Pane All’Olio Mano and Croissant

Have you ever wanted to make bread in the shape of human anatomy? The Italian panini, small rolls, and croissants seem to be the balloon animals of the bread world. Oh, you want a starfish bread? Panini. Round, braided, butterflied, curled knots—what can be made with pasta dura seems limitless. A quotation from The Village Baker which made me smile: “This recipe is for very dense dough used to to make rolls in everyday shapes as well as rolls that look like hands, fingers, and other more private parts of the human anatomy.” Well okay there.

We’ll keep it rated G and make some bread hands. Not to be confused with The Claw.

Pane All’Olio Mano

Olive Oil Bread

Adapted from The Village Baker

Ingredients

1 cup sourdough starter or 1 package dry yeast

½ cup warm water

½ cup hot water

½ tsp honey

1 tbsp olive oil

1 ½ tsp salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

Glaze: 1 egg white whisked into ¼ cup cold water or 1/3 cup olive oil

In ½ cup of hot water dissolve the honey, oil, and salt. When this mixture has cooled, combine with the yeast and add 2 cups of flour, mixing vigorously with a wooden spoon. Empty dough onto a worktable and add the remaining cup of flour, and knead for five minutes.

Let the dough rise for 1 hour, covered and in a warm spot.

Divide the dough into four pieces. Shape one piece into a mano (a little, rustic, four-fingered hand). There are many ways to shape a panini. For the mano, roll the dough into a long sheet and roll the ends up like a scroll.

Turn two of the cis-sided horns up so they are parallel with their trans horns, connected by a flat piece of dough.

Flip over and marvel at the claw.

To make the croissant, instead of a double scroll and the twist, just stop at one scroll. When I saw this recipe had the word croissant in it, I thought it should have more butter. Yes. I was right. This is not the buttery, flaky croissant as we all know it and love it. But it is a really fun roll to play with.

Place the mano on a piece of lined parchment paper, and let rise for 50 minutes. The lines should still be visible. Glaze the mano in an olive oil and egg white mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Confuse your bulldog into thinking that you do in fact now have a claw made of bread.

This olive oil-based recipe is a little softer than the pasta dura recipe. It is very plain by itself, but is nice to dip in olive oil and balsamic. Or you could spread a little soft cheese on each finger and nibble it down to the nubbins. I had way too much fun with this one–I couldn’t hardly stand to eat it.

As featured on www.sourdoughsurprises.blogspot.com, my favorite sourdough baking community.

Piadine

These are the Italian equivalent of Mexican tortillas. They are supposed to be topped with prosciutto, ricotta cheese, and herbs sautéed in olive oil and garlic, but I really enjoyed snacking on them plain when they were hot off the grill. I also think they make the perfect wraps for spinach and croutons, or for pulled pork, or for chicken fajita. Very versatile!

Piadine

Unleavened Bread Rounds

Adapted from The Village Baker

Ingredients

1 tsp lard

1 tsp olive oil

½ tsp salt

¼ cup warm water

1 cup all-purpose flour

Put the lard, oil, and salt into a ¼ cup measure and fill the measuring cup with warm water to allow the lard to melt. Measure out the flour onto a worktable, form a fountain, and pour the liquid into the center of the flour. Slowly add the flour into the mixture. Knead 4 or 5 minutes until smooth. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes under a damp towel.

Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into a circle 8 inches across.

Heat a cast-iron skillet over high heat, rub the skillet with a paper towel daubed in lard. Cook each piadina in the skillet for 5 minutes a side, until brown.

Yum, homemade tortillas, ahem, piadine, are the best.

Schiacciata

Mama mia! Best woman in the world, that Andie Ellis. Thank you for never forcing me to eat foods I didn’t like when I was at your table. See, everything in its own time. Like a trip to Italy.

Mom, make this bread, you’ll love it. Very similar to the focaccia bread of Genoa, except for they need to call it something different because it’s Florentine. Compared to the last focaccia I made, this isn’t as pretty but the bread itself tastes WAY better—the lard makes it flakier. It’s like a biscuit and a flatbread made love, and this was the result.

Schiacciata

Tuscan Flat Bread

Adapted from The Village Baker

2 cups pane toscano dough

2 tbsp vegetable shortening or lard

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ to ¾ tsp salt

2 tbsp rosemary leaves, chopped

Flatten the dough and spread the shortening on it. Fold the dough over and knead it on the worktable to incorporate the shortening, using a little flour if necessary. Let the dough rise, covered, for an hour.

With a rolling pin, roll out dough into a 9 x 14 inch rectangle, 3/8 inch thick, and place on a cookie tray that has been coated with olive oil.

Brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle salt and rosemary on top.

Let the schiacciata rise for 30 minutes.

Dimple the dough and allow to rise for another 20 minutes.

Bake the schiacciata for 30 to 35 minutes at 375 degrees until light and crackerlike in crispness.

Find your mother and share a slice with her.

Pecan Pie

Because of When Harry Met Sally, whenever I hear “pecan pie” spoken, I hear it like this. Here’s a Saturday—bake this pie and watch Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal fall in love. I had never eaten pecan pie before, because until last year I didn’t like pecans, but now, I think it tastes like forkful after forkful of praline. Mmm.

Pecan Pie

Adapted from Baking Illustrated

INGREDIENTS:

½ stick cold unsalted butter

3 tbsp cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces

4-5 tbsp ice water

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided use

1/2 tsp. table salt (I used sea salt)

1 Tbsp. sugar

Cut the butter into 1/4 ” slices, then into quarters. Measure the shortening and cut it into small pieces. Lay it all out on a sheet of wax paper and put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Process flour with the salt and sugar in the work bowl of a food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add the butter and shortening and process in short, quick pulses, until dough comes together in uneven clumps. (Don’t use a continuous pulse, as this incorporates the fat too quickly.) All the flour should be coated, and the dough should kind of look like cottage cheese curds. Scrape down dough and add remaining cup of flour; pulse again, with short, quick pulses, until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl, about 4-6 quick pulses. Using feeding tube, pour water mixture into bowl and again use short, quick pulses to incorporate into dough. Pulse till dough is mixed and comes together. You should be able to see tiny pieces of butter in the dough. Remove dough from work bowl and flatten into a 4″ disk and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes, or up to 2 days, or freeze for later use.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 F. Place oven rack in lowest position and place a rimmed baking sheet on bottom rack. Roll out chilled dough into a circle, about 13″ diameter, using two sheets of wax paper.

Refrigerate the dough-lined pie plate until firm, about 40 minutes, and then freeze until it is very cold, 20 minutes. Remove from the freezer and press a double 12 inch sheet of heavy-duty tin foil into the pie shell and fold the edges to protect the fluted edge.

Load 2 cups of pie weights over the foil. I was like, what the heck is a pie weight? They recommended metal or ceramic, who has pie marbles sitting around in the kitchen?! I decided to go for efficiency, and I put 2 cups of my pecans onto the foil to let them toast while the dough baked (worked great, but I’m not sure what the point of the pie weight is). I forgot to take pictures because Janelle was over making me laugh.

Bake until the dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes, leaving the foil on. Remove the foil and pie weights and bake 5-10 more minutes, or till crust is golden brown. Cool slightly.

INGREDIENTS for the Pie Filling

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped into small pieces

DIRECTIONS for the filling:

Melt the butter in a medium heatproof bowl set in a skillet of water maintained at just below a simmer. Remove the bowl from the skillet; stir in the sugar and salt with a wooden spoon until the butter is absorbed. Beat in the eggs, then the corn syrup and vanilla. Return the bowl to hot water; stir until the mixture is shiny and hot to the touch, about 130 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat; stir in the pecans.

As soon as the pie shell comes out of the oven, decrease the oven temperature to 275 degrees F. Pour the pecan mixture into the hot pie shell.

Bake on the middle rack until the pie looks set and yet soft, like gelatin, when gently pressed with the back of a spoon, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pie to a rack; cool completely, at least 4 hours.

Tasty tasty. 4-5 stars. A little too sweet for me, but that, I gather, is pecan pie. KP took it to share with our friends, the Rabatins, who both said they loved it. KP said it was way better than new film for The Great Gatsby.

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Pane Toscano

Buon giorno! I am ecstatic to move south into Italy via The Village Baker, beginning with a salt-free Tuscan bread recipe. Pane Toscano is bread from a time when there was an oppressive tax on salt in Tuscany. The book also says that this bread was historically made from porridge, and their recipe intends to revisit that style. Allowing the yeast to soak in boiling hot water overnight changes the texture and the flavor such that the salt is not so sorely missed. The result was the spongiest crumb I’ve ever enjoyed. SO good.

Pane Toscano

Tuscan Bread

Adapted from the Village Baker

Bouillie (Mush)
1 3/4 cup boiling water
2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Dough
1 cup yeast starter
1 cup room-temperature water
4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Make the sponge the night before you want to make bread. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight (at least 15 hours)
The next day, stir the yeast starter. Add the bouille and 1 cup of water. Mix well. Beat in the flour until dough is stiff enough to knead. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a well-greased bowl, turning to coat all sides, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface without punching it down or handling it roughly. Gently form it into a large, round loaf by pulling all the edges underneath, gathering them and squeezing them together, leaving the top smooth. If you have a baking stone, place the loaf on a sheet of parchment paper; if you’re using a pan, sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom of the pan, and place loaf on it. Cover with a towel, and set aside to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slash the top of the bread in a tic-tac-toe pattern. If you’re using a baking stone, use a peel to transfer the loaf, parchment paper and all, to the stone in the oven. Otherwise, put the pan of bread into the oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes, misting bread with water from a spray bottle three times or with a pan of boiling water below.

5 stars, the most spongey, olive oil and balsamic-begging bread you’ll ever try. And beautiful—Izzy was drooling.

Still on a high from the baseball field gig on Tuesday night—sailing like a pop fly into the weekend.

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Shaobing Tienda

I returned to my breads of the world cookbook to prepare a treat for my world travelling friend Susan, who I visited on Monday night. This buckwheat honey bread is supposed to be the most common bread in China. Dates back to the T’ang Dynasty in 600 AD. I thought it needed a little yeast because I only had about two hours to allow it to rise. If it rises overnight, I expect the natural yeast is sufficient.

My dear friend Susan got this bread as her prize for being the writer of my 400^th comment—she now lives in the most incredible apartment in the Cedar/Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis, surrounded by people from other countries (her earthly heaven).

Shaobing Tienda

Chinese Buckwheat Honey Country Bread

Adapted from Flatbreads and Flavors

2 1/2 cups soft whole wheat flour

¼ cup sourdough starter (this is my addition)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sunflower oil — or peanut oil

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water — approximately

2 tablespoons buckwheat honey — to 3 tablespoons

Mix the flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in the oil. Make a well in the center of the mixture, pour in the warm water and stir from the center out to incorporate the flour; add a tablespoon or so more water if the dough is too dry to be easily kneaded. Turn out onto a lightly floured bread board and knead for 3 to 5 minutes. Clean out the bowl, oil lightly and return the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, let stand for at least 30 minutes. (Shaobing dough should be left overnight at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap. In the morning it is slightly soured and just as easy to work.)

Line the bottom rack of the oven with quarry tiles, leaving a 1-inch gap between the tiles and the oven walls, or just put a pizza stone in. Preheat oven to 450F.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Flatten each piece between floured hands.

Then, with a rolling pin, continue to flatten each bread to an 8-inchsquare. Spread 1 to 2 teaspoons buckwheat honey over one half of each square. (If the honey is thick and too sticky; causing the dough to tear while spreading, dilute with a little hot water.)

Fold over the other half of each bread to make a 4×8-inch rectangle. Roll gently to seal the two sides firmly together.

Bake the breads on quarry tiles for 6 to 8 minutes, until the tops have begun to brown. Cool on a rack momentarily before serving.

Makes 4 rectangular flatbreads, approximately 4 inches by 8 inches.

These were quite tasty, especially when hot and fresh. A little bit like wheat quesadillas with honey instead of cheese. Sweet as Susan. If I could have taken the vase of baseballs and carnations from Target Field, I would have given them to you Susan, in thanks for the lovely visit.

Brioche de Nanterre

This brioche, the last of my brioche series, is the bread of the famous phrase “Let them eat cake,” which most people attribute to Queen Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, but may have been said by some other rich and out of touch French lady royalty: “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.” Let them eat brioche! Which, may be better than cake. The remark is more severe than I originally thought.

We brought this loaf to Carol and Bruce Erickson in Chicago, and it went nicely with the breakfast they served

Brioche de Nanterre

Adapted from The Village Baker

4 packages of yeast (4 cups sourdough starter)

½ cup warm water

6 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp salt

½ cup sugar

6 eggs

3 sticks of butter (holy moley!)

¼ cup cold milk

Glaze: 2 eggs whisked with 2 tbsp milk

Mix flour, salt, and sugar together. Beat the eggs separately. Make a fountain with the flour mixture, setting aside a ½ cup. Mix the eggs into the fountain and the yeast until homogenous. Then add the softened butter by stretching and folding the dough on a worktable. When butter is incorporated and dough is soft and shiny, add the milk on the table into the dough, a few drops at a time, crashing it in. Knead in the remaining flour mixture.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let rise for two hours until it has doubled in volume.

Punch dough down and wrap it in plastic, let it rise in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 hours. It should be cut and shaped into different brioches after it has been removed and allowed to warm for about 40 minutes.

To shape brioche de Nanterre, divide a grapefruit-sized dough ball into three pieces and form each piece into a ball. Place the 3 balls side by side in a loaf pan and with a pair of scissors, snip the top of each roll.

Glaze immediately after it has been shaped. Let rise for another 2-3 hours. Glaze again before baking in a preheated oven at 385 degrees for 15-17 minutes. The brioche should be golden brown. If it feels a little moist underneath when you place it on the cooling rack, allow to bake for a few more minutes. I should have probably cooked it for 30 minutes, because although it was not moist underneath, the inside of this loaf was nearly all dough. Yummy dough, but a little embarrassing to cut into when it was supposed to be a gift to family.

Had the most wonderful time singing last night at Target Field—KP took some fabulous photographs, and there is rumor that someone was recording and so there may be video or mp3 at some point in the future to share. The professionalism of the Baby Blues was unlike any other group I have ever performed with—I hope to have another chance to sing with this group!

Brioche Mousseline

A variation on the brioche recipe of yesterday is the brioche mousseline. The word mousseline in French refers to fabric, like silk or chiffon. Light and smooth, creamy and rich. Like the sounds of the group I have the Absolute Pleasure of singing with tonight at Target Field—The Baby Blues is the name of the group, a bunch of musically gifted pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons play songs they dedicate to their patients and their families—and it’s a beer tasting. Hope I can get some photos/videos to share.

Brioche Mousseline

Adapted from The Village Baker

4 packages of yeast (4 cups sourdough starter)

½ cup warm water

6 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp salt

½ cup sugar

6 eggs

3 sticks of butter (holy moley!)

¼ cup cold milk

Glaze: 2 eggs whisked with 2 tbsp milk

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let rise for two hours until it has doubled in volume.

To shape the mousseline, place a piece of dough the size of a grapefruit into an oiled small coffee can (13 oz, approximately). The result will be a cylindrical brioche.

Glaze immediately after it has been shaped. Let rise for another 2-3 hours. Glaze again before baking in a preheated oven at 385 degrees for 20-25 minutes. The brioche should be golden brown. If they feel a little moist underneath when you place it on the cooling rack, allow to bake for a few more minutes.

This mousseline went to Dave, my brother, so I have no idea if it tasted good. Dave was Izzy’s babysitter while we raced on Sunday—he is the world’s best bro. I am a third of the way through the year of bread recipes, and also, more than a third of the way through KP and my marathon trek to 50 marathons in 50 states–Cincinnati was #20!

Brioche a Tete

I made Brioche before following the Baking Illustrated recipe, which uses only half the yeast and is, in bulk, half the amount of this one. This recipe could feed a small village for breakfast. Lots of butter, lots of lift. Also different is the traditional shaping of various brioches (about which The Village Baker goes into great detail). The word tete I had to look up because I took Spanish, not French, and it means head (though I admit, I was expecting to find it translated to teet). The brioches a tete look a bit titillant. They are the bread equivalent of nipples of Venus in the truffle world.

Brioche a Tete

Adapted from The Village Baker

4 packages of yeast (4 cups sourdough starter)

½ cup warm water

6 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp salt

½ cup sugar

6 eggs

3 sticks of butter (holy moley!)

¼ cup cold milk

Glaze: 2 eggs whisked with 2 tbsp milk

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let rise for two hours until it has doubled in volume.

To shape Brioche a Tete, take a piece of the dough the size of a grapefruit, or three the size of tangerines to make petite brioche a tete, and make a small head , like a little snowman head on the ball of dough. Run a finger around the neck of this little nubbin and push the head into it. Set each roll into an individual mold, like a muffin tin if you don’t have classy brioche molds (I don’t).

These we brought with us last weekend to Chicago en route to Cincinnati, and they went to the lovely Luikart family. The marathon went well and Cincinnati, I’m convinced, is a Portland, OR of the Eastern Midwest. Gorgeous green hills, winding river, and funky fun neighborhoods—we could live there to be sure. 5 stars for the brioche and 5 stars for a safe return last night at 3a! Izzy the contortionist at a pitstop in Chicago:

Pain Au Lait Raisin-Cinnamon Snails

Just a variation on yesterday’s snails–but healthier. Off to the Flying Pig Marathon Cincinnati!

Pain Au Lait Raisin-Cinnamon Snails

Adapted from The Village Baker

Dough

1 package dry yeast (one cup of sourdough starter)

¾ cup water

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp salt

2 tbsp milk powder

4 tbsp sugar

3 eggs

6 tbsp butter, softened

Filling

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup raisins

Glaze

¼ cup water

¼ cup sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla

Fondant

1 to 2 tsp boiling water

2/3 cup powdered sugar

This recipe is supposed to be done in a food processor, but because I have not the patience to find all of my processor’s parts, I did it by hand and it was fine, same as the Pain Aux Lait dough from yesterday. Put an ice cube in the water and set aside. Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and powdered milk. Add the yeast to the eggs and then add to the dry ingredients. Last, add the soft butter and the ice water. Moosh the dough into a clean and oiled bowl with floured hands. Let it double in size in a warm spot, covered, for an hour or two. Then put it in the fridge to cold rise overnight for 8 to 10 hours.

In the morning, take the dough, cut it in half (this amount will make two batches), and roll out one dough ball into an 8 x 12 inch rectangle. Coat the rectangle with a glaze that is a mixture of 1 egg and 1 tbsp milk. Spare an inch margin the glaze. Over the egg-coated portion, sprinkle the filling of cinnamon, sugar and raisins.

Roll the dough up lengthwise into a log.

Using a sharp knife or string, cut 8 to 10 discs from the log and place the snails on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Flatten each snail. Paint them with the egg glaze and let them rise for 45 minutes to an hour.
Prepare the sugar glazes. The first glaze, just bring ingredients to a boil and then remove them from the heat. For the fondant, just mix the ingredients into a creamy mixture and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 385 degrees and bake the snails for 15 to 17 minutes until they are golden. As soon as they come out of the oven, paint them with the first glaze and allow to cool. Then, when the rolls are cool, drizzle some fondant glaze. And enjoy!