The Kitchen Mouse (Posts about bread)

Happy Anniversary to us!

Cori Rozentāle — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:37:25 GMT

Yesterday was my husband and I's 1st anniversary. We'd been discussing what we should do for a few months, floated the idea of going to our tiny town's new fancy restaurant, Sostanza, and mused over our options.

In the end, we decided to stay home and cook a multi-course meal of some of our favorite dishes. Our reasons were twofold:

We can buy alcohol much cheaper at the liquor store and get exactly the brand and types we want. This is doubly important for me as I generally can only drink sweet wines and ciders. Plus, no need for a designated driver when you're already home.
We can put together exactly the food we want at a fraction of the price of going out.

So, we decided on a menu. We decided we'd cook over two days, preparing the more labor-intensive items the day before and the easy stuff on the day of.

Menu: - Buljons with buljona pīrādziņi - Baked egg rolls with spicy peanut dipping sauce - Karbonāde (pan-fried chicken cutlets) - Stir-fried brussels sprouts - Boiled & fried potatoes with garlic and rosemary - Flourless chocolate cake

You can read more about the recipes via the links, though the cake will be discussed further in a future post. For today, I thought I'd share buljons with you.

Buljons and buljona pīrādziņi are an interesting combo in Latvia. Buljons, as you might expect since it sounds like bouillon, means broth. It's typically served in a mug with chopped green onions along with a pastry filled with cheese or meat (or both). It might seem a little weird to drink broth as a drink rather than a meal, but try going out and shoveling over half a foot of snow before coming in to a steaming mug of deliciousness. Suddenly, all will be right with your world. Guaranteed.

For the buljons itself, I used the broth from the Daring Cooks Pho challenge and based it on a dark, rich chicken stock we made the day before. When we did that challenge, my husband absolutely loved the broth and asked me to make it again so he could have it this way. We had saved a chicken carcass from a roasted chicken meal and found some chicken thighs and drumsticks on sale, so we decided to make a big batch of stock - for us, about 4 quarts when finished since it's the maximum our equipment allows. This time, the stock came out beautifully rich and nut-brown. It was absolutely perfect. There are two things I attribute this success to: frying the chicken to brown it first and letting it all cook for 5 hours.

As for the pīrādziņi, they're actually very simple, just a bit of puff pastry folded around a cheese or meat filling. Now, Latvians have their own version of laminated doughs that seem a bit easier than the French version I know and refuse to tackle in my tiny, cramped kitchen. I'm planning to try the Latvian version later this winter, but for yesterday, I decided just to use a sheet of store-bought puff pastry since we were cooking so many different things already. It's really simple to do -- take some thawed puff pastry, cut it into squares, fill the squares with your favorite cheese, fold them in half to make triangles, then brush them with beaten egg and bake at 400F for 15 minutes until golden brown. Easier than pie.

It was a great dinner and it's been a great year together. Here's to many more!

Buckwheat Pumpkin Bread

Cori Rozentāle — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:13:35 GMT

"Hey, neat! Pumpkin bread! Can we try some?"

Sometimes, I forget that my husband hasn't been with me forever. We joke about it all the time; he forgot that I hadn't been with him in Latvia forever when I was living in Liepāja with him. In this case, we were at our favorite grocery store who had a sale on pumpkin bread. He'd never heard of it before, much less tried it, which I immediately promised to rectify.

Pumpkin bread, like its cousins zucchini bread and banana bread, is extremely popular here in Utah. I remember when our neighbor across the street from the house I lived in as a kid brought over zucchini bread shortly after we moved in from California. Mrs. Webb had zucchini plants and anyone who has ever tried growing zucchini knows what I mean when I say the damn plant grows like a weed. So, she made zucchini loaves for the whole neighborhood several times just to put a dent in the supply. I thought it was great and proceeded to snack on it every chance I had.

The trick was coming up with a recipe that wasn't too sweet. Many pumpkin breads and banana breads suffer from being tooth-rottingly sweet - I've seen recipes call for 3 cups or more of sugar for ONE LOAF. Way, way too sweet. And believe me, if it's too sweet for me, my husband won't make it through a bite. Since he's Latvian, he grew up loving sour foods, not sweet. Most of the commercial and restaurant desserts in America that he's tried are simply too sweet for him.

After a few revisions, I came up with this recipe which I feel has a good balance between sweet and spicy, with just the right amount of savory nuttiness

As for why I used a white sugar + molasses combo: this is how you substitute white sugar for brown when you run out unexpectedly! However, due to the beautiful color of the crust and crumb, I'm not sure I would use the brown sugar. I like the molasses' effect on the bread too much.

Buckwheat Pumpkin Bread [printable recipe]

Makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup (1 stick or 1/4 pound) butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar + 1 tbsp molasses OR 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 cup (280g) pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs. Beat until light and fluffy. Mix in pumpkin, sour cream and spices. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add gradually until thoroughly combined. Stir in walnuts.

Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 50 - 55 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when finished. Cool in the pan for 5 - 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.

If using mini-bundt pans or mini-loaf pans, adjust baking time to about 35 - 45 minutes.

Farinata (Ligurian Chickpea Flatbread)

Cori Rozentāle — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:08:09 GMT

I don't remember now where I came across making a thin batter out of chickpea (garbanzo beans) flour and water then cooking it in an oiled skillet. It was definitely good, however, I thought I'd make it again this week as a substitute for buns for polish dogs.

It didn't really wrap as well as I imagined but the flavors of the rosemary-infused flatbread meshed well with the caramelized onions, horseradish and mustard topped meat. All's well that ends well (in a full tummy).

I remembered what I had done the first time: mix one cup chickpea flour with one cup water. It was good but a bit bland, so I went looking for a better recipe. I found it at We Are Never Full, which is also where I learned that this particular preparation is called "farinata" and comes from the Ligurian region of Italy.

I had everything I needed to make it. Fresh rosemary, check. Sage leaves? Er, I haven't had sage in the house in years, but the basil plant is going strong, so check! Chickpea flour? Double check.

I read through the recipe a couple of times and wrote down the necessary quantities on my notepad. Satisfied I knew what I was doing, I puttered into the kitchen. The batter came together beautifully in a matter of minutes. I had just enough time to let it rest the requisite hour. I looked at my notes.. 1/2 cup olive oil? Seems a bit much, doesn't it? Hmm.

I poured it into the cast iron skillet. Mine is a little smaller than hers - an 11" not a 12". But when you're talking about a 1/2 cup of oil, it apparently makes a huge difference. It looked really, really deep. I frowned at it, it didn't go away. So I figured it wasn't really as deep as I thought, let's just try anyway and poured the batter in.

Oh dear. That didn't work at all. The batter floated on the oil. It literally did not touch the bottom of the pan as far as I could tell. No point now in doing anything other than cooking it, really. I wanted to see what would happen so I put it in the oven, closed the door and hoped it would still come out.

You can see where this is going. No, it didn't come out. But it did. I took it out after 30 minutes. The flat bread was completely cooked (and utterly oily) but the flavors were really good. I threw it in the trash, drained off most of the oil into a jar to be reused later, and started whisking up a new batch.

Now, however, the rest of dinner was nearly done. So I whisked it up into a fairly thin batter, heated up the skillet on the range and pan-fried a few in a scant two tablespoons of oil. Those came out perfectly. The flatbread was fluffy and redolent with rosemary. Not as thick or as nice as it would have come out in the oven, but next time, I'll do it with just enough oil to cover the pan and preheat it in the oven. I've written that into the recipe (as much for me as for anyone reading) but it's as yet untried.

Farinata [printable recipe]

Recipe adapted from We Are Never Full

1 1/4 cups chickpea flour
1 1/4 cups water or kefir
1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
olive oil

Combine flour and spices in a small bowl, then whisk in the liquid until a thin batter comes together. It should be the consistency of milk or a good crepe batter. Let rest for 1 hour (up to overnight), skimming off any foam that develops.

For oven-baking: Preheat the oven to 425 with a cast iron skillet inside. Take the (hot!) pan out, pour in about 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil, swirl to coat as needed, then add the batter. Bake for 30 minutes, checking at 25 minutes, for a crispier farinata, OR bake for 15 - 17 minutes and broil for 2 minutes, for a softer version.

For pan-frying: Pour a tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Heat over medium heat. When ready, pour some batter into the skillet, swirling it around a la crepes and flipping halfway through. When golden brown, remove to a waiting plate, add a bit of oil to the pan if necessary and repeat.

We made ours thicker, like pancakes, but you can make them as thin as crepes too.

Notes:

A related version called socca, from Nice, France, incorporates some olive oil into the batter as well.

. . . By the way, you should really click on the link in the recipe above. The smiling goat is adorable!

Maizes zupa (Latvian Bread Soup)

Cori Rozentāle — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:25:04 GMT

Every week, I make one dish from Latviešu ēdieni.

When I went to Latvia for the first time, I happened to be there in time for my father-in-law's vārdadiena, or name-day. (All of the most common Latvian names are assigned to a certain day on the calendar, along with a day for anyone whose name isn't on there.) The family decided to have a party at "Zvanītāji", one of the many small ethnographic houses scattered across the country.

This one in particular is near Rucava on the southern Kurzeme coast and is a 19th century wooden house where traditional implements, costumes and food can be experienced, as can traditional music and dancing, thanks to the Rucava Club of Traditions. I have to say it was a lot of fun, though it was extremely odd to be surrounded by Latvians laughing and singing along to dirty ditties (which I didn't understand until my husband translated for me). If my Latvian had been stronger, it probably wouldn't have been quite as odd as it felt!

Maizes zupa -- Latvian Bread Soup [printable recipe]

Serves 2

150 g stale or toasted dark rye bread¹
2 cups (1/2 l) boiling water
20 g sugar
20 g brown sugar
2 tbsp cranberry juice concentrate²
40 g dried fruit (apples, raisins, prunes), finely chopped
cinnamon
ground cloves
sweetened whipped cream³

Traditional Method: Soak bread in water until soft, then force through a fine sieve.

My method: Grate toasted bread coarsely (we used our food processor), then bring water to a boil in a small sauce pot. Soak bread in water until nicely soft.

Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves and fruit. Add water as necessary to make it soup-y. Cook over low heat until soup is the consistency desired and the fruit flavors have permeated throughout. Remove from heat and stir in cranberry concentrate (if using).

Chill thoroughly. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Notes:

No dark rye? Try the darkest pumpernickel you can find. It won't be the same, but you'll get the idea
Why cranberry concentrate? Because outside of Thanksgiving, frozen plain cranberries aren't available in my local stores. I did, however, have a not-so-sweet jar of cranberry concentrate that served well.
I'm not even going to tell you what the recipe originally called for when it came to the whipped cream. Ever tried to whip less than a tablespoon? Just whip up a small batch or use a bit of Cool Whip that's hanging about in the freezer.

Atvainojiet! Tulkojums vēl nav pieejams.

Maize zupa 2 porcijas

150 g sakaltušas vai grauzdētas rupjmaizes 1/2 l verdoša ūdens 40 g cukura 30 g dzērveņu sulas 40 g smalki sagrieztu, žāvētu augļu (ābolu, rozīņu, plūmju) kanēlis maltas krustnagliņas putukrējums

Ja ir pieejams virtuves kombains visvieglāk ir rupjmaizi sarīvēt vai sasmalcināt tajā un pārliet ar verdošo ūdeni...

My method: Grate toasted bread coarsely (we used our food processor), then bring water to a boil in a small sauce pot. Soak bread in water until nicely soft.

Chill thoroughly. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)

Cori Rozentāle — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:07:28 GMT

Occasionally, I'll buy a baguette at the store to have with a meal. Sometimes it's a whim, sometimes I forgot to take a ball of dough out to make my own, sometimes I just don't feel like baking it myself. The only problem is, there's always some left over, even after snacks and lunch the next day. It doesn't take very long for a baguette to go stale unfortunately.

There are a lot of things you can do with stale bread, making bread crumbs is the first that springs to mind for me. But the tastiest I've found is panzanella, a Tuscan bread salad.

It's simple to make and throw together and makes an excellent lunch, even in the winter. While it probably tastes best with fresh, ripe tomatoes, it can be made with a decent brand of canned tomatoes (and always, of course, with your own) in a pinch. Though this recipe came about as another way to use up stale bread, I like to take fresh bread and toast it up into garlic bread just for this salad. Yum.

Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad) [printable recipe]

Serves 2

about 4" to 6" stale or fresh baguette or french bread
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes or 3 Roma tomatoes¹, chopped
2 - 3 tbsp fresh basil², sliced
2 slices turkey bacon or 1 thick slice bacon, cooked crisp and chopped (optional)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp capers³
1/4 cup red onion, diced
salt, pepper

If the baguette or french bread isn't too stale, slice it up and toast it. I like to spread butter or olive oil on top followed by a sprinkling of my garlic bread spice mix (dried parsley, granulated garlic, salt) before toasting. Let cool enough to handle, then chop up into bite-size pieces.

If the bread is already nicely stale, chop it into bite-size pieces. If using canned tomatoes, drain the tomatoes and reserve the liquid. Toss the bread cubes with the liquid in a medium bowl so they'll begin to soften. If using fresh tomatoes, chop tomatoes then toss with the bread cubes.

Combine drained tomatoes (if using), basil, bacon, capers and red onion with the bread. Drizzle over with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste, then toss well.

Notes:

I don't bother peeling fresh tomatoes, but if it bothers you, blanch them and peel them before chopping.
Any fresh herb will do here. I like basil for its peppery tanginess, but fresh oregano, thyme or marjoram would all work well, as would parsley.
Adding a chopped roasted red pepper or some minced anchovy would also be good.

Garlic Naan: Broiled and Fried

Cori Rozentāle — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:36:00 GMT

I remember my first experience at an Indian restaurant. A friend of mine had recommended an Indian place a few miles away from where I lived in Mill Creek, so my ex and I traipsed down to have a bite.

Two things really stick out in my mind: the heavenly garlic naan I couldn't stop eating and a beautiful roasted tomato chutney that completely changed the way I thought of tomatos.

The other day, Closet Cooking posted an easy recipe for pan-fried naan that looked delicious. It does require some ghee, which is a story in and of itself, but otherwise, the recipe is pretty simple. While trolling around looking at other naan recipes, I found that the most common method seems to be broiling, preferably on a hot pizza stone. Since we have both a great cast iron pan and a pizza stone, I figured I'd try making them two separate ways to see which came out better.

The most important difference, I'd say, between stone baked and pan-fried is not to brush the naan with ghee prior to cooking, since any fats will leach into the stone and cause problems later and instead, brush it with ghee after it comes out of the oven.

Fried on the left, broiled on the right.

In the end, they both came out lovely but the stone-baked naan won my heart. It was lighter, fluffier and moister -- my cast iron seemed to suck out the moisture from the dough, leaving flatter, stiffer naan. I think I rolled mine out too thin too, which didn't help. Both tasted good but I'll stick to broiling in the future.

There were a lot of recipes I saw that I wanted to try. Some called for caraway seeds, roasted garlic, sauteed onions, sesame seeds, salt and more to top the raw dough before it went into the oven. Naan is definitely a tasty canvas to explore.

Recipe revised February 2010.

Garlic Naan [printable recipe]

Adapted from Closet Cooking
Makes 8 - 16 naan, depending how you slice it

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup warm water (105F-110F)
1 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
5 tbsp ghee or melted unsalted butter
3 tbsp plain yogurt
1 head (about 7 - 8 medium cloves) roasted garlic, minced OR
1 tsp minced dried garlic + 1 tsp granulated garlic powder
additional ghee, for brushing
additional salt, for sprinkling

Stir together yeast and water, let sit for 10 minutes. Mix in salt and flour, then add ghee and yogurt. Add additional flour or another tablespoon of ghee as necessary to bring the dough together. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 4 minutes in my stand mixer). Place in an oiled, covered bowl and let rise for about 90 minutes in a warm place or until doubled. Punch down the dough and knead for 10 minutes on a floured, clean surface. Divide the dough out into 8 or more balls, then roll out¹ into elongated ovals.

To pan-fry: Brush one side of a rolled out naan piece with ghee and sprinkle with a little salt. In a hot skillet or griddle, lay it ghee-side down. Brush the other side with ghee. Flip after about 2 - 3 minutes. It should be turning nicely brown, with darker spots (similar to tortillas). Remove.

To stone-broil: Turn the oven to broil and preheat with the stone in the lower third of the oven (about 20 minutes, you want that stone hot). Flip a naan or two onto the stone. Wait 90 seconds and check. It should have brown spots, if not, wait another 30 seconds. (Once you do one or two, you'll know how hot your oven is and how long to wait, but it won't be more than 2 or 3 minutes per naan.) Grab the naan with tongs and remove, flipping another onto the stone to cook. Brush cooked naan with ghee and sprinkle a little kosher salt over it.

Notes:

I rolled mine out to 1/4" thickness which was great for the broiled and not so good for the fried. If I did it over, I'd let the fried ones be a bit under 1/2" and I bet they'd come out much better.