Bake with Jill

Yeast!

If you are on the King Arthur Flour mailing list, you may have already seen this article about yeast. Yeast and I get along pretty well, but I learned a few things and got some good tips about how the different types of yeast behave and how to tweak rising time, so take a look!

Commenting Woes

I use WordPress, and off and on, have trouble commenting on some Blogger blogs. This is one of those times, and I wasn’t able to comment on some of the lovely loaves that were posted for the Tuesdays With Dorie/Baking with Julia group. I hope it resolves itself; if not, I will be reading your blogs but will not be able to comment. I’m really happy with WordPress, so no, I’m not going to switch teams. If anyone has a solution, please let me know; I did some searching and didn’t come up with anything that worked for me.

The Tuesdays with Dorie group baked its way through Baking: From My Home to Yours, and now we’re on to a new book, Baking with Julia. Welcome new bakers! Tuesdays with Dorie was so fun that I knew I wanted to keep going and join the new group. I got the book for Christmas, and it was great to crack it open and start baking. And so I present to you, a White Loaf.

Yep, white loaf bread; a nice, basic recipe to kick off the new group. Although the recipe is for White Loaves, I cut it in half and made White Loaf. There are only two of us, and one loaf of bread at a time is plenty.

Notes

• I cut the recipe in half and made one loaf.
• I always use instant yeast, so I used a little bit less yeast than called for in the recipe (no scientific calculation – I just eyeball it and use less than called for).
• My loaf was done after baking for 30 minutes.

The day I baked this, we had it with soup for dinner. Spread with a little butter (er, Smart Balance), it was a tender and tasty accompaniment to a steaming bowl of soup. It was very well-received by my husband, who was more excited than I expected him to be about white bread (hmmm…maybe I overdo it with the grainy, wheaty breads!). I was all excited to make toast with this, but somehow I didn’t get around to it. I did see a piece of toast that my husband made and it looked lovely.

You can find this recipe on page 81 of Baking with Julia. This week, Laurie and Jules are hosting, and Jules has the recipe on her blog.

One more note: I kicked the Facebook habit and deactivated my account. I was friends with a few other bakers and wanted to mention that just in case you noticed that I disappeared from your friend list or your page likes. Facebook just wasn’t enhancing my life. Will Twitter do it for me? I don’t know, but I’m giving it a try. You can find me @BakeWithJill. I’m just getting started, but hope to find my tweeting groove and find some good people to follow. Suggestions welcome!

A few weeks ago, the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers made Golden Brioche Loaves. Well, that brioche recipe makes a lot of dough, so in addition to a loaf, I made Brioche Raisin Snails, and now I bring you my final installment: Pecan-Honey Sticky Buns.

Another brioche success! These were decadent and delicious. I timed my baking so that I could give away most of them – spread out the calories, as I like to say. By the way, Michele also baked some brioche and is posting it today. I don’t know the details, so I’ll be checking out how hers turned out and what recipe she used.

What I did: When I made the brioche dough, I took half of it and prepped it for the sticky bun recipe by rolling it out, spreading it with cinnamon filling, and rolling it up. Tightly wrapped, it stayed in my freezer for a few weeks. The day before baking, I put the dough in the refrigerator. The day of baking, I made the topping (butter, honey, pecans, and brown sugar), sliced the log of dough into rounds, and let it rise before baking. 

How it went: With the dough already made, this went quickly. Also, since the dough had been frozen, it was super-cold and easy to slice, which made my life easier. The buns are baked on top of the topping, so they need quick flip as soon as they come out of the oven. I’m happy to report that I didn’t burn myself or get any topping on the floor!

How it tasted: My husband and I each ate one warm from the oven and loved them. My husband liked how they were sticky on the outside but not soggy. Our neighbor reported that he put them in a bowl, chopped them up, and topped them with half-and-half. As long as he enjoys them, he can do what he wants. He gets points for creativity, and for making these even more rich.

Open your copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours to page 51 and get sticky! Or, you can find the recipe here.

I finally made Brioche Raisin Snails, the mysterious pastry that the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers made back in 2008. As a raisin lover, this has been on my radar for quite some time. When Golden Brioche Loaves were selected for last week’s recipe, it was the kick I needed to get going on the snails. If you remember back to last week, I divided my dough in half and used 1/3 of the 1/2 to make a mini brioche loaf. The other 2/3 turned into these lovely pastries.

I gave some of these to a friend, and right away she told me that she remembered eating brioche with me at Paris Las Vegas and I loved it and was wondering how I could make it at home. That was at least seven years ago and I don’t remember it. (To clarify, I DO remember the trip to Las Vegas, and I even remember eating at the Paris buffet; it’s just the part about the brioche that slipped my mind.) Even though I haven’t spent the last seven years dreaming about making brioche, I still think it’s pretty cool that I made it.

What I did: I made the brioche dough on day one You can read more about the brioche process here. I also made pastry cream on day one. On day two, I warmed up the raisins with some dark rum (I skipped the part where you set them on fire), rolled the dough, spread on the pastry cream, sprinkled on the raisins, rolled it up, and cut it. After some rising time, the snails went in the oven.

How it went: I’ve made pastry cream before using different recipes, and every time, including this time, I think I messed it up. But in the end, I didn’t scramble the eggs and I think it was fine. I’m not the neatest roller of dough or slicer of dough, but it all went pretty well. I should have remembered that trick of using dental floss to slice soft dough, but I never remember that at the right time.

How it tasted: Buttery, tender, studded with boozy raisins, drizzled with a sugary glaze. My husband, who does not love raisins, and doesn’t usually get past a courtesy taste of anything with raisins, loved them and ate several. My dad, who does love raisins, did not love these. He didn’t think they had enough flavor. I kind of see his point, as these are not a flavor explosion, but the flavors that were there worked for me. My friend loved them and told me to start writing my business plan, and my mom told me to open a bakery. For now, I think I’ll stick to my home kitchen.

This recipe was hosted by Peabody on March 18, 2008, and you can see her version of the recipe (she made some changes) here, or you can click here to see the version of the recipe that’s in the book. But wait, you have a copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours, don’t you? Just open it to page 56 and get your snails on!

This week’s recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers is Golden Brioche Loaves, selected by Margaret from Tea and Scones. A piece of brioche would be quite nice with a cup of tea, wouldn’t it?

I’ve eaten brioche just a handful of times, and every time I think I’m not going to like it that much and then can’t stop eating it. And once again, I thought, well, I’ll just make a mini loaf because I’m more excited about the other recipes that use the brioche dough. One bite of a mini slice from my mini loaf and I was wishing I’d made a large loaf! Ah, but nothing is stopping me from making this again.

What I did: I made the full recipe (with three sticks of butter!) because Dorie asks us very nicely not to reduce it. She also very nicely provides several other recipes that use brioche dough, and one that uses dried-out brioche, so there are a lot of options. I mixed the dough on a Friday night. Here’s what I did Saturday morning:

• I took half the dough and prepped a batch of Pecan Honey Sticky Buns. The rolled-up and filled dough is in my freezer, ready to thaw and bake another time.
• I took the other half of the dough and used 1/3 of it for a mini Golden Brioche Loaf, and 2/3 of it for Brioche Raisin Snails. This was a lot of math before 9am, but it all worked out.
  

How it went: The brioche dough isn’t particularly difficult to make. It’s a yeast bread, so if you’ve made bread, the process will be familiar, although most yeast bread doesn’t contain three sticks of butter! The butter gets mixed in slowly, and in the end, you have a smooth, silky dough. After rising, the dough goes into the refrigerator for the night. The next day, it gets a second rise in a loaf pan and baked, or it gets prepped for another recipe. Below is my 1/3 of 1/2 batch of dough baked into a mini loaf. I’ll tell you about the snails and sticky buns in separate posts.

How it tasted: My husband took a bite and said “It’s like a bite of spring air.” He went on to say “If it was any lighter, it wouldn’t exist.” I don’t think I can top those quotes, but I’ll say that I enjoyed it quite a bit and find it amusing that something with so much butter and eggs in it can be so light. It was delicious plain and even better topped with apricot jam.

Open your copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours to page 48 and get going on some brioche! If you want to try before you buy, click over to Tea and Scones; she will have the recipe published today.

Olives + Bread = Mmmmm. Add some fresh thyme and it’s Mmmmm squared. That’s today’s math lesson.

Years ago, olive bread was something that I bought from a fancy bakery as a special treat. Now I’m making it in my own kitchen, which is an even bigger treat! This recipe, from The Art and Soul of Baking, is one of my favorites, in part because my husband enjoys it so much.

I’m so happy to own a copy of this book, but if you want to do a trial run first, you can find the recipe here on Google Books. If you want to see the other recipes I’ve made from this book, you can look here.

Keep on baking! If you have extra thyme, make some Herbed Fougasse. If you have extra olives, give Provençal Olive Fougasse a try (that post also includes an olive shopping tip).

I enjoyed the Herbed Fougasse so much that I decided to try out another fougasse recipe. This time it’s from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table and it’s studded with Kalamata olives and fresh rosemary.

I am hooked on fougasse now! We couldn’t pick a favorite between this one and the first recipe I made. They are both delicious and will both be made again! This fougasse was soft and tender; the tangy, moist olives added excitement to every bite.

Note to French grammar and spelling experts: I know that my title should say Provençal Olive Fougasse, but I don’t know how to add symbols in the title of my posts.

Recipe notes

• Dorie isn’t kidding when she says that this is a soft and sticky dough. Next time I’ll shape the dough directly on the parchment-lined baking sheet rather than trying to transfer it to the sheet after shaping. I also found that a rolling pin wasn’t very helpful – I just used my hands to shape the dough.
• The recipe calls for oil-cured black olives; I used Kalamata olives.
  
• What I really like about this recipe is that you can prepare the dough one day and then refrigerate it overnight (it has to chill for at least 6 hours and up to 3 days). Not a lot of time is required on baking day: just stir the dough, shape it, give it a rest while the oven heats, and bake.

Shopping tip

Trader Joe’s sells jars of pitted Kalamata olives for a much lower price than I can get them in my usual grocery store. I always stock up when I’m there. They sell oil-cured (which are called for in this recipe) as well as regular (brined?) olives. I didn’t even realize that until I bought a jar of the oil-cured without realizing it. Thanks to my shopping mistake, I had the oil-cured to use in this bread, but I think you could use either type.

I couldn’t wait for the French Fridays with Dorie group to pick this, so I went ahead and made it. I’m not posting the recipe, though, since the group is not posting recipes. If you want to try before you buy, see if your library has a copy of Around My French Table, or just dive in and buy a copy. The recipe is on page 48.

I had some unexpected free time last weekend and decided to make fougasse. Why not? I decided to try the version from the Art and Soul of Baking. It’s supposed to look like a leaf, but mine looked like…bread with holes in it!

It could be lovelier, but it couldn't be tastier!

I hadn’t baked or eaten fougasse before, but I had a feeling it was something I’d like. Rosemary, thyme, and olive oil inside and out add to the flavor. Magical bread chemistry gives it an addictive chewy crust. The only disappointing thing about this recipe is that I only made half. You see, the book says that the recipe makes a loaf large enough to feed “a small crowd.” That scared me. My half-sized loaf was about 11 x 6 inches and it didn’t last long. Next time, I’ll make the full recipe, and it won’t be long before the next time rolls around!

You can find the recipe for Herbed Fougasse here on Google Books.

I’ve made some other delicious things from the Art and Soul of Baking: Monkey Bread, Seven-Grain Whole Wheat Harvest Bread, and Danish Coffee Cake.

Each month, the My Kitchen, My World group takes a virtual trip by cooking the dishes of another country. As much as I like to travel for real, virtual trips are fun too, plus no jet lag! This month, our destination is Morocco. I haven’t been to Morocco, and other than couscous, didn’t know much about the cuisine. I made three things, all from the book Flatbreads and Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. Michele gave me this book a while ago, and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s divided into different areas of the world and has more than just bread recipes, as you will see…

First up is Moroccan Anise Bread. This is a yeast bread made with white and whole wheat flour, plus anise seed. It bakes up as a flat round loaf.

It’s the same color as my cutting board!

It doesn’t get very tall, but it has a nice texture.

I reduced the amount of anise seed a little, because neither my husband or I are big fans of anise. We were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed the bread, so I’m glad I made it and didn’t omit the anise. It was particularly good dipped in the next dish: Berber Bean Puree. This dish can be made with kidney beans or small red beans; I picked small red beans, mostly because I thought it was funny that there were beans actually named “small red beans.” Obviously, I don’t spend much time in the dried bean section of the grocery store. It’s been many years since I cooked dried beans, and I was thrilled that they turned out! The beans are cooked with garlic and then mixed with water, salt, cumin, fresh flat-leaf parsley, lemon juice, and dried pepper flakes. I used an immersion blender to puree the mixture, avoiding the heartache of cleaning the food processor.

Even though this is called a “puree,” somehow I expected more of a bean spread. Had I thoroughly read the recipe, which says it is the texture of a thick soup, I would have known what to expect. This was really tasty. The parsley added a wonderful, fresh flavor. We ate it at room temperature the first time and warmed up another time. I even ate a little bit like a soup and it was good that way too.

Finally, I made Chicken Tagine with Olives and Onions. I’m not sure how appetizing this photo looks, but in real life, it was quite good.

Chicken is marinated in lemon juice and garlic and then browned before cooking in a broth of water and seasonings including thyme and parsley. While that was cooking, I cooked sliced onions in a water and tumeric mixture (I did not include the optional saffron). The onions and some olives are added to the chicken during the last 10 minutes of cooking. The recipe calls for chicken legs and breasts, but I used boneless chicken breasts instead. I served this over rice, which I don’t think is the Moroccan way to do it , but it was good. This was even more flavorful the next day.

I have not included the recipes here, but if these look interesting to you, take a look at Flatbreads and Flavors. To see what the other travelers made, check out the roundup at My Kitchen, My World; it will be posted at the end of the month.