Bread Blog

I’ve had a few people asking me for a pumpernickel cooking class. So, I decided to create a simple Pumpernickel recipe that a beginner could create. A pumpernickel is actually a rye type bread.

What gives the pumpernickel it’s dark color is the molasses and cocoa powder used in this bread. Some people use caramel coloring but I have found it to be a bit difficult to find in your local stores. But, traditionally cocoa powder is used.

Pumpernickel is usually used for sandwiches in deli’s or finger foods like hor d’ oervres served with spinach dips. I think the flavor of this bread is really good and perfect to be used with dips or sandwiches. So, I also created a succulent warm Lobster Artichoke Dip. This dip with the pumpernickel slightly toasted would be the perfect combination for a dinner party during the holiday season. I don’t know about you, but, I’m always looking for the wow factor when I bring a dish to a party. I can assure you that people will be flipping over this dip. Be sure to have the recipe ready because people will be asking you for it. The Lobster adds a rich flavor to this dip. Of coarse if lobster is to expensive you could use crab. But, if you want something really special use the lobster. Below is the recipe for my Lobster Artichoke Dip.

Lobster Artichoke Dip

1 14 oz. can artichokes
1/2 cup mayo
1/3 cup sour cream
Juice from a 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped cooked lobster
1 cup Asiago cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
a little fresh ground black peper

Place all the ingredients into a baking dish and mix. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes. Serve hot with sliced pumpernickel bread or crackers.

Cheese breads are a favorite of mine. I think cheese adds a different dimension, an interesting flavor, and texture to breads. Some of my favorite cheeses to add to a bread recipe are cheddar, gruyere and feta. Each one has it’s own characteristic, aroma and taste.

This week I decided to make a Spinach and Feta bread. The feta adds a slight tangy, salty flavor and fills the house with the most amazing fragrance while baking in the oven. The spinach add these beautiful green speckles throughout the bread, that really enhances the look of this bread. You can’t really taste the spinach even though there is about a cup of spinach in each loaf. The combination of rye flour, whole wheat and bread flour contribute to the wonderful flavor also.

One of the things I really love about this bread is when it is toasted, the flavor completely changes. A perfect bread in the morning with a cup of coffee and melted butter smothered on top. Simply delicious!

Well, I don’t really want to bring up the “C” word but I guess it’s right around the corner. You all know what I’m talking about. You know, that one day of the year that we all love and hate at the same time. Shopping till we drop and spend, spend, spend, great food and smiling faces. The happiest time of the year. OK I’m about to say it, here I go …. Christmas! There I said it and I feels a little strange, I guess that’s because it’s still September.

But, you all know how time flies and all us foodies like to come up with food gift ideas to send to our families, friends and not to forget our coworkers. Well, one of the gift ideas I would like to pass on to everyone is this Semolina Cranberry bread. Not only does it look festive, all stuffed with cranberries and looking delicious. But, I also created cranberry bread crisps out of this bread. I added extra cranberries, 2 cups to be exact, which makes this bread taste like candy. The flavor works really good when the bread is sliced very thin and put on a cookie sheet, than placed in the oven at 200F for about 40 minutes. Being sure to flip them every 10 minutes until the slices become very dry. You don’t want them to really toast and change color. You just want them to dry. These crispy little bread slices have a wonderful flavor all on there own. You could jazz them up with a little cream cheese topped with a chilli jelly. These cranberry crisps would make a great gift for this coming holiday season. Place a handful in those cello bags with a beautiful ribbon and you have a tasty gift for someone special.

The Semolina Cranberry bread would be great anytime of the year even if you don’t make it into crisps. The sweet, sour flavor of the cranberries and the nuttiness of the semolina is a perfect combination. In the bread recipe, I only used 1 cup of dried cranberries which was perfect. If you want to make cranberry bread crisps I would add 2 cups of cranberries.

What a stunning September we are having here in Vancouver this year. I think the weather has been nicer in September than it was in August. We decided to go for a drive to West Vancouver for a little site seeing, shopping and just to enjoy the sunshine. After all, winters right around the corner and it will be nothing but rain, rain and more rain. So we have to take advantage of this gorgeous sun while we can.

We stopped at a few little home boutiques than ended up at the Whole Foods Market, as soon as we walked into the store there was a bunch of these sweet, tantalizing figs. Figs are something I don’t eat very often but I love the flavor and always have to get a few fresh ones when I can. As soon as I saw them I decided to make a Fig and Anise bread for the blog this week. Now, you can’t really use fresh figs in a kneaded bread. They would become mush when you knead them into the dough. So, you will have to use dried figs for this recipe. For me I prefer the Dark Mission figs in my bread. A lot of people feel the mission figs are to sweet and prefer the Calimyrna fig. Not me! I love the sweetness of the figs and the wonderful licorice flavor of the anise seeds. This Fig and Anise bread is very delicious and perfect as a dessert bread with a cup of fresh coffee.

With so many people interested in a healthy lifestyle it’s no wonder that multigrain breads have become very popular. By using a soaker and soaking the grains in buttermilk the night before really help to soften the grains and add flavor. By not soaking the grains the night before I’m sure you could break a tooth or two, when you bite into the bread after baking.

I know that many people ( like my kids ) feel that whole wheat and multigrain breads can be bland and boring. But when done correctly they can become the tastiest wholesome breads you’ve ever tasted. Adding in the maple syrup helps to create a little sweetness, of coarse, you could use honey if maple syrup is not handy.

You can also make this bread in a bread machine. Just make the soaker and starter the night before and add it with the rest of the ingredients the next morning. This recipe would make one 2 - 2 1/2 pound loaf in a bread machine.

If your interested in changing from a white bread to a whole wheat multigrain bread I hope you will give this bread a try.

When the kids were smaller my wife and I would take them bike riding on a small island in the Fraser river called Barnston Island. It always seemed like an adventure to the kids. We would have to catch a small ferry that held about 6 cars at a time to take us across to the island. The girls would walk their bikes onto the ferry and we would all stand at the railing and watch for animals and birds and wave to all the people in their little fishing boats bobbing on the river.

Barnston Island consists mostly of farms so every once in a while you would get that distinctive agriculture aroma (Yikes ). However, the scenery more than made up for the aroma. You can stop along the Fraser river and watch the eagles soar overhead with herons and geese sitting along the shoreline. From time to time you can see a float plane coming in for a landing or taking off on the Fraser. It’s a very quiet and tranquil place with very little cars and just the odd tractor buzzing by.

A friend of ours lived on a small dairy farm on the island. In the summer she would always create a large garden. We’d see sunflowers that grew 12 feet or more and every kind of vegetable under the sun. She always had two rows of each vegetable - one row for the family and friends and the other row for the local food bank. Whenever we were there we would stop by for a cold drink and a little chat chat. When we were ready to leave she would go out to the garden and pick whatever was ready. I wanted to do something special to say thanks for all the vegetables we had received over the years. So, I made several batches of this Zucchini and Carrot bread and dropped them off at her home to thank her. She always said they where her favorite. It’s people like that in our lives that bring back the greatest memories. Her big heart for those that were less fortunate will always remain with me.

Well, here we are in the middle of August already. I have no idea where the summer has gone … it’s just flying by.

It has been very busy with our vacation, house remodeling and the family reunion it’s no wonder things are going by so fast for me. But, I think it’s all over for company and remodeling for the rest of the year YAHOOOO!! lol. Now, I can sit down and concentrate on my website and blog again.

This week we have a delicious egg bread called a Challah braided bread. I love this egg bread and I find it’s somewhere between a rich white bread and a brioche. The Challah has been enjoyed around the world, I think this Jewish bread makes the most incredible french toast you have ever tasted. I made this for a Sunday breakfast and it was delicious. The Blueberry, Nectarine sauce was just amazing with the freshly made whipping cream and topped with warm toasted granola. Wow, what a breakfast! I served the french toast on a plate with all the topping on the side. This not only made the dish visually stunning, but, allowed our guests to add as much toppings as they wanted to the french toast. If you have some special guests or a Bed and Breakfast this is a dish that will have everyone talking. Be warned they may never leave! You can find the recipe for the Challah on my website cookingbread.com and I’ll place the recipe for the Blueberry and Nectarine sauce here. This is a must make, hope you enjoy!

Blueberry and Nectarine sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups blueberries
• 1 cup thinly sliced nectarines
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon rind
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon of allspice

Place the sugar into a heavy saucepan. Heat until the sugar melts and becomes a golden brown color. Remove from the heat and add the water. The water will start to bubble and spit so be careful. Place back on the heat and simmer until the sugar is melted again. Add in the lemon juice and continue to cook for a minute. Add in the blueberries, nectarines, lemon rind, cinnamon and allspice. Cook slowly for about 10 minutes the sauce will reduce and become thickened. Taste for sweetness, add more sugar if the fruit is on the tart side. Serve cooled or warm. For the granola topping, place a cup of oats in a bowl adding 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Add in a tablespoon of butter and mix with your fingers. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400F till the lightly toasted. Remove and serve.

I don’t know about you but, Lemon Meringue Pie has always brought back some of the fondest food memories growing up. I think one of the greatest things about being “human” is that we have memories. Of easy and hard times, smells and tastes, places and touches, happiness and sadness. You can never really get too far from your memories as they are always with us. This is why I wanted to create a Lemon Meringue bread that would give that same feeling of pleasure and contentment that I had as a small boy sitting at the dinner table making sure I had eaten all my vegetables on my plate. Knowing that was the only way I would be able to get a piece of that delicious Lemon Meringue Pie that my mom had made earlier in the day.

I made these loaves using Splenda, after making the biscuits dipped in warm bacon fat, I thought I would cut down on the calories with this recipe lol. I really enjoyed the fresh and slightly tangy taste of lemons in this bread. The light creamy and moist texture inside comes from the Citrus Meringue yogurt from Yoplait. The yogurt tastes amazing on it’s own and creates a tantalizing flavor to this bread. The glaze on the outside of the bread is a real surprise to the taste buds. With the added burst of lemon flavor that makes you go WOW … this is truly a sensational sweet and tangy bread.

I hope this bread will bring back some of your childhood memories, we all have them; there ours alone to cherish or share.