Artisan Bread

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
8 cups flour
Mix water yeast and salt and let set five minutes. Gradually add the 8 cups flour. Knead on lightly floured surface and set for 2 hours at room temperature. Then put dough in fridge for at least an hour. (You can leave the dough in the fridge for up to a week making loaves gradually.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Divide dough into three grapefruit sized balls  and knead. Add in desired seasonings such as Italian blend cheese, garlic, or pesto. Form dough into an oval loaf, cut a slit in the top and place on a pizza stone. Let rise at least 20 minutes. Put a pan of water in rack below pizza stone when cooking bread. Bake for about thirty minutes.

April Shindig

This last week we kicked off our recipe group at Ali's house. It was fun to see her little old bungalow in Sugarhouse. We had a delicious meal and talked mostly about babies. We missed everyone who wasn't able to make it. Hope to see you next month!

Lemon Berry Trifle

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients-

Berries (can be cooked up to a day in advance and refrigerated): 

4 cups berries (a combination of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries), you can use fresh or frozen - if using frozen, they need to be thawed and drained

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Lemon Cream (the lemon curd can be made up to 3 days in advance):

3 cups whipping cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 recipe lemon curd (see below) or an 11-ounce jar lemon curd

Pound Cake (can be made a day in advance or longer, if it is frozen):

1 9-inch round or loaf lemon (or plain) pound cake, homemade or store-bought, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

Directions

Combine the berries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook just until the berries begin to break down, about 3-4 minutes. Take the berries off the heat and let the mixture cool. This can be done a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate the berry syrup until ready to use.

In a clean bowl, whip the cream with the powdered sugar and the vanilla until soft peaks form. Put the lemon curd into a second bowl and whisk in about 1/4 cup of the whipped cream to loosen it up a bit. Then gently fold in the rest of the cream. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately.

To assemble the trifle, spoon a layer of the cream into a large glass or trifle bowl. Add a layer of pound cake. You may need to break the pound cake slices into smaller pieces and jigsaw them together to fit. Then drizzle on about 1/3 of the berry syrup. Don't worry if it doesn't completely coat the pound cake - just drizzle it across and let the berries fall where they may. Spoon a layer of lemon cream over the top, smoothing to the sides. Repeat all the layers, 2 or 3 more times, depending on the size of the bowl, finishing with a layer of lemon cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. It is best to make this several hours before serving and refrigerate it.

*Note: the trifle should be assembled about 5-8 hours before serving so all the flavors can blend together. All of the components can be made from 1-3 days ahead. Look through the recipe for more specific details.

Mango and Corn Salad with Curry Vinagrette

Source: BHG.com

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 4  medium  fresh ears of sweet corn, cleaned
• 2  to 3 large  mangos
• 1  medium  red onion
• 1  tsp.  olive oil
• 4  Tbsp.  olive oil
• 2  Tbsp.  fresh lemon juice
• 1  tsp.  sugar
• 1/2  tsp.  curry powder
• 1/2  tsp.  salt
• 1/8  tsp.  black pepper
• 3  cups  fresh arugula

Directions

1. Carefully cut kernels from corn cobs. You should have about 2 cups. Seed and peel mangoes. Cut each mango into 12 slices. Peel the outer layer off the onion. Cut onion into 6 wedges, leaving the root end intact so wedges stay together.

2. For a charcoal grill, place a 9- to 10-inch cast iron skillet on the grill rack directly over medium-hot coals. Heat skillet for 2 to 3 minutes. Add corn kernels and the 1 teaspoon oil. Cook and stir constantly for 6 to 8 minutes or until corn kernels are golden brown. Remove skillet from the grill; transfer corn kernels to six individual serving bowls. Set aside. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium-hot. Place cast iron skillet on the grill rack directly over the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add corn. Cook and stir as directed above.)

3. In a medium bowl combine mango slices and onion wedges; drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil. Toss gently to coat. For a charcoal grill, place mango slices and onion wedges on the grill rack directly over medium-hot coals. Grill mango for 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning to brown evenly. Grill onion wedges for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown and crisp-tender, turning to brown evenly. Transfer mango slices and onion wedges to the medium bowl. (For a gas grill, reduce heat to medium. Place mango slices and onion wedges on grill rack directly over heat. Cover and grill as above.)

4. For dressing, in a small bowl combine lemon juice, sugar, curry powder, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the remaining 3 tablespoons oil until well combined. Add 1 tablespoon of the dressing to the mango mixture; toss gently to coat. Drizzle arugula with about half of the remaining dressing; toss to coat. Add arugula to corn; add mango and onion wedges. Drizzle with any remaining dressing.

English Cream Scones

Here's the recipe for the scones I made for Sara's shower.

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t. salt
6 T butter
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup of each mix-in: dried cranberries and orange zest (zest the peel of one orange)
or chopped pecans, white chocolate chips, and dried apricots

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Cut the butter into tiny pieces and add into the mixture. Continue cutting the butter into flour mixture until butter pieces are no larger than a pea. Make a well in the center of mixture and pour cream into it. Using your hands, mix by hand until the dry ingredients are all moistened. Gather into a ball and knead on lightly floured surface ten times. Add mix-ins. Roll the dough to 1/4-1/2 inch thick large square. Trim sides of square to make even and then cut into 12 smaller squares of equal size. Then divide squares diagonal to create triangles.  Put triangles on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle tops with sugar and bake 15 minutes or until golden brown and moist in center. 1 batch yields about 16 triangles.

(I made cream cheese frosting to add a little more sweetness to the goodness and lightly frosted them while they were still hot.) 

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup softened butter
3 oz. cream cheese
1 T milk
1 t. vanilla