Monkey Bubble Bread

The girls came home from school today to find some of these sticky buns in the oven. As with everything we make here in our house...no nuts.


Monkey Bubble Bread
from Baked Explorations

For the Bubble Bread
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
5 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cinnamon-sugar coating
1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Make the Monkey Bubble Bread
In a small saucepan, warm your milk to slightly above room temperature, then remove it from the heat, add yeast and whisk to dissolve. (Do not warm it beyond 110 degrees F or you will kill the yeast).

In a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar and salt until combined.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork and add it to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until combined.

Keeping the mixer on low, slowly stream in the milk until combined. Add the melted butter and mix until the dough comes together. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook attachment. Continue to mix on medium speed until the dough becomes silky and tacky, but not sticky, 8-10 minutes. The dough should mound together and easily come off the bottom of the mixing bowl. (If the dough is too wet, add some flour. If it is too dry, add a tiny bit of water.)

Spray the bottom and sides of a large bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and roll it around to make sure it is completely covered in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let it rest in a warm area until the dough has doubled in size, approximately one hour.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Use your clean hands to push down and deflate the dough. Remove it from the bowl and pat it into a rough circle approximately 8 inches diameter. Use a bench knife or serrated knofe to cut dough into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 1/2 ounce each)-alternatively, use your hands to pinch apart the dough. Roll the pieces into balls (they don't have to be perfectly round). Place the balls on the sheet pan (you will get about 60 pieces in all). Cover the balls lightly with plastic wrap.

Make the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Place the melted butter in a separate bowl.

Assemble the Bread
Generously spray a 10 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. Remove the plastic wrap from the dough balls and dip one ball in the melted butter. Let the excess butter drip back in to the bowl, roll the ball in the brown sugar mixture and place it in the Bundt pan. Continue this process with each ball, until you have several layers, arranging them as if you are building a brick wall.

Wrap the Bundt pan tightly in plastic wrap. Set it in a warm area of the house for about 1 hour, or until the dough balls have doubled in size and appear puffy.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the plastic and bake the Bundt until the top layer is a deep brown and the caramel coating begins to bubble around the edges, about 30 minutes.

Cool the bread for 5 minutes, then turn it out directly onto a platter and serve warm. Should you have any leftovers (this is rare), simply reheat them in a 300-degree oven until warm to the touch.

These are FANTASTIC. I will never make monkey bread from store bought bread dough or biscuits again.


If you need it spelled out for you, this should explain the lack of recipes/appetite lately.

French Bread

This is a SIMPLE, SIMPLE French bread recipe. It takes two hours from start to finish (only about 5 minutes of that is hands on time). I got the recipe from our neighborhood cookbook. My family gobbles up an entire loaf hot out of the oven. The second loaf is generally made into delicious French Toast on day two.

6 Cups flour (maybe more)
2 T yeast
3 T sugar
1 T salt
2 1/2 Cups warm water
1/3 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
sesame seeds

Put 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in bowl of food processor. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the water and the oil. While the food processor is running, slowly add the water/oil mixture alternately with 3 additional cups of flour (or more if needed). Process until a soft dough forms.
Leave dough in food processor for an hour and push the pulse button every 10 minutes.
Divide dough in half and form into two elongated loaves. Place on cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. Let rise for thirty minutes then slash tops on diagonal, brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if you plan to save a loaf for French toast, omit the sesame seeds). Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

Favorite Whole Wheat Bread

This is my go-to bread recipe. I make it a couple of times a month. (I usually make four loaves at a time--it freezes well). My family loves this bread. My girls actually prefer it to store-bought white.

Do you have kids? That's saying a lot.

It could have something to do with the fact that they don't know it's whole wheat. We just call it "home-made".

Anyone who tells them differently is asking for it.

Whole Wheat Bread
from Whitney of Peacocks on My Porch fame
makes two loaves
3 cups warm water
1 T yeast
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1 T salt
5 - 6 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add oil, then honey (it slips out of the measuring cup easier this way), and salt. Slowly add flour until beater bar scrapes the sides of the bowl clean. Let dough mix for ten minutes. Let dough rise in bowl for 30 minutes (optional but I generally do it). Punch and divide dough into 2 loaves, shape and place in greased bread pans. Let loaves rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

The original recipe makes 4 loaves, but it kills my Kitchenaid, so I generally make this half batch twice. If you have a Bosch, double the above ingredients and make all four loaves. They'll get eaten.

Delicious eaten warm out of the oven with real butter and homemade jam.

White Bread

I've been looking for a good white bread recipe. You know...the kind that makes your house smell wonderful while it bakes. The kind that makes a great sandwich. The kind that makes fantastic hot buttered toast. I've tried a few recipes and this is my favorite. I adapted this slightly from Tyler Florence of Food Network fame.



1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 package (1 tablespoon) rapid-rising dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar or honey
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 egg whites, divided and slightly beaten


1. In a small saucepan, heat the milk with butter over low heat just until the butter melts. Remove from heat and add to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Let cool 5-7 minutes (I have been hasty and added the yeast too soon and the heat killed it). Proof the yeast by adding it to the warm milk and butter. Add the sugar and stir gently to dissolve. Let stand 3 minutes until foam appears. Turn mixer on low and gradually add the flour. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium and add the salt and 1 egg white. Mix until the dough is no longer sticky, about 10 minutes.
2. Turn the dough onto the (very lightly floured) work surface and knead for a minute or so by hand. Form the dough into a round and place in an oiled bowl, turn to coat the entire ball with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
3. Once the dough is doubled, turn it out onto the counter. Handle the dough gently, overworking the gluten at this point will produce a dense loaf that is difficult to shape.
To form a loaf, pat the dough into a rectangle, fold the long sides to the middle then fold under the ends. Pinch the seams closed and place in a greased 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, seam side down. Make sure the dough touches all sides of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise a second time for 20 minutes or until the top of the dough is nearly level with the top of the loaf pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, place a large pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Bring 3 cups water to a boil on the stove. Pour the hot water into the preheated pan to create a steam bath for the bread. This will make a crisp crust.
4. Slash dough down the middle of the loaf with a sharp knife to allow the steam to escape during baking. Brush the top with remaining beaten egg white. Bake the bread for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is golden. The bottom of the loaf should sound hollow when tapped. Immediately remove the bread from the pan and cool completely on a rack.



* Variation: To make Cinnamon Swirl Bread: after the first rise, press the dough out to a rectangle, sprinkle surface with cinnamon to cover. Roll up like a jellyroll, pinch the seams closed and continue as directed in the recipe.

Soft Pretzels

Last Monday, while skimming through my new favorite magazine, my second born and I stumbled upon this recipe. I told her we could make them over the weekend. We couldn't wait. We ended up having them as an appetizer for Tuesday dinner.
They were simple to make and tasted delicious. Our only problem (and I use that word loosely) was that we couldn't get the dough to stretch into 30 inch ropes. We stretched it as much as we could and then formed the pretzels. They shrunk a bit in the oven, and as you can see, ours ended up pretty squat and round. We actually think it made them even better. You know how the middle of the cinnamon roll is the best? So is the middle of the pretzel!


Ingredients
For the Pretzels:

* 1 cup milk
* 1 package active dry yeast
* 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
* 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
* 1 teaspoon fine salt
* 1/3 cup baking soda
* 2 tablespoons coarse salt

For the Sauce:

* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup dijon mustard
* 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Directions

Make the pretzels: Warm the milk in a saucepan until it's about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes.) Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.

Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

Prepare the sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat; place on a wire rack to let excess butter drip off. Serve the pretzels warm with the sweet mustard sauce.

Pizza Joint Breadsticks

This past weekend, we traveled to Southern Utah for a little getaway. Friday night, we went to a great pizza place. They served these breadsticks, swirled and baked on wooden sticks. Much more impressive than regular breadsticks that just lay there in a lame wicker basket. These sticks had personality.

The cyclist and I discussed how we could make these at home. I have a breadstick recipe that tastes great. It just needed a cosmetic make-over.

The cyclist had to engineer a device that would allow us to bake them on wooden dowels in our standard size oven without leaving a flat spot from sitting on a cooking sheet. They couldn't stand upright like they would in a commercial brick oven. He plotted and planned and 30 seconds later came up with a solution.

We have a three car garage. One side is full of bikes. Fortunately for this project, the other side is full of woodworking tools. No, my car is not parked in the middle, but we are making progress. He has recently moved his porcelain doll collection into the basement. Jenn and Kevin, come over some time, he's getting the curio cabinet all set up.

On his way home from work tonight, he made a quick stop by the home improvement store, spent under $3.00, and picked up some 5/16" dowels (he claims size doesn't matter), and found some scrap 2 by 4's in the garage. He used a hand drill and drilled the holes one drill bit size larger than the dowels (so they were 21/64ths).
If you don't have a handy husband or neighbor that can make this contraption for you, you can still make these breadsticks. Just bake them on the stick directly on a pan. If you don't have $3.oo and a ride to the hardware store to get the dowel, you could still make them without the stick. But if they are just going to lay there like boring breadsticks, the least you could do is line the lame wicker basket with a loud holiday print napkin.

1 T. Yeast
1½ cups warm water
3 cups flour
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
Seasonings (we like "Chef Tom's", or garlic powder and Parmesan)

Preheat oven to 350*.
In bowl of electric mixer, fitted with dough hook, combine yeast, water, and 1 T sugar. Let sit for 3 minutes. Add remaining sugar, salt and flour. Mix on high for 3 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough into 5 equal pieces. Roll out like snakes. Spray dowels with cooking spray. Wrap dough around middle of stick. Place dowels in 2 by 4's over a baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and season as desired. Rest 10 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and mouth-watering.
If you are a mother I don't need to explain why this child is wearing a Halloween costume in the middle of November.

Serve with marinara sauce, ranch dressing or just eat it like corn on the cob.

Halloween Dinner

We had our creepy Halloween dinner last night. The girls didn't really appreciate the creepiness, but they ate it right up.

I told them the farfalle pasta was bats. And look at that stringy mozzarella...doesn't it look like spider webs?

I've seen these breadstick fingers made before. Mine rose a bit too much in the oven. The girls didn't think they really looked like fingers. I told them they were the fingers of a nine-month pregnant woman who had been walking around a lot in the heat.

If that doesn't scare them, I don't know what will.


Bats and Spiderwebs

1 lb bowtie pasta
2 tsp olive oil
2 garlic clove, minced
2 (28 oz.) can diced or crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp sugar
coarse salt
1 lb mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic; saute about one minute. Add tomatoes, oregano and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer; cook, stirring and breaking up tomatoes until slightly thickened, 10-15 minutes. Season with salt.

Add pasta and half the mozzarella; toss to combine. Transfer to a baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake until bubbly and top is lightly brown, 10 to 15 minutes.


Fingers

1 T. Yeast
1½ cups warm water
3 cups flour
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
Whole almonds (fingernails)
Dried Rosemary and Coarse Salt (for knuckle hair)

Preheat oven to 350*.
In bowl of electric mixer, combine yeast, water and 1 T sugar. Let sit five minutes. Add remaining sugar, salt and flour. Mix on high for 3 minutes. Rest 10 minutes. Roll out into thin breadsticks. Brush with butter. Cut shallow slices for knuckles. Press almonds on tips. Sprinkle with salt and rosemary. Rest 10 more minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Slow Simmering 3-Bean Soup with Corn Bread

I would call this a cross between chili and soup. I kind of want to make up a cute little hybrid name for it, but Lindsey frowns on that.

The cornbread is moist and just a bit sweet. Perfect with honey.

3 Bean Soup

1 T olive oil
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 can enchilada sauce
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree (I only had a can of whole tomatoes, so I roughly chopped them up and used them...worked fine)
1-1/2 T oregano
Pepper
Salt
crushed red pepper


In large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add peppers. Continue to cook until peppers are tender, 5-7 more minutes.

Add enchilada sauce and tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes. Add beans. Season with oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste. Keep soup at a low simmer for about an hour.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and cheddar cheese.


Corn Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bow. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter in a small bowl; mix well. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared baking pan.

Bake for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve warm with a drizzle of honey.

"You can make those from scratch? Part II", or Homemade English Muffins

After the success of the homemade bagels, English muffins just seemed like the natural next step. These were absolutely delicious. Reminiscent of the ones you buy at the store...only better.




English Muffins
adapted from the Food Network
makes 12-14 muffins

1 cup non-fat powdered milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 tablespoons shortening
2 cups hot water
2 envelopes (4 1/2 tsp) dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup warm water
4 cups flour, sifted
Non-stick cooking spray
cornmeal
equipment: electric griddle, 3-inch metal rings (There are English muffin rings, but I used 8 oz pineapple cans. Make sure you remove the top and bottom.)

In a bowl, combine the powdered milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and hot water, stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar in 2/3 cup of warm water and set aside until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Preheat the griddle to 250 degrees F.

Add the remaining teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings onto the griddle and coat lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle griddle inside each ring with a pinch of cornmeal.

Using #20 (it should hold about 4 tablespoons) ice cream scoop, place 2 scoops into each ring and cover with a cookie sheet and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and flip rings using tongs.

Cover with the lid and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool.

Split with fork. Serve hot with butter and honey.

Before we cooked them all, we did a test run with just one muffin to make sure the griddle wasn't too hot.



P.S. Stay tuned...at the cyclist's request, part three in the series is already in the works. It has the potential to ROCK. It could also fail miserably. Don't worry, my sweet husband will happily eat it either way.

French Peasant Bread

Adapted from Favorites: a Collection of Favorite Ivory Family Recipes

This is the perfect bread recipe for a beginner bread baker. There is no kneading. I make this bread frequently, and the result is always the same: a soft, rustic loaf with a delicious, chewy crust.

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 T sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
corn meal
melted butter
desired toppings, optional (sprinkle with garlic salt, a combination of rosemary and coarse salt, or garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Experiment.)

Fill a large mixing bowl with hot water and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Pour out water and dry bowl. Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in the warmed bowl. Stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended. Do not knead. Cover and let rise one hour or until doubled in size. Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and shape into two rounds. Place rounds on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with desired topping. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush again with melted butter. Serve warm.

Homemade Bagels and Cream Cheese, or "The one where the Bake-aholic accepts a challenge from the Cyclist"

Periodically I get an urge to make something from scratch that most people (including myself) would normally just buy at the store.
I made flour tortillas once. For all the time and effort, I expected them to taste as yummy as the ones at Cafe Rio. Mine didn't.
One valentines day, after watching Martha Stewart, I was inspired to make homemade marshmallows. These were cute and pink and I cut them into heart shapes. But why spend 12 minutes beating gelatin and corn syrup to get something that tastes identical to the Kraft marshmallows from the grocery store? Plus the grocery store variety have an indefinite shelf life. Mine went moldy within 3 days.
But some things are just really super good when they are homemade.
For instance:
While skimming through a favorite cookbook, I came across a recipe for Vegetable Cream Cheese. "I know what to do for brunch next Sunday", I told the Cyclist. "How about you pick up some bagels from Rich's and I'll whip up some flavored cream cheese?"
"How about you make the bagels?" he challenged.
So I started scouring cook books and found a recipe that I could handle (I am only now starting to feel confident making yeast breads).

These were a little time consuming (I started boiling the water for the potato at 10:00 and we were eating them by 12:15), but that includes 1 hour of rising time that one might utilize to, let's say, take a shower and blow dry 4 blond bobs (that includes me). As soon as #4 grows hair, and there are 5 blond bobs, I'm going to have to either talk a couple of the girls into buzz cuts, or these Sunday breakfasts might become a thing of the past.

Anyhow, these bagels were REALLY good. Think Rich's. You should all make them. I challenge you.



Egg Bagels
from Baking Bread, Old and New Traditions by Beth Hensperger

My batch made 2 dozen

1 large russet potato (about 3/4 lb)
2 1/2 c water
2 T active dry yeast
1 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 T salt
7-7 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/4 c vegetable oil (I used canola)
4 eggs
3-4 quarts water
2 T salt or sugar
2 egg whites
2 T water
assorted toppings: poppy seeds, sesame seeds, salt and rosemary, etc. (our two favorites were Asiago Cheese and Cinnamon Sugar)

1. Peel the potato and cut into large chunks. Place in a small saucepan and cover with the 2 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered until the potato is soft. Drain the potato (use for other purposes), reserving 2 cups of the potato water. Let cool to 120 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, using a whisk, or in the workbowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast, sugar, salt and 2 cups of the flour.
3. Add the potato water and the oil. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the flour and the eggs. Beat again for 2 minutes. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a soft dough that just clears the sides of the bowl, switching to a wooden spoon when necessary if mixing by hand. (I ended up adding just under 7 cups).
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until a smooth, firm, and springy dough is formed, about 3 minutes, adding flour 1 Tablespoon at a time as necessary to prevent sticking. Place in a greased deep container, turn once to coat the top, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 425 and grease or line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silpat liners. Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring 3 to 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 Tablespoons salt or sugar to the boiling water, depending on the flavor you want the crust to have. (We used two pots, one with sugar and one with salt). Maintain a gentle low boil over medium heat.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into quarters. Divide each quarter into 6 equal portions. To form bagels: Shape each ball of dough into a smooth round, tucking the excess dough underneath. Flatten with your palm. Poke a floured finger through the middle of the ball. Stretch the hole with your fingers to make it about 1 inch in diameter. Spin the dough around your finger. The hole will be quite large as you spin, but will shrink slightly when you stop. Set aside on a lightly floured surface while forming the other bagels. Once you get the hang of this, it goes really fast. The bagels will need no further rising at this point.
7. With a slotted spoon, lower 3 to 4 bagels at a time into the gently boiling water.
They will drop to the bottom and then rise to the surface. As they come to the surface, turn each bagel and boil it for 3 minutes on the other side. This goes very quickly.
8. Remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. When all the bagels have been boiled, brush with an egg wash (combine 2 egg whites and 2 T water) and top how you wish. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes rotating pan halfway through, or until deep golden. Remove from baking sheets and cool on racks.

We ate ours schmeared with Ina Garten's Vegetable Cream Cheese:

16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 T minced scallions (green onions), white and green parts
2 T finely chopped carrot
2 T finely chopped celery
2 T finely chopped radish (2 radishes)
2-3 pinches kosher salt
1 pinch finely ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in bowl of electric mixer and mix on low speed until blended.

Rosemary Bread

This is a variation of a breadstick recipe I've been making for years. All of the ingredients are pantry staples and it can be made (start to finish) in under an hour. The rosemary and salt combination is probably my favorite, but garlic salt and Parmesan cheese is tasty as well. It can be baked on a regular cookie sheet, but the pizza stone gives it the best texture.

1 T yeast
2 T sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
melted butter
fresh rosemary (dry would work as well)
kosher salt (or a coarse sea salt)

If using pizza stone, place it in the cold oven and sprinkle liberally with corn meal. Preheat oven to 375.

Mix 1 T of the sugar, the yeast and warm water together in bowl of electric mixer. Let sit for 2-3 minutes or until yeast is dissolved.
Add remaining sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 3 cups flour. Mix on low until flour is incorporated, then knead on high speed for 3 minutes. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
On a floured surface, roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer to wooden pizza paddle or rimless baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal (this will help the dough slide onto the pizza stone).
Let dough rest 10 minutes.
Press your fingertips into the dough at regular intervals to make dimples about 1/4" deep. Spread with melted butter. Press rosemary into dimples. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.