Sourdough Saturday… “Pain de Mie”

 This Sourdough Saturday really isn’t a sourdough bread. Today we made “Pain de Mie” or better known in America as “Pullman Bread”. 

This is the last French bread recipe in our cookbook and I love the how easy everything this was to make…💝  This is an enriched dough of milk, sugar and butter that becomes well-developed as the fat and sugar works together. 

Traditionally this bread is baked in a special square pan with a lid on top known s. “Pullman Loaf Pan”, so that it comes out totally square, perfect for sandwiches and Croque Monsieur. 

The recipe makes two loaves, the first loaf is fresh Basil & Asiago Cheese and the second loaf is just plain. 

Recipe:

 1/4 cup warm milk

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar 

1 package instant yeast— 1 1/2 Tablespoons if measuring from tin

1 1/2 cups whole milk 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter 

5 cups (19 ounces/544 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup warm milk , sugar, and yeast. Let rest until bubbly, about 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, combine the milk and butter. Heat until hot to the touch and the butter has melted, about 1 1/2 minutes. (you can use microwave or a small saucepan over low heat, being careful not to let the milk boil). 

When the yeast has begun to foam, add the flour and salt to the bowl. Pour in the milk and butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. 

 Knead the dough on until soft, smooth, and elastic, but moving cleanly off the sides of the bowl, you can knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface for about 10 to 15 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Lightly grease a 13-by-4-inch Pullman pan and its lid with oil or nonstick cooking spray. Next, shape the loaf: Flour a work surface generously, place dough on work surface shaping the dough into a rectangle as you do so, approximately 10 inches by 7 inches in size. With the short end closest to you, fold the longer left side into the center of the rectangle, pressing the seam tightly. Repeat with the longer right side. Repeat this folding into the center with the two short sides. Rotate the dough 90° so one longer side is now closest to you. Fold and press the longer sides into the center once more. Flip the dough over—you should now have a nice smooth surface for the top of the loaf. Gently and evenly roll the dough back and forth to form a 13-inch log. Place the dough in the prepared loaf pan. 

Cover the pan with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for a second time until it reaches just about 1 inch from the lip of the pan, no higher, 45 minutes to an hour. Position a rack to the center of the oven, and preheat it to 400°F. Slide the cover onto the pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for 20 minutes more, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the loaf reads 190°F. Turn the bread out of the pan onto a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

 

Thrifty Thursday… “Tijuana Toss”

 Thrifty Thursday.... I have lots of leftovers and I have been craving a Mexican style casserole that my mom use to make called "Tijuana Toss", this is what I came up with... 

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1/2 medium yellow onion diced

2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 cloves

1/4 cup taco seasoning

1/2 cup water

1 bottle of Avocado salsa

1 can corn (I used leftover roasted)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3-5 cups crushed tortilla chips 

3 cups shredded cheese jack and cheddar

2 medium tomato diced, save 1 for garnish

1 bunch green onions sliced for garnish

1 cup shredded lettuce for garnish

sour cream for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet over medium heat until the meat is browned and the onions softens.

Add minced garlic to the skillet and saute for 1-2 minutes longer.

Add taco seasoning and water and stir over medium heat until well combined.

Stir the tomatoes (juices included), corn and black beans into the meat mixture and heat through.

Line the prepared baking dish with 1/3 bottle of salsa and 1 cup of tortilla chips overlapping slightly to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.

Spread 1⁄3 of the meat mixture over the tortillas. Sprinkle 2 cups of the cheese over the meat mixture.

Continue layering salsa, tortilla chips, meat mixture, and cheese to form three layers total.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 minutes until casserole is bubbly and the cheese is fully melted.

Garnish with diced tomatoes and green onion. Let the casserole sit for 10 minutes for easy slicing and serving.

Serve with sour cream, tomatoes lettuce and extra cheese. We added diced cucumbers too.

TWD: The Everything Cake

 Our Tuesday's With Dorie this week was her recipe for "The Everything Cake" found on page 129 in her new cookbook "Baking with Dorie: Sweet & Salty & Simple". 

Since we are encouraged not to post the recipe I will share that this is a very simple traditional sponge style cake, but instead of using 6 whole eggs, her recipe only calls for 3 whole eggs and no cream of tarter. 

Even though Dorie lists several different combinations of flavors and mix-ins, I  loved the look of her cake that she has pictured, so I also made mine with what I think may have been Mandrian oranges. I used both the zest and the slices in my cake and then used zest and juice in my glaze. 

I really loved the texture and simpleness of this cake. ❤️  

Sourdough Chocolate Cake with Brigadeiro Frosting

 

 Ingredients

* 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 

* 2/3 cup dutch cocoa powder 

* 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar 

* 1 tbsp baking powder 

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1 cup sourdough discard at room temperature 

* 1/2 cup vegetable oil 

* 3 large eggs

* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1 cup hot chocolate (made according to package)

Brigadeiro Frosting

* 2 tbsp butter

* 1 can condensed milk

* 3 tbsp dutch cocoa powder

* 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. Start by preheating the oven to 350°F.

2. In a large bowl, sift all dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and dutch cocoa powder. Stir until well combined using a whisker or wooden spoon.

3. In a small bowl, combine eggs, oil, vanilla extract and sourdough starter. Whisk them together until well combined. 

4. Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and stir until batter is formed. It will be a thick batter before adding hot chocolate. 

5. Pour hot chocolate over the chocolate cake batter. Stir until it’s fully combined into the batter. You should have a thin, liquid cake batter by the end.

6. Grease the pan you’ll be using with cooking spray or oil. Coat it with granulated sugar. Pour batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake cake in the middle shelf, from 45 to 50 minutes. Cake is done when it pulls away from the edges, bounces back when pressed, and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbles clinging into it.

8. Let cake cool for 5 minutes, then place a cooling rack over the top of the cake and turn it over. Give a little nudge if cake has not fallen into the cooling rack when turning.

9. Wait for the cake to cool before topping it.

10. To make the brigadeiro frosting… in a small saucepan, add condensed milk, cocoa powder and butter. Using a large burner on medium-high heat and stirring constantly so it won’t burn, cook the mixture for 5 minutes.

11. Remove it from the heat and pour heavy creamy, stirring until it combines into a smooth and creamy brigadeiro topping.

12. Most recipes tell you to pour frosting mixture over the cake while mixture is still hot. But since mine was a loaf style cake I Let my Frosting mixture set until cool, I mixed well and then poured it over my cake, that way it didn’t run off my cake. Brigadeiro frosting gets ticker as it cools.

Iced Honey-Apple Scones with Spelt

 TWD.... this week our "Tuesday's With Dorie" baking group enjoyed baking some very yummy "Iced Honey-Apple Scones with Spelt" from Dorie's new cookbook entitled "Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple. 

I can honestly say that even though we have agreed to not share the recipe here on Facebook, I would encourage everyone to find and try this recipe.... we really enjoyed these tasty little treats with our hot chocolate and fireplace the other night. 

I loved the soft nutty flavor that the spelt flour gave these scones. It was a very welcome touch to a very cakey style scone. We will definitely make these again, maybe with raisins or dried cranberries next time.

Pain de Campagne - (French Country Bread)

Sourdough Saturday…. I love to crack the binding on a new cookbook, I love to flip through all the wonderful pictures and then I go back a start marking recipes. So you can only imagine the fun I am having checking out the new cookbook about European Bread making that my husband gave me for Christmas. The book is entitled “Bread on the Table” by David Norman and even though he is the owner of the Austin Texas’s “Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden”, he studied Bread making like people study art while he was in Europe. 

 I am so excited to spend the year making my way through this new book, here is the first loaf of bread… “Pain De Campagne” or also known as “French Country Bread”. 

I was so excited to learn, as I started reading, that most of the breads in this book start with a “STARTER” so me thinking…. “YUM SOURDOUGH!” Got all excited and you can only imagine when after getting through the “STARTER” making process that this is what it looked like (see photo #3) compared to my poor, liquid, runny, fermented, pioneer heritage start in my big glass bottle. Then only to realize that now it sets in the fridge for 12-36 hours. (iPhoto #4) 

Yup…. Then you take that gob of doughy start and you cut it into chunks and mix it with the rest of the ingredients. (Photo #5)Then after a lot of mixing, kneading back in the fridge fermenting, then proofing and then shaping… then baking… we’ll let’s just say ——- 3 days later WE HAVE BREAD TO EAT!!!!! 

Oh, but I learned a lot and the bread was so yummy. 🤗😁💝 

  

 

Homemade Hummus

 Toss-Together Tuesday:::::::: spent time today tossing some things around on my desk while enjoying (from a far) the 13 1/2 inches of snow setting in my front yard. Glad I could spend the day inside, hanging out stamping with the youngest princess and my new Keto friendly menu. Here are some highlights from today.... 💕

Enjoy.

 Cauliflower & Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Ingredients

16 ounce can chickpeas, drained (save liquid) 

4 tablespoons chickpea liquid

1/2 cup cooked cauliflower cooled

1/4 cup roasted red pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, or more to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon paprika 

1 teaspoon of “Everything Bagel” Seasoning

1/2-1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2-6 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

To a food processor, add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, chickpea liquid, cauliflower, red pepper, olive oil, garlic, nutmeg, paprika, salt, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of cold water.

Puree for about 4-5 minutes until smooth and creamy. If it's not quite creamy or too thick, add a few more tablespoons of cold water. This will help fluff it up and make it creamy and smooth.

Taste and season with additional salt, garlic, tahini or lemon juice if needed.

Add to a bowl and garnish with toppings of choice. Serve with pita bread and veggie sticks or spread on toast, sandwiches, mix into pasta or use anywhere else you like.