Pasta Dough

INGREDIENTS

3 large eggs, beaten to blend
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt

RECIPE PREPARATION

Mix eggs, flour, oil, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with your hands until a shaggy dough forms. Knead with dough hook until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes. Cut and roll as desired.

Do Ahead: Dough can be made 1 day ahead; tightly wrap and chilL

3 Large eggs 250g all purpose flour 13.3g olive oil 6g (I use Diamond) kosher salt

Honey Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons Red Star® Platinum yeast
• 1/2 cup (115g; 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (cut into 4 pieces)
• 1/3 cup (105g) honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) whole wheat flour (spoon & leveled), plus more for kneading/shaping

Topping

• 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons honey
• sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Make the dough: Pour the warm milk over yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Or, if you don’t have a stand mixer, a regular large mixing bowl. Whisk together, cover bowl with a towel, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will be frothy and foamy after 5 minutes.
2. On low speed, beat in the softened butter until it is slightly broken up. Then beat in the honey, eggs, and salt. The butter won’t really be mixing into the mixture, so don’t be alarmed if it stays in pieces. On low speed, gradually add the flour. Once it is all added, beat on medium speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 6-7 more minutes. The dough should pull away from the edges of the mixing bowl. Poke it with your finger; it should gently bounce back. If the dough is too sticky, add more whole wheat flour 1 Tablespoon at a time until it pulls away from the bowl and you have the right texture. *If you do not have a stand-mixer with a hook attachment, knead the dough by hand in this step.*
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball, coat your mixing bowl with nonstick spray or olive oil, and place the dough back in and turn it over so all sides of the dough are coated with the oil/spray. Cover the dough/bowl loosely with plastic wrap, a paper towel, or aluminum foil and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1.5 – 2 hours. Here’s what I do: turn the oven on to 150°F (66°C). Once heated to that temperature, turn the oven off. Stick the covered dough inside the oven and allow it to rise in this warm environment.
4. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Set aside.
5. Shape the rolls: Punch the dough down to release any air bubbles and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using floured hands, stretch the dough into a 9×13 rectangle (doesn’t need to be exact, it can be a little smaller). Use a pizza cutter and cut into 15 rolls. See photo above for a visual. Round out the edges of the rolls since they stretched a bit as you cut them. Arrange in prepared pan. Loosely cover the rolls and allow to rise in a warm environment again until puffy and double in size, about 1 hour.
6. Bake the rolls: Preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C). Bake rolls for about 25 minutes or until they are golden brown. About halfway through the bake time, I like to cover the rolls loosely with aluminum foil so the tops don’t brown too much. Remove pan from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
7. Top the rolls: Meanwhile, mix the melted butter and honey together. Brush over warm rolls. Sprinkle with sea salt. Serve warm.
8. Cover any leftover rolls and store at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead Instructions: After dough has risen two hours in step 3, punch down the dough inside the mixing bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days, then remove from the refrigerator and continue with step 4. Or freeze for up to 2 months, then allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and continue with step 4.
2. 
   

Bread machine sandwich rolls

Bread machine sandwich rolls

https://www.handletheheat.com/sandwich-rolls/

Ingredients

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup water

Directions

Manual Method:

1.  In a large bowl, or the bowl of your electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, stirring till the dough forms a cohesive mass and begins to clear the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then allow it to rest for 10 minutes (which gives the dough a chance to absorb the liquid, and the gluten in the flour a chance to relax.) Knead the dough for an additional 5 minutes, or until it’s smooth and supple. The dough should be quite stiff, but not at all “gnarly;” adjust its consistency with additional flour or water, as necessary. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise till it’s noticeably puffy, about 1 hour.

Bread Machine Method:

1.  Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your machine, program the machine for manual or dough, and press start. About 10 minutes before the end of the final kneading cycle, examine the dough’s consistency; it should be quite stiff, but not at all “gnarly;” adjust it consistency with additional flour or water, as necessary. Allow the machine to complete its cycle.
   
   

   Shaping:

   1.  Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into six equal pieces. Shape the pieces into round balls, and place them on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the rolls, and allow them to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until they’ve almost doubled in volume.  Dip tops in milk and coat with poppy or sesame seeds, if desired.
   2. Bake the rolls in a preheated 425°F oven for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a wire rack

Oatmeal

Old fashioned oats in the rice cooker:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 2 1/4 cups water

Add sugar or honey or vanilla and maybe some fresh or dried fruit, set to porridge cycle (or cook and check it at around 20 minutes)

Steel cut oatmeal in the rice cooker

• 2/3 C steel cut oats
• 1.75 C milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of sea salt
• 1/4 chopped fruit

Set to porridge cycle

Spinach Fetty Wap Quiche

Starbucks Spinach Feta wraps are one of my favorite things to eat - actually healthy and truly delicious.  We stopped going to Starbucks when the Coronavirus necessitated social distancing and called for the shut down of all non-essential businesses ... Starbucks may still be open, but we can make our own coffee and food and do our part to slow this virus down by actually staying in.

But I miss my Spinach Fetty Wap ...

So I made a quiche version! 

Preheat oven to 350

Set up pie crust in quiche pan - as written below, the filling was a little low for a 9" deep dish pie plate, but not skimpy.  Probably perfect for a smaller/shallower pan, but fine for what I used, too.

Mix together:
8 oz frozen spinach steamed and pressed/well drained, then chopped
1/3 Cup + sun dried tomatoes - mine were jarred with olive oil so I drained them and chopped
1/2 Cup+ (closer to 3/4 cup if I am honest ...) feta cheese crumbles

Mix together:
1 Cup egg whites (I guess 5-6 whole eggs if you want whole eggs)
1/4 Cup milk
healthy pinch of kosher salt
7 grinds of pepper

Place Veg and Feta mix into pie shell
Pour Egg mix over and make sure everything is distributed evenly in the shell

Bake 40 minutes

Goat cheese, spinach and sundried tomato quiche!!!

Was going to poke about the intarwebz looking for ideas to create my own goat cheese, spinach and sundried tomato quiche and on my literal first click I found exactly what I was looking for at https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/goat-cheese-spinach-sun-dried-tomato-quiche/

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe homemade pie crust* (step-by-step photos included)
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 packed cups fresh spinach (see note about using frozen)*
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk*
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled or chopped
• salt & pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Preliminary Notes: I like to make sure my pie dough is prepared before I begin the quiche. Make pie dough the night before because it needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before rolling out and blind baking (next step). And here’s a time-saving tip– as the crust blind bakes, you can get started on the filling which begins with step 7.
2. Partially blind bake the pie crust: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the disks of chilled dough (freeze the other for another time). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is completely smooth. Chill the pie crust in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. (And up to 5 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months. Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap if chilling for longer than 30 minutes or if you’re freezing it. If you freeze it, let it thaw for a couple hours in the refrigerator before continuing.)
3. While the crust is chilling, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
4. Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil. (Crunch up the parchment paper first so that you can easily shape it into the crust.) Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges of the crust are starting to brown, about 15-16 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper/aluminum foil (with the weights) out of the pie. Prick holes all around the bottom crust with a fork. Return the pie crust to the oven and bake until the bottom crust is just beginning to brown, about 7-8 minutes.
5. Remove crust from the oven. (You can partially pre-bake the crust up to 3 days ahead of time. Cover cooled crust tightly and refrigerate until ready to fill.)
6. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F (177°C).
7. Heat olive oil and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach. Cook and stir until wilted. Set aside.
8. Whisk the eggs and milk together until combined. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and spinach. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then pour into warm pre-baked crust. If desired, sprinkle the top lightly with more salt and pepper.
9. Bake the quiche until the center is just about set, about 45-60 minutes. Don’t over-bake. Use a pie crust shield to prevent the pie crust edges from over-browning. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Or you can cool the quiche completely before serving– it’s fantastic at room temperature!
10. This quiche makes great leftovers! Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

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Notes

1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The pie dough can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can pre-bake the crust ahead of time too. See end of step 5. To freeze the quiche, cool baked quiche completely, then cover tightly with a couple sheets of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20-25 minutes.
2. Pie Crust: My pie crust recipe makes enough dough for two quiches. You can make half of the recipe or make the entire recipe and freeze half of the dough for another quiche, or bake two quiches. The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
3. Spinach: You can use frozen spinach instead. Use a 10 oz box. If your frozen spinach is not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave per box directions. Drain the spinach in a colander while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
4. Milk: Whole milk is preferred for creamiest texture, but 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup whole milk is fantastic too. You could also substitute half-and-half. See How to Bake the Perfect Quiche post.

Hondashi Miso Soup

I have been cooking with Japanese ingredients for more than a decade now, but I have yet to try hondashi!  I have always made my own dashi (and embarrassingly recently learned how much difference using soft water makes in terms of dashi flavor) because it isn't hard and the strained out bonito flakes make a fantastic furikake.  But ... it can be messy ... and at the end of a long day, it can be the "one more thing" that just doesn't get done ... and I recently found a really tasty store bought furikake that has a lot of the same flavors I like in my homemade version.

On a recent trip to NYC we went into a Japanese grocery and I bought a small jar of hondashi.  The other day I bought a handy whisk that you use to measure miso and then stir it into your soup!  So, I guess all I needed was one thing - directions!  At least on the jar I purchased, there is no information about how to work with it!

To make 4 Minute Miso Soup
https://steamykitchen.com/106-how-to-make-miso-soup-recipe.html

1. Cut up tofu.
2. Soak wakame, drain.
3. Boil water, turn off heat.
4. Whisk in instant dashi (1 teaspoon: 2 cups water)
5. Whisk in miso paste (2 tablespoons: 2 cups water)