An apology and a recipe!

Oh dear... Another four month radio silence on my part. I have no good excuses. And what's worse, I have to break the promise I made back in June of a tutorial for the hammock chair swing I made. I never got around to perfecting how it's hung, and as it was, it just wasn't right. And now that the back porch is filling up with the winter's firewood, the swing is now in storage for the winter. So sorry to anyone who was hoping for that tutorial.

Despite yet another hiatus, this blog still seems to be getting halfway decent traffic, which surprises me (in a good way!), especially since it's been 4 months since my last post! (Since then it's still gotten several hundred page views!) So welcome to any new readers! Please forgive my trend (which will probably continue, what with Baby Zoe due to arrive in a month and a half or less!) of long periods of time between posts. I have great ambitions to be an awesome blogger, but just haven't been able to put them into practice yet ;)

All that said, with the hopes of making up for the long break between posts and the lack of the promised tutorial, I want to share a recipe I invented today when struck with a craving for donuts. Pregnancy cravings are a bitch, especially when you live so far from town that it's not possible to just go to the store to satisfy them. Case in point- two weeks ago, after having a conversation about favorite Thanksgiving recipes, I caved and spent a Saturday cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal, just for the three (and a half) of us. A pregnant girl's gotta do what a pregnant girl's gotta do. So when a craving for donuts struck while trolling Pinterest, I knew the only way I'd get my fix was to get up off my bum and get in the kitchen. I didn't want to fry anything though, and decided that I wanted something lemony, so I came up with what is really a sweet, lemony challah recipe. Challah, a traditional Jewish bread, is light and fluffy and all around awesome, since it's enriched with lots of egg, and I figured it would lend itself nicely to a little extra sweetness and flavor. I used butter in mine, but if you're keeping kosher, just use veggie or canola oil instead. I decided to do these as rolls, rather than a traditional braided loaf, so that I could play around with toppings, and also so you get the most exposed surface area to get that awesome golden flaky crunchy crust that challah is famous for. You could always do a traditional braided loaf, or even just plop the dough in a greased loaf pan and call it good. The hardest part is waiting (and salivating!) while the dough rises!

Lemon Challah rolls- makes about 12 rolls

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 1/4 tsp yeast (1 packet) and 1/2 cup *minus* 2 Tbsp warm water and let sit until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, lightly beat 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks. Add eggs to the yeast and water, then add 4 Tbsp salted butter, melted and slightly cooled (so it doesn't cook the egg when you add it), 5 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, and 3 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh will be best, but I used bottled cause it's what I had).  Stir (by hand with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, or on low speed with the dough hook) until well combined. Gradually add 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, mixing by hand or with the dough hook on low speed, until the dough is smooth, firm, and quite elastic (adding about 1/4 cup flour more, if needed).  Cover and let rise until doubled in size, roughly 2 hours.

With lightly floured hands, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times. Break off balls about the size of a lime and roll them into balls, place them on a floured surface or on parchment, cover again and let rest and rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  In a small bowl, whisk 1 large egg with 1 1/2 tsp sugar or honey.  Grease and sprinkle cornmeal on a baking sheet, or line a sheet with parchment, and place the rolls a couple inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.  Brush each roll with the egg wash, and bake until the crusts are a rich, dark, golden brown, and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, about 20-25 minutes (when in doubt, go a little longer!)

In the last couple minutes of baking, combine 1 Tbsp melted butter and 1 tsp lemon juice. As soon as the completed rolls are cool enough to handle (but still quite warm), brush the crusts with the lemon butter, and roll them in sugar, and allow to cool (or chow down right away, depending on how patient you may or may not be!). Enjoy!

Edit: Now that we've had a chance to enjoy them, I just want to add- these are not as sweet as a donut, but I think that's a good thing! The lemon is subtle, so if you want them to really be lemony, add at least a tablespoon of lemon zest. I would have, had I had an actual lemon, but I just had bottled lemon juice so I went with what I had. If you want something really sweet, try a liquid glaze (like on a glazed donut). Yeast donuts in and of themselves are not very sweet at all, it's all in the topping, so keep that in mind if you're in the mood for something sweeter. Personally, the subtle lemony sweetness of these is perfect, not cloying or heavy. They'll be awesome as a breakfast roll (you can bet that's what I'll be having tomorrow!). They should be stored in an airtight container, either at room temp or in the fridge (that's up to you. I never refrigerate bread, but some do, and that's fine.).

You can bake! And the ultimate pizza dough!

Since last fall, we've been baking all our own bread.  There's always a loaf on the counter or dough in the fridge (and usually there's both!).  Baking bread is so easy, and not at all the time consuming task non-regular bakers think of.  Baking seems to be enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days, and I want to spread the good word!

Bread Basics

Great bread is all about ratios.  Stick to the correct ratios, and you really can't go wrong!  The magic numbers are these: 1.5, 1.5, 3, 6.5.  That's 1.5 Tbsp yeast, 1.5 Tbsp salt, 3 cups water, and 6.5 cups flour.  It's so simple it's crazy!  And you can follow the same numbers for substituting, as long as the total numbers stay the same.  (Don't substitute anything for the yeast or salt, those are key ingredients!)  For example, I like a softer sandwich loaf, so I do 1.5 cups water and 1.5 cups milk.  As long as it's 3 total cups liquid, you're good to go.  Same goes with flour (though I don't recommend using more than half whole wheat, it makes for a very dense loaf).  I also like adding some sweetener (usually honey), but that doesn't follow a set ratio; I usually add a couple tablespoons of honey, I don't really measure (but it's not crucial to measure it).  Same goes for adding a fat (butter, oil).  I usually just add a few tablespoons.  

Mixing Method

In a large bowl (or a large stand mixer with a dough hook), add the liquid (room temp or slightly warmer, not hot but not cold), yeast, and salt, (and fat and/or sweetener if you're using it) and stir to dissolve the salt.  Then add in 6 cups of flour, and mix it all together with a wooden spoon (or on slow speed) (add the last .5 cup flour if it's too wet).  You want it to be fairly wet, but dry enough to feel elastic.  Don't mix with your hands if you can avoid it- this often leads you to add too much flour.  The dough should still be pretty dang sticky.  Cover it with plastic wrap, and let it sit for about 2 hours.  Don't worry about punching it down, or whether the volume doubles or triples.  It doesn't matter! The yeast knows what to do!  If you're not ready to bake after the 2 hours are up, pop it in the fridge.  It is wet enough to last several days to a week!

Elastic enough to form a ball, but the shape shouldn't last long!

Baking Time!

After the 2 hour rising mark, you're ready to shape.  This recipe works best for free form 'artisan' style loaves, rolls, etc.  (See below for sandwich loaf variation)  Flour your hands and your work surface liberally, and flour the top of the dough.  Liberally sprinkle corn meal on a baking sheet.  Grab a good hunk of dough, form it into a ball, and place it on the corn mealed baking sheet.  Allow to rise uncovered for half an hour.  A few minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Melt a tablespoon of butter (salted or unsalted, your choice) and gently brush the surface of each loaf.  Bake for at least 30 minutes, but possibly as much as 45, depending on the size of the loaf.  The top should be crisp and browned, not just golden.  Trust me, it's way better to overbake than underbake!  Allow to cool completely before slicing, if you can resist!

The Ultimate Pizza Dough

This recipe follows the same ratio, only on a 2/3rd smaller scale, and will make a beautiful big and fairly thick pizza (after all, delicious dough deserves a thicker crust!).  Follow the above ratio if you would rather make two medium pizzas, or one large and some breadsticks, etc.  

2 cups water

1 tbsp yeast

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cups flour (I think it's best half white flour half whole wheat!)

Combine the first five ingredients as directed above, then add flour and mix and allow rise as directed above.  After the 2 hour rise, you're ready to shape your pizza.  You'll need a LOT of flour on your work surface and hands and rolling pin.  Preheat the oven to 450, and prepare your toppings.  Cover a baking sheet very liberally with corn meal.  Roll out your dough, flipping it over and adding flour to keep from sticking as needed, until it's as large and thick as you'd like it (for me, as big as my baking sheet will allow!).  Spread sauce, cheese, and toppings as desired, and bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese is hot and bubbly and the crust is golden.  Enjoy!!!

My Favorite Sandwich Bread

1.5 cups warm water

1.5 cups milk

1.5 Tbsp yeast

1.5 Tbsp salt

3 Tbsp honey

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3.5 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oat flour

1 cup rolled oats

Add first 6 ingredients as directed above, then add the flours and oats and mix.  Add either flour or liquid until it is elastic but still sticky.  Allow to rise as directed above.  After 2 hours, grease or spray a loaf pan with a neutral flavored oil.  Flour your hands and the top of the dough, and pull out half of the dough and form into a ball.  Stretch the ball slightly to elongate, and place in the prepared loaf pan.  Allow to rise another 45 minutes, uncovered.  (Do the same for the other half of the dough if you have two loaf pans. If not, you can make rolls, or refrigerate it for another day!)  Preheat oven to 450.  Melt a tablespoon of butter and brush the top of the loaf, and bake for 40 minutes or until deeply golden/browned.  This time, definitely wait until completely cooled before slicing.