Back to main table of contents
|
Baking |
Savory Mini Oat Breads
Based on a Jacques Pepin recipe, these are great with soup.
1 leek
1 stick unsalted butter
1 egg
1/2c milk
2/3c all purpose flour
1c "quick" oatmeal
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
grinding of black pepper
Slice the white and tender green of the leek lengthwise and then into 1/8" slices. Rinse carefully and drain well - you should have 1 cup. Melt the butter in a large bowl and stir in the leeks. Microwave for 2 minutes to cook the leeks. Allow to cool for a few minutes then add the milk and beat in the egg. Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the leek mixture, stirring to combine. Divide between 12 small muffin tins - I like to use the paper liners that are about 1 inch tall. Bake at 425 until cooked through and browned on top, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.
An excellent recipe from a friend. Can be halved.
2c flour
2c sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mace
1 tsp salt
Sift all above together. Add 1c vegetable oil and beat until mixed. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each. Add 3c finely grated carrots and 3/4c raisins, mix. Put into greased pans - you can use two 9" round pans or a larger rectangular pan. Bake at 350f for 30-35 min until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean. Place pan on rack to cool for 10-15 min then turn out. Frost while still warm with cream cheese frosting:
3/4 stick butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 lb confection's sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1c chopped pecans or other nuts
Let butter and cheese come to room temperature and cream together with the sugar and vanilla. Mix in the nuts.
Flaky pastry dough in the food processor
This dough has a multitude of uses such as empanadas, pot pies, and anything that requires a rich, buttery, flaky crust.
2c all purpose flour
1/2t salt
1/2t sugar
1 stick butter
1 TB shortening (such as Crisco)
1/3c ice water (appx)
The butter and shortening should be cold, straight from the fridge. Put the dry ingredients in the FP and pulse to blend. Add the butter, cut into 1/2" chunks, and the shortening. Pulse a few times until the mixture looks like coarse meal - the largest pieces of butter should be about 1/4 inch. Add the ice water and pulse again once or twice. Do not overdo the mixing!! The dough will still look like crumbly meal but if you take a bit in your hand and squeeze it will hold together. If necessary add another TB of ice water and pulse.
Turn the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the wrap to gather the dough into a solid mass and shape it into a disk that is about an inch thick. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours or longer (this resting stage can be omitted but does give a better result). When ready to cook, roll the dough out to 1/8 or thinner. If your kitchen is warm, use a chilled marble slab or cutting board to do the rolling - it makes things a lot easier. Cut and shape as needed.
This delicious recipe comes from my wife's Auntie Terrie. Do not substitute other brands of bran cereal for the All Bran - I have found the Kellogg's works the best. The recipe can be doubled.
1c Kellogg's All Bran cereal
1c milk
1/2c vegetable oil
1/2 white sugar
1 egg
1c all-purpose flour
1/2 TB baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2c raisins
1 apple, peeled and grated
Soak All Bran in milk until soft, about 30 minutes. In a separate bowl mix together oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla. In another bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add oil/sugar mixture, dry ingredients, raisins, and grated apple to the All Bran and mix by hand. Fill muffin cups 2/3 to 3/4 full, as this recipe does not rise a great deal. Bake at 350f for 30 minutes. If using a convection oven bake at 325 for 23 minutes.
There's nothing like a baguette or batard fresh from the oven. While there are many recipes for "authentic" French bread, and many of them produce good results, the following is by far the easiest and most reliable I have found. It is adapted from a recipe in The Best Bread Ever by Charles van Over. The flour you use will make a difference. My preferences are King Arthur's unbleached white flour or their French-style flour. You do nhot need "bread" flour - all purpose works just fine. The recipe uses a food processor, which not only saves time and effort but allows you to use a rather wet dough that results in a superior bread but is next to impossible to knead by hand. It also uses a baguette pan, eliminating the hassle of creating nicely formed loaves. You'll also need a water sprayer.
Measure by weight if you can. You will soon get a feel for the best consistency.
1 lb (appx 3-1/2 c) flour (all white or 3/4 white and 1/4 whole wheat)
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp instant dry yeast
1-1/4c water
Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in the food processor and pulse to blend. With the machine running pour in about 90% of the water mixture and process for 20 seconds. The dough should come together in a single mass and be shaggy and sticky. If it is dry and crumbly add 2 TB water. If it is too "soupy" add 2 TB flour. Process for an additional 25 seconds. This dough will be a bit wetter than a typical bread dough.
Scrape the dough into a large ungreased bowl. Cover and let rise at room temperature. Here's where this recipe is very flexible. You can let the dough rise all day, punching it down as needed - longer rising gives better flavor. Or, you can let it rise only until it is almost doubled in bulk - about 2 hours. For best flavor put it directly into the fridge and let it sit overnight. Then remove the next day and continue.
Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto your work surface. It will be very sticky, and rather than dusting with flour to prevent sticking I prefer to work with a dough scraper. Divide the dough into 2 (for batards) or 3 (for baguettes) equal parts and form each portion into a ball. Cover and let rest for 15-20 minutes.
Press each ball of dough into a rough rectangle about 4x6 inches and 1" thick. Fold one long edge about 2/3 of the way over the top and press to seal the dough. Repeat with the other long edge. Fold the resulting "log" in half lengthwise and press to seal. Using your hands or the dough scraper roll the dough until you have a loaf about 14" long. Roll the load off the edge of the counter into the baguette pan, having the seam end up on the bottom. Cover the loaves and let rise for about an hour. They should increase in size by at least 50%.
Place the oven rack slightly below the middle position.1/2 hour before baking preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Just before baking, uncover the loaves and slash the tops diagonally in 3 or 4 places using a razor blade. An alternate method is to use a pair of pointed scissors to cut the slits in the bread. Put the baguette pan on the rack and quickly spritz the inside of the oven 5-6 times with water, using a plant mister. Reduce the oven setting to 450. After 2 minutes open the oven and repeat the spritzing. Bake for an additional 20-22 minutes until the crust is brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer will read 205-210 degrees in the center of a loaf. Cool on racks. These times are for batards. If you make the thinner baguettes the times will be less.