Easy Baguettes

For the longest time, I was afraid to bake my own bread.  Yeast, after all, is mysterious and scary.  Do I need  to proof it?  What if it doesn't rise?  What if it rises too much?  Which kind do I need?  I finally got over it and decided to just give it a try.  After my success at making a loaf of No-Knead Bread several weeks ago, I've been emboldened to try more.  These baguettes were another first-attempt, and turned out fantastically well.

The baguettes are obviously a different shape from the no-knead bread, and the texture differs, too - the crust, in particular, is much crisper, but the interior is still airy and fluffy.  Kristin and I gladly ate them up with some pasta, and I'll definitely be making more soon.

Could the ingredients be any simpler?  All you need is flour, yeast, water, and salt.

To get things started, mix together the flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add water and mix.  Knead for a few minutes until you've formed a rough, sticky, dense dough.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise someplace warm for two or three hours.  The dough should at least double in size.

Now it's time to form the dough into baguette shapes.  Divide it in half, and flatten into a rough oval on a floured surface.  Fold that oval in half into a sort of thick half-moon shape, then fold again in on itself until you've formed the long tube shape of a baguette.  Press together the creases and taper the ends a bit until you've got a rough baguette shape, about 14 inches long and a few inches wide.

Cover your newly-shaped baguettes and let them rise again at least a half-hour until they have re-doubled in size.  You'll notice that in this case, one baguette rose more in width than height - both still baked up just as delicious as the other.  This isn't a recipe that guarantees artistic results, but I find I actually prefer the more rustic, "artisan" look.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees while the loaves rise.

Right before you're ready to bake, use a sharp knife to make several angled slashes across the top of each loaf at roughly 4-inch intervals.  As soon as you do this, the loaves will begin to deflate a bit - so it's time to get them into the oven!

Baking 25-30 minutes at 450 degrees will handily counter that deflation.  Your baguettes are done when the top is nice and brown.

Cool the bread on a wire rack several minutes before slicing.  Serve warm or room temperature, with butter or without, preferably with some soup or sauce to dip into.

Recipe: Easy Baguettes
Prep Time: 3-4 Hours | Cook Time: 25-30 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 2 medium baguettes

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 tbsp Instant Yeast
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm Water

Instructions

1. Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add water, mix, and knead 3-4 minutes into a rough, sticky dough.
3. Cover dough and let rise 2-3 hours until doubled in size.
4. Once dough has risen, divide in half.
5. Press each half of dough into a rough oval on a floured surface.  Fold over twice lengthwise into baguette shape, approx. 14 inches long.
6. Cover baguettes and let rise 30 minutes.
7. With a sharp knife, make angular slashes across the top of each loaf at 4-inch intervals.
8. Bake at 450 degrees 25-30 minutes until well-browned.
9. Cool several minutes on wire racks before slicing.

No-Knead Bread

I posted last week about my views on the relationship between soup and bread.  To reiterate: I think soup should be eaten with bread as the primary utensil, rather than silly things like spoons.  It's nature's way.

In general, my love of bread with my soup is easy to fulfill.  However, when I made last week's Tomato-Vegetable Soup with Turkey, I realized that I had forgotten to buy any bread to accompany it.  Worse yet, the weather was gross, so I really didn't want to leave the apartment and go to the store.  The solution: make some bread!  It's super easy, cost-effective, and way better than anything the Meijer bakery could have offered me anyhow.

This bread is incredibly easy to make, and - for bread - very quick.  It's about 5 hours from raw ingredients to finished loaf.  It's not exactly lightning fast, but you don't need an overnight rise or lots of kneading - any kneading at all, in fact!  I like to to mix the ingredients and let things rise before work, then bake once I get home.  Give it a try!

This is a very simple recipe: you probably have all of the ingredients on-hand!  All you need is flour, yeast, salt, a bit of olive oil, and water.  Seasonings are optional, but some herbal action makes this bread an even better match for soup.  I particularly like some coarse-grained salt, oregano, and basil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (1 packet).  Next, add 1 1/2 cups of warm water and mix until the dough is "shaggy."  That's a technical term, believe it or not.  The dough surface will be rough and very, very sticky.

It's rising time.  Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and leave it alone someplace warm for 4 hours.

Four hours later, it will look something like the above.  Behold, the power of yeast!

Of course, you can let the dough rest considerably longer if you like.  Consider four hours a hard minimum, though.

Here's the only slightly tricky aspect to this bread.  When it's time to bake, you need to get the dough from bowl to pan.  Here's how to do it in a way that results in a crusty bread with a fluffy, soft center.

First, spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over a baking sheet.  Dump the dough out of the bowl and onto the oiled baking sheet.

Now give that dough one thorough smooshing.  "Smooshing," unlike "shaggy," is not yet a technical term - but it probably should be.

Your smooshed dough should be somewhat flattened-out like so.

Now gather up the dough from the edges and fold in and upward, so that the oiled surface is all on the outside, and the un-oiled surface is all on the inside of a sort of packet.

Place dough in a loaf pan, smooth side down.  Cover again and let rise 30 minutes before baking.  It's very, very important to let it rise again, otherwise you'll end up with very sad bread.

Now is also the time to add any seasonings you want to bake into the bread.  Sprinkle them directly on top of the loaf before you let it rise the second time.  I add some extra salt every time at this point, and sometimes various other herbs (Pictures for this post will be un-herbed so that the appearance of the dough and finished product itself is easier to see).

While things are rising, become a Dough-Monster and attack your camera-wielding fiancee.  After that, pre-heat your oven to 450.

30 minutes later, the dough will have risen slightly, and will be ready to bake!  Cover the loaf pan and bake 25 minutes at 450 degrees.  If you don't have a cover for your pan, you can just put a baking sheet or appropriately-sized pan lid on top.  You just need something to keep the top of the bread from burning before the rest is done.

Uncover the bread after 25 minutes and bake another 3-5 minutes to finish off the top crust - this makes it extra crusty and crispy and wonderful.

Voila, bread!  Cool the loaf on a wire rack for a few minutes before slicing.  You can also sprinkle additional herbs, salt, or other seasonings on top of the loaf at this point for a bit of extra color and flavor.

Cut into nice, thick slices serve while still warm if at all possible.  Eat with or without butter, dunked in soup, or make some fantastic grilled cheese.  The possibilities are endless!

Recipe: No-Knead Bread
Prep Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes (10 minutes hands-on) | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 8-12 thick slices.

Ingredients

• 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 1/4 tsp. Yeast.
• 1 tsp. Salt.
• 1 1/2 cups warm Water.
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• Optional: Additional salt and herbs to taste.

Instructions

1. Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Add warm water and mix until dough is "shaggy."
2. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm location at least 4 hours.
3. Spread olive oil on a baking sheet.  Empty dough from mixing bowl onto baking sheet and flatten slightly.  Pick up dough from edges to form a "packet" with oiled side out.  Place in loaf pan, smooth side down.
4. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.  Let dough rise a second time, approx. 30 minutes.  Add additional salt and herbs to top of dough if desired.
5. Bake covered in loaf pan 25 minutes at 450 degrees.  Uncover and bake an additional 2-5 minutes until surface is cracked and golden-brown.
6. Cool on a wire rack 3-5 minutes before slicing.
7. Serve warm.

Cloverleaf Rolls

I feel sort of guilty sharing a Thanksgiving recipe once Thanksgiving is already finished.  I had hoped to get this one posted before the holiday, but failed to perfect the recipe until the critical batch - the one I was actually bringing to Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a close one.

These are simple, tasty yeast rolls.  They're fairly fluffy and just a bit sweet, though not so much as something like a Parker House roll.  They were delicious with just a little butter, and also served well to soak up gravy. They could also make a great base for small leftover sandwiches.  All told, these are tasty, versatile rolls that I'll definitely make again (perhaps in half-batches) for further occasions.

You don't need much for this recipe.  It's a pretty basic bread-making assortment: Flour, sugar, vegetable oil, milk, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and yeast.

Start by combining 4 1/2 cups milk, 1 1/4 cups sugar, and 1 cup of oil in the largest stock pot you own and stirring to combine.  It'll never fully combine - the oil and milk just don't get along all that well.  That's okay.

Warm this mixture on the stove over medium-low heat until lukewarm - about 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Check frequently with a thermometer.  Don't panic if you overshoot - just wait 20 minutes or so and it'll cool to the appropriate temperature.  However long it takes, make sure you're not more than about 10 degree off in either direction, as this is the temperature the yeast needs to be happiest.

Once the mixture is the right temperature, add your yeast, and start adding flour.  The best way to get things evenly combined is to add the flour a couple of cups at a time, and stir to mix often.

Add 8 cups of flour total.  The dough will be very wet and sticky at this point.  We'll add more flour later, but the yeast does better at this stage when it's not weighed down by all that extra mass.

Cover the pot and walk away for an hour.  Let it rise until it's roughly doubled in size.

Yeast is powerful!  Depending on its mood, the dough may more than double in size, so keep an eye on it.

After rising, add 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, and 2 tbsp salt, stirring or kneading to combine.

Now we'll work on the stickiness of the dough.  Add flour a cup at a time and mix well.  Keep adding flour until the dough is well-behaved enough not to stick to your hands as you knead or try to roll a bit into a ball.

Grease muffin tins, and add three small dough-balls to each cup.  The dough-balls should be about the size of a donut hole.  Don't worry about making it pretty at this stage - another rise will erase most of the wrinkles and imperfections.

Cover the muffin pans and let the dough rise someplace warm for about two hours, until they're more or less doubled in size.  They should look more or less like rolls.

Bake at 350 degrees F 10-12 minutes until just brown.  Don't let them go too long - the color on top will be pretty, but they'll end up dry.

Cool on wire racks before storing.  They're best eaten right out of the oven, though.

Serve warm with butter.  Room temperature is okay, too, but is there a roll in the world that's not better warm?  Warm bread is just good.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Cloverleaf Rolls
Prep Time: 3-4 hours | Cook Time: 15 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 36-48

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups Milk
• 11 cups Flour
• 1 1/4 cups White Sugar
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 packages (4 1/2 tsp) Yeast
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tbsp Salt

Instructions

1. In a very large stock pot, combine milk, vegetable oil, and sugar.  Heat over medium-low heat until lukewarm, approx. 100 degrees F.
2. Add yeast and 8 cups flour to warm mixture in stock pot, mixing after the first 4 cups of flour and again once all 8 are added.
3. Cover and let rise approx. 1 hour or until roughly doubled in size.
4. When dough has risen, add baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir or knead to combine.
5. Add flour 1 cup at a time and mix well.  Stop adding flour when dough is pliable enough to roll into a small ball without sticking to hands or falling apart.
6. Grease un-lined muffin tins.
7. Form dough into balls, using approx. 2 tbsp dough per ball.  Balls should be about the size of a donut hole.
8. Place three small dough-balls into each greased muffin cup in a triangular formation.
9. Cover muffin pan with a lid or kitchen towel and let rise in a warm location approx. 2 hours, or until dough roughly doubles in size.
10. Bake in a 350 degree oven 10-12 minutes until just barely brown.

Cornbread

There's a little mom-and-pop restaurant in town called Call of the Canyon.  Despite being found in northwest Ohio, they serve food with a great Southwestern flavor - sandwiches, salads, burritos, nachos, and the like.  It's all perfectly fresh, and the menu is quite whimsical - my favorite dish name is "Go Further West, Young Man!" for a salad with Hawaiian-themed ingredients.  

Kristin and I both have our various favorite things to order, but we always make sure to get their corn muffins with our meals.  I love cornbread in general, but these corn muffins are really fantastic.  Sweet without being too cakey, perfectly dense, and moist inside with a nice crust on the outside.  They're good.  Since I was introduced, I've been on a quest to recreate them, and I think I've finally just about got it.

This cornbread is my standard accompaniment to chili.  Kristin likes to butter it, but I don't think it needs it - I prefer to dip it right into the chili, so the sweetness of the cornbread and the spice of the chili make a really nice balance.  Try it out, and I think you'll be sold.

This is a large batch, that can easily be halved and made in a smaller pan or in muffin form.  We'll need flour, cornmeal, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, baking powder, fresh or frozen corn, salt, and pepper.  Using both flour and cornmeal keeps the bread from being too gritty, as it would be with entirely cornmeal, but also ensures plenty of flavor.

First, soften the butter, and cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.

Stir in the eggs and beat until mixed.

In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper, and baking powder with the happiest mixing spoon you can find.

I was briefly excited to think that the "bowl of white powder" picture for this recipe might not be so white because of the cornmeal.  Oh well.

Now, add some of the flour mixture into the large bowl with the sugar and butter, and add some of the milk. Mix until they're combined, then keep adding dry stuff and milk a bit at a time, mixing in between.  This will keep you from sloshing milk or spraying flour all over the room while you try to mix it all at once, and ensure that things are more evenly combined.  Keep going until it's all well mixed and your arm is tired.  You might consider mixing by folding with two spoons once the bowl gets pretty full.

Now for the corn itself!  I like having some real corn in my cornbread.  It keeps the texture a bit varied, adds some nice flavor, and the fresh kernels add a nice element of moisture as you bite down on them.  If you're using frozen, just dump it on in.  If you're using fresh ears, carefully remove the kernels from the cob.

Add the corn to the batter and mix thoroughly.

Although you can make this recipe into muffins, I went with a pan this time for the sake of expedience.  Grease a 9x13 or 10x14 pan well, and pour the batter right in.

Bake 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees, or until the top is cracked and golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool just a couple of minutes after removing from the oven, then serve while it's still warm.

Recipe: Cornbread

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 50 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 16-20

Ingredients

• 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 cups Cornmeal
• 1 cup White Sugar
• 2/3 cup Butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups Milk
• 4 Eggs
• 1 1/2 cups Corn Kernels (approx. 2 ears)
• 2 tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoon Pepper

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375.  Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter, sugar, and vanilla.

Add eggs, beat, and mix until combined.

In another large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and pepper.

Alternate adding milk and dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing well until thoroughly combined.

Cut kernels from corn cobs and mix into batter.

Pour batter into greased pan.  Bake 50 minutes at 375 until top is cracked and golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pan.  Serve warm.