Cinnamon Cider Swirl Bread

When I was growing up, my parents would take me into the Pat-A-Cake Bakery in our hometown. We went to church with the owners, Dean and Jolene, and they made the most amazing breads and desserts. It was always an occasion to go in and look at all the treats behind the glass. They would let me hang out in the back and I was always mesmerized watching Dean make bread. These huge bags of flour being poured into the big mixer, turned out and kneaded, racks of risen loaves put into the rotating oven. I loved that bakery and, to this day, I find myself wishing I could bake bread the way Dean did, every loaf so delicious and perfect.

Since I am a woman in my own kitchen these days, from time to time I try my hand at baking different kinds of breads. I could never match the level of production that the bakery did; I make mine one golden loaf at a time. But I am always trying to think of ways to liven up the dough and bring something new and fragrant out of my oven. I had some leftover raisins in my cupboard and had just picked up some cinnamon, so I thought a swirl bread might be in order. And then I remembered the cider in my fridge, and I had a bit of inspiration. Cinnamon Cider Swirl Bread was born.

To make this bread, get these ingredients together:

1 active dry yeast package
1 Tbs. shortening or vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup and 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup and 2 Tbs. hard apple cider
1/4 cup and 2 Tbs. cinnamon

Not pictured:
1/2 stick butter
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk

To make this bread, I played around with a basic bread recipe. Here is the link to the original recipe:
http://breadbaking.about.com/od/yeastbreads/r/1loafbread.htm

The recipe is attributed to Elizabeth Yetter and I suggest checking out her other articles on About.com. She has a lot of good advice and recipes.

Start off dissolving your yeast in the warm water. Once it is fully dissolved, toss in your shortening/oil, milk, 2 Tbs. cider, 2 Tbs. cinnamon, 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar, and salt. Stir it up and begin adding your first two cups of flour. Once the two cups have been mixed in, add your third cup by the tablespoon. Keep adding flour until the mixture is no longer wet and as the original recipe states, "chases the spoon around the bowl." This is not an exact science and it depends heavily on paying attention to what you are doing. You may use a little more or less than three cups, that's OK. The most important part is achieving the right consistency.

Turn your flour out onto a lightly floured surface and knead your dough. Feel free to toss in some extra pinches of flour if you feel like it needs it. Swipe a bowl with some butter and put your dough in it, letting it sit covered for an hour.

While it rises, get your raisins and cinnamon swirl mix ready.

In a small plastic container (with a lid), combine 1 cup of cider and 1/2 cup of raisins. Cover and let sit until you are ready to roll into the bread.

If you don't want to use hard cider, non-alcoholic cider is fine. But if you want to booze it up, I used Hornsby's:

In a separate bowl, cream together your cup of sugar, 1/4 cup cinnamon, and 1/4 stick butter. Creamed, it should look like this:

After an hour has passed, heat the oven to 375 degrees and punch your dough down (a good solid fist to the middle of the dough followed by punches to the dough on the sides of the bowl until it rolls easily out of the bowl) and knead on a floured surface. Instead of making a loaf at this point, roll it out to 1/2 inch thinkness. Spread your creamed cinnamon sugar mix on the dough. Drain the cider from your raisins, and spread them evenly over the top of the creamed mix.

Roll the dough tightly from one end to the other and tuck the ends under the loaf. Place in a buttered loaf pan. Pop in the oven for 45 minutes.

And now for the "Peggy Makes A Mistake" portion of this blog. I cannot stress enough to you the importance of place a baking sheet below the loaf pan. The creamed mix can bubble up and spill a bit over the sides...causing a fire in the bottom of your oven like it did in mine. Oops! It went out on its own, but I had my fire extinguisher on standby in case it didn't. Scariest moment in my kitchen to date. But the bread came out beautifully!

I would love to show you a picture of the inside of this loaf, but my computer hated the picture I took, said it was corrupted, and cut it in half. Very extra lame, but I am praying you take my word for how amazing it looked, full of plump raisins swirling in sugar and cinnamon. This recipe begs to be made over and over, and I hope that it finds a place in your recipe book. Until next time, eat well and invest in a fire extinguisher, friends!

Lazy Spaghetti 'N Sprouts

Happy April, everyone! This is one of my favorite months of the year. Some days are hot, others are cool, and the thunderstorms are sporadic. My wildflowers are coming along nicely; a lush bed of little green sprouts at this point. I find myself wanting to cook things that are either really comforting or really fresh, so it is a really good time to eat at my house!

A week ago or so, my best friend, Jenny, texted me asking for a dinner idea that was fast and yummy. My mind immediately went to lazy spaghetti. An incredibly fast meal, this pasta dish takes advantage of egg noodles and cream cheese. It has got comfort totally covered.

I get another text about a half hour later, this time asking what I would do with Brussels sprouts. When I was a kid, I was all about fresh, green vegetables. Very strange, I know. Brussels sprouts were my favorite of the green variety because they were tiny versions of cabbage. I don't know how to explain this very well, but as a little girl, I liked anything that was a miniature. An object's size was inversely proportional to its cuteness, in my mind. Tiny cabbage=exponential adorability. As a child, I usually ate them boiled with a bit of salt. Now my favorite method is sauteed in a skillet with olive oil and garlic and shallots if I have them on hand.

Yes, garlic and shallots. I am having a love affair with the Genus Allium and I make no apologies.

After these texts, I couldn't get the idea of lazy spaghetti and Brussels sprouts out of my head, so I made a quick run to the store and made a date with my kitchen!

For lazy spaghetti, these are your ingredients:

1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 lb. ground chuck
1 half bar cream cheese
1 bag egg noodles

Now, I know that isn't a jar of spaghetti in the picture. It is totally plain tomato paste and sauce. That is because I personally do not eat store bought sauce. I am not being elitist when I say that, I just really cannot stand dehydrated onions and I haven't ever found a ready made sauce that doesn't include them. Some brands have excellent flavor, but those onions are a deal breaker for me. I make my own sauce at home, so I included the tomato bases I use in the picture. I promise to do a post on my sauce at a later date, but for now, just use whatever sauce you like best!

Before I tell you how to throw this together, I want to give credit to the person who introduced me to it. There is this very sexy, sultry, A&M Texas mama named Eva Mikeska who is a great friend of mine from when I lived in Texas, myself. I was at her house one night, and she threw this together while carrying on a conversation with me and taking care of her young son. I have made a lot of other pasta dishes, but I had never tried cream cheese in the sauce and egg noodles instead of the traditional spaghetti pasta. It was delicious and I was over the moon with seconds and thirds. I never got her exact measurements, but I just put in the amount that tasted good to me. I always send her good vibes whenever I eat this because it is just so tasty and satisfying!

Ready for the easiest cooking directions of your life? OK.

Brown your ground chuck.
Heat your sauce and add the meat.
Boil and drain your egg noodles.
Add your meat sauce and cream cheese to the noodles, like this:

Stir.
Serve.
Eat like a whale.

It is genuinely one of the easiest meals with such a big YUM factor I have ever partaken in making or eating. Please do yourself a favor and make this.

Now, for the Brussels sprouts. I normally have a picture of the ingredients, but I completely forgot to get that done until they were already finished, so I just have a few instructions. If your sprouts are fresh, clean them. If they are frozen, thaw and clean them. Get a tablespoon or two of olive oil heating in your pan. Throw some minced garlic and/or shallots in the oil first, move them around a bit, and then add your sprouts. Stir them from time to time, letting them brown up in places without getting burnt. When they have a good green and caramel color, remove them from the heat and serve.

Together, this is what your plate might look like:

I swear, I am drooling looking at this picture and remembering how good it tasted. I really hope you get a kick out of how quick and delicious this meal is. Let yourself be lazy in the kitchen every once in a while and make a great meal without breaking your back! Have a great weekend, friends, and always eat well!