ABC's of Bread

I'm one of those people who make New Year's resolutions without fail. Some resolutions survive the year and others don't (but we won't talk about those!!) This year one of my resolutions is to bake more bread at home. I do a lot of baking and supervise a lot of baking at my job as a pastry chef instructor but my family misses out on a lot of these efforts. I also want to increase my knowledge and skill in bread baking as well. So here is my first effort - starting with A for Anadama bread.

There are many stories on how this bread got its name, one being that Anna left her husband for another man and left nothing at home but cornmeal, flour and molasses. The unfortunate husband put it all together, added some yeast all the while yelling "Anna, damn'er!" and this bread was created. I'm not sure about the accuracy of that story, but it sounds funny enough to keep repeating!

Here's an adaption of Mr. Reinhart's recipe. Thanks to my wonderful husband for the beautiful picture!!

Anadama Bread (adapted from Bread Baker's Apprentice - Peter Reinhart)

Soak for 24 hours:

1 cup cornmeal in 1 cup room temperature water

4 1/2 cups Bread flour

2 tsp instant yeast or 3 tsp active dry yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

1 1/2 tsp salt

6 Tbsp molasses

2 Tbsp butter (unsalted)

After your cornmeal has soaked for 24 hours add 2 cups of flour, instant yeast and lukewarm water to form a sponge. Stir together well, cover and let sit at room temperature until bubbles begin to form - about one hour. Stir in the rest of the flour, molasses, salt and butter. If using a Kitchen Aid mixer, use the dough hook and mix on low speed for about 6 - 8 minutes, until dough is smooth and cleans the side of the bowl. Stop mixing, remove dough hook and spray with oil. Cover and let double in size. Divide dough in two and shape into loaves. Place in parchment lined loaf pans and let rise until the dough reaches the top of the pan. Bake at 350F for 20 - 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on cooling racks.

Bread Making 101 - Part 2

I really enjoy making bread by hand. I feel like I am really in touch with my food when I make a loaf or two. I enjoy the process of kneading, the feeling of the dough as I pat it down and shape it and the anticipation of the final results while it is baking in the oven. I also love the looks of wonder and appreciation when my family enjoys the results because nothing tastes like homemade bread fresh from the oven!

French Bread – adapted from Peter Reinhart’s “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice”

Pate fermentee from previous recipe
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ cups bread flour
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp instant yeast
1 ¼ cups water, lukewarm

Make sure to remove the pate fermentee from the fridge at least one hour before you are going to use it to take off the chill. To warm it quicker, cut it into small pieces, cover with plastic and let sit for an hour.

Stir together dry ingredients, yeast and pate fermentee. Add the water and stir until everything comes together. Adjust the flour or water if necessary – you want a dough that is not too sticky, almost rubbery. Knead by hand for about 10 minutes or with a dough hook for about 6 minutes. The dough should be smooth and springy and have an internal temperature of around 80F.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, turn the dough over to coat lightly in oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size.

Gently remove the dough from the bowl and put it on a lightly flour counter. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces, taking care to degas as little as possible. Form the pieces into baguettes or long cylinders by rolling gently. Place on a parchment lined baking tray and let proof at room temperature for 45 minutes or until the loaves are about 1 ½ times their original size. Spray loaves with a fine mist of water and slash the loaves with 3 or 4 short diagonal cuts using a very sharp knife, razor or baker’s blade.

Preheat oven to 500F and make sure to have an empty tray in the bottom of the oven – you’re going to use this to make steam.

Put the loaves in the oven or transfer to a baking stone (if using). Pour 1 cup of hot water into the pan at the bottom and close the oven door. After 5 minutes lower the oven temperature to 450F and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pans to ensure even baking and bake for another 10 – 20 minutes until the crust is a deep golden brown and the internal temperature registers at least 205F.

Remove the laves fro the oven and cool on a rack for at least 40 minutes before slicing or serving.

Fun in the Kitchen

I’ve always had an interest in baking and from a young age I would watch and “help” my mother in the kitchen. I had my own little tin baking set with wooden rolling pin and there would always be enough dough left over to make my own jam pie. While she scooped out cookies and rolled out dough, I would be up to my elbows in flour working on my masterpiece.

I still have that tin baking set but now my girls are the ones who use it. They eagerly help me out when I make pies and cookies, sneaking a bit of cookie dough and rolling out their own jam pies. I’m thrilled that they want to spend time in the kitchen with me because the time spent together is much more important than the product that results from our efforts. Baking is fun for us and we get to be silly, share secrets and sing off key to the music on the radio.

So when I’m asked for advice and recipes for baking with kids I always suggest keeping it simple. Children really don’t mind that much what the end result is – they just want to spend time with you. So whether you are making cookies, muffins or biscuits it doesn’t really matter. The act of being together is what is important.

Here is a quick and easy recipe to make with your children:

Berry Crisp

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup white cake mix
1 cup butter

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Chop up butter and then add to dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, knife or your hands, break up the butter and mix into the dry ingredients. They butter bits should be the size of peas.

In a greased casserole dish put 1/2 of the crisp mixture and pat down gently. Then mix together:

4 cups berries (I used blueberries and strawberries) fresh or frozen
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 plain yogourt or sour cream

Mix berry mixture well and then pour over crumb base. Top with remaining crisp mixture and pat down gently.

Bake in 325F oven for 30 minutes or until the fruit starts to bubble from the sides. Serve warm with ice cream!!

Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted Red Peppers

Sometimes I do things on the spur of the moment that halfway through the process I say to myself “what was I thinking?” Today was just such a day.

I was doing my grocery shopping and saw that red peppers were on sale. Eager to enjoy some roasted red peppers and remembering that I had some unused mason jars at home I bought 20 peppers, yes 20. This should have been my “what am I thinking” moment but unfortunately it wasn’t. I brought my windfall home, found a recipe for pickled roasted red peppers and set to work.

I read through the recipe and realized I didn’t have the white wine I needed (1 ½ cups). So off to the liquor store. On the way I decided to keep on going to Halifax – I didn’t have a large enough pot to process the jars but my Mom did so I would borrow hers. Keep in mind that I’m not on my own during all this. I have 2 children, 4 & 8 years old who find all this incredibly dull and aren’t the least bit hesitant to let me know how excruciatingly boring their day is because of Mom’s spur of the moment idea. This, again, should have been a “what am I thinking” moment but alas, I had 20 peppers waiting for me at home. So I soldiered on.

Back at home I begin cutting the peppers and preparing them for roasting. Did you know that twenty peppers is a lot of peppers? I also have to prepare the jars, the lids and the pickling liquid, 2 kids’ snacks and 2 loads of laundry. How’s that for multitasking? It also takes longer than I expected to roast the peppers, let them cool and then peel the skin off of them. Did I mention that it is hot and humid today and we don’t have air conditioning? Up to my elbows in red pepper goop, it is approaching dinnertime and there is no dinner on the go. I don’t think the children will eat roasted red pepper salad without a fuss so I make cheese sandwiches, hotdogs and chocolate milk just to keep them compliant. I need to finish this. So much for the Mommy of the Year award – maybe another time. This is my “what was I thinking” moment but it is too late to quit now, I’m almost done.

The peppers are roasted, peeled and ready for the jars. The recipe said 4 jars but I have enough for 8. I scramble to find more jars and lids, sterilize them then pack them full of peppers and pickling liquid. I process them in a water bath for 15 minutes and am rewarded with the pop of the lids sealing as everything cools. I now have eight jars of beautiful red peppers that would make Martha Stewart proud. There is also some wine left over so I pour myself a glass and toast my achievement. I start thinking that I should enter my pickled peppers in one of those country fair competitions, if only I knew of a country fair nearby. Hmm, I wonder what is going to be on sale tomorrow? There are a lot of great recipes in this book….wait, stop me….WHAT AM I THINKING?

In case you are interested, here is the recipe:

f you have read this far and still want the recipe, here it is (courtesy of Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving):

20 medium sweet red peppers, 8lb or 3.6 kg
4 large cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups each of white vinegar, apple cider vinegar and dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1 cup onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp dried oregano
4 tsp pickling salt

Cut peppers in half, core and seed and place on cookie sheet skin side up. Roast peppers and garlic over hot coals or undre broiler until charred. Place peppers in a paper bag until cool enough to handle. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves to remove from peel; mash and set aside. When peppers are cooled, remove skins and cut lengthwise in serving sized pieces.

Place 4 (in my case 8) 500ml size mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer. Set screw bands aside; heat lids in hot water, NOT boiling. Keep jars and lids hot until read to use.

Combine garlic, white and cider vinegars, wine, water, onion, sugar, oregano and pickling salt in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil gently 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Pack roasted peppers into a hot jar to within 2 cm of top rim. Add hot pickling liquid to cover peppers to within 1 cm of top rim. Using a wooden skewer or non metallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre lid on jar; apply screw band securely and firmly until resistance is met. Place jar in canner and repeat for remaining peppers and hot liquid.

Cover canner; bring water to a boil. Process for 15 minutes. Remove jars without tilting. Cool upright, undisturbed for 24 hours. After cooling check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward.