Living On Food

Page 6

 

Garlic Pine Nut Bread

Ulysses, 118 words, 2010-07-13

I'd been thinking for quite a while about using raw garlic directly in bread dough. For the first test, though, I couldn't resist using some pine nuts as well, since we had them around. I varied this off of my mixer bread recipe.

I used all white flour and olive oil. I put the garlic and pine nuts in right as I started mixing the dough, 1/2 cup pine nuts and 6 cloves (about 1 tbs) minced garlic.

The only weird thing was that once the dough was mixed, squeezing it caused the pine nuts to pop out. The end result was a delicious bread with a pleasant but not overpowering garlic and nut flavor.

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Maple Wheat Bread

Ulysses, 183 words, 2010-07-02

I wanted to make a bread with some maple sweetness to it. I varied it off of my mixer bread recipe.

I used the 1/4 butter instead of olive oil, and 50/50 white and whole wheat flour. I put in 1/4 cup of maple syrup instead of sugar to proof the yeast, and added another 1/2 cup in when I blended in the rest of the ingredients.

It didn't seem to need as much water, I assume because of the liquid from the maple syrup. I baked it for about 32 minutes. I think that in general, for best results, I should be baking my bread longer than the 20-25 minutes of my first experiments.

It ended up fluffy and delicious. It didn't taste much like maple, but it had a very pleasant mild sweetness to it. The top crust did have a mild maple and caramelized sugar flavor.

I intended this as a first step, but I think that it's a keeper as-is. It should also be a good base for other more complex breads.

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Rye Bread

Ulysses, 147 words, 2010-06-28

I decided to try making rye bread. For my first attempt, I just varied it off of my mixer bread recipe. I went with using a very slight variation, planning to then adjust from there.

I used the olive oil, 1/4 cup of molasses instead of 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 pound of rye flour and 1 pound of all-purpose flour.

It ended up being a bit denser, with a pleasant faint sour tang. Next time, I'm planning on adding caraway seeds and possibly upping the amount of molasses. I'll see how that is, and keep adjusting.

Things to try:
• Adding caraway seeds (1/8 or 1/4 cup)
• Increasing molasses amount
• Using some regular sugar during the proofing stage
• Increasing the proportion of rye flour to wheat flour
• Butter instead of olive oil
• Dark rye instead of light rye flour
• More yeast

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Bengali Garam Masala

Ulysses, 306 words, 2010-06-14

So, awhile ago I'd decided to stop buying garam masala pre-blended and ground, and instead make my own. I'd made a couple of small batches of a fairly simple garam masala, but this time I wanted to make a more complex blend.

I went with the "Bengali-Style" version from The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, by Yamuna Devi. This is my current favorite Indian cook book. She has 8 different garam masala recipes.

My immediate need was for a lamb curry.

Ingredients:
• 3-4 dried whole chili pods
• 3 tbs sesame seeds
• 2 tbs green peppercorns
• 2 tbs black peppercorns
• 2 tbs white peppercorns
• 1 tbs whole cloves
• 3 3-inch cinnamon sticks
• 20 green cardamon pods
• 1/4 cup cumin seeds
• 3/4 cup coriander seeds
• 3 cassia or bay leaves
• 1 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

Dry-roast everything but the ground ginger together in a skillet on low heat, stirring occasionally. The spices should darken and there should be a nice aroma, but you should stop before anything turns black or starts smoking heavily. It takes about 15 minutes.

Transfer the spices to a plate to cool.

Once cooled, break up the chili pods, the cinnamon, and the bay leaves into small bits. Break open the caradamon pods and discard the husks. Then grind the mix in small batches, sieve to remove any unground bits, and then blend with the ground ginger.

Store mix in a jar until used.

Notes:

Garam masala is generally added towards the end of cooking, sometimes mixed in just prior to serving.

I didn't have enough coriander, so I just used what I had.

Next time, if I make this style again, I'm going to do a half-batch. That would be much more reasonable amount for our usage level.

It grinds really readily, as it's much softer than untoasted spices.

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Mixer Bread

Ulysses, 732 words, 2010-06-08

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 2 pounds all-purpose or bread flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups cold water (will use about two cups)
• 1/4 cup olive oil or 1/4 butter
• a bit of extra olive oil

Equipment:

• Stand mixer, I have a KitchenAid Professional 5.
• Dough hook for mixer
• Two loaf pans
• Cover for mixer bowl
• Scale, at least 4 pound capacity
• Count-Up Timer
• 3-cup measure
• teaspoon
• fork
• sharp knife
• butter knife
• wire rack
• oven (preheat to 375°F)
• oven mitts

Directions:

Proof the yeast

We'll start by proofing the yeast in the mixer bowl.
• Add the sugar to the bowl
• Add the warm water (I just use tap water) to the bowl. The water should be warm to the touch, about 110 - 115°F.
• Add the yeast to the bowl.
• Whisk the mix up with a fork.
• Let the mix sit for about 5 minutes.

While you're letting the yeast proof, prep the measuring cup with 3 cups cold water. This is also a good time to do any other necessary prep work (such as setting up the scale or mixer).

Add remaining ingredients and start mixer

Now we add the remaining ingredients.
• Put the bowl on the scale, and zero or tare the scale
• Add the flour
• Add the salt
• Add about 1-1/2 cups of the water
• Add the 1/4 cup of oil or butter

Time to start the mixer.
• Put the bowl into the mixer
• Attach the dough hook
• Raise the bowl and lock it into place
• Turn the mixer onto its lowest setting
• Start the timer

Mix the dough

• The dough should mix for about 12 to 15 minutes.
• As the dough mixes, evaluate it every minute or two. You'll need to adjust it several times during the mixing process.
• Turn the mixer off first whenever you reach in to do anything to the dough!
• Sometimes you'll need to push the dough down the hook.
• Sometimes you'll need to push over a column of dough that's grown up the side of the bowl.
• You'll need to add water to get to the right consistency, add a little at a time.
• There should be a tackiness to the dough.
• At the end, the dough should be one blob that sticks together.

First rise

• Remove the bowl from the mixer and the hook from the dough.
• Roll dough up into a ball.
• Lightly cover ball in oil.
• Put dough back into bowl.
• Cover the bowl.
• Wait for dough to at least double in size, usually between 1 and 2 hours.

Second rise

• Lightly oil the loaf pans
• Punch the dough down, expelling all of the gas that's built up inside.
• Split dough in half, and place one half in each loaf pan.
• Let it rise until it's at least doubled, 1-2 hours.
• Start oven preheating to 375°F about 15 minutes before doubling is done.

Bake

• Slash an X into the top of each loaf with a sharp knife.
• Put both loaves into a preheated 375°F oven.
• Bake for about 25 minutes, until done. I usually start checking after 20 minutes.
• When done, take out and dump out of loaf pans onto wire rack to cool.
• If the bread doesn't pop right out of the pan, you can loosen the sides with a butter knife inserted between the bread and the pan.
• Ideally, let loaves cool for at least an hour before slicing. The baking process finishes as the loaves cool.

Signs of doneness

• Browned top
• Firmess of top
• A hollow sound when thumped

Notes:

I use 3 cups cold rather than warm water because the mixer can heat up the dough.

Sometimes, it's not possible to wait for it to cool.

You can mix in other flours, but other flours don't rise as well as white bread or all-purpose flour. So you'll need to play around with the ratio of flours. You can also up the amount of yeast.

Instead of regular loaves, you can make other shapes. If you line cookie sheets with parchment paper, you can lay out cylinders for baguettes or roll the dough into small balls for rolls. Remember to slash a line in the top before you put them into the oven.

Last edited 2010-06-09

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