Dutch Apple Pie smoothie

I've wanted a blender for a long time. But, I wanted one that actually worked. The Kitchen Witch has gone through about 5 cheap blenders over the past 15 years, none of them were worth the money that was spent on them. I knew that I wanted a KitchenAid blender, but I didn't want to spend Kitchen Aid's prices (however if I add the $20-$50 ea for the past 5 blenders I've spent way more than 1 good KitchenAid blender would have cost. Sigh). Being resourceful I found the outlet store on shopkitchenaid.com. They had refurbished machines for a fraction of their normal cost. I got my brushed nickel 5 speed powerhouse for $70. This is a $180 machine. Now that's Witchcraft!

But I digress. This is about the smoothie. I don't really know where the idea for this one came from, other than my love of all things apple and wanting the flavor of pie with out the caloric load that pie carries. Enter the smoothie! Apple cider (100% juice from US apples please!) frozen into cubes helps keep the smoothie frozen and not watered down. The Greek yogurt adds creaminess - much like the ice cream atop a slice of apple pie. Basic pie flavorings including cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar are all included in this taste sensation. A touch of oatmeal gives that flavor of Dutch apple pie with a strudel on top. It also adds fiber and great flavor to the smoothie.

Apple pie in a mug for breakfast? 138 calories? Blender, how I love you!

Dutch Apple Pie smoothie
makes 2 servings
1 apple, Braeburn, Pink Lady or other firm tart apple
3 heaping scoops greek gods honey yogurt
1 T brown sugar packed
1 t vanilla
1/4 t cinnamon
1 c apple juice, frozen
1/4 c apple juice
1 heaping T oatmeal
ice, about 5 cubes

Core apple, leave skins on. (I cut in half, then into quarters. Then cut the core out. You could also cut the cheeks of the apple off leaving the core behind.)
Cut into chunks.
Put everything into a blender, blend until smooth.


Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 138.9
Total Fat 0.6 g
Saturated Fat 0.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.1 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 19.6 mg
Potassium 234.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 31.6 g
Dietary Fiber 2.3 g
Sugars 4.6 g
Protein 4.3 g

Fruit and nut stuffed pork chops

Pork chops can gone one of 2 ways usually: ho hum OR out of this world! These chops fell into the latter category, I'm happy to say. Stuffed with apples, craisins and toasted pecans, they had flavor through and through. Adding fruit to savory dishes is quite an old concept but one that has stood the test of time. Fruit accents the savory flavors like nothing else can. Little bursts of crunchy sweetness melded with crispy nuts and tender pork chops.

I used apple, craisins and pecans in these chops, mostly because I had them around & needed to use them up. I was out of bread for the stuffing so a quick trip to the pantry yielded me rosemary & olive oil triscuits that were pretty stale. Being a creative Kitchen Witch I decided the stale triscuits would actually be better than bread, they have a nice hearty flavor on their own and the rosemary & olive oil would add great herbaciousness to the stuffing. Boy, the Witch got it right with this one! The triscuits absorbed the cooking juices of the chop, which only added to the amazing flavor of these chops.

Best part of this whole dish is that its pretty quick. From start to finish I had dinner on the table in less than 45 minutes. We served these chops with the mac & cheese & cauliflower Pass it On recipe. What a delicious dinner it made!

Fruit & Nut stuffed Pork Chops
makes 4 chops
4 thick cut pork loin chops
1/2 apple, diced with skin on
2 T craisins
1 stalk celery diced
1/4 small onion diced
1/4 c pecans, toasted & chopped
1 T fresh minced parsley
S&P
2 t EVOO or butter
6 triscuits, rosemary & olive oil flavor is good here
1/4 c water or stock

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cut a pocket into the pork chop so you have a place for the stuffing to go. Salt & pepper the chops & set aside while you make the stuffing.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: look for pork loin roasts on sale. You can then cut the roast (which is boneless) into thick or thin chops as you desire. These cuts are usually lower cost than precut chops and this way you can control the thickness for your recipe~*~

In a small skillet over medium high heat cook and add your oil or butter. Cook the onions and celery until they start to soften & take on a little color, about 5-8 minutes. While that's cooking dice the apple and put it into a small mixing bowl with the craisins. Once onions & celery are done add to the apples.



In the same sautee pan heat the nuts about 2-3 minutes or until they are toasted & smell good. Chop roughly and add to the onions & apples.

Crush up the triscuits, add them to the fruit & veg mix, add nuts, parsley and the stock (or water). Stir well and allow to rest for a minute before stuffing so the triscuits can absorb the liquids.



Divide stuffing into quarters and stuff each chop with the stuffing.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once its hot add remaining oil and cook chops on 1st side until nicely browned. Flip chops over and cover with an oven proof lid. Put the entire pan into the hot oven & allow to cook for 15 minutes or until internal temp is at least 155-160*. Allow meat to rest about 5 minutes before serving.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: look for pork loin roasts on sale. You can then cut the roast (which is boneless) into thick or thin chops as you desire. These cuts are usually lower cost than precut chops and this way you can control the thickness for your recipe~*~

Sorry for the lousy photos, I was starved by the time dinner was done & quality photography was NOT high on my list of priorities.

Nutrition Facts Provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 235.8
Total Fat 13.0 g
Saturated Fat 2.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 5.6 g
Cholesterol 48.4 mg
Sodium 384.6 mg
Potassium 461.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 9.2 g
Dietary Fiber 2.2 g
Sugars 0.3 g
Protein 20.8 g

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Peanut butter cookies don't get made very often around here. My niece has a peanut allergy so I tend to avoid peanuts - cross contamination scares me a lot. So when peanut butter cookies started to call my name I immediately thought NO! I can't make them! What if my niece comes over? There'd be potential for allergies everywhere! Reason started to settle in, its the middle of the week, we won't be seeing my niece until this weekend, which gives me plenty of time to clean up any stray cookie crumbs. And lets be honest people, the cookies won't be around that long.

So I gave in to temptation and made peanut butter cookies. And I'm so glad I did! They were everything I was hoping for, creamy, delicate, buttery, rich and delicious. Everyone knows that chocolate is peanut butter's best friend so the chocolate chips were a welcome addition. These cookies turned out better than I hoped for. My husband wants to know when I'll be making them again. I guess that means they are good.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
makes 32 cookies
1 c brown sugar packed
1 stick butter
1 egg
3/4 c creamy all natural peanut butter
1 t vanilla
2 c flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 c chocolate chips
2 T granulated sugar for tops

Cream butter with a mixer. Add brown sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla, mix until very light and fluffy.

Add in the dry ingredients in 3 installments, scraping down after each installment. Add chocolate chips to batter. Scoop using a small cookie scooper (1T approx size).

Press the tines of a fork into the sugar then press into the cookie. Back to the sugar and press the cookie a second time at a 90* angle to the 1st marks, causing small squares in the center. Add a pinch of sugar to the tops of each cookie if they don't have much.

Bake at 350* for 10 minutes. Allow to cool on tray for 1 minute before moving to a cooking rack.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
32 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 121.4
Total Fat 6.1 g
Saturated Fat 2.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.9 g
Cholesterol 14.4 mg
Sodium 117.3 mg
Potassium 35.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 16.3 g
Dietary Fiber 0.6 g
Sugars 9.2 g
Protein 2.3 g

Pass it on: Week 2: Mac & cauliflower & cheese

A big thanks again to Megan at Tomato Tots for organizing this week's Pass it On recipe. I'm a little late I know, sorry about that. I'm happy to say that we made the dish tonight and it was really really good! Very cheesy, very creamy and the cauliflower adds a nutty flavor. The little Witch enjoyed this one as well which is a huge plus. It makes a TON - which is great when feeding a crowd or for lunches.

Theres only 5 ingredients in this recipe. It takes about 10 minutes to make once the water boils. What's not to love here? Feel free to customize this with any hearty veggie your family likes, broccoli would be a great substitue for the cauliflower. Some tomatoes would be both pretty and flavorful added at the end. Feel free to play around with this one.

Lastly I did use real sour cream this time. I've never made this before & didn't know if Greek yogurts tang would be good or not. Next time I'll use 1/2 sour cream 1/2 Greek yogurt and see how that is. It sure would help on the calories.

Mac & cauliflower & cheese
makes 6-8 side dish servings
1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 box pasta, I used Ronzoni Smart Taste rotini, they worked wonderfully
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 oz shredded Asiago or Parmesean cheese
3/4 c sour cream
Salt
2 T finely minced parsley

Slice cauliflower into 1 inch slabs, then cut those into large chunks, discarding any tough stalks.



Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 2 T kosher salt to water. Add cauliflower and pasta, cook 8 min or until pasta is done.

Drain.

In the same pot that the pasta cooked in add the cheese and sour cream. Stir well until cheese melts about 80% of the way. Add the drained pasta, cauliflower & parsley. Stir well to melt remaining cheese and coat each piece in sauce.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe calculator
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 317.1
Total Fat 18.1 g
Saturated Fat 10.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 4.4 g
Cholesterol 45.8 mg
Sodium 470.2 mg
Potassium 281.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 24.2 g
Dietary Fiber 3.8 g
Sugars 1.0 g
Protein 15.7 g

Coleslaw

Its about 9:00 am on Easter Sunday I get the following instant message from my sister:
Sissy: I need to make coleslaw, so what do I need to do
Me: umm...let me think about that
Me: like the dressing or what
Sissy: like everything

You see, I'm not a coleslaw fan. Its the whole mayo hate thing, I've never really enjoyed coleslaw. So when Sissy asked me for a recipe I could only dig deep into my Kitchen Witch resources and hope that this was what coleslaw was supposed to taste like.

I knew from prior tastings that slaw usually has a slightly sweet sauce. Celery seeds were usually found in there too. Seeing as how cabbage is in the mustard family I figured a touch of mustard could only compliment the flavors. Most everything needs a big of acidity, so some red wine vinegar fits that bill. But the creamy part, what would I do for that?

If you guessed Greek yogurt, then you'd be right! Good ol' Greek yogurt saves the day again! It saves on calories and a mayo hater like myself can enjoy it. What's not to love here??

I was brave and tried the coleslaw with Easter dinner. Wow! It was SO good!! Who knew that THIS was what I'd been missing all these years! I can say with full confidence that I'll be making lots more coleslaw this summer. Hooray! I love discovering new foods & flavors. Especially when its things you once thought you hated. Love that!

Coleslaw
makes 6 servings
1/3 c Greek yogurt, plain
1/4 t celery seed
1 T vinegar, white or red wine type
1 T grainy brown mustard or dijon mustard
1 t sugar
S&P
1 small bag coleslaw veggies
OR
1/2 head cabbage finely shredded, 1/4 head red cabbage, finely shredded and 1 carrot grated

Mix the sugar and vinegar together until sugar dissolves. Stir that into the yogurt. Add the celery seeds, S&P and mustard, stir until combined.

Pour dressing over cabbage. Toss to coat.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 28.2
Total Fat 0.7 g
Saturated Fat 0.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 1.3 mg
Sodium 223.7 mg
Potassium 188.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 5.2 g
Dietary Fiber 1.7 g
Sugars 1.1 g
Protein 1.3 g

Chicken with 40 cloves

O.M.G. This is quite possibly the best chicken dish I've cooked. Ever. I know, that's a pretty strong statement, considering I make a lot of chicken dishes. Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic may become my signature dish. Its that good.

Now, I'm an honest Witch, I won't lie to you. I was afraid of this dish. Terrified even. 40 cloves of garlic? I don't know, that seems awfully potent. Oh sure, I'd heard that the garlic mellows and sweetens as it cooks but 40 cloves? Really?!

Really. Mellow is a great word to describe this dish. The garlic becomes a complex flavor, sweet, caramelized, smoky, pungent, delicious. The touch of heavy cream at the end adds richness. Thyme plays its herbal qualities to its finest, perfuming the dish with flavor and the wine becomes the most flavorful savory sauce you can imagine. A touch of cognac adds to the sweet smoky qualities.

I wasn't expecting much out of this dish. I'd actually avoided it for years. A good friend of mine suggested that I make it and that was the push that I needed. For that I have to say thank you Kelly, thank you for suggesting it! Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone because I have a new love. And its chicken with 40 cloves. Next time I see you I'm making this for you!

Chicken with 40 cloves
serves 6
1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 wings, 2 breasts)
S&P
2 T EVOO
40 cloves of garlic peeled (about 2.5 heads)
1 1/2 c white wine
3 T cognac
2 T heavy cream
1 t dry thyme or 4 fresh sprigs
2 T flour

Pat the chicken dry. Cover pieces with salt & pepper.

Heat a dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot add the EVOO and 4 pieces of chicken. Once browned flip and brown on 2nd side. Remove from pan & set aside. Brown remaining chicken and reserve with the rest.

Add garlic to the pan and stir well to coat in oil. Cook garlic until its evenly browned on all sides. Take care to move the garlic often and flip it to avoid burning. If you burn any remove it, this will bitter the dish.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: To peel garlic blanch in boiling water for 60 seconds. Remove from the water and peel, the skins will slip right off. If you see any green shoots in your garlic cloves be sure to remove them! I cut them in half and pull out the shoot. If you leave the green shoots in the garlic will bitter, which is not a flavor component we're trying to add here. I had to de-shoot all 40 cloves of my garlic. While it was a pain, it was 100% worth it.~*~

Once garlic is browned add the cognac (remove pan from open flame if cooking over gas) and wine, scraping bottom to loosen cooked on bits. Bring to a boil then add chicken back to pan, along with any juices that have collected on the bottom. Place the chicken in the pan in this order: thighs, legs, wings, boneless breasts on top. The placement will ensure even cooking for all pieces. Sprinkle thyme over top, cover and reduce heat to very low.



Cook over very low heat for 30-45 minutes or until chicken is done through. Remove chicken to a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest while sauce is prepared.

Remove 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the flour to this, whisk well to make a thick paste. Pour the thickened liquid into the pot, whisking well to incorporate. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes. Add 1 T cognac and 2 T heavy cream, stir to incorporate and simmer for 1 minute. Serve sauce with chicken and enjoy.



Nutrition Facts
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 279.1
Total Fat 7.2 g
Saturated Fat 2.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.0 g
Cholesterol 93.0 mg
Sodium 492.7 mg
Potassium 406.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 10.4 g
Dietary Fiber 0.5 g
Sugars 0.6 g
Protein 30.7 g

Wild Rice Pilaf

As you may know I recently won a blogger basket give away! In my goodie basket was some wild rice from Manitoba, Canada. Wild rice is one of my favorite foods ever. Its so nutty and pairs so well with savory, I just love it. So needless to say I was pretty darn excited when I won some from Sarah at All Fingers in the Pie. Thanks again Sarah, the rice is delicious!

When I made this dish I did it wrong - I didn't take into account how long wild rice takes to cook compared to white rice. Oops. The flavor was good but the wild rice was too crunchy and the white was pretty mushy. Oh how I long for a rice cooker as this Witch is a HORRIBLE rice cook!! No matter what I do its gummy, gluey and crunchy in the center. No wonder I usually use minute rice.

When I wrote the recipe for the blog I wrote it the way I should have cooked it. Learn from the Kitchen Witches' mistakes, cook the wild rice about half way first, then add the white rice. The photos on the other hand are from the tasty but poorly cooked rice so please disregard the over swollen rice grains.

This rice was served with left over sauce from Chicken with 40 cloves. It was delicious!

Wild Rice Pilaf
serves 4
1/4 c wild rice (from Manitoba if you can find it!)
1/2 c long grain rice (white or brown the choice is yours)
2 c chicken stock
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 onion, diced
1 clove garlic minced
1-2 T fresh minced parsley
1 T EVOO
1 t butter
1/2 t kosher salt

Heat a sauce pan over medium heat, add EVOO. Once hot add the veggies and stir well to coat with oil. Allow to cook about 5 minutes.

Add white rice and butter, stir to coat all rice grains. Cook 7-10 minutes, stirring often, until rice changes to a solid white color. Remove the white rice from pan.

Add the wild rice and stock. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

After 20 min has passed add the reserved white rice & veggies. Continue to cook for 30 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Top with parsley and fluff rice with a fork before serving.


Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 108.6
Total Fat 6.5 g
Saturated Fat 2.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.4 g
Cholesterol 10.3 mg
Sodium 648.1 mg
Potassium 137.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 11.0 g
Dietary Fiber 1.1 g
Sugars 0.9 g
Protein 1.8 g

Chicken nuggets

A couple of things happened in quick succession of each other which lead to the development of this recipe. The first was I forgot to buy a bag of chicken nuggets for the little Witch at the grocery store. The horror!!! We got home and of course the first thing she asks for is her precious nuggets. Kids and their nuggets, right?

The next day I watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, about changing eating habits, eliminating processed foods, etc from our diets. I sat there pretty smug like for as you know I'm a Witch who doesn't use processed foods. No cream of soups for me, no sir, I'm not one of those cooks. Why buy it in a box when I can make it from scratch?

The following day it was lunch time and the little Witch asked for nuggets. I had to remind her that we, indeed, were out of nuggets and she needed to have something else for lunch. That didn't go over well. She refused to eat anything I had made for her. This is the child that once used to pass over nuggets to get to the tomatoes. So I started to have a mini panic attack "Oh no - no nuggets, what will she eat? The only thing she'll eat is nuggets!! What will I feed my child?"

Then I stopped and thought about that last one. What will I feed my child with out processed chicken nuggets? How is it that I, the Kitchen Witch, had fallen into convinience & processed food traps for my child? It seemed innocent enough when she was very wee and wanted a chicken nugget. Thank goodness, I thought to myself, she wants to eat food, any food! You see, the little Witch doesn't have a large appetite so any time I find food she'll eat I'm thrilled. You other parents understand I'm sure. If she'll eat nuggets, then by gosh nuggets she'll get! I was smart & read my labels, no HFCS or PHO's were allowed. Somehow the other 23 unpronounceable 'ingredients' were overlooked - and I was ok with that.

No more!

Using a fair amount of witchcraft I came up with homemade nuggets that look like the Tyson ones. They're breaded, but with panko. A touch of paperkia adds color and gives a deep fried look. I used very basic seasonings to mimic the bland processed nuggets flavor. Its a preschoolers dream! I added a touch of butter to the panko crumbs which aids in both moisture as well as flavor. And these nuggets are lean white meat chicken and oven baked so they really are a healthy alternative - and your kids will eat them!

Chicken nuggets
makes about 32 nuggets
2 chicken breasts ground OR 1 lb ground chicken
1 egg
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 t poultry seasoning
1/2 t paperkia
1/2 t kosher salt, divided
2 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400.
Grind chicken or put the preground stuff into a bowl. Add 1/4 t kosher salt and the egg. Mix well. Pour mixture into a zip top bag.

Put the panko and seasonings into your food processor bowl and pulse until the panko is more like bread crumbs.

Add butter and pulse a few more times until mixture looks like wet sand. Pour 1/2 the crumbs out onto a sheet pan. Spread out as evenly as possible.

Cut the end off the zip top bag and pipe nugget sized dollops onto the panko crumbs. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining crumbs. Gently press down on top to form a nugget shape.



Using a small spatula flip the nuggets over to ensure even crumb coating the transfer to a 2nd sheet pan for baking. Bake for 13 minutes or until nuggets are done.

TO FREEZE: Allow nuggets to fully cool. Once they're cool you can put the entire sheet tray into the freezer, once they freeze transfer to a large zip top bag. If your freezer won't hold a sheet tray put the nuggets in a single layer in a zip top bag and freeze. Once they're solid they can be stacked ontop of each other to save room.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
8 Servings (6 nuggets per serving)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 127.2
Total Fat 4.5 g
Saturated Fat 2.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.2 g
Cholesterol 68.6 mg
Sodium 213.2 mg
Potassium 159.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 5.1 g
Dietary Fiber 0.3 g
Sugars 0.3 g
Protein 15.4 g

Triple Chocolate Cookies

On Thursdays we go to story time at our local library. The kids get to hear a few stories then make a fun craft. Afterwards they play and have fun. My daughter has befriended a few of the kids there - they've kinda got their own gang going on. Its adorable to watch them play and friendships develop. Since the weather has been warming up we've all taken to hanging out at the playground after story time is over, and with that comes picnic lunches. And cookies. Delicious yummy cookies.

Which brings me to the point of my post. Nicole is one of the moms at story time and it turns out that she's a talented baker. Today she surprised us by bringing cookies for the group. They were amazing. Chocolate cookie nirvana. Nicole was kind enough to bring the recipe as well and I told her that I'd be blogging about it, soon!

These cookies are insanely good. They are rich, dark and chocolate laden. I can not say enough good things about these cookies! I did have to exercise some self control and saved one so I could photograph it for you all. And now that the photo shoot is over, its cookie time!

Triple Chocolate Cookies
By Nicole from my story time group
makes about 30 cookies
1 c AP flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs at room temp
1 t vanilla extract
1 T dark roast instant coffee powder (Starbucks VIA Italian roast would be awesome!)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. In another bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.

Combine coffee powder and melted chocolate, add this to the butter and egg mixture. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Fold in chopped chocolate.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake until edges are dry, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
30 cookies, 1 cookie per serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 111.0
Total Fat 5.5 g
Saturated Fat 3.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g
Cholesterol 22.5 mg
Sodium 43.8 mg
Potassium 31.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 15.1 g
Dietary Fiber 1.1 g
Sugars 10.0 g
Protein 1.7 g

Sissy's Shrimp Scampi with pasta

One of my Sissy's favorite dishes is shrimp scampi. Since its her birthday today I made it for her for lunch. This is a quick and easy meal, it literally takes 20 minutes from start to finish.

Happy birthday Sissy, I hope you enjoyed lunch :-)

Sissy's Shrimp Scampi with Angle Hair pasta
serves 2
16 large shrimp (21-28 count)
1 cup dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t lemon juice
S&P
2 t EVOO
4 oz angel hair pasta
1 T fresh chopped parsley
1/8 t dry Italian seasonings
1 tomato diced
2 T butter

Marinate peeled and deveined shrimp in 1/4 c white wine, lemon juice, garlic, a few pinches salt and pepper, and dry herbs for 15 minutes.

While shrimp marinate bring water to boil for pasta and heat a large stainless sautee pan over med high heat. The angle hair pasta takes 5 minutes to cook so once you put the pasta in the water start your shrimp.

Once sautee pan is hot add EVOO, swirl pan to coat bottom. Add shrimp to pan. Cook 1-2 min on 1st side then flip over, starting with the 1st shrimp you put in the pan for even cooking. Cook 1 min longer. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.

Add the tomatoes and remaining wine to the pan, bring to a boil and allow to reduce by half. Add the shrimp back to the pan and remove from heat.

Drain pasta, add it to the shrimp wine sauce, stirring to coat pasta. Top with parsley.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
Shrimp Scampi with angel hair pasta
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 474.4
Total Fat 18.2 g
Saturated Fat 8.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 6.8 g
Cholesterol 104.1 mg
Sodium 161.8 mg
Potassium 244.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 51.5 g
Dietary Fiber 6.8 g
Sugars 1.9 g
Protein 16.6 g

Sicilian pizza

The other day my sister and her 2 kids came over for a day of fun. Since it was a day of fun I decided that we'd have a fun lunch for everyone which around here is pizza! Oh my goodness this pizza turned out fantastic. It was so flavorful, the sauce was fresh tasting and had good 'pizza' flavor. Ben, my almost 9 year old nephew, declared that it smelled like a pizzeria in the house and that I needed to open my own pizza shop. See what a good boy he is? :)

If you all don't know this by now I'm horrible at following recpies. Even my own recipes! So this pizza recipe is different than previously posted pizza recipes. And I have to say, this one may be the best one I've made yet, though I'm pretty sure I said that last time too. The sauce was so so SO good! The crust was both chewy and crispy - what more could you ask for? I had an 8 oz block of mozzarella and a touch of Asiago on hand yesterday, when I spread the cheese on the pizza I thought "Oh crap, thats not gonna be enough cheese". I am happy to report that it was a perfect amount of cheese, just enough to hold the whole thing together, the toppings didn't slide off the slice and it was not excessively greasy, an added plus for sure!

This recipe makes 2 pizzas. I cooked one for us for lunch and froze the 2nd. In retrospect I should have doubled the recipe, cooked 2 for lunch and froze the other 2 for future use. The delicious pizza that's frozen in my freezer is taunting me, it keeps saying "Kitchen Witch, you know you want to make me for lunch again today. Kitchen Witch, pizza, its whats for dinner!" I must ignore its siren song so I can enjoy its deliciousness another day when I just don't feel like cooking!

Sicilian Pizza
makes 2 large pizzas
Crust:
4 c king arthur bread flour
2 t yeast
1.5 t kosher salt
4 t sugar
2 T EVOO
1 3/4 c warm water

Sauce:
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4 onion
2 t EVOO
Kosher salt
1/2 t minced fresh oregano plus 1-2 sprigs of oregano
(can use 3/4 t dried oregano)

Toppings: (feel free to use whatever you and your family like here!)
8 oz mozzarella cheese shredded, divided
1/4 c Asiago cheese, divided
8 slices salami, divided
4 slices deli ham, divided
2/3 red bell pepper diced, divided

Make the dough:
~*~the dough will need at least 2 hours of rising time before its ready for use - please plan accordingly~*~

Bloom the yeast in 1/2 c warm water and 1 t sugar. Mix the flour, salt and 3 t sugar together in the work bowl of your stand mixer. Once the yeast has bloomed and is foamy and active add it to the flour, add the EVOO and slowly add the warm water.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip~*~ I always hold off on the last 1/2 cup of water when making bread doughs, you may or may not need it all and its always easier to add more water rather than trying to add more flour to dry it up some.

Kneed the dough in the mixer for 10 minutes. Oil a bowl with EVOO and put the dough ball in the bowl, coating all sides of dough with EVOO. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size. Once doubled punch down and kneed again then divide into 2 equally sized balls.

Spread the dough out on a lightly greased sheet pan making the edges slightly thicker than the center. Prick crust with tines of a fork (this is called docking) so steam can release & you don't get big air bubbles.

Make the sauce:
Heat a sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the EVOO, onions and garlic. Cook slowly until garlic is golden brown and onion has started to soften.

Add the crushed tomatoes, salt and herbs. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer about 15 minutes. After 15 min press the garlic, onions and herb bunch against side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir well. Discard any large pieces of garlic, onion and the sprigs of oregano.

Assemble pizza:


Prep the salami - I use salami because that's what we had. It was delicious, it added that pepperoni kind of flavor that pizza loves. Because I like my pepperoni and salami to be crispy I pre fried it. Heat a small sautee pan over medium high heat. Cut salami into pieces (or use pepperoni) and put into the pan. Cook the meat until its crispy and has released a fair amount of grease. Drain before using on pizza. I also put the salami under the cheese so it wouldn't get burned, since is about 80% cooked already.

Spread 1/2 the sauce on each pizza.

Top with salami or pepperoni

Next is cheese

Then the ham

Finally the red bell peppers. Pretty isn't it?

Bake at 500 for 15-20 minutes or until its bubbly and browned and the crust is golden. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before slicing.



Nutrition Facts
2 pizzas per recipe, each serves 5 people
10 Servings total
Amount Per Serving
Calories 365.0
Total Fat 14.1 g
Saturated Fat 5.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 6.7 g
Cholesterol 26.8 mg
Sodium 741.1 mg
Potassium 296.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 43.2 g
Dietary Fiber 2.5 g
Sugars 0.1 g
Protein 16.3 g

Buttermilk herb salad dressing

Psst. Wanna know a secret? Your creamy ranch salad dressing, its loaded with calories. And fat. And chemicals. Good thing you know a Kitchen Witch. She can show you a way to make your own. That's right, I said make your own ranch dressing. Or a pretty good knock off. And considering it chimes in at 18 calories a serving, oh and a serving is 2 and a half TABLESPOONS and it takes about 5 minutes to make, well you might wanna try it out. :)

This dressing was inspired by my first herbs of the year arriving in my garden - a small handful of chives and a touch of oregano. Seeing the first herbs made me want salad. But a handful of chives does not a salad make. It does however make a nice salad dressing!

The Greek yogurt is used in place of mayo (since I hate mayo) which makes it nice and creamy and very healthy. The little Witch really liked it and kept commenting on how creamy it tasted. Coming from a 3 year old that's a compliment. Its kid tested, but is it mother approved? You bet your butt it is! Where else can you find a creamy dressing at 18 calories a serving, 1.2 grams of fat and no chemicals or anything artificial? Wow! What's not to love?

Buttermilk Herb Salad Dressing
makes 8 servings, 2.5 T each
1/3 c Greek yogurt
1/2 c lowfat buttermilk
1/4 t granulated garlic
1/2 t kosher salt
1/8 t black pepper
2 T fresh grated Asiago cheese
about 15 stems of chives
5 oregano leaves
1 T finely minced parsley

mince herbs together.
mix yogurt and buttermilk together until smooth
add garlic, salt & pepper, stir well
add minced herbs, about 2 T total
add grated cheese
stir well, allow to sit at least 30 min before serving. The longer it sits the more the flavors meld, so let it sit as long as you can (like make it in the morning for your dinnertime salad). This dressing will last about a week in the fridge.



~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: Don't be tempted to use fresh garlic in this recipe unless you really like a strong sharp garlic bite and flavor. The fresh garlic gets even more intense as it sits so after a bit all you can taste is garlic. I find that the granulated garlic doesn't 'bite' the way that fresh does, it just provides a nice garlicky background flavor.~*~

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
8 Servings, 2.5T per serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 18.9
Total Fat 1.2 g
Saturated Fat 0.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 3.4 mg
Sodium 52.0 mg
Potassium 28.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate 1.3 g
Dietary Fiber 0.1 g
Sugars 1.2 g
Protein 0.9 g

Pass it On: Week 1 Roasted Chicken

Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef (FYI, that's a lie, he's not naked, unfortunately) has recently invaded the US and is starting a Food Revolution. In the UK Jamie has helped rehab the school lunch program and he's bringing his talents to the States in an attempt to overhaul our (national) lunch programs. He's got a show on ABC (it airs Friday nights, check your local listings) called Food Revolution that shows exactly what he's attempting to do.

The show takes place in a small town in West Virginia in a town that's been identified as the "most unhealthy place in the world" based on CDC statistics. I've only seen the 1st episode of this program so far but it was very powerful. Poor Jamie, I don't think he really knew what he was getting into - this town has NOT welcomed him. In fact they are quite hostile towards him and his ideals. The saddest part of the show for me was when he brought a bunch of tomatoes into the lunch room and asked kids what they were. No kids could identify fresh tomatoes. One child got close, calling them potatoes. Close but no cigar.

In addition to rehabilitating the school lunch program Jamie has a "Pass it on" pledge: he will teach 4 people how to cook a dish. They in turn will teach 4 more people. Those 4 will teach 4 more, and so on. Megan at Tomato Tots had a brilliant idea, since so many of us bloggers are equally passionate about healthy foods, cooking and teaching others how to do the same, why not start our own Pass it On program? I LOVED the idea and I'm proud to be a part of this great plan.

Megan owns a few Jamie Oliver cookbooks and she's graciously agreed to host the Pass it On program by selecting one of Jamies recipes and showcasing it on her blog. Anyone who wants to play can then make the recipe with in a week of its posting and blog about it.

This week is our first week, and its a good one folks -- Roasted Chicken! I was tickled pink to see that the Roasted Chicken was this weeks recipe as I had a whole thawed bird in my fridge that I planned on cooking that night anyway! Woo hoo a new recipe to try out! And I got to teach my sister how to cook this meal, so I've already passed it on to 1 person. And now my loyal blog readers, I pass it on to you!

Roasted Chicken
adapted from Jamie Oliver
Makes 1 whole chicken, 8 pieces
1 whole roasting chicken about 3-4 lbs
1 lemon
1 bunch fresh herbs like rosemary & thyme (I used dried as that's all I had)
1 head garlic cut in half
3 stalks leeks (original recipe calls for 2 onions, however I had leeks that needed to be used up)
6 carrots (original calls for 2 but I have a carrot obsessed little Witch to feed)
2 stalks celery
Kosher salt & pepper
EVOO
FOR GRAVY:
1 c white wine
3 c water
3 T flour
S&P

Preheat oven to 475.

Cut the veggies into 3 inch long hunks, roughly. Put all the veggies into the bottom of a dutch oven.



Rinse chicken, remove giblets and discard (or use if that's your thing). You can truss your bird if you'd like. Sprinkle chicken with 2 teaspoons kosher salt on all sides, including cavity.



Prick the lemon all over with a fork and put it into the cavity of the bird. Add small fresh herb boquet into the cavity as well. If you're using dried herbs sprinkle them on top of the bird and throw a few inside too. Put the chicken on top of the cut up veggies, add 1/2 c water to the bottom of the pan. Drizzle the bird with EVOO.

Put the chicken into the oven and lower the heat to 400. DO NOT COVER. Allow chicken to roast for 1.5 to 2 hours (it took longer at my altitude, and I had to cover it at the end to bring it up to temp as the outside was nice & golden but it wasn't done...grr) adding a slash of water as needed to keep veg from burning.

Once chicken is cooked through (160 for the white meat, 180 for the dark) remove it from the pan, cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.



GRAVY
In the same pan that the chicken cooked in add 3 cups stock or water and 1 cup white wine. Remove any veggies you want to serve with the meal (in my case the extra carrots). With a potato masher, smash the cooked veggies to release their flavor into the gravy. Bring to a boil and allow to reduce by half. Once the gravy has reduced make a slurry out of the flour and about 1/2 c water. Add the flour slurry to the gravy and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute then remove from heat. Strain gravy thru a fine mesh strainer to remove the spent veg and any flour lumps, producing a smooth gravy.

Sorry there's no pictures of the gravy - we were too hungry to take more photos!

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
8 Servings, 1 piece chicken and gravy each
Amount Per Serving
Calories 162.7
Total Fat 2.3 g
Saturated Fat 0.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Cholesterol 64.6 mg
Sodium 406.0 mg
Potassium 437.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 7.6 g
Dietary Fiber 1.6 g
Sugars 2.3 g
Protein 22.7 g

Caramelized Chicken with Garlic Rice

Here's a quick and easy dinner for you all. I found this gem on one of my favorite blogs, Jenn's food journey. Other friends of mine have suggested variations of this recipe as well, so I figured it was time that the Kitchen Witch tried it out. Boy was I glad I did!

I didn't have any honey so I used agave nectar. I liked the results, it gave sweetness and helped the sauce glaze nicely. The best way I could describe the flavor of this glaze is a sweet and sour BBQ sauce. It was really tasty and will become a staple in our household for sure!

I had to take a slight liberty with the rice dish, all I had on hand was minute rice. It worked pretty good, though I bet the flavor of a Basmati would be way better. Next time I'll use 'real' rice.

In 30 minutes I had a gorgeous piece of glazed chicken on flavorful garlic rice and steamed asparagus. Its a flavorful, healthy meal for busy days. Who doesn't love that?

Caramelized Chicken
serves 2-3
2 chicken breasts boneless skinless
3 T ketchup
2 T soy sauce
2 T agave nectar (could use 3T honey)
1/2 t hot sauce (Franks Red Hot)
S&P

Mix the everything but the chicken and S&P in a small sauce pan. Stir it all together, bring to a boil - boil for 1 minute and remove sauce to a small bowl.

Spray a baking pan (I used an 8x8 pan). Place chicken breasts in the pan and pour 1/2 the sauce over top. Put into a 375 oven and cook 15 min.

After 15 min of cooking, spread remaining half of sauce over chicken and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160* F. (I had to add about 1/4 c water to the pan here as well, my sauce was starting to burn, I blame the cooking vessel)

Remove from oven, allow to rest 5 minutes before serving with garlic rice. Spoon any remaining glaze over chicken.



Garlic Rice
makes 2-3 servings
1 cup instant white rice
1 cup water
1 T butter
1 t EVOO
2 cloves garlic minced
kosher salt

Heat butter and oil in a small sauce pan. Once hot add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring well to coat each grain with oil. Cook rice about 2 minutes then add the water. Bring to a boil, once it boils remove from heat, cover and allow to sit 5 min. Fluff with fork before serving.



Nutrition Facts Caramelized Chicken provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
2 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 360.3
Total Fat 2.9 g
Saturated Fat 0.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.7 g
Cholesterol 136.9 mg
Sodium 1,370.6 mg
Potassium 642.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 23.7 g
Dietary Fiber 1.2 g
Sugars 21.3 g
Protein 55.6 g

Nutrition Facts Garlic Rice
3 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 83.6
Total Fat 0.1 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 52.0 mg
Potassium 26.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 18.4 g
Dietary Fiber 0.2 g
Sugars 0.0 g

Protein 1.6 g

Beef Stew

The calender may say spring has sprung but here in Colorado, that just means that our snowy season has begun! The day that I made this stew we got 4 inches of snow. With snow in the air stew needs to be on the stove! What's better for the husband to come home to after a long day of work, and even longer drive home in the snow, than a pot of chunky beef stew?

When choosing meat for the stew choose chuck cuts. Do NOT choose 'stew meat'. 'Stew meat' is just scraps left over from the butchery process and that meat tends to be very rubbery & chewy, filled with excess fat & gristle, not my idea of a good stew! Round cuts (top round, bottom round roast) all are very lean but they dry out & get chalky when cooked in stew. Avoid them. Chuck is the best cut for this process, it has lots of beefy flavor and is ideal for long slow cooking processes, that allows the meat to break down & become very tender.

One of my big beefs (pun intended) with stew is chewy flabby flavorless meat. I won't stand for it! The Kitchen Witches' stew is exceptionally tender as a result of the cut of meat, the red wine and the long slow braising process. The red wine is essential: it helps to tenderize the meat, in addition to bringing lots of flavor to the dish. The acids & enzymes in the wine help to break down & tenderize the beef, resulting in nice soft pieces.


Beef Stew
makes 8 servings
3-5 lbs Chuck roast, cut into 1-2 in cubes
Kosher salt & pepper (about 2T salt, if using table salt use 1/2 as much)
3-4 carrots, peeled & sliced
3-4 ribs celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 t thyme leaves, dry or 4 stems fresh
3 bay leaves
3/4 bottle burgundy red wine (about 4 cups if you're using a boxed variety like me)
4 c water or beef broth (I used water, out of broth)
1/2 cup frozen peas
2-3 potatoes, peeled & diced
1T oil for sautee

Cut the roast into 1-2 in cubes, discarding any excess fat & connective tissues. Pat dry with paper towels, this helps with browning. Season beef cubes with salt & pepper (1T salt & 1/2 t ground pepper) and toss in the EVOO just before sautee.
Heat large soup pan over med hi heat, once hot add beef in a single layer and brown. You'll probably have to do this 3-4 times (kind of a pain but the flavor pay off is worth it). Don't crowd the pan, cubes shouldn't be touching, that causes the meat to steam & not brown, resulting in grey meat. yuck! Once cubes are browned remove & set aside. Repeat with remaining beef until done. Don't worry about the yucky brown stuff on the bottom of the pan, that's your fond, AKA flavor :)

Once meat has been browned, add onions, carrots & celery to pan. Stir. Add wine & scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon to release all the cooked on brown bits. Add the thyme, garlic & bay, stir well. Add the beef back to the pan and add 3/4 of the beef broth, stir well. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours. Taste stew hourly for seasoning, keeping in mind the flavors change as it cooks, and the salt tends to cook out somewhat. Add more salt & pepper accordingly.

After 2-3 hours of simmering add your diced potatoes, stir well, recover and cook about 30 min longer or until potatoes are soft.

Add the frozen peas, stir them into the stew and allow to rest for about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaves, ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Cheesy chicken broccoli casserole

This recipe is far from gourmet. What it is, however, is a great way to use up left over soup. I made a batch of creamy broccoli soup for lunch the other day. It makes a TON of soup. I kinda forgot about the soup being in the fridge until today. Wow. 4+ cups of cheesy broccoli soup, what ever should I do with this??

If you answered make a casserole, you'd be spot on! That's exactly what the Kitchen Witch did. Broccoli cheese soup is the base, additional broccoli florettes add color, texture and really emphasize the broccoli in the casserole with chicken, noodles and a crunchy bread crumb topping.

To change it from left overs to a casserole I added a few herbs and spices: poultry seasoning to enhance the chicken and ground dry mustard to play with the broccoli (its not mustard-y in the slightest, the mustard just makes the broccoli and cheese taste better). The result was pretty darn good if I do say so myself. And if you don't believe me, ask my husband. He had 2 plates full and is looking forward to left overs for lunch tomorrow.

Cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole
Serves 6
2 chicken breasts sliced thin
1/3 red bell pepper diced fine
2 heads broccoli, florettes removed (save stems for soup!)
4 cups broccoli cheese soup (homemade)
OR can sub. 2 cans broccoli soup and 2 cans milk AND 6 oz cheddar cheese shredded
1 t poultry seasoning
1 T dry mustard
S&P
3 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 c milk
bread crumbs, about 1/2 cup
2 T butter dotted over top of casserole

Mix the soup with mustard powder and poultry seasoning. Add veggies and sliced chicken, stir well. Add milk and noodles, stir to combine. Pour into a sprayed casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs and dot top with butter. Bake at 350* for 1 hour or until bubbly in center and browned on edges.



No nutrition on this one folks, it was way to complex for me to figure out but based on my best estimates I'd say that its about 450 calories a serving. Not too bad for a cheesy casserole! If you really need a detailed nutrition information let me know & I'll get it figured out ~ Andrea the Kitchen Witch

Molasses Bread

I created this recipe for molasses bread when deciding what would compliment our St. Patricks day meal of corned beef, Brussels sprouts with bacon (recipe to come in another post) and baked potatoes. The bread needed to stand up to these very intense flavors AND it needed to make an awesome sandwich the next day. Rye was the natural choice but I am not a fan of rye bread, much to my husbands dismay. But the idea of a darker bread intrigued me to cast a spell over browned bread.

At first I thought I'd use some Guinness beer, but I didn't have any on hand so that was out. My next thought was molasses. Molasses, the deep intense slightly bitter flavor would be similar to that of a good stout beer. The aroma of fresh baking bread fills the kitchen, its got a rich molasses and yeast scent. This bread will make amazing sandwiches I'm sure of it. As for now I can't wait for dinner to try it, if its half as good as it smells we're in for a treat!

Kitchen Witch Update: The bread, indeed, is as good as it smelled. The sandwiches are incredible, this bread is a new favorite!! The little Witch likes it too, with jelly :-)

Molasses Bread
makes 2 large loaves
4 cups bread flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 T dry active yeast
3 T brown sugar, divided
1/3 c molasses
3 c water total, divided
3 T butter
1 T kosher salt

Proof yeast with 1 T brown sugar and 1 c warm water. Proofing simply means you're activating the yeast by dissolving it in warm water and a bit of sugar. The yeast will eat the sugar and the solution will foam, indicating to you that your yeast is alive and active and ready to go to work in your bread.

Mix flours, 2T brown sugar and salt together in the work bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter.

Mix the molasses and remaining water together, stirring well to dissolve molasses.

Once the yeast has bubbled and foamed add it to the flour, add 1/2 the water/molasses mix and stir until the liquids are absorbed. Slowly add the remaining liquid, holding off the last 1/2 cup or so. Keep mixing it with the dough hook, dough should be very moist but not sticking to the bowl. If you need to use the last 1/2 c liquid do so, if not toss it.

Allow to kneed in machine for 6 minutes. Remove dough ball to a large bowl that has been coated in oil. Roll ball around in the oil, cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise on the counter until doubled in size.

Once doubled remove plastic and gently push dough down. Remove from bowl onto a floured counter top. Kneed dough, adding flour as needed until you have a smooth ball again.

Put it back into the bowl & recover and allow to rise a second time.

Once its risen the 2nd time, remove from bowl, kneed again with flour as needed, roll into a ball and cut in half. Roll each half into a loaf shape and put into a sprayed loaf pan. Press dough into pan so it fills all sides. Cover loosly with plastic wrap that's been sprayed with oil and allow to double in size again.

Once dough has doubled put the loaf pans into a 400* oven. Spray the loaves liberally with water from a spray bottle. The steam will created a dark golden crust and yield nice chewy bread. Spray the bread liberally every 5-10 minutes until bread is done. Bakes in about 45-50 minutes.

You'll know the bread is done when you tap it and its hollow sounding and the crust is nice & hard and deeply browned.




Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
24 Servings (1 slice ea)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 133.3
Total Fat 2.0 g
Saturated Fat 1.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Cholesterol 3.9 mg
Sodium 51.8 mg
Potassium 137.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 25.4 g
Dietary Fiber 1.5 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 3.8 g