eat make read

I miss my weekly inspiration at the farmers market… the bright colors, happy farmers and new surprises each week. Now, I have to admit, I’m pretty lucky because our local farmers market is actually still open, but more often than not I find it hard to bundle myself up and face the walk. A few weeks ago Maude (my dog) and I got up the nerve to face the cold and made the trek. We didn’t come home with any colorful fruit or vegetables, mostly cheese and meat with a few root vegetables sprinkled in, but our one treasure of the day was the most delicious applesauce I’ve ever tasted. It’s made with one of my favorite apples, Fuji and pink in hue. I ate my fair share, but had enough leftover that I decided to make an apple quick bread with it and boy, did it cure my winter blues.

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Yesterday we made homemade butter and buttermilk, the perfect ingredients to make tasty buttermilk biscuits. They are light, plump and crumbly on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside and full of flavor. Basically, you’re guests are going to love you.

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This summer I was super excited to see that a vendor who sells local flour arrived at my farmer’s market. Unfortunately it’s a bit pricey (and deservingly, I’m sure) for me, so I’ve been saving it for special uses only. Well that time came this weekend when I flipped through the Food Issue of the Times Magazine to find this super simple recipe for whole wheat bread.

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Whew, I am buying corn like it’s going out of style. I just can’t get enough… I sure hope you feel the same. If not, maybe this recipe will tempt you. I’d like to call this blackberry ricotta cornbread my ode to the end of summer. I used some of the last berries of the season along with the first of the fall veggies to create one heck of tasty bread that works as breakfast, dessert or a midday snack.

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Between my third and fourth year of college (I was one of those five-year plan students) I studied abroad in Italy. To say that I had an amazing time would be an understatement. Among the many things that I fell in love with, foccacia bread is high on the list. Words cannot describe how perfectly this bread is with it’s crispy, olive oily crust, soft center and pockets soft with oil. I had more than my fair share, at least a slice a day. That was a few years back now and believe it or not I’ve never attempted to make it at home. It just seems intimidating… especially to live up to those memories. I saw this recipe over on Lottie and Doof and decided it was time to try my hand at it. Let me tell you, I have fallen in love all over again.

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I’m one of those people who needs to eat breakfast before heading out to work each morning. One of my favorite things to eat is an english muffin or portuguese roll (a denser, doughier cousin to the english muffin) with a little butter and jam or honey. I came across a recipe for homemade english muffins over at Annie’s Eats and I just had to make it.

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Do you remember when bread machines were all the rage? I’m not sure that we had one at home, but my mom’s Uncle Frank had one and always had a fresh loaf waiting for us when we’d arrive for a visit. Back then I would’ve scoffed at the idea of eating anything other than paper-white wonderbread, but somehow I was talked or tricked into trying his brown molasses bread. It was dark and rich with molasses and a little bit sweet. I just couldn’t believe how delicious it was. In fact it was so good that fifteen years later I’m still thinking about it.

Last weekend I happened across a recipe that sounded a lot like my memories of Uncle Frank’s brown bread, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. The process is a little different, as it’s all hand made rather than machine, but I like a little kneading every now and then, so I was up for it.

After a bit of a work out and a few rising sessions the bread was ready to go in the oven. Almost immediately the sweet smell of molasses floated through the kitchen and into the living room. It just couldn’t smell that good and not taste the same.

I pulled the bread out a little earlier than the recipe called for because my oven is crazy and has a mind of it’s own. But I did the tap test and they sounded hollow when i knocked on the crust, so I figured that was a good sign. I let the loaves cool for a good while before actually cutting into them, but even then, they were still warm on the inside, which is one of the great benefits of baking bread at home. I gave my slice a healthy layer of butter and took a bite. Ahhh yes, Uncle Frank would be proud. The bread was full with molasses flavor, just as I remember loving so much. The crust was perfectly crisp providing a nice contrast to the dense, warm interior. This bread is really great for snacking or for toast, times when the flavor of the bread can really shine. It’s good stuff. Thanks to Donalyn for sharing such a great recipe!

Anadama Bread*
makes 2 loaves

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of cornmeal [whole grain preferably]
2 packets of instant yeast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups hot water
1/2 cup dark molasses
5 tablespoons melted butter

1
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, yeast and salt.
2
In a smaller bowl, combine the water, molasses and butter.
3
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk for about 2 minutes.
4
Add 2 more cups of flour, 1 cup at a time and mix thoroughly.
5
Generously flour your kneading surface with 1/4 cup all purpose flour, and begin kneading. When the first 1/4 cup is thoroughly incorporated, add another 1/4, incorporate completely and then another 1/4 cup. (3/4 cups total)
6
Another 1/4 cup flour and a couple more minutes kneading and it should look a little drier and smoother. Total kneading time is about 6 or 7 minutes.
7
Oil a bowl and place the dough in it, turning a few time to coat all the surfaces and cover with a piece of plastic wrap or small towel, and place bowl in a fairly warm spot.
8
After the dough has doubled in size, about an hour-90 minutes, turn the dough back out onto the counter [you can dust it with a bit of flour if you like, but it doesn't usually stick even without] and knead for a couple minutes until you have a nice uniform ball again. Cut it into two equal pieces.
9
Then shape into loaves. Place the half dough on the counter with the cut side up and form into an elongated oval. Fold the side farthest from you toward yourself and press along the edges to seal. The turn it around and again pull the side farthest from you into the middle and press down. Bring the ends in until the meet in the middle. Using your fingers, kind of pinch all of the edges together and roll gently to smooth it all out. Put in a well greased bread pan and press firmly all over the top to work the dough into an even layer in the pan.

* Donalyn has a nice visual tutorial that may help you with some of the steps.

Both Aaron and I are big fans of cinnamon, so I thought it would be nice to start off the day with a nice slice of cinnamon bread. I mean, is there anything better than the sweet smell of cinnamon wafting through the house on a Saturday morning? I had a vision of a certain bread in mind when I started this recipe. I wanted it to be heavy and dotted with little cinnamon bursts in each slice. What I ended up with was not quite either of those things, yet it still turned out satisfyingly tasty.

I guess the main thing that makes this bread a little different is that it’s not actually a bread. It doesn’t contain any yeast, so it doesn’t require any rising times. It’s texture is a little cake-like, similar to something like banana bread. But that’s kind of what makes it great for a morning treat, you don’t have to deal with the fussiness of dealing with rising times.

The batter consists of the usual suspects, flour, sugar, eggs and a few other things, but I wanted to get a really rich cinnamon flavor with this bread. I created a cinnamon and butter concoction that I carefully folded into the batter in hopes that it would create little pockets of cinnamon in my loaf. After everything had been incorporated, I poured the batter into a buttered loaf pan and popped it in the oven.

It didn’t take long before that sweet smell started making it’s way throughout the apartment, leaving behind it a trail of rumbling tummies. After a long 45 minutes, I pulled the pan out of the oven to see a lovely amber colored loaf of cinnamon bread. I let it cool for a little bit and then took a knife to it. The slices revealed that my cinnamon pocket theory partially worked, although they weren’t quite as dense as I’d hoped they would be. But when I took my first bite I was happy to find that the bread itself was perfectly cinnamony and while the little pockets were great, they weren’t as important as I initially thought they would be. The bread was slightly crumbly, but moist and well balanced. It wasn’t too sweet but not boring either. I like it when things turn out different but delicious!

cinnamon bread
adapted from this recipe | makes 1 loaf

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup natural sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons butter, chilled & cut into small pieces
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

preheat oven to 350°

1
grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.

2
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and salt.
3
In a separate medium bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
4
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5
In yet another small bowl, work butter and cinnamon into pea-sized pieces.
6
Gently fold cinnamon butter into the batter.
7
Pour into prepared loaf pan.
8
Bake for 45 minutes. Insert toothpick, if it comes out clean, it’s done, if not, put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
9
Let cool, then eat up!

I received a new dutch oven for my birthday (thanks Kristi & Dave!) and I thought this cold and rainy weekend was the perfect opportunity to try out the original no-knead bread recipe. I’ve had pretty good success with the quicker versions and I was curious to see if this longer one would be worth the extra time.

I started the dough Saturday afternoon and left it a covered bowl until Sunday morning. I gave it a little attention, then to let it rise again for 2 hours. Just before I was ready to bake it, I put my dutch oven in the oven so it could warm up. After about 15 minutes I dropped my ball of dough in it, put the lid on and let it work some magic in the oven. A half hour later I checked on it and removed the lid. No long after, I had a lovely loaf of bread.

The bread had a nice golden and crunchy crust, with a soft white interior. It had a really nice, nuetral flavor with a few air bubbles inside. All in all, the bread was really good, but I’m not sure it tasted any different from the quicker versions that have come out since the recipe was originally published. I’m sure there are some people who could tell the difference, but for me, I think I’ll stick to the quicker no knead bread recipe.

No-Knead Bread

If you ask me, Thanksgiving just isn’t right without a good basket of biscuits. These biscuits made me salivate the second I read about them in November’s issue of Bon Appetit and they sounded like the perfect accompaniment to my Thanksgiving spread.

This weekend I decided to test them out by making half a batch. I know I say this a lot, but these were really simple to make, especially if you use my tried and true “roll and slice” method of making biscuits. Instead of rolling out the dough and using a biscuit cutter, simply roll the dough into a log and cut 1/2 inch slices from it and you’ve got yourself the easiest dang biscuits and no wasted dough.

Once they’d baked for the specified time, I broke one if half and took a bite. It’s hard not to like a biscuit and these were certainly delicious. The green onion really gave them a ton of flavor and the salt kind of danced on your tongue. Next time I make them I’ll add a little more pepper because I think it got a little lost among the onions. Easy and delicious, the perfect combo for Thanksgiving.

buttermilk biscuits with green onions, black pepper & sea salt
from bon appetit

3/4 cup chilled buttermilk
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper plus additional for sprinkling
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 1 tablespoon melted butter
Coarse sea salt

1

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F.
2
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3
Combine buttermilk and green onions in medium bowl.
4
Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper in large bowl to blend.
5
Add 1/2 cup chilled butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk mixture and stir until moist clumps form.
6
Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead gently just to combine, about 3 to 4 turns.
7
Roll into a 2-3 inch wide log and slice into 1/2 inch slices.
8
Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter. Sprinkle each lightly with coarse sea salt and ground black pepper.
9
Bake biscuits until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.