Loafing about...

Lil's egg salad is whipped up and only needs to be photographed and then posted.  Here is some light reading (Bubbles, Bread and Beer by Olivia Judson from NYTimes.com) for while you wait.
- Sar

Sandwich Bread Narrative

I have not been able to bake (nor post) much because of my summer class schedule.  This morning, I was in the middle of reading for my children's literature course and I decided to start some bread, even though I have enough reading and writing to keep me busy all weekend, why not break it up a little?  The thing is, I didn't waste time looking in any cookbooks.  I just took out the sourdough starter and got started.  This is what happened:

I measured 1 cup of sourdough starter and poured it into a bowl.  I looked at it.  The sourdough is not happy with our mistreatment lately.  Lil used it last week but I feel like it still knows that I neglected it a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe it's just my conscience.

So, I decided to get out the yeast too.  In a separate bowl I mixed 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon yeast, and 2 tablespoons warm water. While the yeast proofed I added 1 cup white whole wheat, 1/2 cup bread, 1/2 cup rye, 1/4 cup whole wheat flours along with 1 cup warm water.  Oh and 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten and 2 teaspoons salt.  The starter burped with delight.  This was getting exciting.

I added the yeast to the sourdough.  A tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, three tablespoons honey... and then I remembered something weird I had read in my dads "El Molino" cookbook.  In their basic sourdough bread recipe they called for some freaky things.  I figured, since I am not playing by any rules, I might as well try them.  They are the secret ingredients.  They are two things that I would never think to put into a loaf of bread.  In they went....

The dough was pretty wet but I waited about 1 hour before attempting to knead it.  I added in about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of white whole wheat flour in my kneading.  I am not kidding, the dough was real wet.  However, I didn't knead for more than 3-4 minutes until the dough was incorporated.  Then, I plopped it into a well-oiled bowl, did some more reading, went to yoga class.

Fast forward 2 1/2 hours.  The dough more than doubled.  I wasn't sure if I should make it into one loaf or two but I decided on going all in on one loaf.  That way, if it came out horrible it wouldn't feel like such a failure.  I oiled one bread pan let it rise again for about 45 minutes.  Then, I turned on the oven to 375 and put a cast iron pan of water in the bottom just as a brilliant idea struck me.  Why not a sweet honey-water wash to help some wheat germ stick to the top of our loaf?  I mixed up a little bit (but too much) water with some honey and sprinkled wheat germ on top.  I put the extra watered down honey into my Kava tea.

I put the bread in before the oven was up to temperature and let it warm with the oven.  I only left the water in there for 20 minutes.  It baked for a total of 40 minutes.  It cooled.  I ate a slice.  Success!  The secret ingredients are phenomenal!  So good, in fact, that I made a little peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
My dad eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch everyday.  Alongside a tall glass of coffee and a cup of yogurt.

This is what I made:

Happy Father's Day (and thanks for the El Molino cookbook) Dad.

Love,
Sarah

P.S. Stay tuned for Lily's famous egg salad sandwich recipe!

Whole Wheat Rye Pizza Crust

It was Sar's birthday a few weeks ago (I KNOW I'm a terrible post-er...I'm busy...please try not to judge me) and, although I didn't make her a birthday loaf, I gifted her something a bit more lasting and still bread related, obviously.  I gave her a pizza stone! I'll be honest - I'm definitely going to enjoy the pizza stone, too, especially if we continue to make delicious pizzas like the one we made May 22nd.  Please do not check your calendars and think about how long ago that was.  Please.

This pizza was epic.  The battle we fought against the smoke detector - also epic. For some reason our smoke alarm detects not only smoke, but also heat in general and apparently our frustration, as well.  The worst part is that the alarm is 9 feet up on the ceiling and Sar and I are both short individuals.  There was no getting up there to dismantle the thing, so we had to resort to swatting at it with a towel while jumping wildly in the air.  Eventually I defeated the alarm by rigging a fan on high stacked on top of R2D2, our human-sized, portable pseudo-AC.   He's yet to pay rent, but he certainly played a solid role in defeating the smoke detector.  Anyway, the battle was won, but I'm guessing the war is not over.

Back to the pizza.  The pizza stone really made the difference in the crust - it was both crunchy and chewy, and it held up against the toppings even after sitting on the counter for a bit.  Dennis, Sar, and I downed a whole pizza - not too shocking, but definitely a positive indicator.  The combination of whole wheat and rye flours in the crust was fantastic.

Here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat Rye Pizza Crust
Makes 2 medium sized pizzas

Ingredients:
1 cup dark rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon maple sugar (which we actually had! if you don't, syrup is fine)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

What to do:
In a large bowl, combine the water, maple sugar or syrup, and yeast and let sit for about 10-15 minutes until the yeast gets foamy and active.  In the meantime, mix the flours and salt in another bowl until they're evenly combined.  When the yeast are nice and lively, mix in oil and then start adding the flour a bit at a time until you can no longer mix the dough in the bowl.  Stop adding flour if you notice the dough is getting dry or stiff - it should be soft, but not quite sticky.

Turn the mixed dough and any loose flour that hadn't quite combined onto a clean surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is well combined and elastic.  If it still feels dry while you're kneading, drip (and I mean one drop at a time) some water onto the dough and knead it in.

Once you're done kneading, clean out one of the bowls and oil it lightly.  Place the dough into the bowl and cover with a towel.  Allow the dough to rise until doubled.  This took about 45 minutes for me in a warm kitchen - it could be a bit longer, depending on the kitchen temperature.  After it's doubled, dump the dough onto the kneading surface again and gently deflate it.  Knead again for 1 minute and then return the dough to the bowl to double again.  Bread is a waiting game, what can I say?

After the second rise, you can then turn the dough out onto a surface and get it ready to be topped.  It's pretty easy to handle, as pizza dough goes, so be careful not to stretch it too thin.  That's exactly what I did here and we had to split it into two halves and then halve one of the halfs and make an accidental calzone.  I'm telling you - things get weird when it's too thin.

[Bigger than our oven]

While you're shaping your pizzas, pre-heat the oven (with the pizza stone in there if you have one!) to about 525 or 550 degrees F.

Top the pizza with our red or white sauces (recipes here ) and some fresh mozzarella, basil, or any other toppings you'd like.  We used broccoli florets sauteed with minced garlic.

[Half of that beast being topped by Sar's beautiful hands]

Transfer directly onto the pizza stone as best you can.  Having a pizza peel would make this a million times easier.  It would have also helped us avoid this:

[Strangely-shaped blob]

Or this...

[Accidental, yet delicious, calzone-ish thing]

Bake for about 15 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges, as seen above.

Warning: I suggest having at least 4 people around to eat this pizza because you will finish it.  Or maybe make sure you don't have anyone around, if you're feeling greedy :) 

Happy birthday, Sar.  You ask for it, you get it.

The Geography of Whole Wheat RAISED Waffles

Yeasted is not a word.  But let's not get nit-picky.  Let's talk geography, not grammar.

What American's know as a "Belgian Waffle" in Belgium is actually called the Brussels Waffle.  Belgian waffles, like Belgian draft horses, are different from your average breed of waffle in that they are super tall.    The trick to a true Belgian waffle is that the bread-er uses yeast to raise the waffles.  I don't think that's what the breeder uses to make the horses over a ton but who knows.  Everything is bigger in Belgium.  (?!)  This Belgian, Maurice Vermersch (I don't know how big he was.  Probably huge if he went along with the horses/waffles trend), introduced the waffle during the 1964 NY World's Fair and decided to call it the Belgian waffle upon observing the poor geographical skills of Americans.

The world according to The New Yorker (and perhaps even an understatement of how New Yorkers see it):

AND Manhattan is getting BIGGER according to this NYTimes article on the new subway maps!

Whole Wheat Raised Waffles  Adapted from Orangette - who got the recipe from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book

(Printable Recipe)
Yields about 4-5 batches of waffles (depends on size and configuration of waffle maker)

1/2 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups whole milk

1 stick unsalted butter, melted*

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

The night before, mix the water, yeast and sugar and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Measure and mix the milk, butter, salt and flours.

Combine with yeast and let stand overnight.  Use a large mixing bowl since the batter will double in size.

In the morning, preheat your waffle maker.

Just before cooking, beat 2 eggs with baking soda and mix into batter.

Cut fruits (we used banana, blueberry, strawberry and apple) can be added on top of the batter after it has been poured into the waffle iron.  

Fruit is optional, but highly recommended.  It's your thing, do what you wanna do.  If you get some fruit stick-age to the iron just let it be part of the next waffle if you cannot remove it gently.

*The next time I use this recipe I will substitute 3/4 cup apple sauce and use only 1/4 stick (2 tablespoons) of butter.  They were delicious and crispy BUT we don't need need to raise cholesterol for raised waffles.

We bought a new waffle iron for my dad as an early fathers day gift.  I had read the Cook's Illustrated waffle iron reviews without consulting my mother.  Both of us went out shopping without communicating and fortunately, only she was successful.  Worst case scenario, we would have had to make space for a waffle maker in our tiny UES apartment.  God forbid.

But anyways, my mom found the Food Network Signature Series waffle maker.  So Aaron and I presented it to my dad, because we love him, and so that I would have an excuse to take the maiden voyage with the waffle maker.  Much of making good waffles is in knowing your waffle maker.  The first few came out a little bit soft to our liking and so we learned to ignore the first "beeeeep" for the second.  There was some talk about how perhaps the trick is when you stop getting steam and that if you are adding fruit, be sure to leave the waffle on (without peeking) for a bit longer.  It's hard to ignore, especially for notoriously impatient New Yorkers, but well worth the wait.

New Yorkers are so rushed that tourists get their own sidewalk lane:

This post is happening from my country home on Freund's Farm in Connecticut.  Although we live in New York now, Lil and I were both raised in the beautiful Northwest corner of CT (aka the NWC).  I think at least part of our patience for bread can be attributed to our country roots because it definitely has nothing to do with trying to squeeze onto the 6 train at 8AM (the 2nd avenue subway is coming!!!)

For those loyal NYC reader(s), just wondering, do you know about the Wafels and Dinges truck?  (And is it weird to ask a question to cyberspace?)  I see it up by 116th on the West Side occasionally.  Just smelling the waffles is at least 2000 calories.  The owner makes them so authentic that he even spells them "wafels" instead of waffles.  Pretty legitimate.  For my melting pot taste buds, these buttery whole wheat raised waffles were fantastic.

Thank for sharing your waffles, Belgium.  Sorry American's tend to not care where in the world you are.  I suppose if you wanted us to know, you should have kept the waffle to yourself so we'd have to travel for them.  No going back now.

- Sarah

P.S. Belgium borders the Netherlands, Germany, and France.  The capital city, Brussels, is essentially due East of London.  Start at home and practice your USA geography:

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Sourdough-Oat Scones with Cherries and Dark Chocolate

Scones vs. Biscuits

Both are quick breads with baking powder as a leavening agent.  The basic dough of both is quite similar - the difference is in how they are baked and served.

Scones are sweet, served with hot tea (Harney strongly recommended) or coffee.  They often (and in my opinion, should always) contain fruit, nuts, or spices.

Biscuits are typically unsweetened and best served warm with butter or honey alongside a meal, like Vegetarian Chili, for example.

I was inspired to bake a sourdough scone after reading this recipe on Wild Yeast Blog's YeastSpotting.  Some of the ingredients were measured in weight (fortunately, we have a kitchen scale) and so I changed them to volume (cups, teaspoons, etc) along with my modifications to the recipe.

Sourdough-Oat Scones with Dried Cherries and Dark Chocolate

(Printable Recipe)


Yields 16 scones

Bake time 23 minutes

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup oat flour

5 tsp nonfat milk powder

1/4 cup sugar

5/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon lemon zest

8 tablespoons (one stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup dark chocolate chopped

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup sourdough starter

milk

coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 400°F. 

In a large mixing bowl, blend the flours, milk powder, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest.

Press in cold butter* until it is in pea-sized chunks.
Mix in the dried cherries, dark chocolate, and rolled oats.
Add sourdough starter and mix lightly until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and pat into a long rectangle.
Cut** into four squares and then cut X's into squares to get four triangular scones, each.  Sixteen scones total.
Place scones on parchment lined baking sheet - brush with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake 23 minutes or until golden brown.

*Why cold butter?  And freezing scones/biscuts...
Cold butter makes biscuits flaky.  Fat coats the proteins in the flours preventing them from forming long gluten strands.  In this way, the butter buffers the layers between the flour-liquid matrix -- as the biscuit bakes in the oven, the butter melts.  Ta da, flaky texture!
Scones/biscuits that use the combination of flour, liquid, baking powder, and solid fat can be frozen for 30 minutes before baking.  After shaping and placing on the cookie sheet, freeze for 30 minutes.  You get a flakier texture because the fat stays solid longer in the oven, holding together the structure as the biscuit rises and bakes.
**It is important to cut biscuit and scone dough with sharp dough cutters.  Cutting with dull knives or glasses destroys "side walls" that freely expand as biscuits/scones bake allowing them to rise to their optimum height.

A side note, directed at my father, on white whole wheat flour.  My dad said, "White whole wheat doesn't make sense to me."  So, here's an explanation: White Whole Wheat flour is made from an albino wheat rather than a traditional red wheat.  It is a milder, lighter 100% whole wheat flour and in recipes it acts a lot more like all-purpose (i.e. you don't need to add as much liquid to compensate if you are substituting).  It's a great compromise between taste and nutrition because it doesn't get a whole-wheaty texture/taste yet it supplies the nutrients of 100% whole wheat.

In my scone research, I found that The Wandering Eater posted on The Best Scones in New York City in 2006.  It's been four years and these  Cherry-Dark Chocolate Scones could at least give Eli's a run for a place in the top 5.

- Sar