BBB: Italian Knots

Yes, I did do this month's Bread Baking Buddies challenge - Italian knots. No, I didn't use type 00 flour, and no, I didn't use lard. In fact, I used all-purpose flour and shortening. Please, please don't shoot me, because though I would have loved to find duck fat, that was a bit of a no-go in the central Wisconsin region that I am in currently.

Actually, the most fun part (to me) was trying to figure out the pictures of how to shape the knots. I tried a couple different interpretations, all of which generally turned out as the pictures showed - thank goodness breads are so forgiving! That is especially the case given how I scaled this recipe. I made a quarter of it, which led to using 1/4 g of instant yeast in the barm and 1 1/4 g of instant yeast in the final dough. Umm... yeah, so that became "a pinch" and "a couple pinches, maybe more like a shake" of yeast in each stage.


I thought I had screwed up when I saw the shaped knots proof though. Wow, this dough had some action going on! My rolls were nearly proofed by the time I had finished shaping them! Quickly whisking them into the oven wasn't really possible, since it wasn't on yet, but they seemed to survive.

They were particularly wonderful this past week, as I had them with dinner nearly every night. A couple of those nights, I had some lentil soup that I whipped up quickly after going to the gym - I put too many lentils in, so I've scaled it back a bit. The roll nicely soaked up the broth, and provided entertainment too - my favorite part was "un-knotting" the Italian knot!


Thank you to Ilva and the rest of the Bread Baking Babes for allowing me to bake along this month! As always, it was quite fun, and oh-so-worth it. Since I can't seem to permalink to Ilva's post, you can also find it on Natashya's site.

Vegetarian Lentil Soup
(serves 2-3)

1 tsp olive oil
2 slices red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 pinches cumin
1 pinch red pepper flakes
2 cups vegetable broth
3 Tbsp red lentils
1/2 cup frozen edamame

In a small pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the red onion, followed by the bell pepper, and saute until the onion is translucent and the red pepper is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute. Scoot everything to the edges of the pan, and add the tomato paste right into the center of the pan. Move it around there and let it heat up and caramelize a bit before adding the cumin and red pepper flakes. Toast the spices for a minute or two before bringing the vegetables back into the mix. Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer over medium to medium-high heat. Once it begins to simmer, add in the red lentils and frozen edamame. Cook for 5-8 minutes, or until red lentils are soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

May DB Challenge: Apfelstrudel

Okay, so this one is short and sweet as far as text goes. Mostly because, as Y said, she could envision me on repeat going "Apfelstrudel, apfelstrudel, apfelstrudel" while dancing around the kitchen. And I was, the whole time I was making this. Seriously, I love Germanic words, they're just way too fun to say.

Oh, and I actually took in-process photos. And did that whole mise-en-place cha-cha-cha. Like whoa.

Oh yeah, and I absolutely loved how shatteringly crisp the strudel dough was, combined with the warm apple filling.

Wait, one last thing - my coworkers? They saw it and asked if it was a pasty. Umm, no. *sigh*

Thank you, Coco and Linda, for choosing such a wonderful, unique, and challenging pastry!

All mise-en-placed and shit. Yep, no other way to describe it. Snow in hell, anyone?

Ooo, look - not many holes! Seriously, this was fun dough to work with.

Look, nuts! Coarsely chopped, nicely toasted walnuts - yum.

You better not forget the scotch-soaked raisins. Made too much filling, but kept all the raisins in there. To do otherwise would be a travesty, no?

Roll, roll, roll your strudel, gently across the towel... Oh wait, that doesn't work so well, does it?

Plop onto the cookie sheet! Made a half recipe, so no curving here. Doesn't look like a pasty to me...

Why yes, those *are* little brown circles on that parchment. I reuse it, because dangit, it's expensive! This is left over from a macaron baking spree...

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

TWD: Chipster-Topped Nutty Brownies

I know that there are strict divisions between those for whom nuts are a desecration in their brownies and cookies and those that believe that nuts are necessary for existence. That whole debate expands when you consider whether brownies should be cakey or chewy or fudgey. Oh, and what nuts should you put in if you want them? Should you use chocolate chips or chop up your own irregularly shaped bits? Gah - cocoa powder or unsweetened chocolate when making brownies?


I swear, it's enough to make a poor girl's head spin. Let me get a few things out of the way then. I am not a fan of chocolate chunks in brownies. I use chips in cookies because they're easier. Chewy over fudgey, which trumps cakey by a long shot. And nuts? I like 'em. All of them. Give me pistachios, peanuts, walnuts, and pecans. Let me repeat that. And pecans. Nutty, wonderfully crunchy, toasted just |thisclose| to being burnt.


So when Beth chose Chipster-Topped Brownies, I knew I couldn't just leave well enough alone. Idea after idea rolled through my brain - brownies with PB cups embedded in it, topped with pb cookie batter; dulce de leche swirled into the brownies, topped with a brown sugar cookie with butterscotch chips; brownies with a hefty dose of espresso powder, topped with cookie dough studded with cappuccino chips... But in the end, I stuck with what I had around the kitchen. Whole walnut halves in the brownie batter, cookie dough sprinkled with mini chocolate chips, and an army of pecan halves in the middle. Nuts everywhere. Little bit of chocolate on top, intense chocolate below. Pure awesomeness.


Oh, and my other change? I wasn't really digging the ratio of brownie : cookie that I saw on other blogs when they made these. Not to mention that really?!? 3 1/2 sticks of butter?!? *ahem* So I changed it up. I baked in an 8x8" pan, using a quarter of the brownie batter and a half recipe of the cookie dough. Baked for 40 minutes, they were just perfect. And then were promptly wrapped up and sent back to Madison with the boyfriend. Those things are dangerous!



Last Week: Fresh Mango Muffins
Next Week: Cinnamon Squares

BBA: Christopsomos

I feel like I had a very lucky childhood. You see, both of my parents worked, but my dad was (and is) a college professor. Which meant that he could pick us up from school, take us to sports practices, coach sports teams, and had the summer off with us so we never were sent to interminable summer camps. My mom, on the other hand, worked a lot. So she would get us ready in the morning and take us to school, coming home in time for dinner (Dad cooked, she did the dishes).


This only posed a problem when one parent or the other couldn't fulfill their standard roles. Although I secretly (maybe not so secretly) loved when Dad wasn't around to make dinner - Mom always went with breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, whatever we wanted. Heaven for a kid, for some reason. But when Mom wasn't around in the morning? Oh goodness, that was a problem. Dad could not braid. At all. That whole three strand thing threw him for a loop. Inevitably, my sister and I would be sent off to school with lopsided ponytails instead. We, of course, found this immensely hilarious. What's funnier than watching a parent fail at something so easy?


Here's the thing though. Now I feel bad for how much fun we made of him, because of this particular bread. I got it in my head that I wanted to braid it, but that three strands just wasn't going to do it. Oh no, I needed six strands at least. So off I went to YouTube, because now that's just what you do. I've also used it for demos on assembling wedding cakes, which has been on my mind lately as those on Twitter might have noticed... Awesome - I found this video, which was incredibly understandable and helpful. After watching it a couple times (sshh, I don't learn stuff real good), I thought I had it down.

And then I began. Umm, yeah. So I had the boyfriend queue it up and start it playing. Every time she moved a strand, he would pause the video until I had mimicked her. Then off he would go again. I don't know what I would have done without him around - tried to grow a third arm, maybe? In the end though, it came together quite nicely. I'm a definite fan of the six strand braid, just don't ask me to demo it!


And the bread? It's like a cinnamon roll, minus the frosting. Oh, and about 10000x bigger. Seriously, I put the braid diagonally on my cookie sheet, and it rose and baked over the handles on both ends. This is one monster bread. My suggestions if you're going to make it? Well, while fresh, toasted with almond butter. And while stale (because I couldn't quite go through the monster loaf that quickly), as french toast, drenched in maple syrup. You can't go wrong with either of those.

Last BBA Recipe: Anadama Bread
Next BBA Recipe: Bagels

TWD: Fresh Mango Muffins

Oh, Dorie can be so unfair. Quick breads should be quick all the way around - quick to mix up, quick to bake, quick to eat. But she only had one out of three here. The batter for these fresh mango muffins mixed up in less than 10 minutes, but that's where the quick part ends. If I had made the entire recipe, it would have taken 90 minutes to bake through. And then, she has the gall to tell us that it's better the second day!!! Talk about unfair!

Because oh goodness, let me tell you. This bread? It smells fantastic. The batter tastes fantastic. And the muffins themselves? Heaven. Fresh, juicy mango combined with a generous helping of allspice, cinnamon, and a smattering of raisins. The top gets wonderful browned and crispy (thank you, Maillard reaction), while the innards stay moist, slightly sweet, and slightly spicy. I can't lie to you - I didn't wait. The next day was just too far away. Breaking into one was a high point in my day.


Not that I didn't have my doubts. Oh no, I had doubts aplenty (isn't aplenty a wonderful word? Shoulda been an English major - I like words too much). You see, the "batter" wasn't quite, um, batter-like. Nor was it even dough-like, as Dorie cautioned it might be. It was almost like a crumble mixture. Not willing to discard it, I poured an extra teaspoon of oil into my third of the recipe, just to moisten it up. Not that I really should have worried - once you start folding in the mango, it begins to give up its juices and moisten everything quite nicely.

The third of a recipe gave me 6 very adorable looking muffins. Adorable because they overflowed and had the cutest little muffin tops imaginable. Actually, I think baked goods are the only things that can get away with muffin tops, but that's beside the point. As is the extra couple trips to the gym this last week thanks to these suckers. Like I said...

Thanks go to Kelly for picking such a wonderful, quick, fresh treat this week!

BBA: Anadama Bread

Funny how childhood memories stick with you. Besides the days full of horse shows, track meets, soccer games, and the occasional (and not highly anticipated) bout of putting up hay in our barn, I have quite a few memories from the kitchen. You see, my dad decided that my sister and I needed to learn knife skills. And cooking. And how to enjoy food and the process of making it. Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan of helping my dad chop vegetables. My sister could do that (and she now is the best one in the kitchen out of our entire family. Coincidence?). I would much rather help my mom bake.


So when Saturday mornings would come around, and mom would decide that we needed some homemade bread around the house, I got to help. We'd flip through some of the most battered bread books you'd ever see, followed by her note cards full of recipes handed down from family and friends. And one bread that would occasionally pop up? Anadama. I'm not entirely sure why. I mean, the flying saucer bread looked so much cooler. And no, I have no idea what the name of that bread is, just that it's one round topped by a smaller round, sprinkled with sesame seeds. It was the shape that mattered with that one.

But the anadama? It was the flavor, the texture. Slightly sweet, in a caramelly way, slightly gritty from the cornmeal, and still soft enough to make some killer sandwiches. So while it took some convincing to get me to join Nicole in her quest to bake through Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice, I was thrilled to see the first bread in the book. Anadama Bread. And to think, I probably haven't made it in years!


So I've embarked on an epic journey - for the next 40-odd weeks, I will be baking through BBA with some pretty awesome folks. But this first bread? It's the beginning, and a pretty awesome one at that.

As for the recipe, since I made zero changes, I'm going with the same policy I use for TWD - no substantial changes, no recipe posted. But I'd bet that it's hanging around out there on the Internets, all you have to do is search for it!

BBB: Injera

So when Mary and the Bread Baking Babes picked Ethiopian Injera for April's bread, I was intrigued. This was immediately followed by - crap, where am I going to find teff flour? As much as I love the Midwest, especially the rural bits, I have difficulty finding tofu, let alone gluten-free flours. Case in point, the day after injera popped up everywhere, I called every grocery store in a 40 mile radius. Wanna guess what the result was?

Yeah. Not even the health food store stocked it. Gah. Luckily, the boyfriend lives in Madison, which has a Whole Foods. So as much as it bemused him, we made a special trip to WF to get the teff flour. I mixed up the starter that day, then let it sit for the next two. When I went to feed it though? *YECH!* "Grassy" and "strong" don't come near what this thing was putting off. Toxic might be a better descriptor, especially after day 5 and day 7 (didn't have time to make it on day 5).


Let's just say the boyfriend asked me never to bake again if what I made smelled like that. Actually, he asked me never to bake again. And when I started laughing, he amended his answer quite quickly. Boy likes his cake and cookies, doncha know? Given his immediate reaction, as well as the lamb we had picked up at the farmer's market that morning, I didn't end up making any Ethiopian food to go with the injera. I just packed them away, where they will wait in my fridge until I can make appropriate food accompaniment :)

Thanks to all the Bread Baking Babes for letting me bake along this month! It's breads like this one that make me appreciate the group - totally not one I'd have made on my own, but I love new techniques and different flours (as my pantry can attest...).

PS - after a bit of chill time, these are absolutely fantastic. Great with a cold bean / tomato / corn salad, awesome with a smear of peanut butter. I'm officially an injera convert!

TWD: Tartest Lemon Tart

You know how sometimes, tweaking recipes turns out fantastically? Without really knowing why, all your little changes just fall into line, creating something awesome. Well, this is not one of those times.

You see, I didn't want to make the entire tart (chosen by Babette). Nor did I want to ingest my weight in butter, as much as I love Dorie's sweet tart dough. So, I improvised. I made this crust, which had been featured on 101Cookbooks. I used olive oil, and didn't add in the tahini (recipe, tweaked, below). Then I made 2/3 of the tart recipe. But because the tart dough wasn't supposed to be baked, just chilled, I figured I could bake the tart filling in a foil-lined, very well greased cake pan. Then I could just freeze the filling, cut out a frozen circle of it, and place it on top of the crust once it had been liberated from its tartelette pan.


Um yeah. About that. For one, my tart filling boiled in the oven. As in, I checked the doneness after the 20 min at 325* and an additional 15 at 350*, and it was bubbling madly and not set at all. Yikes. Oh well, cross your fingers, right? Out it came after 20 min at 350*, and I let it cool to room temp before putting it in the freezer.


Except, after an entire night in the freezer (and then some), it was still pretty loose. Not liquidy, but not frozen so much. Definitely not frozen enough to cut out a neat little round. So instead, I scooped out a portion of the filling, whisked it up to try to smooth it out (um, yeah - FAIL), and then spooned it over the crust. And then I tried it. Hmm... yeah, not so much. I mean, the filling was very good, but the crust was too hard for it, and too cold to allow its sweetness to counter the tartness of the filling. So it went onto the counter, waiting to get tossed. Thank goodness I only assembled one, right?


After an hour or so, I was feeling snacky though. Eh, might as well give it another try, right? I tried a bite. And then another. And then another. Pretty soon, half the little tartelette was gone. Because you know what? After it sat at room temperature for that hour, the crust had softened up, the filling was warmer too, and things just melded. Pretty darned tasty if I do say so myself. I have to admit though - out of the two new recipes involved, I'm more likely to redo the crust. That's one wonderful, slightly sweet, slightly chewy crust. And because there are oats in it, I can pretend it's healthy, right?


Oat Tart Crust (adapted from 101Cookbooks)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/6 cup rolled oats
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp sugar

Combine the olive oil, maple syrup, sugar, and salt in a small pan. Heat over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add in the flour and oats and cook over low heat until you get a bit of a toasty smell, 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Divide into three portions and press into the bottom of 4" tartelette pans. Set in the freezer until completely cooled, 5-10 minutes.

Last Week: Tiramisu Cake
Next Week: Fresh Mango Bread

Garlic Chive Buttermilk Scones

You know those people who, even when they're not smiling, they're smiling? The crinkle lines around the eyes, the little quirk at the corner of the mouth - a tease of a smile. Makes you wonder what they're hiding, but also makes you want to smile too.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not one of those people. When I'm not smiling, I look a bit angry. People at work comment on it - that I never look happy. It isn't true, but for some reason, my face just doesn't relax into a smile. There are just a few moments when life just becomes overwhelming. Overwhelmingly joyful, peaceful, and amazing. Then, my face can't relax - I find myself spontaneously laughing, grinning, and skipping (yes, skipping). You can get some very weird looks for doing it, but it's oh so worth it.


One of those times is when I am outside and realize how beautiful spring is. The brilliantly blue sky, scudding clouds. The dazzlingly green grass. Flowers in colors so vibrant they don't even look real. Then I can't help myself - I start laughing. No little giggling for me, it's full-on laughter. Grinning so wide it hurts.

In the spirit of spring then, I offer you some savory scones. I found some garlic chives at the Farmer's Market last weekend, and - wonder of wonders - locally ground whole wheat flour. Which, by the way, I love. It's a bit rougher than commercial flours, so you can see the little bits of bran. The scones didn't turn out gritty or "whole-wheaty" at all - they were tender, moist, and had a wonderful kick from the garlic chives.


And guess what? Thinking about them is making my eyes crinkle and a corner of my mouth turn up. Maybe that's the cure, eh?

Garlic Chive Buttermilk Scones
(adapted from Simply Recipes)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, frozen
1/4 cup chopped garlic chives
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Grate the frozen butter coarsely using a cheese grater. Transfer to a bowl and back into the freezer.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Gently toss the grated butter in the flour mixture, until each bit is coated in flour. Mix in the garlic chives. Pour in the buttermilk and gently toss together to combine, just until a sticky dough forms.

Turn out the dough onto the counter. Knead gently until all the stray flour is incorporated, then shape into a circle, 6" in diameter. Cut 8 wedges out of the circle.

Transfer wedges to the baking sheet, placing them an inch apart. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the scones begin to brown. Cool on a rack.

TWD: Tiramisu Cake

Wow. Just wow. As I was thinking to myself after making this week's recipe for TWD - How does Dorie do it? For almost every recipe so far, I haven't really felt the need to hoard the results. I want to share them, maybe have a bite, then call it good. The only except so far as been the cookies with malted milk balls. Looooved those.

But tiramisu. Tiramisu CAKE. Seriously, the boyfriend makes fun of me, because if there's tiramisu on the dessert menu, I'm going to get it. No contest. Give me coffee, mascarpone, and fluffy ladyfingers any day. A little bit of cocoa, and I'm a goner. So when tiramisu cake was chosen by Megan, I got to joyfully flip to a page that has been bookmarked for almost a year and a half. Thank goodness!

Since I was making it at the boyfriend's though, and didn't feel like carrying back a full-size cake, I quartered the recipe. The only things that didn't quarter well were the eggs (just used one large) and the baking soda (used a pinch). In my mini loaf pan, I made three little fluffy cakes, which I then trimmed the tops off (yum) and torted. I picked at the scraps while I decided which would be my "showpiece" - the one that was most level once split. As for the espresso syrup and the frosting, my only change was this - wherever it called for Kahlua or some other alcohol, I substituted chicory essence. Thanks go to Y for turning me on to this wonderful stuff!

The only problem was this one. By the time I finished soaking, filling, and frosting the one cake, umm... the other two were gone. Nibbled away, bit by bit, as I carefully smoothed frosting onto my mini loaf cake. I didn't even notice that I was doing it! Gah. Thank goodness my first one came out looking okay, because it seems a little silly to have to re-make a recipe just because you ate it all before you could photograph it!

As for the finished cake? Oh, that one's gone too. Dangerous little buggers. Thank goodness I only made a quarter of the recipe...

Last Week: Chocolate Cream Tartelette
Next Week: Tartest Lemon Tart

PS I just realized, after making, assembling, eating, and posting about this cake - I forgot the mini chocolate chips. Ah well, I guess we'll pretend I was going for a more coffee-centric dessert :)

NFR: Dinner in a Hurry

Yes, I know that is one horrendous photo. But here's the thing. I realize that I don't make incredibly complicated or time-consuming dinners or desserts every day. And you know what? I'm guessing you guys don't either. So I present you with my dinner. It's been my dinner all week. Smitten Kitchen's Mushroom Bourguignon, with a slightly disappointing white bread I made last weekend. It's pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself. Especially after a 12 hour day at work, with my Macbook waiting to be opened and played with. Darned 24/7 manufacturing plants, they'll get you every time.

So here's my question - when work gets to be too much, when you stress out, what do you make for dinner? A solitary apartment dweller wants to know, because while the mushroom bourguignon is pretty darned fabulous, it's not two weeks straight fabulous.