The Expat Kitchen

Living abroad has forced me to learn how to cook. In the states, one of our favorite healthy meals was a bag of salad, some canned corn and a rotisserie chicken. Yum! Pictured above is Lilly's and my new favorite healthy lunch: homemade bread, homemade yogurt and homemade jelly. Unfortunately, I can't take any credit for the jelly - it was jarred by someone in Shanghai, so I will soon finish the jar and be done with this particular flavor. But substitute chopped strawberries or pureed blueberries, and its just as tasty.

I don't usually post my recipes, because I am far from being a food blogger. Plus, most of my recipes come from one of a few online sources anyway. For those who are interested, my favorite sources are Cooks Illustrated, Pioneer Woman, and older recipes on Simply Recipes. I also pull a lot out of Rachel Ray magazine, although very rarely do I use anything from her website.

But I am so proud of these two that I thought I ought to share. Thanks to Morgan for inspiring me to make bread a few years ago - this Honey Wheat Bread has been on regular weekly baking cycle in our house for a few years now. And thanks to Chana for getting me started on the yogurt - this one's new. Yogurt is so simple that I don't really have a recipe to share, but I will refer you to the link that got me cooking. SeriousEats.com seems to be a great foodie website, along the lines of Cooks Illustrated but taking itself much less seriously. They posted this fantastic yogurt-making tutorial. I add 2 t. milk powder and 1 t. almond extract (although we're still figuring the flavoring out - I'm trying a teaspoon of vanilla next time).

Honey Wheat Bread:
Makes 2 loaves, with about 12 slices each

Combine:
1/4 cup 105-115F water
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast

Allow to dissolve 3-5 min.

Combine:
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup melted butter
2 1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
yeast mixture above

Add:
4 cups wheat flour
up to 4 cups flour

Knead 10 minutes.
Allow to rise until doubled - I let it rise 1.5 to 2 hours

Split into 2 equal sections - rest 10 minutes.
Form into 2 loaves and rise in pans - I give it another hour or so

Bake 45 minutes at 350F - this varies dramatically by oven; at our last house, it baked for 50 minutes, and at this house it bakes for about 35.