October 11, 2009

Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

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Chocolate Babka
chocolate babka that everybody will love

Good news! PETER REINHART'S ARTISAN BREADS EVERY DAY will be published October 27, 2009 and is now available to pre-order at amazon. If anybody is interested in attending one of his classes or events here is the link to his blog.

October 10, 2009

Prawn Sinigang

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It's definitely fall already. The past few days have been cold and windy that I started bringing my plants inside the house. First to come in are the calamansi tree which has hundreds of tiny fruits growing right now, and the Spanish pimiento which I want to try to continue growing indoors. We've had several consecutive 40°F nights and my tomato plants are now starting to die. The plants still have plenty of unripe fruits, some I already made into green tomato jam which is yummy, btw.

Thinking of ways to use the green tomatoes aside from frying them, sinigang (soup) came to mind. Yes, since green tomatoes are a little bit more acidic than the ripe ones, they are definitely perfect as additional souring agent for sinigang. I used a packet of frozen young tamarind leaves and together with some vegetables from my garden I made prawn sinigang, very yummy.

homegrown vegetables: tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, sitaw

Prawn Sinigang
4 cups rice water or water
souring agent such as fresh tamarind, young tamarind leaves, or kamias
4 large ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 green tomatoes, cut into wedges
yardlong beans, cut into 1½-inch pieces
2 small Asian eggplants, sliced
1 cup edamame or lima beans
2 green medium-hot peppers (siling haba)
2 teaspoons sea salt or to taste
½ pound prawns
  • Place water and souring agent in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to medium, cover, and let boil for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except prawns. Simmer, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes or until eggplants are soft.
  • Add the prawns and cook uncovered until they turn pink or red and completely cooked. Transfer into a serving container and serve immediately with steamed rice and fish sauce.

October 8, 2009

Me Want Cookie!

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It's been a looong time, probably 2 years, since I last had chocolate chip cookies. I haven't baked them because there are no longer small children in my house to appreciate these treats. I'm also too busy baking other goodies like meringue, macarons, and silvanas, and tons of bread.

Last week, I suddenly had a craving for chocolate chip cookies after reading Snickers Bar Chocolate Chip cookies at Joelen's blog. I didn't have Snickers candy bars but I did have toffee brickle chips and peanut chips. I adapted the recipes on the packages adding chocolate chips in both doughs. Both cookies are very good and will surely bring out your inner Cookie Monster.

Toffee Brickles And Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 stick butter, softened
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup toffee brickle chips
½ cup milk chocolate chips
  • Preheat oven to 350° F.
  • In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated.
  • Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. With mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Stir in both chips.
  • Using a small ice cream scoop, drop dough on parchment lined cookie sheets 1½ inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown.
  • Cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on a flat surface or on wire racks and let cool completely. Store in an airtight jar.
Chewy Chocolate And Peanut Chip Cookies


1 stick plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup peanut chips
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Preheat oven to 350° F.
  • Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
  • In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the peanut and chocolate chips.
  • Using a small ice cream scoop, drop dough on 2 parchment lined cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on a flat surface or wire rack and let cool completely. Store in an airtight jar.

October 6, 2009

Pain de Campagne: BBAC #22

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Pain de Campagne: Couronne

I had so much high hopes for The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge # 22: Pain de Campagne but wasn't too thrilled with the result. It is not as tasty as Pain a l'Ancienne. The tight crumb is soft-ish although chewy, which is good. The book doesn't have any photo of the crumb so I can't really tell if it is supposed to be open or tight. I don't really care because I won't be baking this bread anytime soon. The flavor is so-so and there's nothing to rave and write about it. I decided to substitute photos for a lengthy write-up instead.

The only thing I enjoyed the most in making this bread is the shaping. The couronne Bordelaise looks so pretty but the book does not have the instructions which I found here. It's really fun to make and you don't really need a lined banneton to be able to shape it. A 10-inch pie plate or skillet and a smooth kitchen towel will do the job.

Improvised Basket For Couronne
I improvised a couronne basket by taping a small plastic container in the middle of a wicker banneton with removable liner

Lined Proofing Basket
the lining was dusted with lots of flour before laying on top of basket and plastic container

Pain de Campagne
proofing

Pain de Campagne
proofed dough inverted on a piece of parchment and ready for baking

Pain de Campagne: Couronne
the bread up close

Rating:
flavor 3
texture 3
visual appeal 4
ease of preparation 5
performance 3
worth 2
Total: 20
Average: 3.3

 
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