Filled Bread - Two Ways

I've been watching a lot of The Great British Bake Off and got inspired after watching the bread episode in Season 3.  They were stuffing their breads with so many things! So I started looking around for a filled bread recipe.  I also had a ton of garlic scape pesto to use up from the freezer.  The recipe I used is from King Arthur's Flour, and it can be found here.  It is a gorgeous bread that tastes really good, especially with a fried egg on top.  I ended up making two different flavors since the bread dough came together so easily.

Bread Dough Ingredients (makes 1 loaf):
3 cups bread flour - 12.75 oz
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 whole milk at 100F*
1/3 water at 100F*
3 Tbsp olive oil

Tuscan Bread Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cup garlic scape pesto (you can use any type of pesto)
1/3 cup basil, chopped
1/2 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes*

French Bread Filling Ingredients:
1 onion, sliced in half rings*
1 cup marbled blue cheese, shredded*

Directions:

1. Place milk and water into a 1 cup liquid measuring cup and heat in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.  The target temperature of the mixture is around 100F.  Add the yeast to this mixture.  The extra heat helps the yeast get going.  Let soak for around 5 minutes.

2. Combine the flour, salt, egg, olive oil and yeast mixture in a bowl and mix until just incorporated.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand until the dough is smooth and uniform.  The dough should be very soft.

3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for 45 to 60 minutes, or until it's doubled in size.  Repeat steps 1 through 3 if you want to make both flavors.

4. Meanwhile, prep the filling ingredients.  Chop the onions and sauté them in a little bit of olive oil on low heat until caramelized (this will take 30 minutes to 1 hour).  Drain the tomatoes, and pat dry and chop.

5. Gently deflate the dough. Flatten and pat it into a 22" x 8 1/2" rectangle. Spread with the filling ingredients.

6. Starting with one long edge, roll the dough into a log the long way. Pinch the edges to seal. Place the log seam-side down on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

7. Using kitchen shears or a razor blade, start 1/2" from one end and cut the log lengthwise down the center about 1" deep, to within 1/2" of the other end.

8. Keeping the cut side up, form an "S" shape. Tuck both ends under the center of the "S" to form a "figure 8;" pinch the ends together to seal.

9. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, 45 to 60 minutes.*

10. While the loaf is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.  I like to bake my bread on a pizza stone in the oven.  If using a stone, make sure to preheat for at least 30 minutes. 

11. Uncover the bread, and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 to 25 minutes to prevent over-browning.*

12. Remove the bread from the oven, and transfer it to a rack to cool. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Store, well-wrapped, at room temperature for a couple of days; freeze for longer storage.

Recommended Alterations:
*I plan to use 1 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes next time.
*I plan to use 2 onions instead of 1 to get more flavor next time.
*The marbled blue cheese I had to use up is unique to Wisconsin, I have never seen it before.  Next time I would use normal blue cheese crumbles and start with 1/2 cup crumbles, since it can have a very strong flavor.
*Since I made two doughs back to back, the first bread had to wait a lot longer on its second rise before it was baked.  This resulted in the asymmetrical bake.  If you want to bake two loaves, I would delay making the second dough by 45 minutes.
*I didn't need to tent the bread since I like a really deep golden brown on my breads.  Although I'm wondering if I baked it for too long and that is why it was a little dry.  Next time I plan on baking to an internal temperature of 190F.  My loaves were around 205F when I took them out of the oven.

Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup with Fennel Seed Oil

This is our second year doing a CSA (community supported agriculture) from Sleepy Root Farm.  They deliver right to Jason's work, so it is really convenient.  One of the greatest things about a CSA is that it gets you to try different types of produce than you normally would and it forces you to be creative in finding ways to use certain items.  For the last few weeks, I wasn't sure how to use my fennel bulbs.  I've never really cooked with fennel and the raw smell of it was a little off-putting.  It smelled super strongly of anise.  So yesterday I did some research online and found a semi-easy recipe for soup (from rouxbe.com).  I had most of the ingredients at home already so I only needed to buy some stock (I really need to start making my own).  This soup turned out wonderful and I plan to use my yearly fennel for it in the future.  I doubled the recipe below (because I had to use all my fennel!) and froze 3 quarts of soup and ate about 1 quart.  So a single recipe will probably make about 2 quarts of soup and serve 6 people.

iPhone Photo by Jason Hedlund

Ingredients:
2 medium fennel bulbs, sliced
1 lb carrots, diced
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper

2 Tbsp butter
5 cups chicken stock (I used broth from Target)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme (I used dried since I ran out of fresh)
salt and pepper

1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp olive oil

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 450F.
2.  In a sheet pan, add the vegetables and the rest of the ingredients and coat with oil.  Then put them in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until slightly caramelized.
3.  In a heavy pot, melt the butter, then add the roasted vegetables, chicken stock, bat leaf, thyme and bring to simmer.
4.  Let simmer for about 20 minutes then blend to smooth in a blender or using an emulsion blender in the pot.  Adjust seasoning of soup with salt and pepper to taste.
5.  Toast fennel seeds until they become fragrant, in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle grind the fennel seeds and add them to the oil.
6.  Drizzle oil over the soup and serve.  Enjoy!

Poached Eggs with Tomato Fondue

The guest author today is the guy usually behind the camera, Beth's husband, Jason.  I recently found a series of cooking videos on YouTube by a French Chef, Raymond Blanc.  The series is called "Raymond Blanc: How to Cook Well".  Formerly a BBC series, each episode dives into a different technique (Slow Cooking, Poaching, Roasting, Baking, Frying, BBQ & Grill).  All of the recipes in the video look phenomenal, and Beth and I are inspired to cook our way through each episode.

Today we made our first recipe from the Poaching episode.  It is Saturday morning, and I've got time to make a delicious breakfast (and it sure was!).  Here it is:

Photo by: Jason Hedlund

I'm not going to write out the recipe, since it is available online.  Here are the links:

Raymond Blanc: How to Cook Well - Poached Eggs  (I highly recommend watching this first)

Poached Eggs with Tomato Fondue - PDF Recipe (This version doesn't include the bacon)


I hope you enjoy this breakfast as much as we did! It might just be the best breakfast I've ever had in my life.


Bon appétit,

Jason

Carrot Loaf Cake

I had some leftover carrots that were about to go bad.  I wanted to use them up, so I found this recipe in my May issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  It was super fast to make and really good.  I've copied the recipe below, but it can also be found here.  I had some last night and for breakfast this morning!

Photo By: Jason Hedlund

Ingredients:
1 cup vegetable oil
1¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup golden raisins (we used normal raisins, the golden ones are mainly for looks)
½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (we left these out)
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces carrots, coarsely grated (about 2 cups)
2 teaspoons light brown sugar

Directions:
(1) Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly oil and flour a 9x5" loaf pan (important because this loaf tends to stick). Whisk baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and 1 ¼ cups flour in a small bowl. Toss raisins, walnuts, and remaining 1 Tbsp. flour in another bowl.
(2) Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. With mixer running, gradually drizzle in 1 cup oil, then add vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients, raisin mixture, and carrots; scrape batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
(3) Bake cake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 65–75 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Enjoy!

Do Ahead: Bake up to 2 days ahead. Store wrapped at room temperature.

Roast Chicken with Rhubarb Butter and Asparagus

I recently started cooking with the entire chicken, instead of just breasts or thighs.  I really enjoy it!  There is value in knowing where our food comes from so we can appreciate our meals more.  Last year my husband and I ordered whole broiler birds from a farm near our CSA, we ended up grilling them for Thanksgiving.  This past weekend we roasted a whole chicken with a recipe from the May issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  A link to the recipe is here.  It was really easy and very tasty.

Photo by Jason Hedlund

Ingredients:

1 large rhubarb stalk, cut into ½-inch pieces
¼ cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled ginger
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 3½–4-pound chicken, backbone removed, chicken patted dry
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
2 lemons, halved

Directions:

(1) Bring rhubarb, orange juice, honey, and ginger to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is soft but not falling apart, about 5 minutes. Drain over a small bowl. Reserve cooking liquid and rhubarb separately; let cool.
(2) Mix rhubarb and butter in a small bowl until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Set aside 1 Tbsp. rhubarb butter for vegetables.
(3) Preheat oven to 400°. Place chicken, skin side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Gently slide your fingers underneath skin to loosen and rub flesh all over with remaining rhubarb butter (try not to tear skin). Drizzle chicken with 1 Tbsp. oil and some of the reserved rhubarb cooking liquid, scatter thyme over, and season with salt and pepper.
(4) Roast chicken until skin is browned and crisp and meat is cooked through (juices will run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh should register 165°), 40−50 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.
(5) Meanwhile, prepare grill for medium-high heat (or heat a grill pan over medium-high). Toss asparagus in a large bowl with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill asparagus and lemons (cut side down), turning asparagus often, until stalks are just tender, 2−3 minutes. Let lemon halves cool.
(6) Toss asparagus with reserved rhubarb butter. Serve chicken and asparagus with any pan juices drizzled with grilled lemons for squeezing over.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Semifreddo

I found this recipe in the May issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  I was planning a Mother's Day dinner and thought this would be perfect for a warm day.  It was pretty easy to make, you just have to make it 4 hours ahead of time to give it time to freeze.  This recipe makes 8 servings and is excellent!

Photo by: Jason Hedlund

Ingredients:
1 lb strawberries, hulled, quartered
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp black sesame seeds (we used chopped dark chocolate)
2 cups heavy cream
pinch of salt
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

Directions:
(1) Cook strawberries and sugar in a medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until strawberries have broken down into a thick, chunky jam (they should not be syrupy), 10-15 minutes.  Stir in vinegar, let cool.
(2) Meanwhile, toast black sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Let cool.
(3) Whip cream and salt until cream holds a medium-stiff peak. Gently whisk in sweetened condensed milk and yogurt until completely blended.  Gently fold in half of strawberry jam, just enough to create streaks, then gently fold in remaining jam (mixture should look marbled with pockets of jam).
(4) Transfer to medium bowl or loaf pan and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.  Serve semifreddo topped with toasted sesame seeds (or chocolate).  Enjoy!

Deli-Style Rye Bread

I've been wanting to make rye bread since I started baking my own bread.  I found this recipe in my favorite cookbook.  It makes ones giant loaf (half can be frozen) and tastes super tangy and yummy.  It takes about 5-6 hours to make so it is perfect for a Saturday or Sunday.

Photo by: Jason Hedlund

Ingredients:
Sponge:
2/3 cup rye flakes (optional)
2 3/4 cups water, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 Tbsp honey
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
3 1/2 cups medium or light rye flour (I used dark rye flour since that is what we had)
2 Tbsp caraway seeds (we omitted this because we didn't have any and the book said it was ok)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp salt
cornmeal for sprinkling the baking sheet

Glaze:
1 egg white
1 Tbsp milk

Directions:
(1) For the sponge: Heat the oven to 350F; toast the rye flakes, if using, on a small baking sheet until fragrant and golden brown, 10-12 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.  Mix the water, yeast, honey, rye flakes, and flour in mixing bowl of a standing mixer to form a thick batter.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until bubbles form over the entire surface, at least 2 1/2 hours.  (The sponge can stand at cool room temperature overnight).
(2) For the dough: Stir the all-purpose flour, 3 1/4 cups of the rye flour, the caraway seeds, oil, and salt into the sponge.  Attach the dough hook and knead the dough at low speed, adding the remaining 1/4 cup rye flour once the dough becomes cohesive; knead until smooth yet sticky, about 5 minutes.  With moistened hands, transfer the dough to a well floured work surface, knead it into a smooth ball, then place it in a very lightly oiled large bowl or straight-sided container.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled in size, 1 1/4 to 2 hours.
(3) Generously sprinkle the cornmeal on a large baking sheet.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and press it into a 12 x 9-inch rectangle.  (For 2 smaller loaves, half the dough, pressing each portion into a 9 x 6 1/2-inch rectangle.)  With one of the long sides facing you, roll the dough into a 12-inch log (or two 9-inch logs), seam-side up.  Pinch the seam with your finger tips to seal.  Turn the dough seam-side down and, with your finger tips, seal the ends by tucking them into the loaf.  Carefully transfer the shaped loaf to the prepared baking sheet, cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise until the dough looks bloated and dimply and starts to spread out, 60 - 75 minutes.  Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle to position and heat oven to 425F.
(4) For the glaze: Whisk the egg white and milk together and brush over sides and top of loaf.  Right before baking, make 6-7 slashes, 1/2-inch deep, in the top of the dough with a single-edge razor blade or very sharp knife.  Bake for 15 minutes then lower oven temperature to 400F and bake until golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of loaf reads 200F, 25-30 minutes (or 15-20 minutes for smaller loaves).  Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperatures.  Enjoy!