Breads, Bisque and Pork, Oh My!

So in honor of not having much to do today, I decided to do some baking. Lately, I've gotten into baking breads in muffin tins, I think that they last a lot longer than a partially cut loaf. I made a rosemary bread recipe that is one of my favorites and a new bagel bread recipe in the tins. I also made a tomato basil bisque that turned out absolutely spectacularly and a very simple pork chop recipe.

The rosemary bread is one of my absolute favorites. It is very herb-ey, moist, light and fluffy, and is overall just awesome. I combine 2.5C bread flour, 1C water, 3T olive oil, 1.5t white sugar, 1.5t salt, ~1/2t each oregano, basil and thyme, pepper to taste and 1.5t activated yeast (put in dish with honey and warm water for a few minutes) in a bowl, then kneed for about 5 minutes. Then, add 1.5T or more dried rosemary and kneed for another 5 minutes. This dough is the stickiest I've worked with, so be prepared for lots of dough sticking to your fingers. Let rise an hour, punch down, then let rise another hour. Then, either form into loaf or divide into a muffin pan, and rub with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt, Bake until lightly browned at around 375. Always delicious. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jos-Rosemary-Bread/Detail.aspx

Next, I tried the bagel bread. This is a much tougher and denser bread, much like the bagel it emulates. It has almost a cake like consistency on the inside, and would be great with cream cheese or other spreads on it. This dough has 2.25C bread flour, 1T white suger, 1t salt, 1.5 t activated yeast, 1 egg, 1/3C water, 1/2C milk. Kneed for 5-7 minutes, then divide or form loaf, then bake for about half an hour or until browned at 375. Not bad at all, but definitely more of a meal than other breads. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bagel-Bread/Detail.aspx

The tomato basil garlic bisque turned out awesomely. The final product tastes like a heavy cream dish, but the thickness is from flour, so it's actually not too bad for you at all. Sautee a chopped onion in 3T butter and 2T olive oil until wilted, but not browned. Add 2T minced garlic and sautee a bit longer, being careful not to brown it. Then, add in 4.5C chicken broth, 2T dried basil, 1 large chopped tomato, 2T tomato paste, 1/2t thyme, salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes. Then, combine 1/2C chicken broth and 1C flour, and add to everything else once it is combined. Incorporate as best as you can, then puree everything. If desired, simmer a bit longer, but I don't think it's needed. This could easily be a sauce or bread dip, or is a delicious soup. Highly recommended, based on http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1648,153175-252199,00.html . This says to make a roux with the flour and broth, but a roux requires butter or oil, and applying heat to the combination cooks it like a pancake; therefore I don't recommend that. EDIT: after being refrigerated, the quantity of flour causes it to firm up to a stiff pudding consistency. Next time, I would add at most 1/2C flour instead of the 1C in the recipe.

Finally, a very simple pork chop recipe. First, rub the chops with garlic powder, onion powder and pepper, then brown in butter in a skillet. Then, put in a pan and cover with sauce. How much sauce you want depends on how many pork chops you have, but for 4 chops, combine 1C ketchup, 1C cola and ~2T brown sugar and a little flour to thicken it if you want. Once combined, just pour over the browned chops and cook at 375 for 30 minutes. Quite tasty and copiously simple. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cola-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx#