Spork or Foon?

Chai Spiced Bread with Pumpkin Butter

I think Top Chef was on hiatus last week for some unknown reason.  That, or my DVR went on hiatus, but I am going to believe the former.  So that means no Top Chef post this week.  Instead, I'm posting some bread.  Some nice bread that doesn't have 8,000 ingredients that doesn't take all day to make.  Holla for hiatuses.

Talk about a fall dessert in a bread. Earthy, sweet pumpkin is flavored with the delicious and complex flavors of cinnamon, ginger, star anise, black pepper and cloves from the chai tea.  The bread is unbelievably moist, and incredibly versatile, as I also made a healthy version with applesauce, which was equally as moist and delicious, but a little more dense. The smells that wafted through my apartment when this bread was baking were heavenly.  It was as if fall was sucked from the air outside and found a home in my apartment for the hour that the bread cooked in the oven. 

This bread comes together so quickly... which I guess why it must be considered a quick bread. And I am apparently Captain Obvious. Reporting to duty.

I made some pumpkin butter to pair with the bread.  I have never tried or tasted pumpkin butter, or apple butter for that matter, so I really wasn't sure what the ingredients were or what the consistency would be like.  I found a great recipe on Smitten Kitchen's website and went forward with my butter making conquest.

Oddly enough (to me), it did not turn to butter.  The consistency was more like a very thick applesauce. I was confused but it was delicious, so I decided to go with it.  It was sweet and creamy and wonderfully spiced, and the best part was that there was actually no butter so I wouldn't feel bad about eating it.  By the spoonful.

When Jack got home from work, I handed him a piece of bread slathered with the pumpkin butter.  He took a bite and looked at me quizzically. 

"This isn't butter." he said, accusingly.

"Yeah, I know. It's pumpkin butter.  It's pumpkin..."  I attempted to find a better way to explain it to him. "...butter."  Attempt failed. "But is it good?"  I asked, hopefully.

"Well, yeah it's good, but it's false advertising.  If this were called a pumpkin spread, I wouldn't have been expecting butter." Now he's Captain Obvious.

I let it go.  Yes, he had a point, but I didn't want him to, as the British say, "Piss on me fireworks."  The bread is wonderfully moist and flavorful, the spread butter smooth and spicy.  A perfect match.

Like bread and butter.

Check out Smitten Kitchen for the Pumpkin Butter Recipe.

Chai Spiced Pumpkin Bread: adapted from A Bowl of Mush

To make the healthy version of this bread, substitute the butter for 1/2 cup applesauce.  Also, I found that the healthier version took longer to cook, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
(makes 1 loaf)

1/2 cup butter (softened) (***or 1/2 cup applesauce)

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 can of pumpkin puree

2 black tea bags steeped in 1/4 cup hot milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon Chai Spice (optional.  The McCormick brand sells this at the supermarket.)

pinch of black pepper

pinch of all spice

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. Fold in the pumpkin puree and the milky tea (make sure the tea has completely cooled before adding).  Set aside

In another bowl mix together the all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Add the spices and whisk to incorporate.

Add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mix and gently fold until just combined.  Pour the mixture into the loaf pan. 

Bake for 55-60 minutes at 350F (for the healthier version, you may need to bake longer, up to 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you don't want the bread to brown any more, tent some aluminum foil over the top.)

Pizza with Lamb, Rosemary, and Gorgonzola

The Setting: Interior. Kitchen. Thursday evening. 

The Situation:  I had just returned home from a long day of work and was hoping to make a quick dinner that I had been looking forward to making for two weeks:  Fig, Rosemary, and Gorgonzola Pizza. 

The Background:  Each time I went to the supermarket to get figs, they were sold out.  I finally hit the jackpot two days before, when Whole Foods was freshly stocked with Black Mission Figs.  I had previously prepared an Alice Waters pizza dough recipe and froze it for this special occasion.  

Cut to me at the counter, setting my mise en place.  The dough had been brought to room temperature. The rosemary chopped. The gorgonzola crumbled. Now, it was time to slice the figs.

Cue dramatic music. Close up on mold spores. 

Cut to my widened eyes, filled with a mix of horror and sorrow.

As I said previously, I had been looking forward to this for weeks. WEEKS.  My dreams, which were so close to coming true, were crushed.  I turned to Jack for help. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't mold.  But it was a losing battle.  

We racked our brains for items that we had on hand that would compliment gorgonzola and rosemary. Grilled plums.  Caramelized Onions. Lamb.

Stop.  Hammer Time.

We had lamb shoulder in the freezer.  It would work.  It had to work.  We defrosted the lamb shoulder, I seasoned it with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, seared in on the stove for 5 minutes, spread it on the pizza, sprinkled it with rosemary and gorgonzola, and said a prayer as I placed it in the oven.

Cut to:

Interior. Couch. 30 minutes later. 

I walk over to Jack and hand him a steaming slice of pizza.  I eye him as he takes his first bite. His eyes widen.

Jack:  MMMMMMMMM.  BABY. WOW.

Me:  Really?  

I take a bite.  WOW. The creamy gorgonzola melted in my mouth while I chewed on pieces of succulent lamb and tasted the fresh pine flavor from the fragrant rosemary. The pizza dough was delicious, with a crust that was hard on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside with hints of rye from the addition of rye flour.

Our smiles lit up the room as the camera fades to black.

THE END.

Lamb, Rosemary and Gorgonzola Pizza (Pizza Crust Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Foods)

2 teaspoons dry yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1/4 cup unbleached white flour

1/4 cup rye flour

2 cups unbleached white flour

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (if you do not have ww flour, just used 3 1/4 cup unbleached white flour)

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup cold water

1/4 olive oil 

1 lb. lamb shoulder, trimmed of fat and diced

2 tablespoons rosemary, minced

4 oz. crumbled gorgonzola cheese

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Stir together yeast and warm water until yeast is dissolved.  Add 1/4 cup white flour and rye flour.  Allow the mixture to sit until quite bubbly, about 30 minutes. 

In another bowl, mix together the unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour, and salt.  Stir this into the yeast and flour mixture and add cold water and olive oil. 

Mix thoroughly by hand or in an electric stand mixer.  If working by hand, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until the dough is soft and elastic, about 5 minutes.  If the dough is too wet and sticky, add more flour, but only enough to form a soft, slightly sticky dough.  Or use the mixer, fitted with a dough hook, and knead for about 5 minutes.  The dough is the right texture when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl of the mixer, but still adheres to the bottom.  You are looking for a very soft, slightly moist dough.

Put the dough in a large bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.  For an even better-tasting and more supple dough, let the dough rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator.  Remove from the fridge 2 hours before shaping.

Divide the dough into two and form each piece into a nice, smooth ball.  Allow the dough balls to rest at room temperature, wrapped loosely in plastic, for an hour or so.  Flatten each ball into a disk about 5 or 6 inches in diameter, flour lightly, cover, and let rest for another 15 minutes.  Place a baking stone on the lowest rack in the oven.  Preheat the oven to 500 F.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat in a medium sauce pan. Season the lamb with kosher salt and black pepper.  Sear the lamb on each side until golden brown. Set aside.

Gently stretch one of the disks into a round roughly 10 inches in diameter and put on a floured peel or an inverted baking sheet.  Brush the dough with olive oil, and, leaving a 1/2" border uncovered, top with lamb, rosemary, and gorgonzola.  Slide the pizza onto the baking stone and bake until the crust is browned, about 15 minutes.

TWD: Brioche Plum Tart

Once again, I woke up at 5 am to complete my TWD post.  TWD should stand for Teanna Waits ('til) Dawn (to complete her TWD assignments).  

But lo and behold, here is my tart.  I made a few changes, but not many.  First, I didn't include the walnuts or the jam. Second, I shaped the brioche freehand, rather than placing it in a fluted tart pan. I also pricked the brioche dough to keep it from rising too much.  I then brushed the edges with a simple syrup made of sugar and rosewater and a bit of gelatin. And lastly, I decided to use some designer fruit for my designer tart.  Pluots.

Pluots sound like a species from Star Trek or a character on the Jetsons. However, they are a hybrid fruit, composed of plums and apricots.  They are also a registered trademark of Zaiger's Genetics, a company in Modesto, CA known for their "tree fruit breeding enterprise", who have also trademarked peacotums (peaches, apricos, and plums), nectarots (nectarines and apricots), nectaplums (nectarines and plums), and apriums (apricots and plums).  

IN OUTER SPACE.

The company, run by James T. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu, George Jetson, and C-3P0, operate on a farm with thier loving dog, Astro, and often need to fight off the evil droid armies that constantly try to steal their designer fruit.

Wouldn't that be a great summer blockbuster?  Far away galaxies, fruit lovin', exploding plums, and Rosie the Maid? Someone get George Lucas on the phone ASAP.

As for the brioche, it was alright.  I actually don't like cooked plums, which is something I should have thought about before I made this.  But this was my first brioche and I think it turned out beautifully.  Small victories. I also will try this again when I get home, as it hadn't had a chance to cool fully before I tried it. Because I waited until last minute to make it. That wouldn't fly in space. 

Check out Denise's FANTASTIC site over at Chez Us for the recipe, and click on the rest of the earth people TWDers for more fantastic tarts!

 

BBA # 2 - Greek Celebration Bread - Christophomos

NOTE:  I am getting a lot of comments and seeing this photo popping up on other blogs about the suggestive shape of this bread. I SWEAR I didn't even realize it.  My pure little mind didn't think that far when I was taking this picture. Or serving this bread to coworkers and wondering why they didn't comment on the awesome design of the bread.  I'm surprised I didn't get fired.  Needless to say, get your minds out of the gutter!  Ok, Ok, you are right.  It totally does.  This bread is slightly NSFW.  I need to put a censored sticker on it. Sigh.  

I think I take the prize for the slowest bread baker out of all of Bread Baking Apprentice Bakers.

I'll just say that it is because I like to savor my bread baking experience thankyouverymuch.

So about two weeks ago, I savored this bread. And savored it some more.  Because this bread is unreal. It deserves a CHALLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH times twelve.  Light, yet rich, with delicious spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, honey, orange zest and cloves.

Now that is a bread that packs a punch.  

This bread will definitely be making an appearance at my family's Christmas celebration this year.  It reminds me of a panettone, but it is 1,000 times easier to make.  

On a side note, I'd like to start taking all of those gorgeous photos of the process of making the bread, but I get too impatient. How do food bloggers do it? You see photos of the blogger kneading the bread, but who is taking the picture? Or, if the blogger is taking the picture, where are those extra hands coming from?  

Get this book. Make some bread. Savor it. Take your time.  Take pictures with multiple hands. Enjoy. Experience. Carbo-load. Do it. 

Click here for a great walk-through of the bread making experience!

BBA Challenge #1: Anadama Bread

Ok, the Top Chef with Teanna recipe will be posted this weekend.  I apologize for the delay! It's not a recipe you can make at 6:30 pm after coming home from work!

And like I said, think boobies.

So I will FINALLY post my Bread Bakers Apprentice Anadama Bread.  Nicole from Pinch My Salt has started a fabulous group of 200+ aspiring bread bakers (or accomplished bread bakers like Wendy from Pink Stripes).  Carb by carb, we are baking through Peter Reinhart's The Bread Bakers Apprentice.  I have had my eye on this book for a while, so it was nice to have an excuse to buy it.  

Come to think of it, I'm just going to start joining lots of baking groups to have an excuse to buy lots of books that I couldn't justify buying.  Problem solved!

Nicole says that, "The goal is to push our boundaries, learn new techniques, and introduce ourselves to breads we might otherwise never have a chance to taste. It will be fun, it will be challenging, it will be frustrating, but ultimately it will be rewarding!"

Well, you've sold me. 

Our first bread, Anadama bread, is a deliciously flavorful traditional New England bread made with molasses and cornmeal.  It is actually very simple to make.  My problem is that I always decide to make things like breads and cheesecakes at 6 at night, not realizing that I will not actually be finished making them until 3 am. 

Sigh.

The bread is started with a cornmeal soaker which is just a mix of cornmeal and water.  Next, bread flour is added, instant yeast, and more water is added to create a sponge.  After that, the molasses and more bread flour is added. Knead, let rise, knead, let rise, proof and BREAD! 

I actually got very tired and let my bread proof overnight.  Although I read that I should have left it in the fridge and brought back to room temperature, I just left it covered on the counter.  I woke up and the bread had risen beautifully (and it wasn't overproofed at all!).  I was pretty excited.  And I felt pretty cool baking some fresh bread before work.

You know, just whipping up some fresh bread before work. Lah dee dah.

This bread is absolutely delicious.  The fragrant smells of molasses and bread wafted through the air and the flavor. Oh, the flavor. I was actually surprised at how much I liked this bread. I am not the biggest fan of molasses, and you can definitely taste the molasses in this bread.  But it was the softest flavor that only enhanced the delicious texture.  This is one of those breads that tastes best lightly toasted with just a bit of butter, but also makes a fantastic sandwich bread.

Click here for a great step-by-step tutorial on Nicole's page and click here for the recipe!  But really, go out and get this book! 

TWD: Mango Bread French Toast "an Ting an Ting"

My mother hails from the gorgeous Island of Trinidad. You may know the country by its full moniker: Trinidad and Tobago.  She moved here from Port of Spain when she was 13 years old, but still kept her Trinidadian heritage strong by celebrating Carnival (the biggest in the world - even bigger than Brazil), listening to reggae and soca music, and eating national dishes such as callaloo (a thick soup made of okra spices, crab, and the like), roti (like a trinidadian naan bread with many variations to eat with things like curried goat and chickpeas) or doubles (fried flatbreads filled with curried chickpeas).

So beautiful.

Although her accent is not as strong as it was when she first moved to America (or so I hear), a few things will bring it out faster than ever:  when in conversation with a fellow "Trini", when telling stories of Trinidad and her youth, when Caribbean music is floating in the air, or when my brother or I make her really, really angry.

And although they speak English, Trinidadian's definitely have their own language.  You may here two Trinis in a conversation about the whereabouts of an acquaintance:

"Ah hyar dey living dong by dey so." -- It is my understanding that they are residing down there.

Or wanting to spend a relaxing day together:  

"We been limin de whole deh! Me eh see she again, she leave de fete long time." -- We have been spending the whole day together, but she departed from the soiree a long time ago. 

Or hear someone sigh and push someone out of the way and say:

"Yuh fadduh was a glassmakah, gyal?" -- Excuse me, ma'am, but kindly step aside, as you are blocking my view.

Oh my friends, you may be asking yourself, "Is that even English?"

Yes, it is. Indeed it is.  But learning the Trini slang is a lesson that cannot be taught in one blog post, dear readers.  

That takes a lifetime.

You can lime (hang out) wit ya pahtnah (friend) and whine (dance) yah bamsie (butt) to the pan (steel band, which was originated in Trinidad) but watch what ya say, 'cause that Macko (gossip) is ryal (real) schtupidee (stupid) and has nothing better to do than to tittyvay (waste time and stir up trouble) and hambug (bother) you and the only way to stop her is to give her a ryal bad eye (look of anger) and cuff (hit) she in she mowt (mouth).

Did you follow that?

The whole point of that story is that I grew up loving Caribbean fruits like Mango, but many of my friends were never exposed to the wonders of this luscious fruit.  And although Mango Bread is not necessarily a Trinidadian dish, I have never tasted a more succulent mango than I did when I was in Trinidad.  And when I told my mother about Dorie's Mango Bread, chosen by Kelly of Baking with Boys (click for recipe), she squealed with delight.

"Oooooooh, I LOVE Mango bread!"

And the lucky woman is going back to Trinidad - or "home", as she and all "Yankees" (in Trini speak, a Trinidadian who has moved to the United States) call it - for two weeks next week.  She then muttered dreamily about eating those succulent mangos on the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago.

But I have the advantage, because this Mango bread is AMAZING (amazing).  Upon taking my first bite, I went cokee-eye (cross-eyed), fuh troot (for truth, for real).  Deliciously spiced. Amazingly moist. Addictive. 

I turned it into French Toast, or, as I will call this from now on, "Trini Toast" by dipping the bread in a mixture of egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, milk and ginger and topping it with a syrup made of diced mango, syrup, and the same spices (I am sorry, I did not measure the recipe).

Umm... let me just say that if you have any leftover mango bread, MAKE THIS TRINI TOAST NOW!

WOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOW.

Without a doubt, this is one of my Top 5 Dorie recipes ever.  I have just made Dorie an honorary citizen of Trinidad and Tobago (I can totally do it).

Oh, and if a Trini ever says that they are doing something "jus now" (just now), in Trini time, that could be days. So if I tell you I am bringing you a slice of this mango bread, "jus now", don't expect any mango bread.  Because I'm not sharing.

Go check out the rest of this Mango Bread on TWD "NOW FUH NOW" (this instant!)

And CLICK HERE for the recipe!

Tiramisu Bread Pudding and the Curse of Fatty McGee

 

 

Bread Pudding ranks up there with rice pudding for me.  And when I say "ranks up there", I mean, "YUCK".  I have a thing with soggy carbs.  They just shouldn't exist.  As I was growing up, my father used to pour a bowl of Fiber One cereal and let it soak on the counter for a half an hour before eating it every morning. I would walk through the kitchen and gag.  

Those were horrible, horrible memories.

But when I saw that Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle  (click for recipe) chose bread pudding for this week's TWD, I was open to trying it for two reasons.  First, I am taking from the title of her blog that Lauren lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (call me Captain Obvious, please. No seriously. Do it.), which holds a special place in my heart, as it was my home for a while and am hoping it will be my home again when I move back to NY in August! Second, If anyone can convert me on a dessert I once hated, it would be Dorie.

I wanted to find a way to enjoy this recipe, just in case this recipe did not change my feelings towards soggy bread pudding.  I have been wanting to try the Cooks Illustrated recipe for Tiramisu since December, and I thought that this would be the perfect time to try it.  

I prepared the custard for Dorie's Chocolate Bread pudding and I already had good feelings about this one, even without the adjustments.  The custard looked thick and rich and I thought there was no way it could possibly not be delicious. 

To make it a bit more like Tiramisu, I cut down the milk to 2 cups, upped the heavy cream to 1 1/4 cups, and added 6 tablespoons dark rum and 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee.  

This would either be brilliant or the worst thing ever to happen to bread pudding.

After cooking and cooling the bread pudding, I tried a taste.

Could it be? That... it is not bad? 

Another bite.  Could it be? That... this is AMAZING?

One more bite.  The bread was custard-y and moist, yet not soggy.  The chocolate flavor was perfection. Hints of rum and coffee found their way through at the end of every taste. 

One more bite.  Finally, I had to force myself not to have another bite because I didn't want to be a Fatty McGee.

Now, let me get something straight.  I do not mean that if you take more than three bites of this dessert, that you would be a Fatty McGee.  It is just that my body does not like to metabolise anything more than a stick of Extra Sugar-Free™ Gum, so I could not have more than three bites, lest I wanted to turn into said Fatty McGee.

I made the tiramisu cream (which was outrageously good) and yet again, Cooks Illustrated proved that pure brilliance emanates from their test kitchen.  The cream was rich and creamy (obvs), yet fluffy and light as air, with a subtle hint of rum. 

And it was PERFECT with the Tiramisu bread pudding. I can't even explain how good this was.  My boyfriend did his happy dance again. I had 2 more bites. Fatty McGee be damned!

Billowly, delicious tiramisu cream enveloped the creamy coffee and chocolate flavored custard in two layers.  I did a Google Search for Tiramisu and the second item that popped up was "Heaven in Your Mouth."

Oh, and this was.  

When I eat something made from Challah bread that is good, I immediately shout "Challaaaaaaah!" (like Holla!!!"), which is something that my friends from college and I always said because one of our roommates, Shira, often kept Challah bread in the house.

Well, this definitely deserves a "Challaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" times twelve.  Seriously. Try this recipe. Check out the other TWDers. Unleash your inner McGee. 

Fatty-less, of course.

Bread Pudding recipe (adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours) 

12 ounces bread (brioche, challah or white), preferably stale

2 cups whole milk

1 1/4 cup heavy cram

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled

6 tablespoons dark rum

3 large eggs

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

GETTING READY:

Have a 9-x-13 inch baking pan at hand (a Pyrex pan is perfect here), as well as a roasting pan big enough to hold the baking pan and how water. Line the roasting pan with a double thickness of paper towels

Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. It the bread is stale, put it and the raisins or cherries, if you are using them, into the baking pan. If it is not stale, spread it out on a a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat and bake in a 350-degree-F oven to "stale" it for 10 minutes, then toss into the pan (with the fruit).

Bring the milk and cream just to a boil.

Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, yolks, rum, brewed coffee and sugar together in a bow. Still whisking, slowly drizzle in about one quarter of the hot milk mixture--this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they don't curdle. Whisking all the while slowly pour in the rest of the hot milk. Add the chocolate and whisk it in gently until it is melted and the custard is smooth. Rap the bowl against the counter to pop bubbles that might have formed, then pour the custard over the bread and press the bread gently with the back of a spoon to help cover it with liquid. Leave the pan on the counter, giving the bread the back-of-the-spoon treatment now and then, for 30 minutes.

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. F.

Slide the pan setup into the oven and very carefully pour enough how water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pudding pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the pudding is uniformly puffed, the top is dull and dry and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

Tiramisu Cream recipe (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

4 tbsp dark rum
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 pound mascarpone cheese
¾ cup heavy cream (cold)

In a heat proof bowl set over simmering water, beat yolks at low speed with a hand mixer until just combined.  Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-hgih speed until pale yellow, 1 ½ to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice.  Add remaining 4 tablespoons rum and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds;  scrape bowl.  Add mascarpone and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, 30 to 45 seconds, scraping down bowl once or twice.  

 In a separate bowl, beat cream at medium speed until frothy, 1 to 1 ½ minutes.  Increase speed to high and contine to beat until cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 1 ½ minutes longer.  Using rubber spatula, fold one-third of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain.  

To Assemble

Refrigerate the bread pudding for 1 hour to let it firm up. Cut it in half and place it on a plate. Top with 1/2tiramisu cream and sift 1 tbsp cocoa powder over the top. At this point, you can either put it back in the fridge to let the cream firm up a bit (an hour would be fine) and then top it with the other half of the bread pudding, or just immediately top it with the other half (but the cream will spill out of the sides a bit!).  Top the second half with the remaining tiramisu cream and, again, add 1 tbsp sifted cocoa powder. You can also top it with shaved chocolate.  Refrigerate 6-24 hours.

 

Chicken Curry with Homemade Roti

 

While I suffered from the killer cold from outer space this weekend, the only thing I craved was spicy foods.  I hoped that it would: A. Allow me to taste strong spices since I couldn't taste anything else and B. clear my nasal passages. 

Well, this dish definitely did the trick.  I love Indian food because it is so complex, yet is relatively healthy.  I added what felt like 1000 seeds from the chili peppers and kept pouring pepper sauce into the dish.  It definitely cleared up my stuffy nose for the time being, yet still seemed pretty subtle in spice for me.  However, when my boyfriend took a bite, his face flushed red and he reached for the water. So you may want to take note when making this dish that you might want to tone down the spices a bit.  

This is a fantastic dish that incorporates a lot of wonderful spices and flavors and pairs perfectly with basmati rice and homemade roti.  

Curry Chicken Recipe Serves 4

1 cinnamon stick
4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
3 tablespoons Vegetable Or canola 0r sunflower oil
4 chicken breasts, cubed
2 Tomatoes & 1 Can Crushed tomatoes
2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped
1 or 2 Cut chilis
1 tablepsoon pepper sauce (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, and bay leaves and cook for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add onions saute until golden brown. Add crushed pepper, garlic, ginger to the onions and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken to the onions. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Add the remaining spices and mix well. Stir for a couple of minutes letting it setle into the beef. Then Reduce heat to medium, cover dish and let it cook for another 5 to 10 minutes stirring inbetween so that beef does not stick to bottom of dish .

Add the crushed tomatoes can and also the cut tomatoes and stir well . Let it cook for another 15 minutes or so stirring and checking the dish inbetween or until beef is tender.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread!!!

This is only half of the bread.  We devoured the other half both at dinner and then again at 2 am. 

The title, in my mind, deserves not one, not two, but three exclamation points. I often get very excited when I successfully make anything with dough, as I do tend to struggle with breads and pie crusts.  I get cold sweats and the shakes at the thought of "kneading until smooth".

But I did it! I made focaccia bread! And it was GOOOOOOOOOD! I mean, really, really good. Like, "get this out of my kitchen because my body can't handle carbs well" good! And easy! Fantastically easy!  Crisp! Light! With a gorgeous crumb! And not greasy! 

Ok!  I'll stop with the exclamation points now!

!

Focaccia Bread adapted from epicurious.com

• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional 1/2 cup for kneading
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

• Special equipment: a standing electric mixer with paddle attachment and dough hook
•   

• Stir together 1 2/3 cups lukewarm (105 to 115°F) water and yeast in bowl of mixer and let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add 4 cups flour, 1/4 cup oil, and 2 1/2 teaspoons table salt and beat with paddle attachment at medium speed until a dough forms. Replace paddle with dough hook and knead dough at high speed until soft, smooth, and sticky, 3 to 4 minutes.

  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in additional flour, 1/4 cup at a time adding up to 1/2 cup. Knead dough until smooth (no more than three or four minutes - it will still be slightly sticky), then transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and turn dough to coat with oil. Let rise, covered with plastic wrap, at warm room temperature, until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

  Press dough evenly into a generously oiled 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan. Let dough rise, covered completely with a kitchen towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

  Preheat oven to 500°F.

  Stir together rosemary and remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Make shallow indentations all over dough with your fingertips, then brush with rosemary oil, letting it pool in indentations. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over focaccia and bake in middle of oven for 7 minutes at 500 degrees F.  Lower heat to 475 and bake for an additional 14 minutes, until the top of bread is golden brown.

  Immediately invert a rack over pan and flip focaccia onto rack, then turn right side up. Serve warm or at room temperature. 
•   
•  

Bread Baking Brouhaha - Five Grain Bread with Walnuts

Well, I have joined another baking group.  I have become a member of the Bread Baking Buddies, hosted by Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups.  I figure that I'd hit it off with Tanna, being that we have almost the same name (minus the "e").  It is fate!

I always say that cooking is my first love, and baking is my mistress in which I have a passionate affair.  Well, if that rings true, then bread baking is like my bitter ex who keeps calling me in the middle of the night and hanging up and keying my car.  Bread baking and I do not get along, which is why I wanted to join this group.  I want all three of my loves to co-exist peacefully, a kind of culinary "Big Love" if you will.  And I hope I will.

For my first foray into this polyamorous world was a Five Grain Bread with Walnuts.  This bread is chock-full of healthy grains and heart-healthy walnuts.  I noticed that some of the bakers said that the flavor was light on the walnuts, so I increased the amount to two cups of chopped walnuts, and I am glad I did, as the flavor really came through!

My boyfriend (who would now like to not be the anonymous "boyfriend" but instead be referred to by his name, Jack) went out of town for the weekend, and I wanted him to return to an apartment filled with the smells of freshly baked bread. My mom used to bake bread when I was younger, and there is nothing like the warm scent that fills the air as the bread bakes in the oven.  I remember standing on my tippy-toes at the counter as my mother would carefully lift the bread out of the oven and place it on a rack to cool.  I would place my small hand just over the warm loaf and let the heat penetrate my skin as I breathed in deeply to take in the aroma, waiting patiently for the moment when my mother would bring the bread knife to the loaf. I would listen for the cracking sound as the knife cut through the crust and sawed out perfect slices of warm bread. I would eat the bread plain, as I wanted to taste the pure flavor and relish in its warmth, with the contrasting hard and soft textures of the crust and dough meshing perfectly in each bite.

OK, that's a lie. I don't remember my mother baking bread at all. I know she did, and I know it was good, but I didn't really have those memories. I just remember her rum-raisin ice cream, which, to this day, brings Hagen Daas Ice cream to shame. It's awesome. I've just been reading a memoirs about Ruth Reichl and Jaques Pepin, and they always have these amazing descriptions of their memories of food, so I want to make my own memories, dammit!  What if I want to write a memoir one day???

OK, I won't go all James Frey or Holocaust-Survivor-Who-Fell-in-Love-With-the-Woman-With-the-Apples -Although-It-Never-Really-Happened. I don't need Oprah reaming me out on national television.

Anyway, I carefully followed this recipe using my stand mixer.  The dough was extremely wet and sticky, so I decided to take it out and add more flour, kneading by hand.  When the dough was smooth and no longer sticky, I set it in a Pyrex bowl and let it rise. After an hour it was as high as the ceiling! I was so excited. I split the dough again and let it rise again - one in a loaf pan, the other in a round Pyrex dish. Again, it rose! I was thrilled! "This bread thing may actually work out!", I thought.  I sliced patterns into the dough and it deflated immediately, taking with it, my dreams of perfect bread.

Regardless, I placed the bread in the oven and waited. After 35 minutes, I removed the bread from oven and tried to remove it from pan.  The loaf came out easily, but the color was rather gray and dull. It wasn't looking good.  I then tried taking out the rounded loaf.  This is what happened.

Not looking so good, at all.

I soldiered on, hoping that the loaf would still make it through the battle. Ten more minutes in the oven. I said a small prayer.

Jack returned from his trip, walking into the apartment as I was photographing my bread. "Did you make that?" he asked, incredulously.  "Yes," I replied, hesitantly. 

"Can I try it?" 

I slowly handed him a slice of bread, watching intently as he bit down.  His eyes opened wide. "Baby!" he exclaimed.

"Really???" I asked, surprised.

"Baby, you should be proud of yourself! This is so good! Baking a cake is easy (umm, ok?), but you actually made bread!"

I did! I did make bread!  And it was good!

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Pane ai Cinque Cereali con Nod
Five~Grain Bread with Walnuts

Adapted from The Italian Baker Carol Field

.

Makes 2 9 X 5-inch loaves

2 cups walnut pieces

3 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 1/2 small cakes (27 grams) fresh yeast

¼ cup warm water

3 cups water, room temperature

3 3/4 cups (500 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ¼ cups (125 grams) oat flour or finely ground rolled oats

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) rye flour

1 cup less 1 tablespoon (125 grams) whole-wheat flour

¾ cup (125 grams) brown rice flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 grams) salt

Toast the walnuts for 10 minutes in a 400° F oven; then chop in a food processor fitted with the steel blade or with a sharp knife to the size of a fat rice kernel. Do not grind them finely.

BY HAND:
Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 3 cups water. Mix the walnuts, flours, and salt and stir 2 cups at a time into the dissolved yeast, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. The dough should come together easily. Knead on a floured surface, sprinkling with additional all-purpose flour as needed, until firm, elastic, and no longer sticky, 8 to 10 minutes.

BY MIXER:
Stir the yeast into the warm water in a mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 3 cups water. Stir in the flours, walnuts, and salt with the paddle. Mix until the dough comes together. Change to the dough hook and knead for 3 to 4 minutes at medium speed until firm and elastic but still slightly sticky. Finish kneading briefly by hand on a surface floured with all-purpose flour.

BY PROCESSOR:
Make sure your food processor can handle the volume of this dough. Even when done in 2 batches, there will be 4 cups flour to be processed. Stir the yeast into the warm water in a small bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Place the flours and salt in a food processor fitted with the dough blade and process with several pulses to sift. With the machine running, pour the dissolved yeast and 3 cups cold water through the feed tube as quickly as the flours can absorb it; process until the dough gathers into a ball. Process 40 seconds longer to knead. Knead in the walnuts by hand on a surface floured with all-purpose flour.

First Rise.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Shaping and Second Rise.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough should be moist, firm, and noticeably elastic, if slightly sticky. Cut the dough in half and shape each half into an oval loaf to fit a loaf pan. Place the loaves in the oiled pans (preferably glass), cover with a heavy towel, and let rise until truly doubled and fully above the tops of the pans, 1 to 1 ¼ hours.

Baking.

Heat oven to 400° F. Slash a pattern in the top of the loaves. One baker in Milan cuts the shape of a stalk of grain on the top; elsewhere bakers make 3 parallel slashes. Bake 40 to 45 minutes; bake the last 5 to 10 minutes out of the pans on a baking stone or baking sheet to brown the bottoms and sides. Cool completely on a rack.