Showing posts with label #easterweek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #easterweek. Show all posts

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Sweet Potato Braided Bread for #EasterWeek

A sweet breakfast or brunch treat made with roasted sweet potatoes, this braided bread is an impressive addition to your holiday table.


A sweet breakfast or brunch treat made with roasted sweet potatoes, this braided bread is an impressive addition to your holiday table.



Welcome to day 6 of #EasterWeek hosted by Bernadette from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen!


This week we are celebrating Easter and Bernadette’s blogging anniversary with all kinds of delicious recipes and a giveaway! From appetizers to ham recipes, we have everything you need for a great Easter dinner or brunch, and one lucky winner will receive a $200 Amazon gift card.  Scroll down for more details!



cross section of a braided loaf of orange sweet potato & pecan bread



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It's good to have a skill in your kitchen repertoire that can be manifested in a variety of ways throughout the year. This recipe is an excellent example of that. The technique of braided 3 strands of bread dough is a simple one to master, and once you've got it down you can turn out an infinite array of breads for nearly any occasion. [As I type this, my brain is thinking towards savory routes.] I learned how to braid bread while living in Finland where I made a cardamom-spiced version called Pulla  [poo-lah] (you can find my Finnish Pulla recipe here).


preparing to braid 3 ropes of sweet potato and brown sugar pecan doughs


Sometimes I get creative before I start braiding the dough. I've flattened and spread ropes of dough with caramel pumpkin butter before braiding to make a Caramel Pumpkin Butter Stuffed Braided Bread.
I've gotten creative using Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share vegetables to naturally color the dough for a tricolor Mardi Gras Bread using purple sweet potatoes, orange sweet potatoes, plus matcha green tea powder to make the traditional colors in sweet bread form.


a braided loaf of orange sweet potato and brown sugar bread dough topped with maple sugar


The basis of this bread is a sweetened, enriched dough. My sweet potato bread dough recipe was inspired by the Overnight Sweet Potato Monkey Bread in Donna Currie's book Make Ahead Bread. When you make dough using vegetables the moisture content varies widely depending on the age of the vegetable and the amount of rainfall during the growing season, so it's important to be familiar with how an enriched dough should act/feel/look like. If you've never baked bread I would not recommend diving into this recipe. I'd suggest you start with the Pulla to get the hang of it, then branch out to incorporating roasted sweet potatoes into your dough.


sprinkling maple sugar on a braided loaf of sweet potato bread dough


For this recipe I wanted to expand on the sweet potato dough concept with complementary flavors. I chose pecans and brown sugar because that's my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes. I've made this bread several times, with several variations. I've got a bunch of notes, so do be sure to read through before embarking on your baking session(s). You can be as elaborate as you want, using 3 types of dough to make 6 loaves of multicolored purple/orange/brown bread. You could simply make a single batch of orange sweet potato dough and make two loaves of bread. Add in pecans or leave them out as you prefer. Sprinkle on maple sugar or use turbinado sugar as you prefer.  This recipe is pretty forgiving, and the dough can be stored in the fridge for several days or frozen for several months.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich with Hummus and Watermelon Radish for #EasterWeek

A dairy free vegetarian recipe to use up hard cooked eggs, this avocado & egg salad sandwich is extra creamy thanks to hummus plus the colorful crunch watermelon radishes.


photo of an avocado egg salad sandwich with watermelon radish and hummus


Welcome to day 3 of #EasterWeek hosted by Bernadette from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen!


This week we are celebrating Easter and Bernadette’s blogging anniversary with all kinds of delicious recipes and a giveaway! From appetizers to ham recipes, we have everything you need for a great Easter dinner or brunch, and one lucky winner will receive a $200 Amazon gift card.  Scroll down for more details!

how to make an avocado egg salad sandwich with watermelon radish and hummus


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A vegetable-filled vegetarian recipe to use up hard cooked eggs, this avocado & egg salad sandwich is extra creamy thanks to hummus, and with the colorful crunch watermelon radishes.


I'm a practical cook yet I tend to creativity in the kitchen. Planning meals is NOT a paper and pencil exercise, it's more me staring at the fridge and seeing what containers I can empty to create space. Turning bits of leftover meats into pizza toppings is one inspired way I keep our family's Friday Night Pizza Night interesting, as described in My Pizza Primer. Adding Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce to the family meals is a constant source of inspiration--actually the purpose of this website. Repurposing leftovers is yet another source of inspiration for me, and the reason for today's recipe.


behind the scenes making an avocado egg salad sandwich with watermelon radish and hummus
Vincent and Simon are waiting for a crumb to fall. Any crumb. They aren't picky.


Monday, April 3, 2017

Wild Violet Butter for #EasterWeek

Fresh wild violets and wild violet sugar make a sweetly floral compound butter perfect for celebrating all things Spring. Add this spread to an Easter or Mother's Day brunch to bring a taste of fresh local foods to your table.



Fresh wild violets and wild violet sugar make a sweetly floral compound butter perfect for celebrating all things Spring. Add this spread to an Easter or Mother's Day brunch to bring a taste of fresh local foods to your table.



Welcome to day 1 of #EasterWeek hosted by Bernadette from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen!


This week we are celebrating Easter and Bernadette’s blogging anniversary with all kinds of delicious recipes and a giveaway! From appetizers to ham recipes, we have everything you need for a great Easter dinner or brunch, and one lucky winner will receive a $200 Amazon gift card.  Scroll down for more details!


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The key ingredient in this recipe can be foraged, for free, across North America and beyond. I'm not one to turn away free food, especially free food that pops up when I'm most in need of a fresh local food fix after months of eating from the freezer, the canning shelves, and the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve. Granted, I cannot live on a diet of wild violets, but that doesn't stop me from using them in a variety of ways. Today's recipe is my third using wild violets. I've shared Wild Violet Granola, which I made using wild violet syrup. I've made Wild Violet Muffins--dunking the tops in wild violet sugar to finish them off sweetly. This time I'm also using the fresh flowers--not just in a syrup, jelly, or sugar preparation--to make a compound butter.


close up pic of wild violet butter spread on a biscuit


Use this wild violet butter as a spread for biscuits, scones, muffins or toast. Add it to an Easter spread or Mother's Day brunch. If you're fortunate to have ample blossoms [I almost typed ample bosoms] it would be neat to decorate the table with some as well. Start with a good quality salted butter. Typically I buy unsalted butter in bulk, so making compound butters are when I splurge for the single packages of salted butter, and usually a European style butter because it's creamier.


image showing how to make wild violet butter


Making compound butters is an easy way to add a bit of flair to a holiday meal.  They keep for several days in the fridge (longer in the freezer, although I've not frozen this type of butter) so you can prepare early for your celebration. In the summertime I'll use an abundance of herbs to make Dill Butter. For Thanksgiving and Christmas I like to serve Cranberry Honey Butter. It's a small addition, but it's a nice touch that makes a special meal that much more special.