Top O' the Mornin'

 

Top o' the mornin' to you! This is your friendly reminder that today is St. Patrick's Day. A lot of elementary school students will avoid the inevitable pinch for forgetting their green today, since many are on spring break this week.

My childhood breakfast table was usually the site of my first pinch of the day, back in my elementary school days. Unless I searched my pajama wardrobe or underwear drawer for a hint of green among floral prints as I went to bed on March 16, I could usually count on one of my siblings to provide the first pinch of the day as we consumed our bowl of Lucky Charms. (It may have been Frosted Flakes or Sugar Smacks or Apple Jacks cereal, but those don't sound as leprechaun-inspired, do they?)

Today's recipe calls for a "pinch" of a different kind - or, more accurately - a measured amount of baking soda. Irish Bread is one of the hallmarks from the Emerald Isle. It's a quick bread that uses soda, rather than yeast, for leavening.

However, the website www.myrecipes.com says that the Irish bakers weren't the first cooks to use soda to leaven bread. American Indians first used pearl ash—a natural form of soda created from the ashes of wood—to leaven their breads without the presence of yeast. However, it wasn’t until this process was later discovered and replicated by the Irish that it earned a reputation worldwide. 

Irish Soda Bread was first created in the late 1830s, when the first iteration of baking soda—or bicarbonate soda—was introduced to the United Kingdom. The first versions were created out of necessity. Irish cooks were having trouble finding quality flour, since Ireland's climate raises a lower-gluten variety of wheat than we're known for here in the heart of Kansas. The soda was added to other basic ingredients, like the “soft” wheat flour,  salt, and soured milk.

At the time, many lower-class and farmhouse kitchens lacked ovens, so the bread was cooked in iron pots or on griddles over open hearths. This cooking method resulted in the signature dense texture, hard crust, and slight sourness that's characteristic for soda bread. The unique texture of this bread is the result of a reaction between acid and baking soda that results in the formation of small bubbles of carbon dioxide within the dough. Sour milk was most commonly used in the early days of the bread’s history, thanks to its high acidity levels, but now buttermilk is typically used in its place.

The bread traditionally has a cross cut into the top before baking. 

Other fun St. Patrick Day ideas, especially for kids:

• Take 2 refrigerated biscuits per child and tear each in half. Place three of the pieces together to form a shamrock and use the other one to roll into a stem. Sprinkle with green sugar and bake.
• Another easy green treat: Combine equal parts cream cheese and marshmallow cream. Tint green and serve as dip for green apples.
• Gold Cookies (for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!): Take two Ritz crackers. Put peanut butter between them. Dip them in melted butterscotch chips. Place on waxed paper until set up.
• Substitute Lucky Charms for some (or all) of the cereal in your Rice Krispie treats.

Here's hoping you find some St. Patrick's Day "Luck o' the Irish" at the end of your rainbow ... or in your kitchen. (There are some more ideas and links after the Irish Soda Bread recipe.)

 

I used a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction for this version of Irish Soda Bread. (Sally's is one of my and Jill's go-to baking blogs.) However, after perusing several other recipes, I made some adjustments. Her recipe said raisins were optional. Another recipe developer used whiskey-soaked raisins or craisins. A couple of them suggested orange zest. (I'm guessing that 1800s-era Irish cooks didn't have access to oranges or orange zest.) Did they have dried fruit? I don't know.

 

But soaking dried fruit in orange juice and adding orange zest do provide a nice bit of flavor. And, of course, you have to drain the fruit before using it in the bread. However, one recipe used the reserved liquid - whether whiskey or orange juice or a combination - to combine with softened butter for a spread for the bread. I also added that for an extra treat.

Grandma's Irish Soda Bread

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

 

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

5 tbsp. butter (cold and cubed)

1 cup raisins, currants or craisins (opt.)

2 tsp. orange zest (opt.) 

Butter Spread (optional)

1/2 cup room temperature butter

Liquid (whiskey, orange juice or combination) retained after plumping the dried fruit

 

IF DESIRED: Rehydrate dried fruit of your choice in 1/2 cup Irish whiskey, orange juice or a combination of the two. To do this quickly, you may add the fruit and liquid to a glass measuring cup. Microwave for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool and to rehydrate for an hour or so.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking pan. I used a 9-inch cake pan, lined with parchment paper. Other options are using a seasoned cast iron skillet or a 5-quart Dutch oven without the lid. Another option is to use only a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, though the bread spreads out a little more.

 

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. (If you don't have buttermilk available, you can make a substitution by putting 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a glass measuring cup and then adding milk to make 1 3/4 cups. Stir together, and let sit for 5 minutes before adding egg and using.)

 

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender. There's a lot of flour compared to the amount of butter, but keep working to break the butter down into pea-sized crumbs. Stir in orange zest, if desired.

Drain the fruit well, if you have chosen to plump the fruit in advance. Reserve the liquid if you plan to make the butter spread. 

Stir fruit into the flour mixture and stir to distribute. Pour in the buttermilk/egg mixture. Gently fold together until the dough it too stiff to stir. Pour crumbly dough onto a lightly-floured work surface. With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as well as you can, then knead for about 30 seconds or until the flour is moistened. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. (You will likely have to do this if you've plumped your fruit in liquid.)

Transfer the dough to the prepared pan. Using a very sharp knife, score an X into the top. Bake for 20 minutes, then put a piece of foil on top to prevent overbrowning. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until the bread is golden brown and center appears cooked through. 

Remove from oven and allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm, at room temperature or toasted. Serve with whipped butter spread, if desired.

Butter Spread

Whip softened-to-room-temperature butter with a stand or hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add in about 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid, whipping together until it's well blended. Add more, if desired. Serve with warm bread. (Because I used craisins, it gave the butter a slight pink tinge since some of the color leached out when the fruit was soaking.)

***

And, if you're looking for other lucky treats, here are some other St. Patty's Day foods I've shared here in the past:

Good As Gold Snack Mix

Kinley and Brooke helped me make these Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies when they were visiting a couple years ago:

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

For a main dish with an Irish twist, try Reuben Crescent Bake. (Well, at least, it's got corned beef and cabbage. I don't think it's very Irish.)

 Reuben Crescent Bake

For cabbage minus the corned beef, try this slaw recipe:

Slaw Salad 

May your troubles be less and your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness come through your door.

Luck of the Irish: Soda Bread

 

Top o' the mornin' to you!

I have shamrocks and leprechauns out at home as St. Patrick's Day approaches on March 17. When the kids were little, we always changed table and mantel decor and did little crafts for the holidays. And even though I just do it for myself these days, I still pull out each seasonal tub and make the holiday transitions. (Randy doesn't really care ... as long as he doesn't have to do it.)

It made me think about a quick bread recipe I used to make with my 4-H cooking kids - Irish Soda Bread. It was a fun March meeting for beginning cooks. There's no yeast involved, and there's a tasty product in a fraction of the time. At this point, I don't remember where I got the original recipe.

The bread is best served warm. I continued the Irish theme by serving it with baked potatoes topped with Goop. The potatoes are Irish ... the Goop not so much. It's way better than it sounds. But a fun family St. Patrick's Day dinner would be a baked potato bar with lots of different toppings to suit every taste. Serve a fresh green salad on the side to complete the meal.

Even though the bread is best still warm, Randy will vouch for it later in the day, too, spread with a little cherry jam we got as a Christmas gift.

If you have kids or grandkids who need a weekend kitchen project, Irish Soda Bread is a good one to try. (It is supposed to be chilly and rainy this weekend around here, so a kitchen project sounds good.)

Other fun St. Patrick Day ideas, especially for kids:

• Take 2 refrigerated biscuits per child and tear each in half. Place three of the pieces together to form a shamrock and use the other one to roll into a stem. Sprinkle with green sugar and bake.
• Another easy green treat: Combine equal parts cream cheese and marshmallow cream. Tint green and serve as dip for green apples.
• Gold Cookies (for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!): Take two Ritz crackers. Put peanut butter between them. Dip them in melted butterscotch chips. Place on waxed paper until set up.
• Substitute Lucky Charms for some (or all) of the cereal in your Rice Krispie treats.

Here's hoping you find some St. Patrick's Day "Luck o' the Irish" at the end of your rainbow ... or in your kitchen. (There are some more ideas and links after the Irish Soda Bread recipe.)

Irish Soda Bread

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cold butter (no substitutes)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk**
1/2 cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries

Note: The original recipe called for currants or raisins. I used dried cranberries this time.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients except buttermilk and dried fruit in large bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in dried fruit. Add buttermilk and stir until just moistened.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead gently 10 times. Shape into ball. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Pat into 6-inch circle. Cut 1/2-inch deep "X" in top of dough with sharp knife.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Recipe note: If you don't have buttermilk, substitute 4 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to equal 1 1/4 cups. Let stand 10 minutes before using.

Here are some other St. Patty's Day foods I've shared here in the past:

Good As Gold Snack Mix

Kinley and Brooke helped me make these Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies when they were visiting a year ago:

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made those same cookies for the Core meal I delivered to the church this week. I figured they might enjoy a little holiday-themed treat, too!

For a main dish with an Irish twist, try Reuben Crescent Bake. (Well, at least, it's got corned beef and cabbage. I don't think it's very Irish.)

 Reuben Crescent Bake

For cabbage minus the corned beef, try this slaw recipe:

Slaw Salad 

May your troubles be less and your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness come through your door.

 

Merry Baker: Festival of Breads, Part I

When I visited Merry Graham's kitchen at the National Festival of Breads last Saturday, she was talking to two boys and their mom. One of the boys was telling her about how much he loved to cook and bake.

"Do you know they have contests for kids your age?" Merry said with an infectious lilt to her voice. "You could do something like this, too! Just go to www.contestcook.com and look under the junior division. There's lots there to choose from."

For Merry, interacting with bakers - young and not-so-young - is part of the appeal of the National Festival of Breads, held June 8, 2019, in Manhattan, Kansas. And this year, the third time was the charm for the Newhall, California, baker, who walked away with the top prize in the Food Blogger division of the contest with her Blackberry Ginger Speculaas Danish Wreath. (More on the home cook division winner, Rachel Hubsmith, in the next blog post.)

Merry's enthusiasm and personality bubbled out just like the blackberries bubbled out from the wreath during baking. Sharing her passion with young bakers comes naturally. She enjoys baking with her seven grandchildren when she's not competing.

Blackberry Ginger Speculaas Danish Wreath - Photo from National Festival of Breads website

Three food professionals chose Merry's wreath as the winner among the four finalists in the food blogger division. The sweet yeast dough has brown sugar, Speculaas spice blend, and blackberry jam swirl, dotted with blackberries and crystallized ginger. Speculaas has gotten some traction in the grocery store aisles in the U.S. in the past few years with a spread often located next to the peanut butter (Biscoff spread). The spread is made from Speculaas cookies, a treat often served at Christmas time in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria,

Photo from National Festival of Breads

But King Arthur Flour, one of the major sponsors of the breads festival, has a Speculaas spice mix made  by combining cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with anise, coriander, cardamom, citrus zest and a few other spices. That's what Merry used for her wreath recipe. (In the recipe, there's also a way to make your own at home.)

Sharing the legacy of baking and recipes is a central theme for Merry. She began her blog, A Merry Recipe, after she began competing in baking contests in 2009. After 10 years on the competitive cooking circuit, she plans to revisit some of those early posts. She hopes to retake some of the early photos and make sure that the winning recipes she's entered in contests all over the country will be easily accessible.

Merry used a thermometer to check "doneness" on her wreath.

"I look at it as a legacy," she told me. "And having it on the blog makes it so easy. You can just enter a topic or a recipe name in the search engine and have it at your fingertips. That way, I can make sure that my family has a record of all my recipes." A side note: It's also easy to access all the Festival of Breads finalists' recipes from this year and previous competitions at the contest website. 

Merry sprinkled fresh thyme over the freshly-baked wreath after she removed it from the oven.

Merry hedged her bets and entered seven different recipes in the 2019 Festival of Breads competition. The wreath ended up earning her a finalist spot.

When experimenting with recipes for the contest, Merry wanted to find a "showstopper." As she explained to the spectators during the judging on Saturday, a "showstopper" has a natural visual appeal. The ribbon of blackberries and blackberry jam provides a splash of dramatic color to the specialty bread.

"I've been watching The Great British Baking Show, and they feature showstoppers, so that's what I developed for my entry this year."

Win or lose, this was going to be Merry's final year in the National Festival of Breads competition. Once a baker has competed three times, they are no longer eligible. That's not to say she's done with competitions. She is a seasoned pro in that arena.

In 2014, she was selected as a finalist in the 47th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off, winning the Gluten Free Award for her Herbs and Seeds Parmesan Crackers recipe. Also in 2014, she was one of the five finalists on the Rachael Ray show, Great American Cookbook Competition. In 2015, she competed on Season 1 of Food Network's Clash of the Grandmas, making it to the final round of the Thanksgiving-themed show. She has also appeared on and competed in the World Food Championships.

Merry admits the cooking competition world becomes kind of like a "sorority." She knew almost all the finalists at the bread competition this year and had competed against them before.

"These events become as much a reunion as they do a competition," Merry said. "I always enjoy reconnecting with everyone."

Photo from Kansas Wheat at the Joe & Geena Kejr farm near Brookville.

As a sponsor of the biennial contest, Kansas Wheat arranges a Field to Flour tour. With a later harvest this year, contestants weren't able to ride a combine cutting wheat. Instead, they could take a spin in a sprayer with farmer Joe Kejr near Brookville. Joe and Geena Kejr also hosted the contestants and their guests for lunch and told about wheat production. The finalists also toured Farmer Direct Foods at New Cambria and drove by grain elevators as they drove to Saline County and back to Manhattan.

This was Merry's third Field to Flour tour. But the experience always reminds her that a premium flour is worth the extra money.

"I'm a southern California girl," she told me. "When I go into my grocery store and pay a few more dollars for the premium flour instead of the store brand that's on sale, I remember those trips to a Kansas wheat field. I remember the people of Kansas - especially their commitment and their passion to produce a quality product. When I think about all the hands the wheat touches from the field to the grocery store, I realize what a bargain it is."

Kansas Wheat photo

On Saturday, the contestants could begin their first attempt at their bread recipe at 7 AM. At 8:30, the ballroom opened to spectators, and the contestants interacted and answered questions throughout the day while making their recipes up to three times. They had to choose their best product to be judged by 2:30, and another of their products went into a silent auction to raise money for Flint Hills Bread Basket. (The People's Choice award votes and the silent auction raised more than $938 to feed the hungry in Manhattan.)

Kansas Wheat photo - Merry Graham, food blogger division winner, and RaChelle Hubsmith, home cook division winner (More on RaChelle next time.)

I was outside for much of the day working a booth in the Children's Festival.

Children could spin a Wheel of Fortune-like wheel and answer questions about wheat production, end products, nutrition, exports and harvesting for a prize.

 

I had some special contestants. (Well, they were all special, but these two were the most special to me!)

Randy took a shift, so I could go inside and cool off. I spent part of that time talking to all eight contestants and taking some photos so I could blog about it this week.

When I got back, we had another special visitor to our Wheel of Wheat station. Willie the Wildcat pondered his answer ...

... And he correctly deduced that Kansas is usually the leading producer and exporter of wheat in the nation. Good job, Willie!

I try to do my part in connecting the farm with consumers through blogging, something I've done since beginning Kim's County Line in January 2010. But face-to-face interaction is better in the long run. That's why I gave up my Saturday to volunteer at the National Festival of Breads.

With all the gluten-free promotion and companies marketing "non-GMO" to consumers, it's important for those of us in production agriculture to tell our stories. Goodness knows, popular restaurants and so-called nutrition experts aren't shy about doing it.  (For the record, there is no GMO wheat commercially available at this time. And yes, those with celiac disease must avoid gluten. However, many of those who don't have celiac disease avoid gluten based on inaccurate information from non-medical professionals who make unsubstantiated claims.)

In 1870, 50 percent of the U.S. population was directly involved in agriculture. Today, farm families comprise less than 2 percent of the population. A lot of the kids I talked to didn't even know what kind of machine harvests wheat. So that's why it was important to volunteer and talk to little consumers and their families about wheat.

Photo from Merry Graham's website as she was practicing before the breads festival.

And it doesn't hurt to get some yummy recipes, too. Check out Merry Graham's winning recipe for Blackberry Ginger Speculaas Danish Wreath on the National Festival of Breads website as well as the other winner and all the finalists' recipes.

For her champion bread, Merry receives tuition to attend a hands-on baking class at a King Arthur Flour Baking School in Norwich, Vermont or Skagit Valley, Washington, along with a $1,500 check for travel and lodging expenses. She also receives a one-year supply of Red Star® Yeast, another major contest sponsor.

More from the National Festival of Breads next time!

Rising to the Occasion: National Festival of Breads

Ronna Farley and her Seeded Corn and Onion Bubble Loaf.

Ronna Farley had a big smile on her face when I visited her kitchen at the Festival of Breads competition last Saturday. Her first attempt at baking her Seeded Corn and Onion Bubble Loaf had come out of the pan cleanly. If you've ever made anything in a Bundt pan, you know there's no guarantee: Part could end up on the cooling rack while some is stuck in the pan.

But after carefully inching her way around each crook and crevice with an ice pick, the bubble loaf was out in one piece, looking evenly browned and with that unmistakable fragrance of freshly-baked yeast bread combined with an undertone of onion.

She had more reasons to smile that evening. Her Seeded Corn and Onion Bubble Loaf won the grand prize at the 5th biennial National Festival of Breads.

She and seven other finalists spent the time from 7 AM Saturday morning until 2:45 or so that afternoon making their recipes three different times. By 3, each had delivered her best effort to a judge's room for evaluation.

Farley traveled to Kansas from her home in Rockville, Maryland, where she works as a cashier in a grocery store. She gets inspiration for developing original recipes based on the ingredients she rings up for customers as they empty their carts onto the supermarket conveyor belt.

I especially love seeing what people from other countries are buying and the different ideas of ingredients I should try in recipes. Sometimes I'll even ask them, 'What are you doing with that?' or 'What is that?' because there are different things we sell that I don't even know what they are.

Ronna Farley as quoted in the Festival of Breads recipe book

As the 2017 National Festival of Breads champion, Farley received $2,000 cash, plus a trip to attend a baking class of her choice at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vermont. She will receive 120 envelopes of Red Star Yeast. 

This was Farley's second time as a top eight finalist in the Festival of Breads. Like several of the competitors, she is no stranger to cooking contests.  Patrice Hurd has been chosen as a finalist in a dozen national contests. Three times, she's been a contestant in the "grandmother" of them all - the Pillsbury Bakeoff. Once you've competed a trio of times, you're no longer eligible at Pillsbury. She's also been a finalist in the national beef cookoff, Build A Better Burger and Midwest Living events, among others.

Patrice Hurd and her Toasted Cardamom Nordic Crown.

But Patrice was glad to be back at the National Festival of Breads in Kansas. She was also a finalist in the 2015 contest. This time, her recipe was Toasted Cardamom Nordic Crown. 

"It's a fun hobby to compete in these contests," Patrice said. "You meet people who are just as crazed about doing this as I am. We get to know one another, and it's kind of like family when we get together."

There's a family feel to the National Festival of Breads competition itself, she said. 

"At the Pillsburg Bakeoff, there are 100 finalists, so you're basically a number," Patrice said Saturday as she worked on her bread recipe. "This contest (Festival of Breads) has so much heart and a real down-home feeling. I was thrilled to get back here. The organizers take care of every single detail. They do everything to make you feel welcome and make it an experience to remember." 

One of those experiences was her first-ever ride on a combine. Though it was on the schedule in 2015, a drizzly day kept the contestants from truly experiencing a Kansas wheat harvest. This year, Patrice and other contestants traveled on Friday to the Brookville farm of Joe and Geena Kejr where they took turns riding the John Deere combine. They also toured the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center in Manhattan and the Farmer Direct Foods Inc. flour mill in New Cambria. It gave them a glimpse at how wheat grown and harvested in Kansas ultimately becomes flour that can be used in their kitchens scattered across the U.S.

Michele Kusma with her Mexican Street Corn Skillet Bread.

Contestant Michele Kusma from Columbus, Ohio, loved the combine ride, too. This was the first time she was a National Festival of Breads finalist and her first visit to Kansas.

"It was just awesome," Michele bubbled. "It was interesting and beautiful to see the wheat being harvested." 

Michele, too, is a contest veteran. As she developed her recipe for Mexican Street Corn Skillet Bread, she was thinking about flavors that consumers tend to enjoy.

Though she's a contest pro now, she didn't grow up baking. Michele turned to creating recipes and baking as an outlet after her second bout with breast cancer.

"My mother didn't bake bread. My grandmother didn't bake bread. It was me and YouTube," Michele said with a laugh. "I love baking, and you might as well love what you do. None of us know how long we have on this earth, so we need to pursue the things that give us joy."

Jane Fry (on the right) and her kitchen assistant look over her Southwest Focaccia.

It definitely wasn't finalist Jane Fry's first time on a combine or in a Kansas wheat field. Jane didn't have to hop on an airplane to get to Manhattan. She was down the road in Elk Falls, Kansas.

Like many Kansas cooks, her love of baking dates back to her days in 4-H. This was her second time as one of the Top 8 in the National Festival of Breads. This time, her recipe was Southwest Focaccia.

Jane isn't just an expert in shaping bread. She and her husband, Steve, also shape stoneware, much with a wheat theme. Each piece is individually made on a potter’s wheel or by other hand methods, glazed, decorated and fired. The business has grown, but remains a small family enterprise to provide the kind of “home-grown” lifestyle. In 1987, Jane incorporated her love for quilts by developing a line of porcelain pins and earrings using traditional quilt patterns as well as original and custom designs, which are sold under the name Elk Falls Piecemakers.

Fellow contestant Kellie White grew up on a farm near Westmoreland, Kansas, though she now resides in Valley Park, Missouri. Her entry, Orange Spice Anadama Wreath with Walnuts and Dates, won the People's Choice award voting the day of the festival. Her Kansas fan club cheered loudly when those results were announced Saturday afternoon. Festival goers could vote for their favorites by depositing $1 in voting jars. Those efforts raised more than $600 for the Flint Hills Bread Basket, a local food pantry.

She credits her love of baking to her mom and also to a neighbor lady named Ethel who shared a day of baking with Kellie as a young girl and also gave their family gifts of homemade bread at Christmas.

One of Shauna Havey's Butternut Romesco Braid's was shaped and rising, while she had another dough rising.

On the other hand, contestant Shauna Havey didn't grow up baking. The Roy, Utah, finalist began experimenting in the kitchen after marrying her husband. The mother of two prefers savory recipes, so she developed Butternut Romesco Braid. 

Pam Correll shapes her Orange Marmalade Breakfast Crescents.

Pam Correll was hoping for a "sweet" victory with her Orange Marmalade Breakfast Crescents. The smells of orange zest and fresh orange juice permeated the work station for the Brockport, Pennsylvania, baker. The FACS teacher enjoys teaching her students to bake from scratch.

"It's becoming a lost art," Correll said. This was the Pennsylvania baker's second time to enter the Festival of Breads, and two of her recipes were awarded honorable mention in 2015. The 2017 contest was her first as one of the eight top finalists.

Turmeric-Rosemary and Sweet Potato Rosettes

Somehow I missed talking to Tiffany Aaron, whose recipe was Turmeric-Rosemary and Sweet Potato Rosettes. Aaron is from Quitman, Arkansas, but she grew up in Montana. In her interview included in the festival brochure, she says her father-in-law supplied all the sweet potatoes she used for her experimentation and recipe development. In 2015, she had won an honorable mention. This year, she only entered the one recipe, but it still got her included in the Top 8. The mother of five brought her middle daughter with her to Kansas to experience all the festival happenings.

The National Festival of Breads, the nation’s only amateur bread-baking competition, is sponsored by King Arthur Flour, Red Star Yeast and the Kansas Wheat Commission. Many more recipes from previous years' contests, as well as bread baking tips, are available at the National Festival of Breads website. Check it out.

***

I volunteered at the festival. Watch for my next blog post about why I took time during our own wheat harvest to travel to Manhattan and help out!
 

Focaccia

 

The weatherman says summer temperatures will return this weekend. Mother Nature did not clear that move with me. I've been celebrating the cooler fall temperatures by digging out soup recipes. I made Taco Soup this week. And last week, I shared Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli soup with two families who'd just had new babies. Since it makes a big recipe, we enjoyed the leftovers, too.

To go along with the Italian theme, I made homemade focaccia bread to deliver with the soup. While I still turn on my oven plenty during the hot summer months, bread baking seems more suited to fall and winter temperatures.

Focaccia is a pretty forgiving bread, and it doesn't require expert bread shaping skills to get a good product. It's shaped into a rustic circle or rectangle, so it doesn't matter if the loaf isn't perfectly shaped. (Honestly, no one around here cares if the traditional loaf of bread is "county fair perfect" either. Homemade bread is homemade bread!)

Here at home, we dipped slices of the focaccia in seasoned olive oil, just like at an Italian restaurant. Homemade soup and bread? Yes, please!

While the summer temperatures are coming back for a short stay - ready or not - we know that fall and winter aren't far behind. If you're looking for tried-and-true bread recipes, the Kansas Wheat website has lots of recipes to try.

You, too, could be featured in that collection of award-winning recipes.  Entries for the 2017 National Festival of Breads are being accepted through January 16. The competition seeks the best yeast bread recipes from home bakers throughout the U.S. It’s sponsored by the Kansas Wheat Commission, along with King Arthur Flour and Red Star Yeast.

Adult amateur bakers can submit original recipes for holiday breads, rolls, time-saving and simple breads, and whole grain breads online. Youth bakers, ages 8-17, can also submit recipes for yeast breads and quick breads. All entries must be made online at  www.nationalfestivalofbreads.com and require photos of the entered bread.

Eight adult finalists will participate in the national competition on June 17 next year in Manhattan and receive a $500 cash award. The finalists will visit a Kansas farm during wheat harvest, tour a flour mill and grain elevator and learn about wheat research at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center. The Grand Prize Winner will receive $2,000 cash and a trip to attend a baking class of their choice at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vermont. One youth grand prize winner will be selected and will receive a $300 scholarship. Two youth entries will receive a runner-up prize of a $100 scholarship.

The focaccia recipe I used predates the national contest. But it was a winner at the Kansas Festival of Breads in 2002. 

Whole White Wheat Italian Focaccia

A 2002 Kansas Festival of Breads winning recipe
made by Naomi Johnson, Great Bend

From the Kansas Wheat website

Ingredients

Sponge
2 cups whole wheat flour*
1 package RED STAR® Active Dry Yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
2 cups lukewarm water (110-115°F)

Dough
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons dried grated  Parmesan Cheese
1 cup whole wheat flour*
1 ½ - 2 cups bread flour
 
Cornmeal

Toppings (optional): Olive oil, Parmesan or Romano Cheese, Kosher salt, Italian seasoning, fresh herbs

*Contestant used whole white wheat flour in recipe. 

Instructions

1. For sponge, combine in bowl, whole wheat flour, yeast, sugar, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and water. (NOTE:  I used 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning, rather than 1 tablespoon.) Mix 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap; let rest 20 minutes.

2. Stir in salt, olive oil, and cheese. Add whole wheat flour; mix 2 minutes. Gradually add enough of the bread flour to form a soft dough. Knead dough 5 to 8 minutes. Place in lightly greased bowl. Cover; let rise until double.

3. Divide dough into two pieces. Gently pull or stretch each piece of dough into a circle or rectangle ¾-inch thick. Place on greased baking sheets or pizza pans that have been dusted with cornmeal. Cover, let rise 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Dimple dough with fingertips every ½ inch. Brush with oil; sprinkle on cheese and, if desired, Kosher salt. Let rest 5 minutes.

5. Bake in preheated 400°F oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. During last several minutes of baking, sprinkle with Italian seasoning or fresh herbs. Best served fresh. (NOTE: I sprinkled with Zataar seasoning.)

Makes 2 focaccia (16 servings each).

Focaccia is also tasty with cavatini and a green salad.

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Today, I'm linked to Weekend Potluck, hosted by these bloggers. Check out the tried-and-true recipes from them and other food enthusiasts!

• Served Up With Love ~ Melissa
• The Country Cook~ Brandie
• The Better Baker ~ Marsha
• Sweet Little Bluebird~ Mary
• Mommy’s Kitchen~ Tina

Bake & Take: Blueberry Banana Bread

I doubled this recipe so I could Bake and Take -- and I could make my husband happy by leaving some at home, too.

March is Kansas Wheat's promotion, Bake and Take Month. Bake and Take Day began in 1970 as a community service project of the Kansas Wheathearts in Sumner County. The Kansas Wheathearts, an auxiliary organization of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, set out to share baked goods with family members, friends, neighbors, and those in need.

The idea became so successful that the Kansas Wheathearts created a national Bake and Take Day celebration in 1973. Even though the Kansas Wheathearts disbanded in 2001, the tradition continues to be supported by the Kansas Wheat Commission and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers.

Now, instead of just one day, the Bake and Take movement gets its own month. I took some of this bread to Jill's and Eric's when we were there for Kinley's baptism a couple weeks ago.

If you want to formally participate in Bake and Take Month, you have a chance to win a prize bundle with recipe books and more from Kansas Wheat and the American Home Baking Association. Check out the book bundle prize pack by visiting www.kansaswheat.org and get a brochure and entry form.

Whether you "bake it and take it" or just eat it at home, I think you'll like this Blueberry Banana Bread. Enjoy!

Blueberry Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen: Don't thaw before using)

In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Beat in mashed bananas. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined. Fold in blueberries.

Pour into three greased 5 3/4- by 3- by 2-inch loaf pans or 2 9- by 5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes for the smaller pans and 40 to 45 minutes for the larger pans or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Recipe from Heat Oven to 350 blog.

If I make this again, I might add some cinnamon. But we liked it "as is," too!

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Need more ideas for baking and taking? Try these Cappuccino Cookies.

The Kansas Wheat website has lots of recipes to explore, everything from their annual recipe booklet, a popular giveaway at the Kansas State Fair, to bread machine recipes. Check it out!