The Best Burger Buns and A Chicken Pesto Sandwich

I love hamburgers. In the summer I eat a lot of burgers, especially when tomatoes start ripening in the garden. A homemade hamburger with freshly ground beef, grilled to rare perfection and topped with a homegrown tomato is one of the best summer meals ever. What could possible make this delicious meal any better? Why, homemade hamburger buns of course!

Now I realize that it is not August, and tomatoes are not yet in season, however, that does not mean you can't make homemade buns and fill them with other delicious yummys (yummies?). So that's exactly what I did.

These buns were fabulous, and while I can't wait to sandwich a juicy, grilled hamburger between the two halves, they weren't too shabby surrounding marinated chicken breast with pesto and provolone. I may never go back to store bought buns again.

Golden and delicious, beautiful burger buns

A few steps in the process

Take a fresh bun...

add marinated, grilled chicken...

and a few tomato slices...

and some provolone (the cheese missed out on the photo op)

Put it all together and you have a delicious chicken pesto sandwich!

Not the greatest photo, but you get the idea, believe me, it was delicious

If you were wondering, I put mayo on the cut buns and grilled them, then I spread more mayo on the top of the bun, slathered pesto on top of the chicken, topped this with the provolone and placed all of the sandwiches in the oven for a few minutes to get nice and warm and let the cheese melt. When they came out, I put even a little more mayo (if you couldn't tell, I love mayo) on the top of the bun, topped the chicken with the tomato slices and sandwiched everything together.

I thought these sandwiches were delicious; the chicken was juicy and flavorful (it helps to use really thin pieces of chicken), the buns were fresh and all the ingredients worked well together. My dad had one comment, he thought they could use a little mustard, and he may have been right, or not. But that's what I love about sandwiches, they are so versatile, you can do whatever you want and it doesn't matter. If you don't like it this time, try something different the next time!

This was the whole meal we had when my parents came over a few Sundays ago, nothing gourmet, but absolutely fresh and delicious.

The Whole Meal

Beautiful Burger Buns
from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients

• 3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water 
• 2 tablespoons butter 
• 1 large egg 
• 3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast 
• 3 tablespoons melted butter 

DirectionsMix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.

Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy.

Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter.

Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust.

Cool the buns on a rack.

Yield: 8 large buns.

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling

My parents came to visit last weekend, to see how we were doing and go to church with us. We had a wonderful day together. When they arrived we had a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage and toast using my homemade soft white sandwich bread. It was delicious.

For lunch, Lara and I made chicken pesto sandwiches with marinated chicken (grilled on my grill pan), provolone, pesto (of course), tomato and mayo, all on a fabulous homemade bun, recipe to follow soon!

While all of this was fun, the best part of the visit was the excuse to make a yummy dessert that I normally wouldn't make for myself. Lara and I decided on chocolate cupcakes that we had seen on America's Test Kitchen. We did change them up a bit by substituting mocha frosting for the chocolate frosting in the recipe and boy and I glad we did. The mocha frosting was absolutely delicious, and a great complement to the rich, dark, decadent chocolate cupcakes with a surprise ganache filling. These were hands down the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever had, maybe even the best cupcake ever. Happily, there was a nice amount of leftover frosting, can't let that go to waste, right...

The not so humble cupcake

Fresh from the oven, if you look close you can see the divot 

where the ganache sits, my favorite part!

Mocha frosting, ready for its noble purpose

Six uniquely frosted cupcakes, all were fabulous

Note: A half batch of the frosting is good for the 12 cupcakes the recipe makes. 

Cupcakes 

from America's Test Kitchen

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Ganache Filling

• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine (see note) 
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar 

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine (see note) 
• 1/3 cup (1 ounce) Dutch-processed cocoa 
• 3/4 cup hot coffee 
• 3/4 cup (4 1/8 ounces) bread flour 
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Directions

FOR GANACHE FILLING: Place chocolate, cream, and confectioners’ sugar in medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave on high power until mixture is warm to touch, 20 to 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth; transfer bowl to refrigerator and let stand until just chilled, no longer than 30 minutes. (Do not chill for longer than 30 minutes. The ganache gets too hard and sinks to the bottom of the cupcake during baking. Still just as delicious, but quite messy, and not as easy to eat. I found 20-25 minutes to work well.)

FOR CUPCAKES: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-size muffin pan (cups have ½-cup capacity) with baking-cup liners. Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl. Pour hot coffee over mixture and whisk until smooth. Set in refrigerator to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla into cooled chocolate-cocoa mixture until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Place one slightly rounded teaspoon ganache filling on top of each cupcake. Bake until cupcakes are set and just firm to touch, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before frosting, about 1 hour. 

TO FROST: Mound 2 to 3 tablespoons frosting on center of each cupcake. Using small icing spatula or butter knife, spread frosting to edge of cupcake, leaving slight mound in center.

Mocha Frosting

from Cook's Country 

Makes about 4 cups

This recipe makes enough frosting for two 9-inch layers, a 13 by 9-inch sheet cake, one Bundt cake (made in a 12-cup Bundt pan) or 24 cupcakes. The frosting can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container. Before using the frosting, let it stand at room temperature until softened, about 2 hours, then whip with an electric mixer briefly to re-fluff.

Ingredients

• 24 tablespoons unsalted butter (3 sticks), cut into pieces and softened 
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar 
• 3 tablespoons cocoa 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso 

Directions

CREAM BUTTER In an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter, cream, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until combined. 

WHIP FROSTING Reduce mixer speed to medium-low. With motor running, slowly add confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and instant espresso and mix until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and beat frosting until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Making Maple Syrup at Home

During spring break a couple of weeks ago Lara, my mom and I went to Blandford Nature Center for the Sugarbush festival. If you've never heard of a Sugarbush, neither had I. According to Wikipedia, a Sugarbush is "a forest stand which is exploited for maple syrup". At Blandford they walk you through the entire process of making maple syrup, from the history, to tapping the trees, to boiling down the sap into the delicious syrup.

Since I've recently started to really love maple syrup and find it so interesting I was really excited to see how it is made. When I saw that Blandford was holding a sugarbush festival I knew I had to go. I thought that most of the people attending the sugarbush would probably be parents with young kids, and I was right. But it didn't matter at all. I enjoyed it so much, and I got way more out of it than the kids did. Our guide was very nice and knew a lot about tapping maple trees.

Of course, after seeing how it all works I had to try it myself and my mom agreed that we should give it a go. I knew we had one tree in our yard that was big enough to tap so my mom bought a spile (the spigot driven into the tree to get the sap out) and we went to work drilling into our tree. We used my mom's new drill to make the hole in the tree, and it was a lot harder than we thought. We also had to go out and buy a new bit because she didn't have one that was big enough. Finally, we got everything set, and then it was time to wait for the sap to flow.

 Sadly, I had to go back to school before enough sap was collected, so it was up to my mom to finish the project, and she did a wonderful job. Although she may or may not have had a little problem the first time through the boiling down process, in the end she ended up with about 1/4 of a cup of homemade maple syrup. How fun. Not the most efficient process to do at home, but who cares. I find the whole process fascinating!

Homemade maple syrup!

 Lara and I at Blandford

 Listening intently, at least the kids are anyway

 Warming up by a big pot of boiling sap, the old fashioned method

 The new fashioned method, much easier to control and maintain

 Mom getting ready to drill the hole in our tree

 Pushing hard, that drill bit did not want to go in

 Finally we made it

Up close look at the spile

Lara's excited

 The boiling down process, pictures courtesy of mom.

The sap starts out looking like water, and that's about all it taste like too. 

But have patience, the good stuff is coming!

 The color's changing!

Almost done!

The finished project

Great job mom!!!

Wish I had done it with you.

Again, this is not a very efficient project to work on if you want gallons of maple syrup. Although it depends on the tree, it can take 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Seeing as my mom started with far less than 40 gallons of sap, she ended up with around 1/4 c of syrup! But hey, I bet it will taste like the best maple syrup I've ever had. After all of that, it better!

Hey, after all of this I bet you're dying to make a nice tall stack of fluffy pancakes. Go buy some maple syrup (if you haven't had the time to boil down your own) and try out the pancakes from my Homemade Pancake Mix ,but whatever else you do, make sure you buy REAL maple syrup, none of that fake corn syrup stuff, get the real deal and you won't regret it!

Cheesy Homemade Pizza

I love pizza.

I could eat pizza every day.

Pizza is delicious.

I've never eaten a pizza I didn't like.

Cheese + Bread + Tomatoes = LOVE

If you couldn't tell, pizza is one of my all time favorite foods. We had pizza every week growing up and so I get very sad if I don't get it on a fairly regular basis. Over the last couple years I have started making my own pizza once in a while. I think it's fun to do and tastes pretty delicious. This will definitely not be my only homemade pizza post.

I have learned a few things about pizza making over the years, here are some of my tips. I welcome any other advice that you might have:

1. While a pizza stone will make the best crust, a cookie sheet pre-heated in the oven does a decent job. 
2. Crank your oven up as hot as it can possible go (mine goes to 550), and let it heat up that cookie sheet for at least 20-30 minutes. 
3. Make the pizza on a piece of parchment paper. When you're ready to put it in the oven, lift up the parchment paper place it, pizza and all, on the super hot pizza sheet. 
4. Just keep an eye on it and pull it out when the crust is light brown and the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown in spots-when it looks good to you. This will probably take less than 10 minutes.  
5. Let it sit a few minutes before cutting in, so the cheese has time to set slightly.
6. Eat and enjoy!

Shape the dough, it turns out looking different every time

Grate up some mozzarella

Heat up some sauce

Spread it on

Ready for the best part!

 I love cheese

So delicious, I could seriously eat this every day

Note: Here is the recipe I use as printed, but I don't follow it exactly. I usually use instant yeast so I can throw it right in with the flour. Also, I sometimes add a little more salt and olive oil, just my preference, it's a pretty forgiving dough, so just do what you like!


Pizza Crust
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
Ingredients

• 1 c warm water (about 110 degrees) 
• 1/4 tsp sugar 
• 1 envelope (1/4 oz) active dry yeast 
• 14 oz (about 2 3/4 c) all purpose flour 
• 1 tsp table salt 
• 1 1/2 Tbs olive oil 
• Cornmeal for dusting 

Directions
In a small bowl, sprinkle sugar and yeast over warm water; stir with a fork until yeast and sugar dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a food processor, pulse flour and table salt to combine. Add yeast mixture and oil; pulse until mixture comes together but is still slightly tacky. Dough should pull away cleanly from your fingers after it's squeezed. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead four or five times, until a smooth ball forms.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, smooth side up. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.

Punch down dough. Fold dough back onto itself four or five times, then turn smooth side up. Replace plastic wrap; let dough rise again in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 30 to 40 minutes.

Punch down dough; turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a bench scraper or knife, divide dough into two equal pieces. Knead each piece four or five times, then form a smooth ball. Return on ball to oiled bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Pat remaining ball into a flattened disk; cover with plastic wrap, and let rest 5 minutes.

The dough is now ready for use, go wild!

(Alternately, the dough can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one day; before using, let it come to room temperature. If freezing, dough should be shaped and wrapped well in plastic first. Thaw completely in fridge.)

Sweet Corn Spoonbread

For the past couple of months my Sunday morning tradition has been to watch Cook's Country on PBS while eating breakfast. It's a nice, relaxing way to start my Sunday. Pretty much every time I watch Cook's Country, or America's Test Kitchen for that matter, I want to make whatever they are making. They make all of their dishes sound fabulous. However, I don't always feel like getting up to find a pen and some paper to write the recipe down, so most of the time I just watch and wish I were there. Sometimes I can find the recipe online later, but not always, so not writing it down can be a bit of a gamble. 

It was different when this dish came on one morning, after hearing the description I instantly jumped up and grabbed a notebook and a pen. It sounded so delicious that I knew I had to try it! That was a couple of weeks ago, and this week I finally made it. 

Now, I've never, ever had a souffle before (don't worry, that will change sometime in the not so distant future), but I imagine this is basically a corn/cornmeal souffle. It was pretty easy to put together, and turned out beautifully! I did have to let it bake a little longer than the directions said, but that didn't seem to be a problem. 

 Sweet, golden, deliciousness!

 I used coarse cornmeal, I don't know if that made a difference in the final product

but it was delicious nevertheless

 Ready to begin

 Letting the cornmeal soak in milk

 Soaking up all the creamy goodness

 Note to self, try this recipe again in August when corn is in season

 But for April corn, it really wasn't as bad as I thought

 Cut those kernels off

 I love corn

 Simmering away

 Thick and creamy

 I could have stopped right here and eaten the whole bowl, it was delicious!

 Lara, whipping up some egg whites

 Folding in some of the whites

 Here come the rest

 Lara being ever so gentle

 And into the dish it goes

 Thanks for letting me borrow the souffle dish mom!

 Headed for the oven

 The finished product, I think it should be much browner on top, 

but oh well, it still tasted delicious

 Ready to dig in

So happy!

Sweet Corn Spoonbread

from Cook's Country

 Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 3/4 cups whole milk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing dish
• 2 cups corn kernels (from 3 to 4 ears of corn, or frozen, if defrosted and well drained)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously grease a 1 1/2 quart soufflé dish or an 8-inch square baking dish. Whisk cornmeal and 3/4 cup of milk in a small bowl until combined and set aside.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven or large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Cook corn until beginning to brown. Stir in sugar, salt, cayenne and remaining 2 cups milk and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let mixture steep for 15 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth (or use an immersion blender). Back in the pot bring mixture back to a boil, reduce heat to low and add the cornmeal-milk mixture, whisking constantly until thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl and return mixture to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Once cool, whisk in egg yolks. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form and fold it in to the corn mixture, one-third at a time. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake until spoonbread is golden brown and has risen above rim of dish, about 45 minutes. Serve immediately.

Lara's Shepherd's Pie

Lara and I have wanted to make shepherd's pie for some time now. Neither of us had ever had it before, but a hearty, warm beef and veggie mixture topped by creamy mashed potatoes has sounded good all winter. With some leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge, and the temperature outside a little colder than I would like it, this was the perfect week to make it.

After some recipe research online, Lara came up with this very tasty recipe. We just used the vegetables we had in the fridge and freezer, but I'm sure you could throw whatever you like in the meat mixture. There's no right or wrong way to do this, just make sure you do it sometime soon!

Dinner Time!

Some aromatics and veggies

Just a little beef broth

Throw them in a pan and let them sweat a little

Throw in the beef (next time I want to try lamb!)

Cook it all up

Ladle into some oven proof bowls

Up close to all the heartiness

Frost the meat with mashed potatoes

Bake them up

The best part, EAT!

Note: This recipe was perfect for Lara and me. It would be easy to double the recipe to serve more.


Shepherd's Pie
by Lara
Ingredients

• 1/2 an onion, diced 
• 1 garlic clove, minced 
• 1 large carrot, diced 
• 1/2 lb ground beef 
• thyme 
• parsley 
• 1 Tbs flour 
• 1 Tbs tomato paste 
• 1/2 c tomato paste 
• 1/4 cup red wine 
• 1/2 c frozen peas 
• salt 
• pepper 
• Mashed potatoes 

Directions
Heat oil in a pan, add onion, garlic, carrot, a little salt and cook over medium heat until soften, 5-10 minutes. Add the ground beef and thyme and parsley to taste. When meat is cooked through (after draining fat if desired), add the flour and cook for a minute or two.Next add tomato paste and combine for a minute. Then add in the beef broth and wine. Bring to a boil and let the mixture thicken and reduce for a couple minutes. Add the frozen peas and let them heat through. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the mixture into two oven proof soup bowls and top with the desired amount of mashed potatoes. Put the bowls in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Pull out a big spoon and enjoy!

Honey Cheese Corn Muffins

Corn bread is so delicious, and so easy to make. It's quick and easy to whip up if you want something else for dinner and you want it fast. This time I decided to make corn muffins. 

I made this recipe quite a while ago and forgot about it. Last week I was looking for something quick to make for dinner and I found it. It looked promising, so Lara whipped it up for dinner. We were both glad she did. 

These muffins turned out quite delicious. They were very corny, with a slight touch of sweetness from the honey. We could taste the honey, but it wasn't overpowering. They were all gone pretty quickly, and they will most likely make an appearance on our table sometime very soon!

Up close and personal to all that corny goodness

A cute dozen

Mmmmm

Note: Sadly, my food budget does not allow me to buy aged cheddar, I just used shredded, grocery store cheddar. It doesn't really have that much flavor, but it adds nice color to the muffins. 

Honey Cheese Corn Muffins
from gourmeted.com
Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour 
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 1/4 cup honey 
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted 
• 2 tablespoon crumbled aged cheddar (optional) 

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and honey. 

Add the dry ingredients and melted butter incrementally to the liquid mixture until just incorporated, do not overmix. Gently fold in the cheese if using. 

Fill lined muffins tins to about 1 cm from the top. Bake muffins at 350° for 15-16 minutes. Let muffins cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack.

Soft, White Sandwich Bread

I love making homemade bread! Working with yeast is magical, watching the changes in the dough as it is worked is fascinating to me. Over the past several years I have made quite a few loaves of bread, and I can tell that I improve with each loaf. It definitely takes practice.

Although I love good, crusty loaves and rustic, chewy rolls, hearty breads that give your jaw a workout, there are times when I want something different. There are times when I want (dare I say it?) white wonder bread. I'm sorry, but you cannot have a good peanut butter sandwich on two thick, hearty, dense slices of bread. It just does not work, it's way too dry. Peanut butter sandwiches require the softest, fluffiest, moistest slices of bread you can find, and up until now I could not make this bread. Every recipe I tried for white sandwich bread was delicious, but not soft enough for my peanut butter. Then I found this recipe.

I love browsing recipes on King Arthur Flour's web site. They have so many delicious looking recipes, along with lots of hints and tips. I had been wanting to make this recipe for a while, but it has a few ingredients that I don't normally have on hand, mainly instant mashed potato flakes and dry milk powder. Neither ingredient is difficult to find or expensive, but I never got around to buying them. Boy am I glad I finally did. This bread turned out so delicious, soft and fluffy, rich and moist, the perfect peanut butter sandwich bread!

Try this recipe. It will change your sandwich life. I want to make it every week, and eat sandwiches for every meal. So go out and by the dry milk powder and instant mashed potato flakes, trust me, you won't regret it.

My beautiful loaf, sunbathing

The beginning: ready to rise

Nice and poofy

Second rise time

Ready to bake

Yum! I want to eat it NOW

Out of the pan, ready to cut

Look at those delicious slices

A pretty crumb

Nice and close

Mmmmm...

Slice, bagged, and ready for the freezer

White Sandwich Bread
From King Arthur Flour
Ingredients

• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast 
• 7/8 to 1 1/8 cups lukewarm water (7 to 9 oz)* 
• 3 cups all purpose flour (12 3/4 oz) 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 
• 3 tablespoons sugar 
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (3 oz) 
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk (5/8 oz)
• 1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes (1 1/2 oz) 

*Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.

Directions

If you're using active dry yeast, dissolve it with a pinch of sugar in 2 tablespoons of the lukewarm water. Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, until the mixture has bubbled and expanded. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this ste

Combine the dissolved yeast (or instant yeast) with the remainder of the ingredients. Mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—till you've made a smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take about 7 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. In a bread machine (or by hand), it should form a smooth ball.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise, at room temperature, for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk. Rising may take longer, especially if you've kneaded by hand. Give it enough time to become quite puffy

Gently deflate the dough, and shape it into an 8" log.

Transfer the log, smooth side up, to a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. Tent the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap.

Allow the bread to rise till it's crested about 1 1/4" over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour. Again, it may rise more slowly for you; let it rise till it's 1 1/4" over the rim of the pan, even if that takes longer than an hour. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the bread for 15 minutes. Tent it lightly with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, till the crust is golden brown, and the interior temperature measures 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the bread from the oven, and gently loosen the edges with a heatproof spatula or table knife. Turn it out of the pan, and brush the top surface with butter, if desired; this will give it a soft, satiny crust. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. As soon as it's completely cool, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap; or in a plastic bag, air pressed and fastened securely at the top.