Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I'm never buying bread again

Today the bread adventures began.  I was nervous because my machine doesn't have a whole wheat cycle, so I've been trying to read up on what wheat flour needs.  With the addition of a little bit of gluten and allowing it to rise longer, I wound up with the most delicious bread I've ever tasted.  And with only a few simple ingredients (whole white wheat flour, sunflower seeds, gluten, yeast, salt, olive oil, honey, and water)!  If 100% whole wheat bread can turn out this light and fluffy (and yummy!), I'm not really sure why people still make white bread.  It probably helps that I'm using quality flour that Jess brought me.  I've been nervous about how it would turn out for a few days now, but it turns out that I got it right.  And the sunflower seeds give it a great crunch.  Now I can start experimenting with new flours/nuts/fruits :)

I also cooked the patty pans tonight - I stuffed them with onions, tomatoes, a little bit of bread crumbs, and mozzarella (adapted from My Culinary Sanctuary).  They're tasty, but it was my fourth serving of squash today, so I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.  With the addition of lots of tomatoes, I ended up with way too much stuffing, so I baked that separately and I'm looking forward to a tasty snack tomorrow.  I also sliced and roasted the japanese eggplant and sauteed the beans.  I couldn't stop eating both of those while the patty pans cooked.

I didn't think I would post this much when I started this blog, but with so many fresh veggies to use this week I've done a lot.  It will probably calm down for the next few days as I try to eat up all of the leftovers.  I'm excited to try a few new things this weekend (protein bars, baked falafel, and maybe even pita bread!).

No comments: