Crusty Italian Bread

This is a recipe I found on another site and had to share it. This is one of the best Italian bread recipes around. I has a wonderful texture inside and  has a wonderfully crisp crust. I am going to give you a slightly revised list of ingredients as it was a little salty. With less salt this will surly be something you make often, as will I. Thank you Destiny for this great bread recipe!

Crusty Italian Bread

4 C.- All purpose flour
1 T. - Light Brown Sugar
1 1/3 C. - Warm Water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3/4 t. - Salt
1 1/2 t. - Olive Oil
2 t. - Active Dry Yeast
1 T. - Sesame seeds

1-Egg
1 T. - Water
2 T. - Cornmeal

2 C. of ice water or very cold water, placed into an oven proof bowl

Place water, oil, brown sugar,salt, flour and yeast in your bread machine in this order or in the order of your  manufacturer. Set machine to dough cycle. Press start.

While dough is working in your machine, prepare pan or pans to bake on. I would suggest placing your dough to rise onto the pan you are going to bake on so it does not drop on you. You can either sprinkle the pan/pans lightly with cornmeal to prevent bread from sticking or spray lightly with a cooking spray. You could also place parchment paper on your pan/pans.

Once cycle is complete, deflate dough and turn onto a floured surface. Form dough into two loaves and place them seam side down on your prepared baking sheet. ***DO NOT USE A LOAF PAN**
Cover with a damp cloth or towel and place in a warm area away from any drafts. Allow your bread to rise until it has doubled. Approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the temperature of the area they are rising in.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Beat together your egg and water. After bread has risen (you can tell if it is done rising by gently pushing a finger into the dough, if it springs back, it is not finished rising. If it leaves a slight indentation, it is ready),  take a very sharp knife and make one shallow slice down the center of each loaf. Then very gently brush the loaves with your egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. You must be careful to do this gently so you do not make the bread drop. You could also do this step after shaping the loaves before they have risen. I would suggest not slicing the dough before it has completely risen.

Place an oven proof bowl of ice water on the rack below the rack you will be backing your bread on. Then place bread into your preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until it is golden brown and has a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Remove from oven and on a rack.  *** Do not forget the bowl bowl of ice water, if you do not have ice available, use very cold water. This is important in getting that crispy crust.***

Saffron

Rice Pilaf

There are so many versions of rice pilaf, this is one I found that was pretty good. After a few changes, I made this into a side dish we love at our house and will be served many times. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

Rice Pilaf

1/2- lg. Onion, finely chopped
1/2- lg. Green Bell Pepper, finely chopped
1-lg. Garlic clove, finely minced
1 1/2 t. Dill Weed
5 T. Butter
2 C. Strong Chicken Broth
1/2 C. Water
1 1/2 T. Beef Bullion Granules
1/2 C. Orzo
1/2 C. Rice

Melt 2 T. butter in a skillet and saute onions and peppers until almost tender, add garlic and dill weed, saute for approximately 3 min or until garlic is tender. Remove onions, peppers and garlic and set aside.
In the same skillet melt 2 T. butter and add orzo and rice and brown.
For the next part, if your skillet is large enough and has a tight fitting lid use that, otherwise use another pan with a tight fitting lid as you would need to cook any type of rice.
Place chicken broth, water and beef bullion granules in pan and bring to a boil, add rice, orzo, onions, peppers and 1 T. butter. Place lid on pan and bring back to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer for 17 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.  Enjoy!

Saffron

Italian Sausages

This recipe is made for sandwiches, but can easily be made to go over pasta by adding an additional can of diced tomatoes and a small can of tomato sauce. You may want to slice the Italian sausages into 3/4 inch pieces also. 

Italian Sausages

8-10 Italian sausages ( I used medium, if you want it spicier, try hot)

2-lg Onions, sliced into rings

1-lg. Green bell pepper, sliced

1-lg. Red bell pepper, sliced

5-medium Garlic cloves, finely minced

1-14.5oz. can Diced Italian tomatoes

2-t. Oregano

1-t. Basil

1/4-t. Fennel seed, lightly crushed

1/4-C. Water

1-t. Salt

3-T. Butter

Use a large skillet or pan which has a lid. Brown sausages until nicely brown on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Melt butter and cook onion and pepper over med. high heat until browned. Reduce heat and cook with lid on pan until tender. Add tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, fennel, salt and water. Bring to almost boiling. Slice sausages in half and add to vegetables. Place lid on pan, reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until reduced, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve on crusty Italian rolls or bread.  Enjoy!!

Saffron