A Sweet Bread and Some Awards

Awesome Bread Babe Tanna at My Kitchen in Half Cups kindly gave my blog an award and I've been lagging in passing it on. Time to correct that!

For winning the award, I’m suppose to tell you and Tanna 7 things about myself ... beautiful things, interesting things (hopefully), blogging things...perhaps:

One: Baking and cooking provide things to eat and drink, but for me they are a way of being creative.

Two: Recipes are where the creative spark starts for me much of the time. They provide a focus for the ingredients and flavors, a source of proportions of components, essentials like baking temperature. From there my imagination takes flight...sometimes with unexpected results :)

Three: Enthusiasms come and go. I also blog over at Feeding My Enthusiasms and started this blog when my enthusiasm for sourdough was at full spate and dominated my posts. Now it seems that I post here about once a month, although I still bake with sourdough once a week or so.

Four: I love coffee! Can't drink the stuff after about 2 pm if I want to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, but a little decaf is OK. Both kinds go great with a piece of toasted sourdough.

Five: Gardening, especially vegetable gardening, is a passion. My Mom passed on her love of flower growing and my Dad his love of vegetable growing. Even when I lived in an apartment I figured out a way to grow veggies. My favorite Bread Baking Babes recipe was the asparagus bread.

Six: Meeting bloggers whose blogs you enjoy and admire is very rewarding and special. Have not done the convention settings because you generally don't connect in that kind of setting, but maybe I should try it.

Seven: I have been ver, very fortunate in my family, friends, most jobs, places I've lived and most especially in Sweetie, my husband and I thank God all the time for each of those.

The other part of the award of course is to pass it along to 7 more bloggers - these are beautiful blogs and bloggers, some relatively new to me, some old friends, listed in alpha order:

GIZ AT EQUAL OPPORTUNITY KITCHEN
JOHANNA AT GREEN GOURMET GIRAFFE
LIEN AT NOTTIE VAN LIEN
LISA MICHELLE AT PARSLEY, SAGE, DESSERT AND LINE DRIVES
LYNN AT COOKIE BAKER LYNN
MONIQUE AT LIVING ON BREAD AND WATER
TIA AT BUTTERCREAM BARBIE

The garden often takes precedence when time is limited in the spring. It's nice to find a dessert recipe that lets me do other things while it gets ready for baking in its own sweet time!

With strawberry season finally here it’s always fun to think of new ways to serve the luscious, sweet , red, juicy fruit. With sourdough starter in the fridge needing to be fed regularly it’s always a challenge to find a new way to use the toss off.

The two came together this week in the form of a sourdough savarin with strawberries and some whipped cream. I have been wanting to make a savarin for years but was never brave enough. It looked complicated, but was actually easy. There was only one minor mishap: I soaked the baked savarin with a sugar syrup that had some grated lemon zest in it. After enjoying my serving I decided that I should have used a sugar syrup that had something with more punch added - like rum or lemencello. The sourdough flavor was dominant and needed the foil of another strong flavor. Any suggestions?


We are still getting strawberries, so I have more opportunities to trick this recipe out with something delicious in the sugar syrup which the savarin soaks up just like a sponge.

Other than the slight lack of balance in the strength of flavors this was a delicious dessert. The cake/bread was moist from the sugar syrup, tender and with just a bit of chewiness. It sank a little bit so I should perhaps have added an additional 1/4 cup flour. The cream and strawberries provided color, texture and flavor contrasts.


I know that Julia, Dorie and David may not have had sourdough in mind when they included their recipe in Baking with Julia, written by Dorie Greenspan with the recipe contributed by David Blom, so I changed it to use the starter.

One of the neat things about making this is that the cook’s time is pretty short. I had lots to do the evening I made it so I ate lunch while the stand mixer did its job. Went grocery shopping while it rose the second time in its ring pan. Made a salad while it baked. Allow more time for it to cool before you douse it liberally with the sugar syrup…and give me some ideas on additions to that syrup, OK?

Since this was a personal challenge, I’m sending it to Lynn of Cookie Baker Lynn for one of my High Five entries - I Did It!

It’s also going to Susan at Wild Yeast for her weekly wonderful event, Yeastspotting.


Sourdough Savarin with Strawberries and Cream
Makes a large savarin ring

The Dough
1 cup sourdough starter at room temperature
½ teaspoon instant yeast
½ cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons ( 12/ stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature

Put the sourdough starter, instant yeast, lukewarm water and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir with a rubber spatula to combine. Put bowl with the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and add the flour, ¼ cup at a time with mixer on low speed, just until the ingredients are blended. Increase the speed to medium-low and beat for about 8 minutes (see, it was a quick lunch) until the mixture is smooth. Add the butter and beat on low only until the butter is absorbed, 1 – 3 minutes.

Removed bowl from mixer and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place (85 – 90 degrees F) for about 15 minutes, just until slightly risen. It will not double. (If your room or rising place is cooler, it may take longer. You are looking for a noticeable increase in volume and a lightness.)

Once dough has risen slightly, brush a ring mold with clarified butter (although I just rubbed the inside surface of my monkey bread pan with soft butter) and fill with the dough. NOTE: If you don’t have a ring mold, you can use a Bundt pan or, probably, and angel food pan or gelatin mold with a center ring.

Cover the mold with plastic wrap and let rise in a very warm place for about 30 minute, or until dough fills the ring mold. (Since my rising place was cooler, each rising took longer…but that way I could get to the grocery store and back AND unpack the groceries while the oven was preheating!)

Position the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Carefully put the savarin on a parchment or silicon mat lined jelly roll pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until it is golden and starts to shrink from the sides of the mold. Unmold onto a cooling rack and cool completely before soaking.

For Soaking and Assembly:
Sugar Syrup
2 pints fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
1 pint heavy cream, whipped with 1 tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks form

Sugar Syrup
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Grated zest from one lemon
(Something stronger??)

Put the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for 30 seconds and then turn off the heat.

Line a jelly roll pan with waxed paper and set a cooling rack on tip of it. Place the savarin on the cooling rack. Spoon the hot syrup over the savarin, a few tablespoons at a time, continuing to soak the pastry until it is plump and cannot hold any more liquid.

When ready to serve, slice the savarin into serving portions, place on a plate and spoon on a generous amount of sliced strawberries. Dollop with whipped cream and serve.

Bread Baker's Dog Returns with Zucchini Cheese Bread

Xam, the Bread Baker's Dog, is finally doing well. His infection has cleared up after three full weeks of antibiotics, twice daily warm compresses, and lots of love, affection, and vet bills. Since he found the compresses a bit uncomfortable, after the first two times he knew when it was happening and refused to cooperate. Since bribery works, he soon found that the compresses were accompanied by doggie cookies to munch on. It's also called positive reinforcement, but truly it was bribery. Come sit on Sweetie's lap while Mom presses a warm towel where it already hurts. The joys of dog ownership!

The other good news is that his appetite is back...Sweetie's never left...so it's time for bread baking. Since the zucchini continue to be fruitful and multiply and fill the platter on the table, it seemed like a good zucchini bread recipe would be just the ticket. I've only had the sweet, spicy quick bread type so I went looking for a good recipe in my cookbooks. On the way I found a yeasted on that wasn't sweet and included cheese. It's in Breaking Bread with Father Dominic under the Veggie Bread category. It makes two loaves and the crust gets nice and brown because of all the cheese.

As usual I changed it a bit. Father's version called for caraway seeds and Swiss cheese, but I went with Parmesan cheese and fresh minced basil, plus some pine nuts on top, for a more Mediterranean feel. I used olive oil for the vegetable oil and some 12 grain flour from King Arthur's for part of the flour, both of which added some needed flavor.

It made a lovely, moist bread with a good crumb and great crust.

The cheese isn't a dominant flavor, but you can tell that it's there. The zucchini add moistness and some nice speckles, but very little flavor. Even the basil is a hint, not a hit. It's marvelous freshly cooled, but also good as toast. It's a batter bread. I baked one loaf in a loaf pan and the other in a cast iron skillet. The skillet one had a particularly wonderful bottom crust, but the interior was still quite moist but not gummy. Now that I've made an Asparagus Bread (see June 20th post) that he loooovvved and a Zucchini Cheese Bread that he couldn't stop eating, I think I've made a veggie bread lover out of Sweetie!

And Xam?...he love all baked goods. I tried three times to get a photo of him eating a small piece of this bread, but he scarfed it down so fast that each photo was a black blur...this one is the best!

Guess he likes Zucchini Cheese Bread, too!

I've been missing the weekly wonderful event that is Yeastspotting at Susan's Wild Yeast...no time to even go there and drool over the bread being baked by the fantastic bakers featured there...so it's nice to have an entry again...and time to bake bread. Here is the URL for Susan's blog :http://www.wildyeastblog.com/ Nick at Imafoodblog is the host this time. His URL is: http://www.imafoodblog.com/ . Thanks Nick!!

Yeasted Zucchini Cheese Batter Bread
adapted from a recipe in Breaking Bread with Father Dominic
Yields 2 loaves

2 cups milk at room temperature
1 egg
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 packages active dry yeast (1/2 oz)
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt
about 3 cups bread flour, divided
2 cups 12-grain bread flour (or additional plain bread flour), divided
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded zucchini, excess liquid squeezed out in a towel
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)

Combine milk, egg, oil, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Stir until the yeast is completely dissolved. Add the basil, pepper, salt, and 1 cup each of the bread flour and the 12-grain flour. Beat well (about 150 strokes by hand or three minutes with an electric mixer). Stir in the cheese and zucchini. Add another cup of bread flour and cup of 12-grain flour; beat well. Add enough of the remaining bread flour to make a thick batter that is still easy to manage. Stir until all flour is thoroughly incorporated. Use a rubber spatula to make sure there are no pockets of flour on the bottom of the bowl.

Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place about 1 hour. Thoroughly grease two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Stir the batter down. Divide the batter between pans. It should fill each pan halfway. Cover and let rise about 20 minutes or until dough nearly reaches the top of the pan. If desired, sprinkle about a tablespoon of pine nuts on the top of each loaf just before baking.

While dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean and top crust feels solid. Let cool slightly in pans before attempting to remove loaves. Note: If top crust browns too quickly due to the cheese, tent some aluminum foil over it to slow the browning process.

Bacon Makes This Bread Special

Have had very social times since returning from the Emerald Isle. Needed to bring something to a pot luck and also an appetizer to a dinner. This easy recipe filled the bill for both. The dough goes together easily in a bread machine, but you can make it with a stand mixer and dough hook, or stir it together and knead by hand, too. The olive oil adds flavor and suppleness to the dough so it’s easy to work with. Be patient in spreading the dough into the pan. If it resists, let it sit a minute then try again.

Bacon seems to be a hit with most people. Use good quality bacon since there really isn’t a lot of it here. Cook enough to crisp up the fatty parts and don’t be surprised that there will be a lot of fat left in the pan when you drain the cooked bacon bits. They don’t really stay on the bread very well, but you can boost any that fall on the cutting board back onto the cut pieces.

Since I came home to a LOT of Swiss chard and a fair amount of small zucchini, I used some of those in the topping. You could use spinach or arugula instead of the chard and skip the squash, too. If you don’t have small squash, do skip using squash.larger ones have too much water for this recipe. Sauteed onions would be another great topping.

Bacon and Chard Focaccia

1 Recipe Basic Focaccia
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/3 inch lardons
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 large Swiss chard leaves, washed, dried, and cut in chiffonade (rolled up and thinly sliced)
1 very small zucchini, cut in coins
salt and pepper to taste (I used garlic salt and some pepper)
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Follow the directions below for the basic focaccia. Use the larger pan if you like your focaccia less bready.

Drizzle with the 2 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil. (I then spread a thin coat over the whole thing with a pastry brush.

Cook the bacon pieces over high heat until crisp but not burnt. Remove from fat with slotted spoon then drain on paper towel. Sprinkle focaccia with the bacon, Swiss chard, and zucchini, distributing each ingredient as evenly as possible over the pan of dough. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese evenly over all. Place plastic wrap loosly over the top and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Remove plastic wrap and bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Can be served warm or cool. Cut into small squares for appetizers, larger pieces to go with a meal.

Basic Focaccia

King Arthur Flour website

Large or Small* Machine

1 cup water, warm
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose OR Unbleached Special Bread Flour
2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons italian seasoning, heaping
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your bread machine. Program for Dough or Manual, and press Start.

*If you're using a small (1-pound) bread machine, remove the dough from the machine at the end of the second kneading cycle, and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

At the end of the cycle, remove the dough from the machine and punch it down. Roll it out to form a rectangle, and transfer it to a cookie sheet, 10 x 15-inch to 12 x 18-inch. Pat the dough into the pan. Make indentations in the dough with your fingertips, about an inch apart, and drizzle sparingly with olive oil.

Let the focaccia rise for half an hour to an hour. This will make a lighter bread. Bake the focaccia in the preheated 450°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and serve. Serves 6 to 10.

Yeastspotting, that wonderful, mouthwatering, inspiring weekly event at Susan's Wild Yeast blog has turned a year old! Happy Birthday!! Sorry I missed the anniversary last week, but this entry will have to do since I wasn't around to bake bread last time. If you love yeast, or just want to enjoy looking at fantastic recipes made with yeast, hurry on over to http://www.wildyeastblog.com/category/yeastspotting !