A Bread A Day

Week Five: Breads for Parties

The bread I’ve picked for today takes a bit of a liberty with the term, but it is most certainly a flour-water mixture that then gets cooked, so I say it’s fair game.  This recipe is for gougères, and there really is no other way to say it.  I’ve seen them called “cheese puffs”, but that term always brought to my mind images of fluorescent orange, sodium-packed, styrofoam-y snack foods.  Gougères are as far away from those as a Lamborghini is from a Hot Wheel, so I stubbornly and deliberately avoid that phrasing.  Technically, they’re pâte à choux with cheese added to the dough, but who ever knows what pâte à choux is?  As laborious as it is, you’ll probably have to explain exactly what they are every time; but once you get this recipe down pat, your guests will start asking for these by name.

What’s pâte à choux, you ask?  Well, it’s the dough that éclairs are made out of, as well as profiterôles, cream puffs, those adorable little pastry swans, and countless other items in the bakeshop.  Pâte à choux (or, choux paste) is one of the best tricks up a pastry chef’s sleeve, because of its speed to make, its ease (once you know how), and its simple ingredients that can adapt to endless variations of flavoring and shaping.  The name literally translates to “cabbage paste” (paste as in pastry), because the original recipes, baked into little balls, rather looked like cabbages.  Originally created in the mid 1500s, pâte à choux has gone through a few changes to the recipe, but it was perfected by Antonin Carème around the turn of the 19th century into the smoother item we know today.

Probably most well-known as the pastry-cream-filled, chocolate-ganache-topped confection called the éclair, pâte à choux can be piped into mounds, strips, rings, spirals, and everything in between, using a plain or a star tip in your piping bag.  Because the dough contains no sugar, they can be filled with anything from salmon mousse to chocolate mousse (but not at the same time!), and all are equally delicious.  They can stand alone, as in a cream puff, or be combined with other items to produce something more than the sum of its parts, like a Gateau St. Honoré.  There’s one rare iteration (called a “polka”, as in “dot”) where a ring of choux paste is piped onto a circle of puff pastry, baked, then filled with a mixture of pastry cream and buttercream, and dusted with powdered sugar.  It’s just as delicious as it sounds!  To make gougères, you simply take pâte à choux dough, and add cheese, preferably one with a low moisture content, as that can affect the way they puff (or don’t puff, as the case may be).

Ok, fair warning: this is what you might call an “advanced” recipe.  But!  It’s really not that hard, once you know how to do it!  If you know someone who knows how to make choux paste, they can show you what to look for; but in lieu of a pastry chef BFF, the amazing Alton Brown has done an episode about pâte à choux, and can explain it far better than I can.  I almost consider it required watching if you want your choux to puff properly.  The recipe below is from Bo Friberg’s The Professional Pastry Chef, one of the textbooks I used in culinary school, and one of the best cookbooks on my shelf.  I have yet to find a recipe in it that didn’t succeed with flying colors, and this one is no exception.  The only requirement is a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (see note #2 below), and maybe something to pipe the dough with (a Ziploc bag is fine).  You can just portion out the dough with a spoon, but all those little peaks will need to be patted down before baking, otherwise they’ll burn.  It is rather a lot of information, but the more you know before getting into it, the more success you’ll have.  And you know what?  Even if your puffs don’t exactly puff, they’ll still taste delicious.  So don’t be afraid!  Give it a go!  You’ll never regret at least trying, right?

If you can master pâte à choux, you’ll never be at a loss for a fairly quick and supremely impressive item in your culinary arsenal.  The dough will accept any number of different flavors, in all sorts of different formats: dried herbs, ground spices, flavored sugars, flavored salts, cheeses, ground nuts, etc. etc. etc.  Or you could just leave them plain, and press spices, cheese, or coarse sugar or salt into the tops before baking.  Gougères are perfect little bites for a wine party, and can easily be paired with specific wines based on the cheese used.  You could even split the dough into three or four portions and mix a different cheese in with each one.  Have your friends each bring a different bottle of wine, and have fun seeing which pairing goes best together!  (Just make sure not to mix up the batches of gougères - they’re impossible to tell apart once they’re made!)

Gougères
From The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg
Makes enough for about 35-50 puffs, 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter

4 ounces cake flour (about 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
5 1/2 ounces bread flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 pint water
6 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/2 stick)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pint eggs (about 8 large, see note #8 below)
10 ounces cheese (preferably Gruyère or Emmenthaler) finely diced or grated

1.  Preheat oven to 400º F.  Sift the flours together on a sheet of baking paper and reserve.

2.  Heat the water, butter, and salt to a full rolling boil, so that the fat is not just floating on the top but is dispersed throughout the liquid.

3.  Form the ends of the baking paper into a pouring spout.  Then, using a heavy wooden spoon, stir the flour into the liquid, adding it as fast as it can be absorbed.  Avoid adding all of the flour at once, as this can make the paste lumpy.

4.  Cook, stirring constantly and breaking up the inevitable lumps by pressing them against the side of the pan with the back of the spoon, until the mixture forms a mass and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 2 to 3 minutes.

5.  Transfer the paste to a mixer bowl.  Let the paste cool slightly so the eggs will not cook when they are added.

6.  Mix in the eggs, 2 at a time, using the paddle attachment on low or medium speed.  Add as many eggs as the paste can absorb and still hold its shape when piped.  Beat on high speed for a minute or two, until paste cools and becomes shiny.  Beat in the cheese.

7.  Pipe the paste into the desired shape, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter (they will puff up to be a little bigger than they are when piped out), onto a parchment-lined sheet pan.  Bake immediately at 400º F for approximately 25 minutes or until fully baked and golden brown.  When done, poke slits in the sides to release steam and ensure they stay puffy and don’t fall flat.

Notes:
1.  Instead of the full amount of water, I used 1 1/4 cups of water and 3/4 cup of dry white wine, for a little extra flavor.  For the cheese, I used 8 oz blue cheese, crumbled into as small bits as possible.  It was not top quality, but it did the job.  I figure I’ll save my Maytag Blue for eating plain.

2.  Bo Friberg suggests that it is “quite easy” to add the eggs by hand, just in the saucepan where the flour mixture was cooked.  Personally, I’ve tried it; it only works if you have a bionic arm.  It takes a lot of effort, so if you have a very strong arm (or one at your disposal), then give it a go.  Me, I’ll just stick with my mixer.  See, if the eggs aren’t added fast enough, they won’t all absorb into the dough, making it runny, which means they’ll be flat.  I went through several batches of pancaked profiterôles before I learned what I was doing wrong.

3.  Gougères should be eaten the same day they are baked, or frozen and reheated later in a 350º F oven for about 4-5 minutes.

4.  As long as you do not let it become too brown, you cannot overbake pâte à choux, so make sure the shells have been baked long enough to hold their shape and not fall.  The baked shells can be stored covered for a day or two, but once filled, they should be served the same day.

5.  It is unnecessary to glaze pâte à choux with egg wash before baking.  The egg cooks before the pastries have finished expanding in the oven, which gives them an ugly cracked appearance. (Some recipes direct you to do this.  It is a mistake.  Don’t listen.)

6.  Cook the pastries quickly, before a skin forms on the dough.  This means that if you have too much dough than will fit on your tray, don’t pipe any more out until the first batch is done.

7.  Do not open the oven door fully when baking.  The sudden drop in temperature will cause the shells to collapse.

8.  Yes, you do have to measure out the eggs.  You can beat them lightly in order to measure exactly (you may end up needing half an egg, or some such).  It is best if they are about room temperature, but you don’t have to be adamant about that.

9.  When piping out, use a well-moistened finger to pat down any “soft-serve-ice-cream” peaks that form.  They will burn otherwise.

10.  Any additional flavorings should be added in small amounts, and “like to like” (i.e., powdered spices like cinnamon in with the flour, liquid flavors like vanilla in with the eggs).  The idea, most of the time, is for the dough to taste neutral, and be more like an ingredient than a finished product.  Gougères are a bit of an exception.

11.  You can use 9 1/2 ounces of all-purpose (about 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons), if you don’t have cake and bread flour, although it is best to use the combination.  

12.  By the way, I figure it goes without saying, but thought I’m mention that if you want plain pâte à choux, just leave the cheese out.

Week Five: Breads for Parties

sweet potato crackers with cayenne

What would a party be without crackers?  They’re versatile enough to go with every cheese, spread, dip, and topping imaginable; and I for one have never heard someone say that they didn’t like crackers.  You can get them at any place that sells food - even gas stations!  They can sit out all night or all day, and never really go bad exactly, just maybe a little chewy.  They’re cheap to boot, and come in a million different shapes, flavors, colors, and forms.  So why on earth would anyone want to make crackers?  Because as easy and reliable as store-bought crackers are, sometimes they just can’t hold a candle to home-made.  Besides, when have you ever seen sweet potato crackers in a store?  I can’t even find them on the internet!

Crackers as we know them, those crispy and light things, first originated in the 19th century, right about the same time as baking soda and powder were discovered (surprise, surprise).  Before that, hard cracker-esque breads go all the way back to the most ancient peoples, probably originating in the Middle East.  Because of their transportability and long-keeping properties, they were mainly used for army rations, or on long ocean voyages.  Both reviled and reminisced upon fondly, such breads had to be eaten with some sort of liquid (like soup), since they were usually too hard to eat by themselves.  Oyster crackers, formerly larger than the dime-sized affairs we see nowadays, are an offshoot of this hardtack.  Coastal people who cooked food for sailors’ voyages started using the (much fresher and far more edible) crackers to enhance and stretch their soups, particularly chowders.  The advent of chemical leaveners in baking made these breads lighter and more delicious, and they soon became widely popular.

This recipe uses a biscuit method, by cutting butter into flour, then mixing in wet ingredients.  The amount of butter is relatively small, which means that the crackers won’t rise very much.  The butter, here, acts to shorten the strands of gluten that form when you roll the dough out, as much as to add lightness in texture, and add flavor.  You still want to move quickly when cutting the butter into the flour (if you’ve got a food processor, you may want to use it), but it’s not as crucial to keep everything cold, as you might with biscuits.

One shortcut you could definitely take (and one I aaalmost took) is to use canned plain pumpkin instead of bothering with the sweet potato.  But since one of the best “pumpkin” pies I’ve ever made used sweet potato instead of pumpkin, I figured I’d try the recipe as written.  I was also worried while making them that I was rolling them out too thin, overworking the gluten, and letting the butter in the dough get too warm, on the counter next to the hot oven.  I shouldn’t have worried one bit: they might even have been thinner (and therefore crispier), and they weren’t tough at all.  I decided to top all of them with kosher salt, and half of them with cayenne pepper also.  The cayenne was just wonderful with the sweet potato flavor, and I rather wish I had done all of them that way.

These crackers are just perfect for your next Cocktail Hour.  I can picture serving a plateful of these spicy, cayenne-topped lovelies alongside a wedge of creamy blue cheese to spread on top, while sipping on a classic Sidecar.  If you want a different flavor base to play with, try adding a pinch of cinnamon and the zest of an orange to the sweet potato purée, and substituting the salt on top with a coarse sanding sugar.  Serve that with warm brie and honey, and a Manhattan or a well-made Sazerac (which, if you’ve never had, is one of those things you must try before you die).  For a gathering outdoors, when the weather’s nicer (I can dream, can’t I?), try adding lime juice and zest to the purée, topping with salt and a light sprinkle of ground or crushed cumin, and toasting with a refreshing Margarita (on the rocks, please!).  Making your own crackers takes just a little extra time, but the amazing flavor and crunch are more than worth it; not to mention the personal satisfaction you’ll get from all the ooh’s and aah’s as your friends dig in!

Sweet Potato Crackers

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/4 cup milk (approximately)
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash
Coarse salt for topping
Other seed, herb, or spice as desired for topping

1.  Preheat oven to 350º F.  Cook sweet potato in boiling water until very soft, about 15-20 minutes. Cool and smash with a fork or purée in food processor with milk to make a smooth mixture to equal 1 cup.

2.  Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a large bowl.  Add butter and cut into the flour mixture until it looks like a coarse meal texture.  Some bigger lumps are okay.

3.  Beat sweet potato puree into flour.  Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead only until smooth, adding just enough flour to keep dough from sticking.

4.  Divide dough into 4 pieces.  Roll each out to a very thin layer on a floured surface, keeping the remaining pieces covered.  Turn the dough a quarter turn between rolls to make sure it isn’t sticking to the surface.

5.  Cut into rounds, squares, or haphazard geometric shapes.  Brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with salt and other herbs, seeds, or spices.

6.  Bake at 350º F on an ungreased or parchment-lined sheet for 10-13 minutes, until bottoms are slightly browned.  Turn over and bake 3-4 minutes more.  Cool on rack before storing in an airtight container.

Notes:
1.  Sesame seeds or a light sprinkling of cayenne pepper are fabulous with the flavor of sweet potato.  Other suggestions: ground cumin, dried mint, paprika, thyme, etc.

2.  I think I may have pulled my crackers out a little early, as they were just barely golden, not browned.  But they had a pleasing chew to them, and will probably stand up to being frozen better that way, since they’re less brittle.  I figure I can freeze them as they are, slightly undercooked, then pull them out for guests and quickly crisp and thaw them at the same time.

3.  I didn’t try it, but you could dock these crackers with a fork to give them a more “crackerly” appearance.  I’m sure it would be lovely.  (The purpose of docking crackers is to help them bake more evenly, by releasing pockets of air that might form.  I didn’t have a problem with that, though.)

Week Five: Breads for Parties

black olive grissini

One of the many personality traits I have inherited from my mom is a love of entertaining.  Unlike many of the others, though, this trait surfaced only recently; in fact, the very idea of having people in my home used to give me a fair amount of anxiety.  I mean, what will we all do?  What if they don’t like the food?  Oh god, what if no one shows up?  Not to mention the difference in the level of sophistication required to make the switch from throwing a house party of the sort I had been used to in college, to the far more Martha Stewart affairs I envisioned myself swanning around.  Fortunately, though, hosting a party is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it.  In the preparations of those first several nerve-wracking efforts, I would embolden myself by remembering that these were my friends that I was inviting into my house.  They weren’t there to watch me jump through hoops, they weren’t there for a free meal, they were there to spend time with me, because they were my friends.  They were there because of camaraderie and love, for passing a good time, as they say in Louisiana.

Now don’t get me wrong - I’m a foodie through and through.  Just because my friends are there for the fun doesn’t mean I’m going to neglect the food.  Indeed, I’m going to put on my chef hat and give it all I’ve got.  (Not literally.  It would mess up my hair.)  Having people over is an excuse for me to try out a new recipe, and to cook something a little fancy; and if it happens to be out-of-this-world delicious, so much the better, right?  So this week, I give you breads that are good for parties: parties of every kind, from a simple wine and cheese affair all the way to a formal sit-down dinner.  (The rest of the menu is up to you, though.)

This first recipe is for grissini, a pencil-thick Italian breadstick.  In Italy, paper packages of these adorn nearly every restaurant table, as a little snack to stave off hunger before the antipasti and primi piatti arrive.  Usually plain, this version is dolled up a bit, with rye flour and massively-flavorful cured black olives.  Another pleasant difference in this recipe is the lack of yeast.  Grissini originated as simply a thinner, smaller breadstick, made with the same dough as the usual bread.  Thus, they are usually yeast-leavened; but I prefer this chemically-leavened version.  They’re so small, and go so quickly, that it seems hardly worth the time needed for yeast.  This recipe, though, comes together in hardly any time, and is kind of fun to make into the little sticks.  Did you ever make clay snakes when you were young? If you did, then you can make grissini.  (If you didn’t, I’m so very sorry.  You missed out.)

Grissini are a perfect accompaniment to wine and cheese.  You could certainly leave out the powerful olives, to have a more palate-cleansing snack; but I highly recommend trying this recipe as is at least once.  I doubt you’ll look back.  This recipe turns out wonderfully crunchy, tempting, and fragrant sticks, full of olive flavor, but not overwhelmingly so.  They are nearly irresistible, even after you brush your teeth (take it from one who knows). One traditional - and extremely delicious - preparation for grissini is to wrap each with a thin shaving of prosciutto, but I think you would die of over-consumption of salt if you tried that with these.  It’s best to save your prosciutto for wrapping around al dente asparagus spears, for wrapping around nut- or cheese-stuffed dates, or simply eating al crudo, all of which would beautifully accompany these grissini.  Another benefit to this recipe is that it produces very dry breads, which will stay good in an airtight container for many days.  You can make these far in advance of a gathering, call your friends, get some nice cheese, pour yourself a glass of cabernet, and enjoy the party.  Now what exactly was I so anxious about again?

Black Olive Grissini
From Gourmet Magazine

1/2 cup rye flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives (3 oz), pitted and finely chopped
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water to make egg wash

1.  Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment.

2.  Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl, then stir in olives, buttermilk, and butter until a dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 5 or 6 times.

3.  Halve dough and form each half into a 12-inch log. Cut each log into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a 10-inch-long rope and arrange 1/2 inch apart on lined baking sheets.

4.  Brush breadsticks lightly with some of egg wash. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes total. Cool on sheets on a rack 30 minutes.

Notes:
1.  Cured olives are full of strong flavor, so a little goes a long way.  They look a bit like a cross between olives and raisins, a little shriveled and wrinkly.  You can generally find them on any olive bar (at many grocery stores these days), and are sold bottled by at least one brand.  You could substitute regular olives, but the flavor won’t be as intense, and the extra liquid might affect the texture.  But whatever you do, please don’t use canned olives.

2.  Try forming the grissini into something other than straight lines, for something a little more fun.  You could make squiggles, or spirals.

3.  I baked mine until they were very brown, which took about 20-22 minutes.  But my oven was already very hot from cooking dinner (450º F), and I’m not sure it actually got down to 350º by the time I put them in.  Use your judgement, and know that they will cook fairly quickly, since they’re small.

4.  I imagine that you could substitute whole-wheat flour for the rye flour, but they might end up a little tougher (since rye flour produces no gluten, whereas whole-wheat flour does).  And since you roll these so much, it might make a difference.

5.  Again, if you don’t have buttermilk, just warm 1/2 cup milk in the microwave, about 30 seconds, and add a splash of vinegar.  After a few minutes, you’ll have ersatz buttermilk!

6.  If you plan on serving more than about 4 people, you may want to double the recipe.  I promise, they won’t hang around long.

Week Four: Savory Quick Breads

mediterranean olive bread

Originally, I had planned to make a different recipe, one for Spoon Bread.  Spoon bread is another Southern specialty, more often seen in the Low Country area of the South than anywhere else, alongside Hoppin’ John, Frogmore stew, and other traditional dishes.  I knew it was similar to cornbread, but as I looked at the recipe, I decided it was a little too similar.  Yes, it’s more like a soufflé than a bread, but the basic ingredients are just about the same as for cornbread.  It most certainly is a savory quick bread, but the clincher was that the method is just not a quick-bread method.  Spoon bread is made with a hot cornmeal mush and whipped eggs, rather than simply stirring dry and wet ingredients together.  So I began the search for a different bread I could make then and there, with only the ingredients I had on hand - I refused on principle to run to the store for one ingredient when it was 3 degrees outside.

Many of my cookbooks don’t even mention bread, except in a token loaf or two, so my search was already narrowed somewhat.  Nearly every other cookbook that contains a bread section, though, include no savory quick breads, or only ones that I had already made.  So I went for the sure thing: the Quick Breads section of  The Joy of Cooking, that venerable tome.  I flipped quickly past biscuits and scones, past soda breads and banana breads, past muffins and muffins and muffins. I was starting to wonder if I could finagle something savory out of the apples in the refrigerator, or the chopped onions in the freezer, when my eye fell upon a recipe entitled Mediterranean Olive Bread.  And lo and behold, we had just hosted a dinner party earlier in the week, which meant there were leftover kalamata and herbed green olives still hanging around.  Fortune smiled upon me!

The text accompanying the recipe describes it as “easy-to-make”, good with fresh mozzarella or soft goat cheese, and that it “stays moist for 2-3 days and makes good toast”.  Perfect!  I could imagine what I would serve for dinner in the next few days: mixed greens, dressed with oil and vinegar, topped with toasted walnuts, diced pear, generous wodges of the brie also left over from the aforementioned dinner party, and crunchy cubes of this olive bread, crisped in an oven to make croutons.  Picturing a steamed filet of fish with herbs and yogurt alongside, with a glass of wine, and I could almost taste it.

The bread turned out wonderfully, very easy to make, as promised, and full-flavored without being overwhelming.  There are definitely olives in this bread, but they don’t punch you in the tastebuds.  It is bread first, then with a healthy olive flavor.  The herbs are just right, not taking over the olive flavor, but enhancing it.  This bread was a hit as a post-dinner, mid-card-game snack for impromptu guests, and was light enough to enjoy first thing in the morning for breakfast too.  If you don’t manage to finish a loaf before it goes a bit stale (though I’m not sure how it could possibly go uneaten that long), I could easily see crumbling this bread onto a sheet pan, drying it out in a low oven, and running through a food processor for the most flavorful bread crumbs ever.  It would be absolutely delicious used as a crumb topping over a mild fish, like trout, grouper, or halibut; and just superb mixed with grainy mustard, olive oil, and fresh mint, and pressed onto lamb rib chops.  Keep a loaf of this in the freezer, and you’ll never be at a loss for unexpected hosting duties.

Mediterranean Olive Bread
From The Joy of Cooking

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup chopped pitted imported olives

1.  Position a rack in the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Grease an 8×4 (6 cup) loaf pan.  

2.  Whisk both flours, baking powder, rosemary, and salt together.  Mix eggs, milk, and olive oil together to blend, in a large bowl.  Add the flour mixture, and fold until about three-quarters of the dry ingredients are moistened.  Add the walnuts and olives, and fold just until the pieces are distributed and the dry ingredients are moistened; the batter will be stiff.

3.  Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.  Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.

Notes:
1.  I used a mixture of dried rosemary, sage, and thyme (no parsley, I’m afraid), since I love the blend of flavors.
2.  My bread felt done after 40 minutes, but took another 4 or 5 to get golden brown on top.

Week Four: Savory Quick Breads

northern cornbread

Cornbread is a decidedly American bread.  And, like another Southern favorite, the biscuit, there are two major schools of thought concerning the end product.  But while the biscuit is split (no pun intended) into factions that concern texture, i.e. flaky vs. fluffy; the differences in types of cornbread mostly concern flavor.  Cornbread comes in two basic breeds: Northern and Southern.  Northern cornbread is sweeter, tends to be a little more cake-like, and generally uses yellow cornmeal; whereas Southern cornbread is definitely savory and saltier, uses white cornmeal, and can even end up looking like a pancake.  Picking one kind can be like picking children, but if you can get a table full of foodies arguing about what and who makes better cornbread, you’ll see that the difference is no trifle.  (Yes, I am deliberately leaving out Tex-Mex style jalapeño cornbread, and any other sort that has little things added.  We’re talking basics here, people.)

Despite having grown up in the South, I have finally come to terms with the fact that, yes, I prefer Northern Cornbread.  I know, blasphemy.  And it’s funny; usually I don’t like things with a whole lot of sugar in them.  But to me, cornbread without sugar just tastes kind of… flat.  Maybe it comes from growing up on Jiffy Cornbread Mix.  Have you ever had it?  It’s so good!  And cheap!  But being the discerning and health-minded cook that I am, I like to make things from scratch as much as possible.  So there came a time to put away childish boxes of mix, and begin the search for a Good Cornbread Recipe.

I began mixing and baking, tasting, and freezing uneaten portions.  This one was too dry, that one not sweet enough.  That other one calls for sour cream?  Gross.  I turned out loaf after loaf of uninspired, dense, gooey, heavy, dull cornbreads.  None matched up to the fluffy sweetness of the bygone Jiffy Mix.  None was as gently crumbly.  None were the proverbial “just right”.  Until, that is, I picked up a copy of Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best Recipe (and if there was ever a more enticing name for a cookbook, I haven’t seen it).  There, in the bread section, was not one, but two recipes for cornbread: one Northern, one Southern.  I had made enough cornbread at this point to know I was going for the Northern style, and quickly gathered the ingredients.

The batter didn’t look all that different from any other cornbread batter, but it tasted intriguing - not too sweet, not too grainy, not too tangy.  And when I pulled it out of the oven, its cheerfully cracked top smiling at me with a golden, toothy grin, I could tell I was on to something.  Five minutes later, as I tasted my first crumbly slice, I knew I had found it.  I had my cornbread recipe!  The years of searching were over!  And yes, I have modified it the tiniest bit, but only so slightly.  The basics are all there, so feel free to add flavorings as you see fit.  Jalapeños?  Grated cheddar or Monterey Jack?  Corn kernels?  All of the above?  Throw ‘em in!  Just be careful of added moisture, since it can throw your cornbread’s texture a little off.

So here I give you the Best Cornbread Recipe I Have Found Yet.  Now, if you’ve got a cast iron pan, you’d better get it out and get it cranked up, because it’s really going to help you out here.  I know the recipe says to use a square metal pan; but come on, it’s cornbread.  Why else do you have that small cast iron pan?  I know you aren’t frying chicken in it.  (Also, I don’t even have a square metal pan.)  Just don’t preheat it first, like you might for Southern-style cornbread; the extra heat will just overcook the outside and make the crust tough.  As for serving, cornbread goes well with any number of foods, but I think there’s no better match in the world for cornbread than a pot of white beans.  Either in the form of soup, white chili, or just plain over rice, cornbread and white beans are like basil and tomatoes, like blue cheese and port, like caramel and salt.  One of my favorite winter dishes is to simmer white beans all day, with rosemary and thyme, serve over brown rice, with a warm and toasty wedge of this fluffy cornbread on the top.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.

Golden Northern Cornbread
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated The Best Recipe
Makes 9 servings

1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing pan

1.  Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 425º F.  Grease a 9-inch square metal pan.

2.  Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together in large bowl.  Push dry ingredients up side of bowl to make a well.

3.  Crack eggs into well and stir lightly with wooden spoon, then add buttermilk and milk.  Stir wet and dry ingredients quickly until almost combined.  Add melted butter; stir until ingredients are just combined.

4.  Pour batter into greased pan.  Bake until top is golden brown and lightly cracked and edges have pulled away from side of pan, about 25 minutes.

5.  Transfer pan to wire rack to cool slightly, 5 to 10 minutes.  Cut cornbread into squares and serve warm.  (Pan can be wrapped in foil up to 1 day.  Reheat cornbread in a 350º F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.)

Notes:

1.  If you don’t have a square metal pan, use a round metal cake pan, or a small, unheated cast iron pan.  Glass will get too hot, and make the crust too tough and overdone.
2.  No buttermilk?  Warm 2/3 cup of milk in the microwave for 30 seconds, then add a splash of white vinegar.  Let it sit for five minutes, then use as directed.
3.  I have increased the amount of sugar in this recipe, to make it what I consider the perfect level of sweetness.  The original recipe only called for 4 teaspoons, so if you prefer it a little less sweet, go right ahead.
4.  Again, mix quickly!  The more you stir it, the tougher it will get.  And get that pan in the oven quickly, since the baking powder starts acting as soon as it touches liquid.

Week Four: Savory Quick Breads

a pear bacon cheddar walnut muffin

For the last three months, the wonderful Dorie Greenspan, a longtime contributor to Bon Appétit Magazine, has been running a series of articles, collectively titled “The Baker”.  I’ve ripped out and saved all three recipes, but the first one piqued the most interest.  A dried fruit tart and a spiced bundt cake just don’t have the same thrill as “Bacon Cheddar Quick Bread with Dried Pears”, now do they?  I held on to this recipe, occasionally remembering it in the back of my mind, as I will; and this week was finally the perfect time to make it.

As a side note, I keep printed-out recipes in those clear plastic sheet protectors, an old culinary school trick.  Sometimes, I’ll stack several pages in one holder, to remind myself to soon make something that sounds intriguing, or out of laziness in putting them away properly.  This quick bread recipe was on the back side of another recipe I was making a few nights ago.  As another side note, there is an unfortunate but small gap between the backsplash of the kitchen counter and the wall, from where the old building has settled.  I tend to lean my recipes up against the wall, held precariously in place with the magnetic-racked-knives.  You may see where this is going; but for those who don’t, I lost my recipe behind the kitchen cabinets.  It’s there, stuck behind the dishwasher, probably to be found only when they renovate in thirty years.  Luckily, the internet comes to the rescue!  I found the recipe easily at Epicurious.com, Bon Appétit’s online recipe repository.

Then, oh, and then, I found them: the Reviews.  (dum dum dummm!)  As it turns out, people found this bread to be dry, lacking in flavor, and all in all not really worth the effort.  Horror!  But it’s got bacon!  And cheese!  And pear!  How could it possibly go wrong?  I decided to play around with this recipe, and if it turned out badly, I could just blame the recipe.  If it turned out well, of course, then I would get all the credit.  I can’t lose!

The two most common complaints were that the bread was dry and bland.  Many reviewers found that it cooked about ten minutes (!) faster than the recipe indicated, and one said that the crusty outside was the best part.  Most increased or substituted the flavoring ingredients (cheese, bacon, herbs), and one switched olive oil for butter.  That’s not quite my style, though; I’d much rather make healthier food that tastes good, than just load everything up with butter and bacon.  I feel better when I eat that way, and I’m not going to advise anyone to do any different, especially not for the sake of a quick blog post.  So my mission became this: to make this bread work, without making it any more fat- or calorie-laden.

Thinking to kill two birds with one stone, I replaced the original dried pears with a diced fresh pear.  The fresh one would obviously impart more liquid into the batter, helping with the dryness, and adding flavor along the way.  The bacon, I left alone, because bacon is meat candy and it is delicious.  But I didn’t add any more, either.  I actually decreased the amount of cheese, but that was because I bought one nice block of cheddar for two recipes, and that was all I could safely allot without affecting the other recipe.  I also decreased the amount of olive oil, since I feel that adding a lot of fat is a bit of a crutch for many recipes.  I made up for the lost liquid by adding more milk, to which I added white vinegar, to make buttermilk; which gave it another layer of flavor.  And lastly, I included two tablespoons of ground flaxseed, because it actually adds moisture in addition to a nice nutty flavor.  I baked the very sticky and very chunky dough in muffin cups, hoping to get more of the lovely crust spoken so highly of.  I had done my best, and there was nothing to do now but wait.

One other thing the reviewers noted was the heavenly smell given off by this bread.  Well, duh; it’s got bacon in it.  Of course it’s going to smell great.  But behind the bacony smell was melting cheese, sweet pears dissolving into the batter, crisp nuts, and fragrant sage.  It really was a gorgeous combination of scents.  Surely something that smelled so good had to taste good, too!  But remembering the warnings of those who had reviewed before me, I held my optimism in check.

Thirty-five minutes later, I pulled the lumpy little things out of their tins, snapped a few quick pictures, and gave one a less-than-hopeful taste.  Hmm, lovely crusty outside, check; but what of the taste?  The meaty flavor of bacon gave way to sweet pear, all flavor, the texture having cooked away into the bread.  The cheddar might have been a little sharper, but I liked that it didn’t overwhelm.  It was just a little dry, if I’m honest, but I think that wouldn’t have been a problem if I had replaced the decrease in oil with applesauce, or a mashed overripe pear.  These were definitely savory, but also had a surprising sweetness from the fresh pear.  While they would be fine for breakfast, they would make a perfect little snack, or accompaniment for tea.  You know, for those of you who have tea parties.

Dorie Greenspan suggests playing around with the flavorings, replacing any and all with your favorites.  Many online reviewers had success with stronger flavors, like kalamata olives, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, apples, gruyere, rosemary, even sautéed onions and garlic.  If you make it into a loaf, you can take Ms. Greenspan’s excellent suggestion of cubing it, toasting it, and using as croutons in a salad, or to top a bowl of soup.  Depending on the ingredients, it would be a lovely pair with wine.  Try a blue cheese instead of cheddar, sticking with fresh pear and walnuts, and serve with port!

all the little muffins

Pear-Bacon-Cheddar-Walnut Bread
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan
Makes 1 loaf or about 20 muffins

5 bacon slices, chopped
5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, divided: 3 1/2 ounces shredded, 1 1/2 ounces diced into small quarter-inch cubes
1 pear, diced into small pieces, or about 3/4 cup
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 large eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
About 1/3 cup milk

1.  Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Generously butter 8×4 inch metal loaf pan, or use nonstick muffin tins. 

2.  Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.

3.  Measure olive oil in glass measuring cup, add vinegar, and enough milk to measure up to 2/3 cup total liquid.  Let sit about five minutes, then whisk in eggs to blend. 

4.  Combine bacon, all cheese, diced pear, walnuts, and sage in medium bowl.  Whisk flour, flaxseed, baking powder, salt, and black pepper in large bowl to blend. 

5.  Pour egg mixture over flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add bacon-cheese mixture and stir until incorporated (dough will be very sticky). Distribute dough evenly among muffin tins; or transfer to prepared loaf pan and spread evenly.

6.  Bake bread until golden on top and slender knife inserted into center of bread comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes for muffins, or 40-45 minutes for loaf. Remove muffins as soon as possible to a cooling rack.  If using loaf pan, cool bread in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely. 

Notes:

1.  This bread can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in plastic, then foil, and store at room temperature.
2.  Be sure not to overmix the dough when adding the cheese, pears, and etc.!  It is very easy to do, since it’s so thick and sticky.
3.  Again, it’s best if all your ingredients are at room temperature.  They’ll mix more easily, and produce a better result.  Eggs and milk, I’m looking at you!

Week Four: Savory Quick Breads

molasses bread

This bread is a textbook example of a savory quick bread.  It is a little sweeter than most “savory” breads, but it’s still decidedly in the savory camp.  Full of whole-wheat flour and cornmeal, it’s nothing but whole grains.  Much of the time, a whole-grain bread can be very dense and brick-like, but this is nothing of the sort.  I wouldn’t go so far as to call it fluffy, but it’s definitely not dense.  It comes together in absolutely no time, and has a rich flavor that belies its rapid creation.

I think this bread is a faster, more grainy take on Anadama bread, a relatively obscure New England specialty.  Anadama bread is usually made with white flour, cornmeal, and molasses, and is yeast-leavened.  This bread, because of all the whole-wheat flour, needs a fair amount of rising power, provided by the relatively high proportion of buttermilk and baking soda.  The buttermilk also gives it a wonderful tangy flavor that cuts the sweetness of the molasses, and mellows the taste into a nice balance.  Paired with a backdrop of nutty whole-wheat flour, set off with the slightly-sweeter cornmeal, it’s a fantastic combination.

The smell is mesmerizing, with a hint of gingerbread from the molasses, and that great “I just baked bread, and you didn’t” scent that will drive everyone else in your condo building nuts.  This rustic loaf would go very well with a lighter meal, a brothy soup, or chicken prepared simply; it’s a little too full-flavored to go really well with heartier fare.  As with most quick breads, it’s made all the better by slicing and toasting quickly under a hot broiler; and you can always gild the lily by adding a pat of butter.  If you’re up for something a little more adventurous, though, top a toasted slice with bits of good dark chocolate - it’s delicious!  If you like it well enough, next time throw in a half-cup of mini chocolate chips, and have a dessert that you can feel pretty good about eating.  (Yes, bread can be dessert!)  The whole grains are certainly good for you, there’s no added fat if you use skim buttermilk or yogurt, and molasses (though very sugary) has vitamins and minerals from here to next week.  (I’m not saying you should eat the whole thing; but come on, it’s certainly better for you than chocolate cake.)

Again, play with the versatility of this bread!  You can play up the sweetness by adding things like orange zest, cloves, or the aforementioned chocolate chips; or you can stay on the savory side by adding a pinch of cayenne pepper, chopped toasted pine nuts or walnuts, or some grated Parmesan or sharp cheddar.  You could even decrease the molasses a bit, though I would add more liquid to make up for it.  Have fun with it!  It’s so fast and easy, there’s no reason not to!

molasses bread

Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread
From The New York Times

Oil or butter for greasing pan
1 2/3 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt, or 1 1/2 cups milk and 2 tablespoons vinegar (see step 2)
2 1/2 cups (about 12 ounces) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup molasses

1.  Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease an 8×4 or 9×5 inch loaf pan, preferably nonstick.

2.  If using buttermilk or yogurt, ignore this step.  Make soured milk: warm milk gently - 1 minute in the microwave is sufficient, just enough to take the chill off - and add vinegar.  Set aside.

3.  Mix together dry ingredients.  Stir molasses into buttermilk, yogurt, or soured milk.  Stir liquid into dry ingredients (just enough to combine) then pour into loaf pan.  Bake until firm and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

Notes:
1.  My bread was baked at just over 45 minutes.  Because of the dark color from the molasses, its hard to tell if it’s done just by looking.  You can always remove it from the tin and tap the bottom to see if it sounds hollow, but I find that a little tricky with a hot pan.  I press on the top of the loaf, in the middle, and check the resistance.  If it feels a bit squishy, it needs more time.  If it feels firm (like the outer edges should), then it’s done.

2.  Use unsulphured molasses if possible.

3.  The milk-and-vinegar trick in step 2 works like a charm!  I rarely buy buttermilk anymore, and just do this.  I never seem to be able to use up all the buttermilk before it goes bad, and the same with the last 2 cups of a gallon of milk.  (Though you can use soured milk in place of buttermilk, I don’t really recommend using old buttermilk, unless you’re making cheese.)