16 posts tagged “baking”
I wonder who came up with the idea of clover leaf rolls? A playful young hausfrau, rolling little balls of dough and dropping them into muffin tins? A busy baker, snipping off a roll of dough with scissors? No matter how they came by, clover leaf rolls are as fun to make as they are to eat!
Adapted from this fabulous recipe over at Jugalbandi. You can make this recipe without a sourdough starter, too. I skipped the garlic and the sundried tomatoes, and added a generous handful of fresh chopped sage and oregano from my tiny herb garden. Half the recipe makes 6 average sized rolls.
Herbed sourdough rolls go to the Wild Yeast blog for the weekly YeastSpotting.
A twitter friend, who just happens to be a fabulous quilter, sent me a lovely quilted tablecloth recently. The quilt smells and looks and feels so good, I've been using it as a throw instead, keeping my feet warm when I do my couch potato impersonations.
I want to send her something I made, but I have no idea what she likes. This is where online friendships suck. You may know a lot about one aspect of someone's life and nothing about the other.
Playing it safe, I decided to make these spring saffron shortbread cookies which I found on Mango Power Girl's blog. The cookies are lightly flavored with saffron, cardamom and nuts, making them Indian enough to satisfy me and American enough to please her (I hope!).
I mostly followed the original recipe, cutting back the butter to 1.5 sticks and skipping the icing, adding the cardamom to the cookie dough itself. I also used walnuts instead of pistachios coz I love them in cookies!
Only after making the cookies did I think about packaging. How do you mail crumbly shortbread cookies? After much trolling of the local megamart, I settled for a tin of peanuts, emptied, washed and re-papered. The packing took much more time than the actual making of cookies- there is a lesson in here somewhere. :)
(And we are officially, truly, back in the cooking business.)
The weekend bread baking ritual starts like this.
Friday evening, I settle on the couch with a bread book and a cup of tea. This is the best part, deciding which bread to bake. Something new or old? Sourdough or not? The rest of the weekend is planned around the bread.
Start the soaker and biga after brunch on Saturday. Clean house before, shop for groceries after.
Sunday morning, mix the dough and start the first proof.
Run to the farmer's market for lunch and icecream. Run back.
Shape the loaf. Pre-heat the oven. Practice patience.
Finally! Bread-baking time. The house smells yummy.
An hour later, dinner is served.
Peter Reinhart's recipe for whole grain Struan, a Scottish Harvest bread made with a little bit of all the harvest grains thrown in. That is the true genius of the Struan; you can make it with whatever grains you have on hand. I had barley, steel cut oats and flax seeds.
Served with an Italian chickpea-mushroom soup.
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup canned crushed concentrated tomatoes (or 2 large fresh tomatoes, chopped)
a handful of fresh basil and oregano
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and black pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
parmesan shavings
- If using dried beans, soak them in 4 cups water the night before. Pressure- cook the beans the next day until softened.
- Soak the porcini mushrooms in 1 cup hot water. When softened, chop roughly. Pass the soaking liquid through a fine sieve and reserve.
- Heat the oil in a dutch oven. Add the onion, garlic, cumin and sweat the onions until translucent.
- Add the chickpeas with their liquid, tomatoes, mushrooms and their liquid, herbs, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for forty minutes.
- Puree the soup in a blender and return to the pot. Simmer for another ten minutes.
- Stir in the sour cream before serving and top each bowl with parmesan shavings. Serve with crusty bread.
Yes, such a beast exists.
I have been fascinated by challah for a long, long time. It has to be one of the most beautiful breads out there, and most bread baking books are full of praises for the rich festival bread.
Or it could just be that I wanted to braid dough. :)
I found Maggie Glezer's sourdough challah recipe at The Fresh Loaf. It is a comprehensive recipe with detailed instructions, which makes it so much easier to follow.
To make it vegan, I replaced the eggs with a flax seed emulsion and the honey with agave nectar. Here is the recipe with my modifications.
For the starter:
2 tablespoons (1.2 ounces) active firm sourdough starter
1/3 cup (2.8 ounces) warm water
1 cup (4.8 ounces) bread flour
For final dough:
1/4 cup warm water
3 large eggs, plus 1 for glazing I replaced the three eggs with 3 tbsp of powdered flax seed plus 9 tbsp water. For the glaze, I used 1/4 tsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup water.
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons agave nectar
About 3 cups (14 ounces) bread flour
Fully fermented sourdough starter
Evening before baking:
Knead starter into water until it is partially dissolved, then stir in the flour. Knead this firm dough until it is smooth. Let the starter ferment until it has tripled in volume, 8 to 12 hours.
Baking day:
In a large bowl, beat together the water, powdered flax seeds plus the additional water, salt, oil, and nectar until well combined. With your hands or a wooden spoon, mix in the bread flour. When the mixture is a shaggy ball, scrape it out onto your work surface, add the starter, and knead until the dough is smooth, no more than 10 minutes. If the dough is too firm to knead easily, add a tablespoon or two of water to it; if it seems too wet, add a few tablespoons flour.
The dough should feel smooth and very firm but be easy to knead.
Fermenting the dough:
Place the dough in the warm cleaned bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the dough ferment for about 2 hours. It will probably not rise much.
Shaping and proofing the dough:
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Braid the dough as desired, position the loaf on the prepared sheet, and cover with plastic wrap. Let proof until tripled in size, about 5 hours.
30 minutes before baking, arrange one rack in the upper third position . Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare the glaze for the loaf. (Vegan glazes- soymilk, cornstarch and water, baking soda and water.) I microwaved 1/2 tsp cornstarch with 1/4 cup water for three minutes. Online forums suggested that it would give the bread that eggy shine. Unfortunately it did not quite work out that way. :)
Baking the loaves:
When the loaf has tripled and does not push back when gently pressed with your finger, brush with the glaze. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until very well browned. If the loaf is browning too quickly, tent it with foil. When done, remove the loaf from the oven and let cool on a rack.
I have not had regular challah, but this version was delightful. Not very soft, but a rich, sweet flavor- the crust was especially delicious. The crumb is light, soft and moist. I will be making this challah again.
The vegan sourdough challah goes to the weekly Yeastspotting over at the Wild Yeast blog.
...are proof that Food Network is good for things other than who-would-eat-them cake challenges.
I actually like Giada de Laurentiis, even though she's not a food geek like Alton Brown. A lot of her recipes are simple, elegant, and they work in the kitchen. Like this one. Here's my version.
What you need (for three generous servings):
7 oz penne pasta (I love Ronzoni Healthy Harvest whole wheat blend)
5 oz fresh baby spinach
1 cup asparagus, chopped
2 oz goat cheese
1 tbsp capers in brine
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
1 tbsp grated parmeggiano reggiano
- In the food processor, pulse a big handful of spinach, goat cheese, garlic and capers until it turns into a thick creamy sauce. Throw the rest of the spinach in a large bowl.
- Bring plenty of salted water to boil. Add the asparagus to it for thirty seconds, remove and run it under cold water. (I do the whole thing in a metal mesh sieve.) Throw the asparagus in over the spinach.
- Add the pasta to the water and cook until..well, cooked. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of pasta liquid.
- Add the pasta and the sauce to the veggies in the bowl. Pour in the pasta liquid, and stir everything around until the spinach wilts. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the parmeggiano on top and serve.
Yes, that simple. Simpler if you skip the asparagus. Delicious both ways.
Next came the bread. I was looking for a recipe which used sourdough starter, was eggless, and could be made in three hours or less. Voila! Sourdough sundried tomato rolls at Jugalbandi, which is basically my one-shop stop for all kinds of great recipes.
I halved the recipe and got 6 good sized rolls. The dough was very wet, but that had three advantages-
One, it was too sticky to knead, so I just stirred it around with a spoon half-heartedly.
Two, they were too soft to shape, so I threw them in muffin tins.
Three, more water = softer rolls.
These babies were so soft you couldn't have guessed they were made with a whole-wheat flour/sourdough starter/rye flour combo.
Even better, the recipe says you can make them even if you don't have a sourdough starter.
So, what are you waiting for? :)
These rolls are so going to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting. They deserve to be spotted. And slathered with butter. And eaten.
p.s. Thank you Singing Horse! The pasta goes to Presto Pasta Nights, being hosted this week by Marye of Baking Delights.
Doesn't everyone love English muffins? Great use of leftover sourdough starter, and they are so easy! Perfect breakfast for a long working weekend.
Made from this recipe.
I halved the recipe since I had exactly 1/4 cup stiff starter. Added
.125 cup of extra milk and voila! Look at them holes-they soak up the butter and the jam so well...
If you don't have sourdough starter, don't let that stop you from entering English muffin heaven. Try Alton's Brown's recipe.
These muffins are going to this week's YeastSpotting at the Wild Yeast blog.
Susan at the Wild Yeast Blog made a fabulous roasted potato sourdough bread, with whole potato chunks in it. I just had to make it this weekend.
The bread has the soft, moist crumb of a potato bread. And the roasted potato chunks are better than any nuts/spices I've ever added to bread.
We paired the bread with a herby green soup. I was tired of the usual hearts and flowers sort of designs on top, and wanted to try something new. This design seemed kinda cool and interesting, like ninepins.
Until hubby came home and said, 'Why are you drawing scrotums in my soup?'
Note to self- Stop watching Bizarre Foods.
The roasted potato sourdough bread goes to Susan for the weekly YeastSpotting.
I love breadsticks. Not the soft white pudgy thingies served at Olive Garden, but the real stuff. Tall, slender, golden brown, crisp. With a hint of Parmigiano Reggiano and spice.
*wipes drool off keyboard*
This was my first time baking them. They are delicious and relatively easy to make. Once the dough is done, you can stick it in the fridge and make fresh breadsticks whenever the fancy strikes you. Here's a pretty good master recipe. I replaced the yeast in mine with sourdough starter.
We paired them with an old favorite, curried spinach dal soup. Recipe adapted from here.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 chopped carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder (I used 1/4 cup Madras tomato chutney)
1 tablespoon ginger-green chilli paste
1 teaspoon ground toasted cumin
1 bay leaf
6 cups water
1/2 cup dried lentils (I used husked mung dal)
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (Add 1 tbsp lemon juice if yogurt is not sour)
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add next three ingredients; sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in curry powder, ginger-chilli paste, cumin and bay leaf. Add water and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until lentils are tender, about 25 minutes. Add spinach and cilantro; simmer until spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper. Stir in yogurt just before serving.
Its simple. The starter must be fed every week, even when it rests in the fridge. Therefore, I must bake a sourdough bread every weekend. Can't just throw away good starter, can we? :)
Besides, I had the perfect recipe ready and waiting for the weekend. Rustic sourdough focaccia. Combining two very good things to get the most excellent thing.
The recipe is on Rose Levy Berenbaum's website, and its much less work than regular sourdough bread. She even tells you how to get the beautiful, uneven holes.
The bread itself is chewier than a regular focaccia, and has an amazing depth of flavor. I'll be making this one again.
Primo's sourdough focaccia goes to the Wild Yeast blog for their weekly Yeastspotting.
The sourdough experiments continue. My strategy now is to approach bread recipes just like I do non-baked goods. Pick what you like and modify what you don't. Seems to working so far. :)
The bread has a crisp, crackly crust and a big, holey crumb. While it has a good sourdough flavor, I prefer the whole wheat flour-rye combination more than white flour-rye. We paired the bread with a winter-worthy roasted squash and corn soup.
The soup recipe is a (big) modification of this one. You will need:
1 large butternut squash, chopped into approximately 4 cup big chunks and 2 cups small dice
1 large sprig rosemary
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 inch piece fresh ginger
1 tbsp orange/lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp olive oil
- Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
- To a soup pot, add the large chunks of squash, rosemary, ginger and bring it to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer until squash is very tender.
- Toss the diced squash and corn with olive oil and maple syrup and spread it on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are nice and golden.
- Puree the squash in the pot, then add half of the roasted veggies, the zest and the garam masala. Simmer for another five minutes.
- Ladle into bowls, top with some more roasted veggies, and serve.
Lets just say I'm drooling at the thought of leftovers for lunch tomorrow. The Norwich Sourdough goes to Susan for the weekly YeastSpotting.
