Spinach Feta Bread

Spinach Feta Bread

Yesterday I finally had a little time to myself to try out one of my new bread recipe ideas. I had some fresh organic spinach from our local organic farm store that I thought would go great with some feta cheese and mixed into one of my artisan bread loaves. So I finely chopped a small handful of fresh spinach leaves. Removed the stems first. Then chopped up a couple of green onion tops from my front porch garden pot. To those I added a small handful of crumbled feta cheese and mixed all of that together with a dash of extra virgin olive oil.

I had some nice artisan white bread dough waiting for me in the fridge. So I patted and rolled the dough out on my bread board into an approximation of a rectangle. I spread the spinach-cheese mixture over the flattened dough and pressed it into the dough a bit to make sure it got in there well. I rolled it up tightly into a baguette shape and then realized it was too long for both my pizza peel and my baking stone, so I curved the loaf into a nice arched half moon shape. A sort of spinach feta rainbow.

After proofing for about 45 minutes, it baked up beautifully with spinach and cheese showing through the crust slits. I ate about 1/3 of the loaf while it was still warm with my comfort food dinner. A great treat for my Halloween night. Crunchy crust outside, moist and savory inside. The tastes of Greek Spanakopita, only in a nice crusty warm bread.


Spinach Feta Bread Slices

I will definitely make this recipe again. Great with my dinner and probably will be a good savory breakfast bread to eat with your eggs in the morning. I'll try it if there is any left after my dinner tonight!


© Copyright 2009 MotherHen Jen

Delicate White Dinner Rolls

Round White Artisan Loaves (background) & Delicate White Dinner Rolls

One of my recent weekly deliveries to our local organic farm store included my usual round white artisan loaves of bread which have a chewy crust and a moist interior crumb. Along with those round loaves, I delivered their smaller spinoff cousins, the white dinner rolls with which I had been experimenting. I say "experimenting" because I created the dinner rolls, packaged them up into bags of 6 rolls each and sold them all, without even getting to taste one of my own creations! I now need to make more so that I can taste them myself. They must have been good, because they sold out right away.

I can tell you that these little rolls which averaged about 3 1/2 inches in diameter, had a nice delicately chewy crust covering a soft interior. When I gently squeezed a roll between my thumb and forefinger, it gave a springy resistance back to me that told me it was moist and soft inside. Just right to bite into plain or adorned with soft butter. They would make wonderful small sandwiches for a buffet table or as a snack any time of day. Perhaps with afternoon tea.

Here's what the white rolls and loaves looked like during their "proofing" phase:

White Bread on the Rise!

Guess I had better get busy baking some more so that I can try them out myself, huh?


© Copyright 2009 MotherHen Jen