Baked From Scratch: English Muffins

"There's just one thing that I love most, and that's toast. Yeeeeeeaaaah, toast."

For the most part, I am an equal-opportunity bread lover. Wheat bread, pita bread, naan, sweet bread, savory bread. Bring it on. Well, maybe except for white bread, unless we're talking grilled cheese or French toast. And even then, I'd rather use brioche or challah. No Wonder Bread for me, thankyouverymuch.

I am also a huge fan of the English muffin. I'll pretty much always choose an English muffin as my "toast" option when breakfasting at a restaurant (unless, of course cinnamon raisin bread is also on offer). Depending on my hunger level, at home I'll just eat one toasted and then slathered with plenty of butter and jam, or I'll make a whole meal of it with the addition of a scrambled egg, cheese, and some greens. 

Making English muffins is fairly easy, but to get a more sophisticated flavor, you'll need to allot plenty of time to make the dough and let it rise. I made my English muffins over a period of three days (one day for the dough starter, a second day for the rise, and a third day to cook the muffins.) However, the extra effort is totally worth it: the resulting English muffins rival any of the store-bought variety. And there's just something a little extra special when you bake them from scratch.

English Muffins (printer-friendly version)
makes 12 muffins

For the dough starter:
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

For the English muffin dough:
1 cup organic 1% milk
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
cornmeal for dusting
unsalted butter for the skillet

1. Make the starter: Mix the flour, water, and yeast for the starter in a small mixing bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the batter is smooth. Cover the starter and let it sit for 1-12 hours at room temperature.
2. Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and yeast. Add the starter into the bowl and whisk to dissolve and incorporate it into the milk-yeast mixture.
3. Add the sugar, melted butter, and salt to the bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in 3 cups of flour and stir until a shaggy dough forms.
4. Lightly flour a work surface. Knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. Add flour as necessary, but do not add too much. The dough will feel slightly tacky to the touch, but not overly sticky.
5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight, or for up to three days.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 12 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth, round ball.
7. Scatter cornmeal over top a rimmed baking sheet and then place the dough balls on top. Sprinkle the tops of the dough balls with additional cornmeal. Let the dough balls rise for
1 ½ to 2 hours.
8. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt about 1 teaspoon of butter in the skillet to evenly coat the bottom of the pan and prevent sticking.
9. Place 3-4 dough balls on the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Press the tops gently with a spatula to flatten the muffins out slightly. Then carefully flip the muffins and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes on the other side. Place the cooked English muffins on a wire rack to cool.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 with the remaining balls of dough until all of the English muffins are cooked.
11. To serve, split the English muffin in half with a fork and toast. Any leftover English muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer bag and kept frozen for up to
three months.

(adapted from this recipe from The Kitchn)

What's For Dinner: Slow-cooked Hasenpfeffer Stew

Does it sound more appealing if I call this "hasenpfeffer stew" rather than "rabbit stew"? I think we can all agree that bunnies are super-cute, but, turns out, they are also an excellent source of lean protein. Rabbit meat has recently gained popularity among the local and slow food crowds and it is becoming a more common sight on restaurant menus around the country.

Still, I totally understand that rabbit is not for everyone. (Particularly if you have a pet bunny!) But since D brought home a snowshoe hare after a day of hunting in the field with our Deutsch langhaar Franka, I had to give it a go.

Because wild rabbit can be a bit tough, it is best suited for braising or slow-cooking. Rabbit is a fairly popular European dish, so I looked to the British for a recipe to try. The following recipe is lightly adapted from the BBC's Good Food magazine. The resulting dish is delightfully boozy (with both brandy and red wine!) and flavorful.

Slow-cooked Hasenpfeffer Stew (printer-friendly version)
makes 4-6 servings

16 whole prunes
1/4 cup brandy
1 rabbit, jointed
unbleached all-purpose flour, for dusting
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 strips of bacon, sliced into thin strips horizontally
2 carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 thyme sprigs
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
few tablespoons fresh parsley, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Place the prunes in a bowl with the brandy, stir, and let soak.
3. Lightly dust the rabbit with flour. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat and brown each piece on all sides. Set the browned meat on a platter.
4. Add the thinly sliced bacon to the skillet along with the carrots, onion, celery, crushed garlic, and thyme sprigs. Fry until the bacon is browned, about 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the red wine and chicken broth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the rabbit pieces back into the dish along with the prunes. Cover the Dutch oven with the lid and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the rabbit is tender. Scatter with fresh parsley before serving.

(adapted from this Good Food magazine recipe)

Baked From Scratch: Pita Bread

Making yeast breads typically gives me heart palpitations. All that kneading and rising, who has time for that? And then I came upon this rather simple recipe for pita bread.

Of course, given my track record with baking yeast breads, my first batch of dough was a complete #failure. I left the dough in the bottom warming drawer of my oven to rise and then proceeded to bake other things at 475 degrees. Long story short, by the time I pulled my dough out of the warming drawer, I basically had a layer of baked pita bread atop some sticky dough. Whoops.

So, yeah, when the recipe says place the dough in a "warm, not hot" place to rise ... take heed! The second time I made the dough, though, everything went swimmingly, and it was actually quite a breeze to bake.

Pita bread is quite versatile. These breads bake up hollow in the center, so you can use them as pocket breads to fill with your favorite sandwich fixings (I'm partial to greens, lentils, and roasted vegetables). Or, you can go the lazy route and use the pita as a base for a flatbread pizza or sandwich. Or, you could cut the pita into wedges and serve alongside hummus. The options are endless, really!

Pita Bread (printer-friendly version)
makes 8 six-inch breads

1 cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 whole-wheat flour
2 cups unbleached unbleached all-purposed flour, divided (plus up to 1/4 cup more for dusting)
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Pour the lukewarm water into a medium mixing bowl. Add the active dry yeast and sugar and whisk to combine. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk to combine. Put the bowl in a warm place (uncovered) until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
2. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour, salt, and olive oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Sprinkle with a little flour and knead in the bowl, adding in any dough bits stuck to the side of the bowl.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 2 minutes until smooth. Cover with a light towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Then knead again for 2 more minutes. The dough will be soft and slightly moist. Clean and lightly oil the mixing bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, then cover with the light towel. Put the dough in a warm location and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Place a heavy baking sheet or baking stone on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Punch down the dough and then divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Cover the dough balls with a damp towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
5. Remove one ball (keeping the rest covered) and roll out into a circle 8-inches in diameter (it should be between 1/4- and 1/8-inch thick.) Carefully place the dough round on the prepped baking stone and bake for 2 minutes, or until puffed and lightly speckled brown. Flip with a spatula or tongs and bake for an additional minute. Place in a towel-lined bowl and cover to keep warm.
6. Repeat with the remaining rounds of dough.
7. Store any leftover pita bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.

(adapted from this recipe from The New York Times)

What's For Breakfast: Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal is a common sight on our breakfast table. In fact, one of the resounding refrains in our household is "It's oatmeal or no meal!"

However, following multiple days of oatmeal in a row, I'm ready to change things up a bit. Over the weekend, I was in the mood for pancakes.

But ... I happened to have some leftover oatmeal in the fridge. And a few days earlier Deb of Smitten Kitchen had posted a photo of oatmeal pancakes from her blog, so I knew immediately what I would be having for breakfast.

These pancakes are surprisingly tender and super filling. I made my batch entirely gluten-free by using a gluten-free all-purpose flour mix, but you could use regular all-purpose flour if that's what you normally use. Be sure to melt plenty of butter in the skillet when you bake them; it makes the pancakes perfectly crispy on the outside. And of course, each serving will be just that much better with a little more melted butter and a generous drenching pour of pure maple syrup over top each pancake.

Oatmeal Pancakes (printer-friendly version)
makes 12 pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour (~1 cup rolled oats ground in the food processor)
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (regular unbleached all-purpose flour is fine if gluten isn't an issue)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup cooked oatmeal
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (plus extra for the skillet)
1 tablespoon maple syrup

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cooked oatmeal, eggs, melted butter, and maple syrup.
3. Use a rubber spatula to carefully fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, until just combined.
4. Melt about a tablespoon of butter in an electric griddle or skillet over medium-high heat (375 degrees). Add about 1/4 cup of batter in rounds to the skillet. Flip the pancakes when bubbles form and the batter looks matte in appearance. Cook for an additional minute or two. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

(adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)

What's For Lunch: Brussels Sprouts Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts and a Creamy Parmesan Dressing

I like a green salad just as much as any other person, but let's face it, lettuce can get a little boring. And as I've been cleaning up my post-holiday diet (how prosaic, I know), I've been leaning heavily on main entree salads.

One of my favorite ways to mix up that bowl of greens is to switch the snooze-worthy lettuce for something else. And lately, I've been reaching for Brussels sprouts. Now, I've proclaimed my love for Brussels sprouts before. I am particularly a fan of roasted Brussels sprouts. (Um, especially when cooked up in lots of butter.)

But for this recipe, all you've got to do is slice up those Brussels sprouts nice and thin. If you have a mandoline or food processor, this can be done quite quickly. Or you can be like me and (very!) carefully slice 'em up one by one with a sharp knife.

This salad keeps it simple with toasted pine nuts and a creamy Parmesan dressing. But feel free to fancy it up as much as you want!

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts and a Creamy Parmesan Dressing
makes 2-4 servings

2 tablespoons creamy Parmesan dressing
3 cups thinly-sliced Brussels sprouts
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

1. Place the creamy Parmesan dressing in the bottom of a medium bowl. Add the thinly-sliced Brussels sprouts and toss to combine.
2. Stir in the toasted pine nuts and serve.

Made From Scratch: Creamy Parmesan Dressing

So, yeah, clearly I am slowly easing my way back into blogging after the New Year. Our holiday break culminated in attending the wedding of one of my dear friends in Chicago, which was an excellent way to ring in 2016. And then we returned home, and what had been the sniffles turned into a dreadful cold. Happy New Year to me, indeed.

Long story short, aside from plenty of roasted chicken (and the subsequent chicken noodle soup), not much was happening culinarily in our kitchen last week. But I am finally feeling better, and after a couple weeks of holiday eating (read: lots and lots of cookies and countless away-from-our-home meals), I am actually looking forward to returning piles of vegetables to my diet.

But, any good pile of vegetables could use a delicious dressing to bring all the flavors together. This simple creamy Parmesan dressing does just that, and it works just as well as a dip for carrots and celery sticks as it does as a dressing for greens or shredded vegetables. And, with just a simple direction to whisk all the ingredients together, it doesn't get much easier than that.

Creamy Parmesan Dressing
makes 1 1/4 cups

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired.
2. Store any leftover dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.