Italian Herb Bread Bowls

I remember the first time I discovered a bread bowl when I was about 11. I was astonished at the ingenuity it. Not only is your bowl completely edible, but it automatically comes with bread to dip into your soup!

I think many people share this fascination and utter enjoyment. I have found that whenever I am at a restaurant offering bread bowls, most of the people I'm with, myself included, can't manage to pass it up.

 So I decided it was time to try and make my own and stop relying on restaurants to provide them. I hunted around and settled on a recipe from Mel's Kitchen for Italian Bread Bowls. I adapted it a bit and decided to add some herbs to them. Then I sprinkled sesame seeds on top to make them a bit more interesting.

I always bake late the night before I'm actually having people over, and it becomes problematic when the food smells as good as these did. The rosemary and basil came through really well and by about midnight I was ready to have one of the bowls as a bedtime snack. I was cooking dinner for 8 people so I stretched the dough a bit and made smaller bread bowls so everyone could have their own. Most people had 2 or 3 servings of the soup and just continued to nibble through the bread bowl as they ate. They were a huge hit with everyone and went beautifully both the clam chowder and the chili we had.

Italian Herb Bread Bowls

Makes 6-8 bread bowls

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (use 1 tablespoon instant yeast)

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp Basil
1 egg, beaten
Sesame seeds for sprinkling

• In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. (You can omit this step if using instant yeast.)
  
• Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed. This bread bowl dough needs to be a bit firmer than a roll/bread dough so that the bread bowls rise up instead of out.
• When the dough has pulled together, add in the herbs and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer).
• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
• Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on baking sheets lined with parchment paper
•  Slash the top surface of the bread bowl several times with a sharp knife or razor, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and baked through.

• To make into bread bowls, used a serrated knife and cut a circle in the top. Wedge a large spoon inside and pull out the top piece of the bowl.

• Pour in some chowder, and devour mercilessly

Recipe Source: adapted from Mel's Kitchen

A sweeter side to breakfast

We all have those mornings that could use a little extra sugar. You're in a tizzy, running late searching for your keys and have no time to make a healthy breakfast. Your roommates left so many dishes around the sink you can't imagine sifting through them to find anything. Or maybe there's an upcoming tedious meeting that you are prone to dozing through. 

This bread cures it all.

I was engulfed by the slew of books in Strand this past weekend and completely overwhelmed with the plethora of cookbooks. Finally, I decided to get a book on breads, since that is the most uncharted territory for me. I settled on Bread: 150 Traditional Recipes from Around the World by Gail Duff. This recipe is adapted from the basic banana bread recipe in the West Indies region of all places. The original recipe doesn't call for the chocolate, but it felt necessary.

For those who haven't made banana bread yet and are still in that sad state of mind that considers brown bananas a bad thing, a short tutorial is in order:

perfect for eating

perfect for baking

I know they don't look particularly edible, but trust me the flavor of a ripe banana is much more rich and the texture is perfect for smooshing into a batter.

Banana Bread 

1/2 C. unsalted butter
1/2 C. sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 C. plain cake flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp ground. nutmeg
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1oz. dark chocolate baking squares, chopped
2 oz. walnuts, chopped

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, gradually beat in the egg
• Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg
• Peel and mash the bananas
• Beat the flour and bananas alternately into the butter and sugar, beating and blending well
• Mix in the vanilla extract and 1 oz. of the chocolate pieces
• Place batter into greased loaf pan top with walnuts and remaining chocolate
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean

It's best served warm, but if you make it late one night, its a great reason to roll out of bed in the morning. I sliced it up along with some zucchini bread and had to find some way to force myself to not eat the entire loaf, so I brought the bowl to some hungry graduate students across the hall from my lab who kindly devoured it.

So please, the next time you consider throwing away the bananas that you ran out of time to eat, realize that they just have a much higher calling than simply being sliced with your cheerios, and make banana bread instead!

 

Mom's Zucchini Bread

My pictures do this incredible bread no justice.

Throughout my childhood, my mom would amaze my brother and me with her delectable breakfasts. I took it for granted that every morning we would have a hot breakfast ready for us, and now I see how truly wonderful that was. One of my favorite smells to wake up to in the morning was zucchini bread. If you've never had some, it sounds like a very strange concept - squash bread. But it makes for a moist and delicious bread that is perfect for all times of the day.


I always thought that since I loved this bread so much that it must be difficult to make: if it were easy, wouldn't we have it every day? Thankfully, this bread is so simple to make, I can throw it in to the oven in about ten minutes, and then spend the next hour or so practicing harp as the sweet smells waft from the oven filling my entire apartment. 

I'll admit, I have played with my mom's original recipe a bit... partially because I like to avoid using oil in my baking as much as possible, and applesauce is such a great alternative. So here is my slightly adapted version of my mom's incredible zucchini bread. This version is quite healthy and definitely guilt-free, so after haivng some for breakfast, don't be ashamed to continue snacking throughout the day!

Mom's Zucchini Bread (adapted)

1/2 C. Apple sauce
1 mashed banana (optional, makes the bread very moist)
1 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 C. grated zucchini
1 1/2 C. flour (all purpose or whole wheat)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C. chopped walnuts (optional)

• Preheat oven to 325F.
• Combine the apple sauce, banana and brown sugar until well mixed.
• Add the eggs one at a time, blending well between each
• Stir in the zucchini, half the wlanuts, and vanilla extract
• Blend the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and mix into the wet ingredients gradually
• Pour into greased loaf pan and top with remaining walnuts
• Bake for 45-55min or until top bounces back when touched

If you have a sweet tooth, this can easily be turned into a healthy cake by topping it with cream cheese frosting - chocolate, regular, or half of each!

(Chocolate) Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz. package cream cheese
4 C. powdered sugar
1 1/2 T. lemon juice
3-5 T. cocoa powder (optional, to taste)

• Cream together the cream cheese and lemon juice
• Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well between additions
• Stir in cocoa powder (if desired), adding more or less depending on how much chocolate flavor you desire
• Spread over cooled pieces of zucchini bread and top with raspberries and sprinkles