I've tried making cornbread many times and I've never yet found one that really makes me happy. I have to admit that I'm comparing it to the cornbread from a now-defunct Mexican restaurant but they had a sweet, moist, cornbread that was excellent...as long as it was fresh.
My most recent attempt is from this blog. I halved the recipe below but increased the sugar a bit.
CORN BREAD
Adapted from Magnolia's Southern Cuisine, by Donald Barickman
2 c. coarse stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 c. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
1 T. plus 1 t. non-alum baking powder
1/2 t. kosher salt
5 T. sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 c. buttermilk
5 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 T. safflower or peanut oil, for oiling skillet
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the rack in the top third of the oven. If you are using a cast iron skillet, as soon as the oven reaches 425, place the skillet in the oven and let it preheat. This is what makes the wonderful brown crust.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk the eggs into the buttermilk, then pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, stir gently to combine. Stir in the melted butter.
Carefully remove the skillet from the oven. Using a paper towel carefully oil the skillet with the safflower or peanut oil. Pour the corn bread batter into the skillet and enjoy the wonderful sizzling. (If using a 9" x 13" pan, do not preheat it. Just oil it and pour in the corn bread batter.)
Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is brown, the center is firm and a knife or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the corn bread from the oven and let it sit in the skillet for 8-10 minutes to cool slightly before cutting and serving.
Verdict: Bland. It needs more salt and sugar. I liked the texture quite a lot. But slathered with butter and honey it was good. Sam loved it. Hmmm, wonder if there is a cornbread recipe that uses honey as a sweetener?
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Stuffed bread
I love bread in most all of its bready forms so this wasn't a stretch for me. It's just a no knead bread recipe rolled into two separate rectangles and filled. One has turkey, cheddar and greens (stuff I'd frozen from the share, well drained) and the other has pesto, mozzarella, and greens.
I put the filling along the middle of the piece then cut the sides where there was no filling from the middle to the edge on either side with a pizza cutter. Think of a feather where the spine is the filling. Then I coated the cut parts with egg and folded the edges, one then the other. Hint: do both ends first then go along one side. Coat the whole mess with egg wash and bake.
Enjoy.
I put the filling along the middle of the piece then cut the sides where there was no filling from the middle to the edge on either side with a pizza cutter. Think of a feather where the spine is the filling. Then I coated the cut parts with egg and folded the edges, one then the other. Hint: do both ends first then go along one side. Coat the whole mess with egg wash and bake.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
I'm gone all next week
Sam too. That means that Ben will be on his own for meals and that generally means a steak with few or no sides or Chinese food so I'm trying to do something with almost everything we got in the share before I leave. Ben will pick up our share next Wed. and I expect that he will have eaten very little of it by the time we get back.
I took the pickling cucumbers and just cut them up and soaked them in a mix of water, salt, vinegar and fresh dill. Those are always tasty and he might eat them while I'm gone because there is absolutely no prep work necessary.
I also made bread with some of the squash.
Yellow Squash Bread
Based on KAF's Whole Grain Baking - Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread
350F
1 hr 10 minutes
1 large loaf
2 c whole wheat flour (1 used 1 c ww pastry flour, 1 c ww bread flour)
1 c bread flour
3/4 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg
2 large eggs
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c (12 3/8 oz ) shredded yellow squash (or zucchini)
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c chopped walnuts (I omitted)
1 T grated lemon zest (I didn't have it, subbed 1/8 t lemon extract)
Grease the pan. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients. Mix them all together. bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes, remove from pan.
I simplified the instructions, check the book if you're looking for more detailed information.
Verdict: Very good, Sam and I both enjoyed it. Ben hasn't tried it yet.
I took the pickling cucumbers and just cut them up and soaked them in a mix of water, salt, vinegar and fresh dill. Those are always tasty and he might eat them while I'm gone because there is absolutely no prep work necessary.
I also made bread with some of the squash.
Yellow Squash Bread
Based on KAF's Whole Grain Baking - Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread
350F
1 hr 10 minutes
1 large loaf
2 c whole wheat flour (1 used 1 c ww pastry flour, 1 c ww bread flour)
1 c bread flour
3/4 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg
2 large eggs
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c (12 3/8 oz ) shredded yellow squash (or zucchini)
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c chopped walnuts (I omitted)
1 T grated lemon zest (I didn't have it, subbed 1/8 t lemon extract)
Grease the pan. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients. Mix them all together. bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes, remove from pan.
I simplified the instructions, check the book if you're looking for more detailed information.
Verdict: Very good, Sam and I both enjoyed it. Ben hasn't tried it yet.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Old news
Ages ago, way back in November of 2006, the New York Times published a recipe for no knead bread. I looked at it, filed it as something I'd really like to try and basically forgot about it for a long time. But almost every time I went over to my neighbor's house she seemed to have a few loaves of the stuff in various stages of completion so I finally caved and gave it a try. Two tries actually. The first time I tried a more local version by replacing a cup of flour with a cup of local oat flour. The bread was good, not outstanding. I also thought it was a little low on salt so I added a bit more on my second try and stuck with bread flour. I also dropped the oven temperature by 25 degrees but that was due to a faulty memory more than anything but I found the crust texture to be a bit better at the slightly lower temperature.
Oh, and because I'm lazy, I combined steps two and three the second time I made it because it just didn't make sense to me to separate the two steps. It just made a mess and each time I messed with the dough more stuck to my hands; in other words, I was just being lazy but it didn't seem to matter.
No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast (I used regular yeast instead of instant)
1¼ teaspoons salt (I upped it to 1 1/2)
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees (I used 425 and the crust was a little softer this way). Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats (I also put the lid in the oven the second time around although with all the other things I changed I don't know how much difference this made). When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Rating: Excellent in the way only fresh bread can be.
Oh, and because I'm lazy, I combined steps two and three the second time I made it because it just didn't make sense to me to separate the two steps. It just made a mess and each time I messed with the dough more stuck to my hands; in other words, I was just being lazy but it didn't seem to matter.
No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast (I used regular yeast instead of instant)
1¼ teaspoons salt (I upped it to 1 1/2)
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees (I used 425 and the crust was a little softer this way). Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats (I also put the lid in the oven the second time around although with all the other things I changed I don't know how much difference this made). When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Rating: Excellent in the way only fresh bread can be.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Lisa TV's famous oatmeal bread
Lisa developed this recipe way back when she had a different last name. How long ago was that? It's for the bread machine. My notes are in parenthesis.
Lisa TV's famous oatmeal bread
1 c milk or water (I found it took more, 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 c and I used milk)
1-2 T oil (oops, I forgot to add this)
1/4 c instant potato flakes (I didn't have this so I tossed in about 1/2 c applesauce instead)
1 T wheat gluten
1 1/2 T sugar (I used 1 because the applesauce was a little sweet)
1 1/2 t salt
1 T dry milk powder (she notes it's optional and I didn't use it)
1 c oatmeal (my only local ingredient)
2 1/2 c bread flour
2 t yeast
Toss it all in the bread machine in approximately the order shown. The oatmeal soaks up a lot of liquid so I ended adding more during the kneading so watch it a bit to get the right texture. Pull it out after proofing, shape it into your favorite shape, and let rise until about double. 350 oven for about 35 minutes.
Rating: Excellent! Most of the loaf is already gone and I just made it this morning.
Lisa TV's famous oatmeal bread
1 c milk or water (I found it took more, 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 c and I used milk)
1-2 T oil (oops, I forgot to add this)
1/4 c instant potato flakes (I didn't have this so I tossed in about 1/2 c applesauce instead)
1 T wheat gluten
1 1/2 T sugar (I used 1 because the applesauce was a little sweet)
1 1/2 t salt
1 T dry milk powder (she notes it's optional and I didn't use it)
1 c oatmeal (my only local ingredient)
2 1/2 c bread flour
2 t yeast
Toss it all in the bread machine in approximately the order shown. The oatmeal soaks up a lot of liquid so I ended adding more during the kneading so watch it a bit to get the right texture. Pull it out after proofing, shape it into your favorite shape, and let rise until about double. 350 oven for about 35 minutes.
Rating: Excellent! Most of the loaf is already gone and I just made it this morning.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Cottage dill bread
My mom gave me this recipe awhile back and I'm finding that I can modify it a lot and still have it turn out great.
Original recipe (from memory so accuracy is not verified):
3/4 c cottage cheese
3/4 c warm water
3 c bread flour
1 1/2 T butter
2 T dried milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
1 T dill weed
1 T dill seed
3 T sugar
1 T finely diced onion or dried onion
1 T vital wheat gluten
Mix in bread machine adjusting moisture level as needed. Remove dough from machine before baking. Form loaf, bake 350 for about 30 minutes.
But yesterday I wanted to use some local ingredients so I used a cup of oat flour for one of the wheat flour. I used a small shallot in place of the onion. I used 2 T dill weed and only about a half tsp dill seed because that's all I had. I used ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese because that's what I had and added a bit of bite by tossing in some lemon yogurt. I didn't added the dried milk because I used the yogurt. After all the substituting, altering and not measuring it all tastes pretty much like it always does which is, of course, excellent.
Original recipe (from memory so accuracy is not verified):
3/4 c cottage cheese
3/4 c warm water
3 c bread flour
1 1/2 T butter
2 T dried milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
1 T dill weed
1 T dill seed
3 T sugar
1 T finely diced onion or dried onion
1 T vital wheat gluten
Mix in bread machine adjusting moisture level as needed. Remove dough from machine before baking. Form loaf, bake 350 for about 30 minutes.
But yesterday I wanted to use some local ingredients so I used a cup of oat flour for one of the wheat flour. I used a small shallot in place of the onion. I used 2 T dill weed and only about a half tsp dill seed because that's all I had. I used ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese because that's what I had and added a bit of bite by tossing in some lemon yogurt. I didn't added the dried milk because I used the yogurt. After all the substituting, altering and not measuring it all tastes pretty much like it always does which is, of course, excellent.
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