Moving

I am moving to Wordpress.  Sorry Blogger.  You can still follow me and you can find all of the same posts at Wordpress. 

I will leave this site up for a while so that people can transfer over.  I won't be posting new recipes on this site anymore. 

Seitan pepperoni pizza

Sadly, I cannot claim credit for the recipe for seitan (pronounced "say-tan") pepperoni.  I got the recipe from http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/.  I do want to give credit where it is due and I don't want people to think that I am stealing this recipe.  I would be sad if someone stole one of my recipes.  I did tweak the original recipe in minor ways, but nothing so drastic that I could claim it as my own. 

Dry ingredients:


1 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons smoked paprika or regular paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoons mustard seeds (I used brown seeds and I ground it with my mortar/pestle)
1 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (also ground with mortar/pestle)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger

Wet ingredients:

2 tablespoons peanut butter
2/3 cup water
4 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl.  Make sure to mix the wet ingredients well so that they can be easily incorporated into gluten.  An easy way to make sure peanut butter mixes with water is to heat both up in the microwave for a minute.  This softens the peanut butter enough to mix with the water.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry, stirring well; I use a Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment. Remove from the bowl and knead for a few extra minutes.  You want to make sure that all your ingredients are evenly distributed.  Tip:  once you mix water or any liquid with your gluten you will not be able to add anything else to the mixture.  This is why it is important to have all of your wet ingredients mixed together prior to adding them to your gluten mixture. 

Roll the mixture into a log shape and cut in half so that you have two shorter pieces.  Normally I will cut this recipe into four equal pieces so they are more like snack sticks.  Once you have created your logs tightly roll them in aluminum foil, shiny side in.  Make sure to use lots of foil because your seitan logs will try to expand in the oven and they will, I have done it, explode out of the foil.  Seal the ends by twisting and pushing in to compact the seitan even more.  You want to make a tight seal.  Place logs lengthwise on oven racks and bake for 1 hour, turning over after 30 minutes.  Undercooked seitan will be gummy and rubbery in the middle so take it out after an hour, cut it in half and take a taste-test piece or just touch it with your finger. 

Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. You do do not need to unwrap them from their aluminum foil prisons to store them in your fridge.  If you want to thinly slice them you will need to do this before placing them in the refridgerator.  Refridgerating them makes it impossible to thinly slice.  I have only had success using my food processor when attempting to make a thin slice.  Anything manual just crumbles the seitan.  My friend thinks a mandolin will work but I have been too thrifty to purchase yet another cutting tool.

The crust for this pizza came from Whole Grain Baking by Peter Reinhart.  It is one of the best whole wheat pizza crusts I have ever used.  Normally whole wheat pizza dough is too sticky, but this recipe produced a crust that was easy to work with.  It had great gluten structure without having to add vital wheat gluten.  I was even able to throw the pizza.  Oh, how I love to throw pizza into the air and catch it again.

Toppings on pizza: 

Half can of tomato paste (I didn't add spices to the sauce because most of the flavor of the pizza will come from the cheese and the pepperoni)
Spinach
Chopped tomato
Mushroom
Provolone
Mozzarella
Shredded Parmesan
Seitan pepperoni

I pre-baked my crust for two minutes at 550F and then baked for another nine minutes with all of the toppings. 

Whole Grain Baking

My New Year's resolution was to eat more whole grains. Peter Reinhart will be my guide this year with his book Whole Grain Baking. (I don't plan on doing a year in the life of a book, but I do plan to utilize the colon cleansing power of the whole grain.) I know that if you are a bread baker and have looked on the internet for recipes or formulas you have stumbled across that name before. He is the man. If you have never read one of his books before I suggest Artisan Breads Everyday or Bread Bakers Apprentice. These are good books get started and most library systems have them.

Anyways. Following my resolution I made Reinhart's Broom Bread on the 2nd. Looking at the formula for this it seemed that it would be dense and painful to chew; however, it was the lightest whole grain bread I have ever had. The secret? A soaker. Soaking whole grains in water overnight allows hard grains to soften and hydrate. Also, it utilizes a biga. The recipes in Whole Grain Baking are all basically the same with minor variations. The reason for this is because it is not a recipe book. It is a book to explain whole grain baking and many secrets for success. So, what's the point of this blog? I love Peter Reinhart and so should you if you are serious about becoming a better baker. He explains baking in a way that makes it accessible. Because of Crust and Crumb I am able to create my own recipes using only a scale, a pen, and paper. Check him out and enjoy the results.

Pretzels

Welcome to 2010. I haven't been on here for a while because I almost gave up. No comments made it seem that no one was reading and what is the point of writing this if no one is reading. However, I am going to stick with this. Also, I will try to add more recipes that involve the dreaded Volumetric measure system. Ick. But I'll do it for you.

Pretzels. Hard crumbly pretzels are made using a lye bath. Have you ever seen Fight Club? I don't want to mess with lye in my kitchen. This recipe is for glorious soft pretzels. These are perfect for dipping in sauce or just eating plain as a snack. They can be covered in cinnamon and sugar for a breakfast treat or slathered in marinara and cheese to make an afternoon pizza-y snack. This recipe makes 6 75-80 gram pretzels.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine:

3/4 cup warm water

1/2 Tbl yeast

2 Tbl brown sugar

1 1/2 cup flour

(1 Tbl gluten--optional)

These do not need salt in the dough.

Kneed until dough forms a smooth ball: 5-7 minutes.

Let rest for 20 minutes or store dough in refridgerator overnight for even better flavor.

Scale dough into 75-80 gram balls, or six pieces.

Roll each into a thin rope, approx 1 1/2 feet in length, and shape into your desired pretzel shape.

Boil each pretzel in water that contains 2 Tbl baking soda and 2 Tbl mild molasses. (Baking soda gives it a darker color and molasses gives it shine--this doesn't seem correct but it is) Boil each pretzel for 30 sec total.

Give each pretzel an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt or other topping of your choosing.

Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes. Let the pretzels get a little dark but you don't want to over cook them.

These can be enjoyed right out of the oven.

Bakers Percents:

100% Flour

64% Water

10% Brown sugar

2% Yeast

2% Gluten

with a poolish--this gives them a more complex flavor

Poolish:

100% Flour

178% Water

0.01% Yeast

(with a 200 gram flour poolish I generally add 1/8 tsp for an overnight ferement, but the amount of yeast will depend on how long you intend to let your poolish ferment: shorter ferement=more yeast)

100% Flour

20% Poolish

52% Water

10% Brown sugar

1% Yeast

2% Gluten

10 80gram pretzels:

430g Flour (I used 50/50 with AP and whole wheat flour)

86g Poolish

224g Water

43g Brown sugar

4g Yeast

8g Gluten

Buche de Noel

For the family Christmas this year we decided on a French food theme. The dessert was a Buche de Noel that my wife made. It looked so good that I thought I would post a few pictures of it here. Maybe she will be gracious enough to write down her recipe.

Chocolate Scones

Preheat oven to 375

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk (can use milk + 1tsp vinegar)
2 Tablespoons orange zest (finely grated orange peel)
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup cold butter

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

Mix egg, buttermilk, and orange zest in a separate bowl

Cut butter into dry ingredients

Add the rest of the ingredients and gently fold

On a lightly floured area roll dough out to 1/2-3/4 inch high

Cut into desired shapes or sizes

I like to bake on parchment paper or a silpat because it guarantees that things won't stick, but you could bake these on a non-greased pan.

Bake for 20 minutes and dark

Yield: 15-18 scones

Poolish Bread

I enjoy using biga, poolish, and pate fermentee whenever possible. These easy methods give bread a great flavor without having to use up fridge space with a long overnight/two day proofing. You can do a long proof or ferment and get even better results, but most people won't notice much of a difference. Below is a poolish bread recipe that I have made a few times with great results. I don't have a picture of it yet, but I will when I get a chance to bake. Maybe this weekend?

Start with a poolish. (Poolish is a very wet pre-ferment)

100% flour
178% water
0.5-1% yeast (the amount of yeast you use will depend on how much time you ferment)

I generally allow a poolish to ferment on the counter for 4-8 hours. It works to put your poolish in the fridge over night so that you can use it the following day. Retarding in the fridge allows you to relax and not worry that your yeast is eating too quickly.

Total dough percentages

100% flour
54% water
20% poolish
1% yeast
2% salt

This dough recipe will produce a dough with a hydration level of 66-68%

For a 900 gram dough:

508 g Flour
274 g Water
102 g Poolish
5 g Yeast
10 g Salt

Exactly 102 grams of poolish, I would suggest making more because you always lose some when transferring:

36 g Flour
66 g Water
0.5 g Yeast


Mix all of your ingredients and allow for autolyse. This will make sure that your flour is fully hydrated and you won't ruin too much of the work that your poolish has already done.

In a stand mixer mix for 3-5 minutes. Your dough should be around 80 degrees and it should pass the windowpane test.

Place dough in a lightly oiled container and allow to double in volume. This should take an hour or so. At this point you have a choice. You can either shape into a boule and allow to proof for an hour and then bake or you can do a second ferment and allow your dough to retard in the refridgerator overnight. Allowing bread a second ferment will produce rich buttery flavors. However, skipping a second ferment will still produce a great bread.

After your bread has been shaped into a boule allow it to proof for an hour or until a thumbprint on the side won't bounce back. Cut the top of your bread, traditionally in an X shape.

Allow an hour for your oven to heat to 475.

Put your boule into the oven, directly onto a baking stone if you have one, and steam for 2 minutes at 475. (You can create steam by heating an iron skillet in your oven and then throwing ice onto it right before you are going to shut the door. You can also mist water onto the walls of your oven. Be careful not to get cold water on your hot baking stone. I use both methods.) Spray water onto your boule and walls and bake for 2 more minutes. Steam one last time and bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. After 30 minutes check the internal temperature of your bread. It should read 190-205 degrees. (The thump test works but it isn't that accurate.)

Yield 1 large boule or 2 smaller boules/3 medium batards

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Ahhh. My favorite smelling bread. I should preface my recipes by saying that I scale everything and I rarely use imperial measurements. If you do not use a scale for baking I strongly suggest it. It makes baking more consistent and much more pleasant. Also, with bread recipes I will try to include baker's percentages. If you are unfamiliar with baker's percents I suggest checking out http://www.wildyeastblog.com/. They have a great explanation of percentages. Why be redundant?

Dough

305 grams Pate Fermentee

305 grams All-purpose flour
3 grams wheat gluten
185 grams water
6 grams yeast
6 grams salt
45 grams butter
15 grams dry milk
12 grams agave nectar

Filling

2 medium sized apples

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 Tbl ground cinnamon

1/4-1/2 cup raisins

Mix all of the dough ingredients except for the pate fermentee. Mix until the dough comes together. Add in pate fermentee in small pieces. At this point the dough should become easily workable. (I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for this whole process.) Knead for 5-7 minutes or until dough passes the windowpane test.

Place dough ball into a lightly oiled container and let double. This will take around an hour.

In a food processor mix filling ingredients until well blended. (Apple sauce could be substituted for apples in filling recipe.)

Once dough has doubled, lightly flatten. Lightly press raisins into dough. Spread a thin layer of filling onto dough, leaving a quarter of an inch untouched around the edges.

Gently roll dough and tuck in the ends. Place in oiled bread loaf pan. Let dough proof in a loaf pan for 30-45 min. Your loaf should start to have a nice crown on it.

Slash top from end to end using a sharp knife, razor blade, or lame. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.

Yield: 1 loaf



Baker's Percent:

100% Pate Fermentee
100% flour
62% water
2% yeast
2% salt
15% butter
5% dry milk
4% agave or honey

A blog's beginning

Well. Here I am. The official beginning of my blog. What do I hope to achieve with this blog? Glory. Fame. Understanding. A new me. Naw. I love to cook and I know there are other people out there that are just as interesting in mastering the art of cooking too. I am by no means a chef or master or anything great, but when I set out to learn something I really set out to live it. This is where I am with cooking and baking. Addicted. Obsessed. I have always enjoyed making food and in the last few years my passion has grown. I dove into a world of baker's percentages, scaling, pate fermentee, Peter Reinhart and Julia Child, and the hateful quest to find barley malt. I hope that through this blog I will be able to foster friendships with others in the vegetarian community and hopefully learn as much as I can teach. I want to share my cooking and baking experiences with others so that I too may grow.

And yes, I will share recipes.