August Round-Up - Part 2 More Bread/ Buffalo Chicken Stromboli
NOTE: I found even MORE pictures of things I made in August so there will be an August Round-Up - Part 3. I also want to share the sweet potato and pine nut wonton ravioli with sage/brown butter sauce recipe and its mushroom variation ... if only for my own records.
Only 4 of my basil seedlings survived the 'damping off' so I transplanted them into a big pot with some mint, that I had rooted from cuttings, and put them outside on my porch. Unfortunately the mint took over the pot. I grabbed some of the bigger leaves for the pizza below.
(PS: I transplanted the basil and some of the mint plants into my cement planters and the happy insects went to town on them, barely touching the mint, so I pulled them out of the planter and tossed them. Oh well ... there's always next year.)
Italian basil and mint plants
Honey Whole Wheat Bread - 20% whole wheat to 80% all purpose flour, the lighter of the 2 recipes I tried. Next time, I make buns.
The sliced bread was great with butter or, more honey.
Sourdough Starter Projects
I did quite a bit of playing around with sourdough for about 6 weeks. I didn't take as good notes as I should have, but I took lots of pictures and may get around to writing up a real recipe at some point. Maybe NEXT summer.
1. Boule - baked at 450 deg F, in a round Pyrex dish
The 'crumb' or inside of the sourdough boule
2. More sourdough experimentation ... overnight autolyse at room temperature and 4 and 6 hr proofing. Over-proofing gives you a very pale loaf as the yeast eat all the sugar produced from digesting the starch and whatever sugar you give them, leaving nothing left for caramelizing during baking. An egg wash, or melted butter glaze helps to give you a darker more attractive loaf.
The inside of the loaves which had been proofed for 4 and 6 hrs, respectively, before baking.
3. Sourdough starter used for a bread loaf and a pizza
'Crumb' of the loaf
Yeast pizza
Pizza with par-cooked Canadian bacon, green pepper, mozzarella and fresh basil placed on the finished pizza
And a Buffalo Chicken Stromboli with a yeast dough
NOTE: I combined the rest of the blue cheese I had with Kraft ranch dressing for the dip here.
Buffalo Chicken Stromboli - serves 4
1 pound raw chicken, cubed
1 tbsp butter, unsalted
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp white vinegar
2 tbsp hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot or Piri Piri)
1/4 cup (~60 gm) blue cheese, crumbled
1 pound pizza dough, room temperature
Place the chicken cubes in a small dish and sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder over them. Mix well.
In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the seasoned chicken until cooked through and lightly browned. Add the hot sauce and vinegar, stir through and taste. Let cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.
Prepare a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or sprinkle corn meal across the surface.
Roll out the pizza dough into a 10 by 14 inch rectangle. Lay cooled chicken along the long side. Sprinkle blue cheese evenly over the top of the chicken.
Roll up tightly. Pinch the seam well and lay the roll of dough on the baking sheet, seam side down. Pinch side seams closed and fold under the roll.
Brush an egg glaze of 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp of cold water over the loaf.
Make several slits through the surface of the roll of dough to allow any steam to escape. (I forgot to do this.)
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown on the top and bottom.
If the top gets browned too quickly, cover the stromboli with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Let cool for at least 10 minutes and then cut the stromboli into one inch wide slices. Serve with additional hot sauce and blue cheese dip and raw vegetables if desired.
Only 4 of my basil seedlings survived the 'damping off' so I transplanted them into a big pot with some mint, that I had rooted from cuttings, and put them outside on my porch. Unfortunately the mint took over the pot. I grabbed some of the bigger leaves for the pizza below.
(PS: I transplanted the basil and some of the mint plants into my cement planters and the happy insects went to town on them, barely touching the mint, so I pulled them out of the planter and tossed them. Oh well ... there's always next year.)
Italian basil and mint plants
Honey Whole Wheat Bread - 20% whole wheat to 80% all purpose flour, the lighter of the 2 recipes I tried. Next time, I make buns.
The sliced bread was great with butter or, more honey.
Sourdough Starter Projects
I did quite a bit of playing around with sourdough for about 6 weeks. I didn't take as good notes as I should have, but I took lots of pictures and may get around to writing up a real recipe at some point. Maybe NEXT summer.
1. Boule - baked at 450 deg F, in a round Pyrex dish
The 'crumb' or inside of the sourdough boule
2. More sourdough experimentation ... overnight autolyse at room temperature and 4 and 6 hr proofing. Over-proofing gives you a very pale loaf as the yeast eat all the sugar produced from digesting the starch and whatever sugar you give them, leaving nothing left for caramelizing during baking. An egg wash, or melted butter glaze helps to give you a darker more attractive loaf.
The inside of the loaves which had been proofed for 4 and 6 hrs, respectively, before baking.
3. Sourdough starter used for a bread loaf and a pizza
'Crumb' of the loaf
Yeast pizza
Pizza with par-cooked Canadian bacon, green pepper, mozzarella and fresh basil placed on the finished pizza
And a Buffalo Chicken Stromboli with a yeast dough
NOTE: I combined the rest of the blue cheese I had with Kraft ranch dressing for the dip here.
Buffalo Chicken Stromboli - serves 4
1 pound raw chicken, cubed
1 tbsp butter, unsalted
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp white vinegar
2 tbsp hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot or Piri Piri)
1/4 cup (~60 gm) blue cheese, crumbled
1 pound pizza dough, room temperature
Place the chicken cubes in a small dish and sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder over them. Mix well.
In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the seasoned chicken until cooked through and lightly browned. Add the hot sauce and vinegar, stir through and taste. Let cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.
Prepare a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or sprinkle corn meal across the surface.
Roll out the pizza dough into a 10 by 14 inch rectangle. Lay cooled chicken along the long side. Sprinkle blue cheese evenly over the top of the chicken.
Roll up tightly. Pinch the seam well and lay the roll of dough on the baking sheet, seam side down. Pinch side seams closed and fold under the roll.
Brush an egg glaze of 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp of cold water over the loaf.
Make several slits through the surface of the roll of dough to allow any steam to escape. (I forgot to do this.)
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown on the top and bottom.
If the top gets browned too quickly, cover the stromboli with a sheet of aluminum foil.
Let cool for at least 10 minutes and then cut the stromboli into one inch wide slices. Serve with additional hot sauce and blue cheese dip and raw vegetables if desired.