This summer, I'm hoping to not be as lazy cooking-wise. Methinks I should do what I did at Christmas, and choose where I'll attempt certain recipes, seeing as I actually DID the cooking required once I had written down when I wanted to do it. ;) The three main recipes that I would like to attempt this summer are brioche, cinnamon buns and pretzels (notice a trend?). There are a few other recipes that I'm hoping to attempt, but these are definitely the main goals.
The first time I tried brioche was when I went to France in high school. For our first week, we stayed with billet families and it was on our last day with our family that we were offered brioche for breakfast. I love the rich, buttery taste of the bread, which was helped even more by the freshness of it. From what I gathered in the recipe that I found, it's actually not as laborious as regular bread, so I'm hoping it will be successful.
Cinnamon buns are one of those kinds of recipes where when you find one you like, that becomes the standard. For the longest time, my mom would bring home cinnamon buns from the hospital, which were freshly made every day. They became my favorite, and they tasted best when warmed in the microwave. Down here, we have the choice of Cinnzeo or Cobs bread. I don't mind the Cinnzeo brand, but I find that it is VERY rich and I've had difficulty in the past finishing one on my own. I recently tried the Cobs bread version, thanks to a coupon that I had acquired at EAT!Vancouver this year. It best replicated the cinnamon buns that I remember from the hospital, but they were quite light as well, which was a pleasant surprise. I certainly didn't feel as guilty as I would have after a Cinnzeo, so that's something! The recipe that I'm hoping to attempt uses potatoes in the mix, something that I've never seen except in this particular recipe. It is supposed to make the dough more moist, so we'll see what happens.
The first time I had proper baked pretzels was when my community band went to Austria and Germany, the best place to find them. I really enjoyed the freshly baked pretzels, but I was turned off by the huge amounts of rock salt that they put on them. I know that it a big part of the pretzel experience, but surely you can put less and still have that great pretzel taste. One of my Food Network magazines has a basic pretzel recipe where you can modify it with different fillings and/or toppings, so I will likely go that route.
Here is the meal plan for the week. Mostly oldies but goodies. Enjoy the long weekend and happy cooking all!
July 1-7th
Sunday: Greek chicken with lemon potatoes, Greek salad
Monday: Risotto with asparagus, peas & spinach
Tuesday: Thai chicken soup
Wednesday: Spice-rubbed pork with quinoa
Thursday: Best-ever Mac & Cheese
Friday: Cheese souffles with ham & spinach
Sat: Dinner at my AIL's