Between eggs and strawberries, I seem to be drowning in ingredients these days, so I decided to make more jam (subsequent post coming up) and then with “extra” jam (I ran out of jars), I decided to make these crumble bars. They are definitely my go to recipe. This time, I browned the butter first (definitely a great idea) and then added pistachios as well. Perfect for a 4th of July picnic!
I have far too many eggs in the house. Don’t ask, it’s a long story, but there are dozens of eggs taking up room in my fridge. Conveniently, there were also some peppers, some leftover cheddar cheese and, in the freezer, some hot Italian sausage. So I put together this concoction last night and baked it up as breakfast today. Feeds a crowd. Also, you can use a biscuit cutter, cut rounds and toast yourself an English Muffin, and you can make a kick-ass breakfast sandwich.
So every year, as always, I go Pick-Your-Own Strawberry Picking at Russell Orchards in Ipswich. It’s well documented here on this site, so I won’t go info all the details of the Strawberry Festival and all that. This of course means that I am working on this year’s strawberry treats. First up, this year’s variation on the strawbeey jam… this time with hibiscus which gives the jam a great floral punch. Yum yum!
The story of this loaf of bread (condensed version): I’ve been meaning to make this style of bread for a while, but always forget the overnight rise, so remembered last night at about midnight that I was going to start it. I really must have messed up the water to flour ratio (I think I put in 2 cups or more of water, when it should have been only 1 and a half cups). But I figured I’d run with it, put it in the fridge and this morning — well, while it had risen, it was a gloppy mess. I almost didn’t even bake it up, but thought at the last minute that it would be a waste of good flour if I didn’t even go through the entire experiment.
Into the pre-heated Dutch oven, in the oven, it went at 450F. I had no faith.
But then, after 40 minutes, I opened the lid to a lightly tan, but certain the right shape and with a semi-crusty crust loaf of bread. Fifteen minutes later, uncovered, it was beautiful, risen, crusty and frankly, quite lovely looking. I mean, if you think bread is pretty. 🙂 While the crumb / consistency was a little too dense and chewy, not all was lost and I am completely sold on the “baking bread in a dutch oven” method. Gets out your Le Creuset, kids — I’m going to do some more bread baking (without messing up the water/flour ratio next time)!