Olga's Pita Bread - BLTs and Snackers

Have you ever eaten at an Olga's Kitchen?  It might be a Michigan chain, I'm not sure.  But they have the BEST pita bread EVER!  When we were younger, my mom would take us there for a quick dinner in between dance classes.  I would get either the three cheese Olga with tomatoes and onion, or the BLT Olga.  I really just wanted anything that came with the Olga bread.
 I came across a reference to Olga bread in the meal-plan of one of the blogs I follow.  I knew I had to look up a recipe!  With bacon and lettuce on hand and fresh tomatoes from the garden, dinner was planned.

The recipe below makes 16 pitas, but I cut it in half for the two of us (made 8 medium sized pitas).  I used about half of the pita bread to make Olga's snackers - Just cut the pita into trianges, spray with some olive oil, sprinkle with spices of your choosing and bake at 375F for about 5 minutes (maybe less) - that aren't supposed to be crisp, just baked a little more.

I thought this bread was really good and tasted a lot like the Olga bread I remember.  And its really pretty easy to make.  I'm already planning to make this again soon!  But first, I need to find a recipe for their cheesy snacker dip...

Imitation Olga Bread
source: buddhabelly on Food.com

1 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 pkg.)
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
4 cups flour, divided
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:
1. Scald milk, remove to large bowl.  Add honey, margarine and salt to milk, stir until margarine is melted.  Set aside to cool until lukewarm.
2. Combine yeast, warm water and sugar, stir until sugar is dissolved.  Set aside.
3. Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour to lukewarm milk mixture and beat well.  (I used the dough hook on my Kitchenaid for this.)  Mix in egg and yeast mixture.  Add remaining flour, a little at a time, until sticky dough is formed.
4.  Turn out on a floured surface, knead about two minutes.  Dough will be sticky, but don’t add more flour. (I had to add just a little more flour, it was really sticky! They still turned out fine!)
5.  Place dough in oiled bowl, turning once to oil whole surface of dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in warm place until doubled in bulk. (I left mine for about 90 minutes.) 
6.  Punch down dough; divide into 16 equal pieces.  Roll each piece to a thin rough circle about 8-1o inches in diameter (mine were a little smaller; don't worry too much about a perfect circle, she shape is distorted a little when you transfer to the pan). 
7. Heat a large dry skillet over medium-high heat; do not use any oil.  Bake 15-20 seconds, flip and bake about 15 seconds on other side, until mottled brown spots appear.  Cool and store in a plastic bag. 

BLTs
For the BLTS, I just spread a little mayo on the Olga, and topped with 3 pieces of bacon, some tomato slices, and lettuce.  Very easy!

Snackers

For the snackers, I cut 3-4 pitas into triangles and placed them in a bowl.  Spray with olive oil cooking spray, and sprinkle on spices (chili powder, paprika, garlic salt, sesame seeds; but whatever you enjoy would work fine).  I didn't measure anything, but just add enough to suit your tastes.  Then place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake in a 375F oven for a few minutes.  Yummy snack or side!

Cranberry-Orange Scones

We were having a breakfast potluck at work, and I originally planned to bring my mom's cheesy hash browns recipe. I went to sign up, only to find someone else was already bringing a hash brown casserole. Oh well, just another excuse to bake something new!

I have been on a HUGE cranberry-orange kick lately. The two flavors were made for each other. I decided to make some scones - something I have never made before. I settled on this recipe which I found on Smitten Kitchen, but substituted orange for the lemon the recipe called for, and added a glaze. I thought they turned out great, and they were a huge hit!

Cranberry-Orange Scones

adapted from Smitten Kitchen, originally from Gourmet

yields 8-10 scones

For the scones:

1 1/2 tbsp. freshly grated orange zest (from about 1 large orange)

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar, plus 3 tablespoons

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1 1/4 c. fresh cranberries, chopped coarse

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 c. heavy cream

For the glaze:

1 c. confectioners sugar

dash nutmeg

2 Tbsp. orange juice (fresh from the orange you zested is best)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400°F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Zest the orange, reserving the fruit for another use (like the glaze!).

In a food processor pulse flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and zest until mixture resembles coarse meal and transfer to a large bowl.

In a small bowl toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar and stir into flour mixture.

In another small bowl lightly beat egg and yolk and stir in cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

On a well-floured surface with floured hands pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter) and with a 2-inch round cutter or rim of a glass dipped in flour cut out as many rounds as possible, re-rolling scraps as necessary. Try to avoid over-working the dough; handle it as little as possible so the scones don't become tough. Alternatively, you can pat into one large 7-8" round.

Arrange rounds about 1 inch apart on baking sheet and bake in middle of oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. If making a large round, bake 20-25 minutes and slice into wedges when cool.

While the scones are baking, whisk together the powdered sugar, nutmeg and orange juice. Let the scones cool slightly, and drizzle with the glaze. Allow glaze to set before serving.

Note: These scones don't keep long, maybe a day or two in the fridge. If you won't be eating them immediately, you can freeze the dough! Work to the point where you have each biscuit cut out, and flash freeze the rounds by placing them spread out on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen. Then transfer to a Ziploc bag, and keep in the freezer up to 1 month. You can bake directly from the freezer, but you may need to add 3-5 minutes to the baking time (the best time is to watch them closely for browning).

REVIEW:
The dough was very sticky for me, so I decided to just pat it into a large round and bake that way. I was a little worried because I didn't think the dough had turned out, but they tasted delicious! I didn't have any leftovers to bring home, which makes them a hit in my book!

Apple Harvest Cake-Loaf

With all of the apples available lately, and at super cheap prices, I see a few apple posts in my future. I came across this recipe for Apple Harvest Cake, but adapted it to make sweet apple bread loaves. These are definitely a sweet treat, more like cake than bread, but they are easy to freeze this way. The apple cake is sweet enough to eat on its own, but you can also choose to top it with the cream cheese icing (which is also delicious). I made 1.5 times the following recipe for 3 loaves, and froze one of them. I only made half of the cream cheese icing recipe, and just poured it over the two loaves I didn't freeze. I plan to take one into work, and well, the last one will get devoured at home.Apple Harvest Cake
adapted slightly from 30 Day Gourmet
makes 2 loaves, or 1 9x13 cake as written

For the cake:
2 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. applesauce
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 c. chopped apples (I used granny smith, about 5 small apples)
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional, I omitted)

For the Cream Cheese Icing:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1/4 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour pans; either 2 cake rounds, 1 9x13 cake pan, or 2 9x5 loaf pans.
2. Combine eggs, sugar, applesauce, and oil. Beat well. Add flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened.
3. Stir in apples, and nuts if using.
4. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake 35-45 minutes (40-50 for loaf pans).
5. Cool cakes, and frost if desired.
6. For cream cheese icing, mix all ingredients. This icing will be kind of runny - decrease amount of milk to stiffen it up, or add more confectioner's sugar to reach desired consistency.REVIEW:
Very tasty. The only issue I have is that since the icing doesn't set up, its a little messy to eat. But really, it is intended to be eaten as a cake with a fork, so I think my issue is that I am trying to eat slices with my fingers ;) If you were going to serve this as a coffee cake, instead of the cream cheese icing you could just top it with a cinnamon-sugar mixture before baking.

To freeze, wrap the loaf in plastic wrap and stick in it a Ziploc Freezer bag.

Elephant Ears

I was craving a sweet treat a few weeks ago, and since we skipped all of the local fairs this summer, I thought these easy elephant ears I saw on Molly's blog would do the trick.

Elephant Ears
source: Thrifty Fun

Refrigerated biscuits - 1 roll (I used lowfat buttermilk biscuits, there were 8 in the tube)
1 c. cooking oil
1/2 c. cinnamon sugar (I made a mix of 1/2 c sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon)
Paper lunch bag

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place cinnamon sugar in paper lunch bag. Heat cooking oil in large frying pan. Test for hot enough: Drop of water will sizzle.

2. Separate dough into individual biscuits-"ear". Stretch each biscuit until they just about have holes in them. They do not have to be perfect. Gently drop each "ear" into the hot oil. As soon as one side becomes golden, flip them and let second side get golden. DO NOT WALK AWAY. They burn quickly (mine took maybe a minute to 90 seconds on each side).

3. Place "ears" on paper towel to soak up excess oil. Shake "ears" in paper bag of cinnamon sugar. Serve warm with ice cream or just plain. Make lots, they will go quickly.REVIEW:
YUM!!! So easy! And these would be so much fun to make with kids. Plus - they are VERY inexpensive. I bet my 8 elephant ears cost me maybe $2.50, since I bought the rolls on sale.

Great American Taste Test: Macaroni Grill Focaccia Bread and a GIVEAWAY!

This GIVEAWAY is now closed.

A while back, I signed up to participate in the Great American Taste Test - it is a publicity event for Ron Douglas's new book America's Most Wanted Recipes. Ron reveals copycat versions of restaurant favorites so that families can now enjoy the meals they love most at prices they can afford. The book includes favorites from Olive Garden, KFC, Cheesecake Factory, Red Lobster and PF Changs, among others.I was tasked with making one of the recipes and comparing to the original dish from the restaurant. There were lots of dishes I wanted to try - but we have limited restaurant options around here, and then our restaurants didn't carry some of the dishes any longer. So after much indecision, I settled on making Macaroni Grill Focaccia Bread. This is Josh's and my FAVORITE restaurant bread. I have been trying to avoid the excess carbs lately, but after a long run this morning, I deserved a treat :)Macaroni Grill Focaccia Bread
from America's Most Wanted Recipes by Ron Douglas; serves 8

1/2 c. olive oil, divided
3 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. semolina flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbsp quick-rising dry yeast
1 1/2 c. hot milk (120-130 deg F)
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves

DIRECTIONS:
1. Pour 1 1/2 tsp. of olive oil into a 9" square cake pan (I used a glass pan), spread to cover the bottom and sides. Lightly dust with a little flour.
2. Place the ap flour, semolina flour, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 1/4 tsp of salt, and all of the yeast into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook (or you can mix by hand).
3. Mix on medium speed until all the ingredients are blended. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the hot milk. Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for 5 minutes, then knead for about 10 minutes by hand.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and spread evenly in the pan. Cover with a towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
6. Remove the towel and brush the dough with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil. Top with remaining salt and fresh rosemary leaves. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and drizzle with a little olive oil (we prefer some on a plate for dipping). Enjoy!

REVIEW:
This bread was very good. We had spinach pesto pasta with grilled chicken for dinner, and enjoyed some of the bread on the side with a plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar or dipping. While this recipe was similar to the original, it wasn't exact. The flavors were there, but this recipe was much more dense. The Macaroni Grill bread is definitely more airy - J and I usually have no problem polishing off a loaf at the restaurant, but we could barely manage sharing a similar size portion of this recipe. I do want to try some of the other recipes in the book though, even if I don't have the original dishes to compare them too. We don't go out to eat very much and I do enjoy cooking when I have the time, so this book is a great resource to try dishes we wouldn't otherwise have.

Now for the fun part: I'm giving away a copy of America's Most Wanted Recipes to one lucky reader!

I accidentally received two copies from the publisher, and they gave me the go-ahead to give the other one away (Thanks Atria Books!).

So here's the drill:
Leave me a comment telling me one restaurant dish you would love to be able to duplicate at home by 11:59pm on Friday Sept. 18, 2009 (based on comment time stamp).
***To earn an extra entry, become a Follower of my blog, and leave a second comment telling me you are a Follower. (If you are already a Follower, just leave a second comment saying so.)

Be sure to include your email if its not public on your profile. The winner will be randomly selected via www.random.org on Saturday.

Good luck!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Every now and then, Josh wants to get into the kitchen. I have been trying to limit the amount of sweets I keep around the house, so Josh took matters into his own hands and made a very yummy loaf of banana bread. (He hasn't mastered the tooth-pick test yet, so it was a little over-done, but it didn't matter. It was still very good!)Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
from About.com

1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c butter, softened (1 stick)
1 1/2 c mashed bananas
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 deg F.
2. Cream sugar and butter; beat in the mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Combine dry ingredients and stir into the first mixture just until moistened.
4. Fold in chocolate chips until well incorporated.
5. Pour batter into greased and floured 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with a tent of aluminum foil. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 3o to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted tests done. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan and cool banana bread completely before slicing. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

REVIEW:
This was a very good banana bread. Not too sweet, and not too dense. We might try this again, just to practice the tooth pick test!

Blueberry Whole Wheat Muffins

These are healthy muffins. If you want a sweet, dessert-type muffin, go elsewhere. I felt zero-guilt grabbing one of these bad boys to curb a carb craving - at ~90 calories and 5 g protein each, they are a great snack.

Blueberry Whole Wheat Muffins

kind of adapted from Katie's Raisin Bran muffins

makes 12 muffins

1 c. wheat germ
1 c. skim milk
1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp plain lowfat yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 1/2 Tbsp Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 c. blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 12 cup muffin tin.

2. In medium bowl, combine wheat germ and milk and soak for 10 minutes.

3. In large bowl, combine applesauce, yogurt, egg, vanilla and Splenda, whisking to combine well.

4. In medium bowl, add flour, powder, soda, salt and whisk to combine; set aside.

5. Add bran mixture to wet ingredients, as well as dry ingredients and gently fold in until just combined.

6. Fold blueberries into the mixture.

7. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, dividing equally. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

8. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in tins. Place on wire rack and let cool completely.

REVIEW:

I found these to be a good, healthy snack that was easy to grab on the go. I stored them in my freezer and zapped in the microwave for 15 seconds to defrost when I wanted one. Ok, fine. So these were a tad dry (after they were frozen). But that didn't bother me, because they were 90 cal/1 g fat / 14 g carb / 2 g fiber / 5 g protein each. A good simple recipe that I'll tweak a bit in the future (the original recipe called for mashed banana - I think I'll leave that in next time).

Almond Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Rhubarb was on sale at the grocery store this week, so I picked some up. I have only baked with it once before when I made a pie, and since that was a success I wanted to try something different. I found a recipe on allrecipes, and made some changes based on the comments. I plan to bring one of these to Mother's Day lunch tomorrow, and the other to work on Monday. Josh and I shared an early piece - and it was really good!!!Almond Rhubarb Coffee Cake
adapted from allrecipes

Cake:
1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2/3 c. vegetable oil (normally I would sub applesauce, but didn't this time)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk (I used skim)
3 c. rhubarb, chopped

Topping:
1/3 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9 inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and almond extract together until smooth. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; add to sugar mixture alternately with milk. Beat until smooth. Stir in rhubarb. Pour into prepared pans.
3. In a small bowl, combine white sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Stir in 1/4 cup almonds. Sprinkle topping over batter (using your fingers is easiest)
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake tests done. REVIEW:
I was really happy with all of the changes I made to this recipes, especially increasing the amount of rhubarb and adding the almond extract! Rhubarb is quite tart, but it works so well in sweet cakes and pies to balance out the sweetness. Next time, I think I will try reducing the brown sugar a little, to about 1 1/4 c, since I still thought this was a tad to sweet and want the tartness of the rhubarb to come through a little more. It was also a little too crumbly, reducing the sugar might help with that (this could be caused by the extra rhubarb I used). I really liked how this made 2 9" cakes - you can certainly halve the recipe if you don't need quite so much food.

Salt and Sesame Bagels

I wanted to make a batch of bagels to give to a friend. I used the same recipe I used last time, but I used 4 c. all-purpose flour (instead of 2 c. ap and 2 c. wheat), and 1 Tbsp. sugar instead of the honey. I topped half with sesame seeds, and the other half with kosher salt (I would use a rock salt next time so the crystals are bigger). These turned out great (again)!

Homemade Honey Wheat Bagels

Yes, you read that right. I made my own bagels. I've seen these pop up on a few blogs recently, and even though we rarely eat bagels, they looked easy enough and I wanted to try making them. Really though... they were totally simple! Even I could do it :) The process takes a little time because of the rising, but still easy steps. The referenced recipes make plain and everything bagels, but I changed things up a bit to make honey whole wheat bagels. They turned out great!Honey Whole Wheat Bagels
makes 12 medium or 8 large (sandwich size) bagels
adapted from Pennies on a Platter and Baking Bites

1 Tbsp active dry yeast
3 Tbsp honey
1 3/4 c. water, warm (100-110 deg F, temperature is important!)
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. bread flour (not all-purpose)
1 Tbsp salt
1 egg, for egg wash
cornmeal

Optional Seasonings:
Oats
Brown Sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) combine yeast, honey and water. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir in flour and salt. Mix dough thoroughly until it comes together in a large ball, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Add an additional tablespoon of ww flour or water, if needed. (I need about an extra 3 Tbsp of flour.)

2. If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If using a stand mixer, knead dough with the dough hook until elastic, about 8 minutes on a low speed. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

3. When dough has risen, turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and divide into 8 equal pieces (first quarters, then halves). Shape each piece into a tight ball, pinching the corners together at the bottom of the dough. When all the balls are shaped, let the dough rest for 30 minutes covered with a clean dish towel.

4. Once dough balls have rested, the bagel shape can be formed. Using your fingers, poke a hole through the center of each dough ball. Stretch out the dough into a ring with your fingers and be sure to make the hole a little larger than you want the finished bagel to have, as it will shrink slightly while the bagel is expanding during the baking process. Let bagels rest for about 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil and preheat the oven to 400 deg F. (I used a deep dish skillet because it’s wider.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels and another baking sheet with parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal.

6. Working four at a time, drop the bagels carefully into the boiling water. Boil for 2 minutes on each side. (They should puff up quit a bit.) Using a slotted spoon or strainer, transfer bagels to the paper towels to drain for a moment, then place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining bagels.

Brush boiled bagels with lightly beaten egg (a pastry brush is a good tool for this) and sprinkle with oats and just a little bit of brown sugar. Bake for 24 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack (bagel will soften slightly as it cools). Store in a Ziploc bag. Enjoy!

REVIEW:
These were surprisingly easy, and they tasted like some bagels I have bought from the bakery. I will definitely make these again, as I think it will be fun to play with some different seasonings.

Peanut Butter Banana Nut Muffins (sort of)

I wanted to make some muffins to grab for breakfast each morning. I was looking for something a little healthier, so I checked out Karen's blog and found these. Karen is great at adapting recipes and making them healthier by using Splenda and whole wheat flour, so I followed most of her changes. She used mini chocolate chips, but I subbed some peanut butter chips and walnuts instead (to make a peanut butter-banana, banana nut combo).Oh yeah, and she remembered to put baking soda in hers. What a rookie mistake I made! Mine didn't rise at all so they don't look very appetizing, but they taste pretty good, and I certainly won't feel as guilty eating these as I would with other muffins out there.

Healthier Banana Nut Muffins
made 15 cupcake-size muffins

1.5 c. mashed fresh banana
2 large eggs
1 c. granulated sugar (I used Splenda)
1/2 c. salted butter, softened
1/2 c. 1% milk (I used skim)
1 tsp baking soda (you really don't want to forget this when baking....)
1 tsp vanilla abstract
1.25 c. whole wheat flour
1.25 c. white flour
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips (I used 1/4 c. peanut butter chips)
1/2 c. chopped pecans (I used 1/4 c. chopped walnuts)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix together sugar and butter. Add banana, milk, eggs, vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips and nuts if desired.
3. Place liners in muffin tins and fill. I baked by cupcake-sized muffins or ~25 min.

(Makes 2 eight inch loaves or 12 large muffins. Cook at 350 degrees until knife comes out clean. 60 minutes for a loaf, 25-35 minutes for large muffins.)

REVIEW:
The substitution of Splenda and whole wheat flour is great in these. And I really liked my peanut butter-banana-nut combo. Maybe next time I can actually follow the recipe. I planned to freeze some of these, and I can just pull them out the night before work for breakfast the next morning.

Irish Soda Bread

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I have been planning an Irish menu for Josh and I next week. Its definitely something a little different for us, but why not give it a try?

I started off by making some Irish Soda Bread, a few days early. I don't know if I've ever had this before, so I'm not sure whats its supposed to taste like - but this was good! I found this recipe on allrecipes, and the reviews said it tastes pretty traditional. I added raisins which I think made a huge difference!
Irish Soda Bread

4 c. all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. margarine, softened (I used butter)
1 c. buttermilk
1 egg
2/3 c. raisins
1/4 c. butter, melted (I used half of this)
1/4 c. buttermilk (I used half of this)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Lightly grease a baking sheet (I used nonstick).
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. (I sifted dry ingredients together first, and used my kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook. It worked great).
3. Stir in 1 c. buttermilk and egg. (Still used the kitchenaid.)
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead slightly. (This is where I added in the raisins - its hard to knead raisins evenly into the dough, so I ended up with some very raisin-heavy pockets!)
5. Form dough into rounded loaf and place it on the baking sheet.
6. Mix melted butter and 1/4 c. buttermilk in a small bowl and brush over the loaf (you only need 1/2 of this). Cut a good size "X" on top of the loaf.
7. Bake for 45-50 min, or until a toothpick inserted in the top of the loaf comes out clean. Enjoy!

REVIEW:
I don't make bread often, so I kind of winged it with this. This is a dense bread, but it isn't sweet. My crust came out kind of hard, but the bread itself is good and the raisins really add something. I've had a few pieces this afternoon.... hopefully there is still some left for Tuesday!

Red Lobster Biscuits

We had a really late lunch yesterday, so I just planned on sauteing some veggies for dinner. I wanted something to go with them, and I remembered seeing these on Lindsay's blog. I like the real thing, so I figured I would try these, plus I had everything on hand.
Red Lobster Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
I cut the following recipe in half and made 6 biscuits, so this makes ~12

2 c. Bisquick mix

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I would use 1 cup - I used 1/2 cup mild cheddar when I halved the recipe!)

2/3 c. milk

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp parsley
(I also added a dash of salt)
Butter

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 450 deg F.
2. Mix all ingredients until moist.
3. Drop onto greased cookie sheet (my clumps were ~1/3 cup each)
4. Bake for 8 min or until golden (I burned the bottoms of mine b/c I was waiting for them to get darker... watch yours carefully).
5. Spread butter on top while warm. Enjoy!

REVIEW:
I thought these were really good, but not quite the same as the real thing. Josh only had 1 because he was too busy eating apple pie for dinner :)