Golden Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups of unsifted flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 cup of sourdough starter mix

In a bowl combine flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cut in butter with pastry blender until like corn meal.

(At this point, you can put it in the fridge overnight so it's faster in the morning.)

Blend sourdough and buttermilk, stir into crumb mixture with fork to soft dough.

Turn out onto floured cloth; knead 30 seconds. Roll out into 1/2 inch thickness, cut into biscuits with 3 inch cutter.

Place on greased baking sheet, brush with melted butter and put in warm place to raise for 30 minutes covered with a towel.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden in 425ºF. oven. Good with honey and butter.

Lussekake ( St. Lucia Buns)

Pat T's recipe for traditional Swedish saffron buns. Growing up my (Casey's) family always had these when we visited the T's at or around Christmas. This year we hosted my Dad and step-Mom for the holidays. It was the first time we've "done" Christmas all ourselves, so I finally got around to making saffron buns myself and they turned out great (see end for pics). They will definitely be a Christmas/winter tradition for my family from now on.
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This calls for lots of saffron which is expensive (it works out to more than the cost of gold) - have some sent from home or be prepared at the market - not all grocery stores carry it . It sometimes comes in little vials of .2 grams - you will need at least two of these for one batch of rolls. William Sonoma carries a better quality in a lager amount.
{lately Whole Foods carries saffron in packets of .2 grams for a decent price}

Need 6 to 6 1/2 cups of unbleached flour;

GETTING READY

Place in Bowl or Cuisenart 4 cups of unbleached flour and 2 packages of yeast - quick rise if possible);

Place the following in a pan and heat until the margarine melts, keep warm:
1 1/2 cups milk (1 %)
3/4 cups sugar
3/8 cup water
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cups margarine;

Crush enough Saffron Threads to make 3/4 teaspoons of saffron dust - some of the threads won't crush well but that is ok. I put the threads between waxed paper or just paper will work and roll a rolling pin or heavy can over them.

Add 3 Tablespoons of boiling hot water to the saffron and let stand;

Crack and separate three eggs - you need 3 yolks only --

{you can use the whole egg - then use 2 only but the rolls will be lighter - I haven't tried egg beaters yet but it would be worth it to try it.
Note - if you have no uses for the white and put them down the drain, run a lot of water immediately and some soap or you will clog the drain}

Chop 1/2 cup or more of pecans; measure out 1/2 cup of raisins.

MIXING EVERYTHING

To the flour and yeast; add the milk mixture; the saffron/water; the eggs; Beat until the batter is smooth and elastic.

Add the 5th cup of flour to make a stiff dough. ADD in the nuts and raisins.

Put the remaining flour on a board and knead the dough until it it smooth and satiny. {or in the cuisenart just keep pushing the buttons }

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn to grease the top and cover and let rise in a warm place for about 45 to 60 minutes.

FORMING the ROLLS

Punch down. Cut the dough first in half and continue doing this until you have 48 pieces. Cover the pieces while you work.

Roll out a piece into a long strip (like you do with clay). Then coil the strip one of two ways: You can coil both ends in - like in the letter "C" or one in and one out like in the letter "S".

I place them on a greased cookie sheet at this point and let them rise for 30 minutes.

But for larger rolls you can put two C's back to back; or cross two S's for either something that looks like a pin wheel or like a fancy X depending on which direction the coils face.

These are all traditional shapes.

Brush the rolls with a mixture of 1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon of cold water just before baking.

Place in 375 degree oven for about 12 to 15 minutes.

Cool on racks.

Pictures:
measuring/crushing the saffron:










In January we spent a weekend of snowy fun at Jay and Mary Davis' cabin in Bear Valley with the King/Davis family and their boys (Morgan's cousins) so I made the buns again.

Here is what happens when you let the dough rise for a long time at high altitude:


This could almost be an image from my own childhood in Syracuse. Morgan enjoying a saffron bun in the snow:

Wheat Germ Casserole Bread

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1/2 c wheat germ

2 pkg yeast

2 T oil

1 1/3 c warm water

2 T molasses

Soften yeast in 1/3 c warm water. Stir to dissolve.

In large mixing bowl, stir ww flour, salt and wheat germ.

Add yeast, remaining cup of water, oil and molasses and beat at med. speed until smooth. Mix in enough of remaining flour to make a stiff batter.

Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled (~45 min. or longer)
Stir down and beat vigorously by hand for about 30 sec. Turn into greased 1 1/2 qt. round casserole.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 min. or until done. Remove immediately from casserole.

Knead-less Bread

Make this recipe just once and you'll find there's nothing needless about this bread.

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast (not rapid-rise)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/3 (to 1 1/2) cups water
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Mix thoroughly. Add 1 1/3 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap (not sealed airtight). Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes. (This step is somewhat optional, I often skip it.)

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2-4 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

Another easier option for rising, is to flour a large piece of parchment paper, place the dough ball on it, then cover with a floured towel, plastic wrap, or even an inverted glass bowl so you can watch it.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

If you used the parchment paper option, just uncover it and pick the whole thing up like a sling, and lay it in the pot.

5. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool thoroughly on a rack. If you don't let it cool, it will be gummy and gooey.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery (from New York Times, also see this article)

This bread is easily modified. Try 1 to 1-1/2 cups whole wheat or rye flour instead of all white. Toss in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds. One I do a lot is 1/2 cup whole wheat (2-1/2 cups white) plus 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup dried cranberries. Sometimes I also throw in some orange zest and ground cardamom.

Sprinkling some caraway/sesame/poppy seeds on top is nice. You can also slash the top with a sharp knife or razor to make nice designs and avoid splitting on the sides.

I also do sourdough a lot. I keep a starter I grew from scratch in the fridge and just feed it a little every now and then. Just leave out the yeast and mix 1/2 cup of starter into the water. Usually sourdough is very wet dough, if you're going to do a free-form dough ball on parchment paper, only use about 1-1/4 cups of water or it will spread out too much. Or leave it wet and rise (proof) in a bowl for fluffier bread.

There are so many other possibilities out there, I've only started to scratch the surface. Look on www.breadtopia.com and www.thefreshloaf.com or Google "no knead bread".

Some day I'll add a post about how we use no-knead to make great pizza dough.

Skillet Corn Bread 2

5 tablespoons butter (divided)
1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons agave syrup
1 egg
1 cup 2 percent or whole milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 4 tablespoons butter in an 8- to 10-inch cast-iron skillet and place in the oven while it preheats. (If a cast-iron skillet is not available use a well-greased 8-inch square baking pan.) When butter has melted, pour it from the pan and allow to cool slightly. Place remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan and place in oven to melt.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk the egg, milk and agave together and whisk in the melted butter. Combine the milk mixture with the cornmeal mixture and stir gently until just combined.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and pour in the batter. Spread evenly in the skillet and bake 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes, then turn onto a rack and cool a few minutes longer.

French Bread a la Tinto

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; place a shallow pan of water on the bottom rack. Grease a French bread pan.

In a bowl, mix together:
3 c. unbleached white flour
1 envelope quick-rising yeast
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt

Add 2 1/4 c. warm water.

Beat well and add an additional 1 c. flour. Beat until dough is smooth and elastic. Mix in a fifth cup of flour to make a stiff dough. Measure the 6th cup and place half of it on a board. Turn out the dough into the flour. With floured hands, knead the bread, adding the rest of the 6th cup of flour - if needed add another 1/2 cup - until the dough no longer sticks and is smooth and satiny.

If you have the time, you can place the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise in a warm place. (If you have used regular yeast, then you must do this step, and let the bread rise for about an hour and a half.) Or you can immediately shape into loaves and place in the greased pans. Shape by pressing into an oval, flattening the dough to get out the air bubbles and then bring the edges together to form the slightly rounded loaves.

Cover with a cloth and let rise anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.

Using your fingers, slightly brush the loaves with cold water--just make the outsides slick. Place in oven and bake about 45 minutes. You can rotate the loaves out of their pans so that they brown on all sides, but beware of doing this too early or the loaves will collapse.

Variations: use 2-3 c. whole wheat flour (start and end with white) and use brown sugar or honey. With whole wheat or rye, the loaves will not rise as high, nor as fast. Light rye is 1 c. of rye to 5 c. white flour.

Skillet Corn Bread

1/2 c. all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 c. milk (or buttermilk)
2 tbsp. oil or butter
2 tsp. oil for pan

In a bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the egg, milk and 2 tbsp. oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Heat remaining oil in a large cast iron skillet over low heat. Pour batter into the hot skillet; cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. Turn and cook 4 minutes longer or until golden brown.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. oats (I use Country Choice organic multi-grain hot cereal)
2/3 c. butterscotch chips (chocolate chips are good too, or a mix)

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and chips; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

'Nemma Bread

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 c. mashed overripe banana
1/3 c. chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture and add chocolate chips; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.