Cherry Almond Chocolate Bread

So, I have been kind of addicted to making bread every weekend. It's nice to have as a snack, for a light breakfast, or if it a savory bread, nice for dipping into pasta sauces and such. Yum. Anyways, I have made some additions to Jim Lahey's No-Work Bread recipe, as found in Mark Bittman's book and originally presented on this blog here. 

Last week, I made an almond and raisin-filled loaf for Ben's parents, and wanted to make another sweet loaf for myself. I still had plenty of almonds and thought that dried cherries would make a nice compliment to them. The dark chocolate was just for the hell of it.

Cherry Almond Chocolate Bread:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 tbsp. vital wheat gluten

2 tbsp. 5-grain cereal grain

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1-2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped into little pieces

1/4 tsp. yeast

1-2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

1/2 cup dried cherries

6 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

Water

Olive Oil

Additional flour

Begin by combining the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, including the yeast and almonds. You may omit the wheat gluten and cereal if you wish. They were added to boost texture and nutrition, as the vital wheat gluten is rich in protein. 

Put the dried cherries in a bowl, add a splash of water, cover, and heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes to soften and re-hydrate the cherries. Place the cherries and the liquid in a measuring cup with the brown sugar and almond extract, and add cold water, filling the measuring cup to the 2-cup line. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing with a spoon. The mixture will be shaggy, and does not need to be particularly perfectly blended, as the long rising time will make the mixture more homogenous. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into the largest mixing bowl in your kitchen, and then add the bread dough, taking care to scrape as much dough from the bowl as possible. 

Cover, and allow the dough to rise for at least 12 hours and up to 18 hours. Prepare a work surface with a liberal amount of flour, and pour out the risen dough. Work the dough lightly, kneading a couple of times in order to shape the dough into a nice round shape, and let the dough rise for 2 more hours on a floured cotton towel. 

Heat your oven to 450 degrees with a large dutch oven or stock pot inside, for 30 minutes. Once the oven is heated, carefully flop the bread dough inside, using the cloth to your advantage (this part takes some practice). Recover and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the bread is well-browned. Let the bread cool for at least 20 minutes before eating. 

Bread Bowls!

Isn't it the most precious little bread bowl you've ever seen? And, despite my suspicions to the contrary (hence the backup bowl), the soup was retained by its bread container! Huzzah!

Double Oven Bread Beauty Shots

Man, I can not talk enough about this bread. I've stumbled into a delicious add-in of garlic and a mix of rosemary, basil, and oregano, and wanted to show off how pretty these loaves are turning out.  Behold!

No-Work Bread with Bourbon-Soaked Raisins

Alright, we're finally back in business here. Two weekend vacations with only a two-day rest in between was harder on the old bod than I thought. When I got home for good I began a careful sleeping regimen that was hard to bounce back from. 

Anyways, I made this loaf of bread for my friends Dan and Sarah as a hosting gift, along with some Stumptown coffee. [Side note: Stumptown's online ordering is fast and awesome. Do it.] I neglected to take a picture of it once sliced so there's no big picture payoff, but I thought this bread was really good. It was made more impressive by the level of fretting and worrying over the addition of alcohol to a living yeast mixture, and the need to bring the loaf with me on a plane without somehow ruining it en route. 

No-Work Bread with Bourbon-Soaked Raisins:

1/2 cup yellow raisins

2 tbsp. dried black currants

1-2 tbsp. ginger nibs, or minced candied ginger

2 tbsp. brown sugar

Bourbon, to cover

No-Work bread dough, with one cup wheat flour substituted

4 tbsp. sugar, divided

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup rolled oats, ground in food-processor

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Additional flour for coating work surfaces and such

2 tbsp. water

Begin by combining the first five ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar. Cover and place the bowl in the refrigerator, where it will await your return. I gave my fruit about a 24-hour soaking time. You can go longer if you wish. I probably will next time. 

On the same night, prepare your bread dough as per instructions in the original recipe. Add 2 tbsp. sugar and cinnamon to the top of the dough once it has been placed in its final rising bowl.

As I was going to have to wait about 24 hours before I could remove the dough and give it its second rise, I decided to cover and store the dough in the refrigerator as well. I have found that around 14-16 hours is all the time the yeast needs to activate in the original Double Oven recipe, and didn't want the yeast to exhaust itself, especially because the bourbon-soaked fruit was to be mixed in later. 

Once it's time to move along to the second rise, drain and lightly rinse the fruit, in order to remove the surface alcohol and prevent rapid yeast death. 

Remove the dough from its rising bowl and turn it out on a well-floured work surface. Make a little space in the dough and pour the rinsed fruit in, working quickly to knead in the raisins so that they are well-distributed throughout the dough. 

Combine the whole what flour, 2 tbsp. sugar and rolled oats in the food processor and pulse into well-ground and mixed. This will be used for coating the dough and providing a nice resting place during the second rise.

Here you can see the loaf after it has been rising for about an hour and a half, which is the time that you should begin preheating your oven, with the cooking pot inside.

Follow the cooking directions in the original recipe for cooking times and temperatures, and here's what you will be able to enjoy upon removal:

No-Work Rolls with Whole Wheat Flour

Having been so pleased with the results of Jim Lahey's No-Work Bread, I wanted to start tinkering slightly and see how things turned out. My idea was to add in some whole wheat flour and make a batch of rolls rather than a whole loaf. 

Follow the instructions for the Double Oven Bread, substituting a cup of whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour. For seasoning, I relied on the salt (part of the recipe) as well as some fresh-ground black pepper. 

This time around, I successfully took a picture of the dough in its earliest form, right after mixing.

Once the dough has risen and bubbled, divide into 12 equal-ish portions (you can see that I was only mildly successful in this endeavor), and let it rise for 2 hours. 

Heat a pot in the oven at 450 degrees, but reduce the cooking times to 10-15 minutes covered, and an additional 10-15 minutes uncovered, until the rolls are golden brown.

I tried forming the rolls in two different ways to see how much of a difference can be made in the shape last minute, and found that you can made a flatter bun kind of shape by simply placing the dough seam side up without futzing with it. If you want a rounder kind of dinner roll shape, reform the dough into a ball, pinch the seam and place seam-side down in the pan.

Here you can see the difference in shape, with the round ones in the lower right-hand corner (and in the above picture):

Double Oven Bread

One thing that has surprised me about feeding myself since becoming veganesque is that most breads are not vegan. There is very often a secret low-fat milk or egg ingredient. It is very annoying, but has spurred me on in my baking attempts. Paging through Bittman (yes, him again), I saw an intriguing recipe for "Jim Lahey's No-Work Bread" that involved no kneading, and cooking the bread in a pot in the oven. It turns out that Jim Lahey is something of a guru, churning out remarkable loaves and pizzas from his bakery. I was in good hands.

Jim Lahey's No-Work Bread:

4 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus additional for dusting

1/2 tsp. yeast

2 tsp. sea salt

2 cups water at 70 degrees (this is colder than you think)

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Cornmeal, semolina, wheat bran, or whole-wheat flour, as needed

Any herbs you want (optional)

This works best if you do it late at night to enhance the Christmas-like unveiling of the dough.

Combine the yeast salt, and flour, and mix them together well before adding the water and mixing well with a fork until the dough balls together. You made need an extra tablespoon of water or so, depending on your flour. The dough will be a bit of a shaggy sticky mess [Note: There are, alas, no photos of this stage due to the aforementioned shaggy stickiness], but do not fret. Simply coat the biggest bowl you have with a bit of olive oil and plop the dough inside. 

Cover with plastic wrap, or, if you're me, an old Home Depot shopping bag, and set aside, in a happy yeast location, preferably around 70 degrees. Go to bed dreaming of delicious things.

Wake up the next morning, and gaze upon the magic the yeast has wrought. Behold!

Once your dough has bubbled like this, it is ready for the next rise, but there is no need to rush. Your dough is patient and will wait nicely for you to proceed. Keep in mind that the second rise takes about 2 hours, and the cooking and cooling time combined is almost an hour and half when considering the ideal time to continue.

Okay, once you're ready, prepare and liberally flour a work surface. If you are planning on incorporating herbs, sprinkle them on top of the flour. Turn out your dough onto the floured work surface, and coat the top with more flour. Work quickly to fold the dough a couple of times and pinch the bottom shut, making as compact of a ball as possible.

Cover a cotton kitchen towel with a moderate amount of cornmeal, flour, or what have you, and let the dough rise, covered with either more plastic wrap, a bag, or another cotton towel, for 2 hours.

Once 1.5 hours have elapsed, place a large (at least 4-quart capacity, but you can go bigger) pot or dutch oven in a 450 degree oven. Make sure that the pot you choose has a tight-fitting lid. When the 2 hours are up, carefully remove the pot from the oven, and invert the kitchen towel over the pot, thereby depositing your dough inside, seam side up. It's going to make a huge mess of cornmeal/flour/etc. but you'll have plenty of time to clean up while it's cooking. 

Spray or sprinkle a tablespoon of water on top of the dough, cover, and return to the oven. Cook for 30 minutes with the lid on, and 15-20 with the lid off. Let the bread rest for 20 minutes before digging in. 

It is delicious simply toasted and soy buttered, and is oh-so-pretty to look at to boot!

Olive Oil Bread with Onion and Mint

Having recently begun my foray into pizza doughs, I was inspired to move into general baking, and found a recipe in Bittman for Olive Oil bread. I only made a few changes to his recipe, having basically no idea what I was doing, but did add some vital wheat gluten and cut down on the amount of onion.

Olive Oil Bread with Onions and Mint:

3 cups all-purpose or baking flour

3 tbsp. vital wheat gluten

2 tsp. bread-machine or instant yeast

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1/3 yellow onion, diced

1 tbsp. minced fresh mint leaves

Begin by proofing the yeast in 1 cup warm water, letting it sit for about 10 minutes until all the happy yeasties have melted. In your food processor (or in a bowl), combine the flour, gluten, and salt, mixing them well. Add the olive oil, and the yeast + water mixture and mix together, adding water about a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together.

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured work surface, add in the onion and mint, and knead together. Knead for a minute or so, and then form a smooth, round dough ball, pinching the undercarriage together, and place into an oiled bowl in which the dough can comfortably rise. 

Let rise at least an hour and half, at which point you can leave the dough whole or divide in two. This is also the point at which you can place your dough into a plastic bag and freeze. 

Let your dough rise again, on a well-floured surface for up to 2 hours. Once you have determined the dough is ready, heat a pizza stone or cookie sheet (oiled, or lined with parchment paper) in a 425-degree oven. Score the top of the dough with a kitchen knife.

Cook in the 425-degree oven until the top begins to brown, then lower the heat and continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 210 degrees. Let your bread rest at least 5 minutes before slicing. 

Vegan Banana Muffins

I was making banana muffins at work, and wanted to have a couple that I could actually eat. I found a basic recipe and adapted it based on what ingredients I had at hand. They actually turned out really good for a first attempt at vegan baking, and I have a couple ideas of how to make them even better. This is exciting. I've never been much of a baker, but my desire for sweets that I can eat is diminishing my reticence. 

I'm mostly posting this to tout my moderate success, though I think I'll wait to put up any full baking recipe until I've made a whole portion (it seems silly to give a recipe for three muffins).