Spice Soup and Homemade Bread

Cooler weather also makes me think of soups and making bread to go with them. One of my favorite cool weather soups is "Spice Soup". The recipe was created by the author of one of my favorite series "The Sword of Truth" - Terry Goodkind. "Spice Soup" is first mentioned in the first book of the series "Wizard's First Rule". It is something the main characters Richard and Kahlan have in common. I had wondered what kind of soup it was and if it was based on a real recipe. I was delighted to find it was real and that Mr. Goodkind had published the recipe.

As Mr. Goodkind tells you, this recipe can be customized to your taste. The defining ingredient is the chili pepper oil you create first. I cheat a little. I have some chili oil that I bought at my favorite Chinese Market in Austin. The first time I made the soup, I followed the recipe as written. This time, I added some browned kielbasa sausages. Yum.

I also made some bread to go with this warming soup. I love making bread. It is really not as hard as I once thought it would be. My ex-mother-in-law once told me she used to make bread when she was angry with her husband. She told me that the more you knead the dough the better the bread, which is true. Her anger ensured she would knead the dickens out of that dough! She got her anger out and the family got some great bread.

For my bread this week, I used a recipe for "French Bread" from my favorite cookbook "Betty Crocker's International Cookbook" as a starting point. I substituted whole wheat flour for some of the white flour and added some flax seed meal for extra fiber and those all important omega 3 fatty acids. It was delicious and we ate nearly the whole loaf when it came out of the oven.

KnotGypsy's French Bread

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1 tablespoon cornmeal
cold water

Steps:

1. Mix both the white and the whole wheat flour together with the flax seed meal.

2. Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in sugar, salt, and 2 cups of the flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

3. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover with damp cloth; let rise in warm place until double, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)

4. Punch down dough; cover and let rest 15 minutes. Grease cookie sheet; sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough into rectangle, 15 x 10 inches. Roll up tightly; seal edge. Roll gently back and forth to taper the ends if you wish. Place on cookie sheet. Make 1/4-inch slashes in loaf at 2-inch intervals. Brush top of loaf with cold water. Let rise uncovered until double, 1 1/2 hours.

5. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush loaf with cold water (Yes, again. This is what will give you a crusty crust). But, do it gently to prevent causing the dough to fall. I think I will try a spray bottle of water next time. Bake 20 minutes. Brush (or spray) again. Bake until loaf is deep golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped, about 25 minutes.