Auntie X's No-Knead Bread

Every weekend I make a batch of No-Knead Bread, sometimes I make extra dough and freeze it for later. I really love the flavor and texture that the long, slow rise gives the bread. My recipe is based on the NY Times recipe with a few changes.

ingredients:
1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon instant dry yeast (I just eyeball it in the palm of my hand)
1 to 2 teaspoons raw/turbinado sugar (eyeballed)
1 to 2 teaspoons salt (again, I just eyeball it)
1-5/8 cups warm tapwater

1. In a big bowl mix all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until all the flour is wet, don't stress over having everything incorporated because the long rise will cover a multitude of sins.

2. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and let sit on top of the fridge or in some other warm, draft-free place for 12 to 18 hours.

3. About a half hour before you're ready to bake the bread pre-heat the oven as hot as it will go: 500 F if yours will allow, mine tops out at 450 F. Liberally flour your countertop, much more heavily than you would for other breads or cookies... if you see any spots of countertop the dough will stick. Basically the dough is a very wet dough. Dump the dough out onto the floured surface and scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Don't try to knead the dough, just fold it into thirds from both directions, flour the top, then cover with the plastic wrap off the bowl, and let rest for 30 minutes.

While your dough is resting, prep your loaf pan. First I take a large piece of aluminum foil, about twice as long as the loaf pan or longer:



Place the loaf pan in the middle of the piece of foil and first fold up the long edges against the outside of the loaf pan:



Then squeeze the ends together at each end of the loaf pan:



Then lift the short end of the foil up against the ends of the loaf pan and crimp to secure:




Now take the loaf pan out of the foil, and presto, you have a perfect mirror image that will keep the steam in, allowing the bread to rise to its maximum height before crusting.



I use Earth Balance or Soy Garden to lightly grease the loaf pan:



Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes, drop it into the loaf pan, it doesn't much matter how un-gracefully you do this, because it pretty much evens out in the oven.



Next, cover the loaf pan with the tinfoil tent and squeeze the edges tightly to the pan for as close a seal as possible:



Next pop the loaf into the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, use tongs to remove the aluminum foil and bake another 20 minutes to brown the crust.



The beauty of this recipe is that it is so forgiving.

FFtVSC: South-African Slow-Cooked Bobotie

I had never heard of bobotie before I tried this recipe for the first time, and therefore I had no expectations. I think that this dish is one of the shining stars of Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. With the small caveat that the quality of the bread makes a huge difference. The bread that I like to use for this recipe is 9 grain bread from Baker's Inn because it's so chock full of whole grains and seeds. I also generally add more bread than the recipe calls for so that the bobotie ends up light and fluffy. The combination of the hearty bread cubes, sweet sauteed onion and apricot, and the mildly spicy curry powder makes me think of the holidays. It's like a delicious combination of Tourtiere, bread stuffing, and spicy pumpkin pie. Topped with crunchy sliced almonds, how can you go wrong?

Easy Big Bread

I've been sick for almost a week now, but life carries on, and we were running out of baked goods, so I decided to try out this recipe for bread that's faster than the overnight rise needed for the No Knead Bread recipe. Since the rise time was low for this bread I decided to try to compensate by increasing the gluten. I replaced 3 tablespoons of the flour with vital wheat gluten. Unfortunately I don't think that the kneading time was sufficient to thoroughly activate the gluten. The result is a very light, soft bread with a delicate crumb. It's really best toasted. It's a bit like what our local grocery store bakery sells as peasant bread or portuguese bread. It was a nice change of pace from the No Knead Bread, but I'm not sure that it really qualifies as spectacular. I think the No Knead Bread has a lot of flavor from the slow rise that is easy to overlook, until it's not there as with this bread. This bread is perfectly good toasted around a simple sandwich, but it isn't really the sort of bread that I would sit down and eat a slice of plain, and sometimes that's just what I like to do.

More Bagels: Onion and Sesame Seed

My original plan for this weekend was to invite my sister over for a bagel bake-a-thon, but unfortunately her husband was sick and she felt like she might be coming down with it, so I figured it was best for all parties concerned for us not to spread the germs. So instead I baked bagels by myself until I ran out of yeast.

Bagels from Baking Bites Blog

Ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to bake bagels, but my mother convinced me that it was too complicated. I'm happy to report that is not the case. It was actually really fun and I even made an audible squee of delight while they were baking.

I used the recipe over here on the blog Baking Bites, and you should too. It's laid out so nicely and the photos are gorgeous. I did make a couple substitutions though, because I just can't help myself. I don't have bread flour in the house, so I used all purpose flour plus a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten. I also used a cornstarch wash instead of an egg wash. I whisked 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water then whisked that mixture into a cup of boiling water. I brushed the bagels before they went into the oven and then again afterward. I can't wait to try this recipe out again with flavors and toppings.

Bryanna's Burger Buns

Every week or so I make a vague outline of the meals that I want to make and then a shopping list for the items not currently in our pantry, then, as the day unfolds I poll Paul to find out which meal he's feeling like that day. Tonight Paul had a date to be online playing WoW with his brother and friends and his response was something that could be eaten with his hands while on the computer. OK, sandwich.

Oops, no bread, and a loaf of bread takes the better part of a day to bake... far too long for the couple hours I have to figure out dinner. Pitas? Tortillas? ... Instead I remembered a blog entry I'd seen not too long ago.

I followed her instructions for Bryanna's Jiffy Burger Buns (3rd recipe down the blog post) except that I didn't have potato flakes, nor sesame seeds. I substituted corn starch for the potato flakes and left the buns bare.

These were so good that Paul declared them the best burger buns he's ever had. This has definitely inspired me to try her other bun recipes when BBQ season hits, and even going to the trouble of planning ahead to make sure I have all the recommended ingredients.

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Recently I baked and pureed a large pumpkin leftover from Halloween. I searched the interwebs for the perfect pumpkin bread recipe. Far too many called for too much sugar, oil or eggs. I've made some revisions to this basic vegan recipe. The original had far too little spice for my taste, so I've increased the cinnamon and added fresh ginger. I would expect that dried ginger or even crystalized ginger would make a lovely addition. I've also added chopped almonds for a pleasing crunch. Almonds are my favorite nut, and I think they add a cleaner, fresher taste than walnuts or pecans could. The dried cranberries add a juicy tang, though if you have only traditional raisins, I think some orange or lemon zest would give it that zing. I baked the pumpkin halves cut-side down on a sheet pan for 90 minutes, pureed the pulp in the food processor, and drained over night in a cloth lined sieve to reduce the water content.

dry ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/3 tsp ground cloves
a generous pinch of salt

wet ingredients:
2 cups cooked pumpkin puree
1/2 cup agave syrup
2 T oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp fresh ginger puree
1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a standard size loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Fold wet ingredients into the dry until thoroughly incorporated. The batter should be fairly stiff. Smooth batter into the greased loaf pan and bake immediately for 55 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack before cutting.