No Knead Bread

I thought I would document the no knead bread that I have been making since we moved away from our fabulous bakery/coop. Its a pretty simple recipe and open to alot of adjustments. I showed daddy how to make it when they visited us a while ago and he could probably also chime in with ideas.

Time: 31/2 hours (10 minutes of work)
Makes: 1 loaf.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups Water
  
• 2 tsp Yeast
• 2 tsp Salt
• 3 1/2 Cups Flour (I usually use 2 of WW and 1 1/2 of White but you can mix and match)

1. Mix the water, yeast and salt. Don't worry about proofing it or anything.
2. Stir in the flour. You don't need to worry much about this step just get it all wet. It could be that if you stir it alot now it will make a more holey/crusty/chewy bread and less sandwichy but I am not sure. The dough should still be pretty wet and sticky after mixing. You might need to add water or flour.
   
3. Rise it in the bowl for 2 hours or so. It should not spring back when you poke it. I usually rise it in the microwave since that stays warm and isn't drafty. If you want to accelerate the rise you can turn it on for a minute at the start.
4. Make the loaf. This is the only tricky part so I made a video. Basically get your hands wet and stretch the "skin" of the loaf a bit to make the crust. Technically, I believe this is called cloaking. I think the less you disturb it at this point the airier the bread will be. If you want you can also slash the loaf to make it pretty. Use a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors.
5. Let the loaf rise again. After 20 minutes turn on the oven to 400 or so. When it is hot put in the bread and bake for 35 minutes. When it is done it will sound hollow when you tap it.

Thats it. Basically all the bread we eat these days is made this way. The recipe seems to be very forgiving to sloppy measuring and experimentation. We have made oat bread by leaving out a little flour and adding a cup of oats. Sunflower seed bread by adding sunflour seeds at the start. Change the character by how much you stir and or cloak the dough. Adjust the temperature for different crusts. Put a pan of water in the oven for a crunchier crust.

Two for One: An Oven Meal and a Great Soup for the Next Day

Turn on the oven to about 400-425 . Gather 1-2 sweet onions, a medium sized parsnip, about 5 carrots and a humongous sweet potato or two smaller ones. Cut up the onions in the shape that seems most artistic to you. I like skinny orange-section-like pieces. Toss those in olive oil and put into the oven a heavy oven proof pan. Repeat this with the peeled root vegetables in the order above, adding them one by one and turning the vegetables each time. You may want to make the parsnips a bit smaller, as they cook more slowly.

Then peel and chop a chunk of ginger root a bit bigger than my thumb and about 4 medium large garlic cloves. Toss about half of that on top of the vegetables along with a squirt of sherry about a tablespoon of soy sauce and some sesame oil and turn again. A little mirin or some teriyaki sauce may also be interesting but I didn't do that.

Leave the vegetables in the oven for about 15 minutes or when you figure they need about 8-10 more minutes to be perfect. Top with a chunk of thawed or fresh fish. sprinkle with the remaining garlic-ginger mixture, some paprika and again a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil and sherry and bake it for another 8-10 minutes. If you think it looks a bit anemic put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes toward the end but make sure not to overcook the fish.

Day Two (You can do this while the sous chef cleans the kitchen or you you can do it the next day)

Set the left-over fish aside and puree the left-over vegetables, gradually adding broth until you think the texture is about right. (I used the wand blender.) Put servings of the puree in bowls and microwave for a minute or two. Flake the left-over fish on top and microwave for another 30 seconds or so.

The Italian Version

The vegetables: onions, potatoes, mushrooms, green beans, tomatoes

The micro-chop: garlic and basil (remember to reserve some for the top of the fish)

olive oil and lemon juice and some wine if I remember correctly, probably sherry

The fish: 1 # or so of salmon and 3-4 shrimp and 3 scallops

I used the same process except that I chopped one of the scallops in small chunks and sliced each of the others into about three rounds before sprinkling on the vegetables. I peeled the shrimp.

When I made the soup I didn't puree but just further chopped the vegetables before putting them in the broth so there were no pieces larger than the end of my little finger. I added the flaked salmon and chopped shrimp and scallops just at the end.

Suction cups with hooks are life-changing things

My kitchen is.... petit, lacks drawers, and this makes storage a problem.

The extent of my storage space. All my cutlery is in a jar behind the sink,
which is under this frighteningly bowed cupboard.

 To compensate for this, I invested two Euros in little hooks attached to suction cups.

Now my measuring spoons are always handy!

Same for other cooking stuff.

 This has made me very happy and increased the storage I have available. In addition to the stuff in the pictures, I also now have spices, seasonings, a dish washing brush, and plastic bag for recyclables hanging from my kitchen walls.

Weekend Baking

Last weekend we did a bunch of baking.

We made graham crackers to take to daycare for their Valentines Day party and since Elizabeth managed to convince me to buy 6 bananas and then promptly decided she didn't want to eat any bananas that week, we had 3 brown bananas on the counter which were just itching to be made into banana bread.


We used this recipe for the graham crackers except we used maple syrup instead of honey. We also cut them into hearts and sprinkled them with red sugar instead of the topping they suggest. We did the 1/2 cup whole wheat. My comments on the recipe is that the dough is VERY soft and quite difficult to handle. I want to make graham crackers again but I'll try a different recipe next time.

Here is Elizabeth who got bored and decided to do dishes instead of helping me with the cookies:



Here is before baking:

I forgot to take any pictures after baking but they look just like that but poofier and browner. :)

Graham Crackers

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (375 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour (a swap of 1/2 cup with whole wheat flour or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour works well here, too)
1 cup (176 grams) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon (6 grams) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt (4 grams)
7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup (114 grams) mild-flavored honey, such as clover - we used maple syrup
5 tablespoons (77 grams) milk, full-fat is best
2 tablespoons (27 grams) pure vanilla extract

Topping (optional) - we skipped this
3 tablespoons (43 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) ground cinnamon

Make the dough: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside.

Roll out the crackers: Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. (We cut this into hearts.)

Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. (I didn't rotate and it was only 15 minutes for us. If you don't chill in the freezer prior to baking, they will be burnt at 15 min)

This is the whole wheat banana bread recipe we did. Again, I swapped out the honey for maple syrup since we were out of honey. I also added some mini chocolate chips.

• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup honey (I used maple syrup)
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Stir together dry ingredients.
2. Beat oil and honey together; add eggs and beat well.
3. Add bananas and beat to combine.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet, alternating with hot water; mix well after each addition.
5. Spoon batter into 24 greased muffin cups; bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and test done. (I did 24 mini muffins and 17 full size muffins)
6. Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Here is the finished product:



Alex and E sampling


And apparently it's the perfect hangover food. Not sure WHY she's hung over but this was the next morning:


Alex seems to have a bit less to recover from:

Bittmanesque chocolate instant pudding

H contemplates chocolate pudding, and layering.


We had one of my fabulosa friends from Richmond over last week. She and I had Zumba last semester, and I think it's the glue for a great friendship. To celebrate her coming over and sharing our table, we made chocolate! Of course! This recipe takes 5 minutes to make, and is super-duper easy. Just don't get water in that chocolate or it will separate and make the pudding gross textured.

Bittmanesque Chocolate Instant Pudding with a kick
1 packet non-refrigerated silken tofu (you know the kind)
4 oz bar baking chocolate
1 /4 cup cocoa
1 -2 T butter (or oil)
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar, boiled in 3/4 cup water to make syrup.
Almond slices, for topping

Possible variations: substitute 1/2 -1 tsp powdered ginger, or 1 T fresh and grated + 1-2 T chopped candied ginger for the cinnamon. I'm guessing this is good. Try it and see?

1) Melt chocolate.
2) Make Syrup.
3) Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor and whirrrrrr until you get a pudding-y texture.
4) Pour it in a bowl, and chill for at least 30 minutes.


H and P reading a story about chocolate pudding

Cornmeal pancakes!

Heidelberg is a tourist town, so the grocery stores near my place are all tiny, and do not carry a lot of kitchen and baking essentials, like, say, baking powder. This makes making regular pancakes tricky. Fortunately, I found a recipe online for cornmeal pancakes. I've scaled it down to about 

1/3 cup cornmeal, equal amount of boiling water, 1/3 that much milk, a little oil, a small squirt of vanilla extract, and some nuts.

On the right, batter, on the left, pancake in pan, and pancake on plate.

 The results are tasty, but I have a hard time getting them to fry nicely. I can't tell if it's a batter problem or just that I don't have great stove burners. When I put them down, they bubble immediately, but then stop bubbling as they cook and firm up, which is exactly the opposite of what the recipe calls for. Flipping them is always a little tricky, too.

Pancake with strawberry jam!

But, even though the recipe might not be perfect, they're fast and always turn out tasty.