Dutch Oven Herb Bread

I've seen a few recipes for this on blogs lately, and thanks to the amazing Dutch oven that I got from my in-laws for Christmas, I knew it was something I wanted to make! I looked through a few of the recipes, and decided on this one from Homemade by Holman, since after browsing through other recipes on her blog there wasn't one that didn't make my mouth water! She adapted her version a little from the Pioneer Woman's blog, and after looking at that version too, I decided on a combination of the two, with a little change of my own - olive oil instead of melted butter. Also, I only had fresh thyme, so that was the only herb I used and I added a little fresh cracked black pepper too, since I love the way it looks in white bread. This was so easy to make, and the end result is gorgeous! I haven't dug into it yet, since I want my husband to see how beautiful the finished product is, but it smells so good, I can't wait!

Dutch Oven Herb Bread
Adapted slightly from Homemade by Holman
and Pioneer Woman

4 cups bread flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
4-5 springs fresh thyme
1 tsp. olive oil
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp. active yeast
1 cup lukewarm water (my dough required more like 1 1/4 cups)

Combine yeast and water let sit while you measure the remaining ingredients. Chop herbs and garlic. Add flour, olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs and water/yeast mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix together, adding additional water 1 tablespoon at a time until all of the flour has been picked up and forms a ball. Knead about 10 minutes, or until dough passes the "windowpane test" (tear off a small piece of dough and stretch it, it should be somewhat translucent instead of tearing).

Spray a large bowl with olive oil spray, form the dough into a ball and place in bowl, tossing around to coat the bread. Cover with plastic and let rise for 1-4 hours until doubled in size. Mine was good to go after about 2 hours.

Spray a 6-8 quart dutch oven with more olive oil spray, and place it in the oven while it preheats to 450 degrees. Punch down dough and form into a smooth ball. Transfer the dough to the hot dutch oven (carefully)! Cut a large, deep "X" into the top of the dough. Cover and bake about 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue baking for about 15-25 more minutes until the top is crusty and light golden brown.

Nisu (Finnish coffee bread)

My husband is Finnish and very proud of this fact. His grandfather was a first generation Finnish American who grew up in Gloucester, MA, a town with a large Finnish population. Back as far as when we were dating, he has talked about the wonder that is nisu, a traditional Finnish coffee bread. He soon insited that I learn how to make it and even gave me his mother's recipe as a not-so-subtle prod. There is still a Finnish bakery in Gloucester where his grandparents used to buy their nisu on the weekends and apparently this is the standard to which I was warned that my attempts would be scrutinized (no pressure!).

I have been trying occasionally for the past several years to make an acceptable nisu and for this most recent attempt, I was determined to combine all of the things that I had done wrong in the past and create the famous "bakery nisu" of my husband's childhood. Judging by his reaction, I'm apparently getting there, as this has been by far my best attempt ever. This bread is a labor of love, and is more involved than any other bread I make, but hey, it got a pretty great reaction from my husband, so I think it's well worth it!

Nisu

3 3/4 cups bread flour

1 egg

4 tbls butter (softened)

2 1/2 tbls sugar + more for sprinkling

2 tsp cardamom + more for sprinkling

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

Glaze:

1 tbls milk

1 egg

Combine 1 tablespoon of sugar with the yeast, and add warm water. Stir to dissolve and let the yeast and sugar bloom together for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine all of the other bread ingredients (except 1 tbls butter) in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment and mix to combine. Slowly add the proofed yeast mixture and stir until combined, adding warm water and/or sprinkles of flour until the dough comes together and has a smooth consistency. Separate into three even portions and roll into ropes. Rub each rope with remaining tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with a little more sugar and cardamom. Braid the ropes as tightly as possible and place the bread onto a baking sheet. Cover lightly with plastic and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, or until almost golden. Remove from oven and brush with the beaten egg and milk mixture. Sprinkle with even more sugar and cardamom (my husband likes it sweet!). Put back in the oven and bake another 5-10 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The result is a dense, almost cake-like sugar-glazed bread that goes exceptionally well with coffee. Enjoy plain or toasted with...even more butter and sugar!

Rosemary Parmesean Biscotti

This is another recipe from our new favorite Wine Bar Food book that looked too good not to try. Being a "fat nazi", I made one big substitution, using non-fat greek yogurt in place of the entire stick and a half of butter the recipe calls for - and it came out delicious, not too dry and with a slight tang from the yogurt.

Rosemary Parmesean Biscotti

Makes about 2 dozen

1 cup all purpose flour + more for dusting

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (I used 3/4 cup non-fat greek yogurt instead)

2 tablespoons sugar

3 eggs (I used 3/4 cups egg substitute)

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesean cheese

1 cup almonds (I used pine nuts)

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon of olive oil (if you're not using the butter)

Using the stand blender, mix yogurt (or butter) with sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one a time until incorporated. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until you have a soft dough. Form into a log and freeze for 10-15 minutes or until set. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cut biscotti into desired size and bake for another 10 minutes. Flip the biscotti and bake for a final 10-15 minutes (adding more freshly grated parmesean if desired). Remove from oven and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Cool on a wire rack for as long as you can stand - and enjoy! Traditionally these are served with prosecco, but they are delicious alone too.

Pita Bread

I know, "authentic" pita bread doesn't actually have the delightful pocket in the middle that we all know and love, and I was perfectly happy making non-pocketed pitas, but after accidentally leaving the pizza stone in the oven a few weeks ago while I was preheating it for some pita, I decided to try cooking these on the hot stone and, voila - pitas with pockets!

This recipe is based on one from my all time favorite bread book 100 Great Breads by Paul Hollywood. When cooked on the pizza stone these come out with a great chewy texture and pocket that is perfect for stuffing with anything you can think of, or just dipping into greek yogurt like my husband and I enjoy these.

Pita Bread

2 cups bread flour

1/2 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon yeast

1/2 - 3/4 cups warm water

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Using the dough hook of an electric mixer, knead dough for 3-4 minutes, adding additional flour as necessary to make sure the dough is elastic and no longer sticky. Place in a warm spot and let rise for about an hour. Preheat oven to 475 and place a pizza stone one position from the bottom.

Cut dough into 3 or 4 pieces, depending on the size pitas you want, and roll each one to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place dough pieces directly on the preheated stone. Bake for 4-5 minutes on the first side, then flip and bake another 3-4 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes.

And I promise, my husband and I really do cook things other than carbs...hopefully we'll be posting some more recipes soon!

Red Grape Foccacia

During a recent trip to Barnes and Noble my husband and I spent our usual hour or so perusing the wine and food sections respectively, and stumbled across this amazing book called Wine Bar Food by Cathy and Tony Mantuano. Tony is a chef-owner at Spiaggia in Chicago and he and Cathy opened the South Beach Miami location last year. The book has recipes from their travels in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. The first receipe I had to make was the Red Grape Foccacia, not only because I love making bread, but the picture and description sounded so amazing.

I amended the recipe slightly omitting some of the oil and adding a little fresh ground black pepper for contrast and the result was a fantastic combination of sweet and salty. It came out fluffy on the inside and crispy and delicious on the outside. My only complaint (if you can call it that) was that this made an entire cookie-sheet sized "loaf", which is too tempting to have around - so we cut it into four blocks and froze 3 for later...I'm curious how it defrosts with the red grapes in there. Next time I may add a little fresh rosemary for another twist, but it's perfectly tasty without it.

Red Grape Foccacia

Adapted from Wine Bar Food by Cathy & Tony Mantuano

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

Pinch of sugar

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 cups bread or all purpose flour

2 teaspoons course sea salt (plus more for sprinkling)

12 ounces red grapes (about 42)

Stir yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl and let sit about 5 minutes or until bubbly. Put the flour, salt and pepper in an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Pour yeast mixture into the flour and mix on low speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 3-5 minutes.

Transfer the sticky dough to a cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil cooking spray. Pat the dough to form a rough rectangle and let rest about 5 minutes. Stretch the dough in each direction until it fills the pan; fold the dough over itself in three like a letter, arrange to fit on the cookie sheet. Spray with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about an hour. Flip the dough over and stretch so it fills the pan completely. Let rise for 30 minutes. Stud the dough with the red grapes, 6 across and 7 down, spray with more oil and sprinkle with more sea salt to taste (the more the better for us!) and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place rack in the middle position. Once heated, lower the oven to 450 and put in the dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning the bread halfway through cooking. Remove when golden brown and spray with more oil for a softer crust, or leave dry for crispier crust. Cool for 5-10 minutes on a wire rack and enjoy!