bread

It is August Again

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And it is close to my birthday. For the last several weeks I have been collecting recipes and techniques wherever I could find them. This one for croissants and particularly the dough is intriguing. I have made the version form the Virginia bakery that they call pastry dough which makes great coffee cakes. This dough could be a great substitute and I will try it after I get home from what is developing into another great trip to Oregon to visit my sister.

Croissant Dough

in food processor — 2 ¼ C flour, 2 tsp. yeast, 1 ½ tsp. salt,2 Tbsp. Sugar

Mix the dough: In a medium bowl or 2-cup liquid measure, whisk together the water, milk, and egg. In a food processor, blend together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar until well combined. Add the cold butter, and pulse 10 to 12 times at 1-second intervals, until the butter is in small pea-sized pieces. Transfer the contents of the food processor to a large bowl. Add the water-milk-egg mixture, and, using a spatula, stir until you have a wet, sticky mass. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (but ideally for 24 hours) or up to 4 days.

Roll it out: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into two equal portions, each roughly 384 grams. Pat each portion into a rough square. Set one aside while you begin working on the next: using flour as needed, roll the square out, flipping it as needed to prevent sticking, until you have a shape 10- to 11-inches wide/tall — it’s OK if, at this point, it looks a little misshapen. Fold the dough envelope-style: the top third down over the dough, then the bottom third up. Then fold the right third of the dough from right to left and then from left to right, to ultimately create a square. (see photos for reference). You’ve now completed one set of folds. Repeat this process 3 more times: roll the dough out into a large, thin square, then fold the dough envelope-style from top to bottom and from right to left. By the end of the four sets, the dough will be smooth, and there should be little to no visible signs of butter flecking the dough.

Chill it: Transfer the folded dough to an airtight container and transfer to the fridge for at least 30 minutes (but ideally 24 hours) or up to 2 days. At this point, the dough can be frozen. Repeat with the remaining portion of the dough.

Make pastries: From here, proceed with any of the recipes suggested above or any recipe calling for a croissant-like dough.

for the croissants — flour for dusting 2 egg yolks 2 tablespoons heavy cream pinch sea salt

To make croissants: Using flour as needed and working with one portion at a time, roll the dough into an 8×12-inch rectangle. Cut the dough in half vertically to create two long rectangles, each 4 inches wide. Then cut each rectangle diagonally to create 4 triangles. Starting at the flat end, coil up each triangle into a croissant shape, ending with the tip tucked underneath. Transfer the croissants to a parchment-lined sheet pan. Cover them with a pan — I use a turned-over 10×14-inch pan — to prevent them from drying out. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Proof: Let the croissants proof at room temperature (ideally between 75ºF and 80ºF) for roughly 2 hours. If your kitchen is colder, this may take longer; if it’s warmer, it may take less time. The coils are ready to bake when they have nearly doubled in size and feel marshmallowy to the touch.

Prepare the oven and make the egg wash: Preheat the oven to 425ºF. If you have two ovens, preheat both of them — I prefer to bake one pan of croissants at a time to ensure they bake/brown evenly. In a small bowl, whisk together the yolks, heavy cream, and salt. Working with one pan at a time, brush each croissant with the egg wash, then wait 5 minutes. If you are working with one oven, wait to brush the other set of croissants until the first pan is nearly finished baking.

Bake the croissants: Transfer the pan to the oven, immediately lower the temperature to 400ºF, and bake for roughly 15 minutes, or until the croissants are golden brown to your liking. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the croissants to a cooling rack. Let the croissants rest briefly before serving. Repeat with the remaining pan of croissants.

The final product that I want to try is what Virginia Bakery called a fruit pocket. When I made these last, Cheryl was still alive.

I rolled out a piece of dough to about a 9 inch by 9 inch square. I used parchment paper to line an 8 inch square pan. The square of dough I laid across the 8 inch pan turned 45 degrees and allowed it to flop over the edge of the pan. Tuck the dough into the corners and pour in your favorite fruit filling and fold the corners into the middle. Pinch the corners shut as necessary to contain the fruit goodness and let everybody rest and proof for a few minutes – maybe 30. Fire up the oven to 400oF. When the bell goes off pop the fruit pocket in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes. Your choice of brownness.

Drizzle your favorite icing on top or yellow crumbs or cinnamon crumbs or whatever takes your fancy.

I love August with my sister.

Carpe Diem.

Food Therapy

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A good friend posted this recipe for her focaccia bread. — A few of you asked for my Focaccia bread recipe. Here you go: 

In a large bowl combine 4 cups of flour, plus 2 teaspoons each salt and yeast. Stir until dough comes together. Drizzle with a good olive oil and gather it into a rough ball. It will be quite moist. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours. When you remove the bowl, gently punch down the dough, drizzle with a little more oil and gather into another ball.  Take an 11 by 13 inch pan, spread olive oil all over the bottom and sides of the pan. Press the dough to the edges of the pan.  Let sit for 30-60 minutes (some recipes suggest 2-4 hours).  Sprinkle fresh rosemary leaves on top. Drizzle more olive oil on the surface. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Using all ten fingers dimple the dough until it has small depressions all over it.  Drizzle a little more olive oil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from pan to a cooling rack. Cut into shapes of your choosing. Serve with butter or olive oil and herbs. Enjoy. See my post from earlier today to see photos.

Always up for a good challenge I noticed that Robyn didn’t mention any liquid other than oil. Her ingredients will need about 16 ounces to get a dough. Many years of making my own bread tells me this. I made it last night before I went to bed,  oiled my bowl put the dough ball in after kneading for a few minutes. I drizzled more oil on top, covered with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

Robyn sprinkled it with olive oil and fresh rosemary. Alas I was out of fresh rosemary leaves, so I adjusted.

I cut the dough in half after letting it warm up to room temperature for about an hour or so. One half I put in the freezer for a couple of days later.  Dough freezes well. It will keep a couple of weeks.

The other half I rolled out a little  and pulled it into a 10 by 14 roasting sheet that I use a lot. I previously spread olive oil on the pan and after helping the dough into the corners, I covered it with oil and wax paper and let it sit about 2 hours. During the last 30 minutes I chiffonaded some spinach, diced an onion and a green pepper, found my jar of minced garlic. I spread more olive oil on top and decorated the surface.

After decorating the dough…it is ready for cheeses.

Alas again I am out of fresh Romano. Another adjustment to my normal pizza activity. I forgot to mention that I intended to use Robyn’s recipe for focaccia and make a white pizza. I sprinkled the veggies with a combination of mozzarella, Colby-jack and parmesan.

Into the  450 degree oven for 10 – 12 minutes.

Good pizza is made in a very hot oven. My oven only goes to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. 10 – 12 minutes at 450 works pretty good.

Out of the oven after 12 minutes.

I let it rest long enough for me to touch the pan to cut it.

Leftovers. Nice.

I cut the remaining into four pieces and put them into a ziploc bag in the fridge. I think that they will reheat okay. The dough soaked up a fair amount of the olive oil. Letting it rest overnight coupled with the two teaspoons of salt gives the dough a sourdough taste and chew to it.

Overall an excellent choice for homemade pizza or focaccia.

Robyn’s product.

Thanks Robyn.

Carpe Diem.

Turnovers

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As in turn over a new leaf or turn over you are snoring? Nope these are turnovers made with croissant dough, egg wash and, in this case, cherry pie filling left over from another project.

In my father’s family there was this undertone at family gatherings that one should eat dessert first because as we all know, “One cannot predict the time or place of one’s death.” That is for the big man upstairs.Recently I rediscovered my copy of “Baking with Julia” a cookbook in the same vein as her old shows where she demonstrates how to do things. This book is dedicated to bread and pastries. I tend to wander off and experiment with variations on a theme.

About two weeks ago feeling full of ennui I decided to follow the croissant dough recipe and make croissants. Buttery flaky pastry dough has been a mystery for me. I have made bread for many years and each time I do I am amazed at two things; why I continue to buy store bread from commercial bakeries and how long the commercial bakery bread will last while I am eating up the last of the loaf I previously baked.

Following Julia’s explicit detail I mixed up a simple sweet dough and placed it into the fridge overnight. With it I beat up a pound of butter (18 oz. actually) with some flour and shaped it into an oval shape about an inch think and placed it in the fridge overnight. This was a two day activity. Not as big of a time commitment as making sourdough but much more demanding physically and definitely more satisfying mentally.

The croissants tasted great but had no great beauty to them. I used part of the dough to create a fruit pocket style coffee cake but the dough was wrong for that. Danish dough is better for the fruit pocket.

The last of the dough I used to make turnovers. These are great. I rolled the last of the dough out into a 12 inch by 12 inch square, cut it into quarters and folded the dough over a glop of cherry pie filling. I glued the dough together with some egg wash and pressed the edges down with a fork. All are painted with egg wash before going into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. When they came out I drizzled them with Virginia Bakery roll icing which is just confectioners sugar with more sugar and a little water. These are good. I will do them again.

Carpe Diem, but do not forget to eat dessert first.