briciole

pane di Pasqua lituano / Lithuanian Easter bread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

the final rendition

Easter breads across Europe feature eggs (uova), probably the food most revered this time of the year. When I was a little girl, my aunt Lucia explained to me that hens laying eggs again after the sluggish winter months was cause for celebration. I agreed.

Yesterday, I saw several farmers selling eggs at the market, each having a nice pile of cartons on their table, a sign that the winter dearth of eggs is over.

As an avid egg consumer, I find myself with a lot of egg shells. I mostly use them in the garden, as snail and slug barrier:

sweet pea seedling needs protection

When I saw a recipe for Easter bread from Lithuania, the country we are currently visiting in our virtual European Community tour, the decision was quickly made to work on a personal version.

As usual, after identifying a recipe to use as inspiration, I went my own way, in terms of adjusting both the ingredients and the realization. The result makes no claim of being traditional, but it has been inspired by the tradition. 

I made the bread three times, testing a couple of variations and below is the recipe that produced my favorite version. 

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Lithuanian Easter bread

Ingredients for the dough:

1. 250 ml non-fat milk at 95 F / 35 C
2. 2 tablespoons / 28 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3. 3 large egg yolks from pastured poultry / 75 g
4. 20 g fluid honey or agave nectar
5. 1 teaspoon / 5 ml vanilla extract
6. 4.5 g instant yeast
7. 80 g whole-wheat flour
8. 340  g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)
9. 3 g fine sea salt
10. 1/2 cup / 70 g raisins (uvetta, see Notes below)

Ingredients for the egg wash:

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons / 22.5 ml water
• 1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds (see Notes below)

Important: for this bread I use delayed fermentation, so the preparation starts the evening before baking.

Notes:

1. White (a.k.a., golden) raisins are traditional, but I have organic flame raising and organic Thompson raisins at home, so I used those.
2. I added poppy seeds as topping the third time I made the bread and it was a good choice — festive too. (As an aside, Lithuanian Christmas bread is topped with poppy seeds.)

Place the first five dough ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to break the yolks.

Add yeast and whisk a bit more.

Add the other dough ingredients to the bowl and stir until they come together into a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl and let rest for 10 minutes.

Stir dough for another minute. (If you use a wooden spoon, dampen it before stirring so the dough doesn't stick to it.)

Oil a clean bowl or dough-rising bucket and transfer dough into it. With damp hands pull the dough gently on one side and fold it over towards the opposite side, then do the same on the opposite side, as if you were folding a sheet of paper into thirds to put into an envelope. Since the dough is inside a bowl the result will not be a rectangle, but that is fine. Turn the folded dough upside-down, keeping it still inside the bowl. 

Cover the bowl with a clean shower cap or piece of plastic wrap. If you use a dough-rising bucket, put the lid on. Refrigerate the dough overnight.

The morning after, take the bowl or bucket out of the refrigerator. Line a 9" x 5" / 23 x 12.5 cm loaf pan with parchment paper and oil the two sides not covered by it. 

Empty the container onto a lightly floured surface. Gently flatten the dough into a longish rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds lengthwise, like a letter, then fold in half along the same direction and press the seam to close it tightly. Lightly roll to make a cylinder that fits the loaf pan. 

Transfer the rolled dough into the prepared pan, seam side down, cover with shower cap or plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled. How long it takes depends in part on the room temperature. (In my case, about 2 1/2 hours.) 

When the dough is almost ready, preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C. If you have the convection bake option use it (and, if your oven does not do it automatically, adjust the temperature accordingly).

Whisk water into egg yolk for the wash. With a pastry brush, paint some egg wash on the surface of the dough. Sprinkle poppy seeds. (You will not use all of the egg wash: leftover can be added to a frittata; I also added it to puréed lentils to make patties.) 

Place bread pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Check internal temperature. If it is 190 F / 88 C, the bread is done, otherwise continue baking until the internal temperature is reached. 

Take the loaf out of the pan and place it on a cooling rack.

When completely cooled, slice and enjoy.

first rendition (with plump flame raisins)

This is a lovely soft bread. My version is not very sweet — most of the sweetness comes from the raisins — and it goes well with either a sweet or savory companatico (literally: that which goes with bread), like roasted apple sauce, bresaola, homemade Colby cheese (to whose curds I add toasted hazelnuts). And it makes a great French toast.

I contribute my bread to the 22nd installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. V like Vedarai (Lithuania) is hosted by of Angela of Mestolando.

On this page you will find the recipe for Vedarai and the list of recipes contributed to the event.

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I am sending this bread to the April edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Barbara.

 

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And also:

- to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish). 

- to Yeastspotting. This page contains part 1 of the roundup and a link to the other two parts.

 

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane di Pasqua lituano

or launch the pane di Pasqua lituano audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

[jump to Comments]

bread, Easter bread, egg, raisins, Lithuanian cuisine

pane di Pasqua lituano

l'edizione finale

Pani tradizionali di Pasqua in molte nazioni europee hanno come ingredienti le uova, probabilmente il cibo più celebrato in questo periodo dell'anno. Quando ero bambina mia zia Lucia mi spiegò che le galline ricominciano a deporre le uova dopo i lenti mesi invernali e questo è motivo di gioia. Concordo.

Ieri al farmers' market ho visto diversi tavoli con pile di cartoni, segno che la scarsità di uova fresche è finita.

Essendo un'avida consumatrice di uova, mi ritrovo con molti gusci e li utilizzo nel mio orticello come barriera per chiocciole e lumache:

la piantina di fiori di pisello necessita di protezione

Quando ho visto una ricetta per pane di Pasqua della Lituania, il paese che stiamo visitando in questo periodo nell'ambito del nostro tour virtuale della Comunita Europea, ho deciso di realizzarne una versione personale.

Come al solito, dopo aver identificato una ricetta che mi ispira ho fatto di testa mia per quanto riguarda ingredienti e realizzazione. Il risultato non pretende di essere tradizionale, ma si è ispirato alla tradizione. 

Ho fatto questo pane tre volte, provando un paio di alternative, e qui di seguito vi do la ricetta che ha prodotto la versione del pane che mi è piaciuta di più. 

Ingredienti per l'impasto:

1. 250 ml latte scremato a 35 C
2. 28 g burro non salato fuso tiepido
3. 3 tuorli d'uovo codice 0 / 75 g
4. 20 g miele fluido
5. 5 ml estratto di vaniglia 
6. 4,5 g lievito di birra secco istantaneo
7. 80 g farina per pane integrale
8. 340 g farina di grano forte
9. 3 g sale marino fino
10. 70 g uvetta sultanina

Inoltre:

• 1 tuorlo
• 22,5 ml acqua
• 1/2 cucchiaio semi di papavero (vedi Note in basso)

Importante: per questo pane utilizzo la lievitazione ritardata, quindi la preparazione comincia la sera prima della cottura.

Note:

1. L'uvetta bianca è tradizionale, ma io avevo in casa altri tipi e ho usato quelli.
2. La terza volta che ho fatto questo pane ho aggiunto la decorazione con semi di papavero: scelta giusta che rende il pane festaiolo. (Il pane lituano di Natale è decorato con semi di papavero.)

Porre i primi cinque ingredienti per l'impasto in una ciotola e mescolare per rompere i tuorli.

Aggiungere il lievito e mescolare ancora un poco.

Aggiungere gli altri ingredienti e mescolare solo fino a quando si forma un impasto. Coprire la ciotola e far riposare per 10 minuti.

Mescolare ancora per un minuto. (Se utilizzate un cucchiaio di legno, inumiditelo prima di mescolare in modo che l'impasto non vi si attacchi.) 

Oliare una ciotola pulita o contenitore per lievitazione e trasferirci l'impasto. Con le mani umide, tirare delicatamente l'impasto da un lato e piegarlo verso il lato opposto. Ripetere dall'altra parte, come se piegaste un foglio di carta in terzi per metterlo in una busta. Dal momento che l'impasto si trova nella ciotola, il risultato non è un rettangolo, ma è la piegatura che conta. Voltare l'impasto piegato sottosopra tenendolo sempre nel contenitore.

Coprire la ciotola con della pellicola di plastica o con il suo coperchio. Mettere l'impasto nel frigorifero durante la notte. 

Il giorno dopo, togliere l'impasto dal frigorifero. Foderare con carta da forno uno stampo da plum cake di 23 x 12.5 cm e oliare i due lati non coperti dalla carta. 

Trasferire l'impasto su un piano di lavoro leggermente infarinato. Appiattirlo con delicatezza e formare un rettangolo lunghetto. Piegare il rettangolo in terzi per il lungo, come una lettera, poi a metà nella stessa direzione. Premere i lembi per sigillarli. Rotolare con delicatezza per ottenere un cilindro più o meno della lunghezza dello stampo.

Trasferire il rotolo di impasto nello stampo facendo in modo che la linea di giunzione sia sulla parte inferiore, coprire con della pellicola di plastica e far lievitare a temperatura ambiente fino a quando sia raddoppiato di volume. Quanto tempo ci voglia per questo dipende molto dalla temperatura. Nel mio caso, due ore e mezzo circa. 

Quando l'impasto è quasi pronto, riscaldare il forno a 177 C. Se avete l'opzione forno ventilato, utlizzatela e se il vostro forno non lo fa automaticamente, aggiustate la temperatura in base alle istruzioni per l'uso.

Mescolare il tuorlo duovo e l'acqua e con un pennello da pasticceria spennellare la superficie dell'impasto, poi spargervi sopra i semi di papavero. (Non utilizzerete tutto l'uovo diluito: potete aggiungere quello che avanza alle uova per una frittata; io l'ho aggiunto alle lenticchie passate per fare gli hamburger vegetariani.) 

Infornare e cuocere per 40 minuti, poi controllare la temperatura interna del pane: se è 88 C, il pane è cotto. Se la temperatura è inferiore, infornare di nuovo e controllare dopo qualche minuto. 

Dopo aver sfornato lo stampo, estrarre il pane e farlo freddare su una gratella.

Affettare e gustare.

prima edizione

Qusto è un pane soffice dal sapore gradevole. La mia versione non è molto dolce — la maggior parte della dolcezza deriva dall'uvetta — e si accompagna bene sia con il dolce (come salsa di mele arrosto) che con il salato, come bresaola o il mio Colby fatto in casa (al quale aggiungo nocciole tostate durante la manifattura). Ed è perfetto per fare French toast per colazione.

Con il mio pane partecipo alla tappa numero 22 dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. V like Vedarai (Lithuania) è ospitata da Angela di Mestolando.

Su questa pagina trovate la ricetta del Vedarai e la lista dei contributi all'evento.

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Mando questo pane anche all'edizione di Aprile di Panissimo un evento mensile creato da Barbara di Bread & Companatico e Sandra di Indovina chi viene a cena? e ospitato questo mese da Barbara.

 

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E anche:

- alla raccolta mensile Sourdough and Yeast di Wisla (in polacco). 

- a Yeastspotting. This page contains part 1 of the roundup and a link to the other two parts. 

tortino di verdure stile sklandrausis / sklandrausis-inspired vegetable tart

a three-[layer/texture/flavor] tart

In Latvia (Lettonia), I went down the wrong path — figuratively, of course.

Having baked eight types of bread out of 20 dishes from the EU countries visited so far in our virtual tour, I decided to bake a Latvian bread. I found a recipe, I made it a couple of times, was almost ready to write about it and then decided I was not enthusiastic enough about the recipe to share it on the blog. So, I started researching Latvian dishes again and finally found one that intrigued me: sklandrausis.

The sklandrausis, a small... pie made of rye flour with a filling of potatoes and carrots, has received a “Traditional Speciality Guaranteed” designation from the European Commission, according to the commission’s representative office in Rīga. [source]

Sklandrausis obtained TSG designation a few months ago. (If you are not familiar with the EU designations for products, on this page you can find an explanation.) As part of the process, the organization requesting the designation must provide information in support of its petition, including a detailed description:

'Sklandrausis’ is a round pie, 8-14 cm in diameter. The base of a ‘Sklandrausis’ is made of firm rye-flour dough rolled out to a thickness of 2-3 mm. Discs, which form the bases of the pies, are cut or pressed out of the rolled-out dough and their edges are folded upwards. The base of the ‘Sklandrausis’ is filled with layers of boiled potato and carrot filling in a ratio of 1:2 to 1:1. The potato is put in first and the carrot is placed on top. The finished ‘Sklandrausis’ is between 1,5 cm and 2,5 cm thick. The base of the ‘Sklandrausis’ is firm and well-baked, and the filling is porous. Typically it has a yellowy orange carrot colour. A layer of cream may be spread over the surface, or it may be sprinkled with cinnamon or caraway seeds. ‘Sklandrausis’ may range in taste from sweetish to very sweet. Although the base leaves the unmistakable taste of bread in the mouth, the taste of carrots predominates.

The full document is available online and it contains also a recipe. I was immediately intrigued by the combination of ingredients — rye flour, potatoes and carrots (farina di segale, patate e carote) — and also by the layering. When planning my rendition, I decided to make a number of changes. Most importantly, I omitted sugar altogether and, instead of making individual pies, I made one large tart. Hence, I am calling my rendition "sklandrausis-inspired" vegetable tart.

brilliant orange

I tested a few variations, including using rainbow carrots vs. orange carrots (see top photo) and baking the tart at high vs. moderate temperature. Here's the recipe, based on our household's preferences.

Ingredients:

For the potato layer:

• 300 g / 10 1/2 oz. potatoes of a variety that is good for mashing
• 60 ml / 1/4 cup homemade kefir
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• A dash of freshly ground black pepper

For the carrot layer:

• 340 g / 12 oz. / 3/4 lb carrots (the orange variety preferred)
• Olive oil
• 1 large egg, preferably from pastured poultry
• 100 g / 3 1/2 oz. homemade ricotta
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• A dash of ground cinnamon

For the base layer:

• 150 g dark rye flour
• 7 g lard + 7 g browned butter OR 14 g / 1 tablespoon / 1/2 oz. unsalted butter
• 1/2 tablespoon / 5 g caraway seeds, lightly smashed in a mortar with a pestle
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• 60 ml / 1/4 cup water

How to prepare potatoes and carrots
I opted to roast the vegetables. I chose 3 medium potatoes weighing about 100 g / 3 1/2 oz. each and a nice bunch of freshly harvested carrots from the farmers' market, still sporting their green mane. This time of the year, the carrots are fairly small and quite tender.

Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. Scrub potatoes and carrots well (after cutting away the greens, if present). With a knife, scrape carrots' to remove then skin.

Place potatoes on the baking mat. Place carrots in a bowl and with a mister, spray some olive oil on them and roll to coat, then spread on the baking mat.

Place vegetables in the oven and bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Check the vegetables after 30 minutes to estimate how much longer they need.

Peel potatoes as soon as you can handle them and rice them. Let cool a bit, then add kefir and stir. Finally, season with salt and pepper and stir. Cover to keep warm.

Roughly chop carrots and place in a food processor bowl fitted with the steel blade. Process to mince.

Add egg to the bowl and process briefly.

Add ricotta to the bowl and process until all the ingredients are blended. Season with salt and cinnamon and give a final whirl.

How to prepare the base
Rub the fat into the flour. Mix in caraway seeds and salt. Add the water and make a firm dough.

I found that the easiest way to roll the dough is to use wax paper as surface. (I also found that I did not need to flour the dough as it was not at all sticky.) Roll the dough to a disk of 3 mm / 1/8 inch thickness.

Prepare a 9 or 9 1/2-inch / 23-24 cm fluted round tart pan with removable bottom. If you used wax paper as rolling surface, flip the rolled dough over the tart pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the paper.

The tart pan I have is about 1-inch / 2.5 cm high, which is too high for sklandrausis, so with a knife, I trim the border at 1 cm / 3/8 inch, then use the excess dough, as necessary, where I came up short, making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around (see photo below).

after adding the potato layer

How to assemble and bake the tart
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C.

Spread the mashed potatoes evenly on the dough.

Spread the puréed carrot and ricotta blend evenly on the dough.

Place pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until the visible rim of the crust is golden.

Remove pan from the oven, place on a cooling rack and let rest for a couple of minutes.

With the tip of a knife, gently probe the small arches all around the pan to ensure that the crust does not adhere to them. Push up the tart bottom to remove the fluted ring and place back on the cooling rack.

After a couple more minutes, with the help of a spatula, transfer the tart onto a plate (a long icing spatula is perfect for this step).

Slice and serve.

the three layers

The tart has layered texture and taste: the rustic crust is nicely flavored by the caraway seeds. The potato layer is soft and the natural sweetness of potatoes is balanced by the tangy kefir. The carrot layer moves the palate more clearly on the sweet camp, thanks in part to the cinnamon nuance, but not too far into it. The combination is satisfactory to all the senses.

I most recently served this vegetable tart with a side of purple sprouting broccoli and it was a nice pairing.

My take on sklandrausis can be served as appetizer or main course. As the filling is firm, I can imagine offering thin slices of it even at a party where finger food is on the menu.

I contribute my vegetable tart to the 21st installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. U like Ūdens klinģeri (Latvia) is hosted by Brii of briggishome.

 

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This is also my contribution to edition #425 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and Brii of briggishome and hosted this week by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post. I could not find a phonetic description of the pronunciation of the Latvian word sklandrausis, so I cannot vouch for that part of the recording.

tortino di verdure stile sklandrausis

or launch the tortino di verdure stile sklandrausis audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

rye flour, potato, carrot, Latvian cuisine

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rohlíky: panini cechi / Czech bread rolls

impossible not to eat one — or two

Another European country — another bread.

Our virtual tour of the EU has reached the Czech Republic and to honor it, I baked a beloved traditional bread roll called rohlík (plural: rohlíky, as Káta kindly told me). When I read expatriates wax poetic about a bread, I want to bake it. This has happened recently with the Maltese bread called ftira and now with rohlík. Trust the expats: they know what it means to miss a food they love. 

In reading about rohlík, I immediately learned that it is the Czech version of a bread roll I made not too long ago to mark our virtual visit to Hungary: kifli. While I made kifli with a savory stuffing and in a crescent shape, for my rohlík I privileged the elongated shape and used seeds to grace the surface.

breaking the crisp crust

Even after several years of bread baking, the satisfaction I derive from tasting bread that came to life in my own kitchen is undiminished. These rolls are relatively straightforward to make, they are pretty and with their crisp seeded crust and soft crumb make even a few bites a joyful experience. 

Topped with some fruit preserves, a warm rohlík makes a great breakfast; stuffed with some bresaola or a piece of my homemade cheese, it makes a satisfactory snack (spuntino). 

reveals the soft crumb

The inspiration for the dough came from the book Local Breads by Daniel Leader, which contains several recipes for Eastern European breads (in an earlier post, you can see an image of my rendition of his Czech Christmas braid). Besides using mostly a different shape (Leader's rolls are crescent-shaped), my rendition differs from the inspiring recipe in three main ways (and a few small ones): 1. the use of 20% whole-wheat flour; 2. delayed fermentation; and 3. larger rolls. 

Ingredients for the dough:

• 300 g / 1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 15 ml / 1 tablespoon whey OR water
• 10 g instant yeast 
• 60 g whole-wheat flour
• 40 g sprouted whole-wheat flour OR whole-wheat flour
• 400 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)
• 50 g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 10 g fine sea salt

Ingredients for the topping:

• 1 tablespoon / 8 g poppy seeds (semi di papavero)
• 1 1/2 tablespoon / 15 g sesame seeds (semi di sesamo)
• 1 teaspoon / 5 g sea salt

Note (in case you look at the inspiring recipe): since I used delayed fermentation, I reduced the amount of instant yeast, and since I used some whole-wheat flour, I increased the amount of liquid.

Mix the dough
Pour water and whey in a large bowl. Add all the other ingredients for the dough and stir with a wooden spoon until they come together into a rough dough.

Cover the bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.

Spray some olive oil on your kneading board. Empty the mixing bowl on the board, scraping it well. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. 

Clean the mixing bowl and oil it.

Flatten the dough. Fold the left third towards the right, then fold the right third towards the left. Fold the top third towards the bottom, then fold the bottom third towards the top. (For a visual help, go to this page, then scroll through the slides.)

Turn the folded dough upside down and place it in the oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly (for example, with a clean shower cap) and place it in the refrigerator overnight. 

Shape the dough
The following morning, line each of two half sheet pans with a silicone baking mat. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the mats.  

Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured kneading board. With the help of a scale, cut the dough into 16 pieces, each weighing 55 g / 2 oz. 

Take a piece of dough and roll it into a rectangle about 6.5 inches / 16.5 cm long and 4.5 inches / 11.5 cm wide. Roll the rectangle starting from one of the shortest sides. While you roll the dough with one hand, gently pull the dough with the other.  You will end up with something like what you see in the photo below.

after the initial rolling

Gently roll the shaped dough to give it a cylindrical shape. You need to press the dough from the center towards the two extremities while you roll. You will end up with something like what you see in the photo below.

For a visual help, take a look at this short video (keeping in mind that the rohlík shaped in it is bigger than the one I made) or watch this longer video (the shaping starts at 4'45"). 

final shape — almost ready for proofing

Place each roll on the prepared baking sheets, seam side down. If you want, you can curve some of the cylinders into crescents, like I have done. Leave at least 2 inches / 5 cm space between rolls. 

a nice layer of seeds and salt

You can leave the surface plain or cover it with mixed seeds. To do so, prepare a small bowl with water and a pastry brush and place the seed and salt mix in a long, shallow bowl or plate. 

Lightly brush 2-3 rolls with water, then gently pick up one at a time, flip it and make the wet surface touch the layer of seed and salt mix in the bowl. I think this method is more efficient and gives a better result than sprinkling the seed and salt mix on each roll, but of course, you can do it that way, if you prefer. Repeat until all the rolls are seeded.

Lightly drape some plastic wrap over the two baking. Let the shaped rolls rise at room temperature until they are pillowy, but the layers are still visible. In my case that was one hour. 

Prepare the oven and bake the rolls
About 15 minutes before baking, place one oven rack in the top third of the oven and the other in the middle. Make sure that there is enough distance between the racks for the baking sheets holding the risen rolls. Heat the oven to 350 F / 177 C.

Gently lift the silicone baking mats with the proofing rolls and move them (plastic wrap and all) onto the kneading board or a table. Place one half sheet pan on each oven rack.

When ready to bake, remove the plastic wrap. Take the sheet pans out of the oven and carefully move one of the silicone baking mats with the proofed rolls onto each of them. Place the loaded baking sheets in the oven.

After 12 minutes, switch the rack position of the baking sheets. 

Continue baking the rolls until the tops are golden. In my oven, the total baking time was 30 minutes. Each oven is different, so start checking the rolls closely after 25 minutes of baking time. 

When the rolls are ready, take the baking sheets out of the oven and place on wire racks. Let stand for 10 minutes. Harvest the rolls from the baking sheets.

Serve the rolls warm or at room temperature.

parbaked and ready to be frozen

Parbake (some of) the rolls for future enjoyment
In his book, Dan Leader suggests parbaking the rolls as an option and I applied it to half of the rolls. 

After 15 minutes of baking time (3 minutes after switching the rack position of the baking sheets), take out of the oven the top baking sheet. At this point, the rolls have risen and the crust is set, but still pale (see photo above). Put the baking sheet on a wire rack and let the rolls cool completely, about an hour, then place in resealable plastic bags and freeze.

I have not yet used the frozen rolls, but when I want to do it, I will follow Leader's instructions (adapted to my rolls, which are bigger than his): place the frozen roll on a baking sheet and let defrost for 1 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 350 F / 177 C and bake rolls until golden.  

I contribute my rohlíky to the 20th installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. T like Trdlo (Czech Republic) is hosted by Alessandra of Ricette di cultura.

This page contains the list of contributions to the event.
Questa pagina contiene la lista dei contributi all'evento.  

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I am sending this bread to the March edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Patty of Il castello di Pattipatti.

 

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And also:

- to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish). This is the roundup.

- to Yeastspotting. This page contains part 2 of the roundup and a link to the other two parts.

 

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

panini cechi

or launch the panini cechi audio file [mp3].

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bread, roll, Czech cuisine

Related articles

kifli / panini ungheresi / Hungarian bread rolls

ftira: pane maltese / Maltese bread

pulla / panini finlandesi / Finnish buns

ftira: pane maltese / Maltese bread

a really good bread

The sky always shone blue and cloudless. The sea was of a blue so intense it was impossible not to want to dive into it. I was on the island of Malta to study English and enjoy a vacation after over a year of working full time as a nurse and studying at a university full time. I was having a great time.

Going to Malta for my first study vacation (vacanza studio) was an excellent choice. We had language classes morning and afternoon. In October, the temperature was still mild and the sun welcoming, so we spent our lunch break along the shore. Colorful fishing boats dotted the water in front of us, houses built with a sand-colored stone called globigerina limestone and made pretty with brilliantly colored doors and shutters (porte e persiane), were behind us.

the grand harbor of Valletta

Every Wednesday and Saturday, the school organized a tour. We visited the capital city of Valletta. The postcard above (from the stack I brought back in lieu of taking photographs, which, at the time, I thought I could not do) shows the city's Grand Harbour (Port il-Kbir). Notice the buses parked around the square on the bottom of the image. Riding the bus in Malta was a bit of an adventure. The buses were old, not particularly comfortable and they did not really stop to let you get off, but merely slowed down, so you had to hop off. It was all right once I figured it was the custom of the country.

the walled city of Mdina

Our visit to Mdina, the old capital of Malta, located in the center of the island, was enchanting. It is called the Silent City and indeed in the evening it relaxed in a meditative quiet and the atmosphere was quite magical.

I have a lot more stories from my stay in Malta, from visiting Gozo, to admiring this beautiful painting by Caravaggio, from listening to Maltese language, to being introduced to Meissen china, but I need to move on to more edible matters.

Of the traditional Maltese foods that I tasted, I remember lampuki, which I liked. Did I have ftira? I don't remember, but that is what I decided to make to celebrate our stop in Malta.

After browsing around the web a bit, I chose this recipe as guide and made a good number of adjustments to it, mostly in the procedure. Does it taste ike the real thing? I have no idea, but the bread I baked tastes really good and I hope that if I served it to a Maltese expat, it would bring a smile to his/her face. I made it many times during the past three weeks to test various details, so if you come to my house for dinner soon, chances are high you will get a taste as I have a stash in the freezer.

the poppy seeds are my idea

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for ftira

Ingredients for the pre-ferment:

• 4 oz. / 113 g sourdough starter refreshed in the morning (see below for details)
• 4 oz. / 120 ml water at room temperature
• 1 g instant yeast
• 120 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)
• 10 g whole-wheat flour

Ingredients for the final dough:

• All of the pre-ferment
• 7.5 oz. / 212 g water + up to .5 oz. / 14 g more if needed (see below for details)
• 1 oz. / 28 g high gluten flour
• 2 oz. whole-wheat flour
• Enough King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour to reach a total of 260 g flour
• 1.5 g instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons / 10 g fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml olive oil

Optional topping:

• sesame or poppy seeds

Preparing the starter
The morning before you plan to bake the bread, when you refresh your sourdough starter, put in a small container:

• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml sourdough starter from the day before
• 2 oz. / 60 ml water
• 2 oz. / 56 g all-purpose flour

Cover the container and let the starter ferment in a draft-free place (in my case, the top of the refrigerator) until the evening, when you'll make the pre-ferment.

Preparing the pre-ferment
Weigh 4 oz. / 113 g sourdough starter prepared in the morning and put it in a mixing bowl. (The leftover can be used to start a new batch of starter.)

Add the rest of the pre-ferment ingredients and mix until well combined. Cover the mixing bowl and place it in a draft-free place (in my case, the top of the refrigerator) until the morning after, when you'll make the bread.

Preparing the bread dough
The morning after, you will see that the pre-ferment is quite bubbly.

Mix all the ingredients of the final dough, using 7.5 oz. / 212 g of water. This is a wet dough and mixing it by hand, like I do, requires some care. Adding flour without having a sense of how much is a risky proposition, so I hold some water (the original recipe had 1 cup / 8 oz.) and mix all the ingredients.

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and in the meantime, oil a food-grade plastic tub with lid. This will allow you to manipulate the dough later. I didn't get a good shot of the one I use, so take a look at this photo to give you an idea. You need a rectangular container that will allow you to stretch, fold and flip the dough: not too high and large enough. 

After the 10 minute rest, mix the dough again for a couple of minutes and decide whether it needs some more water. Keep in mind, again, this is a sticky dough. 

Pour the dough into the oiled tub. Wet your hands. If you have never done this, it feels counterintuitive, but indeed the way to handle wet dough is to have wet hands and a wet scraping tool. Stretch and fold the dough:

1. Slide your hands under the side of the dough farthest from you, raise the hands and stretch the dough, then fold it over onto the side closer to you.
2. Slide your hands under the side of the dough closer to you, raise the hands and stretch the dough, then fold it over onto the side farthest from you.
3. Turn the tub 90 degrees and repeat step 1 and 2.
4. Slide your hands under the dough, flip it and at the same time turn it 90 degrees. (For this step, you may use a wet scraping tool as helper.)

(In this video, Peter Reinhart shows the stretch and fold technique. He does not use a tub, but the concept is the same.)

Cover the tub and let the dough rest for one hour.

Fold the dough again as described above. Cover the tub and let the dough rest for 30-45 minutes.

Repeat the steps described in the previous paragraph 2 more times.

Lightly flour a silicone baking mat. Uncover the tub and flip it over the baking mat: the dough will slowly drop onto the mat.

shaping the dough into a disc with a hole

With wet hands and delicately, shape the dough into a flat disc and make a hole in the center, as shown in the photo above. Cover it either with the tub upside-down (which is what I do) or with some oiled plastic film. Let proof for half an hour, while you warm up the oven.

Place an oven rack on the lowest level of the oven. Place a small round pan on the oven bottom. Place baking tile on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 F / 232 C  and keep it at that temperature while the dough rests.

Prepare a glass of water. With a mister, spray some water on the surface of the dough. Optionally sprinkle some sesame or poppy seeds on the dough. Transfer the baking mat with the dough onto the hot baking tile. Pour the glass of water into the hot pan on the bottom of the oven: this will create some steam in the oven and give more time to the bread to rise before the crust sets.

Do you even look at your bread rising in the oven? I do: it's mesmerizing.

Bake for about 20 minutes. The final internal temperature should be about 210 F / 99 C.

Transfer the ftira to a rack and let cool completely before cutting. (I don't allow the knife to touch it for at least two hours.)

Slice and enjoy.

a great bread

A nice open crumb and a delicate sourdough flavor makes this a great bread to put on the table or to snack on. It shines next to a soup, with some cheese on it or with some spread. Basically, a winner.

I ♥ bread

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My bread participates to the 18th installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. R like Ross Fil Forn (Malta) is hosted by Lucia of Torta di Rose.

This page contains the list of contributions to the event.
Questa pagina contiene la lista dei contributi all'evento. 

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I am sending this bread to the January edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Sandra.

 This post contains the list of contributions to the event.

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And also:

- to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish). This post contains the roundup of the event.

- to Yeastspotting. This post contains part 1 of the roundup and a link to the other two parts.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane maltese

or launch the pane maltese audio file [mp3].

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bread, sourdough, Maltese cuisine

casseruola di uova e formaggio con verdure / egg and cheese casserole with vegetables

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

detail of: The garden of earthly delights

When I was in Madrid for a conference a good number of years ago, I spent an afternoon at the Museo Nacional del Prado. It was an amazing feast for the eyes: more sumptuous than expected and completely satisfying.

One of the most interesting works I admired that day was Hieronymous Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights. I lost track of time as my eyes lost themselves in the intricate details of Bosch's vision. I still have a few postcards from that visit and I scanned my favorite one to introduce this post.

As you may have guessed, our virtual tour of the European Community has arrived in Spain. As a result of a complicated train of thought that had as main ingredient my knowledge of Spanish history, I decided to look for a Jewish dish. I soon found a source of information in the book "A Drizzle of Honey The Life and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews" by David M. Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson.

When Iberian Jews were converted to Catholicism under duress during the Inquisition, many struggled to retain their Jewish identity in private while projecting Christian conformity in the public sphere.

The recipes "combine Christian & Islamic traditions in cooking lamb, beef, fish, eggplant, chickpeas, and greens and use seasonings such as saffron, mace, ginger, and cinnamon" (zafferano, macis, zenzero e cannella).

In the Eggs section of the book, the recipe for María González Eggs and Cheese Casserole with Eggplant (Cazuela de Huevos y Queso) immediately captured my attention. On page 77 and 78, the authors explain not only who María González was, but also the history of cazuelas. This is a short excerpt:

Originally, these egg dishes were prepared on top of the stove: thus the term fritada, fried. Later... the dishes were baked, and in many places the term for these dishes changed to cujada (coagulated).

The very last line of the recipe states that any vegetable can be substituted for the eggplant, so I immediately decided I would use some lovely cauliflower (cavolfiore) from Redwood Roots Farm. 

shy beauty

The preparation of the eggplant described in the recipe does not apply to cauliflower. I decided to roast the florets, which would keep them crisp. I then adjusted the quantity of the spices to my taste. Finally, I used some of my homemade Quark cheese: not quite Spanish but quite tasty. The result was a lovely light dish, where the crisp cauliflower is suspended in a light egg matrix.

a contrast between soft and crunchy

For the next rendition, I adjusted the recipe to use a vegetable of a consistency closer to that of mashed eggplant. In my crisper, I had a small zoo of vegetables: broccoli florets, a tiny cauliflower head, two carrots (carote), red beet greens and their stems and chard stems. I decided to steam all of the vegetables together. I sometimes do wild things because I like to get wild results. This one was wildly good — though less photogenic than its predecessor. The texture was soft throughout, reminiscent of souffle. The flavor of the various vegetables blended in a perfectly pitched choir (coro).

note how the color changes

I liked both versions of the recipe so I am presenting both.

Ingredients for the cauliflower version:

1. 4 eggs (possibly from pastured poultry)
2. 2 lbs cauliflower
3. olive oil
4. 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed (optional in the original recipe; see Note 1 below)
5. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6. 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
7. 1/4 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
8. 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
9. 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10. 4 oz. / 113 g Quark cheese (see Note 2 below)
11. 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Ingredients for the mixed vegetable version:

• 4 eggs (possibly from pastured poultry)
• 2 lbs mixed vegetables from your crisper (for example: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, chard stems).
• olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Tan-Tan Moroccan Seasoning (a spice mix that includes Hungarian paprika, white sugar, cumin, salt, Ceylon cinnamon, black cardamom, parsley, coriander, turmeric, and other spices) OR the mix of spices listed above (ingredients #5-9; see Note 1 below)
• 4 oz. / 113 g Quark cheese (see Note 2 below)

Note 1: the original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper and 3/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. I toned down both spices in my rendition. I used saffron in the cauliflower version but not in the mixed vegetable version: consider using it or not, depending on your choice of vegetable(s).

Note 2: The original recipe calls for 1 cup cubed semisoft cheese, cut into 1/2-1 inch cubes, so if you don't have Quark cheese, you can substitute a semisoft cheese of your liking. However, I recommend cutting it into smaller cubes, so you can distribute it better.

Start with the eggs
Break eggs and place yolks and whites in separate bowls. Choose a large bowl for the yolks, since that's where you will end up with all the ingredients.

How to prepare the cauliflower
Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Cut cauliflower into small florets. Peel stalk and cut into coins. Keep small leaves. Place in a large baking pan.

Spray cauliflower with olive oil using a mister and stir well. Bake for 15 minutes, then stir. Bake for another 15 minutes or so. The florets should not brown. Take out of the oven and let cool.

How to prepare the mixed vegetables
Trim all the vegetables, cut into pieces according to their nature (e.g., broccoli and cauliflowers in florets, carrots in coins, chard stems into pieces, etc.) and steam until tender. Let cool, then puree (using a food processor or immersion blender), possibly leaving some of the vegetables in small chunks rather than smooth, to give a bit of varied texture to the casserole.

How to assemble and bake the casserole
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C.

As baking vessel I used a 9-inch / 23-cm round springform pan. You can oil the bottom or line it with parchment paper. Oil the sides as well.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside.

Beat yolks until creamy. Add saffron, if using and stir.

Place the (empty) pan in the oven.

Mix the spices and add them to the yolks, then add Quark cheese and blend. Finally, add the cauliflower and chopped parsley OR the mixed vegetable and stir well.

before adding the egg whites

Add about 1/3 of the egg whites and fold in using a spatula and a delicate hand. Add the rest of the egg whites and again fold in. Take the prepared springform pan out of the oven, transfer the egg and cauliflower OR mixed vegetable mixure into it, then place it in the oven.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the casserole is set and its surface is golden. Note that the concept of "golden" may need to be adjusted, depending on the type of vegetables that you use. It applied as is to cauliflower, but when it came to the beet-colored vegetable mix, it was a more suble effect. The important thing is that the casserole is set. You can use a toothpick to check for that: it should come out clean when inserted at the center of the casserole.

Take the casserole out of the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, then run a thin spatula around the edge and remove the ring. Serve sliced at the preferred temperature: "This casserole is good hot or cold, but the flavors are best if it is served at room temperature."

I agree (sono d'accordo).

My casserole participates to the 16th installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. P like Paella (Spain) is hosted by Francesca of Burro e zucchero.

 On this page you will find the recipe for Paella and the list of recipes contributed to the event.

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This is also my contribution to edition #414 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Haalo herself.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

casseruola di uova e formaggio con verdure

or launch the casseruola di uova e formaggio con verdure audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

[jump to Comments]

egg, cheese, cauliflower, Spanish cuisine, Jewish cuisine

casseruola di uova e formaggio con verdure

Il giardino delle delizie (dettaglio)

Quando sono stata a Madrid per un congresso un certo numero di anni fa ho passato un pomeriggio al Museo Nacional del Prado. Per i miei occhi fu un banchetto piu lussoso di quanto mi aspettassi.

Una delle opere più interesanti che ammirai quel giorno è Il giardino delle delizie di Hieronymous Bosch. Persi la cognizione del tempo mentre i miei occhi si persero nei dettagli intricati della visione di Bosch. Conservo delle cartoline acquistate durante quella visita e la mia preferita è quella qui in alto.

Il nostro viaggio virtuale attraverso la Comunità Europea è arrivato in Spagna. Al termine di una complicata associazione di idee partita dalla mia conoscenza della storia della Spagna, ho deciso di preparare un piatto della tradizione ebrea. Ho trovato subito una fonte di informazione nel libro di David M. Gitlitz e Linda Kay Davidson "A Drizzle of Honey The Life and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews" (Un filo di miele. Vita e ricette deglie ebrei nascosti di Spagna)

Quando gli ebrei della penisola iberica furono costretti a convertirsi al cattolicesimo durante l'Inquisizione, molti si sforzarono di mantenere la loro identita ebraica in privato pur mostrando di conformarsi in pubblico. [traduzione mia]

Le ricetta "combinano la tradizione cristiane e quella islamica nella preparazione di agnello, manzo, pesce, melanzane, ceci e verdure e utilizzano spezie come zafferano, macis, zenzero e cannella."

Nella sezione del libro dedicata alle uova, la ricetta di María González Cazuela de Huevos y Queso con melanzane ha catturato immediatamente la mia attenzione. A pagina 77 e 78 gli autori spiegano non solo chi era María González ma anche la storia delle cazuelas. Una breve citazione dal testo:

Originariamente, questi piatti a base di uova venivano cotti sul fuoco, da cui il termine fritada, fritto. Poi... i piatti vennero cotti nel forno e in molti luoghi il termine che li indica divenne cujada (coagulato).

L'ultima riga della ricetta dice che le melanzane possono essere sostituite con qualunque altra verdura e io ho deciso di usare del cavolfiore appena raccolto.

bellezza ritrosa

La preparazione delle melanzane non è adatta al cavolfiore. Ho scelto di cuocere in forno le cimette e mantenerle piuttosto croccanti. Ho poi adattato le quantità delle spezie al mio gusto. Infine, ho usato del formaggio Quark fatto in casa: non proprio spagnolo ma alquanto gustoso. Il risultato è stato un piatto molto gradevole e gradito, col cavolfiore croccantino immerso in una matrice all'uovo leggera.

contrasto tra morbido e croccante

Quando ho rifatto la ricetta ho deciso di usare una verdura più vicina come consistenza alla melanzana. Nel frigorifero avevo uno zoo di verdure: cime di broccoli, un piccolo cavolfiore, due carote, steli delle foglie di barbabietola rossa e coste. Le ho cotte al vapore tutte insieme. Alle volte faccio cose un po' folli perché mi piace ottenere risultati folli e questo era follemente buono — anche se meno fotogenico del predecessore. La cosistenza soffice mi ha ricordato un soufflé. Il sapore delle varie verdure era in armonia come un coro ben affiatato.

notate come il colore varia

Mi sono piaciute entrambe le versioni della ricetta e quindi le presento entrambe.

Ingredienti per la versione con cavolfiore:

1. 4 uova codice 0
2. 900 g cavolfiore
3. olio d'oliva
4. 1/4 cucchiaino / 1,25 ml zafferano in stimmi, sbriciolato (facoltativo nella ricetta originale; vedi Nota 1)
5. 1/4 cucchiaino / 1,25 ml pepe nero macinato fresco
6. 1/4 cucchiaino / 1,25 ml cumino in polvere
7. 1/4 cucchiaino / 1,25 ml cumino tedesco (carvi) in polvere
8. 1/4 cucchiaino / 1,25 ml coriandolo in polvere
9. 1/4 cucchiaino / 1,25 ml cannella in polvere
10. 113 g formaggio Quark (vedi Nota 2)
11. 4 cucchiai / 60 ml prezzemolo fresco tritato

Ingredienti per la versione con verdure miste:

• 4 uova codice 0
• 900 g di verdure miste (per esempio broccoli, cavolfiore, carote, coste).
• olio d'oliva
• una punta di cucchiaino di pepe nero macinato fresco
• 1 cucchiaino / 5 ml Tan-Tan Moroccan Seasoning (un misto di spezie che comprende paprika ungherese, zucchero bianco, cumino, sale, cannella di Ceylon, cardamomo nero, prezzemolo, coriandolo, curcuma e altre spezie) oppure le spezie elencate nella versione precedente (ingredienti nr. 5-9; vedi Nota 1)
• 113 g formaggio Quark (vedi Nota 2)

Nota 1: la ricetta originale prevede 1/2 cucchiaino di pepe nero macinato e 3/4 cucchiaino di cannella in polvere. Io ho usato una quantità inferiore nella mia versione. Ho usato lo zafferano nella versione col cavolfiore ma non in quella con il misto di verdure. Voi decidete in base al vostro gusto e alla verdura che scegliete di usare.

Nota 2: la ricetta originale prevede una tazza (240 ml) di formaggio semimorbido tagliato a dadi di 1,2-2,5 cm di lato, quindi se non avete il Quark potete sostituirlo col formaggio semimorbodo che preferite. Ma io lo taglerei a dadini più piccoli in modo tale che si distribuisca meglio.

Si comincia dalle uova
Rompere le uova e separare tuorli e albumi in due ciotole. Scegliete una ciotola capiente per i tuorli dal momento che in essa verranno poi mescolati tutti gli ingredienti.

Preparare il cavolfiore
Riscaldare il forno a 190 C.

Mondare il cavolfiore e tagliarlo a cimette. Pelare e tagliare il gambo a rondelle. Usare anche le foglie più tenere. Metter il tutto in una teglia.

Spruzzare il cavolfiore con olio d'oliva e mescolare bene. Cuocere in forno per 15 minuti, poi mescolare. Cuocere per altri 15 minuti circa. Le cime non devono diventare marroni scure. Sfornare e far intiepidire.

Preparare le verdure miste
Mondare tutte le verdure, tagliarle a pezzi a seconda della loro natura (per esempio, broccolo e cavolfiore a cimette, carote a rondelle, coste a pezzetti, ecc.)  e cuocere al vapore fino a quando siano tenere. Far intiepidire e passarle (col robot o con un frullatore ad immersione) magari lasciando un po' delle verdure a pezzetti piuttosto che ottenere un purè omogeneo in modo da creare un po' di varietà nella consistenza.

Preparare e cuocere la casseruola
Scaldare il forno a 177 C.

Per cuocere la casseruola io ho usato una teglia rotonda col bordo rimuovibile di 23 com di diametro. Ungere il fondo o coprirlo con carta da forno. Ungere i lati.

Montare gli albumi a neve ferma. Mettere da parte.

Sbattere i tuorli fino a quando siano cremosi. Aggiungere lo zafferano, se utilizzato, e mescolare.

Mettere la teglia (vuota) nel forno.

Mescolare le spezie e aggiungerle ai tuorli, poi aggiungere il Quark e incorporare. Infine, aggiungere il cavolfiore oppure le verdure e mescolare bene.

subito prima di aggiungere gli albumi

Aggiungere 1/3 circa degli albumi e incorporare con movimento dal basso verso l'alto usando una spatola e una mano leggera. Aggiungere il resto degli albumi e incorporare come sopra. Tirare fuori dal forno la teglia, trasferire in esso il composto di uova e cavolfiore oppure verdure miste e infornare.

Cuocere per 30-35 minuti o fino a quando la casseruola sia asciutta dentro e dorata in superficie. Il concetto di "dorata" deve essere adattato al tipo di verdure utilizzate. Si applica perfettamente al cavolfiore, ma quandoho preparato la versione rosso barbabietola, la doratura era più tenue. È importante che la casseruola sia cotta dentro e per controllare questo potete utilizzare uno stecchino: quando lo inserite al centro della casseruola deve uscire pulito.

Sfornare la casseruola. Farla riposare per alcuni minuti e poi far scorrere una spatolina lungo il bordo per staccare l'anello della teglia. Servire a fette alla temperatura preferita: "Questa casseruola è buona sia calda che fredda, ma il sapore è migliore se viene servita a temperatura ambiente."

Sono d'accordo.

Con la mia casseruola partecipo alla sedicesima tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. P come Paella (Spagna) è ospitata da Francesca di Burro e zucchero.

Su questa pagina trovate la ricetta della Paella e la lista dei contributi all'evento.

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Questo post è anche il mio contributo all'edizione numero 414 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Haalo.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

Related articles

crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark / Asian pear and Quark cheese tart

Q come Quarkkeulchen / Q like Quarkkeulchen

crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark / Asian pear and Quark cheese tart

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

a symphony in three layers

You know how they say that subscribing to a CSA makes you learn to use new types of produce?

Well, it is true.

Asian pears look charming with their distinctive portly shape, exhuding authority and the wordly wisdom of someone who has traveled from afar. When I started receiving freshly picked organic Asian pears of the varieties Shinko and Nijisseki (a.k.a. 20th Century, see photo below) in my weekly CSA box a few years ago, I got down to becoming friends with them.

When in doubt, ask the oven for help, is one of my pearls of wisdom. Oven-roasting a sliced Asian pear revealed that the fruit bakes beautifully: in the oven, it turns sweeter and maintains the firmness of flesh that makes it appreciated in some applications.

two Shinko (front and right) and a Nijisseki (left)

In my enthusiasm, I started adding oven-roasted Asian pears to various dishes, from soup to frittata, to salads (like this one) and to my husband's flaked rye. They also work well in this old recipe, which still goes strong in my winter kitchen.

Recently, ahead of a dinner with friends, when I was laying out plans for a dessert that would use homemade Quark cheese, I remembered a crostata I made some time ago with fromage blanc and applied the recipe to the cheese at hand and Asian pears from Neukom Family Farm.

Here is the result, in my usual minimalist style:

charming simplicity — outside and inside

The crostata has three layers: a base of pasta frolla, a layer of sliced Asian pears and, covering them, like a comforting blanket, a cream made with Quark cheese.

The immediate reason for making Quark cheese at home will be revealed next week. I actually don't know whether you can find it in the US, but it is common in Germany, which is where I ate it first and last — before tasting my own. Making Quark at home is quite easy: take milk, add culture (see the recipe on this page, which contains a detailed explanation and lists various options for the culture) and let it do its work, then cut the curd, drain and you are done. Basically, if you want the thrill of saying "I made this cheese," Quark is your friend.

just drained

The crostata was a sweet success. Hence, it was repeated on Thanksgiving Day with the next batch of Quark cheese and more Asian pears from the same farm. I served it with some of my blackberry sorbet on the side and everybody around the table nodded in approval, while savoring bite after bite.

slice after slice...

A note about Asian pears: Beside Shinko and 20th Century (or Nijisseki) mentioned above, there are a number of other varieties.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark

Ingredients:

For pasta frolla:

• 1/3 cup ultrafine sugar or 1/2 cup powdered sugar [64 g / 2 1/4 oz.] (see Note 1)
• 1/2 cup [65 g / 2 1/3 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour (see Note 2)
• 1/2 cup [60 g / 2 1/8 oz.] whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup [28 g / 1 oz.] almond flour, or almond meal
• 2 tablespoons millet flour + 2 tablespoons sorghum flour [28 g / 1 oz. total] OR the same amount of barley flour or of unbleached all-purpose flour
• A pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons [85 g / 3 oz.] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg (possibly from pastured poultry), lightly whisked to blend yolk and white
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract of good quality

For the filling:

1. 14 oz. / 400 g Asian pears, possibly organic (see Note 3)
2. 12 oz. / 340 g fresh Quark or fromage blanc (see Note 4)
3. 1 large egg (possibly from pastured poultry)
4. 2 1/8 oz. / 60 g ultrafine sugar
5. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract of good quality

Note 1: Ultrafine  or superfine or sugar is also referred to as baker's sugar. If you cannot find it, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: The less gluten (as indicated by % protein) in the flour, the better. Do not use bread flour. For my latest rendition I used Perfect Pastry blend by King Arthur Flour.

Note 3: This is a bit more than you need, but it is better to have some leftover slices than not enough. You can always have a pear snack.

Note 4: If you cannot find or make either cheese, you can try using another light fresh cheese that is of similar consistency and flavor.

Make the pasta frolla
Put sugar, flours, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.

Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface.

If you don't have a food processor: Whisk together sugar, flours and salt in a bowl. Rub or cut the butter into the sugar and flour mixture until it has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.

Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten egg and vanilla extract into it.

Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, then use your fingertips.

Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.

Shape the dough into a flat disk 1 inch / 2.5 cm thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. I usually make it the evening before and refrigerate it overnight.

Make the first two layers of the crostata
To bake the crostata, I recommend using a 9 or 9 1/2-inch [23-24 cm] fluted round tart pan with removable bottom, about 1-inch [2.5 cm] high.

Preheat the oven to 350 F [177 C].

Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge and unwrap it. You can roll the dough on a piece of parchment paper or the plastic film in which it was wrapped. This will make the later transfer easier. 

Lightly dust with flour the top of the dough and the surface on which you are rolling it. Keep some flour handy to lightly dust the dough as you go along.

If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin's width each time; turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling gently.

Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch [3 mm] thick. If you used parchment paper or plastic wrap as rolling surface, flip the dough over the tart pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the wrap.

Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan and use it, as necessary, where you find that you came up short. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around. You will have only a small amount of dough left over, which you can use to make a thicker edge or a couple of cookies (frollini).

Prick the shell with a fork in several places. Refrigerate while you prepare the pears.

Rinse well the pears, quarter and core them and then cut each quarter into slices no more than 1/4 inch [6 mm] thick.

Take the shell out of the refrigerator and distribute the pear slices on it to create a layer. Having tried both ways, I prefer starting from the outside and make circles until I reach the center. Note that this layer will not be visible so while you want an even distribution of fruit, you don't need to worry about making a pretty pattern.

Put the crostata in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

tart in progress

Prepare the Quark cream
While the crostata is in the oven, in a food processor or blender, blend the last 4 ingredients of the filling until smooth.

The consistency of the cream should be similar to that of pastry cream. If the cream you obtain is more liquid, add to it 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch and blend it well.

Add the third layer and finish baking the crostata
Take the crostata out of the oven and distribute the Quark cream evenly over the pears. If the consistency is right, you will not have any spilling over the edges.

Put the crostata back into the oven, still at 350 F [177 C] and bake for 20 minutes, then check and bake a bit longer if needed (my crostata needs another 5 minutes). The crostata is ready when the crust is light golden and the topping is set.

Remove the crostata from the oven and let cool slightly on a rack. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, release the tart base from the fluted tart ring.

Let cool a bit longer on the rack, then, with the help of a wide spatula, slide the crostata onto a serving plate. Make sure it is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Serves 10-12.

this one is for you

I really like the combination of flavors and textures in this crostata. The pears are tender, but retain enough firmness to contrast well with the creamy top layer. The Quark cream is light and delicately sweet and the bottom layer provides an interesting crumbly and buttery note to the mix. Every gives the palate a sense of a sweet environment, but the sugar does not overwhelm the other flavors. This is, in my humble opinion, an ideal dessert.

I know this is pie season in the US: have you ever tried crostata instead? You may never go back to pie.

Update (February 2014). Prompted by Frank's comment, I made this recipe using my homemade ricotta instead of quark. The result was good. The main difference was that, since ricotta is not as creamy as quark, the cream layer had a different consistency. The higher water content of ricotta caused a bit of weeping, however, so if you want to try, I suggest you drain the ricotta before using it. That is what I did when I developed the recipe for Ricotta Tart published on Il Cucchiaio d'Argento website.

This is my contribution to edition #413 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and Brii of briggishome and hosted this week by Ivy from Dolce Senza Zucchero.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark

or launch the crostata di pere asiatiche e formaggio Quark audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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Thanksgiving Challenge, tart, dessert, Asian pear, Quark cheese, Italian cuisine

crostata di pere asiatiche (Nashi) e formaggio Quark

sinfonia in tre strati

Le pere asiatiche (Nashi) hanno un'aria affascinante con la loro forma tondeggiante che emana un senso di saggezza tipico di chi ha viaggiato a lungo. Quando ho cominciato a ricevere pere asiatiche bio delle varietà Shinko e Nijisseki (detta anche 20th Century, vedi foto sotto) nella mia cassettina, mi sono impegnata a farmele amiche.

Nel dubbio, chiedi aiuto al forno: è una delle mie perle di saggezza. Passare al forno fettine di pere asiatiche ha rivelato che sono un frutto che sostiene bene tale cottura. La buccia si ammorbidisce e la polpa diventa un po' più dolce ma si mantiene soda, una caratteristica che la rende apprezzata in alcune applicazioni.

2 Shinko e una Nijisseki (a sinistra)

Entusiasta della scoperta, ho cominciato ad aggiungere pere asiatiche cotte al forno a vari piatti, da zuppe a frittata, ad insalate (come questa) e ai fiocchi di segale di mio marito.

Di recente, in vista di una cena con amici, quando stavo pensando ad un dolce che utilizzasse il mio formaggio Quark fatto in casa, mi sono ricordata di una crostata fatta tempo fa con prugne e fromage blanc e ho applicato la ricetta al formaggio a disposizione e a delle pere asiatiche della mia cassettina.

Questo è il risultato, nel mio solito stile minimalista:

semplicemente affascinante — fuori e dentro

La crostata ha tre strati: la base di pasta frolla, uno strato di pere asiatiche e a coprirle una crema a base di formaggio Quark.

Il motivo che mi ha spinto a fare il Quark in casa verrà rivelato la prossima settimana. Non so se si trovi in Italia, ma è popolare in Germania, dove l'ho mangiato la prima volta e anche l'ultima — prima di produrre il mio. Fare il Quark in casa è piuttosto facile: si prende del latte, si aggiungono i fermenti (la ricetta su questa pagina, in inglese, contiene una spiegazione dettagliata di varie opzioni per quanto riguarda i fermenti), si fa riposare il tutto, poi si taglia la cagliata e la si fa drenare. In pratica, se volete provare l'emozione di dire "questo formaggio l'ho fatto io" il Quark è un'ottima scelta.

appena finito di drenare

La crostata è stato un successo e quindi l'ho rifatta il giorno del Ringraziamento con del Quark fresco e altre pere asiatiche della stessa azienda agricola. L'ho servita col mio sorbetto di more e i convitati hanno assentito in approvazione mentre ne gustavano un boccone dietro l'altro.

una fettina tira l'altra

Ingredienti per la pasta frolla:

• 65 g zucchero fine o a velo
• 60 g farina integrale per torte
• 65 g farina 00
• 15 g farina di miglio + 15 g farina di sorgo integrali oppure 30 g farina d'orzo integrale oppure 30 g farina di frumento
• 30 g farina di mandorle
• un pizzico di sale
• 85 g burro freddo non salato tagliato a pezzetti
• un uovo codice 0, leggermente sbattuto per mescolare albume e tuorlo
• 1/2 cucchiaino di estratto di vaniglia

Ingredienti per il ripieno:

1. 400 g pere asiatiche (Nashi), possibilmente bio (vedi Nota sotto)
2. 340 g formaggio Quark o fromage blanc o altro formaggio fresco cremoso e leggero
3. 1 uovo codice 0
4. 60 g zucchero fine
5. 1/2 cucchiaino di estratto di vaniglia

Nota: questa quantità è un po' più di quanto ne avete bisogno, ma è meglio avere qualche fettina di pere che avanza che non averne abbastanza. Potete sempre godervi uno snack alla frutta.

Fare la pasta frolla
Mettere zucchero e farine nel robot e pulsare alcune volte.

Aggiungere il burro e pulsare un po' di volte per diversi secondi per sabbiare.

Vuotare il contenitore del robot sulla superficie di lavoro.

Se non avete il robot, lavorare il burro nel misto di farine e zucchero con le dita.

Disporre gli ingredienti a fontana e versare l'uovo e l'estratto di vaniglia nel centro. Incorporare gli ingredienti liquidi e solidi con una forchetta e poi con le dita.

Lavorare l'impasto solo fino a quando si forma un composto coeso.

Formare un disco piatto di 2,5 cm di spessore e avvolgerlo nella pellicola. Far riposare la pasta frolla in frigorifero per almeno due ore. Io di solito la preparo di sera e poi la utilizzo il giorno dopo. 

Preparare i primi due strati della crostata
Per cuocere la crostata consiglio di usare una teglia per quiche (col bordo scanalato) di 23-24 cm di diametro, alta 2,5 cm e col fondo che si separa dal bordo. 

Scaldare il forno a 177 C.

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero la pasta frolla. Potete stendere la pasta su un pezzo di carta da forno o sulla pellicola in cui era avvolta. Questo rende poi più facile trasferirla sulla teglia.

Infarinare leggermente la superficie della pasta frolla e la superficie su cui la stendete. Tenere a portata di mano un poco di farina per infarinare al bisogno.

Se la pasta frolla è dura, premerla con il matterello cominciando dal centro del disco. Muovere il matterello di una larghezza e premere di nuovo. Ruotare la pasta frolla di 90 gradi e ripetere. Quando si è ammorbidita abbastanza, cominciare a stenderla con delicatezza fino ad uno spessore di 3 mm.

Trasferire la pasta frolla sulla teglia e premerla tutt'intorno in modo che il fondo sia ben coperto. Se usate carta da forno o pellicola, rovesciare la pasta frolla sulla teglia e rimuovere il supporto con delicatezza.

Tagliare la pasta frolla in eccesso intorno al bordo ed utilizzarla dove non ce n'è abbastanza o per formare un bordo di larghezza uniforme. Dovrebbe avanzare solo una piccola quantità di pasta frolla che potete utilizzare per fare il bordo più spesso o un paio di frollini.

Punzecchiare il fondo con i rebbi di una forchetta in diversi punti. Mettere in frigorifero mentre preparate le pere. 

Lavare le pere, tagliarle in quarti, rimuovere il torsolo e poi tagliare ogni quarto a fettine spesse non più di 6 mm.

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero la base di pasta frolla e distribuire su di essa le fettine di pera in modo da creare uno strato. Io preferisco cominciare dall'esterno e fare cerchi concentrici verso l'interno. Notare che questo strato non è visibile quando la crostata è completata: fate in modo che lo strato sia uniforme ma non preoccupatevi se il disegno delle fettine non è il massimo dell'eleganza.

Infornare e cuocere per 20 minuti.

attenzione: crostata in corso

Preparare la crema di Quark
Mentre la crostata è in forno, in un robot o frullatore frullare gli altri 4 ingredienti del ripieno fino ad ottenere una crema omogenea.

La consistenza della crema che ottenete deve essere simile a quella della crema pasticciera. Se è piu liquida, aggiungere 1/2 cucchiaio di amido di mais e mescolare bene.

Aggiungere il terzo strato e completare la cottura
Tirare fuori dal forno la crostata e distribuire la crema di Quark sopra le pere in uno strato uniforme. Se la consistenza è giusta, la crema non deborderà.

Rimettere la crostata nel forno alla stessa temperatura e cuocere per 20 minuti. Controllare e se necessario cuocere ancora qualche minuto (a questo punto la mia crostata necessita di altri 5 minuti). La crostata è pronta quando il bordo è dorato chiaro e la crema si è addensata.

Sfornare e far raffreddare leggermente su una griglia. Se avete usato una teglia col fondo che si separa, staccare il bordo. 

Far raffreddare ancora un po' sulla griglia, poi con l'aiuto di una spatola larga, far scivolare la crostata su un piatto da portata. Fatela freddare del tutto prima di tagliarla e servirla. 

10-12 porzioni

gradisce una fetta?

Mi piace molto il connubio di sapori e tessiture di questa crostata. Le pere sono tenere, ma mantengono abbastanza consistenza da fare da contrasto allo strato cremoso. La crema di Quark è leggera e delicatamente dolce e il fondo di pasta frolla aggiunge la sua nota briciolosa e burrosa. Ogni strato contribuisce alla dolcezza del dessert, ma la quantità di zucchero non è eccessiva. Penso che questo sia un dessert ideale.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 413 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e Brii di briggishome e ospitata questa settimana da Ivy di Dolce Senza Zucchero.

Questo post contiene la raccolta dell'evento.

 

Related articles

pane alla zucca con siero di latte / winter squash and whey bread

pane alla zucca con siero di latte / winter squash and whey bread

a beautiful bread

As I was taking my seat at the Zellerbach Playhouse in Berkeley, one October evening in 2005, the man next to me warned me about the play that would soon start: “It’s all in Italian.” I thanked him with a smile and confessed I spoke the language.

In fact, I had seen the same rendition of the play, Arlecchino servitore di due padroni (Servant of Two Masters), some years prior, when I was still living in Milan and could not miss the opportunity to enjoy it again. Supertitles helped the audience navigate the fast dialog spoken not only in Italian, but also in dialect (this video contains a short sample).

I smiled and laughed according to the goings-on on stage and relished again the obvious humor and subtle irony of the comedy by beloved Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni (1707-93). When the comedy came from a physical action, the audience laughed in unison, but when it came from a play of words or an allusion, or was otherwise dependent on the dialog, I laughed in sparse company. People not fluent in Italian had to wait for the supertitles to catch up. And sometimes the humor was culturally rooted, so the translation could not really translate it.

The tables were turned just a short week later. Sitting amid an overwhelmingly Chinese audience at the performance of The Teahouse by the Beijing People’s Art Theater, I was part of the group laughing with some delay and sometimes not at all.

Reading the current Cook the Books selection Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver and family, made me feel a member of the audience at a play in a foreign language without supertitles. I read paragraph after paragraph and had the sense that the intent was humorous, but I did not understand what was that should have elicited my laughter or smile.

I understand the book inspired some of its readers to take a closer look at their eating habits in terms of seasonality and locality and for that I applaud the author. I grew up (in Italy) in an environment where those concept were applied as a matter of tradition, hence they have been part of my life as far as my memory can reach. When I moved to Milan, I moved away from that environment, but the next move, to California, occurred at a time when farmers' market and other forms of direct exchange between producers and consumers started to become more and more popular. For the past few years, I have lived in a situation in many ways similar to the one of my childhood. One difference is that now I make in my kitchen some of the products I used to buy, like bread and cheese. Speaking of which... 

In the chapter about a visit to Italy, the author mentions a prized variety of winter squash: Zucca Marina di Chioggia¹. Chioggia is a city at the south end of the Laguna veneta and Sottomarina (Marina in the local dialect) is a quarter of the city.

zucca marina di chioggia

I had a gorgeous Zucca Marina di Chioggia from Organic Matters Ranch and besides making gnocchi with it (a story for another day), I made bread. This variety of zucca is dark blue-green with a silver luster, has a flattened rounded shape with pronounced ribs and an uneven, "warty" surface. It is rather large, so, after roasting it, I got a fair amount of deep orange, thick pulp, rather dry but easily creamed when worked with a fork. The photo above was transformed into black and white using Lightroom Split Tone 2 preset. I did that because, due to the time of day I took the photo, the color was bleached, so I decided to highlight the squash's bumpy surface.

The original recipe of the bread is by Dan Lepard. I made the bread three times so far, and besides Marina di Chioggia, I used Black Futsu squash and Buttercup squash, also from local farmers. The type of squash used makes a difference when measuring the liquid portion of the recipe, which is whey (siero di latte).

I always use part of the whey I obtain when I make fresh cheese to make bread (according to another recipe by Dan Lepard from his book "The Handmade Loaf") and freeze at least some of the rest (that whey is not suitable by itself for making ricotta). The most recent fresh cheese I made is Quark (a story you will soon read).

bread and bowl with squash soup

The original recipe makes one large or two regular loaves: I halve it to make one loaf. I also make some small adjustments, part personal preferences, part experiments.

 Ingredients I use:

• 225 g cooked winter squash (see Note below)
• 275 ml whey (see Note below)
• 3.5 g instant yeast
• 42 g / 1 1/2 oz. sunflower seeds, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
• 56 g / 2 oz. walnuts, prepared as described below and then chopped
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml olive oil
• 50 g whole-wheat flour
• 50 g sprouted whole-wheat flour
• 400 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Note: I add 25 ml of whey to the quantity called for (225 ml) because of the whole-wheat flours I used. I then add 25 ml more, because the squashes I have used are drier than the drained cooked pumpkin used in the original recipe.

How to prepare the winter squash
Preheat the oven to 375 F. If the squash is hard, pre-process it as follows: pierce it with a blade in a few places, place it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, and bake it for 15 minutes, then let is cool slightly. This makes it easier to cut it in half.

Cut the squash (pre-processed or raw) in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (a grapefruit spoon is my preferred tool for this task). Place squash halves on the silicone baking mat, cut side down. Put back in the oven and bake until squash is tender, easily pierced with a blade. Let the squash cool and then scrape the flesh off the skin, again using a grapefruit spoon.

Weigh the amount required by the recipe. You can use excess squash to make this soup, a bowl of which is visible in the photo above.

How to prepare the walnuts
In her “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison gives instructions on how to treat walnuts to improve their flavor when they aren't freshly cracked, and make them less irritating for people who are sensitive to their skins. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the walnuts and let them stand for one minute, then drain them and absorb the excess moisture with a towel. Finally, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and place them in the oven preheated to 300 F until they have dried out, 15-20 minutes. Remove them from the oven as soon as they are dry.

How to make the bread
Follow the instructions in the original recipe of the bread in terms of mixing, kneading and leavening. (If you are interested in trying delayed fermentation, skip to the next section.)

In preparation for baking, I place my baking tile in the oven. When the loaf is ready for baking, I score it lengthwise and then mist the surface with water. (The recipe does not mention scoring, but the photo shows that it was done.)

Bake the loaf on the stone for 20 minutes at 425 F. At the beginning, I make some steam with ice cubes. I turn down the oven to 375 F and complete the baking at this temperature (another 20 minutes or so).

Take the loaf out of the oven and place on a rack. Let cool completely before slicing.

Update (11/29): after using overnight fermentation again, followed by baking in a lidded pot, as per Sally's suggestion (see her comment below), I decided to rewrite the section below to provide additional details to interested readers.

How to make the bread using delayed fermentation
Follow the instructions in the original recipe of the bread in terms of mixing, but use only 2.5 g of instant yeast.

After the 10 minute rest and brief kneading, place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover (with a shower cap, plastic film or the bowl's own lid) and refrigerate.

The morning after, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and let the dough come to room temperature. It will look slightly puffy.

Shape the dough into a round loaf: Flatten it, fold it, turn it seam side down, then use your hands and the traction of the kneading board to get a smooth ball with a smooth surface. Place the shaped dough into a brotform lined with floured cloth. Let it rise until a dimple made on the dough with your fingertip persists. The time needed is dependent on the room temperature. (It took my loaf 1 1/2 hour in my cool kitchen to be ready for baking.)

After 1/2 hour or so, place a baking tile in the oven and place a lidded 5-Qt cast-iron Dutch oven on it. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

When the dough is ready, cut a piece of parchment paper large enough so that you can take hold of it by the corners and use them to help you lower the dough into the Dutch oven and later to retrieve the bread from it. Flip the dough onto the parchment paper, score the surface and mist the surface with water.

Take the Dutch oven out of the oven, remove the lid, and place in it the shaped dough. Put the lid on and place the Dutch oven back into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 F. After 10 more minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The bread is done when the surface is golden and tapping the bottom will produce a hollow sound. I also checked the internal temperature and found that it was 205 F.

just baked

This version was my favorite in terms of crumb texture and flavor, so I will definitely experiment with it further.

I love this bread. It has a lovely golden crust and a soft crumb in which walnuts and sunflower seeds pop nicely. It has a delicate flavor that charms the palate. It accompanies well many foods and is happy to be eaten by itself. I am sure I will continue making this recipe throughout winter squash season.

¹ In Zucca de Chioggia, "de" is a misspelling and unfortunately it is not the only one in this chapter.

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This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Rachel of the Crispy Cook. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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I am sending this bread also to the November edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Michela of Menta e rosmarino.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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And also:

- to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish). This is the roundup of the event.

- to Yeastspotting. This is the second part of the roundup, which includes links to the other two parts.

- to Week 4 of 12 Weeks of Winter Squash by Heather of girlichef and Joanne of Eats Well with Others.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane alla zucca con siero di latte

or launch the pane alla zucca con siero di latte audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

bread, homemade bread, whey, winter squash

pane d'orzo estone / Estonian soda bread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

stone-ground barley flour

Do you remember being told as a kid not to play with your food? I do.

Back then, I played with foods I did not like: I had this idea that if I moved it around my plate long enough it would consume itself by friction and disappear. I was never allowed the time needed to prove the correctness of my theory.

Now I "play" with food in a completely different way. I match ingredients following some intuition that the marriage will work, I learn techniques that challenge my skills, I look for recipes that expand my horizon, I train my photographic eye to be creative with food.

The latter task is in truth the most difficult one, as I am a nature photographer by inspiration. However, sometimes I find the right mood and pick up my camera just to play. Here you see the result of a little game.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Shakefork Community Farm has been growing barley (orzo) for several years and mills it to provide the beautiful flour delicately speckled with bran (crusca) that you see in the photos. I get it freshly milled and when I open the bag, I smell that freshness.

In case you don't know, barley is an ancient grain:

Remains of barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains found at archaeological sites in the Fertile Crescent indicate that about 10,000 years ago the crop was domesticated there from its wild relative Hordeum spontaneum. (source)

Having a high-quality primary ingredient made it easy to choose Estonian soda bread to celebrate our European tour stop in that Baltic state easy.

Irish soda bread is fairly well known and I recently presented my version of that classic bread. On the other hand, I had never heard of its Estonian counterpart: barley bread, or Odrajahukarask.

The recipe I chose to interpret comes from Pille of Nami Nami, who used a recipe from "an Estonian cult baking book." Other recipes I looked at include this one that comes from an Estonian cookbook.

breakfast is served

Caraway seeds give this bread a robust flavor. The palate is somewhat suprised not to taste rye (segale) past the caraway, but something more delicate, yet still a bit rustic. This is a nice quick bread, good on a party plate (I know because I brought it to two parties) and for breakfast, as shown in the photo above. A layer of my homemade ricotta and one of roasted applesauce (salsa di mele arrosto) made a flavorful and healthy fare.

Ingredients I used:

• 175 g / 6 1/4 oz. whole-grain barley flour (farina d'orzo integrale)
• 90 g / 3 1/8 oz. all-purpose flour (see Note 1 below)
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml baking soda (bicarbonato di soda)
• 1 large egg, possibly from pastured poultry
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml sea salt
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml sugar
• 1 cup / 240 ml homemade kefir or buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml olive oil
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml caraway seeds

Note 1: I used King Arthur Flour Pastry Blend flour, a wheat flour with lower protein content than the regular KAF all-purpose flour.

Preheat the oven to 395 F / 200 C.

Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with parchment paper and put it in the oven. Note 2: the original recipe uses a 9-inch (23 cm) square pan. Also, baking the bread in an already warm pan is my idea.

Sift the two flours and baking soda into a bowl. This is the dry mix.

In another bowl, whisk egg with salt and sugar until white and yolk are blended, then add the kefir (or buttermilk) and blend. Finally, add the oil and blend. This is the wet mix.

Pour wet mix into the bowl with the dry mix, add the caraway seeds and stir until just combined.

Take the square pan out of the oven and spoon mixture into it, spreading it lightly. My batter was rather thick, so I only spread it to make it roughtly even.

Bake the bread for about 25 minutes, until it is golden on top and passes the toothpick test. I recommend checking it after 20 minutes to evaluate how much more time in the oven it needs. All my renditions needed 25 minutes. 

Take the pan out of the oven and, after a couple of minutes, transfer the bread to a rack to cool slightly.

bread basking in the morning sun

The recipes recommend to eat the bread warm and I agree. It is a nice accompaniment to cheese and various spreads I make. In summary, this is a perfect recipe for situations where a quick savory bread is called for.

My soda bread participates to the 15th installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. O like Orzotto (Estonia) is hosted by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

On this page you will find Orzotto's recipe and the list of contributions to the event.

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This is also my contribution to edition #410 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and Brii of briggishome and hosted this week by Cristina of La cucina di Cristina.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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And I am contributing the top photo to The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series created by Priya of The Humpty dumpty Kitchen. The theme for the month of November is off-white.

The roundup of the event. 

 

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane d'orzo estone

or launch the pane d'orzo estone audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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bread, barley flour, Estonian cuisine

pane d'orzo estone

farina d'orzo macinata a pietra

Vi ricordate quando da bambini vi dicevano di non giocare col cibo? Io sì.

Allora giocavo col cibo che non mi piaceva: ero convinta che se lo avessi fatto girare abbastanza a lungo sul piatto si sarebbe consumato e sarebbe sparito. Non mi è stato mai concesso il tempo necessario a provare la correttezza della mia teoria.

Adesso gioco col cibo in modo completamente diverso. Metto insieme ingredienti in base all'intuizione che il connubio funzioni, imparo tecniche che mettono alla prova le mie capacità, cerco ricette che espandano il mio orizzonte, insegno al mio occhio fotografico ad essere creativo col cibo.

Quest'ultimo compito è in verità il più difficile, perché io di fondo sono una fotografa della natura. Ma talvolta mi sorprendo nell'umore giusto e prendo in mano la macchina fotografica per giocare. Qui vedete il risultato di uno di questi momenti.

nevica!

Shakefork Community Farm coltiva orzo da diversi anni e lo macina per fornire la bella farina punteggiata di crusca che vedete nelle foto. Io la compro macinata fresca e quando apro la busta posso sentire il profumo di tale freschezza.

L'orzo è un cereale antico:

Resti di chicchi d'orzo (Hordeum vulgare) trovati in siti archeologici della mezzaluna fertile indicano che tale cereale fu addomesticato in quella zona circa 10 mila anni fa. (fonte)

Avendo a disposizione l'ingrediente principale di ottima qualità ha reso semplice scegliere il pane d'orzo estone (Odrajahukarask) per celebrare la tappa nello stato baltico del nostro viaggio europeo. Come il pane irlandese che ho fatto di recente, il pane d'orzo estone (Odrajahukarask) è un pane veloce che contiene il bicarbonato di soda come agente lievitante.

la colazione è servita

La ricetta che ho scelto di interpretare viene dal blog di Pille, Nami Nami che l'ha tratta da un libro estone di ricette per il forno. Altre ricette che ho consultato comprendono questa, tratta da un libro di cucina estone.

I semi di cumino tedesco (carvi) danno a questo pane un sapore deciso. Il palato che si aspetta di assaporare della segale viene sorpreso da qualcosa di più delicato, ma comunque un po' rustico. Questo è un buon pane tra quelli veloci da fare. Fa bella figura su un vassoio (lo so perche l'ho portato a due feste) ed è ottimo a colazione con sopra uno strato della mia ricotta fatta in casa e uno della mia salsa di mele arrosto.

Ingredienti che ho usato:

• 175 g farina d'orzo integrale
• 90 g farina 00
• 1 cucchiaino / 5 ml bicarbonato di soda
• 1 uovo codice 0
• 1 cucchiaino / 5 ml sale fino
• 1 cucchiaino / 5 ml zucchero
• 240 ml kefir oppure latticello, possibilmente fatto in casa
  
• 15 ml olio d'oliva
• 1 cucchiaino / 5 ml semi di cumino tedesco

Scaldare il forno a 200 C.

Foderare una teglia quadrata di 20 cm di lato con carta da forno e metterla nel forno. Nota: la ricetta originale usa una teglia quadrata di 23 cm di lato. Cuocere il pane nella teglia già calda è una mia idea.

Setacciare le due farine e il bicarbonato di soda in una ciotola.

In un'altra ciotola, sbattere l'uovo con sale e zucchero fino a quando tuorlo e albume sono mescolati bene. Aggiungere il kefir (o latticello) e mescolare. Infine, aggiungere l'olio e mescolare.

Versare il liquido nella ciotola con le farine, aggiungere i semi di cumino tedesco e mescolare fino a quando siano appena amalgamati.

Tirare fuori dal forno la teglia e versarci l'impasto a cucchiaiate. Il mio è risultato piuttosto denso quindi ne ho pareggiato delicatamente la superficie con una spatola.

Cuocere il pane in forno per circa 25 minuti, fino a quando sia dorato in superficie e passi il test dello stecchino. Controllare dopo 20 minuti per valutare a che punto sia la cottura e quanto tempo manca. Tutte le volte che l'ho fatto ci sono voluti 25 minuto per cuocere il pane.

Sfornare e, dopo un paio di minuti, trasferire il pane su una griglia.

fettine al sole

La ricetta originale consiglia di mangiare il pane caldo e concordo. Si accompagna bene ai formaggi e alle creme da spalmanre che faccio io. In generale, questa è una ricetta perfetta per quando si ha bisogno di un pane veloce da fare.

Con il mio pane estone partecipo alla quindicesima tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. O come Orzotto (Estonia) è ospitata da Lynne di Cafe Lynnylu.

Su questa pagina trovate la ricetta dell'Orzotto e la lista dei contributi all'evento.

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Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 410 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Cristina di La cucina di Cristina.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

Panissimo: il riepilogo / the roundup

It was a great pleasure for me to host the October edition of Panissimo, the monthly bread-baking event that is the brainchild of Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? (Guess who's coming to dinner?). Bloggers from many countries (and speaking various languages) share a passion for the art and science of baking bread and here are the results of their most recent efforts. Get that translator going and enjoy! 

È stato un grande piacere per me ospitare l'edizione di Ottobre di Panissimo, evento mensile di panificazione creato da Barbara di Bread & Companatico e Sandra di Indovina chi viene a cena?. Blogger da tutto il mondo hanno in comune una passione per l'arte e la scienza della panificazione e questi sono i risultati più recenti della loro creatività. Usate il traduttore e Buon divertimento!

I biscotti della zia: Pane "cattivo" al farro [in Italiano]
Farro flour and "devil's beer" / Farina di farro e "birra del diavolo"

Zapach chleba (the Scent of Bread): Yeast cake with spinach [in Polish]
A spinach-enriched and flower-shaped bread / Pane con spinaci a forma di fiore

L'ingrediente perduto: Pane allo zafferano [in Italiano]
Sweet raisins and saffron's golden touch / Dolce uvetta e il tocco dorato dello zafferano

briciole: Cyprus-style olive bread / pane alle olive [English / Italian]
Black olives and fresh herbs in a tender crumb / Olive nere ed erbe aromatiche fresche

Foodzeit: Artisan barley seeds rye sourdough bread [English / German]
Barley and seeds: oh my! / Orzo e semini: che bontà!

Indovina chi viene a cena?: Focaccia al pomodoro e fiori di origano [in Italiano]
The best flour you can and water / La farina migliore che potete e acqua

Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare: pane di segala al latticello [in Italiano] — Highly hydrated rye dough for a tender bread / Un impasto molto idratato fa un pane morbidoso

Cindystar: Flaounes: Focaccine al formaggio / Cypriot Easter Bread [Italian / English]
Cheese-filled delights to celebrate Easter / Delizie ripiene di formaggio per celebrare la Pasqua

Brot & Bread: Cecilienhof Vollkornbrot  [English / German]
Old-grain flours & seeds for a special loaf / Farina di cereali antichi e semi per un pane speciale

Una V nel piatto: Focaccia senza glutine soffice [in Italiano]
A suprise fantastic gluten-free focaccia / Fantastica focaccia a sorpresa

Pieczywo na zakwasie (Yeast Bread): Roasted Potato Bread [in Polish]
Roasted potatoes in the crumb for a change / Le patate in questo pane sono arrosto

A tutta cucina: Pizzette alla crescenza e olive [in Italiano]
Crescenza cheese and olives grace the top / La crescenza dà un sapore speciale

Le delizie di Feli: Cracker con pasta madre [in Italiano]
Difficult to stop after the first one / Come le ciliegie, uno tira l'altro

In viaggio in cucina: Spighe soffici di grano duro [in Italiano]
A ray of sun, better yet, of golden wheat / Un raggio di sole, o meglio, di grano dorato.

Peppe ai fornelli: Panini morbidi ai cereali [in Italiano]
Soft buns made with multi-grain flour / Panini morbidosi fatti con farina multi-cereali 

A tutta cucina: Ciabatta al farro [in Italiano]
Farro flour gives a special flavor to this bread / La farina di farro dona sapore a questo pane

Briggishome: Norwegian bread (o pane a lievitazione fredda) [in Italiano]
A Nordic bread that leavens partly in the cold / Un bel pane che lievita in parte al freddo

Dolce forno: Pane di polenta [in Italiano] — Comforting polenta makes a comforting bread / Un pane confortevole a base di confortevole polenta

Pieczywo na zakwasie (Yeast Bread): 100% Spelt bread [in Polish]
A nice rise for a whole-grain bread / Una bella lievitazione per questo pane 100% integrale

Lemon in ginger: Neapolitan pizza from scratch [in English]
Tastiest pizza ever, period / Semplicemente la pizza più buona del mondo

Gocce d'aria: Cornetti improvvisati [in Italiano]
Impromptu croissants from leftover starter / Pasta madre + tempo brutto = cornetti caldi

Zapach chleba (the Scent of Bread): Wheat sourdough with liquid levain [in Polish]
Rustic ring with cheese & a mushroom filling / Anello rustico con formaggio e ripieno di funghi

I pasticci di Terry: Filoni di farine miste [in Italiano]
Bread with a rustic flavor of ancient flours / Pane dal sapore di rustico, di farine antiche

Torta di rose: Boule francese [Italiano / English]
A nice long fermentation for a nice bread / Una bella lievitazione lenta per un bel pane 

Indovina chi viene a cena?: Rosa di pane di segale [in Italiano]
Intense rye flavor in an elegant shape / Sapore intenso di segale in una forma elegante

A tutta cucina: Pagnottine integrali all'olio [in Italiano]
Whole-wheat and olive oil bread / Pane rustico con farina integrale e olio

Cioccolato amaro: Pane di segale [in Italiano]
The irresistible aroma of rye bread / L'aroma irresistibile el pane di segale 

Pieczywo na zakwasie (Yeast Bread): Whole spelt sunflower bread [in Polish]
Sunflower seeds dot a nourishing bread / Semi di girasole punteggiano un pane nutriente

Un soffio di polvere di cannella: Brioches aux raisins et cannelle [in Italiano]
Tender, light, sweet-smelling brioches / Soffici, leggere e profumate brioche d'autunno

Menta e rosmarino: Rose di pane [in Italiano]
Catching the last peppers of the season / Come fare onore agli ultimi peperoni della stagione

Lo spazio di Staximo: Pane al pomodoro [English / Italiano]
Tomato paste makes a golden loaf / Un pane dorato grazie al concentrato di pomodoro 

Signor biscotti: Pudding semolina bread [in English]
Experiments in the world of ground durum wheat / Esperimenti con grano duro macinato

Ricette orfane: Focaccia genovese con grano verna [in Italiano]
A special grain for a special focaccia / Un grano speciale per una focaccia speciale

Il castello di pattipatti: Fiore di focaccia [in Italiano] — Piece by piece it disappeared in 10 minutes / Un pezzo a me un pezzo a te è sparita in 10 minuti

Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare: Pane allo yogurt e farro integrale [in Italiano]
A simple, rustic bread that smells divine / Pane semplice e rustico che profuma di buono

A tutta cucina: Treccine di farro alle mandorle [in Italiano]
The flavor of almonds and farro meet here / Incontro tra il sapore di farro e di mandorle

Family, bakery and country: Pane al grano saraceno e sidro di mele antiche [in Italiano]
A bread flavored with ancient apple varieties / Un pane insaporito da mele di varietà antiche

Lo spazio di Staximo: Pan brioche che voleva diventare un Cinnamon Roll [English / Italian]
Brioche bread that wanted to become a cinnamon roll / Il titolo racconta la storia (a lieto fine)

Zapach chleba (the Scent of Bread): Pumpkin sourdough bread [in Polish]
Dark yellow bread dotted with pumpkin seeds / Pane dorato punteggiato di semi di zucca

Apprendisti Pasticcioni: Il PanBruco [in Italiano]
"Caterpillar" bread — as named by the baker / Pane "battezzato" dal suo creatore

Un soffio di polvere di cannella: Flauti salati al patè di olive [in Italiano]
Soft rolls with a tasty heart of olive spread / Panini soffici con un cuore saporito alle olive

L'ingrediente perduto: Sflatino con pancetta e radicchio [in Italiano]
Pancetta and radicchio turn baguettes into jewels / Un pane che sa di buona tradizione

Le ricette del bimby: Focaccine al grano saraceno [in Italiano]
Whole-grain flours & potato for rustic flat breads / Patata e farine integrali per delizie rustiche

Le ricette del bimby: Grissini [in Italiano]
Crisp bread sticks are a thursday ritual / Un rituale settimanale dorato e croccante

briciole: Raisin walnut braided bread / Treccia di pane con uvetta e noci [English / Italian]
Tender crumb dotted with raisins and walnuts / Un pane soffice punteggiato di uvetta e noci

Pane amore celiachia: Focaccia barese sottile con pomodorini [in Italiano]
Cherry tomatoes, olives, oregano and no gluten / Un arcobaleno di sapori senza glutine

Apprendisti pasticcioni: Pane on farine miste, pomodori secchi, capperi e basilico [in Italiano]
Rustic bread with a Mediterranean flavor / Pane rustico dal sapore mediterraneo

Bread & Companatico: Panis farreus: 100% Einkron Ring  [English / Italian]
Beautifully-shaped and with a long history / una storia antica e una forma splendida

Ghiotto di salute: Pizza bianca con poolish in 2 versioni [in Italiano]
What's for Sunday dinner? White pizza! / "La tradizione vuole domenica sera pizza."

Rise of the sourdough preacher: Farina bona, potato and walnut rolls / Panini di farina bona, patate e noci / [English / Italian] — Farina bona: finely ground, toasted corn flour / Farina bona: farina di mais finemente macinata e tostata

Briggishome: Kürbis brötchen / Pumpkin buns / Panini alla zucca [English / Italiano]
The surprise is in the use of raw pumpkin / La sorpresa è l'uso della zucca cruda

I biscotti della zia: Panini gialli al mais [in Italiano]
A soft heart inside a crisp crust / Una crosticina croccante nasconde un cuore soffice

Ninivepisces: Knäckebrot [German / English]
Nuts, seeds galore and healthy carbohydrates / Noci, tanti semini e carboidrati salutari

Apprendisti pasticcioni: Pane con farina di mandorle e ricotta [in Italiano]
A bread with the aroma of toasted almonds / Pane che rilascia profumo di mandorle tostate

Cindystar: Belokranjska pogača / Focaccette slovene salate / Slovenian Salted Cake [English / Italian] — Fast photo-op before their disappearance / Foto veloci prima della loro sparizione

Lemon in ginger: Eggless pull-apart loaf [in English]
Latest adventure of the homemade bread addict / Pane aromatizzato alla menta e altre spezie

pizzarossa: Busolai [in English]
Yeasted cookies fromt the island of Burano / Biscotti lievitati tradizionali di Burano

Smakowity chleb: Sesame baguette [in Polish]
A sesame baguette with tahini in the dough / Sfilatino al sesamo con tahina nell'impasto

Smakowity chleb: Pagnotta [in Polish]
"If you like challenges, this bread is just for you!" / "Se amate le sfide, questo pane è per voi"

La cucina di Azzurra: Focaccia alla genovese [in Italiano]
A focaccia to chase away the blues / Il segreto è nel seguire alla lettere i tempi di lievitazione

Voglioviverecosì: Pane al siero di latte [in Italiano]
Bread made with whey instead of water / Pane fatto con siero di latte al posto dell'acqua

illeFarm: Duo sweet bread [in English]
A babka-inspired spelt bread / Pane alla spelta ispirato alla babka

Nondisolopane: Panini al farro con farina di castagne e noci [in Italiano]
Buns with farro & special chestnut flour / Farina speciale: di castagne essiccate a legna

Wolf's lair: Focaccia con farro, pomodorini, mozzarella e olive nere / Farro focaccia with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and black olives [English / Italian]
The name says it all / Il nome dice tutto

Cindystar: Kringel estone / Estonian Kringel [English / Italian]
A festive, traditional Estonian yeasted cake / Un dolce tradizionale estone lievitato

A big Thank you to all who participated in the October edition of Panissimo. And Thank you to Barbara and Sandra who allowed me to host their lovely event. In November, Panissimo is hosted by the blog Menta e rosmarino.

Un grosso Grazie a tutti coloro che hanno partecipato all'edizione di Ottobre di Panissimo. E un Grazie a Barbara e Sandra per avermi fatto l'onore di poter ospitare il loro evento. A Novembre Panissimo è ospitato dal blog Menta e rosmarino.

treccia di pane con uvetta e noci / raisin walnut braided bread

patterned slices are a pleasure to savor

There is such a thing as falling in love (innamorarsi) with a recipe at first sight. The moment I saw a photo of Cranberry orange braided bread on the King Arthur Flour's catalog, I knew that my version of it would soon come out of the oven. Besides being the kind of bread  I sometimes like to bake, it was exactly what I was looking for to go with the book I had just finished reading: the Outcast by Jolina Petersheim.

I was very intrigued by the description of the novel as a modern retelling of "The Scarlet Letter," a book that I read when I was in college and loved (I also saw the 1979 miniseries and liked it a lot). Isn't it interesting that the story narrated by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 is still relevant 160 years later?

I read the Outcast right after The Baker's Daughter and it made me continue the meditation on evil that the earlier book had triggered. The story told in the Outcast shows how much misery we bring to the world the moment we decide, as mentioned in my earlier post, that another person is "less," or that we ourselves are "less." Happiness is only found where the bond connecting people is made of love, a feeling that knows nothing about less or more. The book illustrates what happens to people when love is substituted with judgment. Fortunately, one can travel in the opposite direction and it's never too late to do so.

a bit rustic on the outside

Parts of the Outcast are set in a Mennonite community and several dishes are mentioned, so my original idea was to make one of them. But the recipes I found were not satisfactory and the unhappiness wrapped around everything in the book in the end made me look elsewhere for something joyful to bring to one of the characters, little Eli, who faces a special challenge when he is diagnosed with a malignant disease. When I saw the recipe for Cranberry orange braided bread, I thought it would be perfect for little Eli recovering from invasive treatments: it is soft and lightly sweet, nourishing and texturally intriguing. 

While a touch of sweetness is called for, I think that the amount of sugar in the original recipe is excessive. Also, instead of dried cranberries, I used organic raisins from my pantry. And as usual, I replaced about 20% of the white wheat flour with whole-grain flours (farine integrali). I made other changes and also baked the bread in a slightly different way. 

Important: this bread uses a starter that is left to ferment overnight, so plan accordingly.

Ingredients:

For the starter:

• 1/2 oz. / 14 g whole spelt flour
• 1/2 oz. / 14 g white whole-wheat flour
• 3 1/2 oz. / 100 g all-purpose flour (King Arthur Flour is the brand I always use to make bread)
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml cool water
• 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

For the dough:

• 1 oz. / 28 g whole spelt flour
• 1 oz. / 28 g white whole-wheat flour
• 7 oz. / 200 g all-purpose flour (same as above), plus as needed to knead and shape the bread
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast (see Note 1 below)
• 3/4 oz. / 20 g agave nectar or honey
• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk (reserve the egg white)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Grated peel of 1/2 lime

For the filling

• 3 oz. / 85 g raisins, chopped if large
• 3 oz. / 85 g walnuts (see below)

For the surface

• 1 large egg white (see above)
• Poppy seeds (semi di papavero)

Note: the original recipe uses sugar in both the dough and the filling and hence calls for osmotolerant instant yeast, a strain of yeast that is specially formulated for sweet dough; regular instant yeast can be used when osmotolerant is specified, in which case the dough will take longer to rise and proof. In my dough I use a small amount of sweetener, so regular instant yeast should have no problem thriving in that environment.

Make the starter the evening before baking the bread
In a bowl, mix the starter ingredients, cover, and leave at room temperature overnight.

Prepare the walnuts
If your walnuts are freshly cracked, toast them lightly in a dry pan, shaking the pan often.

Otherwise, in her “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison gives instructions on how to treat walnuts to improve their flavor when they aren't freshly cracked, and make them less irritating for people who are sensitive to their skins. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add walnuts and let them stand for one minute, then drain them and absorb the excess moisture with a towel. Finally, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat and place them in the oven preheated to 300 F until they have dried out, 15-20 minutes. Remove them from the oven as soon as they are dry. Measure the amount required and chop rather finely.

preparing one strand

Make the bread
Combine the starter with the dough ingredients. Let rest 10 minutes or so. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until elastic and satiny.

Place dough in an oiled bowl or suitable container, cover and let rise until puffy, 1 to 2 hours.

With the help of a scale, divide the dough into three pieces. Flatten each one into a 6" x 12" / 15 x 30.5 cm rectangle.

Using again the scale, divide the filling into three equal amounts. Distribute 1 oz. / 28 g of walnuts on each rectangle of dough, then do the same with an equal amount of raisins, leaving a margin of 1 inch / 2.5 cm all around (see photo above: it's not pretty but should make it clear what I mean).

Starting with a long edge, roll each rectangle into a log. Place logs on a lightly floured silicone baking mat resting on the back side of a baking sheet. Braid the logs together.

Cover the braid, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, until puffy.

Preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C, and place another baking sheet in the oven. 

When you are ready to bake the braid, combine the egg white previously set aside with 1 tablespoon / 15 ml water, and brush the surface. Sprinkle poppy seeds.

Take the hot baking sheet out of the oven and slide on it the silicone baking mat with the braid. Bake the braid for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden. I use the convection baking option of my oven, which automatically adjusts the temperature. When the bread is done, a digital thermometer inserted into the center should register 190 F / 88 C. 

Remove the bread from the oven, and transfer it to a rack to cool. Let it cool undisturbed before slicing.

isn't it lovely?

I know this is partly my imagination and nostalgia playing a trick, but the bread reminds me of panettone, an additional reason for loving it. The thin crust made crisper by poppy seeds, the tender crumb dotted with sweet raisins and crunchy walnuts make this a bread for all meals. As its flavor is subtle, it goes well with both sweet and savory accompaniments, from roasted apple sauce to roasted red pepper and almond dip, from fasole bătută to various cheeses and soups. And like challah, it is perfect for French toast.

Now I need to find out whether little Eli likes it.

This is my second contribution to the 20th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started some time ago and that I continue to host.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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I am sending this bread also to the October edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (that is, by me).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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And, via Panissimo, to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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Finally, I am sending my braided bread to Yeastspotting.

This post contains the second part of the roundup and links to the other two parts.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

treccia di pane con uvetta e noci

or launch the treccia di pane con uvetta e noci audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

bread, raisins, walnuts, poppy seeds