"In your spare time..."

One of my students emailed this morning:  "In your spare time, would you please..."  Spare time?!  What spare time?!  If this person had to wait until I had "spare time," s/he would never hear from me.  Good for him/her, I "make time" to answer. :)

Rosemary Feta Cheese and Bacon Bits Bread

I had a rough week (lots of work-related issues and an eye infection that slowed down my writing) so was mainly catching up this weekend, too exhausted to cook much.

I did make a pot of my chicken noodle soup, since it does not take much time at all but has lots of fresh veggies (onions, mushrooms, celery, carrots, tomatoes, lots of parsley).  S. loves this soup so he did not mind eating it for several meals. 

I also made Feta Cheese Bread, by modifying this recipe.  It took just a few minutes to make.  Also, I needed to use some leftover feta cheese.  This bread is delicious, especially when still warm -- chewy on the inside but flaky on the outside, infused with aroma of rosemary, feta cheese, and bacon.  Combined with homemade chicken noodle soup?  Mmmmmmmm...  Time spent?  15-20 mins for soup and under 5 mins for bread.  Hmmmmmm... ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled (I only had 1/2 cup this time)
• 3 oz bacon bits
• 3 tsp yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt (I used 1 tsp because I only had 1/2 cup feta cheese; salt is important for the rising process)
• 1 tbsp crushed dried rosemary

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the breadmaker bucket (liquids first, yeast last).
2. Set on Dough cycle.
3. Spray the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Spread the dough so it's not thicker than 1 1/4 inches (flatten with your hands).
5. Score the top in squares or diamonds.
6. Let the dough rise for an hour, away from the draft (microwave is a perfect place -- just make sure nobody turns it on, lol).
7. Preheat the oven to 350 F (I have a small oven so 400 F works better).
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool a bit and cut, following your scoring marks.