My Daily Bread Body and Soul

Company’s Coming Cinnamon Roll French Toast!

Catherine — Sat, 25 May 2013 03:59:20 +0000

On the heals of my recent debacle with my Kitchen Aid mixer, my long-time friend and often-times adviser Sue, wrote to me saying, "Any luck getting your Kitchen Aid fixed? You make waaay too hard recipes. Your equipment is telling you something. Well, trying anyway." I will pretend I didn't see that "well, trying anyway" remark and take heed of her suggestion for some easier recipes. :) After all, it's summer. Time to play, read, take afternoon naps.... One of the blessings in my life is to see our little kids, our own children, nieces, nephews, neighbor children, -- all of them grow up into beautifully interesting and fun adults. Recently I was treated to breakfast at the home of my niece Alesa and her recently graduated from medical school husband, Ty. Alesa is a fan of Pinterest and excitedly asked me if I had made "Cinnamon Roll French Toast" to which I answered, "no, but I am all-in!" Even though the weekend had been morning-to-midnight busy, she got up a little earlier than the rest of us and had this french toast in the oven by the time I showed my sleepy self in the kitchen. As Alesa says, "it's so simple, just pop open the can of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, cut them into quarters, mix some milk and eggs and pour over them". After baking she topped the hot-out-of-the-oven french toast with the frosting that came with it, and then sprinkled some powdered sugar for that extra pizzaz! Because her own sweetness went into the casserole she really didn't need the powdered sugar. :) When I went shopping for the ingredients I found these "new" Flaky Caramel Rolls and my mouth started watering right there in the isle at Krogers! For an 8" x 8" panful I only used one can of cinnamon rolls. I cut them into quarters, laying them flat in my lightly greased baking dish. I mixed eggs and milk together, poured over the dough and popped it into the oven. I could have added a sprinkling of cinnamon, pecans, or raisins but decided to keep it simple. The french toast bakes up quickly. Caramel frosting came with these rolls and I poured it over them while they were hot. The frosting is easy to spread. I also dribbled just a bit of maple syrup over the whole thing before serving. We like to eat a big breakfast on Saturdays and then skip lunch. Such was the case with this fast, easy, and incredibly delicious Cinnamon Roll French Toast. I added a side of scrambled eggs and Apple Sage Sausage Balls. I found several variations of this recipe from Pillsbury that you might be interested in. I plan to make the recipe where the cinnamon rolls are baked first and then cut up and used in the overnight french toast casserole. Oh yum - can't wait!

Overnight Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake

Cinnamon Roll French Toast

Blessings for a delicious holiday weekend, ~Catherine [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:56]

Reflection On Friday’s Soul Food

Catherine — Fri, 24 May 2013 03:59:45 +0000

Between the natural disaster caused by tornadoes and the disasters brought on by people in power, this has been quite a week for the news media. I can barely stand to listen to the talking heads. Instead, I have found myself turning to the Word that never changes and the God who is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Comfort comes to me from the words I found in my Jesus Calling devotion. May you also be blessed and encouraged by these words, written by Sarah Young. "APPROACH EACH NEW DAY with desire to find Me. Before you get out of bed, I have already been working to prepare the path that will get you through this day. There are hidden treasures strategically placed along the way. Some of the treasures are trials, designed to shake you free from earth-shackles. Others are blessings that reveal My Presence: sunshine, flowers, birds, friendships, answered prayer. I have not abandoned this sin-wracked world; I am still richly present in it. Search for deep treasure as you go through this day. You will find Me all along the way." Colossians 2:2-3; Isaiah 33:6 God Bless You, ~Catherine

BBQ Pulled-Pork 4 Times in 2 Weeks – Priceless!

Catherine — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:59:50 +0000

I know, I know! Food blogging 101 says "do not post the same foodie thing 2 months in a row." However, I am quite sure whoever wrote that rule never ate Roast Pork With Onions and Apples quickly followed by some finger-lickin' BBQ Pulled Pork with Root Beer! Besides, this is my story! During the first two weeks of May, my sous-chef dish-washing mom and I attended three graduation ceremonies, one 5 year old’s birthday party, and traveled some 3,000+ miles through the Midwest.

Flying from Nashville to Kansas City, $165

Renting a car from Nebraska to Colorado, $900

Eating BBQ pulled pork 4 times in two weeks – priceless!

It seems that I may be the only person in the universe (or at least the Midwest) who hasn’t made BBQ pulled pork by cooking it in root beer! Or could it be that the cooks in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado invented the process? Regardless where this recipe came from it is so easy and so delicious that I just had to make it for my Chief Culinary Consultant the first weekend home from our spring travels. If you are going to feed a crowd this Memorial Day you just may want to consider pulled pork. In April I shared a wonderful recipe for BBQ pulled pork. Since our little family consists of 3 eaters, I only used ½ of a pork butt roast. The other half went into the freezer. I sure didn’t expect to be using it again so soon – and for another round of pulled pork. But hey – this is so fast and easy I couldn’t resist.

Get out your crock-pot.
Place pork butt, pork roast, or pork tenderloin in crock-pot.
Cover nearly all the meat with root beer.
Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, turn to low for a couple of hours.
Throw away the liquid, shred the meat, add BBQ sauce, eat.

If you have time and a BBQ grill I highly recommend one more step. I took the pork and placed it over a hot grill for about 10 minutes, turning it to evenly brown. Then the pork went into the pot. This browning adds super flavor to the over-all finished pulled pork. When the pork is cooked on high in the crock pot the fat is rendered leaving the meat easy to pull apart. Once the meat is well done it can be lifted out of the liquid and pulled apart on a baking sheet. The liquid is thrown away and the meat returned to the crock-pot. Turn the crock-pot to low, add your favorite BBQ sauce, heat slightly and the meat is ready to eat! I love Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce and it comes in several flavors, all of them delicious! Happy Cooking! ~Catherine P.S. I ran across this recipe from The Recipe Girl and she also used a packet of onion soup mix. Next time I will do it this way, sounds yummy! [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:55]

The Brioche That Killed My Kitchen Aid

Catherine — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:22:39 +0000

It's Tuesdays with Dorie where a group of bakers and bloggers bake up the same recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking With Julia. Then we ~~brag~~, I mean, blog about our results. A year ago I made my very first attempt at brioche dough. To say it was a success is an understatement. (I'm humble like that.) I used the dough to make PECAN STICKY BUNS that turned out to be the best I have ever made and quite simply the best I have ever eaten. Today's recipe takes the same beautiful and buttery brioche dough and goes the opposite direction creating a savory pocket. Yum. I mean, um, not so fast. While there are several steps to making brioche dough, one of the most important is to beat the dough in a mixer until it pulls together into a tight ball and then add butter until it falls apart. Yep, falls apart ... and it will. Then the mixing continues until the dough reunites into the most elegant of soft bread doughs. Checking out my blog post from last year will give you the best idea of how this happens successfully. For my savory pockets I was about 7 minutes into the 20 minute mixing and beating process when my Kitchen Aid let out a whoop and a holler and ground to a shrieking halt. "What just happened?" my Chief Culinary Consultant called out from the living room. "I have no idea" I said, as I began to disassemble the mess of wet, buttery dough from the blades of the Kitchen Aid. Several attempts later only confirmed that the gears within my 17 year-old Kitchen Aid are stripped out. As I looked on in disbelief my eyes fell upon the label HEAVY DUTY proudly stamped across the top of my mixer. Heavy duty? I hadn't even begun to mix this brioche! I cleaned up the mixer and got it ready for the Chief to take to the shop and "fix." In the meantime I had this half-beaten, not nearly flaky enough dough laying on the counter. No problem for me. I will just finish this little project by hand. About this time the "culinary consultant" says, "why don't you just finish it in the bread machine?" "THAT won't work" I quickly countered. After all, this is brioche. It takes a lot more mixing than a bread machine can give it. (I thought a "consultant" would know that.) Two minutes into kneading by hand and I knew I was in trouble. I had butter oozing from one end of the counter to the other. The recipe says that the butter and the dough should stay "cool" as it is mixed together. I can guarantee there was nothing cool about my hands, my kitchen, and my temperament. Off the to the bread machine I went. I guess he did know what he was talking about. :) Enough said. It took three rounds of mixing in the bread machine but the dough finally came together making this lovely round ball. The dough is placed in a large bowl, covered tightly with plastic wrap and left to raise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. At this point I punched it down and re-wrapped it and placed it in the refrigerator over night. After bringing the dough to room temperature it was ready to make into savory pockets. Dorie's recipe calls for a savory filling of cooked potatoes, caramelized onions and fresh asparagus. This combination sounds wonderful to me but not-so-much to my sous-chef dish-washing mom. So, I opted for freshly made BBQ pulled pork in some of the pockets and a whipped sweet potato in the other. Half of the dough I froze for another day. It will stay for up to a month in the freezer! The dough is rolled and cut and each little pocket made with a circle of dough on the bottom and a circle of dough on the top. The edges are meant to be sealed and crimped a bit like pie dough. It is so warm in the house today the dough rose quicker than I could get it in the oven. Some of the little pockets stayed together, some popped open. In the end they were edible. In the future I am sticking to sticky buns! You will find the recipe on the blog of our host Carrie of Loaves and Stitches. I follow Carrie's blog and find it fun and interesting! Nancy Silverton is the contributing baker for Savory Brioche Pockets. Blessings and Happy Cooking! Catherine