No Need to Knead Bread

My four year old granddaughter ate a variety of vegetables and fruits when she was younger, but the older she gets the pickier she becomes. Last weekend she and her little brother came to have dinner with Poppy and me. I had prepared a healthy nutritious meal ahead of time: there was roasted chicken, pasta salad, a green vegetable salad, No Need to Knead Bread, and for dessert, chocolate zucchini muffins with fruit.

Both children were hungry and started eating right away. Lana had never tasted my No Need to Knead bread and being a carb-eating child, I was sure she’d like it. But she was reluctant to taste anything with green specks on top. I talked her into “just one small bite” and she loved it. While she worked on the second piece, the bread basket disappeared. Since she wanted more, she took her brother’s. So you have the Princess’s stamp of approval on this bread that is easier to make than a cake mix.

I love making breads as you’ve probably guessed by now. I have tried many different recipes for peasant breads, some were too refined, some too soft or didn’t have that homemade flavor. But this recipe was just about perfect. It’s not only delicious, but it has a wonderful chewy texture and is one of the easiest and most versatile breads I have ever made. In fact this recipe is so easy that I have written it in my children’s book. It doesn’t have to be kneaded—so I have renamed this yeast bread the No-Need-to-Kneed Bread. Be sure to let your Prince or Princess help with this one.

You will need: A large mixing bowl, wooden spoon, measuring spoons and cups, and a large jellyroll pan brushed liberally with extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkled with cornmeal. Set aside.

Ingredients:
2 cups of warm water Toppings:
2 teaspoons of yeast Fresh Rosemary
2 teaspoons of salt Pepper
4 cups of unbleached flour
Crushed garlic
Grated Parmesan

Directions:

Pour the warm water, about the temperature of a baby’s milk, into a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top. Stir just until the yeast is dissolved, then add the salt and flour. Mix until the flour is just moistened and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with olive oil spray, and place on top of the bowl. Cover with a dish towel and keep in warm and draft free place. Let it rest for about an hour or until the dough is spongy and about double in size. Brush olive oil onto a jellyroll pan sprinkle with corn meal and set aside.

The next step is the most difficult. When the dough has risen until about double, carefully remove the towel and plastic wrap. Spray or brush olive oil on your hands and on top of the dough. Carefully cup your hands and work your way around the edges of dough while the bowl is tipped over the baking pan. When it is completely on the pan, drizzle more olive oil on top, and gently pull apart leaving small holes. This should be about the size of a large pizza. Don’t be afraid that it will end up flat. It is very forgiving and will rise to the occasion.

Sprinkle the dough with coarse salt, chopped fresh rosemary, pepper to taste, crushed garlic, or a sprinkling of dried garlic. Grated Parmesan or your favorite cheese sprinkled on top is fine too. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes until your masterpiece is light brown. Serve with Italian food or after baking 20 minutes add some marinara sauce and pizza fixings. Place back into the hot oven and bake until it's bubbly and beginning to brown. We have done this at our home, and it has become our favorite pizza crust. With a green salad this will serve six to seven people. Even your picky eaters will love it.

Have you got any good recipe for your picky eaters? Send them to us. Maybe we can try them.

Stealthy Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Food is my passion, but I realize that I’m consumed with finding not just delicious, nutritious, and appealing sustenance, but also finding ways to get my grandchildren to eat them. After polishing off two meals one day last week, I realized that my granddaughter had eaten only carbohydrates and dairy all day. Now she was begging for a chocolate muffin before dinner. It was time for Grandma to convince her to eat something from the vegetable kingdom.

“Princess, you haven’t eaten fruits or vegetables all day. It’s very important for your health that you eat vegetables and fruits—a rainbow of color that covers half your plate at every meal.”

She thought about that for a moment then said, “But Grandma, the other half of the plate can be brown, right?”

It was very hard to keep a straight face, but I continued, “Yes, but some of the brown needs to be meat, bread, beans, or nuts. Now can we have some cucumber slices or celery trees with humus just to last until dinner?”

She sighed deeply and said, “Okay.” I put a sandy beach of humus on her plate and planted some palm celery trees around it. She ate most of it. That’s when I decided we would make some chocolate zucchini muffins and hide some vegetables in her favorite food—chocolate.

First we began with the following ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups of sugar
¾ cup of canola oil

The princess beat the eggs and sugar and then added the oil a few spoons at a time until the ingredients were thoroughly blended.

Next we measured and mixed the dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
¾ cups cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
Then I combined the contents of both bowls and added 1 cup of dark chocolate chips while the princess lined the 12 muffin cups with paper liners. She was happy as she snacked on the chocolate chips—two for the bowl and one for the mouth. Then I took out the grater and two glossy green zucchini which I began grating into a bowl.

Eying me suspiciously the princess stopped chewing the chocolate and said, “Grandma, what are you doing with that zucchini?”

I continued to grate listening to the life-blood of the squash swishing through the tiny blades. “I’m going to put two cups of this living rainbow green vegetable into the muffin batter to keep you healthy and strong.”

“No-o-o-o, Grandma! Don’t do it. You’re going to ruin my muffins,” she said as she sprang from the stepladder and left me to finish the detestable task of spoiling a perfectly delicious chocolate dessert.

Ignoring her, I mixed the two cups of grated zucchini into the batter watching the green disappear. She writhed on the floor and mumbled that mixing vegetables and sweets wouldn’t work.

“Look, Sweetie Pie, the zucchini disappeared,” I said and scooped half the dark chocolate batter into the muffin tins and the rest into a greased loaf pan.

“But the zucchini is still there even if you can’t see it—right Grandma?”

“That’s right,” I said and placed the pans in the oven preheated to 350 degrees. The loaf had to remain in the oven for about 55 minutes until set, but the muffins were ready in about 25 minutes.

I removed the muffins from the oven as the warm chocolate fragrance wafted through the air—my mouth watered. I took the muffins from the pan and placed them on a wire rack to cool more quickly. Within five minutes I tore the paper from one and bit into the moist richness. “Um-m-m, better than a brownie, I said. “Delicious!” I held out my arm with the half eaten muffin, closed my eyes and tilted my face to heaven and inhaled.

The princess grabbed the muffin and took a bite, “Oh, Grandma, you’re right. I can’t see the zucchini or taste it. It’s magic! Can I have another one?

Yes, Stealthy Granny strikes again!