Monday, April 12, 2010
Brioche
I made a brioche loaf last night. When I took it out of the oven, one half was a beautiful golden brown. Then there was a split and the other half was lighter and looked more like the dough. I double checked the directions and they did not suggest slashing the loaf. I have put in a question to the authors on their website, so we'll see if I get a response. All of that being said, I think it was the best bread Sonny has ever had. It was really good. The crust was soft and made for a great dinner bread. I will definitely try it again. I also think it would make a good dough for dinner rolls and I may try that with this batch.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Amish Friendship Bread
About a month ago, Dana gave me an Amish Friendship bread starter and a recipe for a really tasty almost cake-like bread. It is made with pudding and I've tried vanilla and chocolate so far. The vanilla was delicious, but the chocolate just didn't quite taste chocolate-y enough to me. I have two starters going right now, due to be done on Wednesday. Here's my plan.
-Thursday night dinner: Herman Pancakes
-Lemon poppyseed bread with lemon pudding
-A sourdough-ish bread - this makes 3 loaves. I might try to freeze one and see how it does (another site http://melissaringstaff.blogspot.com/2009/03/q-sweet-sourdough-tutorial.html)
-pizza crust - maybe
Other recipes to think about
I have really enjoyed this started but it is starting to take over. I really need to find some people to give starter to, I guess.
-Thursday night dinner: Herman Pancakes
-Lemon poppyseed bread with lemon pudding
-A sourdough-ish bread - this makes 3 loaves. I might try to freeze one and see how it does (another site http://melissaringstaff.blogspot.com/2009/03/q-sweet-sourdough-tutorial.html)
-pizza crust - maybe
Other recipes to think about
I have really enjoyed this started but it is starting to take over. I really need to find some people to give starter to, I guess.
This Week's Bread Adventures
This week, Sonny asked me if we could have homemade rolls. I did a little research on the artisan bread in five minutes a day website http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=443 and found a recipe for "thanksgiving buns". I used the master starter for this, but they said that you could use any of their doughs. So I shaped 6 little mini loafs by their directions. When they came out, I put a little butter on the top to soften them up. They were delicious, and I should have made more than six. The kids loved them too. Maybe I need to start adding pictures, because they even looked good.
With the rest of the dough I made a couple loaves of artisan bread for a girls' night and left Sonny some too. I need to remember to post that recipe and video on Facebook. It really is too easy and cheap not to share.
This morning I made the brioche dough. I had been determined to do it all week and couldn't keep the kitchen clean long enough to get it done. Today was no different, but I pushed things out of the way. I had a plan - a New Orleans brunch. The Artisan Bread in Five cookbook gave a recipe for beignets that could be made with brioche. Dana's friend Zoe posted some FB pictures of some she made a few weeks ago and they looked heavenly. Plus, while I was buying Sonny's coffee this week I spotted Community Brand New Orleans Style coffee with chicory. That settled it. I spent nearly all morning, but in the end I had my beignets and cafe au lait. Some of the beignets were perfect, but several of them were hollow. Now I need to figure out what causes that to happen. Sonny thinks I need to do it purposefully and stuff them with something. I informed him that those would then be eclairs or profiteroles, not beignets. Still, they were good and he certainly enjoyed his share too. Need to keep a better eye on oil temperature in the future. Maybe that was an issue. I also noticed later that my dough had not fully risen. That could have been a factor as well.
Still thinking about making a loaf of brioche tonight for whatever we're having for dinner. Plus, I think it would make for wonderful french toast for a breakfast night. We'll see what gets done though. Now on to clean up the kitchen. Its even more of a wreck after the beignets.
With the rest of the dough I made a couple loaves of artisan bread for a girls' night and left Sonny some too. I need to remember to post that recipe and video on Facebook. It really is too easy and cheap not to share.
This morning I made the brioche dough. I had been determined to do it all week and couldn't keep the kitchen clean long enough to get it done. Today was no different, but I pushed things out of the way. I had a plan - a New Orleans brunch. The Artisan Bread in Five cookbook gave a recipe for beignets that could be made with brioche. Dana's friend Zoe posted some FB pictures of some she made a few weeks ago and they looked heavenly. Plus, while I was buying Sonny's coffee this week I spotted Community Brand New Orleans Style coffee with chicory. That settled it. I spent nearly all morning, but in the end I had my beignets and cafe au lait. Some of the beignets were perfect, but several of them were hollow. Now I need to figure out what causes that to happen. Sonny thinks I need to do it purposefully and stuff them with something. I informed him that those would then be eclairs or profiteroles, not beignets. Still, they were good and he certainly enjoyed his share too. Need to keep a better eye on oil temperature in the future. Maybe that was an issue. I also noticed later that my dough had not fully risen. That could have been a factor as well.
Still thinking about making a loaf of brioche tonight for whatever we're having for dinner. Plus, I think it would make for wonderful french toast for a breakfast night. We'll see what gets done though. Now on to clean up the kitchen. Its even more of a wreck after the beignets.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)