Category:

The Best Chef's Knife?

1/25/2018

https://www.japancamerahunter.com/2012/07/the-story-of-the-smashed-nikon/

Like most people, I make use of online reviews to advise me on everything form restaurants to hotels to kitchen equipment. Right now I'm in the market for a new camera---I dropped my Nikon CoolPix one time too many, and now the battery hatch won't stay closed without a rubber band! I'll need something new if I'm going to keep sharing pictures of my breads. So I scroll through the reviews on the Amazon or Best Buy websites every now and again.

Recently I received a request from reviews.com to share an article about stand mixers, which I must confess I did not find particularly enlightening. As you can see, I have plenty to choose from in the abbey kitchen, (although I'm in need of a larger floor model since our old 60-quart Hobart slips out of gear and leaks oil!) There is general agreement that the KitchenAid Artisan 5-quart is a superior choice for most kitchens (although I like the 6-quart Professional model with the bowl-lift feature). Serious bakers who make multiple loaves on a regular basis will also appreciate this review from another website.

When I went to the Reviews.com website, I found another featured article which I thought was especially useful, a review of chef's knives. There is an astonishing array of brands and models of chef's knives available, at every price point imaginable. Each has a slightly different design, some with unique features, as well as a particular "heft"--the way it feels in your hand, a characteristic that is difficult to define but utterly essential. Check out their reviews and add something to your wish list. You might also look at this bread bread blog I wrote about bread knives. Once you know what to look for in the good knife, you can be on the hunt at thrift shops and flea markets. I once found a matching set of three Mac knives at a junk shop for $5, and a Wusthof 8" cook's knife for 50 cents!

What kitchen bargains have you found at thrift shops?

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The Happy Little Rolling Pin

8/9/2017

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Last week I posted a blog about upcycling along with a call for entries to win a less-than-perfect vintage rolling pin with a stained barrel and one bent handle. I received about 40 entries via Facebook, email, and the comments section of this website. Some of there were quite profound, other more whimsical or humorous, but most of them expressed a love for old kitchen utensils with a story behind them. A sampling:

This little rolling pin makes me smile. My mom loved to bake and so do I. She had one just like this:). It would have a good home here in my kitchen.

Almost every tool in my kitchen has a story. My cookie cutters were my mom's. (She and my dad were married in 1948.) Those cutters have made what seems like millions of cookies over the years. I use my grandma's kitchen scale, my husband's great grandma's cookie press. In fact, almost tool is well over 50 years old.....measuring cups, spoons....if only I could hear the stories of all the foods they helped make. I love the way my wooden spoons are worn smooth from all the years of use. I'm sure my old kitchen tools would love to welcome another member to our kitchen.

Loved reading your story of the life of well worn rolling pins. I use my Mom's and have been asked more times than I can remember if I want a new one. My response is always the same. The one I have has history that I cannot give up. Having a pair would allow for new recipes to find a new home. My family recipes will stay with Mom's pin but I'm ready to have a friend bring its history to my home.

That rolling pin would look amazing in my kitchen right next to my great aunt's picture and her bread recipe that she made for years. My daughter Shana had it engraved on a bread board for me last Christmas. I taught my baby girl how to make Aunt Joeys' bread when she was in high school. It is a family tradition!!

It reminds me of my childhood. My mother had one like it. Red handles. She would make wonderful things in the kitchen , and let me help her roll. It would be a blessing to have .

I have a red handled rolling pin! One handle Slightly bent. It was handed down to me from my mother when I was first married (35 years ago). I put it in the drawer and bought myself a new fancy plastic rolling pin. One day I used the wood rolling pin and have never stopped. I never realized the true feel of old wood, or the love it can make happen. A good rolling pin has memories. I have a connection with my past, my mom and grandma, and knowing my family probably Aunts and other loved ones have touched those handles.

We enjoy using the older utensils that our grandparents used. The wooden rolling pin and old fashion potato masher also come to mind. The older utensils have character and a story to tell and make them so worthy of being passed on to children with memories and stories. We are proud to have children who share in our fun in the kitchen and our oldest has started trying his hand at homemade breads and pies.

There is no piece of plastic or silicone that can replace the memories attached to the tools of our past. I have the special green jadeite bowl my grandma let me stir Jiffy cornbread and muffin mixes in. The giant yellow Pyrex that held wax bags of Halloween popcorn. The white enamel pan, always from the Woolworths, that held the nightly peels from Grandpa's apples. The tinny lamb mold passed down for generations of Easter cakes. Food is family. Memories cherished and lessons learned.

My kitchen would make a great home filled with love, respect, and appreciation for this little rolling pin of the past. The one I currently use is a broomstick handle one that was my grandmas. If only that little pin could talk and share recipes! In my kitchen I have choppers and donut cutters, and biscuit cutters from the past, I use them because I feel a connection to our pasts that we shouldn't lose or forget. Where ever this little rolling pin ends up I hope it it truly loved!

My next door neighbor, Mrs. Norton, made mouth watering Butter Horn Rolls. As a child, I had the pleasure of standing on a chair watching her roll out her dough and raise her dough over the warm water well in her stove top. Upon her death, her family cleaned out everything. Lost was the beloved white granite pan used for popcorn and watching Lawrence Welk, and the red-handled rolling pin with stories to tell.

Several people wrote in to request the pin for someone else: to make a special pie for dad's birthday, to make memories with grandchildren, etc. One in particular caught my eye:

I saw that you were giving away a wooden rolling pin. I would like to enter my son, Ben. He is 16 and likes to make bread. This year he made pie crust for his 4H project and he was chosen to take to the State Fair. I would love to surprise him with a wooden pin like his great grandma would have used.

As a guy who entered baked goods at the Heart of Illinois Fair in Peoria for years, I thought Ben needed a decent rolling pin for the competition, so I restored a rolling pin that was in somewhat better condition and mailed it to his mother. She emailed to say she received it today and he'll be able to use it for his (hopefully) winning entry! Nothing I like better than encouraging another generation of bakers.

Many of the entries offered spiritual insights into the meaning of a less-than-perfect rolling pin:

I love the idea of you giving away the rolling pin. So, here’s why it should be in my kitchen. Like you, I learned from my mom how to cook and bake. My two grandmothers, Frieda and Katherine (who was married to a Lutheran pastor) also taught me how to bake! The rolling pin is not perfect. I’m not perfect. My friend, Peter Mayer who is the lead guitarist for Jimmy Buffet has a song, “Still in One Peace” that has a line “we are blessed and we are broken.” It is in the kitchen when I am baking that I feel most connected to Jesus the Bread of Life. As you say, “it isn’t bread unless it is blessed, broken and shared.” So, when I bake bread, I give most of it away.

Reclaim, refinish, reuse.
It's beautiful---I hope you find it a new home.
Even an old piece of wood deserves a second chance.

If God didn't love imperfections I would be in a lot of trouble:~) I would love to add this rolling pin to my kitchen.

This rolling pin is a physical example of our human spiritual life. Any brand new rolling pin is made in the image and likeness of Christ. This battered, bruised and bet up rolling pin is the image and likeness of our sinful nature. Restoring it is a sign of the forgiveness Christ bore for us on the cross. It's got the wounds to prove it. It would be treasured and used in my kitchen as a physical reminder of what Christ did for me on the cross. Of course I would expect it to blessed by your hand as Christ servant sealing in future blessings he promised all of us. This would make it complete and renewed in Christ again.

I think your rolling pin is prettier because of the "flaws" they tell a story that someone loved this and used it enough to give it those flaws.

God gives us everything on earth to nourish us properly, we just need to know how to use what we're given.

The winning entry came from Angie Hentz of Pontoon Beach, Illinois. I was genuinely moved by the beauty and tenderness of her description of her grandmother's fried pies.

My maternal Grandma was not known as a traditionally good cook. It is rumored that one of the first times my Dad met her, she was serving spaghetti mixed with cut up hot dogs. However, I always enjoyed what Grandma fixed when I was with her...grilled cheese, cereal, and stewed tomatoes straight from the can! There was, however, one thing that everyone loved from Grandma's kitchen...fried pies. Around Christmastime, she would boil the dried fruit all day and using her trusty butter knives, cut the lard into piles of flour. I can still see her little fingers dip into the water & sprinkle it in as she mixed the dough. When it was time, her rolling pin came out & smoothed the masses of what looked like messy crumbles into beautiful dough. She dipped her trusty jelly jar in to flour & cut rounds to fill with the thoughtfully cooked fruit. She would lay the fork-crimped little packages into the Crisco filled cast iron pan & magic would happen. The most heavenly smell wafted from her tiny kitchen and when those little pies were lifted out, and placed in the powder sugar filled paper bag, we knew that deliciousness was near. I don't have a lot of kitchen memories from my Grandma, but I will hold close to my heart the taste, smell, and warmth of those fried pies that were made with love. I would be so honored to pass on the loving memory of my Grandma's pies to my girls using your well-loved rolling pin.

I don't have a picture of a fried pie, so this peach galette will have to do!

My sincere thanks to everyone who entered. I enjoyed this a lot and will certainly have to do something like it again. Maybe the next thing will be a contest for a decent chef's knife----I have somehow managed to collect six of them (long story), and that's contrary to monastic poverty!

God bless and happy baking!

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Upcycling

7/27/2017

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Babka with a caramel and chocolate ganache filling.

Recently I posted a picture on my Facebook page of a chocolate babka I made using leftovers. We had mashed potatoes for supper, and about 3 cups remained, which is enough for a triple batch of Best Ever Crescent Roll Dough, which I find makes outstanding dinner rolls and coffeecakes. As I mixed the dough up I remembered that we also had some candy that was beginning to go a bit stale and was best used for baking. So I chopped up some walnut penuche and small pieces of dark chocolate and put them in a sauce pan. In another saucepan I heated up some half and half, then poured it over the candy and stirred it over very low heat until it was smooth. The result was a rich chocolate caramel ganache that made the perfect filling for babka. I had enough for two babka, one of which was devoured by the brethren at breakfast. The other I took as a treat for the staff at the doctor's office where I go for my diabetes---the irony was not lost on me or the secretaries!

When I shared the picture on Facebook, one Breadhead posted the comment "Another creation from 'Father Waste Not Want Not'! accompanied by a smiley emoticon. Seems that my love for using up what's in the pantry has been noticed by my fans! The abbot has commented on this tendency once or twice as well, with paternal approval for my monastic frugality, which I actually inherited from my Depression era grandmother. I hate to see anything go to waste, especially food, and I'm more likely to be inspired by what's in the fridge than what I see on Pinterest. Leftover corn goes into cornbread, an abundance of spinach from the garden means spinach pesto for pizza, stale bread is transformed into croutons or crostini.

The same compulsion fuels my love for thrift stores and flea markets. You may have already seen Bread Blogs about the bread quilts I make out of vintage dresser scarves and embroidered linens, or how I accessorized my monastery room with reclaimed oak and old rolling pins. I even made my trash receptacle out of an oak desk that had been water damaged. I'm grateful that in addition to learning how to bake from my mother, I was taught woodworking by my father, who was an amateur (but talented) carpenter. In my shop there is a lot of lumber rescued from pews, kneelers, desktops and bleachers, waiting to be transformed into a treasured piece of furniture or funky accessory.

That's why there is a large plastic tub in my shop filled with vintage rolling pins in need of restoration. I'm pretty particular about which ones I buy. They have to be less than $10, without plastic or ball bearings (preferably made entirely of wood) and in need of TLC. I or one of stage crew will strip off the old grime and stains with coarse sand paper, refinish the barrel with a finer grit, and repaint the handles as necessary. Then they get treated with Boos Block Mystery Oil to restore the wood. I've done a few this week, now that the weather isn't so beastly. My shop is attached on the stage in the (un-airconditioned) gymnasium, and it gets plenty hot and humid back there---last summer it got so hot in the stage right stairwell that the heat sensor went off and summoned the fire department!

My most recent restoration was a small rolling pin, only 9" across with a narrow barrel and red handles---because it's in the foreground of the photo, it looks larger than it is. It has a long stain down the length of it and some chips along the edges of the barrel, all of which are too deep to sand out. If you look carefully, you can see that it has a metal rod and one of the handles is slightly bent. But it still works just fine, and in spite of its faults I can't bring myself to throw it out. I keep thinking of a line in the poem "To Be of Use" by Marge Piercy: "The pitcher cries for water to carry." In the same way, the rolling pin, bent handle and all, longs for the grip of the baker and a slab of dough to work over. But, I already own a number of rolling pins of various sizes and purposes. What to do?

The obvious answer is to give it away, but I am reluctant to use it as a door prize, in case the winner is not so enamored with the charm of its imperfections. So here's the deal, Breadheads. If you think you would be willing to give this wounded warrior a good home, click on the button below ("Enter Here") or in the comments (which will display your email address ONLY to me) to send me an email with a short explanation of why your kitchen is the place where it belongs. (This reminds me of those Facebook posts with the pictures of unwanted shelter dogs!) On August 8th, the feast of St. Dominic, I will choose a winner and send it to you free of any charge (not even shipping and handling, unless you live outside of the continental United States, in which case we'll negotiate!)

Please note: By entering, you are giving me the right to quote from your entry in my Bread Blog without using your name, and if you win I have your permission to post your entry and your name in a post on this blog page. I promise, I won't use your email address for ANYTHING other than to contact you if you win. Enter now---the little rolling pin is waiting for your hands.

Now if you will excuse me, I have dough rising. We had deli sandwiches for lunch and there are a lot of leftover onions which are now minced and mixed into dough with herbs from the garden for dinner rolls.

Enter Here!

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Garlic Toast Stars

12/12/2016

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Go to the kitchen aisle of any second hand shop and chances are you'll find at least one canape bread mold, perhaps several. Pampered Chef used to sell them, and I'm told that people often bought them because they were a relatively inexpensive item, rather than because they intended to make fancy canapes. They no longer carry them, but Norpro still makes them and they are available on Amazon. But check the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores first, believe me. I own about a dozen of these and have never paid more than $2. In addition to these shapes, Norpro also sells one shaped like a five-pointed star, available separately.

I hosted a holiday gourmet pizza party last night and wanted to serve a soup course. I made a spicy minestone with homemade sausage, and decided to use the star bread mold to make toasted garlic stars. I used the same dough as for the pizza crusts, and made two loaves with the five-pointed star and two with the six-pointed. It's really simple: spray the inside of the mold and the lids with pan spray, drop in a portion of dough (enough to fill the mold about one-third) put the lid on and stand it upright to rise. I prefer to keep upright in the oven as well, but you can bake them on their sides,too. At 375 degrees F., the loaves are done in 12 to 15 minutes, and slide right out of the tubes. If you stand the loaves upright to cool, they don't get any weird hash marks from the wire rack.

For the garlic stars, I sliced the bread and spread the slices with butter mixed with garlic powder and a little Parmesan. Back on the pan and into the oven for 1o more minutes, (set the timer or you'll forget about them as I almost did!). The result is festive toasted garlic stars to adorn your Christmas buffet (you can use the six pointed star mold for celebrating Hannukah). You can easily bake the bread a day or two ahead of time, and the shaped loaves can easily fit in a packed holiday freezer if you make them even further ahead of time.

And time is the issue during the holidays, isn't it? Even monks can feel the pinch, especially since we don't do any decorating until December 23 or so. Do don't hit yourself with the guilt hammer if you don't have star-shaped garlic toast for the family buffet. Save the heart-shaped mold for Valentine's Day, or the flower-shaped one for Mother's Day. Store the idea for a rainy day when the kids are bored, and keep your eyes open at garage sales for the bread molds.

God bless and happy baking!

P.S. Be sure to go to my home page and get the link for a 50% off coupon for my Craftsy online baking class "Bake Your Best: Sweet Yeast Breads, Challah and More." No matter which holiday you celebrate this time of year, you'll learn a recipe and techniques to make a special holiday btteat for your family.

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Stitcher in the Kitchen

5/11/2016

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Pinterest is one of my favorite social media sites, not only for bread recipes (although that is reason enough to register!) but also for craft and DIY projects as well as woodworking, as I wrote in a previous Bread Blog. Some time ago I came across a pin of this lovely quilt made with squares cut from vintage dresser scarves and embroidered pillow cases. If you're interested in the quilter's story and want to see more pictures of her exquisite work, you can find her blog HERE. Regular readers of this Bread Blog know that I spend a lot of time in antique malls and thrift shops, and I regularly have come across antique and vintage embroidered linens, often with a rip or a stain which might keep them from display---but what good are they kept languishing in a drawer? I thought this quilt was a glorious way to upcycle them.

I've studiously avoided quilting for decades, if for no other reason than I know that once you've been stung by the quilting bee there is no turning back. There is ample evidence of this in my mother's home: venturing into her quilting fabric stash in the sewing room closet requires a life line and signal flares to find your way out. Just about the last thing I need is another hobby which requires ample storage space. But this quilt proved too much of an inspiration---or was it temptation? In any case, I knew I didn't have the skills or the time to create an entire queen size quilt. But a little bread quilt to cover the dough while it's rising? That I could manage.

I collected pieces over the course of several months, never paying more than $4. There were some glorious embroidered pillowcases that went for upwards of $15, but my thrifty monastic heart couldn't bear to spend that much. I looked for signs which read "50% off everything in booth" and scoured the piles of linens at Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Soon I had a tote bag full, which I then washed in hot water with OxiClean and ironed carefully.

I cut a 4.5" square out of plexiglas to use as a template so I could actually see what I was cutting and used a small rotary cutter to get good clean edges. I won't bore you with the details of my stitching adventures, but let me say that I made a few mistakes along the way and had what my Grandma Tootsie used to call "a rippin' good time"! I used one of her damask napkins as a backing but without any batting---I didn't want the piece to be too heavy. And may I add that whoever invented the technique known as "stitch in the ditch" obviously did not wear bifocals.

So here is the finished product, puckers and all. It has any number of technical and design flaws and wouldn't take any prizes at the county fair---but I couldn't be happier with it! I'm sure I'll be making more--my mother gave me some of Grandma Tootsie's embroidered linens, which means I know what my sisters are getting for Christmas this year. I figured I'd work out the kinks on this one before I used the family heirlooms. I finished the this morning and went straight to the kitchen to make a batch of white bread so I could put it to use.

I've always been a firm believer that having beautiful and meaningful tools in the kitchen makes the act of baking more meaningful as well. The dough whisk my mom bought for 50¢ at a rummage sale, the rolling pin made by my father, the antique mixing bowl a friend gave me--having these treasures in the kitchen drawers and cabinets inspire me to take time to bake more often, which is good for my busy soul at the harried end of a school year. Did my bread turn out better as a result? I'll let you be the judge.

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Tools for Batter Breads

8/11/2015

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Butter Pecan Breakfast Bread is an example of a quick bread or batter bread.

Although yeast breads are my specialty, I do enjoy making quick breads or batter breads, meaning breads that are leavened with baking powder or baking soda (or a combination of both) and therefore take less time than yeast breads. Scones, muffins, biscuits, waffles, pancakes and cornbread all fall into this category, so many of them are served at breakfast, brunch, or tea time. My new cookbook Breadhead Breakfast Treats will feature quite a few batter breads, since I have a supernatural love thing for anything that can be served with maple syrup and Irish Breakfast tea.

You can mix batter breads with nothing more than a bowl and a wooden spoon, but over the years I've found a few other utensils that make the process a little easier. I find that the plastic scraper in the upper left is handier than a rubber spatula for getting batter out of a bowl, plus it can be used to divide pizza dough and clean a counter top. Hodgson Mill sometimes gives them away free at demos (I usually have an ample supply at my demos) but you can get them at a lot of cooking stores for less than a dollar.

The three whisks pictured here are all made by different companies but serve the same purpose. They're all sturdier than most wire whisks and can mix batter breads faster and with less effort than with a wooden spoon. Since batter breads--especially muffins--can become dense and gummy when overmixed, it could be worth it to invest in one if you bake batter breads often. The top whisk is made by Best Manufacturing of Portland OR, the same company that makes my favorite flour duster and is a new addition to their catalog.* It's a little big for a single batch of pancakes, but if you mix larger batches of batter breads for Christmas gift giving, it's worth getting. I used it to make a double batch of zucchini bread this week and found it to be a great help, and easier to clean than a brotpiskar or dough whisk, which is what the next two tools are.

Brotpiskars are a Scandinavian invention (Danish or Swedish, depending on whom you talk to!) and are also for mixing batter breads and even yeast doughs. They come in two sizes, usually 14" and 11". The larger one in the photo is one my mom bought for me in 1979, and it's mixed hundreds if not thousands batches of dough. They are available from several distributors, including Amazon, King Arthur Flour and Fox Run. The smaller one was imported from Poland, and is available from Saint Bede Abbey's own Monks' Market website.

The small tool at the bottom of the photo is a heat-sensitive cake tester, manufactured by Nordic Ware. You insert the probe into your batter bread and wait a few seconds. The tip turns red when the cake or bread is done. (Please note that the cake tester is not for yeast breads, which finish baking at a lower temperature.) I know I can use a toothpick or a piece of uncooked spaghetti to test, but I saw this in a restaurant supply store for less than $5, so I decided I needed it! I appreciate having it when I have altered a recipe or used a different size of pan than the recipe calls for, so I'm less sure of baking times.

Since I posted a blog recently about owning too many tools, I'm hesitant to encourage more spending on utensils. But if you enjoy baking and do it often, you may find these mixers worth keeping in the drawer. I must confess, sometimes having the right tool encourages me to bake a particular recipe more often. Besides, none of the people who enjoy the results of my baking obsession have ever complained about the clutter!

God bless and happy baking!

*Full disclosure: Best Manufacturing sent me a sample of this "Baker's Whisk"--I received no additional compensation or benefit and all opinions expressed here are my own.

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Pinterest accessorized my monk's cell

6/1/2015

3 Comments

Some people might be surprised to discover that I'm on Pinterest, but there's a lot of great recipes to be found there--for bread and just about everything else--but lately I've been looking at up-cycling . When I saw the towel rack pictured to the left, I knew I had to make something similar for my monastery room.

One reason I've been thinking about such un-monastic things as interior decorating is that I'm in the process of moving from the third floor to the second floor of the abbey. There are a variety of reasons for this transfer, but one of the best is that it has made me clear out a LOT of old clothes, books I don't read and chachkies that I never dust anyway. Monks aren't supposed to be attached to material things, so this move was as much a spiritual exercise as a practical one.

Simplicity, however, doesn't mean squalor nor sterility, so I set out to add a few personal touches. The first was to have a vintage rolling pin rack for my aprons, bath towel, belt, etc.

I have never been able to watch a piece of vintage hardwood go into the trash, no matter beat up the piece of furniture might be. As a result I have in my scene shop a large selection of oak and cherry boards rescued from desks and tables destined for the dumpster. You can see that the board I used still has part of the desk drawer's locking mechanism. The rolling pins I collected at flea markets when I travel for bread demos. The hooks I made from some antique silverplated forks that came in a box of flatware somebody gave me from an estate sale.

I cut off the bottom part of the forks using a Dremel tool with a ceramic cutting wheel (yes, I always wear goggles and earplugs and you should, too) and then bent them with pliers wrapped in a rag so it wouldn't leave any marks on the metal. Then I shaped and smoothed the ends on a grinding wheel. The forks were really black, but I didn't want them to look too new, so I used some OOOO steel wool to give them a little shine but leave the design accented by the remaining tarnish. I think I need to make more of these---I have a whole box of old silver plate!

Here's another one I made to mount on the door to my room, so I have a place to hang my habit at night. This rolling pin was obviously stored in a garage or an abandoned house, because the other end of it was obviously chewed by a rat! You should have seen the size of the teeth marks---kinda creepy. I'm glad I was able to rescue it and put it to good use.

This "chair shelf" is probably the strangest new addition to my room. Click HERE to see the original inspiration---I think the unpainted chair looks much better. I had a single vintage folding chair back stage and never knew what to do with it. Now it's attached to my wall. In case you're wondering, I used the largest plastic anchors and a couple of extra large screws. You might need toggle bolts of mollys, depending on the composition of your wall.

You know how you take off a pair of pants and figure you're going to wear them again tomorrow? This is the perfect space for hanging up pants, shorts or a shirt, with the seat reserved for my favorite Cardinals hat.

I have a rule that for every ten ideas I "pin" on Pinterest, I have to make at least one of them. Otherwise it's just digital hoarding.

So what am I making next?

Maybe this . . .

Or this . . .

Or even this---I have an antique sewing machine base in storage somewhere backstage, and at least three oak desk tops.

Flea Market Flip's got nothin' on me.

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Terra Cotta Baking Dishes

5/6/2015

5 Comments

In my last post I wrote about having obtained a Romertopf terra cotta baking dish. These unglazed clay vessels are the descendants of the first clay cooking pots developed millennia ago. A covered clay dish can be used to produce moist, flavorful meats and exquisite steamed vegetables, as well as lofty loaves of bread with a delicate, crisp crust.

These baking vessels are pricey--the one pictured above (which can hold a small turkey) sells for around $80. I received mine as a gift from a friend who had located it in a resale shop for a fraction of that price. The instructions call for you to soak the pot in water for 20 minutes prior to use. The dough is allowed to rise to nearly doubled, the soaked top is put on, and then the whole business goes into a cold oven. The oven is then turned to 475 degrees F. and the bread is baked 45 minutes covered, then five or ten minutes uncovered so the top can brown. The steam in the enclosed vessel is what produces the crisp crust.

I discovered that the pot I have is really too large to make a single loaf of bread in it. But I got good results overall and the crust really was exquisite. Serendipitously, I found a smaller version by a different manufacturer in our local resale shop Lily Pads (one that supports providing shelter for the homeless). It was still $15, but I was happy to support the cause for the chance to do some more experimentation.

A recipe for two loaves of bread fit the vessel perfectly, and I kept things simple: water, yeast, flour, salt, a little honey, a splash of vegetable oil. The instructions said to slash the loaf before baking, which can be a dicey operation if you don't have a sharp knife. I find I get great results with an inexpensive sandwich knife with a wavy blade.

Here it is about to go in the oven, soaking wet. Because I have a con-vection oven, I reduced the temp to 425 degrees, but kept it in the oven the full 45 minutes before removing the lid. As the instruction booklet predicted, the loaf had hardly browned at all (except on the front edge--I think I should have rotated the pot halfway through), so I left it uncovered for another ten minutes before removing it from the oven.

Here is the highly satisfying result. The slashes opened up beautifully, the crust was crisp but not overly hard, and the interior of the loaf was soft with a tender crumb. The loaf is still quite large compared to your average grocery store sandwich loaf, but based on how much was devoured at breakfast this morning, I don't think the brethren had any serious problems with that! I was glad to have an extra long bread knife to cut across such a wide loaf.

One other problem I discovered has to do with bio-chemistry. When dough rises in a too-warm environment, the yeast and its accompanying bacteria produce enzymes that are slightly acrid, or at least odd tasting. When you put the terra cotta baker with its dough in a cold oven and let it heat gradually, you create conditions ideal for producing these "off" flavors. (A slow rise in a cool environment, by contrast, produces better flavor and texture.) I noticed the odd aroma/flavor when I sliced into the bread this morning. Toasting helped alleviate this problem, but if you make a PBJ or other sandwich you may notice the difference. Putting a soaking wet, unglazed vessel into a hot oven, however, might be a recipe for a small explosion, or at least a cracked lid, but I suspect I'll give it a try nonetheless.

I'm sure there will be plenty of other terra cotta experiments to come, which I promise to share in this Bread Blog. Does anyone else use a terra cotta making dish or cloche of some kind? I'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, God bless and happy baking!

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Baking dishes old and new

4/23/2015

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Some time ago I posted on Facebook that I had obtained a Lékué silicon baker, a new product that allows you to mix and bake bread in the same vessel (Click HERE to see the video from the manufacturer). Since I tend to use tools and pans that are decidedly "old school" (anything designed after the 1800's is considered "new-fangled") I wasn't immediately attracted to it, but I had an Amazon gift card and thought maybe I should test it as a service to my loyal Breadheads.
In order to make a fair test, I carefully followed the directions for one of the bread recipes that came with the bread mold, including weighing the ingredients European- style (Lékué is headquartered in Barcelona). I used the recipe titled "Easy-to-Make No-Knead Bread" in part because it requires a long slow rise (6 to 8 hours) which suited my schedule for the day. I mixed the dough at 12:30 p.m., right after midday prayers. The mixing process was not enhanced by the floppiness of the silicon mold, and the suggested spatula became increasingly useless as the dough got stiffer, so I switched to a wooden spoon. As directed, I mixed the ingredients, closed up the little tab and covered it with a towel.
I checked the dough throughout the afternoon, and found it had risen to the top of the rim by 4 p.m. and it never rose any further. I followed the instructions for baking: 425 degrees F. for 40 minutes, then I removed the loaf from the pan and baked it 10 more minutes on the open rack. The result was an oddly-shaped but definitely crusty loaf of bread, not very browned, but that's what I expected with a recipe that had no sugar and a long rising period.

As you can see, the dough was over-risen, because it didn't get any "oven-spring"--extra loft you get in the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking. Notice too the holes in the surface of the dough which was next to the pan. I suspect that's a function of the wetness of the dough, which was really more like a very thick batter. The finished result, when toasted, reminded me of English muffins.

I'll be doing some more experimentation with this new gadget. I did find the "mix and bake in one vessel" aspect appealing, and the mold can be wiped clean with a damp cloth in about 30 seconds. If I do the wet dough recipe again, I think I'll try letting rise only four to six hours and see what happens. There are several more recipes in the booklet to test as well---stay tuned.

This week I also received a Romertopf unglazed clay pot. The company has been around since 1967 (check out their website HERE) but the technique of cooking or baking in a clay pot goes back to the very origins of of cooking itself. There are plenty of advantages to baking in unglazed clay vessels: more even heat, better crust, and the bread never fails to come out of the pan, among others. The advantage to baking in a covered unglazed vessel is that you can soak the pot in water before the dough goes in, which produces steam during the baking process. The steam allows the dough surface to remain soft during the period of oven spring, making for loftier loaves. The moisture also dissolves sugars on the surface of the dough, so after the steam evaporates, the sugars caramelize and create a glossy, golden brown crust. Read more HERE. There is a style of clay baking pot with a lid called a cloche, but they are a little pricey (as is the Romertopf pictured above--$80+!) and I could never afford one. But my friend found one (virtually unused) at a second hand store for a fraction of the cost, and gifted it to me. I'll be baking with it this weekend and give you a further report next week.

God bless and happy baking!

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Potato ricers and casserole dishes

9/1/2014

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Most Breadheads know that my favorite dough for any kind of roll or bun is my Best Ever Crescent Roll Dough recipe. The added potatoes make for a soft roll with a tender crumb, and is the secret ingredient in almost all of the recipes for state fair and 4-H blue ribbon winners. Today I made some delicious herb rolls to accompany grilled pork chops for Labor Day, using some leftover parsley potatoes that were in chunks, not mashed. To get perfectly smooth potato for the dough I used a ricer.

Perhaps not everyone is familiar with this rather old-fashioned kitchen gadget, but there's nothing better for producing light, fluffy mashed potatoes. The cooked, peeled potato pieces go into the hopper, and the two handles are pressed together, like a giant garlic press. The process of extrusion forces air into the potato puree, resulting in lighter, fluffier mashed potatoes that are perfectly smooth, and therefore ideal for bread making. There are commercial versions with a slightly different design, some of which cost as much as $130, but you can get the model pictured here, which is the same one I use, for less that $15 at Target.

I baked the rolls in round, glass casserole dishes. I like using round pans for dinner rolls, because they look so pretty in a basket on the table. A 1.5 quart casserole dish will hold a dozen rolls made with 2 ounces of dough each. For a 2-quart dish, you can make the rolls 2.5 ounces each. Any leftover dough can be baked in a loaf pan. Remember that when using glass dishes for baking, reduce the temperature by 25 degrees F., because glass heats up faster and retains heat longer.

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