The Leaf in a Page

If you are like me, you can find yourself looking at social media to discover new things to make life interesting. A few times now I have seen these lovely looking bowtie rolls and wanted to give them a try. I found a recipe from a chef in Greece, named Chef Antonis and he has a Facebook page, is an influencer and has a lot of followers. He looks like he could be my grandson. Check out his beautiful bakes if you have time. His recipe called for 500 grams of bread flour however because this is a test recipe for me, I halved the amounts, which still yielded 8 buns of 56 grams each. Below you can see the shaping photos.  After letting the dough ball rest for about 15 minutes, you just roll it into a circle and cut 2 slices close together. Cut opposite the initial 2, then cut the sides into three. You then fold the outer thirds under the middle third. Lastly you bring the initial cut over the sides to create the middle.  Here is the recipe for the full amount. You will yield about...

  Holy Jalapeno Cheese Bread This is such a soft tasty loaf of bread. It could be made as a cheese bread if jalapenos are not your thing. I come from a family of 10. Mom struggled every day trying to find ways to feed us and the only spices we had in the house were turkey dressing spices, cinammon, nutmeg and cloves. Of course we had salt and pepper seasoning which made all the meat, potatoes, macaroni or kraft dinner tasty. As an adult living in the Halifax/Dartmouth area I finally tried jalapeno peppers on a plate of nachos at the restaurant called "The Thirsty Duck" (no longer in existence). It was my nursing class, after exam, celebration spot to go. It took several tries before acquiring a taste for the peppers. Once you do enjoy the taste of jalapenos this loaf of bread will give you just another chance to enjoy and celebrate any ol' accomplishment you choose. I wish there was another photo to share but be assured you will not be disappointed. Makes 3 loaves Bre...

  Winston Knot Challah baking in the oven.   Challah is a Jewish Celebration Bread and has much significance to the culture. It is often braided with three strands standing for truth peace and justice. Twelve humps on a braid stand for the miracle of 12 loaves for the 12 tribes of Israel. If you shape your braid into a circle it means no beginning and no end. Each style are used in different celebrrations. The cultural meaning of so many breads gives us much to learn. Wait until I do the white bread post! For a spiritual meaning of the ingredients I found one from a web site: https://www.ohelsara.com/women-and-the-home/hafrashat-challah/the-symbolism-of-challah/ which reviews the ingredient and the significance of each. It is interesting, but the main point of bread for most is that we share it, it tastes great and it fills us. Challah has loads of protein because of the milk and eggs, which makes it especially perfect for sharing and filling you up. It makes a beautiful f...

    This recipe came from one of those cookbooks that go for sale to raise funds that mom had. The cover is no longer on the book but it did contain most of this recipe. Finding a great banana bread recipe is like finding a shiny coin while out walking.When it turns out perfectly an instant grin spontaniously forms on your face and you have no control over your glee. This one is the shiny coin. For this recipe you can add walnuts, chocolate chips or leave plain. Make muffins or banana bread. If you choose to make muffins you increase the temperature and bake for less time. If you are making the banana bread the temp is 350F for 40 -50 minutes. Most of the quick bread recipes can be either in loaf or muffin form. For these muffins I had a bucket full of mini chocolate chips and really want to use them up. They work perfectly here but there is a saying, "go big or go home". Which means regular size chocolate chips will do just fine. I am a walnut fan and would not hesitate to p...

Salt – Why we knead it in Bread. Hey we need it too! Salt is one of those ingredients we need for seasoning food and enhancing flavours. It is known to reduce bitterness while increasing the flavours of savoury, sweet and sour. This is why salt is added to most dishes. It is interesting to learn the role salt has in bread and I wanted to share the important reasons it is required in bread making. Put simply, it conditions the gluten in the bread to make it stronger and more elastic which allows the stretch needed for the little or bigger air bubbles to form cells and give a home to the gas released when yeast is munching on the starches and sugars. Funny how it reminds me that we need salt/sodium for our muscles to work properly. It plays an important role as part of the process that transmits nerve impulses sending messages to our muscles to contract and relax. This includes the muscles we are not always aware of such as heart smooth muscles that contract and relax a...