September 30, 2009

Baking & Pastry Project Week 13 - Flat Breads

Bread & Pastry Project Week 13 - Flat Breads




One of my favorite tweaks on gluten free baking is to use two sometimes three different types of binders. A binder is what holds your gluten free baked good together, such as xanthan or guar gum, flax seed meal, gelatin, pectin, agar agar or chia seed meal. There are other gums that are not as readily available and tend to cost a bit more, for example gum arabic, kuraya or tragacanth gum.

The idea is that each gum works in a particular way. Therefore, if you have more than one you will have the holding power of both types of gums. Look in your freezer case for your ice cream container. In the list of ingredients you will find things like xanthan gum and methylcellulose or xanthan and guar gum. Ice cream tends to travel a long way from the factory to the eater's house. In that journey the ice cream will be subjected to a variety of temperatures. The gums help the ice cream maintain it's fluffy texture and mouth feel. Otherwise, you would end up with a container of ice cream that has partially melted and refrozen while in transit.

A couple of other things to think about while your thinking about binders: taste and quantity. Each gum, meal or powder has it's own flavor. In small amounts it might not be that noticeable, but when used in larger quantities it can change the flavor of your baked good. For a bread like pita, you will need a lot of binding strength so that the bread holds together when you open the pocket and place your filling inside. If you use any one binder in sufficient quantity to hold it together, you maybe adding a competing flavor to your bread. This is the perfect bread for using more than one binder. Try out my choice of chia seed meal and agar agar powder or xanthan gum and pectin, perhaps another combination.

I hope you enjoy this week's breads. The naan has a warm and nutty flavor from sunflower seed meal and the pita bread is rich and earthy from ivory teff flour.

Schedule

Thursday, 10/1 - Naan


Saturday, 10/3 - Pita


Shopping List


Brown Rice Flour (Fine or Superfine Grind)
Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
Arrowroot Starch
Almond Meal
High Protein Flours, such as: Soybean, White Bean, Black Bean
Whole Grain Flour, such as: Buckwheat, Millet, Sorghum, Quinoa, Teff
Instant Dry Yeast
Binding Agents, such as: Xanthan or Guar Gum, Chia Seed Meal, Agar Agar Powder
Plain Yogurt
Clarified Butter
Sunflower Seed Meal


Resources

Flours & Binding Agents: Authentic Foods, Barry Farm, Bob's Red Mill
Instant Dry Yeast: Barry Farm
Agave Syrup: Wild Organics, Native Seeds


Equipment


Baking Stone


What's Going On?


I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their culinary dvd's from my family for my birthday and our anniversary. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Want More?


You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Project #24 - Lavosh

Baking & Pastry Project #23 - Pizza
Baking & Pastry Project Week 12 -
Baking & Pastry Project #22 - Soft Pretzels
Baking & Pastry Project #21 - Crescia al Formaggio
Baking & Pastry Project Week 11 - Parmesan & Pretzels
Baking & Pastry Project #20 - Craquelin
Baking & Pastry Project #19 - Brioche
Baking & Pastry Project Week 10 - Brioches


Index of Baking & Pastry Project Posts



September 27, 2009

Sugar Plum Vols-au-Vent



Sugar Plum Vols-au-Vent with Honey Custard and Pistachio Millet Pastry

A Daring Baker's September Challenge

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Puff pastry is in the ‘laminated dough” family, along with Danish dough and croissant dough. A laminated dough consists of a large block of butter (called the “beurrage”) that is enclosed in dough (called the “détrempe”). This dough/butter packet is called a “paton,” and is rolled and folded repeatedly (a process known as “turning”) to create the crisp, flaky, parallel layers you see when baked. Unlike Danish or croissant however, puff pastry dough contains no yeast in the détrempe, and relies solely aeration to achieve its high rise. The turning process creates hundreds of layers of butter and dough, with air trapped between each one. In the hot oven, water in the dough and the melting butter creates steam, which expands in the trapped air pockets, forcing the pastry to rise.

 Equipment Needed:

-rolling pin
-pastry brush

-parchment paper

-set of round cutters (optional, but recommended)
-sharp chef’s knife
-fork
-oven
-cooling rack

Prep Times:

-about 4-5 hours to prepare the puff pastry dough (much of this time is inactive, while you wait for the dough to chill between turns…it can be stretched out over an even longer period of time if that better suits your schedule)

-about 1.5 hours to shape, chill and bake the vols-au-vent after your puff pastry dough is complete

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 8 vols-au-vent with extra dough left over


In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:

-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.
(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.


Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 1 1/4 lbs dough


There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…Stephanie listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry

Protein Content:
Original Recipe: 25.679 g
GF Recipe: 25.58 g
Note: protein content follows each flour or meal



Ingredients:

56 g sweet rice flour (3.36 g)
54 g arrowroot starch (.162 g)
68 g pistachio meal (14.008 g)
70 g millet flour  (8.05 g)
3/4 tsp sea salt
4 g chia seed meal
3 g agar agar powder
10 ml agave syrup
3/4 cups (5 fl oz/ 150 ml) ice water
2 sticks (8oz/227 g) very cold unsalted butter
 plus extra arrowroot starch for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir together.  Add the water and agave syrup all at once, stirring until a soft ball forms. You may need to add extra arrowroot starch to get a soft ball.The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface or sheet of parchment paper dusted with arrowroot starch (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. You should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Honey Custard

1 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
5 Tb honey
3 Tb sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set out a 9-inch pie pan. Place the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer, along with 5 Tb honey and 3 Tb sugar, beat until smooth.  Add in the cream, egg and vanilla and blend again.  Pour the mixture into the pie pan and bake for 20 minutes or until it sets.  Place on a rack to cool completely before filling the vols-au-vent.

Note: This recipe is from the October 1995 edition of Bon Apetit and can be found in it's entirety and without my tweaks on the Epicurious.com website, as Honey Custard in Phyllo Pastry.

Sugar Plums

40 g chopped whole almonds, for sprinkling
60 g finely chopped dried figs, raisins, golden raisins & cranberries
2 to 3 Tb honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
tiny pinch grated orange zest
tiny pinch ground allspice
tiny pinch grated nutmeg
confectioner's sugar, for dusting

In a small bowl combine the dried fruits, honey, vanilla extract, orange zest and spices. Mix together and allow to sit and soak until needed.

September 26, 2009

Sesame Teff Lavosh (B&P#24)




Baking & Pastry Project #24 - Lavosh


I discovered a new way to upset a 13 year old guy... Take him into a dance store while a group of 14 to 15 year old girls get fitted for pointe shoes. To increase his torment, make sure it is a store that recently received all their new fall stock. Not the place to be if you don't like pink and frilly things.

The action was a little over the top with teenage girls flitting here and there looking for a spot at the barre. Legs flying up in different ballet positions, so they could check out the fit of the shoes. You had to be careful where you walked so you didn't get hit by flying feet or run into a racks filled with leotards, sweaters and leg warmers while dodging the dancing bodies.


It took almost an hour later, but finally we were able to walk out with a couple of lined leotards and a new pair of ballet slippers. I was last out of the door and when I caught up with my kids, my son was grousing under his breath and my daughter agreeing with him. When she saw me and said, "Mom, there was too much pink in there. It was going crazy!"


I did make it up to them this week. Their pottery class in wheel throwing started at the art school. Two hours of getting dirty, slinging clay and creating something with your hands. After two hours they bounced out of the classroom filled with stories and covered in drying clay. My taller than me son, put his arm around me and said, "Thanks for signing me up. This was great! It was so cool when I lost control of my pot and it slung off the wheel and hit the wall! Then I exploded my best pot when I put too much water on it." He bounced away from me throwing out his arms and cried, "That's how I got like this!" All I could think of was the line from the movie Madagascar, where the chimpanzees and other animals are in Grand Central Station surrounded by police and animal control. "If you have poo fling it now." Nothing like playing in the mud to put a smile on your face.

With that smile in mind, my family thoroughly enjoyed this sheet of lavosh. My daughter created a plate of antipasto and placed a few chunks of lavosh on it. My son ate it with some German Bauernschnicken (a nice cured German ham) that we were trying out. My husband and I broke out the Uniekaas cheese, olives and a glass of red wine to enjoy our lavosh.  There was even enough left over for the kids to enjoy as a late snack.


Recipe

Yield: 1 sheet lavosh
Protein Content:
Original Amount: 21.34 g
GF Amount: 20.81 g

15 g sweet rice flour (0.9 g)
15 g arrowroot starch (.045 g)
18 g millet flour (2.07 g)
28 g white bean flour (6.02 g)
6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
__________________________replacement for bread flour
10 g sesame seed flour (2.55 g)
10 g sweet rice flour (2.06 g)
16 g arrowroot starch (0.048 g)
__________________________ replacement for durum flour
10 g brown rice flour (1.4 g)
10 g sweet rice flour (0.73 g)
10 g arrowroot starch (0.03 g)
__________________________replacement for cake flour
20 g ivory teff flour (1.1 g)
10 g Montina flour (0.7 g)
__________________________replacement for wheat flour
11 g instant dry yeast
9 g sea salt
4 g agar agar powder
25 - 30 ml agave syrup
80 ml whole milk, room temperature
55 ml water
6 g molasses
6 g honey
olive oil
seeds of your choice or coarse salt

1. Put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir together. In medium bowl pour in the liquid ingredients and mix together. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and thoroughly blend.

2. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and sprinkle sweet rice flour or arrowroot starch on the paper. Place the lavosh dough in the center of the parchment paper and sprinkle with sweet rice or arrowroot starch. Dipping your fingers into the flour pat the dough out with your fingers until it is 1/16 in/1.5 mm thick or you can sprinkle the dough with starch and then place a sheet of parchment paper on top. Roll out the dough until it is 1/16 in/1.15 mm thick and rectangular in shape.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/204 degrees C. Allow the lavosh dough to rest 15 to 20 minutes before spreading the top with olive oil and sprinkling with seeds or coarse salt. Bake for 7 to 14 minutes, depending on how thin you were able to get your dough.  Cool completely on a rack before serving.

September 15, 2009

Pizza (B&P23)



Baking & Pastry Project #23 - Pizza

We just completed a rushed trip to Virginia. My husband had to work in Rosslyn for a little over a week. It is challenging getting everyone ready for a trip, especially since three of us eat gluten free...well, four if you include our dog.

We always stay in a hotel chain that has a kitchen, plus one that allows pets. So, I take along a bag of supplies and my knife kit. This is what I pack for our trips:

- Cookie Sheet
- Cutting Board
- Baking Stone & Rack
- Knife Kit
- Wooden Spoon
- Wooden Spatula
- Metal Spatula
- Thermometer
- Scissors
- Jar Opener
- Measuring Cup (Metric)
- Measuring Spoons
- Silicone Muffin Cups
- Coffee & Filters
- Tea Bags
- Agave Syrup
- Olive Oil
- White Vinegar
- Vanilla Extract
- An Assortment of GF Flours
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Pepper
- Parchment Paper
- Aluminum Foil
- Optional: Escali Scale, Belgian Waffle Iron

I have a note file on my Blackberry that has all our favorite recipes. I've also made another note file that has a shopping list based on these recipes.

Depending on our travel location, I do as much research as I can about gluten free dining out options, along with locations for grocery shopping. This information I keep on my computer, but transfer it over to my Blackberry before we head out.

This was a great pizza and was hotel kitchen worthy as well. It had a fabulous crust and was browned and crispy just like a pizzeria style pizza. This recipe got 4 thumbs up from my crowd.

Recipe

Yield: 2 medium pizzas
Protein Content:
Original Bread Flour: 19.65 g
Original Durum Flour: 14.3 g
GF Bread-like Flour: 19.225 g
GF Durum-like Flour: 14.15 g

Durum-like Flour Mix

70 g brown rice flour (3.18 g)
30 g sweet rice flour (6.18 g)
30 g arrowroot starch (.09 g)
10 g white bean flour (2.15 g)
10 g sesame seed flour (2.55 g)
______________________
Bread-like Flour Mix

15 g brown rice flour (1.35 g)
18 g sweet rice flour (1.08 g)
20 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
71 g white bean flour (15.26 g)
7 g chia seed meal (1.47 g)
______________________

28 g instant dry yeast
7 g sea salt
3 g agar agar
177 ml water
10 g olive oil
4 ml agave syrup

Toppings

pizza sauce
oregano
mozzarella
pepperoni
black olives
your choice of toppings

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients from the durum-like flour mix, instant dry yeast and agar agar. In a small bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Mix the liquid ingredients with the contents of the large bowl. Set in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients from the bread-like flour mix, sea salt and blend together. When the dough has finished rising, add the dry ingredients to the dough and blend well.

3. On a sheet of parchment paper sprinkle sweet rice or corn flour. Place a small bowl of either flour on the counter for sprinkling and dipping your fingers. Divide the dough in half, placing half in the center of the parchment paper. Sprinkle the dough with sweet rice or corn flour and as needed to work the dough. Gently press out the dough with your fingers until you have an even circle of dough.

4. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F/260 degrees C. Spread an even amount of pizza sauce over the top of the dough and sprinkle the top with oregano. Top with mozzarella cheese and any other topping you desire.

5. Bake pizza for 3 to 4 minutes or until the top is a golden brown around the edges. Cool before serving. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for the second ball of dough.

September 10, 2009

Baking & Pastry Project Week 12 - Pizza & Crackers


Baking & Pastry Project Week 12 - Pizza & Crackers

Schedule

Tuesday, 9/15 - Pizza

Saturday, 9/26 - Lavosh

Shopping List

Brown Rice Flour (Fine or Superfine Grind)
Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
Arrowroot Starch
Almond Meal
High Protein Flours, such as: Soybean, White Bean, Black Bean
Whole Grain Flour, such as: Buckwheat, Millet, Sorghum, Quinoa, Teff
Instant Dry Yeast
Binding Agents, such as: Xanthan or Guar Gum, Chia Seed Meal, Agar Agar Powder
Molasses
Honey

Resources

Flours & Binding Agents: Authentic Foods, Barry Farm, Bob's Red Mill
Instant Dry Yeast: Barry Farm
Agave Syrup: Wild Organics, Native Seeds


Equipment


Baking Stone


What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their culinary dvd's from my family for my birthday and our anniversary. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Want More?


You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Project #22 - Soft Pretzels
Baking & Pastry Project #21 - Crescia al Formaggio
Baking & Pastry Project Week 11 - Parmesan & Pretzels
Baking & Pastry Project #20 - Craquelin
Baking & Pastry Project #19 - Brioche
Baking & Pastry Project Week 10 - Brioches
Baking & Pastry Project #18 - Mixed Berry & Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Baking & Pastry Project #17 - Braided Challah
Baking & Pastry Project Week 9 - Twisted & Braided

September 5, 2009

Soft Pretzels (B&P22)



Baking & Pastry Project #22 - Soft Pretzels


Holiday weekends are made for savoring. Long sunny days, bbq grills, just picked vegetables, and just a touch of home improvement. Perfect.

These pretzels turned out to be an exceptionally wonderful treat. I served them with a dark mustard, salami and a cold Bard's Tale beer. Fabulous.

Recipe
Yield: 6 pretzels
Protein Content:
Original Version: 40.43 g
GF Version: 40.20 g

Dough

50 g brown rice flour (4.5 g)
40 g sweet rice flour (2.4 g)
40 g arrowroot starch (.12 g)
60 g sorghum flour (7.2 g)
115 g white bean flour (24.725 g)
6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
4 g agar agar powder
25 g instant dry yeast
6 g sea salt
270 ml water
16 g butter, soft & cubed
7 g sorghum malt syrup
35 ml agave syrup

Lye Solution

960 ml Water (105 degrees F/41 degrees C)
35 g Sodium Hydroxide Pellets
Coarse Salt, as needed


1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir together. In a medium bowl, pour in the water, butter, malt and agave syrup, then blend. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together. Dough should be slightly firm yet still sticky.

2. On a sheet of parchment paper sprinkled with sweet rice flour, divide the dough into 6 pieces of equal size. Beginning with the first piece, work the dough in the sweet rice flour by pressing down and folding over the dough until it has a silky texture. Then roll out the dough into a long tube 12 in/30 cm, it should be tapered at the ends yet still fat in the middle. Cross the ends over each other then twist over once again. Then slide a slotted spatula under the cross ends and flip the twist upside down, so that the ends are now over the middle of the tube. Transfer the pretzel to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with sweet rice flour. Finish shaping the pretzels in the order in which they were divided. Set the pretzels in a warm location and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Prepare the lye solution in a bowl, one that is deep with tall sides. Slide the slotted spatula under the pretzel and then dip the pretzel into the lye solution, while keeping the pretzel on the spatula. Hold it over the bowl for a little bit and allow the excess solutions to drip off. Place the pretzel back on the parchment and allow it to drain. Sprinkle the pretzel top with coarse salt. Repeat with the rest of the pretzels.

4. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F/246 degrees C. Place the pretzels in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow the pretzels to cool before removing from the parchment paper. You will need to gently ease the paper away from the pretzel as the lye solution will cause them to stick to the paper.

September 4, 2009

Crescia al Formaggio (B&P21)


Baking & Pastry Project #21 - Crescia al Formaggio

I never used to mind going to the doctor. Just go when you need to, get a prescription and a couple of weeks later you're well. Then they found breast cancer and everything changed. Overnight I became a pin cushion and every doctor I saw wanted to do some sort of fluid extraction. Most of those requests have come from my internal medicine doctor who just so happens to be a hematologist as well.

A couple of years ago, she gave me a lab sheet that had almost every square checked. The lab visit had me donating 13 vials of blood to the cause. They were milking my veins like they'd hit pay dirt until the vein ran dry 7 vials into it and they switched to the other arm. Fixed up with gauze and band aids, I mumbled less than polite comments under my breath on my way back to the car. At my follow up visit, I told my doctor she had a brilliant future ahead as one of the undead. She laughed and said she knew all the ways to draw blood and every vampire or blood joke out there, so maybe a job as a stand-up comedian might be next.

She knows I like to draw and paint. Up until recently I've been able to hide my addiction to Caran d'Ache watercolor pencils. When she discovered my fine arts hobby, she sent me off to the lab again, this time for an environmental pollutants test. Yeah well, now I get to take more pills because of a few chemicals found in art supplies and solvents flitting around blood supply.

I saw her on Tuesday and we had a great time chatting about the proposed health insurance thingy. While she was filling out my lab sheet, she mentioned that she's concerned about her ability to practice medicine the way she wants to under the changes that are being thrown around. I told her that with her knowledge of alternative health options, how to poke needles into people and a fondness for learning the secrets a person's blood will tell about them, she had a great future in Louisiana. With a keen sense for a joke about to be told, her eyes met mine as she smile and said, "Doin' what?" I smiled back and said, "Voodoo priestess." She laughed and said, "Fancy that...I probably have all the equipment I'd need too!"

That night I fixed a soothe the savage breast type of meal, pasta marinara with a wild green salad and this rich Crescia al Formaggio. It is an Italian Easter cheese bread that can be made in a flower pot or a round shaped loaf with an X cut across the top. For a variation on this recipe, try using a mix of parmesan and pecorino cheeses.

Recipe

Yield: 1 - 12.5 oz/360 g loaf
Protein Content:
Original Version: 18.33 g
GF Version: 18.34 g

15 g brown rice flour (1.35 g)
15 g sweet rice flour (.9 g)
20 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
20 g pine nut meal (2.8 g)
20 g millet (2.3 g)
45 g white bean flour (9.67 g)
6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
2 g agar agar powder
25 g instant dry yeast
75 g grated parmesan
3 g sugar
3 g sea salt
27 ml water
52 g eggs (approx. 1 egg)
39 g butter, softened
20 g egg yolks (approx. 1 yolk)
20 ml agave syrup

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients including the parmesan and stir together. In another bowl or batter bowl, mix together the water, eggs, butter and egg yolks. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together.

2. Line a small washed flower pot with parchment paper and place the dough into the pot. Score the top of the bread with an X and then set it in a warm location for 1 to 1 1/2 hours to rise.

3. Place a heat proof bowl filled with water into the oven. Then preheat the oven to 385 degrees F/196 degrees C. Bake for 15 minutes and then prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon and then cook for another 10 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

September 3, 2009

Baking & Pastry Project Week 11 - Parmesan & Pretzels


Baking & Pastry Project Week 11 - Parmesan & Pretzels

Are you a chef or a cook?

Do you prefer gourmand or foodie?

How about...are you an amateur cook or a home cook?

Do you think that a home cook should also be called a chef?

There's an interesting discussion about how should we with language differentiate between the professional cook and the home cook at Ruhlman.com. Chef delGrosso suggested that there are four types of cooks: professional, amateur, default and slave. The professional is employed to cook, the amateur cooks because they want to, the default cooks because there isn't anyone else to do it and they don't mind cooking, and the slave hates to cook and have no other choice.

Personally, I prefer kitchen chemist or better yet, kitchen kibitzer. 'Cause I never grew out of playing with my food.


Schedule

Friday - Crescia al Formaggio

Saturday - Soft Pretzels

Shopping List

Brown Rice Flour (Fine or Superfine Grind)
Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
Arrowroot Starch
Almond Meal
High Protein Flours, such as: Soybean, White Bean, Black Bean
Whole Grain Flour, such as: Buckwheat, Millet, Sorghum, Quinoa, Teff
Instant Dry Yeast
Binding Agents, such as: Xanthan or Guar Gum, Chia Seed Meal, Agar Agar Powder
Parmesan Cheese
Coarse Salt
Sorghum Malt Syrup
Sodium Hydroxide Pellets


Resources

Flours & Binding Agents: Authentic Foods, Barry Farm, Bob's Red Mill
Instant Dry Yeast: Barry Farm
Agave Syrup: Wild Organics, Native Seeds
Sorghum Malt Syrup
Sodium Hydroxide Pellets
Rubber Gloves
Goggles or Safety Glasses


Equipment


Clean Unglazed Clay Flower Pot
Cookie Sheets
Slotted Spatula


What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their culinary dvd's from my family for my birthday and our anniversary. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Want More?

You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Project #20 - Craquelin
Baking & Pastry Project #19 - Brioche
Baking & Pastry Project Week 10 - Brioches
Baking & Pastry Project #18 - Mixed Berry & Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Baking & Pastry Project #17 - Braided Challah
Baking & Pastry Project Week 9 - Twisted & Braided
Baking & Pastry Project #16 - Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Baking & Pastry Project #15 - Rustic Raisin Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 8 - Raisins & More Raisins

September 2, 2009

Craquelin (B&P20)


Baking & Pastry Project #20 - Cracquelin

What do you do with a growing 13 year old? Well...actually not that much.

Our son would get up in the morning, eat off and on for about an hour. Then he'd sit down to read a book and fall asleep. Or he'd be playing Sins of a Solar Empire on his laptop and fall asleep with his head on his elbow. He was sleeping at night...well, except for those periods when he'd get up and wipe out the left over pizza or roast chicken.

He just about slept through August.

On Friday, he woke up full of energy. He barreled into the kitchen and announced that he felt different, not like himself at all. I went over to give him a hug and discovered I had to look up to see his eyes. This calls for a new height check. He's two inches taller than he was when we measured him in July.

He's now 5'7" and taller than me.

One night while my husband and I were trading bad narcolepsy jokes, I made this loaf of craquelin. It turned out beautifully, although it had a large air pocket in the middle. As the bread cooled the X collapsed into the center of the air pocket.

This loaf wasn't our favorite. None of us enjoyed the craquelin bread, although we all liked the crusty brioche on the outside. We weren't crazy about the not quite dissolved sugar cubes in the bread. Each of us took our slices apart and devouring the brioche crust. The remainder of the brioche crust was consumed in the wee hours of the morning by our rapidly growing son.

Recipe

Craquelin

284 g Brioche Dough
70 g Sugar Cubes
5 g Lemon Zest, grated

Brioche

516 g Brioche Dough


Craquelin Dough

In a large bowl, mix the brioche dough along with the sugar cubes and lemon zest. Work the dough just until the sugar cubes are incorporated. Shape the dough into a ball.


Brioche Dough

Mix the brioche dough according to the recipe found here.


Putting It Together

1. Coat the inside of a panettone wrapper with vegetable shortening. Then coat the shortening with rice flour, tap it around the bottom and sides. Tap the excess out of the wrapper.

2. Sprinkle sweet rice flour over a sheet of parchment paper. Roll the brioche dough into a 6 "/15 cm circle. Then wrap it around the craquelin dough ball. Gather the edges together at the bottom to form a boule. Place the loaf seam side down into the prepared panettone wrapper.

3. Allow the dough to rise in a warm location for 2 to 3 hours. After it has finished rising score the top of the loaf with a knife into an X.

4. Place a bowl of water in an oven proof pan or bowl into the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/191 degrees Celsius. Place the bread into the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving.