Searching for the BEST homemade white bread recipe

Today, I am on a mission.  A mission to finally find the best homemade white bread recipe.  I have been quite unsuccessful in recent attempts which has made me quite frustrated.  I'm not sure if it's the recipe or me and I have to find out.  So, I turned to the internet, typed in "best homemade white bread recipe" and of course, found quite a few sources.  However, I am only choosing those recipes that have been rated very highly by others and here's what I've decided to try:

This first recipe is a bread machine recipe, which is awesome, because I have a bread machine and haven't been too happy with the quality of bread that's come out of it, (based on the recipe book that came with it).  But this White Bread I recipe has 161 reviews - 4 1/2 stars):

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/White-Bread-I/

Next is a 5 star - 3,232 people reviewed recipe.  In a word, "WOW".  Let's hope that's what I'll be saying after I take a slice and slather it with butter:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Amish-White-Bread/

Next, Julia Child.  Need I say more (but with 47 reviews with 4 and what looks like 3/4 stars):

http://www.food.com/recipe/julia-childs-white-bread-9032

And a recipe that runs in my boyfriend's family.  His grandmother's homemade white bread/rolls recipe.  And I can tell you, even though I've never made it myself, I've tasted hers and they are DELISH!!

Let's get started!

I'm going to start with the bread machine recipe White Bread I, get that out of the way and let it do it's thing.  Milk, sugar, salt, butter, flour, and yeast.  Seems quite simple.

It makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf and will take approximately 3 hours.  Something interesting about this recipe is that it calls for all-purpose flour and not "bread flour" or even "bread machine flour".  Happy about that because we all know that those flours are more expensive than all-purpose.  And I'm all about saving money! * After seven minutes of the bread machine doing it's magic, I'm already noticing that the texture of this recipe is much better than my old.  I don't have to add any water.  In my previous recipe I had to add a few teaspoons of water because the dough had dry clumps on the sides.  So, this is good!

That was painless and now we're off to the next test: Amish White Bread


Water, sugar, salt, oil, bread flour, and yeast.  This recipe calls for bread flour.  I made sure the water was 110 degrees and the yeast indeed became quite creamy and frothy.  That's a good sign.  It came together quite nicely with about 5 minutes of kneading, now it's proofing in a 90 degree room in a well-oiled bowl with a damp cloth over top.  Off to the next one!

Julia Child's White Bread.  This recipe from Food.com is very well laid out with steps clearly defined.  I'll be absolutely honest here, I've never made anything from Julia Child.  This is my first.  I'm pretty excited and I have high expectations that this will turn out fabulous.  It is also done 100% in the mixing bowl, no hand kneading.  I like that too.

Hmm, first step is to mix 1/2 cup of the water with the yeast and sugar until foamy and then let it sit 5 minutes until creamy.  I've never done it that way, but we'll see....  Step 6 says to add ALL of the salt and then mix for 10 minutes on medium speed.  Again, odd....

 

White Bread I is coming along quite nicely in the bread machine. Amish White Bread has not risen one iota after 45 minutes.  Something must be wrong.

 

Back to Julia Child's White Bread. This is indeed a strange one.  Added the butter (Step 7) after 10 minutes of mixer-kneading. That was a nightmare. It looked like drywall paste and it had to knead forever and change the paddle to a regular mixing paddle (from the dough hook) and then it was just wrong from there.  Got it to a semi-dough looking state, changed back to the dough hook, placed it on the counter, formed it into a ball and put it into a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap and it's now rising. 

White Bread I is looking fabulous! It smells delish and it's getting huge! 

I put the Amish White Bread into the bread pan to rise for the second time.  This time, however, I put a dry tea towel on it rather than a damp cloth.  Let's see what happens.

Memère's Bread.  Now this one, I am so very anxious to try. 

Simple recipe, flour, yeast, oil, salt, sugar, water.  Nothing fancy.  But I think the secret ingredient was love.  No doubt that's why Memère's rolls were the best around.  So, nothing crazy here, simply put it together and now it's rising for the first go round.

Alright, the Amish White Bread is ready to hit the oven. 

It rose a little bit more on the 2nd proofing, but it's rising like crazy in the oven.  So, wiping the nervous sweat off my brow, it just might turn out like it's supposed to.

Julia Child's White Bread is ready for it's second proofing.  It rose a little bit, but we'll just have to wait and see if the second proofing with be similar to the Amish White Bread and rise in the oven rather than in the pan. 

Wow! Pleasantly surprised at the Amish White Bread.  It rose very well in the oven and has a beautiful golden top.  The true test, of course, will be if it tastes any good. 

Memère's Bread has risen well above the bowl after it's first proofing! Wonderful! Now we need to get that into the loaf pan for the second rising.

I am truly, truly shocked at how high Julia Child's White Bread is rising in the oven! Amazing!  Highest so far.

But hold the phone! Memère's Bread is out of control! It's at least 3 inches above the pan! WOOHOO!  Here are all four loaves of bread.  Left to right:  White Bread I, Amish White Bread, Julia Child's White Bread and then Memère's Bread.  Incredible!

Now, is the true test.  How do they taste?  I've gathered Gilles and Drake to tell me what they think.

Gilles: WINNER: Amish White Bread; Second Place: Memère's Bread; Third Place: White Bread I; and Last Place: Julia Child's White Bread

For Gilles, the texture and flavour of the Amish White Bread was far superior to the others.  Although it was the lowest rising, it was his favorite.

Drake: WINNER: Julia Child's White Bread; Second Place: Memère's Bread; Third Place: White Bread I; and Last Place: Amish White Bread.

For Drake, the flavour and texture of Julia Child's White Bread was just what he'd look for in a slice of bread.  Ironically, his least favorite was our number 1 pick!  Just goes to show how tastes differ.

For myself, I concur with Gilles.  The Amish White Bread was delicious.  However, since the White Bread I was really tasty as well, and for the fact that it uses all-purpose flour, and is made in a bread machine, I would say that I'll probably continue making that recipe (pictured below) on a regular basis and the Amish White Bread on special occasions.  Ultimately, I'm just really, really happy to have done this experiment and to have discovered some very, very good homemade white bread recipes!

Thanks for stopping by! Keep checking in to see what I've got up my sleeves!

Colleen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Halloween "Mummy Meatloaf"

Has it really been 2 1/2 years since I wrote in this blog? Geesh. To be honest, I just haven't been inspired. But, it's Halloween and I've got to help Gilles create a crazy dish for his office party today. So, we've chosen the "Yummy Mummy Meatloaf" from the October 22, 2012 issue of Woman's World magazine. I've never really had a lot of success with recipes from this magazine except for a really delish chicken cacciatore a few years back. I'm really taking a chance with this one. Because Gilles needs to bring a Halloweeny dish to his office party today. If this doesn't turn out, he's gonna have to resort to cutesy cupcakes from Superstore! And it's one of those cases where the picture of the recipe looks so great, you just gotta try it! So here goes. Gonna get my ingredients together (eggs, ground beef, onion, chili seasoning mix, to,ato sauce, nacho chips, breadstick dough, and olives) and I'll be right back.

Well, after putting the ingredients in the bowl, it came out quite juicy. What with 3 eggs and 8 ounces of tomato sauce, the loaf seemed slimy. But.... It formed nicely on the pan. I was a little worried for a second. Here's the before.

It needed to be 14" x 3 3/4". It's now baking for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. We're just making our famous home made salsa as an accompaniment while the meatloaf bakes.

The meatloaf, after 25 minutes of cooking, has spread wider than the 3 3/4" it's supposed to be. I hope I have enough of the breadstick dough (which serves as the mummy's wrappings) to wrap the meatloaf!

Ok, so we couldn't actually find breadstick dough, we used refrigerated pizza dough as a replacement. We simply stretched it out, used a pizza cutter to cut strips and it was perfect.

It was quite a chore to get a 14" meatloaf onto another pan in order to "wrap" it with the dough. We had to use 4 spatulas and 2 sets of hands. But, we did it and we wrapped our mummy perfectly. It's now baking at 375 degrees for about 16 minutes, to brown the dough, and make it look like old mummy wrappings.

 

From a distance, it actually looks like we've prepared a little body for mummification because of the way Gilles wrapped the dough to look like it had a chest and feet. Very cute. He did an awesome job! We decided to put it on a pizza pan with holes on the bottom so the dough would cook somewhat underneath the meatloaf. I placed a simple cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven to catch any drippings.

 

So, it has come out of the oven looking nicely browned and therefore, like it just came out of an ancient tomb! LOL

 

We're going to wait a few minutes to let it cool off before we place it on our tray and before we put the eyes on the mummy.

And here is the finished product!

Isn't that just adorable? The wrapping looks perfect, especially around the head. I decided to put some nacho chips around the mummy to give it a sort of "dirty tomb" look. That plus people can nosh on them with our delicious, one of a kind salsa! Oh, and the spider is there because he crawled out of the tomb with the mummy....

Let's hope this little mummy tastes as good as he looks! We'll only find out after Gilles' party. So stay tuned for a taste update!

If you're interested in this recipe, check out the Woman's World Magazine October 22, 2012 issue, or send me a message and I'll get it to you!

UPDATE:

Success! The crowd loved it. It came in tied for first place in the "creative dish" category, but lost to the guacamole dish. I wasn't there, so I can't tell you what that was exactly. So, it was a hit at the party and it wasn't that difficult to put together. Great party food!

BBQ Quesadillas

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the extended hiatus. Travel and watching my weight plays a huge part in deciding which celebrity recipes to test. My boyfriend and I are going to try to watch what we eat, so I've decided to try to pick some recipes that don't go crazy with butter, fats, creams, etc. You get the drift. Also, I'm trying a recipe tonight from a chef I've never watched but who appears to be quite popular, and whose beautiful bamboo reversible cutting board I got for Christmas from my son. Curtis Stone. Take Home Chef! Now, I sifted through his recipes and I found a couple that, well, I don't feel deserve to take up space in a cookbook.

The recipe book is called "Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone; recipes to put you in my favorite mood". Beautiful hardcover, lots 'o recipes from breakfasts and brunches to entrees, sides and desserts. As I'm flipping through the pages, I come across "Watermelon with fresh mint and lime" - 4 ingredients: can you guess??? Watermelon, lime, mint and 1/3 cup sugar. So, why does this deserve two full pages? Beautiful picture of an oval shaped watermelon with mint and lime zest but I thought to myself, geesh, I hope this chef has more to offer than that!

So, tonight I've chosen:

Barbeque Chicken Quesadillas

To be frank, I chose this because I have some tortillas at home that need to be used or else they are garbage, so that's my primary reason. Second, it's bbq chicken smothered in cheese. Ok, so I should be really smothering my food in cheese if I'm watching my weight but the good news is that the recipe calls for 1 tortilla and you fold it over, so no need to make a 10" quesadilla with a top and bottom tortilla! Plus, I'm using low-fat marble cheese. Rest assured, I'm not going to go crazy with this. It appears to be a simple recipe with chicken, cheese, cilantro, jalepeno and bbq sauce. I have everything on hand so I'm good to go!

Let's give Curtis a test and see how yummy this recipe is, shall we?

This is a super simple recipe. I laid out the tortillas, put the chicken on, the cheese, cilantro, jalepeno and bbq sauce, grilled them until the cheese melted.... Voila!

So, now we're sitting down to eat and I await the verdict from my boyfriend nd my son....

Boyfriend: It's good. Ahhh, yum. That's really good!

Son: It's really good, I like it. Good thing there's another one for me!

I totally agree! This is very yummy! I would put a bit more bbq sauce in there and maybe melt some cheese on top. Delicious! And simple!!! I made some salsa the other night and it's complimenting this recipe very nicely.

The boys are off for their seconds! That's always a good sign.

No picture again because it was eaten too fast to get a shot.

I give this a 4 1/2 out of 5. I think it could use a bit more of the ingredients I mentioned above but it's very good. I don't know if I'm in the mood that Curtis Stone loves to be in, I feel full, is that his favorite mood?

Cheers everyone... Until next time...

Colleen

Celebrity Free Week!

Hi everyone,

The past week has been celebrity recipe free, due to my travel schedule. However, I have been cooking but I've been trying to use up what I have in my fridge and my pantry without having to buy extra unique ingredients. So, I've been cooking from my "New Chatelaine Cookbook" that I've had since it's publication in 1992. It's an 18 year old cookbook but it's always served me well. Let me tell you what I've made from it this past week:

1. Superb Beef Bourguignonne. My oh my, this was the most delicious beef bourguignonne that I have EVER made. 2 cups of red wine (my own home made California dry) was, in my opinion, the key ingredient to this outstanding dish. It simmered for 2 1/2 hours and the beef was so tender and juicy at the end. It made enough for 6 servings and it was even better the next day. I had all the ingredients on hand which made me quite happy. The smell of simmering beef in red wine was to die for. I highly recommend this recipe and if anyone wants it, let me know and I'll post it.

2. Giant Oatmeal Cookies. Winner!! I didn't actually make them into 13 giant cookies but I made 32 medium sized ones and holy moly, they are scrumptious! I couldn't stop eating the batter it was so buttery creamy! I suppose I could have made another 5 cookies but, alas, the batter was being depleted quickly into my stomach. Another great recipe from this cookbook.

3. Outstanding Greek Salad. Pretty tasty. I had to buy feta cheese, pita bread, and anchovy paste but that was it. I had everything else on had. It was quite good. The pita chips were deliciously baked with melted butter and parsley to a beautiful golden crispness. Tossed with the marinated tomatoes and salad dressing, I feel those really made the salad. Taking a bite of everything and making sure there is a bit of pita and feta in your mouth, it was very, very good.

I'm traveling again soon so I'm not sure exactly when I'll be tackling another celebrity recipe, but rest assured, I've got plenty of ammunition to work with and I'll hunt one down that is a challenge and weigh in on the results.

If anyone is interested in trying out the recipes, let me know and I'll send along the details. If you do make it, let me know how it turns out. I'd love to hear if people feel the same way about them that I do and if their experiences are similar.

Cheers!

Colleen

Breakfast Casserole - Results

Good morning! I have to admit, the kitchen did smell quite yummy with Paula Deen's "Breakfast Casserole" baking in the oven. I could smell the cheese melting and cooking. It took an hour at 350 degrees. Perfect for those mornings when you're not quite sure when everyone will be up. So it turned out that as everyone got up, breakfast was going to be ready in only 15 minutes.

The results: Mom-in-law and Dad-in-law really enjoyed it and asked for the recipe. My boyfriend really liked it too.

It was indeed juicy - bread soaked with milk and eggs, puffed up with saugage hidden in and cheese beautifully melted on top. I will admit that it was good. Personally, there was something lacking. Perhaps the sausage could have been spicy rather than mild. Yes, I think that's it. But for those with a less spicy palate, I suppose it was delicious.

All in all, it's a great recipe for company, especially preparing it the night before. And the whole prep took less than 30 minutes.

I forgot to take a picture of it. Too preoccupied with company perhaps. My apologies everyone. But, trust me, it looked fab. I will honor this recipe with a 4 out of 5 stars.

Check in again to see what recipe I'll be challenging in my ever busy kitchen!

Cheers!

Colleen

Breakfast Prep

Folks, tonight is the night. To prepare breakfast for tomorrow! A few years ago, my sister made the most delicious breakfast casserole one night and the next morning we indulged. Bread soaked in spices and juices and sausage linked in. Mmmmm. I never got the recipe from her but I happened upon something quite similar from the Queen of Southern Cuisine.. Paula Deen. This particular recipe is from "Christmas with Paula Deen" and it's literally filled with goodies. This will be the first time I try anything from the southern belle, but I'm excited. Everything she does is with so much love you just can't help but feel that whatever it is, it's gonna be good. As I mentioned yesterday, the in-laws and my son are here for the weekend. So I've decided to try out this particular recipe from Paula Deen...

Breakfast Casserole

I've got to prepare everything tonight and let it soak up all the goodness. Then, in the morning, it bakes for an hour and the house is supposed to smell quite yummy, according to Paula. So, for this blog, I won't be able to show a picture today. I'll get the finished goods tomorrow morning.

Mom-in-law is currently cooking the sausage which is one of the things I had to buy for this recipe. I also had to get some cheddar cheese. But that's it! So, pretty simple ingredients for a proposed scrumptious breakfast.

I'll be back in a while when things are underway...

Right off the bat, I need 4 eggs and 2 cups of milk and 1 pound of sausage. Can you spell "high cholesterol" with me??

Guess what? We're finished! It took less than 30 minutes to get from beginning to end. It's in the fridge now, soaking up deliciousness, waiting to be devoured tomorrow morning.

Have a great night everyone and I'll be back to let you know how it turns out and what everyone thought of Paula Deen's "Breakfast Casserole".

Cheers!

Colleen

Skewered Chicken

Folks, it's Friday night and I'm in the mood for some easy cookin'. I'll confess, I've never tried anything from this celebrity chef because her recipes always seem so rich and high in cholesterol, fat and everything else that's detrimental to your health. But they also seem so delicious. So, Ina Garten, the "Barefoot Comtessa", I'm giving you a whirl tonight. She's got great screen presence and you know she just loves to cook. She so delightful. I've chosen a recipe from her book, "Family Style". It got 98 reviews on food.tv. I didn't bother to read them all but there was definitely some good and bad reviews. But, as you all know, I'll be the judge of this recipe - thoroughly! Here it is:

Parmesan Chicken Sticks

The first great thing about this recipe is that I didn't have to buy anything at all. Everything was either in my pantry, fridge, or freezer. Yay! So, I'm getting my chicken prepared. I need to bread it. This recipe, at first sight, appears to be fairly simple. Let's just hope the simplicity doesn't mean that the flavour lacks!

The news of the night is that my son is hanging out with us for the weekend. So, it's not really any surprise to me that I've chosen something similar to chicken fingers. His favorite. He just cut the chicken into thick strips. I've got the rice steaming and the peas warming.

Here we go. Time to drench the chicken strips in the flour, then the egg mixture, and then the parmesan mixture. I've got to fry them up in a mixture of butter and olive oil.

Cooking Tip: Do NOT be afraid to cook with olive oil and butter. It truly brings out flavor in the food and provides a beautiful crispness as well.

Ok, it smells delish! I just flipped the first couple of chicken pieces and they are gorgeously bronzed. Perfect. This is a very quick dish. Much quicker than the "30 minute meal" from last week. Remember that shrimp disaster??

Everything is on the plates. We're now waiting for the final word from my son and my boyfriend.....

Boyfriend: Pretty bland. Really boring. It doesn't even activate my saliva glands, that's how boring it is. (Ouch.)

Son: Juicy. I wish it was deep fried. It doesn't have much to it. Taste like chicken and breadcrumbs.

Me: I concur with the boys. I put a bit of plum sauce on my plate and that seems to help.


Well folks, another recipe that just doesn't hit the mark. Have a look. It might look full of flavour, but it's deceiving.

I give this a 2 out of 5 stars. I wouldn't make it again.

People, I'm 1 for 4 now. Let's review the past 4 recipes:

Giada Recipe # 1: Excellent. This is something that I would make at least once a month.
Giada Recipe # 2: Not bad. I wouldn't make those cookies again. I've had better.
Rachel Recipe # 1: Yuck, yuck, yuck. Please do NOT make this. Definitely not deserving of being in a cook book.
Ina Recipe # 1: Bland. Even though it was a quick meal and I didn't have to buy any extra ingredients, it turned out boring. Pass the plum sauce!!

Now, I just got 2 new Gordon Ramsay cookbooks, "Healthy Appetite" and "Cooking for Friends". I breezed through "Cooking for Friends" and I can tell you, right off the bat, I'm disappointed in the sheer absurdity of the ingredients.

Let me elaborate: rabbit legs, goat shoulder, duck eggs. Do you think if I ask the butcher, he just might have some rabbit legs in the back to wrap up for me? How about a goat shoulder? I highly doubt it. I'm going to choose something from Gordon for my next meal. I have to really review these because many of the ingredients are either unavailable or absolutely, without a doubt, something I wouldn't be interested in making.

The in-laws are visiting this weekend and I'll be making a little something from Paula Deen. It's a breakfast dish that can be prepared the night before so the bread can soak up the goodies and puff up. I'll let you know how that goes. So, Paula Deen and Gordon Ramsay, you're next on my list of recipe testing!

Cheers everyone!

Colleen