This Cheesy Italian Bread is for The Secret Recipe Club, created by Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. This is how it works: Every month, you get to scour the blog of another member of the club (assigned to you by Amanda), and pick out and cook or bake any recipe from that person’s blog. And of course, it’s a Secret. Until the big reveal, that is.

This month, I was assigned Little House on the Prairie Living by Merissa, a modern homesteader and frugal living expert, who lives in South Dakota. Merissa is a veritable fount of information and tips on everything from couponing in South Dakota to making a cute dress out of a bedsheet and old tank top for, like, a buck-twenty-eight. And recipes? Oh, yeah, she’s got recipes.

Seeing as I’ve been baking quite a lot of bread, lately, I chose to try her Cheesy French Bread recipe. Merissa uses her bread machine on the “dough” cycle to get a start on her bread, a basic French-style sandwich bread, that she topped with cheddar and Parmesan. I don’t own a bread machine (anymore), and decided to adapt her recipe, using my mixer with the bread hook to mix and knead, and used my second oven (set to 120º F) as a proof box. I also took about a cup of finely shredded cheddar cheese and mixed it right into the dough. Here’s what I did, tracking Merissa’s recipe:

Cheesy French Bread (liberally adapted from Little House on the Prairie Living)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water (not over 120º F)
1 Tbs. yeast
1 Tbs. sugar
4 cups flour (I used half bread flour & half unbleached AP flour)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation:

You can do this completely by hand, but since my old carpal tunnel problem is attempting to rear its ugly head, I used my stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.

Put the yeast in a large bowl, add the warm water, and stir to dissolve. Add the sugar, followed by the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and the salt. Then add the cheese. If doing this by hand, knead on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes, or until the dough feels smooth and silky. If using the mixer, run it on the first speed until the bowl is completely clean, and the dough is wrapped in a ball around the dough hook, with a smooth and silky texture. Form the dough into a ball.

Lightly grease a large bowl (I used a couple of spritzes of cooking spray), roll the dough ball around in it, cover with a kitchen towel, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled (about 30-35 minutes). In the meantime, preheat your oven to 400º F.

When the dough is fully risen (stick your finger into it – if the indentation stays, your dough is fully proofed), divide it into two balls, cover, and allow to rest for about 10 minutes. Form each ball into a long loaf shape, place it on a large cookie sheet, brush with water, and slash each one a couple of times diagonally with a razor or sharp knife.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. To test, tap the bottom of each loaf with your fingers. If it sounds hollow, it’s done. Alternatively, insert the probe of an instant-read thermometer. If it reads over 190º F, it’s done.

Next time, I would probably add some more cheese to this. You can never have enough cheese, right?

What? Of course it goes great with jam! ->Giggle!<-

It was really fun, searching through another blogger’s recipe posts for inspiration and a different point of view. Wanna play? Join the Secret Recipe Club here.

Now follow along and see who got who – I can’t wait to see who got me and what they chose to make from my eclectic collection. Will it be a dessert? A main course? A 30-minute family meal? Let’s find out together!

White Mac & Cheese. Kind of an odd thing to write about in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record, I know.

Most of you may not know that Flamingo Musings did not start out as a food blog. Back on August 30, 2006, this blog was born out of the boredom of waiting for a hurricane that never arrived. I wrote pretty sporadically back then – yes, even less often than I do now (shut up!). But, I did write about food once in awhile, which then turned into “Recipe Monday”, which then became pretty much All Food All The Time. What can I say? I fell in with a bad crowd on Twitter.

Since August marks my 5 year blog anniversary month, I thought I’d revisit some of those early posts. Coincidentally, I first wrote about food in this space on August 5, 2008. I had overheard a conversation on my way to work the previous morning about people avoiding “white food.” I couldn’t imagine that, and set about creating a White Mac & Cheese in retaliation. I didn’t measure anything, and never wrote down a recipe (although, surprisingly, I did take a picture!), so now, 3 years later, I decided to rectify that.

And yes, there’s cauliflower in there. Way to sneak in a vegetable, right?

White Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

8 oz. box macaroni
1 small head cauliflower, broken into florets
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. finely chopped onion (optional)
2 Tbs. all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
8 oz (by weight) sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded (more, if baking)

Preparation:

Cook the macaroni according to package directions, in a large (about 6 quart) pot. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the cauliflower florets and allow to cook until the macaroni is tender. Or al dente. Your choice. Drain well and return to the pot.

In the meantime, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, if using, and cook for a couple of minutes, until it softens. Add the flour, stir well, and allow that to cook for another minute. Pour in the milk, and whisk constantly until it thickens, then whisk in the mustard powder, garlic powder, and white pepper. Add the cheese in 3 or 4 parts, whisking after each addition until it melts and makes a smooth cheese sauce. Taste the sauce at this point to determine if you need salt. (I usually find that sharp cheddar usually makes it salty enough, but you may wish to add a bit to your taste)

Pour the sauce over the cooked macaroni and cauliflower and stir gently to combine. If you like creamy mac & cheese, it’s now done – dig in and enjoy! If you like a baked mac & cheese:

Heat your oven to 375º F. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray or grease with a bit of butter. Pour the mac & cheese into the casserole dish, top liberally with additional shredded white cheddar, and bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and it takes on a golden brown color.

At which point, it’s no longer “white.” Just sayin’.

Happy New Year!

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for following along over the last year. 2010 was a pretty exciting and volatile year for me. It was the year I stopped musing and realized that Life is indeed what happens while you’re busy doing other things. And having figured that part out, actually did something about it. So, Welcome 2011! Can’t wait to see around the next corner!

But, the weekend’s not over yet, and if you need something for a special breakfast, brunch, a light supper, or even the hors d’oeuvre table, this Spinach Strata goes with just about anything you plan to serve – especially bubbly beverages. It’s also loaded with spinach – a good luck food – to bring you health and wealth in the New Year!

Spinach Strata

(Serves 4 as main dish; may be doubled or tripled as necessary)

Ingredients:

1 tsp. butter, margarine, or Smart Balance Light Spread
1 medium potato (about 9 oz.)
4 oz. sliced or shredded cheese (such as Swiss or mozzarella)
4 large eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. milk
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2-3 cups baby spinach, uncooked
1 medium tomato, sliced thin
salt & pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375º F. Grease a 1 quart oven-proof casserole dish with the butter.

Slice the potato very thinly. A small hand slicer or mandoline will be useful here. Line the bottom of the casserole with half of the potato slices, overlapping. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Lay half of the cheese over the potato slices.

Beat the eggs with the milk until combined, season with a little salt and pepper, and mix in the thyme leaves (which you’ve first stripped from their stems). Pour into the casserole.

Pile the spinach leaves evenly over the egg mixture and cover with the sliced tomato, followed by the remaining potato slices. Arrange the remaining cheese over the top, making certain to cover the potato slices completely.

Bake for 30-35 minutes and let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting, to allow the strata to set.

Notes:

Swiss cheese will create a crisp, cheesy crust on top (think frico), so if you’d prefer a softer and creamier top, use something like mozzarella.