Bread Bowls

One of my favorite things is a thick hearty soup in a bread bowl, but they tend to be expensive and hard to find so I decided to learn to make my own.

Bread Bowls

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
7 cups flour
1 Tablespoon cornmeal

Directions:
Put water in a mixing bowl, sprinkle in yeast and mix well.
Add honey and mix in.
Allow to sit several minutes until the yeast is foamy
Add onion flakes and olive oil
Mix salt into the flour
Gradually add flour to yeast mixture, mixing well.
When the yeast is fully incorporated knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic
Cover and let rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.
Punch down and allow to rise again until doubled.
Sprinkle cornmeal onto a baking sheet.
Separate into six equal balls. Shape until smooth and round.
Place dough balls on the baking sheet and allow to double in size again.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until golden.
Allow to cool then cut off the top similar to the way you would when carving a jack-o-lantern.
Remove some of the bread from the center leaving a full crust about 3/4 inches thick.
Fill with your favorite thick soup and serve with the excess bread.

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Tips and Hints

• The bowls do not work well with a thin brothy soup, as they tend to get too soggy too quickly.


• The first time I made these bowls my honey was a thick clumpy block so I used brown sugar and it turned out great.


• The purpose of the dehydrated onion is to give the bread a depth of flavor, you can omit it if you want to, you could also add dehydrated garlic or other seasonings.


• You can add a Tablespoon or two of your favorite small whole grain such as millet, amaranth, quinoa etc.

Perfect Pizza Crust

My family loves pizza. After all who doesn't? It gets pricey to go out for a good pizza and it is not worth buying a cheapo pizza. I got an old crust recipe I've had for years and tweaked it to make it savory and full of flavor. We like it better than any take-out place.

Perfect Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Yeast
1 cup hot water (110-115 degrees)

1 Tablespoon honey

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dehydrated garlic flakes
1 Tablespoon dehydrated onion flakes

1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

Put the water in a large bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid) and sprinkle in the yeast.
Mix well so yeast dissolves.
Add the honey and mix well.
Allow the mixture to sit until the yeast foams up quite a bit.
Add oil, onion, garlic and herbs, mix well and allow to sit a few minutes until the seasonings begin to reconstitute.
Mix salt into flour, add to yeast mixture while mixing.
Mix or hand knead until all the flour is well mixed in and the dough forms a nice ball, about three minutes.
Divide dough into two balls, cover and allow to rise until at least double in size.
Roll dough into circles and place on pizza sheets.
Poke a few holes in the crust with a fork.
Allow the crust to rise again for about 20-25 minutes.

Top with sauce and favorite ingredients

Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes until the crust is golden brown and crisp on the bottom.

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Tips and Hints

• You can use whole wheat or freshly ground flour



• I prefer sea salt in this recipe



• For the sauce I use regular tomato sauce with a bit of Italian Seasoning and onion flake added



• For pepperoni pizza layer sauce, cheese then pepperoni on the top



• For other pizza's put the cheese on top to hold down the toppings

Savory Multi-Grain Bread

I love bread, always have, always will. I took a basic recipe and pumped it up to make this savory bread that my family raved about. The crust was crispy, the bread was moist and the flavor was rich and savory. Whole wheat, honey and a variety of other grains make this as healthy as it is delicious.

I baked it on my well used Pampered Chef baking stone and took the picture as soon as I pulled it out of the oven, so sorry it is a bit less than attractive presentation, but as they say at Pampered Chef "the worse it looks, the better it cooks." Forgive the ugly background and enjoy the delicious bread.

Savory Multi-Grain Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup hot water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tablespoon yeast
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dehydrated onion flakes
1 teaspoon dehydrated garlic flakes
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground preferred)
1 teaspoon sea salt

1 Tablespoon each (as desired)
millet
buckwheat flour
amaranth
red quinoa
white quinoa
flax seed
teff
Kamut flour
sunflower seeds

Directions:

Add hot water and yeast to a large bowl. (I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with dough hook)
Mix well to dissolve, add honey and let sit a few minutes until the mixture begins to foam.
Add olive oil, onion and garlic, let mixture sit a few more minutes.

If you are grinding the flour this is a good time to do it.
Mix salt into the flour. Add flour into yeast mixture and mix for several minutes until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a ball.

Add the other grains and continue to mix until very well kneaded.
Cover and let rise until about double in size, approximately 15-20 minutes.

Separate dough into three equal portions and roll each into a rope.
Braid the rope and place on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes, or until golden.

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Tips and Hints

• Most of these grains can be found at health food stores, you can also check online


• You don't have to use all of the grains, even three or four can make it special


• Unless otherwise specified use the grains whole, they are small and mix right in


• You can add the whole buckwheat and/or Kumut to the wheat when grinding


• If the dough is too sticky add just a touch of all purpose flour in the final mixing process to make it easy to work with


• You can make this into loaves, rolls, or any other shape.