(mostly) whole wheat bread

So I finally feel comfortable enough to really start improvising with bread baking. I guess it’s not rocket science or anything, but it has intimidated me, so I have tended to stick pretty closely to recipes. This is the second time I have made this bread and I am continuing to tweak it as I go along. Overall, I do think it’s pretty darn tasty, and I’ve gotten some good feedback about it, too (so it’s not all in my head…).

I’m not sure if I have mentioned it on this blog or not, and I know it might seem fairly obvious, but it bears repeating; read through all recipes (preferably a couple of times) so you know what is suppose to happen before you start.

Ingredients:

2 ½ c of warm water

1T of active dry yeast

2 ½ T brown rice syrup (or sweetener of your choice)

3 ½ c whole-wheat flour

2 ½ c unbleached all purpose white flour (more for kneading)

¼ c veg. oil (preferably a mild tasting one or a light olive oil)

1T salt

Yields 2 loaves

Directions:

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and mix in the brown rice syrup; let sit for a few minutes.

Mix together the rest of the ingredients and add in the yeast mixture, mixing well; let sit for about 10 minutes.

Prepare a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes; add additional flour as necessary (but try not to add too much).

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a cloth; let rise for about an hour until it has doubled.

Punch down the dough and knead a bit and return it to a ball like shape on your floured surface; let it rise for another half hour.

Punch down the dough again and divide in half; form into loaf and place in well oiled pans and. cover with the cloth for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees; bake for 45 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Root veggies and Chicken Pot Pie

I decided to use up some root veggies by making a chicken pot pie - and yes, I literally baked it in the pot, which made it pretty simple and easy to clean up. I think you can use just about any hearty veg in this kind of dish. I made this right before getting the second share from our winter CSA, so I was happy to use up the rest of my carrots (of course we got more) and some of the potatoes (help, I need more potato recipes!) in something comforting and hearty to help warm us up in these gloomy gray winter days.

This is sort of a conglomeration of lots of recipes I have read and a bit of improvisation. Use your favorite pie crust recipe - I pulled together a quick flaky pie crust using the food processor, and it came out just right. If you want to avoid the pastry making, you could also top this off with a sheet of puff pastry to make things simpler.

For the filling:
3 c of a mix of cooked root veggies of your choice (I used about 2 c carrot and 1 c potatoes)
2 c cooked chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 c butter
6T a-p flour
1 c milk
2 c chicken stock
fresh or dried herbs of your choice
salt and pepper to taste

preheat the oven to 425 F
in a 2 1/2 to 3 quart pot:
make a roux by melting the butter and whisking in the flour, cooking until mixture turns golden
whisk in the milk and stock
stir regularly as it thickens and comes to a simmer
add herbs and salt and pepper
stir in cooked chicken and let simmer gently for about 10 minutes so the flavors come together
stir in veggies and check seasoning
let cool a little
tuck the pastry over the top of the pot when everything is cool enough to handle
bake for about 30 - 40 minutes until bubbling and the crust has turned golden

CSA week four - wrapping up the first month

Its hard to believe that we're a month into the CSA season already! The food has been wonderful and we have recently had the opportunity to really begin connecting with the community and discovering the different ways we are connected. Last week I took a yoga class at the Yoga Room
in LIC, and discovered the teacher I just had class with lives in my neighborhood and also belongs to a nearby CSA that is supplied by the same farm as ours - neat! Golden Earthworm is a great farm that has such amazing variety and I feel so lucky to be receiving my food from those hard working folks out there on Long Island.

My husband and I had dinner on Friday with our neighbors whom we also met through the CSA. They are actually two of the founding core-group members of
the Sunnyside CSA, and they happen to live in the same building as we do (its funny and comforting how the anonymity of urban living can be transcended by food). Dinner was amazing, but I sadly forgot to tote along my camera so there are no photos to share of the wonderful ratatouille Diane made for us. She is an amazing cook though and also a holistic health counselor with a wonderful approach to preparing food. We look forward to many more meals with them (hint, hint...).

On Sunday we had a CSA potluck with friends who belong to the Astoria CSA which is also supplied by Golden Earthworm, and it was so much fun to see the different things we made from the same share ingredients!

I made a lasagna with a red sauce that I prepared with lamb sausage and green garlic from the farmer's market. I layered the lasagna with a ricotta mixture to which I added minced garlic scape (from the green garlic tops) and a bit of S&P, and a layer of steamed beet greens seasoned with a bit of crushed red pepper. I topped it all with slices of fresh mozzarella and baked it for about 40 minutes until the cheese started to brown and it was all bubbly and oozing inside. When it was done I finished it with a chiffinade of fresh basil for garnish (and the wonderful smell it provides). It was so delicious (thank goodness...I was a bit nervous about it since it was totally improvised and I couldn't really taste it before serving it to friends). I have to say the dish came together pretty quickly and is a nice thing to serve to a small group.


It also left me a good bit of time to prepare a "red" salad (made with the red oak leaf lettuce and shredded beets, also from this week's share) to go along with it.


Our friend M. brought along an amazing salad of kohlrabi and fennel (using up some of last weeks share combined with this weeks fennel) with a bright and yummy lemon caper dressing, that complemented the spicy and savory flavors of the lasagna very nicely. Its also nice to see what other folks are making to help give you ideas.

Dessert was made by T., and she made an amazing strawberry-rhubarb cobbler that really hit the spot. It was a nice change for me since I always seem to make crumbles (like the one last week) and had actually just made a blueberry-pecan crumble that I brought to by neighbor's dinner on Friday (that was complimented by Diane's amazing pear sorbet).

All in all, the food this month has been amazing. It has been a wonderful challenge to try to keep up with the shares and I feel like overall we have done a great job of being creative and keeping the food both simple and interesting. For me though, what I am noticing I appreciate the most is the food connecting us with people, whether old friends or new. It has been great to share so many of these meals with others at the table recently and something that I am truly grateful for.

A new favorite: Oatmeal bread

It really is difficult to choose, but I think these days this is my go to bread recipe. The crust is perfect, not too tough, and the crumb is tender with the oats blending so well into the overall texture. I have to confess my favorite thing to do is eat it with some chocolate-hazelnut spread.
This recipe comes from Ken Haedrich's book "Soup Makes the Meal".

Oatmeal Hearth Loaves:
3/4 c rolled oats
1 c hot milk
3 T natural cane sugar
1 T molassses
1 1/4 c warm water
2 t active dry yeast
~5 c unbleached a-p flour
2 1/2 t salt
1/2 c vegetable oil
cornmeal for dusting
1 egg & 1 T milk for glaze
sesame seeds for garnish

Put oats in large bowl with milk, sugar and molasses; stir and set aside.
Pour 1/4 c of warm water in a small bowl and stir in yeast; set aside (at least 5 minutes).
Stir yeast mixture into oat mixture.
Stir in 3 c of flour, 1 cup at a time; and beat vigorously for about 100 strokes after the 3rd cup was added.
Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, stir in the salt, then the oil and enough of the remaining flour to make a fairly firm, kneadable dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured work surface (you will have to keep adding flour so the dough does not stick) and knead for 10 minutes.
Put the dough into an oiled bowl (turn so dough is evenly coated with oil) cover, and set aside to rise until doubled in bulk.
Oil and dust with cornmeal a large baking sheet, and set aside.
When the dough has doubled, punch down and turn out on floured work surface.
Knead briefly and cut in half with a bench scraper.
Knead each half of the dough into an oval shape and placed on the prepared backing sheet, and cover; let rise until doubled.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
When loaves have doubled, brush with the egg glaze and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Make a few slashes across the dough with a serrated knife.
Place dough in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Reduce heat to 375 degrees F, and bake until dark golden; about 20 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.

Baby its cold outside...

It's been unseasonably warm lately here in NYC, but its finally cooling off, and I welcome the chill in the air. I don't like to ice skate in 6o + degree weather, it just gets too slushy, and I like the cozy evenings in with hot chocolates and treats. I also love to bake when it gets cold, so as the temperature began to drop I though right away of doing something very warming...something with ginger. I decided on ginger scones for a couple of reasons; first, I find it very difficult to find a good scone when I'm out and about, and secondly, I usually enjoy them when summer fruits are in season (I heart raspberry scones), so I thought it was time to give this recipe a try. I also find ginger a perfect compliment to the chilly weather with its nice spice and warming qualities.

Double Ginger Scones (from Fine Cooking, issue 61)

2c. a-p flour
1/3c. granulated cane sugar
1T baking powder
1/2t salt
1/2 ground ginger
3/4c. chopped crystallized ginger
6T butter, cubed
3/4c. heavy cream
2 lg egg yolks, lightly beaten

(for finishing)
1 lg egg, lightly beaten, with 1 T milk (for glaze)
1t sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line heave baking sheet with a sil-pat.
In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients with a whisk.
Stir in crystallized ginger, and toss to coat (so they don't stick together).
Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until they are about pea sized.

In a small bowl, egg yolks with cream and then stir into the flour mixture until just incorporated.
Continue to mix with your hands until the dough comes together into a ball.
Place on baking sheet and pat into a 7 inch disk, it should be about an inch thick.
Cut into 8 wedges with a bench scraper, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake 18-22 minutes.
Let cool on a rack for about 10 minutes.

Whole wheat bread; a reliable old standby

We eat a lot of bread at my (2 person) home, so I bake bread just about every week. Over winter break I was hoping to be a bit more adventurous (does anyone have a sour dough starter they would like to share with me?) but found myself engrossed in other activities. Also, sometimes its comforting to make a recipe you know well, especially this whole wheat bread that is great for everything from eating plain with butter, to making panini and french toast. This recipe comes from one of the first cookbooks I ever received, "The New Doubleday Cookbook", which was a hand-me-down from my older sister. This book is a great "all-around" reference and I think it has reached classic status (at least at my house), and I reach for it as often as I do "Joy of Cooking".

Whole Wheat Bread:

1 c. milk
1 1/2 c. cold water
1/4 c. molasses
2 T. light brown sugar
1 T. butter
1 T. salt
1/2 c. warm water
2 T. active dry yeast
4 c. a-p flour
5 c. ww flour

Bring milk and cold water to just under a boil and remove from heat. Stir in molasses, brown sugar, butter and salt, and let cool to lukewarm.
Place warm water in bowl of a mixer and sprinkle in yeast.
Stir in cooled milk mixture.
Beat in a-p flour 1 cup at a time, then ww flour 1 cup at a time (it will start getting stiff at the end).
Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise for about an hour (until it has doubled).
Punch down dough and kneed a couple of times, then divide this into 2.
Kneed into loaf shape and place each half into a well oiled loaf pan (9"x5"x3"), and again cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and bake for another 45-50 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack.