I had been looking for a vegetarian meal to have for the week and this curry recipe looked tasty enough to convince me to heat up our wok and give it a try.  Because everything cooks so quickly in the wok it’s important to have all of your veggies chopped and spices measured before beginning.

Spices, assemble!

I also couldn’t find our nicer camera and had to rely on my phone to take pictures for this post.  One day I’ll live somewhere that has a kitchen with lots of natural light.  For now, though, the flash is my friend.

This curry tasted great and had a nice heat (spice-wise) to it.  I actually ended up eating it cold a few times when it was hotter out and was quite satisfied.

Pineapple Curry

Ingredients

• 1 pineapple cut into chunks (or 20 oz canned pineapple in juice)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, diced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1.5 tsp sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup coconut milk

Directions

Chop the pineapple, onion, jalapeños, pepper, and set aside.  Grate ginger, mince garlic, and measure out spices.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok (or large pan) and bring to medium-high heat.  Once hot add in mustard seeds, cinnamon stick, jalapeños, and onion.  Cook for 2-3 minutes and then add in ginger, garlic, and pepper flakes.

Cook another 2 minutes, then add in all remaining ingredients.  Cook for another 10 minutes and taste for additional seasoning.  Serve over rice.

Recipe adapted from Curry and Comfort

These two things came together to become chocolate sourdough muffins, a delicious and easy recipe to whip up when refreshing your sourdough starter.

The sourdough discard is what you might normally toss down the sink when you feed your sourdough starter.  Instead of letting it go to waste you can use the discard in a variety of recipes (Most often I make sourdough waffles).

These muffins don’t have a very strong sourdough taste (because a fresh starter isn’t used) in contrast to the waffles which have a distinct sourdough taste and smell.  I imagine that if you used a cup of refreshed sourdough it would add more sourdough flavor.

Also here is another of my Michigan bread photoshops, which I still find immensely entertaining to make.

Chocolate Sourdough Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 C  sourdough starter discard
• 1 C All Purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 C chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425º.  In a small bowl combine dry ingredients (including chocolate chips).  Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add dry ones to them.

Line muffin tins with wrappers (recipe makes 8) and spoon the batter into the tins.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating halfway through.

Recipe courtesy of Crustabakes

I have three distinct memories of seeing the sun rise, all of which have required getting up around 4 AM.  I have see incredible sunrises from the tree tops of the Amazonian jungle, the base of Ayers Rock in Australia, and (as of last Sunday) Niagra Falls.  I think I would be ok with getting up that early every day if you promised me this…

or this…

I was at Niagra Falls as part of a road trip with friends that took us from Detroit to Toronto to Cooperstown to Philadelphia.  I feel like we crammed a week’s worth of activities (2 baseball games, baseball hall of fame, bluegrass concert, camping, NCAA lacrosse championship, and general sightseeing) into 3.5 days.  Aside from being completely exhausted for days when I came home, I missed a weekend of bread making.  

Naturally, I went into bread baking overdrive this weekend to make up for it.  I made two loaves of Tartine basic country bread  and tried out a new recipe for honey oat sourdough.

I found this recipe on the bread subreddit of Reddit (r/breadit) and it piqued my interest for a variety of reasons.  It has a proofing technique similar to Tartine but has a fair amount of sugar (honey) and fat (olive oil) added.  I anticipated (and rightly so) that I would get the satisfying sourdough taste while having the soft crust of a sandwich bread.

I’m really pleased with how this turned out and will definitely be making it again in the future.

Honey Oat Sourdough

Ingredients

• 300 g bread flour
• 160 g whole wheat flour
• 10 g salt
• 315 g water
• 35 g honey
• 20 g olive oil
• 70 g oats
• 100 g fed sourdough starter

Directions

In a large bowl mix together all flour, water, and starter.  Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Add honey, oil, salt, and oats and knead in the bowl for 3-4 minutes.  Cover the bowl and let the bread proof for 3 hours, doing a series of ‘stretch and folds’ every 30 minutes.

After the bulk rise shape the dough into a ball and rest for 30 minutes.  Following the rest shape the dough into a batard.  Spray the top of the dough with water and roll it in oats to coat.

Let the dough rise on a heavily floured towel or couche for 90 minutes.  Bake in a preheated 500 degree oven for 15-18 minutes, rotating halfway through.  Create steam in the oven by spraying the oven walls with water or dumping boiling water into a preheated pan (cast iron works best).

The bread should cool for about 2 hours before slicing.

Adapted from recipe by u/Inquebiss on r/Breadit

It was amazing, especially warmed in the microwave.  The huge melted chocolate chunks combined with the chewy sourdough crumb and crackly crust, oh boy.  I’ve only had it twice in 6 years but clearly it has made an impression.

When I decided that I was going to give it a try on my own I imagined I would make the basic country bread from Tartine and add chocolate chunks like you would any other add-in.  I wasn’t entirely sure if there would be issues with baking the chocolate at such a high temperature, so I went searching for some recipes.

I did find people who had adapted Chad Robertson’s recipe but I also found a lot of recipes that had cocoa powder, not just chocolate chunks.  This wasn’t what I had set out to make but I became very curious as to how that would taste.

I was concerned that the cocoa would overshadow the sourdough taste which turned out to be true.  This however may be in part due to the fact that a smaller amount of starter is used and dry yeast is added to leaven the bread.  If I were to make this again I would alter the recipe so that the leavening came 100% from my sourdough starter.

I also had worries that the unsweetened cocoa would give the bread too bitter of a taste which I am happy to say did not happen.  The 4 tablespoons of honey in the dough do more than enough to sweeten the bread (but not overly so).

This bread is incredible.  Fresh out of the oven the crumb is soft and warm and the chocolate chunks melt into every bite.  Even with the honey the bread isn’t as sweet as the added chocolate chunks so you end up with two distinct chocolate tastes.  I’ve had it both toasted and microwaved in the days since I made it and both have turned out nicely.

Double Chocolate Sourdough

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter, fed
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 1/8 cups water
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 100 grams chocolate chips/chunks, semi-sweet

Directions

Mix all ingredients together except the chocolate chunks in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Knead for 5 minutes, allowing a cohesive dough to form.  It should be soft and not too dry (or tough).  Let the dough rest in the bowl for 5 minutes.

After the rest add in the chocolate chunks and knead for another 1-2 minutes, until they are well incorporated.  Let rise for 2 hours in a lightly oiled and covered bowl.

Divide the dough into four equal pieces, shape each piece into a ball, and let rest for 30 minutes on an unfloured surface.  Shape again after the rest is over into desired shape (boule, batard, etc.).

Let rise on a lightly floured surface (floured linen, pastry mat) for 3 hours and bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through.  The oven should be loaded with steam, which can be achieved by pouring a cup of boiling water into a hot pan (cast iron works best) at the same time you put the bread in.  Spraying the walls of the oven with water will also work.

These loaves will take an hour to cool but this bread is best served warm or toasted to fully enjoy.

Recipe courtesy of Apple Pie, Patis, & Pâté.

As with many great bread recipes the key is letting time do the work.  Whole wheat flour is coarser than your normal bread or AP flour and performs much better when well hydrated.  The Peter Reinhart recipe I used accomplishes this by using a soaker, wherein you mix about half of the flour with liquid the night before and let it sit.

It also uses a preferment called a biga.  This gives the bread a more developed flavor and, like the soaker, helps hydrated the whole wheat flour.

The combination of the preferment, soaker, and summer heat in my kitchen led to an impressively fast rise time for this loaf (about 55 minutes).  It has a great crust and strong structure while being nice and chewy on the inside.

There is a notably more…earthy? taste to this bread and it has a much darker color because of the lack of white flour (in comparison to a light wheat bread).  Both recipes bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, so why not make them both and compare?

In other news, I seem to have found my true calling in life: photoshopping in pieces of bread into iconic Michigan sports photos.  Remember that perfectly spiraled loaf Denard threw in the Sugar Bowl?

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

For the Soaker

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups milk

For the Biga

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3/4 cup water, room temperature

Final Dough

• All of the Biga
• All of the Soaker
• 5 grams (5/8 teaspoon) salt
• 7 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

To make the soaker: Mix all of the soaker ingredients together in a bowl until all of the flour is hydrated.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

To make the biga: Mix all of the biga ingredients together in a bowl to form a ball.  Knead for 2 minutes, making sure there are no dry bits of flour.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours (it will keep for up to 3 days).

About two hours before mixing your dough remove the big from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.  Divide the biga and soaker into small pieces (about 12 pieces each) and place in a stank mixer.

Add all of the other ingredients except the flour and knead for 3 minutes.  Add flour if necessary to the dough.  Let it rest for 5 minutes, then knead for another 3-4 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1.5 hours.

Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a loaf.  Pat the dough out to about 6 x 8 inches and roll it up, pinching the seams as you go.  Place in a buttered/floured loaf pan and let rise until it crests the top of the pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes, turning halfway through.  Let cool for 2 hours before slicing.

Recipe from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads

So to finally end this vicious cycle, I made enchiladas.  Of course in the end I had a bit too much enchilada sauce, but we were able to mix that up into a creative salad dressing.

If I were to do this again I would probably make more chicken, but I used all that we had left at that point (I’d guess it was about 3/4 lb).

I think this has also brought to an end my tortilla making spree, which lasted a few weeks.

I think a dish like this allows for a lot of flexibility, so make it however you want (But there’s a recipe below as a starting point)!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 2 jalapeños, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 tomatoes, cored
• 2 t ground cumin
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 12-15 tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Cook garlic and onion in a large skilled for 5 minutes, with a small amount of oil.  Add the jalapeños and tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add the cumin and a bit of salt and pepper if desired.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth, adding chicken stock to get the desired consistency.  Mix about half with the shredded chicken and set the rest aside.

Place a tablespoon or two (depending on tortilla size) of the chicken mixture into each tortilla  and roll tightly.  Place into a large baking dish and continue until the entire mixture is used up.

Pour the remaining sauce on the tortillas and top with cheese.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes in the World

They’re stuffed with rice, onions, lamb, and a variety of tasty spices.  It was also a bright and sunny day outside, which allowed me to take pictures by the window with lots of natural light.

I was worried about the leaves unraveling as I stuffed/rolled them but they held together very well.

First you roll up the front side…

then you fold in the sides…

and lastly you roll up the remaining leaf tightly.

Instead of just steaming them over boiling water, you actually cook them in the liquid (chicken broth, lemon juice, olive oil), which adds a lot more flavor.

Generally these are served cold and will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup rice
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

In a small saucepan cook the onion in a tablespoon of oil.  After 5 minutes add rice, 1/2 cup water, and cook until the liquid is absorbed.  This should take about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl combine the rice & onion with the lamb, spices, and lemon zest.

If you purchased grape leaves in a jar take out about 45 of them and unroll them.  Place them in a strainer and run cool water over them to rinse off the brine they were kept in.

To stuff, put a leaf on the cutting board with the smooth (and shiny) side down.  You can see in the above pictures that the veins of the leaf will be showing.  Removed the stem and put about a tablespoon of filling in the middle.  Roll the bottom of the leaf over the filling and tuck under.  Fold the sides towards the middle, and then roll up the remainder from the stem toward the top of the leaf.

Line the bottom of a wide and deep pan with unused grape leaves so that none of the bottom is visible.  Place the leaves in the pan (seam side down) and back them close together.  You may not be able to fit them all in one layer, which is fine.  Add the stock, olive oil, and lemon juice.  If you have an oven proof plate (I used a cake pan), place it on top of the leaves to weigh them down.

Bring the broth to a boil and then lower the heat and cover.  Cook the leaves for 30 minutes, making sure that there is liquid in the pan at all times.  Serve the leaves at room temperature or cool.  Enjoy!

Recipe from Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes In The World

Last August when I made tamales I finally opened the 5 lb bag of corn meal I had bought months prior.  I had all these extravagant plans on how to use the rest, but in moving a few weeks later I tossed out the remainder.  When I went to buy more I discovered that the 5 lb bag was cheaper than smaller options.  So, here I am once more with 5 lbs of cornmeal.

A friend of mine who runs a farm had a ‘Chili and Chicks’ party last weekend to celebrate spring in Michigan (which still isn’t full here) and his new batch of baby chickens.  Seeing an opportunity to crack open my ‘new’ bag of cornmeal, I offered to make cornbread.

I’ve never made it, and opted to try out two different recipes.  The first one was just a basic sweeter cornbread while the other a cheddar jalapeño one.  I think I preferred the basic one, but both were very good and went well with the chili.

The basic recipe cooked for longer at a lower temperature (375 F) while the cheddar jalapeño one cooked much higher at 450 F.  Both recipes are exceptionally simple, enjoy!

Basic Buttermilk Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (8 tablespoons)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F and grease a square 8 inch pan.

In a large bowl mix together cornmeal, flour, and salt.  Set aside.  In a small pan (or microwave) melt the butter and combine with sugar.  Add in eggs and mix well.

Combine buttermilk and baking soda (regular milk with a small amount of vinegar works as a good substitute), and combine with the dry ingredients.  Add the egg, butter, and sugar mixture, and mix until all the flour and cornmeal is incorporated.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  This keeps for several days and also freezes well.

Recipe courtesy of All Recipes.

Cheddar Jalapeño Cornbread

Ingredients

• 2 cups cornmeal
• 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and diced
• 1 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 F and grease a square 8 inch baking pan.  In a large bowl mix together all dry ingredients.  Separately whisk together the egg and milk, and add to the dry ingredients.  Add the chopped jalapeños and 1 cup of the cheddar and mix well.

Pour the batter into the pan and top with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheddar.  Baked for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Adapted from A Cozy Kitchen.

This weekend (Friday to be exact) marks a year since I first created this blog!  My bread making (and other cooking) skills have improved greatly in the past year and I’ve become far more adventurous in my cooking.  I decided to mark the occasion by posting some of my favorite pictures/posts from the past year.  Here’s to another great one!

My first post was about what really got me into bread baking in the first place, pizza.  I still think this is the best looking (and tasting) pizza I’ve made yet.

Asiago Herb & Garlic Bread, is always gone in a flash.  This of course is especially relevant since Denard Robinson was selected in the NFL draft yesterday!

My first venture into making pasta did a pretty good job of demonstrating the smallness of my old apartment/kitchen.

Christmas Croissants getting ready to go in the oven while Posie the cat looks on…

I’ve always really like this picture of empanadas that I made a few months ago.

Why buy hamburger buns when you make much better ones at home?

This past fall/winter I worked hard at perfecting my tartine country loaf.

On to the Valentine’s Day desserts!  This nutella rose bread was improvised from a few different recipes and was absolutely incredible.

When I decided to make these apple rose tarts, I never would have imagined that I could get them to turn out like I expected.  Definitely the best pastry I’ve ever made.

I’m excited to see what bread baking adventures lie ahead!

Michigan has bought up four houses on campus and local burger palace Blimpy Burger as a location for this new residence hall.  Clearly the donation had been in the works for some time, since it was announced in December that Blimpy Burger had been bought out.

Naturally, the best way to celebrate the news of this donation (the largest in history for Michigan) is by making this delicious stromboli. We made it last week after wanting a break from pizza, and it did not disappoint.  It ended up leading to us making another pizza later that week, since we had leftover sauce for dipping the stromboli in.

It also gave us reason to buy a jar of banana peppers, which, as much as I like them, had never even thought to purchase.  One jar has lasted quite a while, I’ve been using them in sandwiches for almost two weeks.

We ran out of room on the baking sheet, so ended up having to cut it in half.  It lasted for quite a while, and was a nice change from the ingredients we’d normally put on a pizza.

Stromboli

Ingredients

• 1 teaspooon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 lb salami, thinly sliced
• Provolone cheese, sliced
• Spinach
• Banana peppers, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.  Gradually add water until all the flour is combined.  Knead for about 5 minutes, until a soft dough has formed.  It shouldn’t be too sticky, add in more flour if necessary.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let it rise, covered, for 1.5 hours.  Once the dough has risen turn it out onto a floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 12×18 inches.  Arrange your toppings, trying to keep a one inch border around the edges clear (things will shift when you roll it up).  How much you add is up to you!

Roll the dough up from the long side, so that it remains about 18 inches long.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with olive oil.  If you’d like, sprinkle some Italian seasoning on the top.  Let the dough rise for another hour.

Shortly before the hour is up, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cook for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden brown.  Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Budget Bytes