Rolling with the Babes

 

Now that it's fall, the menu changes around here. There is less grilled food and more meals that are comfort foods, like stews and braises and soups. A great accompaniment to those kinds of dishes are bread rolls. Especially with stews and braises, the roll can be torn into pieces and those pieces used to capture the delicious stew gravy and braise juices at the bottom of the bowl or the edges of the plate.

The Bread Baking Babes are right in line with that seasonal change. This month our Kitchen of the Month is Cathy of Bread Experience and our challenge is to bake Sigteboller, Danish Salty Rye Rolls.

As usual, I’m making  changes to the recipe. Turns out that I don’t have any rye flour, although I really thought that I did. Instead I’m using barley flour, plus a small amount of Irish whole meal wheat flour, and a couple teaspoons of ground flax seed.

It’s seems odd to dip the bottoms of the rolls in rolled oats when there aren’t any in the rolls themselves, but I did follow that part. I used some French fleur de sel for the salt part on top, which I applied after scoring the tops.

I added a couple of tablespoons of water to the polish since I used yeast, not sourdough starter. I bake bread so rarely that it doesn’t make sense to have a starter going.

If you decide to bake these lovely rolls, and want to be a Buddy, e-mail Cathy and include a photo, your URL, and a short description of your bake experience. She needs that by Oct 30 to include it in the roundup.

Be sure to visit the other Babes websites to see their fun with Sigteboller!

These rolls are delicious- especially the tops with the extra salt. I like the chewy texture. Next time will probably skip the rolled oats - they didn’t seem to add much.

Sigteboller, Danish Salty Rye Rolls

Makes 8-9 rolls (70grams each)

Poolish

24 grams rye flour

40 grams all-purpose flour 

64 ml water

10 grams (1 teaspoon) sourdough starter or a pinch of yeast

Final dough. 

96 grams rye flour

160 grams all-purpose flour 

175-200 ml lukewarm water

3 grams instant yeast

6 grams sea salt

12 grams dark molasses 

Topping: Rolled oats, sea salt 

Mix the polish

The evening before you plan to bake the rolls, combine the flours, water, and yeast in a medium mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine and allow to restart warm room temperature for 14-16 hours, or overnight. It should expand and have bubbles.

Mix the dough 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, add the rye flour, all-purpose flour, water, and poolish to the bowl.Mix on low until there are no dry bits of flour. Allow the dough to rest for 45 minutes (autolyse). Note: Start with 150 ml of water and add in additional water gradually, as needed.

Add the yeast, salt, and molasses. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Sprinkle in additional water if necessary to distribute evenly.

Cover the bowl, and let dough rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. Gently punch the dough down to release the air. Form into a round and place back in the bowl. Let the dough rest an additional 45 minutes.

After the dough has risen during the 45 minutes, punch it down to release the air.Divide the dough into 8-9 equal portions, about 70 grams each. Shape each portion into a ball

Press the bottom (seam side) into a plate of rolled oats, then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel and let the rolls rise another 40-50 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Just before baking use a sharp knife to cut an x-shape, about 1/4 to 1/2-inch deep on top of each roll. Sprinkle coarse Kosher salt over the rope, for flavor and to be decorative. You can also use caraway seeds or sunflower seeds 

Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Once the rolls are baked, allow them to cool on the baking sheet. Enjoy warm with butter.

Best Oatmeal Cookies

I have a very thoughtful daughter. She knows that I love to bake. For my birthday she gave me the Zingerman's Bakehouse Cookbook and it is a treasure. The book combines great recipes, both sweet and savory, excellent baking tips and instructions, and an overview of their company both the people and the philosophy.

Finally had some time today to try a recipe from the cookbook. I chose to start with their oatmeal cookies, which they call the Big O Cookies. I'm past the time when a big-o should mean anything other than the best oatmeal cookie ever...and these really are. They are a generous size (although I was baking mine in my countertop oven, so I made them smaller than the recipe called for. They have chewy old-fashioned oats, a nice mixture of brown sugar and maple for sweetness, plus lots of raisins. There is just enough cinnamon and nutmeg and they are almost the right thickness.

I made half the recipe and couldn't figure out a way to halve an egg, so I added a little more flour...about 2 tablespoons...to make up for the added liquid. Turns out I should have only added 1 tablespoon or maybe none since they were slightly more cakey that I had been expecting. However, even with that they were the best oatmeal cookies that Sweetie has ever had (according to him) and I just loved them, too. I did stray from the recipe a tiny bit...I used a bit more cinnamon and used golden raisins instead of flame variety, plus I used less raisins. Of course also I used non-dairy margarine instead of butter.

Thank you K for this great book and thank you to my dear sister G and niece T for letting me know about Zingerman's...an Ann Arbor, MI institution.

Big O Cookies
From Zingerman's Bakehouse Cookbook, slightly revised by me

Notes: There are both cup measures and weights here. I used the weights as much as possible because bakers find that this works better. If you have a scale, please use the weights...you will be glad. Smaller amounts don't have weights. Brown sugar is always packed if measured.

margarine, room temperature          1 cup + 2 tablespoons        250 g
brown sugar                                     3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons     154 g
maple syrup                                     1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon       172 g
large egg                                           1
vanilla extract                                  1 teaspoon
all-purpose flour                              1 3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon  255 g
baking soda                                      1 1/8 teaspoon
sea salt                                              1 1/8 teaspoon
ground cinnamon                             1 1/8 teaspoon
ground nutmeg                                 1/4 teaspoon
old-fashioned rolled oats                  3 cups                                 300 g
flame raisins (I used golden)            2 3/4 cups                           390 g

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180C).

Prepare a couple of cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl use a wooden spoon or stand mixer on medium speed to cream the margarine (or use unsalted butter which will be even better) and sugar until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup in thirds to keep batter from curdling permanently. Add maple syrup slowly to blend it in easily.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until thoroughly incorporated.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg...I used a whisk to mix it all together. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer. Stir with wooden spoon or with electric mixer on low speed until evenly combined. Add the oats and raisins and mix to distribute evenly.

Scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough, or use a 1 1/2 oz.(48 ml) scoop (disher) onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing far apart to allow for spreading. Press down so that dough rounds are about 1/2-inch thick.

Bake cookies for 15 -17 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and just set in the middle. Cool on a rack to room temperature.

Tip: Dough can be refrigerated uncooked and kept a week. Bake cookies right from the fridge. Expect to bake for and additional 2-3 minutes since they are cold.

Crazy Good Cookies

When I was in the LA area my hostess gave me a photocopy of her favorite cookie recipe, grandly called The Best Cookie in the compilation book where it is found. I baked some up this morning for a contest prize at our scholarship meeting and they sure did smell wonderful and they looked delicious, too.

The batter is similar to toll house cookie, but enriched with coconut, oats and walnuts...but no chocolate chips. There is also the 'mystery' ingredient or maybe crazy ingredient...crushed corn flakes. I had to go out and buy those since they are not a usual item in my pantry. The only box I could find was huge, so now I need to find some other recipes that use corn flake cereal!

These are tasty cookies. They are crisp at the edges, a bit chewy if you cook them the shorter time, and delicious if you like coconut, oats and walnuts, plus brown sugar and vanilla. Who knows if they are the best, but they sure are darn good cookies!

The Best Cookies
P.E.O. California Chapter MH

1 cup butter (I used vegan butter substitute)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup crushed corn flakes
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (you could use pecans instead)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3  1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Cream together butter and sugars. Add egg and mix well. Add next 6 ingredients (oil, corn flakes, rolled oats, coconut, walnuts, vanilla); mix well. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined.
Shape into small balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten with a wet fork. Bake 12 to 14 minutes at 325 degrees F.
Makes about 100 small cookies.
The recipe is from Edith Norton, Sebastopol, CA

What's An ANZAC?

If you're from New Zealand or Australia, you probably know the answer. Those two countries combined armies for a time during the First World War. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. They were disbanded after that battle. In Greece in 1941 during the Second World War they also fought together under that name and again in the Vietnam conflict.

They are also a delicious biscuit (cookie in America) which was sent to soldiers and also sold to raise money for the troops and later the veterans. (Recipe at the bottom.) At the website anzacday.org.au they give this info:

"During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy. Most of these were lucky to maintain a speed of ten knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). Most had no refrigerated facilities, so any food sent had to be able to remain edible after periods in excess of two months. A body of women came up with the answer - a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible. The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. These oats were used extensively in Scotland, especially for a heavy porridge that helped counteract the extremely cold climate.

The ingredients they used were: rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. All these items did not readily spoil. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus, eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle. Eggs that were sent long distances were coated with a product called ke peg (like Vaseline) then packed in air tight containers filled with sand to cushion the eggs and keep out the air.

As the war drew on, many groups like the CWA (Country Women’s Association), church groups, schools and other women’s organisations devoted a great deal of time to the making of ANZAC biscuits. To ensure that the biscuits remained crisp, they were packed in used tins, such as Billy Tea tins. The tins were airtight, thus no moisture in the air was able to soak into the biscuits and make them soft. Most people would agree there is nothing worse than a soft biscuit.

During World War II, with refrigeration in so many Merchant Navy Ships, the biscuits were not made to any great extent. It was now possible to send a greater variety of food, like fruit cake.

ANZAC biscuits are still made today. They can also be purchased from supermarkets and specialty biscuit shops. Around ANZAC Day, these biscuits are also often used by veterans’ organisations to raise funds for the care and welfare of aged war veterans."

We had a visit from an Australian friend and his sister today, so I made some anzac biscuits using his wife's recipe to go with our tea. I have fond memories of watching her make them in their kitchen in Perth. This is a really easy, quick recipe as long as you have all the ingredients on hand. Your house will also smell wonderful with the butter, sugar, coconut, nuts and oats fragrances. Best of all they are irresistible. Hard to only eat one.

Anzac Cookies

makes about 2 dozen

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
2 tablespoons hot water
2 tablespoons golden syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup dry coconut
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2) Combine the melted butter, hot water, golden syrup and brown sugar in a mixing bowl (or the pot you melted the butter in if it large enough to hold the batter). Stir to blend well.

3) On a sheet of waxed paper combine the oats, flours, salt and soda. You could also combine them in a mixing bowl.

4) Add the nuts, coconut, dry ingredients and dried fruit to the butter mixture. Stir to blend well.

5) Pack dough into greased small tart pans or make into drop cookies on a cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minute until golden brown. (New note: Check cookies at 10 and 13 minutes :)

6) Cool cookies on wire rack. Store in airtight container. These cookies ship well. Enjoy!

More Rhubarb

We have been having some rain and cool weather for most of this month so it has been enjoyable to bake things. The cooler weather has also allowed my tulips to stay around much longer than usual, so I have been able to enjoy first some yellow and lavendar ones, then pink and red ones and now the later yellow ones while still having the pink ones looking good.

The only downside is that the ground has stayed cool, too. I did plant out some zucchini squash plants that had gotten too big to stay indoors. They seem to be OK but I don't expect much growth from them for a while until it warms up some. I have dozens and dozens of tomato seedlings so I hope it warms up soon so they can get planted, too.

  My recently planted rhubarb plant looks pathetic but a friend has been generous with stalks of her gorgeous rhubarb so I've been enjoying this plant that always reminds me of spring.


Although rhubarb cut up and cooked with a little sugar is a fine thing all by itself, it also lends itself to a very Irish dish, the rhubarb crumble. I suspect that this is also a very British dish and who knows how many places enjoy it for 'pud'. The lovely thing about it is that it is quick and simple and delicious, too.

Rhubarb Crumble for 4-6

3-4 stalks fresh rhubarb, cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar or to taste
4 tablespoons all-purpose or whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter

Place the rhubarb and water, plus sugar as needed, into a shallow, wide ovenproof pan...I use our cast iron skillet. Cover and cook the rhubarb for 20 minutes at medium heat. While rhubarb is cooking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

When the rhubarb has cooked for about 10 minutes, make the crumble: In a medium bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt and nutmeg. Work in the cold butter with your fingertips or use a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture is crumbly and clumpy.

Uncover the pan and crumble that mixture evenly over the hot fruit. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until crumbs are golden brown. Serve while still warm. Good with a garnish of whipped cream.