Beer Bread

This is a pretty common recipe, although I was inspired by Rachel, who always has fun recipes. I really wanted to try her duo together, but then today, I just couldn't wait longer for the bread.

Ingredients:

· 3 cups flour

· 1 tbsp sugar

· 1 tsp salt

· 1 tbsp baking powder

· 1.5 cups beer (I’d go with a stout, for a bit more flavor)

· Oil for greasing pan

· 1 egg, 2 tsp water, beaten (for glaze, optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 and make the bread by combining all the ingredients.

2. GREASE YOUR PAN WELL. Add dough. You can try to shape the top nicely here, but the dough is quite sticky and hard to work with.

3. Put the bread in the oven and set the timer for 40 minutes.

Comments: This is so quick and tasty, you can’t help but love it. If white flour has zero nutritional value, white flour+beer=? I’d use half whole wheat if I had it on hand, but make it again to impress guests even if I didn’t.

New Deep-Dish Pizza Crust

So, right around the time I came across King Arthur’s Chicago Style Pizza Crust, I found another recipe which also received great reviews. I knew I needed to compare the two before deciding on a new standard dough.

Ingredients

· 2 teaspoons sugar

· package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)

· 1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)

· tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

· 12.38 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 3/4 cups), divided

· 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· Cooking spray

· Toppings of choice

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in olive oil.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 11.25 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) flour, cornmeal, and salt in a bowl. Stir flour mixture into yeast mixture until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky).

3. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Roll dough into an 11 x 15–inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough in a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; press dough up sides of dish.

4. Preheat oven to 400°.

5. Top pizza with desired toppings.

6. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until crust browns and cheese bubbles. Cool 5 minutes before cutting.

Comments: I made two of these, as I was afraid one wouldn’t be enough to feed me and my hungry bf. I didn’t need to worry, one was still enough. The dough wasn’t quite as luxurious as the King Arthur’s recipe, but that made it feel better suited to become a regular player in the pizza game. It was also a lot easier, although I think the flavor was less developed due to the shorter rising times. I may play with it a bit, but I think I’ll continue with this new recipe for a while.

Whole Wheat Challah

Quite a while ago, Bridget from The Way the Cookie Crumbles posted a rather complicated method of adapting any bread recipe to whole wheat. I immediately bookmarked it, and despite feeling pangs of guilt seeing it on my list from time to time, managed to avoid it for the next 5 months.

Then she posted a subtle reminder in the form of a Whole Wheat Challah post, and finally, without having to create my own adaptation, I put the method to the test.

Soaker:

• 1¾ cups (8 ounces) whole wheat flour, preferably fine grind
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup water

Biga:

• 1¾ cups (8 ounces) whole wheat flour, preferably fine grind
• ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 4 large egg yolks

Final dough:

• the soaker
• the biga
• 7 tablespoons (2 ounces) whole wheat flour, plus more for adjustments
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
• 1½ tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Toppings:

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• pinch salt
• poppy seeds or sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. For the soaker: In a medium mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Cover and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, or refrigerate for up to 3 days. If the dough is refrigerated, leave it at room temperature for 2 hours before mixing the final dough.

2. For the biga: In a medium mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Knead for 2 minutes; the dough will feel very tacky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then knead for 1 minute. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. Leave it at room temperature for 2 hours before mixing the final dough.

3. For the final dough: Cut the soaker and biga into about 12 smaller pieces. Mix the pieces by hand in a large bowl and knead by hand for 6-8 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then resume kneading for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes, until it is about 1½ times its original size.

4. Gently transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 6 evenly sized pieces for 2 smaller loaves or 3 evenly sized pieces for 1 large loaf. Roll each portion of dough into a rope about 10 inches long, letting the dough rest for 5 minutes if it’s very elastic. Braid the ropes.

5. Place the braid(s) on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. To make the egg wash, whisk the egg, water, and salt (listed above in Toppings) together. Brush the braids with the egg wash, cover, and let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

6. Brush the dough with the egg wash again, then top with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, if using. Leave the dough uncovered and let rise for 15 more minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

7. Place the challah on the middle shelf, reduce the heat to 325 degrees, and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the loaf 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Check the bread and rotate again if it is baking unevenly. Continue baking for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the bread is a rich brown all around, sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, and registers at least 195 degrees at the center.

8. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Comments: This was quite tasty right out of the oven. I made one massive loaf, and would opt for the smaller loaves next time (and probably freeze one immediately). After a day or two the bread was drying out, so I’m looking at some bread pudding or maybe some baked French toast in the near future.

King Arthur’s Chicago Style Pizza Crust

Gah! Some very cool blog pointed this pizza crust out to me, and now I’ve totally lost it! Anyway, my bf is a fan of thick-crusts, and I usually go for thin, because I like a challenge.

So, when I saw this, I decided to give it a try. Here’s how it went down:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or salad oil
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water

Directions

1) Mix the dough ingredients, and knead to make a smooth crust. This will take about 7 minutes at medium-low speed in a stand mixer. You can also make the dough in a bread machine set on the dough or manual cycle.

2) Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl or 8-cup measure (which makes it easy to track its rise), cover, and let rise till very puffy, about 60 minutes.

3) While the dough is rising, ready your 14" deep-dish pizza pan. Grease it with non-stick vegetable oil spray, then pour in 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, tilting it to cover the bottom of the pan, and partway up the sides.

4) Stretch the dough to make as large a circle as you can. You can do this on a lightly oiled baking mat, if you choose; or simply stretch the dough in your hands.

5) Lay the dough in the pan, and stretch it towards the edges till it starts to shrink back. Cover, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Start preheating the oven to 425°F (or high) while the dough rests.

6) Stretch the dough to cover the bottom of the pan, then gently push it up the sides of the pan. The olive oil may ooze over the edge of the crust; that's OK. Let the crust rest for 15 minutes or so, as your oven comes up to 425°F.

8) Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until it's set and barely beginning to brown.

7) Decorate the pizza with toppings of your choice. We kept it simple with just queso cremoso (or mozzarella works) and olives on most of it, and a few sundried tomatoes on my portion.

12) Bake the pizza for about 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and carefully lift it out of the pan onto a rack. A giant spatula is a help here. Allow the pizza to cool for about 5 minutes (or longer, for less oozing) before cutting and serving.

Comments: This turned out really well! I skimped on the yeast, thinking I’d have extra time to let it rise, and then didn’t. But the bf loved it, igual. It’s heavy, and I was scared the dough was too heavy as I kneaded it, but it all turned out well. I will have to test this with some whole wheat flour and see if I can healthify it!

Peach Oat Bran Scones

My friend Jen used to always make these super healthy scones full of exotic flours and bran, so when I had oat bran left over from these, I decided to see what I could do.

I found this recipe for apple scones, and saved it at a time when I had apples on hand. When I got around to making it, I only had a peach, so I used that instead. Here’s what I did:

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ c all-purpose flour

1 ½ c. whole wheat flour

1 c Oat or wheat-bran flaked

4 ts Baking powder

1 ts Ground cinnamon

1/2 ts Salt

1/4 c Milk

1/4 c Vegetable oil

1/4 c sugar

1 lg Egg

1 t. vanilla

1 peach

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 425F. Grease large baking sheet. In large bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

2. In medium-size bowl, beat together milk, oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients; mix lightly with fork until mixture clings together and forms a soft dough. Add peaches, and carefully mix to incorporate into the dough.

3. Form dough into a ball, and press into a disk, about an inch and a half thick. Cut into 8 triangles (I only got six, but my measurements were probably off due to the Argentine estimation system), and separate so the individual pieces are not touching.

4. Place scones, 1 inch apart, on greased baking sheet. Pierce tops with tines of fork. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with additional cinnamon, if desired.

5. Bake scones 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Comments: These are quite healthy and granola-y t asting. They remind me of bran muffins more than anything else, so the peach helps with the dryness. And they weren’t too dry. I might make these again, but I’m not running to the dietetica for more oats at the moment. These are better (though obviously not as nutritous).

Lemon Ricotta Scones

This is a great recipe, also a Craigslist classic , that I make whenever I have extra ricotta laying around.

Makes 6 scones

Ingredients

1/2 cup light ricotta cheese (or regular)

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees, and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, lemon juice and lemon rind.

3. Mix well with a fork until well combined and not very lumpy. (Do not mix until all lumps disappear).

5. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

6. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

7. Stir in cheese mixture lightly, then combine quickly.

8. Be careful not to overmix, knead no more than 10 times.

9. You may need to add another tablespoon of lemon juice depending on your flour, dough should be slightly sticky and shiny.

10. Place on the baking sheet, and pat into 3/4 inch thickness.

11. Cut round into 6 wedge-shaped pieces.

12. Move scones so they are not touching, and dust with sugar and cinnamon.

13. Back 15-20 minutes, or until browned.

Comments: I am having disastrous results with our oven! However, once I scraped way the top and bottom of these, they still tasted great. I just needed two instead of one. They’ll be prettier when you make them.

Homemade Flour tortillas

I had a craving for Mexican food, with some black beans in the fridge, and decided to make black bean quesadillas. But, just for kicks, I thought I’d try homemade tortillas, instead of the Rapiditas they sell here. I used this recipe, as it was greatly detailed, and one of the only ones that didn’t call for shortening. Even the vegetable shortening here contains animal fats! Here’s what I did:

• 2 cups of white flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup warm water

1. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine the warm water and oil.

2. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour mixture, a few tablespoons at a time and mix the dough with a fork. Once the water is mixed in, add a little more water and repeat the process until all the water is mixed into the dough. The dough will be sticky.

3. Lightly flour a wooden cutting board and knead the dough 4-5 minutes, adding flour when the dough gets sticky. Eventually the stickiness will go away and you will have a nice smooth dough.

4. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover it with a damp towel or damp paper towel. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

5. Divide the dough into golf-ball-size balls by pinching off the dough with your thumb and fore finger. Form each ball into a nice ball shape.

6. Place the balls on a flat dish making sure they don't touch each other and cover with the damp cloth.

7. Let the dough rest again for 10 minutes.

8. Lightly dust your wooden cutting board with flour. Take one of the balls of dough and flatten it out on the cutting board to a 4 inch circle. Rub flour on your rolling pin and begin to roll out the dough starting from the center out. Roll the tortilla until it is 6 or 7 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick.

9. Once you have rolled out the tortilla, place it on a preheated skillet. You don't need to add any oil or butter. Cook the tortilla for about 30 seconds. You will notice brown spots all over your tortilla. Flip it over and cook an additional 30 seconds. Don't over cook it as you want the tortilla to be nice and soft.

10. Keep your tortillas warm by covering them in a towel on a plate or in a tortilla warmer.

Tortillas are best eaten hot right off the griddle, but you can refrigerate and freeze them too. If you freeze the tortillas, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put them in a ziplock bag. When you are ready to use them, first thaw at room temperature and then wrap them in foil and place them in a 250 degree oven for a 10 to 15 minutes.

Comments: I never got these thin enough to really resemble tortillas, they were more of a flat bread, but that didn’t stop me from demolishing them! I think I have an addiction to white-flour foods.

Update: I've also made this recipe using 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white. Works well!

Pitas

So...I made a bunch of the best pizza dough ever, and then our oven broke. It was sitting in the freezer, when I got the itch to make pita bread. I compared the recipes, and ended up using my pizza dough for the pita!

3 cups plus a scant 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (16 oz./454 grams)
2 teaspoons salt (1/2 oz./13.2 grams)
2 teaspoons instant yeast (6.4 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (1 oz./27 grams)
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature (10.4 oz./295 grams)

1. About 1 1/2 hours before shaping, or for best flavor development, 8 hours to 3 days ahead, mix the dough: In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for a scant 1/4 cup of the flour. With a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until all the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together.

Sprinkle a little of the reserved flour onto the counter and scrape the dough onto it. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding as little of the reserved flour as possible. Use a bench scraper to scrape the dough and gather it together as you knead it. At this point it will be very sticky. Cover it with the inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 5 to 20 minutes. (This rest will make the dough less sticky and easier to work with.)

Knead the dough for another 5 to 10 minutes or until it is soft and smooth and just a little sticky to the touch. Add a little flour or water if necessary. (The dough will weigh about 27.75 oz./793 grams.)

2. Let the dough rise: Using an oiled spatula or dough scraper, scrape the dough into a 2-quart or larger dough-rising container or bowl, lightly greased with cooking spray or oil. Press the dough down and lightly spray or oil the top of it. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough overnight (or up to 3 days), checking every hour for the first 4 hours and pressing it down if it starts to rise.

3. Shape the dough: Cut the dough into 8 or 12 pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth. On a lightly floured counter, with lightly floured hands, shape each piece into a ball and then flatten it into a disk. Cover the dough with oiled plastic and allow it to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.

4. Roll each disk into a circle a little under 1/4 inch thick. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes before baking.

5. Bake the pita: Preheat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the surface and cook the pitas one at a time. Cook for about 20 seconds, then turn the dough and continue cooking for 1 minute or until big bubbles appear. Turn the dough again and cook until the dough balloons. If the dough begins to brown, lower the heat. The entire cooking process for each pita should be about 3 minutes.

The pita should be completely puffed but not beginning to brown. The dough will not puff well if it is not moist enough. See how the pita puffs, then, if necessary, spray and knead each remaining piece with water until the dough is soft and moist; allow to rest again and reroll as before.* (However, those that do not puff well are still delicious to eat.)

* After my first pita didn’t puff well, and I realized I was too lazy to spritz and reroll and rise each remaining pita, I instead spritzed each rolled-out pita with water two or three minutes before baking it. It worked magically — all of the remaining pitas puffed perfectly. Try this method first if yours don’t puff, if it doesn’t work to you, revert to Beranbaum’s suggestion of kneading the extra moisture in.

Proceed with the remaining dough, baking 3 or 4 pieces at a time if using a stone or baking sheet. using a pancake turner, transfer the pita breads to a clean towel, to stay soft and warm. Allow the oven to reheat for 5 minutes between batches. The pitas can be reheated for about 30 seconds in a hot oven before serving.

Whole wheat variation: For a whole wheat version, use half whole wheat and half white flour. If using regular whole wheat flour, for best results, grind it very fine or process it in a food processor for 5 minutes to break the bran into smaller particles. Finely ground 100% whole wheat flour (atta), available in Middle Eastern food markets, is the finest grind available. Or, for a milder but wheatier flavor and golden color, try 100% white whole wheat flour. You will need to add 1/4 cup more water, for a total of 1 1/2 cups (12.4 oz./354 grams).

Comments: The pita turned out great once it was done. I think next time I'd divide the pizza dough ball in three to make sure the pitas are small enough for my pan. First pita was a little...well, it made great flat bread! Next up, some whole wheat adaptations!