Joybee's Baking Journal

Holiday Gift Idea: Peppermint Patties

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:33:00 +0000

While making cookies for Christmas, I ran across a recipe for homemade peppermint patties. Since these are my mom's favorite candy I could not resist trying them, even though there is no baking involved. I followed the recipe exactly except for the chocolate. My store did not have enough baking dark chocolate, so instead I used chocolate chips, and added 2 Tbsp shortening. The recipe made 47 patties and I made 9 bags of 5 patties. Overall a great recipe just a little messy dipping in melted chocolate.

Holiday Gift Idea: Apple Spice Granola

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 06:17:00 +0000

I've posted earlier how to make granola, but I love to try new things and make it special. This time I'm trying apple spice granola.

1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice

Mix ingredients in a small saucepan until it begins to boil, let boil a few minutes stiring continuously (When I finished my juice mixture had condensed down to 2/3 of a cup). Let cool for 1 hour.

1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
5 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup canola oil
Apple juice mixture above

I decided it would be a neat gift to give some of my friends homemade granola. I found some cute gift bags at the store, and filled them with granola. People loved it. One batch of granola made 2 bags (about 4 cups per bag).

Holiday Cookies: Gingerbread spritz and more

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:02:00 +0000

The holidays (Christmas and New Years for me) bring out a lot of traditions in people and families. For some it's shopping and gift giving, for others it may be travel. For me, this time of year is all about staying in and baking.

I remember when I was younger, my sisters and I would be in the kitchen digging through our mom's recipe drawer looking for new and tasty cookies to make. Now I have some of my favorite recipes and I search online for new ones.

One of the most memorable cookies I made when I was younger was spritz cookies. These mostly butter cookies are a stiff dough that is then forced through a cookie press into various shapes. The recipe my sisters and I used made colored and flavored spritz by adding a pack of jello (your favorite flavor). Ours turned out pink and tasted like berries. Since my first batch of spritz, I try to make them every year. This year I had the idea to make gingerbread spritz. Here is my recipe :

1 1/2 cups butter (softened)
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger root
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp (each) ground cloves, allspice and nutmeg
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a large bowl combine butter and spices, beat in sugar, powder and egg. Then beat in flour a little at a time until incorperated. The dough should be stiff (not sticky).

Force unchilled dough through cookie press on to ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes. This makes a lot of cookies (about 84)

I forgot to add the egg in mine and they still turned out great just a little bit crisper.

These along with some snickerdoodles and chocolate crinkles went to a bake sale benefiting the Aloha United Way.
*note on the crinkles: drop dough by teaspoonful in powdered sugar , roll around to coat, then it's easier to roll into a ball shape without sticking to your hands. Also bake on parchment lined sheet--they like to stick to the sheet otherwise.

Pictured with the spritzs are a couple Mexican wedding cookies, a simple cookie made with butter, powdered sugar, flour, and finely chopped pecans. The dough is rolled into small balls, baked, and rolled in extra powered sugar while still warm.

Joybee's Baking Journal: Sourdough Chocolate Bead (savory)

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:54:00 +0000

I have tried many recipes for chocolate bread. Most of these are sweet dessert type breads with lots of sugar and fat (in the form of oil, butter or shortening). While I enjoy these breads occasionally; if I want a chocolate dessert, I would rather make brownies.

Today I wanted to make a bread that is a 'real bread', to me this means similar to Italian bread. Italian bread is a standard, enriched dough, that has a soft spongy interior and chewy crust. I also wanted chocolate. Basically, I wanted chocolate Italian bread. I wanted it to be savory but with hint of chocolate, something that would taste good with just about any meal, or spread with a soft sweet cheese. Here is my recipe:

I took a basic Italian bread recipe (160% pre ferment, 100% bread flour, 3.6% salt, 4.4% sugar, .98% instant yeast, 4.4% oil and 57.8% water) and modified it by adding cocoa powder and coffee. I also added extra sugar to cut the bitterness of the cocoa, and used butter instead of olive oil. My formula is 160% sourdough barm, 100% bread flour, 3.6% salt, 5.8% cocoa powder, 3.1% coffee, 10% sugar, 5% butter, 57.8% water--actually about half that because of the extra moisture in the barm

As usual, I start with a sourdough barm (fed the night before)
18 oz Barm
.65 oz Cocoa powder
.35 oz Coffee
11.25 oz Bread flour
.41 oz Salt
1.1 oz Sugar
.6 oz Butter
about 4 oz Water

Feed the barm the night before making the bread (equal amounts water and flour), at this point I added the cocoa powder and coffee. Let sit at room temperature overnight (no more than 12 hours).

The next morning I made the dough, add all dry ingredients into the bowl of mixer, stir to combine. Then add the barm and butter and enough water to bring together and make a ball. Then switch to the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary until the dough does not stick to the bowl. Dough should be smooth and tacky but not sticky.

Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 4 hours until doubled in size. Then remove from bowl, cut dough in half, shape into boules . Place the loaves on a parchment covered sheet pan or a peel (I use a cookie sheet with out a lip, so the dough slides right off). Mist the loaves with spray oil, cover with plastic wrap let rise for about 2 hours until noticeably swelled.

* if you do not have the time for sourdough bread, you can add about 5 oz (4.4 %) instant yeast to the dry ingredients, then you have a 2hr initial rise and 90min final proof.

Prepare the oven about 45 minutes before baking: place a baking stone on the second shelf from the bottom remove any top shelves. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

When ready, uncover the loaves and score, then slide the dough (parchment and all) onto the baking stone. Bake for 15 minutes (pull the parchment from under the loaves after 5 minutes), rotate 180 degrees and bake for 10-20 minutes more until dark and crusty. The loaves should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool for about an hour before slicing (if you can).

Conclusion
This bread turned out exactly how I wanted it. The texture of good Italian bread with a hint of the bitterness of chocolate and a slight sourness. This is not a dessert bread, but it would taste great with chocolate chips added at the end of kneading, or in a bread pudding. I prefer it on its own with a little butter or soft cheese (like cream cheese). I wonder how it would taste along side chili (I like to add a bit of chocolate to my homemade chili).

sorry no pictures of this bread, I was so excited and ate it so quickly I forgot to take pictures.

Joybee's Baking Journal: Tutorial--how to shape dough into a sandwich loaf

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:02:00 +0000

How to shape dough into a sandwich loaf:

First you start with dough that has been through it's first rise, and doubled in size. This can take up to 4 hours for sourdough, and only 2 for regular yeasted dough.Next, turn the dough out onto a clean surface (you don't want to flour the surface, if dough is sticking, you can spray the surface with a little oil, or wipe with shortening). Using your hands or a rolling pen, flatten the dough into a sheet about 1/2 inch thick, 9 inches wide by 12 inches long. At this point you would sprinkle on cinnamon sugar, if you are making cinnamon bread.

Then, starting at the short end, begin to roll the dough, keeping it as tight as possible. You will end up with a cigar shaped log of dough, pinch the edges of the dough together so they stick and don't come apart.After rolling, use the edge of your hand to crimp the edge of the dough (a couple of inches from the end) and fold the ends under the dough. You can the rock the doug, gently, back and forth so that the dough is a consistent size through out.

Place the dough in an oiled loaf pan (usually 9x5 for 2 pound loaves, 8.5x4.5 for 1-1.5 pound loaves)

Finally, let the dough proof, until it fills the pan and is cresting over the lip (about 2 hours for sourdough about 90 min for regular yeast). At this point you can brush the top of the loaf with, water-to make chewy, milk-to make soft, or egg-to give a glossy finish. Then put in the oven and bake (usually at 350 degrees for about 1 hour---check your recipe)

Happy baking.

Joybee's Baking Journal: Light Wheat Bread (sourdough)

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Thu, 26 May 2011 04:36:00 +0000

Light wheat bread makes a great sandwich bread with a little more whole wheat than plain white bread. This recipe is 33 percent whole wheat flour (33% of the total flour weight). I modified this recipe, slightly from the one in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I made this a sourdough by using half the final dough weight in barm and adjusting the flour and water weights as necessary.

My Recipe:

The night before (feed sourdough):
My goal is to have 16 oz barm. I will also add the whole wheat flour at this point.

2.5 oz sourdough starter
6.75 oz whole wheat flour
6.75 oz water

The next morning:
The barm was bubbly and had grown at least double in size. To this I added

10 oz bread flour
.75 oz honey
.38 oz salt
1 oz powdered milk
1 oz butter
2 oz water

I mixed it all, with the paddle attachment on my stand mixer, until all the flour was hydrated and the dough formed a wet ball. Then I switched to the dough hook and kneaded for 6 minutes, adding more flour until the dough became firm, tacky but not sticky, the dough pulled away from the sides of the and did not stick to the bottom of the bowl. I transferred the dough to a large, oiled glass bowl and covered with plastic wrap and a towel.

After 4 hours the dough had doubled in size.

Then I shaped the dough into one loaf, put it in an oiled 9x5 inch pan and let sit for 2 more hours until the dough was cresting over the lip of the pan.

Finally I baked the loaf at 350 degrees (with the loaf pan sitting on a baking sheet--so the bottom of the loaf turns golden and stays soft) for 50 minutes, rotting the pan and covering it with foil after 30 minutes.

I removed the loaf from the pan immediately (it sounded hollow when thumped on the bottom) and let cool for about 3 hours before slicing.

Conclusions:

Bread is light brown in color and smells like sourdough. With a buttery, tangy flavor. This loaf tastes more like sourdough than some of the other recipes. It has a tight crumb that is soft and spongy with a soft, chewy, golden crust. Makes great sandwiches, it's more sturdy or dense (because of the whole wheat flour) than white bread, but I loved the flavor and texture
I think I may have found a good ratio of barm to final dough weight. The dough doubled in 4 hours, and then the shaped loaf only took 2 hours to come to size. I'm not sure if the amount of barm is the underling cause of this, it could be temperature or maybe the ingredients in the dough. I'll make other breads with the same barm to final dough ratio and see how well they rise.

Joybee's Baking Journal: Oatmeal Bread

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Mon, 23 May 2011 03:11:00 +0000

*Yay! I have my first follower (thanks Faith).

Bread baking is a true test of patience, especially when it is sourdough. I have wanted to make this bread for a week, but I kept forgetting to 'feed' my starter.

I like to feed my sourdough starter, or barm, the night before baking the bread. I let it sit overnight to be active and at room temperature by morning. Then if I start by 7:30am I can have the bread done by 5:00pm at the latest (allowing for 4 hour initial rise, and 2 hour final proof, but this varies depending on many factors).

Finally Sunday night I remembered to feed my barm and start the process of making the bread.

Oatmeal Bread
(variation of 'Multigain Bread Extrodinare' from The Bread Baker's Apprentice)

Night before baking (feed the barm):
The final weight of the dough is 2 lbs, I made 16 oz of barm.

I am experimenting with how much barm to add, I've used as little as one cup but this time I wanted to add as much as possible, hoping to get a good rise. I thought it would be a good idea to use no more than 1/2 the final dough weight in barm, so I would be doubling the barm just like when I feed it. (when I feed the barm, I at least double the weight with equal parts flour and water).

8 oz sourdough starter
4 oz water
4 oz whole wheat flour
6 Tbsp rolled oats

The recipe calls for a 'soaker' which means to soak the grains over night in water, I just added the grains to the barm which is very similar, they may get broken down more as the yeast feeds on them though. I also only used oatmeal instead of multiple grains because that is all I had on hand. I also used a little whole wheat flour in the barm to make up for not adding more grains, and just because I wanted to.

Next Morning (make the dough):
By the morning, my barm was bubbly and had grown to twice it's volume. And it smelled fabulous, a yeasty dough smell that is hard to describe unless you try your own sourdough. Remember that this barm is about 8 oz flour and 8 oz (maybe more)water plus the oats. So I subtract these amounts from the recipe.

5.5 oz Bread flour
1.5 oz brown sugar
.38 oz salt
1 oz honey
3 Tbsp powdered milk (as a substitute for the 1/2 cup regular or butter milk)

I used the paddle attachment on my mixer to mix the ingredients (on low speed) until they came together. At this point I dribbled in a bit more water so all the flour was incorporated. Then switched to the dough hook and kneaded for about 10 minutes on the #2 setting. During the kneading I added additional flour until the dough did not stick to the bottom of the bowl and was 'soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky'.

I then transferred the dough to a large, oiled glass bowl (rolling it to coat it with oil)and covered it with plastic wrap and a towel. I let it rise for 4 hours. At this point, I checked the dough and it looked like it had doubled in size, I shaped the dough into a loaf and placed it in an oiled 9x5 inch loaf pan. This I let proof for about 2.5 hours until it was cresting over the lip of the pan. I baked the loaf in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes (turning 180 degrees and covering with aluminum foil after 20). Once I took the bread out of the oven I immediately removed it from the pan and, the hardest part, let it cool for 2 hours before slicing.

Conclusion:

This bread turned out great! It is soft and fluffy with a tight crumb and a chewy crust. The flavor is subtle, slightly sweet with a hint of sourness. I can't wait to make it again. I may try adding more oatmeal.

The recipe for 'Multigrain Breda Extrodinare' can be found in The Bread Baker's Apprentice pg 187-189 (now on Google books)

Joybee's Baking Journal: Chocolate Orange Bread (variation of Portuguese Sweet Bread)

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:42:00 +0000

A friend of mine, after tasting the Portuguese sweet bread, suggested that I try a chocolate bread with the citrus flavor. How could I resist?

I made the same recipe for Portuguese sweet bread, but this time I used 14 oz barm(7 oz water, 7 oz flour), 6 TBSP cocoa powder and only orange and vanilla extract, then in the final 2 minutes of kneading I added 1 cup of chocolate chips.

The dough was stiff, tacky but not wet or sticky. As with the other recipe, this dough did not rise much if at all.

Conclusion:

The bread is chocolate in color, with a tight crumb studded with chocolate chips. The loaves are small and dense with a soft crust. The chocolate flavor is mild, a little bitter (not too sweet), with a hint of orange. This bread is great by its self, or toasted with butter or cream cheese.

Joybee's Baking Journal: White Sandwich Bread (Sourdough)

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:48:00 +0000

I love sourdough bread. I love the flavor, the sent and the texture. Most of all I love that I can grow my own yeast and not have to buy it at the store. There are some draw backs to using sourdough (or wild yeast), the yeast is not as concentrated as the store bought instant yeast and it takes longer to rise. The 1-2 hour initial rise can take from 4-6 hours, and the 90 minute final proofing takes about 2 hour. Sourdough bread can take all day to make, but most of the process is waiting. That is a reason I like it so much. It takes some forethought and planning, but once you have a refreshed active barm, the mixing process takes about 20 minutes, then you can go off and read a book, or do something else for 4-6 hours, come back and shape the dough into loaves, wait for another couple of hours and then bake it.

My KitchenAid makes the mixing and kneading process so quick and easy, I make better bread now because of it. The main thing I want from sandwich bread is a soft fluffy texture that won't fall apart or crumble. Kneading by hand this was difficult to accomplish. I always ended up adding too much flour to keep the dough from sticking to my hands, and it took much longer to knead it to the proper consistency, resulting in crumbly, dense loaves. Now with the KitchenAid my dough gets kneaded perfectly and is still soft and much wetter than when done by hand ending with a beautifully soft, light and fluffy bread.
Once again I used a recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. You can see the actual recipe on Google books (pg 266). I only veered from the original recipe by adding a large amount of barm. Keep in mind that my barm contains equal parts flour and water, so I just substitute some of the flour and water of the original recipe with barm, but my total flour and water weights are the same as the original recipe.

My Recipe

24 oz barm
9.5 oz bread flour
.38 oz salt
1.33 oz powdered milk
1.66 oz sugar
1 large egg
1.66 oz butter
1 oz water

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, except I creamed the butter, egg, sugar, salt, and powdered milk together first(using the paddle attachment). Then I added the barm, flour and water (using the dough hook to knead it). I kneaded for about 7 minutes adding flour until the dough 'cleared the sides of the bowl but stick ever so slightly to the bottom'. This is much softer and wetter than you would expect, I needed to use a rubber spatula to scrape it out of the bowl, and oiled my hands to keep it from sticking to then while I transferred it to an oiled bowl to rise.

I let it sit for about 4 hours until it almost doubled is size and then shaped it into 2 loaves, put them in oiled loaf pan (8.5 inch loaf pans are a must) and let proof for 2 hours.

I brushed the tops of the loaves with egg wash before baking at 350 degrees for 35 minutes (turning halfway through baking and covering with aluminum foil after 20 min)

Conclusion:

This bread turned out great. Light, fluffy, soft, moist and perfect for sandwiches. It has a mild sour flavor from the sourdough, but it is not over powering. This is the best sandwich bread I have made so far.

Baking Journal: Portuguese Sweet Bread (1st attempt)

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:06:00 +0000

It's been a while. I'm all moved in to my new place here in beautiful Hawaii. I have a nice little container garden started on the lanai, I also have a sourdough/wild yeast culture (called a barm) started. I may discuss the sourdough barm in later posts and I plan to post more often.

A few weeks ago my wonderful husband bought me a KitchenAid Professional stand mixer. Now I am making bread and other baked goods multiple times a week.

My latest venture in baking is Portuguese Sweet Bread A.K.A Hawaiian bread. This is an enriched containing a little over 12.5% fat (shortening and butter), standard 65% hydration, tacky but not sticky dough. I veered from the recipe by using sourdough barm instead of instant yeast. Otherwise I followed the recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice (which you can also find some of on Google books baker percentages on page 218).

My Recipe:

Sponge

4.5 oz of Barm (my barm is 100% hydration which is equal parts--by weight flour and water)
.25 oz sugar
1.75 oz water

Dough (same as in the recipe)

3 oz sugar
.25 oz salt
1.25 oz powdered milk
1 oz unsalted butter
1 oz shortening
2 large eggs
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
13.5 oz bread flour
3 oz water

I followed the directions exactly except that I mixed the sugar, salt, milk, butter, shortening, eggs, and extracts all together with the sponge mixing with the paddle attachment until smooth. Then added the flour and water, switching the dough hook and kneading for 12 minutes until I had a soft supple dough that was not sticky (I was supposed to add the sponge when I added the flour).

I transferred the dough (which smelled fabulous by the way...from the extracts and the butter) to a lightly oiled bowl rolling it around to coat it with oil, covered it with a towel and let it rise for 4 hrs.

The dough had not risen very much so I let it rise for another 3 hrs. It still had not doubled in size but I divided it in half and put each half into a greased 8.5 in loaf pan.

I proofed the loaves for about 4 hrs and then I brushed them with egg wash, and baked in 350 degree oven for an hour. And let cool for 90 minutes before slicing.

Conclusions:

The bread looks great, the loaves have the mahogany brown crust that they are supposed to have, and the flavor is excellent. The citrus extracts really give it a tropical flavor. However, the crust did not soften. The crumb is soft but the whole is not the light pillow loaf I was expecting.
Next time I will try using more barm, and I may even try it once with regular yeast.

Electric Smoker

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 01:13:00 +0000

I haven't posted in a long time, I've been moving. My husband and I moved from Minnesota to Hawaii. Just in time to miss winter.

There are somethings I'll miss about Minnesota, but I'm definitely enjoying the weather here in Hawaii. While I love the weather, it's a big change from MN. I'm used to cooking hearty cold weather stews and hot dishes (the Minnesota term for casserole) so I have to make a bit of a change for cooking in a tropical climate. Not to mention that our pantry and refrigerator need to be restocked (which will take some time). I have plans to cook more fish, start a sour dough starter, and try new produce that I find in china town, and I have begun a garden on our lanai (balcony).

The Smoker

We are not allowed to have a gas or charcoal grill on our lanai; so we were excited to find an electric smoker/grill at Home Depot for a very reasonable price. At about 20 inches diameter, it doesn't take up too much room leaving plenty of room for my garden, and it can hold 50 lbs of meat. After buying it yesterday, we put it to use that evening.

Smoked Salmon

3 Salmon fillets

(two of these were stuffed with a crab/lobster mixture--bought from the store this way)

Fresh cracked pepper
Vegetable oil (to oil grill grate)
water for water pan in smoker
wood for smoke

lightly cover fillets with cracked pepper, then smoke for about 1.5 hours.

This was the best salmon I have ever cooked, well actually my husband cooked it, but it was amazing. The fish was cooked thoroughly yet still tender and moist with a wonderful smokey flavor. I can't wait to have family visit so we can cook this for them.

Tonight we will be smoking some kind of beef loin roast. I will rub some vegetable oil on it and coat it with some spices. Also roasted sweet potato and Asian eggplant.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:16:00 +0000

Nothing is better than fresh baked cookies. I love to bake cookies, not only because I love eating them but because everyone loves homemade cookie. I believe it is a great way to say "I love you" to your friends and family and everyone seems to really appreciate it.

My Husband had a rough day yesterday (kind of a rough week). His favorite cookies are chocolate chip, nothing fancy, just basic chocolate chip cookies. So today I made him a batch of chocolate chip cookies (they always seem to cheer him up).

Here are some things I have learned about making great, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies.
I must mention that I did not think all of these tricks on my own. I saw them on an episode of 'Good Eats'--on food network .

First melt the butter, second use all brown sugar, third use bread flour, and lastly only bake one sheet of cookies at a time (I figured this out on my own). Oh and do not over bake the cookies. This last tip is a little more difficult it depends on your individual oven, and how big or small you make your cookies. I like to make my cookies small. I use a teaspoon to size them, and they end up about 2 inches in diameter when baked. With this size it usually takes exactly 8 minutes to bake them perfectly (I also use good air-bake cookie sheets). Another trick I have learned is to let the cookies cool at least 8 minutes on the pan before trying to remove them. For this it helps to have more than one pan. I have 3, while one is in the oven baking, I am putting more cookies on another, and while the new pan of cookies is baking, the pan just pulled from the oven is cooling. It makes the process faster and easier. Trust me, I hate to have broken cookies ( my husband loves it because I have a rule that he has to eat any broken cookies right away b/c it makes me mad to have a broken cookie). Making them smaller and letting them cool help prevents breakage (and my husband still gets to eat plenty of unbroken cookies).

The Recipe:

I make chocolate chip cookies so often I hardly need to look at a recipe any more.

1 cup butter (I only had 1/2 cup of butter so I used 1/2 cup of clarified butter or ghee that I had in the fridge. It worked just fine)
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cup flour
at least 2 cups chocolate chips (I like semisweet and sometimes dark, use whatever you like)

Mix all ingredients together (I don't have a mixer so I always do this by hand, it's great exercise, and it puts more love in it). Drop by rounded teaspoon fulls on pan, bake for 8 minutes at 375 F.

No matter what Home made cookies are always a hit.
Sorry. No pictures my camera is broken so it may be a while before I can post pictures.

Enjoy.

High Life Beer Bread

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Mon, 31 May 2010 14:37:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I was boiling some brats, in beer, to thaw them before I put them on the grill. The boiling beer made the whole house smell like fresh baked sourdough bread. Yum. Since then I have thought of nothing but making bread, and using beer in it. Yesterday, the stars aligned, I had everything I needed, I had just cleaned the kitchen, and I made the bread I have been thinking about for over a week.

The first thing I did was search online for 'beer bread'. Most of the recipes I found were for quick breads (no yeast, baking soda or powder for leavening). That was not what I wanted, so I created my own recipe using some guidelines from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" (did I mention that I have misplaced my copy, I think it's at my sister-in-law's house, but I found it on Google books).

Sandwich bread is a standard bread (57-60%hydration) with some enrichment (fat, and or dairy). Using the formula method described in the book, here is my formula/recipe.

Joybee High Life Bread

6 cups flour (1.5 cup whole wheat, 4.5 cup bread) = 100%
1.5 cups warm water, 1-12 oz bottle of room temperature beer = 50%
.5 cups fat (.25 butter, .25 almond oil) = 8%
.33 cup instant potato flakes = 5.5%
1/2 tbsp salt = 2%
.25 cup sugar = 4%
about .25 cup roasted garlic (mashed)
1 tsp thyme, 2 tsp basil and 1/2 tsp sage
1 package yeast

Set beer (I used Miller Highlife b/c it's my favorite) out at room temperature for a few hours. Roast garlic at about 250 degrees F for about 1 hour. Mix all the dry ingredients (including yeast) in a large bowl. Heat water for 1 minute in microwave, let it sit while you melt the butter, mix it with the oil, and mash the garlic. Once everything is prepared, add all of the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until all the flour is incorporated. This makes a pretty wet dough. Knead for about 10 minutes until dough becomes smooth, and is not sticky, but still soft. Put in an oil coated bowl, roll to coat all sides and cover with a damp towel. First rise is about 1.5 hours or until dough has doubled in size. Punch down dough, halve it and shape into loaves. Place in greased loaf pans and let rise for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the oven for steam baking. To do this, I use a cast iron on the bottom shelf. Heat the oven (with the pan in it) to 475. While oven is heating, boil some water in a kettle.

Once loaves have risen, turn oven temperature down to 375. Place loves on the middle shelf, right above the steaming pan. Then carefully pour the boiling water into the hot cast iron pan (warning: this will spit, sputter, and steam. Make sure to use enough water so the pan doesn't dry out during baking.). Shut the oven. Bake for 40 minutes.

Take loaves out of the oven, and let cool in pans for about 30 minutes. Remove from pans and bake directly on oven shelf (at 375) for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 hours or overnight if possible.

Conclusion

I only added 50% hydration instead of 58% like I initially planned. I was supposed to use 3.5 cups liquid, and I only used 3. However, it did not hurt my bread. I finished baking the bread at about 9:30 last night so I was able to let is cool over night. This morning when I woke up, I immediately cut myself a slice. It was wonderful, the crust is chewy, and the crumb is soft. The after notes of beer give the bread a hint of sourdough flavor (with out all the work). The garlic and herbs also give a nice flavor, but they are very subtle. I plan on making shrimp salad sandwiches with this bread today.

I am eager to hear your comments, and let me know how it tastes using other beers.

What to do with extra andouille

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:51:00 +0000

I have a few packs of andouille sausage in the freezer. I made jambalaya a few weeks ago, and it was good. But what else can I make with andouille? Here is an easy recipe that I tried tonight.

4 medium potatoes (cut into bite size pieces)
1 red onion (chopped in large pieces)
4 stalks of celery (chopped)
rough minced garlic (to taste)
minced pickled jalapenos (to taste/optional)
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
fresh cracked pepper
kosher salt
3 links andouille (bite sized pieces)

Toss vegetables in enough oil(I used almond)to coat. Add seasoning, toss until distributed, place in a baking pan and bake at 325f for about 1 hour.

This is a very simple recipe that I threw together today. I used what I had on hand, I even added a bag of frozen peas. It was a real hot day today, so I cooked this outside on the grill (didn't want to heat up my kitchen). I cooked this in a big roasting pan that I found at a yard sale.

I thought this recipe tasted really good.

I hope this gives you an idea on how else to use andouille.

How to Make Granola

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Sun, 16 May 2010 18:18:00 +0000

I never liked eating cereal for breakfast. That is until I first had granola. There is something about granola that is addictive to me. It may be the mix of crunchy and chewy that I love. It may be the nutty sweet flavor of the oatmeal, the chewy plump raisins or other dried fruit, I don't know but I love it.

I first learned how to make granola from my sister-in-law. She always keeps a big Tupperware container of home made granola in her pantry.

It is very simple to make, I usually don't even measure.

Fill your container mostly full of rolled oats, almonds and what ever else you like in your granola (leave enough room to shake it all up)--do not add raisins or dried fruit yet
Pour in some sweetener (like maple syrup or honey) and oil (vegetable or canola) mix and toss at regular intervals use just enough sweetener to make it slightly sticky (depending on how sweet you like it) and just enough oil to make every thing shiny
Put granola in a baking sheet (about 2 inches deep) in oven on low temp (250F) bake checking and stirring every 15-30 minutes until granola is golden and dried.
Let cool for a few minutes and now add the raisins/dried fruit. Put it back in the container to store it

Well that is the basics of granola making.

For more about granola check out:

At my local store the other day, on a quest for granola making supplies, I found something new to try. The store is a kind of ethnic food place with lots of products from India (I find all kinds of interesting new products I've never seen before). So I was looking for some oatmeal (rolled oats, because I didn't think I had enough), which I did not find, but I found something called parched rice. Obviously it is some king of rice product, but it was wafer thin (almost like rolled rice). I bought a smallish bag of it along with my other supplies (sliced almonds, almond oil, coconut chips, and both golden and black raisins)

When I got home, I was very excited. The first thing I did was try the parched rice. It did not have much flavor, it is unseasoned, and had a tough texture. I tried roasting it (like I would in my granola) and that did the trick. It was crispy and slightly nutty (sort of like a flat rice crispy--with out the sugar). That decided it for me, I was going to put it in my granola.

My Granola Recipe:

5 cups rolled oats
2 cups parched rice
1.5 cups sliced almonds
1 cup coconut chips (which are like flakes)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup maple syrup/little bit of honey (just what I had on hand)
1/2 cup almond oil
2 cups raisins (1 golden, 1 black)

I mixed the oats, rice, almonds, coconut chips, and brown sugar. I added the maple syrup and oil tossing and mixing thoroughly. I put this all in my 13x9x2 inch baking pan (it was very full) and into a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven. I baked it for a total of about 2.5 hours stirring every 30 minutes until it was dried and golden.
*makes about 23 1/2 cup servings

This turned out to be the best granola I have ever made. The flavors and textures are so good together. This is a definite keeper.
Nutrition facts thanks to www.nutritiondata.com. For more nutritional information for this granola.

Adventures of Houston II: Houston Goes to Missoula

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:48:00 +0000

Hi y'all. You remember me, I'm Houston. I'm in Missoula, Montana. These are my adventures.

This is what I call a room with a view

Can't wait to sleep here

Grrr I'm gonna get you Grizzly.

Better watch out, I'm a wild dog.

Can't find me I'm camouflaged.

Well those were my adventures. Hope to see you again. Goodbye.

Scallops in white wine and pineapple salsa

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Sun, 09 May 2010 03:09:00 +0000

'Ocean Eclipse' has a great line of frozen seafood (for people like me who like seafood, but don't like the expense of buying fresh...not to mention I don't always plan ahead so it's nice to have individual frozen packages that will thaw over night) . It all comes in about 4 oz packages (which is 1 serving). I have tried the salmon, and it is great. The fillets are kind of thin compared to what you can usually buy fresh, but for inexpensive frozen seafood it is good quality. This week when my husband came home from the grocery store, he bought not only more salmon, but scallops and some other kinds of seafood. Tonight I tried the scallops.

Note: These are not sea scallops, these are farm raised, and I think they might be classified as calico scallops (they are quite small about the size of a finger nail.

I also had fresh pineapple so I wanted to use that as well. I decided to make a pineapple salsa.

Salsa:

3 rings of pineapple (about 1/2 inch thick), diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
Mix all ingredients let sit and marinate for about 1 hr before serving

Scallops:

I have never cooked scallops before, so I searched online for how to go about doing it. Everything I read warned not to over cook the scallops. Most things I read said to sear on each side for about a minute per side and you're done. However these people were using the big sea scallops that you can easily turn over. My scallops were much smaller and not so easy to turn over (they just kind of rolled round the pan). So I did my best and I think it turned out well.

1/2 red onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
8oz scallops
1/2 cup white wine ( I used a sweet wine b/c that's what I had on hand)
almond oil
butter
juice of 1/2 lime

I heated my cast iron skilled about medium heat, added enough oil to coat bottom of pan and sauteed the onions. When the onions were soft, I added the garlic and cooked for about 30 sec, then I tossed in 2 packages (8oz) scallops that I seasoned with salt and fresh cracked pepper. I let these sit in the pan for 1 minute before I stirred trying to flip them over. I then added a couple small tabs of butter, let it melt and then added the white wine. I waited for the wine to come up to a boil squeezed in the lime juice and then turned the heat to low and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
I served the scallops with the sauce drizzled over, Pineapple salsa on the side and french bread.

Conclusion:

I think this meal turned out very well. The pineapple salsa may not really go with scallops, but I wanted to make it, and it tasted great. What goes well with scallops?

The scallops in my opinion were very good. I don't think they were over cooked (but I'm not a scallop expert). The white wine sauce was wonderful. I have been dunking bread in the leftover sauce all night.

I will definitely make this again.

I have left over salsa that I will be eating tomorrow with pork chops.

French Toast

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:56:00 +0000

When ever I have a good dense home made bread (especially cinnamon raisin) I want to make french toast in the mornings. Some people get a little scared when they hear 'french' in cooking, but this is not a difficult recipe. I don't even use an official recipe, it's all very basic.

The main thing about french toast, is you soak your bread in an egg mixture so it softens and absorbs some of the flavor. Then you bake, toast or fry it. It's raining today or I would try grilling it...maybe another time.

note this is a great use for slightly stale bread

also note this works best with a more substantial slice of bread, one that will not fall apart when it gets soaked

My bread:

From my earlier post, I have cinnamon raisin bread. This is a great type of bread to use for french toast b/c it has so much flavor. As I mentioned in my post, this bread is rather dense so it will hold up nicely.

My Soak:

I am only making enough french toast for myself (so only 2 slices). I think I will use only 1 egg. Then I will add milk, for this I will use vanilla soy milk. It has great flavor, and a little less fat than regular milk, and I won't need to add any vanilla extract.

note on soy milk: I only buy and use organic soy milk. This is the only way to make sure the beans used in my soy milk are not genetically modified. While it is not certain if genetically modified foods cause any health risks, I choose not to support genetically modified (GM) soybeans for other reasons. GM seeds are patented by the company that modifies them. They then sell these seeds to the farmer. However even after the farmer buys these seeds he/she does not own them. After planting and harvesting the farmer is not allowed to keep the seed and replant he/she must buy a new batch of seeds from the company that modified them. I don't like this so I choose not to support it. I would rather support farmers not big corporations.--I apologize for the rant

So I have an egg/milk mixture (kind of like scrambled eggs). To this I add a little cinnamon, alittle nutmeg, and a little maple syrup. This is all up to individual taste and smell, I never measure--if you use regular milk, you may want to add just a dash of vanilla extract. Then let the bread soak for about 10-15 min per side (this depends on how stale/hard your bread is. It can soak over night if necessary).

My cooking method:

I will be frying my french toast. So heat up the pan about a medium heat, grease/oil the pan. You can use butter if you want, I will be using almond oil (it has a little less saturated fat and it wont burn at this temperature. Fry the toast on both sides until it is browned and a little crisp.

Finish off with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and enjoy. (I will be enjoying mine with a few links of turkey sausage)

Results:

Wow that was a great breakfast/lunch. 2 pieces was more than I could finish with sausage and fruit. I did not add any more maple syrup to the toast when it was done (I didn't want too much sweetness b/c I also had fruit)

I had a whole fresh pineapple that I cut up, I had about 1/2 cup of pieces, about 10 grapes, and a banana cut up. The fruit was a wonderful addition to my breakfast, it added great color, and freshness.

I still have 1 piece of french toast and 2 sausage links left for later.

Adventures of Houston: Houston Goes to San Deigo

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:49:00 +0000

Hi I'm Houston. This is a photo journal of my travels. Hope to see you again soon.

Relaxing after a long Day.
The End.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:56:00 +0000

I love bread. I became interested in learning how to bake bread in college and have been trying to perfect my skills every since. I give much praise for the book The Bread Bakers Apprentice. This book taught me so much. I suggest it to anyone who strives to make extraordinary bread.

Oddly, I decided to try going gluten free about a year ago. Seems crazy, I know. I had some reasons to give it a try, and it was a challenge to see if I could do it. Well I got a chance to learn some new recipes an try some new things. I stayed gluten free for at least 6 months. It was challenging and I have a lot of respect for people who have to live gluten free.
I am no longer gluten free and I haven't made bread in over a year. I am so happy to be back kneading the dough and filling my house with the smell of fresh baked bread. I decided to make a loaf style bread instead of a 'rustic' type just for quickness and ease. So I made Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread.

Formula: 3 parts flour: 1 part liquid
3 cups bread flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup toasted rolled oats
.5 cup flax seed meal
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1.5 cup raisins
1 package yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.5 cup 2% milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup melted butter
In a large bowl I mixed the flours, oats, sugar, raisins, and yeast. I mixed the milk, egg, and melted butter in another bowl and let it sit at room temp for about 1 hour. I mixed the liquid with the flour stirring (adding a little more milk to make a sticky dough. I turned the Dough out onto a floured table and kneaded for 8-10 min until the dough became soft and tacky (but not sticky). I did this by hand, if you have a stand mixer feel free to use it. Once dough is kneaded, put it into a lightly oiled bowl rolling it to coat all sides, cover with a damp towel and let rise for 90 minutes.
Once risen, punch down dough, separate into 2 pieces. Roll out pieces to about 8x10 inch rectangle about 1 inch thick. Smear with butter, sprinkle liberally with cinnamon/sugar, then roll tightly pinching the seam together and tucking the ends under. Place rolled dough into greased loaf pan (9x5). Let rise for another 90 min. or until it fills the loaf pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.

Conclusion:
This bread turned out wonderfully, soft, chewy and slightly sweet. The oat meal adds a nice texture. The whole wheat gives this bread a denseness and makes a more substantial slice. Wonderfully addictive. Great with or with out butter.

Let me know what you thinkFor more nutritional information about this bread this link will take you to my recipe page on NutritionData.com. This is a really cool website where you can enter your recipes and it calculates the nutrition facts.

p.s. I got my grill thermometer yesterday. Will post more when it is installed.

New Lures

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:27:00 +0000

I just got some new fishing lures from my dad the other day.

My dad has a hobby of wood turning. He usually makes bowls which are beautiful, I even have a pepper grinder that he made for me. A couple of months ago I saw a show on pbs about a guy who makes his own lures. I thought it would be a neat project for my dad to try so I told him about it, a few weeks later these arrived in the mail. Thanks Dad

I just wanted to show off my new lures. Hopefully I will have some fish to show off soon.

Scones on the Grill

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:55:00 +0000

I woke up this morning hungry. So I decided to make breakfast. To me a good breakfast includes savory and sweet. I had 2 extra large eggs, sausage, and then I wanted something sweet. I had no fruit, I didn't want to use an egg for muffins or pancakes, so I decided on scones, sausage and scrambled eggs. I have a slight obsession with my grill, so I cooked breakfast outside.

I realize that most people do not immediately think of their grill when it comes to baking, but I am always excited to try something new. This task will be much easier when I get my grill thermometer( it's on its way) then I will know the temperature of my grill. I have a top rack on my grill where I put my pan of scones, this way they weren't too close to the heat source. I put the sausage right on the grill grates, and I cooked my eggs in a cast iron pan also on the grill.

The Scone Recipe:
Chocolate chip scones
I found this at www.joyofbaking.com

2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1/2 cup (90 grams) milk or semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 cup (75 grams) dried cherries or cranberries
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chunks (or chips) and dried cherries. In a small measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla extract and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until the dough comes together (add more buttermilk if necessary). Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture. To make the Cinnamon Sugar, mix together the sugar and ground cinnamon. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with a little of the cinnamon sugar.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and then turn your broiler on high. Sift the confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar heavily over the tops of the scones and place them under the broiler. Broil for just a few seconds, turning the pan as necessary, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Make sure to watch the scones carefully as the sugar will burn very quickly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 8 scones.

Note: I did not use buttermilk, just 2% milk with a little vinegar. I also did not use dried fruit b/c I didn't have any around the house. I melted the butter and mixed it with the milk instead of blending it into the flour. This is a short cut I use when making biscuits so I did it here too. I did not add the powdered sugar to the tops.

Conclusion:

I have never made scones before nor eaten them, but being from the south (NC) originally I have some experience with biscuits. I was not too worried; it seems like a scone is just a sweet biscuit. They use pretty much the same ingredients (flour, baking soda/powder, butter, and milk). I think for my first try at scone and baking them on the grill they were a success. This is definitely a recipe that I will make again whether I grill or use the oven.

The eggs on the grill were great! I heated the pan for about 5 minutes tossed in some butter, sauteed some onion then added the eggs, they scrambled in no time and tasted great!

I over cooked the sausage. I put it on when I put the scones in and then I couldn't open the grill (so the scones would cook right). The fat dripping from the sausage caused flare ups and the sausage came out burned a little (still eatable but just charred on one side)

Suggestions:

If I do this again, I will bake the scones first, take them out to cool and then cook everything else. Then I won't over cook the sausage, and the scones will bake more evenly.

There is another scone recipe I would like to try (from the same site) for chocolate scones. They sound terrific, however I would like to try dried cherries in them instead of the chocolate chips. I had a chocolate bread with dried cherries in it once and it was delicious. I would like to try the combo again.

Grilled chicken

noreply@blogger.com (jnl0814) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:30:00 +0000

It is spring in Minnesota. To me this means baseball, grilling and spending as much time outside as possible. My husband bought a grill about a month ago and no week goes buy that we do not grill (usually many times). Today I plan on attempting to grill chicken.

After much searching online I have a plan. I will start by marinating my chicken pieces (1 whole cut up chicken). Then I will grill 'low and slow' on my gas grill. My gas grill has two burners so I will leave one off for indirect heat. From what I have read on many other sites this should take about 2 hours. I will check and flip every 30 minutes (I think). I am also going to try to convert my marinade into a bbq sauce. I know many people say not to reuse the marinade because of salmonella, but I will be boiling this down to thicken the sauce, and it will probably boil for a while. I have read that this can be done and as long as you boil it it will be safe...wish me luck.

My chicken marinade

2 cans coca cola
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sriracha (a hot sauce)
1/2 cup oil (I used almond b/c I had it and it holds up well to high heat)
2 tsp liquid smoke
2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp dried minced onions
1/4 cup chopped jalapenos
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Hot red chili powder
garlic powder

I started the marinade at about 10:00 this morning and the chicken will sit in it until about 5:00pm. I will put the chicken on the grill at about 5 and hopefully it will be done by 7 or 8 at the latest.

The grilling
Unfortunately I do not have a grill thermometer, nor do I have a meat thermometer. I will be getting both, but I don't have them today, so I will have to do my best without.

My chicken pieces came in many sizes. The breast are the biggest, followed by thighs, legs and wings.

I will have to place the meat so all pieces cook at the same time. So the breasts will go on the warmest side with the wings on the coolest.
Picture is 1.5 hrs on the grill with only one burner on low

The sauce

chicken marinade
tomato paste
ketchup (maybe)
tamarind concentrate (this is a sour flavor, don't need much)
hot sauce and chili powder to taste
pressed garlic

I will boil the marinade and leave it at a simmer until it starts to thicken, adding the tomato paste will help with the thickening (I think). Every thing else will be added once the sauce has boiled for a while and I can taste it. Once the sauce is done I will slather it on my chicken about 30 minutes before it is done.

I will try to take a picture and let you know how it turns out.

So I boiled down my marinade. It was plenty spicy for me, actually a little too spicy so I added about a cup of ketchup, and the coke did not make it as sweet as I thought it would so I added about 1/3 cup brown sugar.

Conclusion

The wings looked kind of crispy, but they tasted great. The sauce and skin crisped up and tasted wonderful. The meat was a bit dry but the sauce more than made up for this. I think it may not have needed quite so long on the grill, but when I get my meat thermometer this will be fixed. Until then I would rather err on the over cooked side than under cook chicken.

I had a wing and a thigh, both were really good. My husband ate a leg and breast. He said that the breast was a little dry, but the skin made up for it.

I know some people do not like the idea of reusing the marinade. I'm sure you could just make extra and reserve some before adding the raw chicken. However, I boiled the marinade for an hour in order to reduce it for the sauce, I think any bacteria would have been killed, and it tasted fantastic.

If you have a meat thermometer, check the chicken about 1hr after grilling. This may help to find the perfect time so your chicken will be more moist.

Below is a picture of the neighborhood Grill Kitty. He always comes out when we are grilling.