Olive Cheese Bread

Plenty of people have been baking during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what they’re baking is bread. The puff-’n’-stuff supermarket brand I once thought a bargain at $2.50 a loaf looks pretty expensive, now. 

Clues that home cooks are baking bread? 

• Flour and yeast have been in short supply since the crisis became part of our lives.

• New bread machines are hard to find. 

• Cast-iron Dutch ovens are also hard to find. Cast-iron Dutch ovens are essential for No-Knead Artisan Bread, which everyone wants to bake, just as everyone seems to have gone crazy over Sourdough Biscuits and Sourdough Bread. 

I recently made a 1-1/2 lb. (0.7 kg) loaf of Bread Machine Olive-Cheese Bread ... Wow! This is a bread machine recipe I’ll definitely make over and over again. It’s a winner that deserves 5 out of 5 stars. If you don’t have a bread machine, follow the traditional method for hand-made bread, taking care to add the wet and dry ingredients in exactly the order the traditional recipe calls for.

Bread Machine Olive-Cheese Bread:

1 c. (250 mL) water, room temperature

3 tbsp. (45 mL) olive oil

1-1/2 tbsp. (22 mL) granulated sugar

3/4 tsp. (3.75 mL) dried thyme

1-1/2 tsp. (7.5 mL) salt (see Note)

3 c. (750 mL) bread flour

2-1/4 tsp. (11.25 mL) yeast 

1/2 c. (250 mL) crumbled feta cheese, well drained 

6 tbsp. (90 mL) coarsely chopped green olives, well drained (see Flavor Note)

3 tbsp. (45 ml) chopped, commercially sun-dried tomatoes, well drained and blotted dry

3 tbsp. (45 mL) additional bread flour

Place water, olive oil, sugar, thyme, salt, and flour into loaf pan of bread machine. Set for white bread, medium crust. Press Start button. 

In medium bowl, stir together feta, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes, distributing evenly. When first kneading is finished or when first beeper of bread machine sounds, sprinkle feta, olives, and tomatoes with additional bread flour. Mix quickly but well, adding to dough in bread machine. The machine will do the rest, baking a perfect loaf of this delicious and interesting bread.

Note: Do not reduce salt!

Flavor Note: Pimiento-stuffed olives impart the most wonderful flavor and ribbons of color to this bread. 

One Click: Stroganoff

The dish we know as Beef Stroganoff is steeped in Russian history. Wikipedia’s surprisingly weak entry on the topic left me wanting more. I still do. I found a lively, intrigue-filled description of how this dish came to be on a website that later dropped all reference to the Stroganoff family of Russia. Pity.

Onward! Nicole Parton’s Favorite Recipes features several types of Stroganoff - not one of them as fascinating as the history lesson I read and lost, but nonetheless filling and delicious. I hope you'll try these One Click recipes for … 

• Classic Beef Stroganoff     

• Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff               

• Jiffy Meatball Stroganoff   

• Stroganoff with Meatballs                

• Beef Stroganoff “Stew”

• Ground Beef Stroganoff  

• Turkey Stroganoff with Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

• Turkey Stroganoff with Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

Chickpea and Rice Salad

Canned chickpeas are a staple, at our house. They’re delicious, nutritious, low in fat, and never go to waste. I was poking around the kitchen cupboard a few days ago, wondering how if could make a salad with almost no “saladables” on hand, when I threw together these interesting ingredients and came up with a decent little salad I judged a “keeper.” 

Chickpea and Rice Salad:

3/4 c. (185 mL) white rice (see How to Cook Rice)

3/4 c. (185 mL) poultry or vegetable stock  commercial or homemade (see One Click: Stock)

1/4 c. (60 mL) water

1-1/2 tsp. (7.5 mL) soy sauce

2 tbsp. (10 mL) peeled and finely diced raw carrot

2 tbsp. (10 mL) finely diced raw celery and/or frozen peas

One 14-oz. (398 mL) can chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and blotted dry

2/3 c. (160 mL) large-diced, cooked, chilled poultry or firm fish, boned and skinned

1-1/2 tbsp. (23 mL) finely chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook rice in stock and water, adding more of either liquid according to which cooking method of you prefer. Chill cooked rice, stirring in soy until well blended. Add carrot, celery, and/or frozen peas and chickpeas, blending well. Stir in chilled chicken or fish, being careful to keep delicate diced fish intact. Add parley and seasonings. Chill at least 30 min. Serves 4 as a salad; 2 as a main dish.

Optional: Stir in a teaspoon of olive oil, if you wish; I found it wasn’t necessary.