BREAD!

Before I get started, I wanted you all to know that I just cracked myself up because I just had an image of Marie Antoinette saying "Let them eat cake" (which I KNOW she didn't say but still) pop into my head which was totally incongruous. Onwards...


So....bread. Do you know how many people tell me that bread is their downfall? How can no-carb diet exists? Actually, maybe they do exist because bread is so many people's downfall. I'm sure many of you share my attitude. Guess what's in every single loaf of bread in the grocery store? Yeast. I know. I read all of them. In multiple stores. I had the brilliant thought that pita bread didn't have yeast in it and my sister burst my bubble on that one by pointing out that otherwise it wouldn't have bubbles in the finished bread. Amanda made fun of me because I'm the only non-Jew to seek out matzo. Passover is like my holiday (too bad I'm not Jewish!) because of the complete elimination of yeast from the diet. Anyway, life sucks with no yeast. It's in many more things besides bread, but think about life with no sandwiches. No Subway, no Quiznos. No croutons. No White House rolls from Ukrops.


This is making me a) salivate and b) frustrated, so I'm going to get to my point: Bisquick mix doesn't have yeast in it! Hooray! It has baking soda and sodium bicarbonate for leavening. So I'm sharing with you TWO delightful recipes combining bread and cheese, another of my faves.


(from my handy Bisquick cookbook since I have great love for Bisquick in its no yeast state!)


Three Cheese Flatbread

 2 Cups bisquick.

1/2 Cup water.  

2 Tbs melted butter

1/4 Cup shredded cheddar

1/4 Cup shredded Monterey Jack  

1/4 Cup grated Parmesan

1/2 Tsp garlic powder  

Option is 1/2 tsp italian seasoning

  

Oven to 450. Bisquick + hot water until stiff dough forms.  Let stand 10 min. Dust surface with Bisquick and roll into a ball, then knead ~60 times.  On an ungreased cookie sheet, roll or pat 12 inch square.  Mix and sprinkle with other ingredients. Bake 10 to 12 min or until edges golden.

My notes: I didn't pat it all that flat, so I can attest to the fact that this totally works as a bread and not just as a flatbread. Also, I didn't have any Monterey Jack cheese, so I think I ended up using cheddar, parm, and mozzarella, which worked just fine. So as always, take what you want and add your own ideas.

And today's bonus recipe because I'm in a fabulous mood, you're all going to enjoy your Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits! (Multiple sources for this one!)

2 ½ c Bisquick baking mix

4 T cold butter (1/2 stick)

1 heaping cup grated Cheddar cheese

¾ c cold whole milk

¼ t garlic powder

Brush on top:

2 T butter, melted

½ t garlic powder

¼ t dried parsley flakes

Pinch salt

Preheat your over to 400 degrees.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. You don’t want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add Cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ t garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don’t over mix.

Drop approximately ¼ cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 T butter in a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in ½ t garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter.

Notes: seriously, use a scoop of some sort. Or try to form balls. I didn't, I tried to just take a spoon and plop it on the cookie sheet and it worked...sort of. I got really...interestingly shaped biscuits. Didn't really matter to me, but if you're making this for company, keep that in mind.