Saturday, January 23, 2010

Homemade Bread and Pot Roast


El Paso seems to have suddenly developed what most other cities have always had: weather/seasons. We’ve gone through years of not being able to distinguish the different seasons based on weather and temperatures. This year has been different. I believe we have gotten more snow than we have in the last 10 years. There is snow on our beautiful Franklins Mountains again this morning.


To keep myself warm and keep the dreaded arthritis aches at bay, I decided to bake a couple of bread loaves and make some pot roast. The house smelled delicious and the kitchen, where I settled in for most of the day, was cozy warm.

I believe the temperature regions are changing. We had a flood a few years ago that resulted in some people actually using small row boats to get across the interstate. We’ve also had about 3 “freak” hail storms that caused a great number of households to have their roofs replaced, car damage that had insurance companies setting up command centers and cars lined up for inspection and settlement. Bob’s car was luckier than most. The Tucson was dimpled all over like a gold ball. Others had their windshields and windows blown out and were determined (by the insurance companies) as being “totaled”.

But, such is life. I’m grateful that these uncommon occurrences can be remedied, unlike the devastation in Haiti. Our prayers go out to them and especially to all the children who find themselves orphans because of the earthquake. Please keep your positive vibes and energy going to our friends and family in the Haitian Islands.


Post Roast is pot roast. You take a delicious piece of chuck roast or rump roast cooked in a slow cooker on low with a variety of vegetables for about 12 to 14 hours and you have a wonderful dinner. Couple that with an amazing fresh loaf of homemade bread and your dinner is complete.

That scowl Bob had on his face when he came home from work soon disappeared after he sat down at the dinner table. His beautiful smile returned telling me he was glad to be home and out of that horrific weather with 65 mile an hour winds and rain. Then of course he ate the rest of the chocolate chip cookies. Guess I’ll make some more. Enjoy the weekend everyone.




Honey White Bread
(Barefoot Contessa at Home)

½ cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ cups warm whole milk (110 degrees)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 ½ tablespoons honey
2 extra large egg yolk
5 to 6 cups flour (I used bread flour)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Place the water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the yeast and sugar; stir and allow to dissolve for 5 minutes.

Add milk, butter and honey. Mix on medium speed until blended. Add the egg yolks, salt and 3 cups of flour. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes. With mixer still on low, add 2 more cups of flour. Raise the speed to medium and slowly add just enough of the remaining flour so the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl. Knead on medium speed for about 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for about a minute until the dough is smooth and elastic. Grease a large bowl with butter and put the dough in the bowl, turning it over so that the top is also lightly buttered. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and allow the dough rise for about an hour until doubled in volume.

Grease two 9 x 5 –inch loaf pans with butter. Punch the dough down and divide in half. Roll each half into a loaf and place in prepared pans. Cover the pans again with a damp towel and allow to rise one more time for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the dough has risen, brush the tops with some egg white. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until they sound hollow when tapped. Turn the bread out of the pans and allow to cool completely on wire racks.




14 comments:

Arlene Delloro said...

Definitely my kind of meal, especially the home baked bread. This weather has been pretty unusual this year, but not such a drastic change for those of us in New York. At least today the sun was shining and it got above the freezing mark. Have a lovely weekend.

Ivy said...

The weather is getting crazy. We had 25C a couple of weeks ago and now the temperature is around 7C. The Bread sounds amazing and the pot roast is perfect for cold days. Teresa I have added a widget on my blog's side bar for the Haiti victims, which you might also want to add to your blog, so that we can help them any way we can.

bonnie said...

I have made this bread many times, and it is just tasty!!

Reeni said...

What a truly comforting meal Teresa! Your bread looks perfect - what a lovely, dense texture. And the pot roast is so nice and hearty. Just perfect for snuggling up to while it storms outside.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Your bread looks so perfect! Definitely the right sort of meal for cold weather.

The Blonde Duck said...

We had pot roast and homemade bread this weekend too! Great minds think alike!

Anonymous said...

A wonderful pot roast and just perfect with homemade bread!

Deb in Hawaii said...

Looks like a perfect comfort food meal sure to put a smile on any face!

The Blonde Duck said...

I'm going to try your bread...Ben's got a hankering for white bread.

Anonymous said...
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Dee said...

This is a perfect comfort food type meal at my house. Yummy! Seeing your comment about the snow on the mountains makes me wonder how your mountains look this morning? Texas is certainly getting blasted currently with the cold. Stay warm.

buy r4 karte said...

We food bloggers are passionate about bowls and props aren’t we? I feel your excitement about all the things you can do with 2 pieces of ceramic!!!!!! And this looks spankingly good and healthy too.

The Blonde Duck said...

I'm so glad you liked the meatballs. I adore them. Only my hips complain!

Tina Butler said...

Yummy Teresa I love a good ole pot roast and bread. I havnet been here in so long. I am sorry. Did you get any crazy weather? Dallas got 12 inches of snow can you believe that?