Even More Coming Soon!

As anyone who has been following Screw Your Diet is surely well aware, the updates here have slowed to a crawl. If only I had the time to earn straight As in culinary school, work my day job, do my usual boatload of homework, AND keep this site more up to date. But alas, there are only so many hours in a day. Even so, I’ve still got a load of content planned – I haven’t even come close to posting all of the meat dishes from my previous class!

The next wave of content is all about baking, since that’s the class I just completed. Everything from French bread (not pictured here, but still coming), éclairs, custards, plated desserts, and everything in between. Most of it is sweet, with a bit of savory baking here and there. There’s sure to be something for everyone, so check out the previews below to see what you have to look forward to. And, as always, I’ll do my best to start posting them as soon as I can.

The Many Faces of Shar-Pei Bread

My cinnamon pull apart bread recipe has been quite a hit amongst my friends and family. Based off the fact that I said that every loaf resembles a wrinkly Shar-Pei dog, most of them are now referring to this recipe as Shar-Pei Bread. So there you have it – pull apart bread is now Shar-Pei bread. I have spoken!

Since my original post, I’ve been tinkering with the cinnamon sugar version to the point where I have created what I feel can be called the “definitive” version of the recipe. Not content to make it the same way every time, however, I decided to test out the versatility of the Shar-Pei bread’s basic template to see if I could create some interesting variations. I’d say the results were a resounding success. So what we’ve got here is a trio of Shar-Pei Breads – cinnamon sugar, garlic parmesan, and honey herb. As always I’ve got detailed, step by step instructions for all 3 of them, so pick your favorite and get baking! These are just a few of the possible variations, and I’ll likely do other posts in the future as I experiment further.

Banana Bread Bars

Banana bread is one of those reliable old baking standbys that seems to please pretty much everybody. But that’s the thing – if I stuck to recipes that were old and reliable, this wouldn’t be a very interesting blog, now would it?

My original intent was to make a fairly standard banana bread, just to see how it goes. While searching for a good looking recipe, I came across something considerably more interesting and unique – banana bread in bar form, topped with a browned butter frosting. Almost brownie-like. I knew this was the recipe for me right away, so after a quick trip to the market for bananas, I set about the task of baking these suckers.

Spaghetti Bread

Happy father's day, everyone. While I don't have children of my own, I thought I'd share a recipe today that kids and parents alike are sure to enjoy - it's called spaghetti bread, and if you think that picture is blowing your mind, just wait till you taste it! It's a unique and interesting concoction that can be enjoyed on its own as the main course, or as a side dish to something like steak or meatballs. It's a relatively tricky recipe, but well worth the effort, I assure you! You'll never look at spaghetti or garlic bread the same way again.

Spicy Cheddar Beer Bread

Beer bread is one of the first recipes I tried when I started getting familiar with cooking and baking. It's simple to make, ridiculously tasty, and works well both on its own and as a sandwich bread. It's also the second best use for beer that I know of! As the name implies, it's also fairly spicy, but not in a way that overpowers the flavor of the bread. One thing you'll soon notice is that I love spicy foods, so I'll give pretty much everything an extra kick when I can.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

As this blog is titled Screw Your Diet, I figured I'd want to set a precedent for this nice and early. So to get things started, I've got a recipe for the delicious Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart bread you see above. Sometimes referred to as Monkey Bread and resembling a sweet, sugary Shar-Pei, it's actually fairly easy to put together so long as you have the time and patience to let your dough rise a bit. Head on past the page break to get the recipe, or just continue to ogle the picture. Your choice!