Riley's Famous Barbecued Chateaubriand

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I don't remember when Riley started making this steak, but it has been a huge hit ever since. It's what I like to have on my birthday, and what Christian likes. Because we have the barbecuer on the front porch out of the rain, we can have this anytime.

I hunk of Chateaubriand steak, about 2 - 2.5 pounds, at room temperature
Adolph's tenderizer
coarse pepper
soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
garlic salt

About 45 minutes before you want to barbecue the steak, put the goals to heat - however you do that. When you do finally spread the coals about, put two thirds on one side and one third on the other - this is so you have a hotter spot and a not so hot spot.

Then put the steak into a baking dish that is just big enough to hold the meat. Poke the meat on both sides with a fork, maybe ten times a side. Put tenderizer liberally on both sides of the meat. Do the same with the the garlic salt and pepper, patting the steaks to make the stuff stick. Then douse some Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce to both sides. Now just let the meat sit in this marinade for about 30 minutes or so, turning the meat over in the middle of the time. You can marinate anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours.

To cook the steak place the steak on the hot side of the grill at an angle to the grill for about 3 minutes, then turn the steak ninety degrees, and leave for another three minutes. Then do the same on the other side. Then transfer to the meat to the not so hot side and cook on both sides for a bit longer, until the desired amount of doneness has been reached. I like mine RARE.

haricots verts d'ail

As a child I was never fed fresh green beans. My mother used to buy canned green beans by the case. So I grew up hating green beans. Actually, to this day I hate canned green beans. I was at a dinner party once where they were served, and not wanting to be rude I served myself some. But one bite and I knew I couldn't eat them, and I was so relieved to realize that I could hide them under my baked potato skin. But fresh green beans, cooked al dente can be wonderful. I've been known to eat just that for dinner.

fresh green beans, thinner rather than fat
butter
garlic, very finely minced, or garlic salt, or garlic powder
sel gris or fleur de sel (optional)

Wash the green beans and remove the little ends.
Put them into a pan with a lid, add about a half cup of water and a good pinch of salt.
Put on the stove on medium heat and cover and cook just long enough to have them barely cooked, and definitely al dente.
This will be something probably under 5 minutes. Test by taking a bean out and having a bit.
When done, quickly pour off the hot water to prevent any more cooking, and run cold water over the bean to cool them down just a bit. Pour off the water, but leave the beans in the pan. The goal is to make sure you do not over cook the beans. They want to be green green green.
At this point you can set the beans aside until just ready to serve.
When ready to serve, put the beans back on the stove on medium heat and add a good dollop of butter. How much depends on how many beans you have. Add the garlic, whatever form you have, and cook just until heated. This should be very quick. If not using a salt product, add some nice salt. I like sel gris. Put into a nice serving dish and serve immediately.

Molly's Cornbread

The is a really nice basic recipe for cornbread. Great with a soup dinner, or chilli. My family likes it with butter and honey or syrup or jam.

2 cups flour
2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups milk, or sour milk, or buttermilk
1 stick of butter, melted.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Butter a 9 x 13 inch bake pan.
Mix the dry ingredients in a big bowl.
In another bowl or pitcher, combine the egg and milk.
Pour into the bowl with the the dry ingredients and mix.
Add in the melted butter.
Pour into the pan and bake for about 25 minutes.

This batter can of course be made into muffins if you like, or mini loaves, or whatever you like. Just adjust the cooking time.

If you want to make a smaller batch of cornbread:

1 cups flour
1 cups cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 eggs
1 cups milk + 2 tbls, or sour milk, or buttermilk
1/2 stick of butter, melted.

Put into an 8 inch square pan and bake for maybe 18-20 minutes.
Stick a toothpick into it to make sure it's done.

Oriental Cabbage Salad with Chicken

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This is a huge family favorite. I made it for the weddings of two daughters. I actually make it in huge bowls to try and insure left-overs, but there's rarely very much left. We do have a family dispute about which raman mix to use. I really like using spicy Thai, while other's prefer just plain chicken.


The measurements here are sometimes appoximates, and can be changed by the maker, The dressing itself is not approximate, except for the optional addition of sesame oil. This is a salad that can be made by several people at one time. Person #1 cut s the vegies. Person #2 roasts the nuts and crushes up the noodles and pours boiling water over them. Person #3 makes the dressing. Person #4 poaches and cuts up the chicken.

10 cups shredded cabbage
3 green onions, chopped as you like
1/4 sesame seeds, toasted
4-5 ounces slivered or sliced almonds, toasted
2 pkgs chicken flavored oriental noodles, crushed (or any flavor you like)
4 halves of chicken breasts, poached and chopped (3-4 cups)

dressing:
the seasoning packets from the noodles
1/2 cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup oils
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Get a great big bowl for the salad.
Get the chicken poaching, remembering to salt the water.
When it's done, let cool for a while, as it's too hot to touch at first.
Cut up the cabbage, as for cole slaw, and slice up the spring onions. Put it all in the bowl.
Take the seasoning packets out of the noodle soup packages to be used in the dressing.
Crush up the noodles (this can be done even before the package is opened), and put the noodles into a sieve and pour boiling water over the noodles. The point it to soften the noodles, but not to make the all limp and cooked as for soup. When sufficiently drained, put into the bowl with the cabbage.
Toast the nuts and seeds, being very careful not to burn them. One way to do this is to put them into a frying pan and stir while heating up. Another more risky method is to put them in a pan in the oven. I have burned them several times this way.
When they are toasted, add to the salad.
Finally, pour on the dressing, giving it a really good stir before putting it on. Toss well.

Beef Stroganoff

When I was a child, the dinner I wanted for my birthday was often beef stroganoff. And oddly enough, it was often my husband's choice for his birthday dinner. My mother was given a recipe for beef stroganoff from one of the actual Stroganovs, and her recipe was an inexpensive version because after the fall of the Romanovs the Stoganovs also fell on hard times. There seems to be no true original recipe. This recipe is just another approximation.

1 1/2 pound beef sirloin, sliced into thin strips
salt and pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/2 large onion, diced or sliced or how ever you like the onions
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup dry sherry (optional)
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worchestire sauce
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 cup sour cream


to be continued

Sorry about the delay in getting back to this one.
The one important thing is to not add the sour cream until the very end, as it will curdle is cooked.

Laurel's Corn Bread

This probably came from Laurel's Kitchen.

2 cups of cornmeal
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg
2 cups buttermilk or sour milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
Mix the dry ingredients.
Mix the liquid ingredients
Combine everything gently and pour into the pan.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Sweet Yellow Rice

At our house we like to serve a barbecued turkey on Thanksgiving.  But you can't serve mashed potatoes and gravy with a barbecued turkey, as there is no gravy.  So we serve sweet yellow rice instead, which goes very very well with the flavor of the turkey.  And by the way, my husband makes the best barbecued turkey in the world.

This is my version of a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey, which you can see here.  I've adapted her recipe to my way of cooking rice.  I've never actually cooked it her way.

1/2 tsp saffron (optional)

2 tablespoons warm milk (optional)

1 cup basmati rice

1/4 cup ghee, or just plain butter

4 whole cardamon pods

1 stick of cinnamon

1 tash of tumeric (this is what really makes it yellow)

about 2 cups of water

3 to 4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

2 tablespoons golden raisins

The saffron is optional, but if you are using it you need to remember that it should be dealt with about 3 hours before you start the rice cooking.  Fry the saffron in a dry pan until it turns a shade darker.  Soak the saffron threads in the milk for about 3 hours.

Forty-five minutes before you want to cook the rice, rinse the rice well and then put it to soak for thirty minutes.  Then drain well in a strainer for fifteen minutes.  

Heat the ghee or butter in a heavy saucepan, adding the cardamon and cinnamon stick, and fry for a minute.  Add the rice and saute for about 3 minutes, until the rices start to turn white.  Add enough water so that when you stick you index finger into the water to just barely touch the rice  the water will come just to the first joint on your finger.  Stir in the turmeric and bring to a boil.  When it comes to a boil, stir once to loosen any rices that are stuck to the bottom of the pan, then adjust the heat to medium high and leave to cook uncovered until the water is level with the top of the rice.  

At this point stir in the sugar and almonds and raisins and saffron and milk.  Turn the heat to low and cook until there is not water.  It will make a little ticking sound, and when you look down on the rice you can see through the holes to the bottom of the pan.  Remove from the heat, cover, and let sit until dinner time.

As you might suspect, the cardamon and cinnamon should be removed before serving, but I don't do that.  I just warm people.  It's so amusing when they accidently bite into the cardamon.  It's all part of the experience.  I don't add salt to my rice, but you can add a 1/2 teaspoon if you like.

Greek Salad for two

1 tomato, cut into small wedges
1/3 cucumber, in large dices
1/4 red pepper, in medium dices
1/4 green pepper, in medium dices
about 3 tablespoons worth of cut up red onion, big enough to be able to spear with a fork
2 to 4 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
4 to 8 kalamata olives, cut in half
a good sprinkling of Country French Vinaigrette, or dried oregano
salt and pepper (sea salt is good)
about 1 to 2 tablespoons of good olive oil

I put all these things into a large soup plate, and then I carefully toss it with two soup spoons.

Macaroni and Cheese with Corn and Ham

This is the kind of recipe that can be made in any dimensions. I'm giving it here for 4 hungry adults. For hungry adults you use 2 ounces of macaroni per person, but there will probably be left-overs, which isn't a bad thing. If you don't want to add ham, add an amount of cheese equal to the amount of macaroni. In this version that would be 8 ounces.

8 ounces of macaroni

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon butter

salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of cayenne if you like

1 heaping tablespoon flour

1 1/2 cups milk, heated up a bit can help, but not necessary

note: if you want the dish saucier increase the milk and flour proportionally. For example: 1 is to 1 1/2 as 1 1/2 is to 2 1/4.

6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, American, English, or Irish - or more if you like and are feeling cheesey

4 ounces ham, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the macaroni on to boil, adding the salt. Cook until au dent.

When done, turn off the heat and put the corn into the water with the macaroni. This step is especially important if using frozen corn, because if you don't heat up the corn it will slow down you cooking time in the oven. Let sit a minute or two to thaw the corn, then drain and put into a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish, or whatever size dish looks like it will accommodate your mac.

While the macaroni is cooking, fry the onion in the olive oil and butter until nice and cooked.

Add the flour, stir about, and heat a minute or two. Slowly stir in the milk, and cook until a nice sauce forms. Add the ham, and then slowly add and stir in the cheese. Pour over the macaroni and corn in the baking dish. Stir in thoroughly, and if you like sprinkle with parmesan cheese to taste. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

chicken adobo

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When we lived in Hong Kong we had a Filipino amah named Lita. Her name was actually Lolita, but to me it was not a good name, so I asked if I could call her Lita. Anyway, not long after she started working for us I asked if she would cook something Filipino for us for dinner. Her response was that she did not think we would like Filipino food, except that we would probably like chicken adobo. She was quite right. She always cooked her dinner after she cooked ours and sometimes I would go see what she was having and it always look unappetizing. But the chicken adobo was wonderful. Our children liked it so much that for many years they simply thought that that was how you cooked chicken. It was kind of like "what benefit would there be in alteration?" Needless to say I got Lita to teach me how to make chicken adobo.

1 kilo chicken pieces, legs and or thighs (about 15 pieces)
1 medium onions, coarsely diced
2 tablespoons oil
5 cloves of garlic, crushed (more if you like)
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1 small can of coconut milk (optional)
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup cold water

Skin the chicken.
In a large saute pan put the oil and onion and cook until soft.
Add the chicken and brown just a bit.
Add the garlic and pepper and brown sugar, then pour over the chicken the soy sauce, vinegar, and water.
Cover and cook until done, about 40-45 minutes. Using a twongs, turn the chicken once during cooking.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan to a serving bowl.
Add the coconut milk if desired. It's a pleasant addition.
Mix the cornflour and water and stir into the sauce in the pan.
Cook just until the sauce is nicely thickened. Taste the sauce and adjust if needed, anyway you like.
Pour the sauce over the chicken. If you like you can pour it through a strainer for a smooth sauce. I did this for the kids because a picky eater doesn't like "bits".
Serve with rice.

This dish can also be made with pork. They often combine pork and chicken. I use pork steaks, a cheap but yummy cut. Then it's called chicken and pork adobo.

Orzo with Brown Butter and Parsley

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This is a big family favorite, but oddly enough we don't have is very often. We usually have it on Thanksgiving with barbecued turkey. That's because you don't get gravy with a barbecued turkey. Sarah is the daughter who usually makes this recipe.


orzo - a variety of pasta shaped like grains of barley or rice
It literally means barley in Italian.

2 cans chicken broth + 1/2 cup water
1 cup orzo
1/3 stick butter
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste


Bring the broth and water to a boil.
Add the orzo slowly stirring as you go.
Boil for about 15 minutes, stirring often.
Melt the butter in a frying pan, stir over medium-high heat until the butter is golden brown. Remove from heat and add the garlic and the parsley.
Pour into the orzo and stir well.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Easy Peasy Meatloaf

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This recipe is practically a cheat, and you'd think most people know about it.  But on the other hand, maybe they don't.

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 pound ground pork

1 packet of onion soup mix

1 egg

1 cup bread crumbs made by putting 2 or 3 slices of torn-up bread into the food processor

1/3 cup milk

a big squeeze of catsup, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine everything, using your hands.  Do not over-mix, as that makes for a tough meatloaf.

Put into a 9 x 5 loaf pan.

Bake for about an hour.

You can make gravy from this, but strain the liquids first, and skim off excess fat.

It is very good served with mashed potatoes and peas.  Or pair it with roasted vegetables - potatoes, carrots, onions, parsnips, etc.

German Bangers and Mash

I first was introduced to this meal by my German husband. (Just for the record, I have not been married to him for over 30 years now.) So the German influence on this dinner is probably very obvious. It's like the British dinner, but it's just up a notch.





1 - 2 sausages per person
1 potato per person
frozen corn for how many people you have
sauerkraut
mustards - a variety of authentic mustards is nice

Turn the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking dish with foil and put the sausages into it and put into the oven.
Peel the potatoes, cut them up, add salt, and boil until just cooked.
Check on the sausages from time to time, turning as needed. They will take a while to get all cooked. Of course it all depends on the sausages that you have chosen.
When the potatoes are done, drain them and put it butter, hot milk, and salt and pepper and smash with a potato smasher. I know that people all differ on how they like their mashed potatoes. I like mine well smashed, but not turned into a thick smooth soupy consistency. You want some substance there. Keep warm - a warming cupboard works well here.

When the potatoes and sausages are done, heat the corn in the microwave and top it with a nice big dab of butter
I like the sauerkraut cold, but I suppose one could heat it.

Enjoy! - I'm hungry already

Shredded Chicken

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This is a good way of preparing chicken that can be used in many ways, and is nice to have in the refrigerator.

boneless chicken, I like to use half light meat and half dark meat.
extras as you like, such as onions, peppers, spices

My chicken is generally frozen, so I weight the chicken I'm going to use. Then I set the microwave to defrost, but I only put in about 2/3 the weight, because I don't want to completely defrost the chicken in the microwave. Then I transfer the semi-defrosted chicken to a large enough pot and cover with water and add salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for long enough to finish cooking the chicken, maybe 10-15 minutes. You don't want to cook it to death, but this is not an exact science, or like trying to cook a steak to medium rare.

note: if your chicken is not frozen just skip to the putting it into the pot and cover with water part.

While chicken is cooking you can cook up ingredients you would like to put into the shredded chicken. You don't have to put anything into the shredded chicken if you like. I like to add some fried onions and maybe a hot pepper and garlic, and some spices put into the frying pan just towards the end of cooking to release their flavor.

When chicken is cooked I lift it out with a tong and place on a cutting board. Cut the chicken into hunks and place into a food processor fitted with the plastic blade. Add any thing extra you have chosen and pulse for several seconds. Then open up the porcessor and stir the chicken a bit to get the unshredded hunks towards the center, and pulse for a while longer. Pour out into a bowl and if you have any unshredded bits of chicken, just break them up with your fingers.

You can use this in:

tacos

quesadillas

burritos

tamales

salad

ramen soup

pizza

casseroles

etc, etc ...

     

Corn and Clam Chowder

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2 or 3 slices of bacon, diced
1 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced small
about 1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled if necessary, and diced
1 can creamed corn
2 cans minced clams
milk to fill the cans
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons flour
some cream if you like

In a large pot, like a Dutch oven, fry up the diced bacon in the oil and butter. Add the diced onion and fry until nicely cooked. Add the carrots, which I like to cut into small julienned strips. and cook just a bit. Dice up the potatoes while the carrots are cooking, then add to the pot. Add salt and pepper, add enough water to cover the vegetable, cover, and simmer for about ten minutes. This should be just long enough to cook the potatoes. Add the clams and the corn. Then fill the cans with milk and add the milk. Simmer until a nice gentle foam forms on the top. Mix the flour with about 1/2 cup water until very smooth. Bring up the temperature of the soup a bit and stir in the flour mixture. Keep heating until the soup thickens a bit. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. I like the soup to be a bit peppery, but this is not for everyone. If you like you may add some cream for richness, maybe a half cup. And also, if you like, add some frozen corn, making sure to bring the temperature of the soup up again.

Ole! - macaroni casserole

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I think that I first got this recipe in Peg Bracken's book "The I Hate to Cook Book", which is a classic that I would highly recommend. She actually does give real recipes in this book. She is well known for using canned soup and the like, but how often does one cook all the recipes in a cookbook? And I almost never cook a recipe exactly as it was given, and this one is no exception. In the book she has you make a sort of spaghetti sauce, but I use actual left-over spaghetti sauce, which is of course not like hers. This recipe is about proportions and not about exactness.

left-over spaghetti sauce
frozen corn
cooked macaroni
shredded cheese of your choice.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.
Heat up the sauce and add the corn so that it mostly thaws.
Shredded the cheese, and cook and drain the macaroni.
Get a casserole dish that looks like it will hold the ingredients you have to put into it.
Now put the ingredients into the dish in the following order:
half the macaroni
half the sauce
half the cheese
the rest of the macaroni
the rest of the sauce
the rest of the cheese.
Put into the oven and bake until it bubbles a bit, maybe 15 minutes.

CORN & AVOCADO MIX with jerk chicken

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CORN & AVOCADO MIX with jerk chicken, grilled corn, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, & fresh chunks of avocado tossed with lettuce in a balsamic vinaigrette

Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and had a dish that you thought was fantastic and later you keep thinking about it but you just don't know how to really make it. When we were in New York last fall, staying in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brooklyn, our land-lady directed us to a restaurant she referred to as a "soul" restaurant. Now I'm not a big fan of soul food, but it was one of those times when you just simply have to eat and that was the only place around. The name of the restaurant is Brook's Valley Cafe. It wasn't soul food from our way of looking at it, we thought maybe it was Jamaican. Turns out that it's Carribean and Soul food. You can see a utube about it here.

Riley ordered their jerk chicken, and I got the corn and avocado salad with jerk chicken. I thought it was one of the best salads I had ever eaten, and surely it wasn't like anything I'd ever had before. So now I want to either find the recipe or invent it myself. The description I have above is from the wed site of the restaurant. So for starters here is the list of ingredients as if it were a recipe. I will have to develop this further.


Corn & Avocado Jerk Chicken Salad

grilled corn
cucumbers
onions
tomatoes
chunks of avocado
lettuce
balsamic vinaigrette
jerk chicken

The grilled corn is done by putting an ear of corn onto a barbecue grill. The onions were red onions. I imagine that balsamic vinaigrette is a common recipe. I looked around at recipes for this vinaigrette and this one looked like a likely candidate:

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
crushed dried red pepper to taste 

1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey 


In a medium bowl or food processor, whisk together balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and red pepper. Add olive oil in a thin stream, whisking until emulsified.

Then there is the problem of how to make jerk chicken. I've found out that there are two ways to season the chicken - with a wet rub or a dry rub. I've also found that an authentic jerk rub has allspice as a major seasoning. These rubs are best bought ready made, but they are not too easy to come up with. We did find a lot of them at Whole Foods, and we found a nice dry rub at Penzey's Spice Store. I've purchased the rub, but I've yet to make the jerk chicken.

Pot Roast and Gravy

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This is a huge family favorite. It's really easy to do, but for some reason my daughters have struggled with it. I think maybe they don't get the foil closed up properly. So just make sure to get that part right.

2-3 pound boneless chuck roast
1 package of onion soup mix

Preheat the oven to about 325 to 350 degrees. The temperature depends on how long you have to cook the roast. The lower temperature is for about 3 hours, the higher for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

If your piece of meat has a lot of fat on it on the outside, cut off some of the fat, as you only need so much fat.

Find a shallow baking dish easily big enough to hold the roast. Then put a large piece of aluminum foil into the dish. I use heavy foil. Perhaps double the thickness if you only have the light foil. Put the piece of meat into the middle of the foil.

Sprinkle the packet of soup mix over the top of the meat, and pat it around evenly. Then carefully close up the foil, sealing all the edges so no steam can escape while cooking. Put it into the oven until you are ready to serve it. If it cooks longer it will simply fall apart more easily.

Making the gravy

When the roast is out of the oven carefully open the foil, making sure not to tear it, scrape the onion bits on top of the meat into the liquid in the dish, and lift out the meat onto a platter. Then get a gravy making pan, like a 10 inch skillet, and carefully put all the stuff left in the foil into the pan. Into a small jar with a lid put about 1 heaping tablespoons of flour and about a cup of water. Put the lid on and shake up vigorously. Heat the pan with the drippings and using a wire whisk slowly stir in the water and flour. Stirring constantly over medium heat cook until it forms a nice gravy. Taste for seasoning, and add salt of pepper or more water if necessary. When the gravy is done, pour into a pitcher and put in a ladle for serving.

A very nice accompaniment for this dish in the fall or winter is roasted vegetables - like potatoes, parsnips, carrots, onions, etc. I put the meat onto a big platter and surround the meat with the roasted vegetables.

Fruity Green Salad

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green leaf lettuce, washed and torn up
2 bosc pears, peeled, cored and sliced up
2 yellow tomatoes, diced up
2 green onions, sliced up
two small containers of mandarin oranges, juice reserved
(these are the kind that you take in your lunch)
2 avacados, diced

dressing

the reserved orange liquid, about 1/2 cup
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoon hunk of red onion

Put the dressing ingredients into the blender and put on full wack for several seconds. Place in a small pitcher with a ladle.

Molly’s French Bread

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1 Tbl yeast
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 pound of flour
2 teaspoons salt
enough water for a nice soft dough, about 2 cups


Combine the yeast, sugar and lukewarm water.
Let sit for about ten minutes or so, until quite bubbled up.

Mix the flour and salt, and lightly stir in the remaining water.
Let sit. The flour will absorb the water.

Add the yeast mixture and beat slowly in a Kitchenaid Mixer.
Sometimes beat fast, other times slow it down.
If you have too much water, add a little flour.
If you have not enough water, add some at bit at a time. It will mix in.
The goal is a nice soft dough that does not stick to the sides of the bowl.
When the right consistency mix on low to medium for 5 minutes or so.
Turn out onto a floured board and knead for a minute.
Form into a tidy ball, place back into the bowl, and cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place. I put mine into the warming cupboard at 80 degrees.

When double in size, punch down and form into a tidy ball again.
Let rise again. It should go faster the second time.

Prepare the bread pan by lightly greasing it with something greasy.

When the dough has risen the second time, turn out onto the board and cut in half.
Roll each half to be almost as long at the bread pan and place in pan.
Cover with damp towel, place in warm place and let double in size.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Just before baking lightly slash the bread diagonally several times.
I use a serrated knife and run it very lightly over the bread dough.
Bake bread for 17 minutes.
When bread is out of the oven turn the loaves 90 degrees in the pan to prevent them from getting damp while cooling off.

This bread keeps well for about 24 hours. If you use milk as part of the liquid the bread will stay soft longer, but it will have a different taste. You can let it rise only twice instead of three times, but it loses some of its specialness, but is still good.