Archive for the ‘Bread’ Category

Whole Wheat Bread in a Slow Cooker

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

My sister gave me a slow cooker (aka crock pot) a couple of years ago. She uses hers all the time. She is a very organized person and will whip something up before she heads to work and come home to a ready-to-go one-dish dinner. I’m not that organized in the morning and since we don’t have the counter space, mine is stored in the back of a cabinet and I often forget about it. This week, I pulled it out.

I have made various soups and casserole-type dishes in mine, but I wanted something new. While searching for recipes, I came across a couple things that I would have never thought you could make in a slow cooker — bread and cakes. How cool is that?

I make bread all of the time and I was excited to see how fast and simple the slow-cooker bread was. It didn’t have the delicious crust that I get with
my standard recipe, but it is great for sandwich bread.

If you want to see all of the crazy things you can cook in your slow cooker, check out A Year of Slow Cooking. Good stuff.

The biggest challenge is finding an oven-proof dish that fits in your slow cooker.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk or buttermilk
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 whole egg
1/4 cup millet
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

Method

  • Grease a deep ovenproof dish (I used a 1.5 quart Corningware dish).
  • In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water; mix and let sit for five minutes.
  • Add milk, oats, salt, oil, honey, egg and ground flax seeds. Mix well.
  • Add flour and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
  •  Turn dough into an oven-proof dish (sized to fit in your slow cooker).
  • In bottom of the slow cooker, place 1/2 cup of water and a trivet or something to elevate the dish off the bottom of the cooker.
  • Place dish on the trivet; set a piece of oiled foil over the dough. From what I can tell, the foil is to keep the condensation from making the top soggy.
  • Cover and bake on high for 3 hours.
  • Remove and let cool on a wire rack.
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Curried Cauliflower Flatbread

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

flatbreadThis delicious flatbread is a variation of a recipe from New York Times writer Mark Bittman. Serve it with a meal or as an appetizer.

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower head, finely chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
1 teaspoon each salt and ground black pepper
1 cup whole wheat flour
I can of coconut milk (or substitute 2 1/4 cups of regular milk)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 clove garlic, minced

Method:

  • Heat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Toss cauliflower with two tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper and place in a roasting pan. Spread into a single layer and roast until tender and nicely browned (10 to 15 minutes). Stir occasionally.
  • Place flour into a bowl. Add coconut milk and whisk together. The mixture should be about the consistency of pancake batter.
  • Sprinkle the roasted cauliflower with curry powder and turmeric and toss. Add garlic and fold cauliflower into batter.
  • Add two tablespoons of olive oil to a 10-inch oven-proof skillet and put in oven. Heat for a few minutes.
  • Once oil is hot, remove skillet from the oven and add batter. Spread evenly.
  • Return skillet to oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until flatbread is well browned and the edges are crispy.
  • Let it rest for five minutes, then cut into wedges.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves six to eight.

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Pita Bread

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

pitabreadI made another big batch of baba ganoush. Nothing suits it better than homemade, hot-out of-the-oven pita bread. Seriously.

The key to getting a pocket to form is a really hot oven. Mine didn’t form perfect pockets by any means but I didn’t care. They were delicious anyway. This recipe is adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
3 cups flour (1/2 white; 1/2 wheat)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
olive oil

Method
-Dissolve yeast in warm water; with sugar/honey, stir and let stand for 5 minutes.
-Mix flour and salt in a large bowl.
-Add yeast/water mix to flour and mix well.
-Turn dough to a flour surface and knead for about 10 minutes.
-Place dough in a large oiled bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until double in size (about an hour).
- Punch dough down and knead for a few minutes then divide into 6 balls. Let stand for 15 minutes.
-Heat oven to 475ºF. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven to heat.
-On a lightly floured surface, roll balls into circles 1/2 thick and about as wide as your hand.
-If using a pizza stone, place the dough two at a time on the stone (or as many that will fit). If using a baking sheet, place the rolled out dough on an ungreased baking sheet. You can also place the dough directly on the oven rack. Cook for 8-10 minutes. The dough should puff up.
-Remove pita bread from the oven, wrap in a clean towel and place in paper bag for 15 minutes. This will deflate the bread and create the pocket.

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Naan

Friday, May 15th, 2009

I’ve been experimenting with naan recipes. Some of my batches would be great for pizza dough, but tasted nothing like naan. This recipe is close to restaurant-style naan, but I think you need a tandori oven to really pull it off. Apparently if you have a pizza stone, you can get close to tandori-made naan. I don’t have a pizza stone, so I just used a baking sheet.

Ingredients
2 cups of flour (white or whole wheat)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon melted butter or ghee

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 500ºF with pizza stone or baking sheet on the lower rack.
1. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Sift together sugar, salt, baking soda and flour.
3. Add the oil, water/yeast mixture and yogurt and mix well.
4. Knead until the dough is smooth, about 5-6 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.
5. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, 3-4 hours.
8. Gently knead the dough for a couple minutes and divide it into six equal parts.
9. Take each piece of dough, and hand-flatten to a disk about 1/2 thick. Don’t worry if it isn’t even, that gives it character.
10. Place two pieces on the pizza stone/baking sheet at a time. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until puffy and light golden brown.
11. Allow the stone/baking sheet to heat back up for a few minutes before making the next batch. Since I am impatient, I use two baking sheets. One sheet is heating up while the other is cooking the naan.
11. Remove naan from oven and brush with butter or ghee.
Serve hot.
Yu-umm.

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Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

These are not quite as fluffy as store-bought ones, but are delicious and quick…only 40 minutes from start to burger.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° F to 115° F) 1/3 cup olive oil or melted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon ground flax seeds
3 to 3-1/2 cups wheat flour (for a lighter bun, use white flour or a combination of wheat and white)

Method:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil/butter and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and mix enough flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-5 minutes. Do not let rise.

Divide into 8 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place on greased baking sheets and flatten. This dough tends to rise upward not out, so be sure the diameter is the size you want the bun. My first batch looked like golf balls.

Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Makes 8 buns.

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Cheddar-Millet Crackers

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

I’ve become a big millet fan. I love the crunch it adds to baked goods. According to The World’s Healthiest Foods, millet is a good source of magnesium and like other whole grains has heart-protective properties and can lower the risk of type two diabetes.

I also added flax seeds and turmeric for an extra nutritional boost. Heck, unlike store bought crackers, these are actually good for you!

You can pretty much add whatever you want to crackers. You just need to keep a balance between the dry and wet ingredients so that you are able to roll them out thinly. (Too sticky? Add more flour. Falling apart? Add more liquid).

Ingredients
1 cup wheat flour (more if needed)
1/4 cup millet (rinsed)
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons coconut oil or unsalted butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon water (or more if needed)

Method
1. Heat oven to 400º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (thanks Christine!).
2. Add flour, coconut oil or butter, salt, cheese in bowl of a food processor. Pulse until flour and butter are combined.
3. Add yogurt and pulse until mixture holds together but is not sticky.
4. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/4-inch (or thinner) add flour as needed to keep from sticking.
5. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet. For a crispier cracker, roll the dough out a bit more on the baking sheet. I like them 1/8-inch. I find it easier to thin them out on the baking sheet rather than transferring the flimsy dough.
6. Score lightly with a knife or pizza cutter. Sprinkle with salt, fresh cracked pepper or other topping if you like (poppy seeds?) .
7. Bake until lightly browned. Start checking at 10 minutes. The thicker the cracker the longer they take. My last batch took almost 20 minutes.
8. Cool on a rack; and break apart. They should stay fresh for a few days.

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Homemade Baking Powder

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Did you know you can make baking powder? The benefit is no aluminum, which for a discerning pallet can be off-putting. Plus, who wants to eat aluminum?

1/4 cup cream of tarter
2 tablespoons baking soda

Sift all of the ingredients together a few times
Store in a tight-sealing jar, in a cool dark place. It only keeps for a couple of months, so don’t make too much at a time.

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