Adventures in Sourdough Bread Making

I haven't made sourdough since the pandemic, and even back then, I wasn't particularly good at it.   My friend Alex is a master and he wanted me to test out his sourdough starter method, but I killed my starter after about a month of trying.   So, I just started another one in the typical fashion, where you use water and flour and then throw half of it away everyday and feed it more.  I started it with whole wheat flour and then fed it AP flour. I kept it warm by using a smaller version of one of the cherry pit pads I sell in my etsy shop by heating it up for 2 minutes in the microwave and tucking it around a weck jar covered loosely in saran wrap that I set in a bowl in my pantry.  I also stirred it up at each feeding with a fork just to make sure it got a lot of air.  I think what killed my last starter was that it wasn't warm enough and didn't get enough air.   It took about 2 weeks to get a starter that was ready to bake.   

I think too much attention was made about precise weighing of ingredients when making starter.   After I weighed things, I just used measuring cups after that first time.   In my opinion, the flour and water weight isn't going to change that much day to day.  Besides, I feed my starter every morning when I wake up, pre coffee.   I don't need any added complications.    I have always wanted a bread lame and a dough whisk, so I decided to get myself this sourdough baking set for my birthday present to myself this year.  I needed the bannetons, so it was a good deal.   

I followed Alex's excellent bread recipe using my starter.   The beauty of this recipe is that it doesn't make too much bread.   Here is how I make it - note I use King Arthur flour and Redmond sea salt.    KAF is high in protein and makes an excellent loaf.   You can make it with AP flour as well. 

Sourdough Bread

60g starter

180g water

240g bread flour

30g whole wheat flour

6g sea salt

Make a note of the time when you start.   Mix all but the salt. Cover with saran wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Just a shaggy mass of unprocessed dough.  After 30 minutes, add the salt and mix it in by folding the dough over itself repeatedly until the salt is well-incorporated. Cover again and let rest for 30 minutes. 

Now, for the next 2-3 hours or so, you've got to stretch and fold your dough.  It's how sourdough bread is kneaded.  I recommend this video to show you how to do it. Some days, my dough is stiffer than this.   “Stretch and fold” is the way we build up the gluten structure.  At this point, the dough has been in process for about 3-4 hours. You can really take your time with developing the dough’s structure. Just keep track of your starting time.  So keep in mind, you are stuck at the house during this time.   Plan your dough accordingly.  

Next, it's time for what they call bulk fermentation. Let it rise at room temp for about 5 hours. Your total time since mixing the dough should be 8-9 hours at this point. The dough should be puffy and airy. 

The dough is now ready to shape. I make both round and oval shapes.  Watch these videos to see how to do it - round  and oval, or boule and batard, if you want to get all fancy French like.   Place the shaped dough in a banneton and let it proof at room temp for an hour or two before baking.  I prefer to let the dough cold-proof in the fridge for 12-48 hours. Longer sour flavor. When you’re ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge for an hour for maximum oven-spring.   That way, I can bake it whenever I want. 

I take the dough out and set it on the counter and then place your empty Dutch oven in a cold oven and heat to 450° for 1 hour.   I put my pizza stone on a rack under it to make sure the bottom doesn't burn.   

Upend the dough into a piece of parchment paper, carefully score the top with your lame, and place it in the Dutch oven, cover, then bake for 25 minutes. I have this 7 qt. Martha Stewart one that works for both the boule and batard shapes of this size 

Remove the lid of the Dutch oven and control bake until your crust is a deep golden brown.   For my oven,. it's usually another 10 minutes.   Allow to cool fully before slicing. 2 hours is best

This is enough bread for Andy and me for a couple days.    It's so much better than any bread I can buy up here.    There's one family that sells sourdough bread in the summer at Calumet Farmer's Market, and they sell out pretty much immediately.   I have this fantasy that maybe this summer, I will have a little farm stand in the driveway, selling bread and pie to the local tourists camping at McLain or looking for agates at Calumet Waterworks.      

English Muffins

This year, I entered many contests at the Houghton County Fair.  It was a lot of fun to do!   I entered 21 things and won 7 blue ribbons: food preparation: English muffin (only entry so that was an easy win!), food preservation: Dill Pickles, Salsa and Floriculture: dahlia (only one entered), succulent, dracaena, terrarium.  I had never made English muffins before, and I have to say they were kind of a pain to make, but they came out so good.  I probably will make them again, so I want to remember how I did it.  I found a recipe on the King Arthur website, but it was fraught with errors. 

Here's how I actually made the recipe.  I used the electric griddle that Jane bought me for Christmas years ago to make pancakes for all the grandchildren she thinks her brother will give us!

English Muffins

1 3/4 cups (397g) milk, lukewarm
3 tablespoons (43g) butter, softened
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, to taste
2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 1/2 cups (540g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
corn meal for sprinkling the griddle

Weigh your flour;  Combine all of the ingredients (except the cornmeal) in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the dough using the flat beater paddle until it starts coming away from the sides of the bowl, and is satin-smooth and shiny; this will take about 5 minutes at medium-high speed. When you lift up the beater, the dough will be very stretchy. 

Scrape the dough into a rough ball, and cover the bowl. Let the dough rise until it's nice and puffy; this will take 1 to 2 hours or so.  Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 16 pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball, then flatten the balls until they're about 3" to 3 1/2" in diameter.  Place on a cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal.  Cover both sides with corn meal.  Let them rest for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, h eat electric griddle to 350F, and then sprinkle it heavily with corn meal.

Cook the muffins about 5 minutes per side, until their crust is golden brown, and their interior is cooked through. When done, the center of a muffin should register about 200°F on an instant-read thermometer. 

Fancy Focaccia

True confession:  I've never made focaccia before.   To be honest, I've never been great at making any kind of bread but thought I'd give it a try.   I was reading and enjoying Beatrice Ojakangas' great Soup and Bread Cookbook, and saw her recipe for rosemary focaccia.  Plus, I was inspired by a pretty focaccia I saw on the interwebs.  Why not give it a try?

Well, there were quite a few reasons.   First, I didn't have active dry yeast or bread flour; I only had instant yeast and all purpose flour.   Then, I misread the recipe and started with too much water.   So, I had to add much more flour than expected.   Oh well.     But then, miraculously, it seemed to have worked out!  

Rosemary Focaccia (my way)

1 cup AP flour

1 package instant yeast

1 t. salt

1 T. sugar

2 1/2 c warm water (110-120 F)

Mix dry ingredients in a stand mixer, then add water.   Mix until well combined, then add 4-5 cups flour until it forms a soft  sticky dough.   Then add: 

1/4 c olive oil

On a well floured countertop, knead for 15 minutes, adding enough flour until it stops sticking to your hands.    Put it on a greased cookie sheet with sides and let it rise for an hour, or until it's puffy.  Press the dough down and fit it into each corner and cover it with a towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.    Preheat oven to 450 F.  Then, decorate with vegetables!  I had red onion, yellow pepper, green onions, some olives and some celery.

Sprinkle with about 2 teaspoons rosemary and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and drizzle with more olive oil....about 3 tablespoons.   Bake for 25 minutes or so until brown, rotating pan halfway through.

Ta da!!! Fancy focaccia!  I will actually try to make this again, it was super easy.  Except next time, I'll cut the recipe by  25% to make a chewier, more dense bread.  Probably closer to what Beatrice had in mind!

Whole Wheat Quinoa Bread

 

We are in the final countdown before the big move to the lakehouse for good!  I can't wait!!! It's been a real challenge figuring out what I want to keep and what I need to let go.    For example, I am downsizing most of my cookbook collection.  Check out what I have for sale in my Etsy shop     I am also trying to draw down my pantry staples.    In the height of the pandemic, I hoarded yeast and then never really made too much bread.   Also, I had a lot of whole wheat flour, and some quinoa from a long ago recipe experiment.   Time to use it up!

I found a recipe in NYT for a quinoa bread, but it needed a lot of help to make it better.   Here's how I made it:

Whole Wheat Quinoa Bread

two loaves, about 16 slices in each loaf

for the sponge

2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

3 cups lukewarm water

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole-wheat flour

for the bread

2/3 cups  quinoa

1 1/3 cup water

¼ cup canola oil

1 scant tablespoon salt

3 to 4 cups whole-wheat flour, as needed

1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water for egg wash

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and water and stir until dissolved. Stir in the honey and molasses. Stir in the flours, 1 cup at a time, until well combined Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, cover the bowl with plastic and leave to rise in a warm spot for one hour, until bubbly.

Meanwhile, make the quinoa.  Rinse the quinoa: Pour the quinoa into a fine mesh colander and rinse under running water for at least 30 seconds. Drain well. This step removes any bitterness on the outside of the quinoa (caused by naturally occurring saponins). Combine the rinsed quinoa and water in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat a bit to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, about 10 minutes Reduce heat as time goes on to maintain a gentle simmer. Remove the pot from heat, cover, and let the quinoa steam for 5 minutes.  Allow to cool

Add the oil to the sponge and fold in, using a large spoon or spatula. Add the salt and fold in. Fold in the quinoa, then fold in 2 cups of the whole-wheat flour. Place another 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour on your work surface, then scrape out the dough. Use a bench scraper to help fold the dough over while kneading until it has absorbed the flour on your work surface. Flour your hands, and knead the dough for 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary, until it is elastic and springs back when you press it with your finger. It will be dense and sticky. Shape the dough into a ball. Rinse and dry your bowl, and coat it with oil. Place the dough in it, then flip the dough over so that it is coated with oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and set in a warm spot to rise for one hour or until doubled.

Punch down the dough, cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise again for 45 minutes to an hour.

Divide the dough into two parts, and shape into loaves. Place half of the sesame seeds on your work surface, and gently roll the rounded side of one loaf over them so that they stick. Repeat with the remaining sesame seeds and the other loaf. Oil two 9-by-5-inch bread pans, and place the loaves in the pans, first seam side up, then seam side down. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until the surface of the loaves rises above the edges of the bread pans.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Gently brush the loaves with egg wash. Using a sharp knife, cut two or three 1/2-inch-deep slashes across the top of each loaf. If this causes the loaves to deflate, let them sit for another 15 to 20 minutes. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, The bread is done when it is golden brown and responds to tapping with a hollow sound. Remove from the pans and cool on a rack.

Whole Wheat Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

If you are looking for a great springtime canning recipe, I recommend stewed rhubarb.   Super easy to can and it can be used as a topping for vanilla yogurt or with pork roast, or in a variety of baked goods.   Very versatile!    Here's how to do it, plus a tasty recipe for rhubarb muffins.  

Stewed Rhubarb

Makes about 18 half pints (two canner loads) of rhubarb

7 lbs rhubarb

5 cups sugar

Trim off leaves. Wash stalks and cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces. In a large saucepan add sugar to fruit. Let stand until juice appears. Heat gently to boiling. Fill jars without delay, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process for 15 minutes.

Whole Wheat Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

For the muffins

1 half pint jar of stewed rhubarb

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp vegetable oil

½ cup  all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup brown sugar

For the streusel topping

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Grease medium muffin pan with butter.  In a small bowl, mix stewed rhubarb, egg, oil and vanilla with a fork until well combined.   In a medium bowl, mix remaining muffin ingredients and then add rhubarb mixture and stir until well combined.

To make streusel topping, put all ingredients in a small bowl and rub between your fingers until the mixture resembles pebbly small sand.  

Fill muffin tin cups 2/3 full with muffin batter and top each with some streusel topping.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes until golden on top. A skewer put in the middle should come out clean when the rhubarb muffins are done

2 Quick Breads

I was looking for a cooking project for this beautiful Sunday afternoon.   I had some sad looking apples sitting on my counter top for a while.   They had seen better days, but I wanted to use them instead of throwing them out.   I had some whole wheat flour I "imported" from the UP in the freezer from Freedom Mills in Skandia.  (I need to remember this recipe of theirs).  After doing much googling, I found the a recipe I wanted to modify to make some apple bread that would have plenty of protein and fiber.   I modified it to make do with what I had on hand.  It's the top bread in the photo above.

Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Crumble topping

1 teaspoon brown sugar

3 tablespoons dry uncooked oats

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Bread

1 cup dry oats/oatmeal

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large eggs

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups shredded, unpeeled apples 

1/3 cup chopped black walnuts

1 cup Zante currants

Combine crumble topping ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut out an 8-by-4-inch rectangle of parchment paper and place in the bottom of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Spray pan with cooking spray.  Place dry oats into a blender and process into a flour-like consistency. Combine oat flour, wheat flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Combine eggs, honey, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl; add sugar, stirring until combined. Add apples; stir until well combined. Add flour mixture; stir just until combined. Gently stir in walnuts and currants.

Pour batter into loaf pan and sprinkle with crumble topping. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

I also have been on a quest to make a savory zucchini bread.   I was thinking something with plenty of zucchini, some whole wheat flour, some thyme and Parmesan cheese.   I found this recipe on Taste of Home   to use as a starting point.   Here is where I ended up:

Parmesan Thyme Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 t. dried thyme 

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cup shredded peeled zucchini

1 tablespoon grated onion

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cheese, salt, baking powder and baking soda and thyme. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, sugar and butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini and onion.

Pour into a greased and floured 9x5-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Mrs Hintalla

Both of my children had "Life Skills" (it was called "Home Ec" in my day) class in Mill Creek Middle School with Mrs. Hintalla, who was one of my favorite teachers.   Right before she retired, she taught the Foods class at Dexter High School that my daughter Jane also took.  Pam was instrumental in another project that Jane and I worked in Girl Scouts: the Sullivan Memorial Garden at the school.   

Mrs. Hintalla was one of those teachers that everyone remembered.  My mother was an avid seamstress (now we would call her a"sewist") and a huge fabric hoarder.   When she died, I was lamenting all the fabric she left behind and Mrs. Hintalla said "I'll take it!"  Thrilled, I asked her how much she wanted, and she said all of it.  I am not sure she knew what she was getting into when I rolled up to the middle school with every inch of my Fusion filled with fabric.   All that was left was a place for me to sit and look out the windshield.    Her eyes grew wide when I informed her this was just the first load....I would bring more.   And I did.  Like my mother, I am also a sewist.   "Sewist" sounds so much better than "sewer".   I think sewing skill might be genetic because I can remember sewing since I was a small fry, but my sister can't do it at all.   Instead, she is a knitting pro, but she sure didn't get that from our mother.   Included in my mother's fabric stockpile, which took up a good portion of her basement,  was a yard of a pastel plaid I wanted to make into a skirt for my own first day of 7th grade.  My mother wouldn't let me use it because she was "saving it for a project".   Imagine my surprise when I found it 35 years later in her collection!  I sure hope some Dexter 7th grader got to make it into something.   Instead, I made a skirt of fabric that was printed with a denim patches pattern.   I wore a white T shirt with it, and a puka shell necklace.   It was very 1976. 

Mrs. Hintalla's class was also a big hit with my son Eddie.  He loved cooking and  he saved these 2 recipes they made in Life Skills class, and we made them at home later.  I still have no idea what the origin of "Ricketty Uncle" is.    Mrs. Hintalla always called her students by an honorific formal name, never just Eddie.   He was "Mr. Hodges"to her, which she shouted with enthusiasm down the hall with her big booming home ec teacher voice.  Eddie has grown up into a fine cook, and I like to think she was a big part of that.   I lost track of Pam after she retired, but she was one of Dexter's best!  So Eddie, I am posting these for you, Mr. Hodges!  Enjoy.

Corn Grits Corn Bread

There is winter in the air here this weekend.   It's been chilly...the last of the leaves are coming down, as is their custom, right before Halloween.   I enjoy my "empty test", but I really miss my cherubs this time of year.   When they were little, it was all costumes and candy.  When they were older, it was marching band and football and drama club.   Now, it's just my husband and I....but I still like to carve a pumpkin....

 My hubby went out to do some hunting, so I stayed in to make some chili and some cornbread.  I have some fantastic grits from Kentucky I got on a business trip and I wondered if they could be used in cornbread....the answer is they can!   This is how I did it...

Corn Grits Corn Bread

1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
2 T butter
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup stone ground grits
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Optional: 3 T chopped peppers, hot or sweet

Mix milk and vinegar, set aside until thickened.  Place butter in  8 inch cast iron skillet in an oven set to 425F to preheat.  Mix all dry ingredients in a bow with a whisk, in another bowl, mix  egg, veg oil and milk mixture.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until combined.   Add peppers and stir.  Pour into hot skillet and bake for 15 minutes.

Copper Country Strawberry Festival Muffins

We are always glad to be in the Keweenaw for strawberry season.   There is something about the hard winters and late springs up here that make for really outstanding strawberries.   I have fond memories of strawberry shortcake and margaritas made with the local ones.   This year, I made 12 half pint jars of jam using my outdoor canning rig.

I still had lots of berries to use up, so I tried a variation of a recipe I once made for blueberry lemon ricotta pound cake.   I updated it to use whole wheat flour and strawberries, and I baked it in a muffin tin.   Fantastic!  And good for you, too.

Strawberry Lemon Whole Wheat Muffins
makes 1 dozen

¾ cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
2 tablespoons packed confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl  until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Beat in ricotta, lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and vanilla until just combined. Sprinkle flour on top, then evenly sprinkle baking powder and salt over the flour. Beat until almost combined. Add berries and gently fold into the batter. Transfer to the prepared muffin pans, filling cups to the top.  Bake the muffins until starting to brown around the edges and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about  25 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, remove from pan.   Clean the bowl, add confectioners' sugar and whisk in the remaining lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle the the glaze on the muffins.

Really Good Zucchini Bread

When I was a kid in the 1970s, zucchini bread was all the rage.  I can remember grating tons of the garden's haul and freezing it so we could make it year round, but over the years, zucchini bread fell out of fashion.   I think we all were duped into thinking it was healthy because it had a vegetable in it., but the fact is, it didn't really have a lot in it, and it was coupled with a hefty dose of vegetable oil.   It should have really been called "cake".   When I was watching America's Test Kitchen the other day, they optimized the recipe to pack it full of zucchini as well as lower the vegetable oil.  I tried the recipe out the other day, and it was a winner.    Here's how I made it....

kinda looks like meatloaf but it's zucchini bread!

Zucchini Bread  

1 1/2 pounds zucchini
8 3/4 ounces brown sugar  (about 1 1/2 c. packed)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2  eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.  Shred squash using a box grater, or even quicker, a food processor.  Place zucchini in center of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible, discarding liquid.Whisk brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla together in medium bowl. Fold in zucchini. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together in large bowl. Fold in zucchini mixture until just incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake until top bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 65 to 75 minutes. Let bread cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pan and let cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

This recipe is spiced with warm spices, but if you are not in the mood for those fall flavors, try this other summery zucchini bread recipe I made last year...raspberry zucchini bread.   Looking back on this recipe from last summer, it feels really odd that my high school parenting days will be over.  Right now, we'd be in the thick of marching band camp and then football two-a-days.   This summer is different, my eldest decided to stay at school this summer for work, and my youngest will be taking off for college in a few short weeks.  There's a corner in the spare room devoted to dorm room stuff already.  Pretty soon, the nest will be officially empty!

Raspberry Zucchini Bread

I am not ready to let go of summer yet, even though fall is my favorite season.   We've had a cool summer this year, with a sudden onslaught of hot humid weather here in the first week of September.   It sure didn't feel like football weather on Friday....

Parent Night at the DHS game.....

Right before we had to take cover in the 1st qtr.

The game ended up getting delayed until Saturday because the storm was so bad.   Many were without power; we lucked out for once and didn't lose ours.  Despite football and school starting, I just don't feel like fall yet.  I'm not ready.   I've barely done any canning this year - just pickles so far.   Salsa is scheduled for next weekend.   The tomatoes are so late this year....here are my green ones...I've got some late blight, but not as bad as last year.   I've been using neem oil to try to prevent it.  I grow my tomatoes in Earth Boxes, which are a hydroponic system and they work great for my deer and bunny infested yard.   I just put them on my patio and the critters stay away.

 So, I am not yet feeling the fall love. and when I went looking for a zucchini bread recipe online, they were all autumnal seasoned with nutmeg and cinnamon.   I'm not ready for that yet!  Like everyone right now, I had a ton of summer squash to use up, so when I found a recipe online for lemony raspberry zucchini bread,  I liked the idea but didn't want to follow it because it had lots of things wrong with it.  I borrowed the inspiration instead and decided to use up half of the berries I bought at the farmer's market yesterday.  This tastes just like summer.  And it is still summer until September 21st, so let's make the most of what we've got left.

Raspberry Zucchini Bread
makes 2 loaves

For the bread
4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
4 eggs
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/3 c sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
2 c grated zucchini
2 c raspberries

For the Glaze
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
Juice from 2 lemons

Preheat oven to 350 ⁰F. In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt.  In the mixer bowl of a stand mixer/medium-sized bowl, beat eggs well. Then add oil and sugarand lemon zest, and beat on low until well combined.  Add dry ingredients and fold everything together, but don’t over mix.
Fold in the zucchini and then the raspberries.  Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While the loaf is cooling, in small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Add more powdered sugar if it isn't thick enough.  Spoon the glaze over the cooled loaf. Let the glaze set prior to slicing and serving.

Angelo's Restaurant Raisin Bread

Angelo's Raisin Toast

In Ann Arbor, we have plenty of iconic restaurants, but the only one I know that had a song written about it is Angelo's over by the U of M Hospital.   Dick Siegel,  Ann Arbor's legendary troubador, even wrote a song about the place.  

Given that I just ran into Dick Siegel when I was running errands earlier today, I figure it is time that I shared the recipe for Angelo's most famous offering - the raisin bread.  The recipe was included in both editions of
Ann Arbor's Cookin', a fundraising cookbook for the Ronald McDonald House at U of M Hospital.   The recipe made a huge quantity (4 loaves of bread) and cake yeast, which is difficult to find, so I fixed it.   To make it even easier, I kneaded it in a food processor.  The original recipe called for hand kneading for 20 minutes, and rising 20 minutes for each rise, and baking it for 5 20 minute increments.   None of that made much sense to me.  Also, it didn't say to use a bread pan, but the toast at the restaurant is square so I put the dough in a bread pan. Here's how I made it and it is just as good as the original, if not better!

Angelo's Raisin Bread

1 1/2 lb all purpose flour
1 egg
1 T Crisco
1 T salt
2 T instant yeast
4 T sugar
1 1/2 c cool water
3 c raisins

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, add flour, egg, shortening salt, yeast and sugar and pulse a few times to mix up the ingredients.   With the processor running, add the water in the feed tube and process for 60 seconds or until the dough forms a cohesive ball.    Remove the dough and knead in the raisins by hand until evenly distributed.   Form the dough into a ball and put in a bowl that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray, and cover with a non stick cooking spray coated piece of plastic wrap.

Heat a mug of water in the microwave for 2 minutes, and push the mug to the back of the microwave.  Put the bowl in the microwave (shut off) and shut the door and let the dough rise until double, about 2 hours.  Turn the dough out onto a flour covered countertop, and punch the dough down.   Cut the dough in half and form 2 loaves and put them into 2 bread pans coated in non stick spray.  Cover with the plastic wrap.  Heat up the water mug again and put the pans in the shut off microwave to rise again, until the dough is about an inch taller than the top of the pan.  (another couple of hours)

Preheat oven to 350F, and bake bread 40 minutes until the top is brown.  Rotate halfway through the bake time.    Makes excellent french toast!

Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas

Last night (Christmas Eve) was busy for me – I sang in the choir at 7:30 pm Mass, and I made a lasagna to cook while we were at church for a late supper before we opened our gifts.  the teenagers now like to sleep in on Christmas morning.   I remember the days when they wanted to get up really early to see what Santa brought.   So as the midnight hour approached, I contemplated Christmas breakfast….what to make?   Cinnamon rolls sounded awfully good, but I wasn’t in the mood to make the dough.  I have become a big fan of combining leaveners in bread to get a quicker result – the combination of three kinds of leavening in “bridal” or “angel” biscuits is the secret to the world famous Loveless Café biscuits in Nashville.   So when I saw a recipe in Cook's Country for a quick cinnamon roll, I decided to give it a shot.    There’s only 2 minutes of kneading and 30 minutes of rising!  Perfect for Christmas morning.  I am always the first to get up anyway.   Here's my take on their recipe....these were fantastic!  My son said they are better than Cinnabon - and they only took about an hour and a half, start to finish, to make.  

Christmas Cinnamon Rolls

DOUGH

1 1/4 cups milk

4 teaspoons instant yeast (aka bread machine yeast)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons butter, melted

FILLING

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

GLAZE

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Melt 10 tablespoons butter in the microwave in a measuring cup.

Grease 9-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper, and grease parchment. Pour ¼ cup milk in small bowl and microwave  15 to 20 seconds. Stir in yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar and let sit until mixture is bubbly, about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, make the filling - combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in bowl. Stir in melted butter and vanilla until mixture resembles wet sand; set aside.   Returning to the dough - whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 5 teaspoons sugar together in large bowl.  Stir in 2 tablespoons butter, yeast mixture, and remaining 1 cup milk until dough forms (dough will be sticky). Transfer dough to well-floured counter and knead until smooth ball forms, about 2 minutes.

  

Roll dough into 12 by 9-inch rectangle, with long side parallel to counter edge. Brush dough all over with 2 tablespoons butter, leaving ½-inch border on far edge. Sprinkle dough evenly with filling, then press filling firmly into dough. Using bench scraper or metal spatula, loosen dough from counter. Roll dough away from you into tight log and pinch seam to seal. Don’t be afraid to pinch it hard.  Roll log seam side down and cut into 8 equal pieces.   Start by cutting the roll in half, and then the halves in half, and then the quarters in half and then they will be even thickness.  Stand rolls on end and gently re-form ends that were pinched during cutting.   Repinch any pinches that have started to unravel. Place 1 bun in center of prepared pan and others around perimeter of pan, seam sides facing in. Brush tops of buns with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Cover rolls loosely with plastic wrap.

Use your microwave as a proofing box! I learned this trick from Christopher Kimball’s The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook. I'm not sure why they don’t tell you to do this in the ATK magazines, but this trick works like a charm.  It revolutionized my bread baking for sure!  Heat a measuring cup with about a half cup of water in it in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Leave the cup of steaming water in the oven – move it to the back corner and put the pan of rolls in the oven and shut the door, and let rise for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 degrees and put the rack on the bottom position. 

Discard plastic and bake until edges are well browned,  about 25-30 minutes. Loosen rolls from sides of pan with paring knife and let cool for 5 minutes. Invert large plate over cake pan. Using potholders, flip plate and pan upside down; remove pan and parchment. Reinvert buns onto wire rack, set wire rack inside parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, and let cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze.  Place cream cheese in small bowl and whisk in the butter that is left, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Whisk in sugar until smooth. Pour glaze evenly over tops of buns, spreading with spatula to cover.

These cinnamon rolls were wonderful!  Merry Christmas and happy cooking. 

Pumpkin Cherry Nut Muffins

I've been plagued with insomnia my whole life, but the past couple weeks have been colossal...work stress, plus 2 kids in high school  (i.e marching band, football, fall theater, etc) have led to many nights of not enough sleep.   I can always fall asleep just fine, it's just that I wake up in the middle of the night.   Last night was no exception; I awoke in response to a nightmare which was an amalgam of all my stress related nightmares of a lifetime: I was back in high school again myself at age 50, but didn't have time to go to class because I had to go to work, and I had a final in math and had no idea how to answer any of the problems.   Also, because I forgot to go to practice, I wasn't going to get my varsity letter in swimming.    The only thing that would have made this nightmare complete would have been me walking to my locker and realizing that I forgot to wear pants to school and everyone was laughing at me!  I was startled awake at 4:30, which (to quote a song) is not late, it's early.....



Normally, this throws me into a panic because I worry I'll be too tired and crabby all day, but since it is Halloween today, I decided to embrace it and make pumpkin muffins for breakfast.   Why not?

Pumpkin Cherry Nut Muffins
(makes a dozen regular size ones)

1/2 c white whole wheat
1 1/4 c self rising flour (all I had in the pantry, regular AP would work)
2 t baking powder
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves
1/2 c canned pumpkin
1 egg
3/4 c milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 c dried cherries
1/4 c chopped pecans

For glaze
1/2 c powdered sugar
2 T milk
chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 F.   Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, make a well in the center.   Mix wet ingredients and pour into the well, stir until well mixed.  Add cherries and nuts, stir.   Fill muffin papers 3/4 full and bake for 30 minutes.  After the muffins have cooled, drizzle with glaze and sprinkle with nuts.

Whatever happened to the Spin Doctors?   I don't know, but they were certainly ahead of their time with this bearded look not unlike the current day beardly Bosox, who just won the World Series 20 years after this video came out.  So all is not lost - if I have to be tired today, at least I can start the day off right with a good breakfast!

Butter Rolls

I'm a blogging fool this weekend - I don't want to forget everything I cooked this Thanksgiving because it was so good.  Here's another recipe inspiration I got from Paul Virant....I never thought to bake rolls in my cast iron skillet. To make these rolls, you need a big 12 inch cast iron frying pan.   It keeps the rolls warm while you are waiting to serve them.

These rolls require no kneading, which is nice when the kitchen's already busy with other things.  I like to use my microwave oven as a "proofing box" - I heat a coffee cup full of water for 3 minutes on high, and leave it in the back of the even and place whatever I need to rise in it and shut the door.   The heat from the water makes a foolproof rise.   Ever since I started doing this, my breads always turn out right.

Butter Rolls

printer friendly

1 t instant yeast
1 1/2 c milk at room temperature
1 T honey
4 c all purpose flour
2 t kosher salt
6 T butter, cubed and softened

In a stand mixer bowl,  add milk and sprinkle yeast on top.   Don't stir, and let it stand for 5 minutes.  Then stir in honey.   Attach the dough hook to the mixer and while it is running on low speed, add half the flour and stir until a paste forms.  Then add the rest of the flour and salt and mix on low speed until smooth, about 4 minutes.   Lightly oil a large bowl, and set aside.   Add butter cubes to bread dough, mixing with your hands in incorporate the cubes evenly into the dough.  Place the dough in the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until the dough is doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.  Punch the dough down and let it rise again for another 30 minutes or so.

Oil a 12 inch cast iron skillet, set aside.  Lightly flour a work surface, and place the dough on the counter and cut it into 30 golf ball sized balls.   Roll the dough into balls and place in tight concentric circles in the skillet. Cover the pan with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise until rolls have doubled in size.  At this point, you could place them in the fridge overnight, but let them come to room temp before baking.   Preheat oven to 350 F, and bake until dough is evenly browned and baked through, about 30 minutes.   Serve the rolls in the skillet to keep them warm at the table.

Bread in the Tassajara Style

I had my moment of Zen this morning when I was flipping through Molly O'Neill's One Big Table cookbook, looking for a bread recipe to try.   February got away from me and I never got around to baking a loaf for the monthly Bake Your Own Bread, but I was going to take it on for March right here and now.  I was surprised to find a dearth of bread recipes in the book, but there was a charming vignette about the Tassajara Bread Book turning us all back on to making our own bread in the 1970s, and I remembered I have this cookbook.   My friend Lisa told me it was a great book, so I picked it up for 50 cents at a garage sale last summer, but never cracked it open.

This cookbook is written by Zen priest Edward Espe Brown of the San Francisco Zen Center.   It's very 1970s, with it's hand drawings and funky format.  The recipes in it are mostly descriptions of processes - Brown is a big believer in cooking by intuition.   Given my track record of many failed bread experiments, I wasn't sure this was going to work for me.   But then I came across this prayer at the beginning of the book....


A COMPOSITE OF KITCHEN NECESSITIES

Bringing food alive with your loving presence.
To have compassion, to have respect
for fresh foods, for broken bowls,
for dirty napkins, and little bugs.
To take care of leftovers,
not saying, oh that's all right, we have plenty
we can throw that away.
Because everything is saying love me,
have compassion, hold me gently.
Please hug me now and then
(we're really one, not two),
but don't get attached
(we're really two, not one).
The bowls and knives, the table, the teapot,
the leftovers, the molding vegetables,
the juicy fruit,
everything is asking this of you:
make full use,
take loving care
of me.
The cups, the glasses, the sponges,
the sticky honey jar,
all asking to fulfill.
Just to make deepest love all the time,
concentrating not on the food, but on yourself:
making your best effort to allow things
to fulfill their functions. In this way
everything is deliciously full
of warmth and kindness.

Okay, I'll give it a shot.   I'll let everything fulfill their functions.   Following the yeasted bread process,  I came up with my own bread recipe.  The Tassajara bread process secret is making a sponge....a wet yeasty mixture to get the bread started.  Here's how I did it with what I had in the house:

For the sponge:
3 c. lukewarm water
2 T yeast
1/2 c. hickory syrup (you could use honey or molasses here)
1 c. dry milk powder
3 1/2 c whole wheat flour
3 c. all purpose flour
1 egg

Steps

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Stir in the sweetening and the dry milk (optional). Stir in the 3/12 cups of whole-wheat flour to form a thick batter. Beat well with a spoon (100 strokes).
2. Heat a coffee mug with a couple inches of water in it on high in the microwave for a minute.   Leaving the mug in there,  place bowl  in microwave and shut the door - your microwave makes an excellent bread proofing box.
3. Let the dough rise for 45 minutes.
4. Fold in the salt and the oil, then fold in the additional 3 cups of flour until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Knead on a floured board for about 10 minutes, using the additional  flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the board. Stop when the dough is smooth. 
5. Reheat the cup of water in the microwave etc. like you did before
6. Let the dough rise for 50 to 60 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch it down.  Do the microwave thing again.
7. Let the dough rise for another 40 to 50 minutes, or until doubled in size. Shape the dough into loaves and place in 2 loaf pans.  Microwave thing again, and let rise for 20 to 25 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
9. Brush the tops of the loaves with an egg wash (a egg beaten with a few tablespoons of water or milk) and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, or until golden brown. Remove from the pans and let cool before slicing.

 

Spice Rack Challenge March: Cardamom Bread

For this month's challenge, I tried a recipe for a Finnish cardamom bread called "Pulla".  It is a sweet eggy bread, similar to challah, and it has the added zing of crushed cardamom seeds.   I bought whole cardamom seed pods at the People's Food Co-op in Ann Arbor, because I read somewhere that the crushed cardamom seeds provide an interesting burst of flavor instead of ground cardamom.   I highly recommend trying to find cardamom seeds for this recipe.  I had some Swedish sugar pearls that I used to top the bread.

Pulla BRead

1 tablespoon instant yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 beaten egg (for glaze)
Granulated sugar (or Swedish sugar pearls) for sprinkling

Mix yeast, warm water and 1/2 teaspoon sugar until yeast dissolves. Set aside. Heat milk in a microwave over low heat until small bubbles appear along the edges. Cool to about 120F. Add beaten eggs, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, salt, cardamom and 3 cups flour. Beat well. Add butter; beat well. Add yeast mixture. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups flour in three additions, mixing well after each addition, until dough has a soft to medium consistency. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding as little additional flour as possible.   Place dough in an oiled bowl, turning to coat top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, 1 to 2 hours. Punch down dough and let rise again until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope. Braid 3 ropes together to form a loaf. Repeat with remaining 3 ropes. Place loaves on a greased baking sheet or in greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F.   Brush loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 25 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Invert from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Cloverleaf Rolls

Happy Thanksgiving!    We are celebrating Thanksgiving today just with my immediate family, which is fun.   We don't have to drive anywhere, so I can spend the day cooking, drinking wine, listening to Lynn Rosetto Kasper's Turkey Confidential and watching Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade (which I still call "Hudson's Thanksgiving Day Parade" because that is what it once was!).   Tomorrow I'll hit some Black Friday sales and then I am volunteering for a Selma event tomorrow making donuts to raise money to help local farmers.    Then off to my sister's for a bigger family celebration.  


My niece is home for Thanksgiving from college and this will be the first time we will celebrate Thanksgiving without my folks.   I still can't believe they are gone - last year, they both were well enough to eat Thanksgiving turkey with us and we did a StoryCorp interview and everyone cried.  By that time, it was obvious to all that Mom was dying.   My mom didn't come to know it until I got another doctor to tell her she wasn't going to beat this cancer because her oncologist was either a wimp or a scam artist and just wanted the $2500 a dose the Medicare would pay for chemo.   But at Thanksgiving, I didn't know that I would have to do this.   And of course, none of us could have predicted Mom and Dad would both go in the same year.   So, I am glad we did the interview so the grandkids would have something to remember the grandparents by.   Now with both my parents gone, I guess as the eldest I am the matriarch of the family now!  I can be "old Aunt Cindy, smellin' of lilac water" and forcing everyone to kiss me on the cheek.


But back to today....what's on the menu?   I decided I am not brining the bird.  Instead, I will do a riff on  Martha Stewart's Herb Roasted Turkey with whatever herbs I have in the house. I bought a small Peacock Farm turkey, and we'll have green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce from scratch and some pie.   My son was selling Grand Traverse Pie Company pies for his Washington DC trip.   I will start off my morning by taking the bird out of the fridge for a couple hours to come to room temp and cleaning the fridge out (an annual Thanksgiving tradition) so I can make room for leftovers.  And I will make cloverleaf rolls.   Here's my recipe...it's a variant of a Martha Stewart classic white bread recipe that works for me every time.  


Cloverleaf Rolls - Makes 12 

2 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 envelope active dry yeast)
1 cup warm water (110 degrees) water
2 tablespoons honey, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for bowl, pans, and brushing
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and dusting
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 egg

Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup water. Add 1 tablespoon or so of the honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add butter and remaining water and honey. Whisk flour with salt; add half to yeast. Mix on low speed until smooth. Add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. 

Butter a large bowl. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Let dough stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume (it should not spring back when pressed), about 1 hour. 

Butter a muffin pan. Punch down dough. Divide dough into 36 pieces, roll into balls.   Place 3 balls in each muffin cup,  cover with a towel. Let stand until dough rises about 1 inch above top of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, beat egg until blended; brush onto rolls. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Let rolls cool 15 minutes before serving.


And why not listen to Alice's Restaurant while you are at it?