Whole Wheat No Knead Sandwich Bread

I (like everyone else in the food blogosphere) have made more than my fair share of no knead bread. I love it, and it never fails to disappoint. It has become a standard on my Christmas table with homemade strawberry butter, and is easy enough to bake up for  just about any occasion. I have had no problem making it with some whole wheat flour, but going 100% has yielded less than perfect results. After tweaking the original Sullivan Street bakery recipe and this excellent recipe, I have found a recipe and method that works for me and can be baked in a loaf pan. It keeps the crustiness of the classic and the additional flour makes a slightly larger loaf that will round over the top of the pan. The white whole wheat flour has a milder flavor than other whole grain breads. I don’t normally namecheck brands, but I love King Arthur flour for this.  You could add additional salt depending on your tastes. If you add too much, you will sacrifice some of the lightness of the dough for flavor.

Will I still adapt this recipe and make changes? Yes, absolutely.  I like the science experiment aspect of changing things up.  I am sure that there are still some door-stop loaves in my future, but this will be my go to recipe for now. I find that this is easiest to slice into sandwich thin slices the day after it is baked, and it is great toasted, especially with butter or extra virgin coconut oil (trust me).

No Knead Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Adapted from NY Times and Su Good Sweets

4 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (I use King Arthur flour)

1 1/2 tbsp vital wheat gluten

1-2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp yeast (rapid rise)

3 cups of lukewarm water

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined adding the dry first and then the water. I like using a clear glass bowl to see that the bottom is well mixed.

Cover with plastic wrap or a dish cloth and allow to rest for 18 hours slightly warm place. After it has rested fold the dough over on a well floured board and allow to rest for 15 minutes covered (I used floured plastic wrap as the whole wheat is super sticky). Put back into to the covered bowl and allow to rise for another 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and allow your cast iron pot (and loaf pan to heat up for at least 1/2 an hour).  I put my loaf pan directly into my cast iron pot as it will still fit with the cover. When adding the dough to the heated loaf pan, I quickly place a parchment sheet cut to fit into the bottom, add a bit of flour, drop the dough in and cover.  This will bake for about 35 minutes with the cover on and 20 minutes with the lid removed. I just tap on it to tell if it is done. It should sound hollow. Remove from the loaf pan immediately after baking (wearing oven mitts!) and allow to cool before slicing. If you are using this as sandwich bread, it slices best the next day.

There is a great photo heavy tutorial on Steamy Kitchen that has really clear instructions if this is your first time at the no knead bread rodeo.

Garlic Cauliflower Puree

This side dish is so simple, and is a great substitute for mashed potatoes.  It would be great with some fresh spring herbs added. I used my immersion blender to get a velvety consistency.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could use a regular blender or food processor. I love my immersion blender though, and they are so great for soups.  One could always lower the garlic to cauliflower ratio, but I wouldn’t recommend it.  The flavor of the sauteed garlic really isn’t overpowering. You really have to taste this for salt and pepper as there will be some variation based on the chicken broth used. This would make a perfect side with steak or fish.  We had it with simple salt and peppered bison steaks, and I just chopped the scallions and stirred them through before serving. Delicious.

Garlic Cauliflower Puree

1 head of cauliflower

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chicken stock, additional as needed

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste, about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

Bring the water and chicken stock to a boil and add the chopped cauliflower. Cover and lower to a simmer for about 10 minutes until the cauliflower is fork tender. In a separate pan, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and add chopped garlic. Cook until the garlic is softened, about two minutes. Allow the garlic oil to cool slightly before adding to the cauliflower. Using an immersion blender, blend the cauliflower until smooth. You can add additional chicken broth as needed to blend it, but you don’t want the puree to be watery. Add only an extra tablespoon at a time. Once you have the right consistency, stir in the salt and pepper to taste.

Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Bacon

My mushroom obsession has been well established here. I put them on pizzas and in soup, lasagnas, you name it.  I love this pasta dish because the flavors of the mushrooms are really enhanced by the other flavors. The shitakes cooked in the bacon fat were amazing. Of course anything cooked in bacon fat is amazing, but this really brought out the woodsy smokiness of the mushrooms. The crisp bacon also adds a nice crunch to the texture of the pasta. The mushroom mixture would also be really good over simple roast chicken breasts. You could pair other mushrooms with this but the shitakes are essential for their flavor, and the stems are used to make the broth. They are very woody, and it pains me to waste them. So, I decided it was time to incorporate them in a recipe. I thought they added another layer of mushroom flavor to the sauce.

4 slices of bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
3.5 oz. shitake mushrooms sliced, reserve the stems
8 oz. cremini mushrooms
2 Portobello mushroom caps, sliced into bite sized pieces
1 garlic clove finely minced
3 tbsp good quality sherry
1 bay leaf
2 cups of water
3 tbsp crème fraiche
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper
¾ pound of spaghetti

Cook the bacon in a large pot or saucepan over medium high heat until crisp, drain on paper towel. Add additional olive oil (the exact amount needed  will vary depending on the fattiness of the bacon, the bottom of the pan should be covered), add the mushrooms. Allow the mushrooms time to brown on each side and add salt and pepper.
In a small separate pot bring water, shitake mushroom stems and a bay leaf to a boil. Allow to reduce until you have about a ½ cup of liquid. Strain and reserve. In another large pot, bring pasta water to a boil and cook until al dente.

Add the chopped garlic to the mushrooms and cook for a minute. Add the sherry and reserved mushroom broth. Allow to reduce slightly and add the crème fraiche and taste for salt and pepper. I found I really needed to add a lot of pepper, about ½ tsp and 3/4 tsp of salt. Remove from the heat and add the drained spaghetti to the pot and chopped fresh dill and reserved bacon. Use tongs to combine. Serve immediately with additional chopped dill and bacon if desired.

Daring Bakers: Tuiles

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.
I decided to go with the third savory option for this challenge: savory tuiles/cornets by Thomas Keller from The French Laundry Cookbook. I have always wanted to make a Keller recipe and this seemed like an easy place to start. Although this recipe was designed to be savory, I made a simple sweet filling as well. The tuiles are thin enough that I figured it wouldn’t make a huge difference. I filled my sweet tuiles with diced mango and coconut and topped them with a cinnamon whipped cream. They were light and sweet, and the shapes really looked more pleasant once they were filled.

I shaped the rest of the batches into tiny spoons (or at least my crude interpretation). I topped these with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and a bit of dill. These were so lovely and delicious. The dough had a surprisingly good flavor that really added to this combination. Although these might look a bit tedious, they are really easy and not terribly time consuming to make.  The dough only required two bowls and no equipment, and I already had all the ingredients on hand. I would serve these for an elegant brunch…or just eat them while watching Top Chef like I did last night.

Thanks to Karen and Zorra for hosting this month! I haven’t made tuiles in a long time and this challenge made me think of many other options to try in the future. Be sure to check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see other interpretations. I saw many lovely butterflies!

Read More

Simple Corn Muffins

It is really rainy and dreary outside right now, and that combined with a few extra minutes compelled me to bake something. I almost never have time to bake anything during the week, but these seriously took less than ten minutes to mix and get in the oven. Start to finish, they were done in half and hour.

I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I just added a teaspoon of vanilla, and because I can never resist adding a little something, I put half a spoonful of raspberry jam in each of these. You could probably pipe the jam in after these were baked, but I filled them halfway, added the jam and then the rest of the batter. So good.

Corn Muffins from Allrecipes.com

Read More

Barefoot Bloggers: Butternut Squash Risotto

Butternut Squash Risotto, originally uploaded by jasonrr.

  I am late on my Barefoot Bloggers post for last week, but I actually made this and just never got around to writing about it. I stayed really close to the recipe on this, I just left out the pancetta. This was really good and rich. The saffron gave this a surprising amount of flavor (it was worth the trip to Trader Joe’s). I would definitely make this again. It was really easy if you can make the time to stir it.

Below is Ina Garten’s recipe from the Food Network

* 1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
* 2 ounces pancetta, diced
* 1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
* 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1 teaspoon saffron threads
* 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.

In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan. Mix well and serve.

Jalapeno Poppers

I really love all things spicy, and when J’s uncle offered me about a dozen fresh jalapenos from his garden, I couldn’t pass them up. There was no question that they were destined to be filled with cheese and fried. I actually stuffed and froze these several weeks ago. They have just been waiting in my freezer to be breaded. I defrosted them slightly before dipping them in the flour and batter. I used corn starch and egg white to get the coating really crispy. The goat cheese in the filling was really subtle but it added a nice dimension to the filling. I may have to grow some jalapenos myself next year to make more of these.

Ingredients
12 fresh jalapeno peppers
1 cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup goat cheese
1/3 grated cheddar
½ tsp garlic salt
1 egg white
¼ cup corn starch
1 tbsp flour plus additional for coating
1 tbsp milk
Salt and pepper
Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the ribs and the desired amount of the hot seeds. Combine the cheese mixture and using a plastic bag with the tip cut off, pipe the cheese into the peppers. You should have some of the cheese mixture left over.
For the coating combine the egg white, corn starch and flour. Carefully add enough to make a thick batter. Dredge the peppers in plain flour and coat with the batter. Heat about a ½ inch of oil in a high sided pan over medium high heat. Fry the peppers, turning once to brown on both sides.

I served this with some of the filling for dipping but you could also use sour cream.

Daring Bakers: Sweet and Savory Lavash Crackers

Sweet Cinnamon Lavash Crackers, originally uploaded by jasonrr.

This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was selected by Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and co-host Shel, of Musings From the Fishbowl and it comes from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. These lavash crackers are the first vegan recipe selected by Daring Bakers, and we also had the option of making this gluten free. I had every intention of trying gluten free but I ended up sticking with whole wheat flour. I made cinnamon and sugar crackers with a sweet apple and cranberry dip. The verdict was that these tasted like a kind of deconstructed pie when combined with the dip. I still have a cold, and I had to rely on my husband’s sense of taste.

For the apple and cranberry dip, I simmered together the following until the juice thickened and the apples softened (about 15 minutes):
3 apples peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp tapioca powder
2 tablespoons of dried cranberries

I also made a second batch of garlic Parmesan crackers. Yes, I know they are not vegan, but they came out similar to our favorite pita chips. I topped them garlic powder, poppy seeds and salt.  When they came out of the oven, I grated the cheese over the warm crackers.  I think I would add more topping to the savory ones next time and mix some herbs into the dough. These were super easy to make, and I really felt like nothing was compromised by making them whole grain.

Check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see what everyone else came up with!
Recipe from: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread, by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

2. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

4. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt – a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

No Knead Whole Wheat Bread

No knead whole wheat bread, originally uploaded by jasonrr.

I had heard of the wonders of The NY Times No Knead Bread, and it really is as good as promised. I made this with half whole wheat flour. It came out great, and I imagine that it would have a nice light texture if I used white flour. This get baked in a cast iron pot at 450. The dough is unusually wet for a bread dough, and I just kind of dumped the whole sticky amorphous mass into the hot pot after it second rise. Next time, I will be more delicate sliding it into the pot get a rounder bread as it sticks immediately. Although I think that there is something really satisfying about kneading bread, I suspect that this will become by new go-to way to make bread.

Click here for the NYT Recipe