Christmas Fruit Breads: Panettone and Stollen

One of the breads in The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge that I didn't rate favorably was Panettone. It's only fair to give it another try, this time I followed the recipe from Artisan Breads Every Day also by Peter Reinhart. The cake/bread has sourdough starter which gives it a better texture and flavor, IMHO and I love it. This formula can also be used to make stollen and brioche but strangely, I didn't like the flavor of the stollen using this recipe. So I baked a batch of the BBA recipe which I knew a year ago was a keeper. The bread, or cake did not disappoint. It is delicious!

Panettone
adapted from Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart

sourdough starter
1½ ounces mother starter, room temperature
6 ounces bread flour
3 ounces water, room temperature

dough
all of the starter
1 tablespoon honey
2 ounces lukewarm water
1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brandy, rum, or orange juice
7½ ounces bread flour
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups candied fruit (citron, orange peels, lemon peels, golden raisins, cranberries)

• Make the starter: Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. With paddle attachment, mix on lowest speed for 1 minute, increase to medium and mix for 30 seconds. The starter should be dough-like, sticky but not tacky. Adjust with flour or water as needed. Transfer into the work surface and knead by hand for 30 seconds. Place on a lightly oiled container, cover with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature for 8 hours. It will double in size.
• Make the dough: Cut the starter into 10 pieces and put in the bowl of a standing mixer. In a small bowl, stir the honey into the warm water until dissolved then whisk in the instant yeast. Let the mixture sit for 1 minute then add it to the starter. Stir to soften the starter. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and brandy then add to the starter mixture and stir until evenly incorporated. Add the flour and salt. With the paddle attachment, mix on lowest speed for 2 minutes. The dough will be coarse, wet, and sticky but will hold together. Continue mixing on lowest speed, gradually adding the sugar. Increase the speed to medium-low and mix for 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low, adding butter 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each addition is well incorporated before adding the next piece. Mix until the dough is shiny, soft, and very supple, this should take about 5 minutes. Mix on medium for 5 minutes more until you are able to pull out long, taffy-like strands of dough.
  

the dough should be shiny almost silky, soft, and taffy-like

• Shape the panettone: Add the fruits, mixing on lowest speed for 1 minute finishing by hand on the work surface. You may use dried fruits instead of candied citrus; or more, less, or none at all. Weigh out the desired size, form into balls, and place in oiled molds: 24 ounces for a full size panettone mold; for very small molds, about 3½ to 4 ounces. Each mold should be 1/3 full. Place the filled molds on a cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Place the sheet inside a food-grade plastic bag and let rise for 12 hours at room temperature.

• Bake the panettone: Preheat the oven to 350°F, 325°F for large size. Bake small ones for 30 minutes and large ones for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden brown all over. Internal temperature should read 185°F. Cool the large panettone upside down on a rack.

Here is a preview of the marzipan-filled stollen. I'll publish the recipe in a separate post soon.:-)

Chicken Relleno

One of the must-have dishes for Noche Buena, the feast served at Christmas midnight in the Philippines is Chicken Relleno, a whole boneless chicken stuffed with ground pork and seasonings and baked until golden brown. The dish is usually cooked-to-order from stores or the household cooks prepare them. Whether it's homemade or store-bought the Chicken Relleno is always at the center of the Filipino Christmas dinner table celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Chicken Relleno
adapted from FLAVORS OF THE PHILIPPINES
by Glenda Rosales-Barretto

chicken
2½ pounds whole chicken
2 teaspoons sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon soft butter for brushing

stuffing
4 pieces Vienna sausage, chopped
2 pieces Spanish chorizo, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ground pork
¼ cup roasted red bell pepper, diced
¼ cup sliced stuffed olives
3 tablespoons raisins
3 tablespoons grated Edam cheese
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 hard boiled eggs

• Debone the chicken then season inside and out with salt and pepper.
• In a large bowl, mix all the stuffing ingredients except hard boiled eggs. Fry a teaspoon of the filling and adjust seasoning if needed. Stuff the chicken with the mixture and arrange the hard boiled eggs by pushing the meat filling along the sides of the cavity. Sew the opening securely with kitchen thread.
• Brush the chicken all over with the soft butter. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 1½ hours or until the skin is golden brown.

Read more international Christmas recipes here or click on the banner above starting December 1, 2010. Enjoy.

Stuffed Prawns

The theme for November 2010 Kulinarya Cooking Club is Relleno or Stuffed meat, seafood, or vegetables which is great because I love making and eating rellenos. The rellenos I have made are boneless chicken, squid, crabs, and our favorite, eggplants and green bell peppers and I have also stuffed mushrooms, vegetable marrows, tomatoes, and potatoes. I guess I'm just relleno-happy. ^__^

The only other ingredients left that I haven't made into Philippine-style relleno are prawns, and I would love to stuff whole frogs too if only they were readily available. For the prawn stuffing, I used a combination of smoked ham [instead of the usual ground pork], scallions, chives, and Italian parsley and wrapped them in lumpia (spring roll) wrapper before deep frying until crispy. They are crunchilicious and are the perfect appetizers for the coming holiday meals. I love them served with sweet chilli sauce or spicy banana ketchup.

Stuffed Prawns
12 large prawns, shelled but leave tails intact
¾ cup finely chopped smoked honey ham
1 tablespoon each finely chopped scallions, chives, and Italian parsley
6 sheets lumpia (spring roll) wrapper, cut in half
light olive oil for frying

• Slit the back of the prawns. Combine ham, scallions, chives, and parsley. Fill each prawn with one tablespoon of the mixture and wrap with spring roll wrapper. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown and crispy. Serve immediately with sweet chilli sauce on the side.

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

Thank you Anna and Dahlia for choosing Relleno and for hosting this month's Kulinarya Cooking Club edition.

Uraro (Arrowroot) Cookies

Uraro cookies are a childhood favorite of mine, and of many Filipinos I know. These are dry crunchy cookies that have very simple clean flavor, not too sweet, and slightly buttery and milky. My preferred drink with these cookies is iced whole milk. Makes me feel like a kid again.

Although these cookies are occasionally available at the Philippine grocery stores, most of them have more tapioca flour than arrowroot. Since arrowroot flour is now available at most grocery stores, I made them..twice. The first batch was plain, and delicious BTW, and I added chopped dried fruits into the second [half] batch which didn't turn out great. Plain is better IMHO but I'm thinking of adding puffed pinipig or rice crispies next time.

Uraro Cookies
8 ounces sugar
3 large eggs
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 ounces arrowroot flour
4 ounces tapioca flour
2 ounces very fine dry milk powder

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Place the sugar in a blender and blend to a powder.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs until thick and light yellow in color. Transfer into a small bowl.
• Place the butter in the same bowl and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
• Blend in the beaten eggs and vanilla extract on low until thoroughly combined.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, and milk, and slowly add into the butter mixture, beating on low until well incorporated. Sprinkle more arrowroot flour if the dough appears too soft; or refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes until firm enough for the cookie press.
• Fill cookie press. With flower or snowflake design plate, form cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies on wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight jars. Yield: about 120 1½ inch cookies.