Cinnamon roll failure... Recipe Tuesday

We arranged for a pot luck at work. I said I'd make caramel sticky buns, those upside down delights of my mother's that I adored. I had all the ingredients, I had a reasonable recipe...

Or so I thought.

I followed the recipe, only made 1 very small change. I put some allspice in the general dough. That's the ONLY change I made.

After the 20 minutes baking time specified, I had grey rocks. No golden anywhere. So I left them in a little bit longer, about 7 minutes. Took them out. The caramel at the bottom had burnt, but the middle of the rolls were still completely raw. The top (browning) side of them was hard as a rock, no give anywhere.

This recipe failed spectacularly. I had fresh yeast, it raised perfectly, the dough sampled good, it was kneaded and shaped properly, it was a good, soft, elastic dough with a lot of gluten developed. It failed spectacularly.

i wouldn't serve the finished product to a goat.

Someone. Anyone. COME TO OAK RIDGE AND TEACH ME HOW TO FUCKING BAKE SOMETHING OTHER THAN COOKIES.

Bread, Pt. 2

No pictures today, but I'll edit and get them in here.

Basically, when last we left the bread, the sourdough starter had 'started' and was bubbling nicely along. It is still alive, is in my refrigerator and I've played with it.

Reserve at least a cup of the starter and keep feeding it on the 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup water schedule as necessary. You can also pop it in the fridge, take it out and feed it once a week.

Original recipe:
After you go through the starter process, you take 2 cups of starter and mix in 3-4 cups of bread flour and 1/2 cup warm water. Mix it in well, cover and rise until doubled. When dough has risen, punch down, add 1/2 cup flour, knead until smooth. Dough will be sticky. Shape into loaves, let rise until double, bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden and 'hollow' sounding.

MY RECIPE:
Take 2 cups starter, mix in 2 cups flour and 1/4 cup warm water. Let rise until double. Punch down, mix in 2 cups flour and 1/4 cup warm water. Let rise until double. Punch down, mix in enough flour that the dough is smooth and not-so-sticky. Form into loaves, let rise until double. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Thunk the loaf. Does it sound hollow? It's done. Remove it to a rack to cool for approximately 1 hour.

Bread. Recipe Tuesday

I've always been fascinated by bread and bread making. Not because I have any great aptitude for it, but to take things that will, under certain circumstances make glue, and use them to make bread, well, it's just fascinating to me. Mom makes her own bread here and there, both the 'old fashioned way' by hand and all the risings, and the 'machine'. She has a bread machine and for awhile there, we ate nothing but bread machine bread. I didn't like the loaves it turned out. It had a round barrel shaped baking unit and the loaves were columns.

But she also made bread by hand too, and I always liked watching her make bread. It was the motions, the concentration into kneading it so the glutens properly stretched. She showed me the web that they form, explained the science behind it to me, although she's not a scientist by trade, and certainly only a 'sometimes' bread baker.

And I've been fascinated as well. My forays into anything except quick breads usually end in disaster. White soda bread is beyond me, for example. Imagine a 12" round hockey puck. It was seriously hard. But yeast breads... All the action is by yeasts, single celled organisms that produce gas which raises bread and the gluten web holds that gas in place creating a soft interior for a loaf, no matter how it may be shaped. People have been baking bread for centuries, I reasoned. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to bake bread.

I told myself, "So let's do something that you've heard about all your life, your mom didn't necessarily like it, but did it anyway, just to say she did. People with no cooking experience beyond being able to feed themselves in the meanest of ways did this. You can do this.

"You can make sourdough." (is that crickets I hear in the background, Dear Reader?)

I turned to the Joy of Cooking, which I'm lucky enough to have on a computer disc and therefore don't have to decide to lug around the huge tome it is. There is a wealth of information in it. If you are close friends with someone who cooks who doesn't have a copy, remember this when it's time for birthdays or anniversaries or one of those myriad gift-giving holidays where you're supposed to wrack your brain for weeks to come up with the perfect gift and are always afraid you've missed the mark completely. If you have a friend who cooks and you know they don't have a copy, get them one.

Here's Sourdough Starter, the Joy of Cooking way (and bastardized by me, which is something I do and you all know it)

In a small clean mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup sifted bread flour and 1/4 cup barely warm water (80 degrees). Knead it until it's elastic, put it back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Poke holes in the wrap, let it sit in a dark, cool area for 12-15 hours. Mix in 1/2 cup sifted bread flour and 1/4 cup barely warm water. Cover, let sit for 12-15 hours.

Move it to a larger bowl. Continue feeding it with 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup water. Recover the bowl and let it sit for 24 hours. If you don't see some bubbling action going on after 24 hours, throw it out and start over. If it has started bubbling and rising, mix in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.

Cover it, but don't poke holes in it. Let it rest for 12 hours. If there are bubbles all over, add in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Let it sit for 4-8 hours. It should have a sour tang and bubbles all over. You can make bread with it now. If not, continue on the 1/2 and 1/4 feeding schedule until you can use it.



The bastard version is mine. I'm using a mason jar instead of a bowl and regular flour. I figure if it was good enough for the original Sourdoughs, it's good enough for me.
Here it is after the first feeding.









After the third feeding (right before you leave it covered for 24 hours).





Checking it when I got home today. I think we've got bubbles (DUH!) and there is a SMIDGE of a sourness to it. Further deponent sayeth not. We will explore this bread experiment further next week. It lowered in volume, so I feed it when I get home from here at Sic_un's, then form loaves and such tomorrow morning.

So because this is taking some time to get the 'wild yeast' going, getting the SOUR of Sourdough going, I decided to do a comparison of a 'regular' bread using commercial yeast.

This is straight from Joy, no edits. Notes are at the end:

Quick Rising White Bread
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm (105-115 degree) water
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large mixing bowl.


To this mixture, add:
3 cups bread flour
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Mix by hand or on low speed for 1 minute.





Add 3 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour a 1/2 cup at a time until dough is moist but not sticky.




Knead for about 10 minutes or with a mixer dough hook on low to medium until the dough is smooth and elastic.




Transfer the dough to an oiled bown and turn it over once to cover with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1/2 hours.




Grease 2 loaf pans. Punch the dough down, divide it in half and form 2 loaves. Place seam side down in the pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1/2 hours.



While it's rising, preheat oven to 450 degrees. When the dough has doubled, bake the loaves at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake until the bottoms of the loaves sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes more. Remove the loaves from the pans to a rack to cool.


NOTES ON QUICK RISING WHITE BREAD:
It's not quick. Sorry... It took 3 hours rise time. That isn't quick. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes bake time (even pulling the pan off the loaf to knock the bottom of it!). It's quicker than the other recipes they have, which all seem to include raising the dough in the refrigerator, but it's not 'quick'. Not by my definition of 'quick'. HOWEVER... It is quicker than the other recipes.
I ended up getting that last 3 cups of flour in by kneading it in until smooth. I like kneading.
It's got a crunchy crust, leading me to believe I should have baked it as a 'free form' loaf instead of in a pan.

ANY TIPS OR HINTS OR ASSISTANCE IN MAKING YEAST AND SOURDOUGH BREAD IS HOLLERED FOR!!!

Enjoy, Dear Reader.

Bonding with Stock... Recipe Tuesday

Karl Elvis mentioned making stock. And I like making stock. It's a great base, and when you make it yourself, you know just what went into it so you've got control over the flavors that are or aren't added. There's nothing I just plain dislike as much as I dislike using a mediocre stock. Unfortunately, most canned stocks are just that, so I'm going to be making stock next week.

Here's the recipe I'm going to be using

Basic Beef Stock

5 pounds bare rendering bones, sawed into 2" pieces (you can also use bones from steaks or trimmings from roasts, whatever you happen to have. You can request bones from the butcher at your local friendly butcher shop [we've got one in town], or just ask at the local grocery. They should be cheap)
1 pound carrots, rough chopped into 1/2" pieces
3 yellow onions, rough chopped
1 pound celery, rough chopped

Roast your bones. Now, no bad jokes. Set the oven to 400, place the bones down on a pan that you've put foil into, roast them until they're toasted brown, but not black. Should take about 1/2 an hour to 1 hour, and you flip it while roasting so you get a good overall color.
Put the roasted bones into the bottom of a big soup or stock pot. Cover with enough water so the bones are completely submerged by at least an inch. Bring to a boil. Skim the foam. Drop the heat to medium, throw in the veggies. Let this simmer for at least 6 hours, with 12 hours being preferred.
If you've got a crock pot, put the bones in the bottom of the crock pot, add water to cover. Set to 'High' for 1 hour. At the end of 1 hour, skim any foam, pour in the veggies and fill the pot with water. Set it on 'Low' and let it go for a full 24 hours.
At the end of the cook time, let it cool. Float some bags of ice in it, or set it into an ice chest filled with ice. Don't just set it in the fridge, you'll heat everything in there up. Get it cooled down* your favorite way. Strain it.
When you're done cooling and straining, put it into freezer containers, ice cube trays (2 or 3 stock cubes and I say you have a pan sauce!) bags, whatever you need to do. It'll keep in the freezer for 6 months, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than buying stock.
You can also do a bit of what I've been known to do. I'll boil down the stock with the veggies in it for a good long while, get it really concentrated. Strain and freeze above, but it's super-concentrated. Then you just have to pull out an ice cube of it, add 2 cups of water and voila! Stock that doesn't take up nearly as much freezer room.

*Just as an aside, I have been thinking of this. The little hand-held blenders have taken off like hotcakes. They should make a 'cooler' about that same size, with a refrigerated coil encased in something that's foodsafe. Easy cool down for leftovers and soups and such. Someone should get on that. There. A free invention for someone.

Variations on a theme... Recipe Tuesday

One of the things I've insisted on, Dear Reader, is that people play with their food. Don't accept a recipe as written just because that's the way you've always done it, don't do it the way your mom always did it because... well, tradition, things like that. New cooking methods, new spices, new ways of looking at things. Try something new.

So today's variation is variations on the theme of a Tennessee phenomenon called Sausage Balls that my grandmother morphed into her breakfast-y Sausage Biscuits. The recipes are alike enough that it makes it easy to set them together. First, the basics...

Basic Sausage Biscuits (Sausage balls ingredients are parenthetical)
1 pound sausage (1 lb sausage)
10 oz. shredded cheese (8 oz. shredded cheese)
2 1/4 cups Bisquick (2 cups Bisquick)
water to moisten (LEAVE THIS OUT)

Heat oven to 350. For biscuits, form into golf ball sized balls, flatten slightly. Cook for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. For balls, form into small walnut sized balls, do not flatten. Cook for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Here's the variation we tried:
Biscuits= Italian sausage + Longhorn style cheddar
I won't recommend this. I got 3 dozen biscuits, they're all eaten (Sic_un and his roommate, mostly), but they didn't taste quite right to me. Here's the variations I've come up with:

Biscuits=mild breakfast sausage+mild cheddar cheese (serve with syrup &/or jam for breakfast)
Biscuits=hot breakfast sausage+sharp cheddar cheese (see above, more savory)
Balls=Italian sausage+blended Italian mix cheeses (savory, serve with a marinara as appetizer)
Balls=Chorizo+blend of manchego and cheddar (savory, serve with queso for a Mexican appetizer)

So, Dear Reader, the moral to this Recipe Tuesday is simply this:

PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!

Corned beef ... Recipe Tuesday

Right now, Dear Reader, I have a pot full o'goodness bubbling away on the stove. We've passed St Patrick's Day by 3 weeks or so and casting about for something to eat led Sic_un to say "You still have some corned beef in the freezer. Make it up. We'll have sandwiches".
So I have corned beef bubbling on the stove. Here's how I do it for sandwiches, which is a little different from how I do it for corned beef and cabbage:

Corned Beef for Sandwiches
1 beef brisket (for St. Pat's, I didn't want a huge amount of leftovers, so I got a 3 lb brisket and cut away about 1 1/2 lbs. SO I'm using about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 teaspoons mustard seed-lightly crushed
1/2 sweet white onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds-lightly crushed
1 teaspoon each dried basil and rosemary
1 bay leaf (leave it in the broth)
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
water to cover

In the bottom of a large saucepan or soup pot (whatever the brisket will fit into, remember: You can cut it to fit), saute the onion and spices over medium heat until the onion is transparent. Mine took me about 3 or 4 minutes. Once the onion is transparent, put the beef on top of it, fat side down. Let it sizzle and render some of the fat off for about 3 minutes. Turn it over, let it go another 3 minutes. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the brisket. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it rest in the broth for about 15 minutes.
Remove from broth, let rest 5 minutes.
Slice thin, make sandwiches.

The difference between this for sammies and this for c.b.&c is that I use less mustard and caraway, but add in thyme. Then, after simmering and getting all happy in the broth, I'll throw in potatoes (peeled and chunked) for about 30 minutes and cabbage wedges for about 15 minutes (take a head of cabbage, slice it into wedges lengthwise--I can get up to 16 out of a head) and that's corned beef and cabbage. Less spicy, since the meat has to do less.

For sandwiches, we're using cheddar cheese, white bread, mayo, mustard (dijon), lettuce and tomato (yeah, we're weird, we'll cop to that).

Enjoy!

Shish! Kabob, that is... Recipe Tuesday

So spring has sprung. Sic_un just mowed the lawn for the first time, we've been doing some grilling (on the OH SO INADEQUATE grill he owns), and I figured...

Let's do Kabobs. They're quick, easy, beef so Sic_un can eat it, opens to a huge amount of flavor possibilities... Quick, easy, etc...

Beef Kabob

1 1/2 punds London Broil, approx. 1" thick, cut into 1 to 1 1/2" cubes
1 large sweet onion
1 large green bell pepper
4 tablespoons prepared teriyaki sauce
4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon basalmic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (crushed)
1 teaspoon dried marjoram (crushed)
1" grated or sliced fresh ginger (I keep my ginger in the freezer. When I need some, I can peel it really quickly with my veggie knife, then slice off shavings of it that will melt into the marinades)

Mix the teriyaki, worcestershire, barbecue, honey, basalmic vinegar, rosemary, marjoram and ginger until well blended. You can heat it in the microwave for up to 30 seconds to melt the honey if you need to. Place the marinade and the meat into a ziplock bag, refrigerate overnight.

When you're ready to grill, thread meat, pieces of onion and slices of bell pepper onto skewers. If you use wooden or bamboo skewers, please soak them thoroughly in water before using.
Grill until they're done to your point of done-ness. I like things medium to medium-rare, Sic_un likes well. Grill until they're done to your point of done-ness.
Served with grilled pineapple rings and green salad. Great for a quick, easy, no thought quiet Sunday, you know?
Have a good week, Dear Reader.

Because.... Cherry-O Pie :Recipe Tuesday

Because I'm thinking of Mom and this is close enough....

Cherry-O Pie
1 graham cracker pie crust
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cap almond extract
1 can cherry pie filling, chilled
Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, and extract until well blended and smooth.
Pour cream mixture into pie crust and smooth top.
Chill overnight in the refrigerator.
Top with cherry pie filling before serving.

Irish? Why yes... Yes I am...

But I cannot, for some reason, make bread.
This week's Recipe Tuesday comes to you from Food TV, where I got what seemed to be a decent recipe for Soda Bread. Go here for the recipe.
Now, what I ended up with isn't a chewy, earthy bread good for corned beef and cabbage and potatoes. That's what it should have been.

I didn't use enough liquid.
I ended up with a large hockey puck that had a dry, icky texture.
If anyone can make bread, teach me.
Happy Recipe Tuesday, folks

SOPA!!!

Once again, Dear Reader, it's time for Recipe Tuesday. Slight disclaimer: I'm cooking these when I get home tonight, I'll update and let you know how they turn out Tuesday evening (posting from work, no internet at home, Sic_un's getting his sissy bar installed tonight).

I've been craving Sopas... Sopapillas. A delicious light, airy fried bread prevalent (very) in every Mexican restaurant in New Mexico. People here haven't HEARD of them... Why, you may ask. I asked that too. Nobody here could tell me.

So you go to the internet and what can you find? THIS. Apparently, according to Wikipedia (and, really, this is the best explanation I can find), sopapillas were developed or created or whatever in the late 1800's... IN NEW MEXICO. There is a South American dish called torta frita that is quite a bit like it, but apparently sopas are a New Mexican phenom. Even the language kindof carries this through. The etymology: American Spanish, diminutive of Spanish sopaipa, fried dough sweetened with honey, from earlier xopaipa, from Mozarabic xupaipa. Also diminutive of úppa, súppa, bread soaked in oil, from Old Spanish sopa, food soaked in liquid, of Germanic origin.

And I've been craving.

Shall we go to the kitchen, Dear Reader?

Sopapillas (service for 6)


1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shortening
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water
2 cups oil for frying --USE SHORTENING... Fries up better.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and shortening. Stir in water; mix until dough is smooth. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes.
Roll out on floured board until 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch squares. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and serve hot. You may dust with powdered sugar, serve with honey, or stuff with whatever you desire.

Easy recipe. Please note, you can get more servings if you double/triple, etc. I don't see ANY problem with expanding this recipe. BUT... Sopas don't store so well, they don't reheat so well. You're better off keeping the batches smaller to fit how many you want to feed at any one time.
You MUST roll them really thin otherwise they don't puff the way they should (thick dough=thick sopa...icky). I've often heard they should be tissue paper thin. Don't need to go that thin, but it does puff up better the thinner it is.
Use shortening for frying. Oil doesn't give quite as good a browning from what I've seen in the past. I prefer to deep fry with shortening.
My favorite way to enjoy them is to either have them with enchiladas (gooey and dripping with chile verde over at Los Cuates) or as dessert drizzled with honey. The salt in them (and it really is a bit of a savory dough) contrasts nicely and makes it a 'not heavy' dessert.
Enjoy, and I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow afternoon or evening. Maybe even with pictures :)