MSM ~ Healthy Bread in Five Minute a Day

As many of you know I love books! I know who would have guessed that? But my favorite are cook books and I love sharing them with my food post! Nothing is better than cracking open a new book and find something new. It may be a new style of cooking, a new twist or something you just have never heard of before. It's the most exciting part putting it together and then waiting to see how it turns out!

Something else you'll know by now is I LOVE bread, now yes I usually always use my breadmaker but this time around I made it in the oven like it called for. I know no rule breaking this time! Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a wonderful book with 100 New recipes featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Veggies and Gluten-Free Ingredients! Yes my Gluten-Free friends you too can have bread! I don't know how you do it I would go nuts!

So a few are you are saying I just don't have time to make fresh bread. First off have you had fresh bread ... LOL just playing really it's so much better than store bought. And take it from the girl that uses a breadmaker these recipes were super easy and yummy! And the best part hello is these are healthy (I know I didn't tell the boys what they were eating was good for them). If you're looking for healthy, weight loss, cut back on cholesterol or because this is your life style then you won't be let down. Who says we need to serve the same boring wheat bread for lunch? I say spice it up and make it something everyone wants to eat!

So last Monday I featured the Pumpkin Pie Brioche in my King Arthur Flour Giveaway (Make sure you enter). I saved 1/4 of this bread mix for this next recipe I tried from the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. Ok I must admit I went threw the book and found the pretty glossy pages and this recipe caught my eye! For the bread part it called for the Pumpkin Pie Brioche so I made that recipe and this one also. Yup a two for one deal! Yes I'm on a pumpkin kick! I just love it and pretty soon I won't be finding it everywhere and on sale so you're going to get overloaded with it for a few food post ;).

Pear Tarte Tatin with Whole Wheat Brioche (I used Pumpkin Pie Brioche)

1/2 pound (orange-size portion) of Use any of those refrigerated pre-mixed doughs or a brioche (I used the Pumpkin Pie Brioche recipe - See last Monday post King Arthur Flour Giveaway)

3 tbs unsalted butter, or zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine

1/3 c brown sugar

1/4 c honey

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick

Two 1-inch round slices of ginger

2 whole cardamom pods (optional)

1 star anise (optional)

5 Large firm pears, peeled, stemmed, cored, and quartered

1. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, melt the butter or margarine over medium heat, and then sprinkle the sugar, honey, and lemon juice over it. Drop the cinnamon stick, giner, and optional cardamom pods and star anise in the middle. Arrange the pears in a circular pattern, cut side up, in the sugar.

2. Cook slowly over low heat until the pears start to absorb the caramel and the juices are bubbling around them, about 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size, ripeness, and firmness of the pears. Spoon the sugar over the pears as they cook. Move the pears around slightly so that they are cooked evenly. If you are using a softer pear, it will go much faster.

3. Once the pears are coloring nicely and the caramel is bubbling, turn off the stove and let them cool while you prepare the dough.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven. The baking stone is not essential; if you omit it , the preheat can be as short as 5 minutes.

5. While the pears are cooling, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1/2 pound piece. Dust with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6. With a rolling pin,k roll out the dough until it is a 1/8-inch-thick circle that fits the pan and extends about 1 inch beyond to make room for any shrinkage while baking. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface but not so much as to make it dry.

7. Drape the circle of dough over the pears, and tuck the excess between the pears and the edge of the pan.

8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the tarte to cool in the skillet for about 5 minutes. Then carefully invert it onto a serving platter that is large enough that the hot caramel juices don't spill out. Serve warm or cool.

*NOTE* I didn't have any cinnamon sticks so I just used a little ground cinnamon same with the ginger. As for the pears I didn't have fresh so I used can and they turned out great! Also instead of doing this on the stove I popped it into the oven along with the bread that was baking. Why not use the energy to the max benefit!

BUY IT: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day Hard back $27.99 on sale at Amazon for $18.47.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

by: ~ Jeff Hertzberg MD (Author), Zoe Francois (Author), Mark Luinenburg(Photographer)

Make sure to check out my King Arthur Flour Giveaway that is great for these recipes

Day 1: Make the Pumpkin Pie Brioche

Day 2: Make the Pear Tarte Tatin

Enjoy I promise this book should be on your Christmas Wish List!