No pudding , no cheesecake

Puddings are not my thing- and besides, I have no one at home to even taste it ( the butterscotch pudding for Tuesdays with Dorie), and hence, my skipping a week's entry. As far as this week's recipe for cheesecake, we shall see. In our house, cheesecake is more of a warm weather dessert, especially around the Jewish holiday of Shavuot where cheese is the main ingredient in all dishes. That holiday doesn't happen until the beginning of summer, so I might just wait with that and substitute something else.

All said, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy cooking and baking! I attended a wonderful class this past week on breads and soups- how fun!! We made five different kinds of bread and 4 soups. I , of course, came home and had to try things out right away so I decided to go for two breads- one an antipasti bread and the other- lemon rolls( very interesting taste). I also made tomato soup with rice and nana( mint leaves)- yum yum!!

Unfortunately, everyone dove into the food before I had a chance to take a photo of it all- sorry about that- next time! But the recipes are here if you care to try- definitely worth it!



Antipasti Bread(makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients



1/2 kilo bread flour

15 grams dry yeast

360 ml. body temperature water( not too warm not too cold)

handful of fresh basil leaves chopped

30 grams sugar

10 grams salt

50 grams parmesean cheese, grated ( can be fresh or Kraft)

1 zucchini, 1 eggplant, 1 red pepper, lightly grilled



1. Put all ingredients except veggies into mixing bowl . Mix thoroughly and knead into a smooth dough, at least 10 minutes in a stand mixer using the dough hook

2. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size.

3. Pre heat oven to 200 degrees C. ( about 190 F.)

4. Divide the dough into 2 and roll each half out into a rectangle. Don 't knead the dough too uch or it will become elastic and difficult to work with.

5. Lay pieces of the grilled veggies on the rectangle and tightly roll in to an oval shape. Place on parchment covered baking sheet, cover with palstic wrap and let rise again until doubled.

6. For a crispy crust, roll in a bit of cornmeal before the second rise.

7. Dust the surfae with flour and make diagonal cuts with a sharp knife or blade. Bake at 230 C. for 15 min. then lower temperature to 200 C.

8. Cool on a rack before cutting.



Back with more later!!