SG Archive: Beer Bread

Breaking Bread



Some months ago I made a loaf of beer quick bread. It was mighty tasty but had the drawback of all quick breads — no real structure. This made it unsuitable for uses like sandwiches because it would fall apart. Nor was it a candidate for rolls, although muffins would have been doable. At any rate, what I wanted was a yeast-based beer bread.

When Thanksgiving came rolling around I decided beer rolls would be good with dinner as well as for making marvelous turkey sandwiches so I set out to craft a such a bread.

The rolls made great little turkey sandwiches the next day.

I wanted a whole wheat bread because I thought it would play best with the beer. But it's sometimes tricky to get a good rise out of 100 percent whole wheat (the fragments of bran tend to cut the gluten strands) so I needed to add some bread flour to increase the bread's lightness. I added sugar because beer and whole wheat tend to be a somewhat bitter and I chose a nut brown ale as the beer thinking it would be hearty enough to stand out and yet not overwhelming. Here's the recipe I came up with:

Whole Wheat Beer Bread
Makes 1 loaf or 16 rolls.

2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
12 oz warm nut brown ale
2 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c bread flour — separated
1 1/2 tbsp butter — melted
2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt

Using the paddle attachment thoroughly combine yeast, whole wheat flour, 1 1/4 cup bread flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and sugar. Add butter to warm beer and, with mixer running, pour beer into dry ingredients. As the dough forms swap paddle attachment for dough hook.

Knead for six minutes at medium speed. The dough should be slightly sticky but should clear the bowl. Add additional flour if needed. Dump dough onto a floured board and knead another minute or two until dough is fairly smooth (it won't be as smooth as a white bread) and resilient. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes.

Clean and dry mixing bowl and spray with a nonstick spray. Shape dough into a ball and place seam-side down in bowl. Spritz top lightly with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in bulk — 60 to 90 minutes.

Punch down dough and turn out onto floured board. Lightly knead dough and form into a flattened ball. Allow to rest five to 10 minutes.

To make a loaf, shape dough into a rectangle that will fir in a 9" x 4.25" greased loaf pan. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk.

To make rolls, using a dough scraper cut dough in four equal quarters. Set three quarters aside and cover. Shape remaining quarter into a flattened ball and divide into four quarters. Shape each quarter in to a ball and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Flatten each ball. Repeat for remaining dough, cover, and allow to rise until rolls double in bulk.

Heat oven to 425F for loaf or 400F for rolls.

In small bowl, beat together egg and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Brush loaf or rolls with egg mixture and bake on middle oven rack. Rolls will need about 25 minutes, the load will need about 40 minutes. Monitor closely to avoid overcooking.

Cool on a wire rack.

The rolls turned out beautifully and were good with dinner as well as making great little turkey sandwiches.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | bread

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Prosciutto Ring

Heaven Scent



I read recently that the most popular sandwich in the US (discounting hamburgers, I assume) is ham. Although I presume most people eat of some sort of processed ham on some sort of commercial bread in their sandwiches, even some of those products aren't bad. And when you branch out into less common hams and handcrafted breads you can create some really spectacular sandwiches.

Such sandwiches can be as simple as a couple of slices of Prosciutto or Serrano ham on a single crust of country bread — perhaps with a slice of Manchego or Fontina. This is best enjoyed standing in a tavern in Spain or Italy, but it's good at home too. Grilled country ham on a biscuit is a breakfast mainstay in the South. Fresh baked ham on a good sour rye with German mustard and sliced dill pickles is wonderful on a picnic. And I think my favorite ham sandwich is a Black Forest ham Panini with Bierkase on my own sourdough bread. A light brush of olive oil on the bread before grilling really sets it off.

One of the last bread books I bought was The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum has a recipe in it for a Prosciutto Ring. Right off the bat I liked the sound of it. Reading further I discovered that it's brushed with bacon fat before baking. Ham and bacon and fresh baked bread? Sounds like a ham sandwich lover's dream!

Prosciutto Ring

2 cups + 3 tbsp bread flour
1 tbsp malt powder (or 1 tbsp sugar)
3/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1 c water (70F -90F)
3 oz Prosciutto, 1/8" thick — cut into 1/2" pieces
4 tsp bacon fat, lard, or butter — melted

Using the whisk attachment, thoroughly combine flour, malt, and yeast. Add salt and mix. (Note: the salt is added after mixing to avoid it coming into direct contact with the yeast.)

Swapping to the dough hook, add water to bowl and combine with flour at low speed (#2 on a Kitchen Aid) until moistened. Increase speed to medium (#4 on a KA) and knead for seven minutes. Add Prosciutto and mix in on low. Dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. If it is too sticky add a bit more flour and knead in, if too dry, spray with a bit of water and knead in.

Dump dough onto a lightly floured counter, shape into a ball, dust lightly with flour, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Place baking stone or a baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven and a baking sheet on the bottom of the oven. Heat oven to 450F.

Roll dough into an 18" rope, form into a ring, overlapping ends by two inches on a sheet of parchment paper. Cover with a large bowl or oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk — about one hour.

Transfer bread on parchment to stone or baking sheet. (Use a peel if bread is on parchment.) Toss half a dozen ice cubes into the pan on the bottom of the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes, remove parchment, and rotate bread 180 degrees. Bake another five minutes and reduce heat to 400F. Cook another 10 to 15 minutes. Turn oven off, prop open door, and leave the bread in the oven for five minutes.

Remove bread from oven, brush again with bacon fat or butter, and allow to cool completely.

NOTE: I ended up adding almost an additional half cup of flour to the dough to get the texture right.

If ever, in a moment of aimless wondering, pondered what heaven might smell like, I know. It smells like a combination of bacon cooking and bread baking. And if you could eat heaven, it just might taste like this bread.

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SG Archive: Sourdough Bread

Pet Food



Owning a sourdough starter is a lot like owning a cat: It doesn't require a lot of attention, but you can't completely ignore it either.

Although I love baking bread I avoided sourdough for years because of its need for attention. I had been under the (false) impression that you had to use it once a week or more to keep it going and, because I like baking bread more than I like eating it, that sounded like too much trouble for too much bread.

My tenure in Sacramento, California resulted in an addiction to sourdough bread.

In addition, my first bread cookbook was James Beard's Beard on Bread and he pooh-poohs sourdough as seldom being as satisfying as that archetype of American sourdoughs made in San Francisco. He notes: "Jeanne [Voltz] agrees with me that it is a most fickle process. … I have even found variations in its performance from one neighborhood of New York to another. … I am not sure it is worth the trouble."

However, my tenure in Sacramento, California resulted in an addiction to sourdough bread and so last fall I bought a starter from King Arthur Flour and gave it a shot.

I've been pleased as punch.

The bread was good to start with but it has now "gone native." By this I mean that local yeasts have taken over from the Vermont yeasts it arrived with giving the bread its own unique character. It has a delightfully tart flavor that I've learned to maximize producing some of the best sandwich bread I've ever eaten.

It also does well with additives such as olives, dried tomatoes, and, my favorite, grated gruyere.

And bread isn't the only thing it's good for. It makes dynamite pancakes -- particularly blueberry pancakes — and excellent biscuits. And one of these days I'm going to make English muffins with it.

Although it does require some care, its demands aren't great. There's no litter pan to clean and empty and no cat hair to vacuum off the couch. It does need food and water. But this is satisfied by adding a cup of starter to a half cup of water and a cup of flour every two weeks — and I've gone as long as four weeks without touching it with no ill effects to the starter. Try that with a cat.

Some people even name their starters. I'm not prepared to go that far, but I do have a certain mild affection for the jar of flour, water, and yeast at the back of my refrigerator.

At least it doesn't throw up on the carpet.

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Wordless Wednesday

Recipe here...

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Bacon Buns

Baking Better Barbeque Buns



When I was in the hospital last August with a staph infection the intravenous antibiotics I was getting knocked me for a complete loop. I don't know why a drug would have this side-effect but apparently it's not that uncommon. I do know that I barely made it home in one piece (the hospital had no business releasing me to drive myself home) and I realized a couple of days later that "today" was Friday, not Thursday. In other words I'd lost a complete day in the hospital without knowing it.

I suppose this could be called jamais vu, meaning "never seen" in reference to my missing day, But jamais vu is actually reserved for that weird feeling of catching your own reflection in a mirror and momentarily failing to recognize yourself. At any rate jamis vu doesn't account for the feeling I got yesterday.

It was common-place to be planning the May issue, working with writers on the April issue, doing initial edits on the March issue, making final tweaks on the February issue, and have the January issue at the printer — all of this in December.

I was reflecting on the fact that this past week has been almost a total washout — I accomplished almost nothing and I was trying to figure out how to salvage the week. I was checking my calendar to figure out where I was most behind when I realized I wasn't behind, I was a week ahead. This feeling used to be common when I was editing a monthly magazine and had as many as four issues at various stages going at once with a fifth just arriving from the printer. It was common-place to be planning the May issue, working with writers on the April issue, doing initial edits on the March issue, making final tweaks on the February issue, and have the January issue at the printer — all of this in December. I loved that job, but it had its temporal challenges.

The result of my latest case of temporal confusion means I'm planning to go out to my parent's house on Sunday to barbeque a Boston Butt (for pulled pork) and some pork ribs for Father's Day. But Father's Day is still a week off as I write this — and I realized while I was panicking yesterday over a wasted week.

Not only have I already met all of next week's deadlines, but all but two of the following week's. This is exactly where I should be. Over the past 20 years as a professional writer I've learned that things can interfere with deadlines. And so I set my own deadlines a week in advance of my editors' deadlines. In all these years most things I've written have been submitted early, a few went in on time, and only two were ever late. And the week I spent in the hospital back in August had no effect on deadlines beyond the two weekly things I can't do two weeks in advance.

So tomorrow, a week early, I'm going out to my folk's celebrate Fathers' Day by barbequing. Today I applied dry rub to the pork and I've got my bacon buns rising. The bacon buns are something I came up with specifically for pulled pork sandwiches. Something with a bit more flavor and texture than the usual hamburger buns, but also complementary to the star of the show — the pork.

I think some whole-wheat flour is needed for both flavor and texture — but I've learned it's much less than I originally supposed. This time the proportion of wheat to white was less than 1 to 3. Slow rising and minimal yeast produce deeper and richer flavors and I have bias toward such flavor. But these characteristics also produce a tougher bread because the gluten is more developed. And I didn't want the bun to be so much an ingredient as a condiment — at least in this case. A quick single rise works best. For additional flavor bacon fat in the buns instead of the usual butter, is an excellent choice.

Bacon Buns
Makes 8 buns.

1 c milk
1/2 c water
1/4 c bacon fat
1 c whole-wheat flour
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 ea egg

Heat the milk, bacon fat, and water in a small saucepan until about 120F.

Mix together 2 cups flour, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Mix in milk mixture, followed by the egg.

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time — switching to the dough hook after adding a cup and a half of flour. Knead for 8 minutes then turn out on a floured board and knead 2 or 3 minutes longer if required. Shape dough into a roll and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 10 equal pieces. Form each piece into an oblong shape and place on a parchment lined baking sheet (you'll need two sheets). Spritz buns with a light coating of oil and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until slightly more than doubled in bulk.

While the buns are rising, heat the oven to 400F and position a rack in the middle of the oven.

Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate baking sheet 180 degrees. Bake another 2 to 4 minutes until golden brown.

Try these Bacon Buns with...
Pulled Pork
Potato Salad
Blackberry Ice Cream

Technorati: Food | recipe | bread | buns | bacon

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Bread Pudding

A Trusty (and Crusty) Friend



Bread pudding is one of those old dishes. It has certainly been around in some form another since bread was invented. Take some stale bread, an egg or two, a bit of milk, sugar, and a fire and cook the mixture. It's just bread baked in a sweetened custard. What could be simpler?

For many people it's also a major comfort food bringing back memories of childhood and family dinners. But I'm not one of them. I don't think my mother ever made it and though I've had it a few times I was never particularly impressed with what was typically a soggy mess. Neither was Q.

Whole wheat adds a nutty sweetness and a degree of substance not found in most breads recommended for bread pudding.

Q is one of my closest friends and an excellent cook. Even better, his taste buds seem to be near duplicates of my own. Whether sending me a recipe or recommending something in a restaurant, his sense of what I will especially like never fails.

A few days ago he got an urge for bread pudding but, like me, was unimpressed with most recipes. So, again like me, he came up with his own. His description of it sounded mighty good so I gave it a try. We're talking seriously good here.

Whole wheat adds a nutty sweetness and a degree of substance not found in most breads recommended for bread pudding. When well-toasted, as Q recommends, it stands up well to the custard and manages to absorb the flavors of the egg mixture without losing it's own character either texturally or in terms of flavor.

Apples are a common ingredient, but Q's use of cider takes it just a bit further and again adds sweetness without adding sugar. Ditto the raisins. The result is sweet but more a fruit sweetness than a sugar sweetness.

Lastly, the sherry in the sauce is a perfect complement to the flavors of the pudding.

Bread Pudding
Recipe By: Q Correll

6 slices whole wheat bread
1 apple — peeled and diced
4 tbsps unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1/2 c milk
1 c half and half
1 c cider
1/2 c raisins
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Sherry Sauce:
4 tbsp sweet butter — softened
1/4 c sugar
1 egg — beaten
1 1/2 oz amontillado sherry
1 c whipping cream

Toast bread on both sides until well browned and cut into 3/4" cubes. You should have 6 - 7 cups.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add diced apple (should be about the same size as raisins) and cook for five to seven minutes.

Heat oven to 350F. Lightly whip egg and brown sugar together in a large bowl. Mix in milk, cider, half & half, vanilla, and spices. Add bread, apples, and raisins and stir. Pour into a shallow casserole such as a 9 x 13 rectangular Pyrex dish.

Place casserole in a larger pan in the middle of the oven and add enough boiling water to large pan to come half way up the sides of the casserole. Cook for 70 minutes, checking toward the end to be sure water doesn't boil away.

Sauce:
Cream butter and sugar together; blend in the beaten egg. Put mixture in top of a double boiler over gently boiling water and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in sherry. Cool to room temperature.

Whip cream until stiff. Gradually whip in egg sauce. Serve over warm pudding.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | dessert | bread

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Muffaletta

Interesting



I'd never been in a sex shop before. It was… interesting. The fur-covered handcuffs were interesting. The leather collars were interesting. The costumes were interesting, And the, well… It was all, uhmm, interesting. According to Susanne and Judith, who had insisted that Michael and I accompany them into the store, we men were blushing like adolescents caught with a Playboy. The ladies, on the other hand, were merely fascinated.

It was about 11:00 o'clock on a bright, clear October morning -- neither cold nor warm. The streets were wet from rain the night before, and still strewn with trash. Halloween was coming up and although that holiday isn't quite the bacchanalia of Mardi Gras, New Orleans still takes it seriously -- in a manner of speaking. We were wandering the streets of the French quarter on our way to Jackson Square. The four of us had a culinary goal and it wasn't the Café Du Monde and beignets.

There is an art to the business of making sandwiches which is given to few ever to find the time to explore in depth. It is simple task but the opportunities for satisfaction are many and profound… ~ Douglas Adams

On this morning the four of us had our sights set on the Central Street Grocery and muffalettas. This is an extraordinary sandwich that, while not as famous outside of New Orleans as the po' boy, holds a place of honor within the city. Surprisingly, the muffaletta's origins are Italian, Sicilian specifically. According to gumbopages.com, "the muffuletta sandwich was invented by Signor Lupo Salvadore, who opened the now-famous little Italian market called Central Grocery on Decatur Street in the French Quarter in 1906 and created the muffuletta sandwich, named for a favored customer…"

The sandwich is distinguished by the generous use of an olive salad and is served on round loaf of bread. It's delicious, different, interesting.

Muffaletta

1 loaf bread (see below)
1 c olive mix (see below)
1/4 lb sliced ham
1/4 lb sliced mortadella
1/4 lb sliced Genoa salami
1/4 lb sliced provolone
1/4 lb sliced mozzarella

Cut bread in half horizontally. Spread half with olive mix then layer on meats and cheeses. Cover with top. (Note: Ideally the sandwich should be made an hour or more in advance and then tightly wrapped in plastic wrap to enable juices to soak bread.) Slice into quarters and serve.

Olive Mix

1 1/2 c pimento-stuffed olives
1/2 c pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 c giardiniera (Italian pickled vegetables)
1/4 c pepperoncini
1/4 c pickled onions
1 tbsp capers
1 clove garlic, large – minced
1 tbsp fresh oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil

Drain all ingredients. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Refrigerate overnight.

Mixture will keep for several months sealed in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Muffaletta Bread
(adapted from CD Kitchen)

4 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c water
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp rapid-rise yeast

Using the dough hook, combine 4 cups flour, water, salt, sugar, olive oil, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer -- scraping down sides as needed -- at low speed until blended. Add additional flour if needed, but dough should be a bit sticky. Increase speed to medium and knead for eight minutes.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and form into a ball.

Clean and dry mixing bowl and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, seam-side down, and spray top lightly with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the floured board and knead for 2 minutes. Divide in two, and form into balls. Let dough rest for 15 minutes then flatten out into discs 7 - 8 inches in diameter. Place each disc on a baking sheet, dock with a fork, and cover with plastic sprayed with oil. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Bake each loaf for 20 to 25 minutes until well-browned. Cool completely before slicing.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | sandwich | muffaletta | new orleans | bread

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Roasted Garlic Butter

Unctuous



I've been eating a lot of pasta lately making Pasta e Fagiole a few weeks ago and Lasagna this past weekend. The Pasta e Fagiole was one of those dishes that had been on my list for ages and I finally got around to it. And the lasagna was just because I love lasagna, haven't made it in a while, and had a sort of desperate appetite for non-holiday food. Both meals required garlic bread.

Like so many simple preparations garlic bread is often over-simplified and what should be a buttery, garlicky, cheesy piece of toasted bread is instead an insipid soggy lump.

A recipe for garlic bread may seem silly. I mean, "You need a recipe for garlic bread?" Well, yes. Like so many simple preparations it's often over-simplified and what should be a buttery, garlicky, cheesy piece of toasted bread is instead an insipid soggy lump. This recipe is a bit of trouble and requires enough planning to soften the butter, but it will redefine your idea of what garlic bread should be. It's also delicious as a topping on grilled beef, lamb, and pork.

Garlic Butter

13 md - lg cloves garlic
1 stick salted butter
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 oz shredded Parmigiano Reggiano

Gently cook 12 garlic cloves (skin on) in a small, dry skillet over medium low heat until the garlic softens and releases it's odor, turning it as needed to avoid burning - about 7 minutes. Cool and peel.

Peel and chop remaining garlic clove, then place all the garlic in a mini food processor and pulse until finely chopped (you can also finely mince the garlic by hand). Add the butter and oregano and mix thoroughly. Add the cheese and pulse a couple of times to mix.

Slice a loaf of Italian bread in half horizontally. Spread generously with garlic butter and broil until browned. Optionally (and one of my favorites) use English muffins split in half instead of Italian bread.

In case you're wondering, most of the garlic flavor is provided by the roasted garlic while the single un-roasted clove adds just a bit of sharpness.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | garlic butter | garlic bread

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No-knead English Muffins

Holey Moley



Of the three of us who hosted A Year in Bread, I was the artiste, while Beth and Susan were technicians. Alternatively, of the three of us Beth and Susan were the dedicated bakers, seeking perfection while I was the gadfly with the attention span of, well, a gadfly. I prefer the first interpretation but suspect the second is far more accurate.

Nevertheless, one of our goals was to present different approaches to baking bread. My compatriots would make a recipe two or three or more times in a row, tweaking each iteration, until they'd nailed it. You can learn a lot from them. Me? I'll make it once, take some notes about what I think worked and didn’t — notes that I often lose — and then not try it again for a year or more if ever. Yeah, gadfly is probably a more accurate description of my approach.

I've been making English muffins for many, many years and although I've produced some superior muffins, I've never produced something as good as what I want. In fact, I've never produced something close to what I want.

Like Beth, I wasn't tremendously impressed with the NY Times No-Knead Bread when I first tried it. It was certainly pretty, but the flavor was on the bland side. and it got stale rapidly. It wasn't suitable for sandwiches, too many huge holes, but given how quickly it became stale that wasn't really an option anyway. Besides, I didn't see that it saved me anything. Kneading only takes 10 minutes and if the long rest between mixing and baking seems like a good idea, then you should know that almost any bread can be refrigerated for 12 hours before baking without harm. In fact, 12 hours in the fridge usually helps the flavor.

Perfect English Muffins

When I was a kid my mother sometimes bought Bay's English Muffins. These gems weren't found with the rest of the breads — or other English Muffins — they were in the dairy compartment near the cheese, eggs, butter, and milk. Exactly were they belonged. I've eaten hundreds, perhaps thousands, of English muffins over the years, and Bay's remains the ideal.

An English muffin is cooked on a griddle — fried, in effect. But it should never taste fried, it should taste baked. And yet, baking wouldn't work. To achieve the proper crust it must be exposed to direct heat.

Split an English muffin open and ideally you should see a moonscape of large and small craters, these craters are perfect for collecting puddles of sweet butter and capturing snags of marmalade.

Bite into one and, unlike most bread — or English muffins for that matter — and you find you need your incisors to tear off a piece like picking up a steak and tearing off a bite. And like steak, you have to chew it.

A truly good English muffin has a noticeably sour note to it. A flavor that blends with something like orange marmalade and highlights a topping such as strawberry jam. Butter is its heart-mate.

Nevertheless, when I sliced into and ate my first piece of this bread I was immediately reminded of my favorite English muffins. It was immediately obvious that the failure in all the muffin recipes I'd tried was that they didn't use a slack dough. A wet, loose dough produces the chewy character and gorgeous nooks and crannies that collect butter and marmalade that, to my mind, is the height of English Muffindom. I don’t know why it took me so long to make that connection. But then, we gadflies aren't known for our intellectual attributes.

I immediately decided I needed to try the recipe as a muffin.

Step one was to get some muffin rings. None of the muffins I'd made in the past needed rings. They were sturdy enough to shape and then rise on their own, but using the no-knead recipe would produce pancakes, not muffins — unless the dough was confined. I ordered some muffin rings and they disappeared into a cabinet until I had a free day.

I mixed the dough according to the recipe except that I rounded off the water to 1 1/2 cups (what's with this 5/8 cup nonsense?) and then followed Beth's suggestion and covered the bowl with plastic and refrigerated it for about 15 hours.

The following day I pulled the dough from the fridge and let it warm for an hour and a half. Bad move. Although the dough was still cold, it was too warm for easy shaping. Nevertheless, I pressed on and dusted my aluminum peel with a heavy coating of corn meal, arranged nine rings on it. I dusted my baker's mat heavily with flour and rolled the dough into a cylinder about 12 inches long. Actually, not so much a cylinder as a puffy, sort of rectangular pancake 12 inches long — this stuff is as hard to control as a two-year-old.

No Fear

I didn't screw up my first batch of muffins on purpose. But I did make them knowing I'd screw up. I even suspected some of the ways I'd screw up. But this effort was an experiment. I wanted to learn and that meant I needed to know what could go wrong.

I believed Beth when she said shaping the dough cold was a good idea, but how cold? So I let it warm up some and then tried it. Bad idea. I learned to do it straight from the fridge.

With most breads you let them double in bulk before cooking, but I didn't know how that translated to a slack dough in a ring. So for my first batch I tried several degrees of filling and rising. The conventional wisdom proved correct — fill each ring half way (more or less) and cook when the rings are filled with risen dough.

I also learned that this dough is probably too wet for this purpose, I'll use a bit more flour on my next effort and knead the additional flour by had to understand the texture I want.

I baked my first brick 40 years ago, I'm still learning. Never be afraid of learning.

I divided the cylinder-rectangular-pancake in half and cut that up to form the patties. Not knowing how much rise to expect or plan for I varied the size of the patties I placed in each ring. I also ended up stealing some dough from the second half to fill all the rings. I let the dough rise until the rings were filled and pressing against the plastic wrap I'd covered them with.

I should have anticipated the next problem. But didn't. The muffins stuck to the plastic. Unsticking them was a delicate operation, but I accomplished it and they went onto a griddle lightly brushed with lard. Sadly, they didn’t slide neatly off the foil. Despite the generous layer of corn meal they stuck to the peel too, so I had to use a spatula to move them from peel to griddle.

Another problem. Although I was careful to use very little fat, I still used too much and the muffins fried. That didn't hurt the flavor, but did hurt the texture of the crust. I made a note to use a paper towel to wipe the griddle after oiling it for the second batch.

Last error. I should have greased the insides of the muffin rings. Actually, it did cross my mind, but for some reason (I'm not sure why) I didn't. I had to run a knife around the inside of the rings to free the muffins, which destroyed their edges.

So, given all these problems, what was the result? A decent muffin. Not great, the crust was too crisp and they were too thin, but the holes I'd desired for so many years were there as was the chewy texture. The flavor? Not so great.

I'd wrapped the unused dough in plastic and put it back in the refrigerator. So the next day I unwrapped it and made a second batch and allowed for my earlier problems. So I:

• didn't allow the dough to warm up at all before forming the patties


• filled the rings half way and cooked them when the dough hit the plastic


• coated peel with both flour and corn meal


• buttered the inside of muffin rings


• dusted the tops of the muffins with flour to at least minimize sticking to the plastic


• wiped the griddle with a paper towel so only a trace of oil remained

So how'd did this change in procedure work out? WOO HOO!

As you can see from the photo, the second batch of muffins is gorgeous. The .8-ounce weaklings became 1-ounce giants.

Perfection though? Nope. And perhaps some difficulties are inevitable. Despite the addition of flour to the cornmeal underneath the muffins I still needed a spatula to get them off the peel, but I accomplished that with much less damage to the muffin. There was also still some sticking to the plastic covering, but, again, much less sticking resulting in less damage to the muffin's structure.

Half of the muffins simply slipped from their rings when I used tongs to turn them over, and the others only stuck because a bit of dough overlapped the ring. They were easily freed.

The crust is still a tad crisper than I'd prefer and although several solutions occur to me, I want to think on it further.

The second batch did taste a bit better, but I can put that down to the longer stay in the fridge and to more air in the muffin. The flavor wasn't significantly improved. This dough is bland — and doesn’t keep well.

But I learned I want a slack dough. I learned (thanks Beth) that it should be formed cold. I learned how to use muffin rings. And I learned that choosing a good marmalade for your breakfast muffin is essential. Actually, I already knew that last one.

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Paisano: Grape & Rosemary Focaccia

Slap Your Momma Good



I first made this focaccia for A Year in Bread (the recipe is adapted from one by Daniel Leader in Local Breads) and to my surprise fell completely in love with it. As a friend of mine commented: "It's so good it'd make you slap your momma." I liked it so much I started looking for occasions to make it for clients and family to share the joy.

The first opportunity was a picnic I catered for a real estate agent at a new resort. The resort was intended for people who owned horses and the lots were about 25 acres each. I served lunch at an open pagoda above a lake – hoity-toity to say the least. As expected there were leftovers, sadly there was no leftover focaccia.

As expected there were leftovers, sadly there was no leftover focaccia.

Since that time I’ve made it for other clients and for family events – always to raves. It’s one of those odd flavor combinations bringing together bread, fresh rosemary, ripe grapes, and sea salt in a union that is far better tasting than the sum of its parts. The bread is delightfully sweet, moist, and chewy. The rosemary is a perfect flavor pairing with the sweet grapes (an added burst of sweetness), and the coarse salt provides both textural and flavor contrast.

Grape & Rosemary Focaccia

1 c tepid water
1 tsp instant yeast
3 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Topping:
1 1/2 c red seedless grapes
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp coarse sea salt
additional olive oil

Pour water into the bowl of a stand mixer bowl and add yeast, olive oil, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Mix the ingredients on low (2 on a KA) using the paddle attachment on a Kitchen Aid until shaggy, then swap to the dough hook. Add additional flour as needed until a dough forms. Increase speed to medium (4 on a KA) and knead for 9 to 10 minutes.

Scrape dough out onto a lightly-floured board and shape into a ball. Note: I always knead the dough a bit by hand at the end to make sure it feels right. In this case the dough is moist, but not sticky (the oil accounts for this).

For this amount of dough, I typically use the mixer bowl for the fermentation phase. I wash it out and dry it, then lightly spray it with oil, shape the dough into a ball, lightly spray the top with oil, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until doubled in bulk.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush lightly with olive oil. Scrape dough out onto baking sheet and let rest for 5 minutes. Oil your hands and then stretch the dough out on the baking sheet, if it resists, allow to rest for another five minutes and continue. The dough should end up about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) and form a rough rectangle about 12 inches by 16 inches.

Using the balls of your fingers, press indentations into the dough, then drizzle a bit of olive oil on the top and, using your fingers, coat the top with oil. Press the grapes into the surface about 1 1/2 inches apart. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and chopped rosemary. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double the height (45 minutes to an hour).

At this point I also began heating my oven to 375F (190C) and positioned a rack in the center.

Bake focaccia for 20 to 30 minutes, but do take your own oven into account. My oven tends to cook slowly for some reason (and yes, I have verified the temperature with a thermometer) and I baked the bread for 40 minutes until it was a golden brown and the grapes had shriveled slightly.

Cool for about 5 minutes on a rack, then dive in.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | bread | focaccia

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Beer Rolls

Rolling in Dough



No one in my family is a big bread eater. I probably eat far more bread than anyone else and that's mostly in the form of sandwiches (which I love — shut-up Beth). But the holidays seem to call for bread and, in particular, those soft dinner rolls your mother used to buy and finish baking.

I've made these slightly sweet, tender, and buttery rolls in the past. Unfortunately I had no idea what recipe I've used in the past, so I decided to use Rose Berenbaum's recipe from The Bread Bible. Rose let me down. Alternatively, I screwed up. At any rate, the dough was so soft I couldn't get any loft, it simply spread out like a pancake. The rolls tasted fine, but looked terrible. Not something I wanted on a holiday table.

Because I had other commitments I didn't have time to experiment, so I decided to fall back on a recipe I developed a couple of years ago. I knew these would look great and taste great — and besides, I hadn't made them in a while. Also, they make great little turkey sandwiches.

I was trying to make a beer bread. I thought whole wheat would play well with the beer, but I didn't really want a whole wheat bread. I wanted the flavor as an ingredient. Besides it's sometimes tricky to get a good rise out of whole wheat (the fragments of bran tend to cut the gluten strands) and I certainly didn't want to repeat the pancake experience. I added honey because beer and whole wheat tend to be a somewhat bitter and I chose a dark porter to get a strong beer flavor.

Whole Wheat Beer Rolls
Makes 16 rolls.

Ingredient | US Volume | Metric Volume | US Weight | Metric Weight
instant yeast 1 1/2 tsp | 7 ml | -- | --
honey 2 tbsp | 30 ml | -- | --
porter beer warm, flat 1 1/2 c | 255 ml | 12 oz | 337 g
bread flour 1 1/2 c | 350 ml | 7 1/2 oz | 220 g
whole wheat flour 2 1/4 c | 530 ml | 11 oz | 330 g
butter melted and cooled 1 1/2 tbsp | 22.5 ml | -- | --
salt 2 tsp | 10 ml | -- | --
egg 1 each
water 1 tbsp | 15 ml | -- | --

Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, combine 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) yeast, bread flour, and sugar. Whisk the honey into the beer, then, with the motor running on low, add the beer. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 1 hour. This is called a poolish.

Combine 2 cups whole wheat flour and remaining 1 teaspoon of yeast. Sprinkle flour over over poolish, sprinkle salt over flour, and recover bowl with plastic. Allow to ferment for 4 hours. The poolish will break through the flour cover — not a problem.

Using the dough hook. Mix together the flour into the poolish then add melted butter.
Knead for four minutes at medium speed. The dough should be slightly sticky but should clear the bowl. Add additional flour if needed and knead for another 2 - 3 minutes. Dump dough onto a floured board and knead another minute or two until dough is fairly smooth and resilient. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes.

Clean and dry mixing bowl and spray with a nonstick spray. Shape dough into a ball and place seam-side down in bowl. Spritz top lightly with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in bulk — 60 to 90 minutes.

Punch down dough and turn out onto floured board. Lightly knead dough and form into a flattened ball. Allow to rest 10 minutes.

Using a dough scraper cut dough in four equal quarters. Set three quarters aside and cover. Shape remaining quarter into a flattened ball and divide into four quarters. Shape each quarter into a ball and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Repeat for remaining dough, cover, and allow to rise until rolls double in bulk.

Heat oven to 400F/205C.

In small bowl, beat together egg and water. Brush rolls with egg mixture and bake on middle oven rack for about 25 minutes. Watch closely to avoid overcooking.

Cool on a wire rack.

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Sandwich Rye Bread

A few years ago I made a sourdough rye bread using wild yeast that I captured and cultured. I made a decent bread from it, albeit rather tough and coarse, but I already had a sourdough culture I was caring for and decided I didn't need twins in my life. Nevertheless, I do love a good sour rye bread for sandwiches and so I eventually got around to coming up with a good sandwich rye.

You can find the recipe at A Year in Bread.

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Loafing

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Cheese Quick Bread

This month we’re doing quick breads at A Year in Bread. A quick bread is one that uses something other than yeast for leavening, typically a chemical leavener. Biscuits are quickbreads — unless they’re sour-dough biscuits. Muffins are quick breads. Cornbread is a quick bread. Even popovers are quick breads, although they rely on eggs for leavening.

You can find the complete article and recipe at A Year in Bread.

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Focaccia

I was about 12 or 13 the first time I tried baking bread. I produced two whole wheat bricks. I tried again a number of times over the following few years but without any great success. I did produce some decent English muffins — although nothing as good as those I made using the No-knead Bread Dough.

Then in 1981 I'd just gotten out of school and while I was trying to find a real job I decided to make sandwiches and sell them door-to-door at offices...

You can read the complete post at A Year in Bread.

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Popovers with Strawberry Conserves

Popping Fresh



My mother believed that three practical skills were essential for all civilized human beings regardless of gender: cooking, sewing, and something I can’t remember (so I'm probably not as civilized as she would wish). Consequently I was the one who sewed all the badges on my scout uniforms and at one point I borrowed a sewing machine, learned to use it, and made curtains for a house I rented, I even got hooked on embroidery, briefly, in my late 20s and did some small pieces as gifts (I think I still have a half-finished dragon and a rather tacky parrot in a basket somewhere). There's something indefinably soothing about embroidery and if I had any sense I'd cook a bit less and sew more. But I don't.

Cooking really stuck. When I was about six she taught me to make Jello, eventually I graduated to making brownies and the like from mixes and by the time I was 14 I was cooking entire meals on occasion. Today I make my living cooking (and writing about cooking and food issues).

Kissing don't last; cookery do! ~ George Meredith

There's a certain hubris in cooking a special meal (as I have each Mother's Day for years) for the woman who taught me to cook. Simultaneously, it is entirely appropriate to present your mentor, the master you learned from, with your best efforts. And, in fact, I'm a better cook than she is.

Perhaps this isn't surprising because she is a skilled and accomplished teacher (she taught at the University of Tennessee while I was growing up) as well an accomplished and skilled cuisinier. So I learned as much from her failures as her successes — because she insisted.

When I was a child we would sit down to a meal and rave about it. In response she'd note how she'd subbed skim milk for half and half because that's what she had and the dish should have been richer had she used half and half. I suspect that was largely a way of deflecting complements, but in doing so she taught me to examine my cooking critically. And over time, I learned her particular cooking faults and how to avoid them.

As usual, this Mother's Day, I fixed brunch. We had Cheshire quiche, asparagus with Mayonnaise Nicoise, and popovers with strawberry conserves and Devon Cream, It was all good, but the popovers and conserves were especially tasty. Mouth-achingly good.

Strawberry Conserves
Makes 1 pint.

1 lb strawberries
1 c sugar — separated
1/4 c Cointreau

Wash and stem strawberries. Cut berries in half or quarters (depending on size) place in a bowl and mix in 1/2 cup sugar and Cointreau. Cover and leave sitting on counter for 24 hours. Stir once or twice.

Pour juice into a small sauce pan over low heat and add remaining sugar. Heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add berries and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool and pour into a sterile jar.

Butter Popovers
Makes six large popovers or 12 small.

<1 c Wondra flour (must be Wondra)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 c whole milk — at room temperature
2 eggs — at room temperature
4 tbsp butter — melted

Heat oven to 425F 30 minutes in advance. Place one oven rack on the bottom level and the other on the second level (this avoids having the popover rising into the other rack).

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and sugar. Slowly add milk using an electric mixer on low. Add eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition. Add two tablespoons of butter to batter. Transfer to pitcher for pouring.

Brush popover cups with butter then distribute remaining butter evenly among the cups.

Heat popover pan in oven for 3 minutes. Fill each cup halfway with batter.

Cook popovers on the second rack for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350F and continue cooking 20 - 35 minutes until well puffed and brown. Do not open oven for at least the first 20 minutes. Six - 10 minutes before popovers are done, use a small, sharp knife to poke a slit in the top of each popover ad allow steam to escape.

When done, remove popovers from the pan and cool on a rack.

Adapted from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

These are the best popovers I've ever eaten, the butter adds richness and tones down the strong eggy flavor most popovers have.

Technorati: Food | recipe | popovers | bread | strawberries

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No-Knead English Muffins

No-Knead English Muffins

I've been making English muffins for many, many years and although I've produced some superior muffins, I've never produced something as good as what I want. In fact, I've never produced something close to what I want. However, I'm getting closer and, in fact, I now know the characteristics required to achieve that ultimate goal.

You can read about my experiment and discoveries at A Year in Bread.

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Reuben Braid

Waiter! There's Something in My Bread!



We have been amazed at the response to A Year in Bread, the blog Farmgirl Susan, kitchenMage, and I started a month ago. We seem to have tapped into a deeply pent-up desire to learn how to make bread — witnessed by the number of comments each post generates. But it's not just newbies to the bread world, old hands at the baking game are also logging on and offering their thoughts, insights, and tips. I confess that the three of us feel like proud parents.

About the time it started up, I got a press release on About Professional Baking: The Essentials by Gail Sokol. The timing was propitious so I asked them to send me a review copy (albeit with no promise to review it, or that the review would be positive if I did). The PR agency decided to take a chance and sent me a copy.

Note: this is not the review I didn't promise to write. Instead, as I paged through the book I found a recipe for something called a Reuben Braid that captivated me. It consisted of rye bread dough, rolled out, and then folded over the standard Reuben sandwich ingredients. This I had to try. Then Andrew at Spittoon Extra announced that the next "Waiter, there's something in my..." would be about bread. Clearly the planets were aligned and a couple of days ago I made it.

It's good. Not great, the buttery crunchiness of a properly grilled Reuben is impossible to beat, but this would be a great sandwich at some sort of sporting event party such as the Superbowl. It's easy to make and one sandwich will feed six big appetites. Making two of them wouldn't be much harder.

I may yet review the book, and my impressions of it are fairly positive so far, but I need to make another two or three recipes first. In the meantime, here's the Reuben recipe.

Rueben Braid
Adapted from About Professional Baking.

Bread:
2 1/4 c warm water
3 tbsp olive oil
22 oz (4 1/2 c) bread flour
5 oz (1 c) rye flour
1 3/4 tsp instant yeast
2 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Filling:
1/3 c mayonnaise
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp finely minced onion
2 tbsp sweet pickle relish
8 oz thinly sliced corned beef
4 oz sliced Swiss cheese
1 c well-drained sauerkraut
Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 tbsp milk

In a medium bowl mix together 18 ounces of the bread flour, all the rye flour, and the yeast.

Combine water and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, run the mixer at low and gradually add flour mixture until blended. Switch to dough hook and continue mixing, adding up to another 4 ounces of the bread flour until a soft dough forms. Cover the bowl and allow to rest for 10 minutes, then uncover, add salt, and knead at medium speed to incorporate salt. Continue kneading for a total of about 6 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead a few more times. The dough should be smooth and elastic, but not sticky. Form into a ball.

Clean and dry the mixing bowl. Spray lightly with cooking spray, set the dough in the bowl, seam-side down, and lightly spray with cooking spray. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk — about 1 hour. Heat oven to 375F.

Punch the dough down, re-cover the bowl, and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Turn a half sheet pan upside down and coat the bottom with cooking spray. Turn dough out onto pan and roll out to a 15 x 10 inch rectangle.

Mix together the mayonnaise, ketchup, onion, and relish. Spread on dough lengthwise leaving 2.5 inches uncovered. Layer dressing with corned beef, cheese, and sauerkraut. Using kitchen shears, cut uncovered edges into 3/4 x 1 inch wide strips. Fold edges over the filling and braid together the strips. Slide bread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Mix together egg and milk and brush on bread. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until nicely browned.

Technorati: Food | recipe | bread | reuben | sandwich | baking

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A Year in Bread

A Year in Bread



Today Susan, Beth, and I launched A Year in Bread. A Year is a blog dedicated to baking bread (and rolls and buns and even pizza). You can read the official story of how it came into being on the site, as well as what Susan and Beth have to say here and here. Please, go check out the blog, the three of us have been planning and working on it since the first week of January, and we're proud parents

I baked my first brick loaf of bread when I was 12 or 13 years old. Although not an outright disaster, the bread didn't rise more than an inch or two and had an atomic weight close to uranium.

I've no idea what I did wrong, but I tried a couple of more times with only a bit more success before giving up. You would have thought I'd learned my lesson. Nope. Some 18 years later, during a period between jobs, I decided to sell sandwiches make from fresh-baked croissants for a living — despite not having made anything more complicated than pancakes in the meantime. Oddly enough, although the business was an inspired failure, I managed to bake some extraordinary croissants — as good as anything I'd had in France.

Nevertheless I was relieved to find a real job so I could quit getting up at 4:00 in the morning to proof the croissants and then again at 6:00 to bake them and make sandwiches. Not to mention no longer spending every evening from 4:00 until 8:00 making the croissants so they could chill until 4:00 the next morning when I started over. That was 25 or so years ago and I haven't baked a croissant since. In fact, it was 10 years before I baked bread again.

Then I baked a loaf or two a year for a while until, in 1995, I bought a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. That made the difference. My time as a croissant baker had made me reluctant to spend the effort required to properly mix and knead bread. Keep in mind, for the croissants I was mixing and kneading enough bread — by hand — every day to make 50 or more croissants. (In fact, at Christmas that year I was making over 100 croissants on some days to fill special orders.)

With a stand mixer to do most of the mixing and kneading I started making more and more bread. These days I make bread about every three weeks. That serves almost all of my needs (except that I still like eating croissants and I'm still not making them) as well as bread I make for clients. These days I think nothing of making a loaf of bread, and I've learned enough so that even when I'm busy I can fit it into my schedule.

At the moment I have pizza dough undergoing its second fermentation (second rising) in preparation for my first post. We decided on pizza as the first thing to tackle because it's universally popular and an easy and forgiving bread. And because nothing so transforms this simple food as using good homemade dough.

Technorati: Food | a year in bread | bread | baking

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Beer Bread II

Beer Bread, Take 2



Some months ago I made a loaf of beer quick bread. It was mighty tasty but had the drawback of all quick breads -- no real structure. This made it unsuitable for uses like sandwiches because it would fall apart. Nor was it a candidate for rolls, although muffins would have been doable. At any rate, what I wanted was a yeast-based beer bread.

When Thanksgiving came rolling around I decided beer rolls would be good with dinner as well as for making turkey sandwiches so I set out to craft a such a bread.

I wanted a whole wheat bread because I thought it would play best with the beer. But it's sometimes tricky to get a good rise out of 100 percent whole wheat (the fragments of bran tend to cut the gluten strands) so I needed to add some bread flour to increase the bread's lightness. I added sugar because beer and whole wheat tend to be a somewhat bitter and I chose Killian Red as the beer thinking it would be hearty enough to stand out and yet not overwhelming. Here's the recipe I came up with:

Whole Wheat Beer Bread
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
12 oz warm beer
2 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c bread flour -- separated
1 1/2 tbsp butter -- melted
2 tsp salt
1 ea egg
1 tbsp water

Using the paddle attachment thoroughly combine yeast, whole wheat flour, 1 1/4 cup bread flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and sugar. Add butter to warm beer and, with mixer running, pour beer into dry ingredients. As the dough forms swap paddle attachment for dough hook.

Knead for six minutes at medium speed. The dough should be slightly sticky but should clear the bowl. Add additional flour if needed. Dump dough onto a floured board and knead another minute or two until dough is fairly smooth (it won't be as smooth as a white bread) and resilient. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes.

Clean and dry mixing bowl and spray with a nonstick spray. Shape dough into a ball and place seam-side down in bowl. Spritz top lightly with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in bulk -- 60 to 90 minutes.

Punch down dough and turn out onto floured board. Lightly knead dough and form into a flattened ball. Allow to rest five to 10 minutes.

To make a loaf, shape dough into a rectangle that will fir in a 9" x 4.25" greased loaf pan. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk.

To make rolls, using a dough scraper cut dough in four equal quarters. Set three quarters aside and cover. Shape remaining quarter into a flattened ball and divide into four quarters. Shape each quarter in to a ball and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Flatten each ball. Repeat for remaining dough, cover, and allow to rise until rolls double in bulk.

Heat oven to 425F for loaf or 400F for rolls.

In small bowl, beat together egg and water. Brush loaf or rolls with egg mixture and bake on middle oven rack. Rolls will need about 25 minutes, the load will need about 40 minutes. Monitor closely to avoid overcooking.

Cool on a wire rack.

The rolls turned out beautifully and were good with dinner as well as making great little turkey sandwiches. But there are a few things I would change the next time I make this.

First, I think I would use 2 tablespoons of honey instead of sugar and reduce the amount of beer by that amount. Mix the honey with the beer before adding to dry ingredients.

Second, I'd use a stout or porter instead of lager or ale in order to get more assertive beer flavor.

Third, the rolls were getting dry by day three and I think substituting oil for the butter might extend the shelf life another day.

Technorati: recipe | bread | yeast | beer

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Sourdough English Muffins

Hiram Done Good



After reading the paper on Sunday mornings, I do my chores. For years this has meant vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, washing clothes, and watering plants. For the past year every other Sunday has included an additional chore -- feeding my sourdough starter.

Although I've occasionally gone as long as three weeks between feedings, every two weeks has proven ideal for my starter. I have to keep a reminder set in Outlook both because it's a bi-weekly event (meaning beyond my ability to remember) and because if I use the starter before scheduled feeding the schedule changes to every other Sunday from that point, whatever the previous schedule may have been.

Feeding involves mixing a cup of starter with a cup of water and two cups of flour and then returning it to the refrigerator in its glass canister. However, this means the base starter never warms up to vigorous activity.

When I pulled out the starter on Sunday to make the calzone I decided to completely refresh it by bring the entire mixture up to room temperature, feeding it, and giving it a day to work. While I was at it, I figured I'd make the sourdough English muffins I've been meaning to make in addition to the calzone dough.

So I did just that. I warmed up the entire batch of starter, fed it well, and gave it a day to revitalize. I made the calzone dough and the English muffins using a recipe I found at Annes Recipes.

Sourdough English Muffins Recipe

1 pk yeast
1/2 c lukewarm water (90F to 105F)
1/2 c basic sourdough starter, room temperature
1/3 c instant nonfat dry milk
2 1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 c lukewarm water (90F to 105F)
3 to 3 1/2 c all-purpose, flour
Cornmeal

Proof the yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Thoroughly mix in starter, dry milk, sugar, and salt. Stir in remaining water. Add 3 cups flour and mix at low speed with paddle until smooth.

Swap paddle for dough hook and knead at medium speed for four minutes, adding additional flour as necessary. Dough should be somewhat moist and slack. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead another two to three minutes.

Transfer dough to greased bowl, turning to coat all surfaces, cover with plastic and let stand in warm draft-free area until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Lightly dust work surface with flour, punch down dough, and turn out onto surface. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into 3" rounds. Line a pair of baking sheet with wax paper and dust with cornmeal. Place rounds on baking sheet, dust tops with corn meal, and cover with plastic wrap. (Note: rounds should be at least 3/4" apart.) Dough scraps can be kneaded back together, rolled out, and additional rounds cut.

Let muffins rise until almost doubled -- about an hour.

Heat a griddle over medium low heat. Lightly brush with butter. Depending on griddle size, transfer four to eight muffins to griddle using a spatula. Cook muffins on each side for about seven minutes until browned. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Makes about 12 muffins.

The muffins are great. Very chewy with a nice sourdough tang and although they weren't as holey as commercial muffins, they were much more so than any English muffins I've made in the past. Hiram done good.

Hiram? That's the starter's name.

Technorati: Food | bread | sourdough english muffin

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Prosciutto Bread

Heaven Scent



I read recently that the most popular sandwich in the US (discounting hamburgers, I assume) is ham. Although I presume most people eat of some sort of processed ham on some sort of commercial bread in their sandwiches, even some of those products aren't bad. And when you branch out into less common hams and handcrafted breads you can create some really spectacular sandwiches.

Such sandwiches can be as simple as a couple of slices of Prosciutto or Serrano ham on a single crust of country bread -- perhaps with a slice of Manchego or Fontina. This is best enjoyed standing in a tavern in Spain or Italy, but it's good at home too. Grilled country ham on a biscuit is a breakfast mainstay in the South. Fresh baked ham on a good sour rye with German mustard and sliced dill pickles is wonderful on a picnic. And I think my favorite ham sandwich is a Black Forest ham Panini with Bierkase on my own sourdough bread. A light brush of olive oil on the bread before grilling really sets it off.

The last bread book I bought was The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum has a recipe in it for a Prosciutto Ring. Right off the bat I liked the sound of it. Reading further I discovered that it's brushed with bacon fat before baking. Ham and bacon and fresh baked bread? Sounds like a ham sandwich lover's dream!

Prosciutto Ring

2 cups + 3 tbsp bread flour
1 tbsp malt powder (or 1 tbsp sugar)
3/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1 c water (70F -90F)
3 oz Prosciutto, 1/8" thick -- cut into 1/2" pieces
4 tsp bacon fat, lard, or butter -- melted

Using the whisk attachment, thoroughly combine flour, malt, and yeast. Add salt and mix. (Note: the salt is added after mixing to avoid it coming into direct contact with the yeast.)

Swapping to the dough hook, add water to bowl and combine with flour at low speed (#2 on a Kitchen Aid) until moistened. Increase speed to medium (#4 on a KA) and knead for seven minutes. Add Prosciutto and mix in on low. Dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. If it is too sticky add a bit more flour and knead in, if too dry, spray with a bit of water and knead in.

Dump dough onto a lightly floured counter, shape into a ball, dust lightly with flour, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Place baking stone or a baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven and a baking sheet on the bottom of the oven. Heat oven to 450F.

Roll dough into an 18" rope, form into a ring, overlapping ends by two inches on a sheet of parchment paper or Silpain sheet. Cover with a large bowl or oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk -- about one hour.

Transfer bread on Silpain or parchment to stone or baking sheet. (Use a peel if bread is on parchment.) Toss half a dozen ice cubes into the pan on the bottom of the oven. Brush with melted bacon grease.

Bake for 15 minutes, remove Silpain or parchment, and rotate bread 180 degrees. Bake another five minutes and reduce heat to 400F. Cook another 10 to 15 minutes. Turn oven off, prop open door, and leave the bread in the oven for five minutes.

Remove bread from oven, brush again with bacon fat or butter, and allow to cool completely.

Note: I ended up adding almost an additional half cup of flour to the dough to get the texture right.

If ever, in a moment of aimless wondering, pondered what heaven might smell like, I know. It smells like a combination of bacon cooking and bread baking. And if you could eat heaven, it just might taste like this bread.

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