{"id":1171,"date":"2016-09-30T17:07:16","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T17:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/?p=1171"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:07:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T17:07:16","slug":"bread-of-the-month-braiding-a-blonde-biscuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/?p=1171","title":{"rendered":"Bread of the Month: Braiding a blonde biscuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image_4\"<\/a>[R]ecipes can come from surprising sources. The backs of boxes or packages, coupon inserts, obscure Internet sites and offbeat cookbooks. If you had told me even a year ago that, upon seeing a copy of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Disney Princess Cookbook<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (2013) I had gotten for my nieces that I would have not only bought one for myself, but found myself eagerly making plans to cook my way through it, I would have said, well, no bippity-boppity way!<\/p>\n

\"boobk01\"<\/a>Outside of the original \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cinderella,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and a vague interest in Belle from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Beauty and the Beast,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I have sort of missed (nay, avoided) the whole Disney princess thing. Every few years, a new rendition of a doe-eyed, full-haired, colorfully costumed beauty comes out that sends little girls and their parents to the movies and the toy department and the Halloween costume center. The stories connected to these princesses have seemed rather thin, and while promoting some semblance of ferocity, independence and individuality in each heroine, in the end, they are princesses, and the emphasis is that being a princess (and getting your prince) is the thing to be. <\/p>\n

So, you lovers of Disney princesses can come after me with your sparkling wands, if you want. I most likely don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know enough about these movies and characters to be able to speak accurately and represent properly. I was long grown before the princess barrage began, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have children, but I have two very spirited young ladies in my world who do love the princesses (it is the culture of their generation). I recently watched \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Princess and the Frog\u00e2\u20ac\u009d about Tiana, a young woman in \"hoppin\"<\/a>New Orleans who has a knack for cooking and dreams of opening her own restaurant, and found myself quite taken with the story.<\/p>\n

And despite the oversight of not including Pocahontas (is that really a surprise?), \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Disney Princess Cookbook,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is also quite captivating. Various Disney princesses and other characters \u00e2\u20ac\u0153contribute\u00e2\u20ac\u009d recipes throughout — accompanied by colorful photos and illustrations — that are kid-friendly to cook and eat, I made Tiana\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hoppin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 John at New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and was impressed with how delicious the rice and black-eyed pea dish came out without any additional embellishment or seasoning than that offered by the recipe.<\/p>\n

There are fun and creative offerings throughout the book, from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Magic Carpet Roll-Ups,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Aladdin\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jasmine to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fa Family Lo Mein\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mulan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Snow White\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Apple Dumplings\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Little Mermaid\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ariel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sea Turtle Cupcakes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The book includes tips on safety, prep and cleanliness.<\/p>\n

\"hair01\"<\/a>What I really wanted to make from the book for September\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s National Biscuit Month (my annual foray into my favorite bread) was a new rendition of biscuits I had not seen before — biscuit braids! Appropriately offered by the lengthy haired Rapunzel from Disney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tangled,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the biscuit braid recipe included a little cornmeal, cheddar cheese and ham. Could you braid biscuit dough? The beautiful braids shown in the cookbook indicated you could. If they were offering this as a kid recipe, surely it was do-able.<\/p>\n

\"image_1\"<\/a>Having made tons of biscuit doughs, I knew this one would be a snap to whip up. I did wonder if some of the recipe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s instructions might be too vague for kids (for example, it says to cut up the cold butter into \u00e2\u20ac\u0153several pieces\u00e2\u20ac\u009d before adding to the flour. Might want to be more specific).<\/p>\n

The biscuit dough rolled out easily into a large square to be cut into sections, then strips. The directions for braiding in the recipe were good, as I discovered again (I found this happening when I braided bread dough) that I was dumbstruck when trying to braid. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a tactile process….when I braid my own hair, I simply do not think about it, I feel my way along (and it probably looks it, too). <\/p>\n

But once I started, the instinctual process kicked in, and soon I had a number of braided biscuits I laid easily on my baking sheet<\/p>\n

\"braid02\"<\/a>The recipe makes quite a few braids. It would be easy to assemble them and have them in baskets as an appetizer with a dip or add them as a fun bread on the holiday table. I had a couple of concerns as they baked: would they end up tough from all the braiding or would they be sturdy enough to hold up…a biscuit in its standard form is one thing, but in this delicate princess version, who knows.<\/p>\n

Golden blonde, I mean, brown, they emerged perfectly from the oven, just like the Disney cookbook presented them. And sturdy! They could be stacked or stood up in baskets with wilting or crumbling not even a possibility. They tasted good, too, tender and very biscuit-y, and a little like the cornmeal-laced breadsticks you used to be able to find in a can, only better! <\/p>\n

And, yes, they were pretty, too.
\n\"final01\"<\/a>
\nHam and Cheese Biscuit Braids
\nFrom \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Disney Princess Cookbook\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (2013)
\nMakes 16<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a82 cups flour\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8
\n1\u00e2\u0081\u201e2 cup cornmeal\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8
\n3 tsp baking powder
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a81 tsp salt
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a85 Tbsp cold butter, cut into several pieces
\n1\u00e2\u0081\u201e2 cup diced ham
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a81\u00e2\u0081\u201e2 cup shredded cheddar cheese\u00e2\u20ac\u00a81cup milk<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8Heat the oven to 400 degrees\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8
\nIn a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8<\/p>\n

Use your fingertips to pinch the butter into the flour mixture until the bits are the size of peas.<\/p>\n

Stir in the ham and cheese. Add the milk, and stir the mixture until it starts to look doughy.\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8<\/p>\n

Sprinkle some flour onto the cutting board and set the dough on top. Sprinkle a little more flour on the dough to keep it from sticking. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a 12-inch square. The dough should be between 1\/4inch and 1\u00e2\u0081\u201e2 inch thick.<\/p>\n

Slice the square into quarters. Then slice each quarter into 12 strips, each about 6 inches long.<\/p>\n

Now it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to braid the dough. Gather 3 strips, and pinch them together at the top. Take the right section and cross it over the center section so that they switch places. Then take the left section and cross it over the center section. Keep going until the whole strip is braided, then pinch the strands together at the bottom. Repeat until you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve braided all the strips.<\/p>\n

Ask an adult to help you with the oven. Place the braids, spaced apart, on an un-greased baking sheet. Bake them until the dough starts to turn golden brown. About 8 to 10 minutes.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[R]ecipes can come from surprising sources. The backs of boxes or packages, coupon inserts, obscure Internet sites and offbeat cookbooks. If you had told me even a year ago that, upon seeing a copy of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Disney Princess Cookbook,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (2013) I had gotten for my nieces that I would have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,10,12,1],"tags":[28,57,85,132],"class_list":["post-1171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookshelf","category-oantry","category-recipe-box","category-uncategorized","tag-biscuit","tag-bread","tag-cheese","tag-cornmeal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womansconed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}