Toasted Oat Bread with the Babes

The Kitchen of the Month for January, 2021 - oh, how I love saying 2021! - is Elizabeth of Blogging from OUR Kitchen. She gave us a fascinating recipe for a bread that uses both whole wheat flour and toasted oats, plus all-purpose flour and a few other things. Not being content with leaving things alone, I used some Irish whole-meal wheat flour instead of the wheat germ and malted wheat chops, plus I added some Harvest Grain Blend from King Arthur Flour and kneaded in some unroasted, unsalted sunflower seeds at the end...plus I made dinner rolls instead of a loaf. I know, it really might be better to start with the recipe given, but I so rarely do that it would be hard to do that now. 

The resulting rolls were hearty, seedy, and quite delicious! There was a nutty flavor from the toasted oats and a slightly chewy texture which I like. Sweetie liked them, too.

I did try the preheated cast iron bottom, topped with an overturned large, tall cake pan and that gave the crust some heft and a nice color. The rest of the rolls, which I baked on a sheet pan without being covered are just as nice inside, but paler and without the singing crust that the covered ones have.

If you are going to be a Buddy, and I hope you will, go to Elizabeth's blog HERE and send her an email with a photo of the finished bread and the URL by Jan. 29th to be included in the round-up. This is a great bread to go with soups and stews, plus it's lovely toasted and would probably make great sandwich bread, too. I gave the original recipe below.

Do visit the other Babes blogs, too, to see what this bread should have looked like. Check out Elizabeth's first because she has lots of information and tips. 

Toasted Oat Bread

Leavener

• 60 grams whole wheat flour
• 60 grams water
• dessert spoon of starter from the fridge (about 30 grams) 

Oats

• 100 grams rolled oats, toasted
• 100 grams boiling water 

Actual Dough

• 100 grams 100% whole wheat 'no additives' flour
• 400 grams unbleached 'no additives' all-purpose flour
• 5 grams wheat germ
• 5 grams malted wheat chops
• 325 grams water
• all of the leavener from above, when a small forkful floats in a glass of cool water
• 10 grams salt + 25 grams water
• all of the rolled oats mixture from above 

Topping (optional)

• quick oats 

1. Leavener: In the evening of the day before making the bread: Put the starter, flour and water into a smallish bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is stirred in well. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside overnight in the oven with only the light turned on. Unless it is ridiculously hot in the kitchen. In that case, leave the oven light turned off. 

2. Prepare the Oats: Poured rolled oats into a dry cast iron frying pan and place it over medium high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time. It takes about about 7 minutes to toast the oats. (They smell wonderful!) Transfer the toasted oats into a medium-sized bowl and pour boiling water over top. Cover with a plate and leave overnight in the oven with the leavener.

3. Mix the dough In the morning of the day you will be making the bread: When a small forkful of the leavener floats in a small bowl of room temperature water, you can go ahead and mix the dough: Sift the whole wheat flour into a large mixing bowl, reserving the bran for after shaping. Add all-purpose flour, wheat germ, malted wheat chops, and 325 water to the sifted whole wheat flour. Stir with a wooden spoon. Set aside for a moment.

4. Weigh the salt and 25 grams water, whisking it together in a small bowl. Set this bowl aside in the oven with only the light turned on.

5. Add the leavener to the large bowl. Use a dough whisk or wooden spoon to mix these ingredients together to make a rough dough. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave on the counter for about 30 minutes.

6. Adding the salt: Pour the salt mixture over the dough.

7. Kneading: Use one of your hands to squoosh the salt and water into the dough; use the other hand to steady the bowl - this way you always have a clean hand. At first the dough might be a bit messy and seem like it's coming apart. Persevere. Suddenly, it will seem more like dough than a horrible separated glop. Keep folding it over onto itself until it is relatively smooth. Cover with a plate and leave to rest for about 30 minutes.

8. Adding the oats and first stretching and folding: Add the oats overtop. Turn the bowl as you fold and re-fold the dough into the center, to distribute the oats. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave on the counter (or if the kitchen is cool like ours in winter and spring, into the oven with only the light turned on).

9. Continuing to stretch and fold: Repeat the folding step about 3 times in all at 30 minute intervals. After the final time of folding, leave the covered bowl in a draft free area until the dough has almost doubled 

10. Pre-shaping: Scatter a dusting of all-purpose flour on the board and gently place the dough on the flour. Fold the dough over in half, gently patting off any extra flour that might be there. Turn the dough a quarter turn and fold in half again. Continue turning and folding in half until the dough is shaped in a ball. Leave it seam side down on the board and cover with a large overturned mixing bowl (or a tea towel) and let rest for about 30 minutes. 

11. Prepare the brotform: Liberally coat the insides of a brot-form with rice flour. 

12. Shaping and adding optional topping: Scatter a very light dusting of flour on top of the round. Gently press down with the palms of your hands to create a disc that is about 4 centimeters deep. Carefully turn the disc over. Without breaking the skin on the bottom, use the dough scraper to fold the dough in half. Turn the dough a quarter turn and continue folding until a ball is created. Leave it seam side down and use the sides of the dough scraper to tighten the dough ball further. Once it has been tightened, wet your hands and rub them gently over the top. Scatter quick oats overtop. Now carefully put the shaped loaf seam-side UP into the brotform. Scatter the reserved bran evenly onto the seam area. Cover with the tea towel or an overturned mixing bowl and let sit for an hour or so to allow the loaf to almost double. "Almost" is the key here.... 

13. Preheating the oven: To know when it's time to bake, run your index finger under water and gently but firmly press it on the side of the bread. If the dough springs back immediately, recover the bread and leave it on the counter for another 15 minutes of so. If the dough gradually returns back after being pressed, leave the bread on the counter. Put a baking stone on a lower shelf of the oven. Place a cast-iron combo cooker (or lidded casserole dish) on the middle shelf and preheat the oven to hot (we set ours to 450F). 

14. Scoring: When the oven is thoroughly preheated about fifteen minutes later, transfer the round into the hot shallow pan of the combo-cooker. Using a lame, sharp knife, or scissors, score the bread in the pattern you like. (Ludd and Fjeld score their toasted oats bread in a box-like pattern on top.) 

15. Baking: Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and, without stopping to stare in amazement at the amazing oven spring, close the oven door to continue baking for another 30 minutes, until the crust is a lovely dark golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when knuckle-rapped on the bottom. 

16. Cooling: When the bread has finished baking, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on a footed rack before slicing and eating.

More Recipes From 2012

Although January had almost a post a day, the rest of the year was as usual...a post every four or five days most of the time. One thing that I notice is that the introductions both explain the recipe and are very personal and sort of chatty...like talking to a friend about what's going on and how you feel. Looking over the posts for February through December 2012 I had a hard time deciding which to highlight...there were so many delicious recipes each month. Below are some of my favorites, but you can always wander through the blog and discover more!

Sharing what is going on with us is what blogs were originally for, so it's kind of fun to read not only about making Banana Muffins, but also about how Sweetie and I rented a trencher in February to lay conduit to hold the radio wire that is used for the electronic dog fence. We were getting ready to find a rescue dog...which we did months later...our favorite dog and current one, Pi. When we found him and brought him home, it was zucchini time, so I made an Asian Zucchini Soup and also posted a photo of our handsome new (to us) dog.

 I also kept the reader up on what was happening with my gardening pursuits, including the sprouting of seeds in the sunspace, (along with the recipe for an unusual Salmon and Spinach Cornbread loaf) 

to repotting the seedlings when they grew large enough (along with a delicious recipe for bar cookies; Dirty Blondes), 

and planting out the first seedlings while enjoying the tulip blooms (and a springtime Rhubarb Crumble).

There were some more recipes from the family cookbook, too. I made Chicken and Dumplings while it was still chilly because they are pure comfort food. 

Later, in the spring, I made Southern Fried Chicken the way that my Dad taught me to make it. He grew up in various parts of the South, so I think he knows his chicken. Due to the fatty skin compounded by the frying, I don't really make this anymore, but I have fond memories of eating delicious cold friend chicken on picnics with the family. 

Another great recipe is Classic Devilled Eggs...and these are the perfect thing to bring to a potluck. Whenever someone does bring devilled eggs to a gathering, they are often the first to go. 

Another recipe from the cookbook is a wonderful, stick-to-your-ribs soup, Country Bean and Cabbage Soup. If you have the remains of a ham feast, this is the soup to use for the bone and any bits of ham that are left. 

Another dish that would fit right in to the cookbook (but might have been left out) is Pot Roast. It's a hearty, economical dish that is also a one-pot meal (although you could add some rolls or biscuits on the side if you like). 

The cookbook is out of print, but one of my favorite recipes from it is Dad's Creamed Corn, a good one to remember when summer corn is inexpensive and at the top of the season. 

Another, which I make all the time, is Split Pea Soup. One that I don't make often enough, but one that was an annual treat while I was growing up is Lane Cake, a Southern kind of fruitcake for Christmas. Here my Mom is cutting thin slices of it. The top photo in this post is my niece with the version she made a few years ago for our West coast Christmas.

As you might expect, there have been plenty of great bread recipes this year, too. One of my all-time favorites (might be due to my sweet tooth!) is for Awesome Sticky Buns which use an astonishing amount of heavy cream, along with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and an easily handled bread dough. If you know someone who loves cinnamon sticky buns, make these for them and you will be their hero! I have to re-link the photos for some reason, but if you read the recipe you will probably get the idea, especially since they bake in a pool of heavy cream.

Another bread to remember was baked on the100th birthday of Julia Child and the bread is her classic French Bread. She writes long recipes sometimes, but do give this one a try. There is nothing like a freshly baked baguette! Since it was also the height of tomato season, I made bruchetta with the slices of baguette.

Probably my favorite bread for the whole year, and a showstopper, too, is Pesto Rose Bread. It is actually not as difficult as it looks, but it's perfect for the fall when there is usually lots of basil if you want to make your own pesto...or you can use purchased pesto. Either way, your kitchen will smell amazing while this bakes and you will have an intensely flavored, awesome bread to eat. There is no rose used in making this bread...it's that the shape is similar to a rose. I made another won the following month for an auction and made a lot of money for my scholarship group since everyone wanted to win that gorgeous, fragrant bread. The unbaked photo shows the pesto better but the baked version with the slice out makes me want to bake this again, right now!

A fun bread I created this year was a colored Easter Egg Bread, which was a loaf shaped like an egg and made with dough that had been colored naturally with pumpkin and decorated with a flour/water paste that had been colored with food colors. It was a savory bread with some garlic to it, too, and it made great toast as well as looking festive on Easter.

The last bread post is for a variation of my favorite waffle - bread baked in a waffle iron - this time it's Amazing Overnight Gingerbread Waffles. I might have to make these this weekend! You start the batter the evening before and in the morning while the waffle iron heats up you finish off the batter. The gingerbread ones are great with bacon and lots of real maple syrup!

I think we should end with a grain salad and then a dessert, O.K.? The salad is one that I came up with by seriously altering a recipe I found on the internet. Forbidden Rice Salad uses the black rice called forbidden rice, plus Asian, citrus and fresh cherry elements. It doesn't photograph all that well, but Sweetie took two servings, so I know it's one that has to be included in this round-up of 2012.

The dessert is one of Sweetie's favorites and a deluxe and tart-crusted version of a diner staple - Coconut Cream Tart. This one is based on pastry cream, with lots of coconut, including toasted coconut as garnish, plus a decadent shortbread type tart crust (and whipped cream). Do try it!

That's it for 2012. My next post will probably be a recipe, then more retrospective posts later in January.

The Blog in 2012 - January

I must have been hit with post-Christmas craziness because I posted EACH day in January! From the first post of Macarons which I baked with my daughter 

to a cozy Pork Ragu with Spinach over Polenta for the last day of January, there are plenty of interesting posts. Because there are so many, January gets its own blog post.

 

Have you ever wanted to make Farls? They are a sort of combination of Soda Bread and Scones and great with tea. How about Milkbar's Compost Cookies? They combine coffee grounds and mix-ins like pretzels and potato chips, but the technique of mixing the ingredients together is just as innovative.

For our colder weather there is fresh Chicken Noodle Soup, as well as one of my favorite beef dishes (wish I could still eat beef!) Beef and Mushroom Potpie with Stout. If you love Parmesan cheese (Wish I could still have cheese!) the Baked Pasta with Chicken and Parmesan will become a favorite of yours.

In 2012 I was working on creating my Family Food cookbook. Two recipes in January alone are part of it. The first is for homely Rice Pudding, which I always loved as a child,

and the second is for Fried Oysters, perfect for these colder months when oysters are at their best. When I was the Friday cook growing up, I dreaded the days when my Dad would come home from work with a couple quarts of fresh, shucked oysters from the fish market. I love eating fried oysters, but preparing them, including draining, dredging each in flour, then egg, then crumbs, then frying them in batches was a whole lot of work. Still, fried is still my favorite way to eat oysters.

Of course there are bread recipes in January, too. Early in the month I used thawed frozen bread dough and fresh herbs and garlic to make Pinwheel Herb Rolls. It's an easy way to have fresh, delicious bread without having to make bread dough. Later in the month I used thawed frozen bread dough to make Cinnamon Rolls with Icing, a sweet version of a pinwheel roll. I also made the Farls (above), a delicious Spelt Sourdough loaf, fast and fabulous Cuban Bread, and sweet Tea Brack loaf. Any of these would be worth your time.

Season food wasn't fogotten. Lemons, especially Meyer lemons, are a delight in January and I made a Cheesecake flavored with Meyer lemon and coconut that showed them off to perfection. 

Winter is also a great time for garlic. Have you ever wanted to make Roasted Garlic? I have an easy way to do it in muffin pans so that you can capture that lovely garlic oil that is a byproduct. The roasted garlic itself can be used in all sorts of ways, including spreading it on baguette slices that have been toasted for a nice appetizer.

Those are the highlights of January recipes, but there are a few more hidden in January 2012...just start here.

A Muffin To Welcome 2021

Happy New Year! 

I try to bake with seasonal foods, I really do. But sometimes there will be an item at the market that just calls out to me. That happened when I passed the produce section of Whole Foods on my way to get some non-dairy ricotta filled tortellini (they are the only local store that carries this item as far as I know). The fresh raspberries were so beautiful and red and juicy looking that I couldn't resist.

To make up for failing to use seasonal, I did use lots of Meyer lemon zest and juice, along with the raspberries and  non-dairy ricotta cheese (Kite Hill makes a delicious ricotta), to make these light and bright muffins. You can, of course, use regular lemons and regular ricotta cheese. That dollop of sweet lemony creaminess hidden toward the bottom is such a joy to discover as you eat the muffin! The fragrance is amazing, too. The raspberries are a bright color note and provide natural sweetness, too. By putting them into the top batter, it helps them not sink to the bottom. Try them yourself and see if you don't agree that straying from seasonal now and then is delicious.

Raspberry and Meyer Lemon Muffins
Makes 12

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
finely grated zest of one Meyer lemon (or regular lemon if Meyer unavailable), divided

2 eggs, beaten 

1/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine, melted and cooled

juice of 1 Meyer lemon, seeds removed

1 cup soy creamer or whole milk or buttermilk

1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon milk or soy creamer
2 teaspoons powdered sugar

1 heaping cup fresh raspberries, washed and drained
about 1 tablespoon clear sparkling or sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with baking spray (I used a six pan oversized muffin pan). Set aside.

In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add half the lemon zest and stir to distribute.

In a second bowl, whisk together the egg, butter, lemon juice and milk or buttermilk.

Prepare the filling by stirring together the ricotta cheese, milk, powdered sugar and the remaining half the lemon zest in a small bowl until completely combined. Set aside.

Add the wet ingredient mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir together with a fork, just until all the dry ingredients have been moistened. Don't overmix.

Scoop enough of the batter into the prepared muffin tins to cover the bottom. Dollop about a teaspoon of the ricotta mixture on top. Stir the raspberries gently into the remaining batter, then top the ricotta mixture in the pans with the berry-rich batter, distributing evenly. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired, distributing evenly.

 Bake in preheated oven for 17 - 25 minutes until tops are golden brown and the center springs back when pressed down with a clean finger. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack 3-5 minutes, then removed carefully from the muffin tin and serve.