cornmeal bread

kris and i recently got home from bouncing back and forth across the country for two weeks and i'm finally settling back into normal life and getting back to a regular cooking routine. after being away from the kitchen for so long i decided to ease back into things with one of my favorite baking projects - bread. wanting to try something new, i settled on this cornmeal bread which is basically white bread with cornmeal standing in for some of the white flour. the finished product has a light toasty cornmeal taste and a slightly heartier texture than a normal white bread. we used it first to make sandwiches and later to scoop up artichoke dip on our saturday picnic.

cornmeal bread
(adapted so slightly from 1,000 vegetarian recipes)
ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
2 3/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons melted margarine

stir together the soy milk and cornmeal; set aside.

in a glass measuring cup, stir together the warm water and 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar. stir in the yeast and set aside for about 5 minutes, until foamy.

in a large bowl (i used my stand mixer) stir together 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and the salt. stir in the yeast mixture, the cornmeal mixture and the melted margarine. stir in 1 cup more of the remaining flour.

turn onto a well-floured surface and knead in enough of the remaining flour until dough is elastic and no longer sticky (or pop in your dough hook and sit back while your mixer does the work).

place the kneaded dough in a large, greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. let sit until doubled in bulk (about an hour or two).

punch dough down and form into a loaf. place in a greased loaf pan. cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk (probably an hour or less).

preheat oven to 375. bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until loaf is browned on top and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. cool on wire rack.

-d

rye bread

we recently made the tempeh rubens from veganomicon (amazing!) and what better time to test out a rye bread recipe? i looked around online and settled on one that appears to be from artisan bread in 5 minutes a day. the taste was perfect! it tasted just like deli rye bread. however, the loaves were small and did not rise as i had hoped. so i recently took another stab at it. instead of dividing the dough into multiple loaves as suggested i made one large loaf and changed the cooking and shaping method to that of my never-fail easy bread. it worked out great and we have one nice big 'ol loaf of rye bread perfect for sandwiches or just eating plain.

this recipe is really easy because, much like easy bread, it does not require kneading. and, even better, it only takes about 3 hours start to finish!

rye bread
(adapted from artisan bread in 5 minutes a day)
makes 4 1-pound loaves*
ingredients:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup rye flour
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
cornmeal for sprinkling
cornstarch for cornstarch wash

mix the yeast, salt and caraway seeds with the water in a large bowl. mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading. cover with a towel and allow to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours. at this point, you can prepare the dough for baking or store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

dust the dough and the counter with flour and stretch the dough and fold the sides in over each other. stretch the dough again in the other direction and fold in thirds one more time. form into a nice little round.** place dough in a 9-inch pie plate, dusted with cornmeal, and allow to rise again for about 40 minutes.

preheat the oven to 500 with an empty pan of some sort on the shelf underneath the one you plan to bake on.

whisk together a tablespoon of cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of water. brush the top of the loaf with the mixture and sprinkle with additional caraway seeds.

when your oven is heated, place some ice cubes in the empty pan. bake the loaf for 10 minutes at 500, 10 minutes at 450 and 10 minutes at 350, removing the loaf from the pan for the final 10 minutes of baking. when done, the loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. if it doesn't give it a few more minutes at 350. allow to cool before slicing or eating.

*as i mentioned i had some issues when i divided the dough. the first time i cut the recipe in half and made two loaves. the second time i halved it and made one loaf and was pleased with the result.
**was that confusing? watch the easy bread video for visuals.

-d

easy crackers

what seems like so long ago now, in my first post, i wrote about easy bread. this week, after putting it off for long enough, i finally got around to trying jim's recipe for easy bread - crackers. that counts as a productive use of my newfound free time due to unemployment, right?

while these were easy for the most part, they were not as easy as easy bread. i found them quite difficult to roll out. maybe i just need to do some push ups or something. i did find that instead of breaking the dough in half to roll out it was much easier to roll in smaller pieces. then, after cutting the strips i rolled each individually a bit more. i got the job done but it was a work out. the end result was great though! a nice hearty cracker that was perfect for a hefty dip.

i made these on thursday, threw them in a ziplock bag and brought them to a picnic at dolores park on saturday with the mushroom walnut pate from veganomicon. they still had a perfect crisp to them!

i would definitely recommend making these especially since you can add any herbs and spices you want to make your perfect cracker. i did crushed red pepper flakes in the dough and sprinkled smoked salt on top.

-d

peach and pistachio cobbler

last hanukkah, marian gave me and kris a beautiful dessert cookbook called dulce: desserts from santa fe kitchens. the first time i looked through it i mentally noted a bunch of recipes to make. unfortunately for me, at the time, all the recipes i wanted to make used fruits that were not in season in december.

shawn and kate invited us over for dinner last night (for delicious homemade vegan pot pie) and i was in charge of dessert. while trying to decide what to make i realized that with delicious peaches, nectarines, apricots and strawberries everywhere, it was perfect timing to finally make one of the fruity desserts i've been dying to try. i settled on the peach and pistachio cobbler and served it with coconut sorbetto from ciao bella. here is the recipe with a few ingredient substitutions to make it vegan.


peach and pistachio cobbler
(from dulce, with minor changes)
filling ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 to 10 peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced 1 inch thick

topping ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsalted pistachios, finely chopped
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup cold unsalted margarine, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

place rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350. grease a 12-inch oval or 9x13 inch baking dish.

in a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. place the peaches in a large bowl, sprinkle with the sugar mixture, and toss to distribute evenly. spread the peach mixture in the prepared baking dish and set aside while you prepare the topping.

in a large bowl, mix together the flour, pistachios, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and baking powder. using a pastry blender, or your fingers, cut margarine into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, leaving some pieces of margarine about the size of small peas. add coconut milk; stir just until the mixture pulls together.

pinch off chunks of the dough and place them on top of the peach mixture, covering it nearly completely. or, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to the same dimensions as the baking dish and carefully lay it over the filling.

in a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar and sprinkle the mixture on the top of the dough. bake until topping is firm and golden brown, and filling bubbles slowly, 45 to 60 minutes. remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.

-d

hot dog buns

as far as i'm concerned, the weekend is for me to try out new bread baking projects (and, ok, maybe sit in the park and drink and play games and go shopping too....). this weekend it was operation:hot dog bun!

and since a hot dog bun on it's own is no fun (well, maybe it is a little fun) i made the cherry sage and the chorizo sausages from vegan brunch and we topped them with carmelized onions, tomatoes and avocado. delicious!

these were really easy to make, just a basic dough that came together quickly and was easy to work with. and no overnight rising so you can start these and enjoy your dogs on the same day! the recipe was in gourmet and i just tweaked it a bit to make it vegan. note that the recipe is for 16 buns so you might want to cut it in half (though they say they can be frozen for a couple of weeks).

hot dog buns

(from gourmet june 2009, makes 16 buns)

ingredients:
2 1/4 cups soy milk, divided
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup warm water (105—115°F)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt

mix 1 cup of the soy milk with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. set aside for a few minutes until it curdles.

bring curdled soy milk and and remaining 1 1/4 cup soy milk to a bare simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. cool mixture to 105 to 115°F.

meanwhile, stir together warm water and yeast in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (if mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

add warm milk mixture, sugar, flour, and salt to yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until dough forms. turn dough onto a floured surface and knead, incorporating only enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic (about 7 or 8 minutes).

transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and turn to coat with oil. cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.

butter 2 large baking pans (about 9x13). punch down dough, then divide into 16 equal pieces (about 3 oz each). roll each piece of dough into a 6-inch-long log on a lightly floured surface. space 8 logs evenly in each pan so that there are 2 columns of logs that run parallel to long sides of pan.

loosely cover buns with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until buns just start to touch, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

preheat oven to 375°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

bake buns, switching position of pans halfway through, until tops are golden and undersides are golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. before using buns, pull apart and cut lengthwise down center of each (but not all the way through). load 'em up and enjoy!

we also made cajun oven fries (from vegan with a vengeance) and broccoli (gotta have something green) sprinkled with smoked salt.

-d

crusty cornstalk rolls

i love gourmet magazine but when i pull a new issue out of the mailbox and a giant hunk of meat has overtaken the cover it takes a little more work and searching to get excited. such was not the case with the february issue. a cover photograph of rolls! all different kinds of gorgeous, golden dinner rolls...i didn't know where i would begin! yesterday i decided on the crusty cornstalk rolls. i'm not sure what made me choose them over the others. maybe it was the shape (a cornstalk!)? the interactive element of ripping off each roll? the promise of a hearty exterior and a chewy interior? or maybe it's just because they didn't require me to buy any additional ingredients (except flour but, ya know, they all kind of require that)?

whatever led me to it, it was a good decision. the dough was easy to make and easy to work with. it only took about four and a half hours to go from mixing ingredients to taking warm bread out of the oven allowing for (near) instant gratification (as far as breadmaking goes). it was really yummy and the texture sort of reminded me of ciabatta. last night we enjoyed it with a lemony-thyme white bean spread. tonight it will become bruschetta. while we were eating it, i thought that this would be a great bread to make for thanksgiving but, of course, by the time november comes around i'll probably forget.

crusty cornstalk rolls

(gourmet, february 2009)

ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 1/4 cups warm water (105–115°F), divided
1 teaspoon mild honey or sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoon stone-ground yellow cornmeal, divided

stir together yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and honey/sugar in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (if mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

mix flour, salt, 1/2 cup cornmeal, and remaining cup warm water into yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a soft dough forms.

turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and knead, dusting surface and your hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is elastic and smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. form dough into a ball.

put dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (mine was closer to the 1 1/2 side).

punch down dough (do not knead) and fold into thirds like a letter (dough will be soft), then gently roll into a 12-inch-long log with lightly floured hands.

sprinkle a large baking sheet evenly with remaining 2 tablespoon cornmeal and put dough diagonally in center. alternating sides, make 3-inch-long diagonal cuts, about 1 1/2 inches apart, into sides of log using kitchen shears (ends of cuts should not touch; maintain a center "stalk"). gently pull apart cuts to stretch dough, forming rolls that are separate (about 1 1/2 inches apart) but connected to center stalk. cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours (mine took 1 hour).

preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.

spray rolls with water, then bake, spraying into oven 3 times in first 5 minutes of baking* (to help form a crust), until golden, about 20 minutes. transfer rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.

as you can see in my picture, after i cut the rolls they sort of grew and baked back together so the cornstalk element was not quite as dramatic. however, they still pulled apart easily. maybe next time i would just stretch them a bit more after cutting.

*i don't have a spray bottle so i just lightly brushed the dough with water before putting it in the oven. i also put a bread pan with a few ice cubes in the bottom of the oven in place of spraying. it was fine. the bread was crusty.
-d

chocolate hazelnut rugelach

over thanksgiving i found cookbook at my mom's called the cookie jar that marjorie and i bought a long long time ago during a cookie-baking obsession phase. i brought it back home with me to give the recipes another go...and because i saw a rugelach recipe that i really wanted to make. i don't remember the last time i ate rugelach but i remember loving it whenever those long ago times were.

so now here we are and my mamoo's* birthday is fast approaching. i wanted to make her a birthday treat but what would it be? rugelach i thought! until word came through my mom that mamoo is not a fan of delicious little crescent roll shaped cookies filled with yumminess. crazy if you ask me but afterall she's the birthday girl. so i came up with another cookie for her but still had rugelach on the brain. i made them anyway and mailed them along. i bet she tries one and i bet she likes it too.

so here's the recipe. i veganized the dough from the book and did my own thing for the filling.

chocolate hazelnut rugelach
dough ingredients:
8 ounces tofutti cream cheese
3/4 cup margarine, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
filling ingredients:
3/4 cups chopped dark chocolate (we had part of a fancy chocolate bar laying around, i used that)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts**
3 tablespoons softened margarine

to make the dough, beat tofutti, margarine, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. add flour and stir until a soft dough forms. divide dough into 3 balls and wrap in plastic and chill overnight.

to make the filling, coarsely chop the chocolate and nuts (either by hand or in a food processor). place in a bowl with the granulated sugar, dark sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine.

preheat oven to 350. on a heavily floured surface*** use a floured rolling pin to roll 1 ball of dough at a time into a 12 inch circle. carefully****spread 1 tablespoon margarine over dough circle. sprinkle about 9 tablespoons of filling over the buttered dough and press lightly into the dough.



using a pizza cutter, cut dough into quarters and then cut each quarter into three wedges. beginning at the wide end, roll up each wedge. transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 15-20 minutes until edges are lightly browned. transfer to a wire rack to cool.

i'm really pleased with the way these turned out. i love them and i hope maybe, just maybe, they can convert mamoo into a rugelach lover! and if not, i know my mom will step up and eat them.

*that would be grandma to those not in the know
**to toast hazelnuts, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 300 for about 15 minutes. keep an eye on them so they don't burn. take them out and place them in the middle of a coarsely textured kitchen towel. ball it up, roll them around, open it up and the skins (or most of them anyway) are off!
***if you're like me you might think "i'll just roll it out between two sheets of parchment. less to clean." don't do it, it doesn't work. it sticks to the paper and then you have to flour it, scrape it off, ball it, roll it blah blah blah. it really is much easier to just start with the floured surface.
****very carefully. i'm glad i had three balls of dough to work with. by the third one i finally had it all figured out. i found the easiest way to do the margarine was to hold it in my hand (to soften it a bit more) and just spread the tiniest little amount at a time. it took longer but i didn't mangle the delicate dough circle like i did the first time.

-d