March Recipes: Yeast Breads

Hello Coven members. Our March recipes were picked by Dana, and she knows bread. Here is what she had to say:

"When Harvard and I were in our early 20s we taught “University For Man” bread basics classes. I wanted to help people to see that using yeast needn’t be just for grandmothers or James Beard kind of people. Yeast casserole breads were an easy transition to give confidence. This one is beautiful and easy to “wow” company with without much effort. It is also delicious!"

Dilly Casserole Bread

1 pkg. dry yeast
1 c. creamed cottage cheese (lg. curd better)
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. dill seed (Note - not dill weed)
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. soda
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. warm water
¼ c. finely minced onion (not instant)
1 tsp. salt
1 egg

Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Heat cottage cheese to lukewarm in microwave. Combine in mixing bowl with sugar, onion, butter, dill seed, salt, soda, egg and yeast mixture. Add flour to make stiff dough, beat well after each addition of flour. Let rise to double in size in warm place, 50 to 60 minutes. Stir down, turn into well greased round casserole. Let rise again until light and double in size. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Brush with butter, sprinkle with coarse salt. Remove from pan when cool. Makes 1 round.

Nothing beats real bread dough coming alive under the heel of your hands though. I had planned to post pictures of some of the kneeding/shaping techniques when I post my entry. This recipe is my own adaptation based on wanting one loaf at a time now and wanting something that would hold a little longer without going stale so quickly (the bane of good bread with no preservatives added)…thus, it is a little denser and chewier than the average bread. Makes GREAT toast and I use it a lot for feeding guests because it stays moist when sitting in a basket.

Here is another yeast bread option to try this month:

Maple Oatmeal Bread-one 1.5 lb loaf

Sprinkle 2 tsp. yeast (bread machine or regular) over 1 c. lukewarm (105-115 degrees) water—let stand while combining

¼ c. oil

¼ c. real maple syrup (not pancake syrup)—can substitute honey

1 ¾ tsp. salt

add yeast mixture.

Stir in 1 c. rolled oats

Stir in enough of the 3 cups bread flour (opt. substitute 1 c. whole wheat flour and 2 c. bread flour) until a stiff dough

Kneed in the rest of the flour, and more if necessary, until the dough can be kneeded for 5-10 min.

The ball should spring back into shape when indented and be smooth and not sticky.

Roll in a greased bowl and leave to rise in a warm place with a damp towel over the top until double (1.5-2 hours)

Punch down and shape loaf

Let rise uncovered up to 1 hour or until less than double in bulk (don’t let it over rise)

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped, 30 to 40 minutes.

Here is a link to the printable version. If you haven't ever made a yeast bread before - feel free to post some questions in the "comments" section and I can try and answer them - if I can't maybe Dana will be able to step in.

Happy Baking

The lovely Lady Baker

Better late than never!

Since I chose the lemon tart recipe I wanted to share a picture of my creation. I really loved this recipe. It was the right amount of "gooeyness" and I liked the advice of adding the pine nuts. They did add a very earthy flavor. For the lemon juice I squeezed freshly picked meyer lemons which gave it it's added sweetness. It was little over-kill, but I couldn't resist trying it with some lemoncello which surprisingly paired quite nicely.

We Heart Cookies...

When I saw February’s recipe I immediately thought of December…and the sour cream cookies I didn’t get to. It seemed like a fine way to mitigate a busy schedule and still get some baking done. I made the cookies right before making the trek to Lake Tahoe to ski. Instead of cutting out Christmas trees, stockings, and stars, I cut out hearts – for Valentines Day! The cookies kind of grew on me. They are not very sweet on their own and the dough was stiff. The stiffness of the dough made for a thicker cookie – which I thought was a plus. The frosting was yummy – and since the cookie on its own was not too sweet, a nice addition. We all enjoyed the cookies – they added a sweet touch to our ski weekend.

Cr-awesome

I was prepared to crash and burn on this one. The recipe was looked so complicated, there were so many steps, so much folding... so much deliciousness.



These came out so well, my husband and I oohed and ahhed, we mmmed and ughhhhed. I am almost too impressed with myself. It's just another one of those recipes that, in the end I can't believe I actually made from a little flour, milk and butter.



I did have one tiny casualty though... feel free to read about that on The Maiden Metallurgist.

February Recipe - Croissants

Our February Recipe is here! This month The Maiden Metallurgist chose our recipe for the month, which happens to be (if you forgot to read the title) Croissants. She has been waiting for almost a year (since May 09) for a reason to make these, and fortunately for us decided now is the time. Her recipe comes from a fellow blogger with explicit instruction in written and picture form. (The recipe comes from her previous blog account so be sure to check the link at the bottom). If making bread scares you - you will do well with these great instructions.

photo credit Elizabeth, A Bread A Day

I've made puff pastry once before which was very similar to this dough. If you have a marble slab you are in luck! If not, the refrigerator will become your best friend! It takes a lot of time so don't wait till the last minute.... and don't be afraid to try it. Baking bread is a great skill to have, and once you have mastered this dough basic bread will be a piece of cake.

I'm not going to copy the whole recipe, but you can find it with this link. Great pictures too. Oh, and if you don't have a stand mixer, a wooden spoon and some elbow grease will be fine in the mixing stage. Thanks for choosing this month's recipe A.

Good Luck!

The Lovely Lady Baker

All tarted up

Yummm. This was my first attempt at lemon bars. In fact, the first lemon bar that I ever had was the lemon bar that Elisa makes (described below). Also yum. I never knew it, but I love the occasional lemon bar. That intensity of color, flavor, impact! Wowwee wow.

Now, having said all that. I thoroughly enjoyed my first foray into lemon bardom. But despite Tartine's fame as a fabulous bakery, I still think I could do better. First of all, I believe that the ratio of lemon filling to crust is too high. I would cut back on the filling and double the crust. Speaking of crust, I did include pine nuts in mine; next time, I will cut them up into little bits (not quite ground up), toast them a little and disperse the tasty nuttiness throughout the dough.

And, well, I would definitely give this another go... as soon as I have a hankering for a sweet, tart treat.

Ummm…Lemon Bars!

Lemon Bars, Oh Lemon Bars – I love lemon bars…Actually this was not my favorite recipe.
The Crust: I put pinenuts in the crust as suggested. I didn’t like the texture of them in the crust, but I liked the flavor they added. Next time, I think I’ll lightly toast and then chop finely.
The Filling: I thought the filling was too “custardy.” Perhaps too many eggs? I prefer Emeril Lagasse’s filling:
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
My next lemon bars will be a combination: this crust + Emeril’s filling!