Better French Bread

About a month and a half ago I shared this easy french bread recipe. Since then I have stumbled across a better recipe that so far has proved to be fail safe. Which is always a win! I even left it rising on the counter for about six hours too long (yeah, I know) and it was still awesome! I like to make it without the egg wash because it turns out a little more like Focaccia bread, and I just prefer it that way.

Happy baking!

Source: melskitchencafe.com via Chanel on Pinterest

Easy French Bread

I made this bread with dinner tonight, and it was so easy I just have to pass along the recipe. Let me first say that I have no experience with bread making. I can follow a recipe, and love the oatmeal bread from breadworld.com that my sis shared with me, but that is all the bread I have ever baked. So I'm branching out here. This french bread recipe wasn't as daunting as some other recipes I've seen, so I gave it a shot. It turned out great, and was just as easy as the pizza crust I make with my kitchen aid mixer - which takes almost no effort. I will say that you need to plan ahead with this one. I guess that goes for any bread. I don't have a true source for this recipe because I originally got it from a friend of a friend, and then made some of my own modifications. So I'm calling it my own. If any of you have good sources for bread recipes then pass 'em down, cause I'm hoping to broaden my bread making skillz.

1 1/2c warm water

2T sugar

2t salt

1 pkg active dry yeast (I used rapid rise yeast because that's what I had..I don't really know what the difference is)

2T oil

4c bread flour (actually just under 4c)

In a large bowl stir together water, sugar, salt and yeast. Let set about 5 minutes. Add oil and flour -about a half a cup at a time- blending with your hand, until smooth. Do not knead. Cover with cloth and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled. Flatten dough, divide in half. Let rest for 10 minutes. Roll up dough into 2 loaves. Place on an oiled cookie sheet and coat loaf with oil or spray with Pam. Let rise another hour. Score top of loaves and bake in a preheated oven at 400 for 20 minutes. (I used a baking stone and the loaves transfered from the cookie sheet easily after rising.)

If you can't stand the heat, use a crock pot.

I love to discover or create recipes that simply can't go wrong. These barbeque chicken sandwiches are one of those gems. I was originally planning to only share the coleslaw recipe here, just so that I could look it up in the future. The small scrap of paper I have it scribbled on is likely to disappear while it's waiting to be safely organized in my recipe collection. Then I made these sandwiches the other night and thought, for posterity, I'll document our entire meal. I will say, regarding the photograph, that these sandwiches received the kid treatment (note the carrot sticks) because my husband wasn't home for dinner. You might consider creating a slightly more sophisticated meal with, well, something besides carrot sticks.

These sandwiches are great for large gatherings, big eaters, or days when you feel guilty about sending your husband out in the hundred degree heat to stand in front of a four hundred degree barbeque.

The Chicken:

Put a few pounds of BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN THIGHS in your crock pot. (if you don't use thighs because you only have chicken breasts, and you think they're healthier so you decide to modify this recipe, you void any guarantee that is accompanied with this recipe)

You can use fresh or frozen chicken, and as much as you need or fits in your crock pot. I used about a dozen small, fresh thighs, which yielded about eight full sandwiches.

Pour about one to one and a half cups of your favorite BARBEQUE SAUCE over the chicken. Then turn it on and walk away... well put the lid on, and make sure it's plugged in, and set it to high for a couple hours. Your cooking time will vary depending on the size of your crock pot, the amount of chicken you're using and if they are fresh or frozen. My twelve fresh thighs took about two and half hours.

When you can smell the chicken from across the house, and see the saucy goodness bubbling, you're almost done. Make sure your chicken is cooked through. It should pull apart easily with a fork. Remove from the crock pot. Shred with forks then RETURN TO THE CROCK POT and stir it up. It's done!

The Coleslaw:

In a medium bowl combine;

2T minced onion

2T white vinegar

2T mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, minced

2t sugar

1t black pepper

1/2 t salt

Add 2c angel hair cabbage and toss

Refrigerate at least 2 hours

This cole slaw is very mild in flavor and caters to the texture sensitive eater in me (and maybe you).

Use any sandwich rolls and load up with chicken and cole slaw. Add extra barbeque sauce if you prefer.

There it is. Just about the easiest summertime dinner that you can have prepared before lunch!