Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread

In the newest edition of Cooking Light, the "make-over" recipe featured is for Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread. The new and improved recipe cut down the amount of fat and calories significantly. Just reading the short blurb about the bread made me want to try it. Reviewers said that they liked the low-fat version better than the original. Could that really be true? Were they lying??

Well, I've made the recipe, and it's really good! I never tried the orignal, but I'd say that if someone served this to me, I would have no idea it was low fat because it tastes just that good. I give it a big thumbs up.

It's an easy recipe. Here are the players.

Just add the zucchini in with the rest of the batter.

Pre-oven bread. I halved the recipe to only make one loaf- the full recipe makes two.

Soooooooo moist and tasty. I think I love it more than banana bread.

Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour (about 13 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 1/2 medium zucchini)
2/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup egg substitute
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (8-ounce) cans crushed pineapple in juice, drained
Baking spray with flour

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, salt, and next 3 ingredients (through ground cinnamon) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

3. Beat eggs with a mixer at medium speed until foamy. Add sugar, zucchini, oil, egg substitute, and vanilla, beating until well blended. Add zucchini mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in pineapple. Spoon batter into 2 (9 x 5-inch) loaf pans coated with baking spray. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves, 14 servings per loaf (serving size: 1 slice)

CALORIES 167 (32% from fat); FAT 5.9g (sat 0.5g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.7g); PROTEIN 2.4g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 16mg; SODIUM 151mg; FIBER 0.7g; IRON 0.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.5g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2008

Oatmeal Bread

After reading homesicktexan, I just had to try her great-grandmother's Oatmeal Bread. I knew it was a recipe for me because 1.) It called for ordinary ingredients that I had in my house, 2.) Required no kneading and 3.) Only had to rise for 1 hour....no fussy knead for 10 min, rise and then rise again, punch down, knead for 10 minutes, rise again, etc, etc. It is a lazy girl's type of bread!

The bread turned out pretty nicely! The crumb is tender and is like a mix between a homemade white bread and a banana bread. The honey and oatmeal combo smelled great while baking in the oven. After 45 minutes, the bread was ready for me to slather on the butter and eat away.

Great-Grandma Gibson's Oatmeal Bread

• Ingredients:
• 2 cups of boiling milk
• 1 cup of oats (not instant)
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 4 tablespoons of shortening
• 5-5 1/2 cups of flour
• 2 packets of yeast
• 1/2 cup of warm water

Method:

• 1. Add oatmeal to hot milk and let stand for two hours. **
• 2. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
• 3. Mix yeast and other ingredients with oatmeal (start with five cups of flour and add more a little bit at a time until dough is smooth).
• 4. Form into loaves, and either fill two loaf pans or place in balls on a parchment-paper lined sheet.
• 5. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour).
• 6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

* I halved the recipe to make one loaf. Instead of using just half an egg, I used an entire egg and just added a bit more flour.

** I microwaved the milk, then poured it over the oatmeal. I only let it sit 10 min or so.

Challah Back!

Another lovely tan loaf of Challah bread. While rather time intensive to make, this bread is delicious! Its fine crumb and honey-scented flavor make it ideal to eat by itself or as French toast. Pass the syrup already.

Recipe from Epicurious.com: My Challah

Ingredients

2 teaspoons (6 grams/0.2 ounce) instant yeast
About 3 1/2 cups (475 grams/16.8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60 grams/2 ounces) warm water
3 large eggs, plus 1 for glazing
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 grams/0.3 ounce) table salt
1/4 cup (55 grams/1.9 ounces) vegetable oil
1/4 cup (85 grams/3 ounces) mild honey or 1/3 cup (70 grams/2.4 ounces) granulated sugar

Preparation

Mixing the yeast slurry
In a large bowl, whisk together the yeast and 1/4 cup (30 grams/1.1 ounces) of the flour, then whisk in the warm water until smooth. Let the yeast slurry stand uncovered for 10 to 20 minutes, or until it begins to ferment and puff up slightly.

Mixing the dough
Whisk the 3 eggs, salt, oil, and honey (measure the oil first, then use the same cup for measuring the honey — the oil will coat the cup and let the honey just slip right out) or sugar into the puffed yeast slurry until the eggs are well incorporated and the salt has dissolved. With your hands or a wooden spoon, stir in the remaining 3 1/4 cups (445 grams/15.7 ounces) flour all at once. When the mixture is a shaggy ball, scrape it out onto your work surface and knead it until smooth, no more than 5 minutes. (Soak the mixing bowl in hot water now to clean and warm it for fermenting the dough.) This dough is very firm and should feel almost like modeling clay. If the dough is too firm to knead easily, add a tablespoon or two of water to it; if it seems too wet, add a few tablespoons flour.
The dough should feel smooth and very firm but be easy to knead.

Fermenting the dough
Place the dough in the warm cleaned bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. (Or, the dough can be refrigerated right after kneading, them removed from the refrigerator to finish fermenting up to 24 hours later.) Let the dough ferment until it has at least doubled in bulk, about 2 hours, depending on the temperature in your kitchen. (If the dough has been refrigerated, it may take an extra 30 to 60 minutes to ferment.)

Shaping and proofing the dough
Line one or two large baking sheets, depending on how many breads you are making, with parchment paper or oil them. Divide the dough into two 15-ounce(430-gram) portions for loaves, one 1 1/2 pound (680-gram) portion for a large loaf and three small pieces for rolls (the easiest way to do this without a scale is to divide the dough into quarters and use one quarter for the rolls and the rest for the large loaf), or fourteen 2-ounce (60-gram) portions for rolls. To make a New Year's spiral*, roll each portion into a long, even strand, preferably sheeting it out first.

For each portion:
For a flat spiral, make a very loose spiral of dough on the prepared sheet, starting at the center and winding the dough around, leaving space between the loops, and tuck the end of the strand under.

For a high-rising spiral, wind the dough tightly around on the prepared sheet, without leaving any space between the loops, and be sure that the last loop is bound with a bit of tension. This will force the dough to rise in the center as it is proofing and especially during the oven rise.

If you would like to make the bird's head, before making a long strand, pull off and shape a small round from the dough. Set the round on the spiral, using a little water to help it stick. When the dough is fully proofed, pinch out a beak shape and use your finger to push in dimples for eyes, or use raisins or currants for the eyes.

Cover the loaves well with plastic wrap. (At this point, they can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.) Let them proof until tripled in size, about 2 hours (or up to 3 hours if the loaves were refrigerated).

Meanwhile, 30 minutes before baking, arrange the oven racks in the lower and upper third portions if using two baking sheets, or arrange one rack in the upper third position if using one sheet, and remove any racks above them. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3). If desired, you can preheat one or two baking sheets to double with the baking sheet(s) the loaves are in. Beat the remaining egg with a pinch of salt for glazing the breads.

Baking the loaves
When the loaves have tripled and do not push back when gently pressed with your finger but remain indented, brush them with the egg glaze. Bake rolls for about 15 to 20 minutes, the 15-ounce (430-gram) loaves for 25 to 35 minutes, or the 1 1/2-pound (680-gram) loaf for 35 to 45 minutes, until very well browned. After the first 20 minutes of baking, switch the loaves from front to back so that they brown evenly; if the large loaf is browning too quickly, tent it with foil. When the loaves are done, remove them from the oven and let cool on a rack.

*According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, the New Year's spiral is a shape with a Ukranian origin, originally a bird shape with the center of the spiral culminating in a bird's head: "The bird's head symbolizes the phrase in Isaiah 31:5 'As birds hovering, so will the Lord of Hosts protect Jerusalem'" — which helps to explain why this spiral shape would be called a faigele, "little bird" in Yiddish.