Monday, August 29, 2011

Rosemary Bread Rolls


Peeta Melark never has to worry about competition from me as a bread baker. Yesterday I posted about my jalapeno cheese "rolls" and so you know those were not my best looking work. I wanted to try and make actual rolls, so I decided to make ATK's rustic bread recipe, and added fresh rosemary.

These bread rolls were a lot better looking, and were pretty tasty. I think they would have been better served warm, but I took them to work for a birthday potluck. Turns out, they go really well with olive oil and vinegar.

Rosemary Bread Rolls
adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Rustic White Bread

2 cups bread flour*
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) rapid-rise yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups water, warm
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

Pulse the bread flour, 2 cups of all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor to combine. While the processor is running, add the water and honey and process until a rough ball forms, about 30 to 40 seconds. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then process for 30 more seconds. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about five minutes, adding the remaining 1/4 cup of flour as needed to prevent sticking. Add the rosemary, little by little, during this time. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until nearly doubled in size and springs back slowly when indented with a finger, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Pinch the dough down, and pinch off small portions (about 1/3 cup), roll into balls. Arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover loosely with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap and let rise again until touching, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the rolls with water before putting in the oven; spray again every minute for the first 3 minutes. Bake until rolls are brown and cooked through, about 40 minutes.

*I used unbleached bread flour because I had it on-hand.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Jalapeno Cheese Rolls


One of my favorite foods as a kid was a cheese roll my grandma would get from the bakery by Times Supermarket. These are pretty easy to find in the mainland, and here they come with jalapenos. So, when a co-worker brought me a bag of jalapenos from her garden, I thought jalapeno cheese rolls would be the best way to share with the rest of the office.

Unfortunately there were not many roll recipes, so I sort of blended two recipes. One I found online wanted me to use eight (yes eight) cups of flour, and I felt like that was just too much. So, I used the rustic white bread recipe from ATK, but added cheddar and jalapenos, and then baked according to the online recipe instructions.

And...I overproofed my dough, so everything kind of rose together and made one big piece of bread. It was not pretty, but it tasted good. I decided that next time I would watch my dough raise and then also bake on a cookie sheet rather than in a 9x13 pan.

Jalapeno Cheese Rolls
adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Rustic White Bread and a recipe found on Just a Pinch

2 cups bread flour*
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) rapid-rise yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups water, warm
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese,shredded
1/2 cup fresh jalapenos, sliced*

Pulse the bread flour, 2 cups of all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor to combine. While the processor is running, add the water and honey and process until a rough ball forms, about 30 to 40 seconds. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then process for 30 more seconds. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about five minutes, adding the remaining 1/4 cup of flour as needed to prevent sticking. Add the 1 cup of the cheese and all the jalapenos, little by little, during this time. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until nearly doubled in size and springs back slowly when indented with a finger, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Pinch the dough down, and pinch off small portions (about 1/3 cup), roll into balls. Arrange close together in well-greased 9x13 pan. Cover and let rise again until doubled, about 45 to 60 minutes. Sprinkle the dough with the remaining cheese.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until rolls are brown and cooked through, about 40 minutes (the recipe says 1 hour). Transfer to rack, cool 10 minutes. Cool 1 hour before serving.

*I used unbleached bread flour because I had it on-hand. Depending on the type of jalapenos you use, this can get spicy (although mine wasn't), so if you really don't like spicy, de-vein and de-seed the jalapenos.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies


A co-worker gave me a rug to use and to thank her, I baked her these chocolate oatmeal cookies. The recipe came out of an ATK special magazine for holiday cookies.

They were a big hit. Yay!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from the America's Test Kitchen Holiday Cookies magazine

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats*
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar*
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped*

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Process one cup oats in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl and stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth, about one minute. Add egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Add remaining oats, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Roll two tablespoons of dough into balls and space two inches apart on baking sheets. Bake about 14 to 18 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Cool five minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

*I used quick-cooking oats, dark brown sugar, and walnuts.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

German Chocolate Brownies


A former co-worker and friend visited last week, and she loves food, so I made her my guinea pig for German Chocolate Brownies. Big surprise, it's another ATK recipe. Basically, you make brownies, and right when they come out of the oven, you sprinkle 6 ounces of butterscotch chips over them and let them soften. Then you smooth the chips evenly over the top of the brownies, and sprinkle half a cup of toasted coconut. The steps are the same as the fudge brownies I posted yesterday, but the chocolate-butter mixture consists of 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate. You bake the brownies for 22 to 27 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is a very sweet brownie recipe, but something a little bit different. I have to try to toast the coconut more evenly next time, but I was concerned that it would burn, hence the uneven color.

Now, about that song challenge...

Day 09 - a Song That You Can Dance to
Admittedly, I'm a pretty pathetic dancer as I am too self-conscious, but one that always makes me feel like dancing is Beyonce's Single Ladies. I blame it on Glee.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Superfudgebrownie


London is burning and equities are sinking. There's a lot of fear and panic out there, but I have to tell you about these "ultimate fudgy brownies" from America's Test Kitchen. This brownie recipe uses two types of chocolate, in addition to cocoa powder, so if you are one of those chocolate-loving people, I think you will like it. I made it for a couple of friends, and I think they liked it...I'm not a chocolate expert in any way whatsoever, so I couldn't tell you if this is good or not.

The one thing is that you have to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder. This is hard stuff to find unless you want to pay $15 at Williams-Sonoma. I went to five different stores before I gave up and used a "substitute." Actually, I added 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda to natural cocoa powder. Of course, the next day I found the $15 can from Williams-Sonoma.

Superfudgebrownie
adapted from America's Test Kitchen

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder (or 3 T natural, cococa powder + 1/8 t baking soda)
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Put the oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 350.

2. Melt the chocolates, butter, and cocoa in the microwave, stirring often, 1 to 3 minutes. Let the mixture cool a little.

3. Whisk the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt together until combined. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in the flour until no streaks remain.

4. Scrape the batter into an 8x8 pan and smooth. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs.

5. Let cool completely on a wire rack, about two hours.

*The cookbook recommends that you line the pan with foil so that you can easily lift the baked brownie out. Basically, you fold foil to fit into the pan so that you have some left over on both sides. Then you fold another piece of foil to fit into the pan so that there is left over foil on the other sides. Lightly coat with vegetable oil spray.

I haven't forgotten about the song thing!

Day 08 - a Song That You Know All the Words to
This Land is Your Land