My trip to Chicago was everything I wanted it to be and more. Leanne, Christina and I didn't do a whole lot in the way of touring the city, errr, or going of the house really. But it was wonderful, NO fantastic, no SIMPLY PERFECT.
Friday night Lea and I went to dinner--where I proceeded to drink a bottle of champagne BY MYSELF. It's been years since I've done that (what can I say? I'm not much of a drinker). Umm, needless to say, the next morning I WAS NOT feeling so hot. Leannster told me of her go-to cure for hangovers. FRESH JUICE. Like she has a juicer, fresh juice. And let me tell you, that girl is onto something.
Here's the miracle juice recipe for you:
5 or 6 carrots (can't remember)
1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled
4 apples, washed, cored and cut into wedges
DONE!
Throw those suckers into a juicer and drink away your headache. Seriously, after I drank it, I instantly felt better.
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| DELICIOUS! |
OK, after we got my hangover out of the way, we decided to have ourselves a little cook-fest 2013. Christina couldn't partake since she was being all smart and junk at a
TED Talk, but she did get to reap the benefits, so that's something.
I have to say that I've never actually roasted my own red peppers. Now that might sound lazy, and let me tell you it is. Roasting red peppers is stupid. And no, it's not actually difficult but opening a jar is always easier than charring the crap out of a bunch of peppers on your stove. Case in point:
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| oh hey, that be me!!! |
We survived the charring action and started working on the other ingredients. I'll be first to say it, the dough didn't look to hot. It was oddly lumpy but boy-o-boy was it delicious once baked. Yumm-o.
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| I always end up quoting Wayne's World, why does that always happen?! |
If you fancy making your own, here's the deets.
What you need:
- 4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
- 1 cup coarsely chopped roasted red peppers*
- heaping 1/2 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese
- 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
*If you’re starting with fresh red bell pepper, it will need to be roasted and toasted first. Turn a gas stovetop burner on to medium heat. Place the entire pepper directly over the flame and allow to rest there until blackened and charred. Use a pair of tongs to flip the pepper so that it can be browned on all sides. Remove from the flame, cut in half (removing the top and seeds) and use a sharp knife to gently peel away the charred skin. You can leave a bit of the charred skin in tact for a rustic look and taste. Coarsely chop the pepper and set aside.
What you do:
Preheat your oven to 425
Get your pan sorted, by buttering the crap out of it.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
Add the cold butter and, using your fingers, quickly break the butter down into the dry ingredients. Some bits of butter will be the size of small peas, others the size of oat flakes.
In a small bowl, beat together egg and buttermilk.
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir. Be sure to really stir it together.
Dump onto floured surface and knead 8 to 9 times to bring together. I found the dough to be really wet at this point, so I added about 1/4 of a cup of flour, one tablespoon at a time.
Put that dough boy into your prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes. Note that the bread is done when you insert a knife and it comes out clean (like a cake!)
Let it rest for 10 minutes (if you can wait that long) and enjoy!
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After we made the killer bread, we decided to make a few other items too (remember, I did say it was a cooking fest) but those yummtastic items will have to be discussed at another time since I'm tired and worked 12 hours today. I also want you to come back tomorrow too...see what I did there, I built suspense. muahahah.
XO.
Me
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