Castellon's Kitchen: December 2018

I used to be able to pick up some Challah bread from my local farmers market every few weeks from one of my favorite bakers, Rob at Arising Dough. Unfortunately, he moved to another Farmers Market over a year ago and I regrettably I haven't made it over to visit his new market. (sigh.) In addition to his delicious sourdough bread, Rob makes Challah bread in all sorts of flavors and one of my favorite's is his Fall Spices Challah. It is absolutely divine. I came across this Pumpkin Challah bread recipe and it reminded me of his amazing bread and I decided to give it a try. The added pumpkin puree makes this already soft bread extra moist and soft but still dense enough to hold up to butter and jam or even soaking overnight in eggs and cream to make the most amazing French Toast. I personally like it with butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and a cup of coffee, but I also made some curried croutons with it to top salads and soups! Absolutely perfect, but next time, I'll forgo bread making and go get the original from Arising Dough. Happy Holidays!

Pumpkin Challah Bread

Recipe from Taste of Home Pumpkin Cookbook

1 pkg (1/4oz.) active dry yeast
3 T warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
2 T brown sugar
2 T softened butter
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. salt
2-2 1/2 cups bread flour

Egg wash
1 egg + 1 T water

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin. egg. brown sugar, pie spice, salt, yeast mixture and 1 cup flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. It will be a bit sticky.

Turn dough on a floured surface and knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled. About an hour.

Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, divide into thirds. Roll each into a 16-inch rope. PLace ropes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and braid.

Pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Cover with a kitchen towel;let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare egg wash by mixing water and egg in a small bowl. Brush over loaf. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Other recipes to try:

Garlic Cheese Bread

French Bread

Pumpkin Crumb Muffins

Cranberry Sauce is the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers. Aside from topping leftover turkey sandwiches or riding shotgun to sliced turkey on Thanksgiving day. It's great on toast or muffins on post-holiday mornings. It's basically jam afterall. I decided to elevate the humble toast with jam to these easy and deliciously sweet Cranberry Bruschetta.
Inspired by an old Pampered Chef recipe for Strawberry Bruschetta, I dug up my scalloped bread tube and baked up a loaf of this beautiful bread that was toasted crisp with butter and cinnamon sugar. I slathered it with a sweetened creamy mascarpone cheese generously flavored with lemon zest and then topped with cinnamon cranberry sauce, more lemon zest, and finely minced rosemary. Perfect for a light breakfast or dessert! Enjoy!

Cranberry Bruschetta

Makes ~20

french baguette, sliced*
butter
3 T cinnamon sugar
1 cup Mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
zest of 1 lemon and 1 T lemon juice
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 cup leftover homemade cranberry sauce
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t fresh rosemary, finely minced (garnish)
lemon zest (garnish)

Butter baguette slices and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place bread slices on cookie sheet and broil until toasted ~ 4minutes. Set aside to cool.

*Note: I used my Pampered Chef Scalloped Bread Tube and 1 tube refrigerated pizza dough, baked 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees to bake up the scalloped bread slices pictured.

Mix Mascarpone cheese, sifted powdered sugar and lemon zest and juice in a small bowl. Spread cinnamon toasts generously with mascarpone cheese spread. Top cheese with 3-4 sliced almonds.
Add 1/4 tsp cinnamon to left over cranberry sauce and top cheese toasts with about 1 tsp cranberry sauce. Garnish with more lemon zest and finely minced rosemary.