Posts Tagged ‘bread’

I made bread.  Let me type that I again.  I made bread!  And I am embarrassingly satisfied with myself for accomplishing  something that billions have managed to pull off ever since humans first gave-up hunting and gathering for this whole civilization experiment.

Baking bread, and baking in general, has always been a bit of a barrier to me.  Something outside my core competency.  I’ve seen people make bread, but the recipes just seemed doomed to failure in my hands.  But last week I was reminded of a supposedly simple can’t fail recipe.  I had the ingredients about and figured I’d give it a shot.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
• 1 pack instant yeast
• 1¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups water (the original NY Times recipe called for 1 5/8 – I think that’s a really annoying measurement and 1 1/2 works just fine)

In a large bowl combine the flour, yeast, and salt.  You can also add ingredients as desired (raisins, nuts, etc.).  Add water, and stir until blended. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours,  but preferably about 18, at room temperature.The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.

Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough on it. Sprinkle the dough with a little more flour and fold it over on itself twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape into a ball. Put the dough down on a re-dusted work surface and dust with more flour, bran, cornmeal or whatever you’d like. Cover with a cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will have more than doubled in size.

At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide the dough into pot.  It might look like a mess, but that’s just fine. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf has browned.

The Results:

Bread!  And a house that is filled with the smell of fresh baked bread. For almost zero active work!

After playing with the basic recipe I’m convinced you would have to intentionally try to make it fail.  At four in the morning, after a night of poker playing and more than my fair share of whiskey, I tried some “creativity.” I’m told I looked like Muppets’ Swedish Chef–arms and flour flying everywhere–and sounded much like the same.  In my enlightened state, I decided beer is better than water and substituted a cup of it in.  A few tablespoons of brown sugar seemed like a good idea, as did a small palm full of black finishing salt.  The next night I was almost afraid to bake the monstrosity.  But, though a little on the salty side and runny before baking, the bread turned out perfectly enjoyable!  (They say a four year old can make it and now I believe it!)

I’m very excited to experiment with additions and twists to this recipe and to have fresh bread around as the weather cools in these dark winter months.

It might not have been the best idea for the middle-of-July heat, but one day Meg woke up with what I still think was a brilliant idea: bread bowls. (Yeah, this post is being written a little after the actual events, but don’t think about it as me being lazy, think about it as an exciting time machine!) The whole summer Meg had been turning out amazing fresh breads. Her idea this day was simple: make two half-sized peasant breads, cut off the top, pull out some of the bread, insert soup, and eat.

I was excited until she told me she wanted to use canned tomato soup. Not only is it fundamentally and morally wrong to serve tomato soup without grilled cheese, but I knew we could do better. Si se puede!

My idea: beer cheese soup. Sure it was about 95 degrees out, but if people can do Christmas in July I didn’t see why we couldn’t do beer cheese soup in July.

I found two recipes online at www.foodtv.com. Each recipe had its own good things going on: The first was nice and creamy, calling for a good deal of milk. The second didn’t have the milk but it had kielbasa sausage and a roux to thicken things up (Both recipes are included below). Not wanting to miss either the creamy or the meaty, I decided to combine the deliciousness into one recipe:

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The Creamy-Meaty Beer Cheese Soup

Ingredients
• 1/2 pound kielbasa sausage, finely chopped or processed until crumbly
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup minced onions
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 4 ounces butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle light beer
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups grated Cheddar (about 12 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, for garnish

Cook the kielbasa in the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over high heat until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onions, celery, salt, pepper, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until the onions are slightly caramelized, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. While the onions cook, in another large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter and stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 4 minutes to make a blond roux. When both the roux and kielbasa mix are ready, pour the roux into the kielbasa mixture. Gradually whisk in the stock and the beer.  Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.  Gradually add the milk.  Continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring until nearly completely melted after each addition. Remove from heat and ladle into the bread bowls (When I make it again I might try to add just a bit of sherry with the beer).

The result might be one of the most densely caloric meals I’ve ever had, which was great, even in the heat of summer.  But, as we approach the fall, this will become an even better choice!

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[DDET See the Creamy Beer Cheese Soup Recipe]

Creamy Beer Cheese Soup

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Ingredients

4 ounces butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup minced onions
1/4 cup minced celery
Salt
Cayenne
1 (12-ounce) bottle light beer
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
1 pound sharp cheddar, grated
Dash hot red pepper sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

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Directions

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 4 minutes to make a blond roux. Add the onions and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are wilted. Stir in the beer and stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Stir in the milk and cheese. Continue to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and hot sauce. Reduce the heat and keep warm.

[/DDET]

[DDET See the Meaty Beer Cheese Soup Recipe]

Meaty Beer Cheese Soup

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Ingredients

1/2 pound kielbasa sausage, finely chopped or processed until crumbly
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons minced garlic
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups lager beer, preferably amber
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme
3 cups grated Cheddar (about 12 ounces)
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, for garnish

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Directions

Cook the kielbasa in the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over high heat until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onions, salt, pepper, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until the onions are slightly caramelized, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the stock and the beer. Add the thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring until nearly completely melted after each addition. Remove from the heat, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.

[/DDET]