Potato Bread

In a medium saucepan, cook a large (peeled & diced) potato for 12-15 minutes until tender. DO NOT DRAIN. Cool mixture until lukewarm (110-115 degrees). Remove 1/2 cup water and set aside. Mash potato in t he remaining liquid and add enough warm water to make 2-1/2 cups of potato mixture.

In a large mixing bowl, proof 2 packages of dry yeast in the 1/2 cup reserved potato liquid. When it begins foaming/bubbling, it's ready. Add mashed potato mixture, 2 cups of flour, 3 Tblso. sugar, 2 Tblsp. soft butter, 1 Tblsp. salt.

Beat at low speed of a mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping sides of bowl down often, then beat another 3 minutes at high speed.

Stir in another (approx.) 4 cups flour SLOWLY, a little at a time, mixing & kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes) being careful not to add TOO much flour, a mistake made often (causing a dry, tough finished product). This particular dough is slightly sticky, so handle it quickly and gently.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a dish towel, put in a draft-free place and let dough rise until doubled, about an hour.

Turn dough onto a floured surface, punch down & let it sit for 10 minutes. Divide dough in half & form into 2 loaves, placing them in greased aluminum 9x5 loaf pans. (Alum. works the BEST - forget baking bread in glass or darkened teflon pans. Find aluminum ones for ideal results.)

Cover the dough with a dish towel & let it rise again until doubled - approx. 35-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Brush the tops of the loaves LIGHTLY with water & dust with a touch of flour.


Bake for 30-35 minutes and quickly slide the oven rack & cover the loaves loosely with alum. foil to prevent overbrowning. Slide them back in & bake another 10-15 minutes. Remove from pans & cool on a wire rack.
Potato bread is excellent toasted!!!

Pappa al Pomodoro (Stale Bread & Tomato Soup)

This is a Tuscani style soup which instead of serving with cheese on top 

it is customary to drizzle with olive oil.

Ingredients
1/2 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Plus 1/4c for serving
4 cloves Garlic chopped
1 Lg Sweet Onion halved and sliced vertically
1/2 of 1Lb loaf Day old crusty style Italian bread, sliced thick and torn into large bite sized pieces
2 28oz cans Tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup Fresh Basil leaves
1/2 tsp salt
pinch Red Pepper

Cook
In a large pot heat onion in oil over medium heat till tender
Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute
Add tomatoes (with liquid), salt and red pepper
Simmer loosely covered over med heat for about a half hour until tender
Add bread pieces stirring until fully incorporated (about 2-3 minutes)
tear up basil leaves and stir in, reserving a few leaves for garnish
Season to taste with salt and pepper

Serve
To serve drizzle a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil over each bowl and garnish with a basil leaf or two

If making soup ahead of time, don't add the bread until soup is hot, then add bread till incorporated. Then serve as directed above

Oatmeal bread

In a small bowl, add 1/3 c. warm water, 2 Tblsp. dry yeast & a pinch of sugar - stir to dissolve; yeast will be activated when it becomes foamy.

In a separate large bowl, combine 2-1/2 cup rolled oats, 2 tblsp. molasses, 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 cup butter (cut into small pcs.) 1 Tblsp. salt.

In a small saucepan or glass bowl (microwave), heat 1-1/2 cups milk until warmed. Pour the milk over the oat mixture & stir well - add the foamy yeast mixture and stir until completely mixed.

Slowly, add 4-1/2 cups bread flour, a little at a time, mixing well until the dough is soft. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth & elastic. You can do this by hand or with a heavy duty mixer (Kitchen Aid).

Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with a towel and set in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, around an hour. Divide dough in half; shape into loaves. Place in greased loaf pans - cover with a cloth & let rise again, until doubled in bulk, approx. 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees - Mix 1 Tblsp. molasses with 2 teasp. water (for glaze). Gently brush glaze over the tops of bread - then sprinkle each with a few Tblsp. rolled oats.

Bake loaves for 40-45 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from pans, cool on wire racks. Oatmeal bread is divine when toasted!!!

Stoner Pie

When you suspect your company is going to be all glassy eyed and wanting to listen to Jimi Hendrix here is something that might just hit the spot.

Ingredients
1 lb Ground Beef
3 cups diced potatoes (1/2 inch cubes)
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 recipe Artie's Pizza Crust 
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste
Prepare Filling
Cook potatoes in boiling water for 10 - 12 minutes till just tender.
Drain

Season and Brown Ground beef in 12 inch skillet till cooked.
Drain
Add potatoes to meat in skillet and mix in cheese
Prepare Crust
Cut off 1/3 of doughball and set aside covered.
Roll out remaining pizza dough big enough to insert into a 9" square baking pan with plenty of overlap.
spray inside of baking pan with cooking spray
lay out rolled dough in baking pan. 
Roll out original 1/3 of dough large enough to cover pan when filled.
Fill Pie
Spoon entire meat / potato mixture into baking dish and spread evenly
Cover pie with rolled out cover crust.
Bring edges together and pinch and bunch them until whole pie is sealed
 Using Fork, Write the number 420 across the center of your pie.
Bake in preheated 450F oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serves 3 to 4 Stoners with (The Munchies) or 3 to 4 growing boys.

  

Pumpkin Bread - the best!!!

After trying many recipes and doing a LOT of experimenting, this is the most MOIST and delicious pumpkin bread recipe around (& without all the oil that most recipes call for)! At the end of the recipe, add whatever you like most (chopped walnuts, dried cherries, miniature chocolate chips, chopped dates...) - the trick is to use sour cream and BABY FOOD (or even applesauce) instead of oil. You will not miss it!!  Go bold with the spices - don't skimp!

Spray loaf pans with nonstick spray. I even line mine with parchment, but it's not necessary.

Prehead the oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees if you're using glass pans of dark-colored teflon pans)

Mix ingredients together in a large mixing bowl:

2 cups canned (cooked, packed) pumpkin (NOT pie filling!)

4 Tblsp. melted butter

3/4 cup BABY food (I used a mixture of carrots and banana-applesauce!)

3/4 cup light sour cream

2-1/2 cups white sugar

4 lightly beaten eggs

2 teasp. vanilla

Stir in:

3 cups white flour

2 teasp. baking soda

1 teasp. baking powder

2 teasp. ground cinnamon

1-1/2 teasp. ground ginger

1/4 teasp. ground cloves

1/8 teasp. ground/grated nutmeg

Mix WELL - at this point, add whatever you like to the batter. You don't have to add ANYthing if you prefer it plain. I added dried cranberries (Craisins) and chopped walnuts to mine.

Divide the batter equally and spoon into greased pans. You can use standard 8X5 loaf pans or smaller mini-loaf pans. Make sure if you use smaller pans to adjust the baking time and check them after 30 or so minutes. The larger loaves take 45 minutes or more.

Bake the loaves - test the center with a toothpick to make sure it's baked thoroughly. Remove from oven and then remove from pans after 15 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. If you can wait that long. :-)

Old fashioned white bread

In a glass bowl, add 1 c. lukewarm water, 1 tsp. sugar & mix in 4 tsps. dry yeast until dissolved. Let sit 5 minutes, until yeast begins to activate.

While yeast is proofing, melt 4 Tblsp. butter in a bowl, add 2 cups of warmed milk combined with 4 Tblsp. honey. Add to the yeast mixture and stir.

In a large bowl, combine the liquids with 3-4 cups white flour (bread flour is best because of the gluten content) and 1 heaping tsp. salt - stir well. Continue adding flour (a BIT at a time) until a workable dough is formed. Turn onto a floured board and continue to knead 5-10 minutes until a semi-firm (but not TOO sticky or firm) dough is produced.

Put dough into a greased bowl (stoneware or pyrex) and cover loosely with a towel. Put in a draft free place and let rise until doubled, approximately 1 hour.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and divide in 2 equal parts. Form each part into a loaf size (rolling & folding seams under) - place each pc. into a greased aluminum loaf pan (glass pans are AWFUL for bread baking- and darkened teflon pans aren't much better. If you must use (dark) teflon coated pans, decrease oven temp by 10º to keep bread from getting too dark). Cover loosely with a towel and let rise again until doubled in size, approx. 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the loaves in the oven and bake approx. 40-45 minutes until crust is golden... remove from oven & carefully remove a loaf of bread from a pan - tap the bottom of the loaf - if it sounds hollow, it's done. If it looks like it needs more baking time, put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes or so.

Artie's Basic Italian Bread and Pizza Crust

 

This is a base recipe for many of my dishes. 

 

Ingredients:

6 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups of tepid water
1 pkg Quick Rise Yeast
2 Tbspns Vegetable Oil
  
Directions:
Mix 4 cups of flour with salt... two minutes
Dissolve yeast in 2 cups of tepid water - around 95 - 105 degrees
(if water is too hot or too cold yeast will not dissolve)

Add yeast mixture to salted flour, Knead. if using mixer use hook and mix on slow speed till consistent.
Once dough is mixed slowly add the rest of the water and flour until you have a consistent soft dough.
(if too soft add a little flour till you have what you like if too hard, add water)

Place soft dough in a large bowl with room for dough to double.
Keep loosely covered in a warm place for one hour.
Remove dough from bowl onto a well floured work surface.
Knead dough till smooth.

For bread:
Cover loosely and let it proof for 1/2 hour.
Shape into bread.
Bake bread @ 475 F for 20 minutes.
Pizza @ 475 F for 15 minutes.
For Pizza:
For A Crispy Pizza Crust, do not proof dough. Separate into amount you will use.
Roll out what you will use immediately for pizza.
Place remainder in fridge immediately. I use quart sized zip lock bags.
When ready to roll out dough, just remove from refrigerator and roll it out and construct your pizza.
Half the recipe makes a nice thick 16 inch pizza. For medium thin pizza divide into four portions.
For a super thin pizza you may divide each doughball again. Raise cooking temp to 485 degrees F.
 If you do this make sure you watch your pizza in the oven closely and pat down any blisters in the cheese while baking to avoid burnt cheese. If you can keep your pizza from burning in the oven at this temp be patting down cheese bubbles you will get a very nice crispy crust. (This works best if you don't overload your pizza with ingredients.)
For bread, half the recipe makes about a one pound loaf of Crispy Italian Bread.
Divide accordingly

To use refrigerated dough for bread. Remove from fridge let dough warm about a half hour then knead and let proof for another half hour. Shape into bread and bake @ 475 F for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!