Get Started With Home Baking - Monkey Bread

While they take some time, yeast-raised breads are versatile and delicious. Great to eat alone, or with soup or stew, homemade breads can help you save money and eat healthier. Baking bread is also a great way to express your creativity in the kitchen..

A leisurely Saturday or Sunday afternoon is a perfect time to practice some new cooking skills (recipe follows), then sit with a cup of coffee or tea as you relax and enjoy the results.

Baking tips for yeast breads:

Allow plenty of time to make a yeast bread recipe, as you may have to allow for a first and second rise.
Check the date and make sure you are using fresh yeast.
Scald the milk to deactivate enzymes that interfere with rising.
Roll up your sleeves and enjoy the kneading process. It is a great way to work off some stress.
Select the right size baking dish, as called for in the recipe. Ceramic, glass and metal ovenware is widely available.
Bake your bread with the oven rack set in the center position.
Grease or oil the baking dish with baking spray, or light vegetable oil.

Classic American and many international cuisines are full of fantastic bread recipes, waiting for home bakers to explore, in hundreds of sweet or savory versions.

Monkey Bread Recipe

Sweet bread recipes like this are also called bubble bread, because you form it into balls before the second rising. When you eat it, the pieces pull apart easily. Fun to make and delicious to eat, for young and old alike.

1 c. milk, scalded
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 packages dry baking yeast
2 eggs, beaten
4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 stick butter
1 c. white sugar
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 c. pecans or raisins (optional)

Mix the first three ingredients above in a saucepan, heat until it begins to simmer, then remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. This step is needed to deactivate enzymes in the milk that will interfere with the yeast. The mixture also needs to cool so as not to kill the yeast.

When mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add the yeast and eggs, then most of the flour. Knead about 10 minutes, until the dough makes a smooth ball and is elastic but not sticky. Add the last cup of flour gradually as you knead, as humidity influences how much flour the dough will take up. Better to add flour repeatedly, a little at a time, than to add too much. The dough should be satiny and stick to itself but not your hands or work surface.

Place dough ball in a large buttered or greased bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare an angel food cake pan by spraying with baking spray, or greasing with butter or shortening. Set aside.

When dough has risen, punch down in the center and let it rest for 10 minutes.

While dough is resting, melt butter in a small pan. Separately, in a wide, shallow bowl, mix the cup of sugar, cinnamon and nuts or raisins if you are using them.

Pull out small pieces of dough and roll them into the size of a walnut, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Roll in the melted butter, then in the sugar mixture. Place each ball in the prepared cake pan, staggering the rows. When all the dough has been added, cover the cake pan with the dish towel and set again in a warm place to rise for about half an hour, until doubled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 45 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean.

Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then use a long knife to loosen the sides. Place a large plate on top and invert the pan over the plate to remove the bread. Serve warm.

Learn to bake yeast breads and a wonderful world of baking will be yours to explore. Loaves of all shapes, dinner rolls and pizza crusts and are just a few of the variations that will be ready for a delicious adventure once you learn the basic techniques needed to make this bread.

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Eggplant Sushi

Sushi has been a Japanese delicacy for centuries and was originally intended to preserve fermented fish. Nowadays, sushi bars (famous for its conveyor belts) have become upscale restaurants in high-class cities. But, you don't need to be upper crust to enjoy this simple Japanese meal. You only need to know how to make sushi.

There are many sushi-making kits out there with their own how-to books and guides. Find a book with simple recipes that a beginner can try out. You'll be surprised to see how many simple dishes there really are.

The ingredients are not many. You only need rice (Japanese is the best bet, since they have a unique consistency can hold the sushi together), rice vinegar, sugar, salt, nori (seaweed) and toppings of your choice (eggs, cucumbers or crabsticks).

First, you will have to cook the rice. Most brands actually give instructions at the back of the packet, but in case they don't, here are some pointers. You cook the rice the normal way by rinsing it with cold water and cook in a rice cooker. What's important is to dissolve the vinegar, salt and sugar in a pan under low heat for a few minutes before letting it cool in a bucket of ice. Add the mixture into the cooked rice a little at a time. While doing that, you need to 'fold' the rice with a spatula without squishing them. It is ready when there is a shine to the grains.

The next part requires a bit of creativity. Spread the rice on a large piece of seaweed, which in turn is placed on a sushi mat. Add your toppings on the rice and start rolling! You may not get it right the first time, but that's how you make sushi. You rarely get it right the first time.

A delicious topping for sushi is eggplant. This fruit (yes, it is actually a fruit), comes in many shapes and sizes, the most common one being purple and long. It can also be cooked in many ways, from being sautéed, char-boiled and even pickled. If you want to make it as a sushi topping, you will have to know how to cook an eggplant.

The Japanese usually pickle this delicacy and make them into tempura. It is best to serve them raw, with a little lemon juice to prevent browning, if you want it to be part of a sushi roll. You can also, grill these beauties on a searing hot grill for a smokier flavor. For those stir-fry nuts, cubed eggplants can be added to a hot wok with salt, garlic and red chilies.

Whatever way you cook it, eggplant will always taste good, especially if it is in a roll of Japanese rice and nori.

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Electric Egg Cooker in Dragon's Den. Hilarious!

Haven't seen it in the shops yet, but this inventor is gonna get rich; maybe not for the egg cooker itself but for the wrap-around heating element. www.eggxactly.com

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Facts and Tips on Steam Egg Cookers

With the birth of egg cookers, many deem it as a nutritional way of cooking egg in a matter of minutes. Hence, these egg cookers are actually made based on the steam cooking concept. It eliminated the use of fatty oils.

There are those that are actually marked with only three levels. The water level decides the type of egg you will boil, if it is soft-, medium- or hard-boiled. If there are no marked levels inside the egg cooker, there is a measuring cup provided so that you can fill it up with the right amount of water.

With egg cookers, you only need to fill its base with water, place the eggs inside the tray, close the lid of the cooker, and then turn on the button. When the water boils, it is the steam formed inside the egg cooker that can cook the egg just the way you like it. With steam and the fact that it is cooked in a closed container, you are assured that the nutrients of the egg is restored.

Maintaining Steam Egg Cookers
Since many families use steam egg cookers almost every day, it is important that you care for this appliance. You need to clean it after every use. You initially need to unplug the unit as well as the power cord, allow it to cool down, and then, proceed with the cleaning process. You need to wash the important components like the cooking tray, poaching tray, lid, egg pan, egg ring and service pan.

Wash these ideally with hot and soapy water. Allow air drying. You can also scrape-off its platen surface. If there are residues, make sure that you remove it. Then, using a damp "grill" cloth, wipe your entire egg cooker as well as its platen surface.

After this, wet a paper towel using 1 tbsp white vinegar. Wipe it to clean the heating plate. It takes out all the mineral deposits and impurities left behind, also acting as a good antibacterial agent. You can do this regularly because using merely soap and water can still cause mineral build-up, leading to discolored egg shells. However, the color never affects the eggs flavor and taste.

The more popular egg cooker brands are Krups, Oster, Cuisinart, Chef's Choice, West band, Maverick and Nordic Ware.

Here is a delicious and nutritious breakfast you can serve using hard-boiled eggs:
Creamed Eggs with Ham
Ingredients:
¼ c green onion, sliced
1 c ham, cooked and cut into julienne strips
¼ c green bell pepper, chopped
¼ c red bell pepper, chopped
4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
2 tbsp flour
2 c milk
1 ½ c asparagus, cooked and cut to 1in/pc
Cooked rice (hot) or puff pastry shells (baked)

Procedure:
1. Using a large skillet, place it on top of medium-high heat.
2. Put some margarine or butter. When it is already hot, cook some ham until it becomes lightly brown.
3. Add the bell peppers and onion, stirring intermittently.
4. Once the vegetables become tender, you can add the flour and continue stirring.
5. Once the flour is absorbed completely, showcasing a smooth mixture, you can now remove the pan from the stove.
6. Pour some milk, small amounts at-a-time while still stirring it constantly.
7. Once it becomes smooth and thick, add the asparagus and eggs. Place them onto the skillet, and then, reheat it.
8. You can serve this with puff pastry shells or cooked rice.

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