A Loaf of Bread, A Bottle of Wine and... Your CROCKPOT?!

Yes!  Your Crockpot!  I was very skeptical when I started working on a slow-cooker bread recipe.  Would it be possible to turn out a quality, delicious bread?  After the first attempt of combining several recipes, I was VERY pleasantly surprised.  Over the past few weeks, I have experimented with different herb blends, salts and oils, but the basic recipe remains the same.  This is a crusty, rustic bread, full of flavor.  Is your mouth watering yet?  Well lets get cooking!  Oh!  The best part... it is fast and easy bread to mix up!

Note:  As always, Green text are Olivelle recipes that I will share. Green text within a recipe are ingredients that can be purchased from Olivelle locally or on the website http://www.olivelle.com/

Crockpot Sundried Tomato Bread

(Chef Cheryl)

3 - 4 Cups Flour
1 pkg Yeast
¹⁄₄ Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
¹⁄₂ tsp Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt
2 tsp Bruchette Herb Blend
¹⁄₂ Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes Rough Chopped
1 12 oz Beer
2 Tbsp Basil Genovese EVOO
1 tsp Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt

1. Oil the crockpot with the 2 Tbsp Basil Genovese EVOO
2. Mix 3 Cups Flour, Yeast, Brown Sugar, Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt, and Bruchette Herb Blend together in a large bowl.
3. Toss in Sun-Dried Tomatoes
4. Stir in the beer and mix until incorporated.
5. Knead for about 5 minutes*, adding last cup of flour as necessary.
6. Form into a ball and roll it in the oiled crockpot to coat the ball with oil.  Sprinkle with remaining Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt
7. Place Lid at an angle on the crockpot and bake on HIGH for approx. 2 - 3 hours.  It will be done when the bread looses it "wet" appearance and feels fairly firm when lightly pushing on the top with your finger (although, it will not spring back completely).

* I make the bread in a "Kitchen-Aid" Mixer with a dough hook.  When doing so, mix the dough for several minutes, gradually adding the last cup of flour, until it balls up and clings to the hook.

This bread is WONDERFUL in the "Caprese Panzanella Salad" from the last blog post, or by itself.  Try making a grilled cheese with it to serve with creamy tomato soup!  Or toast it for BLTs!

More versions of Crockpot bread to come!  Until then, grab your bread, bottle of wine and enjoy!

The Path Less Traveled

After attending 95 classes at Olivelle, I have changed my original course in this journey!  The student has now become the teacher.  My daughter, daughter-in-law and I were asked to do a series of Slow-Cooker classes for Olivelle.  As a result, I have put my class "attending" on hold for a while and my profile statement, "I must let you know, that I am in no way affiliated with Olivelle, just a loyal customer of the store.", is no longer completely true.  I am still a "loyal customer of the store", but I do, in a sense, work for the store.  My desire to share recipes and tips remain the same and I will still highlight the wonderful, quality products that are available from the store.  So... in an effort to be "fair" to all chefs who teach the amazing Olivelle classes, today I am sharing a recipe from one of the newest chefs!

This is just a nice twist on two classic salads.  I love coming up with creative salads, so this was a very fun and successful experiment!

Note:  As always, Green text are Olivelle recipes that I will share. Green text within a recipe are ingredients that can be purchased from Olivelle locally or on the website http://www.olivelle.com/

Caprese Panzanella Salad
(Chef Cheryl)

1/2 Loaf Sun Dried Tomato Crockpot Bread* ~ Cubed

2 Cups Grape Tomatoes ~ Sliced in Half Lengthwise

1 Pint Mozzarella Pearls

1 Bunch (about 12) Basil Leaves ~ Chiffenade

1 Cup Basil Genovese EVOO

2 Tbsp White Balsamic Vinegar

Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt ~ to taste 

1. Whisk together the Basil Genovese EVOO; White Balsamic Vinegar; and Tuscan Tomato Sea Salt.  

2. Toss all ingredients together.

3.  Serve with Mussini Balsamic Glaze to drizzle over salad.

Enjoy!

* Stay tuned for the recipe for "Sun-dried Tomato Crockpot Bread" to be posted later this week!  If you just CAN'T wait that long to make the salad... you could use a favorite rustic herbed bread.

To "Chiffenade" the basil leaves:

1. Carefully pull leaves from the main stem.
2. Stack them with larger leaves on the bottom.
3. Tightly roll them up lengthwise into a "tube"
4. Slice the "tube" in about 1/8" lengths.  (Be sure to use a SHARP knife to prevent bruising.)
5. Lightly toss the strips to separate all the pieces, then toss in with salad.

One of my hopes with this blog is that you will get creative in YOUR cooking!  Don't keep going down the same path... Take the road LESS traveled!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. 

~ Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Leave of Absence

I have not fallen off the map... really!  I WISH that I could say I was away... perhaps at my favorite beach...  but not the case.  Just took a few weeks off from the blog.  It was not intentional, but with the Christmas & New Year holidays I seem to have fallen behind with everything!  I'm sure that many of you can relate to that!


In any case, I am working on some new posts and hope to have a new one up by the end of the week!  In the meantime, please check my Facebook page.  I have lots of tips, links and info that has been posted and am posting on it frequently!  It also lets you know when ever a new BLOG Post is up!


Also... don't forget to "LIKE" the Facebook page so that you will be entered in drawings that are held almost every month!


To find me on Facebook, type in "A Drizzle of Oil & A Pinch of Salt" in the Facebook search box!


See you SOON!