Blog Archives

Big Bake Day

7/31/2013

Every year there is a drum and bugle core competition in Spring Valley, and we often host one of the bands, letting them bed dwn in the gym and use our grounds for practice. This year it's a group based in Rio Grande Valley, TX. All day I've been working in the kitchen with overcast skies outside, and I keep thinking there's thunder but it's just the percussion line practicing! At some point a couple of kids showed up hoping to fill some coolers with ice, but when they saw the huge batch of dough I was working with they decided they wanted to come back and check things out. They were working with the food trailer and didn't need to be at practice.

So here I am with Rico and everything that came out of the oven this afternoon: cinnamon pecan swirl, a cherry blossom coffeecake, crescent rolls, and 20 loaves of honey wheat bread. They took the cherry coffeecake for a breakfast treat for the kitchen crew, the monks got the crescent rolls at supper and are getting the pecan swirl for breakfast, and the honey wheat will be sold on Friday (I froze them).

Here's the cinnamon pecan spiral coffeecake, similar to the one I made with almond filling not long ago and posted on one of my Pinterest Boards. (Click HERE)

This is the cherry blossom coffeecake with frosting and toasted almonds, similar to the one I made with apricots last month. (See Bread Blog 6/14/2013.)

And here's the honey oatmeal bread I made with some Stage Rats tonight, also destined for the freezer until Friday afternoon's sale. I also put some away for future monk breakfasts, since it's the community favorite. Recipe HERE.

About a month ago I got 150 pounds of flour donated by Hodgson Mill---I'm on the last 40 pounds of whole wheat flour! So glad to have plenty of time to bake these days. Too bad school starts soon!

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My first pie crust

7/26/2013

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We just got a new oven in the abbey kitchen, much to my relief. The old one was well beyond hope of repair---the doors on the top oven couldn't be closed all the way, for example---so we got this new double decker installed today. I saved the "Blodgett" nameplate from the old one and intend to mount it on an old wooden cutting board as a memento. I owe a lot to that old warhorse, which was used to test every single one of my recipes since "Basic White Bread" in season one!

Since I had a shiny new oven to play with, I decided it was time to work on an item that has been on my Bucket List for a long time: learn to make a flaky pie crust. I've never made a pie in my life, and although I'm known as "the Bread Monk" many people express shock at this admission. So I looked at pie crust recipes in my cookbooks and online and studied the subtle variations and slight changes in method for each version. I downloaded a few onto iPad via my Recipe Box app and then went to the store to look at fresh fruit. Some good looking peaches were on sale for 88 cents a pound (!!!) so I brought some home, rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

Here is the result I got, of which I am inordinately proud. Since it's Friday (a day of fast in the monastery) I can't sample it until tomorrow, but I know what I'm having for breakfast, believe me! Now I know everyone is going to want a recipe, but since I'm just a beginner, the best I can do it give you a link to the excellent recipe I used, which is HERE. Eventually I'll try some other variations and come up with my own instructions, and then I'll have something to post. After all, the peaches are just coming into season, and soon we'll be getting apples, and my mom loves blueberry pie, and I'm betting a fig galette with ginger and St. Bede honey would be good, and I think there's still some rhubarb in the freezer, and ..........

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Filial Guilt, Russian Tea Cakes, and Binge Eating

7/25/2013

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My mom recently injured her leg and has been hobbling around the house, ably assisted by my older sister Anj and my younger sister Eileen. I must confess to feeling guilty that I couldn't be there to help as well, so tomorrow I'm going to visit with a gift of Russian Tea Cakes. (The photo here is from the Kraft Foods website: link HERE.) These melt-in-your-mouth delights go by a variety of other names as well, most often Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies. They are ridiculously easy to prepare (just six ingredients) and are sure to become a family favorite if you don't already have them on your "must-bake" list.

There are lots of recipes out there with subtle variations regarding the amount of vanilla or the kind of nuts used, etc. I relied on good ol' Betty Crocker's version, which has a bit more vanilla and uses ground pecans (my mom's preference over walnuts or almonds). I've posted the recipe below, but HERE is the link to the actual web page. These cookies are popular at Christmas and you sometimes see them in the form of crescents; instructions and a photo can be found HERE.

I don't care what shape they are in, I could eat these sweet treats until I was violently ill and it would not be that bad. I said as much to some colleagues in the school office, which generated a discussion of favorite binge foods and the unhealthy behaviors they inspire in us. For one woman, it's chocolate cake: "I don't stop---I just eat it until it's gone." (I hasten to note that this woman's figure by no means suggests that she has ever eaten a whole cake!) Another person admitted that Frito's corn chips are his guilty pleasure: "Whole bag, gone before the commercial break."

As I diabetic, I can't really indulge in binge eating without some serious consequences, but if I had Wolverine's mutant healing factor, pancakes would be pretty high on my list, and I suspect I could take out a whole pan of warm cornbread if there were enough butter and honey in the house. But after rolling round butter cookies, still warm from the oven, in powdered sugar, I had to go to another floor of the monastery to force myself to leave them alone long enough to cool. Try this simple recipe and you'll find that these little goodies can wreak havoc on any dietary resolve.

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
(From the Betty Crocker Website)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped or ground almonds or pecans
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup powdered sugar

1
Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup powdered sugar, the butter and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in flour, almonds and salt until dough forms.

2
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 1 inch apart.

3
Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

4
Place 3/4 cup powdered sugar in small bowl. Roll cookies in powdered sugar. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar again. Cookies can be placed in an airtight container and freeze up to 3 weeks. Before serving, thaw the cookies and reroll them in powdered sugar.

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Victory Biscuits!

7/23/2013

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You might think from the title of this post that the recipe for these biscuits came from the WWII era, like Victory Gardens and the like. But in fact I have named these fluffy delights "Victory Biscuits" because up until today my efforts at biscuit making have been failures. Not quite "epic" failures (a word much overused) but not as successful as one might expect from someone had his own baking show and writes cookbooks exclusively about bread. I'll be honest, it's bothered me for years and I got discouraged enough to give up for awhile.

But I've been reading the books from the Taste of Home Annual series, and came across a whole wheat biscuit recipe that looked promising. I did a little tweaking, used only all-purpose flour, and got the results you see here. I made two batches for tomorrow's monk breakfast of biscuits and gravy. The addition of an egg and a little cream of tartar seems to make a big difference. I sampled one with the new honey from our apiary, just brought in and processed by our Br. David---heaven. I'll be sure to let my Breadhead readers know when the new honey is available for sale. In the meantime, make these biscuits and be victorious!

Victory Biscuits
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 cup milk

Directions
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt;whisk until blended. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (the kind with blades rather than wires works best with cold butter) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine egg and milk; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times. Roll out (or just pat the dough with your hands, as I did) to 3/4 " thickness; cut with a 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter---cut straight down, do not twist the cutter or you will seal the edges of the dough and they won't rise as well. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 1 dozen.

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How a Breadhead relaxes

7/11/2013

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(This is posted a little late, because the cabin doesn’t have Internet, and although the clubhouse had WiFi, my iPad and my web host are not compatible.)

Just three days left here at our retreat cabin at Lake Thunderbird, where I have been working on organizing recipes for two new cookbooks. The first is Father Dom’s Favorites, which is rather like a “Greatest Hits” album of recipes from the three seasons of Breaking Bread with Father Dominic—those cookbooks very nearly out of print. The second is Breadhead Breakfasts and Sweet Treats, which will include recipes like coffeecakes and cinnamon rolls, but also some of my favorite cookie, brownie and candy recipes.

Both of these titles are tentative, and which recipes go where is still a bit fluid. Fab’s Nutty Goodness Rolls are clearly a breakfast bread, but they are also one of my top five favorites. Funnel Cakes are a sweet treat, but they are definitely a favorite with the Stage Rats. There is bound to be some doubling up, but not so much (I hope) as to dilute the value of either book.

I’ve also been baking like crazy while watching movies, since that’s my idea of a great vacation. When I told people I was coming to the cabin to work on books and bake, several of them said rather pointedly, “I hope you will find some time to relax, too.” These are clearly people who need to broaden their ideas about “fun.” Editing recipes doesn’t feel like work if you can do it while sitting on a shady deck with the wind blowing through the trees and a diet Dr. Pepper close at hand. I’ve also had the opportunity to shoot some interesting pictures of roadside flowers and of scenes at the local county fair (see slide show below). If it’s any consolation to those who fear for my mental and physical health, I didn’t bring an alarm clock.

The cabin here doesn’t have a full range of cable channels, but it does get all three channels of PBS out of WTVP in Peoria, including Create, which means I’ve also watched about four hours of cooking shows every day---pure bliss, even if it feels like I have to wash dishes about the same amount of time! And today I watched Julie and Julia while making croissant dough for cronuts.

Yes, I’ve jumped on the cronut bandwagon, although I don’t intend to ride it for long. My first batch didn’t poof very much because my cookie cutters were plastic and sealed the edges of the dough too much. But I ran home to get my professional donut cutter and an electric fryer---trying to keep oil at 365 degrees F. on an electric range is maddening. Besides, I also needed my pastry bag for the filling. The original cronuts at Dominique Ansel Bakery in NYC have a pastry cream filling. I’m going to try them with lemon curd filling and topped with powdered sugar, and some with a tiramisu filling and mocha frosting. More on that in the future blog. Right now my croissant dough needs another turn.

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St. Vincent Gristmill

7/5/2013

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This is the basilica of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe Pennsylvania, which is the motherhouse of all the monasteries of our congregation. The basilica is beautiful, with some wonderful old stained glass windows in the nave of the church and more modern ones in the crypt. The monastery guest quarters are very nice and the hospitality every bit as good as St. Benedict says it should be in the Rule. The archabbey has a college and a seminary, and is also home to the Fred Rogers Center, which house all of the archives from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and the entire career of its creator. But of course, what I was most interested in was the St. Vincent Gristmill.

Boniface Wimmer and his eighteen pioneer monks came to Pennsylvania in 1846 with the intention of building a monastery which we be as self-sufficient as possible. Soon the community had cleared and planted fields, build a sawmill and a brickyard, and constructed a number of buildings, including the gristmill in 1854. Buhrstones were imported from France, the building and apparatus were designed by a local millwright, and the construction undertaken entirely by the monks themselves.

Visitors to the gristmill are not allowed in the upper two floors (although I'm hoping I can get a private tour some time!) but the lower floors include views of the secondary stones and some of the apparatus. There is a 10 minute video depicting the mill's history and its current operation (which I wish they would post in its entirety on their YouTube Channel) as well as a small gift shop. About twice a week they grind wheat and other grains, which are available for purchase. The apparatus still makes use of some of the original leather belts and wooden gears from 1854.

Another fascinating aspect of St. Vincent Gristmill is the wetlands reclamation project they have begun. The wetlands around the gristmill were seriously polluted by the local coal mining operations. In cooperation with the PA Department of Natural Resources, the monastic community instituted a wetlands reclamation program. Native plants were reintroduced and propagated to act as natural filters to purify the surrounding water and soil. There is also an environmental education room located within the gristmill itself.

I recommend the Archabbey and its gristmill as a fascinating combination of history and modernity---can't wait to go back again!

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Toasted Cheese Rounds and Pizza Party photos

7/4/2013

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Recently I went to Peoria for a pizza party for six which I offered as an auction item to support the Heading Avenue Sisters. My high school classmate Jean asked me, and the superior at the convent is our Abbot Philip's grade school classmate, so I felt a certain moral imperative to say yes! I served minestrone as a first course, so I wanted to have some sort of toasted bread round to accompany it. I confess, I briefly considered just buying some garlic toast from the bakery at Hy-Vee, but dismissed that idea pretty quickly. After all, I have a repuation to maintain!
I mixed up a batch of basic white bread (2 loaf batch), but substituted a quarter cup of cornmeal for the same amount of white flour, and added a couple of tablespoons of "Pizza Sprinkle" herb mix which I picked up at DiGrigorio's Italian grocery and deli on the Hill in St. Louis. Normally I would use all fresh herbs from my garden, but it was raining pretty steadily, so I took a shortcut. The label says "oregano, red pepper and spices," which doesn't really help reproduce the recipe if you don't have the mix. I suspect 2 tsp. of dried oregano, 1 tsp. of granulated garlic, 1/2 tsp. each of dried basil and crushed red pepper, and 1/4 tsp. of dried thyme would do the trick. You could use any kind of baguette, even day old from the store, but you didn't hear that from me.
I used my long "W" pans (the kind you use for baguettes) and divided the dough into 6 roughly equal portions so the rounds wouldn't be too large. Unlike The Olive Garden, I didn't want my guests to fill up on soup and bread! After the rising and baking stages, I let them cool before slicing them into rounds about 1/4" thick. Just before the guests arrived I topped them with a mixture of mayonnaise, Italian cheese blend, and fresh herbs, then toasted them under the broiler. Unfortunately, I got too busy to get a photos, so I guess you'll just have to make them yourself! Below are more complete instructions from my book Thursday Night Pizza. Scroll to the bottom to view a photo gallery of the event. Be sure to check out the pictures of the Four Cheese Tomato Top Pizza and the Tiramisu Trifles.

Toasted Cheese Appetizers
1 12-inch narrow baguette, slightly stale
1 cup grated asiago cheese, or a mixture of cheeses
1/3 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup chopped garlic chives
1 Tbs. each fresh minced parsley, oregano, and basil
¼ tsp. ground pepper

Preheat broiler. Slice the baguette into ½-inch slices on the diagonal—go ahead and eat the ends—and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed. Spread the cheese mixture on the bread slices and arrange them on an ungreased baking sheet. Broil until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly browned. Serve while hot.

Notes --I first made these appetizers for our annual Memorial Day picnic and they were a huge hit—Br. Nathaniel was eating them like they were potato chips! That day I used homemade French bread, but you could use bakery bread if you absolutely have to. When I taught my friend Lynette to make these, we used homemade sourdough onion bread—mmm!

--Experiment with different cheeses and herbs. I’ve made these with white cheddar, sage, parsley and chives and they were quite good.

--If you don’t have fresh herbs, use dried, but reduce the chives to 2 tablespoons and the other herbs to 1 teaspoon each.