Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Honey-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour Whole Wheat Baking.  The Countryman Press, Woodstock, 2006 pp. 197 - 8.

So, for my daughter's birthday I decided not to do anything too fancy.  I mean, she's two.  It's not like she'd remember a big elaborate meal, and it's not like that would really be appropriate for the middle of the day anyway.  Furthermore, I was going to be entertaining relatives the whole weekend.  I didn't have time do do something big and elaborate.  I decided that I would do some fairly simple hors d'oeuvres - vegetables and hummus, baguettes with cream cheese and smoked salmon, that sort of thing - with a sandwich board.  I decided that I would bake my own bread for the sandwich board.  This may seem like a big deal, especially if you haven't made bread in quantity.  The thing is, though, bread is mostly waiting.  Take some stuff, mix it together, wait.  Deflate it.  Shape it.  Wait again.  Put it in the oven.  Wait some more.  Remove from oven.  Wait.  Wait wait wait.  Eat.  Bread freezes very well.  If you plan enough ahead of time you and have an appropriately-sized freezer you can make enough bread to feed quite a lot of people right there in your home kitchen.  As I type this I'm in the middle of a project - 75 pounds of bread for a historical re-enactment event.  Making a few loaves a day it isn't an onerous task, and not only is homemade bread much healthier than store-bought (fewer chemicals, etc) it's much, much cheaper.  I knew I could pull off bread for this party.

The problem is that I wanted a variety of breads.  I made some white bread because there are, for some reason, quite a few people who actually prefer white bread.  I don't get it myself.  I've read that white bread may contain compounds that help you sleep, but I've only seen that in one place and I'm not sure I'm buying it.  I've so gotten over the white-bread thing that now when I see raw white bread dough I find it a little nauseating.  It looks kind of like paste and I suppose that's not far from the truth.  Anyway, I made some normal whole wheat sandwich bread, and then I decided I would make some rye sandwich bread.  I had a new cookbook I was dying to try out - Peter Reinhart's book using the delayed fermentation method for whole grain breads.  I tried to make one of the rye bread recipes and it was a total failure.  I'm fairly certain the problem is with me and not the book, but either way I didn't have time to try it again.  Since the delayed-fermentation method takes several days to complete I couldn't use it again.  In desperation I flipped through my stand-by baking book until I found something that appealed to me and here it is.

I can't see why I haven't made this sandwich bread before.  You can't go wrong with honey and oats.  The smell was phenomenal, the crumb delicious, and there were no leftovers.  I did make a few small changes - I'm still not so confident as a baker that I'm willing to risk big changes.  I used all whole-wheat flour instead of mixing in some white flour.  I'd love to tell you that I did it out of some kind of principled objection to white flour but the truth is that the sack of white flour lives in another room while the whole-wheat flour is on the counter.  I omitted the optional nuts since we're still not supposed to let Fearless Baby eat nuts.  I used active dry yeast instead of instant.  I've always thought it was just an even exchange, but when I was reading the above-mentioned Peter Reinhart book he said specifically that you need to increase the amount of yeast by 25% when you make that change.  When I'm using recipes I've made before with an equal exchange I don't mess with it, but going forward I'm going to follow that advice.  (That would be on p. 81 of Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, if you're looking to check me.)  I needed to increase the liquid to accommodate the switch to 100% whole grain, but since I needed to wake the yeast up anyway I just dealt with it there.)

Honey-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread (makes about 10 generous slices; approx. $0.14/serving)

10 ounces boiling water

3 1/2 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats

1 ounce butter, cut into 3 pieces

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 ounces honey, plus about a teaspoon

11 ounces whole wheat flour

1 ounce nonfat dry milk

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

Equipment:

• Small bowl
• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Loaf pan
• Cooking spray

1. Combine the boiling water, oats, butter, salt and 3 tablespoons butter in the bowl.  Stir and set aside until lukewarm.  This doesn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, just so you know.
2. Combine the yeast, 1 teaspoon honey and the lukewarm water in the small bowl.  Set aside until the yeast is foamy.
3. Combine the flour and milk in the bowl of the stand mixer.
4. Add the oat mixture and the yeast mixture.  Knead until the dough is soft and smooth.
5. Cover and set aside until doubled in bulk.  I like to do this in a new clean bowl, but that's probably because I need to use the stand mixer right away for another loaf.  I cover with plastic wrap; I've seen some recipes call for a clean dish towel.
6. When the bread is doubled in bulk, grease the oaf pan with the cooking spray.  Punch the dough down and shape it into a log as long as the loaf pan.
7. Put the log into the pan, cover and allow it to ruse until it rises 1 1/2" over the lip of the pan.  If your kitchen is normal temperature it should take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
8. Near the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350°.
9. Make a cut lengthwise down the length of the loaf.  It doesn't have to be a super-deep cut, just down to about the rim.
10. Bake 45 minutes or until done.  I use an instant-read thermometer to determine doneness - anything over 190° is done.
11. Cool completely before cutting.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Barley Bread

Some of you may have noticed that nothing has been posted for a few weeks.  It's not that I haven't been cooking.  It's that I haven't been writing.  Life has become a lot more complicated recently - mostly in good ways, or ways that could be reasonably interpreted as good anyway - and I haven't had more than a few moments to sit down and write anything up.  After a few weeks of frustration I asked my husband to stay home with our daughter for a day while I went off-site with a pile of sources and my computer.  Free from distractions I can focus, more-or-less, on writing up recipes.  Hopefully I can get my backlog under control!  Anyway, this recipe dates back to November 23.  That's right.  November 23.  That's Thanksgiving, for the record.  I haven't had a chance to write this one up since Thanksgiving.  It's almost Valentine's Day now.

There's a lot of tension about bread lately.  It was brought formally to my attention when I was reading Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, which I received for Christmas, but I guess it's been hovering around the back of my consciousness for a while.  As a culture we went through a phase where carbohydrates were considered Bad.  I can kind of see it, actually.  Carbohydrates provide energy to the body.  When life was more physical - when people walked where they needed to go, and mostly worked at physically demanding jobs in factories or on farms - we needed lots and lots of carbohydrates to keep us going through the day.  Now most folks in the West at least - especially in the United States, much of which was designed around the car - people drive where they need to go and work at desks.  We don't need as much energy, but our culinary culture hasn't caught up with the times.  Energy means calories, and what the body can't eat it stores as fat.  A loaf of bread a day was fine a hundred years ago.  Now - not so much.  Bread, like most other starches, contains lots of calories.

The thing is, we still need energy.  We need less of it but we still need it, in quantities that depend on our activity levels and metabolisms.  I have no metabolism to speak of.  My husband's metabolism works best with lots of carbs, and if I try to cut them out there is Woe and Drama.  I decided to compromise by using whole grains.  Whole grains contain fiber, which everyone needs.  There are other nutrients in there, vitamins and other things the body needs.  I'm not a nutritionist, I'm a kind of harried mother, so I'll leave it at "fiber and stuff."  I try to make things that are healthy for my family and just eat less of the things with a lot of calories.

I developed this recipe myself, although I had a lot of help.  One source I reached for fairly frequently is the Basic Bread recipe from The River Cottage Bread Handbook by Daniel Stevens.  I don't feel confident enough in my own knowledge to know what proportions of flour and salt and whatnot without recourse to some sort of guidance.  It went over pretty well.  No one complained about the whole grain bread.  I feel like the barley flour gave it an interesting flavor, although that could be in my head.  Still, it was a decent bread and you could do a lot worse.

Whole Wheat Barley Bread (serves 10 generously; approx. $0.31/serving)

11 ounces whole wheat bread flour

11 ounces whole wheat all-purpose flour

13 ounces barley flour

2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/2 tablespoon honey

1 1/2 tablespoons buttermilk powder

Equipment:

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Bowl
• Baking sheets

1. Combine the honey, water and yeast in the bowl.  Set aside until the yeast is frothy.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer.
3. Add the yeast combination and knead on the lowest speed until the ingredients have blended more or less.  Add more water or flour as needed.
4. Increase speed very slightly and knead until the dough is smooth and just tacky and forms into a ball.
5. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
6. Punch the dough down.  Divide it in half and shape into two loaves.
7. Cover and set aside until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
8. Preheat your oven to 425°.
9. Make three slits in the top of each loaf.
10. Bake 40 minutes, rotating the loaves halfway through baking.
11. Cool completely before eating.

Recipe: Parsnip and Nutmeg Bread

Recipe Source: Shapter, Jennie.  Bread Machine. Anness Publishing, London, 2001 p. 162

Some time ago I got into a little dispute with our pediatrician.  Our daughter was not only not gaining weight she was losing weight despite gains in height.  (I will avoid indulging in envy here.)  She was eating almost constantly, but her favorite foods were not exactly high in calories.  She loved those ghastly "puffs," which have approximately 20 calories per jar.  She loved grapes, apples, carrots, squash, broccoli.... in short, she loved vegetables and fruit of any kind.  The doctor told us to stop giving her puffs, which wasn't a problem for us since we wanted to cure her of her addiction to them.  She also told us to stop feeding her vegetables.  "If you MUST give her vegetables," she said, "drench them in butter or incorporate them into baked goods."

I'm sure you can see why I objected.

Anyway, our concern for Fearless Baby's health led us to try the doctor's advice.  We drenched absolutely everything in butter.  We went through scads of the stuff.  The result was that she stopped eating anything at all for about two weeks.  She did not like butter.  I don't see why we, or the doctor, were surprised.  Neither my husband nor I cares for fatty foods that are drenched in butter.  we don't even put butter on our bread.  As for incorporating vegetables into baked goods only, that was right out as well.  I've got a kid who adores vegetables, eats them without complaint.  Why am I going to screw it up and set her up with unhealthy ideas about food for life?  The idea stayed in my head though.  While it was not a strategy to get more calories into Fearless Baby, it was an interesting idea.  Why could I not incorporate more vegetables into our diets by working them into some baked goods?  I haven't experimented with this idea as much as I could have, but it's still in my brain.

At any rate, I decided to make this bread for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Parsnips are seasonal.  Nutmeg goes well with Thanksgiving.  I made a few small changes as you might expect.  I used whole wheat bread flour in place of white.  I prefer whole wheat bread and I knew that at least two of our guests shared that preference.  I omitted the nonfat dry milk because of a brain cramp.  I accidentally used too much water, having been working on two bread recipes at the same time and gotten a tad confused.  (I can be justified in pointing out that the author of this bread cookbook is one of the authors of the other cookbook, with the same publisher and same editorial team.)  This meant that I needed to add a LOT of additional flour, which resulted in the production of two loaves instead of one.

The recipe calls for cooked, mashed parsnips.  I decided to steam the parsnips in order to keep as much of the nutritional value of the vegetables as possible.  I've always steamed the same way, with the same pot.  I had to steam the parsnips in stages - I bought quite a lot of parsnips, intending to make this for another large party the following Sunday.  When I started the last batch there was plenty of water in the pot.  When I finished the pot was ruined beyond repair.  Yes, I have successfully burned water.  Granted, the pot was kind of crappy anyway - we only used it for making pasta or steaming anymore.  Still, the mess irks me.

I'm listing this as a fail because of the pot and because it made me so very irritated, but I'm not being fair to the recipe or myself.  The bread was good.  My daughter's been eating it with gusto.  So has my husband.  There isn't any kind of clinging "parsnip" flavor; it doesn't taste like plain whole wheat bread but it doesn't taste like someone worked vegetables into a bread to make it healthier either.

Parsnip and Nutmeg Bread (serves 20; approx. $0.43/serving)

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 cups mashed, cooked parsnips

6 cups whole wheat bread flour, perhaps a little extra

1 teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons raw sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Equipment:

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Cooking spray
• Bowl
• Plastic wrap

1. Combine the water with the sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer.
2. Sprinkle the yeast over the mixture and let stand in a warm place until the surface becomes frothy.  This time depends on the age of your yeast, the temperature of the room and the temperature of the water but should be around ten minutes or so.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl.  Knead on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined.  If you need to add more flour do it in increments.
4. Increase speed slightly - from 1 to 3 of 11 on my mixer - and knead until a ball forms.
5. Divide the ball in two.  Put one ball in one bowl and the other in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Lubricate the sides of the bowl with cooking spray.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 12 hours.
7. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
8. Punch down the dough.  Form into loaves, cover and set aside to rise another half hour to 40 minutes or so.  Longer is fine.
9. Slash the dough and bake 40 minutes, rotating halfway through.
10. Serve.

Recipe: Apple-Cheddar Bread

People have baked apples, I think, as long as they've been able to bake anything.  There is something about baking apples that just brings out a lot of the sweetness in them.  I don't know why.  I personally prefer them raw, but I suppose that everyone's entitled to an opinion, even if it is wrong.  Seriously, though, I've been making a real effort to do something with my apples other than devour them raw, and baked good seem like a perfectly good outlet for those feelings.

I'm also a little unclear on exactly when it was decided that apple and cheddar made great companions.  I suppose that they do.  A lunch that consists of apples and cheddar cheese is a delight, especially if that cheese is of the extra-sharp variety.  If you can combine New York apples with New York cheddar you'll just be in heaven, and I'm not just saying that because I just got back from serious apple and dairy country in Saratoga and Washington Counties.

So we've established that baking apples is usually considered to be a Good Thing, even if that feeling isn't universal.  We've also established that combining apples and cheddar is also a Good Thing.  Combining them is probably also a good thing, right?  Wonderful.  Now: why do they have to be sweet?  I've seen apple pie combined with cheddar cheese fairly frequently, but I don't really care for sweet food that isn't chocolate.  I've already posted a savory recipe, the one for apple, cheddar and bacon muffins, and this is another recipe in the same vein.  I made two loaves: one for the Open House folks and one for our family to nibble on during the days.

This bread was a real hit.  Not a crumb went to waste.  I found that the apples really did keep the dough very moist, but the bread did not rot quickly as often happens with fruit breads.

Apple-Cheddar Bread (serves about 20; approx. $0.17/serving)

3 1/2 cups warm water, divided

6 cups whole-wheat bread flour, divided

2 2/3 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour, divided

4 teaspoons salt, divided

4 teaspoons sugar, divided

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

3 teaspoons active dry yeast, divided

2 ounces grated sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

5 Cortland apples, peeled and diced, divided

Equipment:

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Cooking spray
• Two mixing bowls
• Plastic wrap
• Baking sheets
• Large bowl of acidulated water (I like lemon juice)

1. Divide the water between the two mixing bowls.  Add half the sugar to each bowl.
2. Sprinkle half of the yeast over each bowl and set aside until the yeast becomes frothy.
3. Combine half the flours, half the salt and half the olive oil in the bowl of the stand mixer.
4. Add one of the yeast mixtures.  Knead on the lowest possible speed until just combine, then increase the speed slightly and knead for four minutes.  A ball of dough should form around the dough hook.
5. Clean out the mixing bowl that once contained the yeast mixture.  Lube up the bowl with cooking spray.  Transfer the dough ball to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until roughly doubled in size.
6. Repeat steps 1 - 5 for the remaining ingredients.
7. Meanwhile you'll want to be prepping the apples and cheddar.  I'm only mentioning this because I like to drop my apples into a bowl of acidulated water as I dice them; it helps prevent browning.  It's not super important because you'll be baking this, but I always do it anyway.
8. When the dough is risen, punch it down and knead in the apples and cheddar.  I reserved some apple in the form of thin slices, I think it was half an apple.  This was decorative and you don't need to do it.
9. Shape the dough into loaves, cover and set aside to rise some more.  Meanwhile preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
10. When the dough has risen again, make three deep cuts over the surface.  I decorated with apple slices.  You don't have to.
11. Bake 40 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking cycle.
12. Cool and serve.

Recipe: Honey Whole Wheat Crescents

Recipe Source: King ARthur Flour Whole Grain Baking.  The Countryman Press, Woodstock, 2006 pp. 220 - 1

Every Sunday I face a dilemma.  The guests at our Sunday open houses have usually been exercising heavily and need something with carbohydrates - the more the merrier according to my husband.  I, on the other hand, don't really need a lot of refined carbohydrates in my diet.  I've been trying to use mostly whole grains in my cooking, which has been challenging but definitely worthwhile.  I've come to prefer the flavor of whole wheat baked goods to that of white flour.  Contrary to what certain commercials may suggest, making this switch has not helped me lose any weight at all.  Anyway, one recent Sunday I decided to make these tasty treats.

I did make a few minor changes.  I used a little more liquid than called for in the original because I used whole wheat all purpose flour instead of white.  (Like I said, I've come to prefer the flavor, and that's a pretty strong preference.)  I also omitted the sesame seeds and butter.  I omitted the sesame seeds out of consideration for one of my guests, who cannot have any kind of seeds.  I omitted the butter on general principles - it was an optional ingredient anyway.  I made three batches because I was serving a lot of people.

These crescents were a real hit.  No one complained that they were whole wheat and we didn't have a whole lot of leftovers.  My daughter in particular loved them, which was great because she could eat them with her hands and spread them with jam if she wanted without making too much of a mess.

Honey Whole Wheat Crescents (makes about 54 rolls; approx. cost per serving not available)

2 1/2 cups lukewarm water, divided into thirds

3/4 cup honey, divided into thirds.

7 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, divided into thirds

9 tablespoons butter, divided into thirds, each third divided into quarters

3 eggs, separated

4 1/2 teaspoons dark (toasted) sesame oil, divided into thirds

6 cups whole wheat pastry flour, divided into thirds

4 1/2 cups whole wheat (all-purpose) flour, divided into thirds

3 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided into thirds

9 tablespoons potato flour, divided into thirds

Equipment:

• If you have three bowls for your stand mixer, I envy you.  Use them.  If not, use three mixing bowls and just move things back and forth from your one mixer bowl.  Either way, use a stand mixer with the dough hook.
• Plastic wrap.
• Floured surface
• Rolling pin
• Baking sheets
• Cooking spray

1. For each bowl, combine 1/3 of the water with 1/4 cup honey and 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast.  Set aside until the yeast becomes foamy.
2. Combine a bowl of the yeast mixer with the remaining ingredients.  Knead on your lowest possible setting until combined.
3. Increase the speed slightly - on my machine, it goes from 1 to 3.  Knead about 4 - 5 minutes, or until a vaguely stiff dough forms.
4. Repeat for the remaining bowls.
5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside until very puffy, 1 - 2 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
6. Lubricate your baking sheets with the cooking spray.
7. Punch the dough down.  Divide the contents of each bowl into three pieces - nine pieces in all.
8. Roll each piece into a 9" round, about 1/2" thick.
9. Cut each round into 6 triangular wedges.
10. Roll each wedge up from the wide end to the narrow end.  Bend into a U shape and place on the cookie sheet.  Repeat.
11. Cover and set aside to rise again, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
12. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
13. Bake, uncovered, 20 - 25 minutes or until golden.
14. Serve.

Recipe: Medieval Doughnuts (Aqras Mukarrara)

Recipe Source: al-Baghdadi, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Karim al-Katib.  A Baghdad Cookery Book (Kitab al-Tabikh,  A. J. Arberry, trans.  Published in Medieval Arab Cookery, by Maxime Rodinson, A. J. Arberry & Charles Perry.  Prospect Books, Devon, 2006 p. 87

A few weeks ago, after some good-natured ribbing that I just had to interpret as a challenge, I made a Sunday open house dinner that consisted entirely of medieval recipes.  In order to make it even more of a challenge (and to keep me from referring to my favorite cookbook), I decided that all the recipes would be Western European in origin with the exception of the dessert.  (The fact is that I was just really craving something tasty involving nuts and rosewater and I knew I would find it if I looked East enough.)  I found this recipe in my copy of A Baghdad Cookery Book and decided that I just had to have it.

I have a little more trouble following the instructions for this cookbook, since they aren't written nearly as clearly as Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens.  Where the original recipe said "Take white flour and knead lightly, then leave to rise," I interpreted that to mean that this was a leavened pastry.  I therefore took the same dough recipe as I was using for the whole wheat bread I was making that day and used white flour instead.  Also, I didn't have enough sesame oil on hand to fry all the doughnuts, so I had to substitute a little bit of plain vegetable oil to round out the oil.

This recipe was very painful.  Oil splatters, you see.  It also retains its heat well, especially when combined with melted and caramelized sugar.  I removed a pan from the heat but left a (plastic-handled) spatula to cool with it.  When I grabbed the handle of the spatula it had melted.... into my finger.... which hurt and hurt.  Don't do that.  The worst part is that there were witnesses!  Nothing got into the food itself - I was starting over with a clean pan anyway.  Proper first aid was followed and there was no lasting harm to me, and that spatula had long exceeded its reasonably expected lifespan anyway.

Fortunately the dish was one hundred percent worth it.  Even reheated it was worth it.  Wow.  I just cannot say enough good things about these little treats.  I will warn you, though, that these are Not A Health Food.  While our medieval ancestors, especially the ancestors in the Islamic world, certainly understood the connection between diet and health they were not overly concerned with things like cholesterol or stroke risk or anything like that.  So this is absolutely a treat, to be reserved for a special occasion or very special gathering or maybe once a year.  Just know that it will be worth it when you do.

Aqras Mukarrara (makes enough for about 12 people if they're brave; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 3/4 cup lukewarm water

3 cups white all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups white bread flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons raw sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups raw sugar, divided

1/3 pound almonds

1/4 cup rosewater

1 1/2 cups water

Light sesame oil for frying (Note: do NOT use toasted sesame oil here, only the raw kind you can get at Middle Eastern or Indian markets.  The toasted kind you can find in the supermarket is entirely the wrong flavor.)

Equipment:

• Frying pan
• Saucepan
• Food processor
• Slotted spatula
• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Bowls

1. Combine the 2 teaspoons raw sugar with the water and the yeast in a bowl.  Set aside until the yeast becomes markedly foamy.
2. Combine the flours, salt and olive oil in the bowl of your stand mixer.
3. Add the yeast mixture.  Knead on the lowest setting until the ingredients are combined, then increase speed slightly (from 1 to 3 of 11 on mine) and knead until a soft dough is formed.  It should form a ball around the dough hook.
4. Cover the dough and set aside to rise for about an hour or until very puffy.  The length of time this will take depends on the heat of your kitchen.
5. Meanwhile, make the rest of the components.  Start with the syrup: combine 1 1/2 cups water with 1 1/2 cups sugar in the saucepan.
6. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
7. Bring to a boil.  Boil at least 1 minute.
8. Remove from heat.  Wait about thirty seconds and add the rosewater.
9. To make the filling, combine 2 cups raw sugar and 1/3 pound almonds in your food processor.  Process to a fine powder.
10. Add enough of the syrup to make it into a firm paste - you shouldn't need to add more than 1/2 cup but if you do that's okay.
11. Clean out your food processor and grind the remaining raw sugar into a fine powder.
12. When the dough is ready, pull off a small chunk of it, about as much as will fit between your thumb and forefinger if you touch the tips together.
13. Roll the piece of dough into a ball.
14. Break out a little bit of the almond paste from the food processor.  Roll it into a ball and flatten it with your hands.
15. Pat the cake into a flat disc and set aside.  Repeat with the remaining dough.
16. Heat the oil in your frying pan.  You want enough to fry the cakes without burning but not so much that you're deep-frying.
17. Add a few of the dough discs.  The number you add will depend on the size of your frying pan, but do NOT overcrowd your pan.  Not only does that lead to poor results it tends to lead to house fires.  So don't do it.
18. Fry the pieces on both sides for about a minute.
19. Dip each pastry into the syrup, then into the ground sugar, then return it to the pan.
20. Repeat this procedure twice more, setting the discs aside after the third sugaring.  Finish with the remaining discs.
21. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Iraqi Flat Bread

Recipe Source: This recipe is a combination of the khubuz al-Tannour recipe from Nawal Nasrallah's Delights from the Garden of Eden and Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq's Nabatean Water Bread recipe from Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens, which was translated by Nawal Nasrallah. Some of my own adaptations have been included here.

So, I've had my eye on a particular recipe in Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens for a while. The recipe is for a bread called Nabatean water bread and it's used as a base for some other dishes, such as a tharid that was supposed to be served on Nabatean water bread. I was also enthusiastic about this recipe because I've been assured several times that there are no extant bread recipes from the medieval period because everyone just knew how to make bread. The thing is that something kept stopping me from working on this recipe. I think that the thing that stopped me was chemistry. Bread baking is chemistry. I barely passed chemistry. Also, the Nabatean water bread recipe called for seven and a half pounds of flour and I was doubtful as to whether or not my stand mixer could handle it. (I haven't been that kind to my stand mixer lately.) Dr. Nasrallah mentioned that she published a version of that recipe in her book on Iraqi cookery, Delights from the Garden of Eden. I had been planning on picking that book up anyway, so I decided to get myself a birthday present and ordered it from Amazon.com. Then I used the two to kind of adapt and make a version for me. I don't know how authentic it is, being, you know, not Iraqi. It is, however, delicious.

I do want to make a few notes about this recipe. The biggest change that I made was to use sugar to activate the yeast. Neither recipe called for sugar and I suppose it is entirely possible that the yeasts would have woken up on their own, but I just couldn't make myself do it. I dispensed with the stand mixer, using a combination of a wooden spoon and very, very wet hands. Keeping your hands wet is very, very important. If this is a problem for you do not make this bread. (Personally I'd recommend working it out, because this bread just plain rocks.) This dough takes on a life of its own. It devours everything in its path. (Is this because I used the sugar to activate the yeast, or is that common?) I thought it was going to eat the cat. It was absolutely worth it, though.

I made this to test a recipe for a class I was teaching on tannūr cookery at an even up in Maine and served our dinner on top of it. All three of us – me, my husband and our daughter – loved this bread. It has taken the place of pita in my heart. I'd like to try it with the combination of flours recommended in Dr. Nasrallah's modern version, I just didn't have enough of any of them. I'd like to think that this would be a great recipe for kids to help with, especially kids in the 2 – 5 year age range. They'll enjoy the messiness, the sponginess of the dough. The bread freezes remarkably well.

Iraqi Flat Bread (makes 16 small-to-medium sized breads; approx. $0.10/ea.)

1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons raw sugar

4 ½ cups warm water

10 cups white bread flour (or a combination of white bread flour, whole wheat flour and wheat bran)

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Equipment:

• Big Green Egg or other tannūr like cooker. A brick oven will work. You can also make this in your oven and Dr. Nasrallah's book has extensive instructions on doing so.
• Very, very large bowl
• Aluminum foil
• Combine the yeast with the water and the sugar in a very, very large bowl.
• Set aside and wait until the yeast mixture becomes frothy.
• When the yeast is proofed, add the flour and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until all the water is incorporated.
• Knead with wet hands until the dough is very soft and rather wet. Wet your hands every time the dough starts to stick to your hands. Cover and let rise about an hour in a warm place.
• Preheat your tannūr with a pizza stone to 500 ̊.
• Divide your dough into about 15 pieces. With wet hands, press each piece into a flat round disc. (I like to set them onto aluminum foil, Dr. Nasrallah prefers parchment paper.)
• Bake each piece directly on the pizza stone 10 minutes. Remove carefully and cool before serving.
• Important note: Do not stack the breads while they are cooling.

Recipe: Sour Rye Bread

Recipe Source: Chamberlain, Lesley. Russian, German & Polish Food & Cooking. Anness Publishing, London, 2006 p. 90

When I first saw this recipe I thought to myself, "There is no way that I am going to do this. I am absolutely not leaving milk out on the counter overnight and then incorporating that into my food." Then I thought about it. The milk is pasteurized, right? It is set out in a covered container. Then the resulting mixture gets incorporated into something that gets very, very thoroughly cooked. Plus, if it were unsafe they probably wouldn't have been allowed to publish it, right? I decided to go with it and I'm glad I did. The bread was delicious and nutritious and a little something different from the ordinary.

I made a couple of minor changes. I switched whole wheat bread flour for the all-purpose flour, giving this bread more fiber than the original. To accommodate that I did increase the liquid slightly. I used olive oil for the butter mostly out of habit and I included a little bit of celery seed in with the caraway seeds when I sprinkled the loaves.

Sour Rye Bread (makes 2 loaves, approx. cost per serving not available)

4 cups rye flour

4 cups whole wheat bread flour

1 tablespoon salt

¼ ounce active dry yeast

2 teaspoons raw sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 ½ cups warm water, plus extra (see above)

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

1 tablespoon celery seeds

¼ cup additional rye flour

3 tablespoons milk

Equipment:

• Bowl with an air-tight seal
• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Baking sheets
• Plastic wrap

1. The day before you plan to cook, combine the ¼ cup rye flour and the milk in the bowl with the air-tight seal. Mix well, then cover and set aside overnight at room temperature. Really.
2. The next day, combine the water with the yeast and the sugar the bowl of your stand mixer. Set aside until the yeast becomes frothy.
3. Add the flours, salt and olive oil. Mix on your mixer's lowest speed until combined.
4. Increase the speed slightly (from 1 to 3 in my case) and knead until a ball forms, about 4 minutes.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise, about an hour or until doubled in size.
6. Punch down the dough and divide in half. Shape each half into a round.
7. Transfer to baking sheets.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at least 30 minutes.
9. Preheat your oven to 400 ̊.
10. Brush the loaves with water and sprinkle with the seeds.
11. Bake 40 minutes.
12. Cool and serve.

Recipe: Cornmeal Bread

Recipe Source: Shapter, Jennie. Bread Machine. Anness Publishing, London, 2001 p. 70

Okay, corn (maize) has gotten an awful lot of bad press lately. Some of it is justified. An awful lot of the Western diet, particularly the American diet, is based on corn. If something were to happen to the corn crop we'd be largely hosed and it is certainly in our best interests to develop an interest in foods that are not corn based. At the same time, corn is relatively inexpensive and versatile and can be healthy. So I'm not going to hop on the "Corn is Evil" bandwagon. I am in fact fully intent on enjoying corn in moderation.

This bread, which I served at a Sunday dinner, is an example of one way to enjoy corn. It is not a cornbread. I am not pretending that it is a cornbread. Cornbread is a Southern thing, a barbeque thing, whereas this you could use for sandwiches if you really felt the urge. (There wasn't enough left over for me to do so, I'm afraid.) I made a few changes of course. I used honey instead of brown sugar because I prefer the flavor of honey and there was just enough honey left in the jar to use for this recipe. I also used whole wheat bread flour in place of white because I have really come to prefer it.

Cornmeal Bread (serves 10; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 cup warm water plus extra if necessary

1 cup milk

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

3 cups whole wheat bread flour

1 ¼ cups cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

Equipment:

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Baking sheet
• Plastic wrap

1. Combine the milk, water, honey and yeast in the bowl of the stand mixer. Set aside in a warm place and do something else until the yeast becomes frothy.
2. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix on the lowest setting until the dough just comes together.
3. Increase the speed slightly (from 1 – 3 on my Cuisinart stand mixer, out of 12) and knead until the dough forms a ball, about 4 minutes. If you need to add a little water it's okay to do so.
4. Cover and set aside in a warm place until approximately doubled in size.
5. Preheat your oven to 425 ̊.
6. Punch down the dough. Form into your desired loaf shape and set aside, covered about half an hour.
7. Slash the dough as desired and bake 40 minutes, rotating halfway through cooking.
8. Let cool and serve.

Recipe: Barley Farmhouse Bread

Recipe Source: Shapter, Jennie. Bread Machine. Anness Publishing, London, 2002 p. 82

This is another dish that I made over Memorial Day weekend. My husband was away being over-active on Saturday. I've known him for a long time. He was going to be hungry when he got home, very hungry. When he's working out heavily what he needs is carbohydrates and lots of them. I need fewer carbs, being roughly the size of Kansas. I wanted to make something a little healthier than just straight white bread, because we can all use a little more nutrition in our diets. I decided on this barley-enriched loaf to give a more pronounced flavor to the dish and to add a little more flavor and I have got to say that it was delicious. The pepitas are a little off-putting in the picture, it's true, but they added a nice texture to the finished product.

I served this with the Lamb with Cumin-Scented Potatoes dish, but I made two loaves. We served the second loaf the next day and our guests were pretty into it too.

Barley Farmhouse Bread (makes 1 loaf, approx. cost per serving not available)

1 1/8 cups lukewarm water

3 tablespoons heavy cream

3 ½ cups bread flour

1 cup barley flour

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

Equipment:

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Plastic wrap
• Loaf pan

1. Combine the water, cream, sugar and yeast in the bowl of the stand mixer. Set aside until the yeast becomes very frothy.
2. Add the flours and salt. Run the stand mixer on its lowest setting until the ingredients are combined.
3. Increase speed slightly – from 1 to 3 on my Cuisinart – and knead 4 minutes or until the dough forms itself into a ball around the hook.
4. Remove the ball from the hook, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise.
5. Let the dough rise for about 1 ½ hours, or until quite puffy.
6. Punch down the dough and knead in the pumpkin seeds.
7. Transfer the dough to the loaf pan and even it out so that it fills the pan.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for ½ hour – 45 minutes, until it is puffy and reaches the top of the pan.
9. Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 425 ̊.
10. Slit the top of the loaf lengthwise and bake 15 minutes.
11. Reduce heat to 400 ̊ and bake another 25 minutes.
12. Remove from heat and cool.