Five Ingedient, Cheesy No Knead Bread

By guest blogger Faye Scheren

I am addicted to this bread, and it is so, so easy.  This yeast bread requires absolutely NO KNEADING.  It takes a couple minutes to chop the cheese and stir together the dough. Then, just let it sit overnight and bake it the next day in perfect time for your evening dinner.  I hope you enjoy this Easy-Peazy bread recipe.

~Faye

Cheesy No Knead Bread

Basically, there are only three steps:

Mix all the ingredients

Put dough on counter to rest

Bake the dough

Ok, for you perfectionists out there, here are the details...

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of bread flour (or all purpose flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

¾ teaspoon of Rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese, chopped medium

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. 

Coarsely chop the cheese.

Add chopped cheese and combine.  

Mix all the ingredients with the cheese.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap. 

Cover the wet mixture with plastic wrap and leave on counter overnight.

Put aside on the counter for 12 – 18 hours (even up to 24 hours).  Overnight works great!

After resting for 12-18 hours, the dough will be wet and sticky looking.  This may not be what you expect, but that means it is PERFECT for baking!

The dough will look wet and sticky.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.  

When oven has reached 450, place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  (You can find economical cast iron pots by Lodge, and more expensive enamel coated ones by Le Creuset.  There are several other brands out there as well.)

While the pot is heating, dump the dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  DO NOT KNEAD!  Just shape it gently, brushing the flour over the dough so it does not stick to your hands or to the counter top.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest.  

Remove hot pot from oven and drop in the dough.  No need to grease the pot, the bread will not stick – trust me!

Cover with the lid and return to oven for 30 minutes.  

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 

 Remove bread from pot and place on a rack to cool. 

There you have it! The crunchy outside and soft inside of an artisan bread, but done with no kneading in your own oven. Enjoy!

Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut including Avon, Canton, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Farmington, Windsor and western Massachusetts.

A "Probe"-trotter He is Not

A LITTLE STORY FOR YOU…

Let’s pretend for a moment you are an appliance salesman who knows A LOT about all the brands of ranges and ovens.  You know almost everything about their great features and benefits.  You also have a terrific range at home that has lots of these features.  Now, let’s keep pretending it’s the holidays and you are cooking for your family.

Wouldn't you use these great features?  Wouldn't you show off to your family all that you know about your appliance?  Wouldn't you cook the best meal possible for your family?  Well, if your name is Bill and you are the Assistant General Manager of Holloways the answer would be NO! 

This may sound crazy but it is TRUE.  Bill has a great oven at home with a temperature probe, but when he and his family cooked a turkey on Thanksgiving Day AND a prime rib on Christmas Day they didn't even think to use it.  We here at the store think this is CRAZY!  So, mostly this blog post is for Bill and his family…

HOW TO USE A TEMPERATURE PROBE:

Step 1: Insert probe into oven as shown in the picture.

Step 2: Insert other end of probe into meat.

Step 3: Set the meat probe to the desired internal temperature on your oven controls.

Step 4: Drink a beer, because your work here is done! 

I admit, not all appliances features are intuitive but it doesn't get much easier than this.

 Bill after his temperature probe tutorial

FAQ

Q: What happens when the meat reaches its set temperature?

A: Depending on the brand, your oven will either turn off when it has reached its correct temperature or it will buzz to let you know it has reached temperature.  You will need to look it up in the use and care manual to see which your appliance does.

Q: What temperature do I set the temperature probe?

A: I usually just look it up on the internet…but if you want to be super-duper safe, you can follow the FDA guidelines found here: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/UCM260394.pdf

Q: Does using a probe make a roast better?

A: I believe it does.  There is no guess work allowing the food to get done at exactly the right time and temperature.

Q:  What is the best place to insert a probe in a chicken or turkey?

A: You want to place the temperature probe into the thickest part of the meat.  Insert the probe in the fleshiest part of the thigh where it attaches to the drumstick, but do not let it touch the bone. 

Q: Can I still baste with the probe in?

A: Absolutely!  If you open the oven to baste your turkey, the thermometer will continue to read the internal temperature of the bird.  There is no need to reset the temperature if you need to open the oven door.

Q: Should I use the probe in my casseroles?

A: You betcha…but make sure the probe is only in the item of food.  You do not want the probe touching the bottom or side of the pan.  It will be up to you to figure out the internal temperature of the food you are trying to cook. 

Have any other questions?  Shoot me an email at laurie@holloways.com.  I’d love to answer any others so you can be the best chef you can be!

Laurie

Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut including Avon, Canton, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Farmington, Windsor and western Massachusetts.

Easiest, Best Ever Buttermilk Biscuits

By guest blogger Mindy Holloway

This is what you need for ingredients: 

• 4 cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting OR Make Your Own Self-Rising Flour (4 cups all-purpose flour plus 6 tsp. baking powder plus 2 tsp salt)
• 1 stick cold butter, plus 3 tablespoons melted
• 2 cups cold buttermilk OR Make Your Own Buttermilk (2 cups milk plus 9 tsp white distilled vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

This is what you need for tools:

• A 10 inch cast-iron skillet.  This is critical!  You can get a pre-seasoned pan (make sure you get pre-seasoned so you don't have to season it yourself) at your local hardware store (Yes, I said hardware store) for about $12.  This is my go to pan in my kitchen!  It conducts heat evenly, it goes into the oven and creates a great sear on steaks! Cook casseroles in it too!
• A big bowl
• A mixing spoon
• A box cheese grater
• A biscuit cutter or a drinking glass
• A basting brush
• A whisk (optional)
• A cutting board (optional)
• An oven (very necessary)

Place cast-iron skillet into oven to preheat. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. You want the pan to get very hot, which will make the bottoms of your biscuits golden and crispy.

Next, measure out 4 cups of self-rising flour.  If you do not have self-rising flour, you can make your own very easily with All-Purpose Flour, Salt and Baking Powder.  

To make your own, measure 4 cups of all-purpose flour, 6 teaspoons of baking powder and 2 teaspoons of salt in a large bowl. Mix with a whisk.  A whisk will nicely incorporate all these dry ingredients.  Or just use a spoon and mix well.

Now you have Self-Rising Flour!

Add the 4 cups of self-rising flour to the mixing bowl. 

Using a box grater, grate 1 stick cold butter into the flour.  Make sure you take the butter straight from the refrigerator.  It will not grate well if it gets soft. Grating the butter gets it into the perfect size without having to use a pastry blender or trying to "cut in" the butter with two knives.  Of course you can use these methods, it just takes longer.  DO NOT take a shortcut and melt the butter!  You will not get the same flakey biscuit consistency.

 Gently mix the grated butter into the flour mixture.

Now, for the buttermilk.  You can buy buttermilk in the store where you find the heavy cream or you can make it yourself.  Mix 2 cups of cold milk with 9 teaspoons of white distilled vinegar (or lemon juice if you don't have vinegar).  Mix with a spoon and let it sit for 10 minutes until it curdles.  Yah, I know that seems gross, but that is what buttermilk is: curdled milk!

Next, add the 2 cups of buttermilk to the flour and butter mixture. Quickly mix until it just comes together. This should take about 10-15 stirs.  DO NOT over mix or your biscuits will be tough and not light.  The mixture will form a cohesive ball, but will be pretty sticky.  This is good.

 Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface.  I like to use a cutting board because I can then just put the board in the sink for easy washing.  You can just put the flour on a clean counter if you prefer.  See how much flour I used in the picture!  It is quite a bit!

Place the sticky dough ball on the floured surface.

 Flip the dough ball onto the flour 3 or 4 times until all sides of the dough ball are covered with flour. Do not kneed the dough!

Press the dough ball down to a 1 inch thickness. You can leave it even thicker if you want.

Using a biscuit cutter or a drinking class, cut out 10 biscuits.

Now, carefully remove the skillet from the oven with an oven mitt, and add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and coat the bottom of the pan evenly. 

Place the dough rounds into the hot skillet, right up against each other.

Brush with the tops of the biscuits with 3 tablespoons of melted butter. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Carefully, place the hot pan and biscuits in the 425 degree oven and bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.

You can add butter, jam, make an egg and biscuit sandwich, strawberry shortcake, biscuits and gravy, or whatever your favorite topping is.  You will just love these thick, light, buttery, crispy bottomed biscuits.  Enjoy!


Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut including Avon, Canton, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Farmington, Windsor and western Massachusetts.

To Clean or NOT to Clean!

Well it is that time of year, the holidays are here and everyone is coming to your house for Thanksgiving…or Christmas…or New Year’s.  Whatever the holiday may be, you are cooking and your house is spotless EXCEPT…the inside of the oven!  That’s ok, you bought a self-cleaning oven, so all you have to do is clean that puppy up and you will be all set, right? WRONG! 

A self-cleaning oven is a nice little luxury for which you probably were willing to pay a little extra.  Who wants to be on their hands and knees for hours scrubbing all that cooked on mess?  A self-cleaning oven can have your oven clean as a whistle anywhere from 2-6 hours depending on the brand.  BUT here is the problem…the self-cleaning cycle is the most vigorous setting you can put your oven in.  The oven goes up to a temperature beyond 800 degrees.  And believe me when I say, if your oven is going to break during a self-clean cycle IT WILL BREAK the day before you have 30 people coming over…so DON’T DO IT!

What is one to do?  I have a few suggestions for you:

1.       If you are hosting a holiday that is at least 30 days away (E.G. NOT Thanksgiving) self-clean your oven now!  That way, if there is a problem, there is plenty of time for a servicer to get out and fix your oven before the big day.

2.       If you are hosting Thanksgiving, just use some hot soapy water and clean up what you can.  Your cooking is going to be so fabulous, no one is going to care if it came out of a not so clean oven.

3.       Do not use oven cleaner on a self-cleaning oven.  This might seem like the perfect solution for you in your time of despair…but it isn’t a good idea.  In fact it is almost as terrible an idea as self-cleaning your oven the day before your big holiday.  Self-cleaning oven liners are made of porous material.  The chemicals will disintegrate the walls over time.  The oven cleaner will harm the inside of your oven and may cause you to need an entire new oven.  I am assuming this is not the holiday gift you were hoping for.

4.       If you do not have a self-cleaning oven, get cleaning with the oven cleaner.  You can use oven cleaner in these ovens as the walls are not porous and are made to withstand these chemicals.

We here at Holloways wish you a marvelous holiday season with or without a clean oven!

Best,

Laurie

Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut including Avon, Canton, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Farmington, Windsor and western Massachusetts.