Persian Naan

Oddly enough I had a mediterranean affair planned for dinner last night but I made these today.  Sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles or how the flat bread rises.  

Despite desperate poking of fingers, this bread still had loft in the oven.  This was the first one in and the next three got progressively flatter as they had more time to rest and get thin and unwieldy.  

All turned out well enough.  As my son said they were "not too soft and not too hard, just right".  I did use about half bread flour and half all-purpose lending to their nice, chewy texture.   I almost can't imagine using all bread flour.  

I will absolutely make these again as I dread buying naan at the store knowing how simple and how much more delicious it really is when homemade. 

…and Rhiannon.

Check out fellow bloggers post at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Brie in Brioche, Babas and Buttermilk Bread (Not in a Bread Machine)

Better late than never. 

I sat down to post tonight on the delightful buttermilk bread (2 days late), but realized I had two more recipes in my queue (> 2 weeks late).

Brie in brioche (above) felt a bit quirky and a bit indulgent: butter, egg rich dough surrounding a wheel of brie topped with slow cooked onions.   So odd yet so delicious, as is everything with brioche dough. 

Babas were my second go at this type of sweet yeasted dough, the first being savarin.  I recall not being a fan of the savarin; I was not excited to give this one a shot (leading me to be late). But it turned out better than all expectations, especially the vanilla pastry cream tucked up inside. 

And finally, buttermilk bread, not made in a bread machine.  It has been some time in our baking that we have baked bread, and it felt homey and reassuring to do so.  This recipe is one I will hang onto for quick dinner rolls/ bread. Simple, simple, simple. 

Check out other bloggers here:  Tuesdays with Dorie.

And Rhiannon at the coast.

Brioche x 2

It took brioche to bring me back (after the chaotic summer that was just starting during my last post).

I swear there is nothing better for me to make, bake, eat and eat again, than brioche.

I think its the texture.  And the chewiness.  And the slight sweetness.

For the first brioche recipe, the brioche served as the base of a custard tart, topped with a sabayon and poached plums.

For the second, the brioche was twice baked, to use up those stale leftovers of brioche laying around (as if).  The stale bread is dunked in orange vanilla syrup and topped with an almond cream.  Brioche plus almond cream might just be better than brioche itself.

For the rest of the book, I will try to keep up and make up what I have missed from the Baking with Julia cooking group.  But there are no guarantees without brioche.


Rhiannon eating her favorite: honey toast.

Pebble bread

My not-so-flat, flat bread. 

I kind of liked it not-so-flat.  It reminded me of pizza dough: chewy and light, a little tangy from the long rise.  And since it was flat bread I could eat it all by itself without any guilt.   But I did serve it with some optional dips: an olive spread (delicious) and a tofu tahini spread (not so delicious).

And, wow, did this recipe make a lot.  I halved the recipe and wound up making eight rounds of dough. (It should have been four.)  This leads me to believe that maybe I did not halve the water in the beginning and accidentally made a full recipe anyway.

Overall, it's a fairly simple recipe that I may make again in the future when I feel like having pizza dough but no pizza.  Check out other bakers' takes at Tuesdays with Dorie.  

And Rhiannon….

Salsa Quitza

Oh, sometimes things do not turn out they way I expect they will.

So excited about this one.  It sounded so promising.  I even watched the video.

Easy pizza with a twist.  Great for Super Bowl Sunday.

But then came the translation from bread machine to normal bread making.  My translation was incorrect.  My read was wrong.

(Kind of like throwing an interception on the goal line.)

Oh well.  And there are no pictures to confirm this confusion.  You'll just have to take my word for it.


Some questions I have lingering for my fellow bloggers (in case I ever attempt it again):  Should we let this one rise twice like normal bread or just once like the recipe states?  Is it supposed to be quite doughy/ bread-y rather than chewy/ crusty?

And Rhiannon...

Eastern European Rye

I am currently reading Cooked by Michael Pollan, and I just started the chapter titled "Air", in which he goes into great detail about baking and the use of "air" in creating cooked food for ourselves.  Although I have more than half of the chapter yet to read, I find it fascinating.  So when I realized this coincided with the Easter European Rye recipe (in the Baking with Julia baking group), I became quite excited to use some "air" to make this delicious bread.

Luckily for me,  it did turn out delicious.  It appears to be a pretty forgiving bread as I left it to rise much longer than required for all of its rises.  In addition to this, it was quite workable.  I decided to hand knead it and give my mixer a break and was surprised at the ease of this process.  (Maybe this had something to do with the shortening used in the mix.)

I am now looking forward to some Reubens either tonight or later this week.  And of course, breakfast toast will be amazing.

Classic French Bread

Now here in Portland we have about a dozen "real deal" french bakeries where I can pick up a fresh afternoon baked baguette.   To make one at home seems a little pointless.  But then I watched the video and I was intrigued; could I really make an airy, crusty baguette in my humble kitchen?  I had to try, much like I had to try croissants last year despite their similar rampant availability here.  

It turns out, I was much better at replicating the croissants than the baguette.  The baguette had a nice crusty crust but the inside turned out like normal bread, which was tasty but not airy and light at all.  I think it had to do with my first rise which lasted too long and the dough formed a skin which then made rolling it for the final rise a challenge due to the inelasticity of that skin.  But it may have been a result of the old frozen, fresh yeast I used; it probably would have had more oomph with really fresh yeast.

We had no trouble eating the loaves all in one meal (I halved the recipe), but I am sure they would not have met any French bakery standard except for the fact we did wait 20 minutes to eat them after they came out of the oven.  And despite all our good bakeries in Portland and the fact that I can kind of make them at home (with more practice),  I still can't wait to get to France someday and eat a real baguette. 

Be sure to visit others' posts on this recipe in the Baking with Julia baking group at Tuesdays with Dorie. 

And Rhiannon.

Onion Bialys

Okay, so they look more like onion rolls, than bialys.  No matter, they still tasted absolutely delicious.  Similar to a bagel in texture but a bit more chewy and dense.  Basically, the dough was my perfect idea of comfort white-bread-food.   If there was more nutrition in these, I would eat them everyday.  I made these early in the day on Super Bowl Sunday and they made solid bases for our layered sandwiches.

They came together quite easily.  The dough was sticky as it was kneaded in my mixer but firmed up with a chill in the fridge (its second rise).  Shaping them was fun but obviously I did not prick the centers enough with a fork.  I also halved the recipe which made everything a bit easier to deal with.  Although right now, I wish I had 6 more stored up in my freezer…

With a smear.

Rhiannon in a rare Portland snow.

Country Bread

This basic bread recipe required an entirety of a day (+) to finish. 

Here's a quick recap:

Sunday night: Return from sledding on the mountain.   

Mix up sponge (no rye flour, substitute with more wheat flour). Put in fridge to let rise/ ferment over night.

Monday morning:  Forget to take out sponge. Run.  Take out sponge. 

Go to doctor appointment for the first born while sponge warms up.

Shots!

Return. Mix sponge into dough with more yeast, flour, salt and water. 

Let rise.  Go to tumbling for the second born, Rhiannon.

Go home. Fold bread and shape for the third rise.

Rhiannon naps.  We play with legos.

Slash and bake. (I couldn't envision an added decorative braid this time.)

Monday night: Dinner.

It was actually a simple loaf, despite its time requirements.  The crust was chewy and rustic, contrasting nicely with the soft center portion. It turned out a bit flatter than I expected, not so round and gorgeous as I was dreaming all day.   I believe my loaf lacked the extra flavor the small amount of rye flour could add and I would not miss it next time.  It did keep well, as it had nice texture and moisture the second day out from baking without any special storage.    

Rhiannon in the snow; still not a fan this year.

Challah

I went through a bread baking phase about 20 years ago.  Regardless of my efforts the loaves turned out quite dense and rather bland.  All of them, except Challah, which always came out soft, moist and flavorful.  And the braid was always beautiful.  So for awhile, I went through a phase of making Challah.

This past Thanksgiving weekend brought back memories of green bean casseroles and buttery mashed potatoes and delicious pumpkin pies.  I have let most of those recipes trail off in the past years, favoring them for newer, fresher dishes and desserts.  But like, Challah, maybe some of those are worth bringing back.

And here's Rhiannon.

For links to fellow baker's creations in the Tuesdays with Dorie cooking group, click here.

Rustic Potato Loaves

I just barely made this one.  We just had spring break; we had company; we traveled; and I honestly thought I had another week to do this recipe.   This may explain the dearth of pictures.  I was just getting it done, no extras.  I forgot photos completely until I was about to cut the bread for dinner.

But I am so thankful I eked it out.  This bread was surprisingly wonderful to eat.  The texture was so chewy and the flavor from the potatoes gave it depth not normally found in white bread.  And it wasn't difficult, although it's artisan looks belie this.  It did take some time: boiling potatoes, cooling/ drying them, two rises and 40-45 minutes in the oven.  (The book claims this recipe can be done on a whim, last-minute-like (maybe).)

My new mixer is definitely getting a work out between this and pizza dough and cupcakes and such; it is well broken in already.  But I am still keeping my grandma's mixer for now; I can't let go of it yet. 

For the full recipe and excellent pictures, see our host, Dawn,  at Simply Sweet.

And here is Rhiannon... I think she's eating... or maybe feeding her toes?

Focaccia

This was supposed to be the perfect base for our Superbowl sandwiches!  It was still edible but clearly not the perfect, fluffy base I was envisioning.  It was all going so well, until I squished the painfully-slowly-risen loaves (yes, it took over 36 hours to raise this dough) with my palms in order to pop bubbles with a razor blade, as instructed.  I must have overdone this step, or maybe my dough did not have a lot of extra air to get rid of.   Whatever the case, my loaves were quite flat with only puffy, focaccia-like edges.   We took those end pieces and made our sandwiches.  Goat cheese and grilled veggies (see below) were excellent as suggested in Baking with Julia.

This recipe is part of the Tuesdays with Dorie cooking group.  The host this week is Sharmini of Wandering Through. See this link for the full recipe.

Rhiannon hating the snow.

Finnish Pulla

This recipe was scheduled to be done in mid-December with the Tuesdays with Dorie, Baking with Julia cook group but leave it to the holidays to allay best intentions.  I actually DID make this over the holidays, just not in time to post with the whole group.  So here, I post, in a make-up week.  

This makes a beautifully, stunning bread.  Well worthy of any holiday breakfast table.  And with some easy timing adjustments (final rising in the fridge over night), it can actually be ready in the morning.  And it was a simple recipe, especially considering how grand it looks in the end.  I just love recipes like that: ones that belie the effort taken to make it.  

I found myself baking this recipe at my in-laws in California not unlike the blueberry nectarine pie from this past summer.  We hunted down some yeast with an upcoming expiration date, but rather than run out to the store again at holiday time, we gave it a go.  Well, the yeast worked, but it was a bit sluggish.   The proofing should have been my first sign, but in my defense, it did proof, just not much.  And the first rise was well below double in bulk, and I gave it almost double time to rise.  (I know, I know, how many signs do I need?)  The second rise in the fridge overnight barely showed signs of growth.  But, believe it or not, 15 minutes into it's baking time it grew tremendously, giving it, it's final appearance above.  

What the picture does not show, is the doughy texture found inside, resulting from those initial sluggish rises.  It also cannot depict the smell and taste of the fresh cardamon.  I think it was that flavor alone that  made people forget the doughiness and just keep eating.  It was gone by lunch.  

And I owe thanks to my husband for hand crushing that cardamon with mortar and pestle.  It made all the difference.

Making the dough...

Shaping the dough...

Rhiannon at the slopes