so busy and brioche

My summer recently went from lazy to ridiculously busy.  I went from attending one class a week to having that class, a research assistant position, and an internship.  As a result, I haven’t posted anything, but I have accomplished a few things. 

I baked brioche which was next on my list for the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge. I made the “middle class” brioche recipe (only two sticks of butter) and it turned out great.  A warning to anyone out there making brioche – your dough MUST be cold.  The butter in the dough heats up quickly making it difficult to handle.  If you are making Brioche à Tête (pictured below – a head or ball sitting on a larger base), work quickly and make sure the dent you make (as a resting place for the smaller ball of dough) is deeper than a shallow dent – as the dough warms the small ball can slide off-center – as seen on a few of my little guys below.  I picked up the silicone fluted molds at my local World Market, but could not find them online.  In conclusion, they were mildly difficult to handle as the dough warmed, BUT they were a big hit with the fam.  Give it a shot!

My first tomatoes and beans also made an appearance this past week.  So tasty, but I forgot to take some pictures…  Also, the garden is growing out of control.  Cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos are all ripening.  I can’t wait. 

Lastly, if you haven’t checked out Sportsglutton’s NFL recipe series, you should.  Just know that if you eat all of these recipes back-to-back over a 3 week time period, you will gain about 7 pounds.  You have been warned.

renegade pie maker

I love to cook. I like to bake. I’m pretty good at both. Pie crusts on the other hand are my downfall.  My mom always made (and still makes) fantastic pies – maybe this is why I always seem to fail when it comes to the crust.  They aren’t as flaky, no matter how cold the ingredients are.  The sides fall down. I could go on and on with my low pie moments. 

So against all things homemade, I broke down and finally used a store-bought, refrigerated pie crust.  No fail this time!

Besides the store-bought pie crust, I tend to free-form my fillings – very unlike my mom’s pies which followed a recipe to the T most times.  Hence the term renegade – I feel like a rebel when I throw caution to the wind and flip the bird to traditional recipes. How do I accomplish these rebellious acts you might ask?  I use brown sugar (most fruit pies use white sugar), rarely ever use the same fruit combos or amounts twice, and switch up my flavorings (though I went standard with vanilla this time).  I’m really living on the edge here, in my head perhaps.  Sorry for projecting.  The pie is delicious though.

You can change-up the type of fruit depending on what you like or what you need to use up.   You just need enough fruit to fill up the pie dish.  If you are more skilled than I, definitely make your own pie crust. Store-bought crust is good, but I must admit homemade still tastes better (unless I’m the one making it).

Mixed Berry Pie

• 13 oz to 1 lb strawberries sliced
• 1/2 lb to 12 oz blueberries picked over to remove stems
• 1 plum peeled and cubed
• 1/2 c brown sugar, plus extra for dusting the crust
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, lemon or orange juice/zest, almond extract, cinnamon, liqueurs, etc
• 1 package (2 crusts – one for the top and one for the bottom) refrigerated pie crust at room temperature
• 1 tbsp butter, sliced into thin pats
• 3 tbsp milk

Preheat over to 400f.

Toss all the ingredients, except for the crust, butter, and milk in a bowl.  Mix so that the sugar and cornstarch are mixed with the fruit juices and vanilla.  Set aside.

Unroll one pie crust and line a pie plate with the crust. Make sure it is down into the corner edge at the bottom of the plate.   Trim excess from the edges if you are feeling frisky (leaving enough for crimping), or leave it if you lazy like me.

Dump you fruit mixture into the pie plate.  Dot with the pats of butter.

Unroll the second crust and lay across the top of the pie.  If you are feeling frisky again, trim off any excess crust from the edges or leave it as is.

Crimp your edges to seal your pie.  Make them look pretty, or if you are like me again, make half the crimps ugly and hit your pretty crimping stride when you have already massacred half the crust.  You just want to make sure the pie crusts’ edges are sealed together.

Make some slits in the top of the pie to let out steam.  Brush the top of the pie with the milk and sprinkle with extra brown sugar.

Pop it in the over for 10 minutes at 400.  You can place a baking sheet lined with tin foil under the pie plate to catch any filling that bubbles over.  I was a rebel (with an oven already in need of a cleaning) and didn’t put any protection down under the pie.

When the crust begins to brown a bit, it is time to turn the oven temperature down to 350/375f.  At this point you want to wrap the edge of your crust in tin foil  (make a narrow collar type contraption) to prevent it from burning.

Cook for another 20-40 minutes depending on your oven and fruit.  The pie is done when the filling in bubbling and the crust is golden brown.  If the filling doesn’t bubble up then it will not thicken and you will have a runny, corn starchy filling – yuck.

Let the pie cool a bit before serving.  This allows time for the filling to set.  Slice and serve with a scoop of ice cream or some fresh whipped cream.

the best brownies EVER – just in time for the 4th

Do you like chewy brownies?  If so, this recipe is for you.

I adapted this recipe from the Chocolate Box by Love Food…  There is one MAJOR key to my adjustments of the recipe as written - the chocolate.

A combination of Scharffen Berger 62% Cacao and 70% Cacao baking chocolates turns this recipe from good to the best ever.  I have tried this with plain old semi-sweet chips, dark chips, a combo of chips, higher-end bars, all 62%, and all 70%.  I also tried a variety of chip brands (Nestle, 365, Ghirardelli, and Guittard) and a variety of high-end bars (Michel Cluizel, Amano, and a few others).  Nothing comes close to the combo of Sharffen Berger 62% and 70%.  It is worth spending the extra money for this higher quality baking chocolate if you usually use chips, but it is not worth spending more money on better/higher-end chocolate bars.  Using half 62% and half 70% leaves you with a brownie that is balanced – not too bitter, not too sweet – and all sorts of chocolatey, fudgy, chewy goodness.

If you hate all things corn syrup, I completely understand, BUT  I promise that these brownies warrant an exception.

If I remember correctly, I believe Sportsglutton ate the entire batch in one day.  I dare you not to do the same.

Enjoy and Happy 4th of July!

 

Best Brownies Ever

• 6 tbsp butter
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2.425 oz  62% cacao Scharffen Berger baking chocolate (1/4 of the bar)
• 2.425 oz  70% cacao Scharffen Berger baking chocolate (1/4 of the bar)
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 c all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Grease an 8×8 baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Melt the butter, sugars, chocolate, and corn syrup together.  You can do this in a microwave by heating the bowl in short increments, stirring often until the mixture is smooth.  Alternatively, using a double boiler works best for gentle heating.  If you are lazy and without a microwave like me, place the ingredients directly into a small pot and heat over low heat stirring often – take care not to let the mixture burn.  The goal is to melt everything together into a smooth mixture.  It maybe a little like wet sand if all of your sugar doesn’t dissolve – this is ok.  Set aside the mixture and let it cool to at least body temperature.  Stirring will help it cool down quicker (or maybe that is just in my mind).  

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder.  Set aside. 

Beat the eggs and vanilla together, then add to the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk together.  When lazy, add eggs and vanilla directly to cooled chocolate without beating first, then whisk to combine well.

Combine the flour mixture and chocolate/egg mixture in which ever bowl is larger.  Stir to mix thoroughly, but not beyond.

Pour the batter into the baking pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes.  The edges should start pulling away from the sides of the pan and the top should be crisp.  The middle of the brownies will still be soft.

If you can stand it, let the brownies cool before slicing – it makes the task easier and your squares prettier.  If you don’t care about looks, dig in.

adventures in bagel making

Since I am doing the  Bread Baker’s Apprentice challenge, the next bread recipe I had to make was the ever illusive water bagel.  Someone kindly posted the recipe on the Fresh Loaf, so check out the recipe and instructions here.

As a native New Yorker, I basically refuse to eat bagels or pizza anywhere else in this country.  Call me a snob, I don’t care, this is one badge I wear with pride.  Only trouble is… I haven’t lived in NY since 2000.  I was sated for many years when I lived in Northern Virginia – even this girl admits that Brooklyn Bagels in Courthouse, VA had the bagel baking down cold.  It is the only (and I really mean the only) place outside of New York that makes, what I consider to be, an acceptable bagel.  Now in Utah, I feel there is no hope – I never found anything decent in Cali either.  For the past three years I have resorted to smuggling a dozen bagels in my carry-on and freezing them immediately when I arrived home.  As an aside – I apologize if you were ever on a flight in which I carried fresh everything bagels (or Italian cheese and cold cuts) that stunk up the entire plane, but it had to be done.

I used bread flour since I could not find the higher gluten/strong flour, and though I’m sure the strong flour would have made a difference, the bagels really turned out quite well.  The key to the chewy crust is really in the boiling rather than the flour.

I started with a sponge starter (flour, water, yeast) that had to sit for 2 hours.

After mixing in the rest of the ingredients (yeast, flour, salt, and barley malt), it turned into the stiffest bread dough I have ever used.  It actually overheated the engine on my Cuisinart stand mixer – that has never happened before.  I then kneaded it by hand since my machine was on strike.  It was a WORKOUT (especially when the kitchen was a balmy 83 degrees).  I did not get out every dry bit of flour like the recipe specified.  Sweat was pouring off my forehead and I just didn’t care after 10 minutes of kneading.  I formed the dough into 2.7oz balls (about half the size that was specified in the recipe for a smaller bagel – 20 total) and let them rest for 20 minutes.

After I drank a gallon of water (I was trying to hold out as long as possible before turning on our AC – to keep energy usage down), I formed the bagels by poking a hole in the middle and stretching it out to form a semi-perfect bagel shape.  The bagels were placed on parchment lined baking sheets, spritzed with oil, covered with plastic, and set aside to rest for another 20 minutes.

Next came the “float test.” Toss a bagel in a bowl of water.  If it floats, it is ready for the fridge.  If it doesn’t float, it needs to relax and rise some more.

The bagels were placed in the fridge overnight.

The next morning I assembled the toppings, started the water to boil, and preheated the oven.  And then the process began.  I boiled some bagels for 1 minute on each side and some for 2 minutes (supposed to make a chewier bagel).  I think I prefer the 2 minute boil.

The results were good.  The crust was chewy, the inside tender, and overall WAY better than anything in these parts.  I would make them again, but probably only for a special occasion or in the winter when the house is cooler.  They are a fair bit of work, but the flavor and crust is there.    It satisfies a New Yorker away from home like nothing else can in many parts of this country.

 

We schmeared our bagels with olive cream cheese.  It is my second favorite flavor of cream cheese – tofu veggie cream cheese is my numero uno (Sportsglutton feels differently).  The olive cream cheese is a little salty and tangy – perfectly delicious on a chewy bagel.

Olive Cream Cheese

• Olives – black and pimento stuffed green
• 1 block of softened cream cheese (regular, light, tofu, or neufchatel)

Chop the olives (the quantity of olives is up to you and your taste – I used about a handful of each for chockfull of olive cream cheese).

Put the olives and softened cream cheese in a bowl and stir to combine.

Schmear on your favorite bagel.

sourdough starter from apple peels

I think it is pretty clear that I like to bake bread and assorted bread products, but for the most part I shy away from sourdough based breads.  Maybe this is blasphemy, but I only like the flavor in certain situations – I would rather have a non-sour loaf hanging around the house.  I didn’t really grow up with sourdough bread, so I will just go with the fact that I may never have acquired a true love and appreciation of the taste. 

So moving on… I did find a recipe for a starter that interested me, mostly because of the process.  You peel four organic apples, add some wheat flour and sugar, let it sit out, and bam sourdough.     I used this recipe from New Scandinavian Cooking for the starter and this recipe for the loaf of bread.

I found the directions a bit limited (even though I had watched the episode) and, if I remember correctly, slightly different from the technique used in the show.  I followed the starter recipe to the T, but in the bread recipe I substituted some bread flour in for some of the wheat flour (I was running low) and used hazelnut oil in place of the rapeseed oil.  I did use more water than was called for as my dough was originally very stiff.

So, did it work?  It did, though it does require more patience than I possess.  I probably should have let the dough rise more, but it had already been rising for 24 hours when I punched it down and shaped it into the baking pans.  Again, I probably should have waited a little longer before popping them in the oven.  Overall they did rise, but were still dense.  The sourdough flavor was definitely present, so if you are a fan give it a try. 

Would I make it again?   I am keeping the starter alive in my fridge for a while longer and plan to try out some other bread recipes of my own.  I will probably use the starter to make a sponge that will sit out overnight to develop flavor, then make a yeast fortified dough with the starter (to hopefully lighten the loaf and increase the rise time).  I think this falls under a cool science experiment-like project for me, so unless I have a kid who needs to learn about naturally occurring yeast and fermentation this recipe will go back to the shelf. 

I’m just not that into sourdough.