Bread of the Week: Italian Bread

Another great recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice is the Italian Bread.

With the recipe, we made a loaf and four rolls. Now, we're set for the week!

Two techniques were used: pre-fermented starter called biga, and a make-shift hearth oven with a pan of steaming water and spraying the walls for the first two minutes. This produces a crunchy crust and soft center. The aroma was irresistible.

Bill says it's almost as if we bought it in Italy! We store the loaves in paper bags to keep the crust from softening.

Top down view.

Breakfast Cinnamon Rolls

I've made these Cinnamon Rolls from The Bread Baker's Apprentice a few times before, but they used to come out dry. Then I saw the Pioneer Woman's Christmas special on The Food Network and was enlightened. This time I added extra butter, and plenty of glaze. They turned out mouthwatering.

I used the recipe straight from the book, but instead of lemon extract, I used vanilla extract for the buns. Then I drizzled (poured) two tablespoons of melted butter before sprinkling on the cinnamon sugar. It gets kind of messy from then on. My mom thoroughly prepared me for rolling dough as we've been making Chinese Scallion Pancakes together since we were children. Although, my sister was always the superior roller. Cut 12 rolls and, following the lead of the Pioneer Woman, place them slightly touching in a cake pan.

Place them in the fridge overnight, or over two nights. Take them out four hours before baking to let them rise.

Once risen, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the glaze with two cups of powdered sugar, warm milk, and zest from one orange. Glaze right after the buns come out of the oven.

Yes my glaze could have been thicker, but it was sweet enough for three caffeine-deprived travelers and two  hungry hosts. Quick, put on another pot of coffee!

Leftovers? Yes, please! Reheat in the microwave to prevent the icing from drying out.

Bread of the Week: Anadama Bread

I found another recipe that uses molasses! I'd never heard of Anadama bread, and skipped this page in The Bread Baker's Apprentice entirely until last week because of it. But Bill wanted a loaf bread, so I flipped through the book again. I'm so glad I did! Its flavors are from molasses and cornmeal, making it kind of sweet and very fragrant. Not to mention it's got a funny background story.

First make a soaker with water and cornmeal (polenta) the day before. It's another awesome thing about this recipe--I get to use polenta in a different way.

The next day, add the yeast and two cups of flour to the soaker. Mix and let it sit for an hour until it's bubbly.

Add the remaining flour, butter, and molasses. Mix until the mixture comes together. Then knead for ten minutes until it passes the window pane test. It was a lot of dough so I hand kneaded to protect the stand mixer.

Shape the dough into a boule and put it in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for two hours.

Once the dough rises to twice its original size, punch down the dough and shape it into a loaf. My bread pan is twice the suggested size, so instead of two loaves, I made a giant one. And boy, it was giant. I didn't know how much it was going to rise in the oven on top of the proofed size. Sprinkle some cornmeal on top before putting it in the oven for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

My attempt at scoring the bread did not matter because it reached new heights in the oven. I put the pan in the middle shelf as instructed, but the top touched heating element after 20 minutes. But it was still delicious (not to mention the nice sandwich slice shapes)!

I think it will go really well with ham, but we have roast beef and Swiss cheese this week. Nonetheless, Bill's been enjoying his sandwiches. Even though (or because of) the sandwiches are huge and I have to cut the sides to fit them in his lunch box. Just plain butter is tasty too. It brings out the corn flavor. Try some Anadama bread if you hadn't heard of it like me. I think you will be pleased!

Bread of the Week: Rosemary Potato Bread

All this talk about potato bread last week, I better make some. Taken straight from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, this recipe makes very soft and flavorful bread with a crunchy crust. I made some notes to myself for improvements next time.

First make the biga a day ahead. The biga recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice makes about 3 cups. I saved 1 cup in the freezer for next time. Take the biga out an hour before making the bread and cut them into 10 pieces with a serrated knife. [Note to self: place them further apart. Biga pieces expand and stick together]

Also take out leftover mashed potatoes to take off the chill an hour ahead. Or make mashed potatoes. [Note to self: 2 small red potatoes are enough. And roast some garlic!] I used 1 clove of fresh garlic this time. And instead of adding it at the end, it was kneaded into the dough with my stand mixer.

After the first rise, divide the dough and form into two boules. Place them on a lined baking sheet, dusted with cornmeal. [Note to self: use two sheets! Otherwise they will stick together. Garnish the bread now before it proofs or the rosemary will not stick to the dough enough and burn in the oven.]

Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Rotate the pans after 20 minutes for even baking. [Note to self: check on it after 35 minutes so it doesn't get so dark.] Cool for an hour before cutting. Next time I will try some different scoring and try garnishing it again.

I think this will go really well with Thanksgiving dinner. Are you trying any new recipes for Thanksgiving?

Bread of the Week: Not-So-Plain White Bread

This week I am out of town so I baked ahead. I picked a white bread recipe because it's easy to make sandwiches with.

White bread has a bad reputation for being plain and flabby. It's not plain at all! All the flavor of the bread comes from the milk, butter and egg. Sounds pretty delicious to me already. Add a few seeds on top if you want to fancy it up.

The slow fermentation in this recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice makes it flavorful and oh-so-soft. It takes a sponge that ferments for two hours then two rises. After the first rise, I put it in the fridge overnight instead of on the counter for an hour, because I was running out of time that night. It proofed nicely and was ready to be baked in the morning.

My husband thinks it tastes like potato bread, which is his preferred sandwich bread. Not too bad for plain white bread. I hope he's making good use of it while I'm gone!