Full Moon Yam and Garlic Bread

 Happy Lunar New Year! It's the Year of the Snake, symbol of resilience and wisdom, so I wish you both. I recently joined a book club and we had a feast today, almost all dishes with a Lunar New Year theme. 

I brought a round loaf of yam and garlic bread that looks like a full moon and tastes devine. It is a soft bread, moist and golden from the yams, with a subtle garlic flavor. We had it warm, with butter for those who wanted it, and there was only a little bit left at the end of lunch.

If you use oil instead of butter to grease the pan the bread is baked in, it's a vegan bread.

 

Except for putting the dough into a ball shape, there is no fancy shaping and you can bake it in a cast iron skillet, round casserole dish, or a round cake pan. I started the dough yesterday, let it rise, punched it down, covered it and put it in the fridge until this morning. After letting the dough warm up, I punched it down on a floured board, shaped it into the ball, put it in the greased pan, and let it rise, then baked it. No topping, slashing, etc. needed. Hope you enjoy making it!

Full Moon Yam and Garlic Bread
By Narsai David

 1 cup warm water (preferably the water the yams were boiled in)

1 cup mashed yams (boil until tender, then peel and mash)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 package yeast, or 1 tablespoon dry yeast

2 small cloves garlic, crushed

3 cups white bread or all-purpose flour (about)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, softened or salad oil

 Place the water, sweet potatoes sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, flour and salt. Mix well with a dough hook or heavy paddle. The dough will be quite soft and sticky. If using a dough hook, you may need to add a little more to keep the dough around the hook. Continue mixing for 2-3 minutes if you are using a mixing machine, 3 to 4 minutes by hand. Spread 1 tablespoon of butter or oil over the dough.

 Place the dough in a warm plate to rise, covered with a dish towel. When the dough has doubled in volume, anywhere between 1 and 2 hours, turn it out onto a floured surface and punch it down to get out the air that has inflated it. Kneading a few times also helps in this step. (This is where you can stop and put it back onto the plate, cover it, and put in fridge overnight.)  Shape the deflated dough into a ball. This is a very soft dough, so handle it gently and use plenty of flour to keep it from sticking to the board.

 Butter or oil a 10-inch skillet. Put the dough in the skillet, and set aside, uncovered, in a warm place until double in volume.

 About halfway through the rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

 When the dough has doubled, bake for 35 to 40 minutes to brown well. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Makes 1 round loaf.

Joe Matos Cheese Factory Closing Down

 Back in November of 2014 I blogged about a local cheese producer who makes Portuguese cheese. The cows that give the milk for the cheese are right there at the site of the cheese store, so as local as you can get. A bonus is that it's fairly close to home for me. The sad news is that the Dad of the family is having health issues, so they will close the cheese business at the end of this month! 

Here is the address in case you can stop by in the next couple of days and buys some really delicious cheese. The less aged cheese is great for melty cheese and the more aged cheese is a bit crumbly and wonderful to eat as is, with crackers, baguette slices, apple slices, etc.

Of course this post is useless to you, dear reader, if you don't live in the San Francisco area, but I just want to salute this wonderful local business for their years of producing a fantastic product at a reasonable price.

 Joe Matos Cheese Factory
3669 Llano Rd
Santa Rosa, CA 95407                          

 (707) 584-5283

The Wonderful Lemons of January

I'm so glad that I planted a Myer lemon shrub years ago. For a few years it lived in a large pot and did OK, but once I found a place for it in a warm spot near the barn it thrived. This year it probably has produced 60 or 70 lemons, many of them pretty large. Last year there were only a few, so next year might not be as productive...we'll see.

Looking back at posts from January over the years I see that this month is the one where I use lemons the most. One of my favorite treats that use fresh lemons is lemon curd, the soft and creamy sort of lemon jam that is perfect on a scone or English muffin for a tea party. I made a batch this past week and realized that you might want the recipe if you would like to make some yourself. Store bought lemon curd is OK, but the curd you make yourself is worlds better! You can also make curd with any other kind of citrus...lime, orange, blood orange, grapefruit...or even with pomegranate juice as I did HERE. Lots of choices, lots of fun.

The finished curd, put into sterilized jars, keeps up to three months in the fridge...if it lasts that long.

Zesty Lemon Curd Yields 3 Cups
Stores up to 3 months in fridge

3-4 fragrant, bright-skinned lemons
1/2 Cup (1 stick) plus 2 Tablespoons butter, cut up
Pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 1/4 Cups sugar

1) Run 2 inches of water into the base pan of a double boiler and set over medium heat to come to a brisk simmer.
2) Grate or shred enough lemon zest from washed & dried lemons to make 1 1/2 tablespoons, packed, lemon zest. Place the zest in the top pan of the double boiler. Juice the lemons and strain juice to make 1/2 Cup; add to the zest. Add the cut up butter & salt to the pan. Set aside.
3) Beat the egg yolks and whole egg together at high speed in the large bowl of an electric mixer until they are foamy; gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat the mixture until it is pale, fluffy, & very thick, about 5 minutes.
4) Scrape the egg mixture into the double-boiler top and set the top into the base containing simmering water. At once begin whisking the mixture; cook it, whisking constantly, until it has thickened smoothly and is steaming hot, about 15 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the curd; it is done when it will coat a metal or wooden spoon heavily. Remove the upper pan from the hot water.
5) Pour the curd into a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and press it through with a rubber spatula, leaving the shreds of zest behind (discard shreds). (It is o.k. to leave the zest in the curd, but the texture is different.) Scrape the curd into sterilized jars. Let it cool uncovered. Cap jars of cooled curd with sterilized lids. Refrigerate the curd.

Note: This can be made with lime zest & juice. Use 1 Tablespoon lime zest and 1/2 Cup lime juice and follow the recipe the same way for everything else.

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

 I have a dear friend who is a vegan. We recently had coffee and we were talking about baking. She said that she had tried a couple of recipes for lemon poppy seed cake but that they turned out like bread, not cake. I told her that I would see if I could find a good recipe for her that was truly cake.

I found a number of recipes that might work but settled on one in the Great British Baking Show Perfect Cakes book. It used yogurt, eggs and olive oil. I knew that I could buy plant based yogurt and I got a beautiful bottle of lemon olive oil for Christmas, plus I've used an egg replacement powder before in baking so it seemed like the best recipe to start off with.

The cake was for a loaf cake but it didn't have poppy seeds, but those were easy to add. I did make a number of changes: replace the three eggs with the equivalent in egg replacer powder mixed with warm water, use Silk vanilla non-dairy yogurt, use the lemon olive oil, mix the sugar and lemon zest together before adding it to the other dry ingredients, and add some poppy seeds. I also buttered the pan with a non-dairy margarine.

The cake turned out really well. It rose up some in the pan, but sank a bit while cooling. It smelled wonderful and had a lovely dark golden brown crust. I brought it to my friend around dinner time, still warm, along with the recipe. That way she and her husband could enjoy it after dinner. Of course that meant that I didn't taste it or see it's texture, but they both texted and said that it was delicious and very much a cake. Success!

Lemon-Poppy Seed Yogurt Loaf Cake
based on a recipe in The Great British Bake Off Perfect Cakes 

 150g all-purpose flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder
good pinch of salt
50g almond flour
200g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large unwaxed lemon
125 ml Silk plant based yogurt, vanilla
125 ml mild olive oil (I used lemon olive oil)
equivalent of 3 medium eggs, at room temperature. I used Ener-G egg substitute powder prepared with warm water as directed on the box (3 1/2 teaspoons powder + 6 tablespoons warm water)
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1) Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds in a mixing bowl.  Butter the bottom and sides of an 8x4-inch loaf pan and line across the bottom and up the short sides with a piece of parchment.  (This helps you remove the cake from the pan easily.

2) in a small bowl use your clean fingertips to rub the lemon zest into the sugar until it resembles wet sand. There may be some of the sugar that doesn't get mixed with the zest...that's OK.

3) add the sugar/zest mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until well combined. Make a well in the mixture (an indentation in the center).

4) In another bowl  whisk the olive oil and yogurt together until well combined. Add the egg substitute and whisk again to combine. Pour this mixture into the well in the dry ingredients. Sprinkle the poppy seeds on top. Us a wooden spoon or large spoon shaped spatula to stir it all together , only stirring until just combined.

5) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly, making sure the corners are well filled 

6) Bake in the preheated oven for 45-60 until well-risen and a deep golden brown. A skewer inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean.

7) Once  baked, put on a wire rack on the counter for five minutes to firm up. Run a round-bladed knife (like a butter knife) around the inside of the loaf pan to  loosen the loaf, then carefully lift it out, using the ends of the lining paper strip, and set the cake on the wire rack to cool. Serves best if completely cool.

8) Serve in thick slices. Store, wrapped in foil, in an airtight container and eat within 4 days. Flavors and aromas will be even more pronounced a day or so after baking.

 

Challah For My Neighbor

Our neighbor down the road, Wally,  celebrates the Jewish holidays and Sweetie and I knew that this year was going to be hard for him since he is a new widower of only a few months. That first holiday season is really tough. I also wasn't sure if his dear departed wife had baked for him at holiday time. It seemed like a good gift for him would be a home baked challah loaf...plus it gave me a reason to bake bread. That might sound strange, but Sweetie has been losing weight and has asked that I not bake bread very often if at all because the fragrance is so tantalizing! This way the bread was going out of the house untasted and so we were not tempted...or so I thought!

I brought the loaf, wrapped in plastic wrap and tied with a blue ribbon, to a neighborhood bar that also serves great breakfast. We were joined for brunch by Wally and another couple who are also neighbors. We didn't get to see each other over Christmas because of some illnesses and visiting families, so the brunch was a gift exchange, too. I had made the bread the day before and shaped it, then put it in the fridge overnight. That way I could bake it early in the morning and still have a warm loaf by brunch time.

Wally was delighted with the loaf, but was concerned because he is the only one at home and it was a big loaf. His solution was to use his pocketknife to cut pieces, which he handed around to each of us! We had coffee but our orders were being prepared, so this was a treat to have something to nibble on while we waited for our meals. We had just started to taste the bread when the owner arrived. Sweetie gave him a piece of bread and he, in turn, brought out some homemade butter to enjoy with the bread. Made our treat even better! Sweetie and I have eaten breakfast and some other meals there for many years and have gotten to know the owner, so we figured that he wouldn't mind the outsourced bread, but adding butter was such a charming gesture.

It was really good bread! I used a King Arthur Baking recipe, which I'm giving below. The only change I made was to add a decent amount (about 1/2 cup) additional flour. I think that my eggs were extra large, so that increased the moisture, which meant more flour.

Wishing you a magical year...and lots of good bread!

Classic Challah
from King Arthur Baking Company
makes 1 braided loaf

Ingredients

Dough

• 4 to 4 1/4 cups (480g to 510g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup (170g) water, lukewarm
• 6 tablespoons (74g) vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons (63g) honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk (white reserved for topping)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) table salt
• 4 teaspoons (12g) instant yeast

Topping

• 1 large egg white (reserved from above), beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
• poppy seeds or sesame seeds, for sprinkling; optional

 

·         To make the dough: Weigh 480g of flour; or measure 4 cups by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. 

·         Combine the flour with the rest of the dough ingredients. Mix and knead them by hand, mixer, or bread machine, until you have a soft, smooth dough. If the dough is very sticky, add an additional 1/4 cup (30g) of flour.

·         Allow the dough to rise in a plastic wrap-covered bowl for about 2 hours, or until it's puffy; it won't necessarily double in bulk.

·         Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.

·         Divide the dough into pieces, the number depending on what kind of braid you want to make. You may braid the challah the traditional way, into a three-strand braid. For a fancier presentation, make a six-strand braid.  

·         Once you've decided which braid you're doing, divide the dough into the appropriate number of pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 20" long. If the dough starts to shrink back as you roll, cover it and let it rest for about 10 minutes, then resume rolling. The short rest gives the gluten a chance to relax.

·         Braid the loaf. I made a three strand braid, which is easy, but you can go for four - or six-strand braids. King Arthur Baking has videos on each type of braiding. 

·         Gently pick up the braided loaf, and place it on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

·         Cover the loaf with lightly greased plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature until it's very puffy, 60 to 90 minutes. Toward the end of the rising time, place a rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.

·         To make the topping: Whisk together the reserved egg white and water. Brush the mixture over the risen loaf. Sprinkle generously with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, if desired.

·         Bake the challah on the oven's upper rack for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it's a deep golden brown and a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads 190°F.

·         Remove the challah from the oven and transfer it to a rack to cool.

·         Storage information: Store any leftover challah, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage. While challah does tend to dry out after a day or so, it's always good toasted, or made into grilled sandwiches or French toast.