December Recipe Group (Early)

Hey everyone, hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  November seems to have gotten away from us too quickly!!  I was hoping we could have group this month early, since I'm in need of some ideas.  Not sure if this will work, so if it's a problem for alot of you, let me know and we'll see about changing it.  Otherwise, we can get back on our regular schedule in January. 

SO, here is what I propose..................this month I'd like to have group centered around the healthiest meals that your family loves.  With all the treats and over the top parties with an abundance of food this time of year I could sure use some great, healthy recipes for the days in between all that partying!

So be thinking about what your family loves that is healthy and delicious.  We will meet at my house on Thursday, December 1st at 11 a.m.

I hope this day will work for most of you.

-Karlie

Bread Recipes from October

*Edited to add additional recipes.

CRESCENT DINNER ROLLS
Miriam Deru

3½ to 3¾ cups flour
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2¼ tsp.)
1 cup milk
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup butter + additional butter
1 beaten egg

Stir together 1 ¼ cups of the flour and the yeast.  In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, sugar, the 1/3 cup butter, and ¾ teaspoon salt just until warm and butter almost melts; add to flour mixture along with egg.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.  Beat on high speed 3 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead in enough remaining four to make moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total).  Shape dough into a ball.  Place in a greased bowl; turn once.  Cover; let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 hour).  Punch dough down.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough in half.  Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, lightly grease two cookie sheets.  On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a 12-inch circle; brush with butter.  Cut each dough circle into 12 wedges.  To shape, begin at the wide end of each wedge and loosely roll toward the point.  Place point side down, 2 to 3 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (about 30 minutes).   Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or until rolls sound hollow when lightly tapped (my oven runs hot, so 365 degrees is better).  Immediately remove from pan and brush tops with butter.  Cool on wire racks. 

PUMPKIN SWIRL BREAD
Sara Havey

1 pkg. yeast (about 1T.)
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. warm water
2/3 c. melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. canned pumpkin
7-7 1/2 c. flour
Dissolve yeast in water.  Add sugar, melted butter, eggs, salt and cinnamon; mix well.  Stir in pumpkin and 3 cups of the flour.  Beat until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.  Knead in your mixer for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.  Let rest 10 minutes.  Divide dough in half.  Roll out each half into an 18x9 inch rectangle.  Brush each rectangle with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.  Sprinkle each half of combined mixture with 1/2 c. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon (Sara used brown sugar instead).  Roll up narrow end; press ends to seal.  Fold ends under loaves.  Let rise until doubled.  Brush loaves with additional butter.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.


NAAN INDIAN BREAD
Karalee Monson

2/3 c. warm water
1 tsp. dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 TB yogurt
2-3 TB ghee
(this is butter without the whey, melt your butter and scoop off the white stuff, what is left is ghee.  I don't know how important it is to use ghee, I think real butter melted works just fine.)

Stir water, yeast, sugar in a bowl.  When you have your ghee (butter) ready Mix is and yogurt with the water mixture then add flour, and salt.  Knead well.  Let rise for 1/2 - 1 hour.  Divide into about 7 portions.
Flatten each like a scone.
Cover cookie sheet with foil.  Heat oven to hottest setting - I just turned it on broil.
Cook Naan 2 or 3 at a time turning when upside is golden-it takes about 1 minute per side.

Our family loves these with honey butter and jam or for dinner as navajo tacos.  They are really easy, yummy and healthier that frying.  


LEMON CHEESE BRAID
Karlie Himle

1 T. SAF yeast
1/4 c. warm water
3-4 c. flour
1/2 c. milk, scalded and slightly cooled
2 eggs
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine 2 cups of the flour with the remaining ingrediants.  Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth.  Let rest 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, for filling mix:
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 c. raisins (optional)

After dough rests, roll out into a rectangle (12x14 in.) and set onto a lightly greased baking sheet.  Spread the filling down the center 1/3 of dough.  Cut outer thirds on either side into 1 in. strips and braid.  Let rise until double and then bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. 
Make a glaze using 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1 T. butter, melted.  Mix together and spoon over warm bread.

Homemade Yogurt

Karlie asked me to post this one-- it's a simple recipe I make weekly. I love homemade yogurt because it's cheaper and not as sweet as store-bought brands. But the texture is a little different-- sometimes thinner, sometimes thicker. So if any of these variations don't bother you, give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 8 cups skim milk + 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder (or, 8 cups whole milk)
• 1 6 oz. Yoplait French Vanilla yogurt

Directions:

1. Pour 8 cups skim milk into a large crock pot. Stir in 1 cup nonfat dry milk until dissolved (this is for a thicker texture-- without it, skim milk makes a very runny yogurt). Cover with lid and cook on LOW heat for 2 hours (set a timer).
2. After 2 hours cooking on low, turn the crock pot OFF. Keeping the lid on, simply let the yogurt sit for 2 hours (set a timer).
3. At this 4 hour mark, lift the lid and take out about 2 cups of the warm milk. Replace the lid to maintain temperature. Stir the Yoplait yogurt into the 2 cups milk until the texture is even, then add to the milk in the crock pot. Stir to combine. Replace the lid again and let the yogurt sit undisturbed for 15-20 hours. (It will be ready in as few as 10-12 hours, but I've found that at this point there is still whey at the top. If you wait longer, you give the whey a chance to absorb in.)
   
4. When you lift the lid, you'll have yogurt! I like to keep it plain, but I know several people who prefer to mix in sugar or pureed fruit-- it's all good. Just expect the yogurt's texture to change a bit with any mix-ins.
   

Tip: Start making yogurt in the morning at about the time you'd like to eat it the following morning. That's the time frame we're talking about.

Also, I say "Yoplait French Vanilla" because of all the different brands I've tried, I think it makes the best flavor and texture. Any yogurt with active live cultures will do.