You have to try this, tomorrow!

I don't have pictures, but you can use your imagination for this one.

Cut some bacon into smallish pieces, cook in a pan until crispy and then drain on some paper towels. When cooled, chop finer.

Add 1 teaspoon of yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar to 1/2 cup warm water (105 degrees), let it sit to activate and get frothy.

In a large bowl, sift:
1 cup corn meal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Separate three eggs and whisk the whites until they form stiff peaks. Set aside.

Add yeasty water, about 1 cup of buttermilk, 2 tablespoons of melted butter and egg yolks to the dry ingredients, mix. Fold in the egg whites gently. Cover and set aside for up to an hour to rise.

Heat your waffle iron, spray with oil, put in a scoop of batter, sprinkle with chopped bacon and cook.

These are great served with a little butter and maple syrup.

YUM!

My New Favorite Thing!

Seriously, who doesn't like going to a middle eastern restaurant and dipping hot flat breads into fresh hummus? Or wrapping up some savory meats in a soft, spongy piece of bread?

Recently we've restricted our budget to only eating at home. I hope it doesn't have to last forever since eating out is a great joy of mine. However a few positive things have come as a result that I did not expect:

1) I look forward to eating out less in the future. Yes, I said it. I'm looking forward to being more intentional and strategic about where I eat out. I want to try local ethnic restaurants to inspire me and meet new people. I don't want to eat out what I can make at home. I want to challenge myself to try other flavors.

2) Eating in for 40 days has forced me to make the things I crave. Before if I was craving hummus and flat bread, I would head out and order a mezza platter.

This all leads to me making a SUPER easy flat bread at home that saves for up to 4 days or can be frozen.

Homemade Flat Bread

• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• More water as needed

Add yeast and sugar to warm water and set aside. In a mixer fitted with a dough hook add flour and salt, whisk together. When the yeasty water is frothy (about 3-5 minutes), add to the flour and turn to speed 2 or 4. Continue to add a little more water until the dough has pulled away from the sides. If it's too sticky add more flour. Once the dough is fully incorporated and looks soft, remove from mixer and place on floured surface. Kneed a few times to form a silky, elasticy ball. Place dough in a lightly oiled larger bowl and cover with plastic wrap or damp towel. It's best to make sure the dough was coated with oil on top too so a dry crust does not form. Let rise for 1-2 hours, punch down, form into a ball again and cover. Let rise for up to 3 hours longer.

Remove dough from bowl and kneed a few times. Portion dough into equally sized balls. The larger the ball the larger the flat bread. Somewhere between a golf ball and a racquetball. Let the balls rest for 10 minutes. Roll out until they are pretty thin.

Cook in a pan on medium high heat. Spray or brush both sides of the bread with a little bit of oil. When they are browned and bubbly they are ready to come off. Store on a plate with a clean kitchen towel to wrap them in.  Serve warm.
Store them in an ziplock bag up to four days. Heat on the stove top when ready to enjoy.


(PS - This is pretty much the same recipe I use for pizza dough or my pizza frita. It's very versatile.)

Sweet Braided Breads

For Christmas everyone I know is getting bread. My little experiment with French Bread led me to a recipe for Sweet Yeasty Bread. They are easy, lovely and SO tasty!

Braided Sweet Bread

~Print Recipe~

Sponge:
1 ½ Tb yeast
1 Tb sugar
¼ c. warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 ¼ c. warm milk (105-115 degrees F)
2 c. unbleached flour

Dough:
2 large eggs
zest from 1 orange
2 t. salt
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. each dried fruits: apricots, raisins, cranberries. Chopped fine.
2 ½ to 3 c. unbleached flour
Sponge
1 ½ sticks butter (3/4 c.) cut into small pieces

Rich Egg Glaze:
1 egg
1 Tb. Milk

Makes 3 loaves.

1. Sponge: in mixer using the paddle, combine ingredients, and beat hard until smooth about 1 min. Cover and let rest for about 30 min.
2. Add eggs, zest, salt, sugar, dried fruits and 1 cup more flour. Beat until smooth. Add butter a few pieces at a time and beat until incorporated.
3. Change to dough hook. Add the remaining flour ¼ cup at a time to form a soft dough. Dough should be very soft but just starting to come away from the side of bowl.
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Kneed until smooth, shiny and soft, about 10 turns. Place in a greased bowl, let rise about 2 hours. Gently deflate, recover and let rise for 12-24 hrs in refrigerator.
5. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and divide into 9 equal portions. Roll each section into a strip with your hands and lay 3 strips side by side. Braid the dough and pinch each end to hold together and tuck under. Place on a pan lined with parchment. Cover and let rise until almost doubled. About 40 minutes. It will finish rising in the oven. Preheat oven to 350.
5. Brush with rich egg glaze. Bake until hollow sounding when tapped, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

The images above are from my first two loaves. I've since made about 12 more and they are soo much better looking! Also, I added the dried fruit during the braiding step in these. Having them in the dough makes the whole thing much easier and results in a more uniform loaf.

French Bread

I decided recently that I would learn how to make French Bread. This can be a lift-long learning challenge and I knew that from the get-go. What I didn't know is that after only 4 batches I've really started to enjoy the process and the results.

It started with a little online research and reading from a few books on bread. Since I didn't want to invest in anything here is my recipe and directions with ingredient and tools in your home.

French Bread

~Print Recipe~

Dough:
1 ½ Tb. Dry yeast
1 Tb. Sugar
2 c. warm water (105-115 degrees F)
5-6 c. unbleached flour
1 Tb salt or more (I like more, up to 2 Tb. but usually 1 1/2 Tb.)
Cornmeal for sprinkling (or parchment paper, not wax paper)

Egg Wash:
1 egg white
splash of water
1 t. salt


1. Create a sponge or pre-ferment with 1 c. water, 1 c. flour, yeast, and sugar. Combine well and let rest for 30 minutes.
2. In a heavy duty mixer combine 4 c. flour, salt and sponge. Using a dough hook, mix and kneed for about 5 min. Adjust water and flour to create soft, silky, and resilient dough.
3. Turn onto lightly floured surface and kneed a few more times to create a nice ball. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for about 2 hours.
4. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and kneed a few more times (about 10-20 turns). Divide into portions for separate loaves. Let rest for a few minutes.
5. Shape into loaves. And place on a pan that was dusted with corn meal.
6. Score top, brush with Egg Wash.
7. Bake for 20-40 minutes at 400. Place a small heat proof baking dish with at least 1 inch of water in the oven on the rack below the bread.

Here is a helpful link: The Fresh Loaf

Good visual and pictures here: Artisan Bread Making