A Tisket, a Tasket, A Bread-and-Butter Basket

The Setting: Cloudless blue skies...green leaves clinging steadfastly to their branches.... It looks like spring. If only it felt like it.

The Soundtrack: The dishwasher--did I mention we finally got one? It may be one of the greatest things on Earth.

Steaming up the Oven: Bread, glorious bread!

The Scenario: A restaurant-worthy breadbasket awaits your next dinner party or holiday spread....because bread goes with everything, and butter makes everything better.

I adore dining at truly splurge-worthy restaurants, where everything that arrives on the table, from pre-dinner cocktails through post-dessert coffee, is so spectacular I don't care the cost.

The problem is I am a stay-at-home mom married to a graduate student, and neither Hoosband nor I can claim a trust fund...so dinners like that are rare.

Even trying to re-create the experience at home can be a bit over-indulgent (and a bit of a headache) for the day-to-day.

Fortunately, one of my favorite parts of a pricey restaurant meal, the upscale take on the breadbasket, is a DIY that's both easy and economical.

Go to almost any restaurant and you're bound to be greeted with a basket of bread. But a few things set the best apart from the rest:

1. The bread: There is bread that you eat because you are starving (or bored), waiting for your meal to come. It tastes like nothing, might be stale, and was most likely mass-produced in a factory somewhere, but hey, it keeps you from twiddling your thumbs.

Then there is bread that you eat because it looks and smells so good it lures you in. You eat more than you mean to and almost ruin your appetite for your appetizer because it tastes so good you simply cannot stop.

My favorite breadbaskets contain a variety of tantalizing, baked-in-house breads.

Of course you don't have to spend all day baking homemade bread. Make what you want, buy what you want, but aim for an assortment of three or so different styles of bread.

I like an eclectic assortment: something quick, something yeasted, something whole wheat, something in muffin form, and something with either dried fruit and nuts or cheese.

This basket contains whole-wheat Cuban bread (whole wheat and yeasted), Pistachio-Apricot Soda Bread (quick and containing dried fruit and nuts), and Parmesan and Pine-Nut Corn Muffins (quick and containing nuts and cheese).

Note: Depending on the needs of those you'll be serving, consider including at least one gluten-free option.

2. The butter: I love just about any place that serves real butter. Forget the part-dairy "spreads" that we've come to expect from the local roadside waffle hut and pancake emporium. If I'm fine-dining, it better be butter.

If you can get your hands on (and feel like dishing out seven-to-eight dollars for) some Cultured Butter with Sea Salt from Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery (VBC), by all means, use this and do absolutely nothing to it. It is perfect.

Salted Kerrygold Irish butter is another good choice (and about half the price).

Alternatively, the cheapest, store-brand, sweet-cream butter can be turned into something spectacular  with a little creativity. See the recipe for Honey Cardamom Butter below.

Note: Whatever butter you select, let it sit out at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving. Not only will it be easier to spread, it'll taste better, too.

3. The presentation: This is the part that ties it all together. Arrange your assortment on a wooden cutting board, heirloom platter, or pizza peel if desired--whatever brings cohesion to your table. I like to use a wooden produce basket lined with parchment paper.

For a little extra flair, I like to make a Parmesan basket or cone for my butter to sit in.

Here's how:

Sprinkle a thin, even layer of shredded Parmesan into a 4-5-inch circle in a nonstick skillet over med-high heat.

Cover and cook 2 minutes or until melted and very light golden on the bottom. Use a spatula to flip the Parmesan circle and cook another minute or two.

Working quickly, carefully transfer the circle to a kitchen towel and place an ice-cream-cone mold on the cheese. Use the towel to roll the cheese into a cone shape around the mold and press gently on the seam, holding here for a few seconds to help it seal as the cheese cools.

Alternatively, gently press the circle into one of the cups in a standard muffin tin so that it forms a cup-shape. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin.

A medium-sized cookie scoop makes a perfect ball of butter for whatever vessel you choose.

Honey-Cardamom Compound Butter
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch salt

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two weeks. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Bread recipes coming soon!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Dirty Blonde Brown Bread

The Setting: It's Spring Break here in the Bend, and boy, are we excited!

The Soundtrack: The washer and dryer. So behind on housework.

Steaming up the Oven: Dirty Blonde Brown Bread.

The Scenario: So you want to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Well, you could pick up some of the soda bread flooding the supermarkets this time of year...or you could spend the money on some good Irish butter and make this Dirty Blonde Brown Bread at home.

The "Irish soda bread" here in the States tends to be a round loaf with a creamy white interior, dotted with dried currants.

While I'm sure it's authentic, I don't recall seeing this type of soda bread in Ireland.

I do recall three different versions, all oblong loaves, none with dried fruits.

White soda bread (simply called soda bread) and whole-wheat soda bread (brown bread) were hard to resist, but it was a slightly speckled brown bread, lighter in color and flecked with bits of grain for texture and flavor, that made me want to chain myself to the table and trade my ticket home for another loaf.

Here's my best attempt at re-creation to date. Dip it in some Irish stew, or add some salted Kerrygold butter or sweet orange marmalade, and you've got a little slice of Ireland wherever you are.

Dirty Blonde Brown Bread
Soda bread is so called because it's leavened with baking soda rather than yeast. This one is called "Dirty Blonde" because it is lighter than regular brown bread and flecked with oats.

4 oz old-fashioned oats (not quick-cooking, not steel-cut)
8oz all-purpose flour
8oz whole wheat flour
1 T malted milk powder
1 T dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp fine salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 T cool butter
1 large egg
12 oz buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter a loaf pan.

Place oats in the food processor and pulse until they are chopped but not uniform or powdery.

Add the flours, milk powder, brown sugar, salt, and soda. Pulse several times to combine.

Add the butter and pulse to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks sandy and there are no large pieces.

In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the egg and the buttermilk.

Turn the processor on and slowly stream in the buttermilk mixture, just until a sticky dough comes together. In very humid environments, you may not need all of the buttermilk mixture. Do not mix more than necessary.

Scrape the dough out into your prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top as much as you can with a spatula, and bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 400, and bake for 20 minutes more.

Let cool 10 minutes in the loaf pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Eat immediately once cool.

Read about my Irish Adventures:

Driving on the Other Side of the Road, Part I.

Driving on the Other Side of the Road, Part II.

Driving on the Other Side of the Road, Part III.

Driving on the Other Side of the Road, Part IV.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Homemade Honey-Butter Graham Crackers

The Setting: A very overcast Monday.

The Soundtrack: Silence, interrupted only by the merry striking of computer keys.

Steaming up the Oven: Homemade Honey-Butter Graham Crackers.

The Scenario: I've got a tasty idea in the works, and it all starts with homemade graham crackers.

I'm betting you've got an idea where I'm going with this, but you'll have to wait for another post or two to know for sure!

Homemade Honey-Butter Graham Crackers
You can actually buy "graham flour," which is made by grinding the starchy wheat endosperm very finely, grinding the bran and germ more coarsely, and then recombining the parts (or you could make your own concoction of white flour, wheat germ, and wheat bran), but I just use a mixture of whole-wheat and unbleached all-purpose flours. These sweet crackers are richer and crispier than what you find in the supermarket, and they make amazing graham-cracker crumbs for pies!

11/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp finely ground salt)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1-3 tsp water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together the flours, salt, soda, and cinnamon, and set aside.

In an electric mixer cream together the butter, brown sugar, and honey on med-high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Add the water, 1 tsp at a time, just until a soft--but not sticky--dough comes together. If you are working in high humidity, you may need less water; in very low humidity you may need more.

Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into a fat rectangle and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper until it is between 1/4- and 1/8-inch thick.

Transfer the dough (with the parchment) to a baking sheet. Carefully peel off the top layer of parchment.

Use a pizza cutter to trim off the jagged edges, making an even rectangle, and use it again to cut the rectangle into 12 (approximately 3x3-inch) squares. Leave the outside scraps and the cut squares in place. You can use a tape measure or ruler if you want to be precise, but I tend to wing it. With a fork, pierce three rows of holes in each square.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or till crisp and golden. Let cool on sheet before carefully breaking into squares.

Store tightly wrapped in parchment or in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.