Last week, on the advice of a friend, I tried out a use for the plethora of feral dill growing in my parents' "garden" patch. I knew you could use dill in dill pickles (maybe that's where they got the name?), but I'd never discovered another use for it. And I sure wasn't making dill pickles with the four or five minuscule cucumbers I got from my garden. Her suggestion? Dill bread.
My dad looked up several recipes on the internet and I chose to use the Taste of Home one because I really like their recipes. You can look up the original here: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Dill-Bread However, being the wild, free spirit that I am, I modified it quite a bit.
1. I increased the water to 1 cup, since I left out the cottage cheese and the egg. I am by no means a vegan, but I like to keep my dairy consumption to a minimum and save it for where it really counts, like cake or Doritos!2. It calls for 1/4 cup fresh dill, but I might have had slightly more than that. There was just so much bounty to be used!
3.I didn't have dill seed, so that was left out, and I added in a teaspoon of onion powder because one of the other recipes called for it and everything is better with a little onion flavor. Except most desserts.
I mixed the dough as the recipe directed; I really like that this recipe doesn't need to be kneaded, which makes for a much simpler preparation. But the dough is VERY sticky and hard to work with. The recipe says to dump it in a round pan and let it rise in there, but I wanted a more decorative presentation, so I made a twist. Challenging, but doable. After it came out of the oven, I brushed it with margarine for a shiny finish.
After rising and baking, it was time for the critical taste test. Oh, my! It was sooooooooooo delicious. Like a dill pickle, only with carbs! The texture was great; moist and chewy on the inside and crisp and crackling on the outside. The basic recipe will lend itself nicely to a number of variations such as rosemary, basil and sun-dried tomato, jalepeno, and my personal favorite, kalamata olive. I can't wait to try them all. But maybe I'd better pace myself a little!
Oooh, looks yummy! ☺
ReplyDelete(If you are looking for other uses for all that dill, it's also very good in mashed potatoes. Actually, pretty much any potato dish is better with a little dill thrown in. Or a lot of dill. ☺)