Bread | Eat Your Heart Out

Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread

February 25, 2013 by Stephie 7 Comments

I am writing this post instead of watching the Oscars.

I can’t handle missing an episode of The Bachelor (I mean, could you?), but I haven’t seen enough of the nominated movies to make watching the Oscars really worth my while.

I am choosing not to contemplate too much on what this might mean about my priorities.

Before February comes to a close, I wanted to share another delicious way for you to utilize some of your sourdough starter. While our last recipe utilized some cultivated yeast in conjunction with our starter, this recipe uses only the sourdough to leaven the bread. This method produces a much more pronounced sourdough “tang” (which will, of course, get stronger as your starter ages), though it also significantly increases the time that your bread will need to properly rise.

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Filed Under: Breads Tagged With: Baked goods, Bread, Breakfast, sourdough

Rustic Sourdough Bread

January 25, 2013 by Stephie 8 Comments

This week has been an adventure in learning all about yeast and sourdough, and one that has been building up to this: making your first loaf of sourdough bread!

Very traditional sourdough bread recipes utilize only the yeast in the starter to leaven the bread, a process which takes a very long time because the naturally occurring yeasts in sourdough are not as powerful or efficient as cultivated yeast. Since this is a rather time-consuming process, we will start off with a recipe that is a bit quicker and easier thanks to a small shortcut: a bit of cultivated yeast used in conjunction with the sourdough starter.

Because we are using some cultivated yeast to kick-start the leavening process, this bread will not have as strong of a sourdough flavor or “tang” as breads that use only starter. This is because the bread does not take as long to rise, and thus the Lactobacillus cultures that we talked about earlier do not have as much time to release as much lactic acid, the source of the sourdough “tang”.

Even without a strongly sour flavor, this is still a wonderful bread and a perfect way to introduce you and your family to sourdough. It only takes a few hours to come together – almost all of that being rising time – making this a perfect bread to start in the afternoon and bake for dinner. A slice of this bread, buttered and still warm from the oven, alongside some homemade soup? Absolutely divine. It also makes great toast, is delicious for grilled cheese, and, I imagine, would be lovely for French toast as well.

So give this easy sourdough bread a try. As soon as you do, you’ll definitely want to explore more ways of using your sourdough starter.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Sourdough starter recipe here.

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

½ cup sourdough starter
¾ cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon instant yeast
½ tablespoon sugar
1¼ teaspoons salt
2-2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Instructions

By hand:

In a large bowl, stir together the starter, water, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir in the flour 1 cup at a time until a shaggy dough starts to come together. Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for several minutes, sprinkling with more flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

With a stand mixer:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the starter, water, yeast, sugar and salt, stirring together until just combined. While the machine is running, slowly add the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing until the dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

For both methods:

Allow the dough to rise in a covered bowl until it has doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes (depending on how warm your rising location is).
Once the dough has risen, pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface – it will deflate somewhat. Shape the dough into a loaf – I like to shape mine into a round loaf by pulling the sides under, almost like a bubble gum bubble, though you could also shape it into an oval if you prefer. Place the loaf onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise until very puffy, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Near the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Just before placing the loaf in the oven, spray it with lukewarm water. Then, using a sharp knife – a large, serrated bread knife works well for this – make two diagonal slashes in the top of the loaf.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until very deep golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

Only have active dry yeast available? Not a problem. Simply combine the yeast, lukewarm water, and sugar and allow to sit for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy (read: activated). Then continue with the recipe as written.

Filed Under: Breads Tagged With: Baked goods, Bread, sourdough, yeast bread

Back to Basics: Sourdough

January 23, 2013 by Stephie 12 Comments

Earlier this week we talked about yeast: what it is, how it works, and the differences between types of yeast. Today we are going to continue that lesson by learning about sourdough.

Sourdough is a special type of dough that differs from other yeast dough in that it contains naturally occurring yeasts (as opposed to the cultivated yeasts that we discussed earlier) in combination with a Lactobacillus culture and requires a long fermentation process.

Wait a second. We already learned that yeast is a fungus…and now we are adding bacteria to the mix? You bet! But before you get too grossed out, remember that Lactobacillus cultures are used in the production of all kinds of other foods, including yogurt, cheese, pickles, beer, and wine, just to name a few. It is the lactic acid produced by the Lactobacilli that gives sourdough its distinctly sour taste.

In order to make sourdough bread, you must begin with a sourdough starter. There are many types of starters, but the most basic ones are made of flour and water. The starter allows the yeast and bacteria to grow and develop, which ultimately develops the flavor of the bread and allows the dough to rise. Because the starter is, in fact, alive, it must be taken care of and “fed” regularly with additions of flour and water. (My starter is named Methuselah. True story.) In this way, sourdough starters can be kept alive for years – there are even stories of sourdough starters being passed down from generation to generation.

Now, all of this may sound like a lot of work. Having to keep something alive and tend to it? You might be thinking that this just isn’t for you. I once felt the same way! But really, starting and tending to a sourdough starter is not as difficult as it may seem.

To start, get a 2-quart glass jar or other container. Using the recipe below, combine your starchy potato water, flours and a bit of yeast in the jar, stirring vigorously to combine. While natural yeasts will eventually develop, we are adding a bit of cultivated yeast to our starter just to give it a little kick-start.

Cover the jar with cheesecloth and set it in a warm place. That is it! Once a day, give it a good stir. Smell it. Is it starting to smell slightly sour and fermented? (Read: Is it starting to smell a little like beer?) You’re on the right track!

In about 4-10 days it will start to smell nice and sour. Once it reaches this point, pour out half of the starter. You may use or throw away this starter – although, if you choose to use it, it will not have developed a very distinct sourdough flavor yet, as that takes time to develop and will get stronger with age. Pour the other half of the starter into a clean jar and add 1 cup of white flour and just shy of 1 cup of water – you want your starter to be about the consistency of pancake batter. Cover it again with the cheesecloth and allow the starter to sit in a warm place overnight. In the morning, place it in the refrigerator.

At least once a week, repeat the feeding process: use, discard or give away half of the starter, and add 1 cup of flour and less than 1 cup of water to the other half, leave it out overnight and return it to the fridge the next morning.

When you go to feed your starter, you may notice that a liquid has gathered at the top, ranging in color from light yellow to dark brown. This is just the alcohol produced by the yeast; simply stir this into the starter before dividing it. However, if you notice any mold growing on the top of your starter, it means that your starter has died and you need to start over – or snag some starter from someone else. This actually happened to me once and I had to snag some of my mother’s starter. The best way to prevent this from happening is to be diligent about feeding your starter regularly, and try not to go longer than a week between feedings.

So, what can we do with our sourdough starter? Well, for starters (see what I did there?), we can make an easy sourdough bread – and that’s exactly where we will begin on Friday! Other options include pancakes, waffles, dinner rolls…the possibilities really are endless, and will all be explored here in due time.

So for now, get yourself a jar and get growin’!

Sourdough starter adapted very slightly from How to Bake a Perfect Life.

Easy Sourdough Starter

Ingredients

2 cups potato water
½ cup rye flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Instructions

In a 2-quart jar, mix all of the ingredients until smooth. Cover loosely with cheesecloth and let stand in a warm spot. Stir every 24 hours, until bubbly and agreeably sour, usually 4-10 days.
When it is ready, store loosely covered in the fridge.
Once a week, feed your starter: Remove from the fridge and stir vigorously, then divide starter in half. Either use, throw away or give away one half. Pour the other half into a clean 2-quart jar; add 1 cup of unbleached white flour and just enough water to make consistency similar to pancake batter (usually ½ to ¾ of a cup). Re-cover with the cheesecloth and allow to sit in a warm place overnight, placing back in the fridge the next morning.

Notes

To make potato water, boil potatoes in water until tender. Drain, reserving the water for your starter. Use the cooked potatoes as you wish!

Filed Under: Back to Basics Tagged With: Back to basics, Bread, sourdough, yeast

Treats for Santa: Date Bread

December 5, 2012 by Stephie 16 Comments

This week should really be called “Retro Family Recipes Week” here on Eat Your Heart Out. Earlier this week I shared a recipe for fruitcake cookies – which has been surprisingly well-received, considering the fact that I was afraid the word “fruitcake” might scare off a lot of you. Today I am sharing another old family favorite: date bread.

As with most of my family recipes, this one has a bit of a back story. Apparently this recipe was given to my great-grandmother by a woman who was a professional cook. Now, here’s the thing: she told my great-grandmother that she would only give her the recipe if she promised to keep it a secret.

…whoops.

I’ll admit, I’m taking a risk of my great-grandmother coming back to haunt me by sharing this one with the internet, but I really think this is a great recipe, and one that you should have in your repertoire, especially at the holidays. Much like the fruitcake cookies, this is one of those breads that is good one on day one, better one on day two, and just downright awesome on day three – which means that it is the perfect bread to either make ahead for breakfast or give away to friends and loved ones.

Also…my great-grandmother would have been 112 this year…so I’m guessing that probably means the woman she got the recipe from probably isn’t still around either…which means I’m safe to share, right? (Too depressing? Sorry. Eat a piece of bread and you’ll feel better.)

Date Bread

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients

¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg, divided
1 cup pitted, chopped dates
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup boiling water
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups flour
¾ cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf pan; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the dates, baking soda and boiling water. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, cream brown sugar with the egg yolk. Add the cooled date mixture; stir to combine. Add salt, flour and pecans.
Whip the egg white to stiff peaks; gently fold into batter. Sprinkle baking powder over the batter and fold to combine. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack. Prior to serving, dust the top with powdered sugar, if desired.
Will last for several days, well wrapped, at room temperature. (Or freeze for a few months.)

Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast Tagged With: Baked goods, Bread, Breakfast, dates, Dessert, Holidays, Pecans

Plum Poppy Seed Muffins

November 28, 2012 by Stephie 11 Comments

It’s my birthday!

Which means I should probably be posting about cupcakes…but instead I’m posting about muffins. But really, it’s ok because these beauties are from the new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

A few of my friends and I have been so jazzed about this cookbook coming out that we all decided to each make a recipe from the book and post about them on the same day. When Julia emailed us with a list of approved recipes, I emailed back immediately and requested these muffins. Plum poppy seed muffins?? How could I not want to make those? As soon as I left work that day, I was off to the store to buy plums and these babies were baking away in my oven before I knew it.

What makes these muffins so special? You mean aside from the fact that they consist of almost as much fruit as actual batter? (Glorious, just glorious.)

Browned butter.

Yeah. I said it. And I’ll say it again.

Browned. Butter.

And oh my does it make a difference here. It gives the muffins that certain nuttiness that you just can’t get enough of and pairs so beautifully with tart sweetness of the plums and the sweet muffin batter. It’s just downright amazing, and makes me ridiculously excited to dive into all of the other recipes in Deb‘s new cookbook. Beautifully photographed, well-written, and chock-full of recipes that you could throw together for your family or serve at a dinner party. It’s a little bit of everything…and certainly everything you could want in a cookbook (the spine is even made so that it stays open while you’re cooking!).

Make sure you take a minute to check out what the other awesome ladies have put together for this special post:

Julia of The Roasted Root: Pancetta, White Bean, and Chard Pot Pie

Abby of Seaweed and Sassafras: Apple Cider Caramels

Natalie of Perry’s Plate: S’more Layer Cake <— Visit Natalie’s post to find out how to WIN a copy of Deb’s book!!

Plum Poppy Seed Muffins

Yield: 12 standard-size muffins

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and browned and cooled
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup sour cream or full-fat plain yogurt
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon table salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 cups pitted and diced plums (from about ¾ pound)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
Whisk the egg with both sugars in the bottom of a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter, then the sour cream. In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and poppy seeds, then stir them into the sour cream mixture until it is just combined and still a bit lumpy. Fold in the plums.
Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Rest muffins in the pan on a cooling rack for 2 minutes, then remove them from the tin to cool them completely.

Notes

To brown the butter: In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden, and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot: You may be impatient for it to start browning, but the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.