I finally splurged on a new bread knife (Mercer 10 inch offset) so I had to bake a couple of loaves of bread to test it out on.
I made a plain white yeast loaf and a sourdough loaf (John Kirkwood easy loaf) with two kinds of cheese (old Cheddar and Monterey Jack) and jalapeno pepper, because it’s been a while since I used my sourdough starter to actually make bread with, and I wanted to make something a bit different.
The yeast loaf … just a plain dough.
I wanted to make something with spinach and feta for Easter for some reason. I was brain storming a pork roast roll up with the two items in the middle but then switched gears to making a bread instead because the leftovers from the rolled up roast would not be as flexible for future meals.
I ended up making these rolls/scrolls using a wreath filling recipe and the enriched duck fat dough recipe I’ve used in the past.
The results were delicious though they’re best served fresh. I ended up microwaving for about 10-15 seconds on low to get them back to that soft texture.
Pizzaman are pizza filling stuffed Chinese style buns found in Japanese conbini (convenience stores). The dough was made based on this recipe from Youtube though I had to increase the amount of water I used to 120 ml rather than 100 ml. The filling was spicy Italian sausage filling removed from the casing and cooked off, cooled and then combined with jarred pasta sauce and grated mozzarella cheese.
I had to do a bit of fiddling with the amount of pasta sauce I added as it was too wet to start with and my pleating needs work but otherwise, this recipe was a winner.
My nephew gifted me with various interesting beers over the summer. On one delivery, I ended up with a can of double chocolate stout, which seemed a bit challenging to drink on its own. I HAVE had Guinness Stout in the past, and though I can drink the first half pint without too much trouble, by the second half, as it warms up, it’s rough going. So, I decided to search out a bread recipe that might make good use of the beer. For texture, I decided to add some coarsely chopped walnuts to the dough.
The result was an interesting bread with a bitter undertone that became wearing as I made my way through the loaf.
I ate it in as many ways as I could, including toasted and spread with peanut butter or as a base for scrambled eggs.
I turned it into French toast with a generous pour of maple syrup and served as part of a hearty brunch.
In a final move, I cubed and toasted the bread and turned it into a bread pudding served with Bird’s custard.
With time, I made my way through the loaf. It was not a failure but I wouldn’t make this bread again. PS: I took a sip or three of the extra beer in the can and it wasn’t to my taste either.
I’ve enjoyed the rum baba (baba au rhum) bought at a local Italian bakery over the years and kept meaning to try making them myself, but the cost of the molds kept me from the attempt. And then I retired and decided to splurge.
This was my first attempt. I used a recipe I found on line which has now disappeared. It was fine EXCEPT for the fact that it called for a crazy amount of salt. But I followed the recipe – bought the bread flour called for too – even though my baking ‘sense’ was flashing RED. And I was right. The babas took forever to rise and, even after soaking in the rum syrup, they were salty. I ate a couple and then tossed the rest. Now that I have the molds, I’ll probably make them again. Someday. And use a lot less salt.
Soaked baba ready for the cut and a channel cut into the baba for the whipped cream
Prepared mold and risen batter
Baked babas and soaking in the rum syrup
Sometimes you just don’t have the energy to make a comprehensive recipe post but you still want to share something you think is worth while. I made both of these dishes over the last few days.
The first dish, a smoked ham and cannellini bean soup that I’ve made in the past, is an easy, fast and filling dish, especially if you use canned cannellini beans. Or, you can be like me and soak about a pound of dried beans overnight and cook them when you finally get up on a lazy, Saturday morning.
I didn’t have any smoked ham hock but I had a chunk of smoked ham so I diced some of it up and threw it in along with the veggies at the end. If you’re cooking for a family of four, you’ll have enough for a second serving for everyone. If you’re cooking for one, it freezes very well for future meals. For my friend, spikesgirl58 on LJ, who doesn’t care for ham, I think you could use smoked turkey leg in its place.
I stocked up on some pantry items from a local international (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese) grocery store, a few days ago. One of the things that caught my eye in the fresh fruit and vegetable section was a small display of Japanese purple sweet potatoes. I was bored so I decided to try a fun purple sweet potato bread recipe I found on the Bake with Paws blog. (PS: The name made me think of the Youtube channel Cooking with Dog which I recommend for anyone interested in Japanese cooking.)
The recipe is relatively straight forward but I thought I’d throw in some pretty pictures … just because I took a LOT. The potatoes were peeled, sliced and steamed until tender and then riced to get a nice even texture.
I was pleased with the colour of the dough
Unfortunately, the post-bake colour was a lot less vibrant … sort of lavender in colour. Toasting it seemed to pep up the colour a bit. The texture was nice and fluffy and the taste was somewhat sweet due to the sweet potatoes. I wouldn’t use the bread for an egg or tuna salad sandwich but it provided a nice contrast to the salty peanut butter.
For spikesgirl58:
This is the pizza I made today. It was delicious. Just my usual pizza dough, frozen, thawed in the fridge overnight and baked today. I threw everything I had on top. Hot Italian sausages, spicy pepperoni, green pepper, mozzarella and sharp cheddar cheese on a jarred portabello mushroom sauce.
And this is a Japanese orange Castella/sponge cake I made back in May. I’ve wanted to make a Castella cake for a while and this was the result. Because it’s a very simple, barely sweet, cake, it benefits from some garnishes. I had no fresh berries or mint so I put a scoop of French vanilla ice cream on top, warmed up some plum jam and diluted it with water and poured it over the top.
I really should do a proper post of this cake, one of these days.
They know how to party in New Orleans, especially before the forty days of Lent when Christians are supposed to fast or give up something they like. Mardi Gras is the name for the time period before Lent … a joyous carnival like atmosphere of parades and indulgence.
And, in New Orleans, King Cake or Three Kings Cake is the personification of that joyous occasion in pastry form.
There are a number of variations in terms of whether there’s a filling or whether it’s braided, but decorating the finished cake with the colours purple, gold and green is traditional in the southern regions of the United States.
For Christmas I made a sweet Boursin cheese spread flavoured with dried cranberries and orange zest. It was tasty, but other than a single rather skimpy smear on my Christmas bread wreath, it’s been lingering in my fridge. So when I was deciding on a filling for my Mardis Gras style (Three) Kings Cake during the Epiphany, I repurposed my sweet Boursin. I thought it needed some additional texture and substance, so I chopped up about half to three-quarters of a cup of sliced almonds and sprinkled it over the Boursin.
The resulting cake, using this recipe, was tender and delicious, though my decoration fell short of my expectations. It needed a lot more glaze. Double or even quadruple, I think.
The filling was an unqualified success.
Cranberry-Orange Spice Boursin – makes about 3/4 cup of spread
1/2 pkg cream cheese, room temp
1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1-1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp orange zest
Cream together the cream cheese, butter and salt using a hand blender. Stir in the cranberries, black pepper and orange zest. Pack into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate so that the flavours will marry. Remove from the fridge 1 or 2 hrs before serving so that the Boursin will be soft enough to spread.
My first post of the new year is, fittingly, a bread recipe.
Creamy eggs and salted croissants make for a perfect breakfast
Just before Christmas my brother was in my neighbourhood and stopped in at a nearby European style bakery. And then he dropped off four of these bread rolls shaped into crescents and sprinkled with caraway seeds and coarse salt. And a bag of chocolate bonbons filled with cherries and liqueur. I ate three of the bread rolls the same day but the chocolates lasted until after New Year.
Recently, I saw someone had posted a picture of a similar type of bread rolls, on my Hungarian Facebook group. To make a long story short, I got the recipe, originally posted in Hungarian, and translated by a second party, and made them yesterday. A similar recipe can be found here though I used 2 tsp of dry instant yeast, rather than fresh, in my bake.
Shaping the croissants … a pizza wheel is the best way to make the clean cuts for making the dough wedges. The dough (652 gm) was rolled out into an 18″ circle.
Baked at 400 deg F for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven’s foibles.
Fluffy interior of the croissants
Shokupan is a very popular daily or “eating bread” in Japan.
In light of my summer obsession with expanding my repertoire of Japanese foods, I couldn’t pass up giving it a try. The blog where I found the recipe has two easy-to-follow versions. The easier of the two is kneaded very briefly in a food processor … and I’m all about EASY recipes or techniques.
I always find sight of the risen dough appealing, don’t you?
And, of course, the crumb shot … delicious spread with some sweet softened butter.
For a second attempt at the recipe, I shaped the dough into stuffed buns.
I choose both anko (sweetened red bean paste, on the left) and lotus seed paste (on the right) for the filling.
I was experimenting with a coloured whipping cream wash (not necessary in baked buns but should give a nice golden colour in a future steamed bun version) and the crease in the middle for the lotus seed paste filled buns. It’s supposed to resemble the dried lotus seeds after removing the germ.
REVIEW: The bread is fast and easy to make in the food processor and the taste is delicious. What more do you need? Give it a try.
Cooking is Fun ... Really!! 