Two very different sweet breads, both delicious!

Yesterday I made this Cinnamon Swirl Bread for my sister and her husband to enjoy (I got to taste some too!).  I scoured the internet for recipes that would at least partially work in the bread machine.  Now that I feel comfortable making the dough in the machine then baking it myself in the oven, I want to get some more practice in.  The recipe in the link above worked out really well.  The only thing I'd do differently is cook it for about 5 minutes more, as the bottomw of the loaf was a little dense. We tasted some toasted, but Nat was thinking about making french toast with it.  I look forward to hearing about it!

Today, I saw a recipe for Chocolate Flax seed Bread on one of my new favorite food websites: http://www.tablespoon.com/.  I thought this was a brilliant recipe because it tricks you into thinking you are eating something healthy because of the flax seed when in realty there is still butter and sugar and white flour in it... but oh, so what, who cares.  Try it... it's still way better for you than a milk chocolate candy bar or most of the other junk food out there.

I didn't have whole flax seeds on hand so I just used the same amount of flax seed meal.  As long as the flax seed meal is fresh, you get the same benefits of whole flax seed (high in fiber, anti-cancer and anti-diabetes properties) but without the crunch.  I thought the cake was light, airy and delicious.  As suggested by the recipe, it would taste great warmed up with a little vanilla ice cream. I had mine with a cup of skim milk.  A really nice afternoon snack.

The cinnamon bread was definitely more like bread, and tasted best toasted with butter.  The Chocolate bread was more of a light cake.  Both were really good and I'll file those away in my "future recipes" file.

I think i need to start cooking up some more healthy meals this week, so I'm working on that.  I've been in carb mode and might need to take a break before my clothes start fitting too tight! Do you have any favorite healthy meals you like to cook for your family?  Please feel free to share with us.

Chow for Now! :)

Mmmmmmmm. Cake.

I know I said I was going to make cake yesterday but didn't get around to it.  Today, after scouring the interweb for a "great" sheet cake recipe and only finding only "ok" or unrated recipes on the usual sites, I consulted my trusty "Joy of Cooking" for help and boy did Joy come through for me.

I made what is listed as "1-2-3-4 Yellow Cake" in my edition but is also called "Four egg yellow cake" in more updated editions.  Hollah!!  It came out great!  I made the batter as called for but instead of using 3-8x2 round pans used one 13x8 pan.  I didn't put all of the batter in - left about 2 cups of the batter out but I probably could have fit it all in, cooked it a little longer and it would have been fine.  I am envisioning this cake as THE cake for my sister's baby shower in a couple of weeks. Two-13x8s layered with strawberries and homemade whipped cream... YUM!  No pictures becuase I didn't ice it and it looks sort of naked but trust me it tastes great.  It's light, fluffy and has a distinct vanilla taste with a tiny undertone of almond.

So, speaking of Joy of Cooking, in class this week we were given a handout with the Top Ten Books for Future Chefs (this list was originally published by "Working World" magazine in 2005 so there are probably some others to add).  I am happy to say I've read or own three of the ten (starred below) and have put in a request to the LA Public Library to hold some of the others for me.  Drum roll please.....

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
Becoming a Chef by Andrew Dornenburg and Jaren Page
*Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
*The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
Larousse Gastronomique, A Culinary Encyclopedia
Le Guide Culinaire by August Escoffier
*The Making of a Chef by Michael Rulhman
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee
The Professional Chef, published by the Culinary Institute of America

Also recommended by my prof is The Soul of a Chef by Michael Rulhman.  I LOVED Anthony Bourdain's book - he's such a smart ass and tells it like it is. 

Do you have any favorite cookbooks that you use often or do you rely solely on the internet for recipes?  What are some of your favorite websites for finding new and interesting recipes?  I probably go to http://www.foodtv.com/, http://www.epicurious.com/ and http://www.myrecipes.com/ most often.

Happy Sunday - enjoy the Oscars!!

Chow for now. :)