Loaves #5 + 6: "Cracked Wheat" Bread

I have been using bulgar wheat more often in my cooking. I really like the consistency of it- I just made a great dinner of bulgar, wilted spinach, onions, garlic, and feta- very tasty! So it was perfect timing when I found this recipe on the New York Times webpage.

I haven't made a bread with a "sponge" before, but there it is- basically all the ingredients except 1/3 of the flour, some oil and some salt. The first part of this was really easy- I whisked it in my standing mixer.



After letting it rise for an hour, the directions said to fold in a cup of flour and place some more on the kneading surface before dumping the dough onto it. This turned into quite a mess until I got enough flour into the loaf! I probably added 1/4 c. extra before it stopped sticking to everything.



I only have one loaf pan so I called upon a trusty casserole dish to act as the second pan.



Observations: Next time, I will make just one loaf with this recipe- it didn't rise nearly as high as I thought it would! I have kinda stumpy loaves! Great chewy consistency- the bulgar doesn't become mushy so it has some nice graininess. Might try putting some seeds into this one.

Consumed with: toasted with butter! also, sandwiches

Pfeffernussen Cookies

I felt the urge to bake cookies yesterday and was saved from once again making my "kitchen sink" chocolate chip cookies (which are heavenly, really! but overplayed)... by the Martha Stewart Cookies book my mom gave me.



These cookies were easy to make and pack a nice surprising spice! No chocolate, but they're pretty good without! Next time I might put just a little more black pepper into them...

Recipe, by special request:
Pfeffer means "pepper" and nuss means "nut" in German

1 1/4c confectioners sugar
2 1/4c all-purpose flour
1/4t freshly ground pepper (or a bit more, I think!)
3/4t ground cinnamon
1/2t ground allspice
1/4t freshly grated nutmeg
1/4t ground cloves
1/4t baking soda
1/2c unsalted butter, room temp
3/4c packed light brown sugar
1/4c unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
1/2t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. In bowl, combine flour through baking soda and set aside. Beat butter, brown sugar and molasses in bowl of electric mixer fitter with paddle- on medium until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. With mixer on low add flour mixture, beat until just combined.

Pinch off tablespoons of dough, roll into 1 1/4" balls and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until golden and firm to the touch with slight cracking, about 15 min. Transfer to wire rack to cool slightly, about 10 min. Put confectioners sugar in a small paper bag. Working in batches, place cookies in paper bag and shake until well coated.

Eat! And share with friends.

Awesome Ratatouille Pie!

I have been cooking dinners out of Dave's The Best 125 Meatless Main Dishes pretty regularly and have rarely been let down- except that sometimes there isn't enough spice in a dish.

The recipe for ratatouille ricotta pie that I found in there is outstanding! I could barely keep myself from eating the whole pie at once!



I cheated and bought a frozen crust at Trader Joe's- cut down on the prep time. I also dolloped extra ricotta on top of the filling before closing up the crust. The pie bubbled over quite a bit but totally worth it!

Loaf #4: Fennel and Flax

My dad read my skype tag line which noted that I'm baking bread and passed along his latest concoction. I adapted it just a bit so it would be a clear step from my last white french loaf.

Fennel and Flax
2 1/2c white flour
1/2c whole wheat flour
1/2c buckwheat flour
2T ground flax
1T ground fennel
1/2 an orange finely zested
1 1/2t salt
1t sugar
1t yeast
1 1/4c water



I threw this all together in the food processor and let it rise in the fridge overnight- about 20 hours total. Let it warm to room temp about 3 hours, then formed it into a ball and let it rise 2 hours and put it into the oven at 425F for 30 min. Turned it down to 375 for the last 10 min. Turned out great! Oh, and I misted the oven three times in the first 6 minutes.



Observations: this has a really strong fennel flavor- almost overpowers the orange which I don't taste much at all. Could use a little less fennel. Might also be a slight bitterness from the buckwheat? Not sure- haven't put buckwheat in bread before. Should try it alone. Also could use a little more salt!

The yeast was very active this time- got new stuff that goes in the fridge instead of just in a packet. Might also be the teaspoon of sugar.

Consumed with: butter and ricotta cheese!

Loaf #3: Cornbread

So I know cornbread isn't a fancy long-rising bread. Its pretty quick and easy. I'm guilty of usually making it from a mix, but I figured since I'm making other bread from scratch now I might as well do this one, too. And I will NEVER use a mix again- this turned out great!

I doubled the recipe in How to Cook Everything with buttermilk and olive oil. This recipe had me pour 4T of olive oil into a large cast iron skillet and heat it up hot, then turn the heat off. I mixed the rest of the ingredients into the batter. Then I poured the batter on top of the hot oil, which of course squirted up and over the batter along the sides and made horrible looking pools on top. I thought this was going to be a disaster.



But I put the whole thing in the oven to bake and half an hour later it came out looking gorgeous! I ran it under the broiler for two minutes to brown the top up just a bit more. Big success!



Observations: this is a dense, thick cornbread. The recipe called for medium grind cornmeal and I used Arrowhead cornmeal, which is pretty finely ground (doesn't say on the package how fine). I also had a bag of bulk cornmeal from Whole Foods that was clearly a coarser grind- I might try using the coarser stuff next time to see what it does to texture.



Also, next time I will try using butter instead of olive oil- I just didn't have enough butter! The olive oil flavor was definitely present in the cornbread... I think butter will be better (especially since I often put butter on top!)

I meant to put diced fresh jalepenos in this, but completely forgot. Will do next time!

Consumed with: Mom's NYE white bean chili

Parsnip Cake, eh?

So theres a running joke here about parsnips that comes from this Homestar Runner cartoon. Strong Bad's famous line "parsnip soup, eh? we'll make parsnip pie!" has been thrown around this house for the past year.

So when I asked Dave what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, and he replied "oh, I'm not picky" I threatened that I was going to make him Parsnip Cake!

So thats what I did. I borrowed from a couple different carrot cake recipes and made my own recipe:



Parsnip Cake
2c sugar- 1 brown, 1 white
3/4c oil
mix these together. then beat in:
4 eggs
after blended, add:
2t baking soda
2t baking powder
1/2t salt
2t cinnamon
2t vanilla
1/4t nutmeg
mix together. then add:
2c whole wheat pastry flour
once fully mixed, fold in:
3c grated parsnips
1c chopped pecans
bake at 350F for 40-50min until toothpick comes out clean.



For the icing I also blended a couple recipes to create my own:

Orange Scented Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package cream cheese, room temp.
6T butter, room temp.
1 1/2c powdered sugar
1t vanilla
zest from one orange
beat together. add water 1T at a time to desired consistency.



I wasn't sure how well it would turn out -obviously it didn't smell like carrot cake, although it had a nice spicy scent to it. Frosted up beautifully and I presented it with a huge cut parsnip on top, just in case someone wasn't sure. The cake got rave reviews from everyone at the party- and second slices were had by all. Great spicy flavor, heavy cake but not very sweet, which was great! I will definitely make this one again!

Crusty Crunchy Crust Tips

So I perused the internet, hoping to find some tips for a sensational crust. I found these tips:

1. slash the top about 1/4" deep, and oil the knife so it doesn't drag.

2. make sure your oven is accurate!!! If the oven is not hot enough, the gases that cause fermentation expand without boundaries- the low heat does not adequately set the structure of the bread. The loaf will collapse and the crust will never brown properly. But if the heat is too high, the loaf will set before it fully expands and the crust may burn. Also results in a gummy crumb. I think that my heat is too high...

3. the baking stone needs to get REALLY hot- so don't just preheat the oven- let the stone sit in there for a while. test with a drop of water.

4. a steamy oven keeps the outer dough layer flexible and moist, which helps to achieve the greatest amount of oven spring and loaf volume. Once the outside layer of the dough sets, gases in the loaf can no longer expand to increase the loaf size. Steam only matters for the first 5-10 minutes, before the bread begins to brown!

5. try putting a cast iron pan in the oven during preheat, pour water into it once you put the loaf in- be careful and stand back- it will steam right away!

All tips from Baking911.

Loaf #2: French White, second loaf

after baking for 10 minutes

This is the second half of the dough I made yesterday. It sat in the fridge for ...17 hours, then I put it near the heater in the dining room to come to room temperature while I went for a 2 hour walk. Upon my return, I pulled it out, dusted my fingers with flour, and didn't even bother putting it on the counter- just kneaded it a bit with my hands- mostly while shaping it into a boule. I noticed some nice, juicy bubbles forming, which I popped in delight.

Put the boule in a lightly floured dish towel in the same silly green colander, near the heater. An hour later I checked the dough and it didn't look like it had risen at all and was cold to the touch, so I moved it on top of the heater and turned up the house heat to turn the furnace on... probably my big mistake.

After just over 2 hours of rising, I prepared to put the loaf in the oven at 450F. Problem- the dish towel stuck to the dough - just where it was pressing against the colander. I think I parbaked it on the heater! So the top of this one is much more messy- yikes!

Misted the oven twice (at start and 10 minutes later). Baked for 30 minutes.



Observations: this one got a much darker crust, but I think it was a better crust- a little tougher/chewier, just a bit thicker, in a good way. Still not a crusty, flaky, crunchy crust.



The crumb was less gummy, lighter. I did a better job of scoring the top. The boule spread out a bit when I first put it on the pizza stone- but I think that was in part because I had to manhandle it so much to unstick it from the towel. This one is a more even round shape, although somewhat football shape in section.



I was able to compare this one directly to loaf #1 because we didn't finish that one yet (I baked this one early so I could take it to the Green Chair craft night). Definitely an improvement all around. Is that from the longer rise time? Longer time in the oven? Fewer misting sessions?

Consumed with: cambozola cheese, hummus, TJ's microwavable indian food

Loaf #1: French White

obviously I was too excited to eat this to take a photo of the whole loaf!

Ingredients:
1/2c whole wheat flour
3c white flour
1 package yeast (not rapid rise)
1t salt

Recipe taken from How to Cook Everything my go-to recipe book for everything except vegetarian man dishes.

Started this as a double batch with the next loaf. Mixed in food processor, then rose for 2.5 hours near the heater in the dining room (house is generally cold). Didn't look like there was a lot of rising action going on. Cut batch in half, put one half into the fridge.

Kneeded the second half, probably had too much flour on the counter- could have just floured my hands and worked the ball into a boule. Put boule into my green plastic Ikea colander wrapped with a dish towel (classy, I know) and let it rise for 1 hour near the heater.

Transfered to a hot pizza stone, scored it twice with a dull knife (obviously not well enough!) and baked for 30 minutes at 450F. Misted the oven 3 times, at 10 minute intervals.



Observations: Good flavor- glad I added the whole wheat. The bread had a nice chewy consistency- a little cake-like. I probably could have added more water. But there were glimpses of those big bubbles that make french bread famous, so I'm on the right track. The crust looked like it was getting dark so I pulled it out- a little early, I think. The crust was not very thick, but nicely chewy, beautiful golden color. Maybe a lower temp and longer time? Also, need to do a better job scoring the top- this one looked like a fat man split his zipper- all over the place!



Not bad for a first try!

Consumed with: spaghetti and red sauce, cambozola cheese (a cross between bree and blue), fig preserves

Whats the big idea here?

So I have been doing quite a bit of cooking since I was laid off last May 15th. Its nice to have time to try new recipies, and to have the patience to make something that will take more than an hour.

One of my goals this year is to make more bread. Compound this idea with the realization that most good loaves of bread available at Whole Foods up the street are at least $5.00- and Dave and I can eat through that in two days! So I decided to start making bread at home- something that I've always thought I didn't have enought time or foresight to do. Now that I'm at home most of the day, I can work my schedule around bread!

Of course the first book I turned to was Dave's Breads From La Brea Bakery which details the lengthy process of creating your own sourdough starter, feeding it three times a day (recommended in all seriousness!) and the idea was nearly a non-starter. However, I decided to start out simple, and maybe some day work my way up to sourdough absolutely from scratch.

Also, I'm really writing this as a personal record of ingredients used, results, and improvements to be made- not sure if I will be sharing it. You should feel lucky if you read this!

So without further ado, here is my journey into breadmaking... and there will probably be a few one-pot meals thrown in for good measure!