HELEN FLETCHER’S PINEAPPLE KOLACHE

Posted in Breads, Breakfast & Brunch by sallybr

I am going to say something quite daring, so here it goes: this might very well be the best thing I’ve baked in a whole year! If you follow my blog, you probably know I am quite fond of Helen’s recipes, because not only they always work, but her explanations are crystal clear, and make you comfortable to try something even if it seems complex or out of your skill level. I had never made kolache, but following the method described in this post, I had no issues. They turned out fantastic! Check her post for all sorts of variations for the filling, or go with the one I chose: pineapple. Tart, bright, fresh, perfect contrast with the slightly sweet bread dough. A winner. I promise you.

PINEAPPLE KOLACHE
(from Helen Fletcher’s Pastries Like a Pro)

for the pineapple filling:
1 cup well drained crushed pineapple
⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon potato starch or cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon melted butter

Whisk together the sugar and potato starch or cornstarch. Combine all ingredients in a small pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Cool completely. Refrigerate until needed.

for the dough:
½ cup butter (1 stick, 114 grams)
½ cup sugar (100 grams)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream (225 grams)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
½ cup lukewarm water
2 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour (560 grams)

Cut the butter into pieces and place in a small saucepan along with the sugar and salt. Heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and let it sit until it is lukewarm. Add the sour cream. Whisk it into the butter mixture. Add eggs and yeast, whisk them in. Lastly, add the water. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer. Add the flour and, beat until it comes together. Knead in the machine for 3 minutes, turning after about 1 ½ minutes as the dough will adhere to the top of the dough hook and not get beaten. The dough will be very soft and more of a batter.

Place it in a greased bowl or container, cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until doubled, about 2 ½ hours. After it has risen, punch it down, re-cover it and refrigerate overnight so the butter can firm up.

for shaping and baking:
Refrigerated dough
1 egg, well beaten
pineapple filling

Line three baking sheets with parchment. Set aside. Punch the dough down if risen and divide the dough in half (585 grams each). Shape each piece into a rectangle. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out so it is ½ inch thick. The dough will be very firm. With a 3″ cookie cutter (or whatever size you want) cut out rounds and place them on the parchment about 1 inch apart. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Reroll and cut additional rounds. Cover them with tea towels and allow to rise until almost doubled.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. With your fingers, make a deep well in the rounds about ½ inches in from the edge of the dough but do not go through the dough. Start by making a hole in the center. Expand the well by pressing the dough down. Brush the top edges of the Kolache with the beaten egg. Fill the wells with 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of filling. Bake on a double pan for about 20 minutes for the 3″ size until the top of the dough is well browned. Reduce the time for smaller pastries.

Makes about 20 – 3″ rolls with re-rolling the dough.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I highly recommend you visit Helen’s site to get her step-by-step photos and instructions, especially if you’ve never made enriched bread dough. The dough is very nice to work with, a bit sticky, but I urged the temptation to add more flour and all ended well in the end. I was intrigued by the pineapple filling because I rarely use pineapple in baking, but it was much better than I expected. I made the filling the day before, right after mixing the dough and placing it in the fridge for overnight proofing. Next day the whole thing was a breeze, just rolled the dough, cut circles, filled and baked. I donated them all, but sampled one for “quality control”. It was hard to stop, but I exercised herculean self-control.

Helen, cannot thank you enough for so many great recipes I’ve made from your site!

ONE YEAR AGO: Blood Orange and Cranberry Mini-Cakes

TWO YEARS AGO: Simnel Cupcakes

THREE YEARS AGO: Oat and Sesame Seed Sourdough

FOUR YEARS AGO: Moroccan Turkey Pie with Olive Oil Crust

FIVE YEARS AGO: Another Twisted Sister of the Shepherd’s Pie

SIX YEARS AGO: Cashew Chicken, My Way

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Two Deliciously Simple Salads

EIGHT YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, April 2016

NINE YEARS AGO: Spring has Sprung with Suzanne Goin

TEN YEARS AGO: Chai Brownies

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Pomegranate-Molasses Glazed Carrots

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Braised Brisket with Bourbon-Peach Glaze

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: The Real Vodka Sauce

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Spring Rolls on a Spring Day

13Sep2023

FETA EGGS WITH ZUCCHINI

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Pizzas & Small Dishes, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Please don’t judge this recipe by its looks, it would be unfair because it is delicious and so very simple! I eat a lot of eggs, my lunch is often a scrambled egg wrapped in a tortilla, or some type of omelette made by the husband, who is a pro at those. I am always searching for new ways to enjoy my favorite lunch item, and this is my newest obsession.

FETA EGGS WITH ZUCCHINI
(slightly modified from Skinnytaste)

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup grated zucchini, squeezed dry
Chili crisp hot sauce, any amount you like (I used this one)
2 large eggs
1 ounce feta cheese
ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste

In a small nonstick skillet, heat the oil and add the chili crisp sauce and zucchini, sautee on medium heat until the zucchini gets soft and starts to get some color. Add the feta cheese evenly over the zucchini and cook until it starts to melt a bit.

Carefully drop in the eggs, season with salt and pepper and cover. Cook on low until the yolks are runny and set, or cooked to your liking. Use a silicone spatula to transfer the eggs to your plate.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I have made it with other cheeses (Cotija and goat cheese), and they all work great. It is such a nice way to enjoy eggs, a slice of sourdough is the perfect way to deliver it to your mouth, but if you want to keep the carb index low, just enjoy the layer of zucchini to give it texture. It gets all crispy and cheesy underneath the egg, giving it that bit of texture that the fried egg by itself lacks. If you don’t have the chili crisp sauce, just use red pepper flakes.

If you love eggs, try this preparation. I imagine it could work well with finely grated carrots, or even some shredded cabbage in place of the zucchini. Worth playing with!

ONE YEAR AGO: Poilane-Style Bread, a simplified version

TWO YEAR AGO: Broccoli Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and Tahini Dressing

THREE YEARS AGO: Turkey-Spinach Meatballs with Cardamon-Tomato Sauce

FOUR YEARS AGO: British Baps, a Technical Challenge

FIVE YEARS AGO: Japanese-Style Cupcakes with Cherry Blossom Icing

SIX YEARS AGO: Quick Weeknight Soups

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Sourdough Loaf with Cranberries and Walnuts

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Sichuan Pork Stir-Fry in Garlic Sauce

NINE YEARS AGO: Our Green Trip to Colorado

TEN YEARS AGO: Ditalini Pasta Salad

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with a Thai Seafood Curry

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Post-workout Breakfast

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Semolina Barbecue Buns

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Lavash Crackers

18Oct2022

CRANBERRIES, MANY WAYS

Posted in Air-Frying, Breakfast & Brunch, Cookies, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets, Side dishes, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

It is that time of the year, folks! Cranberries are making their appearance in grocery stores, those cute little bags with bright red fruit begging to jump in your shopping cart. Don’t fight the temptation. Today I share six recipes to put them to use, both savory and sweet.

RECIPE #1
PUMPKIN CRANBERRY LOAF

I rarely watch FoodTV these days, but one show I am quite fond of is Girl on the Farm. She shared a recipe a recipe for pumpkin loaf with cranberries that I made on the same day I watched it. It has a very nice crusty topping, and the tartness of the cranberries is perfect with the other flavors. Recipe available here.

RECIPE #2
CRANBERRY SHORTBREAD COOKIES

CRANBERRY SHORTBREAD COOKIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

(Small-batch, see comments))

1 cup flour (120g)
1/4 cup sugar (50g)
zest 1/2 orange
1 stick butter (113g), cold, cut in small pieces
pinch of salt…
1/2 cup cranberries, coarsely chopped
white chocolate or candy melts to decorate (optional)

Add flour, sugar, orange zest and salt to a food processor. Process until mixed. Process in food processor. Add the butter, process until it starts to form a cohesive mass.

Add the cranberries, process until a dough almost forms. Remove from processor, work with your hands. I roll and cut it right away, then freeze before baking. 300F until done, maybe 20 minutes or so. Depends on the size you cut the cookies, and it will vary from oven to oven. Just make sure it is slightly golden at the edges.

Once cold, drizzle with melted chocolate or candy melts in any style you like.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I made these when our big oven was dead, so I had to use the little Breville oven to bake them. I was trying the recipe and not sure it would work, so a small batch was all I needed. Simply double all amounts to bake a regular batch. I made 10 cookies with this version. I must say these will go into my favorites folder. The tartness of the cranberries adds so much to the biscuit I urge you to give this a try.

RECIPE #3
CRANBERRY VINAIGRETTE

FALL SALAD WITH CRANBERRY VINAIGRETTE
(adapted from this site)

1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
¼ cup cranberries
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Romaine lettuce – rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
2 Granny Smith apples, cored, cut in pieces
½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped
½ cup crumbled feta cheese

In a saucepan, combine vinegar, water and cranberries. Cook over medium heat until cranberries soften. Remove from heat; add olive oil, maple syrup, and salt. Place in blender and mix until smooth. Refrigerate until chilled.

Make the salad by adding all ingredients into a bowl. Add the cranberry vinaigrette and toss to coat. Adjust seasoning with salt, if needed.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Can anything beat the beauty of the color of this vinaigrette? I doubt it. I tweaked the recipe a bit to tame the tartness of the original version, which was a bit much for us. It is a great option to put some cranberries to use, and definitely something a bit unusual.

RECIPE #4
AIR-FRIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH CRANBERRIES

AIR-FRIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH CRANBERRIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded
½ cup fresh cranberries, rinsed and dried
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
fresh ginger, grated (to taste, or about 2 tsp)
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Whisk olive oil, orange juice, honey and ginger in a small bowl. Pour over the butternut and cranberries in a large bowl, toss to coat. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Air-fry at 350F until done, shaking the pan every one in a while. Total air-frying should be between 20 and 25 minutes.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Once again the little bits of tartness offered by the cranberries add a lot to the dish. I make butternut squash in the air-fryer very often, but really enjoyed this tweaked version. Amounts are all very flexible, I confess I don’t worry about the weight of the squash, I get those little trays in the grocery store and use one to air-fry.

RECIPE #5
CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE TART

A flashback from my past, this tart was made a couple of years ago, and it was absolutely wonderful, so I bring it to your attention. For the full recipe and comments, click here.

RECIPE #6
CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY CURD TART

One of the many recipes I’ve baked from my friend Helen Fletcher’s site. You cannot go wrong with Helen! All the way back to 2017, visit this post to get the recipe.

I hope you can find some cranberry-inspiration in this post…

ONE YEAR AGO: Cilantro-Pesto with Spicy Maple Pork Tenderloin

TWO YEARS AGO: Sunburst Pumpkin Sourdough

THREE YEARS AGO: Sourdough Four-Play

FOUR YEARS AGO: World Bread Day 2018

FIVE YEARS AGO: Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

SIX YEARS AGO: Spicy Cotija and Black Olive Sourdough

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cake

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Sourdough Rye Bread with Flaxseeds and Oats

NINE YEARS AGO: PCR and a Dance in the Mind Field

TEN YEARS AGO: October 16: World Bread Day

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: The US Listeria Outbreak 2011

TWELVE YEARS AGO: 36 Hour Sourdough Baguettes

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: October 16 is World Bread Day

25Aug2022

BANANA BREAD FROM THE EXPERTS

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Cake by sallybr

This is a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, the folks who test every single variable in a recipe multiple times until they come up with perfection. With the best. Or, as they called this one, The Ultimate Banana Bread. They’ve been known to go after food bloggers who either share their recipes without permission, or tweak their versions. I find the tweaking part a bit funny. Taste is so subjective that adjusting any recipe to suit the palate is what any cook should be doing…

THE ULTIMATE BANANA BREAD

The recipe is available online, so you can get it with a jump here. I actually did not see that review until after making the recipe, but I read it smiling all the way through… It turns out that I removed all the fuss and no major harm was done.

As the folks at thekitchn mentioned, the addition of turbinado sugar on top is brilliant. I actually added it in two installments, first right before placing in the oven…

And the second time another sprinkle just over the bananas when the bread had been baking for 40 minutes. I baked for a total of 55 minutes, in a 9 x 5 inch pan. The other tweaking I did was using frozen bananas without worrying about draining excess liquid. I also measured the amount of mashed bananas that went into the bread, as the fruit varies so much in size: 600g of banana pulp. One single fresh banana was used for the slices on top. Doing that, the recipe is really super simple, two bowls, one for dry ingredients, one for wet. Done.

Keep in mind that going at the sugary crust to peel it off and eat it is considered a faux-pas. Stealing extra slices of banana and running away? Equally distasteful. What you should do is make this recipe, available online in the link I provided or in this cookbook. Tweaking is optional. Your kitchen, your rules!

ONE YEAR AGO: Shrimp Stir-Fry with Snow Peas and Cashews

TWO YEARS AGO: Pickled-Roasted Chickpeas with Cashew Cream

THREE YEARS AGO: Twice-Baked Goat Cheese Souffle

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Star from England in the Bewitching Kitchen

FIVE YEARS AGO: Hommage to the Sun

SIX YEARS AGO:The Fabulous Three
.
SEVEN YEARS AGO: Turkey-Chorizo Burger with Green Chile Dressing
.
EIGHT YEARS AGO:Taco Salad
.
NINE YEARS AGO: Semolina Sourdough Boule
.
TEN YEARS AGO:Forgive me, for I have sinned
.
ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Cracked Wheat Sandwich Bread
.
TWELVE YEARS AGO: Au Revoir, my Bewitching Kitchen
.
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO:French Bread

29May2022

KAREN’S BRAIDED LEMON BREAD WITH BLACKBERRIES

Posted in Breads, Breakfast & Brunch by sallybr

She posted. I read the post while away on a trip. Could not wait to get home to bake it. As far as enriched bread goes, you cannot get much better than this. Think brioche loaded with a tangy lemon cream and luscious blackberries. As I said, cannot get much better. THANK YOU, KAREN!

BRAIDED LEMON BREAD WITH BLACKBERRIES
(from Karen’s Kitchen Stories)

For the Sponge:
3 ounces warm water (95 to 105 degrees F)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
30 grams unbleached all purpose flour

For the Final Dough:
All of the sponge
85 grams vanilla yogurt, room temperature (I used plain and added 1/2 tsp vanilla)
56 grams softened unsalted butter
1 large egg, beaten
50 grams sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
300 grams unbleached all purpose flour
one beaten egg for the egg wash
pearl sugar for topping (optional, but nice)

For the Filling:
85 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
25 gram sugar
29 grams sour cream (I used creme fraiche)
1 tsp lemon juice
15 grams all-purpose flour
100 grams lemon curd
Handful of blackberries

Combine the sponge ingredients in a small bowl, stir, and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
In your stand mixer bowl, combine the sponge, yogurt, butter, egg, sugar, salt, vanilla, and flour. Mix with the dough hook for about 8 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled dough rising bucket or bowl, cover, and allow to rise for one to two hours, until doubled (mine took 2 hours and 30 minutes).

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, lemon juice, and flour until smooth. Cover and set aside.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the risen dough not the parchment, and press or roll it into a 10 inch by 15 inch rectangle. Mark the dough lengthwise into thirds by pressing a ruler into the dough. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto the middle third, leaving about an inch uncovered at the top and the bottom. Spread the lemon curd on top of the cream cheese mixture. Top with the blackberries.

Cut the outer sides into strips. Cut off the strips from the four “corners” of the dough, leaving a flap at the top and bottom. Fold up the bottom flap and fold the strips over the filling alternating in a braid pattern. Fold the flap over the top before finishing the braid. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap.
Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F.

Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes. When the dough is ready, brush it with the egg wash and sprinkle it with the sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a deep golden brown. Cool on a cooling rack for at least 20 minutes. Slice and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Make sure to stop by Karen’s post because her pictures and explanations are very detailed and will help you with the shaping. The dough is a pleasure to work with, as enriched doughs always seem to be. You can make the filling while the dough rises, and use store-bought lemon curd to make your life easier. Next time I will add more blackberries, I was afraid they would contribute too much moisture and leak too much, but that was not the case.