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What can’t one do with this Sturdiwheat Baguette mix?

This takes a bit longer than the regular Sturdiwheat mix, but it is sooooooo worth it.

To start, dissolve yeast packet contents in 2.25 C warm water.  Add 1.5 C of the mix and stir until smooth.  Cover and let this sponge cure for up to 24 hours. If cured in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature for 1 hour before using.

When the sponge is ready, add the remaining contents of the Sturdiwheat bag to the sponge and mix thoroughly until smooth. Read more

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Add some Rosemary and Voila!

This was a great success.  Add  a few tablespoons of chopped rosemary – This was with fresh rosemary – Don’t be shy about the spice.  Let it sing!  Add it at the same time the water is added. Crush the rosemary with a small bit of oil in a mortar and pestle if you have one to force the flavors.  If using dry rosemary, be sure to crush the spice.

Let is rise for up to 24 hours.  Punch down a couple of times during the rise.  The long rise isn’t necessary,dsc05768 but the flavor and texture improve with the longer rise.  Let the loaves rise for an hour or so after shaping the loaves.  Put a pan of  HOT water on the bottom shelf of the oven when preheating is started.  This moisture is so important for getting that wonderful artisan crust.

Slit the loaves across the top with a serrated knife or a scissors just before putting the loaves in the oven.  Also, spray the top well with water.  Spray twice more during baking.  This water also goes to giving you that beautiful crust.

Bake as directed on the package at 425 degrees –  but bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is a golden brown.dsc05783 A longer baking time is required because these loaves are thicker than the baguette loaves.

This bread turned out so beautifully.  The texture was exquisite.  The crust – Exceptional. Use this Baguette Mix in many ways.  Test it out!  Let us know what happens.

Enjoy this Rosemary Artisan Bread and the compliments you will be hearing!  And be sure to visit Sturdiwheat for this and other great mixes.

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Add Wild Rice!  Sometimes Beautiful Things Happen!

Several days ago I was making some bread using Sturdiwheat baguette mix. Oh my, these baguettes are SO good! And easy. I had some leftover cooked wild rice and I added a cup of cooked wild rice when I mixed the bread. Let it rise overnight (as in the instructions) and Poof! This bread, in addition to being a great baguette is also versatile. Don’t pass up this simple mix at Sturdiwheat.com.

Look what happened. The aroma of fresh bread. Great flavor – and there is no doubt about how it looks!

The texture was wonderful! Soft and chewy. A sturdy crust beautifully browned. I put a small pan of HOT water in the oven (be sure there is enough water to last the entire baking time) on the lower shelf when the pre-heat was started, and sprayed the bread with water when it went in the oven. Spray the bread with water twice more while it is baking. It helps make that perfect crust we all love. Also – let the bread rise for a while after shaping it into loaves. And bake for 30 minutes (this is longer than the instructions on the package, but it is a wider loaf than the baguette instructions) and it makes for a crusty, dense, delicious loaf. You will be SO proud to serve this.
The one caution I would give you is this: You might not be able to resist eating ALL of it when it comes out of the oven!
It is so easy to enjoy Sturdiwheat just as it comes to you from www.sturdiwheat.com. Simply add water. – - – - Go ahead – get creative. Enjoy both the wonderful bread and the loads of compliments!
Let’s join with the French this week in the celebration of Bastille Day! And why not do it with enjoyment of some French Food! Check here on The Grain Bin this week for treats from across the Atlantic. Make Bastille a week of French Food.
Why not start your week with a simple but delicious summer combination. Fruit, Cheese, and Baguette Tray. With a nice glass of wine. Don’t make it complicated. Choose some fruit that is easy to eat. Cherries, grapes, melon and/or strawberries. These are so easy to wash/clean and put out on your tray. Add some cheese. Choose a soft cheese like Brie, a hard sharp cheese like Cheddar or Gruyere, and a pungent blue or gorgonzola. Leave them in large pieces with implements for guests or cut them up as you want. Some picks might be supplied for eating.

For the wine, please make it a favorite of yours. If there are enough guests, you may want more than one variety. If the gathering is more intimate, choose a favorite and go with that.

And finally – That wonderful French Baguette. Baked in your own oven. It’s available from Sturdiwheat and is as easy as the rest of this simple service. You can’t do better than this bread for your guests. And it is so easy to make. As with most Sturdiwheat products.  Just add water.  You will be an artisan baker with everyone enjoying this very special treat without having to travel to France. You might have guests just tear off pieces of the bread, or you could slice it in diagonal pieces to be enjoyed with the fruit and cheese. You might put out some unsalted butter for those who desire it. Your choice.

You can form these loaves so easily and bake them just before serving. Or you can bake it early and serve at room temperature. But think about it – that smell of fresh bread in the oven for your guests. What an added indulgence!

Enjoy the tray – Sip a favorite wine – and savor this warm, delicious baguette. It makes me hungry!

www.sturdiwheat.com

Quiche Lorraine and Sturdiwheat Baguette Slices.  Perfect!  french_flag-605x3346

Easy Easy Easy.  Eating should be a joy and preparation should be pleasant!  The Sturdiwheat Baguette mix couldn’t be easier.  Just add water and you have that perfect baguette.

The Quiche Lorraine?  Bacon, Swiss Cheese, Onion, Milk, Eggs, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne.  And you may make your own crust or use a prepared crust from the supermarket.  Try this reciquiche_lorrainepe for  Quiche Lorraine. If you want to free yourself up in the morning, mix the custard the night before. Bake in a tart pan or regular pie pan.

Serve for brunch, lunch or dinner.  For brunch and lunch, serve with Sturdiwheat Baguettes served with your favorite spreads – Orange marmalade, fresh strawberry preserves, peach marmalade, or whatever you have on hand.

For a light and delicious dinner serve with a nice fresh salad laced with lemon juice, fl-f014olive oil, salt and pepper, (or your favorite French vinaigrette) and fresh warm Sturdiwheat baguettes and butter.  So quick.  So easy.  So delicious. So you.

Sturdiwheat.  Light on the effort / Heavy on the compliments.

Ah!  Now isn’t that something that everyone loves?french_flag-605x3345

Great French toast requires little.  And most of us have made it successfully. It requires great bread like the Sturdiwheat baguette and a flavored custard. You must have great bread to make great French toast.  If you haven’t tried the Sturdiwheat baguette mix, PLEASE do so.  It is a great product.  If you are planning ahead and if the bread is very fresh, slice diagonally (3/4 – 1 1/2 inch your choice) and let it air dry overnight.  Make a custard – of your favorite flavor.  (Try 1 cup half and half, 3 eggs, a bit of salt, 1/2 tsp each vanilla and orange extract.  If you don’t have orange extract, substitute 1 T orange juice concentrate.)  I love this combination of vanilla and orange. Remember the Dreamsicle?  Creamsicle?  Yep! There you have it.  This will please your family and friends.  Oooos and Ahhhhhs will be sung around the table.  Dip each side of the Sturdiwheat slices into the custard for 30 seconds each side.  Set aside and let rest for a few minutes.

At this point you may fry it as usual.  But Hey!  frenchtoastWho wants to be frying loads of French Toast when everyone is waiting.  Bake it.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees – Butter a baking sheet.  Put the slices on the baking sheet and Bake for 45 minutes or until it is browned to your liking. The toast will be puffy when you remove it from the oven, but will flatten shortly.

Make it extra special.  Serve with your favorite creative accompaniments. 

Oh yes – For a really easy morning, make the custard the night before.

Sturdiwheat – Helping make you the star in the kitchen.

Brunch, Lunch, or Dinner entree. Chicken, Mushroom, Seafood. french_flag-605x3344Take your pick.

For these entrees, put a small amount of filling on a crêpe. Roll it or fold it. Place them in a baking dish with a small amount of sauce over the top. They are ready to warm for your entree. Again, Sturdiwheat has made the crêpes a breeze. And they are so good. For any recipe you find on the Internet, simply use the easy mix from Sturdiwheat for the crêpes part of the recipe.

For chicken recipes, make it simple by using a rotisserie chicken savory-crepesfrom the supermarket. For the seafood, make it easy by selecting cooked shrimp or crab (or both). Google found so many recipes.  Search for your preferred ingredients. It only involves making a bit of sauce for the filling and the top and that’s it.  Include your salad with a light vinaigrette or green vegetable like asparagus or broccoli and this is going to be a hit.

Sturdiwheat – Helping to make you the chef in your kitchen.

Some Google recipe results: Chanticleer Chicken and Mushroom Seafood Seafood Mushroom Or easily find your own.

Enjoy your success with this great make-ahead entree.  And if you want to serve some bread with this entree, don’t forget that perfect and authentic French baguette from Strudiwheat.  Yum.

french_flag-605x3341I know we think of French Onion Soup when we connect soup and France.  But it is summer.  Why not try a cold soup that is often attributed to the French.  Vichyssoise is actually a soup created by a French chef from the Ritz-Carlton in New York in the early 20th century.  The ingredients are leeks, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock.  Here is Chef Diat’s recipe from the Ritz-Carlton.  There are many variations on that soup today.vichyssoise

Chef Diat based his recipe on his childhood memories of his mother’s chilled Leek and Potato Soup.  Here is a recipe from Julia Child for that Leek and Potato Soup.  Either one will be a true delight on a hot summer day in mid-July. 

Now – to really enjoy that soup, don’t forget the baguette.  Is any soup truly complete without bread?  Sturdiwheat has it! Just add bread-bagette12water.  Easy.  Healthy.  Natural. There is nothing better than the aroma of that fresh bread baking in your home.  And you can be that Master Baker with this baguette mix from Sturdiwheat.  Go for it.  You won’t be disappointed.  And the French will think you are one of them!  How’s that for a bonus!

Yep it’s true!  French Buns for German Sausage! Courtesy of Sturdiwheat.

The mountains near Anaconda are beautiful.  Clear Creek running swiftly down the mountain within 25 feet of the cabin gave us a constant sound of nature and was enjoyed by all.  Clear Creek is about the width of a large car, is spring fed from the lakes above it, was augmented with some snow melt, and was an incredible sight.  The creek itself was the subject of dozens of photos – it’s hard to resist taking photos of it.  Can you say “TOO MANY”?  Will post some here later.

Today I want to tell you about the Sturdiwheat French Baguette Mix.  Outstanding!  On our first night in the cabin, we had Montana Beef Steak (yes, it must be upper case when speaking of Montana Steak), Minnesota wild rice, salad with lemon/olive oil dressing, and a SW French Baguette.  Everything was a hit.  Believe it when Sturdiwheat says it is easy!  Wow!montana-09-300-22

Because the instructions said it could rise for up to 24 hours, I took just 1/3 of the risen dough and made a baguette for dinner. Left the remainder of the dough in the bowl, covered. The next day for lunch we had brats.  I took 1/3 of the risen dough (by this time it had been rising for nearly 24 hours) and made some brat buns.  How’s that for a German / French combination?  YUMMY!

That afternoon the remaining risen dough was used for another baguette!  We had FRESH BREAD for sure!  That’s the way we love it.

The brat buns were really great.  You can do anything with this Sturdiwheat mix.  Don’t be afraid to try something new.  It is a great dough, and well worth the experiment.

This morning’s temperature was cool. So some warm hot chocolate hit the spot. And then I couldn’t resist making some bread. Don’t you love the smell of bread baking? It fills the house with that warm feeling and aroma. It just may warm the heart too. The smell elicits definite images of fresh bread even before it is done baking. The taste and smell invades your senses as you imagine enjoying the flavor. And that’s just what the smell does. Just wait for the taste!

Long process to make it? No! Sturdiwheat! It was in the pantry. Baguettes today. Opened the bag. Added the water. Kneaded the dough (THIS is one of the reasons I wanted to make the bread.) Later I formed the loaves and put it in the oven according to the simple instructions.

And now that smell has permeated the entire house. So easy. So healthy. So delicious.

I won’t be able to wait for lunch. I will be having some bread in a few moments. With just a touch of some marmalade. Wish you could join me. (I will be having more bread for lunch.)

These bread mixes are incredible. And nutritious. Check them out. You are in for a treat.