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Sunday, May 4, 2014 |
The Bread Maiden's essential baking equipment guide |
I have been trying to come up with a bread-baking tutorial that, in the span of a couple hours, will convey the breadth and depth of my knowledge about baking. As you might imagine, it's ending up much longer than I anticipated. I cannot seem to cut it down to a more manageable size. |
What might be easier and less overwhelming is dividing up the material into smaller thematic chunks. So this is the first step to baking: assembling the necessary equipment. |
Just a note before I get started. Some cleverer bloggers have written posts like these and imbedded "affiliate links." There are no affiliate links in this post, or on this blog for that matter. I haven't received anything free in exchange for reviewing or pushing it on the blog. The products here are actually what ... |
1. Kitchen scale |
My baking got much more accurate, consistent, and cleaner once I bought a kitchen scale. Once I started measuring in weight, I could tell the hydration of my dough and correct mistakes like adding too much flour. I could account for weather and humidity changes in the air that caused the dough to absorb more or less ... |
2. Bench scraper |
I like this scraper because it easily and cleanly divides the dough into smaller pieces, and I use it after I have kneaded on the counter top to scrape up all the little dough bits that are stuck to the counter. This is similar to the bench scraper I have. It's all metal instead of a handle that is wood or plastic so... |
3. Glass bowls of different sizes. I have pyrex which works well. You don't want them to be too heavy. |
Often you will want to prepare your ingredients ahead of time, or you need to melt or warm something in the microwave. Using the right size bowl can save you time, and everything you need will be prepped and ready to go. I used to use metal bowls, but I feel like glass bowls are better for most things, and they hold ... |
4. A tablespoon and a teaspoon |
I feel like these two are all you really need. Everything else, such as 1/4 tsp or 1/2 tbs you can probably eyeball. The reason I use a teaspoon and tablespoon is that some dry ingredients just don't weigh enough to be measured accurately by weight. Examples are baking soda and baking powder, or a teaspoon of yeast.... |
Edited to add: Here's the proof! |
5. Glass measuring cups |
Since you can measure most dry ingredients into the larger dough, usually there is no need for measuring cups. However, as with the bowls I detailed above, you might want to heat things in the microwave, and glass measuring cups are good for that. Get one that is 1-cup and one that is a 2-cup measure. Make sure it ha... |
6. Small, sharp knife |
A small knife is good for scoring (cutting the top of) your loaf so it can expand in the oven while it's baking. It's better if it's sharper, and you don't need anything bigger than a paring knife. I've used razor blades in the past which are the best, but if you have kids and don't want to leave razor blades sitting... |
At this point, your needs will dictate whether you want to purchase any of the following tools. Think about the type of bread you will be making. Do you want to make crusty, round loaves or sandwich bread? If you want crusty, check out #7 and 8. If sandwiches are your thing, check out #9 and #10. |
7. Cast-iron dutch oven that can withstand temperatures up to 500 degrees F. |
If you want crusty bread full of holes, you need a vessel that can withstand high heat while locking in humidity so the crust doesn't burn before the crumb is finished exploding out. A dutch oven will be your bread savior. |
8. Parchment paper |
After a crusty loaf rises the first time, it is transferred out of the glass bowl and shaped into its final shape. Parchment paper is a great surface for the second rise, because you can pick your loaf up by the corners of the parchment and transfer it to the oven without it deflating. Also, it's non-stick, so it bea... |
9. Heavy aluminum bread pans |
I like the dark non-stick pans. That's all I have to say about that. Even though it says non-stick, I would still coat it in butter before baking bread in it. I would get two or even four in the same size so you can bake multiple loaves at once. |
10. Elastic bowl covers |
These bowl covers are one of my new favorite things and they've quickly become an essential. See, while the dough is rising, I cover the bowl (and then the loaf) with plastic wrap, which I then throw away. I knew it was wasteful, but I didn't know that there was a better way. These elastic bowl covers are reusable, ... |
There you have it. My baking essentials. There are lots of other things that I use daily, such as my stand mixer, that are nice to have, but aren't necessarily essential. Your mileage may vary. I hope this helps anyone who is thinking about trying to bake and wants tasty, consistent results. |
Friday, May 2, 2014 |
Sfihas argentinas |
This Wednesday, I had thawed ground beef, some kale salad, and a craving for empanadas. Since my FIL would kill me if I made empanadas without him, I remembered an awesome little pasty I had had in Argentina a few times that had a similar historical trajectory to empanadas in that country: sfihas. |
Sfihas (I've also seen them called esfihas) are relatively new on the Argentine culinary scene, but they have a really interesting history. They are open-faced meat pies that were introduced to Argentina and Brazil by Lebanese immigrants, in much the same way empanadas were. In fact, my Argentine host mother used to ... |
Empanadas and sfihas share a similar make-up: ground beef (or other meat) with spices baked in a simple dough. I found the recipe for my sfihas in this book: |
I haven't made a single recipe from the book yet. But I have been drooling over it ever since I got it, and I knew it had this recipe: |
The very first time I had sfihas was in Tucuman visiting my little bro during his study abroad year. Then I had them again in Cordoba, and again a few years later in Mendoza. In the decade since I first studied abroad, sfihas have truly taken Argentina by storm. They are the perfect snack food, small enough to eat i... |
I have a favorite empanada filling recipe, but for sfihas I wanted something a bit more-- Middle Eastern. So I adopted the tahini, lemon juice and yogurt from this recipe but added some of my favorite empanada spices too- cinnamon, paprika and cayenne powder. |
You will need: |
For the dough: |
1 cup warm milk |
1 1/2 cups AP flour |
2 tablespoons sugar |
1/2 tsp salt |
1 tsp yeast |
1 tbs olive oil |
For the filling: |
1/2 lb ground beef |
1 cup chopped onion |
1/2 lemon's worth of juice |
1 tsp salt |
1 tsp paprika |
1 tsp cayenne powder |
2 tsp paprika |
1 tablespoon tomato paste |
1 tablespoon tahini |
2 tablespoons plain yogurt |
1 tablespoon melted butter |
1 tablespoon chopped parsley, mint or cilantro (I used kale since I had it on hand) |
I made the dough first because it takes some time to rise. |
1. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar into the warm milk and let sit for five minutes until it becomes bubbly. |
2. Whisk together the AP flour, salt and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until incorporated. |
3. Add the milk and yeast mixture to the flour mixture and knead for eight minutes, adding more flour as needed. |
4. Cover and let rise for about 1.5 hours until doubled in size. |
5. Now you can switch to the filling. Just dump everything into a bowl and mix with your hands to combine. |
6. Once your dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured surface and use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 24 (or so) equal pieces. |
7. Roll into balls and let them rest under a tea towel while you line a few baking dishes with parchment paper. |
8. Flatten out the balls into disks and transfer to the parchment paper. You might want to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F at this point. |
9. Place about a tablespoon of dough in the middle of each disk and fold the dough around the filling thusly: |
10. Bake the sfihas for about 30 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the dough is golden brown. |
These are great for a snack or dinner with a side salad. Little Bread Toddler loved the filling so much, he ate the filling right out of the dough, leaving a pile of empty sfiha doughs in his wake. Since this recipe makes way more filling than the dough can accommodate, I sauted the rest of the filling and he happily... |
My recommendation? Make a double batch of dough and bake 48 of these since they go fast! |
Facial Soap Ivory Brick |
Free Gift |
Balance your skin with the help of Abib's Facial Soap Ivory Brick. Infused with milk protein extract, this key ingredient helps deliver moisture and nutrients to your skin while keeping skin's oil production in check. Magnolia berry and Chinese licorice extract and flaxseed oil help restore skin's vitality and arbitrat... |
Sodium Stearate, Sodium Laurate, Sodium Myristate, Sodium Palmitate, Glycerine, Sorbitol, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Palmitic Acid, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Citr... |
How to Use |
"1. Unwrap soap. 2. Wet brick and gently work into a lather with your hands. 3. Massage foam over face, hands and neck (careful to avoid eyes and mouth). 4. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry. 5. Follow with toner and the rest of your skincare routine. 6. Can be used both morning and evening." |
Peach and Lily Take |
Bar soaps have made a huge come-back in Korea as one of the latest beauty trends. However, these bar soaps are new and improved without sulfates and skin-stripping ingredients. Instead, they come packed with skin-benefitting natural oils. Abib has taken the bar soap movement by storm -- their popular bar soaps have bea... |
Tim Poe apologizes; now the real story |
Why did he misspeak in the first place |
The photo to my left is from NBC and shows Timothy Poe, an Army vet who has come under fire for apperently lying about his service record. He gave a tearful apology Friday night, five days after he appeared on America's Got Talent telling viewers and the judges that he suffered an injury in Iraq and that caused his stu... |
Well, vets got all upset over this and over at This Ain't Hell, they gave him hell and then some. |
Military writer Sig Christenson from the SA News-Express has the story which was posted on today's Web site… |
Poe's fiancee, Carrie Morris, told the San Antonio Express-News that he's had memory problems since a 2005 training accident and that he incorrectly believed he had served in Iraq. She said Poe had not “gotten the proper help.” |
Well, that doesn't really mean much in the eyes of a lot of veterans including people who served with him and those who didn't. Over at the blog, TAH, they are not feeling sorry for him at all. |
I don't know how I feel about the whole thing, to be honest. First off, you shouldn't lie and as someone who has a stutter, I kinda resent the fact that he blamed his stutter on the war. Yes, I know, that's small potatoes compared to Stolen Valor claims others were making but it's all I got. |
And I also dislike people who lie about their service records. It demeans those who did serve and those who did earn medals for valor and being wounded. But the largest question of all, is why… why did he feel the need to ahve to do this. The Military Times has a story saying he didn't know what was real and that was h... |
I hope that's real and true. I hope that he's just kind of messed up in the head rather than lying on purpose. At least there is no evil intent there. Because I believe it would be a real tragedy for someone who did serve, who did deploy to Afghanistan and who did his duty to feel the need to lie to impress people. It ... |
Leave the guy alone, let him get the help he needs and take away the positive in all this — that for the past week, attention has been focused on the concept of lying about a service record. Maybe if people see the scrutiny you get, they might not do it. |
Green Pathology |
On September 5th, an email went out on the Hamilton county Green Party listserv to local members from Gwen Marshall, the leader of the group. The email concerned the upcoming mayoral election and how the party relates to it. What was contained in the email was a scathing attack on candidate Roxanne Qualls, former mayor... |
The email contains a key phrase that, I think, illuminates the current M.O. for the Greens, both nationally and locally: “There are 4 candidates for mayor, but only two who are really in the running.” This is essentially a manifestation of the “safe-state” strategy that has plagued Green Party politics since at least t... |
In the absence of a Green party candidate running for mayor this year, it is not surprising that they would give their support to some candidate who is in the race, but Cranley is a disgusting choice for a party that formally (though not necessarily in reality) puts itself to the left of the Democrats. Indeed, this com... |
Both candidates consider themselves Democrats for the most part, but Cranley is being “accused of” being supported by Republicans, whereas Roxanne Qualls’ campaign manager’s Republican credentials got her a job working for an [sic] Republican elected official and later as a Board of Elections official so the whole “Rep... |
While Gwen states that “the whole “Republican Issue” is a non issue,” the rest of her message seems to actually be an argument over which candidate is more progressive, or more “Democrat” in modern political lingo. This is a sad state of affairs for those of us who were excited to support, Jill Stein, the Green Party c... |
I know many readers of (and certainly many writers for) Streetvibes agree that we need to rebuild the left to pose a real alternative to the two business parties that run our country (and city), but this is not the way to do it. It would be one thing if the Greens ran a candidate in this election, but they are not. It ... |
There is an exciting alternative that people on the left can look to in these kind of races. Kshama Sawant is a candidate for city council in Seattle. She is an activist, an economist, and a member of Socialist Alternative, a left-wing political organization. Sawant has an interesting cancidacy, having run for the Wash... |
But what the Sawant campaign offers is not just a look at an alternative candidate, but also an alternative to political parties as we know them, which the Greens can take a cue from. Sawant comes from a background of years in activism, and is a member of an organization that regularly fights on issues like environment... |
The email from Gwen Marshall attempts to differentiate Qualls and Cranley (who both identify as Democrats) based on a few hot-button local issues, but it fails in one key place: to highlight that, if elected, either candidate, both firmly rooted in the political establishment, would serve not the workers in the city, b... |
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