America's Test Kitchen Banana Bread

It’s been a while since Kent or I posted to the blog.  What began as a fun project became a chore.  So we took a break.  But recently, I’ve started baking again for the fun of it and thought I’d try a small post about my recent experience testing a recipe for America’s Test Kitchen.

Kent had signed up to be a recipe tester for America’s Test Kitchen.  Once a month he gets an email about a new recipe to try.  In December, a recipe for banana bread came up.  Kent really enjoys banana bread so he forwarded the email to me to try.  The email contains a link to the recipe (sorry I can’t share the recipe – you’ll have to watch America’s Test Kitchen) and then a link to a survey to complete once you’ve tried the recipe.

Turns out America’s Test Kitchen knows what they’re doing.  The banana bread was excellent.  Kent says it was the best he’s ever eaten.  And it was a pretty simple recipe.  While I can’t share the recipe, I think I can share one tip.  They had me wrap four layers of aluminum foil around the bread pan to keep the outer edges from getting too crispy.

There are actually several options for making your own yeast.  Most sources talk about using potato water but they called for hops.  I didn’t want to mess with trying to track down hops so I kept hunting.  Finally, I came across a site with a recipe for yeast water that seemed like something I could easily do with what I already had at home.  It uses raisins.

http://originalyeast.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-make-yeast-water.html

I put the raisins in a jar with tap water.  In about a week, the raisins were floating and there was a layer of foam across the top.  I used a peasant-style pot bread recipe from Nancy Baggett’s Kneadlessly Simple cookbook. It is a kneadless bread that relies on a slow rise of over 18 hours.  For the second rise, you fold in the outer edges of the dough.

The recipe is available at

http://bakingbites.com/2009/04/no-knead-pot-bread/

Instead of mixing instant yeast into the 2 cups ice water, I simply used two cups of the yeast water.  And guess what?  It rose!  Woo Hoo!From the photo, it looks like it didn’t rise on the one side.  That is more the result of my clumsiness in moving it from the bowl to the hot stew pot.  In transferring the dough, I accidentally collapsed the one side.  I really liked this bread despite it being a white bread.  That’s mostly because of the crust.  Placing it in the hot pot really created a wonderful chewy yet flaky crust.  This is a crust that you do not want to cut off.

I’m not sure if I can just add water to the jar and continue to generate yeasty enough water, but I’ll give it another try with another bread.

Irish soda bread is one of those earthy, dense breads with a crunchy crust that I enjoy with butter and jam.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a big white bread fan (sourdough being the exception).  Just one slice will get you through your work and it goes great with a hot drink to relax with when you’re done.  This is a low fat version I tried this morning.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
2 2/12 T brown sugar

Cut into the dry mixture:
2 T. butter

In a separate bowl, combine:
1 egg white, beaten until frothy
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. raisins or currants

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix.  Turn onto a floured board and knead about 10 times.  Shape into a 9″ round and place on a greased baking.  Make a cross in the top of the dough with a sharp knife.

Bake 45 minutes.

A few years ago I began having problems with eating things like pasta, pancakes, pizza and sweets.  After eating these items I would feel like I had drunk too much caffeine.  I’d be hungry shortly after eating, even if I’d partaken in a large portion.  I visited the doctor and he said my symptoms didn’t quite sound like hypoglycemia or a food allergy.  To remedy the situation I avoided the foods that made me feel bad.  I also found that by ingesting protein throughout the day, usually milk, I felt better.  After avoiding these foods for several years I was able to begin eating them in small quantities.  I could eat spaghetti as a side but not as a main course.  Fast forward to today.  I’m able to eat pizza or pasta as an entree but I can’t do it every day.  Pancakes have been an exception though.  It must be the combination of sugar and the refined wheat.  A few months ago we were visiting Matt and Alicia (Melissa’s sister and brother in law) and Alicia served pancakes using a mix from Paul’s Grains.  I felt fine after eating the pancakes, so upon returning home, I looked up Paul’s Grains and discovered their products could be purchased online.  I finally ordered some flour last week and made my first batch of pancakes today.  They were delicious and I felt fine after eating them!  The recipe I used was out of Michael Ruhlman’s new book, Ratio.  The recipe called for all purpose flour, I used Paul’s 7 Grain flour, so I ended up using more liquid to compensate.  Ruhlman’s book mostly uses weight to measure ingredients, which I’m liking more and more.  The base ratio is: 2 part liquid, 1 part egg, 1/2 part butter and 2 parts flour.  This is my adaptation.

Wet Ingredients:

• 4.5 oz buttermilk
• 8.5 oz skim milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 oz butter (1/2 stick), melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

• 8 oz Paul’s 7 grain flour or all purpose flour (1-1/3 to 1-1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar (turbinado)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Combine dry and wet ingredients in separate mixing bowls.  Then combine the wet and dry mixes together, stirring until smooth.  Cook the pancakes over medium heat on a greased skillet.

By Kenton

Toaster Oven Muffins

I baked the funniest looking muffins the other day and I have to share the pictures.  The pictures may not do them justice, but if you imagine gold smurfs you’ll have a good idea of what these looked like.

Here’s the back story.  A few posts ago I mentioned that Kent had converted our oven into a pizza oven with layers of fire bricks.  I’ve been leaving them in the oven in hopes of more pizza or maybe calzone.  Since this blog is about learning I thought I’d use this time to see how our toaster would do in baking muffins.  It is a convection toaster oven.

I decided to use up two muffins mixes I had on hand.  One, because the muffins pans that would fit into the toaster oven only had room for 6 muffins or were the tiny muffin kind.  Two, I was still in a “experimenting” mood and I knew that a commercial mix would yield more consistent results.

Toaster muffins 2

The result – golden smurf muffins.  Both sized muffin pans yielded muffins that rose to a high point and spread out to an almost mushroom-like appearance. Then there is the lean.  This is where the convection oven part comes into play.  The air of the convection most definitely comes from the left side of the oven and caused the lean as well as one-sided browning.

Lesson learned.  And by the way, I’m still waiting for more pizza.  And for Kent to post on his pizza making.

So here’s a recipe for scones done in a skillet.  As I was baking them this morning, it dawned on me that this might be a good recipe for a camping trip.  The ingredients are all dry but water and a little vegetable shortening so most of it can be easily mixed up and placed in a baggy to go.  They taste a little like french toast so they’re perfect for a Sunday morning.

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. cream of tartar
1/4 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
2 T. dried milk
1/2 c. water
2 T. vegetable shortening

Stir the dry ingredients together.  Add the water and mix well.  Place batter on a well floured board and knead 8-10 times.  Pat into 6 inch circle.  Cut into wedges, 6-8.

Heat skillet on medium heat and melt shortening.  Place wedges in skillet and leave until the bottom side is golden.  Flip and brown other side.  Split a scone to test for doneness.

PS – I did get more fresh pizza for supper.  Watch for Kent’s upcoming post on it.  Yummy.

Peach Cornbread

Peach Cornbread Dessert

Kent invented this dish a couple years ago when he was given a jar of home canned peaches.  Not only is it delicious, but it is a quick dessert you can put together in no time.

It’s not completely from scratch as it uses Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix.  To be honest, I’ve always had a thing for Jiffy mixes.  They’re economical and have a good flavor.

1 T. melted butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
I can sliced peaches in a light syrup, drained
2 Jiffy Corn Muffin mix packages

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the first three ingredients and stir mixture into the peaches.

Mix the corn muffin mixes together following the directions on the box.

Put 3/4 of the corn muffin batter in a greased pan.  I used a cast iron skillet.

Spoon peaches onto batter leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge.  Dab the remaining batter on top of the peaches.

Bake for 20-23 minutes.

One of the great things about rhubarb is that you can quickly chop it up and pop it into the freezer for baking later.  In a few months, fresh rhubarb will be available.  So I thought I would finish up the rhubarb in the freezer.  Rhubarb bread is one of my favorites so you’d think I’d pay more attention while putting it together.

Unfortunately I forgot the egg.  Egg is very important.  According to Darra Goldstein in the Baking Boot Camp, eggs are necessary for stability (2007).  Eggs work with flour to add structure.  During the baking process the two ingredients react to each other and solidify the batter for its final form.  Without eggs, everything falls apart.  As evidenced by the photograph.

The flavor is still pretty good.  I’m thinking of getting some vanilla ice cream and crumbling my learning experience on top.

Rhubarb Bread

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. oil
1 egg
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
1 t. cinnamon
2 c. flour
2 c. rhubarb

Combine all the ingredients.  Pour into two greased loaf pans.

Mix

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 T. butter

Melt butter, mix in sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle mixture on top of batter.

Bake for 60 minutes

Goldstein, D. (2007). Baking boot camp: Five days of basic training at the Culinary Institute of America.  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

I’m on a Lee Bailey roll.  His cookbooks are fun to read and the recipes are fun to try.  He really seems to get true pleasure from food.  Today’s biscuits are from The Way I Cook.

This week I was looking through the frig and trying to use some stuff up to make space for more stuff.  My eyes spied the cottage cheese.  If anyone had a good recipe for cottage cheese, I knew it would be Lee Bailey and he didn’t let me down.  Not only are these flavorful but they are quick to put together.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Mix

2 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking soda

Cut 6 T of butter into flour mixture

Stir in 1 1/2 c. cottage cheee

Drop balls of dough (heaping tablespoon) onto baking sheet.  Bake 15 minutes

If you like light, airy bread, today’s bread in not for you.  But if you like stick to your ribs bread, Scottish Unkneaded Bread might just be what you’ve been looking for.  It’s from Lee Bailey’s Why I Cook.

Personally, I think it is bread made for jelly.  I rarely use jelly because it seems to dominate most breads.  In my mind, jelly really  needs an equal partner.  Peanut butter is the same way.  Alone, they dominate and steal the show.  But put them together and you have a rewarding duet.

Scotch unkneaded bread is a good partner for jelly and rich cheeses.  So if you’re not afraid of a heavy bread, give this a try.  The recipe can also be found at the La Belle Cuisine site.

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 t salt
2 packages active dry yeast
1 T sugar
2 T sorghum
1 c. hot water
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Mix flours, salt, yeast, and sugar together. Dissolve sorghum in the cup of hot water.  Stir it into the flour mixture. The dough will seem dry.  Add the walnuts and form a ball. I like to get my hands into it and mix it with my fingers.

Put in a greased bowl, lightly covered with a tea towel, and place in a warm place. Allow to rise to about half again its original size, it took about 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place dough into a greased a loaf pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Brush with water and bake another 5 minutes.