French Bread

I occasionally sell bread that I make. I've accumulated a small following in Logan, UT and I really enjoy baking and selling every week. This week I made one of my favorites...French Bread. I was surprised to find the recipe link (basically the pages of the cookbook have been scanned...- is that legal?...), but here it is nevertheless! Enjoy and try not to eat an entire loaf in one sitting...like I did!

Blueberry Muffins

These muffins were made using a combination of two different recipes: the muffins came from Gourmet and the topping came from Food and Wine. 

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep time: ~ 20 min
Cook time: ~ 30 min

Dry Ingredients:

1 3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour (if you don't have pastry flour, you can just use regular whole wheat flour, and whiz it in the blender for 30 seconds or so....this works just fine)
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon zest

Wet Ingredients:
1 egg
1/4 c milk (any kind, I used soymilk)
1/4 c heavy cream or half n' half
1/4 c yogurt (plain or vanilla)
5 T butter, melted
1 1/2 c blueberries

Topping:

2 T melted butter
1/2 c flour (white will be more crumbly...but you can use whole wheat)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 T sugar
1-2 T brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
pinch of salt

Line 12 muffin tins with muffin liners, and spray them with nonstick spray or lightly brush with butter. Preheat oven to 375.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, mix well. In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, cream, yogurt together, add butter. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture, add blueberries and stir until just barely incorporated. This will be a fairly dense mixture, but don't panic...these muffins will be delicious!

Using the bowl that the wet ingredients were mixed in, combine all the topping ingredients, mix with a fork or your fingers. The mixture should resemble peas and be crumbly. If it seems too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour and sugar. 

Fill muffin liners with batter and top with topping mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

FOR MUFFINS

• 1 3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries (about 7 ounces)

FOR TOPPING

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• EQUIPMENT:

   
  a muffin pan (preferably nonstick) with 12 (1/3- to 1/2-cup) muffin cups

MAKE MUFFIN BATTER:

• Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Butter muffin pan.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, then whisk in zest.
• Whisk egg in another bowl, then whisk in milk and butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined (batter will be dense). Fold i

Multigrain Struan

Peter Reinhart's Multigrain Struan. Get the recipe here. I made mine with brown rice, cornmeal, oatmeal, wheat germ, and sourdough starter (which is optional). Enjoy!

Guest Post: Cheddar and Chive Biscuits!

Cheddar and Chive Biscuits (adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

3 ½ tsp baking powder (4 ½ if at lower altitude)

¾ tsp cream of tartar

¾ tsp salt

¾ cup cold buttermilk, plus more for topping

1 egg

¾ cups cheddar cheese, crumbled or cut into small cubes*

4 Tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped

¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

Coarse sea salt for topping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.

In small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg.

Add butter to flour mixture. With pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter into the flour, breaking up the small cubes into smaller bits. Once the butter is well incorporated into the flour mixture, the flour will resemble coarse meal. Some chunks will be the size of small pebbles, other will be the size of oat flakes.

Add chives and cheese to flour mixture and toss with a fork. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the buttermilk-egg mixture. Toss together with a fork, making sure all the flour bits are moistened by the buttermilk. Mixture will be shaggy.

Dump the biscuit dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 3 to 5 minutes, bringing it together into a 1 ½ inch thick circle. Cut biscuits into squares or use a 2 ½ inch circle biscuit cutter to cut rounds. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, a glass also works – just don’t get your dough stuck!

Gather dough scraps, knead lightly, and cut out more biscuits until dough is gone. Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet, brush with buttermilk, and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Biscuits are best the day they are made (especially hot out of the oven!), but can be wrapped, stored at room temperature, and served the next day as well.

*(Best cheese ever...try to find this one, if unavailable, substitute an extra sharp white cheddar)

This soup goes very well with White Bean Soup

Last minute holiday baking anyone?

Thanks to Leah Lewis for this awesome guest post. Check out the great pictures below. 

(Merry Christmas everyone!)

Almond Biscotti

  

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

pinch of salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

4 eggs

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon liqueur (optional: brandy, Disaronno) * I used Disaronno

2 tablespoons Raw Sugar (optional)

1 cup almonds, sliced or chopped (or substitute for any other type of nut)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Place nuts on a baking sheet and toast for about 10 minutes until golden brown. 

Beat eggs and remove 1 tablespoon of egg and set aside for egg wash. Beat sugar, vanilla, and liqueur into egg mixture.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.  Blend this flour into the egg mixture. This will form soft and very sticky dough. Divide the dough in half and place onto a very well floured piece of parchment paper. With well-floured hands, pat the dough down into an approximately 9-inch square. Scatter half of the nuts and press into the dough. Divide the dough in half and place onto a very well floured piece of parchment paper. With well-floured hands, pat the dough down into an approximately 9-inch square. Scatter half of the nuts and press into the dough. 

Divide the dough in half and place onto a very well floured piece of parchment paper. With well-floured hands, pat the dough down into an approximately 9-inch square. Scatter half of the nuts and press into the dough. Roll the dough into a cylinder and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat this process for the remaining dough.

Stir in a small amount of milk or cream to the egg that was set aside. Brush this mixture onto the biscotti logs and sprinkle with raw sugar (optional).

Bake at 350° for about 25-30 minutes or until slightly firm and golden. Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes. 

Place biscotti onto cutting board and slice into ½ inch pieces. At this point the biscotti will still be slightly moist. Be sure to use a sharp, serrate knife to ensure a clean cut. I also like to cut the biscotti at an angle. 

Return these slices onto the baking sheet (you may need an additional baking sheet) and bake another 20-30 minutes or until dry and crisp. They will harden slightly as they cool. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Makes about 36 biscotti.

**This recipe is very easy to adapt for a variety of flavors. If you want a chocolate almond biscotti replace ½ cup flour with ½ cup of Dutch cocoa. You can also add a variety of nuts or dried fruits as the filler. Another great combination is orange zest and cranberries. The options are nearly endless.

the easiest (and fastest) bread you'll ever make...

This recipe is from Juila Child's book Baking With Julia. It's so easy and fast. You just gotta try it!


1 1/2 lbs russet or red potatoes
4 tsp salt
1/2 tepid reserved potato water
1 T active dry yeast
2 T olive oil
2 T dried or fresh rosemary
4 3/4 c unbleached all purpose or bread flour


cook the potatoes: cut into quarters, don't peel 'em!, toss into 2 quart pot, cover with water and add 2 tsp of the salt, boil until soft, reserve 1/2 c of the potato water, drain potatoes and cool on baking sheet. potatoes must be dry before they are mashed. when potatoes are cool, stir yeast into reserved potato water, if it's cool, warm it up in microwave for a couple seconds, it should be warm. mash the potatoes, add the dissolved yeast water, olive oil and mix. add the flour, rosemary and the remaining 2 tsp salt. this will seem like an incredibly dry dough, but have faith and keep mixing! I don't even use a wooden spoon at this point, I just mix with my hands, it's easier to get everything incorporated. 


First Rise: cover the mixing bowl with a kitchen towel, allow dough to rest at room temp for 30 min.


Shape the dough into either 2 torpedo loaves or 2 rounds, after shaping, place on floured baking sheet or onto the counter, cover and let proof for another 30 minutes. 


Preheat oven to 375. prepare oven for hearth baking (watch this video, it's 1 1/2 min.), place your baking stone in oven and on the bottom of the oven, place a baking sheet (this is where you will pour the water).  


gently place (either with your hands of with a baking peel) the dough onto the baking stone, pour approx. 1 c water into the steam pan and quickly close the oven door. this will create the steam you are looking for.


bake 45-50 minutes, the loaves should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom and the interior temp should measure 200 F.

bagels

My advice: Invite friends over that like to eat. Have them bring some toppings. Have the dough made and...get to work! You'll never want to buy bagels again...promise. The recipe is here. This nice person posted the recipe, so why should I type it all out?! Enjoy. And get bakin'...

Pizza Dough

Recipe from Peter Reinhart's artisan breads every day

Lean Bread


5 1/2 c (24oz) unbleached bread flour
2 t salt or 1 T coarse kosher salt
2 t instant yeast
2 1/4 c lukewarm water (95 deg)


combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. mix for 2 min. if mixing by hand, use spoon, stir for 2 min. dough should be soft and sticky. transfer dough to oiled bowl. let rest for 5 min. Stretch and fold the dough. cover the dough and let rest 10 min. stretch and fold 3 more times with 15 minutes between each stretching and folding. cover after iteration. place dough into oiled bowl. cover tightly. refrigerate overnight or for up to 4 days. dough will rise to about double. 
550 deg. 
on baking day: remove dough from fridge 2 hours before you plan to bake. transfer dough to oiled work surface. divide dough into fourths for pizzas. roll into 4 dough balls. cover and let rest, for 60 minutes. pat dough balls into circle. if it resists and springs back to a ball, cover it and let it rest for a few minutes. with floured hands, roll dough out into a circle. line a cookie sheet with parchment (flip the cookie sheet upside down so there is no lip on the pan). toss some cornmeal onto parchment, place dough onto cornmeal-lined parchment pan. top with toppings of choice. bake 10 ish minutes.     

I'm Baaaaack!

More from Peter Reinhart's book. San Francisco Sourdough. Yum....

Chocolate bread

Yesterday I was thinking about how glad I am that I'm not gluten intolerant. If I was, I couldn't enjoy breads like these. Holy crap. This is delicious. 

No...I didn't come up with this recipe, but next time I will try the following few modifications.

• sub. 1/3 of the flour for rye flour
• add more chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips
• bake for a tad less time
• perhaps add a sprinkle of sea salt to the top of one of the loaves? (yes, please)

baguettes in 4 hours? check.

Parisian Daily Bread from Daniel Leader.

The nice thing about this recipe is it doesn't take all day to proof, I'll take that. Baking bread is not hard, it just takes a tad bit of planning...

I've may have gone off the deep end...

Elbow deep in rye dough last week, the thought occurred to me..."what the hell have I gotten myself in to?"


Not sure what possessed me to 5x the recipe for this delicious rye bread from Peter Reinhart's book, but nevertheless....I undertook this task and we were rewarded with this dense and sharp-tasting bread.

Next up: Tempeh Reuben. I will try to re-create this sandwich from The Bittercreek Alehouse in Boise, ID. It was so good...

Gettin' our bread on!

It's official. There is a mother in our fridge. A stinky, sour mother. Yep. A sourdough starter! If you live near me and want some, let me know. It takes no time to refresh and you don't have the pain-in-the-ass task of starting it on your own.


With the usual baker gone for the summer, Val and I have taken over! We've both been elbow deep in the bread flour bucket and I have to admit it's been fun fun fun...

This is whole wheat sourdough from Peter Reinhart's book: artisian breads everyday.