Freeviews

Welcome to my new blog, Freeviews from a Blonde! Interpret the ambiguous name as you'd like.

Free Views from a Blonde - Free Reviews from a Blonde. 

If you have been following my Day Zero Project blog you know that one of my goals is to try a new recipe every month. After starting our project in June I quickly began to realize that one recipe a month was a silly goal because I try new recipes all the time thanks to my Pinterest addiction. Every once in a while I will discover a real gem of a recipe after already posting a new recipe for the month. This is the place I will review those recipes that I just HAVE to share with you because they are so great. Some other views or reviews you may find include Pinterest successes or failures, reviews of freebie companies that I am involved with and/or the products that the companies provide me with, or anything at all that I feel like providing insight about. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!

My first post will be a double bread review.

Baguettes

This bread recipe review is a request from one of my friends and an attendee of my Marzetti Simply Dressed House Party that I hosted at the beginning of the month (be on the look-out for a House Party review in the near future). The main dish at the party was a shredded rotisserie chicken sandwich made by taking a loaf of bread, brushing it with margarine/garlic mixture, and filling it with shredded chicken tossed in dressing. I chose to use this Baguette recipe from The Sisters Cafe blog that I had previously discovered on Pinterest.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbs (2 packages) dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt (** the original recipe uses 2 tsp. but I think it's a bit too salty)

In a small bowl mix the warm water with the yeast and sugar. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes there should be a "foam" layer on the top.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. Gradually add the yeast mixture. Mix until the dough becomes a smooth ball and knead for 5 minutes. **The first few times I made the recipe I used my hand mixer with dough hooks. I have since purchase my super-duper fancy-shmancy mixer which makes everything even easier! Of course, if you enjoy kneading dough by hand go for it! I personally am way too weak and lazy.

Cut the dough in half and then shape into 2 baguettes. Roll each half into a rectangle and roll up lengthwise to make them smooth and pretty (this part I have not yet mastered). Pinch the edges to seal and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet with seam down. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. With a very sharp knife (I use my serrated bread knife) gently make a slash down the length of each baguette to give it the authentic baguette look. Pour water in a separate cookie sheet and place in on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the bread for 15 minutes, brushing the bread with melted margarine (or butter if no one in your family has a milk allergy) halfway through.

When the bread is done baking, ENJOY but beware: you will probably eat a whole loaf on the spot.

Super-duper fancy-shmancy mixer!!

Homemade Sandwich Bread

Another Pinterest bread recipe that I discovered and tried was this sandwich bread recipe from Daily Dish Recipes. After acquiring my super-duper mixer, I just had to give it some work and tried out this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water
2 Tbs. sugar
1 packet dry active yeast
1 Tbs. salt
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/12 Tbs. margarine (** The original recipe uses butter and claims to have better results with butter but it turned out great with margarine in my opinion)

In a bowl mix the water and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the yeast and mix. Let it sit for 10 minutes. the top should be covered in "foam" after 10 minutes.

Add the flour and salt, then add the margarine. Knead the ingredients together for about 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes with a mixer. Knead the dough into a ball and place it in a clean bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set it in a warm place to rise. Allow it to rise for one hour.

After an hour uncover the dough. It should be big and poofy at this point. Take your hand and punch it once or twice to push all the air out of it. Knead it again in the bowl for about a minute of so, forming it into a ball.

Sprinkle flour onto a work surface and place the dough onto the surface. Cut the dough into two equal pieces. Taking one half of the dough, knead it a little folding it over itself over and over. Create an ovalish shape with it and place it into your lightly greased bread pan. Repeat with the second dough half.

Put both pans back to rise but leave them uncovered. Allow to rise for one hour.

Preheat your over to 350 degrees. When the dough has risen and doubled in size again, it's time to put them in the oven.  Bake for 35-40 minutes. When they are done, pull the loaves out of the oven and allow them to sit in the pans for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes turn the bread out onto a cooling rack using a kitchen towel or potholder and allow them to cool the rest of the way.

** Do not cut them until they are completely cooled, otherwise they get a little crumbly.

We went to the grocery store yesterday and their bread supply was ridiculously sad and sparse and they didn't even have hubby's favorite bread so I made another two loaves last night. This bread makes great toast!

*** Another note: I was running low on all purpose flour this time around so I actually used 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour and still got great results.