Brioche and Breakfast for Dinner

Gail has been on me for a few weeks to make Brioche because 1) she wanted to make french toast so we can enjoy breakfast for dinner and 2) it is absolutely delicious! 

As I've explained multiple times I am learning to bake, especially bread, but I am not an expert. Lucky for me those with far more knowledge and skill have made their fool proof recipes available on the Internet. In the case of Brioche, I turn back to Michael Ruhlman's recipe which is easy enough that as he claims an eleven year-old and a stand mixer can make it. 

I may not be eleven, but I do have a stand mixer and a love of great (and easy to make) bread! Once again (this was my 2nd time with this recipe) the results were fantastic. The loaf is eggy, buttery, and almost cake like with a nice flaky crust:

With such an easy recipe that can produce something as delicious and great as the above photo I don't think I need to search for another one. Ruhlman's recipe will definitely be my standby when a basic loaf of brioche is needed. 

As I stated at the top of the post the whole point of making the brioche was so we could have french toast for dinner! Last night Gail sliced up half of the loaf and made a great homemade french toast that she dusted with a pinch of curry sugar. Topped with Cook's Farm maple syrup, a pile of crispy John Crow Farm bacon, and a fruit salad.  On a day that seemed like winter had finally arrived here in Boston a warm filling breakfast for dinner was exactly what we needed! 

Chewy Tangy Bread

I am not an expert bread maker, I barely qualify as a novice most of the time, but I keep trying with some great success as well as some pretty bad failures as well, but sometimes I bake bread that is absolutely what I envisioned. The 2 loaves I made on Saturday were a perfect example of the final product coming out just as I had hoped. The addition of fed sourdough starter gives this bread a slightly tangy taste. The bread had a thin and crispy crust and the loaves were soft, fluffy, and chewy -a perfect vehicle for a bit of warmed butter and a great addition to the dinner table.

 

 Chewy Tangy Bread
(makes 2 loaves)

1 1/2 cups fed sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 cups flour (I used 4 cups King Arthur All-Purpose Flour & 1 cup bolted Warthog from Four Star Farms)

Combine all of the ingredients and knead to form a smooth dough. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, approximately 90 minutes. After dough has risen, divide the dough in half. Shape each half into an oval shaped loaf and place on parchment-lined or corn meal dusted baking sheet. Cover and let loaves rise until puffy, about 1 hour. As the dough is rising preheat the oven to 425 F.
Make deep slashes in each loaf with a serrated bread knife and mist with lukewarm water. Place a shallow pan with lukewarm water in the bottom rack of the oven. Back the bread for 25 to 30 minutes on the upper rack until bread is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.

(submitted to YeastSpotting)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Buckwheat Flour

Last month when I picked up all the great local flour from Four Star Farms, Elizabeth L'Etoile of Four Star mentioned that buckwheat flour was great for banana bread and added a nice earthy flavor. Using their recipe for Banana Bread with barley flour, I substituted buckwheat flour for the barley and made the addition of 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
The recipe made 1 full sized loaf and 1 mini loaf (pictured above). This was a really hearty banana bread which balanced well with the addition of the small amount of chocolate chips and I loved the flavor. From now on, If I have buckwheat flour on hand that is how I will be making my banana bread!

Do you use any 'alternative' grains and flours for common recipes??

Buckwheat x Sourdough

This bread was a challenge for me in multiple ways. I had never used buckwheat before in bread making, nor had I deviated so much from a 'base' recipe when baking, which is why I was pleased with how tasty this was. The final product was a hearty bread with a moist and chewy crumb, a crispy crusty, and a tang that reminded me more of a Russian style light rye bread then a sourdough. Whatever it was it tasted great!!

I have been hoping to find a steady source of local grains for a while and was really excited to have an opportunity to pick up a variety of locally grown grains and flours this past weekend from the folks at  Four Star Farms in Northfield, MA. The L'Etoile family clearly cares about their grains which even more evident after visiting the Sustainable Farming part of their website. I made this loaf with a mix of their bolted Warthog (15.4% protein), their Zorro (16.9% protein), and their Buckwheat flour. For more info on these and their other flours visit the Four Star Farms flour page.

The first step was to feed my sourdough starter with 3/4 cup of bolted Warthog and 3/4 a cup of water and let it do it's magic overnight. After a night out on the counter the fed starter had a nice tangy aroma and looked to be fairly active.

Fred's experimental Buckwheat x Sourdoughmakes 2 loaves

Starter:

1 cup King Arthur Flour sourdough starter

3/4 cup bolted Warthog flour

Bread:

1 1/2 cups water, room temperature

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 1/2 cups 'whole wheat flour' (sifted Zorro), plus extra for baking

2 cups 'bread flour' (bolted Warthog)

12-16 oz fed sourdough starter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

large handful of cornmeal for the baking sheet.

Using a stand mixer with the dough hook mix together the water and all 3 flours on low speed for a bout a minuted or until the the mix is stiff and a little shaggy. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

With the mixer on medium speed add the fed sourdough starter (I tried using a cup an a half but it was so sticky I am sure I ended up using a full 2 cups), salt, and sugar and mix for 3-4 minutes or until starter is well incorporated. At this point the dough should be somewhere between sticky and smooth, slightly sticky but still smooth and stretchy. If it is too lose at a little more flour, if it is too stiff add a little more water.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough in the bowl to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap and let it sit for 2-3 hours (I let it sit for the full 3 hours).

After the dough has sat, flour your hands and work area and turn the dough out of the bowl. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a ball by continuously tucking the edges of the dough underneath until the dough has shaped itself into a ball with a taut surface.

Sprinkle your baking sheet generously with cornmeal and place the loaves on the baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap and let them sit at room temperature for another 2 - 3 hours (mine sat 2.5 hours) or until they have loosened up and relaxed a bit.

Preheat the oven to 500 F and position one rack in the center. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with the extra flour. Slash the surface of the loaves with a knife and place the baking sheet in the oven on the center rack with a pan filled with 2 cups of water on the rack below. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the loaves are a golden brown or darker on top and sound hollow when you tap the bottom.

Transfer the loaves to a wire rack and let them cool for at least an hour before slicing.

(submitted to yeastspotting)

Two loaves: Crusty 'Country' Bread

It's been a while since I baked bread (almost 4 whole weeks!) and I had been having the urge to bake some, primarily due to the fact that Gail and I received a KitchenAid mixer for Hanukkah!! Both of us have been more then eager to test out the 5 quart tilt-head mixer. Gail had her opportunity on Friday when she whipped up a batch of meringues, Monday was my turn!! 

I wanted to try a new recipe, but did not want to over commit myself as the bread was being made in the downtime while baby sitting a beef stew. Because I was already doing prep work for the stew on Sunday, I had the opportunity to make a biga. Besides my use of sourdough starter I had never tried any other pre-ferment methods for bread baking. The biga or mother was a pretty simple mix:

3/4 cup water

1 cup + 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

Combine the water, 1 cup of flour, and yeast until well mixed. Let sit in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for 6 - 8 hours. Stir in the additional 1/4 cup flour until dough stiffens up, recover, and place in the refrigerator overnight. That's it. Just like Ron Popeil says: set it, and forget it! Not much effort to make the mother, just some time. 

The actual bread recipe is in Joanne Chang's Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe which I have baked from before with great success. She says about the Country Bread recipe "It's not ethereal and light like a classic French baguette, nor is it hearty and sour like an artisanal sourdough loaf. Rather, it falls deliciously in between..." After making and trying this bread I have to agree wholeheartedly! The loaf we eagerly cut into had a crispy crust and a nice density without being too thick or hearty. 

I altered the recipe a little by rubbing minced garlic and sage into the dough, however I didn't use nearly enough as the flavor was completely missing from the final product, but the bread was great and one is wrapped up and can sit in the freezer for a few weeks!

Mini Irish Soda Bread Scones

I've always been a fan of both Irish soda bread and pretty much anything in the scone family. Gail makes the most incredible mexican chocolate scones, and I had past success with the cranberry-orange variety last year.

A few weeks ago I picked up a container of dried currants with the intent on snacking on some and using a portion of them in some sort of soda bread or scone concoction. After dinner on Saturday night I whipped up this classic Irish Soda Bread recipe and made scones out of them. Though they looked troublesome as they went into the oven the final product was over 2 dozen mini scones that tasted great and were not too dry, but just dry enough that they go great with tea or coffee in the morning or as a late afternoon treat.

Another plus is that the recipe was pretty simple and start to finish took less then an hour.  The recipe comes from Stephanie's on Newbury which is known for the bread and offers up the recipe on a little card with the bread.

Irish Soda Bread/Mini Soda Bread Scones

via Stephanie's On Newbury

makes 1 loaf of bread or approximately 2 dozen mini scones

4 cups flour

1/4 lb butter

1/2 tbs baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup currants

Preheat oven to 375 F. 

Place flour baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar into a blow. Incorporate butter into flour until mixture represents cornmeal. In a separate bowl add eggs to the buttermilk. Whisk thoroughly then add to the flour mixture. Mix until all liquid is absorbed but do not over mix. The dough should not be smooth. Shape dough into 1 egg loaf or for mini scones scoop 1 tbs of batter onto baking sheet. Score an X mark on the top of each loaf.  Bake soda bread for 1 hour. Baking mini scones for about 20 minutes.

Two Loaves - Fannie Farmer French Bread

These two photos are from two different loaves of french bread. I made the dough together and refrigerated one and baked it the next day. The first was made fresh and the second was from the dough that came out of the refrigerator.
These were not baguettes. The only way I can really describe them is as the type of french bread that is perfect for soup or a french bread pizza, but ultimately they were not baguettes. Everyone who tired them though agreed that both loaves were delicious. Being my own harshest critic I felt the second loaf was inferior to the first because as I rolled the dough I did not pinch it enough and the dough had a ring in the center as the layers rose. The first loaf had a great crumb and perfect crust. It was used for an awesome french onion soup. Gail and I visited our friend Sharon, of Thyme to Cook Personal Chef Service for dinner, and she showed Gail how to make the French Onion Soup from Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home. This type of bread was perfect to slice up for use in the soup.
The recipe for this 'French' bread comes from an old printing of The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook dated 1975. It makes a loaf with a nice golden crust that is not too dense. A good loaf to practice with and adapt.

French Bread
makes 2 or 3 loaves
These long thin loaves with chewy crisp crusts are perfect for French or Italian style meals. If you like shape part of the dough into small rolls. This dough is also good for English muffins or pizza.

Put in a large mixing bowl:

• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 package yeast

Let stand 5 minutes. Add:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons shortening (I used butter)

Stir well. Add:

• 2 cups all-purpose or bread flour

Beat thoroughly with a rotary beater or an electric mixer. Add:

• 1 cup flour (or enough to make a stiff dough)

Sprinkle a board with flour. Put the dough on it and let rest 10 minutes. Knead well, let rise, punch down and let rise again.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface and divide into two or three parts. Let rest 10 minutes. Flatten each part with a rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thickness. Roll up each sheet of dough tightly to make a long slender loaf. Press firmly along the rolled edges to seal. Sprinkle cookie sheets with:

• Corn meal

Put the loaves on the sheets leaving enough space between them so that they will be crusty on all sides. Cut diagonal gashes in the loaves about 1/2 inch deep. Beat together:

• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon salt

Brush over the top of the loaves. Let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour).

Put a large pan of boiling water in the bottom of the oven with the pans of bread on a rack above. Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes. Brush again with egg mixture Reduce the heat to 375 F and bake until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it (about 25 minutes). Cool on a wire rack.

The recipe above is at is presented in the cookbook. Obviously give some time for the oven to warm up and to boil the water before you bake the bread. As I said at the top of the post, I make one loaf fresh and refrigerated the other one. Though the recipe claims this can make 2 or 3 loaves I think 2 is more accurate, as 3 loaves would be fairly small. As a note, I had better results with the loaf that was made fresh then with the dough from the fridge, but both had a pretty nice crumb and a great crust.

(submitted to yeastspotting)

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011: Silver Palate Sorghum Cookies

This year was my first participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!  My reason for signing up was simple- Gail and I LOVE cookies (who doesn't!?) and the idea of receiving 3 dozen cookies in the mail, of 3 different varieties sounded to good to pass up! All I had to do to join the party was commit to baking and sending out 3 dozen of my own cookies to 3 separate food bloggers. Sounds good to me! For the cookie swap I adapted a recipe from the original Silver Palate Cookbook (not the 25th anniversary edition which is linked). I took the recipe for molasses cookies and made them with sorghum rather the molasses as the taste and consistency are very similar.  Below the photo of a dozen cookies fresh from the oven is a recipe for these moist, chewy, delicious cookies!

Sorghum Cookies
adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook & makes approximately 24 cookies
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup sorghum

1 egg

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F

Melt butter, add sugar and sorghum, and mix thoroughly. Lightly beat egg and add to butter mixture; mix well.

Sift flour with spices, salt, and baking soda, add to first mixture and mix well. Batter will be quite wet and sticky.

Lay a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet. Drop tablespoons of cookie batter on foil, leaving 3 inches between the cookies. These will spread during the baking.

Bake until cookies start to darken, about 8 to 10 minutes. (9 minutes 30 seconds was the ideal time in my oven)

Remove form oven while still soft (they will be very soft). Let cool on foil. Seriously let them cool. These cookies came out of the oven so soft I looked funny at one and it squished the cookie.

That is it. Super simple, easy cookies that are soft, chewy, and moist. Not crisp like ginger-snaps. A great holiday cookie.

I hope that delishiono, Cooking On the Side, & Gustatoria enjoyed their cookies!!


I was lucky enough to receive 3 delicious batches of cookies in the mail last week!
Kate at the forgotten teaspoon sent a box of grandmother's gingersnap cookies, Lily from Small Kitchen College sent a box of meyer lemon almond cookies, and Kat of percent sent a bag of snowballs!! Look at these great packages:

Gail and I have really enjoyed all of the cookies. It was a really nice surprise to open each package and find out what kind of cookies we had received! The suspense was killing us (ha!). I'm really happy to have participated in my first cookie swap. I look forward to doing it again, and maybe signing up for a few cookie swaps in my area next year!


what type of holiday cookies are you baking up??

No-knead Crusty Dutch Oven Bread

(submitted to yeastspotting)

Back in October when I cooked up the brisket I made my first loaf in a dutch oven. I wanted to revisit the process but produce something with a little more crust and heft then the loaf I had made a few months ago.  The final result, which is pictured was exactly what I had imagined when I set out to make this loaf. A nice crunchy crust, a heartier taste with an undertone of rosemary. With bread this good that is so deceptively simple, I am sure this style will become a mainstay in my bread making rotation!




No-knead Dutch Oven Bread
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus some for dusting
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbs rosemary
1 1/2 tsp salt
cornmeal for dusting.
In a large bowl dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour(s), rosemary and salt, stirring well until blending. The dough should be pretty shaggy and sticky at this point. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it rest for 8 hours at room temperature.
Once the dough is ready lightly flour a work surface and place the dough on it. Sprinkle with flour,  punch down and fold on itself a few times. Cover and let rest 15 more minutes. Once rested shape the dough into a ball, place in bowl and dust with cornmeal, turning dough ball as you go. Cover and let rest another hour.
With the dough resting and about 25 minutes left preheat the oven to 475 degrees, with a 6-8 qt dutch oven inside as the oven heats. When the dough is ready carefully remove the dutch oven and lift the lid off. Slide the dough into the dutch oven, shaking it firmly once or twice to help distribute the dough.
Cover the dough and bake for 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until the loaf is a nice golden brown. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a wire rack for an hour.
There you have it, a long on wait time, but low-impact loaf that is very delicious!

What have you been baking lately??

Austin to Boston Food Swap package & gluten free vegan cookie recipe!

Last month I signed up for the Austin to Boston Food Swap. The idea of getting a package of fun foodie gifts from the Austin area was too good to pass up, and being so into local and seasonal food I thought putting together my own package wouldn't be too hard.
I was paired with the incredibly sweet and fun Jess over at forgiving martha! After making initial contact with Jess via email and praising my love of bacon, cheese, and baked goods I headed over to her blog and found that she has celiac's and it's primarily vegan dishes. This through a wrench in some of my plans, but ultimately I stayed positive and decided I would do the best I could to included a variety of gluten free & vegan items in her package including homemade cookies, because I love a challenge!
Here's a look, followed by a rundown of what I sent Jess, including a recipe for great gluten free-vegan peanut butter cookies!

contents of Jess' food swap package

As i've been preparing for the dark days challenge, I decided that my package should contain as many locally sourced items as possible. I ended up including:

Maple Syrup from Cook's Farm & Bakery. Birdwatcher's Blend Coffee from Dean's Beans. Popcorn Cobs from Enterprise Farm. Chipotle Chili Chocolate Mexicano discs from Taza Chocolate. Dried marjoram, rosemary, & sage that Gail & I grew at our garden. Pineapple Salsa and Plum/Spiced Port Jam that we canned, and a batch of gluten free-vegan peanut butter cookies!

When I decided I would be attempting to bake something that was both gluten free and vegan I knew I would need some guidance. I immediately sought out my good friend, fellow blogger, and personal chef Sharon Shiner! Her website Thyme to Cook and her blog are both linked on the righthand sidebar. 

Reaching out to Sharon was the right choice as she immediately replied to my request for a ideas with a great recipe that had her stamp of approval. 

The recipe is from Terry Walters eating guide/cookbook Clean Foods! Thanks to a 3-way twitter exchange between Sharon, Terry, and myself Terry has given me permission to share the recipe here, so a huge thanks goes out to her for this great recipe which calls for gluten free teff flour, maple syrup, and peanut butter!

Gluten Free-Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

from Clean Foods by Terry Walters 

1.5 cups teff flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chunky natural peanut butter

1 cup maple syrup 

1/2 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Pour wet over dry and blend until just combined - do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Linke cookie sheet with parchment. Drop batter by heaping teaspoons onto cookie sheet. LEave cokie free form or press down in crisscross pattern with the tines of a fork.

Place in oven and bake for 13 minutes or until lightly browned. The key to these cookies is to not over bake them. 

Remove from oven and place directly on wire rack to cool. Yields about 20 cookies.

I hope Jess enjoys the items as much as I enjoyed putting the package together!!

I can't wait to see what she has in store for me!

Buttermilk/Pork Belly Biscuits with Basic Red-Eye Gravy



perfect thanksgiving breakfast

 It is rare that I get to enjoy a fresh cooked breakfast during the work week. Normally I have a cup or 2 of coffee with a bowl of cereal, oatmeal, or leftover baked goods (cookies, tea breads, etc). Even with the added bonus of working from home twice a week I still usually don't have the time to make a hot breakfast because I use the extra time to cleanup the apartment, take the trash out, do laundry, plan blog posts, etc.
Last Thursday, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US I was offered the opportunity to wake up and enjoy a hot fresh breakfast in the middle of the week! I took advantage by getting out of bed and baking up a quick batch of buttermilk biscuits, red-eye gravy, and scrambled eggs(with shredded Manchego and chives)! The biscuits had a simple twist, rather then using extra butter or shortening I used some of the leftover fat from the pork belly I had already made. The red-eye gravy was a  thin and sweet topping for the biscuits that tasted great and was nearly effortless to prepare.
Easy Buttermilk Biscuits (w/Pork Belly drippings)
makes about a dozen biscuits
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons pork belly grease (or shortening, additional butter, etc)
1 cup chilled buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450 F degrees.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use your fingertips and rub butter &  pork fat into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir until the dough comes together, which will be very sticky.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold the dough over on itself a few times. Press the dough into a 1-inch thick round, cut biscuits with a 2-inch cutter (I do not own a biscuit cutter, I used a lowball glass as my biscuit cutter). Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they are barely touching. Reform the scrap dough and continue to cut biscuits.
Bake until biscuits are golden on top, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Basic Red-Eye Gravy
2 pieces ham or pork belly
at least 1/2 cup leftover coffee (I need coffee if I am up early and baking, so I made a little extra before I tackled the biscuits)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Cook pork belly gently on both sides and put aside the leftover drippings. Add drippings, leftover coffee, and brown sugar to a small pan over low heat until sufficiently mixed and combined.
Pour over biscuits and enjoy!

Garlic Rosemary Focaccia

Squares of rosemary infused heaven!

If it isn't already apparent, I really love bread. The impetus to hone my baking skills sprang from a desire to teach myself to make delicious bread, everything would be a bonus! Last year I had some great success with the very easy Blitz-Bread/No-Fuss Focaccia recipe. A very simple, beginners recipe to make a fluffy seasoned bread that somewhat resembled focaccia. With some recent baking success to encourage me I decided it was time to tackle the real thing. Using our often drooled over and much loved Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe cookbook I set out to make my own pan of the amazing, flavorful and pillowy bread that I love so much from the countless sandwich's I've devoured at Chang's Flour Bakery. My first attempt was not the delicious golden brown perfectly seasoned squares of fluffy goodness you see above, no the first result was a bit more... well done. The initial attempt at making the bread ended with my having over-baked the bread due to the oven running hotter then I anticipated. 

Don't you just want to reach into the screen and eat some?

Despite the first attempt yielding a big square of overcooked, slightly darkened bread  that wasn't exactly soft, Gail and I managed to devour the focaccia cracker in a few short days. The recipe had all the potential in the world, I just had to try again, and keep the fickle oven in the front of my mind. 

My second attempt yielded a perfect pan of fluffy, garlic infused rosemary focaccia that would be awesome for soaking up an infused oil, great for sandwiches  and the potential base for a really fantastic pizza dough! I followed the recipe in the book as directed with only two minor adjustments: mincing two garlic cloves to sprinkle on top of the bread and sticking to the lower end of the cooking time to ensure that the bread was not overdone. Gail and I agreed the second attempt was a rousing success, and this is definitely the focaccia recipe I will be using from here on in, if I have the 3.5 - 5 hours required to produce such a delightful outcome. 

So far I've really enjoyed this cookbook! Gail has had great success with the homemade oreo's, and I loved the rosemary shortbread. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the recipes within, until I feel confident enough in my baking skills to tackle Flour's legendary sticky buns!

(submitted to Yeastspotting, which will be hosted next week by Hefe und mehr)

Rosemary Shortbread

Last year I wrote about picking up Joanne Chang's Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe. Gail has successfully mastered the Oreo's from the book, and we've tried a few others. I found myself at home and in between two kitchen tasks so I whipped up a batch of this wonderful Rosemary Shortbread. They are buttery and have a perfect crumb. The recipe was easy enough without a stand mixer (though the recipe calls for one) and I will certainly be making these again soon! Great with a cup of coffee or tea!

rosemary shortbread, dried rosemary sprigs & fresh cranberries

Rosemary Shortbread from Flour by Joanne Change
makes 12 to 15 cookies
1 cup (2 sticks/228 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 1/2 cups (210g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (65g) cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder


Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attached (or a handheld mixer or a wooden spoon), cream the butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and pale. (This step will take 3 to 4 minutes if using a handheld mixer and about 5 minutes if using a spoon.) Add the sugar and beat on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer a few times and use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle to release any clinging butter or sugar. On low speed, add the egg yolk and rosemary and beat for about 1 minute, or until thoroughly combined.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder. On low speed, slowly  add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and then mix just until the flour mixture is totally incorporated and the dough is evenly mixed. stop the mixer several times to scrape the bowl and the paddle to free ant trapped flour mixture.
Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, and wrap the dough in the plastic wrap, pressing down to form a disk about 8 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. refrigerate the dough about 20 minutes, or until it is firm enough to roll out.
Position rack in the center of oven, and heat to 325 degrees.
On a floured work surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 12 by 10 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 to 15 uniform pieces-rectangles, triangles, or cookie-cutter shapes-and arrange them on a baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (At this point, the cookies can be tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 2 weeks. Bake as directed directly from the freezer. you may need to add a few minutes to the baking time.)
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are medium golden brown all the way through. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Though the recipe leans towards a stand mixer I did the whole thing by hand with no issues. I used the lid of a ball 1/2 pint canning jar as the cookie cutter and got great looking circles. Really easy recipe, one that I would make ahead of time for the holidays when people might unexpectedly stop by you can throw them right in the oven!

Resurrecting Sourdough Starter

My sourdough starer has been sitting the back of the fridge, totally neglected since spring. While I garden I don't bake much because I am too busy outside!... It had been a while since I thought about the starter in it's beautiful ceramic container. It's gotten much cooler and I'm back to baking. It was time to raise the starter from the dead!

From this...

No problems! I poured of a little of the liquid, stirred up the starter in a bowl, added some lukewarm water and flour and let the starter sit for 10 hours. By then it was quite bubbly and active and had a nice tangy smell. Not wanting to waste the 'discard' before I re fed the starter I pulled up this basic and easy recipe from King Arthur Flour. The bread had a light tang and wasn't too dense, as I stuck on the lighter side of the required flour.

... to this!

The purpose of resurrecting the starter was to make a true sourdough or something equally delicious, which is what is on deck for the weekend.  

Are you doing more baking now that it's fall??

Italian Feather Bread

submitted to Yeastspotting
Back in May when Gail and I made cheese we had some leftover whey that we decided to save for me to try and make some bread with. We ended up freezing it in a mason jar so I could make the bread when I was ready rather then right away. As fall has hit us hard, practically running into winter with an early snow flurry, and a few inches in the forecast for  tonight I find myself willing to make more. Earlier in the week I thawed the whey in preparation for making bread.

A loaf cut in half.

We ended up with 2 loaves of delicious crust bread that was just the right balance of density and fluff. Nothing beats warm bread on a cold day, which held true as Gail and I split half a loaf on the spot to enjoy with our lunch!
Italian Feather Bread (with whey)
makes 2 loaves
2 packages active dry yeast (or equivalent)
1 Tbls granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup hot whey (or milk)
2 tsp. salt
5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Cornmeal
 Stir the yeast, sugar, and warm water together in a large bowl. Let sit until yeast dissolves and begins to proof. While waiting for mixture to proof melt the butter in the hot whey and let cool to lukewarm. Add salt, and combine with yeast mixture.
Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, adding the flour 1 cup at a time, until the dough almost comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board. Use a scraper or spatula to scrape under the flour and dough, fold the dough over, and press with your free hand.
continue until the dough has absorbed enough flour to be easy to handle. Knead 2-4 minutes, keeping your hands well floured.  When the dough is soft and smooth, let it rest for 5 minutes, then divide in two.
Roll each half into a rectangle about 12'' x 8". Start from the wide end, roll this up quite tightly, pinchign the seams as you roll.
Butter one or two baking sheets well and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place the loaves on the sheets, and let them rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 50-60 minutes. Brush with beaten egg white and bake in a preheated 425 F oven 30-40 minutes, or until the loaves are a deep golden color and make a hollow sound when you tap with your knuckles.
Cool on a rack and slice when quite fresh.
My lunch was a plate of Jarlsberg, Smith's Farmstead medium cheddar, feather bread, & a trio of pates - accompanied with a homemade pickle and a horseradish mustard mixture. The trio of pates were leftovers from Friday night. Gail and I had an early dinner after work at Petit Robert Central before seeing Blitzen Trapper in concert (which was awesome!) Our service and stellar were both spectacular. We each enjoyed a crock of delicious french onion soup, while she had salad and I had a pate trio as my main. The pates were a chicken liver, a pork liver, and a mix of pork and chicken liver. They are all made in-house and have distinct and rich flavors. Despite my claim that I did not want the leftovers, our busboy packed them up for me anyway. Boy am I glad he did, the leftovers made a great lunch!

Cheese, Bread, Trio of Pate's & accompaniments 

Celebrating Fall...with Dinner.

I love fall. It is my favorite season. Having lived my entire life in New England or central New York state I am mesmerized each and ever year when the trees slowly transform from fields of green to rich pools of reds, yellows, oranges, and browns, while temperatures slowly drop and the air develops a crisp cool bite.
This year is a different story though, it's really come upon me unexpectedly. For me it's been a combination of the weather playing tricks on us and an extremely busy September & October. I managed to carve out enough time to harvest the last of it all and began putting things to bed for the winter. Some leaves and straw here, a nice weeding and digging there.
With garden work winding down and temperatures I turn from growing and eating fresh to savoring the abundance of the fall harvest and enjoying our supply of preserved goods that help us eat real local foods throughout the winter.
This past weekend Gail and I had some friends of ours for a fall (and slightly Jewish) inspired dinner that featured a combination of ingredients harvested from the garden, the Brookline Farmers Market, our stock of frozen and canned goods, and even a little bit from the grocery store (ha!).
It was a wonderful catching up with friends we hadn't seen, and enjoying a delicious meal full of fall flavors.
Fred & Gail's Fall Celebration Dinner:
Snack Plate

• crackers & herb garlic capri from Westfield Farm.
• carrots from the garden, fall cucumbers and radish from farms at the brookline farmers market.
• plain hummus from Samira's Homemade of belmont, ma 
• green bean & zucchini relish, our first taste of the batch we made back in august.
• fresh baked rosemary & sage bread with rosemary & sage from the garden.

Dinner

• Stillman's Farm butternut squash puree 
• Kimball Farm roasted carrots with thyme and garlic
• noodle kugel (super market)
• brisket Au jus and fresh made horseradish. The two (yes there were 2) briskets I made were from River Rock Farm purveyors of fine farm raised natural beef, and home to my absolute favorite burger patties. The fresh horseradish sauce came from the roots I harvested on Friday as part of Monday's final harvest (click the link for a good picture of a big part of the horseradish harvest).

Dessert 

• Shelburne Honey Co honey and Kimball Farm apple cake
• Boston Common  pumpkin spice coffee 

Quite an ambitions meal for a kitchen barely able to fit 2 of us and all our kitchen clutter. I found myself up early for a Saturday morning baking bread and cake in what would prove to be a full day of oven use. The final product was well worth it. Here is a look at the snack plate & main event, followed by recipe info and a few more pics.

No Brisket recipe. I am keeping it a secret because it was passed down to me by Gail's 90-year old grandmother who makes the most incredible brisket I have ever had the pleasure to eat. If I were on death row her brisket would be my final meal. A secret like that is worth keeping.

hummus, cukes/radish/carrot, bread, green bean & zucchini relish, herb garlic goat cheese

kugel, carrots, butternut squash puree, brisket with jus & fresh made horseradish

Recipe Info

Snack Plate

     Green Bean & Zucchini Relish canned in August. Our first taste! It had a really nice subtle flavor. I loved it! (click link for recipe)

     Rosemary & Sage Bread

This bread doesn't require a lot of effort, but it takes some time so save it for the weekend.
3 cups flour

1 packet (1/4 oz) or equivalent instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

at least 1 tbsp rosemary

at least 1 tbsp sage

olive oil for brushing

Combine flour, yeast, salt and chopped herbs in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be a little sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest For 4 hours at warm room temperature (I had it on the counter near the oven which was warming up)

Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; folding it over onto itself twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 more minutes.

While resting, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a heavy covered pot ( a 3 1/2 or 4 qt le cruset dutch oven is perfect for this) in oven as it heats.
When the dough is read, carefully remove the hot pot from the oven, drop the dough in, and shake a few times to allow the dough to settle.

Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake an additional 25or 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Brush with olive oil and a gentle sprinkle of salt. 

Let Cool.
Here's a look at the bread fresh out of the oven, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with a pinch of salt:

Dinner

     Butternut Squash Puree follow the link for the recipe I used. I made this ahead and let it sit in the ceramic casserole dish it was served in. I added a spoonful of maple syrup while it rested, and then set it in the oven while the brisket finished off for about 30 minutes until it was warm.
     Roasted Carrots with Thyme & Garlic from Gourmet Today edited by Ruth Reichl

     Noodle Kugel from the Kosher Gourmet Cookbook

     Horseradish made with roots harvested less then 24 hours earlier from my garden. Standard recipe of grated  horseradish root and a bit of vinegar. I will be posting more about horseradish later.
      Brisket made with care following Charlotte Michaelson Frank's original recipe, which was really great for my first attempt and something I'm really excited to perfect in the future.
Below is a photo of the butternut squash puree & the smaller brisket:

Dessert

   Apple & Honey Cake from Fresh Flavors From Israel
   for a 10 in/26 cm spring-form pan
For the topping:
2 tablespoons oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tart baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 in slices.
Cake:
3 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup warm apple juice (I used warm cider)
2 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
Preparation:
1) Preheat oven to 350 F
2) Prepare the topping:  cover the bottom and walls of the pan with oil. Sprinkle on a uniform coating of the brown sugar. Arrange apples in one dense layer at the bottom of the spring-form pan.
3) Prepare the cake: beat the eggs with the brown sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add oil and honey and beat until smooth. Add the warm apple juice (cider) and mix well.
4) In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon , and cloves. Add to the eggs and honey batter and mix until just combined. Once mixed pour batter over pan.
5) Bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry with a few crumbs sticking. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the pan over a large flat serving plate, release the spring and gently lift off the ring. Serve at room temperature.

This time when I made the cake I remembered to adjust the time and temperature for a thicker cake, after I tried this recipe last fall and produced a cake with a very gooey center. This time it was baked to perfection, if anything it was a tad dry. Regardless of that, it certainly looked great:

It was an abundance of delicious food that highlighted many fall flavors. All of us ended the evening with full stomachs and big smiles!

What are you cooking that highlights the flavors and feel of fall??

Zucchini Breads

(Zucchini Bread & Homemade Jam)

With gardens and farms alike exploding with massive zucchini it is a good time to buy in bulk and make some treats to enjoy now as well as save for later! Though we weren't able to successfully grow zucchini this year (or last!) I was able to pick up a few huge zucchini for a great price at a local farmers market. My thoughts had turned to fall and winter. In college a good friend would always show up with his mom's homemade zucchini bread after visiting home, it was so delicious I've been hooked on zucchini bread ever since.

(Slices of plain & chocolate Zucchini Bread)

One thing that is great about most zucchini bread recipes is that they yield enough batter for 2 loaves, or a loaf and muffins! Over the course of the past week Gail and I have made a few batches of delicious Zucchini bread's! We even made an extra large batch that was ruined thanks to an uncooperative oven, nonetheless the final product is great! We ended up with fresh loaves of Chocolate and Original Zucchini bread, as well as a frozen loaf of each, and a batch of chocolate zucchini muffins!

(2 loaves! One for now, one to freeze for later)

Zucchini Bread

yields 2 loaves or 2 dozen muffins

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 2/4 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans or Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar followed by the vanilla and zucchini.

In a separate bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix into the egg mixture.

Divide the batter into prepared pans. Bake loaves for55-60 minutes, checking after 45 until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake in 20-25 minutes.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

yields 2 loaves or 2 dozen muffin

2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

3 cups grated zucchini

3/4 cups mini chocolate chips.

Topping:

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans or Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl and put aside.

Place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk to combine, set aside.

With a hand mixer beat oil, white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until combined and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined. Gently stir in the great zucchini.

Take a spoonful of the flour mix and stir in with the chocolate chips. Add remaining flour mixture to the batter and stir until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir until combined.

Divide the batter into prepared pans. Bake loaves for 50-60 minutes, checking after 45 until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins bake up in about 12 minutes.

There you have it, 2 ass-kicking good Zucchini Bread recipes. The plain is great with a dollop of homemade jam like in the first picture, and the chocolate is decadent and rich all on its own!

What do you do with all of your zucchini??

Brownies

This weekend, my baking adventures came out of a need to thank a co-worker for going above and beyond, as well as a desire for something sweet and decadent, so I set out to make brownies. I used the recipe for from Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook.

I was incredibly pleased with the results. The brownies were incredibly fudgie and delicious:

My co-worker thought she was getting a single brownie as a thank you, but I gave her most of the batch, reserving a few choice morsels for Gail and I.

We'll have limited access to our kitchen for the next 3 weeks due to some minor renovations so cooking, baking, and preparing meals for the Dark Days Challenge will be fairly limited and relatively simple.

Brioche

In my continued pursuit of better baking skills I have been trying new recipes and techniques to improve my arsenal. On Thursday and Friday I tried my hand at Brioche! Using acclaimed food writer Michael Ruhlman's recipe as my guide I was astounded with how great the results were on my first attempt:

The crust was dark and flaky and the crumb was soft and rich. It may not be the prettiest Brioche attempt but Gail and I were both extremely satisfied with the outcome.

Head over to Ruhlman.com where you will find the extremely satisfying recipe.

In the spirit of the Dark Days Challenge I kept the ingredients as local as possible using eggs, butter, and milk from local producers as well as bread flour from the fine folks at Four Star Farms who are committed to sustainable farming.

I'm not sure what is next in this ongoing baking experiment, maybe something on the sweet and decadent side.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

I've been working to improve my baking skills/repertoire recently. I feel the best way to do is practice! I did not make any bread this weekend because I was tied up making the Sufganiyot that I wrote about on Monday.

I did want some additional baking practice this weekend, but was looking for something that wouldn't be too time or resource consuming, so I made a batch of Cranberry-Orange Scones!

Cranberry-Orange Scones

makes 6-8 scones depending on how big or small you like your scones

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

3 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup buttermilk (plus 1 to 2 tablespoons more if necessary)

--Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest.

--With a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in dried cranberries.

--Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add buttermilk, and stir until just combined; do not overmix. Use a little more buttermilk if dough is too dry to work with.

--Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; shape into an 8-inch round. Transfer to baking sheet. Cut circle into 8 wedges; space them 1/2 inch apart (to prevent sticking, dust knife with flour). Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

The scones were chewy with a little crunch on the bottom. The next time I make them I will cut the butter into slightly smaller pieces, but overall the results were extremely satisfying. Gail and I have been enjoying them for breakfast this week they go great with a nice warm cup of coffee or tea!

I will definitely make these again .