No-Knead Sourdough Bread (1st attempt)

As promised, here is the sourdough bread I made. This is my very first attempt at homemade sourdough bread, it wasn't perfect but turned out pretty well! Give it a try and let me know if you can come up with some improved techniques.

Many of you have probably heard about the New York Times article on No Knead Bread, adapted from a recipe by Jim Lahey. The basic idea is that you let time do the work for you rather than the traditional method of kneading and rising. I thought this would be a great recipe to try out with my sourdough starter, and an added bonus is that I would not have to use any additional yeast since its already in the starter.

I used an adapted recipe from Sourdoughs International. The bread turned out to have a great sourdough flavor, but it wasn't light and fluffy enough for me. I think some of the problem may have been the temperature in which it was rising (may have been too warm) which inhibits the wild yeast and makes it leven poorly. The other complaint I have is that the dough was really wet, sticky and difficult to work with. Don't get me wrong, the bread will definitely be completely gobbled up within a couple days- I just think the recipe and my technique could use some improvement.


No-Knead Sourdough Bread
makes one loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup sourdough starter
3 cups flour (I used white, but I am sure whole wheat would be really good)
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Measure out your sourdough starter the night before, or a few hours before you start so as to make the starter fully active.

In a large bowl lightly combine all ingredients (do not use a metal bowl). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a safe place which is preferably between 70-75F for 12-18 hours.

After this proofing period, the dough will be very sticky. Sprinkle a work surface with flour and transfer dough to the surface, and sprinkle dough with additional flour. Let rest for about 15 minutes.

While handling as little as possible and using additional flour (no more than 1/4 cup) form dough into a rough ball and then place directly into your greased baking container (I used a loaf pan). Cover with a cotton towel and set aside at room temperature for about 4 hours or until it doubles in size.

Place in an unheated oven and then turn the oven on to 450F. The recipe I used calls for it to be baked for 1 hour and 10 minutes, which I found to be too long. Maybe you could try baking it for 45 minutes and then checking it. It will be done with the crust is a light golden brown.

The Donnie Darko

Happy Halloween!

Here is a tasty little Halloween themed beverage I concocted in the spirit of one of my most favorite Halloween themed movies, Donnie Darko. I'm not sure it has much to do with the actual movie, but it's quite a decadent alcoholic beverage you could have any time of year. If you like chocolate and dulce de leche, then this one is for you.


The Donnie Darko
serves 1

1 oz. vodka
1 oz. dulche de leche liqueur
1 oz. half and half
chocolate syrup
chocolate caramel candy for garnish (optional)

In a margarita or martini glass, drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass. Place ice cubes inside a martini mixer and pour in vodka, liqueur, and half and half. Shake about 5-6 times. Drain liquid into glass and place optional garnish on the rim.

Meet Mr. Bubbles, the Sourdough Starter

Mr. Bubbles

Making a sourdough starter is so amazingly easy, it's pretty much idiot proof. You just have to make sure to "feed" it once a day for the first few days. After that, you mostly just need to tend to it once a week. It's kind of like a pet that you keep in the fridge. I already have one sitting in my fridge, I named him Mr. Bubbles (feel free to make fun of me).

In a couple of days I will post a sourdough bread recipe that I am currently working on. Before that, I thought it might be useful for some of you to learn a little about the process.

Here is what you do:

Mix together one cup of flour with one cup of warm water. Pour into a wide mouthed jar or other container. Avoid using a metal container, because it can affect the starter in an adverse way. Make sure there is a way for air to circulate in the container. I used a mason jar and punctured a hole in the lid with a nail. Put aside and keep at room temperature.

After about 24 hours, you will need to "feed" the starter: throw out half the starter, and mix in half a cup of warm water and a half cup of flour. Set aside for another 24 hours and repeat. After 3-5 days, your starter should be bubbly and yeasty smelling which means its ready to use; at this point you can begin keeping it in your refrigerator.

Your starter will keep for as long as you continue to feed it once a week or so, and also after every time you make something with it in order to replenish it.

If you want more details on how to make a sourdough starter, John Ross over at Sourdough Baking has lots of additional information and advice.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Chips

I have been wanting to make this cake for a while now, it just sounds so interesting. Olive oil in a cake? One time when I was in high school a friend of mine and I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies but we didn't have any regular vegetable or canola oil. We did have olive oil however, so we used that instead. Needless to say the cookies turned out....interesting. I tried one bite and couldn't bring myself to eat anymore (ick!). For some reason, olive oil works very well in this cake and is the star ingredient along with the lemon. The recipe is adapted from Gourmet magazine. It is a very rustic, light, and airy cake; just barely sweet enough to be considered dessert.



Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Chips
serves 8

Ingredients:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 cup flour (use cake flour if you have it)
5 egg yolks
4 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F, making sure the rack is in the middle position of the oven. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan, or a 9 cake inch cake pan.

Whisk together lemon zest, salt and flour. Set aside.

Beat together egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large bowl until thick and pale, about three minutes. Drizzle in olive oil and lemon juice while slowly stirring just until combined, the mixture will appear to be slightly separated. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture just until combined (do not beat).

Beat egg whites in a large bowl until foamy. Add 1/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, and beat until mixture just begins to hold soft peaks.

Gently fold in one third of whites into yolk mixture. Then fold in rest of egg whites and chocolate chips very gently.

Pour batter into greased pan and gently rap against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle top with remaining sugar. Bake 45 minutes or until puffed and golden and a knife or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove. Cool cake to room temperature. At this point you can top the cake however you like- powdered sugar, berries, lemon curd, frosting, or leave it plain. I chose to spread some lemon curd I had from Trader Joe's and then sprinkled powdered sugar on top.

Enjoy with tea, as breakfast, snack, or dessert!

Carmel Sea Salt Brownies

One of my co-workers had his last day of work this week and is at this moment driving himself and all his belongings from D.C. to Aspen, Colorado. I thought he might need some brownies to accompany him on a long drive.

Now, these are definitely NOT my mother's brownies. I thought it was a possibility these might give her a run for her money, but nope. This recipe is supposedly adapted from a brownie recipe made at Mari's New York. I have never had one of her brownies, but have read they are to die for. I am not sure the brownies I made reached that status, but they are pretty good.


Caramel Sea Salt Brownies

2 sticks unsalted butter
8 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 large eggs
2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup caramel warmed (I used a jar of Smucker's Caramel Sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 11 x 9 casserole pan. Line with parchment; grease again.

In a small bowl sift flour and add the salt, mix together

Over double boiler, melt butter. Once melted, add chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla together until fluffy and light in color. Add the chocolate and mix until combined. Gently fold in the flour.

Pour half the batter into pan and spread evenly. Pour half the caramel sauce over batter and spread evenly. Pour the remaining batter over caramel and spread evenly. Drizzle remaining caramel sauce over top, in one continuous back and forth pattern. With toothpick or knife, drag tip through top caramel and batter layer making same back and forth pattern but going the other way. Bake for 20 minutes, turn pan and bake for 15 minutes more.

Remove from oven and sprinkle sea salt on top. When cool, cut into squares or bars. Enjoy!

Lemon Ginger Cake

A dear friend of mine had a birthday recently, and there is little I love more than making a cake for someone, especially a friend who has seen me through a lot of life's ups and downs. She doesn't have a huge sweet tooth, and is known for passing up the dessert tray at a restaurant and opting for buffalo wings instead. I am not sure how it's possible that we are still great friends given this disparity of respective weaknesses, but we are. Truth is stranger than fiction, folks. That said, she actually liked this cake (or so she said).
(BTW- we are only letting her pretend she is still 27, don't tell her we know)

The cake itself is not terribly sweet, but very good. The frosting is quite tangy and sweet, and I will probably keep it up my sleeve as a trusty go-to frosting.

Lemon Ginger Cake

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbs. lemon zest
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, grated
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest and ginger. Beat for one minute.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

Divide batter between two round cake pans, don't forget to grease or spray the pans with cooking spray first. There will be batter left over which is great for making cupcakes (see cupcake photo at the end of this post). Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Cool completely at room temperature.

Lemon Ginger Frosting:

2 tsp. lemon zest
4 Tbs. melted butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp. salt

Whisk together lemon zest, butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, lemon juice, ginger and salt until the mixture starts to stiffen. Add more powdered sugar until the frosting seems thick enough to stick to the cake.

After the cake has cooled completely, top one of the cake rounds with frosting. Place other cake round on top, and then frost the rest of the cake. I decorated mine with candied ginger and fruit jellies from Trader Joe's.


Here is a picture of the cupcakes. I took these to work, and there wasn't a crumb left after 11 AM.

Julie's Best Mac & Cheese

The rain has arrived this week, and it had us stuck in the house all day yesterday. So it seemed like the perfect day for a warm bowl of one my kids' favorite comfort foods - macaroni and cheese.

Homemade macaroni and cheese is really not much more complicated than the stuff in the blue box. No, really, it isn't. And for some reason, my girls won't eat the boxed stuff, anyway. (Okay, the obvious reason is because this is much better.) So this is how we make it in our house.

In this dish, I forgo the traditional bechamel sauce, favoring instead a carbonara-esque sauce made with egg and milk. The result is an incredibly rich, creamy, cheesy sauce. Easy and yummy!



Ingredients:

1 cup small pasta (we like whole-wheat organic elbows)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk (although I never measure - just splash it into the bowl with the egg)
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
salt (and pepper) to taste

Boil the pasta as directed.

Meanwhile, beat the egg and milk together in a small bowl. When the pasta is done, drain off the hot water in a strainer and immediately put the empty pot back on the burner over low heat.

Pour the egg-milk mixture into the pot and stir while cooking over low heat for a few minutes. You want to heat the mixture so it gets hot and kills any bacteria and thickens just so slightly, but not scramble the eggs.

Stir in the hot, drained pasta (which will also help cook the egg sauce a bit), and then mix in the shredded cheese until melted and smooth. Add salt to taste (and pepper, if desired), and then EAT!

This makes enough to feed about two hungry kids.

Donuts!

"Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?" -Homer Simpson

When I first got the idea to make donuts from scratch, my eyes almost popped out of my head. I love anything even remotely kitchy.

I was warned they would take commitment. These aren't something you can just stir up in a bowl and stick on the skillet.... I think I underestimated that warning as I was up until one in the morning making these puppies.

They were pretty good, but I definitely learned a few things:

1. I need a candy thermometer.
2. I need a round pastry cutter set.
3. I'm 95% sure that its better to fry these at a lower temperature than the recipe calls for and to take them out of the oil well before you think they are done, otherwise they turn out dry and chewy instead of soft and melt in your mouth.
4. Only make as much as can be consumed or given away in one day,
5. These are a great gift to give to someone who needs a little happiness in their day.

I got the idea and the glazes from the amazing Joy the Baker. I did not use an electric mixer for the donuts, as I do not have one yet. I didn't find it to be a problem though, I just vigorously mixed the dough with my hands when the recipe called for it to be mixed for 3 minutes (kind of a bicep work out). Also, I think what was even better than the donuts themselves were the donut holes. I dropped them immediately from the oil into a bowl of cinnamon and sugar and rolled them around. I took the donuts and the holes to work, and the holes were first to go. Just as an FYI-These are not super sweet like the kind you buy at a grocery store bakery or Krispy Kreme. They taste more like a slightly sweet fry bread with a touch of cinnamon.

Though these were very good, I think next time I will try out these from Peanut Butter and Julie.

P.S. I know the picture isn't of the highest quality, I had to take it with my cell phone. Don't worry, I am working on getting my broken camera fixed.


Gourmet, December 2006

makes 1 dozen doughnuts

1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons warm water (105–115°F)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for sprinkling and rolling out dough
1 cup whole milk at room temperature
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
About 10 cups vegetable oil for deep frying

Stir together yeast and warm water in a small bowl until yeast is dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Mix together flour, milk, butter, yolks, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and yeast mixture in mixer at low speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat 3 minutes more.

Scrape dough down side of bowl (all around) into center, then sprinkle lightly with flour (to keep a crust from forming). Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Alternatively, let dough rise in bowl in refrigerator 8 to 12 hours.)

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round (1/2 inch thick). Cut out as many rounds as possible with 3-inch cutter, then cut a hole in center of each round with 1-inch cutter and transfer doughnuts to a lightly floured large baking sheet. Cover doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes (45 minutes if dough was cold when cutting out doughnuts). Do not reroll scraps.

Heat 2 1/2 inches oil in a deep 4-quart heavy pot until it registers 350°F on thermometer. Fry doughnuts, 2 at a time, turning occasionally with a wire or mesh skimmer or a slotted spoon, until puffed and golden brown, about 2 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain. (Return oil to 350°F between batches.)

I also fried the doughnut holes for about 1 minute and them tossed them in powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar straight out of the hot grease.

Chocolate Glaze

recipe from Alton Brown

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup whole milk, warmed
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Combine butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until butter is melted. Decrease the heat to low, add the chocolate, and whisk until melted. Turn off heat, add the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Place the mixture over a bowl of warm water and dip the doughnuts immediately. Allow glaze to set for 30 minutes before serving.

Maple Glaze

Bon Appetit November 1995

You might consider doubling this recipe and drizzling it on everything you know and love.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons whipping cream
6 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted

Melt butter with maple syrup and cream in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Cool glaze until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Dip doughnuts into glaze or drizzle glaze over doughnuts.

These glazes are really tasty, I ended up having left over glaze and used it as an ice cream topper.