Food week Day 1.

Much to the chagrin of my friend Brian.. today is day one of a week of food madness. I was a little bored with our recent dinner menus.. so I am spicing things up a little with some handmade, experimental dishes. I plan to make things from scratch and see how my family likes that versus the from the hamburger helper madness we have been experiencing lately. After this week I'll go back to my normal blathering about the day to day here at Casa'de Lane.

Today I made Zuppa Toscanna from a recipe that I got from Olive Garden. Its what Steve-o orders every time we go there so I thought Id try my hand at it. In a word? YUMM-OH! (as Rachel Ray would say)This stuff was fantastic. I cant say that I followed the recipe to the letter.. I substituted whipping cream for the heavy cream (it was on special) and I used chicken stock instead of water and chicken base.



Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

Author/Submitted by: Sonia Borges, guest relations for Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. Published 3/13/96 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune Taste Section.
Servings: 5

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Sausage links, spicy; about 12 links
3/4 cup Diced onions
6 slices Bacon
1 1/4 teaspoons Minced garlic
2 tablespoons Chicken stock base
1 quart Water
2 medium Potatoes, cut in half and then into 1/4 slices
2 cups Kale, cut in half and then sliced
1/3 cup Heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place sausage links onto a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until done; cut into half lengthwise, then cut at an angle into 1/2 inch slices. Place onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Add garlic and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken base, water and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes. Add sausage, kale and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve



I also attempted Tyler Florence's Amish Bread recipe. It was good also. Being that this was my very first attempt at making bread.. I am VERY pround of myself. Bread making is an art.. It takes a whole semester at most Culinary Arts schools to learn to make a proper loaf of good quility bread. Someday, (when I am independantly wealthy and have nothing else to do) I plan to go to culinary school. But for now? I'll be proud of my food network bread. I didnt have two loaf pans.. so I made some rolls out of half of the dough. We ended up eating those with dinner and I plan to make toast and poached eggs for breakfst before church tommorow with the loaf of bread.


Tyler FLorence's Amish Bread Recipe

2 cups warm water (110 degrees )
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour


In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.