not-so-rustic sun dried tomato rolls

I've bookmarked a particular recipe for rustic olive rolls I saw on a blog before, well over a year ago. Since I had recently purchased some items from Oh Nuts, I decided to use the sun dried tomatoes I bought. What I liked about these is that they aren't packed in oil, yet they are soft.

The taste of these is great. A little acidic, but extremely tomatoey. What I like about these is that you have a greater option of how to use them, either packing them in oil yourself (much cheaper), adding to recipes sans oil, turning them into a pesto, and much more. The good part is that you don't need to soak them in hot water to get them soft because they already are.

The first step to creating these rolls is the sponge, which sets for 14 hours. I was a bit lazy so it ended up sitting for around 18 hours and it still worked out. The sponge is what adds that artisan flavor and rustic texture.

The next day, the sponge is added to more water, olive oil, yeast (the sponge had only 1/16 teaspoon, though I doubled the recipe so it had 1/8th), bread flour, and salt. I added a pinch of sugar.

To add more flavor I used 2 teaspoons of Penzeys Spice Bouquet Garni and I think 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.

So why are these not-so-rustic? Well, I ran out of bread flour. I had made 3 batches of no-knead bread the beginning of the month and it used it all up. At least the sponge had bread flour. For the rest of the loaf, I used all-purpose flour and 1 cup of high gluten finely ground whole wheat flour with a tablespoon of wheat gluten.

Since all-purpose flour has less protein than bread flour, which aids in the lift and chewy texture of artisan breads. All-purpose is a mix of both high and low gluten flours. Tender cookies? Tender cakes? That's what the lower protein does. Oh well.

The bread had a great texture and kneaded well. Note to everyone: Cut my nails before making bread.

At this point, the dough was smelling great thanks to the herbs.

Once the dough was kneaded for 10 minutes and had a smooth feel, I chopped 20 sun dried tomatoes (I would suggest preparing ahead of time so that the chopping is finished before you make the bread) and kneaded them in. I wanted the dough to be stained red from the tomatoes so that it would look prettier. Next, the dough rises.

After the rise, you gently deflate and portion into rolls. I'm not sure if I weighed each piece or eyeballed, I think it was the latter. Since I doubled the recipe I ended up with about 14 rolls. The original recipe makes 6 so I probably made them a bit too small. Once I finished, I let them rise for about another hour.

I'll note that the recipe had the rolls rise on on a cotton dish cloth to maintain a rectangular shape, though since I wasn't making rectangular rolls I let them rise directly on the baking sheet, which I lightly greased and sprinkled with cornmeal, dusting the rolls with flour before covering.

The kitchen had a great aroma as these baked. I remember eating a sun dried bread at a cafe in downtown Grand Rapids a long time ago, and I hoped these would be similar. Texture-wise they didn't come out rustic at all because of the flour issue, but they were still very delicious. The flavors were more mellow than I had expected, though I'm sure you wouldn't want them to be overpowering if you ate them with soup or dinner. I would suggest slicing in half and toasting for breakfast.

---

Recipe

Rustic Olive Rolls, King Arthur Flour

keftka beef meatballs and homemade naan

How can you follow a meal like the persian chicken with jeweled rice with ramen? You cannot. So dinner two days later consisted of another very flavorful recipe, and wasn't really any more complicated to prepare.

I've made homemade naan before, but haven't blogged about it. I still plan on created a single post showing the process, though for now I'll just talk about how great this stuff is.

The recipe (found on AllRecipes.com - I will link to it at the end of post) is enriched with milk, an egg, and sugar and comes together quickly and allowed to rise for an hour. I've changed the process up by making the dough a day ahead of time and refrigerating it, though you have to make sure the dough comes to room temperature either before shaping into individual balls to let rest, or increase the resting time.

Naan are generally prepared in a tandoor, or clay oven, though you can cook them on a skillet or a grill. I chose a regular cast iron skillet, and next time I may try the skillet I have that has grill indents. I didn't time how long it took, but the first side took less than 2 minutes, and once flipped the other side needed less than 45 seconds. As soon as I placed an uncooked naan in the skillet, I brushed the side facing up with melted butter with garlic. The garlic flavor isn't overwhelming and adds a wonderful flavor boost to the naan. (A note: The skillet doesn't have to be heated to high, but medium will work just fine as long as you make sure to let it thoroughly heat before cooking.)

The best way to cook naan is to either have someone in charge of cooking them whilst you stretch the dough out, or get the process down so that as soon as a naan comes out of the skillet you're ready to put one in. Place cooked naan in a heated oven, covered, to keep warm.

Keftka is a Middle Eastern lamb meatball, though I subbed ground beef for the lamb. The ingredients from the recipe I used sounded incredibly good, with a spice trio of allspice, cinnamon, and cayenne powder. Also included is finely ground nuts (I used pecan, though the recipe called for pine nuts), and a processed mixture of onions with fresh cilantro and parsley. A different kind of meatball compared to its Italian counterpart, but every bit as delicious and definitely unique.

Instead of broiling these as a kabob type meal, the meatballs skewered on bamboo skewers, I formed them larger, browned them in a skillet, then set them aside. After I drained most of the fat away, I sauteed an onion with salt and cumin powder until soft, adding 2 cans of diced tomatoes that I pureed. When that mixture came to a boil, I added the meatballs back, reduced to a simmer, and let cook whilst I cooked the naan. A really simple and easy dish that produced a brothy tomato mixture that you could be sopped up by a couple naan. (I also removed the meatballs about 5 minutes before serving and let the sauce continue cooking at a higher heat until ready.)

The naan comes out so chewy, warm, slightly sweet with a hint of garlic. It's very difficult to just eat one, so I don't; I ate three. I once made a different version that was leavened by baking soda and yogurt, though I didn't like it as much as this yeast version. It lacked the sweetness I liked and it also wasn't as tender. It would have made a good substitute if you're pressed for time, once I tweak the recipe.

---

Recipes ~

Keftka Kabob recipe

Homemade Naan

Asian Burger with Stir Fry Slaw and a Steamed Bun

There are many variations for burgers out there, but one I don't hear about often is an Asian-inspired burger. My requirements in coming up with my own version was to flavor the ground beef with the ingredients I used when I made filled steamed buns, create a simple stir fry topping that features cole slaw vegetables, and finally make steamed buns to use in place of traditional hamburger buns.

First, I mixed the ground beef mixture together and set it aside to give the flavors a chance to develop. Unfortunately, I didn't measure the amount of beef I used, but it made about 3 burgers. I definitely didn't use a pound, probably not even half a pound, but I kept the amounts for the flavorings the same.

Up next was the stir fry slaw, a mixture of shredded green cabbage, onions, garlic, a bit of green bell pepper, and sliced green onions. For the sauce I failed and didn't measure anything, but I used about 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/4 cup water, corn starch, a teaspoon of sugar, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and white pepper. I can't remember if I added any salt, but I don't think I did because the soy sauce I have seems saltier than other brands. For the vegetables, I think I chopped 1/4 of a head of cabbage since it shrinks down drastically after cooking, 1 medium onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, a 1/4 of a bell pepper, and however many green onions I felt like. There definitely was extra slaw left over so I know I probably made more than I needed, but stir fry tastes awesome the next day.

When it came time to make this, I used a cast iron skillet over the wok. Why? I was sick with a cold; my head was stuffy; the skillet was out and already dirty. What I forgot was how well cast iron not only heats up, but retains that heat. As you can imagine, it got to be so hot that the oil evaporated. Whoops! Fortunately, the kitchen didn't smoke up black, but windows had to be opened and fans were required to air the house out. My bad. Also fortunately, the stir fry had an incredibly smoky, charred flavor, and I managed not to burn anything. This, folks, is why I don't cook when I'm ill.

After setting the stir fry aside, the steamed buns were ready to be cooked, the dough having been kneaded and set aside to rise before I made the meat mixture, which I remembered just now and I don't feel like editing the above. I used the same recipe I used last time, though I divided the dough into eight balls, and after shaping I pressed them down flat so they wouldn't be completely like a dinner roll. I steamed them for 15 minutes. Because I could only steam 4 at a time, the burgers weren't started until after the last 4 buns were steaming.

As far as hamburgers go, these were incredible, like a stir fry-potsticker-steamed bun all in one bite! The flavor of the burgers came through very well, but the slaw was the biggest hit. I was initially concerned with how well the buns would hold up to the burger, though I needn't have since they held up fine. I really liked the chewiness of the buns.

Recipe after the jump.

---

Asian Burger with Stir Fry Slaw and a Steamed bun

This recipe will be very vague, and I truly am sorry for that. I should have written the ingredients down as I went along, but being sick I just wasn't thinking. What's here is my best attempt at remembering all I did.

For steamed buns and ground beef filling, click here

So as I said, I used a very straightforward, basic steamed bun recipe. Divide the dough into eighths, shape into balls, and flatten after you place the buns on a square of wax paper, on a baking sheet, before letting rise. Steam for 15 minutes.

For the ground beef, I used enough beef for 3 hamburgers, so maybe 1/4 pound, though I really have no idea! Everything else was kept the same.

---

Print this recipe

Stir Fry Slaw
Recipe by Christina Provo

ingredients ~

2-3 cups shredded green cabbage
1 medium onion, sliced into half moons
1/4 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 green onions, sliced into 1-inch pieces, plus additional for serving
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Vegetable oil for stir frying

directions ~

1. Mix chicken broth and water, corn starch, sugar, oyster sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, and white pepper together in a small bowl; set aside.


2. Heat skillet or wok over medium high heat until just beginning to smoke. Adjust heat as needed. Have a dish nearby to place ingredients after stir frying.


3. Add a teaspoon of oil to skillet. Drop in garlic and green onions and stir until green onions look charred; remove to dish. Add another teaspoon of oil, then add the onions and bell pepper and cook until charred marks are visible on onions. After you remove those, cook cabbage in the same way with another teaspoon of oil. Once cooked, add back the vegetables in the dish and stir to mix. Pour the sauce on top, stirring constantly; remove skillet from heat and continue to mix until sauce has thickened. Place in dish and keep covered until ready to eat.

cinnamon oatmeal raisin bread

They say man cannot live by bread alone. This was said because cinnamon oatmeal raisin bread probably hadn't been discovered.

I've been meaning to make this recipe, from The Fresh Loaf, for a while now. Like just about every recipe I make that I talk about. I kept thinking of a slice of raisin-studded cinnamon bread toasted and slathered with butter and honey for breakfast. Finally, I made it.

Featuring the obvious, cinnamon and raisins, this also had oatmeal. You couldn't really tell, though, because the oats were soaked before being mixed with the flour. I like texture in my bread, so next time I'd either not soak all of them, or not soak them at all. They did add a more nutritious element, along with whole wheat flour, so this isn't as bad as, say, a cinnamon roll disguised as a slice of bread. Not too sweet, either, which I liked, though I'd have added just a bit more honey, or boosted it with some sugar, to enhance the flavor a bit more.

While mixing this bread, I accidentally added all the flour at once and it was much too dry. I fixed this by adding just enough water to get things mixing, knowing that the raisins, which were soaked and not pat dry, would also help. (A note for adding water: It might seem to be really sticky at first, and you'll be tempted to add additional flour. Don't. Just knead it a bit to allow the water to be absorbed by the flour.)

There's a ton of raisins. It might seem like too much, but it isn't. Often times I skimp on the fruit and realize after the fact that I shouldn't have, as the dough expands and the raisins do not.

With two tablespoons of cinnamon, the dough ended up turning a bit grey. Weird, huh? I think with less cinnamon and a bit more of the sweet stuff you could get away with whiter, more enhanced flavor, though I'm not complaining at all.

Another note was that this bread was quite dense. The loaves were like weights, I swear I could have gotten some strength training in after they baked. The recipe says it makes 3 8x4-inch loaves, and I only have two of those, so I figured 2 9x5-inch loaves would be appropriate. While they rose well, and I don't think they would have had I made 3, they still were rather dense. If anything, this is a very filling bread to have on hand for a sweet bite that'll leave you satisfied, and is also good for you.

And what to do with extra bread? You make French toast! And you douse it with powdered sugar. Slices of bread soaked with a creamy custard-like mixture of eggs and milk, flavored slightly with nutmeg and sugar (hoping it would help caramelize the crust -- I don't know if this worked), then fried on the skillet until crispy and golden.

This has been a very technical post in terms of what I've told you. I'm almost boring myself. Almost, because I find what I have to say very important.

I will be submitting this bread to YeastSpotting, a place where great bread comes together.

---

If you are interested in a different kind of energy, one that you can try whilst exercising, head on over to Trying to Heal's blog for a chance to win some Forze GPS Bars. They come in some pretty delicious flavors!

No-Knead to panic, just bring your towel

Hello, there! This recipe has been talked about before on here, though I never cared for the pictures. Since I made this loaf for our traditional New Year's Eve fondue, I snapped better ones and I'm going to talk about it once again.

So yes, the "debate" about no-knead bread, and the carryover to Artisan in Five recipes, is that the fun of baking bread is lost if you don't get your hands messy (I actually feel that way about bread machines because you work with the dough even less than this). Even for someone who likes to bake, like me, I can appreciate a good loaf that's quick to make and produces knockout results. I'm not necessarily trading learning techniques for the easy route, I just want something I don't have to think about and fits around my schedule.

And for not requiring much hand-on time, this does just that. The crust is excellent and the crumb texture is outstanding. My only complaint was that it seemed a bit gummy. I fixed that this time by adding about 1/4 cup additional flour. The dough wasn't as shaggy, but it rose just the same and was a bit easier to work with during the folding period. The crust seemed a bit more egg shell-like than the loaf I made for comparison with the regular amount of flour.

Beautiful. Tastes amazing plain, toasted, as croutons or as a platform for toppings. You just can't go wrong with this recipe.

---

No-Knead Bread
Recipe by Jim Lahey on Martha Stewart

My notes: I mixed the salt with the water before adding it to the flour and yeast. I've seen many recipes lately saying to mix the salt with the instant yeast, and my general knowledge is that salt kills yeast, though maybe it doesn't affect instant yeast the same as active dried yeast. Whatever the reason, I just mix it with the water. And I use kosher salt.

Instead of wheat bran, I use rice flour to dust the cotton towel and the top of the bread. I find that the loaf doesn't absorb rice flour as it does wheat flour. Carry on.

ingredients ~

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Olive oil, as needed
Cornmeal or wheat bran, as needed (optional)

directions ~

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Coat a second large bowl with olive oil. Transfer dough to oiled bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, but preferably up to 18, in a room about 70 degrees in temperature. When surface is dotted with bubbles, dough is ready.


2. Lightly flour work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.


3. Sprinkle just enough flour over work surface and your fingers to keep dough from sticking; quickly and gently shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran; place dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran. Cover with a second cotton towel and let rise until it has more than doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours.


4. After about 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot, such as cast-iron or Pyrex, in oven as it heats. When dough has fully risen, carefully remove pot from oven. Remove top towel from dough and slide your hand under the bottom towel; turn dough over into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough looks unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking until browned, 15 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

my daily bread

This bread comes from the best book ever, The Bread Book. My brother picked it up from the library years ago and it was a household hit. Whenever I get around to making it (which ranges from all the time to never...), it replaces store bought sandwich bread.

Called "light whole wheat bread", technically this recipe has around a 3-1 ratio of white bread flour to whole wheat, though I use half of each. Starting with a sponge, which the recipe description says adds more flavor, lends a better texture, and something else, the bread then proceeds in typical break-making fashion with the kneading, rising, shaping, rising, baking, and eating.

A tight-but-light crumb with a soft, chewy, and nutty flavor perfect for sandwiches, toast, or just spread with butter and/or jam. This is the kind of loaf that comes to mind when you think of homemade bread, as it's just a perfect "regular" bread to be kept around at all times. The extra loaves can be frozen, wrapped, until you need them

I'll post the recipe later since the book isn't in sight.

hot dog buns

Yesterday I made hot dog buns for bratwursts. I used the same dough as I used to make hamburger buns a while ago. (Looking at that post, I can't believe I'm even posting this as the pictures really aren't very great in comparison.)

I shaped these almost like you would a baguette and they seemed to hold their shape well enough after rising.

The only change to the recipe was to replace a half cup of the water for milk since I didn't use dry milk powder, though it still tastes really great and shows the excellent versatility of this recipe. The taste is outstanding and you won't get that straw-like consistency you have with store-bought buns.

Here's my almost but not quite Chicago-style bratwurst.

I will be submitting this to YeastSpotting.

cheesy bread

I've been hearing again about Artisan Baking in 5 Minutes recently, first on Adam's blog (now I want a Key Lime Pi shirt -- I'm such a sucker for subliminal advertising), then I saw a recipe over at Pete Bakes! for roasted tomato and cheddar bread. The recipe makes 4 1-pound loaves, though you don't have to make it all at once since you can leave the dough in the fridge for up to seven days. Nice.

As you can see, I left the tomatoes out, using them as a base for a quick pasta sauce instead. But that doesn't detract from the bread in any way. Using whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour, the sharp cheddar paired well with the nuttiness. Definitely I need to toast a slice, and I wish I had apple butter.

What impressed me the most about this was two things, 1) no real kneading, and 2) no fat in the recipe. You'd get some if you added the tomatoes, but otherwise nothing. The bread comes out wonderfully moist and spongy with an even crumb. A rustic crust and a subtle fermented flavor is also there, though since I made this loaf the first day I'm betting the second loaf will taste even better. I opted to divide the dough in half to make two 9x5" loaves, suitable for sandwiches and such, though considering that I should have sliced them a bit thinner.

I'm submitting this to YeastSpotting and One Good Loaf.

cornmeal rolls and african chicken stew

Oh, the weather outside is getting frightful!
The winter is the only time this is acceptable.
But as long as it continues on so,
I'll stay inside and make rolls.

Yes, that pretty much sums up the cold streak here. And it's legitimately cold, not just be saying that sixty degrees is chilly. Kenny's coat sounds like a good idea right now, and if my down coat wasn't white I'd probably be wearing it around the house, even.

I had originally planned for these rolls to be for dinner two nights ago to go alongside a bean soup, but I started late. When it became obvious that these would not be finished in time, I stuck the bowl in the fridge to be shaped the next night.

What intrigued me about this recipe, found after a Google search, was the method of incorporating the cornmeal into the rest of the ingredients. Typically, you might find the cornmeal soaked in some of the water that has been heated to hydrate the cornmeal, though instead you make a cornmeal mush with milk. And do resist the urge to taste it; with four teaspoons of salt in the mix, even a salt addict like myself will gag. Don't be alarmed, however, since the finished rolls won't taste salty.

The taste was moist and slightly crunchy, and probably would make excellent toasting bread.

Having little to no desire to think of anything creative for dinner, I once again Googled "chicken stew" and happened upon a link for African Chicken Stew, containing peanut butter. I've seen it before and made a mental note to try it, but if you know me you know what that means.

Finally, though, I can say I've made it. It was pretty good, though sometimes my mind can't get over the "peanut butter should be sweet" concept. The flavorings were good, and though I didn't have ground coriander, a little cilantro on top helped perk up an otherwise boring colored dish and added more flavor. I also sprinkled the top with chopped peanuts.

If I made any variations in the future, it'd be to the chicken so it won't dry. That was my fault because the skillet wasn't at the correct heat, and perhaps I'd have bigger chunks of chicken next time. Overall, I liked it, and the cornmeal rolls made out to be a good pairing.

I will be submitting the cornmeal rolls to YeastSpotting and One Good Loaf, a pretty neat group on Flikr that's based on the premise of sharing what you've baked with each other. Visit Molly's blog, One Good Loaf, for more info.

Recipes ~
African Chicken Stew
Cornmeal Rolls ~ to which I added 2 tablespoons olive oil

Pretzel Powa!

Loverly, with stone ground mustard

Pretzels have power, in case you were clueless of the fact. You know, carbohydrates = calories = energy = powa! Why, what were yoooou thinking? It doesn't matter, even if pretzels weren't powafull I'd still eat them.

I'm not speaking of tiny, crisp pretzels (though those are amazing dipped in various dippins, such as natural peanut butter, flavored peanut butter, hummus, white bean dip, tuna... I'll stop while I'm ahead), I'm speaking of soft pretzels (which would also taste good dipped in the aforementioned dippins).

Before I elaborate on how it went down, my dad was talking of the lye dip, and hearing what he said confirms that I will never be lye-dipping. The pretzels. He said that he and his friend were contemplating how to remove the really bad clog of his friend's kitchen drain. They decided to use lye (something about that particular brand... Drano, I think it was, that used to have lye? Okay, after a quick search, they use sodium hydroxide, which is soda lye... holy horrors, it's made from ashes... eww, and toothpaste, cologne, body wash... This is a sick world we live in, SICK world!) and decided to pour down more than the recommended amount because the drain was REALLY clogged. The good part is that the drain cleared up. The bad part was the fumes became so intense, they had to immediately evacuate the premises for a few hours.

Kneading action

Oh, the shapes, squares and snakes!

Back to soft pretzels. I made them. I ate them. Okay, that was stupid! For reasons of unexplainable reasons, I have never made soft pretzels before. Making them confirmed my stupidity. Heed from my mistakes. YOOU! Make da pretzel, harness tha POWA! But don't fight the power -- that'll negate the soft pretzel effect.

I did briefly boil these in boiling water and baking soda and I think it helped the crust come out closer to what you would associate a soft pretzel to taste like than a non-dipped pretzel. The outtards (or in bread terms, the crust) were nice and chewy, a bit crispy from coming out of the oven but not like artisan crispy, and the innards (or crumb) was soft, tasted better than a regular white bread despite being practically the exact same dough. Hmm, not practically, it was. But it had a different taste. Not sourdough-y, but seemingly richer and with a heightened flavor. It was good, so there.

Post-boiled pretzels


See the baked-ness of it?

I used the recipe from Emeril Lagasse's There's A Chef In My Soup, with a few tweaks in the process. He has you mixing the oil and all the brown sugar with the yeast/milk mixture, I did a teaspoon of sugar and added the oil after it finished the yeast activation. I didn't grease the bowl with two tablespoons of oil. The rest of the brown sugar was mixed with the flour and salt, and when I added that to the yeasted milk, it was a bit dry so I added enough water to maintain a stiff and slightly tacky dough. Then, I boiled it per the method of The Fresh Loaf's pretzel process. Then, I sprinkled some with kosher salt and baked until a rich, golden brown color occurred.

This was reeeaaally gooood, mwfuwahchomp-ness

The next day, I chose the pretzel that didn't have any holes because of how it rose/how I formed it, and it made the most amazing bread for a sandwich, ever! I opted for a vegetable and cheese sandwich, mainly so the bread's taste could come through, and how it did! I faintly remember eating a sandwich from Bennigan's that was made with pretzel bread and this reminded me of that.

This is actually the first sammich (that I can recall) that I've had this month


The bread was dense enough to not become a lump of wet bread, but not dense enough to be dry and disgusting

Now, my brain has gone into overdrive by trying to come up with ways to make flavored pretzels. Cinnamon-raisin, orange-cinnamon-raisin, asiago cheese pretzels, sun-dried tomato pretzels, the possibilities are endless!