Practice makes Perfect?

I haven’t had much luck in bread making; only Asian style bread using the Tangzhong recipes using recipes found online. 

However, after hearing my cousin’s success with bread, I decided to give bread making another shot.  Initially, I planned to enroll in Art of Bread, but due to procrastination on my part, the class was full when I got around to signing up. 

I read good things about Dan Lepard’s recipes and decided to them a try.  It wasn’t perfect but much better than my previous attempts.   I have been making my own bread the last month or so  and have noticed some improvements.  Unfortunately, I have not mastered it yet but hoping practice makes perfect!

Strawberry Season

Although I’m not a huge strawberry fan, I’ve been waiting anxiously to go berry picking this season.  I wanted to make some jam with freshly picked Ontario strawberries;   what is better than picking it myself? 

I guess everyone is on the lookout for organic PYO fruits; when we got there the parking lot was full and everyone was parked on the street.  It was a huge change from last summer.  They also moved the strawberry patch to another area of the farm.  We had to walk through a muddy trail to get to the large strawberry patch.  Thankfully it was worth the walk and the mud had dried up for the walk out from the patch.  

The type of strawberries that were available this year is a little different.  Last year, they were small but extremely sweet.  This year, they’re big and pretty but not exceptionally sweet.  Instead, they taste very fresh, very strawberry flavoured.   I didn’t pick as much as last summer but have enough for a few jars of jam.  I might go pick up some different varieties from the market and freeze them to make jam later this year.  Hopefully, dad doesn’t fly through his jam so quickly.



My not so swirly raisin bread

I started out using the tangzhong method for making bread.  With my so-called success, I wanted to branch out a little bit.  I turned to the trusted  Baking: From my home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  I had success with most of her recipes and felt her bread recipes would not disappoint.  I decided on her Raisin Swirl Bread recipe as it allowed me to make the bread over the course of two nights.  I have to say it was very easy to make, easier than the tangzhong method.  My loaf didn’t turn as as swirly as I used a  different size loaf pan and didn’t roll out my dough to match it.  Nevertheless, I was happy it turned out almost like the picture in the book, just less swirly.  

Now, one cannot make raisin bread and not make French toast.  As a side to my French toast, I knew I wanted bacon as for once, there was some in my fridge.  In a discussion we had at work about bacon (yes, we’re always discussing food), my friend show me how I can make maple bacon.  I don’t know why I never thought of that before and it’s super easy to make!   I paired it with some fruit to make it a little healthier.

I been looking and waiting and was finally able to get my hands on some duck eggs.  Although I had brunch plans, I couldn’t resist making fried duck egg on raisin toast. It's definitely more tasty then regular chicken eggs.  I didn’t feel like sunny side up, so I made it overeasy…which didn’t make it look as appealing presentation-wise. It was good and the greek yogurt with fruit was a perfect side. I still managed to eat at brunch and even had lunch!

Raisin Swirl Bread – Makes 1 loaf in 9x5” loaf pan

For the bread

1 packet active dry yeast

¼ cup sugar, plus a pinch

1 ¼ cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk

½ stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ tsp salt

1 large egg

3 ¾ to 4 cups all-purpose flour

For the swirl

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened to a spreadable consistency

1. Put the yeast in a small bowl, toss in the pinch of sugar and stir in ¼ cup of the warm milk. Let rest for 3 minutes, then stir – the yeast may not have dissolved completely and may not have bubbled, but it should be soft

2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, combine remaining 1 cup of milk, the butter and the remaining ¼ cup sugar and mix on low speed for a minute or two. Add the salt, and egg and mix for a minute. The mixture will look unpleasantly curdly. Add the yeast mixture and beat on medium-low speed for 1 minute.

3. Turn off the mixer and add 2 ¾ cups of the flour. Mix on low speed just until you work the flour into the liquids – you’ll have a sticky mix. If you’ve got a dough hook, switch to it now. Add another 1 cup of flour, increase mixer speed to medium and beat the dough for a couple of minutes. If the dough does not come together and almost clean up the sides of the bowl, add up to ¼ cup more flour, 1 tbsp at a time. Keep the mixer speed at medium and knead the doubh for about 3 minutes, or until it is smooth and has a lovely buttery sheen. The dough will be very soft, much too soft to knead by hand.

4. Butter a large bowl, turn the dough into the bowl and cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise until it is double in size, about 1 ½ hours.

5. Scrape dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap it and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm enough to be rolled easily. At this point, you can instead refrigerate the dough overnight.

6. To make the swirl, whisk together the sugar, and cinnamon. Check that the raisins are nice and moist, if not, steam them for a minute, and then dry well.

7. Put the dough on a large work surface lightly dusted with flour and lightly dust the top of the dough and roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 x 18 inches.

8. Gently smear 2 tbsp of butter over the surface of the dough – this is most easily done with your fingers.

9. Sprinkle over the sugar mixture and scatter over the raisin. Starting from a short side of the dough, roll the dough up jelly-roll fashion, making sure to roll the dough snugly. Fit the dough into the buttered pan, seam side down, and tuck the ends under the loaf.

10. Cover pan loosely with wax paper and set in a warm place; let dough rise until it comes just a little above the edge of the pan, about 45 minutes.

11. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat.

12. Melt the remaining 1 tbsp of butter, and brush the top of the loaf with the butter.

13. Put the pan on the baking sheet and bake the bread for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with f a foil tent and bake for another 25 minutes or so.

14. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold. Inver the bread and cool to room temperature ride side up on the rack.

Wrapped in plastic, the loaf will keep at room temperature for about 3 days; wrapped airtight, it will keep in freezer for up to 2 months.





Soft, Fluffy Bread

I have forayed into the world of making bread.  So far the journey has been a sweet one – I’ve only tried making tangzhong bread.  Using Christine’s recipe, I made Hong Kong sweet bread – it’s definitely as soft and fluffy as she said it would be.  I’m excited to try my hand at making Chinese buns and eventually into non-tangzhong bread. 



Making use of my Cookbook Collection

I love buying cookbooks so when a favourite cookbook author has a new book, I almost always have to buy them. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t normally pre-order. I go through the process of whether I need it, will use it but in the end always reward myself with it. In the end, it normally just sits on the shelf with all my other books waiting to be used. However, I have now decided that if I don’t use more of the books I currently own, I won’t allow myself to buy more. I’ve owned a few of Dorie Greenspan’s baking books and jumped on the chance to buy her current cookbook – Around My French Table. I’m happy to say I’ve used one of her chicken recipes and it was delicious and easy to make.

After realizing I had four apples way past its prime but still edible, I remember seeing this Apple cake recipe in Dorie’s book. I took it out and love that it had very few ingredients. I think preparing the apples took the longest for me. I agree with Dorie that the appeal of this cake is that it’s simple but satisfying. So if you have four extra apples lying around, please make this cake. I’m sure you’ll love it!

Marie-Helene’s apple cake – makes one 8inch cake
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table

Ingredients
¾ cup all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large apples (if you can, choose 4 different kinds)
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
3 tbsp dark rum (I omitted this as I didn’t have any)
½ tsp pure vanilla extra (also omitted as I don’t like using it)
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350F. Butter the springform cake pan and place on baking sheet.
1. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together
2. Peel , core and cut apples into 1 to 2” chunks
3. In a medium bowl, beat eggs with whisk until foamy. Pour in sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in rum and vanilla extract. Whisk in half of flour mixture, when incorporated, add half of melted butter, followed by rest of the flour and the remaining butter. Mix gently after each addition so you have a smooth, rather thick batter.
4. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in apples. Turn fruit so it’s coasted with batter and scrape evenly into prepared pan.
5. Bake cake for 50-60 minutes or until top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted in comes out. Cake also pulls away from sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and rest for 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. This cake keeps at room temperate for about 2 days.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

My first post of 2011 is a little late but it’s been so crazy at work; I’ve had no time to do much of anything.  My New Year’s resolution this year was to not be so lazy.  I definitely haven’t been lazy; I even went into work on New Year’s Day!  Yet, the work seems to be never-ending.    I think work has slowly taking over my life.  I need to work harder to balance it out again.  Even though I worked some crazy hours this week, I somehow managed to make bake twice, and all in one night!  I made banana loaf for Tomy and bittersweet brownies for myself.  I’ve experimented with various brownie recipes and still think this one is the best…8ozs of 70% bittersweet chocolate.  How can you beat that?  The recipe comes from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert. 

Bittersweet Brownies Adapted from Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert

Ingredients (makes sixteen 2” brownies):

8oz 70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped – I used Lindt
3oz unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
3 large eggs
150g sugar
Scant ¼ tsp salt
1.2oz all purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and line 8” square baking pan with parchment
1. Place chocolate and butter in heatproof bowl and set over a pan of almost simmering water. Stir frequently until mixture is melted, smooth and quite warm. Remove and set aside.
2. In medium bowl, beat eggs, sugar and salt until eggs are thick and light coloured.
3. Whisk in warm chocolate and fold in flour.
4. Scrape batter into lined pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool on a rack.


Enjoy!

My Obsessions

I’m obsessed with Swiss Rolls and tarts, partly because I really like eating them. Plus I’m still trying to perfect my swiss roll making skills. Last time, I made the most delicious sponge but was able to roll it nicely into a tight roll. This time, it looked perfect but the sponge lacked the texture I desired. I guess more trial and error until I made the perfect roll.

Tarts on the other had is much easier. One of my faves is the apricot tart, made with an almond filling. Tarts on the other had is much easier. One of my faves is the apricot tart, made with an almond filling.

Gotta go enjoy the last little bit of the long weekend, and hopefully pick up some alphonso mangos which I confirmed are on sale in Torono.

Cleaning out the fridge.

I needed some new recipes to use up my carton of buttermilk and cornmeal that has been in the cupboard for too long. Freshly out of the oven, it was delicious and ridiculously easy to make. It’s the cornmeal and fruit loaf from Dorie; there are still many wonderful recipes I need to test out from her book.