Kevin: Bite-sized Bread - Gougères Recipe

In casting about for a topic for February we somehow came up with bite-size breads with cheese. Go figure. However, having arrived on that topic the first thing that occurred to me was gougères.

Gougères are savory Pâte à choux puffs typically made with cheese, usually gruyere, but other cheeses are sometimes used. I frequently make them for parties because they keep easily for a day in the fridge (or a month in the freezer) and reheat beautifully in the oven.

Making this dough can be intimidating the first time because it's unconventional. But in fact it's easy and fast. Choux is a bread (pastry) leavened with steam. A wet dough, as it heats up the liquid in it turns to steam and causes it to rise and forming large internal bubbles which are stuffed with something sweet in the case of eclairs and profiteroles. According to Wikipedia:

A chef by the name of Panterelli invented the dough in 1540, seven years after he left Florence, along with Catherine de' Medici and the entirety of her court. He used the dough to make a gâteau and named it Pâte à Panterelli. As time passed, the recipe of the dough evolved, and the name changed to Pâte à Popelin, which was used to make Popelins, small cakes made in the shape of a woman's breasts. Then, Avice, a pâtissier in the eighteenth century, created what was then called Choux Buns. The name of the dough changed to Pâte à Choux, as Avice's buns looked similar in appearance to choux, which is French for cabbages. From there, Antoine Carême made modifications to the recipe, resulting in the recipe most commonly used now for profiteroles.

The recipe below is based on one by Thomas Keller, the owner and chef of The French Laundry. But I've tweaked it and the inclusion of prosciutto is completely my own (albeit obvious) idea.

Prosciutto Gougères
Makes about 24.

Ingredient US volume Metric volume US weight Metric weight
prosciutto 6 thin slices
water 1 c 236.6 ml 8 oz 225 g
unsalted butter 7 tbsp 105 ml 3.5 oz 100 g
kosher salt 1 1/2 tsp 7 ml -- --
ground mustard 1 tsp 5 ml -- --
freshly ground white pepper 1/2 tsp 3 ml -- --
all-purpose flour 1 1/4 c 295 ml 6 3/8 oz 183 g
large eggs 4 - 5 ea
gruyere grated -- -- 5 oz 142 g

Heat the oven to 450F/230C.

Slightly cook prosciutto in a skillet over medium heat — about 10 seconds per side. Then coarsely chop by hand, you should have about 1/3 cup lightly packed.

Mix the mustard, salt, and pepper with the flour. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and butter and bring to a boil. Add all the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium, and stir, smearing and cutting through the batter, for 2 minutes, or until the mixture forms a ball and the excess moisture has evaporated (if the ball forms more quickly, continue to cook and stir for a full 2 minutes).

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle and beat for about 30 seconds at medium speed to cool slightly. Add 4 eggs and continue to mix until completely combined and the batter has a smooth, silky texture. Stop the machine and lift up the beater to check the consistency of the batter. The batter in the mixing bowl should form a peak with a tip that falls over. If it is too stiff, beat in the white of the remaining egg. Check again and, if necessary, add the yolk. Finally, mix in 3/4 cup of the Gruyere and chopped prosciutto.

Line a pair of baking sheets with parchment paper, (or Silpat if you have one). Fill a one-gallon heavy plastic bag with the batter and snip off a bottom corner. Pipe the batter into 1-tablespoon (15 ml) mounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches (5 cm) between the gougères. Sprinkle the top of each gougère with about 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) of the remaining grated cheese and bake for 7 to 8 minutes (my oven needs 10 minutes), or until they puff and hold their shape. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175C). and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes to a light golden brown color.

(Note: Unless you have a convection oven, I recommend cooking these in two batches, if you have a convection oven you may be able to cook both sheets at once.)

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Kevin: Seasonal Breads — Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Coffee and newspaper in hand, I stepped out onto my patio and into that strangely orange-gold light that suffuses a clear fall morning. Each season seems to have it's own special brand of light: the harsh, white clarity of a frozen winter morning; the sweet, yellow dance of spring; the somehow round color of summer; and, so, to the particular hue of fall.

Traffic is light at 8:00 on a Sunday morning and most people sleep late, so the sounds of bird calls and songs are clear and add a pleasant punctuation to the Telemann sonatas playing faintly on the radio inside. The newspaper rustles reassuringly.

The odor of fresh coffee mixes with dusty scents of the season's change and the fainter smell of paper and newsprint. And then I pick up the first hints of yeast and cinnamon. A promise growing more insistent as the minutes tick by until, mouth watering, the timer calls me back into the kitchen.

I return to the patio with fresh coffee and a cinnamon bun.

I'd made the buns the night before, letting the dough rise, then forming the buns and letting them rise partially again, before placing the pan in the refrigerator. When I got up Sunday morning I pulled the pan out of the fridge and let it warm for an hour before baking the rolls.

Just imagine how good fresh cinnamon rolls would be on Christmas morning.

Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 8 rolls.

Ingredient US Volume Metric Volume US Weight Metric Weight
Dough:
all-purpose flour 4 1/2 c 1060 ml 23 oz 630 g
quick yeast 2 1/4 tsp 12 ml 1/4 oz 7 g
milk 1 c 235 ml 8 oz 225 g
unsalted butter 1/3 cup 80 ml 2 3/4 oz 80 g
granulated sugar 1/3 cup 80 ml 2 3/4 oz 80 g
salt 1/2 tsp 2.5 ml -- --
eggs 3 large
Filling:
light brown sugar 3/4 c 175 ml 5 5/8 oz 160 g
all-purpose flour 1/4 c 60 ml 1 1/4 oz 3 g
ground cinnamon 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
unsalted cold butter, cut into pieces 1/2 c 117 ml 4 oz 113 g
half & half 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
Glaze:
powdered sugar 1/2 cup 117 ml 2 oz 58 g
half & half 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --

Dough:
Heat milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan to about 120F (50C), stirring steadily.

Combine half the flour (2 1/4 cups 530 ml 11.5 oz 315 g) and all of the yeast in a bowl. Gradually stir in the milk mixture then beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Make sure all these ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Mix and then knead in remaining flour. You’re shooting for a soft, smooth, and elastic dough but it shouldn't be sticky, you may need to add some additional flour.

Shape into a ball and place seam-side down in a greased bowl. Spritz the top of the ball with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic. Let rise until doubled in bulk — 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Deflate the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface, cover with a clean towel, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Filling:
Mix together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl and cut in the butter with a pastry knife

Roll the dough out into a 12 inch (30 cm) square. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the rolled out dough and roll the dough into a log, pinching the edges to seal. Slice the log into eight equal-sized pieces and arrange in a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch (33 x 23 x 5 cm) baking pan.

Cover dough loosely with clear plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise.

At this point you can refrigerate the dough for anywhere from 2 to 24 hours. If overnight, allow the rolls to sit out for 20 minutes, then refrigerate. The next morning remove the rolls from the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

If you are making the cinnamon rolls immediately, don’t chill dough. Instead, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let dough rise in a warm place till nearly double, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375F (190C) and brush rolls with half & half. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

Glaze:
In a medium-sized bowl stir together the powdered sugar and half & half. The glaze should be thin enough to drizzle over the rolls.

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Kevin: Holiday Rolls - Yeast Beer Rolls Recipe

No one in my family is a big bread eater. I probably eat far more bread than anyone else and that's mostly in the form of sandwiches (which I love — shut-up Beth). But the holidays seem to call for bread and, in particular, those soft dinner rolls your mother used to buy and finish baking.

I've made these slightly sweet, tender, and buttery rolls in the past. Unfortunately I had no idea what recipe I've used in the past, so I decided to use Rose Berenbaum's recipe from The Bread Bible. Rose let me down. Alternatively, I screwed up. At any rate, the dough was so soft I couldn't get any loft, it simply spread out like a pancake. The rolls tasted fine, but looked terrible. Not something I wanted on a holiday table.

Because I had other commitments I didn't have time to experiment, so I decided to fall back on a recipe I developed a couple of years ago. I knew these would look great and taste great — and besides, I hadn't made them in a while. Besides, they make great little turkey sandwiches.

I was trying to make a beer bread. I thought whole wheat would play well with the beer, but I didn't really want a whole wheat bread. I wanted the flavor as an ingredient. Besides it's sometimes tricky to get a good rise out of whole wheat (the fragments of bran tend to cut the gluten strands) and I certainly didn't want to repeat the pancake experience. I added honey because beer and whole wheat tend to be a somewhat bitter and I chose a dark porter to get a strong beer flavor.

Whole Wheat Beer Rolls
Makes 16 rolls.

Ingredient US Volume Metric Volume US Weight Metric Weight
instant yeast 1 1/2 tsp 7 ml -- --
honey 2 tbsp 30 ml -- --
porter beer warm, flat 1 1/2 c 255 ml 12 oz 337 g
bread flour 1 1/2 c 350 ml 7 1/2 oz 220 g
whole wheat flour 2 1/4 c 530 ml 11 oz 330 g
butter melted and cooled 1 1/2 tbsp 22.5 ml -- --
salt 2 tsp 10 ml -- --
egg 1 each
water 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --

Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, combine 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) yeast and bread flour. Whisk the honey into the beer, then, with the motor running on low, add the beer. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 1 hour. This is called a poolish.

Combine 2 cups whole wheat flour and remaining 1 teaspoon of yeast. Sprinkle flour over over poolish, sprinkle salt over flour, and recover bowl with plastic. Allow to ferment for 4 hours. The poolish will break through the flour cover — not a problem.

Using the dough hook. Mix together the flour into the poolish then add melted butter.
Knead for four minutes at medium speed. The dough should be slightly sticky but should clear the bowl. Add additional flour if needed and knead for another 2 - 3 minutes. Dump dough onto a floured board and knead another minute or two until dough is fairly smooth and resilient. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes.

Clean and dry mixing bowl and spray with a nonstick spray. Shape dough into a ball and place seam-side down in bowl. Spritz top lightly with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in bulk — 60 to 90 minutes.

Punch down dough and turn out onto floured board. Lightly knead dough and form into a flattened ball. Allow to rest 10 minutes.

Using a dough scraper cut dough in four equal quarters. Set three quarters aside and cover. Shape remaining quarter into a flattened ball and divide into four quarters. Shape each quarter into a ball and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Repeat for remaining dough, cover, and allow to rise until rolls double in bulk.

Heat oven to 400F/205C.

In small bowl, beat together egg and water. Brush rolls with egg mixture and bake on middle oven rack for about 25 minutes. Watch closely to avoid overcooking.

Cool on a wire rack.

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Kevin: Prosciutto Bread Ring Recipe

Republished from Seriously Good.
I read recently that the most popular sandwich in the US (discounting hamburgers, I assume) is ham. Although I presume most people eat of some sort of processed ham on some sort of commercial bread in their sandwiches, even some of those products aren't bad. And when you branch out into less common hams and handcrafted breads you can create some really spectacular sandwiches.

Such sandwiches can be as simple as a couple of slices of Prosciutto or Serrano ham on a single crust of country bread — perhaps with a slice of Manchego or Fontina. This is best enjoyed standing in a tavern in Spain or Italy, but it's good at home too. Grilled country ham on a biscuit is a breakfast mainstay in the South. Fresh baked ham on a good sour rye with German mustard and sliced dill pickles is wonderful on a picnic. And I think my favorite ham sandwich is a Black Forest ham Panini with Bierkase on my own sourdough bread. A light brush of olive oil on the bread before grilling really sets it off.

The last bread book I bought was The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum has a recipe in it for a Prosciutto Ring. Right off the bat I liked the sound of it. Reading further I discovered that it's brushed with bacon fat before baking. Ham and bacon and fresh baked bread? Sounds like a ham sandwich lover's dream!

Prosciutto Ring

2 cups + 3 tbsp bread flour
1 tbsp malt powder (or 1 tbsp sugar)
3/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1 c water (70F -90F)
3 oz Prosciutto, 1/8" thick -- cut into 1/2" pieces
4 tsp bacon fat, lard, or butter -- melted

Using the whisk attachment, thoroughly combine flour, malt, and yeast. Add salt and mix. (Note: the salt is added after mixing to avoid it coming into direct contact with the yeast.)

Swapping to the dough hook, add water to bowl and combine with flour at low speed (#2 on a Kitchen Aid) until moistened. Increase speed to medium (#4 on a KA) and knead for seven minutes. Add Prosciutto and mix in on low. Dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. If it is too sticky add a bit more flour and knead in, if too dry, spray with a bit of water and knead in.

Dump dough onto a lightly floured counter, shape into a ball, dust lightly with flour, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Place baking stone or a baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven and a baking sheet on the bottom of the oven. Heat oven to 450F.

Roll dough into an 18" rope, form into a ring, overlapping ends by two inches on a sheet of parchment paper or Silpain sheet. Cover with a large bowl or oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk -- about one hour. Brush with melted bacon grease.

Transfer bread on Silpan or parchment to stone or baking sheet. (Use a peel if bread is on parchment.) Toss half a dozen ice cubes into the pan on the bottom of the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes, remove Silpan or parchment, and rotate bread 180 degrees. Bake another five minutes and reduce heat to 400F. Cook another 10 to 15 minutes. Turn oven off, prop open door, and leave the bread in the oven for five minutes.

Remove bread from oven, brush again with bacon fat or butter, and allow to cool completely.

Note: I ended up adding almost an additional half cup of flour to the dough to get the texture right.

If ever, in a moment of aimless wondering, pondered what heaven might smell like, I know. It smells like a combination of bacon cooking and bread baking. And if you could eat heaven, it just might taste like this bread.

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Kevin: Sandwich Rye Bread Recipe

A few years ago I made a sourdough rye bread using wild yeast that I captured and cultured. I made a decent bread from it, albeit rather tough and coarse, but I already had a sourdough culture I was caring for and decided I didn't need twins in my life. Nevertheless, I do love a good sour rye bread for sandwiches and so I eventually got around to coming up with a good sandwich rye.

The trick with rye bread is that rye is low in glutenin. Gluten is a combination of two primary protein molecules, glutenin and gliadin. Glutenin provides stretchability and gliadin provides plasticity. In the presence of water, glutenin in particular can bind to other glutenin molecules at each end (forming even longer chains) and to other molecules in the center. By kneading dough you encourage the glutenin molecules to make these links and thus you get bread dough's ability to rise. Gliadin molecules, in turn, enable the glutenin to maintain it's shape. This combination of glutenin and gliadin is what we usually mean by the single word "gluten."

A couple of other key factors affect the way bread rises. Acid weakens the gluten bonds, which is why sourdoughs are often denser breads than yeast breads. On the other hand, salt strengthens the bonds.

Because rye flour is low in glutenin it doesn't stretch well and so pure rye bread tends to be dense and heavy — and sourdough rye particularly so. This means that to make a good sandwich-type bread with an open, generous crumb using rye the rye needs to be an ingredient rather than the primary flour.

I did some research and found a bread machine recipe that I decided to adapt. Based on what I knew and what I desired I came up with the following recipe.

This is the least pure recipe I've made, by which I mean that I include a couple of additives in the bread: sour salt and wheat gluten. Both of these are natural products — or at least occur naturally.

Sour salt is actually citric acid, which is the acid found in lemons, limes, and other citrus fruits. I like a slightly acid flavor in rye because it complements both the rye flavor and the caraway seeds that, to me, are essential in a good sandwich rye. You could simply add lemon or lime juice but I didn't want the flavors associated with the juice, instead I wanted the pure taste of acid on the tongue. Wheat gluten is what it says, gluten extracted from wheat (ideally without any melamine, so stay away from Chinese wheat gluten). The wheat gluten would enable me to bump the proportion of rye flour and still get a good sandwich loaf.

Sandwich Rye
Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredient US volume Metric Volume US weight Metric weight
rye flour 1 c 235 ml 5 1/8 oz 146 g
bread flour 2 1/4 c 530 ml 11 1/2 oz 330
instant yeast 1 tsp 5 ml -- --
wheat gluten 1 1/2 tbsp 22 ml -- --
citric acid (sour salt) 1/4 tsp 1 ml -- --
caraway seeds 2 tbsp 30 ml -- --
molasses 1 1/2 tbsp 22 ml -- --
butter melted 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
table salt 3/4 tsp 4 ml -- --
water 1 c + 2 tbsp 2.6 dl 9 oz 256 g
Egg Wash:
egg 1 -- -- --
water 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix together the yeast, gluten, citric acid, caraway seeds, rye flour, and 2 cups (530 ml) of bread flour. Add salt and mix in. (Note, the salt is added after mixing the original ingredients to minimize it's direct contact with the yeast, which it can kill).

In a measuring cup, mix together water, molasses, and butter using a small whisk. With the motor running at low speed, pour liquid into dry ingredients. Once moistened, switch to the dough hook and finish blending. The dough should be moist and sticky, add just enough additional flour, a tablespoon at a time, to have dough clear the sides of the bowl. Increase speed to medium and knead for eight minutes. (Note, dough will clear sides but stick to bottom, scrape it up with a rubber spatula every couple of minutes.)

Scoop dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly a few times then form into a ball. Place the dough in a bowl sprayed with cooking oil, spritz top with oil, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk — about 1 1/2 hours.

Gently deflate dough, scoop onto a lightly floured surface, fold a few times, and allow to relax for about five minutes. Shape dough into a loaf and place on a piece of parchment on your peel or on a baking sheet. Lightly spritz tops with oil and cover with plastic. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. In the meantime, heat oven to 400F (200C) and place rack in center position. (Note: it's important to give the oven a long preheat before baking, particularly if you're using a baking stone.)

Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Brush loaf with egg wash and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate rack front to back and continue baking 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. The interior should read 190F on an instant read thermometer.

The bread makes a great ham sandwich. And I've made buns for bratwursts using it — a perfect flavor match for the brats with a dollop of mustard and some onions and peppers.

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Kevin: Quick Breads - Cheese Bread

This month we’re doing quick breads. A quick bread is one that uses something other than yeast for leavening, typically a chemical leavener. Biscuits are quickbreads — unless they’re sour-dough biscuits. Muffins are quick breads. Cornbread is a quick bread. Even popovers are quick breads, although they rely on eggs for leavening.

The chemical leaveners are baking soda and baking powder and they work by producing CO2 gas, which is the same way yeast works. Yeast, however, digests sugars and produces CO2 as part of its metabolism, while baking soda and baking powder work by combining an alkali ingredient (the baking soda) with an acid.to produce CO2. If your recipe contains an acid ingredient such as buttermilk, lemon juice, or sour cream then baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, an alkali) will react with that acid to create the gas.

Chemical leavening is a recent invention in the history of bread. Or, perhaps more accurately, their deliberate use is a recent invention with baking powder being the real breakthrough. Various combinations of chemicals were used in the early 19th century, but in 1856 a chemist named Eben Horsford developed a powder he named in honor of Count Rumford — yes, that Rumford Baking Powder. But it wasn’t until the end of the 19th century, when a German pharmacist named August Oetker started selling it to housewives, that chemical leavening entered the culinary mainstream.

Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and an acid such as monosodium phosphate, thus providing both ingredients in a single ingredient. Baking powder usually includes cornstarch to absorb water vapor and keep the acid and alkali from interacting in the box. Adding a liquid when making something like biscuits or muffins overwhelms the cornstarch and the active ingredients combine and produce CO2. But, over time, even the ambient humidity (the water vapor in the air) will saturate the corn starch and the active chemicals will begin interacting. This is why baking powder has a limited shelf life.

Bacon/Onion/Gruyere
Another option is to fry five strips of bacon cut into 1/2" pieces. Drain the bacon and add 1/2 of an onion, minced and sauté it for about three minutes. Make the bread according to the directions at left but leaving out the butter, substituting gruyere for the cheddar. Fold in the bacon and onion, then cook according to the recipe.

Double-acting baking soda includes an additional acid ingredient (usually sodium aluminum sulphate) that kicks in when heated. Without the heat it’s inert and so double-acting baking powder works the first time by combining the bicarbonate of soda and monosodium phosphate in the presence of water, and then, when heated up by the interaction between the soda and aluminum sulphate.

The following is a recipe I’ve been meaning to try since 2004 when Cooks Illustrated published it. This seemed like a perfect opportunity and I decided to match it up with a stuffed tomato for a late summer supper.

Cheese Bread
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, May/June 2004.

Ingredient | US Volume | Metric Volume | US Weight | Metric weight
parmesan — coarsely shredded ~ 1 c | ~ 235 ml | 3 oz | 85 g
all-purpose flour 3 c | 710 ml | 15 1/2 oz | 440 g
baking powder 1 tbsp | 15 ml | 5/8 oz | 18 g
cayenne 1/4 tsp | 1.2 ml | -- | --
salt 1 tsp | 5 ml | 1/4 oz | 7 g
black pepper 1/8 tsp | .6 ml | -- | --
sharp cheddar -- | -- | 4 oz | 113 g
whole milk 1 1/4 c | 296 ml | 10 oz | 283 g
butter — melted 3 tbsp | 45 ml | 1 1/2 oz | 43 g
large egg — lightly beaten 1 ea
sour cream 3/4 c | 177 ml | 6 oz | 170 g

Heat oven to 350F (177C). Spray a 9" x 5" (20cm x 12cm) loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half of parmesan on the bottom of the pan.

Cut cheddar into 1/2" (1.25cm) dice.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Add cheddar and toss to coat.

In a medium bowl, mix together milk, butter, egg, and sour cream. Combine liquid and dry ingredients folding together with a spatula until just mixed.

Pour into the loaf pan and top with remaining parmesan. Bake in center of oven 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Note, because you may hit a pocket of cheese, use the toothpick test in two or three spots.

Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn bread out and continue cooling for 45 minutes.

It's hrad to beat cheese bread, and this version, with the chunks of melted cheese in it is fun to eat. The sour cream keeps it pleasantly moist and the cayenne adds a great touch of spiciness. I've just been sticking it in the toaster oven to warm up and then eating it plain.

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Kevin: Italian Breads From Local Breads - Focaccia

I was about 12 or 13 the first time I tried baking bread. I produced two whole wheat bricks. I tried again a number of times over the following few years but without any great success. I did produce some decent English muffins — although nothing as good as those I made using the No-knead Bread Dough.

Then in 1981 I'd just gotten out of school and while I was trying to find a real job I decided to make sandwiches and sell them door-to-door at offices. Not content to do it the easy way, I elected to make the sandwiches using croissants. — homemade croissants. Croissants are one of the most labor-intensive breads you can make. After mixing and kneading the dough, you roll butter into it, then fold it and roll it out again, then do it again. The next step is refrigerating it, not because you've finished but because the butter needs to harden again. The process of folding and rolling is repeated at least twice more, maybe three times.

Once you've made enough folds, you roll the dough out one last time and cut it into triangles, which are rolled up and shaped into crescents. Then back in the fridge until 4:00 the next morning at which time I'd get up and move them into some jury-rigged proofing ovens. Back to bed until 6:00 when I'd get up and start baking them while making the various sandwich fillings. I've never worked so hard in my life and I haven't made a croissant since. But I did start occasionally making bread again.

In 1995 I bought a Kitchen Aid specifically for making bread and sausage and at the same time I bought Daniel Leader's Bread Alone, which I proceeded to read cover-to-cover. I learned a lot, so, like my confreres, I was pleased to get a review copy of Local Breads: Sourdoughs and Whole-grain Recipes from Europe's Best Bakers (and I confess, I haven't read it cover-to-cover) and was equally willing to feature it here this month (with no promises that anyone would be happy with the results). Although we'd decided to do breads involving a biga, I decided instead to do focaccia from the same section of the book. I'm fond of flat breads and it's a simple straightforward recipe. Given how busy this month has been, simple and straightforward seemed like a good idea.

One note, the recipe calls for 3 1/4 cups of flour and I ended up using almost 4 cups. I should have weighed it to see how close my cups came to Leader's, but by the time I realized how much flour I'd used I'd used up the last of that bag — and weighing flour from a different bag wouldn't have told me anything.

Grape Harvest Focaccia (Schiacciata all'uva)
Adapted from >Local Breads.

Ingredients | US volume | metric volume | US weight | metric weight
water — tepid 1 1/4 c | 296 ml | 10.6 oz | 300 g
instant yeast 1 tsp | 5 ml | 0.2 oz | 5 g
unbleached all-purpose flour 3 1/4 c | 770 ml | 17.6 oz | 500 g
extra-virgin olive oil 1/3 c | 80 ml | 2.1 oz | 60 g
sea salt 1 1/2 tsp | 8 ml | 0.4 oz | 10 g
Topping:
red seedless grapes 1 1/2 c | 355 ml | 7.1 oz | 200 g
fresh rosemary — chopped 2 tbsp | 30 ml | 0.2 oz | 6 g
coarse sea salt 1 tsp | 5 ml | 0.2 oz | 5 g
additional olive oil

Mixing
Pour water into the bowl of a stand mixer bowl and add yeast, olive oil, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Mix the ingredients on low (2 on a KA) using the paddle attachment on a Kitchen Aid until shaggy, then swap to the dough hook. Add additional flour as needed until a dough forms. Increase speed to medium (4 on a KA) and knead for 9 to 10 minutes.

As I mentioned above, I needed about 4 cups of flour. I'd added about 3 3/4 cups and thought that was fine, and then a strange thing happened. In the last 3 minutes of kneading the dough fell apart. It lost it cohesion as a mass and became something like an exceptionally thick batter. I've never seen this happen before. I added about another 1/4 cup of flour and it came back together.

Scrape dough out onto a lightly-floured board and shape into a ball. Note: I always knead the dough a bit by hand at the end to make sure it feels right. In this case the dough is moist, but not sticky (the oil accounts for this).

Fermentation
For this amount of dough, I typically use the mixer bowl for the fermentation phase. I wash it out and dry it, then lightly spray it with oil, shape the dough into a ball, lightly spray the top with oil, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until doubled in bulk.

Proofing
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush lightly with olive oil. Scrape dough out onto baking sheet and let rest for 5 minutes. Oil your hands and then stretch the dough out on the baking sheet, if it resists, allow to rest for another five minutes and continue. The dough should end up about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) and form a rough rectangle about 12 inches by 16 inches (30 cm by 40 cm).

Using the balls of your fingers, press indentations into the dough, then drizzle a bit of olive oil on the top and, using your fingers, coat the top with oil. Press the grapes into the surface about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and chopped rosemary. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double the height (45 minutes to an hour).

At this point I also began heating my oven to 375F (190C) and positioned a rack in the center.

Baking
Bake focaccia for 20 to 30 minutes, but do take your own oven into account. My oven tends to cook slowly for some reason (and yes, I have verified the temperature with a thermometer) and I baked the bread for 40 minutes until it was a golden brown and the grapes had shriveled slightly.

Cool for about 5 minutes on a rack, then dive in.

This was absolutely the best focaccia I've ever made. The bread was delightfully sweet (and look, Ma, no sugar), moist, and chewy. The rosemary is a perfect flavor pairing with the sweet grapes (an added burst of sweetness), and the coarse salt provide both textural and flavor contrast.

Adapted from a recipe in Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader (c) Copyright 2007 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. With permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Kevin: Summer Breads - Buns

"Pig sandwich boy." This is what my co-blogger and supposed friend Beth calls me. Does this sound like a term of endearment? A sweet and touching reference to my fondness for sandwiches and pork? Or does it sound more like opprobrium? A sly snideness hiding behind a mask of bonhomie. I think she's dissing me and isn't really one of my homies, bon or otherwise. Perhaps she has simply mistaken her classics and considers me a Pygmalian, but I think not.

Be that as it may, here at AYIB central (meaning a conference call using my phone service) we've decided to do another selection of summer breads, but not sandwich breads, per se. Instead we're going to offer three different breads suitable for summer picnics, pool parties, watching fireworks, and plain old lazy-Sunday grilling. I got the nod to go first and thought I'd offer a bun recipe. Specifically a recipe I developed last summer for pulled pork barbeque. (Ok, so maybe Beth has a point.)

In this area of the South pulled pork is usually served on soft white hamburger buns. They're a better platform than the white sandwich bread used in some places, but contribute almost nothing to the final sandwich. I'd decided to make barbeque for my father's birthday and decided if I was going to devote 8 - 9 hours smoking a pork butt to perfection then I wanted something better than an ordinary hamburger bun. I wanted a bun that made it's own contribution to the meal and after giving it some thought I decided that if pork is good on the bun, it'd be good in the bun. So I came up with these Bacon Buns. (Alright, so Beth definitely has a point.)

The recipe incorporates some whole-wheat flour for both flavor and texture — but not a lot. The bun should be light and airy. Along those same lines, slow rising and minimal yeast produce deeper and richer flavors and I have bias toward such flavor. But these characteristics also produce a tougher bread because the gluten is more developed. So in keeping with my "light and airy" goal I elected to do a quick single rise.

Bacon Buns
Makes 10 - 12 buns.

ingredients US volume | Metric volume | US weight | Metric weight
milk 1 c | 236 ml | 8 oz | 225 g
water 1/2 c | 118 ml | 4 oz | 112.5 g
bacon fat 1/4 c | 56 ml | 2 oz | 56 g
whole-wheat flour 1 c | 236 ml | 5 1/8 oz | 146 g
all-purpose flour 3 1/2 c | 825 ml | 18 oz | 510 g
instant yeast 1 1/2 tsp | 7.5 ml | — | —
sugar 2 tbsp | 30 ml | 1 1/4 oz | 32 g
salt 1/2 tsp | 2.5 ml | — | —
egg 1 large

Heat the milk, bacon fat, and water in a small saucepan until about 110F.

Mix together 2 cups flour, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Mix in milk mixture, followed by the egg.

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time — switching to the dough hook after adding a cup and a half of flour. Knead for 8 minutes then turn out on a floured board and knead 2 or 3 minutes longer if required. Shape dough into a roll and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 10 equal pieces. Form each piece into a round shape and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Click on the slideshow to the left to see the details of shaping the buns.

Spritz buns with a light coating of oil and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until slightly more than doubled in bulk (it took an hour and a half for this batch).

While the buns are rising, heat the oven to 400F and position a rack in the middle of the oven.

Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate baking sheet 180 degrees. Bake another 2 to 4 minutes until golden brown.

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Breads for Breakfast and Brunch

I've never been a breakfast person. Or, perhaps more accurately, I never been big on eating breakfast. A cup of coffee and a newspaper is all I want when I get up. But give me an hour or so for my belly and taste buds to wake up and I can match a lumberjack sausage for sausage, flapjack for flapjack, and biscuit for bagel. Consequently, I'm a huge fan of brunch.

Early summer is the perfect season for brunch, morning temperatures are perfect for sitting outside on the patio or by a pool eating strata, noshing on sausages, and drinking Mimosas or Bloody Mary's. The combination is hard to beat. But you've got to have some sort of bread, so we've come up with a trio of quick breads for that lazy summer morning with a few good friends.

Susan's Savory Cheese & Scallion Scones
Makes 8 large scones

I came up with this recipe back in 1993 during a severe scone craving when there was no butter in the house. They're a snap to prepare and are really versatile. Serve them warm from the oven with dinner instead of rolls or bread--plain, buttered, or with cream cheese. Or split and toast in the toaster, spread with cream cheese and thinly sliced ham or turkey for a satisfying breakfast on the run, light lunch, or terrific after-school snack. They also freeze beautifully if you happen to have any left over (hint: the recipe can easily be doubled). Defrost at room temperature and heat at 375 degrees in an oven or toaster oven for about 5 to 8 minutes. If you're in a hurry, you can defrost them in the microwave before reheating.

Half & half will give you richer scones with a slightly nicer texture, but milk works quite well, is lower in fat and calories, and is usually always in the fridge. Either way, these are very moist and are healthier for you than traditional scones made with butter and/or heavy cream. You can also substitute Neufchatel cheese for the cream cheese, but I don't recommend using fat-free cream cheese. Fresh baking powder is essential. And as always, I urge you to seek out locally grown and organic ingredients whenever possible.
The optional egg glaze will give your scones a beautiful shine and dark golden color. Look for locally produced, farm fresh eggs at your farmer's market or natural foods store. You won't believe the difference compared to commercial eggs. The yolks are sometimes so dark they are a gorgeous deep orange, and the eggs actually taste like eggs! Enjoy.

2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons baking powder*
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (I use sheep/goat milk)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened in microwave 15-30 seconds (you want it very soft)
4 large scallions (green onions), green & white parts, chopped
1 cup half & half or whole milk
1 egg
Optional egg glaze:
Beat well with a fork:
1 egg & 2 Tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine 2-1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Add cheeses & toss gently with a fork until combined.

Add scallions & toss gently with a fork until combined.

Beat half & half (or milk) with egg and gently fold into dry ingredients, mixing lightly until a soft dough forms. Add up to 1/2 cup additional flour if the dough is too sticky.

On a floured surface, gently pat dough into a circle approximately 1-inch thick. The key to tender scones is to handle the dough with a light touch and as little as possible. With a sharp knife (I use a large serrated knife dipped in flour) cut the circle into 8 wedges and place them on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. (I can't imagine life without my commercial half-size sheet pans.)

Brush tops and sides of scones with egg glaze if desired, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm, or cool completely and refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container.

*Make sure it's fresh! I prefer Rumford brand, as it does not contain aluminum and always gives me excellent results.

kitchenMage's Quick and Flaky Biscuits
Makes 12 - 15 biscuits.

Biscuits are a perennial favorite. You can eat a fresh biscuit about 30 minutes after you decide you want one. (I believe this is the landspeed record for homemade breadstuff.) Hot out of the oven, a biscuit is simply layers of delicate, steaming flaky near-pastry. Add a smear of butter and a dollop of jam and it could be dessert! Biscuits are also a perfect recipe for teaching small children to bake. They are that easy, plus, tiny child hands can be very gentle, which helps with the flakiness.

Ingredient | US volume | US weight | Metric
Flour | 2 1/4 cups | 10 1/8 ounces | 285 grams
Salt | 3/4 tsp | 1/8 ounce | 4-5 grams
Sugar | 1 tablespoon | 5/8 ounce | 18 grams
Baking powder | 4 teaspoons | 5/8 ounce | 19 grams
Butter, very cold | 1/3 cup | 2 5/8 ounces | 75 grams
Milk, very cold | 1 cup | 8 ounces | 225 gram

Preheat oven to 450°

Place flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in food processor and pulse for a few seconds to combine.

Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to food processor. Pulse half a dozen times and check for the size of the butter pieces. Repeat if necessary until the butter is in pieces roughly the size of peas.

Put flour mixture in a mixing bowl and add the cold milk. Toss together gently until barely combined. I use the little white plastic tool in the picture to lift the dough from the side of the bowl and dump it on top of the rest of the dough.

As soon as the dough holds together, turn it out on a lightly floured counter. Gently "knead" the dough a few strokes until it is a mostly a cohesive ball.

Roll the dough into a rectangle 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick, depending on how tall you like your biscuits. Cut into 2 inch circles, you should get 12 - 15, and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 450° for 8 - 10 minutes. Butter and eat while still warm.

Kevin: Butter Popovers
Makes six large popovers or 12 small.

Actually, these are Rose Beranbaum's popovers, based on a recipe in The Bread Bible. These are the best popovers I've ever eaten, the butter adds richness and tones down the strong eggy flavor most popovers have. If you don't have a popover pan, use a muffin pan and be sure to only half-fill the cups.

1 c Wondra flour (must be Wondra)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 c whole milk — at room temperature
2 eggs — at room temperature
4 tbsp butter — melted

Heat oven to 425F 30 minutes in advance. Place one oven rack on the bottom level and the other on the second level (this avoids having the popover rising into the other rack).

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and sugar. Slowly add milk using an electric mixer on low. Add eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition. Add two tablespoons of butter to batter. Transfer to pitcher for pouring.

Brush popover cups with butter then distribute remaining butter evenly among the cups.

Heat popover pan in oven for 3 minutes. Fill each cup halfway with batter.

Cook popovers on the second rack for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350F and continue cooking 20 - 35 minutes until well puffed and brown. Do not open oven for at least the first 20 minutes. Six - 10 minutes before popovers are done, use a small, sharp knife to poke a slit in the top of each popover and allow steam to escape.

When done, remove popovers from the pan and cool on a rack.

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Kevin: Basic White Bread

I've said before, and I'll repeat it here, I enjoy baking bread more than I enjoy eating it. I like bread, and I certainly appreciate good bread, I'm just not a huge bread eater — with one caveat. I'm a sandwich fanatic. In fact, Beth has occasionally referred to me as Pig Sandwich Boy in reference to my dual loves of pork and sandwiches.

There's a Web site named I Love Sandwiches that once had a poll on it asking what's the most amount of time you've ever devoted to making a sandwich? My answer was 36 hours. It took that long because it began with making a poolish from my sourdough starter and proceeded in due course to making the bread, allowing it to rise twice, baking it, and then letting it cool enough to slice for sandwiches. My friends, the true mark of a sandwich lover is when they begin by making the bread for the sandwich.

"There is an art to the business of making sandwiches which is given to few ever to find the time to explore in depth. It is simple task but the opportunities for satisfaction are many and profound…" ~ Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless

Reputedly the sandwich is named for John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. The story goes that he was gambling and rather than take a break from the table to eat he told his servant to bring him a piece of meat between two slices of bread so he could eat with one hand and play cards with the other.

Whether the tale is apocryphal or not, the name does seem to come from him. And I think it holds a key to what truly defines a sandwich: A sandwich is some filling, enclosed in bread, that can be eaten by hand. By this definition a so-called open-faced sandwich is generally not a sandwich because it requires at least a fork to eat. A pizza is not a sandwich, but in terms of utility a calzone is a sandwich just as an empanada or wrap or hamburger is a sandwich.

But whatever the definition, the classic sandwich remains a filling or fillings between two slices of bread. Whether it's a Rueben, a grilled cheese, a ham panini, a cubano, a mufaletta, a Bánh mi a hoagie, a Philly steak and cheese, PB&J, or a BLT they all share a common form and they're all delicious — especially when made with top quality bread.

Although sandwiches have a place in every season, they are particularly suited to summer. They're as heavy or light as the maker desires, they're tremendously portable, and they're quick to prepare (at least they are if you've already baked the bread), and almost everyone has a favorite sandwich. That's why when we were planning A Year in Bread we decided to start off the summer with that most basic of sandwich ingredients, white loaf bread.

My favorite recipe is from Beard on Bread by James Beard. It's made with sour cream which adds some tang to the loaf, but mostly produces an open crumb that makes the best damned grilled cheese sandwich you've ever eaten (recipe below). This bread recipe doesn't produce the huge lofty loaves that Susan's Farmhouse White does, but that's an issue of dough quantity and not how the bread rises. Besides, I find the smaller slices such loaves produce easier to make one-handed sandwiches with — which allows me to eat a sandwich with one hand while making my next loaf of bread, or make manageable sandwiches for kids.

Sour Cream Bread
Adapted from a recipe by James Beard.

ingredient US volume | Metric Volume | US weight | Metric
unbleached bread flour 4 1/2 - 5 c | 1050 - 1200 ml | 23 - 26 oz | 650 - 725 g
instant yeast 2 tsp | 10 ml | 1/4 oz | 4 g
granulated sugar 3 tbsp | 45 ml | 2 oz | 32 g
baking soda 1/4 tsp | 1 ml | --| --
salt 2 tsp | 10 ml | 1/2 oz | 8 g
warm water 1/4 c | 60 ml | 2 oz | 56 g
sour cream, at room temperature 2 c | 480 ml | 16 oz | 450 g

Thoroughly combine 4 1/2 cups (650 g) of the flour with the yeast, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix in the sour cream and water. You should have a wet, sticky dough, but you made need to add a bit more flour to make it manageable. Scrape out onto a lightly floured board.

Using a baker's scraper or a spackling knife, lift the flour and the dough, and fold the dough over. Turn it clockwise slightly and repeat the lifting and folding process until the dough is less sticky and can be worked with your hands. Add only enough flour to prevent sticking. (This entire kneading should take about 10 minutes, possibly longer if you are inexperienced). Shape the dough into a ball, place in a buttered bowl, and turn to coat it with the butter. Cover with plastic and let sit in a warm spot to double in bulk. (Note: The mixing and kneading can be done in the bowl of a stand mixer.)

Punch the dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for a minute, then divide into two equal pieces. Butter two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf tins. Shape the dough into loaves and fit into the tins. Cover loosely and let rise again until doubled. Bake in a preheated 375F (190C) oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on top and bottom. Cool thoroughly before slicing.

It may, perhaps, seem foolish for me to post a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich — after all you can’t get much simpler. And yet, a truly great grilled cheese is one of the best sandwiches on earth and they don't happen by accident. They are made deliberately with care given not only to the choice of ingredients, but to their proportion and the cooking method.

The Perfect Grilled Cheese

Take a loaf of bread with a crumb that's almost cake-like in appearance. In the recipe above the sour cream produces the open pores while the bread flour gives it the firmness it needs. Cut two 3/8 inch slices. I know, I know. Too much precision. But if the bread is too thin the cheese will melt too quickly and if it's too thick the cheese won’t melt quickly enough.

Spread each slice with a light coating of unsalted butter at room temperature.

Place one slice of bread, butter-side down in a cold skillet. Cast iron is best because it heats slowly.

Cut as much sharp cheddar cheese (I highly recommend Grafton Village 1-year- old cheddar but almost any sharp artisanal cheddar will do) into enough 1/8 inch slices to cover the bread. Again, this seems overly precise, but the goal is that the cheese is perfectly melted at exactly the moment the bread is properly browned.

Place the second slice of bread on the cheese and turn the heat to low medium. The bread should start browning in about 6 minutes and should be perfectly browned in 8 - 9 minutes. The cheese will be tacky enough to hold the bread together, but not truly melted. Flip the sandwich and cook until the other side is browned, about 4 minutes, and the cheese is completely melted.

With the right bread and cheese, the bread will actually absorb some of the cheese — a bit may even soak all the way through the bread to contribute to the browning on the second side.

I like to cut the sandwich into two triangles and then eat it with a few pickled peppers and a mug of hard cider. This, my friends, is absolute bliss.

For a collection of sandwich photos, click here.

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Kevin: No-Knead Muffins

Of the three of us hosting this blog, I'm the artiste, while Beth and Susan are technicians. Alternatively, of the three of us Beth and Susan are the dedicated bakers, seeking perfection while I'm the gadfly with the attention span of, well, a gadfly. I prefer the first interpretation but suspect the second is far more accurate.

Nevertheless, one of our goals was to present different approaches to baking bread. My compatriots will make a recipe two or three or more times in a row, tweaking each iteration, until they've nailed it. You can learn a lot from them. Me? I'll make it once, take some notes about what I think worked and didn’t — notes that I often lose — and then not try it again for a year or more if ever. Yeah, gadfly is probably a more accurate description of my approach.

I've been making English muffins for many, many years and although I've produced some superior muffins, I've never produced something as good as what I want. In fact, I've never produced something close to what I want.

Like Beth, I wasn't tremendously impressed with the NY Times No-Knead Bread when I first tried it. It was certainly pretty, but the flavor was on the bland side. and it got stale rapidly. It wasn't suitable for sandwiches, too many huge holes, but given how quickly it became stale that wasn't really an option anyway. Besides, I didn't see that it saved me anything. Kneading only takes 10 minutes and if the long rest between mixing and baking seems like a good idea, then you should know that almost any bread can be refrigerated for 12 hours before baking without harm. In fact, 12 hours in the fridge usually helps the flavor.

Perfect English Muffins

When I was a kid my mother sometimes bought Bay's English Muffins. These gems weren't found with the rest of the breads — or other English Muffins — they were in the dairy compartment near the cheese, eggs, butter, and milk. Exactly were they belonged. I've eaten hundreds, perhaps thousands, of English muffins over the years, and Bay's remains the ideal.

An English muffin is cooked on a griddle — fried, in effect. But it should never taste fried, it should taste baked. And yet, baking wouldn't work. To achieve the proper crust it must be exposed to direct heat.

Split an English muffin open and ideally you should see a moonscape of large and small craters, these craters are perfect for collecting puddles of sweet butter and capturing snags of marmalade.

Bite into one and, unlike most bread — or English muffins for that matter — and you find you need your incisors to tear off a piece like picking up a steak and tearing off a bite. And like steak, you have to chew it.

A truly good English muffin has a noticeably sour note to it. A flavor that blends with something like orange marmalade and highlights a topping such as strawberry jam. Butter is its heart-mate.

Nevertheless, when I sliced into and ate my first piece of this bread I was immediately reminded of my favorite English muffins. It was immediately obvious that the failure in all the muffin recipes I'd tried was that they didn't use a slack dough. A wet, loose dough produces the chewy character and gorgeous nooks and crannies that collect butter and marmalade that, to my mind, is the height of English Muffindom. I don’t know why it took me so long to make that connection. But then, we gadflies aren't known for our intellectual attributes.

I immediately decided I needed to try the recipe as a muffin.

Step one was to get some muffin rings. None of the muffins I'd made in the past needed rings. They were sturdy enough to shape and then rise on their own, but using the no-knead recipe would produce pancakes, not muffins — unless the dough was confined. I ordered some muffin rings and they disappeared into a cabinet until this past Sunday.

On Sunday I mixed the dough according to the recipe except that I rounded off the water to 1 1/2 cups (what's with this 5/8 cup nonsense?) and then followed Beth's suggestion and covered the bowl with plastic and refrigerated it for about 15 hours.

On Monday I pulled it from the fridge and let it warm for an hour and a half. Bad move. Although the dough was still cold, it was too warm for easy shaping. Nevertheless, I pressed on and dusted my aluminum peel with a heavy coating of corn meal, arranged nine rings on it. I dusted my baker's mat heavily with flour and rolled the dough into a cylinder about 12 inches long. Actually, not so much a cylinder as a puffy, sort of rectangular pancake 12 inches long — this stuff is as hard to control as a two-year-old.

No Fear

I didn't screw up my first batch of muffins on purpose. But I did make them knowing I'd screw up. I even suspected some of the ways I'd screw up. But this effort was an experiment. I wanted to learn and that meant I needed to know what could go wrong.

I believed Beth when she said shaping the dough cold was a good idea, but how cold? So I let it warm up some and then tried it. Bad idea. I learned to do it straight from the fridge.

With most breads you let them double in bulk before cooking, but I didn't know how that translated to a slack dough in a ring. So for my first batch I tried several degrees of filling and rising. The conventional wisdom proved correct — fill each ring half way (more or less) and cook when the rings are filled with risen dough.

I also learned that this dough is probably too wet for this purpose, I'll use a bit more flour on my next effort and knead the additional flour by had to understand the texture I want.

I baked my first brick 40 years ago, I'm still learning. Never be afraid of learning.

I divided the cylinder-rectangular-pancake in half and cut that up to form the patties. Not knowing how much rise to expect or plan for I varied the size of the patties I placed in each ring. I also ended up stealing some dough from the second half to fill all the rings. I let the dough rise until the rings were filled and pressing against the plastic wrap I'd covered them with.

I should have anticipated the next problem. But didn't. The muffins stuck to the plastic. Unsticking them was a delicate operation, but I accomplished it and they went onto a griddle lightly brushed with lard. Sadly, they didn’t slide neatly off the foil. Despite the generous layer of corn meal they stuck to the peel too, so I had to use a spatula tomove them from peel to griddle.

Another problem. Although I was careful to use very little fat, I still used too much and the muffins fried. That didn't hurt the flavor, but did hurt the texture of the crust. I made a note to use a paper towel to wipe the griddle after oiling it for the second batch.

Last error. I should have greased the insides of the muffin rings. Actually, it did cross my mind, but for some reason (I'm not sure why) I didn't. I had to run a knife around the inside of the rings to free the muffins, which destroyed their edges.

So, given all these problems, what was the result? A decent muffin. Not great, the crust was too crisp and they were too thin, but the holes I'd desired for so many years were there as was the chewy texture. The flavor? Not so great.

I'd wrapped the unused dough in plastic and put it back in the refrigerator. So the next day I unwrapped it and made a second batch and allowed for my earlier problems. So I:

• didn't allow the dough to warm up at all before forming the patties


• filled the rings half way and cooked them when the dough hit the plastic


• coated peel with both flour and corn meal


• buttered the inside of muffin rings


• dusted the tops of the muffins with flour to at least minimize sticking to the plastic


• wiped the griddle with a paper towel so only a trace of oil remained

So how'd did this change in procedure work out? WOO HOO!

As you can see from the photo, the second batch of muffins is gorgeous. The .8-ounce weaklings became 1-ounce giants.

Perfection though? Nope. And perhaps some difficulties are inevitable. Despite the addition of flour to the cornmeal underneath the muffins I still needed a spatula to get them off the peel, but I accomplished that with much less damage to the muffin. There was also still some sticking to the plastic covering, but, again, much less sticking resulting in less damage to the muffin's structure.

Half of the muffins simply slipped from their rings when I used tongs to turn them over, and the others only stuck because a bit of dough overlapped the ring. They were easily freed.

The crust is still a tad crisper than I'd prefer and although several solutions occur to me, I want to think on it further.

The second batch did taste a bit better, but I can put that down to the longer stay in the fridge and to more air in the muffin. The flavor wasn't significantly improved. This dough is bland — and doesn’t keep well.

But I learned I want a slack dough. I learned (thanks Beth) that it should be formed cold. I learned how to use muffin rings. And I learned that choosing a good marmalade for your breakfast muffin is essential. Actually, I already knew that last one.

Technorati: Food | recipe | baking | bread | artisanal | artisan | bread baking | noKnead bread | english muffins

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Reuben Braid

There's a current Blog event named "Waiter, there's something in my..." where the host specifies a dish to find something in. This month it's bread — how could I resist? I found a fun recipe that consisted of a reuben with the bread baked around it. Tremendous fun and you can find my entry in the event at Seriously Good.

Technorati: Food | recipe | baking | bread | artisanal | artisan | bread baking | reuben | sandwich

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