RS Cooking Class

So I'm heading up a Relief Society cooking enrichment activity. We meet twice a month. Or that is the plan anyway. The first class was on the 6th. We focused on bread. I was sad that only 5 ladies showed up...but I am so grateful those 5 showed up. For a few minutes there, it looked like no one was going to show.

We made a garden herb loaf. It was amazing. The recipe is from Fleischmann’s Yeast Best-Ever Breads. It is my favorite bread book EVER. It is the book we used the year we focused on bread for 4-H. Even though the book is by Fleischmann's, I don't use their yeast. I finally found out that my stuff never turns out like my mom's because she uses Saf's. Lesson learned. I now only use Saf Instant Yeast also. Now that I've gone off about yeast, here's the recipe for the garden herb loaf.

GARDEN HERB LOAF
Makes 1 Loaf

4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
4 ½ tsp instant yeast
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp dried majoram leaves
¾ tsp dried thyme leaves
¾ tsp dried rosemary leaves
¾ c milk
½ c water
¼ c plus 1 Tbsp butter
1 egg
additional majoram, thyme, and rosemary (optional)

In large bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, salt, majoram, thyme, and rosemary. Heat milk, water, and ¼ cup butter until very warm (120 to 130F); stir into dry ingredients. Stir in egg and enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece to 30-inch rope. Braid ropes; pinch ends to seal. Tie knot in center of braid; wrap ends around knot, in opposite directions, and tuck under to make round loaf. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 20 to 40 minutes.

Bake at 375F for 30 to 35 minutes or until done, cover with foil during the last 10 minutes to prevent excess browning. Melt remaining butter; brush over loaf. If desired, sprinkle with additional majoram, thyme, and rosemary. Remove from sheet; let cool on wire rack.
Our next meeting is this Thursday. We are focusing on desserts. I'm hoping a double feature of Chocolate Cake Parfait and German Chocolate Cheesecake will be enough to draw a bigger crowd. If not, here's hoping for at least 5.