Brioche Buns

Guys, making bread is hard. Or maybe I'm just really bad at it. Either way, my dough just doesn't rise the way it's supposed to. Either my yeast is sluggish, or I'm killing them. I could swear I did everything right this time, though -- I let the yeast percolate in warm sugar water...I didn't use scalding milk or acidic buttermilk...I let the dough rest in a warm place...I even toned down my stirring/kneading just in case too much vigorous activity scared the little suckers. But nope. Dough only rose a little bit. Goddamnit.

I mean, these brioche buns turned out OK, but they're definitely not as light and fluffy/puffy as they should've been. And, my egg wash didn't give them a gorgeous, shiny sheen like it was supposed to. In fact, I would say that these buns are more biscuit than brioche. Which is why I decided to eat one smeared with cherry butter for breakfast instead of using it as a burger bun. It was edible. It was tender. It was tasty, even. But it wasn't brioche. Sigh. 

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of the Kitchen Simplicity blog.

Triple Chocolate Loaf Cake

For once, I don't have a back story to explain my motivation for making this cake. And, I can't think of any anecdotes associated with either chocolate or loaf cake. I just really wanted something sweet and chocolate-y to go with my turkey sandwich.

(BTW, I have balcony furniture now! You like?)

Luckily, I had all the ingredients for a simple loaf cake, two types of chocolate chips, and a canister of dark chocolate cocoa powder. All things considered, triple chocolate loaf cake seemed like the way to go. 

With three kinds of chocolate in the batter, this was a very decadent cake, and I wanted something to cut the richness. Fresh fruit and whipped cream were the first things to come to mind. Good thing I had plenty of strawberry puree left over from when I was making strawberry mousse for my dad's birthday cake. Blended with freshly whipped cream, it was the perfect garnish for my afternoon snack.

Triple Chocolate Loaf Cake (Adapted from the Bittersweet Baker's recipe)

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar

- 1 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Ghiradelli)

- 1-1/2 flour

- 3/4 cup white sugar

- 1-1/2 tsp baking soda

- 3/4 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 large eggs

- 3/4 cup milk

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 cup milk chocolate chips

- 1 cup white chocolate chips

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 350, and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

(2) In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients until well-combined.
(3) In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.
(4) Slowly mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form the batter. Stir well.

(5) Gently stir in milk and white chocolate chips. Mix until chips are uniformly distributed throughout the batter.
(6) Pour batter into the greased loaf pan.
(7) Bake for about an hour.
** The original recipe says to bake for up to 1 hour and 10 minutes. My oven runs hot, so I always bake for about 10-20 minutes less than what the recipe calls for.
(8) Cool for about 15 minutes, then serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
** My loaf cake sank in on top during the cooling process. From what I can tell from the original recipe and other pictures, that's supposed to happen. Not very pretty, but you can always fill the hole in with whipped cream and fruit.

For other great recipe ideas, click here or here.

Zucchini Bread

This past weekend a bunch of us piled into Dan's tiny Mazda and headed into the boonies of Virginia for some good old fashioned fruit picking. The original plan was to pick peaches and blackberries, but once we got to the farm, we realized they had a whole lot more to offer than just those two fruits. In the end, we came away with a huge bagful of peaches, six ears of corn, and four massive zucchinis. And it only cost us $11!

The peaches will definitely get eaten, and I already have plans to use the corn for upcoming dinners, but I must confess...I have never actually cooked a zucchini. In fact, I've only recently worked up the nerve to try eating zucchini, period. I just don't like squash, you know? But I ate zucchini bread a few weeks ago, and then had some roasted zucchini in a veggie lasagna a few days later. To my surprise, they were both delicious!

With four pounds of zucchini in my fridge, I'm definitely going to have to get inventive with my cooking. Last night we ate one two ways -- oven roasted, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt; and, breaded then baked into crispy fries. Yum! Zucchini may be my new favorite vegetable. Even so, that leaves...three more gigantic zucchinis in the fridge in the meantime. Yikes. 

So, I decided to try my hand at zucchini bread this morning. The recipe reminded me a lot of carrot cake, which I love -- cake-like batter flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and filled with several cups of soft, grated vegetables. Out of the oven, the bread was crusty on the outside and moist on the inside. Not too sweet, with an almost savory after taste from the combination of zucchini and olive oil. Delicious!

Zucchini Bread (Adapted from the Smitten Kitchen's recipe)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups zucchini, grated

- 3 large eggs

- 1 cup olive oil

- 1-1/4 cup sugar

- 2 tsp vanilla

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 3 tsp cinnamon

- 1/8 tsp nutmeg

- 1 tsp salt

- 3 cups flour

Steps:

(1) Preheat oven to 350.

(2) In a large bowl, whisk eggs until thick and yellow. Add olive oil, sugar, vanilla and zucchini until well-combined.

(3) In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Slowly add to wet mixture, stirring after each addition until ingredients well combined.

(4) Pour batter into well-greased bread pan. (Smitten Kitchen divided the batter into 2 pans, but my batter fit into one pan.)

(5) Bake for about 50 minutes. Serve warm with tea, or smeared with cream cheese frosting.

Dulce de Leche-Nutella Swirl Loaf Cake

There are still a few things Dan and I need to do to fully recover from our Great Beach Robbery -- getting new driver's licenses, for example -- but everything is closed on Sundays, so we've been having a pretty lazy day so far. We slept in until the hungry meows of our kitties could no longer be ignored, fed the little beasts, and then promptly collapsed in front of the TV to catch up on all the shows we missed during vacation.

But, once we'd blown through all the eps in our DVR queue, things got real boring real fast. Sundays are just so blah. I don't know about you, but nothing interesting ever happens to us on Sundays, and the day is mostly spent being lazy and dreading the start of the work week. As I type this, Dan is moaning "Boooo, we gotta work tomorrow! Ughhhhhhh." 

You know what's really good for fighting the end-of-weekend blues, though? Cake. Particularly if it's cake made with ice cream, homemade dulce de leche, and Nutella. Mmmm.

For this dulce de leche loaf cake, I found a simple vanilla loaf cake recipe online and modified it to fit my needs. Vanilla ice cream instead of chilled heavy cream; dulce de leche instead of sugar; and Nutella because if I didn't immediately use up the rest of the jar, I was going to keep eating it by the spoonful  and feel guilty. The resulting loaf was moist and sweet on the inside, with a deliciously crunchy Nutella-laced crust. 

Dulce de Leche-Nutella Swirl Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

- 1 cup vanilla ice cream, melted at room temperature.

- 2 large eggs

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 2/3 cup dulce de leche

- 1/2 cup Nutella

- 1-1/2 cups flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp salt

Steps:

(1) Preheat oven to 350.

(2) In a large bowl, mix together ice cream, eggs, vanilla, and dulce de leche until well-combined. The dulce de leche will make the batter clumpy, but just keep working at it until everything is smooth.

(3) Add dry ingredients.

(4) Pour most of the batter into a greased/floured loaf pan. Save about 1/2 cup for later.

(5) Add nutella to the loaf pan in well-spaced spoonfuls. Top with remaining batter. Then, run a knife through the whole thing to create a nice swirl/marbled pattern.

(6) Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the cake starts to come away from the side of the pan.

(7) Enjoy alone, with coffee, or smeared with more dulce de leche.

For other delicious chocolate recipes, go here.

Caramel-Whiskey Banana Bread

I was going to make pate a choux last night, but on my way to the pantry to grab flour, I was stopped in my tracks by the scent of fermented fruit. Again? I just finished those frickin' strawberries! Have they come back to haunt me?

Further investigation led to the discovery of two very ripe bananas on top of the fridge. Crap. I had bought a huge bunch of them last week to eat for breakfast, ate a couple, skipped breakfast a few days in a row, and then completely forgot about the stragglers. And now they were reasserting their presence in a big way. 

I didn't want the sad bananas to go to waste, so I scrapped my plans for pate a choux and whipped up a batch of banana bread. To keep things interesting, I substituted  in 1/2 a cup of caramel sauce for brown sugar, and then added a healthy pour of whiskey. I tell you, that batter smelled good! 

Truthfully, this banana bread could have been improved with just one extra mashed banana, but was very tasty on the whole. Incredibly moist, with a light sweetness made richer by caramel, and rounded out by a pleasing whiff of whiskey. I asked Dan this morning if he wanted to take some to work to share with his co-workers, but he said he'd rather eat it all himself. 

Caramel-Whiskey Banana Bread (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Jacked Up Banana Bread recipe)

Ingredients:

- 2 ripe bananas, mashed

- 1/2 a stick butter/margarine, melted

- 1/2 cup caramel sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (optional -- I like my banana bread to be on the sweet side)
- 1-1/2 cups flour

- 1 egg

- 2 tbsp whiskey

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tbsp cinnamon

- 1 dash of nutmeg

- 1 dash of cloves

Steps:

(1) Preheat oven to 350.

(2) Mix melted butter into the mashed bananas.

(3) Gradually incorporate the caramel, whiskey, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and spices. Mix well.

(4) Add flour and stir until well combined.

(5) Pour batter into a greased bread pan.

(6) Bake for 45 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes before serving.

One year ago: Spinach and Mushroom Fettucine Alfredo

Focaccia

OK, can we all take a moment to reflect on the fact that I successfully handled yeast today with 100% success? For the first time in almost a year full of botched bread-making attempts, everything that was supposed to happen, happened. The yeast foamed; the dough came together and then rose beautifully; and the bread baked into a fragrant, golden loaf of awesomeness that filled the kitchen with its delectable, onion-y, garlicky, rosemary-y scent. At the risk of being repetitive...awesome.

For once, I have no back story to explain my motives for making this recipe. I just love focaccia. I mean, I've never met a loaf of bread I didn't like, but focaccia is my absolute favorite. It's so chewy and flavorful, and perfect before or during any meal. It's wonderful when eaten plain, smeared with roasted garlic, dipped in olive oil, or made into a sandwich. And, it can be made with any toppings you like. No bread has ever been so versatile, or so delicious.

For a wonderful recipe, check this one out, courtesy of Tyler Florence and the Food Network.

** Recipe note: The recipe calls for 3.5 to 4 cups flour, but I only used around 2.5. For whatever reason, that was all it took for my dough to come together. I would suggest that as soon as your dough becomes smooth, pliable and non-sticky, stop adding flour, no matter what the recipe says.

One year ago: Hot Cross Buns

Shooter's Sandwich

So, miracle of miracles, this recipe was actually sent to me by Dan. Yeah. The man who thinks eating is a hassle and only sometimes gets excited for dinner if it involves dumplings and/or blueberry pie sent me a link to a sandwich. Must be one hell of a sandwich! Naturally, I had to check it out. 

OK, so what the hell is a "shooter's sandwich?" According to the article Dan sent me, it's apparently an English invention. It was originally created as a snack that a gentleman's cook would make the night before a hunt, to be eaten when the gentleman in question got hungry after a day of bloodthirsty entertainment. So, it's literally a sandwich for someone who shoots. Cool.

More specifically, the shooter's sandwich involves a hollowed out loaf of bread, lots of steak, and mushroom/shallots cooked in loads of butter. And it's delicious. Really really delicious. Steak is always wonderful, but when loaded with super buttery mushrooms and wrapped in crusty bread soaked through with meat/shroom juice...words fail me. Just try it. And if you happen to have dijon mustard on hand, use it. Trust me.

For the recipe and a wonderful slideshow of the step-by-step construction of this sandwich, click here.

One year ago: Bridal Shower Spread

Brioche

OK, so the other day I was reading a super dorky food-themed manga about a kid that's really good at making bread. Like, really good. Better than every other baker in the world, in fact, despite zero professional training. And this is all because he has these "solar hands" that are naturally super warm so that when he kneads his dough the heat really gets the yeast going, the whole thing comes together and rises a lot faster than normal. As a result, his breads are always perfectly moist and fluffy, with the just the right amount of crustiness for each type of bread he makes. Seriously, his bread is so good that one bite will literally kill you with its awesomeness. Totally nerdy and improbable, but the story really got me excited to make some bread. 

Why brioche? Because a guy I knew in college (who is secretly a rock star in the kitchen) recently posted some really yummy looking pictures of the grilled cheese on homemade brioche he had made, and that  immediately made me want to make my own batch of bread so that I, too, could eat delicious grilled cheese and brioche sandwiches. What can I say, I am easily influenced by the whims of others.

I know it's not real and all, but...I would love to have me some "solar hands." Seriously, I can use all the help I can get when it comes to working with yeast. My doughs just don't rise properly!  Although, that may have less to do with my hand temperature and more to do with the fact that I am sometimes a moron in the kitchen.  When I made those embarrassingly scone-like hot cross buns, I screwed up because I substituted buttermilk for regular milk in the recipe, and all that acid killed my yeast. Then, when I failed at making dinner rolls, the yeast died once again when I poured scalding milk over it. Poor little bacteria...they never stand a chance. Still, I was determined to succeed this time and have the best dough-rising experience ever.

(Sad, poorly-risen dough) 

Everything was going great until the recipe told me to slather butter over my dough and knead it until the butter was incorporated. I had halved the recipe because I only wanted one loaf of bread, but everything seemed fine. First, my yeast was percolating happily in lukewarm water, then my dough came together without a hitch. But then that butter came along and everything fell apart.

In retrospect, I may have been overzealous with my buttering. I know brioche is supposed to have high egg/butter content, but...this may have been too much. I forgot entirely that I had halved the recipe, and ended up slathering on twice as much butter as I intended to. I kept kneading and kneading, hoping the butter would incorporate, but the slickness of the dough made it impossible to have a smooth kneading experience. For the most part it felt like I was folding a doughy piece of paper, but after about 10 minutes the dough suddenly got sticky and started falling apart. Eff. That's when I figured it was time to let the thing rest and see if it would rise.

The dough rose, thank god, but not as much as it probably should have. And, the bread puffed up some more in the oven, so by sheer miracle I ended up with something that actually looked like it could be a loaf of bread. And, it tasted pretty good. Not quite like the brioche rolls I've eaten in restaurants, but still very buttery, egg-y, and almost cake-like in its fluffiness. Come to think of it, this would probably be mighty tasty toasted and slathered with some jam...

Not exactly an unqualified success, but at least I can probably still make some pretty tasty grilled cheeses.

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of AllRecipes.com.

One year ago: The "Ultimate" Lasagna

New Orleans-Style Bread Pudding With Whiskey Sauce

Happy belated Mardi Gras, everyone! I was planning to make New Orleans-themed foods for Fat Tuesday  this year -- gumbo, jambalaya, king cake, beignets, etc. -- but work this week has been all kinds of hectic, and I was too tired to cook anything but leftovers in the microwave. Now that Mardi Gras is over, and St. Patty's Day is around the corner, I was sort of thinking that this recipe could kind of represent both occasions, since bread pudding and whiskey are traditional Irish foods, and Emeril Lagasse tells me this pudding is "New Orleans-style," whatever that means. 

Bread pudding is one of those wonderful, mysterious foods that  I didn't discover until fairly recently. I'd seen it on menus and in display cases at various cafes, but nothing about the name or appearance enticed me to try it. Then Karen and I decided to have dinner at the Circle Bistro before our annual date to see the Nutcracker, and chocolate bread pudding was the dessert offering for the prix fixe meal we both ordered. One bite, and I was in love. The pudding was dense and rich and succulent, like an extra moist chocolate cake. From that day on, I was sold on bread pudding because I figured if chocolate bread pudding tasted this good, how bad could the other variations be?

Bread pudding really doesn't look very appetizing when it's being made, does it? After all, it's just soggy bread sitting in a pool of cream. But it smells fantastic, even before going in the oven. Sweet and cinnamon-y, with the heady scent of French bread. And after it's baked? Then drizzled with boozy cream sauce? We've got the makings of a nose-gasm, folks.

I didn't use as much brown sugar in the pudding as the recipe called for, and I wish I had. The bread pudding is good, but it would be even better if were just a little sweeter. Dan thought it tasted fine and polished off two bowlfuls, but I've got more of a sweet tooth than he does, and I'm the one doing the baking so next time...more sugar! 

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse and the Food Network.

Cherry Peach Bread

A new day, a new Hannah Swensen recipe to reproduce in my kitchen. Today's book was "Key Lime Pie Murder," and it contained a delightful-sounding recipe for Peach Bread. My parents used to love eating my Cranberry Walnut Bread for breakfast, so I figured they might like to try another fruit-flavored loaf. 

In typical Tina-in-the-kitchen fashion, there were a couple ingredients in the recipe that I didn't have. No cream cheese, and no ripe peaches. I didn't feel like making another trip to the grocery store, so I just rifled through the fridge to see what I could find. And what I found were two containers of Yoplait Light Harvest Peach yogurt. Perfect!

Until last year, I didn't realize that there were different kinds of cherries. Thanks to my friend Karen, who spent a year working at a juice factory, I now know that not all cherries are of the deep purple/red variety, and have discovered the magic of Rainier cherries. Not only are they prettier, but they're also sweeter. And, I also happened to have some in the fridge, so naturally they also went into the batter.

Unfortunately, the peach and cherry flavors weren't as strong as I had hoped. I think next time I'm going to have to pick one fruit and stick with it. And, actual mashed peaches or cherry juice might do help. Even so, the bread was still very tasty. Moist, mildly fruity, just a little bit sweet, and good alone or toasted and slathered with some jam. Mmm.

Simple Artisanal Bread

Today is an exciting day. Why, you ask? Well, for one thing, as of 12:30 p.m. today, I am officially done with final exams (and law school) forever. But more importantly, today is the day that I get to introduce my first ever guest blogger, Brittani. 

Brittani and I met in the Vaccine Injury Clinic this year, and as we became friends, I was pleased to discover that she likes cooking as much as I do. She kindly offered to send along some of her recipes for my blog, and her first contribution is Simple Artisanal Bread. Without further ado, here is Brittani's post:

***************************************************************
Hi Everyone!

My name is Brittani, and I’m a 3L/soon-to-be alumna with Tina at GW.  Unlike Tina, however I finished with finals and everything last Tuesday, so I jumped at the chance to guest blog here while she studies away.  A few things you should know about me: (1) I love to bake, something most of my friends know, and (2) I name my kitchen tools, something most people don’t know until now.

This is my fool-proof simple artisanal bread recipe:

Please don’t mock me for buying yeast in bulk, I hate those little packets and am constantly running out of yeast. (Editor note: I didn't even know they sold yeast in jars! What a great idea...)

Yeast that is now happy and multiplied.  

My favorite thing about this recipe: just dump the liquids into the flour and fold it in until an ugly ball of mess forms. See the ugly ball of mess? That means stop stirring, cover with plastic wrap and walk away. If you're me and trying to speed up the process, preheat the oven to 200 while you're mixing all the ingredients, then turn it off and place your plastic covered dough into the nicely warmed oven. Then you can walk away for just 3 hours instead of 6. I don't recommend this method, but I was out of beer so I couldn't make the dough until after 12 and I wanted to be finished before midnight.

Remember when I said I like to name my kitchen tools? Well this is Moose. Why Moose? Because he's big (5 quarts) and he's the workhorse of my kitchen (frying, roasting, soups and baking). Note the shiny metal knob on his lid.  It’s really important for this recipe.  The black knob that Moose came with would melt in the oven if used in this recipe. The shiny metal knobs run about $10 at most kitchen stores and online, and are beyond worth the expense. Also now is a good time to take the batteries out of your smoke detectors, trust me on this one. 

When you finally take everything out of the oven, you have this amazing homemade bread that really doesn't take a whole lot of work, just a little bit of planning ahead of time -- it's especially easy if you make the dough in the morning and let it rise all day.

Thank you to Tina for allowing me to do this! (Editor's note: I should be thanking you!) Eventually I'll start my own blog, but for now I don't have the patience, lighting, or the camera for taking so many pictures while baking. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat all of this right now.

Simple Artisanal Bread (Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen, Almost No-Knead Bread)

Ingredients:
½ tsp. Instant Yeast
1 tsp. Sugar
7 oz. Warm Water
15 oz. + extra All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp. Salt
3 oz. Beer (pale ales work best)
1 Tbsp. White Vinegar

1. Place the warm water in a small bowl, add the yeast and sugar, don’t stir.  Let it sit until the yeast begins to boom (approximately 5 minutes).
2. Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl.
3. Place the beer in a small bowl with the white vinegar.
4. Once the yeast is bloomed, dump the yeast mixture, vinegar and beer into the flour, and fold in until a ugly ball forms. 
5. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm place and walk away for at least 6 hours until the dough has doubled in size.   You can leave it be for as long as 12 hours.
6. Generously, sprinkle flour over your workspace.  Dump your dough onto the workspace and knead about 10-15 times, and no more than that.
7. Form into a ball by pulling the corners under and forming a taunt skin on top
8. Get a sheet of parchment paper approximately 15 inches long and coat with non-stick spray and place the dough onto the parchment paper, and cover with plastic wrap again. You can keep it in a skillet pan and place it somewhere of the way for the next 2 hours.
9. Approximately 30 minutes before the dough is done rising, preheat the oven to 500 degrees and put your dutch oven in the oven
10. After the 2 hours is up, cut a slit across the top of the dough to allow steam to escape and sprinkle with flour. 
11. Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven and reduce the heat to 425 degrees.
12. Using the parchment paper, lower the dough into the dutch oven
13. Bake with the lid on for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for additional 10-15 minutes.  If you have an instant read thermometer, it should read 210 degrees when the bread is done.
14. Cool on a baking rack until completely cooled if you can wait that long.