beignets

So far this week, I have had the early tireds.  I am ready to go to bed by 7:30 pm.  Yesterday, there was a rescue mission for soft friends that had been left at Daddy's house for Koda Bear.  By the time we got back, I was so tired I did not even have energy from tea.  That is very amazing!

Tonight is not much different.  I definitely did not gallivant as much but still seem very tired.  My concentration seems to be off as well.  I know it will get better.  Because it has too, yes?

I have been wanting beignets.  I actually would like to take a long weekend trip to New Orleans but I do not see that happening any time soon.  I am also being very anti-social which would mean that it would not be much of a success either.  But I can make beignets at home.  Make cafe au lait as well if I wish.  Right now I am drinking tea.  Either East Frissian TGFOP or Blood Orange Pu-Erh.  Both go well with beignets.

Most of the beignet recipes I read used evaporated milk and I just did not wish to use that.  I found a savoury beignet that used heavy cream.  I decided to go with that recipe, with a few adaptions, and cut it in half.  If there are only a few people in the house, a half batch is more then enough.  There were no leftovers because I had boyos and they had friends come over.  I did have enough for me.  I would make these again!

beignets

Note:  adapted from Southern Souffle.  I cut the original quantities in half.

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water 

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup whole milk

2 - 3 cups flour

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Canelo oil for frying

powdered sugar (icing sugar)

In a large bowl, mix the sourdough starter, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup flour together.  Cover and let sit overnight or at least 8 hours.  It needs to be bubbly.  Take a bit out for next time.

Mix in the sugar, eggs, cream, milk, salt, and butter.  Add two cups of flour.  Beat hard with a wooden spoon breaking up the butter.  It should be a soft dough.  Turn out on a clean surface and knead until smooth.  Add a bit more flour if needed, but the softer the dough the better the crumb.  Bring up into a ball, place in a ball, cover, and let rise until double.

When risen to double, turn the dough out of the bowl on to a clean surface.  Pat into a rectangle that is about a 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into about 2 inch square pieces.  I find that even smaller is liked around here.  Place on a piece of parchment paper with space between each and let rise until double again.

When the beignet have risen until double, put a large amount of vegetable oil into a pot for frying.  I use a chicken fryer.  Heat until 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  When the oil is hot, carefully drop in the beignets.  They should slowly come to the top of the oil.  If not, the oil is not hot enough.  Cook until that side is brown.  Turn and cook the other side until brown.

Take out of the oil and let drain.  Dust with powdered sugar.  

These, of course are best hot, but I do find that the sourdough means that they taste good for longer then expected.

I need to make these again already.  I have been experimenting with a new recipe for raised doughnuts.  Still not right but I might be getting closer.

I can practice my frying skills with beignets though.  These are keepers.  They have been mentioned that it would be nice to have them again.

Already!

country loaf

It is supposed to be stormy and dark outside right now.  It is not.  When I planned dinner, I planned for that weather.  Oh well.  Dinner was a country loaf and smoke salmon chowder.  Very simple.  After I have been trying to find fancy baked good recipes, I made simple bread.

Life is very good.

What can I tell you about a country loaf?  Simple ingredients.  Long slow rise.  Good proof.  I like a crust that does not cut my mouth so it will never have the crusty French loaf look.  It is what I like.  It is what the boyos like.  If I want that crisp, I toast.  Boyos like warm bread.

Bread goes fabulously with soup by the way.

country loaf

sourdough starter

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup water

1 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

3  to 4 cups all purpose flour

In a large bowl, mix the starter, 3/4 cup water, and whole wheat flour together.  Cover and let sit overnight.  You want bubbly.

Take a bit out for next time.

Mix in the water, salt, and one cup of flour.  Mix in two more cups of flour until you have a thick wet dough.  Depending on how dry  your flour is, you may wish to knead in a half a cup of flour now or put that half a cup of flour on a counter.  Turn out the dough and knead for ten minutes.  Do not add any more then a cup of flour.  If it feels too sticky, wet your hands to knead.

Put in a clean bowl, cover, and let rise until double.  Or, put in a ziploc and let rise 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator.

When risen, sprinkle the counter lightly and shape into a long oval shape.  Put on a parchment covered baking sheet.  Let rise until almost double.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put in the bread.  Bake 40 to 60 minutes, dependent on the shape of the loaf.  The bread should be golden and sound hollow when the bottom is thunked.

It is lovely with soup.  And as toast with butter and homemade jam.

There are some fancy thoughts and tweaking of recipes being thought about for this weekend.  I am still not feeling very creative but I am still doing simple.  Obviously.

a simpler english muffin (or how did you get that muffin to look right?)

Oh what to say?  Yesterday was about friends and watching the Great British Baking Show.  I could not believe it was only Tuesday with the angst that is going on at work.  More layoffs will happen but those who have been garunteed jobs for the next little bit do not know what they are doing.  A lot of chaos.  A lot of angst.  People show their true colors and sometimes they are not very pretty.

I have been finding my baking has been much simpler during this process.  I have mentioned before I love English muffins and I have posted a lovely recipe.  But the recipe is fiddly.  Especially when you have to wash all the rings or some of the dough slides out the bottom during the bake.  I follow a lot of bakers on instagram and one was posting English muffins inspired by Tartine bakery.  

I decided to give it a try.  Lovely.  Less washing.  Slower proof.  Just a yumminess, especially with melted butter and homemade strawberry jam.  The Tartine English muffin is their baquette dough made into an English muffin.  I used their porportions but I do not use their very fussy technique and I baked instead of cooking on a griddle.  I am simple.

I eat these at work and when I told someone they were homemade I got ask how I got the big holy crumb.  She could not tell they were not store bought except I made squares.  Remember simple.

simpler english muffin

Note:  This is based on the Tartine bakery baguette dough and then all my own twists.

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1 cup (250 ml) water

2 teaspoons salt

3 - 4 cups flour

Mix the starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water in a bowl.  Cover and let become bubbly.  8 to 12 hours.

Take about two tablespoons out for next time.

Mix in 1 cup water and 2 teaspoons salt.  Mix in 3 cups flour.  At this point I usually mix in 1/2 cup more flour and then knead with the rest but  I used some whole wheat flour recently that was very dry (already modifying!) and did not need to do that.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead until smooth.  Put in a gallon ziploc and store in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.  Pull out the dough and shape into a rectangle.  I make a rectangle about 16 inches by 6 inches because I cut it into eight squares.  I separate them and let them warm and rise until about double or the spring back just a tatch at a touch.

Put them in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 minutes.  Notice, I did not preheat.  The top should just start to brown.  Turn over.  Bake another ten minutes.

Serve with butter and homemade jam.

Now, Paul of the The Great British Baking Show would like the outside browner but no one in my family really likes toast except me.  I leave them paler because they do not cut their mouths on them that way.  Boyos!

I toast.  I take them to work.  I get envious comments.  Life is good and simple.

yeasted sopapillas

I have had the quiet weekend I hoped for but I probably did not heal as much as I hoped.  My throat is still sore and my stomach is still sensitive to what I eat.  I will just try to rest for the week before the travels start.  A funeral and Alaska.  We will get to spend some time on our mountain though.

One of the people I worked with in an Artistry in Clay and Lime class posted a link to New Mexican recipes.  One the recipes was a yeasted sopapilla.  This appealed to me because of sourdough and I always do better when yeast is involved.  I am a very strange baker because most people are scared of yeast.  I never have been.  Started baking with yeast when I was about eight. 

I find I like these yeasted sopapillas better then the just baking powder ones.  I can let the dough sit in the refrigerator as long as I wish.  Also, they get puffy then the ones made just with baking powder.  Okay, baking soda and cream of tartar in my case.

yeasted sopapillas

Note:  I started with the I love New Mexico recipe.  I also did not need 4 dozen sopapillas so I cut the recipe.

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 1/2 cup flour

Canola (rape seed) oil for frying

honey

Mix the sourdough starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water in a medium size bowl.  Cover and let sit overnight, or until the starter gets very bubbly.  Remove a couple tablespoons and put in refrigerator for next time.

Mix in the milk, sugar, olive oil, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Mix in 1 cup of flour.  Mix in as much of the last 1/2 cup flour as needed to make a soft dough.  Knead just a bit until smooth. 

At this point, I usually put the dough in a ziploc bag and into the refrigerator until later in the day or week.  You can also cover and let sit a bit before using.  Both work.

Heat the canola oil in a deep pan over a medium high heat.  I use a cast iron chicken fryer with two or three inches of oil.  You want the oil to be hot but not too hot.

Take a golf ball size ball of dough and roll out.  Put in the oil.  Let the dough cook for a few minutes until the underside is golden.  Turn to let the top become golden.  Remove from the oil and let drain on paper towels if you have them.

They are best a bit warm served with honey.  So good.  I have actually had sopapillas requested multiple times sends I found this recipe I rifted on.

walnut sour cherry rye bread

I am having a difficult time getting back into the swing of Houston life since we have been back.  The upheaval at work is not helping as well as the heat of late summer.  Our last traveling bit was for the boyos and I just did not feel like I came back refreshed.  I have already done some mending today and I hope to put my hands in dough and sit at my sewing machine.  That may help.

Before we left, I made a walnut sour cherry rye bread.  I have been listening to the Kerry Greenwood Corinna Chapman mysteries and since Corinna Chapman is a baker there are all these lovely descriptions of bread and food.  Corinna Chapman starts most mornings with some of her own bread, many times rye, and sour cherry jam.  I rifted on that for this bread.  I was thinking it would be great with cheese on our travels.  The youngest of the boyos though did not think this was food so there was much to much eating out done due to just trying to get him fed.

I made two loaves of this.  I gave half to two different co-workers.  One came back and said it was fabulous as the bread for grilled cheese.  The other, who like stout beers, said it tasted like a really nice Lambic beer, and also like a Flemish Sour Ale.  Since I have not found a beer I like, I would not know but someone else may.  I think it is pretty fabulous with butter and with cream cheese.  The grilled cheese is on my list and smoked salmon and cherry jam.  

walnut sour cherry rye bread

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup rye flour

2 3/4 cup water

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup walnut oil

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup finely chopped dried sour cherries

3 teaspoons salt

5 to 6 cups dark rye flour

The night before, mix the starter, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup rye in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit overnight.  Take out a couple tablespoons of starter for the next batch of bread.

Into the starter, mix the water, honey, oil, walnut, and cherries.  Mix in two to three cups of rye flour.  It should be the consistency of pancake batter.  Cover and let sit until bubbly, a couple hours or more.

After the batter is bubbly, mix in the salt.  Mix in two more cups of flour.  You should have a stiff dough.  Turn out onto a counter floured with rye flour and start kneading.  The dough should be very soft.  The sour cherries may soak up more liquid and rye rises better if it is a moister dough.  Place back into a cleaned bowl, and let rise until double.

Grease two large loaf pans.  Divide the dough into two and form into a loaf shape.  Place into the pans.  Cover and let rise.  My house was cool so I let the loaves rise overnight.

Turn the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put in the loaves and bake for one hour.  The loaves are done when they sound hollow when tapped.

It is best if you can wait at least twenty minutes before cutting but that rarely happens in my house.  Enjoy.