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semolina boule

 

 

Semolina flour is made from durum wheat. Durum means "hard" in Latin (similarly, in Spanish "duro" means "hard"). Durum is the hardest species of wheat, which means that it has high protein and gluten, so when the flour is mixed with water and yeast, strong gluten bonds form. This makes a rich, high-protein, puffy bread, or a tough dough, which is why semolina is commonly used to make pasta.

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Ingredients

2 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 5/8 cups warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups semolina (I used Bob's Red Mill
2 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 tsp salt
 

Directions

Put ingredients in bread machine, in order. Start the "dough" cycle. Take dough out.
Shape into a loaf and put in a floured banneton or bowl or basket to proof for an hour, covered by a towel.
Preheat the oven for that same hour at 450 degrees Farenheit.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust is brown.
Take the bread out, let cool for 15 minutes.

flower pot bread

This is probably my favorite bread-dinner. It's like a calzone, but inside a flower pot. It's beautiful to serve at the dinner table, fresh out of the oven.

Roll out the dough and put the goodies inside.

 

Press the cherry tomatoes onto the dough.

 

Close into a round package by folding in.

 

Put into the pot.

 

Repeat with the rest.

 

Bake until the top is brown

 

and the inside is bubbling.

 

As you cut it open you will find a surprise in the bread!

Technique inspired by Jamie Oliver.

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Tools

Ceramic flower pots.

Ingredients

For dough:

4 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour (if you use all-purpose flour, omit the olive oil)

1 3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3/4 cups water

Cornmeal for dusting

For filling (use finer ingredients if possible - you can pick whatever you want here, really):

Mozzarella

Parmesan

Cherry tomatoes (squash them onto the dough)

Sun-dried tomatoes

Prosciutto

Arugula

Olive oil

Salt + freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Put the flour on a counter and make a hole in the middle, like a volcano.

Throw in the salt and yeast. Put the water and oil in the middle and start stirring with a fork, incorporating more and more flour every time. Finish off by kneading until you get a silky, uniform dough (5 minutes).

Divide the dough into six (for my size pot, less for larger pots).

With a rolling pin, stretch out each piece as if making pizza.

Now fill up the bread. Tear the mozzarella and put it on the dough, squash the tomatoes onto the dough, add some parmesan, add the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Fold in the sides to create a round package, and flip it over. Put it in one of the well-floured ceramic pots. Do this for the rest of the pots.

Let the breads rise (covered by a towel) for an hour while the oven is preheated at 450 degrees Farenheit.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is brown. Let cool and serve. You can either take the bread out and serve it, or just leave it in the pot.

anadama oatmeal bread

Anadama bread is originally from New England. It has oatmeal and molasses. The legend about the origin of the name goes like this (according to a not-so-reputable source):

"A fisherman, angry with his wife, Anna, for serving him nothing but cornmeal and molasses, one day adds flour and yeast to his porridge and eats the resultant bread, while cursing, 'Anna, damn her.'"

Ahem... So, I thought I'd show more of the process of baking the bread. Here are the steps to take after making the dough.

Once you've made the dough, flour the banneton.

Make the dough into a ball and place it in the banneton.

Cover with a towel and let proof (rise) for an hour.

Bake at 450 degrees Farenheit for about 25 minutes.

Let cool and serve.

 

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Ingredients

1 cup + 2 Tbsp boiling water

1/4 cup oatmeal

2 Tbsp cornmeal

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp molasses

1/4 cup dry milk

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

2 Tbsp gluten

2 tsp instant, rapid-rise yeast

Directions

Put ingredients in bread machine, in order. Start the "dough" cycle.
Shape into a loaf and put in a floured banneton or bowl or basket to proof for an hour, covered by a towel.
Preheat the oven for that same hour at 450 degrees Farenheit.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust is brown.
Take the bread out, let cool for 15 minutes.

cumin rye bread

 

My easy attempt at making rye bread. This is kind of a wuss rye bread (mixed with other kinds of flour), but it's delicious! I exchanged the more commonly-used caraway seeds for cumin seeds, and I got a curry-like bread. Next step, darker rye bread, like the kind you eat with salmon and capers in Scandinavia.
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Ingredients

1 egg
1 cup+1 Tbsp water, lukewarm
3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp powdered milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cups rye flour
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions

Put ingredients in bread machine. Start the "dough" cycle.
Shape into a loaf and put in an oiled loaf pan to proof for an hour, covered by a towel.
Preheat the oven for that same hour at 450 degrees Farenheit.
Bake for 15 minutes, cover with tin foil so the top doesn't burn. Bake for another or 20 minutes.
Take the bread out of the pan as soon as you take it out of the oven so it doesn't get soggy.
Let cool for 15 minutes. Serve!!!

rosemary french bread

First loaf this year! A classic French bread with a kick, and with the beautiful banneton pattern.

Note to self (and other artisan bread bakers): I wish I had scored the bread (cutting a 1-in-deep slice through the middle) before baking it because it kind of rose through a crack on the side while in the oven. These are minor mistakes, but I like to notice them to get it better the next time.

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Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 Tbsp rosemary, dried


Directions


Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and rosemary. Add the water.
Mix the ingredients until you get a dough that comes off the sides of the bowl.
Take out and knead for 10 minutes.
Let rest for 20 minutes.
Knead again for 5 minutes.
Let rise for 1 hour in a warm place (in a bowl covered by plastic). The dough should have doubled in volume.
Take out and form. You can either make a loaf or a boule.
To make a loaf, take one of the halves and flatten it into a rectangle. Do a business-letter fold and turn 90 degrees. Start rolling from the side farther away from you, and as you roll in, press down with your fingers to seal the dough and to stretch it a little on the roll. When it's ready, put it on a heavily-floured towel and put some plastic wrap on top of it so it doesn't dry out.
To make a boule, take one of the halves and shape it into a ball. Seal the bottom and put it in a bowl covered with a heavily-floured towel seam-side down. Put some plastic wrap on top of the bowl so it doesn't dry out.
Let proof for one hour (I proofed the bread in a banneton this time). At this time start preheating the oven. Preheat the oven with the baking stone inside at 450 F at least an hour before baking. If using a baking sheet, don't preheat the sheet.
Uncover the dough, rub some flour on it, and slice/score it however you want (I made two almost vertical lines side-by-side on the loaf, and I made a square on the boule).
Put proofed dough in the oven and toss some water in before closing the door to create steam. Let bake until the crust is golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when you tap it.

pause

Maria's Golden Oven will be paused until further notice for health reasons.

Will be back soon!

PS. Any requests for recipes I should try and perfect when I come back? Make a comment!

chocolate beer bread

 

 

I invented this recipe after being inspired by Jim Lahey's no-knead method. It's even better than beer itself! At least I think so.
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Ingredients
2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
5/8 cups chocolate stout beer (I used Rogue beer from Portland, OR)

Directions
1. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Add the beer and mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon. If it's not really sticky to the touch, mix in another tablespoon or two of water. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place the covered 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution - the pot will be very hot) Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to gently lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.