Family Recipes Blog to Share Family Recipes

April 25, 2016

Caraway Rye Bread

Filed under: Breads — @ 9:44 pm

I love rye bread and for years have tried different recipes and not liked any of them – too hard, no flavor, etc.  This one comes from King Arthur flour and is truly delicious – light and flavorful.  LOVE IT!  I added my suggestions and changes in parentheses.

This seeded light-colored, soft rye bread is delicious for deli sandwiches — corned beef on rye, anyone?

Directions

  1. Note: Thanks to reader feedback, as of February 22, 2013, changes have been made to this recipe to create a less sticky dough, one easier to work with and shape; and to ensure the bread doesn’t sink in the center after baking. The amount of water has been reduced from 1 1/4 cups to 1 cup; and the amount of rye flour has been decreased from 1 1/4 cups to 1 cup, with the amount of all-purpose flour increasing from 2 cups to 2 1/3 cups. In addition, the sugar has been decreased by 2 teaspoons. Thanks, as always, for your good feedback.
  2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the water, sugar, rye flour and yeast, mixing to form a soft batter. Let the mixture rest for 20 minutes; this allows the rye flour to absorb some of the liquid, making the dough easier to knead.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients, and mix and knead the dough together — by hand, mixer or bread machine — until it’s fairly smooth. The nature of rye dough is to be sticky, so don’t be tempted to add too much flour.
  4. Place the dough in an oiled bowl or large (8-cup) measure, cover, and let it rise until noticeably puffy, 60 to 90 minutes (I put it in our oven on proof – but just the light is enough heat to keep it just warm).
  5. Gently deflate the dough, knead it briefly, and shape it into two smooth oval or round loaves; or one long oval loaf. Place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet (I used non stick foil and it worked fine as well).
  6. Cover the loaves, and let them rise until they’re noticeably puffy, about 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F.
  7. Just before they go into the oven, spritz the loaves with water (I brushed mine with beaten egg with a little water added and it was so nice and brown with a nice crust), and slash them about 1/2″ deep. The oval loaves look good with one long, vertical slash; the rounds, with two or three shorter slashes across the top (I made one long loaf with four slashes on the slant across the top).
  8. Bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 205°F to 210°F (I didn’t use a thermometer but it was done beautifully inside – one long loaf for 40 minutes). The single, larger loaf will bake for 45 to 50 minutes. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it lightly with foil after 25 minutes of baking.
  9. Remove the loaves from the oven, and transfer them to a rack. While still warm, brush them with melted butter, if desired; this will keep their crust soft.
  10. Yield: 1 large loaf or 2 smaller loaves.

Tips from our bakers

  • Don’t throw away that dill or sour pickle juice! It’s a great substitute for the water in this recipe. Depending on the saltiness of the juice, you’ll want to cut back the salt in the recipe to 3/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon.

May 10, 2014

Maple Nut Cinnamon Rolls

Filed under: Breads,Breakfast,Sweet Breads — @ 11:55 am

Soften 1 T. (or 2 packets) active dry yeast in 1/4 c. warm water.

Combine in a mixing bowl:
1 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. hot scalded milk
1/2 c. shortening
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teas. salt.  Cool to lukewarm.

Blend in 2 unbeaten eggs and the softened yeast.

Gradually add 3 1/2 to 4 c. all purpose flour and knead to form a stiff dough.  Cover.  Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Combine in a 13 x 9-inch pan:
1/2 c. maple flavored syrup
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c. melted butter
1 Tbsp. water
1/4 teas. maple flavor, if desired.
2/3 c. chopped walnuts.

Combine in a bowl:
2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. grated orange rind
1 teas. cinnamon

Roll out dough on a floured surface to 12″ x 18 to 24-inch rectangle.  Brush with 1/4 c. melted butter.  Sprinkle the brown sugar, orange rind, cinnamon mixture over the surface of the dough.

Beginning on the long side, roll up the dough.  Cut it into 1-inch slices and place cut side down in the prepared 13 x 9-inch pan.

Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled, about 1 hour.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.  Cool for 1 minute. Invert onto serving plate or wire rack.

 

February 20, 2009

Napolian Italian Pizza

Filed under: Breads,Napolian Pizza,Pizza — @ 8:24 pm

•    6 to 6 1/2 cups of flour
•    1 1/2 tsp instant or active dry yeast
•    1 tbsp. plus 1 teaspoon salt
•    3 1/4 cups cold water
•    1/2 cup cornmeal or semolina flour

What to do:
1.    In the mixer bowl of your food processor, stir the flours, yeast and salt together. Pour in the water and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until everything comes together into a “shaggy dough”.
2.    Put the bowl on the mixer and attach the beater – not the dough hook. This dough is too wet for regular kneading. Mix on low speed for a minute then beat on high speed for 3 1/2 minutes, scraping down the beater and bowl halfway through.
3.    ***Steingarten explains the way to know when your dough is perfect: With well-floured fingers, pull off a piece of dough about the size of a walnut and roll it in flour. You should be able to stretch it with the fingers of both hands without breaking for at least 3 inches across.
4.    Scrape the dough out onto a heavily floured work surface. Fold one side over the other and allow to rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, cut dough into 4 equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball and place each in a well-oiled bowl to rise until double in size – about 3 hours. ***NOTE: Steingarten likes to then put his dough balls in the fridge for an hour… if you have the time, do so, otherwise, I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary.
5.    Preheat your oven to as high as it can go (at least 500 degrees!) and allow the pizza stone to heat up for a half hour to one hour.
6.    On a well-floured surface, pat each dough ball into as flat of a circle as possible. Stretch it by draping the dough over your fists, knuckles up, passing it from hand to hand until it reaches about 12 inches. ***NOTE: This is the thing, do not despair at this point if it’s not going as perfectly as you want. This is not as easy as Steingarten says. With practice, it’ll be easier. But, we give the fist to fist way a try for a bit, then bust out a well-floured rolling pin and literally attack the dough with our pin until it gets as thin as we need it to be. We like it to be about 1/2 a centimeter thick when we first cook it on the pizza stone.
7.    ***This is where I do things a bit differently than Steingarten. Using oven mitts, take your pizza stone out of the hot, HOT oven. Scrape your pizza dough off your floured surface and place on the hot stone (it will begin to cook immediately) and place back in the oven for two minutes or until there is a tiny bit of color on the surface and edges of the dough. Remove from oven and place back on your work surface. It will be ’stiff’ but not fully cooked.
8.    Depending on what type of pie you are making (red pie, white pie, olive oil and herbs-brushed pie), put down your ‘wet’ ingredients first (i.e.: tomato sauce). Don’t put too much on, just a thin layer for taste.
9.    Add your toppings (go light like the Italians – you don’t need to have 2 inches-worth of toppings to make this pizza taste good) and then your cheese (get low-moisture mozzarella and fresh buffalo mozzarella that’s as low-moisture as possible – the moisture in the cheese could moisten your crust and cause it to be too wet and heavy).
10.    Add the topped pizza back to your pizza stone and put back in the hot oven for 4 to 7 minutes, making sure all the cheese is melted and bubbly and the crust has some color to it. Remove from oven and allow to rest for a moment before biting in.

January 16, 2009

Grilled California Pizzas (From the Barefoot Contessa)

Filed under: Breads,Pizza — @ 6:09 pm

For the dough:
•    1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110 degrees F) water
•    2 packages dry yeast
•    1 tablespoon honey
•    3 tablespoons good olive oil
•    4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
•    2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the toppings (select 8):
•    1 red onion, thinly sliced
•    1 pound fresh mozzarella, grated
•    1/2 pound Italian Fontina, grated
•    1/2 pound mild goat cheese, such as Montrachet, sliced
•    1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and julienned
•    1/4 pound prosciutto, thinly sliced and julienned
•    1 bunch arugula, cleaned and dried
•    6 plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
•    4 pork or turkey sausages, cooked and sliced
•    1 bunch basil leaves, cleaned and dried
•    4 garlic cloves, roasted
•    Crushed red pepper flakes
For prep:
•    1/2 cup good olive oil
•    Cornmeal
For the dough, combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add 3 cups flour, then the salt, and mix. While mixing, add 1 more cup of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on low to medium speed for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with flour, if necessary, to keep it from sticking to the bowl. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it several times to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each one into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours. If you’ve chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature. Roll and stretch each ball into a rough 8-inch circle and place them all on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. (You will be able to fit 2 pizzas on each 18 by 13-inch baking sheet.)
Light your grill and wait until it’s hot. Place the pizzas directly onto the grill and cook on 1 side for 1 minute. Turn the pizzas over and brush with olive oil or garlic oil. Top the pizzas with any toppings you wish, piling them high. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the lid on your grill and cook for 5 minutes more, until the crust is crisp and the toppings are cooked.

Thin and Crispy Crust Pizza

Filed under: Breads,Pizza — @ 6:08 pm

•    1 cup warm water
•    2 ½ tsp yeast
•    1 tsp sugar
•    3 ½ cups flour
•    1 ½ tsp salt
•    1/4 cup olive oil
•    1 egg yoke
Mix, knead, let raise about 90 minutes.  Use or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.  Bake at 500 o for about 10-12 minutes.

Thick Crust Pizza

Filed under: Breads,Pizza — @ 6:07 pm

•    1 ½ cups warm water
•    2 1/4 tsp yeast
•    1 tsp sugar
•    3 3/4 cup flour
•    1 ½ tsp salt
Mix, knead, let raise about 90 minutes.   Use or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.  Bake at 500 o for about 10 minutes.

Focaccia

Filed under: Breads,Pizza — @ 6:06 pm

Crust:
•    1 tube (13.8 oz.) pizza crust
•    2 Tbs. parmesan cheese
•    1 Tbs. chopped rosemary
•    ½ tsp. ground pepper
Toppings:
•    1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese
•    2 ounces sliced pepperoni, cut in thin strips
•    2 oz. ham, cut in thin slices
•    diced tomatoes, onions, or other vegetables

Boboli Type Pizza Crust

Filed under: Breads,Pizza — @ 6:05 pm

•    1 cup water
•    3 cups flour
•    1 teas. salt
•    2 Tbs. olive oil (or more)
•    1 Tbs. sugar
•    2 teas. yeast
•    1 teas. garlic
•    2 teas. parmesan cheese
•    ½ teaspoon italian seasoning
•    parmesan to sprinkle on top
Mix well.  Knead until smooth.  Let rise until doubled. Form two crusts in pans, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, cover and let rise again.  Bake 5-10 minutes at about 450o until light brown.  Cool.  Wrap tightly and freeze until needed.

Deep Dish Pizza

Filed under: Breads,Pizza — @ 6:04 pm

Dissolve:
•    1 tablespoon yeast in
•    1 cup warm water
Stir in:
•    1 teaspoon sugar
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    3 tablespoons oil    2
•     cups flour
Beat until smooth.  Add 1 to 1 ½ cups flour till dough is workable.  Knead until smooth.  Let double in bulk.  Heat oven to 400 o.  Grease two pans, 9×13 or two round pizza pans or one cookie sheet.  Divide dough, ½ to each pan.  Roll out. ease into corners.  Add sauce evenly to edges.  Top with favorite ingredients.  Cook at 400 o 15-25 minutes until lightly brown on edges.

January 1, 2009

Parmesan Butter Pan Biscuits

Filed under: Breads — @ 11:28 pm

•    1/2 cup butter
•    3 ½ tsp. baking powder
•    2 1/4 cups flour
•    1 tsp. basil
•    2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
•    1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
•    1 Tbsp. sugar
•    1 cup milk
Heat over to 400o.
Melt butter in a 9″ square pan.  Combine rest of ingredients except milk.  Stir in milk until dough is moistened.  Knead lightly till smooth.  Roll out into a 12″ by 4″ rectangle.  Cut into 12 pieces.  Dip in melted butter and bake in 9″ pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

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