SONIC BLADE SOURDOUGH SCORING

Posted in Breads by sallybr

I am so excited to share this new method with you! Perhaps you’ve noticed that I talked about a little mysterious gadget in my previous post, and today I explain what it does. It is an adaptor for a razor blade to be used with a Sonic type toothbrush, You need to have the right model, in which the head is pushed into the toothbrush, not screwed in. I’ve had a Phillips Sonic toothbrush for many many years and was quite intrigued about using it to slash sourdough. Works like a dream. As one user described, “it is like having one of those lightsabers from Star Wars”. It does feel very smooth and efficiently goes through the surface without ripping the dough. You can read all about it here. Nicola, the person behind the invention is super nice and responsive, plus she is amazing at making all sorts of designs on her bread, available on youtube or IG. The website I linked has all the info to her social media.

Here is a little video of one of my recent adventures with Sonic scoring… It is 8X faster than real time. I followed one of the designs by Nicola to make this particular one.

TO ORDER YOUR SONIC BLADE ADAPTER, CLICK HERE

As to the breads, I will share just one recipe because I used olive oil infused with fresh oregano to flavor it, and a little bit of dry oregano in the dough. It turned out absolutely delicious.

FRESH OREGANO SOURDOUGH
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1/3 cup olive oil
fresh oregano leaves, a big bunch
475 g bread flour
25 g spelt flour
60-70 g sourdough starter at 100% hydration
340 g water
10 g salt
1 tsp dried oregano

Make the infused olive oil by heating the oil in a small saucepan, adding the fresh oregano and simmering for a minute or so. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and let the oil sit for half an hour. Pass through a sieve to remove the leaves, pressing them well. Reserve the oil, allowing it to cool to room temperature or barely warm.

Mix all the ingredients and 2 to 3 tablespoons of the infused oil in a KitchenAid type mixer fitted with the dough hook.

Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 and a half minutes at low-speed all the time. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour, you want the dough to start clearing the sides of the bowl, but still be sticky at the bottom.

Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. After four hours bulk fermentation, shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Leave at room temperature one hour, and then place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F. Invert the dough over parchment paper, rub gently tapioca flour on the surface. Score with the pattern of your choice and bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

It is quite amazing to use that blade, you just need to be careful when placing it in the adaptor, for obvious reasons, it is sharp, very sharp. I like to add the adaptor to the toothbrush first, and then screw the bade in, because I find it safer to do it this way.

I love the clean cuts the blade does, and will be using it often in future breads, so stay tuned!

ONE YEAR AGO: Happy 4th of July!

TWO YEARS AGO: Happy 4th of July!

THREE YEARS AGO: 4th of July Inspired Baking

FOUR YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, July 2019

FIVE YEARS AGO: Brigadeiros for the 4th of July

SIX YEARS AGO: Kaleidoscopic Macarons

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Zucchini Noodles with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

EIGHT YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, July 2015

NINE YEARS AGO: Sous-vide Pork Chops with Roasted Poblano Butter

TEN YEARS AGO: Roasted Strawberry-Buttermilk Sherbet

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Amazing Ribs for the 4th of July!

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Baby Back Ribs on the 4th of July

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Blueberry Muffins

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: A Pie for your 4th of July

20Jun2023

FLOWER SHAPED DINNER ROLLS

Posted in Breads by sallybr

These adorable rolls popped on my Instagram feed, and I fell in love with them so hard that I mixed the dough right away. To be precise, 20 minutes after watching the reel (click here for it). I consider it a work in progress, for reasons I will discuss in the comments…

FLOWER-SHAPED DINNER ROLLS
(from Joyce Mrad)

325g flour
150mL slightly warm milk
1 egg
50g butter, softened
1 tsp instant yeast
30g sugar
1 tsp salt
purple carrot powder or any other natural food coloring, about 1 tsp

In a KitchenAid type bowl, add milk, sugar, yeast, egg, salt, and flour. Mix them together until they form a shaggy mass of dough. With the machine running (dough hook), add the butter in small pieces and knead until smooth. Split the dough in half. Color one half with your choice of natural dye.

Place both dough portions in a warm spot and let them rise for approximately 2hours, or until doubled in size. Once the dough has risen, punch it down. Roll and flatten both dough portions into squares, layering the purple dough over the white dough.

Use a cookie cutter to cut small circles from the layered dough. Take each circle and fold it three-quarters, then fold it in half again, pinching the ends to form petals. When you make five petals add a small ball of dough in the middle. Repeat the folding and shaping process until all the dough is used.

Cover the flower-shaped dinner rolls and let them rise again until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Brush the rolls with milk. Bake them in a 375F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until they turn golden brown. Once the rolls are baked, brush them with melted butter and sprinkle sesame seeds in the middle of each roll for decoration.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I used ebony carrot powder which was very beautiful in the raw dough, but baked to a much less appealing color. I will use something different next time. Also, I believe the rolls will be better if made with a smaller cookie cutter, so that the petals are more delicate and the rolls smaller. The whole recipe gave me just three rose-shaped rolls, so smaller circles are going to work better for this.

The rolls work almost like a pull-apart bread, pretty cool! Not at all complicated to make, and you can always use a single dough for the shaping effect, which will still be nice.

ONE YEAR AGO: Pride Macarons

TWO YEARS AGO: Blood Orange Macarons

THREE YEARS AGO: One-Two-Three Macarons

FOUR YEARS AGO: Marshmallow Macarons

FIVE YEARS AGO: Fujisan Bread

SIX YEARS AGO: Air-Fried Tomatoes with Hazelnut Pesto & Halloumi Cheese

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Red Velvet Layered Cake

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Lemon-Lavender Bars

NINE YEARS AGO: Quinoa Fried Rice

TEN YEARS AGO: Carrot Flan with Greens and Lemon Vinaigrette

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: The Secret Recipe Club: Granola Bars

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Awesome Broccolini

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: A Twist on Pesto

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Ciabatta: Judging a bread by its holes

6Jun2023

FRESH DILL AND FETA SOURDOUGH

Posted in Breads by sallybr

A match made in heaven and materialized in the Bewitching Kitchen! We were lucky to get a huge bag of fresh dill from a departmental colleague and I had some feta cheese hanging in the fridge. One thing led to another and here we are!

FRESH DILL AND FETA SOURDOUGH
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

475g white bread flour
25g whole-wheat flour
9g salt
350g water
65g sourdough starter at 100% hydration
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced (or amount to taste)
50-100g feta cheese, crumbled

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil, add the feta and gently mix it in. Don’t worry about incorporating it, it will all go into the dough as you fold it. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. After four hours bulk fermentation, shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Leave at room temperature one hour, and then place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: For the scoring of the surface I used a combination of razor blade and scissors. The bread had impressive oven spring, but I liked the way the design ended up. As to the flavor, I noticed that the dill came through stronger on the second day of the loaf sitting at room temperature. Usually in the evening of day #2 we slice what is left and freeze for later, so that’s what we did.

Really nice to bite into a little piece of feta cheese…..

ONE YEAR AGO: Marinated Chickpeas with Slow-Roasted Red Peppers

TWO YEARS AGO: Passionfruit Millionaire’s Shortbread

THREE YEARS AGO: Chai-Mango Rosette Macarons

FOUR YEARS AGO: Common Table, Something New in My Life

FIVE YEARS AGO: The Daisy, a Bread with Brioche Alter-Ego

SIX YEARS AGO: Pork Tenderloin, Braciole Style

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Raspberry Buckle

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Seafood Gratin for a Special Dinner

NINE YEARS AGO: Cooking Sous-Vide: Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Loin

TEN YEARS AGO: Farewell to a Bewitching Kitchen

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen. June 2012

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Goodbye L.A.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: 7-6-5 Pork Tenderloin

11May2023

BAKING THROUGH THE BLOGOSPHERE

Posted in Breads, Cake, Cookies by sallybr

Once again I share with you bakes that I’ve made over the past couple of months, following recipes from blogs I love…
(links to recipes below each individual picture)

TROPICAL SHORTBREAD COOKIES
from Pastries Like a Pro

(recipe available here)

These are shortbread type cookies with macadamia nuts and coconut, absolutely delicious! I made the chocolate glaze in two different ways, one simply dipping like Helen suggests, and the second way adding some texture. To do so, I laid a piece of textured paper on the chocolate while still wet as shown below. It is hard to get it smooth to the very edge of the chocolate, but I still liked the effect.

RAMASAN PIDESI
from Caroline’s Easy Baking Lessons

(recipe available here)

This is a great soft bread, ready in 2 hours! Uses instant yeast, and depending on the size of your pizza pan, you can have enough for 2 full round breads or go with a large round and the leftover used for a different shape of your liking. I opted for a 4-stranded braided loaf.

The crumb is spectacular, Phil now wants this bread on a regular basis… His favorite is the flat shape.

BOUCHONS AU CHOCOLAT
from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

(recipe available here)

These were made famous by Thomas Keller, and they use a specific mold to make the right shape, like a cork. I’ve had the mold for years, unfortunately it does not seem to be available any longer, but you can use a muffin tin. I used the exact recipe blogged by Karen, which is a variation from the original. Absolutely delicious, but you must adore a strong chocolate taste, this is not a sweet, kid-friendly concoction. It will be showing up again in our kitchen, for sure!

HOSTESS MINI-CAKES
(from Baker’s Anonymous)

(recipe available here)

Helen was a tent-baker with me during the Great American Baking Show and she is now a professional baker, with a super busy life! She keeps her blog with great recipes, and this one got the most enthusiastic reviews from our departmental colleagues. A must-make! It was a great opportunity to put to use my little cupcake corer thingie…

RED TART CHERRY PIE BARS
from Bakes by Brown Sugar

Another tent-baker friend, Cheryl, from a season before mine, these are absolutely spectacular! She uses canned tart cherries, which I had never even bought before, not knowing if they would be good. Well, they work wonders in this preparation, and you will not be disappointed at all. Easy, sharp, sweet and tart at the same time. Make them!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH PEANUT BRITTLE
(from David Leibovitz)

(recipe available here)

Have you ever made peanut brittle? If not, you absolutely need to correct this handicap. The only problem is stop sampling the brittle so you have enough for the cookies. You’ve been warned. The cookies are amazing, with the regular flavor of a chocolate chip, but the added intensity of the caramelized peanuts.

I hope this series got you inspired to bake some sweetness!

ONE YEAR AGO: Oriental Style Sesame Slaw

TWO YEARS AGO: Revelation Veggie-or-Not Egg-Roll Bowl

THREE YEARS AGO: Covid Update and Stayin’ Alive

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Brazilian Hummingbird

FIVE YEARS AGO: A Cookbook Review

SIX YEARS AGO: Air-Fried Carrots, Two Ways

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Sweet Potato Crust Quiche

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Chicken Thighs with Artichokes and Capers

NINE YEARS AGO: Pea Pancakes with Herbed Yogurt

TEN YEARS AGO: Mushroom Stroganoff

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Tomato Sourdough

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Gamberetti con rucola e pomodori

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Flirting with Orzo

22Apr2023

HAWAIJ, THREE WAYS

Posted in Breads, Cake, Rice and Grains by sallybr

Hawaij (or Hawaj) is a spice mixture from Yemen that came to my attention very recently. I ordered a bottle, as you can see in my previous In My Kitchen post, and put it to use. Here you have three ideas, a sourdough, a tahdig type rice, and a delicious carrot cake with cream cheese topping, super easy to make. I have a soft spot for spice mixtures. I know that I could make my own version but I love the convenience of opening the bottle and having it ready to go. This mix of flavors is right up my alley! Read more about it here.

.
HAWAIJ SOURDOUGH
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

365g water
75g sourdough starter at 100% hydration
470g white bread flour
30g spelt flour
1 tsp Hawaij spice mix
10g salt

Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.

When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the two types of flour, Hawaij mix, and salt. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. You will notice the dough will gain quite a bit of structure even with just 4 minutes in the mixer. Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. Because the dough is already a bit developed from the initial time in the mixer, you should get very good structure after 3 and a half hours, or even sooner than that.

After four hours bulk fermentation, shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Leave at room temperature one hour, and then place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours.

Next morning, heat the oven to 450F.

Invert the dough on a piece of parchment paper and score with a pattern with a new razor blade.

Bake at 450F for 5 minutes, quickly remove the bread from the oven, and slash it with the blade just where you want the bread to open. Cover the bread with the lid, place back in the oven for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for 15 more minutes. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I really love the way the bread opens up with the second slashing once the dough has been in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, not longer. It is a bit tricky to open the pan and do the second scoring, but totally worth it. Just be careful not to burn yourself. I’ve seen this tip on several IG posts and I am quite fond of it now. Whenever you want to coach your bread to open in a specific spot to preserve your design, think about incorporating this step in your baking.

.
QUICK BROWN RICE TAHDIG WITH HAWAIJ SPICE
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 cup brown rice
3 cups lightly salted water
1/3 cup full-fat yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Hawaij mix
drizzle of olive oil

Mix the yogurt with the salt and Hawaij mix. Reserve.

Cook the rice for 20 minutes in salted boiling water and immediately drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Rice and yogurt mixture can sit separately for a couple of hours before continuing.

Mix the rice with the yogurt. Heat a 10-inch non-stick skillet and add olive oil, swirling around the whole surface. When the oil starts to get hot, add the rice-yogurt mixture and spread it all over the pan, smoothing the surface with a silicon spoon. Cover the rice with a paper towel moistened with water, then place a lid. Don’t worry if the lid is not totally tight.

Place on a low-burner for exactly 30 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes check to see if the bottom is golden, if not, increase the heat lightly and remove the lid. Leave it for a minute or two, should be enough to make a nice crust at the bottom. Carefully place a platter on top and invert the rice on it. Cut in wedges to serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: We love this quick version of tahdig made with brown rice instead of white. You will probably have to tweak the time to first parboil the rice a bit depending on the brand you use, but it is truly delicious. Again, not the most authentic version of tahdig out there, but we are hooked. I probably make it once a week ever since I first blogged about it (click here for flashback).

CARROT CAKE BARS WITH HAWAIJ MIX
(adapted from Averie Cooks)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon Hawaij spice mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated carrots, loosely packed
4 ounces brick-style cream cheese, softened to room temp
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350F, line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.

To a large microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Allow the melted butter to cool slightly, then whisk in the egg, brown sugar, spices, and vanilla. Once it is all smooth, add the flour and salt, mixing gently. Add the carrots, fold them in, then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.

Prepare the topping: into a medium bowl, add the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and beat on high with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Turn the cream cheese out over the carrot batter using the blade of a butter knife or the tip of a spatula, and lightly swirl the cream cheese into the carrot batter. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool, uncovered in the pan, at room temp, for at least 2 hours (overnight is preferred) before slicing and serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These bars/blondies were a huge hit with our colleagues from the department, and I got a few emails of praise for them. They are not too sweet and the spice mixture goes perfectly with the carrot and cream cheese topping. I highly recommend you give them a try!

So that closes my first series of recipes using Hawaij.
I do hope you’ve found something to inspire you!

ONE YEAR AGO: A Most Painful Goodbye

TWO YEARS AGO: Masala Clay Pot Chicken Thighs

THREE YEARS AGO: Happy Swirls Tonka Macarons

FOUR YEARS AGO: Chocolate Tartlets with Honey-Caramel Filling

FIVE YEAR AGO: Zucchini Soup with Tahini

SIX YEARS AGO: Black Sesame Macarons

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Fine Tuning Thomas Keller

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Tortillas

NINE YEARS AGO: Majestic Sedona, Take Two

TEN YEARS AGO: Secret Ingredient Turkey Meatballs

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Swedish Meatballs and Egg Noodles