Come back with the Kulich..A Russian Easter Breaed

Here I am !! Back to blogging after nearly a year ! And there's nothing to blame but my pure laziness..:)

Although I'd stopped posting things on my blog for such a long time but I've been continuously baking and cooking like crazy through my disappearance... Anyway, I chose this Russian bread as my return for no reason ! It's just come at the right time on doing such a right thing..

Anyway, what inspired me to bake this bread is my daughter. The story is that she's been taking art lessons and her teacher happens to be a Russian. One day she came home from her art class and saw me busy with making nanaiomi bars (which is a canadian sweet )..so when I told her what I was making ( for her teachers at her Canadian International School! ), she then asked me if I could make something about Russian for her russian art teacher...I could, of course, say nothing but 'yes' !

A simple reason why I chose to make this bread is beacause it's around Easter season.. As for a verdict, all of my tasters were really satisfied with the outcome ! That's why I thought this is worth being the first posting of my return ..

Ps. this bread has been posted to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wildyeast

Kulich ( Makes 2 medium-sized kulich )

First sponge

• 150ml milk
• 250g bread flour
• 10g fresh baker's yeast
Mix everything, cover and leave to ferment overnight at ambient temperature.

Second sponge

• 150ml milk
• 100g bread flour
• 30g fresh baker's yeast

The next day, mix the ingredients together and then add to the first sponge. Leave it to ferment for an hour, until the surface is bubbly.

Final dough
• 650g bread flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 50ml vodka
• 100ml honey
• 100g vanilla sugar
• 250g butter, at ambient temperature
• 4 eggs
• 150g sultanas
• 100g raisins
• 1 tsp saffron threads
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 50g candied peel
• 100g blanched almonds
• 15-20 cardamom pods

Glazing :

1-1.5 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp water
splash of lemon juice

Method :

1.While the second sponge is rising, prepare the rest of the ingredients. First put the saffron to soak in the vodka. Coarsely chop the almonds and zest the lemons. Cut the candied peel in small pieces. Open the cardamom pods and grind the seeds in a mortar or coffee grinder.

2.Mix all the liquid ingredients, which must be at ambient temperature. Warm up the honey if needed to make it more fluid. Add the vodka with the saffron and the eggs. Mix the liquids with the second sponge and then add the rest of the flour, the salt and the ground cardamom.

3.Knead thoroughly till you have a homogeneous and smooth dough. Then add the butter cut in chunks. Knead to incorporate the butter.

4.Once the gluten has developed, add the raisins, sultanas, almonds, lemon zest and candied peel. Distribute them evenly.

5.Form the dough into a ball, then place it into an oiled bowl and leave to double in bulk (around an hour).

6.Prepare the molds in the meantime. Line the inside with parchment paper, cut a circle for the bottom and a large strip for the sides. Let the paper extend over the tin edge as needed if the tin is not tall enough. Use double paper if you like.

7.When the dough has doubled, divide it in two; then loosely shape each portion into a cylinder that can be inserted into the mold. Let it carefully fall inside and press it a little bit to fill all the gaps. The tin should be half full approximately.

8.Leave to proof again, loosely covered in plastic so that the dough has place to rise 3-4cm above the tin or paper edge.

9.Heat the oven to 170-180 ºC. Then bake for around 40 minutes. Check for doneness with a wooden skewer. If the kulich tops brown too quickly, cover them with foil.

10.When they're done, take them out and leave to rest in the mold for 15 minutes. Then carefully tip the molds onto a wire rack and extract them from the mold in a horizontal position. Put them in an upright position and check that they're set enough to stand (otherwise they would need some more time in the oven).

11.You can optionally ice them with a glazing mixture once they've cooled.

East Meets West Stromboli

I saw a post about green curry the other day which kind of made me have an idea of playing at it and this stromboli came abruptly through my mind !

I used chicken as a meat to mix with other basic ingredients for green curry ( except coconut milk!) as the filling and made the base based on pizza dough with green curry paste in it..As for the result, since I'm a big fan of hot & spicy food, so I've found out that a combination between the green curry filling and pizza dough was quite interesting..what I'm saying is that this stromboli is worth your try if you are looking for something new rather than a plain stuffed (rolled) pizza/bread..just for a change's sake!!

The recipe

For the dough :

1 cup bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup + 1-2 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp green curry paste

For the stuffing

150-175 g chicken, shredded
2 tbsp Thai green curry paste
4 Thai (rounded) eggplant, thinly sliced
mixture of green & red chillies ,thinly sliced
handful of Thai basil leaves
Fish sauce and palm sugar for seasoning

Taralli (revised)

I made my first taralli a few months ago and although I thought it was delicious but I actually didn't have any idea how it's supposed to taste.. And honestly,I would have forgotten about taralli unless I spotted it at a small shop in Venice last month!

No doubt that I had to find out what its taste really is and I then realised that my first taralli was not similar to the one I bought. Consequently, I was determined to give it a second try !

This time I used the recipe from recipezaar which looked good to me..Anyway, I modified the recipe a bit by adding some fennel seed to the dough and using less black pepper than the original calls for..

As for the result, it surprisingly tasted so close to the one I bought from Venice and I undoubtedly preferred it to the first one.. What a lovely snack !

The recipe (adapted from here)
Ingredients

2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed
1/4 tsp coarsed black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

1.Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Mix the flour, salt, fennel seed and pepper in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add yeast, wine and oil. Blend together and gradually incorporate into flour then knead for 10 minutes.

2.Place the dough in oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with towel and let rise until doubled in bulk.Preheat oven to 375º.

3.Break off small pieces of dough and roll into ropes about 6 inches long.Form a ring and pinch edges together.Place on baking sheet and let rise 20 minutes.

4.Fill a large saucepan half full of water; bring to a boil. Drop taralli into water and boil for 1 minute. Remove from water, letting both sides dry on a sheet of waxed paper. Brush with oil and bake 25-30 minutes on a lightly greased cookie sheet, turning a few times during baking until medium brown and crisp.



















This post has been summitted to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wildyeast

Sweet Potato and Cheddar Soda Bread

I'd been longing to make soda bread but failed to find a recipe that I really liked until recently when I saw this soda bread posted by Kay of Dutch Girl Cooking..not only those ingredients like sweet potato or cheese made me tempted but also the looks shown on the post that really convinced me to give it a try !

Since it's my first time to make this kind of bread, so I decided to make a small portion by halving the recipe and simply followed through without making any change of it ( except I used dried thyme instead of fresh one and reduced baking time to 45 minutes) which was good because the outcome was wonderful..

Please click here for the full recipe and have a look at my version as following...

Schiaciatta

The word 'schiacciatta' I first saw in a magazine which referred to broccoli pie made me wonder if it really means pie as stated , so I searched it on google and then found out that it's ,in fact, nothing to do with broccoli or pie !

Schiacciata means crushed, flattened or squashed in Italian, and is the name for flatbread in Tuscany. Both savory and sweet versions of schiacciata are found there. In general, savory schiaciatta is made using bread dough as the base, much like the pizza and focaccia in other regions of Italy. The addition of olive oil and sugar to the bread dough results in a sweet schiacciata. When egg(s) is/are added, the schiacciata becomes more like a rustic pastry.

There are few differents recipes of schiaciatta that I've found on the net..the one I chose to give a try is from here which I felt comfortable with..

The recipe (adpated)

Ingredients

250 g bread flour (Caputo flour works great)
150 ml water
1 scant tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tsp instant yeast
additional a few tbsps of olive oil
coarse sea salt to sprinkle
chopped rosemary leaves to sprinkle

Mix the flour and water until fully blended, then let the dough rest for 30 minutes. That gives the flour time to fully absorb the water. Then add the salt,sugar, olive oil and yeast, and mix on low for another 8-10 minutes until elastic.

Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until double. Punch it down and push out the air bubbles. Form the dough into a large ball and let it rest for a couple of minutes before shaping it into a rectangular shape, roughly 1/4" thick. Cover the dough and let it rise for another 20-30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 500ºF

Right before you put the bread in the oven, make impressions with your fingers tips -- as you would with a Focaccia, drizzle on 1-2 Tbps of olive oil and sprinkle rosemary and sea salt over the top.Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden. Brush another of oil on the hot baked bread and let it rest for a minute before serving.
























PS. I've submitted this post to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of wildyeast

Lamb and Apricot Tagine

I've found this tagine from Dorie Greenspan's site..although the recipe is not her own creation but luckily, she's kind enough to share and have it published !

No any effort made for the dish cuz it's so easy to cook..what you really need to get this wonderful and delicious food is just some time...


The recipe (adapted from here)

1 3/4 cups chicken broth
handful of moist, plump dried apricots
olive oil
500 g stewing lamb, cut into cubes about 1 1/2 inches on a side
3 medium onions, peeled, trimmed and coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled, trimmed, germ removed and finely chopped
One 14 1/2 - ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds, cracked
2 pinches saffron
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
About 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Couscous or rice, for serving

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Bring the broth to the boil, then pour it into the bowl. Add the apricots to the bowl and let them soak and plump while you prepare the rest of the tagine.

Put a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and pour in 3 tablespoons of the oil. Pat the pieces of lamb dry between sheets of paper towels, then drop them into the hot oil - don't crowd the pan; work in batches, if necessary - and brown the meat on all sides, about 4 minutes. Lift the meat out of the pot and onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Pour out the fat that it's in the pan, but leave whatever bits may have stuck to the base.

Return the pan to the stove, adjust the heat to low and add 2 more tablespoons of the olive oil. When the oil is warm, stir in the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, just to get them started on the road to softening. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook, stirring often, for another 10 minutes, adding a little more oil, if needed. Add the chicken bouillon/broth to the pot as well as the coriander, saffron - crush the saffron between your fingers as you sprinkle it into the pot - ginger, cumin, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of the chopped cilantro leaves. Stir to mix and dissolve the spices, season with salt and pepper and spoon the meat over the base of vegetables. Top with the plumped apricots, seal the pan with aluminum foil and clap on the lid.

Slide the pan into the oven.Bake the tagine for 1-1.30 hours. Serve with coucous or rice.

Mango and Raisin Loaf

I've made some bread that contained fruit before but never tried mango,so I was undoubtedly tempted to give it a try when I saw the recipe in Goodfood magazine ( you can also get the recipe from here )..

Anyway,I made only half recipe but used mango more than the original recipe called for which might be the reason why my dough was far too sticky to handle with hands( and that forced me to let my kitchen machine to deal with a kneading process ! )

As for the result, I didn't have a strong taste of mango in my loaf but I could definitely feel it in the bread.. And in my opinion, the best way to enjoy this bread is to eat it toasted with butter on top ( with or without jam would do you good !)