Kitty Bread Heads

Gonna gloat here and say...I haven't bought a loaf of bread in months! This is big because I eat a sandwich for lunch five days a week, no fail. I've been making my own bread in a bread machine -- a monstrously large unitasker that I don't recommend anyone purchasing, but I just so happen to have one, so am using it.

Lately, though, I've gotten so used to the recipe I use that I haven't been measuring all of the ingredients precisely, and think my fervent squeezing of the agave nectar bottle straight into the pan instead of measuring into tablespoons has gotten the yeast super excited so that the dough rises too high and then falls during baking. That's my theory, anyway.

When sliced, these sunken-center loaves yield...kitty heads!

This slice came from a particularly kitten-like loaf, and, I swear, I almost didn't go to work because the uncontrollable desire to make a slew of kitty faces on the slices of bread overcame me as I was making my real sandwich. I had no time for such shenanigans, but ran home immediately after a long day of work and kitty bread heads on the brain, and made this fine specimen of cartoon food*.

That's all! Nothing serious here.

*Making cartoons with food rarely afflicts me, but for more silliness check my seitan cartoon. Sadly, no one got that reference.

Rustic Rolls

This recipe for rustic rolls comes from the latest October issue of Cooks Illustrated, an issue featuring foods suitable for the Thanksgiving table.

For me, rolls are just an afterthought at Thanksgiving, what with all those pies and scrumptious sides like dressing, sweet potato souffle, and cranberry sauce. Since so much time and love is concentrated on making the rest of the meal from scratch, Thanksgiving rolls are usually Pillsbury's croissants or the ready-to-bake tray of rolls from the bread aisle of the grocery store, or, at least, that's how it's always been at my house. Rolls, schmolls. Who cares when there's pecan pie. But on another day...

I made these dense, chewy rolls with a crusty crust on a bread whim, not as a trial run for Thanksgiving. Honestly, I think these hearty rolls are better suited for dipping in soup, stew, and chili. Save this recipe for a chilly chili weekend.

Rustic Rolls
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated
makes 16 rolls

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon water, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid rise yeast
2 teaspoons honey
3 cups plus 1 tablespoon bread flour
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• In a stand mixer bowl, whisk water, yeast, and honey. Add flours, and mix on low spead with a dough hook for about 3 minutes, or until a dough forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Sprinkle salt over dough, and knead on low spead for 5 minutes. Increase spead to medium and knead for about 1 minute more, until smooth and slightly tacky.
  
• Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or doubled in size.
• Fold dough over itself, rotate bowl quarter turn, and fold again. Rotate again, and fold once more. (That's 3 folds total.) Cover and let rise 30 minutes.
• Repeat folding above, cover, and let rise another 30 minutes.
• Turn dough out on a floured work surface, and sprinkle flour on top of dough. With a bench scraper (chef's knife worked fine for me), cut dough in half, and roll each half into 16-inch long cylinders. Cut each cylinder into 8 equal pieces (16 pieces total), and dust tops of pieces with flour.
• Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. With floured hands, pick up each piece, rolling in hands, shaking off excess flour, and place cut side up in cake pan (in each pan, 1 in center and 7 surrounding). Cover cake pans and let rise for 30 minutes.
• 30 minutes before baking, move rack to center of oven, and heat oven to 500 degrees.
• Remove plastic wrap from pans and mist tops of rolls lightly with water, and place in oven. Bake 10 minutes, or until tops of rolls are brown, remove from oven and invert pans on a baking sheet. Reduce oven to 400 degrees.
• Pull rolls apart, and arrange right-side up on a baking sheet. Continue to bake 10-15 minutes, or until deep golden brown and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom; rotating sheet halfway through baking time.
  

Black Lab Breads

A visit to Black Lab Breads in Wilmington a few weeks ago to scout out buns for the Philly food blogger picnic reminded me of how good fresh baked bread is. Very good!

I was looking for a bun suitable for burgers, but did not want to buy the generic buns you find in grocery stores. I had heard good things about Black Lab, so made my first trip to the small bakery on Union St. in Little Italy.

The selection of breads behind the counter looked scrumptious, but nothing was suitable for burgers. I was told they had a rosemary, parsley, and black pepper brioche they bake on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that would fit the bill (my first visit was on Wednesday). So, when you go, note that the baked goods change daily.Bright and early Friday I was back to sample the brioche. Light and buttery with faint herbal flavors and a slightly stronger black pepper bite, I went into a daze of delight, and told them I'd take four dozen. Also, a dozen chewy ciabatta rolls for vegan carb loaders.

One snag -- if you want large quantities, you need to give them 48-hours advance notice so they can bake it specially for you. No prob. I was ahead of the game, so put in my order to be picked up on Sunday.

I also picked up a multi-grain sliced loaf for my work week lunches. Did I mention that fresh baked bread is awesome!The following week I did something I never do. I took a lunch break. And drove to Black Lab, and ate a slice of the lightest, freshest, eggplant and plum tomato topped focaccia I've ever had. It was $1.50! That's cheaper than most crappy slices of NY style pizza. Eggplant not your thing? They have other varieties to choose from.

Black Lab also has a small selection of pastries. Can you believe I didn't try any? Self control. I have it. But don't worry little pastries, I'll be back to eat you. My self control is fleeting.

Black Lab Breads
812 N. Union St., Wilmington, DE 19805
302-658-1307
Wed.-Sat., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sun., 8 a.m.-2 p.m.; closed Mon. & Tues.

Philippine Bread House

Perhaps I meant to go to the Philippine Bread House and Restaurant the other day when I got lost in search of a Filipino sandwich and came out empty-handed at Ciavelita’s . Well, The Philippine Bread House doesn’t have sandwiches either. (Where did my mind come up with that notion?)

What the Philippine Bread House does have is homemade Philippine cuisine lined up on the front counter in Corningware blue cornflower casserole dishes (it doesn’t get any more unpretentious), but this bakery/restaurant more famously bakes up sweet, Spanish-influence Filipino breads on the premises.

The Philippine Bread House just outside of downtown Newark, Delaware on Kirkwood highway resides in an old Taco Bell building, and is a little over a month old, but their New Jersey location has been around for a while and has its share of devotees.

Philippine cuisine is not vegetarian friendly, so I could not sample the lunch offerings from the casserole dishes. I sampled the breads, and let me just say…nom nom nom. I ate so many yummy sweet rolls that I had a tummy ache (in a good way). Pandesal - soft, subtly sweet rolls traditionally eaten for breakfast. A bag of twelve costs $1.75! These are great alone, but would be perfect with jam or in bread pudding.

Ensaymada – soft, sweet bread topped with butter, sugar and mild white cheese. Um, cheese? Yes! It was so good; I nearly fell on the floor, but was already sitting on the floor.

Ube cake – just like the ensaymada, but with a ribbon of dark purple ube. The ube doesn’t have much flavor, but the purple sure is pretty.

Cheese roll – sweet, football-shaped roll topped with sugar and butter, and a ribbon of cream cheese inside.

All are fabulous, but the winner is the ensaymada. I wish I worked in an office so I could bring in a huge tray of ensaymadas and be everyone’s hero!

The Philippine Bread House and Restaurant
1020 Capitol Trail, Newark, Delaware, 19711
302-455-1211
daily, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Baby Challah

My boyfriend has been blessed with the super power to tolerate old, moldy food in the fridge. He’ll even leave food out overnight and swear that it’s still good. I kid him about it, and have even gotten him a plushy of a moldy piece of toast. Really, though, I’m concerned for his health.

He buys loaves of challah for the Sabbath, pinches off a piece to have with wine and a prayer Friday night, and then the loaf sits around, goes stale and moldy. He resists my suggestions of putting the loaf in the fridge - ya know, because it might make it last longer. So, a large loaf of bread is wasted every week.

No longer! Jeering and deriding have had no effect on his behavior, so I completely changed my tactics - I made him baby loaves of challah. (Yes, I am the best girlfriend on this planet.) These things are so damn cute. I made some loaves with raisins, some with sesame seeds, and some plain. They’re sitting in the freezer, so he can just pull one out on Friday, have a pinch with the prayer, and there’s just enough left over to have as a pre-dinner snack or with dinner. I strive for maximum cuteness, so next time they’ll be even smaller – and cuter!

The last time I posted about challah, some one asked about vegan challah. I’ve never tried it, but PPK has one, and there’s also something called water challah.

Challah Back, Yo!

The Jewish High Holy Days are going on this week, so I made my boyfriend challah. Challah is traditional Jewish sweet bread often eaten on Shabbat and on holidays. Always wanting to make braided bread, I figured now was the time. Although not Jewish, I do worship French toast - challah’s second calling.

Challah is typically braided, but during Rosh Hashanah it is baked in a spiral to symbolize the cyclical nature of life, and the hope that the coming year will be complete and unbroken by misfortune. The addition of raisins is common and represents the sweet New Year, but I was drinking and dancing in the kitchen so forgot to add the raisins. Damn, I already screwed up my Jewish New Year. Oh well, my intentions were sweet.

I used the challah recipe in Baking with Julia and all went well. The bread rose higher than any bread I’ve made, but deflated when I applied the egg wash with my hands. I need to work on “gentle touch” and purchasing a pastry brush. I’m such a beast.