What are you eating today?
We are going with burgers! It'll be homemade all the way, too: homemade buns from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, homemade all-beef burger patties, homemade guacamole and homemade bean dip.
The burgers will be simply topped with red leaf lettuce leaves and sliced Roma tomatoes and mustard and ketchup. And, of course, the guacamole and bean dip will be enjoyed with corn tortilla chips, which we are not making homemade, but which seem fresh-made from our grocery store. They are like the chips you get in a really good Mexican restaurant. Seriously yum.
A lot of people are cooking good food today. It's almost like Thanksgiving - cooking that special food you eat just once a year. And, a lot of people are going with traditional football fare in pizza and wings. Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with good pizza and wings. It is one of my all-time favorites, but I always pay for it later. Maybe that's why it's only once in a while that we go wild with junk food?
So, in honor of Super Bowl Sunday, may your preparations for the game go smoothly and stress-free and may the game be a nail-biter. Let's all hope for a good game! Enjoy!
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Monday, February 22, 2010
Baking Bread - Pita (and Homemade Hummus)
Have I raved yet about the most excellent book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day? (Check out their blog site here.) I have used it for so many breads already, since receiving it as a Christmas gift. They make baking bread so easy, it's almost insane!
This is one of our new favorites to make at home, Pita bread and Hummus.
There is a post about their pita bread at their site, with great pictures and instructions, although the recipe for the dough is left out. That is probably because you can use any number of base doughs to make the pita bread. I used the main Boule dough recipe.
In their post about their pita bread, they call it the "fastest bread in the land", and they are NOT kidding. Five to ten minutes rolling it out, about five to seven minutes in a 500 degree oven, and we were eating. The hummus took longer! The pita bread not only is super easy, but it is delicious, too. Eaten by itself or topped with hummus, it was yummy!
Now, for the hummus. Simple ingredients combine for big flavor. I love garbanzo beans, or chickpeas, whatever you call them. I love them in salad, roasted with red pepper flakes, as hummus. If it's made with garbanzo beans, I'll probably love it, whatever it is. Here is our recipe.
1 cup of garbanzo beans, canned or reconstituted if dried
(We used dried beans, not canned, and keep in mind, they double in size after being boiled and soaked in water)
2 -4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped, depending on your liking
1/4 cup lemon juice
up to 1/2 cup of water
up to 1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup tahini, if desired
In a food processor, combine the garbanzo beans, garlic and lemon juice. Process and add water and olive oil until your desired consistency is reached. (That's why I say "up to" - I've had hummus that was really thin, or very chunky. We like ours a little thick, but smooth.)
Add the salt and tahini. Note the tahini will make the mixture thicker.
We had a hard time mixing everything when we added the tahini at the beginning, it was just so thick. That's why I add it now at the end, and it works much better. Everything mixes and gets pureed nicely, then I can add the tahini. Personally, I don't know that the tahini necessarily adds much to hummus, but it's an ingredient I found in all the hummus recipes I looked through. It probably makes it "authentic hummus" if it has tahini! :-)
I made the hummus and then put it aside to let the flavors meld together. Then, I worked on the pita bread. I really enjoyed this, and coupled with a nice spinach and tomato salad, it would make an awesome dinner for Meat Free Monday!
This is one of our new favorites to make at home, Pita bread and Hummus.
There is a post about their pita bread at their site, with great pictures and instructions, although the recipe for the dough is left out. That is probably because you can use any number of base doughs to make the pita bread. I used the main Boule dough recipe.
In their post about their pita bread, they call it the "fastest bread in the land", and they are NOT kidding. Five to ten minutes rolling it out, about five to seven minutes in a 500 degree oven, and we were eating. The hummus took longer! The pita bread not only is super easy, but it is delicious, too. Eaten by itself or topped with hummus, it was yummy!
Now, for the hummus. Simple ingredients combine for big flavor. I love garbanzo beans, or chickpeas, whatever you call them. I love them in salad, roasted with red pepper flakes, as hummus. If it's made with garbanzo beans, I'll probably love it, whatever it is. Here is our recipe.
1 cup of garbanzo beans, canned or reconstituted if dried
(We used dried beans, not canned, and keep in mind, they double in size after being boiled and soaked in water)
2 -4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped, depending on your liking
1/4 cup lemon juice
up to 1/2 cup of water
up to 1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup tahini, if desired
In a food processor, combine the garbanzo beans, garlic and lemon juice. Process and add water and olive oil until your desired consistency is reached. (That's why I say "up to" - I've had hummus that was really thin, or very chunky. We like ours a little thick, but smooth.)
Add the salt and tahini. Note the tahini will make the mixture thicker.
We had a hard time mixing everything when we added the tahini at the beginning, it was just so thick. That's why I add it now at the end, and it works much better. Everything mixes and gets pureed nicely, then I can add the tahini. Personally, I don't know that the tahini necessarily adds much to hummus, but it's an ingredient I found in all the hummus recipes I looked through. It probably makes it "authentic hummus" if it has tahini! :-)
I made the hummus and then put it aside to let the flavors meld together. Then, I worked on the pita bread. I really enjoyed this, and coupled with a nice spinach and tomato salad, it would make an awesome dinner for Meat Free Monday!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Baking Bread - Bialys
What is a Bialy? The definition in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary states a bialy is "a flat breakfast roll that has a depressed center and is usually covered with onion flakes", and originated in Bialystok, a city in Poland, in 1965. (For interesting info on Bialystok, Poland, click here. No mention of the origin of Bialys though. Perhaps it is not a claim to fame?)
The first time I heard of bialys was at Einstein's, on those runs to pick up bagels and coffee for the people in the office. I don't recall them being topped with only onions, I seem to recall they had all kinds of flavors! Curiously, I don't see bialys on the Einstein's menu anymore. Anyway, I remember asking my boss what a bialy was. His response? "They're just bagels without the hole."
I suppose for the most part, he was right. I found a recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for bialys that uses the bagel dough. (Click here for a picture of bialys from their site - to see what they are supposed to look like! - along with a cute story.) So, after my struggle with the bagels, I decided to try bialys. I still had plenty of bagel dough left, but I was NOT going to attempt them again. Like I said, I'll leave bagels to the experts, thank you!
The recipe for bialys is much simpler. There is no broiling and no boiling. Since we are not onion fans, I decided to skip that whole part, so my bialys were just plain. It was a lot like baking bread rolls, really. So, here they are - a picture for you to see my finished product.
Yeah, the ones on the right are not exactly round per se, they are more . . . oblong. That is because I had trouble removing them from my board and staying in the same shape. I'm supposed to have a pizza peel and just slide these babies off the peel onto the hot baking stone in the oven. But, I have not yet invested in a pizza peel or a baking stone. You know, priorities and money. So, I used my largest baking sheet as a baking stone and used my medium sized baking sheet as a pizza peel. I thought it would be a great substitute, but, . . . well, obviously, it didn't turn out so pretty!
But, yet again, they may not be pretty, but they certainly were DELICIOUS! My husband says he doesn't care what it looks like, he just cares what it tastes like. (Isn't he sweet? Told ya he's awesome!) He certainly is enjoying my baking attempts. He is reaping the reward for such a cool Christmas present.
I will definitely bake these again. They were easy, and tasty. I'll have to work on my form, but that takes practice. (haha) But, I will get more creative with toppings. Some parmesan cheese, maybe some spinach, mmmm . . . mushrooms perhaps . . . . olives . . . oooh, so excited!
The first time I heard of bialys was at Einstein's, on those runs to pick up bagels and coffee for the people in the office. I don't recall them being topped with only onions, I seem to recall they had all kinds of flavors! Curiously, I don't see bialys on the Einstein's menu anymore. Anyway, I remember asking my boss what a bialy was. His response? "They're just bagels without the hole."
I suppose for the most part, he was right. I found a recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for bialys that uses the bagel dough. (Click here for a picture of bialys from their site - to see what they are supposed to look like! - along with a cute story.) So, after my struggle with the bagels, I decided to try bialys. I still had plenty of bagel dough left, but I was NOT going to attempt them again. Like I said, I'll leave bagels to the experts, thank you!
The recipe for bialys is much simpler. There is no broiling and no boiling. Since we are not onion fans, I decided to skip that whole part, so my bialys were just plain. It was a lot like baking bread rolls, really. So, here they are - a picture for you to see my finished product.
Yeah, the ones on the right are not exactly round per se, they are more . . . oblong. That is because I had trouble removing them from my board and staying in the same shape. I'm supposed to have a pizza peel and just slide these babies off the peel onto the hot baking stone in the oven. But, I have not yet invested in a pizza peel or a baking stone. You know, priorities and money. So, I used my largest baking sheet as a baking stone and used my medium sized baking sheet as a pizza peel. I thought it would be a great substitute, but, . . . well, obviously, it didn't turn out so pretty!
But, yet again, they may not be pretty, but they certainly were DELICIOUS! My husband says he doesn't care what it looks like, he just cares what it tastes like. (Isn't he sweet? Told ya he's awesome!) He certainly is enjoying my baking attempts. He is reaping the reward for such a cool Christmas present.
I will definitely bake these again. They were easy, and tasty. I'll have to work on my form, but that takes practice. (haha) But, I will get more creative with toppings. Some parmesan cheese, maybe some spinach, mmmm . . . mushrooms perhaps . . . . olives . . . oooh, so excited!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
We are not the Neelys, but . . .
We have discovered how much fun it is to cook together!
When I have watched the Neelys' Food Network show, Down Home with the Neelys, they work together in that kitchen like a well-oiled machine. And, they enjoy working together and helping one another. They also flirt an awful lot, but I find that cute, because, well, I'm married to the biggest flirt on the planet, and we do our fair share of flirting!
Our usual routine for cooking dinner was one person would cook and the other would clean. That seemed fair to us, and it worked out good for us, too. In the beginning of our marriage, I was not a cook. Like I said before, Hamburger Helper was my Go-To meal. But, I was an ace at washing dishes. And, he is an outstanding cook, so it worked out well.
But, now . . . I enjoy being in the kitchen and want to cook. And, I want to help. And, sometimes, I need his help. Still learning, you know, and well, math was never my strong subject and doubling or halving a recipe requires some math!
Recently, we had dinner at our house with some friends. Our dinner menu was Almond Crusted Chicken with a white sauce (a Rachael Ray recipe, minus the scallions for the non-onion eaters, and minus the wine for the momma-to-be), mashed red potatos, roasted carrots, and green beans. We decided to split up the cooking duties - I would make the chicken and the sauce, while he did the veggie side dishes. I also made a soy dessert, which I will post later, once I figure out what to call it. . . pudding? pie? pudding pie?
We were cooking, and drinking wine, talking, and singing along with the music, and generally having a blast, and that was before the company arrived! Once our friends did arrive, it was just like more people joined the party. The more, the merrier!
We enjoyed cooking with each other so much, we decided to do it again. And, we didn't even have company coming! We decided to make a dish called Shakshoukah, made with tomatos and eggs - I'll post this one, too, eventually - with polenta, and hummus and pita bread. He made the Shakshoukah and polenta on the stovetop, while I made the hummus in a blender and made the pita bread (from my new favorite book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day).
We didn't talk as much this time around, but I chalk that up to trying a new recipe. It was the first time for him making Shakshoukah, and it was my first time making pita bread (I will be posting about this later, too). However, I still enjoyed being with my husband, doing something together, and doing something new together. And, the food was delicious! Eating our creations was just as much fun as making them together!
Doing something simple and everyday can be refreshing and fun if done with someone you love!
When I have watched the Neelys' Food Network show, Down Home with the Neelys, they work together in that kitchen like a well-oiled machine. And, they enjoy working together and helping one another. They also flirt an awful lot, but I find that cute, because, well, I'm married to the biggest flirt on the planet, and we do our fair share of flirting!
Our usual routine for cooking dinner was one person would cook and the other would clean. That seemed fair to us, and it worked out good for us, too. In the beginning of our marriage, I was not a cook. Like I said before, Hamburger Helper was my Go-To meal. But, I was an ace at washing dishes. And, he is an outstanding cook, so it worked out well.
But, now . . . I enjoy being in the kitchen and want to cook. And, I want to help. And, sometimes, I need his help. Still learning, you know, and well, math was never my strong subject and doubling or halving a recipe requires some math!
Recently, we had dinner at our house with some friends. Our dinner menu was Almond Crusted Chicken with a white sauce (a Rachael Ray recipe, minus the scallions for the non-onion eaters, and minus the wine for the momma-to-be), mashed red potatos, roasted carrots, and green beans. We decided to split up the cooking duties - I would make the chicken and the sauce, while he did the veggie side dishes. I also made a soy dessert, which I will post later, once I figure out what to call it. . . pudding? pie? pudding pie?
We were cooking, and drinking wine, talking, and singing along with the music, and generally having a blast, and that was before the company arrived! Once our friends did arrive, it was just like more people joined the party. The more, the merrier!
We enjoyed cooking with each other so much, we decided to do it again. And, we didn't even have company coming! We decided to make a dish called Shakshoukah, made with tomatos and eggs - I'll post this one, too, eventually - with polenta, and hummus and pita bread. He made the Shakshoukah and polenta on the stovetop, while I made the hummus in a blender and made the pita bread (from my new favorite book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day).
We didn't talk as much this time around, but I chalk that up to trying a new recipe. It was the first time for him making Shakshoukah, and it was my first time making pita bread (I will be posting about this later, too). However, I still enjoyed being with my husband, doing something together, and doing something new together. And, the food was delicious! Eating our creations was just as much fun as making them together!
Doing something simple and everyday can be refreshing and fun if done with someone you love!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Baking Bread - Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia
We rang in the New Year with family and lots of laughter, and of course, food!
We traveled to spend time with Grandpa Joe and Connie in Bullhead City, AZ. As a gift, we brought champagne, which, incidentally, we did not open at New Year's, and two loaves of bread, a sourdough loaf and the focaccia.
The focaccia recipe came from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day, by Jeff Hertzber and Zoe Francois, a book I received as a Christmas gift. Check out their blog (it's also one I follow). The recipe in the book calls for onions, which I omitted because we are not fans of onion and never have them in the house . . . except after Nana has visited.
Funny side story - after our daughter's graduation, Nana left one yellow onion, and after Nana's Thanksgiving visit, she left one red onion. The yellow onion sat on our counter for months, unused and ignored, until it started to sprout. The same happened with the red onion, except it was only about one month before it actually started to sprout. Both have now been planted in our backyard. That's how we like onions!
Anyways, back to the focaccia. I received the book as a Christmas gift (from my most awesome hubby - thank you, Love!), and absolutely could not wait to try something. We have rosemary in our garden, and I had all other ingredients on hand for this recipe, in addition to not having to buy special equipment, like a pizza peel or baking stone for the oven.
Their method is so easy, and almost foolproof. I say almost because, well, focaccia is a flatbread, so it's supposed to be flat, and as you can see, mine definitely were not flat. Maybe I am too critical; they were flatter than my other loaves. Everyone enjoyed the focaccia, even me! So, it could not have been bad that they were not flat.
I only made half a batch because I didn't think my bowls were big enough to handle the rise for the full recipe, and ended up baking two loaves with the entire dough batch. Had I thought about it more instead of being so ultra-excited to bake, I could have made the full recipe and split it into two containers. The dough would have aged in the refrigerator while we took our trip, and been even more yummy when we returned. Ah, the adventures of a beginning baker. Well, that is another lesson learned!
That night, we had one focaccia loaf with out Spicy Mac-n-Cheese dinner (the hubby's take on Macaroni Grill's Penne Rustica). It was so delicious - the dinner AND the bread! I was very excited to share this with Grandpa Joe and Connie. At Connie's, she served it with a spaghetti dinner the first night of the New Year. It was a nice addition to the meal.
What a way to ring in the New Year! Surrounded by family, sharing good food, wine and lots and lots of laughter, I felt optimistic about 2010. Happy New Year, everyone!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Baking Bread - Sourdough
Moldy starter is not good.
I opened my jar of sourdough starter to prepare it for baking, and there was mold at the top of the jar! I contacted Linda at SourdoughBreads.com and she is so wonderful, she sent me another packet of starter right away. Thanks, Linda! You are great!
I tried to figure out why it got moldy, and I think it got "infected" by my doggie biscuits for Maggie. (That recipe and story coming soon.) The biscuits were on the counter, in a canister. I had baked them and let them cool overnight before putting them in the canister. I even had the canister left open slightly so if there was any moisture, they could dry out.
It did not work. They ended up getting moldy at the bottom. I set the jar of starter on the same counter, unknowingly putting it right next to floating mold spores! I would not be surprised if some mold spores floated right into my jar of starter. And, thus, INFECTION!
But, now I have activated my new sourdough starter. I have also thrown out the bad biscuits and cleaned everything! Hopefully I got it all and won't have another infection.
Have a fabulous shopping weekend - if you are shopping!
I opened my jar of sourdough starter to prepare it for baking, and there was mold at the top of the jar! I contacted Linda at SourdoughBreads.com and she is so wonderful, she sent me another packet of starter right away. Thanks, Linda! You are great!
I tried to figure out why it got moldy, and I think it got "infected" by my doggie biscuits for Maggie. (That recipe and story coming soon.) The biscuits were on the counter, in a canister. I had baked them and let them cool overnight before putting them in the canister. I even had the canister left open slightly so if there was any moisture, they could dry out.
It did not work. They ended up getting moldy at the bottom. I set the jar of starter on the same counter, unknowingly putting it right next to floating mold spores! I would not be surprised if some mold spores floated right into my jar of starter. And, thus, INFECTION!
But, now I have activated my new sourdough starter. I have also thrown out the bad biscuits and cleaned everything! Hopefully I got it all and won't have another infection.
Have a fabulous shopping weekend - if you are shopping!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Baking Bread - Sourdough #2
I made sourdough - official San Francisco sourdough - previously. Although my first attempt was unsuccessful, my second attempt was not bad. But, my second attempt was using the same starter and baking method that came with the sourdough starter I purchased from SourdoughBreads.com and was baked the very next day. I consider it a "do-over".
The next time I baked sourdough bread was before Thanksgiving. I don't really know why. I think I wanted to have some bread on hand in case anyone wanted some with the meal. We ended up not having any at all with the Thanksgiving dinner!
I did a major no-no by the real sourdough standards and added commercial yeast. (Gasp!) I followed the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for sourdough bread. (There is also a recipe for creating the sourdough starter, but I just used my purchased starter.) I also was getting a little creative, and wanted to make some pretty rolls with the bread dough.
I would say this method of adding some commercial yeast made my impatient side very happy. The bread was made in one day rather than two, and there were only a few hours between rises, as opposed to 4 or more. But, it wasn't very sour. Perhaps I should have left the starter at room temp to ferment overnight? Or was it adding the commercial yeast? Hmmm. . . I will have to try it again with fermenting overnight to see if it ends up more sour. Another experiment!
Another thing regarding the crust of the sourdough - we like the crust soft. Before the loaf or rolls went into the oven, I coated them with melted margarine. Halfway through the baking time, I took them out and coated them again. I have noticed that the back of my oven cooks hotter than the front of my oven. So, in order to have an even browning, halfway through the baking time, I turn whatever I'm baking 180 degrees. This turns out to be a convenient time to cover the loaf or rolls with the melted margarine. Then, at the end of baking, I coated them a final time with the melted margarine.
I divided the dough in half and made a loaf with one half and Cloverleaf rolls with the other half.
The rolls looked homemade, lopsided and different sized. The sourdough loaf was gorgeous by my previous standards!
And, like I stated before, they were not sour really, but they sure were good! Happily, they were devoured.
My next attempt (Sourdough #3) at baking sourdough bread will be to use the Kneadlessly Simple recipe, which also calls for adding commercial yeast. Check out the author, Nancy Baggett, and her book at her blog site.
The next time I baked sourdough bread was before Thanksgiving. I don't really know why. I think I wanted to have some bread on hand in case anyone wanted some with the meal. We ended up not having any at all with the Thanksgiving dinner!
I did a major no-no by the real sourdough standards and added commercial yeast. (Gasp!) I followed the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for sourdough bread. (There is also a recipe for creating the sourdough starter, but I just used my purchased starter.) I also was getting a little creative, and wanted to make some pretty rolls with the bread dough.
I would say this method of adding some commercial yeast made my impatient side very happy. The bread was made in one day rather than two, and there were only a few hours between rises, as opposed to 4 or more. But, it wasn't very sour. Perhaps I should have left the starter at room temp to ferment overnight? Or was it adding the commercial yeast? Hmmm. . . I will have to try it again with fermenting overnight to see if it ends up more sour. Another experiment!
Another thing regarding the crust of the sourdough - we like the crust soft. Before the loaf or rolls went into the oven, I coated them with melted margarine. Halfway through the baking time, I took them out and coated them again. I have noticed that the back of my oven cooks hotter than the front of my oven. So, in order to have an even browning, halfway through the baking time, I turn whatever I'm baking 180 degrees. This turns out to be a convenient time to cover the loaf or rolls with the melted margarine. Then, at the end of baking, I coated them a final time with the melted margarine.
I divided the dough in half and made a loaf with one half and Cloverleaf rolls with the other half.
The rolls looked homemade, lopsided and different sized. The sourdough loaf was gorgeous by my previous standards!
And, like I stated before, they were not sour really, but they sure were good! Happily, they were devoured.
My next attempt (Sourdough #3) at baking sourdough bread will be to use the Kneadlessly Simple recipe, which also calls for adding commercial yeast. Check out the author, Nancy Baggett, and her book at her blog site.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Baking Bread - English Muffin Loaves
After checking out Nancy Baggett's Kneadlessly Simple book, I decided my first loaf EVER should come from the section Easiest Ever Yeast Breads. I like English Muffins, and it did sound really simple.
And, it was! I baked the loaves over a weekend, and enjoyed them all week. They were yummy and yeasty, and extremely good toasted with butter and jam, just like English muffins. The interesting thing for me was the texture on the inside of the loaf. It was more dense than English muffins and store-bought bread. But, for my first loaf EVER, I thought they turned out pretty good. (Sorry there are no pictures. This was baked before I began blogging, and I didn't think to take pictures.)
Now, I am more aware of what dough looks like as it is rising, what it feels like, and smells like. All those things I had no experience with before, so I had no idea what to expect, really. If you haven't checked out her book and the Kneadlessly Simple method, I highly recommend it, especially for beginning bakers like me. It is extremely educational, helpful and fun because she makes it so easy.
One thing I made a mistake on was the greasing of the loaf pans. I poured vegetable oil in the pans and tipped them around to try and coat the sides. I ended up with a lot of oil in the bottom of the pan. The oil was definitely too much, and kind of soaked the corners of my loaves. It was okay - the corners just ended up more crunchy. The next time I baked a loaf in the loaf pan (see Easy Oat Loaves), I just poured about a teaspoon of oil into the pan and used a paper towel to spread the oil in the pan and around the sides. That worked much better for me!
And, it was! I baked the loaves over a weekend, and enjoyed them all week. They were yummy and yeasty, and extremely good toasted with butter and jam, just like English muffins. The interesting thing for me was the texture on the inside of the loaf. It was more dense than English muffins and store-bought bread. But, for my first loaf EVER, I thought they turned out pretty good. (Sorry there are no pictures. This was baked before I began blogging, and I didn't think to take pictures.)
Now, I am more aware of what dough looks like as it is rising, what it feels like, and smells like. All those things I had no experience with before, so I had no idea what to expect, really. If you haven't checked out her book and the Kneadlessly Simple method, I highly recommend it, especially for beginning bakers like me. It is extremely educational, helpful and fun because she makes it so easy.
One thing I made a mistake on was the greasing of the loaf pans. I poured vegetable oil in the pans and tipped them around to try and coat the sides. I ended up with a lot of oil in the bottom of the pan. The oil was definitely too much, and kind of soaked the corners of my loaves. It was okay - the corners just ended up more crunchy. The next time I baked a loaf in the loaf pan (see Easy Oat Loaves), I just poured about a teaspoon of oil into the pan and used a paper towel to spread the oil in the pan and around the sides. That worked much better for me!
Baking Bread - Sourdough #1
My husband and I love sourdough bread. In my quest to learn how to bake bread, of course, this was one we both wanted. It is much more involved than other breads. I won't say difficult, but, involved is accurate. Not one I would recommend for a first loaf ever baked. So, naturally, it was my second loaf ever.
They were really fluffy! I guess the yeast made them rise a little when cooking. They were yummy, too. He made a bunch and we froze what we didn't eat that day. So, I think that's what we'll do when we bake sourdough bread now - make pancakes with the pour-off!
Sourdough #2 coming later . . .
This was the result of my first attempt to bake sourdough bread.
The inside was rubbery. It did not rise at all. I could still see the layers from the kneading and the rounding. It was not pretty! And, I would say, not edible! (Sorry the picture is not great, it was taken at around 11pm with the camera on my phone. I was sending it as a picture message to my husband, who wrote back to say, "It looks like the loaf exploded!")
I can understand why baking bread is intimidating or time-consuming. I was just way too impatient. I never thought I would learn patience from baking. But, it is a necessary skill, trait, virtue. . . whatever you want to call it, you need it, especially for baking sourdough.
So, I learned that real San Francisco sourdough is made from a particular type of wild yeast and lactobacillus that are naturally found in the San Francisco area. If the sourdough is not made with this combination, it is not San Francisco sourdough. I purchased my San Francisco sourdough starter from Linda at SourdoughBreads.com. She has a very reasonable and competitive price, and offers free technical support, which has been awesome for me.
The starter was easy to activate. Feeding it flour and water for 3 days and watching it grow and bubble was cool, like a science experiment! But, I had trouble getting the active sponge right for my first loaf - obviously. I thought it was supposed to ferment overnight and be very active (bubbly) in the morning. It wasn't very bubbly in the morning, but I used it anyway. (Impatience!)
I was bummed with the result, but I felt like I knew what I did wrong - not using an active sponge and being very, very impatient. After watching the starter for 3 days, I had a vague idea of when it was active. So, I thought I would skip the fermenting overnight part and just use the starter when it was very active.
I put my plan into action, and the second loaves were much more successful. (Sorry, no pictures! We ate them too fast!) I still wasn't real happy with them. I thought they were kind of doughy and too dense. But, we gobbled them up so they must not have been that bad.
One thing about baking sourdough with this starter is in order to keep the starter from getting huge and possibly taking over your kitchen, it is recommended to pour all but 1/4 cup down the drain before feeding with the 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water.
It got to me after a while, just throwing this stuff down the drain. So, I poured the excess off into another bowl and thought I would figure out what to do with it later. I continued working with the 1/4 cup in the main bowl. When my husband saw the extra, he decided to make sourdough pancakes with it.
They were really fluffy! I guess the yeast made them rise a little when cooking. They were yummy, too. He made a bunch and we froze what we didn't eat that day. So, I think that's what we'll do when we bake sourdough bread now - make pancakes with the pour-off!
Sourdough #2 coming later . . .
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Baking Bread - Easy Oat Loaves
Recipe from Kneadlessly Simple: fabulous, fuss-free, no-knead breads by Nancy Baggett
This recipe was very easy, and I had all the ingredients on hand in the pantry already. No need to buy special stuff! The mixing of the ingredients to make the dough for the first rise was simple. I did it in the early afternoon, and set it in the refrigerator for the 3-10 hours she recommends for the best flavor. Then, before turning in for the night (10pm), I took the bowl out of the fridge and put it in the coldest room in our house, for the 12-18 cool room rise. This room was about 66 degrees when we got up the next morning. The dough did not look as if it had risen very much though. I was beginning to get worried. But, I think the room may have just been too cool. As the day progressed and got warmer, the dough was rising noticeably. I remember thinking at one point, “It has risen more in the last hour than it did all night!”
After about 13 hours (around 11am), I prepared the dough for the second rise, the warm room rise. This was just a convenient time for me to do it. First, I prepared the 2 loaf pans by pouring just a little oil in the bottom and then using a folded paper towel to wipe the oil around the bottom and sides of the loaf pan. This method of coating and oiling the pans worked much better for me than pouring oil in the pan and tipping the pan around to spread the oil. When I did that, I ended up with way too much oil! The recipe calls for about a tablespoon of oats to be put in the pan and then spread around. But, I think a tablespoon was kind of light. And, I didn’t go all the way up the sides of the loaf pan either, but you could!
Then, I stirred the dough with a sturdy wooden spoon, but it didn’t really seem to stir. I think this step is really just to deflate the dough. But, it was a workout! That dough was stiff. Then, I cut the dough in half – or at least, I tried to cut the dough in half! I took a long serrated knife (used usually only for carving turkey in our house!), wiped oil on both sides (using the folded paper towel from oiling the pans), and cut the dough while still in the bowl. (I didn’t want to dirty the cutting board. Lazy or smart? I don’t know! Both perhaps.) Once the dough was cut into mostly equal portions, the portions went into the loaf pans. I prepped the tops of them and covered them with plastic and set them in the warmest spot in the house for the 2-3 hour warm room rise.
Our temps here have been super nice – right in the mid-70’s. Inside our house, it was slightly cooler, a few degrees or so. So, I went about my business, and checked on the loaves after 3 hours, and it seemed they had hardly risen. They did take a long time to rise. My husband joked they were “late risers”. HA! I set them there around 11:30am, and I think they were finally ready to bake at about 6pm. In the book, there is a troubleshooting section, and I checked it for “extremely slow rising”. The slow rising could be because the room was too cool, or my yeast could have been getting old. She recommended putting the yeast in an airtight container in the fridge after it was opened. I did not do that! (Oops!) But, I’ll do it now!
The loaves turned out beautifully though. Nice and browned on top, with a crunchy crust. The oats on top were pretty, and on the bottom, they were crunchy. The slash cut into the top of the loaf didn’t open up like I thought it would, but it made a nice indent. The inside of the loaf was soft and crumbly, more like a loaf you would get from the store, but still not quite the same. We cut a slice to try once they were out of the loaf pans. We couldn’t wait - they smelled so good – yeasty and fresh. We put some butter on the slice, and took a bite. It was a nice flavor, not as sweet as I had imagined with the honey being in there, but still very tasty. And, interestingly, I did not see any oats actually inside the loaf! I know they were mixed in there, but I didn’t see any.
All in all, definitely bread I will make again. The husband liked it a lot. And it really was super easy. Gonna give the second loaf to a friend as a Thank You for letting me borrow a Halloween costume! I’ll let you know what she thinks of it. She’s quite the baker herself. I could learn a thing or two from her probably!
‘Til the next adventure!
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