1000 pizza doughs

Blueberry Challenge: Gingered Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Blackberries have always been and will always be my favorite taste of summer, probably because they were such a big part of my childhood.  But I've come to love blueberries too. And though I'd like to say I did something clever for the Blueberry Challenge like make a blueberry reduction glaze for some exotic-sounding entree, well, I made muffins.  I did sort of invent my own recipe in the process, so maybe that counts for some creativity points?

 

I started out by looking at a muffin recipe in my favorite cookbook, to be sure I had the ratios right. (I have yet to use the Ratio iPhone app I downloaded for this purpose.) 

Gingered Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

• 1 cup rolled oats (uncooked), plus 2 tbsp for topping
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's white whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 2 tbsp for topping
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk (regular milk would work fine)
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tin, or line with cupcake papers (I always spray the inside of these with non-stick spray, which ensures that you eat the muffin, rather than leave half on the paper.)

MIx dry ingredients in a large bowl. Separately, combine egg, buttermilk and oil. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined.  Gently stir in the blueberries and ginger.

Spoon batter into muffin tin. Combine 2 tbsp rolled oats and 2 tbsp brown sugar, and top each muffin with a small spoonful of this mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 12 normal-sized muffins.

These muffins come out light and crumbly, and are best eaten warm with a large mug of coffee.  They will keep for a day or two if wrapped up... had another this morning and it was still tasty.

Winter Beef Stew with Beer Bread

Like many people I resolved to exercise more this year, albeit in a roundabout way. I will be racing in my first half-Ironman triathlon this May, so to get ready for this (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run), I am going to have to exercise. A lot. In the dead of winter. (This is where I always say to myself "What was I thinking?")

An inevitable side effect of all this working out--and the reason I actually gain weight while training for endurance races--is that I am incessantly ravenously hungry.

This beef stew and bread combo was a great after a slow but long-ish run at about 26 degrees yesterday.  The first part of the recipe to the point where you get everything in the pot together takes about an hour; after that you can just let it simmer for a few hours until you're ready to eat.

Beef Stew with Caramelized Onions and Amber Lager

recipe from Tori Ritchie, Cabin Cooking, Time Life Books 1998, via Food Network

• 1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces/60 milliliters) vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 pounds (1.25 kilogram) beef stew meat, preferably chuck, cut into 1-inch (2.5 centimeter) chunks
• 1 1/2 pound (750 grams) yellow onions, sliced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1 bottle (12 fluid ounces/375 milliliters) good-quality amber lager or pale ale
• 1 cup (8 fluid ounces/250 milliliters) beef or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• Salt and ground pepper
• Cooked whole grains, like brown rice or barley, for serving (my addition)

In a large, heavy pot, warm the oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches, brown the meat well on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary to keep the meat from scorching. Transfer the browned meat to a plate and repeat until all the meat is browned.

Add the onions and butter to the pot and stir over high heat until the onions start to soften, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle in the sugar. Continue to cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the flour, thyme and carrots and raise the heat to high. Stir for 1 minute, then pour in the lager or ale, letting it come to a vigorous boil. Stir in the broth and tomato paste and return to a boil.

Return the meat and any accumulated juices on the plate to the pot, let the liquid come just to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the meat is tender when pierced and the sauce is slightly thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on warmed individual plates.

***

Here are some step-by-step photos.  First, brown the beef.  You can use a lot less than the original recipe requires -- just add more carrots, and maybe some potatoes (add cubed, uncooked potatoes in the last hour that you simmmer) to make up the difference.  I used about a pound of beef cubes from Hedgeapple Farm.

As I side note, this is probably my favorite pot ever.  It's a mid-sized heavy gauge stock pot (about 8 quarts, I think), and I use it about once a day. 

While you're browning the beef, chop the onions and carrots. I always use more carrots than required, and sometimes more onions too. This is about 4 mid-sized onions.

The slices don't need to be perfect.  The onions sort of melt away as the stew cooks, and I think the uneven carrot slices add charm to this rustic dish.

After all the beef is browned and set aside, add the onions and butter to the pot. (Don't clean the pot -- you want the flavor from the beef bits to stay in there.)

Cook on high for 5 minutes, then add sugar and reduce heat to medium. Cook another 15 minutes or so, until nice and brown.

Then add the flour, thyme and carrots, and cook on high for 1 minute.  Then add a bottle of beer. (I like pale ale, and generally use Sierra Nevada or Flying Dog, but if you're not so hop-happy, amber lager would be good too.)

Once the beer comes to a boil, add the stock and tomato paste.  (Another side note: I LOVE tomato paste in a tube. Since I rarely need a whole can, buying it in the tube keeps the waste to a minimum, so I think it's worth the higher price. In Frederick you can buy it at Juliet's Italian Market & Cafe. My supermarket has it sometimes too.)

Then let everything simmer over really low heat, covered, for at least an hour or two, but longer if you wish.  With shorter cooking times, I've found that sometimes the beef doesn't get as tender as I would like, so I start cooking mine at lunch time for that day's dinner on weekends, when I'm going to be home all afternoon. You could probably put it in a crock pot at this point if you needed to leave for a while, but I haven't tried that.

I served this over barley, with a new (for me) bread recipe from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking: Micro-Brewery Honey-Wheat Bread.  I can't find the bread recipe online. Instead of the amber lager it called for, I used the same pale ale I used for the beef stew. It turned out pretty well, and was good as toast for breakfast too.  The book recommended letting the bread machine knead the dough (on the dough cycle), then putting it in a loaf pan in the oven to finish rising and bake. This worked well, and was really easy, so I'll be trying it with other bread recipes now.

 

[Looks like I need some new cutting boards... I got several of these at Ikea years ago for $1 each, and now they don't make the thicker ones I like any more.]

Serving suggestion: enjoy the beef stew with bread warm from the oven, and a nice cold pale ale.

CSA Couscous

As the in-season vegetables change throughout the summer, I find myself repeatedly throwing whatever I have on hand into this easy and forgiving couscous. 

 

To make the basic couscous pilaf you'll need:

• 1 cup whole wheat couscous
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil, or a combination
• 3 cups water, broth or stock (chicken stock or vegetable stock)
• Salt, to taste
• Large (at least 10-inch) skillet with a lid

This "Couscous by the Pilaf Method" recipe is from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, 1997 edition, page 563 (great source of ideas for cooking practically every vegetable you've ever heard of, and some you probably haven't).

Bring the water or stock to a boil.  Meanwhile, melt butter or heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the couscous to the butter/oil, stir to coat the grains, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pour in 2 cups of the boiling water. The couscous will instantly bubble up.  When it subsides, shake the pan to even the contents, cover and set aside for 7 minutes to steam.

Then fluff the grains with a fork, pour in the last cup of boiling water (add frozen peas at this point, if using - see additions below), cover and let stand another 5 minutes.

While the couscous is steaming, prepare the vegetables and dressing.

Dressing for CSA Couscous:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 lemon (optional - I only use the zest if I have organic lemons on hand to avoid the waxy coating)
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (use more if you don't want the tart, lemony flavor to be too pronounced)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

Squeeze lemon juice into a small bowl.  Add salt, pepper and zest, if using.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil, and set aside. (This is a good basic dressing for salad greens as well.)

Vegetable additions for CSA Couscous:

I don't think I've ever made this the same way twice.  Here's what I added this time:

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small yellow squash, cubed
• Half a large zucchini, cubed
• Half a red onion, chopped
• Half a green pepper, chopped
• Fresh thyme leaves, stripped from the stems
• Fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Sliced almonds or toasted pine nuts, for garnish

I had the red onion and green pepper already chopped (leftover toppings from taco night).  The garlic, squash, zucchini and basil were from my CSA box this week, and the thyme was from my yard.  I also added some frozen peas.  If using frozen vegetables, try adding them to the couscous before it steams a second time, unless they require lots more cooking.

Saute the vegetables and garlic in a little olive oil for about 10 minutes, or until tender, over medium to medium-high heat while the couscous is steaming.  (If you add hard vegetables like carrots, give them more time to cook.) Add a little salt and pepper to the vegetables at the end.

When everything is finished cooking, add the lemon/olive oil dressing to the couscous and stir.  Then add the vegetables.  Finally, add the fresh herbs, taste for salt and serve warm, garnished with almonds or toasted pine nuts.  This is great as leftovers for lunch.

Here's the Summer Creek CSA haul from week 10 (minus the pint glass - I store my fresh herbs like basil, parsley and cilantro in water in the fridge, a tip from Chef Christine).

Roasted the green beans (idea courtesy of Flour Girl), boiled the potatoes (on request of my part-Norwegian husband - apparently cooking potatoes any other way in Scandinavia qualifies as heresy), and made a nice side dish with the cherry tomatoes, halved and dressed with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chopped basil, salt and pepper.  Tastes like summer.

French Country Bread, Whole Wheat Style

A while ago, I took a European Breads baking class at the Kitchen Studio.  My favorite recipe from this class is Marcy Goldman's French Country Bread.  To make the recipe more whole-grain friendly, in the "Dough" portion of the recipe, I substituted 2 cups of whole wheat flour instead of unbleached bread flour.  The result is a bit flatter of a loaf than using all white flour, but my family likes the heartier texture the whole wheat flour adds. I could not find malt powder, even at the health food store (maybe I was just looking in the wrong place - anyone know where Common Market keeps it?), so I ordered some from King Arthur a while back.

This is not the kind of bread you can decide to make at the last minute, but if you have the inspiration about 24 hours in advance, it is well worth the planning. I make the starter on a Friday or Saturday night, so I'll have time to make this bread on a weekend day. 

Below are pictures of my dough at its various stages.  After the sponge sits overnight (the point where you mix the dough ingredients into the sponge), this takes about 3 hours to make, including baking, but most of that is rising time.

Mixed the starter about 9:30 Saturday night:

After it rose about 16 hours, it looked like this (smells really good at this stage):

Punched down the starter, added "Dough" ingredients (using 2 cups whole wheat flour and about 1 1/2 cups bread flour), then kneaded by hand for about 10 minutes:

Let rise for about 45 minutes, then formed into two round loaves and placed on parchment-lined cookie sheets (the recipe says it makes one loaf, but my family always eats the first one right out of the oven, so I have found that two smaller loaves last a bit longer!):

Covered with a clean dish towel (note: no fabric softener, or your bread will taste of Bounce, Snuggle, etc.) and let rise for about another hour, then sliced with straight razor blade (blade was getting dull, which is why it has "drag marks:"

Into the oven for about 35 minutes on pre-heated baking stones, parchment and all ("misting" inside of the oven every 5 minutes for the first 15 minutes to produce extra-crispy crust), then:

Now, it's going fast...

The last picture was taken about 6:00 p.m. the day I made it, before dinner.  At about 6:30, we were down to one loaf.  It's really that good!

A couple days later (even with add-ins like malt powder, it's best to eat it quick!) I made some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches with the rest of this bread, Fontina and Jarlsberg.

Whole wheat pizza dough - my standby

I have made this dough at least 300 times, with varying ingredients.  It is a pretty forgiving recipe, as long as you keep the basic ratios.   Although you could do this by hand, I have never tried.  I use my stand mixer's dough hook attachment, which works very well (most of the time).  I modified this recipe from a Kathleen Daelmans recipe I printed out back in 2002.  You could use more whole wheat flour, but I prefer this ratio for a softer dough.

You can find wheat bran in the bulk section of a health food grocery or co-op, or in some regular grocery stores near the flour.  I highly recommend buying yeast at Costco in bulk.  It lasts for a while in an airtight container in the fridge, and is MUCH cheaper than buying individual packets (I paid about $4 for a 2-pound bag a month ago).

Pizza Dough Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. unprocessed wheat bran (optional)
• 4 tsp. active dry yeast (or two packets)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups warm water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Cornmeal (for dusting -- not part of the dough)

Put all dry ingredients in mixer bowl.  Using the dough hook attachment, turn mixer on low speed (speed 2 on Kitchen Aid).  Slowly add the first 1 1/2 cups of the warm water.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup water only as needed to pick up the last remaining dry bits in the bottom -- you probably won't need it all.  (If the dough starts to stick to the bowl, just sprinkle in a little more flour.)  Once you've added the water, let the mixer knead the dough for about 8 minutes.  Then stop the mixer, add the olive oil, and turn the mixer on for about another 10 seconds to coat the dough with oil.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled metal bowl (or leave it in the mixer bowl), cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.  The dough should double in size.

Lesson learned the hard way:  don't let it rise on top of an oven that is on, or the dough will cook!

Pizza Instructions

1. Place a pizza stone(s) in the oven and preheat to 475.
2. Dust a pizza peel or flat-edged cookie sheet lightly with corn meal.
3. Gently punch down the dough and divide into two equal parts.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, press each dough into a round pizza shape about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick.
5. Place the dough on the pizza peel or cookie sheet you have dusted with corn meal and add desired toppings (see suggestions below).
6. Slide the pizza into the oven directly on to the pizza stone (the corn meal will keep it from sticking).
7. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until cheese is browned. 

Another lesson learned the hard way:  preheat the oven with pizza stones in it, and don't remove them until they are completely cooled.  (You will need to take the pizza out and put it on a cutting board or plate to cut.)  I have broken countless pizza stones... my tried and true (and not yet broken after 7+ years) is Pampered Chef -- it is black now with use.

Topping Suggestions

Sauce: I use Ragu traditional pizza sauce from a jar most of the time. I've made my own, which is a lot more work for not much added taste. 

For something different, prepared BBQ sauce is interesting.

Toppings (in addition to red sauce): 

The usual (his)

• pepperoni
• red chili flakes
• mozzarella (~1/2 cup)
• green peppers and/or onions (if I have extras lying around)
• oregano on top

The usual (hers)

I still prefer vegetarian pizza.

• mozzarella (~1/2 cup)
• crumbled goat cheese (~1/4 cup)
• oregano on top

The Special Occasion (his):

• pepperoni
• bacon (already cooked)
• jalapenos
• mozzarella

The Special Occasion (hers):

• mozzarella
• parmigiano reggiano
• fresh basil leaves (added after cooking)