• Instant Pot Mexican Rice

    December 6, 2023 Author: Rachel
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    Recipe adapted from Tastes Better from Scratch.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 1/2 c. long grain white rice, rinsed
    • 1/4 c. vegetable oil
    • 1 tsp. garlic, minced
    • 1 onion, finely diced
    • 1/4 c. tomato sauce
    • 2 tsp. granulated tomato bouillon
    • 1/4 tsp. salt
    • 1 carrot, diced
    • 1 1/2 c. water
    • 1/3 c. frozen peas, optional
    • Juice of 1 lime

    Directions:

    1. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Drain well.
    2. Turn Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add oil to the bottom of the pot.
    3. Add rice and saute, stirring often, until lightly golden, about 5 minutes.
    4. Add garlic, onion, tomato sauce, salt, tomato bullion and carrots and stir to combine.
    5. Add water and stir well, making sure the bullion is dissolved.
    6. Turn Instant Pot off. Secure lid and turn valve to sealed position.
    7. Turn on to Manual or High Pressure, and cook for 4 minutes.
    8. When timer beeps, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes.
    9. Remove lid and add peas, if using, and lime juice. Gently fluff the rice with a fork (don’t stir it).
    10. Place IP lid over the bowl and allow rice to rest for a few more minutes before serving.

    Instant Pot Mexican Rice:

  • Burrata Pesto Salad

    December 6, 2023 Author: Rachel
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    Recipe from Little Ms Magnolia. Serve as an appetizer or side salad.

    Ingredients:

    • Baguette
    • Olive oil
    • Garlic salt
    • Salt and pepper
    • 10 oz. cherry/grape tomatoes, sliced in half
    • Arugula
    • Burrata
    • Fresh pesto
    • Coarse sea salt
    • Balsamic glaze

    Directions:

    1. Baguette slices/dippers: Preheat oven to 400F. Slice a baguette into thin pieces. Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for 10 minutes or until desired crispiness. Remove from oven and set aside.
    2. Roasted Tomatoes: In a bowl add halved tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. On a baking sheet add the tomatoes and roast in the 400F oven for 20 minutes; then remove from the oven and let cool.
    3. Assembly: On a platter, lay out however much arugula you want. Gently pat the burrata dry, and then break open the burrata into pieces and place on top of the arugula. Then add the cooled roasted tomatoes on top of the burrata; then drizzle with fresh pesto; then drizzle with olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, coarse sea salt, and balsamic glaze.
    4. Serve: Burrata salad with the dippers.

    Burrata Pesto Salad:

  • Ciabatta

    December 6, 2023 Author: Rachel
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    Recipe adapted from Brian Lagerstrom.

    Ingredients:

    Biga

    • 175 g. or 3/4 c. warm water (86F)
    • 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
    • 225 g. or 1 1/2 c. AP flour (11.7% protein)

    Autolyse

    • 180 g. or 3/4 c. warm water (86F)
    • 250 g. or 2 c. AP flour (11.7% protein)

    Final Mix:

    • 40 g. or 2 3/4 TBSP warm water (86F)
    • 5 g. or 2 tsp. instant yeast
    • 10 g. 1 3/4 tsp. salt
    • All of the biga you mixed earlier

    Directions:

    1. Biga: Add water, yeast, and flour into a high sided container and mix until no dry clumps of flour remains. Let ferment at room temp for 6-24 hours.
    2. Autolyse: Into bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix your autolyse (water and flour) on low until combined. Cover with towel and let sit for 30 minutes.
    3. Final Mix: For your final mix, add warm water, yeast, salt, and biga to your autolyse and mix on low for 3 minutes. Increase speed to high and mix for 5 more minutes. When dough is mixed enough it should clear the bowl and begin to get shiny.
    4. Fermenting and Shaping: Transfer dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 30 min. Do strength building folds #1 and then hand cup the dough a few times (mimicking an electric mixer kneading motion). Cover again and let sit at room temp for another 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes perform strength building folds #2; then cover and allow to ferment at room temp for 1 hour. Dough should be gassy and alive at this point.
    5. Liberally flour work surface and dough well. Use dough card to release dough from bowl as completely as possible before transferring dough to work surface. Gently pat into a square slab. Prepare a piece of parchment that’s larger than your slab of ciabatta dough by liberally flouring it. Cut dough into two equal rectangles and gently transfer to floured parchment. Cover and proof at room temp for 30 min.
    6. Baking: Place baking stone/steel in the middle of the oven and place a cast iron or other pan in the rack below the stone/steel and preheat oven to 500F.  Boil water in a saucepan or tea kettle ready for when you place the ciabatta in the oven. Slide ciabatta onto baking stone/steel (with parchment paper) and pour boiling water into cast iron pan in the oven.
    7. Cover loaves with a foil pan (approx. 16”x12”x3”) and bake for 12 min. Remove foil and continue to bake for 13-15 minutes until crust is a deep golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

    Ciabatta:

  • Baguette

    December 6, 2023 Author: Rachel
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    Recipe adapted from Brian Lagerstrom.

    Ingredients:

    Poolish

    • 150 g. (2/3 c.) room temperature water
    • Pinch of instant yeast
    • 150 g. (1 c.) bread flour

    Dough

    • Ripe poolish (recipe above)
    • 240 g. (1 c.) water (90F)
    • 3 g. (3/4 tsp.) instant yeast
    • 400 g. (2 3/4 c.) bread flour
    • 11 g. (2 1/4 tsp.) salt
    • 10 g. (2 1/2 tsp) diastatic malt powder

    Directions:

    1. Poolish:  Stir together water, yeast, and flour. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 12-24 hours.
    2. Dough: Add poolish, water, yeast, flour, salt, and malt powder to a stand mixer with a bread hook and mix on low for 3 minutes. Once the dough is combined, increase speed to high (speed 4 on my KitchenAid) and mix for another 6 minutes.
    3. Ferment and Strength Building: Transfer to a bowl, cover, and ferment at room temperature for 30 minutes. Perform strength building fold #1 and then cover and rest for 30 minutes. Do strength building fold #2 and then cover and rest for a final 60 minutes.
    4. Shape:  Transfer dough to a floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces (about 230 g. each). Preshape each piece by placing each piece on your work surface and tuck the sides up to resemble a ball and then roll each piece on your work surface in the palm of your hand until you have a uniform ball. Cover with a towel and rest for 15 minutes.
    5. After 15 minutes, seem side up press the dough down to degass any large air pockets.  Then fold the top of the dough down, about an inch at a time, toward you, which seals in the tension.  Do this 4 – 5 times until the dough is in a blunt cigar shape, and then use your fingertips and thumbs to roll the dough out into a longer tube shape, about 9-10 inches.  You can continue to use your fingertips and thumbs to roll the ends of the dough into a tidy taper.
    6. Move the baguettes to an upside down baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with a foil pan (approx. 16”x12”x3”) and let rise at room temp for 45-70 min.
    7. Bake:  Preheat oven with baking steel/stone to 465F. 
    8. Transfer the baguettes (with parchment paper) onto a preheated pizza steel/stone. Spray with water, cover with the foil lid and bake for 12 mins. Remove lid and bake for 12-15 more min. until crusty and golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

    Baguette: