Blushing Tomato Bread

I've been working on reworking my mom's cook books into something a bit more user-friendly.

The originals are two loose-leaf binders that she glued, taped, or otherwise affixed recipes she found in newspapers, magazines, from family, friends, along with many of her own hand-written creations. Over the years she added, subtracted, moved things around, crossed things out, made notes and comments... Things were spilled... They're real, working books with a lot of history.

I was always a bit curious why she gave me the books and not one of her four daughters but the answer was pretty much right there - four daughters. One recipe collection. She took the easy way out. She didn't have to choose which one of her girls got them.

The first thing I did when I got them was to scan them all and put them on discs for my siblings. I have the originals but everyone has a copy. And then when I started the recipe site, they went online, as well.

The problem with scanned images is they're not searchable. Some pages could have a dozen recipes on them but if you were to type in "chicken" in the search box, only the index would appear. And clicking on a specific recipe in the index brings up the page the recipe is on - you then have to find it on the scan.

My goal is to change that by taking every recipe and putting it on its own page and adding categories and tags. It's the perfect wintertime project.

I have already completed going through and creating the individual recipes. That was a long trip down Memory Lane! I actually went through every single recipe in the books. It gave me enough dinner and dessert ideas to last several years. Going through every recipe again and giving it its own page and tags shall take a bit longer, but as I said... it's the perfect wintertime project.

Mom baked a lot of bread and one recipe that caught my eye right off was for Blushing Tomato Bread.

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In true Mom-Fashion, I didn't have all of the ingredients and I only wanted one loaf, but that didn't stop me! First, I cut the recipe in half. I didn't have tomato juice so I used tomato sauce and a squirt of catsup. I added a bit of water to thin, and then added some garlic powder and black pepper along with the salt. I mixed it in the KitchenAid for about 8 minutes.  Voila!

I have to say, it was a pretty damned good loaf of bread. Nice crust and a really soft, fine-textured crumb. I could easily see this baked in loaf pans as a sandwich bread.

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So... off to toast some for breakfast... and then back to working on tags and pages and categories - and dinner ideas!

 

 


Crusty Italian Bread

 

The New Year needs to start off right - and that means a fresh loaf - or two - of bread.

I love my fresh-baked bread. There really is nothing better for making a dinner complete. It amazes me a bit that - after all of the thousands of loaves of bread I have made in my lifetime - I still enjoy making it so much. But I do. I really do.

This particular dough needs to slow-rise in the refrigerator overnight, so make the dough before you go to bed and bake it the following day! The slow rise adds character to the bread by allowing the yeast and bacteria to develop flavor. There's also talk that slow-rising, as well as using sourdough starters, are beneficial to people with issues with commercial breads. I dunno, because I have no food allergies or intolerances, but, if ya do, you may want to look into it.

This is a really basic bread - flour, water, salt, and yeast - my favorite four ingredients. It's rather amazing how these same ingredients can be combined just slightly different, shaped differently, and have such dramatic differences in flavor, crust, and texture. It's one of the reasons I love bread-baking so much.

This really is an easy bread to make and the dough is easy to work.

The origin of this particular bread eludes me. I have a ton of recipes on my computer dating back to the early days of home-computing - most in .txt files. Some of them are transcribed from a cook book my old Tahoe roommate Steve Johnson and I were once trying to write. It was the "Scraped off the Wall Cook Book" and the original files were lost in a computer crash in the early '90s. While some of the recipes survived, I've never been able to get up the energy to start it, again. This could be one of them. Or not.

Crusty Italian Bread

Makes two 14-inch loaves

  • 3 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • cornmeal

Combine the yeast and water in a mixing bowl and allow to proof. Add the salt and flour and mix, forming a somewhat smooth ball. Continue mixing about 5 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto the counter, knead by hand for a few seconds, shape into a ball, and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turn it to completely coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for 24 hours. The dough will double in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to bake, return the dough to room temperature.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Cut it into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Cover with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven with a baking stone in it to 450°F.

Pat 1 ball of dough into a rectangle about 4" x 5". Fold in half, sealing the dough with your palm. Spin, and fold in half, again, also sealing with your palm.

Fold the resulting piece in half, again, sealing the edges with your fingertips. Roll into a 14-inch-long cylinder with slightly tapering ends.

Place on peel that has been liberally sprinkled with cornmeal.

Repeat with the remaining ball of dough.

Cover with a towel and set aside to rise at room temperature for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Make three diagonal slashes with a very sharp knife. Sprinkle lightly with flour and slide onto the baking stone.

Lower the oven temperature to 425°F.

Bake the bread for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp, misting with water from a spray bottle 3 times during the first 10 minutes.

Cool the bread on a rack and serve at room temperature.

Eat one loaf tonight and freeze the other for another time when you want a quick loaf. Reheat in the oven - wrapped in foil - about 10 minutes at 350°F.

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Edited to add...

WOW! This is one crusty and light loaf of bread! The slow-rise - along with the misting in the oven - gave it a great crust and texture. I'll be making this one, again, for sure!


Cheese & Onion Bread

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Feeding a cold can be a real pain, sometimes. The taste buds are a bit dull so flavors need to be a bit sharp. And since I'm feeling a bit dull, sharp is somehow eluding me...

But when I'm feeling a bit under the weather, a perfect place to go is to Mom's Cook Books... When I was a wee tyke she'd make me tea and toast - her magical cure-all. Sometimes cut in little squares, sometimes in triangles. And depending on the illness, sometimes with a bit of cinnamon sugar on top. It always seemed to work - part of a mother's magical powers, I guess. While she's no longer here to make me tea and toast, she did give me her cook books. It's not quite the same as her telling me everything will be better in just a little while, but I can evoke her spirit just by picking up the books.

I wanted some fresh-baked bread and turned to her book for a bit of inspiration. I came across Cheese and Onion Bread and thought it would be perfect.

I was right. It was.

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It was really easy to throw together and packed the wallop I needed, flavor-wise.

I'd love to know where she got all these recipes - which magazines or newspapers, the dates... what other recipes were there that never made the cut?!? Newspaper-wise, I'm pretty sure most of them came out of the San Francisco Examiner or the sadly-defunct San Francisco News Call Bulletin. Magazine-wise, it's anyone's guess. Mom loved her magazines, and had all of the Ladies magazines back in the day - Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping... As you can see by the recipes, dinner was never dull at our house!

And this bread wasn't dull, either.

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It was perfect - and just the Mom-fix I needed!

 

 

 


Pane Siciliano Tre

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I got into the kitchen early this morning. I haven't really been playing a lot, lately, and decided today was the perfect day to make up for lost calories.

First thing I did was make bread dough for Pane Siciliano. It's warm and just a tad muggy outside. Mother Nature's perfect proofing box! The recipe comes from Carol Field's The Italian Baker and is a snap to make. Oddly, the first time I made it I had some problems with the dough - it was much too dry - but I made the exact recipe again in Sicily and it came out perfect. As did the batch I made today. Methinks I screwed up the first time and just didn't realize it, because the last two batches have been excellent - using the exact same recipe.

There are three variations on shaping the dough listed in her book, so today, I decided to try one other than the 'S' I have done in the past. Both start out as a rope of dough but the one below is more like an 'M' with the end folded back over itself.

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The instructions say not to tuck the final strip under the dough, but I could have made it a bit longer. It pulled back when it rose the second time.

Not that it mattered - it still tasted great!

Pane Siciliano

Makes 2 loaves

  • 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp malt syrup
  • 1 cup water, room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups durum flour or semolina for pasta
  • 1 cup plus 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 to 3 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup sesame seeds

By hand:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.  Whisk in the oil, malt, and 1 cup of water.  Mix the flours and salt and whisk in 1 cup at a time into the yeast mixture.  Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Knead on a floured surface 8 to 10 minutes, occasionally slamming the dough down vigorously to develop the gluten.

By mixer:

Stir the yeast into the 1 1/4 cups warm water in a large mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the oil and malt with the paddle; then add the flours and salt and mix until smooth.  Change to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until; the dough is firm, compact, and elastic with lots of body, 4 to 5 minutes.  Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface.

First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.  The dough should be springy and blistered, but still soft and velvety.

Shaping and second rise. Punch the dough down, knead it briefly, and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Flatten it with your forearm into a square.  Rollit into a long, narrow rope, about 20 to 22 inches long.  The dough should be so elastic that it could almost be swung and stretched like a jump rope.  Cut the dough in half and shape each into a loaf.  (The book shows 3 classic shapes and illustrations; Mafalda, Occhi di Santa Lucia, and the baked Corona.  I made the Santa Lucia.)

Place the loaves on floured parchment paper, peels sprinkled with corn meal, or oiled baking sheets.  Brush the entire surface of each loaf with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds; pat the seeds very gently into the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap, and then a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Baking. Thirty minutes before baking heat the oven with baking stones to 425°.  Sprinkle the stones with cornmeal just before sliding the loaves onto them.  Bake 10 minutes, spraying 3 times with water.  Reduce the heat to 400° and bake 25 to 30 minutes longer.  Cool on racks.

It really is an easy bread to make - and it really does taste great.

Give it a try.


Focaccia - Ragusa-Style

 

One of our many fun food finds in Sicily was a local take on focaccia. While everywhere we went, it was referred to as focaccia, it seems it's also referred to as scacce. It's a stuffed bread. A fantastic, fabulous, and absolutely delicious stuffed bread.

It was one of the first dishes we had and it was a recurring item, everywhere. The great thing is no two were ever alike. Similar traits, but always different flavors. It is a bread with no rules that changes with the seasons.

It starts with a ball of dough.

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We made this with Italian "00" floor because we bought 10 kilos of it before our trip. All-purpose will work just fine.

It is rolled out paper-thin, and then a thin layer of fillings is added.

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This was tomato sauce and then a layer of fresh ricotta Victor made. It was then topped with thin slices of fried eggplant.

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It then gets folded. The two ends fold to meet in the center, a bit of filling is added and then they are folded in half.

A bit of sauce goes on top and into a hot oven. 20-30 minutes later, you have achieved focaccia ragusana.

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While we usually had it as a part of a thgree-hour meal, we thought we could live on it, alone, for dinner tonight.

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And have plenty for lunch tomorrow, as well. Funny how those three-hour meals just aren't as much fun here...

But we do plan on making more fun meals - and showing them off on some new fun plates and bowls.

On our last trip to Italy, we bought dinnerware in Florence, along with a few serving platters. What we didn't get were serving bowls that are practical. We have a few that take up most of a table, but they don't quite make it for a mere 5 or 6 at the table.

So two new bowls came home with us.

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They're the perfect size for a big batch of mashed potatoes, vegetables, or even salads.

I also wanted to get little bowls for salt and pepper by the stove. I don't measure S&P, I use my fingers and add a pinch here and there. The bowls we have used for years were just 99¢ Ikea glass bowls. Time for an upgrade.

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They're the perfect size - and they were really inexpensive - just a couple of euro each.

We got these in Modica at a local shop, along with a couple of ornaments, and a few other things. We made a trek to Caltagirone - the ceramics capital of Sicily - for a few more goodies...

I wanted a new cake platter since the one we have with the faux-Italian design that is slightly off-center is machine-made Made in China - and just not worthy of our culinary efforts. First place we walked into, we saw the perfect plate.

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The perfect plate that didn't make the trip home in one piece. Even with some pretty good wrapping, it broke in half and chipped in a couple of places. Some good glue and it will work just fine. And now I don't have to worry about anything happening to it. It already has.

We also wanted plates for dolce - dessert.  Sweets.

We walked in and out of a few shops and found some plates that just seemed right. The owner of the shop was also the artist who created them and gave us a tour of the shop, his studio, things in his kiln. It was a really fun experience. I lived with my dear ceramic artist friend Susan for years in both Tahoe and Boston and know first hand the work involved in creating these works of art. Each piece was better than the next. We had to settle for four small plates. I would have loved to bring home half of his shop.

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All different, yet complimentary. Can't wait to use 'em!

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And just because we saw it and liked it, we got a little wall piece at yet another shop.

The prices were good - we stayed well within our budget.

Now... back to tonight's dinner...

Victor made fresh homemade ricotta for these, but, as good as the fresh ricotta is, it's a little wasted on these if you add other filling flavors. A store-bought ricotta will work just fine unless you make it as a dessert.

Focaccia Ragusata

(makes two)

  • 9 oz  all-purpose flour (Italian "00" if you have it!)
  • 5/8 cup warm water
  • 1/2 tsp yeast
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • pinch salt

Proof yeast in warm water. Add flour, salt, and oil, and mix well. Knead about 5-6 minutes or until a smooth, elastic dough forms. Roll into a ball, cover, and let rest 30 minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll into a large, very thin circle. Spread with a very thin layer of tomato sauce and then top with a thin layer of ricotta. Add slices of fried eggplant.

Fold sides to almost meet in the center. Brush new tops with a bit of sauce and cheese. Fold in half, again, and press lightly to seal. Paint a bit of sauce on top.

Put into a preheated 475° oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until dark brown. Take out of the oven and cover with a towel to trap steam and soften the top.

These really are no-rules focaccia.

The raw, uncooked rolls can be sliced into 6 or 8 pieces, dredged in grated cheese, liberally brushed with beaten egg on top, and then baked cinnamon-roll style.

The filling can be sweet or savory, they can be brushed with sauce, olive oil, egg, or left plain before baking.

You can brush a thin layer of olive oil on the dough and forego the tomato sauce altogether. Add some nuts - pistachios - or bits of sausage.  Little bits of anything.

The only must-do is make them.

 

 


Pane Siciliano

Last night I pulled out my beat-up old copy of  The Italian Baker by Carol Field.  I had planned on making her Pane Pugliese and it needs a biga, or starter.  It's  one of my most favorite breads.  I was pulling the ingredients together when I turned the page and saw a recipe for Pane Siciliano.  Something new.  I actually had the semolina flour (shock!) and decided to give it a try.

Pane Siciliano

Makes 2 loaves

  • 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp malt syrup
  • 1 cup water, room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups durum flour or semolina for pasta
  • 1 cup plus 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 to 3 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup sesame seeds

By hand:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.  Whisk in the oil, malt, and 1 cup of water.  Mix the flours and salt and whisk in 1 cup at a time into the yeast mixture.  Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Knead on a floured surface 8 to 10 minutes, occasionally slamming the dough down vigorously to develop the gluten.

By mixer:

Stir the yeast into the 1 1/4 cups warm water in a large mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the oil and malt with the paddle; then add the flours and salt and mix until smooth.  Change to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until; the dough is firm, compact, and elastic with lots of body, 4 to 5 minutes.  Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface.

First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.  The dough should be springy and blistered, but still soft and velvety.

Shaping and second rise. Punch the dough down, knead it briefly, and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Flatten it with your forearm into a square.  Rollit into a long, narrow rope, about 20 to 22 inches long.  The dough should be so elastic that it could almost be swung and stretched like a jump rope.  Cut the dough in half and shape each into a loaf.  (The book shows 3 classic shapes and illustrations; Mafalda, Occhi di Santa Lucia, and the baked Corona.  I made the Santa Lucia.)

Place the loaves on floured parchment paper, peels sprinkled with corn meal, or oiled baking sheets.  Brush the entire surface of each loaf with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds; pat the seeds very gently into the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap, and then a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Baking. Thirty minutes before baking heat the oven with baking stones to 425°.  Sprinkle the stones with cornmeal just before sliding the loaves onto them.  Bake 10 minutes, spraying 3 times with water.  Reduce the heat to 400° and bake 25 to 30 minutes longer.  Cool on racks.

The final bread came out excellent, but I had to play with the dough a bit.

First off, it was way too dry.  I know that there are a bazillion and one factors involved in making bread; the moisture content of the flour, the weather and humidity, yadda yadda yadda, but I had to add almost a half-cup of water to the dough.  I finally worked it into a close approximation to what was described "firm, compact, and elastic with lots of body" but it never really had the elasticity I think it should have had from the description.  Same with the forming of the dough.  It rolled out well, but didn't have the "so elastic that it could almost be swung and stretched like a jump rope" texture.  It had some, but not what was being described.

Nonetheless, it came out great!  It had that rich semolina flavor and fine texture.


Onion Pistachio Bread

When Victor said he was going to make gnocchi for dinner this morning, my first thought - after OH BOY!! - was I should bake a loaf of bread to go along with it.

I grabbed my trusty copy of James Beard's Beard on Bread and started looking for something fun. It's easy to find fun recipes in that book. It's one of the definitive books on bread baking, along with Carol Field's The Italian Baker. Although I do a lot of bread baking by rote, I do like to keep the ideas and ingredients fresh. It's rather amazing how the same few ingredients can be put together so many different ways and achieve such vastly-different results. I've learned a lot from these two.

Today's bread was a variation on a walnut and onion bread. Somehow, I didn't have any walnuts in the house - but I had pistachios. Not having the called-for ingredient in a recipe generally doesn't stop me.

Pistachio Onion Bread

  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 packages active dry yeast
  • 2 cups warm milk
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
  • 3/4 cup onion, finely chopped

Sift flour, salt and sugar into a large bowl.

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm milk. Pour it into the middle of the flour together with the oil and rest of the milk.

Knead well until the dough is firm and blended into a smooth, springy ball (about 10 minutes.) Leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours.

Punch down, mix in walnuts and onions. Shape into 4 rounds. Leave on a greased baking sheet for about 45 minutes.

Bake at 400° for 45 minutes or until the loaves are nicely-browned and sound hollow when tapped  on the bottom.

The loaves had a really nice crunchy crust with a really delicate - almost cake-like - crumb. The oil and the milk really made for a tender loaf. I didn't even slather it with butter - as is my wont with most bread. It didn't need anything other than the sauce on my plate that I liberally sopped up.

It made 4 loaves. We ate one, gave one to Marie, will eat one tomorrow, and another will go into the freezer.

 


Walnut Raisin Bread

I have been baking bread for more years than I care to admit to. From the thousands upon thousands of loaves I baked on the USS Ranger, to the tons of pizza dough I made at Pirro's, the free-spirited years at Tahoe, or the hotel kitchens where I would jump in to make a thousand un petit pain for some banquet or another to pumpkin rolls at Thanksgiving, I've baked a lot of bread. I've baked Artisan Breads in 5 minutes, I've made Julia Child's Pain Francais - all 907 convoluted steps. I've made a majority of the breads in two of my most favorite cook books - Carol Field's The Italian Baker and James Beard's Beard on Bread. I read them like other people read novels, dreaming up different dishes to serve with them - and sometimes even following through on them...

You could say I like bread.

And this particular bread has become a favorite.  Besides being ridiculously easy to make - it's foolproof! This is my third batch in 2 weeks - made slightly different each time - and they have all been great.

This time around I decided to make a walnut raisin version.  It came out stupendous and really - could not have been easier. I keep the starter in the 'fridge at all times, now, because I want to be able to make another loaf at any given moment.

Walnut Raisin Bread

starter

  • 2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup water 110°
  • 1 3/4 cups flour

Sprinkle yeast into the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in flour. Cover bowl with clean towel and leave at room temperature for 2-3 days.

dough

  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup water 110°
  • 1 cup starter
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup rye flour
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Sprinkle yeast into water in mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add starter, flours, and salt.

Mix on low speed with dough hook for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Add raisins and walnuts and continue mixing another 5 or so minutes.Knead by hand for a minute or two on a lightly-floured surface to make sure the nuts and raisins are evenly distributed.. Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a kitchen towel.

Let rise until doubled - up to 2 hours. Punch dough down and let rest for about 10 minutes before forming the loaf.

Shape the dough into a cylindrical loaf and place on a bread peel generously coated with coarse cornmeal. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise again until doubled - about an hour.

Preheat oven with baking stone to 425°.

Dust loaf with flour and then make three parallel slashes across the top. Slide dough onto stone and bake for about 1 hour.

Replenish starter with about 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.

Form the dough into a loaf and let rise until doubled.

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Dust with flour and make three parallel slashes.

 

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Slather with butter and eat!

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Repeat.

I really would love to encourage folks to take the time to bake a loaf of bread. I know some folks have gotten discouraged because their bread doesn't come out like Wonder Bread or stuff from a bakery. Commercial bakeries are using dough conditioners and a myriad of chemicals and stuff to make every loaf identical.

You're not doing that at home and you shouldn't want your bread to taste store-bought, anyway. The reason you make it at home is so it doesn't taste store-bought! Really. Think about it.

There are a lot of bread recipes right here to get you started.

Bake a loaf. You'll be glad you did!

 

 


Sourdough Country Bread

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A mid-week day off is unusual for me, so I thought I'd take advantage of it with a loaf of fresh bread. I had made a starter the other day and, while I could have let it go another 24 hours, it was ready.

I really do love homemade bread. There is just nothing as satisfying as the bread-making process - the kneading of the dough... knowing instinctively when it is just right and ready for that first rise... The smell wafting through the house as it bakes and fighting the urge to slice off a hunk and slather it with butter while still hot from the oven. I have to admit that I rely more on the mixer kneading than I do myself, nowadays, but it's still a lot of touching and feeling and knowing when it's ready.

I haven't made this particular bread in a while. It's a sourdough, but more of a country French than a San Francisco style. It has a really deep, crunchy crust and a tight, fine crumb. It's made for sopping up soups and stews.

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It's a white flour bread but I put just a tad bit of rye flour to add a bit of texture and flavor. You can make it with all white or add a bit of your favorite non-white flour. Just don't add too much.

Sourdough Country Bread

starter

  • 2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup water 110°
  • 1 3/4 cups flour

Sprinkle yeast into the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in flour. Cover bowl with clean towel and leave at room temperature for 2-3 days.

dough

  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup water 110°
  • 1 cup starter
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup rye flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Sprinkle yeast into water in mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add starter, flours, and salt.

Mix on low speed with dough hook for about 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Knead by hand for a minute or two on a lightly-floured surface. Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a kitchen towel.

Let rise until doubled - up to 2 hours. Punch dough down and let rest for about 10 minutes before forming the loaf.

Shape the dough into a round loaf and place on a bread peel generously coated with coarse cornmeal. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise again until doubled - about an hour.

Preheat oven with baking stone to 425°.

Dust loaf with flour and then make three parallel slashes across the top and three more across. Slide dough onto stone and bake for about 1 hour.

It's flour, water, salt, and yeast - the most basic bread ingredients there are - but they combine to make a stellar loaf.

Have fun with it, experiment, switch out some of the flours for others. Shape it into a longer loaf.  No matter how you do it, it's gonna be great.


Pepper Bread

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It started off a bright, sunny day, but as it nears the Equinox, the temperature is dropping. Pretty soon it's going to be long pants and socks weather. I am so not looking forward to layers of clothes.

But there's still sunshine and there's still hot peppers in the garden. Time to create...

This started off as just a loaf of bread, but as I was starting to mix the ingredients, I thought a pepper-bread would be good. The bread ingredients pretty much remained the same - although I added garlic powder - and after the first rise, I patted, filled, rolled, and placed in the cold oven just as it it had been a loaf of the French-Style Bread I set out to originally make.

Pepper Bread

(adapted from James Beard)

Ingredients

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 cup warm water (about 105° )
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 3 cups flour
  • 12 hot peppers, seeded, fried, and cooled
  • 1/2 cup cheese shavings
  • 3 tbsp cornmeal

Directions

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt and garlic powder with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and pat and shape into a rectangle. Liberally place the cooled hot peppers on the dough and then shave cheese on top using a vegetable peeler.

Roll the rectangle up tightly. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal. Place in a cold oven, set the temperature at 400° and bake 30 or so minutes or until well browned and hollow sounding when the top is rapped.

It's crunchy and chewy and definitely has a kick. Perfect for soup or stew or just munching...


Peppers

09-08-13-pepper-bread

 

The peppers are suddenly multiplying, outside. What started off as a pretty dismal season has finally turned fruitful. I had enough to can and Victor had enough to make pepper bread.

Pepper Bread. It's one of those things that is just fantastic in its simplicity. It bursts with flavor - and the spicier the peppers, the better the bread. Even Nonna likes it.

Pepper Bread

  • 2 cups peppers
  • 2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Slice peppers lengthwise and fry in olive oil until limp. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside and cool.

Mix yeast and water in mixing bowl. Add flour, salt, and olive oil and mix about 3 minutes.

Scrape down bowl and mix, adding the last 1/2 cup flour, as necessary, until dough is smooth and silken.

Roll into a ball and let rest 10 minutes.

Roll into a rectangle about 15" x 8". Spread cooled peppers on dough.

Roll tightly and place on sheet pan.

Bake at 400° about 25-30 minutes.

And while that was cooling, I cut peppers.

09-08-13-peppers

 

Hot Pickled Peppers

  • 6 lbs hot peppers
  • 6 cups distilled white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 4 tsp kosher salt

Wash and cut peppers to desired size.  (I made rings. )

Pack peppers into mason jars leaving about 1/2″ headroom.

Combine and heat sugar, salt, vinegar, and water.  Bring to boil and then simmer about 5-6 minutes.

Pour over peppers, leaving the same 1/2″ headroom.

Wipe rims of jars, top with lids and rings.

Process in a boiling water bath about 10 minutes.

And, because we needed something to eat with the pepper bread, I made soup.

09-08-13-beef-soup

 

Beef, spicy andouille sausage, lots of veggies and elbow macaroni.

We're eating good.


Fresh Multi-Grain Bread

06-02-13-multi-grain-bread

 

It's about a million degrees outside with a bazillion percent humidity. Perfect weather for baking bread.

Weather like this really is perfect for bread-baking. The heat and humidity make for Mother Nature's Perfect Proofing Box.

It's about the only positive thing I can think of about the weather.  I'm a west coast wuss when it comes to humidity and heat. I just don't like it. And I hate living in air conditioning  ::he says with the air blowing like there's no tomorrow:: I seem to hate the heat more.

I remember all those summers I spent in Bakersfield with my grandparents. We'd be outside playing in 100+° weather and the only cooling at grandma and grandpa's was an old swamp cooler in the living room. When it got up past 110° we'd head inside for Kool-aid or head out to Center Street Market for an ice-cold Coke if we had any money.  It's amazing how a mere 55 years can change one's outlook. I'd die, today.

No Kool-aid and no Coke in the house nowadays, so it became time to bake bread.

The bread-baking happened because I saw fresh yeast at the grocery store this morning. Impulse-buy of the day. The recipe is a take-off of a Bob's Red Mill recipe. I changed things around to suit my own needs, but the basic recipe is sound.

And really really good. It's an easy one to pull together, so go for it.

Multi-Grain Seeded Bread

  • 1/2 cup Grape-Nuts-type cereal
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp fresh)
  • 2 1/2 - 3 cups unbleached white flour
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 3 tbsp poppy and sesame seeds, mixed

Place the cereal in a large bowl, and pour the boiling water on top. Stir, and let it stand until the cereal and water cools to about 105°.

Sprinkle the yeast over the cereal and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let stand until the yeast begins to foam, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 cup of the unbleached white flour to the cereal, along with the oil, sugar, and salt, and stir until smooth. Mix remaining flours and slowliy add. You may or may not need the remaining 1/2 cup. Cover the dough with a clean dish towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about ten minutes, adding more flour if it's sticky.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough inside, turning it over in the oil, and cover with the dishtowel. Let the dough rise until it's doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 3 to 4 minutes, then shape into a 12 x 4-inch loaf. Sprinkle a baking sheet with 2 teaspoons of the seed mixture and place the loaf on top of the seeds. Cover the dough with the dishtowel and let it rise until almost doubled, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Set one of the oven racks in the center of the oven and one just below the center. Place a baking pan on the lower rack and preheat the oven to 425°. Brush the dough with a little water and sprinkle with the remaining seed mixture. Using a sharp knife, cut 3 slashes across the top of the loaf. Place the baking sheet with the loaf in the oven and immediately pour 2 cups of water into the hot pan on the lower rack in the oven (water will steam).

Bake the loaf about 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

06-02-13-bread-2

It had a beautifully-light crumb and a nice, crusty crust.  Definitely one of my better loaves...

Slather it with butter. And forget about the heat.