Sweet Potato Everything Bread... Necessity Breeds Invention

I had this big fat sweet potato staring at me for a week. As some people in this household are not to fond of them, and I wasn't having a taste for it. I wanted to use  the sweet potato in  another way. I also had some Poppy Seeds that have been whispering for me to use them, every time I open my cabinet. 

Sweet Potato + Poppy Seeds + Yeast =A beautiful relationship

I call this my Sweet Potato Everything Bread. I'm feeling pretty confident as a baker now, where I can take liberties with a recipe base and expand. One of my first Daring Bakers Challenges a few years back was a great Potato Bread which I have used from time to time and seems almost fail proof. Using that recipe as a base I decided to switch out the white potato for sweet. Unfortunately I did not have the total amount of All Purpose Flour and didn't want to use more  Whole Wheat Flour , which was also required. I looked on my shelf and found some King Arthur's Rye Blend Flour and used some of that with the other two flours. I figured if anything it would be a great experiment. I also made an egg wash with some honey . The bread was topped with Poppy Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Dried Minced Onion and Sea Salt. The recipe yielded enough for a 20 rolls and 1 medium sized loaf of bread to slice. Certain Someone, who is very picky about bread was pleased with the results. He liked it. I take that as a  huge compliment because Europeans are finicky about their breads and are often disappointed with the  commercial findings here in the United States. The loaf and rolls have a tender crumb that would be great with jams or savory items.

Sweet Potato Everything Bread

12 oz of sweet potato pieces

4 cups of water

1 Tablespoon and 1 tsp seas salt

2 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

6 Cups All Pupose Flour

2 Cups Rye Blend Flour

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 tablespoon butter at room temp/softened

Egg Wash

1 egg

1 teaspoon of milk or cream * Cream gives more glaze

1 teaspoon honey

Topping

2 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds

2 Tablesppons Dried Minced Onion

2 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Boil the sweet potato chunks with skin in the 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Cook until tender. Drain the sweet potato, but save the water! Do not throw away the cooking  water as it will be used in the recipe. Peel of the skins and mash the sweet potato. Run  the sweet potato with the 3 cups of the cooking  water ( you may  have to add more water to make up difference) in a blender to make a smooth liquid mixture. Pour warm mixture into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Cool down until lukewarm .Add the yeast to sweet potato water and mix gently. Let rest for 5 minutes. It will start to bubble slightly on the surface.

Whisk together the all Purpose Flour and Rye Flour in a separate bowl to combine.  Add a few cups of this flour blend to the yeast , sweet potato mixture. Add the butter and salt and with the paddle attachment slowly blend to incorporate. Continue to add the remaining flour and the whole wheat flour as well. Switch to the dough hook. The dough will be sticky still but will start to take hold as more flour is added. It will still be a stickier dough however. With the dough hook , beat for several minutes ( about 8-10 minutes) until the the dough starts to hold its shape .Turn out into a clean bowl or container with lid. Cover and let rise in a  warm place for 2 hours or until double.
 On a clean counter surface which is lightly floured,  turn out the risen dough and punch down and knead to shape. Place the rolls or loaves into the respective baking  tins and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise again for approximately 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450F
Mix the Seed Topping ingredients.
Mix egg,milk, and honey for egg wash.
After second rise, brush the formed dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with Seed Topping.
Bake at 450F until golden for about 30-40 minutes depending on size and shape of dough. If the topping starts to brown to fast . lightly cover with foil.
Remove from oven and let cool on wire baking racks for 1 hours or more to let bread rest.

 

I submit this to BYOB

 

Pecan Apple Honey Challah

One of my favorite breads has to be a egg based bread called Challah. This bread is Jewish in origin and eaten mainly on the Sabbath and high holy days. Normally its braided into one loaf. For the Jewish New Year , Rosh Hashana, its formed into a more circular pattern to symbolize the cycle of the year.Apples and honey symbolize a sweet new year . So a Challah made with apples and honey is loaded with symbolism and reference. One doesn't have to be Jewish to appreciate this. I saw a Apple Honey Challah in the September issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Seems a lot bloggers have already given this recipe a go . I decided to toss my dough into the ring. But rather than stick to Martha's recipe , I added a handful of chopped pecans. The recipe is pretty good. Just note if you are not experienced with bread making this is a wet dough. The recipe doesn't explain that. I used a bit more flour and my my Kitchen Aid, You don't want a non wet dough, but it should be well kneaded and smooth. A well buttered rising vessel is essential. I used a spring form cake pan as my baking pan. I also noted several bloggers had difficulty in the size of apples. I had dried some apples earlier in the week and used those chopped with chopped fresh. This made it more manageable than slices. The pecans are optional but I think they are fantastic and take the bread to another level. This would be great for coffee or tea and even french toast.

Pecan Apple Honey Challah adapted from Martha Stewart's Apple Honey Challah Living September 2009

4 oz. (1stick) unsalted butter , plus more for bowl

3 ½ C. unbleached bread flour, plus more for surface

3/4 C. warm water

2/3 C. honey

2 large eggs, plus 3 large egg yolks
2 t. active dry yeast

2 t. coarse or sea salt

1 ½ apples peeled and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Butter a large bowl, and melt 4 T. butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; let cool. Combine 2 T. melted butter, the flour, water, 1/3 C. honey, the eggs and yolks, yeast, and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer. Mix until dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth or use dough hook and stand mixer, about 10 minutes. The dough will be wet but should be smooth . Transfer dough to buttered bowl, and brush with 1 T. melted butter. Cover with plastic. Let rise in a warm place until dough almost doubles in volume, about 1 ½ hours. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Pat into an 8 1/2-by-14-inch rectangle. Top with apples and pecans ; knead to incorporate. Return to bowl. Brush with remaining T. melted butter; cover. Let rise again in a warm place until dough almost doubles in volume, about 1 hour more.4. Preheat oven to 375°, with rack in lowest position. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (I used a spring form pan). Roll dough into a rope (about 24 inches) on a floured surface. Coil into a circle, and transfer to pan. Butter plastic wrap, and cover dough. Let rise again until dough almost doubles in volume, about 45 minutes more.5. Heat remaining 4 T. butter and 1/3 C. honey in a saucepan over medium-low heat until butter melts. Brush dough with half the honey-butter. Bake until golden brown and firm, about 35 minutes.6. Brush challah with the remaining honey-butter. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Turn out loaf from pan, and let cool.Makes one 9-inch round loaf.

This is my submission for BYOB.

The Scandinavian Cookbook Review and Salmon Burgers with Rye Focaccia

Those of you that know me , know that Scandinavia is no stranger to me. In a way through Certain Someone its like a second home. But even prior to meeting Certain Someone , I have relatives there in which I got to visit. My first visit to Stockholm , I feel in love. So how fitting my love has a beautiful summer home, by the sea, which I cant wait to go back and visit. I have yet to explore the other Scandinavian countries. I'm eager to see Denmark and Norway.One day.

I was so so happy to get a copy of The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahnemann (Andrews McMeel Publishing,LLC), through the The Library Thing Early Reviewer Program. If you don't know about this ,please check it out. As all my books on Library Thing are cookbooks, that's what I normally snag based on my profile. But they have all types of genres available, and the competition is tough. This is my second review for them.

The Scandinavian Cookbook is a big gorgeous book by the Danish chef Trina Hahnemann.In her first English cookbook, she breaks the book down into seasons and months so the reader truly understands the cycle of life in Scandinavia.Winter is long with little light and summer leads into those White Nights with the sun not going down until midnight or after. Its a beautiful corner of the world with a simple straightforward and delicious approach to cooking. Flipping through the gorgeous photographs by Lars Ranek one gets a visual Smorgasbord of fishes, pastries, vegetables, breads drinks, and just about anything else you can think of. I long to go back and make the Kartoffelkage (a choux pastry with marzipan, cocoa, and filled with cream). Of course she shows you how to make smoked salmon. With the seasonal approach all the dishes presented look so healthy, wholesome and appetizing.A nice balance.

I chose to make a simple Rye Focaccia and Salmon Burgers form the month of April because I had most of the ingredients on hand. I confess,I was out of capers, and really regretted it. Nevertheless the burger was fantastic. And the Rye Focaccia was outstanding and very simple to put together. The burger was basically fresh salmon chopped into a mince with green onion , capers, eggs, and breadcrumbs. I garnished mine with sprouts , rather the chives and capers. And I cheated with mayo out of jar rather than her homemade dressing with homemade mayonnaise,and creme fraiche.The focaccia which was to make 4 burgers, could have been stretched to six or even eight in my opinion. I was really hearty and I couldn't stop nibbing throughout the day. What I love about this book is that there are basic recipes and components I can carry over into other seasons and dishes. Naturally I am submitting this into BYOB.

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Gimme That Marble Rye

I am trying to branch out in bread making skills. Rather than the usual supplies of All purpose flour, I have invested in some Rye Flours and Pumpernickel. One of my most favorite breads to order in a deli is a marble rye.The pretty swirls and texture make for excellent sandwiches.Marble Rye is an American style bread popular in the Jewish delicatessens. This bread varies from the European rye's which tend to be denser and undergo a completely different baking process. I used King Artur's website for the recipe. Rather than the deli rye flavor the recipe called for, I used their Heidelberg Rye Sour . The dough is pretty simple and is actually one dough. The darker part of the bread is the the addition of caramel color kneaded into the 2nd half of the dough and swirled together.My swirls didn't come out perfect but the it was just as good.A good 3 hour of prep and you have a loaf ready to go. In reading about rye, did you know Pumpernickel which is just a coarser rye flour means 'devils fart' if you break it down in German. Pumpen meaning flatulence and Nickle meaning devil or demon .Just thought I would share that with you all.

Here is the link to the recipe from the King Artur's site.This is also a submission for this months BYOB.

Another thing I always associate with marble rye is this classic scene from Seinfeld. Sorry for the Spanish subtitles , but this was the only clip I could find. Enjoy.

We Bake Gourmet: Cracked- Wheat Topknots

This is my third installment in the We Bake Gourmet series. My fellow bakers have had great luck with this recipe. And I have too, but I had to make some changes due to lack of ingredients and laziness. Nevertheless I am very pleased with the results. The recipe calls for milk, and both whole wheat and all purpose flour. I ran out of milk due to Certain Someone drinking git all before he left, and had to use Nonfat dry powdered milk. I also didn't realize until mid way that I ran out of all purpose flour! So the recipe has way more wheat flour and about 1 cup of all purpose. Surprisingly the dough turned out well in taste and texture. My flaky sea salt was actually smoked salt which was wonderful.

I have been nibbling on these hearty knots all week.

I'm pressed for time as I have a lot going on this week. You can find the printable version of the recipe here on Gourmets site.

Here are my modifications:

1/2 cup Non Fat dry milk dissolved in 1 1/2 cups of water. Dry Milk is a wonderful tool in baking and helps with the rise. Its also very economical.

3 1/2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour and 1 cup of all purpose.

Visit my other baking friends for the Gourmet Bread Challenge.Judy - http://www.nofearentertaining.blogspot.com/Sandy - http://www.bakersbench.blogspot.com/Kelly - http://sassandveracity.typepad.com/Claire - http://www.thebarefootkitchen.com/Andrea - http://www.andreasrecipes.com/

Don't forget to watch me on CBS 2 Weekend Morning News on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 10am. This is local, but I will link to the blog afterwards.

We Bake Gourmet: Crusty Cornstalk Rolls

My apologies for posting this weeks bread challenge late. I'm sure you will understand that Certain Someone came home for an all to short week, and I was doing what I love best, spoiling him. I actually baked this bread for Sunday dinner to go along with the Veal roast. What appealed to me about this recipe was the gorgeous rustic appeal. Unfortunately my artistic skills didn't take hold and craft better looking stalks, but I was satisfied with taste. I must admit the addition of corn meal at first out me off this recipe, but one taste of this while warm with butter is just pure country goodness.Steam creates a crust similar to a baguette. All in all this was pretty simple to put together. I can see this in a heart shape for Valentines if anyone is eating in.

Crusty Cornstalks Rolls adapted by Coco Cooks from Gourmet February 2009

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/4 cups warm water

1 tsp of sugar

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour and additional for kneading

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp yellow cornmeal

a spray bottle of water

Stir yeast, 1/4 of the water, and sugar in a large bowl. Set aside and let foam. If the mixture doesn't foam after 5 minutes , start again.

Mix flour, salt, 1/2 cup of the cornmeal and remaining cup of the water. with a wooden spoon or hands until soft dough forms.

Turn out dough on lightly floured surface. Knead until dough is elastic and smooth for 6-8 minutes.

Place ball of dough in oiled bowl. Cover and seal with plastic wrap and kitchen towel.Let rise in a draft free setting until double in size. 1-1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough and without kneading fold like a letter into thirds.Roll the dough now into a 12 inch log.

Flour lightly as you need to preventing sticking.

Sprinkle a baking sheet covered with parchment or baking stone with the remaining 2 Tbsp of cornmeal. Place dough diagonally across. With cooking shears cut 3 inch long diagonal cuts alternating sides. Make sure you have a center stalk. Pull and stretch dough to create separate rolls but connected to stalk.

Cover with a clean kitchen towel( not terry) and let rise , draft free for 1 1/2 hours until double.

Preheat oven to 425F with rack in center.

Spray rolls with water bottle, place in oven and spray 3 more times in the first 5 minutes.. This helps form the crust. Bake until golden for 20 min. Let cool on rack for at least 20 minutes. Serve. The rolls can keep 1 month in freezer wrapped. Best eaten on day made.

Visit my other baking friends for the Gourmet Bread Challenge.
Judy - http://www.nofearentertaining.blogspot.com/
Sandy - http://www.bakersbench.blogspot.com/
Kelly - http://sassandveracity.typepad.com/
Claire - http://www.thebarefootkitchen.com/
Andrea - http://www.andreasrecipes.com/

BYOB: Buttermilk Bread to Cinnamon - Raisin Bread

This weekend I was looking for a bread I could make with Buttermilk . I always have left over Buttermilk from a recipe and wanted to find a practical use for it while keeping my commitment to BYOB. I chose a pretty easy recipe from Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day, which most of you know is a great book and the talk of the blogosphere.Jeff Hertzerg and Zoe Francois have revolutionized home bread baking in a simple , time friendly method that allows the busy home cook /baker to always have fresh bread for their family. If you don't have this book, I suggest you get it. For those of you who are scared of yeast, this is the perfect foray into Bread Baking for you.

I selected the Buttermilk Bread from the Enriched Bread and Pastry section. If you like a chewy , spongy, white bread, with a soft crust,then try this. The Buttermilk bread made plain is a great sandwich bread. As with all the Basic recipes in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, you can then use the basic for other recipes. Judy's Board of Directors Cinnamon- Raisin Bread called out to me. This is fantastic Cinnamon bread that's easy to make once you make the basic dough.
Judy's Board Of Directors' Cinnamon- Raisin Bread adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

2 cups lukewarm water
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
Butter or vegetable oil for greasing the pan

For Swirl:
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup raisins
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash

To mix Buttermilk Bread Dough:
Mix the yeast , salt, and sugar with liquids( water and buttermilk) in the bowl of your stand mixer.
Add in flour gradually with the dough hook attachment. Do not knead, but mix until all is incorporated.
Cover loosely( the authors advise that it not be airtight) and allow let it rest at Room Temperature until dough rises and collapses ( approx 2 hours) .
Dough can used immediately or put , covered in anon airtight container in the refrigerator. The dough can be stored for up to 7 days and easier to handle when cold.

To Bake:
Grease your loaf pan. On a lightly floured surface roll out a piece of dough into a 8x 16 inch rectangle. I used half of the dough for my baking pan. Brush the dough with egg wash. Sprinkle sugar, cinnamon, and raisins evenly . From the short side up roll in jelly roll fashion and place in greased pan seam side down. Allow to rise/rest in pan 40 minutes ( if dough is used unrefrigerated) or 1 hour and 40 minutes if used refrigerated.
Preheat oven to 375F and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden Brown. * I used some of the remaining egg wash on top of the dough to give the crust a gloss.A lame was used to slash the bread. I also placed my pan on a baking stone to aid in baking.
Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack for a few hours before slicing.


Here is the Authors of Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day Pictorial and recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Bread and toast