2.11.2009

Saving Spaghetti Night

If you're like me, you have certain meals you make for dinner on a regular basis. They're usually easy, don't cost too much to make, and the family loves them, right? Well, spaghetti is one of those for us... the kid's love it, but lately it's been a bit of a drag for my man. So in my attempts to appease everyone - my bread-lovin' hubby included - I tried this new recipe last night as a side:

What? Why yes, that is homemade bread. And yes, it does taste as fabulous as it looks! Well... no, there aren't any leftovers today.

Believe it or not, the recipe made two of these giant loaves, so we spread the joy with our fine neighbors, who also happened to be dining on spaghetti last night. In the future I might cut the recipe in half, or go ahead and make the two loaves, with one intended for the freezer. All in all, I think my first attempt at bread making went rather well, if I do say so myself. Oh, and this would not have been at all possible if my sweet guy hadn't splurged for Christmas on the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer I've been coveting for the last three years. Spaghetti night lives on in the McCann household!

***

Italian Braided Bread

dough mixture

  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 Tbsp yeast
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 tsp salt (mix these ingredients before adding flour)
  • 6-8 cups all-purpose flour (add 6 cups, then add additional flour until it no longer sticks to the side of the bowl)

cheesy butter coating

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp Basil
  • 1 tsp Garlic salt

Directions

  1. Add dough ingredients into mixer
  2. Mix and add flour until flour no longer sticks to sides of bowl
  3. Let dough rise in mixer bowl for 1 hour (I covered the bowl)
  4. Divide risen dough into 6 "snakes"
  5. Dip "snakes" into cheesy butter coating
  6. Braid 3 "snakes" into a loaf and repeat with the remaining 3.
  7. Let braided loaf rise 1 more hour (I covered again)
  8. Bake @ 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes

Courtesy of my dear friend Diane - thanks for saving Spaghetti night! :)

10 comments:

Katie said...

YUMMMYYY! That looks so good! Thanks for sharing the recipe! I can't wait to try it out! :)

Anne said...

ok that looks fabulous, and i am most definitely trying that on our next spaghetti night! thanks for sharing the recipe!

E said...

Yum! I made homemade bread at Christmas and it would have been so much easier with your mixer! I've been drooling over one of those since before we got married (11 years ago).

This recipe looks delicious...I definitely want to try it some time!

Erica

DW Hobbs said...

Mmm, looks GOOD! Too bad there aren't leftovers for say some hungry visitors that will be headed that way in two days!! LOL ;-)

Bruce Judisch said...

Don't cut the recipe in half, for heaven's sake, invite your parents over! :-)

Love, Dad

Anonymous said...

I've never tried making homemade bread even though I would love to. But at the same time, I'm all for the stand mixers - like your friend E I've been wanting one for the past 6 years. Ha! :) But with the military a hand mixer is just easier to store (military housing doesn't have the counter space!), so I haven't had the opportunity to get one. :( Either way, that bread looks delish! And I would definitely like to try it some time!!

Anonymous said...

That looks like a lot of work! You've sure got a lot going on in your oven lately lady! Miss you!

Kim said...

Wow! That looks AWESOME!! We are a bread lovin' family too! I can't wait to try it out.

Anonymous said...

Yay! I'm glad you finally got to make your bread after having tried it for the first time about 3 yrs ago! We love making this bread whenever we have the time! It's definitely worth making both loaves because of all the steps required. Saves you time later! Miss you guys!

Nina and John said...

Wow, does that look good! I'm impressed! Love y'all!