Not only does this recipe make superb focaccia it makes the best bread sticks to go with soup or serve with a marinara sauce.  The variations of toppings are as numerous as pizza toppings.  You could even make this into a sweet version with cinnamon and sugar or jam.

Make an extra batch to freeze for last minute meals or when friends drop by.   The dry ingredients can be packaged with the recipe in a gift basket including your favorite homemade marinara sauce, pasta, wine and chocolate truffles or espresso beans.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp instant dry-active yeast  (2 pkg Red Star or Fleischmans)
• pinch of sugar
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (more for bottom of pan and top of dough)
• 1-1/2 cups luke-warm water
• Fresh or dry herbs, cheeses or other condiments as desired

Method:

1.  Grease a 9X13-inch sheet pan and drizzled with 1 or 2 Tbsp olive oil.
2. Place all the dry ingredients in the bowl of your food processor.  Whirl on low speed and add olive oil then all the water at once.  Whirl until a ball of dough spins around the bowl and there is no flour clinging to the sides of the bowl.
3. Continue to whirl dough for 1 minute.  Dough should be soft and slightly sticky.  If its too sticky add 1 Tbsp of flour and whirl until incorporated.  If its too firm add 1 Tbsp of water at a time and whirl until water is incorporated and dough is soft.  (At this point you can add cubes of cheese and herbs if desired.)
4. Remove dough from food processor and press into the prepared pan.  Cover with a plastic bag or floured towel and let rise for 60 minutes or until it’s puffy.
5. Preheat oven to 375° F.
6. When dough is puffy make dimples in the dough with your fingers.  Drizzle the top of the dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with fresh or dry herbs, oven-roasted tomatoes, black olives, parmigiana cheese or other toppings as desired.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes.  Let pan cool for 5 minutes and remove bread to a cooling rack.

The traditional recipe is instant cornmeal, salt and boiling water, fried on a dry griddle and baked in a hot oven until they sound hollow when tapped.  IMUSA has an electric arepa maker that browns and bakes them in about 10 minutes depending upon their thickness.  The Imusa Arepa Maker can be found at Target stores and Amazon.com.  They’re also available direct from Imusa.

There is not much flavor to arepas but they’re terrific as a slider with meat, cheese, and veggies or as a breakfast biscuit with honey and butter.  Quick, easy and cheap arepas can be served for game night, cocktail parties or whenever you need a quick bread for chile, soups or stews.  You can make the patties as large as desired but 3-inches to 4-inches is the norm.  Add fresh herbs and cheese to the dough for a savory version or sugar and spices for a breakfast variation.

Try these filled with BLT fixin’s or pulled pork and salsa, chicken salad, avocado and bacon, mozzarella, tomato and basil, or sausage and eggs.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Instant cornmeal (Arepa Cornmeal or Instant Polenta)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups boiling water (may not need all)

Method:

1. Mix the cornmeal with the salt, add water a cup at a time until cornmeal comes together in a soft dough.  The dough should be slightly sticky.  Let rest for 5-10 minutes so cornmeal has a chance to absorb the water.
2. With wet hands, scoop up enough dough to make round patties, 3-inches in diameter and 3/8-1/2-inch thick.  If the dough cracks around the edge, it is too dry.   Mix a tablespoon of water at a time into the dough until it forms a smooth patty.
3. Over medium high heat spray a non-stick skillet or griddle with cooking spray or wipe it with some cooking oil.
4. Fry the patties 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until they are nice and golden brown.  Patties can be frozen at this point.
5. Bake in 400° F. oven for 15 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped.  They’ll puff up when done.
6. Split patties and fill as desired.

Variations:

1. Add 1 Tbsp fresh basil chopped fine (cilantro or other herb of choice) to cornmeal mixture.
2. Add 1/4 cup queso blanco crumbled (grated cheddar cheese, Parmesan or other cheese of choice) to cornmeal mixture.
3. Use warm milk instead of boiling water.
4. Add 1/4 cup of self-rising flour to cornmeal.
5. Check out Chef John’s version made with cream cheese http://youtu.be/xcbjUZoFESU

Make a batch before Thanksgiving, wrap with aluminum foil, place in a plastic storage bag and freeze up to 2 weeks.  Remove from storage bag and thaw in aluminum foil for a couple of hours. Reheat in 350° F. oven for 12 minutes oven while you make the turkey gravy.

The basic dough is a blank palette for other flavors and textures too.  Substitute grated cheddar cheese for the minced onion and regular salt for the onion salt.  Add fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme or, eggwash and sprinkle the tops with poppy seeds or course sea salt.    Try it with raisins, walnuts and cinnamon for a decadent sticky bun.   Make it your recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1  pkg Red Star Dry Active Yeast
• 2 cups warm milk (110° F. or like a baby bottle)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp onion salt
• 2 Tbsp dried minced onion
• 4 – 5 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp butter, melted

Method:

1. In the large bowl of a food processor or mixer, dissolve yeast in warm milk.  Add sugar, butter, salt, onion and 3 cups of flour.  Whirl or beat until smooth.  Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Whirl to knead for 5 minutes if using a food processor.  By-hand turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes.
3. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350° F.
5. Punch down, turn out onto floured surface, divide into 16 pieces.  Form each piece into a ball.  Dip each ball in melted butter and place in a greased muffin tin.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from tins immediately to a cooling rack.  Serve warm or let cool completely and wrap for storage.

The winner will be announced September 26th at http://www.alattewithotta.blogspot.com. Judging the recipes will be Kelly Olson, Consumer Relations for Red Star Yeast.  Big thanks to Red Star Yeast for
sponsoring this event! Be sure to check them out on facebook and twitter (@RedStarYeast).

My mother gave me this recipe back in 1970.  Its one of those no-knead batter breads with super easy instructions for the novice bread-baker.  The crumb is moist and dense like a sourdough and perfect for sandwiches but of-course its the best right out of the oven slathered with butter.  It goes well with tomato or chicken soup and can spruce up a Sunday dinner as well.

You’ll need a Pyrex or CorningWare casserole dish or a small Dutch Oven to bake it in.  Dried minced onion can be used in place of sauteed fresh onions and you can soften the dried onion in the cottage cheese mixture on the stove-top or in the microwave.

I’m not a big fan of sugar in my savory breads so I eliminated the 2 Tbsp of sugar originally given in Mom’s recipe.  Fresh onions sauteed in butter are pretty sweet all by themselves and the dried onions too are sweet when plumped up in the cottage cheese mixture.   So using either the fresh or dried onions adds a subtle sweetness that doesn’t cloak the dill seed flavor.

If you’ve always wanted to bake bread but held back due to the laborious kneading required then you’ve got to try this no-knead batter bread.  Besides kneading bread dough by hand is not necessary these days.  Not unless you want to “solve a problem” like Mom said.  She’d look so pensive when performing mundane chores like ironing and kneading bread.  Well, there are plenty of artisan bread recipes out there that do not require hand-kneading.    I’m basically a lazy cook but love homemade so I’ve found the easy way to make terrific breads in a food processor or standing mixer with dough hook.  Just check out the other recipes listed under the Breads category in the right column of this post.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg Red Star Dry Active Yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (baby bottle warm)
• 1 cup cream style small curd cottage cheese
• 1 Tbsp minced dried onion
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp whole dill seed
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 unbeaten egg
• 2-1/4 cups flour (plus 1/4 cup more if needed)

Method:

1. Soften the Red Star Dry Active Yeast in the water.
2. Combine in a sauce pan the cottage cheese, dried onion, butter, salt and dill seed.  Warm over medium low heat just until butter melts.  Let cool.
3. Place blossomed yeast, cottage cheese mixture, egg and soda in a bowl (mixer or food processor).   Add 1 cup flour and mix until combined.
4. Add remaining flour by hand until a very soft dough results.
5. Place in a buttered casserole or Dutch Oven and let rise (proof) until double in size (30-40 minutes).  Alternately use a loaf pan lined with foil and buttered.
6. Preheat oven 350° F.   Bake loaf for 35-40 minutes or until top sounds hollow when tapped.
7. Remove from pan to a cooling rack and brush with melted butter.

Potato Bread

Don’t confuse no-knead breads with savory batter breads.  Though they both essentially yield a tender crumb and are a snap to make, obviously the term ”batter” indicates a thinner, looser dough whereas no-knead breads have a heavier dough and require more time for proofing, usually overnight.   You could call a dough made in a food processor or a mixer with dough-hook, no-knead, but its not the same as mixing up the dough in a pot or bowl and letting it proof for 12 to 18 hours like sourdough or ciabatta breads.

The original recipe for this bread is from No-Knead Bread Blog.  I’ve baked about 9 loaves now and have tweaked the recipe to yield a slightly crispy yet tender crust with a tender crumb that slices beautifully when cooled.  Any bread hot from the oven and slathered with butter is a treat and this one is no exception.  The potato flakes really raise the bar on tenderness and flavor.  Do give this recipe a try.  It’s a keeper!

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups tepid water
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp yeast
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup instant potato flakes

Method:

Pour water into a 2 quart casserole (oven-proof with a cover) or non-stick stock pot. Add yeast and let bloom.

Add salt, flour and potato flakes.  Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. The dough will look rough.  Cover and let proof 10-13 hours or at least overnight.

Stir down dough with a wooden spoon and pour into a lightly greased 5″X9″ loaf pan.

Let rise until double or slightly above the rim of the pan. Dust with a bit of flour.

Bake in a preheated 350° F. oven for 50 minutes or until internal temperature is 200° F.

Remove from pan to cooling rack.