December Daring Bakers Challenge

Again, I know this is a couple of days late.  Hope they don't kick me out.  Whoops.

I think I'm the Daring Bakers rebel this month.  I post late, I utterly FAILED at this recipe and I'm going to talk about how disgusting my recipe turned out.  And I didn't try again.  Because this particular baked good took A WEEK to make.  So, um, sorry.  Although I did follow through and do the whole challenge (it included using the baked good in another, original, recipe).  I hope next month is something better.

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by AndrewWhitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

Sourdough.  Yum.  I was totally excited.  Although my last couple of attempts at anything involving yeast have been humongous thumbs-downs.  So Sourdough doesn't involve yeast- at least the kind you buy at the store.  You make your own by letting flour and water sit on your counter and ferment for 5 days.  Appetizing...not.

There were 3 different options to choose from: French Country Bread, Russian Rye Bread, or Rice, Brazil Nut and Flaxseed Bread.

They all had strange flours that I thought I would never find anywhere except online, and I didn't think I had the time to find them, order them, have them shipped, and have the flour ferment on my counter for a week.  So I chose the French Country Bread.  It had the least-weird ingredients of them all and I figured I'd be able to find whole wheat bread flour.  Um, no.  I even went to the organic stores.  No dice.  So I just bought whole wheat flour.  I know bread flour has a higher protein content, but I figured if it's fermenting, it shouldn't make a difference. 

BIG MISTAKE.

So the flour and water did ferment.  Sort of.  I almost don't want to show you a picture because it looks so gross.

I said almost.  Bahahah.  It looks like a lump of puke.  That was after day 1.  Days 2-5 didn't look much different so I didn't take pictures.  Each day, you add a little more flour and water.  It did start to grow and take up about half of that bowl, and it smelled yeasty, but it just wouldn't bubble up like the recipe said it should.  It had a few bubbles in it, but I knew it was wrong.  Oh well.  I kept keepin-on.  So on day 5, you add some more junk to the yeasty rotten stuff.  More flour, salt, water.  Let it rest for awhile. 

Still looks nasty.  Whatever.  Then you make a loose dough without the yeasty junk.  Form it into a ball, and then add the yeasty junk (it's really called "starter" btw, but I can't bring myself to call it that) on top.  Like so:



It just looks hard and lumpy.  Ugh.  Then you fold it all together for like 20 minutes or something (good arm workout at the least!).  Then you put it in a basket with a blown-up grocery bag around it.  Huh?  I don't think I read this part before I started the recipe.  It said a "proofing basket."  I'm sorry.  I'm not a stay-at-home bread maker.  I don't bake fresh bread every morning.  I have a job.  So I have no clue what a proofing basket even is.  There was a handy youtube video, so I watched that.  It looked like the basket I have in my room that holds magazines.  So I removed the magazines and of course cleaned the basket.  Then you line it with a kitchen towel, dump flour on it, and plop the loaf in.  Then you're apparently supposed to put a grocery bag around it, blow it up full of air, and tie it.  So the bread is in a balloon, sort of.  Well, my basket was too big for the Target bag I had ready, so I used a garbage bag.  Which was way too big, but whatever.  I blew it up and felt like a total weirdo.  I let my bread sit for 4 hours and guess what?  It didn't rise one bit.  It looked like this:

Whatever.  So I baked it anyway.  I'd come this far.  When it came out of the oven, I got a little excited.  It was still flat and looked like a big rock and weighed about 10 lbs (not kidding), but it had a nice crust.  And it smelled pretty good. 



 This was the toughest, chewiest bread I have ever had in my entire life.  It didn't TASTE bad, but I got a jaw-ache from trying to eat it.  My loaf of bread was so sad and flat. 

Well, I still had to make a recipe out of this crap.  So I made an open-faced buffalo chicken sandwich.
Here's the recipe, if you can call it that.

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Open-Faced Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

makes 1 sandwich

2 slices sourdough bread (preferably not MY sourdough bread)

1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken breast

a few Tbsp buffalo sauce

2 Laughing Cow Blue Cheese Wedges

2 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese

1.  Spread each piece of bread with 1 wedge of cheese.  Toast.

2.  In microwave safe bowl, combine chicken and buffalo sauce.  Microwave 1-2 minutes, until heated through.

3.  Top toast with buffalo chicken mixture, then sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Pop in the toaster oven or under broiler for a few seconds until cheese is melted.

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My First Daring Bakers Challenge

I know this is a few days late, but I've worked so much overtime the past couple of weeks I can barely function.  But I did manage to fit in my very first Daring Bakers Challenge...and it turned out AMAZING. 

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!


So Povitica (pronounced poh-vuh-TEET-sa) is bascially a yeast bread filled with some type of filling (the traditional is a walnut filling).  It reminded me almost of a danish, but with more of a yeasty flavor from the bread.  Amazing.  Seriously.  I had to give most of it away before I ate a whole loaf.  Or 2.

To me, there is no better way to start a day than with a cup of coffee, in the kitchen baking something.  Especially if that something is bread.  The smell of yeast and bread dough rising just relaxes me right into a trance.  A productive trance, that is.  It focuses me and I can handle the toughest of recipes (a la povitica).  The instructions for this recipe were 10 pages and 35 steps long.  It definitely took some focus, but the taste of this amazing bread was worth it in the end. 

The recipe provided made 4 loaves.  Way too much.  I halved it and made 2.  We were required to make one loaf with the traditional walnut filling (yum!), and we could have creative license on the rest.  My other loaf had a pumpkin-butter-cream-cheese filling.  Ohhhhhmigod.  I want to bathe in that stuff.  I couldn't find a recipe anywhere for a pumpkin cream cheese filling (not one that I liked at least) so I made up my own.  I'm not going to include the recipe on here, because it's simply too long and would take all day to type, but if anyone wants the recipe, leave a comment and I will gladly e-mail it to you! 

So here's how I did....

All of my inredients and equipment.  Can you tell how tiny  my kitchen is?  That's just about my only counter space.

Activating the yeast.  Looks gross, but it's one of the best smells to me.  Weird...I know.

Scalding the milk to add into the dough.  Not sure why I had to do this, but the recipe says it makes the bread tender.  Guess it worked.

All of the ingredients for the bread dough.  I didn't use my handy dandy KitchenAid mixer on this one.  The instructions say you can easily mix it by hand.  It actually wasn't too bad.

The dough looks a bit gloppy, but it comes together pretty quickly.

Plop out the dough onto the countertop and split it into two rounds (or 4 if you're making 4 loaves).

Supposed to put each round into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel to let rise.  I'm a dummy and ran out of plastic wrap (what kind of baker am I???) so I cut a ziploc bag in half.  Worked just fine!

While the bread dough rises (oh the SMELL!), make the fillings.  This deliciousness is for the walnut filling. 

I would totally eat that by itself if not for the raw egg.  Basically this is walnuts, milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon.  Gah!

The not-so-secret ingredient in the pumpkin-butter-cream-cheese filling.  I got this stuff at Williams Sonoma a couple weeks ago.  Yes, this little jar is $11.  But holy crap.  It is fabulous.  I think I'm going to go stock up on a few jars before the season is over.  Anyway, I added a couple of tablespoons to some softened cream cheese and sugar, and I got this:

Heaven in a bowl.  I just want to dive in and swim around.  And eat a bunch of it.  I really had to restrain myself so I would have enough filling for the bread.

WTF, you ask?  Well, my friends.  The recipe says to use a floured sheet (yes, a bedsheet) to help roll up the dough.  I thought it sounded crazy, but I wanted to get the full experience of the challenge.  Unfortunately, my countertop is WAY too small to fit a sheet, so I used a pillowcase instead, and it was actually the perfect size.  So I floured my (clean) pillowcase and got to work.

The dough has to be rolled out super-thin, so you can almost see through it.  I know my edges are a little thicker, but I did the best I could.  (See Granny's marble rolling pin over there?  Love that thing!)

Rocky really wants a sample.

Spread with walnut filling and roll up.  Here's where the sheet/pillowcase comes in handy.  You have to flour the sheet really well, and then just pull the edges up and it sort of rolls itself.  Like a jelly roll.

This looks small, but weighs about 2 lbs. 

The dough gets coiled around itself and brushed with a topping of cold coffee, sugar and melted butter.  (It looks a little creepy right now, but wait until it bakes!)

Repeat with pumpkin filling.

I ran to the store and bought plastic wrap.  Cover and let rest 15 mins.

Pop the loaves in the oven and do some dishes.  Yikes!

Waaaaahhhhh! (That's angels singing, btw).  And that chunk missing from the middle?  I was just making sure it wasn't poisonous. 

Look how cool and swirly they are in the middle!  They say the best way to slice the loaves is to turn the loaf upside down and cut with a serrated knife.  Mine still crumbled a bit, but it was still SO tasty.

I ate a few pieces, then took some to work and the rest to Aunt Peggy.  Ahhhh so amazing.  I think I may make a few loaves for Christmas gifts.  I have to work on the presentation a bit, but I can't wait to play around with a few other fillings.  :) 

This took all day.  And was definitely a challenge but I was really pleased with how it turned out.  I'm anxiously awaiting Daring Bakers to post what this month's challenge will be (it comes out today).  So hopefully they don't kick me out for posting late!  Whoops. 

If anyone wants the recipe, lmk and I will send it to you.  <3

I Hate Cleaning....

I despise it.  Really.  Not that I like to live in a disgusting slime-hole of a house.  I just hate taking the time to clean.  My house is very very very small.  So it would  take no time at all, except I procrastinate take a lot of breaks.  These breaks take different forms, and usually are in between rooms.  Today, I read a chapter or 5  of a really good book between rooms.  And I cleaned my house in about 3 hours.  It should take 45 minutes or so.  Whoops. 

See, I have a problem.  I can't concentrate or focus unless there is no clutter or mess around me.  So alas, I had to clean before I could blog today. 

I tried to make Sherry's Super Duper Amazing Black Bean Soup the other night.  It was kind of a bust.  Crock pots are pretty fool-proof, right?  WRONG.  Sherry said she simmered her soup overnight.  So I put the Crock pot on warm and let it go all night.  In the morning I woke up and seriously had black bean glop.  I didn't even take a picture; it was too embarrassing.  It was all burned together on the edges (thank God I bought Crock pot bags) and mush in the middle.  Not soup at all.  I added a bit more chicken stock and stirred.  And tasted.  Not bad.  And definitely not soup.  More the consistency of refried beans.  They tasted good.  Just looked gross.  So I put some more salsa on top, along with shredded cheese.  I heated them up for lunch and put sour cream on top.  Turned out pretty tasty.  I have a whole bowl left of black bean gloppy stuff, so I think I'm going to try to make it into patties and fry it.  I'll let you know what happens. 

This morning was quite lovely.  I slept in leisurely until about 9.  **Before a year ago, sleeping in leisurely would be until about 2pm.  But when you have a job where you have to wake up at 4:30 every morning, 9 is LATE.**  So, I got up, had a cup of coffee and decided to make use of the lovely brown bananas in my freezer and make some banana bread.  For me, baking is such a relaxing way to start the day.  So I pulled out the bananas and they were frozen stiff.  Defrosted in the microwave for a few minutes, and they were perfect.  Already halfway mashed for me (weird, I know).  I found this recipe for the best banana bread.ever.  on How Sweet It Is awhile back and put it on my list of things to try.  It just looked great.  And with a title like "the best banana bread.ever." how can you not try it?  **PS- have I told you how much I love this blog?  Seriously, pee before you read it.  If you don't, you will pee your pants from laughing too hard.**

The recipe called for cream cheese (what?!?!? yum!!!!) and sour cream.  I had all the ingredients except the dang cream cheese.  And keep in mind I'm in my pajamas with my hair all gross and my face not washed.  I may go out and walk my dog in this get-up (please avoid my street in the mornings), but I will NOT go to the store looking this way.  So I googled substitutions for cream cheese, and someone said to use sour cream.  Works for me.  It's already in the recipe.  So I substituted sour cream for the 3 oz cream cheese, plus used the sour cream the recipe called for.  Still is probably the best banana bread I've ever had.  The name fits.  I am definitely going to try cream cheese next time, though! 

Here are my mashed bananas.  They look pretty gross, huh?  Fear not.

They turn into this beauty! 

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The Best Banana Bread. Ever.

from How Sweet It Is

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese

1 cup brown sugar

2 ripe bananas

1 egg

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a loaf pan.

2.  Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in mashed banana, sour cream, and egg and mix until smooth.

3.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Fold in chocolate chips.

4.  Pour into pan and bake 60-75 minutes.

****Note:  I used an 8x8 pan and only had to bake for 30 minutes.****

Aaaaah!!!!!!  This bread smelled soooo good, I couldn't wait to have a piece.  I cut one ASAP.  I had to use pot holders because the pan was that hot.  This bread is crusty and crispy on the outside and soft and moist (hate that nasty word) not dry on the inside.  And the chocolate chips just melt in your mouth.  Uhhh-MAY-zing.  Since I'm trying to not look like Shamu lose weight, I had one piece.  And then did a workout DVD, which I'm too embarrassed to even name.  It involves the movie Dirty Dancing, me flailing around my living room and looking like an idiot, and making sure the blinds were closed.  Oh yeah, and getting strange looks from my dog (the cats didn't stick around; they hid).  Anyway- I cut the bread into squares and wrapped them individually in foil, then put them all in a big Ziploc bag and froze them.  So I can only eat one piece at a time.  And now they're going to be a pain in the butt to thaw.  Good.  Eat fruit, Jill.  (Oh yeah, and I am taking some to work tomorrow to share).  My co-workers are going to hate me soon. 

The perfect breakfast.  Those little cutie patooties on the coffee mug are my cousins.  Why I have a coffee mug with my cousins on it, I don't know.  Probably stole it from Aunt Peggy or something.  Weirder yet, those cousins are now 22 and 15.  That thang is OLD.  Shut up.  You know you have one too. 



Now I'm going to go try to make something edible out of my black been glop.  I have some tortillas, cheese, and onions.  Maybe a quesadilla? 

Oooh!  And one more thing!!!  Aunt Peggy gave me her sewing machine yesterday!!!!!!  Well, she let me borrow it indefinitely.  She hates to sew, so I think she was secretly glad to get rid of it.  And she gave me 3 trashbags full of fabric.  That are now sitting on my living room floor because I have nowhere else to put them.  Until I clean out the cute fabric bins in my room that have lots and lots and lots of crap to sort through and throw away.  Then they'll be the perfect thing!  Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow.  More likely not. 

Regardless, I'm going to be sewing more for awhile instead of baking.  It's fun and it's better for my waistline.  Stay tuned my friends!