CityMama™

Bread

When Bunny was a newborn and I suddenly found myself homebound, I coped by baking. For months. That Christmas everyone received loaves of bread—sandwich bread, cheese bread, chocolate twister bread, challah—or pies. Apple, chocolate-peanut butter, apricot chiffon.

I think some people fought the baby blues with anti-depressants. I fought them with yeast, honey, and dough. And kneading. Plenty of kneading. 

Last week I make these babies. One in a loaf pan, one was hand-formed and baked in a cast iron dutch oven (like no-knead bread).

I'm a fan of bread recipes that call for flour by the pound, not the cup. And fresh yeast. And I'm also a believer in the triple-rise: once in a large, oiled bowl, punch it down, let it rise again. Slap it in a pan (or form) and let it rise for a third time. Then bake. I think it makes for light-yet-chewy everyday loaf that feels like a loaf of bread and not like a brick.

Bread is a hot topic on the blogs. And rightly so. Among other more esoteric reasons to love baking bread, what other food yields so much satisfaction for all the effort you put into it?

Cuz nothing says it's the holidays like booze and dried fruit

booze-soaked dried fruit

Hello, my name is Stefania and I love fruitcake.  I know. I'm one of the only people on earth. I prefer my fruitcake in panettone form, but really, if it's a baked good that has booze and fruit, it's going in my mouth.

Anyway, since I have nothing better to do than to wait for my Amazon order to arrive in 47 separate shipments, I'm baking.

The December issue of Everyday Food has a recipe for a fruit bar based on the fruitcake theme. I'm making it for our open house and I've adapted the recipe to my taste below.

FRUITCAKE BARS

Don't freak because there's no levening in this "cake."  It comes out yummy—like blondies with fruit added. (I'll post pics when I serve them.)

• 2 sticks of butter + more for greasing the pan
• parchment or waxed paper
• 2 leveled cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 cups of dried fruit (I used golden raisins, dried cranberries, and chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut (optional)
• 3/4 cup cognac
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
• 2 packed cups of brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• powdered sugar for dusting

Pumpkin muffins made by two little pumpkins

Last weekend we took our girls to "Grandpa's" pumpkin patch down the street. It's your basic pumpkin patch/bouncy house/carnie-run affair.  Bunny had lost some privileges so she wasn't able to participate in the bounce action (maybe this weekend), but she seemed content to look for pumpkins, especially since her little sister was too scared to jump in the bouncy house.

After wandering around the pumpkin patch for a bit, she turn to face me with a bright idea.

"Let's make pumpkin muffins!" she squealed. "Can we?"

Matisse & Jack's DIY energy bars are fun to make and eat

Mmmm! Chocolate chip bars!

We're huge fans of Matisse & Jack's bake-it-yourself healthy energy bars. These are the best-tasting energy bars I've ever had—they are like eating a treat rather than something healthy which means they are perfect for a "guilt-free" dessert night.

Mixing up a batch takes about a minute and best of all kids can help. You add 2/3 cup of applesauce and 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt to the dry mix, then you spread the mixture into a pan and bake for 30 minutes.  One pan makes enough bars for two girls to have a school snack every day, but since most kids like variety, you can also freeze them and take them out as needed.

We've tried cranberry walnut and the chocolate chip. Guess which version mamma likes better and which version the girls like better?

Points to Matisse & Jacks for being a local (to me) company—which I'd rather support than some huge granola bar conglomerate.

Lemon Bread for Valentine's Day

This is an adaptation of a recipe that's been floating around my circle of pals for a while now.  It's one of the easiest things you'll ever bake.  (I tell you this because I really don't like baking and I love to make this.)

MEYER LEMON TEA BREAD WITH RUM-LEMON GLAZE

• 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 2 large Eggs
• ½ cup Milk
• ½ cup melted unsalted butter, vegetable oil, or a blend of vegetable and light olive oil (my fave)
• zest of one small Meyer lemon
• Rum-Lemon Glaze (see below)

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat eggs, milk, butter/oil, and lemon peel until blended. Mix liquids into flour mixture until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake in a 350º oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (40-50 minutes). Meanwhile, prepare Lemon Glaze. Leaving loaf in pan, use a long skewer to poke numerous holes (15-20) all the way to the bottom of the loaf. Slowly drizzle hot glaze over the top.  Don't worry if it seems like a lot of glaze, the bread will absorb it, I promise. 

Let bread cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then run a knife carefully around the loaf and turn it out onto a rack to cool. Wrap in plastic wrap if you want to store. Serve at room temperature, preferably the next day.

Rum-Lemon Glaze

• juice of 2 medium Meyer Lemons (approx. 4 tbsps)
• a splash of dark rum (or cognac would work, too)
• a good handful of confectioner's sugar (1/2-1/3 cup)

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and keep warm.  (You can omit booze if you like.)

[photo credit: Stefania Pomponi Butler]

Sunday chicken dinner

lemon roasted chicken

maple cake

Tonight we had roast chicken, creamed leeks, spinach salad, and maple cake for dessert.

I squeezed a Meyer lemon over the chicken and then stuffed the two cut halves into the cavity. I salt and peppered it inside and out, and roasted it at 325º for about an hour. I tented it for about 15 minutes, then we dug in.

For the leeks, I trimmed and cleaned 8 medium leeks (white and light green parts only), cut them into a chiffonade, and then sauteed them in a little butter until they were caramelized and creamy.

The cake was an adaptation of the maple cake recipe in the November '06 issue of Everyday Food. It was iced with lemony (my twist) maple icing.

Tonight, I really needed to reconnect with my family over dinner, and this was the way to do it.

[photos: Stefania Pomponi Butler]

Baking with Bunny: Challah

One of the best parts of going to Bunny's preschool on Fridays to celebrate Shabbat with her class is the smell of freshly-baked challah which pervades the entire school.

This Friday she didn't have school and she was very upset that she wouldn't be able to observe Shabbat with her class.  I told her that we could have our own Shabbat at home, and that we could bake some challah together. "But we don't have a kiddush cup," she pointed out. True, but we're not Jewish, either. (I didn't tell her that.)

Bunny school has taught me so much about Jewish religion, customs, and culture. I've always been drawn to this culture (if that's the right word) for some reason, and it makes me happy that Bunny is there at that school.  We made our challah, said some of the blessings, and sang "Shabbat is here."

The challah recipe I used is the one that her school uses. Here it is.

RECIPE FOR FOUR CHALLAHS

They make challah in bulk at school. I halved the recipe and we made three smallish loaves: one plain, one chocolate chip, one with cranberries and cinnamon sugar.

Also, this challah is not sweet so you can use it for savory as well as sweet sandwiches. If you want a sweeter bread, increase the sugar to taste.

Add apples, raisins, chocolate chips, etc to this mixture to "make delicious."

In a medium bowl, mix together 3 tbsp. dry yeast,2/3 cup of warm (not hot) water, and 2 tbsp. sugar or honey. Set aside and let the yeast do its thing.

In a large bowl, add 1 cup oil, 2 tsps. salt, 2 tbsp. honey, and 2 cups of boiling water to dissolve all the ingredients. Then add 1 cup of cold water.

Beat six eggs into the oil water mixture.

Add yeast mixture and up to 14 cups of flour (use as much as needed and add more if too sticky.)

Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. If possible, let to rise in a warm place.

Make 12 long "snakes." Braid 3 together to form challah. Put onto greased cookie sheet. Brush top of challahs with an egg wash for shine.

Bake 40 minutes in a 375º oven.  Let cool on wire rack.

[photo credit of plain and chocolate chip challah: Stefania Pomponi Butler]

Banana Bread

I don't measure so that doesn't lend itself to baking most things, but if allowed to be free form (like with pies and fruit crisps) I do fine.

I do love quick breads and tea breads, however, so about four times I year I make banana, lemon, or apricot bread.  The rest of the time any baking is required J. does it (he makes all our holiday cookies) or I make a Costco (birthday cake) run.

This banana bread recipe is easy, and it's even better the second day, just cool it and wrap it in cling wrap.

BANANA-LEMON BREAD

I can't stand nuts in my baked goods so I leave them out of this recipe which I adapted from the Joy of Cooking.

You can omit the lemon rind and add in a good handful (1/2 cup) of mini chocolate chips to the batter just before pouring it into the loaf pan.  The regular chips will sink to the bottom so make sure to use the minis.

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a medium bowl stir with a whisk to "sift" and combine:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 salt

In a large bowl cream together:

1/3 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
rind from half a lemon (use a microplane grater for very fine shreds)

In a small bowl mash:

2 large overripe bananas

And add one beaten egg to it.

Combine banana/egg mixture with butter mixture and mix well to incorporate. Add the flour mixture to the banana/egg/butter mixture in THREE parts. Stir between each addition.

Place batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake 55 minutes until done.  Remove from pan and cool on a rack befor slicing. And yes, shmear each slice with good butter and devour.

photo credit: Stefania Pomponi Butler