Breadblogging, part I

I've been trying to figure out how to make bread for a long time. A very long time. I had actually given up for quite some time, but somehow this week I was inspired and decided to give it another try. After a couple of attempts, I came up with a recipe that was very successful. So successful, in fact, that one of the two loaves was gone in a couple of hours. So, here's the recipe, or more accurately the method, that I used:

First, make a sponge. Combine:
2 3/4 cups bottled water (filtered or well will work, just not tap water since chlorine and yeast don't play in the same sandbox) - heated to between 110 and 115F
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package active dry yeast.
Stir together, then let sit for 10 minutes or so while the yeast blooms. Then, add 3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and mix with the paddle attachment on the stand mixer for 10-15 minutes. The result will be a gooey, sticky mess. Put in a glass bowl, cover loosely, and refrigerate overnight.

The next day the sponge will have roughly doubled in size and will smell rather fantastic. Take the sponge out of the fridge and put it into the stand mixer bowl. Fit the dough hook onto the stand mixer and run the hook through the sponge to mix the gas around. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and about 1 1/2 cups of flour, stir in with a wooden spoon or spatula, and then start the dough hook again. Keep adding flour until the dough starts to pull off the side of the bowl and forms into a dough ball. (I actually put a little less flour in this batch - the dough comes out a bit sticky and flimsy, but the bread is a bit lighter and moister that way). Knead the dough with the hook for about 15-20 minutes, then pull the dough out of the bowl, divide in half, and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Shape the dough into loaves, then place into a loaf pan (we use a "stone" loaf pan). Put a casserole dish on the bottom rack of the oven filled halfway with boiling water from a tea kettle, and put the loaves on the upper rack. Close the oven and let the bread proof for an hour or so. Remove everything, and heat the oven to 400F. Put the bread in once the oven is hot and bake for 40 minutes or until the loaves are brown on top and sound hollow when tapped. Remove the bread from the oven, and let it sit for 30 minutes. As tempting as it is to cut right into it, the carryover is still cooking the inside of the bread at this point, so you must discipline yourself and let it just rest.

Once it has rested and cooled, slice thin, put on a bit of butter, and enjoy.

Next up is wheat bread, then we'll be working on some sourdough. I can't wait!

The meat grinder

I mentioned in a previous post that we bought a half ribeye from the store and cut some very nice 1 1/4 inch thick steaks from it. Four nice, thick, juicy steaks to be exact. There is just nothing like ribeye for a steak lover. That being said, what happened a couple of days later may border on evil, but... With an odd-sized chunk left over from the end, we cut the remaining ribeye into chunks, fed them through the meat grinder, and made the most delicious ribeye burgers I have ever had. I would never buy ribeye steaks to grind up, but since it was inexpensive, leftover, and not properly shaped for an honest steak, hey, why not? That burger alone was worth buying the meat grinder for.

Katherine's Red Lentil Curry

When your food allergies only allow a limited set of foods, it is somewhat tricky to come up with sufficient sources of protein in sufficient variety to keep picky little taste buds happy. Fortunately, Katherine seems to like lentils enough that we can work those into the mix. They are a great source of protein, and tasty to boot.

Note: We make our own chicken broth by putting half of a natural chicken into a pressure cooker with about 2 quarts of water and a dash of salt, cooking at high pressure for 30 minutes, then allowing the pressure to release naturally and straining the broth. We put it in the fridge overnight and skim the fat in the morning, then freeze 2 cup portions to work with.

Mix together 2 cups of homemade chicken broth, a dash of salt, 3/4 cup of red lentils, half a tablespoon of curry powder, and 2 small seeded chopped fresh tomatos. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are soft but not mushy. Use a stick blender to puree some of the lentils to a desired consistency. We puree more than I'd like, but just because little K has some trouble digesting at this point.

Rib Rub

Everyone has to have their secret rub for barbecue, right? Except, I don't see how keeping it a secret makes any sense, since I'd just as soon we all shared and had better food as a result. So, here's how I do ribs. I made up the rub as a conglomeration of Alton Brown's recipe, plus one used by a (sort of) relative, plus just what I thought would work well.

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup table salt
1 1/2 T chili powder
1 1/2 T paprika
1 t dry mustard
1 t onion powder
fresh ground pepper
1/2 t thyme leaves
dash of coriander
1 t cayenne pepper (more or less to taste, probably more... :-) )

Shake it all together to blend well. When the time comes to eat:

Take a slab of ribs and put a drizzle of canola oil on each side. Put a generous portion of rub on each side and work it in with the oil. Some people advocate mixing rub with oil to make a paste; I don't like doing it that way, but whatever fits your fancy. Let the ribs sit (in the fridge) with the rub for an hour or so. Then, fire up the smoker and smoke the ribs for 3-4 hours at around 225 F. The meat should be pulling back from the bone, nice and tender but not too dry. Let the ribs sit for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, fire up the grill and let it warm up to about 450F. Turn the heat down to medium direct and grill the ribs for about 3 minutes per side, just enough to carmelize the outside and put a bit of a crust on the ribs. You don't need any sauce with these. The rub and the smoke make an excellent flavor combination, and the crust makes a really nice texture contrast. Yum. As much as I prefer wine with a meal, these go absolutely excellent with a good beer. Sorry, Professor Bainbridge.

Also, you can use all paprika with no chili powder (i.e. 3 T paprika), mix in some garlic powder, and douse chicken wings with the rub. Let them stand for about an hour in the fridge, then grill right about 400F for 10-15 minutes per side, depending on how done you like them.

At some point, I'll dig up a good recipe for sauce, and we'll have another rib post, using a glaze instead of a rub. I can't wait.