May 16, 2013

Baking | Easy Same Day Focaccia … with some wholewheat too #comfortfood

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
James Beard

Whole wheat foccacia Focaccia … bread that comforts. Just simple bread is good enough sometimes. I am constantly torn between my two crusty favourites, the fougasse and the focaccia, both flatbreads that are hearty, chewy, flavourful and earthy. Breads that bring alive words by Robert Browning “If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” Ottolenghis foccacia is one of my all time faves.

I needed to bake something soothing, something therapeutic. I lost a very dear maternal uncle over the weekend. He was the glue that held my mothers side of the family together. Intelligent, largehearted, a disciplinarian, always there, often intimidating, brutally honest, sometimes scathing, but a place we happily headed to year after year to spend two months of the summer vacations. It was routine, and we loved it as kids.

He passed away in Lucknow, the city of the Nawabs, over the weekend. That left a deep void, and restlessness. I knew I had to bake bread. I find comfort in food. It gives me an escape. Bread especially. Getting the dough going, seeing it rise, punching it down and then popping it into a hot oven. Always comforting and therapeutic.

Whole wheat foccacia

Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. Focaccia is popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables.

I remember making a similar focaccia when the tsunami struck Japan. Roasted Garlic Focaccia for the ‘Fukushima 50‘. Those days were devastating even though we were miles away from Japan. The images that rolled over and over again made life look so vulnerable. I had a helpless feeling then and yes, I baked bread.

I added a little whole wheat to the dough this time. The recipe yields two loaves, or two round breads. I baked one for lunch and left the other to slow rise in the fridge. Baked it the next day. Worked fine. I like to flavour the dough. Garlic and herbs are normally part of my dough as I love the depth they lend.

Depending on time on hand, roasted garlic is my first choice. If not, then I throw in some garlic cloves and the Thermomix blends them in with the flour. You can add minced garlic instead. If you love garlic like we do I mean! Else just skip it!!

The rest is pretty much your palette to play with. Once dimpled and looking pretty, give it a glug of extra virgin olive oil. Then dress it up! You can either sprinkle on some fresh herbs and sea salt, or like me, load the bread a wee bit more. I like to add sliced red onions, olives, jalapenos, pickled peppers, cherry tomatoes, even nuts.

I have two Victoria sandwich tins which are perfect for my bread. It’s a nice accommodative dough and the end result is always rewarding. A focaccia sandwich is the perfect answer for any left over bread. Stuff it with balsamic roasted veggies, a relish, cheese, slices of salami. I sometimes grill it too.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Foccacia

Summary: One of my favourite breads that doesn’t need much advance planning, and never fails to please. This focaccia is part plain flour and part whole wheat.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes plus rising time Ingredients:

360g plain flour
130g whole wheat flour {aata}
30g vital gluten
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 teaspoon yeast
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½tsp teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp sugar
460 ml lukewarm water
45 ml extra virgin olive oil
Topping
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced fine
cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, olives
Fresh oregano leaves

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C. In a large bowl mix with your hands flour, sugar and yeast.
Pour in the water. Add salt, roasted ,if using, and knead in the bowl for 5 minutes. Eventually add more water.
{Thermomix: Place flour, sugar and yeast in TM bowl. Run at speed 10 for 6-7 seconds. Add remaining ingredients, including the olive oil, other than the toppings and run on interval speed for 2 minutes {Don’t leave the machine unattended in interval mode}. Proceed …
Allow to rise covered with plastic wrap for about 1 hour or until it doubles.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Grease a shallow oven dish with plenty of olive oil. Pour the dough into this without kneading any further. {I used 2 round 8″ Victoria sandwich tins}
Generously pour extra virgin olive oil onto the focaccia and press with your fingers to create multiple wells. Add toppings.
The focaccia does not need rising at this stage {but it does not harm it. It will just make it thicker}.
Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes until risen and light golden brown.
Pour over some more extra virgin olive oil if you like.
Eat warm or at room temperature.

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March 21, 2013

Baking | Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … rustic bread with caramelised onions, walnuts, dehydrated tomatoes and mozzarella

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … this bread is like music to my ears; a celebration of all things ‘breadily‘ good! Rustic, earthy, chewy … good to grain! Warmer days are here. Feels like we missed spring somewhere along the way and landed up in summer. The days can only get hotter as the mercury hits 32C. At times like these, yeast is my BFF, performs beautifully, making me want to experiment endlessly.

We had a beautiful wholewheat soda bread that Sangeeta made while we drove from Pune to Baramati for the vineyard visit. I think I ate most of it, greedy me. It was bursting with earthy flavours of whole wheat and sun dried tomatoes. The whole wheat was stone ground and you could tell because of the texture. It had been given a good dunking of extra virgin olive oil too.

Bread like this makes you wake up and notice how good whole grain can get. Plain flour just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. The more I see plain flour breads on menus across eateries and in stores, the worse I feel. Whole grain is good and it’s a good choice to opt for.

Someone once told me that the luxury of plain flour bread is the way to go. You can eat salad and maybe soup on the side, other greens and veggies to tank up on fibre, and yet not feel guilty about ‘white bread’. I beg to differ.

Bread Whole grain isn’t a punishment. Get used to it gradually and it might be difficult to return to plain flour. It’s a choice you have, and a good one you might make especially if you have young kids with changing palettes. Make a gradual change and you’ll be surprised at how they jump to fresh home made whole grain bread.

Sun-dried tomatoes are a wonderful addition to breads. My last experience of store bought ones from Fab India was pathetic. I didn’t have time to make some, so figured the Philips AirFryer could help a bit. I have now begun caramelising onions after Abha mentioned it to me one day! Great discovery! 1 tsp of oil for 1 sliced onion is all it takes, and a few minutes.

In went sliced tomatoes tossed in olive oil, dried herbs, garlic and some sea salt. Can say YUMMM? Just wonderful… it took about 15-20 minutes as I experimented on different settings but was thrilled to get just what I wanted. I always have a batch bottled in the fridge now.

Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse The fougasse is as rustic as it gets. You will find a selection of French Fougasse, this flat French bread, on my blog as we love it at home. I began with a plain flour bread, graduated to part pain flour, part whole wheat, and this time did a version with some sprouted ragi flour / millet.

Rustic, moorish, and delicious! If you are a new to whole grain breads, the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts {I particularly like walnuts in here} but let your imagination lead you.

Recipe: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse

Summary: Millet & Whole Wheat French Fougasse … bread as rustic as it gets. If you are a new to whole grain breads, the earthy flavours will gradually grow on you. It’s a dough that takes well to additions. Roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salty olives, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions, feta, fresh herbs, nuts … let your imagination lead you!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour {plus resting time}
Ingredients:

250g all purpose flour
100g wholewheat flour
75g finger millet {sprouted ragi flour}
300ml warm water {divided 200ml + 50ml+ 50ml}
2 tsp instant yeast
30g olive oil + 15g for garlic
10g /1.5tsp salt
1 head of garlic, roasted
2 plum tomatoes, sliced & dehydrated {or sundried tomatoes}, chopped
2 red onions, thinly sliced, caramelised
100g mozzarella, chopped
100g walnuts, chopped
Extra olive oil for brushing
Sea salt for sprinkling

Method:

Squeeze out the roasted head of garlic and mash with 15g /1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Reserve in a small bowl.
Take 50ml of water {lukewarm} & dissolve the yeast into it. Stir the salt and 30ml of olive oil into 200ml of water.
Mix the flours, make a well in the centre and pour the yeast/water mixture into it. Use the remaining 50ml water if required.
Knead to a dough, kneading further on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes, till smooth & elastic.
Thermomix: Place both flours, salt and yeast in bowl of TM and whiz for 5 seconds on speed 10. Add the 250ml water and olive oil and mix on Speed 6 for 30 seconds. {Gradually add remaining 50ml water as required}. Knead in closed position for 5-6 minutes.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap & leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled.
Punch down & divide into 2.
Roll one half out to about an 12″ oval, spread half the roasted garlic olive oil mixture on the base, sprinkle over half the snipped tomatoes, caramelised onions, half the walnuts and half the cheese. {Reserve some tomatoes and onions for topping if you like}
Season lightly salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll up gently like a swiss roll.
Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing.
Shape each back into a flattish ball, then fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong. {I made one big round bread and one oblong, but the latter is tradional}
Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts. {Repeat with the other half.}
Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40 minutes while you preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle over sea salt {and tomatoes and onions if you like} and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes till golden brown. Brush with more olive oil as they come out of the oven. Cool on racks. Serve warm {that’s how we love it} or at room temperature with extra virgin olive oil or butter!

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

December 27, 2012

Baking | Traditional Panettone the Daring Bakers way!

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Traditional Panettone … the December Daring Bakers challenge sounded like music to my ears, only that I wasn’t sure at all that I would get to doing the challenge. The year end has been quite a roller coaster ride, at times frustrating and saddening. The events around the world make the heart heavy, yet the very thought of food means comfort.

Back from an early Christmas cum birthday party a few days ago, I bit into a sweet rum fruit cake that was part of the goodie bag. That old comforting feeling flooded my senses. Sure enough, I was soaking fruit the next morning. A quick Christmas fruit cake was sure to lift the spirits a bit…

Christmas Garam Masala Fruit Cake With the fruit soaking, the challenge played on the mind since I knew the panettone also used fruit, not soaked though. Pannetone is a sweet yeasted Italian bread served at Christmas. It is characteristically tall. Mine wasn’t. I misjudged the tins a little {read quite a lot}.

The December 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by the talented Marcellina of Marcellina in Cucina. Marcellina challenged us to create our own custom Panettone, a traditional Italian holiday bread!

I really pushed myself to begin the challenge. One look at the recipe and you will understand. It looked long and daunting. I began early in the morning. Thankfully the Thermomix did all the kneading in minutes. It was the ‘rises’ that took all day, and my panettones finally got ready late in the evening.

So how was the Panettone born? A beautiful bread with a romantic tale. Traditionally it is eaten by the Milanese but now it is available all through Italy and in many parts of the world. There are many stories and legends of the Panettone. The one recounted by Carol Field, whose recipe we use today, is that of a rich young Milanese noble who fell in love with the daughter of a poor baker whose name was Tony (Antonio). The nobleman wanted to marry the baker’s daughter so he ensured the baker had at his disposal the very best ingredients – eggs, butter, flour, candied orange peel, citron and sultanas. The baker created a wonderful bread which became known as pan di Tonio (Tony’s bread). The baker found his fame and fortune and the nobleman honorably married the baker’s daughter.

Well thanks to Tony and Marcellina, {and the author of the recipe, Carol Field, of course}, we have this delicious traditional Christmas favourite delighting our palettes today. Rich, buttery, brioche like, studded with raisins, candied peel, nuts {and dark chocolate chips in the mini ones}, the Panettone is comforting and addictive.

Of course I had no time to make a traditional panettone case, and sadly they are quite impossible to find in India. Mine were baked in parchment cases in 3 tiny cake tins. I made half a dozen in cupcake cases too.

So glad I made them. They were fabulous! I was unsure if the kids would eat them, given their love-hate relationship with fruit and nuts … but NOM NOM NOM were the words out of the daughters mouth. The first cupcakes vanished soon, followed by one small cake.

One bite of the Panettone took me back to the Dresden Stollen; a bread that had ‘stolen‘ my heart a few years ago. The Stollen is an amazing Christmas bread, one that can be made months in advance, and one that keeps really well. A traditional German holiday bread, the Dresden Stollen has yeast and quark as two of the key ingredients.

We also did a Stollen Bread Pudding with the Daring Bakers in December 2010; yet another amazing Christmas dessert. This year was getting very busy and my time management was rock bottom {so what’s new?}. The quintessential fruit cake was yet to be baked and it was already the 22rd!

Christmas at home is never complete without Fruit Cake. I made a twist to my regular fruit cake this year with a Christmas Garam Masala Fruit Cake. YUM! That was what I originally cut and soaked fruit for. Then figured I could manage the Panettone too.

Lofty ambitions as Mr PAB decided to hit ER running a temperature of 105C on the coldest day of this year. We shivered with cold while he raged with high fever that took us to hospital. Nothing a drip and a few shots couldn’t fix … and I raced home to my beloved Panettone. Talk about dedication to baking!

Don’t get daunted by the length of the recipe or the many ‘risings’ … or the amount of butter for that matter! This is good stuff, well worth the effort, and all the ‘risings’.

I didn’t get as far as the baked traditional glaze the recipe offered. The Panettone looked good without it too, until the boy saw a picture I was looking at and asked why mine had no glaze. Talk about added pressure. Low fat cream + raw powdered sugar + almond extract = good quick glaze. Good enough for some craisins and slivered pistachios to hang on to. Yummy as well!

I dressed the Panettone up in a collar of parchment paper with holes punched through, threading golden ribbon through. The little ones were baked in green Christmas cupcake liners that I placed in deep individual muffin tins like the ones you see in this Plum Fro Yo. The dough baked upwards quite nicely. I loved the way they came out.

Do stop by here and check out some the beautiful Panettone that the Daring Bakers have baked. Thank you Marcella for sharing the beautiful story and recipe with us. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!!

Recipe: Traditional Panettone

Summary: A delicious sweet Italian bread like cake studded with fruit, nuts and candied peel. The Panettone originates from Milan, and is traditionally made around Christmas. Panettone recipe slightly adapted from The Italian Baker by Carol Field. Makes 2 Panettone {I made half recipe} Candied Orange Peel from Use Real Butter

Prep Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours {plus resting and cooling time}
Ingredients:

Sponge
1 satchel (2¼ teaspoons) (7 gm) active dry yeast
1/3 cup (80 ml) warm water
½ cup (70 gm) unbleached all purpose flour
First Dough
1 satchel (2¼ teaspoons) (7 gm) active dry yeast
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water
2 large eggs, at room temp
1¼ cup (175 gm) unbleached all-purpose (plain) flour
¼ cup (55 gm) (2 oz) sugar
½ cup (1 stick) (115 gm) unsalted butter, at room temp
Second dough
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2/3 cup (150 gm) (5-2/3 oz) sugar
3 tablespoons (45 ml) honey
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract {I used 1 vanilla bean in half recipe}
1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon essence/extract
1 teaspoon (5 ml) orange essence/extract
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
1 cup (2 sticks) (225 gm) unsalted butter, at room temp
3 cups (420 gm) (15 oz) unbleached all-purpose (plain) flour; plus up to (2/3 cup) 100 gm for kneading
Filling and final dough
1½ cups (250 gm) (9 oz) golden raisins or golden sultanas
½ cup (75 gm) (2-2/3 oz) candied citron {I didn’t have this so I made it up with candied orange peel}
½ cup (75 gm) (2-2/3 oz) candied orange peel
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 to 3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) (15-25 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour
Note: I used about 3 cups of fruit & nut filling from my Christmas Garam Masala Fruit Cake
Candied Orange peel recipe

Method:

Sponge
Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl and allow to stand until creamy. That’s about 10 minutes or so.
Mix in the flour.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size for about 20 to 30 minutes
TM: I just placed everything in the Thermomix Speed 5, 10 seconds.
First Dough By Mixer
In the mixer bowl, mix together the yeast and water and allow to stand until creamy. Again, about 10 minutes or so.
With the paddle attached mix in the sponge, eggs, flour, and sugar.
Add in the butter and mix for 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and even.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow double in size, about 1 – 1 ¼ hours
Second Dough By Mixer
With the paddle mix in thoroughly the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, honey, scraped vanilla bean, essences/extracts, and salt.
Mix in the butter until smooth.
Add the flour and slowly incorporate.
At this stage the dough will seem a little too soft, like cookie dough.
Replace the paddle with the dough hook and knead for about 2 minutes.
Turn out the dough and knead it on a well-floured surface until it sort of holds its shape.
Don’t knead in too much flour but you may need as much as 2/3 cup. Be careful the excess flour will affect the finished product. {I didn’t add any extra flour}
First Rise
Oil a large bowl lightly, plop in your dough and cover
Oil a large bowl lightly, plop in your dough and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for 2-4 hours until it has tripled in size.
Filling and Final Rise
Soak the raisin/sultanas in water 30 minutes before the end of the first rise. {I used about 3 cups of fruit & nut filling from my Christmas Garam Masala Fruit Cake}
Drain and pat dry with paper towels.
Now take your dough and cut it in half. Remember we are making two panettoni.
Combine all your filling ingredients and mix well.
Press out one portion of dough into an oval shape.
Sprinkle over one quarter of the filling and roll up the dough into a log
Press out again into an oval shape and sprinkle over another quarter of the filling.
Roll into a log shape again.
Repeat with the second portion of dough.
Shape each into a ball and slip into your prepared pans, panettone papers or homemade panettone papers.
Cut an X into the top of each panettone and allow to double in size. If it has been rising on the kitchen bench in a warm place it should be doubled in about 2 hours.
Baking
When you think your dough has only about 30 minutes left to rise preheat your oven to moderately hot 200°C
Just before baking carefully {don’t deflate it!} cut the X into the dough again and place in a knob {a nut} of butter.
Place your panettoni in the oven and bake for 10 minutes
Reduce the heat to moderate 180°C and bake for another 10 minutes
Reduce the heat again to moderate 160°C and bake for 30 minutes until the tops are well browned and a skewer inserted into the panettone comes out clean.
Cool completely.

Before I go, I am happy to announce the winner for the giveaway of the beautiful retro scale and worktop saver from Zansaar. Put your hands together for Kajal @ For the Love of Food. Congratulations Kajal … will mail you soon! BTW, your blog is beautiful!

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India