Roasted Onion And Asiago Miche: BBAC#43

Woohoo! Stick a fork in me. I'm done! Here it is, ta-da

the last bread in The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #43: Roasted Onion And Asiago Miche.

First, thank you Nicole for creating this challenge, XOXO. I learned a ton from baking 43 breads, found out what works, and discovered new favorites and appreciation for sourdough starter. Lately I have been using my wild yeast starter for almost all the yeast breads I bake outside of this challenge. I truly enjoyed this virtual baker's apprentice experience.

Now, about the bread. I halved the recipe because it is just too large for me to handle. It took 3 days to make this beautiful loaf. First day was for making a wet sourdough sponge which I mixed very late in the evening and left it on the kitchen counter overnight in order to avoid putting it in the refrigerator. The next morning it had grown and ready to be made into the dough. I loved the feel of the dough which was elastic, soft, and silky smooth like a baby's bottom. I did 3 stretch-and-folds within 1½ hours, total fermentation was 2 hours. It was then shaped into a boule, placed on a piece of parchment, sprayed with oil, covered with plastic wrap, then made to rest overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, the ginormous 11-inch wide miche with lots of air pockets was made to de-chill *is that a word?* for 2 hours on the kitchen counter. The top was oiled, dimpled all over, then sprinkled with more cheese and the roasted onion, and baked for 35 minutes. The bread is very pretty on the outside but the crumb although soft and moist is not open as described in the book. The large holes that were supposed to be in between the dimpled sections were missing. The bread is flavorful but not as awesome as my other favorite breads in the book, which is a surprise.

Having said that I will give this bread another chance, it has so much potential. Maybe I'll increase the amount of scallions and chives because their flavors seem to disappear in the bread or try another kind of cheese. I will probably let the dough rest more than 30 minutes after dimpling because this step deflated the miche which might have contributed to the tight crumb.

Rating:
flavor 4
texture 4
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 4
worth 5
Total: 27
Average: 4.5

My top 10 favorite breads in the challenge

1. Casatiello
2. Pain à l'Ancienne
3. Pizza Napoletana
   
4. Potato, Cheddar, And Chive Torpedoes
5. Italian Bread
   
6. Portuguese Sweet Bread
7. Vienna Bread
   
8. Kaiser Rolls
9. Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire
10. Bagels
    

Lasang Pinoy Sundays: Rolled

tamagoyaki, a sweet Japanese rolled omelet

LpaisSundays, a gallery of food photography, Pinoy style, is hosted by SpiCes and Feisty Cook.

4 large eggs
4 tablespoons dashi stock
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon mirin
½ teaspoon soy sauce
salt, to taste

• Beat the eggs and the rest of the ingredients very well until as smooth as possible.
  
• Pour about a quarter of the mixture into a well-oiled tamago pan or non-stick skillet and spread as if you are making a crepe. As the mixture cooks, bubbles and sets, roll it and move it to the back of the pan. Brush more oil on the pan and some more of the mixture, making sure to get some under the roll. As it cooks, roll the old roll back to the front of the pan, then again to the back. Repeat until you are out of mixture.
• Remove roll from the pan and roll as you would a sushi roll, squeezing out excess liquid. You can roll it into either a round or rectangular shape and slice it when it has cooled. The slices can be served as is, or as nigiri, atop a mound of rice wrapped in a thin sheet of nori.

Bringhe

I have been making a list of regional Filipino food that I haven't eaten nor cooked before. I'm going to have a sort of my own test kitchen. I'll cook a chosen recipe, judge, improve upon if necessary, and then I'll blog about it.

One of the recipes I have wanted to try is the Pampanga rice dish Bringhe which is in 2 of my Filipino cookbooks. I chose the one from MEMORIES OF PHILIPPINE KITCHENS because it doesn't have chorizo, ham, or prawns. Both books categorize the rice dish as the Filipino version of the Spanish paella and a lot of Filipinos call the dish Philippine paella. Reading through the ingredients and the recipe I honestly think bringhe is closer to the Indian vegetable rice dish brinji than to paella. Aside from the similarity in their names, they also share a few ingredients such as coconut milk, carrot, potato, peas, and turmeric although brinji is heavily seasoned with herbs and spices. Paella doesn't have any of those ingredients save for peas. Since I am not from the region where this dish comes from, I am not going to disagree with its kinship with Paella.

The following recipe from MEMORIES is quite large and you may want to halve it. The 2 things I changed from the procedure: 1) added a tablespoon of sea salt to the chicken broth while it is boiling for a more flavorful chicken meat, then adjusted the amount of fish extract; 2) used 2 pieces of turmeric because the yellow color was too pale. Japanese sticky rice IMO is best for this recipe because the soaking time is only one hour.

I love the finished dish for its simplicity and its very mild flavor. There aren't any strong-flavored ingredients that clash, rather they complement each other. It has a hint of sweetness from the coconut milk and vegetables and the aroma and flavor of the banana leaves is heavenly. Sticky rice and banana leaves are made for each other, with sweet and with savory dishes.
I give this recipe 2 thumbs up.

Bringhe
adapted from MEMORIES OF PHILIPPINE KITCHENS
by Amy Besa And Romy Dorotan

3½ pounds whole chicken
1 large onion, quartered
2 tablespoons light olive or grapeseed oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 medium onion, diced
1 sweet red bell pepper, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 one-inch piece fresh turmeric, grated (or 1 teaspoon powdered)
2 cups sticky rice, soaked in water overnight, drained
2 cups coconut milk
4 tablespoons fish sauce, or to taste
frozen banana leaves

• Place the chicken and onion in a large saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the chicken, strain, and reserve the broth. Set the chicken aside to cool, then remove the meat from the bones and shred it. Set aside.
• Wash the banana leaves with the hottest tap water then wipe dry. Brush a large wok with vegetable oil and line with a double layer of banana leaves. Lightly oil the banana leaves.
• In a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the garlic, onion,, and bell pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook until softened. Add the turmeric and stir for 1 minute. Drain the rice and add to the pan, stirring until thoroughly coated with the oil. Add 1½ cups coconut milk and 1½ cups of the reserved chicken stock, and the fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until all the liquid is absorbed. Add another ½ cup of coconut milk and ½ cup of chicken broth and continue to stir until the liquid is absorbed. This should take 20 minutes - the rice should be tender but al dente. If the rice isn't cooked through, add more milk and stock. Continue to cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked through. Add the shredded chicken and cook until warmed through, about 3 minutes.
• Fill the prepared wok with the rice mixture, smooth the top, cover with another layer of banana leaf, cover with lid or aluminum foil. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, raise the heat to medium-high and continue to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until a golden brown crust is formed at the bottom. Invert onto a large serving plate, remove the leaves, and serve.

savory sticky rice, yummy

Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Torpedoes: BBAC#42

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #42: Potato, Cheddar, And Chive Torpedoes

Boy, am I grateful to Peter for sharing this bread recipe from one of his former bakers, Tim Decker, because it is simply superb. Just like Potato Rosemary Bread, I love everything about it: the soft somewhat elastic slightly open crumb that is moist and flavorful with a subtle garlic flavor from the chives, the most wonderful chewy dark brown crust, and its aroma, oh yeah. The aroma wafting through the house while baking makes you want to tear at the bread right after it comes out of the oven. Anyway, I made two 25-ounce loaves, each grew really big at 12 inches long, 6½ inches wide, and 3-inches tall. That's a lot of bread!

The recipe is an easy to make same-day bread leavened with both wild (sourdough) and commercial yeasts. Boiled chopped unpeeled potatoes and chives are added to the dough. Slices of sharp cheddar cheese are laid on the dough halves that are shaped into 6 x 8-inch rectangles. The doughs are rolled jelly roll style then shaped into torpedoes, the cheese creating pockets that look nice when the bread is sliced. I used white extra sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, sooo good. I will increase the amount of cheese next time I make these which is going to be very often. I love this bread!

Rating:
flavor 5
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 5
Total: 30
Average: 5