Dinner Rolls

It's been a long time since I've been as anxious to post as I am today. (For proof, you can look at my frequency.) I just made my dinner rolls for Thanksgiving dinner, which I'm hosting next week. I thought I'd make them ahead of time and toss them in the deep freezer to move them out of the way, since most items need to be prepared the day before or the day of dinner.

I've made rolls before, of course. Like most of you, I like a good, soft, sweet, buttery dinner roll. I really wanted them to be just right this year, but when it came down to time, I didn't have the option of trying several recipes to see which I preferred. Instead, I just went for it today, mixing and mashing up recipes with what sounded desirable in my head, knowing my first attempt would be my only.

Let me tell you, it definitely worked.

If you look at the ingredients, you can probably see where everything went right: white flour, milk, honey, plenty of butter, and a sponge (or pre-ferment) for extra flavor. All the most delicious roll ingredients, but put together in just the right way. They're tender and golden, delicious warm or room temperature, and have a lovely crumb. It doesn't hurt that they're helped out with a double dose of butter – a generous amount in the dough and a nice basting on top.

I debated whether to make cloverleaf rolls or regular round rolls. Here's the argument going on inside my head this morning:
clover leaf angel: Mom always had clover leaf rolls at nice dinners when I was growing up. Ah, sentimentality.
round roll devil: But you know you'll want to make them all perfectly the same and weigh each little tiny ball to make sure they look attractive and bake evenly.
clover leaf angel: Thanksgiving is a special occasion. It deserves special attention, like clover leaf rolls, not boring little puffballs. And my mom will actually be there.
round roll devil: So will several others. You'll need to make a lot of rolls. And the round rolls are perfect for leftover turkey/cranberry/goat cheese sandwiches. Clover leaf rolls don't really do that job.
clover leaf angel: Party pooper.

I made a large batch of dough, which ended up being the perfect compromise: 40 round rolls and 12 clover leaf rolls. I'll serve the clover leaf rolls with dinner and have all the rest for leftovers. Or seconds. Or thirds.

The recipe I'm posting here is for half that amount, but it can, of course, be doubled like I did. It's nice to have extra rolls to freeze or giveaway, though, but if there's just two of you, 52 rolls might be overkill.


Dinner Rolls

sponge:
1 c. all-purpose or bread flour
1 c. cold water
1/4 t. instant* yeast

dough:
2 c. all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as you go
1 c. milk
1/4 c. honey
4 oz. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 t. salt (reduce to 1 1/4 t. if you use salted butter)
2 1/2 t. instant* yeast

Mix the sponge ingredients together (see note below about yeast) in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic and leave on the counter for 3 hours.

Warm the milk with the honey. (If you're using active dry yeast, you can proof the yeast in the milk and honey once it has been warmed. Just be sure the milk isn't heated above 115˚ or you'll kill the yeast.)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sponge, yeast, milk, honey, and salt. Stir together with a wooden spoon until well combined. Add the butter and another cup of flour and start kneading, breaking up the butter and blending it as you go. Don't worry about the butter, as it will eventually be thoroughly integrated.

Continue kneading, adding flour as necessary until the dough is still very soft but just barely workable without being too sticky. Knead for 10-15 minutes, until the dough passes the windowpane test**.

Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray and place the dough in there to rise. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with the same spray and let rise in a warm place until double, about an hour to an hour and a half.

Once the dough has sufficiently risen, turn it out onto a work surface. It should make about 2 dozen rolls. Divide the dough into half, then half again, then partition each of those quarters into 6 pieces. You can shape them into balls and place them on a sprayed half sheet pan, two inches apart, or make clover leaf rolls by dividing each roll into 3 pieces and roll them into balls before placing them in a sprayed muffin pan. Generously baste them with melted butter (you'll need about half of a stick of butter for this). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 minutes, until well risen.

Preheat the oven to 425˚. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden on top and bottom. Cool on a rack. Enjoy.



*I'm always recommending to people that they buy instant yeast, and I'll say the same thing to you. You don't have to proof it, just throw it in with your other ingredients. It's just a little bit harder to find, but 2 of 3 stores carry it in my area, and probably in yours as well. Just buy a pound of it and keep it in a ziploc in your freezer. If you only have active dry yeast, just be sure to proof it in some 105˚ water before adding it to the rest of the recipe, and then subtract the amount of water you use for proofing from the overall recipe.

**Take a small piece of dough and slowly stretch it. If you can stretch it so that it is thin enough to see light through (like a window pane), the gluten is sufficiently developed, and your bread will have a connected, stretchy crumb inside. Otherwise knead for a few more minutes.

Croissant Theme and Variations

At long last, I am finally going to post my recipe for making croissants, chocolate croissants (pain au chocolat) and kouign amann. I admit I was hesitant to take the time to post this as I doubted anyone would make them, but that's only because they're very time-intensive and not everyone loves spending all their spare moments in the kitchen like I do. It seems there are at least a few of you, though!

Homemade croissants don't taste very much like grocery store-purchased croissants. There are similarities, of course. You can understand what a painting is by looking at your child's 2nd grade project, which – despite your adoration – doesn't bring an understanding of art like visiting the Sistine Chapel. Well, maybe there's not quite that much difference in the two options for croissants (and maybe I shouldn't be quite so vain about my product), but you get the point.

All croissants should feel fluffy and layered on the inside, and flaky and toasted on the outside. They should also taste deliciously of butter. With mass-produced croissants, there's often a serious lack of quality layers on the inside, as well as the obvious butter-rich flavor. Don't get me wrong, I'll eat a decent grocery store croissant from time to time. Or, at least, I did before I started making them. I don't think I have since then. What a snob I am.

I should probably warn you up front (or pretty close to the front) that my serving sizes for all three recipes in this post (wow! three recipes in a post! that hasn't happened since pipián verde last August) are quite small. As amazing as any of these are to your palate, they are potentially lethal, at least in very large doses. Anyhow, I can't justify making huge croissants that are 25 or so grams of fat per serving; mine are closer to 12 or 15. Nothing to pooh-pooh at, still, but low enough to get my head around. If you want to be more indulgent than me, you're welcome to adjust the cutting directions to create larger pastries.

Almost anything is better with chocolate, especially if "anything" means something with butter as a main ingredient. Pain au chocolat (pronounced 'pan oh shock-oh-lah'), is not just a step above ordinary croissants, it's at least 3 steps up. I don't know what's in between, because it's not a real analogy, but it's a serious improvement on something that is already absolutely fantastic.

Dark chocolate is always, as far as I know, the filling, as the flavor mellows significantly against all that butter. I tried white chocolate once for my dark chocolate-detesting son, but it was very sweet and unbearable. I also first attempted using half the chocolate I now use, and it's too insignificant an amount for the pastry. This is better than most desserts you'll get at the average restaurant, which leads me to a side note.

Side note: once you start making really good pastries and really good desserts at home, or really good bread, it gets more difficult to appreciate the mediocre attempts you find at restaurants. Really, this is their business, their livelihood. Can't they make a more creative effort? And then it's so refreshing when someone does that you really want to meet the chef and shake his hand and say "thank you, thank you, thank you" over and over until you look absolutely ridiculous, so you just tell the server.

Further side note: This has nothing to do with the home cook, or home chef, whose magnanimous efforts should be appreciated and applauded on a daily basis, no matter the result. In fact, I never feel critical when eating someone else's food; the critique only comes out at restaurants. Why is that?



Kouign amann (pronounced 'queen amahn') is a French pastry from the Breton region that is as old as dirt. Not really, just as old as the Civil War. The American Civil War. Even though it's from France. (Americans don't seem really famous for inventing new pastries, do they? The kind that are legendary and still being perfected 150 years later. Why is that always left to the French?)

It's related to croissants pretty closely as it's a yeasted, laminated dough, like croissants. "Yeasted" obviously means containing yeast, and "laminated" means a butter block is added to the dough, which is then pressed and folded, pressed and folded, and pressed and folded to create those lovely layers inside the croissant.

Kouign amann is made from the same basic croissant recipe with some slight alterations: first, water instead of milk is added to the original dough. Don't ask why, because I don't know. That's how they do it, and it's very good, so I'm not messing with it. Another difference with kouign amann is that a heavy dose of sugar is added in part of the pressing/folding process, creating a sweet layer inside, and then the pastry is topped with melted butter and more sugar before baking. Doesn't sound very good, does it? I make mine in individual portions, rather than the traditional large cake, as this creates more of the delightful crunchy exterior and is nice for serving as well as freezing.

All of these croissant-like delicacies freeze wonderfully, so you don't have to accidentally eat an entire batch in a day. (They are, however, best when eaten within a day of baking or thawing.)

I'll start with the instructions just on how to make croissants, and then I'll explain the differences for the other options. Since I posted most of my pictures in the previous post, you can refer to them for understanding how things should look, or you can ask questions in the comments or email me (email address listed in the left column).

I am very interested to see if anyone makes these, so please let me know, as I'll be so excited for you. Excited for you to make them, even moreso for you to taste them. If you're desperate to try them and live nearby, you can always ask me when I'm making them again so I remember to drop off a sample.


Croissants
adapted from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard
makes 24 small croissants

dough:
1/4 c. warm water - 57 g.
3/4 c. cold milk - 173 g.
1 T. instant yeast (if you have active dry, dissolve it into the milk before starting) - 9 g.
2 c. bread flour - 280 g.
1 c. + 2 T. all-purpose flour - 150 g.
2 T. sugar - 28 g.
2 1/4 t. Kosher salt - 14 g.
4 oz. (1 stick, 8 T.) cold, unsalted butter

butter block:
12 oz. (3 sticks) cold, unsalted butter
up to 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

melted butter, for brushing


Bloom your yeast by combining it with 1/4 c. warm water and a pinch of sugar for 5 minutes.

Cut the 4 oz. butter into pieces and, using your fingers while working quickly, work it into the bread flour.

In a stand mixer, combine the milk, yeast, bread flour (with butter), 1 c. all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt. Knead for about 2 minutes to combine all ingredients and bring them to a smooth, consistent state. Don't knead longer than necessary, as you're not interested in developing gluten here. By hand, knead in the last 2 T. of flour. This will keep it from being too sticky on the outside when you first start working with it.

Place the dough on a plate or in a container. Using a sharp knife, cut an X in the top of the dough, deep enough to extend halfway to the bottom. Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.

Make the butter block: sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with a bit of flour; slice the sticks of butter (12 oz.) in half and place them on the parchment to form a square. Sprinkle with a bit more flour. Using your rolling pin, beat the butter with a few good smacks to tenderize the butter and create a square that is about 6" x 6". (See picture in previous post.)

Sprinkle a work surface with flour. Set out your dough and roll against the 4 sections of the X, creating a square (or even a slightly odd-looking square) that is at least 12" x 12", or a bit larger. Place the butter block in the middle, with the square butter block edges perpindicular to the square dough edges (diamond-inside-the-square sort of look). Fold the edges of the dough over the butter block, envelope-style, taking extra care to not trap air bubbles next to the butter, or they'll cause difficulty as you're rolling out the dough.

Sprinkle the square of dough with flour, turn over, sprinkle the top with flour, and roll the dough into a even rectangle that is about 8" x 18". Don't roll over the edges as you go along, or you could push the butter out. The better squared your corners are for this process, the easier things will go. Brush off any extra flour sitting on top and fold the dough neatly into thirds, pulling the top short edge down two-thirds of the way, then folding the bottom third of the dough up over the folded top edge.

With the length of the rolling pin, press on the three open edges of the dough to semi-seal them up. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This is the end of the first "turn". Croissants need three turns to be ready to continue, each created 30 minutes apart to ensure the butter stays sufficiently chilled (and the layers between dough and butter distinct).

Once the three turns are complete, wrap the dough in plastic wrap again (with closed edges, but not too tightly against the dough, as it will rise), and refrigerate at least 5 hours, or overnight.

Lightly flour a work surface, then roll out the dough into a rectangle that is 16" x 18" (at least, but err on the side of slightly wider if estimating) with the longer edge directly in front of you and the shorter edges on the sides. Cut 6 diagonals from the upper left down toward the lower right, starting with the first at the uppermost left edge and reaching to the bottom, three inches to the right of the lower left corner. The last diagonal should begin three inches to the left of the upper right corner and finish at the bottom right corner. Repeat the process in the opposite direction, with 6 cuts traveling from the upper right to the lower left, crossing the opposing diagonals halfway between the upper and lower long edges. Then make one cut parallel to the upper and lower edges, halfway between them, from left to right. It should look like the picture on the right.


Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll each croissant from the bottom of the triangle to the tip, stretching the bottoms just a touch as you begin rolling. Place them, two inches apart, on the baking sheets with the tips securely tucked under. Cover the croissants with cooking spray-coated plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 - 2 hrs.

Preheat the oven to 375˚. When the croissants are risen to the point that they are noticeably puffy and feel pillowy to the touch, they are ready to be baked. Brush them with melted butter and bake about 28-34 minutes, until they're a deep golden and well done, all the way through. Remove from the oven and baking sheets and place on cooling racks immediately. Cool to room temperature before eating. Store uneaten croissants in a brown bag for up to a day, or freeze for later use.


Pain au Chocolat

1 recipe Croissants
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I like 68%), in small chunks

Follow the directions for making croissants, but place a third of an ounce of chocolate on each of the triangles down at the base. The chocolate should seem thick when you are making them, but be sure to keep it all inside the rolled-up croissant.

After baking, these croissants must be cooled completely to room temperature before eating, about an hour, or the chocolate will not have set up enough.


Kouign Amann

1 recipe croissants, substituting water for milk and doubling the sugar in the dough
sugar

For kouign amann, turn the dough 4 times rather than three, and follow these additional instructions:

When making the third and fourth turns, sprinkle the middle third of the long rectangle with a very generous amount of granulated sugar before folding the top third down, then sprinkle the same amount of sugar on top of the new top half of the dough; fold the bottom half up. The sugar layers should be evenly coated and dense without piling high.


After the fourth turn, refrigerate the dough for 5-24 hours. Generously sprinkle your work surface with sugar, dust both sides of the dough with sugar, and roll it out on the work surface into a rectangle at least 14" x 21". This will take a little work. Cut the dough into 24 squares, 4 squares by 6 squares. (For slightly larger kouign amann, you can cut the dough into 18 squares.)

Spray two 12-cup muffin pans generously with cooking spray. Fold each of the squares of dough by pulling two opposing corners together to the center, pressing the points against the base gently to secure them, then pulling the last two corners into the center, pressing the points into the middle as well, or they will open up during baking (not that I've ever experienced this, of course). Place each pastry in a muffin cup.

Generously brush the kouignettes (because original kouign amann is one large cake) with melted butter and sprinkle generously with sugar. Let rise at room temperature an hour and a half to two hours. Do not try to hurry this process by placing it in a warm place, as you want to keep the butter cool.

Preheat the oven to 450˚. Place the pans in the oven, then turn the heat down to 400˚ and bake 18-22 minutes, until golden brown. Try not to open the oven door, as you want to keep all that heat inside so the butter will cause each distinct layer you worked so hard to form to puff, rather than melt. If the pastry looks like it's going to burn soon in the last 5-10 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 375˚. Remember, though, that they will be pretty brown and the sugar will be quite caramelized when they're done.

Remove the muffin pans to a cooling rack. Let the pastries cool for about 2 minutes, then try to gently pull each pastry out and set them on a cooling rack. You can dump them out, but there's a greater chance they'll deflate. Along the same lines, try not to touch them too soon or they will deflate. But if you wait too long, they could stick too much to the pan to come out cleanly. Let cool to room temperature and serve.

Cinnamon Swirl Vanilla-Orange Bread

I know it's Thanksgiving and you're probably expecting me to post something Thanksgivingish, but I'm currently in love with my new loaf and couldn't resist passing this on first.

My mom made homemade bread all the time when I was little. Well, in retrospect it seems like all the time, but maybe it wasn't. It was definitely a lot. And occasionally she'd make cinnamon swirl bread with raisins in it, and that would make the best toast ever possible. Mmm. Good memories.

I had (shockingly) never made cinnamon swirl bread until a couple weeks ago, at which time I could resist no longer. My family is not a raisin family, so I needed a way to make my cinnamon bread taste like more than just regular bread with cinnamon sprinkles. Since the title of my post gives my quest-end away, and since I didn't take too long figuring it out anyhow, I'll cut to the chase: orange zest and vanilla beans in a honey-and-butter enriched milk bread. That's right. I know what you're thinking. Mmm. That sounds good.

You should taste it.

But, of course, that's why I post: so you can taste. Only you have to do the work. Or, if you're masochistic, you can simply read what I'm writing, stare at the pictures, and ache for what you're missing.

The orange in the bread is bright and vibrant against the mellow dough, but it doesn't overpower the bread and nicely complements the cinnamon. The vanilla is slightly angelic, and I'm keeping it in the recipe, but if you don't have any beans around, feel free to make this bread with everything else and leave that out. But don't leave anything else out. (By the way, I buy my vanilla beans for a very low price on eBay and keep them in a sealed bag inside an airtight jar in my pantry.)

Since it's Thanksgiving week, I highly recommend you make this tonight and tomorrow (it takes 2 days) and have a lovely breakfast Thanksgiving morning (you'll be having leftover pie on Friday morning). Or do what I'm doing, and make several loaves over the next few weeks and pass them out as Christmas gifts. You could make friends pretty quickly that way.


For a printable version of this recipe, click here.


Cinnamon Swirl Vanilla-Orange Bread

approx. 7 1/2 - 8 c. white bread flour
2 c. cold water
1 1/4 t. instant yeast (if using active dry, you'll need to proof it first)
1 1/2 c. lowfat milk
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
zest of 1 large orange
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean (optional)
1 T. salt
a good supply of cinnamon sugar (1 t. cinnamon for each 1/4 c. sugar)

In a medium bowl, stir together the water, 2 c. flour, and 1/4 t. yeast. Cover. Set aside 8-12 hours (overnight).

Heat the milk and butter until the butter has melted, then stir in the honey.

In a large bowl, combine the sponge from the night before, zest, vanilla seeds, and remaining 1 t. yeast. Stir together, then add 5 c. flour, salt, and milk mixture. Begin kneading with a stand mixer or by hand, adding more flour as needed until the dough is no longer sticky but still soft and tender. Knead 8-10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a large bowl coated with oil or cooking spray. Cover and let rise 2-3 hours, until doubled in size.

Divide the dough into two equal parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each out into a rectangle about 9" x 22". Sprinkle the dough generously with the cinnamon sugar, creating a nice, even layer, not too thick, but covering the entire surface. Roll up the short ends to short ends. Seal the ends by pinching them to the rest of the dough, then turn that side down and set loaves in two generously sprayed 9"x5" loaf pans. Cover and let rise about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚. When the loaves have risen to the point that they are an inch or so above the top of the loaf pans, place them in the oven. Quickly add 1 c. of ice cubes to the bottom of the oven and close the oven door. Leave the door closed during baking, especially the first 20 minutes.

Bake until golden brown all the way around and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom of the loaf, 45 minutes for me. Don't underbake your bread. If you want to measure the temperature, it should be around 200˚ in the middle.

Turn the loaves out onto a cooling rack and cool all the way to room temperature before slicing into, or the cinnamon sugar will not be set and will be gooey, sliding out and abandoning future slices of bread from the same loaf. So tempting, but DON'T do it.

Enjoy. :)

Baking Bread

In case you're wondering what I've been up to lately (other than recovering from cooking camp), I've been working on breads. Namely sourdoughs and no-knead rustic breads. Here are some pictures. Please note that I've got a long way to go, but I'm pretty happy with my progress.


Biscuits
No-Knead Bread (3-day version)


Polish Rye (Daniel Leader version)
French Sourdough (Daniel Leader)

More Sourdough (all white, as opposed to my usual 20% whole wheat)
Still More Sourdough (best rise)

Chocolate Sourdough (better than you can imagine!)
And lastly, from today, sourdough loaves and baguettes

Whole Wheat Bread

I'm in the mood for bread. Not sourdough, not ciabatta, nothing remotely European. I want homemade whole wheat bread, sweetened with honey. Enriched with milk. Warm and topped with honey butter. Melting in my mouth.

And I'm going to get it. It's in the oven right now, so I don't have too long to wait. Except when it comes out, it has to cool and I have to go to church. But when I get home, it will be waiting for me. I will likely eat a slice before I've taken 12 steps in my house. And I bet I won't be alone.

I have a recipe I love for whole wheat bread, so I'm sharing it with you, so you can have it, too. While you're at it, make some honey butter: equal parts honey and softened butter, then refrigerated until you're ready to use it.

I wish you could smell my house right now.


Whole Wheat Bread

2 T. active dry yeast
1 T. sugar
2/3 c. lukewarm water (105˚-112˚)
3 c. hot milk
1/2 c. honey
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. gluten (yes, you can leave it out if you don't have it, but it sure helps)
7 1/2 - 9 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in a large bowl with the water.

Combine the milk, honey, and oil until the honey is dissolved, and cool to lukewarm.

Add the milk to the yeast, then 1 c. flour with the gluten and salt. After that's stirred in, add another 6 c. flour and begin kneading. Add more flour as necessary until the dough is a cohesive mass, but it will still stick a bit to the sides.

Let rise in a non-stick coating-sprayed bowl until double, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Divide into 2 loaf pans. Let rise until well-risen. Bake in a 350˚ oven for 45 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool at least half an hour.

Pictures to come later

Creamy Corn and Zucchini Soup with Sourdough Bread

Yesterday I made bread again. (I did warn you.) This time, I made Pain de Campagne from Daniel Leader's Local Breads, except I made it with all regular bread flour, rather than adding a bit of rye and whole wheat. It's made from a sourdough starter, a liquid levain, which only took a week to be fully ready to use. Not bad, really.


I was pretty pleased with the turnout this time, but it was interesting along the way. I'd heard that sourdough rises late - meaning it sits around the first half of the rising time and then gets on its way - but it was still unexpected. During the second rise, after my loaves were shaped, I didn't notice much change in height. I'd been careful not to let too much of the gas release when I shaped them into loaves, but I expected something to go on in the next hour and a half. It may be a bit difficult to see from the picture, but these loaves are not very tall...maybe an inch or so. After leaving them for even longer than the suggested 1 to 1 1/2 hours, I decided to go for it and accept my failure if nothing happened in the oven.

During the first 3 minutes of oven time, it's really important to introduce as much steam as possible to the bread. This keeps the top of the bread from forming a crust too early, which allows it to rise longer. Often, I can literally watch the bread rising during this period, which I find absolutely fascinating. I still had some hope that my sourdough would jump up during these first few minutes and I wouldn't have to stick my head in the sand, but after the final introduction of steam, I still hadn't seen more than maybe a quarter inch rise in the oven. So discouraging. I walked away.

Five minutes later, I returned to two lovely, tall loaves. Not Empire State Building tall, of course, but it wasn't that kind of a loaf. They'd somehow risen after I walked away, probably intentionally waiting for me to turn my back. It was a nice surprise.

Like all good sourdoughs, the bread has a very chewy, connected feel. Substantial yet well-risen. Lots more good holes that the last loaf, too, which was a result from long rises as well as making slits in the top. If you don't make slits in the top, the membrane of the upper crust suppresses the leavening inside, while slits will allow it to jump up in certain areas, creating a less uniform rise. Just what I was looking for. I'll have to try that with the Ciabatta again, where I hope to find a more dramatic increase. I can't wait.

Now to the soup.

Since I keep making bread, unless I want to eat myself to death, I need some lighter meals. Soup is the obvious choice, especially being a girl. I found inspiration from Rick Bayless (not really surprising, is it?). He has a lovely recipe in Mexican Kitchen which I didn't follow whatsoever but was a really good inspiration. My sister Michele recommended it to me, and it involves blending corn and milk together and straining them, which is the only part of the recipe I was interested in, based mainly on what was available in my house.

Being a lover of creamy soups, this hit the spot without being too heavy or too starchy. It's slightly thick naturally, sweet, and simple enough. And to top it all off, it's really good made with frozen corn (choose a quality product, please), though I'm sure it's wonderful with fresh corn. So here's the recipe, though I'll admit right off that I didn't measure everything out exactly out, but the measurements should be quite close.


Creamy Corn and Zucchini Soup

1 1/2 T. olive oil
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 serrano chiles, chopped
5 cups sweet corn, thawed if frozen
5 cups whole milk (it won't be really creamy unless you use whole milk...at least go for 2%)
1/2 c. chicken broth (if you have it around...you could leave this out or add more milk)
2 medium zucchini, chopped into 1/2" squares
Kosher salt

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the celery, garlic, and chiles. Sauté for about 5 minutes with a pinch of salt, until softened and the garlic is quite fragrant (slightly roasty), but not burnt.

Set the pan off the heat, then scoop the sautéed ingredients out of the saucepan, leaving the oil behind, and place them in the blender along with the corn and 3 cups of milk (you may need to do this in two stages as your blender will be quite full). Blend until smooth.

Set the saucepan over medium heat and set a strainer over the saucepan. Pour the blended corn mixture back into the saucepan, straining it as you go, and stirring the mixture back into the oil to keep it from burning. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for one minute and season with salt. Add the zucchini and continue to cook, just barely simmering, until the zucchini is done to desired consistency.

Serve. Tonight!

Artisan Bread

Aaaagh! I feel like my blogging life, along with my exercise life (save for a day or two of skiing) is slipping away from me! No one warned me that having three kids meant I'd sacrificed all my personal time. Oh, well. At least they're cute.

You may suppose from my lack of posts that I haven't taken the time to explore all the pantry has to offer lately. Au contraire! Actually, I have been investigating one of my favorite mysteries: artisan bread. Let me first explain what I mean by "artisan", since it's such an overused term these days. Artisan bread is typically handmade bread, often old-world style, often taking two days to two weeks to make. When I use the term, I just mean I'm trying to make bread that reminds me of the type I'd buy in Europe if I ever traveled there. (Aaah...someday.) And let me say...I think I'm getting pretty darn close.

I have two major resources that I'm using these days. The first is The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart, and it has been a very educational book thus far. (Not surprising, since Reinhart is an instructor at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. I've read most of the information in the beginning 100 pages of the book, and it has been an incredible learning experience. While I am continually reading cookbooks and learning all I can about food in general, there is so much technical information on bread out there that I have been completely in the dark until now, and I am only beginning to come into a bit of light. It's very exciting. The second resource, which I'll write more about later, is Bread Alone by Daniel Leader. I haven't read as much of his informative information yet but have already delved into the world of pre-starters in Leader's book and am completely taken in. There is just so much to be learned about yeast, fermentation, carmelization, humidity, temperature, and all kinds of flours, and the books are so well-written that I feel as though I'm learning it in their kitchens. Of course, it helps that I'm working on these recipes as I go along.

Anyhow, pictured at the top of this post is the Ciabatta that I made from Peter Reinhart's formula. It's not really too involved, comparatively speaking: it only takes two days to create an amazing bread. It's wonderfully spongy and springy in texture and the flavor is simple but balanced. My only real complaint about my results is that it didn't have the large, gaping, non-uniform holes throughout the bread, though it rose very well. Still, I'm not too broken-hearted; I already told you I haven't yet finished all the instructional reading, and I'm just really getting into experimenting with my doughs, but I plan on resolving this issue. If anyone knows the answer, feel free to let me know...





In any case, I'll keep you updated on how the bread baking is going. Right now I have two perfectly usable, ready-to-go sourdough starters (one standard, one rye), and I'll let you know the lovely results I get from them as soon as I can take another moment to write. Until then, happy cooking/baking/eating!

Rye Bread

There is no better toast on the earth than that made with rye bread, and preferably topped with unsalted butter (though my family makes a strong case for cream cheese).

I know of no better rye bread than Zingerman's Jewish Rye. As with other breads from that amazing culinary establishment, the loaf is wonderfully chewy while the crust is nice and thick. It may seem pricey to buy bread online and have it shipped (the bread itself is only $6, which is a fair price for a good loaf). To that complaint, I only have one thing to say: buy several loaves at a time and freeze them. Besides, you'll be glad you have them when you get down to that last little bit.

In case you're wondering, we just finished off a loaf, but we have another in the freezer (thanks to Seth).

Merry Christmas!

Biscuits

On occasion throughout the last 10 years, I've tried to make biscuits. I say "tried" because that's typically as far as I got. I didn't use Bisquick, and I didn't have self-rising flour (since I don't live in the South...is that why they say the South will rise again?). I'm also not Southern, which my husband pointed out each time my biscuits came out nearly flat. But that wasn't a good enough excuse for me, especially since I lived in southern Indiana as a child, which almost counts.

One of the frustrating sections of biscuit instructions is always the part about mixing things together with your hands. No one ever really tells you how, and this is where it usually all goes wrong. At least for me. So when I made peach pie last time, in a vacation condo, and I had to use utensils and my fingers but still ended up with a lovely, flaky crust, I knew it was time to tackle the biscuits again.

Which I did. And I succeeded.

This time, my biscuits were tender, fluffy, and delicious. The trick was definitely mixing in the butter properly. I took what I've learned from pastry and applied it to this recipe: keep the butter chilled, don't work the flour into the fat (i.e., keep your layers separate), and don't worry about getting the crumbly appearance very uniform or small. Larger pieces of butter are fine, as long as they have been flattened between your fingers to a thin layer.

If you haven't done a lot of baking, or if you haven't made biscuits but like to eat them (for example, if your dad is making sausage and gravy), you should give these a go. They take no more than 10 minutes to throw together (about as long as your oven takes to preheat) and another 15 to bake. So simple, once you get the little technique down, the one that apparently all Southerners already know.


to view a printable version of this recipe, click here

Baking Powder Biscuits
makes about 8 three-inch biscuits

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. sugar
8 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3/4 c. milk

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, or just spray it with non-stick spray.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and stir once or twice to coat, then mix the butter in. Begin by using a fork to cut most of the chunks up into smaller pieces, then, working quickly, use your fingers to smash and pinch the pieces of butter, working them just until they're all fairly flat. Stir in the milk with a fork or with your hands, until the dough is just consistent and manageable.

Dump the dough out onto a floured work surface. Flatten into a disc, then dust the top with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is a generous 1/2" thick. Cut into round biscuits, using the size or shape you desire (I just use the top of a glass).

Place on the baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven, cool slightly, and remove to a cooling rack. Serve.


You thought I was done, because what else can you say about biscuits, right? How about sweet potato biscuits? They're a scrumptious use of leftover sweet potatoes, which we often bake for dinner in the fall and winter.

Sweet potato biscuits are good right out of the oven but they're best once they've cooled to room temperature, when you will find them irresistibly addictive. I'm not kidding. Bake them not when you think you have an amazing amount of self-control, but when you don't care, like you've just run 10 miles or you haven't eaten in 14 days, or when you have a lot of people around you to eat them all quickly. And I have to warn you - if you're at all like me - you're going to taste them right when they come out of the oven because you'll be so popping proud, and then you'll think, "These are pretty good. Maybe they could be a little sweeter. They're okay." Then you'll walk away. An hour later, you'll return, take a piece off of one, realize how incredible they are, and suddenly eat the rest of them. Well, hopefully not. Just be warned.


Sweet Potato Biscuits
makes about 12 three-inch biscuits

2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 T. brown sugar
12 T. cold unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. mashed roasted sweet potatoes
1/2 c. crushed, roasted pecans (roast at 350° for 10 min., cool, then crush with bottom of a glass)
1/4 c. milk

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, or just spray it with non-stick spray.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and stir once or twice to coat, then mix the butter in. Begin by using a fork to cut most of the chunks up into smaller pieces, then, working quickly, use your fingers to smash and pinch the pieces of butter, working them just until they're all fairly flat. Using the fork, stir in the sweet potatoes and pecans until mixed fairly well, then quickly stir in the milk. You may need to use your hands a little. (Wash them when you're done, please.)

Dump the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface, then dust the top with a little flour. Gently press and shape the dough until it's a generous 1/2" thick. Cut into round biscuits, using the size or shape you desire (I just use the top of a glass).

Place on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove to a cool ing rack and bring to room temperature. Serve.

Flan de Puerto Rico (A Day Late)

First, I apologize for posting this late, as it was intended to go up yesterday. I had some more work to do. Our friends from Monday made a terrific Flan de Vainilla, which was exquisite, but they also told us of Flan de Queso, which is Flan de Vainilla with cream cheese in it, so I had to make that first to test it out. I learned a few things.

Let's start with the basics. To make a flan, you first make a caramel, which you pour into the bottom of your flan mold. The caramel usually consists of sugar, just sugar, melted over low to medium-low heat until completely liquid and a deep amber color. This often creates a problem, as any sugar that doesn't get into the mixture may not dissolve but form a tight crystal. To avoid this, another method - a much easier method - can be used. Add a bit of water to the sugar first, being sure that all of the sugar gets wet, and heat evenly. The other consideration when making a caramel is the saucepan. Only use a saucepan with a heavy bottom (the sides may be thick or thin), as a thin-bottomed pan will result in unequal heating and burnt caramel. And wasted time. But when you get the caramel right and pour it our, don't stress when you don't get it all out of the pan. Besides, caramel is fun to play with for the few minutes before it sets up, thus this picture:

Mexican flan is made with sugar, eggs, milk, and sometimes cream. Puerto Rican flan is made with eggs, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk. The Puerto Rican addition of sweetened condensed milk results in a very smooth texture with a rich but not heavy taste. It's quite nice. With both, of course, the most difficult part lies in baking it properly, not letting it overcook, to ensure the smooth texture. As with any custard, it won't look firm when you remove it from the oven unless you've ruined it. If you could come visit me in my kitchen, I'll show you what it should look like when you remove it. Okay, maybe that's not possible. Let me try to describe it: When you first put the flan in the oven and bumped it, it should have jiggled slightly in the dish the way a glass of milk would. Two-thirds of the way through, if you open the oven and bump the flan, you'll notice that the sides have set up a bit and jiggle more like jell-o than liquid. That's about what you want all the way through. Don't err on the side of more done, though. If it's accidentally a touch less done, the center will be a touch soft. If it's a bit overdone, the eggs will cause the texture to go to a bit of a curdle, and all the luxurious smoothness will be gone. Which would you rather end up with?

Here's where I embarrassingly admit my mistakes. The first flan I made had two problems: 1. I didn't use a water bath, and 2. My caramel didn't all dissolve. I'm telling you these things right up front because they were very important lessons. Being careless only results in wasted time, money, and (if you're like me and insist on trying it anyhow) calories. So while I baked the flan for about the right amount of time, it didn't bake evenly and bubbled on one side while still not done on the other. Also, the caramel was frustrating. Most of all, after it had cooled, it was curdled and not at all what I wanted.

So I was doubly careful when I baked it the next time. To the right is my setup. If you add baking stones to your oven (on a lower rack) and preheat the oven 1/2 an hour, the oven temperature will have fewer fluctuations, since the stones help keep it more constant. The water bath slows the cooking process, as water won't get about 212° (even lower here at higher elevation), and you don't get any hot spots as all the liquid in the water bath stays the same.

Now, about the Flan de Queso. It is amazing. It's kind of like taking flan and mixing it with cheesecake, only it's still very delicate and smooth the way flan is, but the flavor is something all new. Oh, it's so good. Nelson told us his father makes a Flan de Queso that is really tall, so I thought I would go for that in my testing. You don't have to use that option, however, as it would be just as good at normal height, and a bit easier to bake. But that's why it looks different.

One more thing: Mexican cinnamon. It's usually found in small packets in the Mexican foods section of the grocery store (if it's difficult to find, try a store with a larger Mexican foods section). Mexican cinnamon has a very different flavor to me than ye olde standard cinnamon from the spice aisle, but if you are unable to find it, regular cinnamon will also do nicely.

I can't think of any other warnings before I start in with the recipe, except this: invite friends over, or you may eat it all yourself. And good luck!

Flan de Vainilla

1 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. water
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
5 eggs
1 12-oz. can evaporated milk
1 t. Mexican cinnamon
1 T. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Place a pan large enough to hold your flan mold in the oven. Fill a large measuring cup (4-8 cups) with water and microwave it on high for 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Add the sugar and water to a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. With very clean hands, mix the two together to be sure that all the crystals of sugar have been moistened. Cover the saucepan with a lid, turn the heat to medium, and leave alone for 3 minutes. Then, take the lid off, turn the heat up to medium high, and watch (but resist the urge to stir) for 7-10 minutes, until the sugar is a deep amber. Pour into an 8" (or 9" if you only have that) round baking dish. If you want a tall flan, pour into a 6" x 3" baking pan (a cake pan will do).

In a blender, blend the sweetened condensed milk with the eggs for a few seconds, until an even consistency. Add the evaporated milk, vanilla, and cinnamon, and blend for a few more seconds, until evenly blended. Pour on top of the caramel.

Set the pan inside the preheated dish in the oven. Gently pour the hot water in the preheated dish to form a water bath, being careful not to splash, until the water is about halfway up the sides of the flan mold.

Bake 45 minutes to an hour for an 8" or 9", and perhaps a bit more for a 6" pan. The flan should still jiggle like loose gelatin if bumped when done, but not like water. Remove to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator. Turn out onto a plate before serving, setting the baking dish in hot water for about 5 minutes beforehand if necessary. Mmmmmm.

*For Flan de Queso: Blend 8 oz. room temperature cream cheese with the sweetened condensed milk until smooth before adding the eggs. Follow the rest of the recipe as written, noting that your pan should be deep enough to hold the extra 8 oz. of filling.