Bread . . . Finally!

Oh my gosh, I've been a horrible blogger! I haven't kept up with this project at all. Most times when this happens it's because there's some aspect of what I'm doing that I'm not happy with. What typically follows is a period of 'contemplation.' I'm not really sure what exactly needs to change to make me happier or more satisfied with the results, but I know when I don't have it right. It's terribly frustrating and demands a level of intuitiveness that even I don't always possess.
In an effort to keep writing and damn the consequences. I've finally completed my 'Bread Project.'

I started with reading all my favorite bread-making cookbooks like the Fleishmann's Yeast book, The LaBrea Bakery Bread book and The Bread Bible.

God knows how I decided what pieces of information to pick out of these respective books to form a cumulative approach to my bread making experiment, but somehow, I chose what I thought was rational and added them to arsenal of knowledge before I started.

What I wanted was to eventually learn the secrets to making a fabulously soft baguette with a sinfully crunchy crust or a tangy, spongy sourdough but I started with a basic white sandwich bread. Maybe a whole wheat if all went well - and it did.

I started with a mixture of flour, yeast, sugar and water then added another mixture of more flour, more yeast and a small amount of salt. I didn't mix them together but instead just let them both sit and get used to eat other for hours. Once the wet part was good and bubbly as well as about twice as big, I mixed them up.

Then I let them sit again for about 20 minutes.

Then it was time for the kneading. I've always kneaded by hand so I was hesitant to try kneading in the stand  mixer. But I was inspired by the fact that I've never achieved the result that I hoped for - so why not? I let the mixer do it's thing for about seven minutes, then set the dough aside to rise.

What I learned at this point is that you have to oil the bowl, the dough and everything. If a 'skin' forms from drying while the dough is rising, it will never work. As well, the oil tends to give a softer crumb to the finished bread. Let it sit for a few hours covered with a clean lightweight towel. Air conditioning and rising don't mix. Once the dough is doubled, don't 'punch it down' as directed in many guides. Simply take the dough out of the bowl and flatten it as slightly as possible. Fold it like you would a business letter twice. Once in each direction. Return it to the bowl and let it alone again. An hour or so should do the trick.
At this point you can form your bread. For this experiment, I was making a 'hearth bread' which is a free form loaf. To do this, I simply folded my dough again and then tucked the sides under as many times as required to make it look like a ball and let it rise. This is the point at which you have to be sure to use oily hands. The dough cannot dry out on it's surface or it won't rise correctly.

Now is also the time to pre-heat the oven - really hot - about 475 degrees. Put an empty baking sheet pan in the bottom of the oven at the same time. Once the dough is the size that you want, you can put the dough in the oven. At this point you can slash the top or whatever you'd like to do to it to make it 'yours.'
When you put it in the oven, through about a cupful of ice cubes on the baking sheet, throw the bread in and shut the door. Don't open it. Turn the temp down to 425 after about ten minutes and don't open the door. Let the bread bake until it's done - somewhere about 20 to 30 more minutes. If you want to get really technical, use an instant thermometer and pull the bread out when the interior is about 210 degrees.

 Let it cool. It's hard to resist the temptation of cutting into it and slathering your bread with butter, but if you can wait, it will be better. Only about 20 minutes should do the trick.

Enjoy!

Cherry Coke Popsicles

You think you know what people are going to like? . . . . Nope. It never works this way.

I got an idea from an Internet site so I tried it. I made Cherry-Coke Popsicles. Granted, once I tasted the final result, I immediately had ideas concerning how this could have come out better or would be better the next time I attempted it, but the biggset surprise was the reaction from my kids - who both LOVE Cherry-Coke. They wouldn't even try them.

I did. I thought they were okay - but then again, I don't always trust my own judgement. I don't seem to have trouble distinguishing 'bad' results. But I'm not always as accurate where 'good' is concerned. So much of what I was given as a kid was offered as 'good' that my measure for this adjective is skewed - by quite a bit.
As a result, I'm always a bit tentative when I try new items. I have to think about them for a while.

My final thoughts about the Cherry-Coke Popsicles . . . they could be better. I'd like to see the cherry and the Coke parts become more marbled together which would make the texture a bit more uniform and the flavors better able to compliment each other. Then - I might really have something.

Would you call this a "Free Lunch"?

I don't usually go bats over things I find on the Internet, but this site is really interesting - if you just really enjoy cooking and food and new ideas or anything culinary at all.
Here's the website:
http://tastingtable.com/entry_by_section/national/dining
See what you think.

I also stumbled across a free eCookbook while I was there (which in all probability is the true reason I love this site). It's called Stone Soup. You can download it for yourself - for nothing from:
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/06/a-free-e-cookbook/

Blackberry Coffee Cake

I love coffee cake and I love berries. Despite the fact that blackberries are far from my favorite berry, I'm going to try to make a coffeecake that incorporates them.

One of the things I dislike most about using fresh berries in baked goods is that the berries inevitably turn musty after a day or two - even sooner in the 100 degree heat of the Texas summers. You either have to eat the entire cake in a day - or throw half of it away by day two.

My strategy is for solving this issue is this: Instead of using fresh or frozen berries, I'm going to use some of the blackberry preserves that I made last week and marble it into the cake to produce what I hope will be a brilliant moist cake with a danish heart.

I started with a sour cream coffee cake recipe that usually turns out a moist, tangy cake that will hold up to loads of streusel topping and a dripping of pure vanilla drizzle. Sweet cake here would be just too much.

Instead of flavouring the topping with cinnamon, I used just a tiny bit of nutmeg and a dash of fine ground white pepper.

Then, I folded in some of the Blackberry preserves that I made last weekend. I probably used about five tablespoons in all.

After that, the streusel topping went on and it went in the oven. Baking took a bit longer because the preserves add a lot of moisture to the cake - and they're denser than straight fresh berries. But the result looked like it had worked.

After the cake cooled I added a drizzle of plain sugar icing and it was done.

So far, this has been a success. The cake is sweet and tangy, the topping is crunchy and the berry taste is really clear. The pepper in the topping was the right choice. It doesn't overpower the berries or detract from the buttery crunch of the topping.

Here is the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare either one 13" x 9" cake pans or two 8" squares or two 8" rounds with the standard butter and flour.

Make the streusel topping by combining:

5 Tbsps melted butter

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

The topping should be crumbly and chunky. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix and set aside:

1 3/4 cup of sour cream or plain yogurt (Don't use the non-fat variety of either.)

1 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl combine and set aside:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl beat together:

1/2 stick butter

1 cup granulated sugar

When it's fluffy add:

2 large eggs

Add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately to the butter/egg mixture beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Blend just until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. The batter should be thick and slightly lumpy with air a few pockets or bubbles. Without over mixing you can add berries (cranberries are my favorite) or fruit here.

If you're using whole fruit, canned drained fruits work the best. Fresh fruits tend to turn musty and add too much liquid to the cake making soggy bits which can be  . . . well, kind of gross.

Move the batter into the pan you chose for baking.

If you're using preserves, add them here and marble the preserves into the batter before you bake.

Top the cake with the streusel topping covering the cake completely.

Bake for about 35 minutes for two small pans or 45 to 50 minutes for the larger, single pan. use your best judgment here. I've always used the 'nose test' (when I can start smell it, it's almost done) or a toothpick for a cake tester.

I like to make a watery glaze from powdered sugar and water to put on the cake after it cools. This is strictly preference. If you want, you can eat it without, but it's already so laden with sugar that adding a little more hardly seems like it could make it would be the 'hair that broke the diet's back'.

Here's where it all started. My first cookbook. I remember when I got it and how much I LOVED it. I was hooked. I could sit and look through the pages for hours imagining the tastes and textures that had so far only been possible in my imagination. I still have it - every page familiar. I can still read cookbooks for hours. They are my favorite souvenir no matter where I travel.
This book has travelled with me from one coast to the other and has generally been with me despite my address or if it ever would be looked at again. These books are like my culinary security blanket. When I wonder if things will work out and I feel stressed, I see them and know that I have clear, trusted directions close at hand - and it's just that simple.
I couldn't have been more than four or five when I got it. I used to watch The Galloping Gourmet on television at lunchtime followed by Julia Child of course. I suppose Kimba the White Lion was on, before both, but I was secretly simply waiting to watch someone cook who knew what he or she was doing.
Ever since, cooking, baking, canning and preserving has been a compulsory part of who I am. I cook when I feel as though I can't think clearly. I cook when I need to stop and just think.
I've spent hours assembling and breaking down recipes to achieve the best result possible - the textures, tastes and sentiment I'm looking for. Whether that means altering ratios, adding, changing or removing ingredients or something as small as changing the brand of a product. The differences in result can range between vast and subtle. Possibilities are virtually endless. This blog will serve as my online log book of those trials, experiments and successes - failures included.