400oF for 15 to 20 minutes or until done. Remove from sheet; cool on wire rack.