Seasoning Salt

I fell in love with Penzey's 4S Seasoning Salt when I had it at our daughter's place.  It was one of the key ingredients in her Low Brass Eggs.  I picked up some 4S at the Penzey's store when we were in the Strip District in Pittsburgh earlier this  year.  I've just recently learned that there is a Penzey's in Tucson now too, but here I sit over 5,000 miles away with an empty jar.

After reading the ingredients on the jar, this is what I've come up with.  The color and taste are not exactly the same, but it's pretty close - good enough to keep me going until I'm back in the land of the big spice store.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon ground pepper (black or white)
3/4  teaspoon tumeric
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Combine all ingredients and store in an air tight jar.   Great for seasoning, eggs, popcorn, meats, salads, any savory use for salt.

Martini Rosato

Curious about the bottle and thinking it might be Aperol,  we asked to see the Martini Rosato,  Our bartender offered up a sample and said he like to serve it with apple slices and a spring of mint.  This is a little different than the recipes offered on the Martini website, but let me tell you it is fantastic.  The aroma of the mint becomes such a strong part of the flavor.  It's light and refreshing; definitely worth getting a bottle to try other combinations at home.  Rosato with club soda or prosecco, or cranberry juice.

The drink is no longer in front of me, and I'm at a loss to describe the flavor.  I can tell you that it's not too dry, not too sweet, not at all bitter (as you might expect with vermouth), lightly fruity, and I love the color!

Overnight Brioche Braid

Avid Baker Challenge #3

I'm sure that I've tasted brioche before, but it wasn't until we were having breakfast with new friends in Munich, and they knew enough to point out the lightly sweet, fluffy brioche on the breakfast buffet, that I really knew about brioche.  I was glad to see it on the baking schedule.

The author includes instructions for mixing up the bread with a stand mixer and dough hooks or by hand.  Even though my little portable mixer has dough hooks, I didn't think it was up to the task of kneading the dough for 20 minutes, so took on the rewarding task of making it by hand.

I was skeptical at first.  How can I knead this sticky dough without adding more flour?   Well, at about the 10 minute mark, a miracle occurs and the dough becomes smooth and not at all sticky, without the addition of more flour.

Then you add 1/2 cup of butter, and the smooth ball of dough becomes various sized globs of greasy dough.  At the 10 minutes point, you guessed it, the dough comes together, so satiny smooth and non-sticky that it's pulling off any bits of dough stuck to the bowl.  What a fun surprise!

 The dough was braided, baked and then gobbled up.

If you listen closely, you'll hear the dough calling out for Nutella. . .

 Be sure to check out the other Avid Bakers - many creative variations on the basic recipe!


Unlike most of my blog posts, the ABC group does not post recipes, however, many are available on the author's website.  

The braided brioche made a beautiful french toast, that became less beautiful but more delicious when topped with nutella and fried bananas with a little frankfurtki on the side.