Focaccia with Rosemary and Tarragon herb oil

There seem to be many similarities between pizza, focaccia and ciabatta. Apart from one obvious similarity which is ‘they’re all Italian bread, they have the same dough consistency with the same hydration (water to flour ratio). They are all rustic and somewhat lean bread (with or without olive oil in them). Some of the cookbook also used the same recipe to produce these three breads and shape them differently.

I bake pizza often but hardly make focaccia. This was only the second time I made them. I used Peter Reinhart’s recipe from American Pie. The dough is prepared a day before and baked the next day. The recipe and process is somewhat similar to his pizza recipe in Bread Baker’s Apprentice. It called for cold water and overnight retardation straight after the mixing. The dough was relatively easy to mix by hand (I did this in a bowl with wet hands). The dough came together and the gluten was developed quickly, which I believe resulted from high level of water in the dough. Kneading dough with olive oil by hand was enjoyable. My hands and the dough were so soft and supple as a result.

From time to time, I had trouble shaping pizzas to the desired shape, size and thinness. The trouble also extended to transferring the pizza from bench to the baking stone. Making focaccia eliminates these issues as the dough is shaped and baked in trays or pans. Focaccia and pizza are similar in more ways than one. You can use the same dough to make focaccia or pizza. Toppings also work interchangeably between the two.

 I also adjusted the recipe a little by including 200 g of sourdough starter and reduce the amount of yeast by half (from 1.5 % to 0.75% in term of Baker’s Percentage). I made pure sourdough pizza before. Though it tasted great, it wasn’t as light as I wanted. In my opinion, the sourdough starter didn’t have enough power to rise against the topping. I decided to include both starter and yeast in this recipe for both flavour and rising ability.

Third Time Lucky - Croissants and Pain au Jambon

It’s the third time lucky for me making croissant. Well, sort of. I think my third time yielded decent croissants but they are still far from what I want to achieve. I’m now on the mission to practice making croissants every week until I can make them with my eyes closed (you know, not literally with the eyes closed). S is quite pleased to learn this, as well as our neighbors who are more than happy to be guinea pigs.

I have learnt one thing or two every time I made croissants. Or something would emerge that I had to make note what not to do next time.

First time, I used recipe from Michel Roux’s Pastry cookbook. I was extremely new to bread making back then and had little idea on what dough characteristics I should be looking for. I also trusted the recipe wholeheartedly. Why shouldn’t I? It’s Michel Roux, the great French chef. Plus, recipes from his cookbooks provide great results. Umm, but not the croissant. The recipe has very low hydration (percentage of liquid to flour in the recipe) which makes too stiff a dough to work with. It was almost impossible to roll the dough and laminating butter. It was a disaster that I was put off making croissants for a long while.

My second attempt was better but there was still minor disaster happened. I used the recipe from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook. All went fine, kneading, laminating and all, until the final proofing (where you rest the shaped croissants to rise).  Because the bake was done on the cold day, I had to create the warm environment for final proofing. So, I was naively put bowl of boiling water next to the croissant tray. As you would imagine, the butter leaked and melted from layers and layers of dough lamination. Umm, another lesson learnt.

Couple of months ago, I was back onto making croissants again and using Michel Roux’s recipe again. This time, I was more experienced working with bread dough. So, I knew from the texture of the dough that it was not going to work. The dough was too stiff. I checked the recipe and finally realized that the hydration is only 50%. No wonder that the recipe yielded dough that was too stiff and impossible to roll and be laminated. So, I decided to abandon the croissant and turn it into (sort of) brioche (I find that it is difficult to throw away food). It wasn’t great brioche but still tasty nonetheless.

Brioche was made into dessert, Honey Toast (inspired from what I had in Japan)

That should have been my third time making croissants, but it didn’t eventuate. So, here comes the third time lucky making croissant. I also used the recipe from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook. Original recipe has 58% hydration which is slightly stiff to roll so I adjusted it to 60% hydration (I added more milk during the kneading when I felt that the dough was too stiff).

Overall, everything went fine, only some minor issues. The past weekend just happened to be a warm weekend (of all the mild summer we had, why did I choose to make croissant on the hottest weekend in the past six weeks? I will never know). The temperature was around 30c. Which make laminating dough with butter impossible (well, butter would melt, and the croissant will end up not flaky as it should be). I had to laminate the dough at night when the temperature was only down to 27C and let the laminated dough rest in the fridge overnight. This, I believe, contributed in a bread-like texture of the croissant and not-so-flaky texture I would love to see. 

It was more of the Mojito time than croissant making time! Croissant will have to wait!

I also had to bake and do the final shaping first thing the next morning when the temperature is around 29C in the kitchen. I had to improvise and proof the croissants in the coldest area in the house, bathroom, where temperature was around 25C. And it only took 1 ½ hours for final proof.

Improvised the proofing location to bathroom, the coldest part of the house.

All in all, the croissants went well. Anything baked fresh from oven would taste great. And it is even more so for fresh warm buttery croissant pulled out of your own oven. Umm, the fruits of my own labor.

Great aids for making croissant: French rolling pin, pizza wheel, and dough scraper

I also made half of the recipe into pain au jambon (ham and cheese croissant). I came across this Pain au Jambon idea from Tartine Bakery's. It is an unusual and interesting way to make ham and cheese croissant. Ham and cheese are rolled inside the croissant (note: I didn't really see the recipe or how this is done at Tartine but I saw the photo of finished Pain au Jambon and I figured it could have been done this way). This croissant tasted very nice. Ham and cheese penetrated flavor into the baked croissant and made them very tasty, rich and moist.  The brief recipe and photos of pain au jambon is at the end of the post.

My croisssant against Mr Chad @ Tartine's

Here is the recipe…

Croissant Recipe
adapted from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook
makes 12 croissants

Ingredients

Croissant pre-ferment
50g bread flour
28 ml full-cream milk
3 g brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
1/2 teaspoon (1 g) dried instant yeast
10 g unsalted butter, soften

Final dough
470 g bread flour

284 ml (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) full-cream milk
30 g soft brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon (7 g) salt
1 teaspoon (3 g) dried instant yeast
250g unsalted butter, for laminating the dough

Egg wash
1 egg
2 tablespoon milk
a pinch of salt

Method
To make the pre-ferment, mix all ingredients together in a bowl until it becomes a ball. Knead it for about 10 minutes until becomes elastic and smooth. If using electric mixer, using dough hook and mix on low speed for 3 minutes.

Put the pre-ferment in a bowl covered with plastic bag and leave at room temperature for 2 hours to ferment. After, store the pre-ferment in the fridge overnight (this can be kept for few days in the fridge).

To mix the final dough, divide the pre-ferment into 8-10 small pieces, mix it together with all other ingredients, except butter, in a mixing bowl until a dough ball is formed.

Transfer the dough ball to a bench and knead for 10 - 15 minutes (by hand) until the dough become smooth and elastic, and doesn't tear when streched gently. If using electric mixer, using dough hook, mix on low speed for 3 -4 minutes, followed by high speed for another 2 minutes.

Smooth and elastic dough that can be strecthed without breaking

Put the dough in a bowl covered with plastic bag or cling wrap and refridgerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Before starting the dough laminating (i.e. incorporating butter into the dough) remove the butter from the fridge. Pound the butter with rolling pin between two sheets of baking paper into 15-cm flat square. If the butter becomes too soft, store it in the fridge for 15 minutes before using.

Take the croissant dough out of the fridge, using a ligthly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a retangle about 15 x 30 cm. Place the butter in the centre of the dough and fold th dough over the top. Seal the edges of the dough together to ensure the butter is completely enclosed in the dough.

Gently and carefully roll the dough out into a rectangle, about 20 x 50 cm (approximately 3 times longer than the piece you started with). Mentally divide the rectangle into three equal sections, top, middle and bottom. Fold the top section over the middle, and fold the bottom to the middle, like folding a letter.

Wrap the dough in a plastic bag or cling wrap and refrigerate for (at least) 30 – 60 minutes.

Take the dough out of the fridge and rotate the dough 90 degree so that the dough will be rolled in opposite direction from previous fold. Repeat the rolling, folding, and resting process as above two more times. There will be three foldings and rollings (the term is “three turns”) altogether and you need to rotate the dough 90 degree with each rolling.

After the final rolling and folding, store the laminated dough in the fridge for 40 - 60 minutes before shaping into croissants.
Make the egg wash by mixing all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Take the laminated dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a rectangle about 25 x 50 cm with 5 -8 mm thick.

Trim the edges of the dough so that it becomes a neat rectangle.

Cut the dough into triangles with 9-cm base and 21-cm height. Stack triangle sheets on baking sheet/papers and chill for 10 minutes.

Take the chilled triangles out of the fridge and shape into croissants. Gently pull the tip of triangle to make the triangle longer.  Make 1-cm incision at the base of triangle. Pull away two corners at the base and roll it towards the tip. Make sure that the tip is tucked underneath the croissant. Gently brings two corners towards each other to create a crescent shape.

Place shaped croissants on trays lined with baking sheet or paper.

Note: Shaped croissants can be retarded in the fridge overnight and bake the next day. Take them out of the fridge next day and follow the proofing and baking steps as below. Brush the surface lightly with egg-wash. Cover the tray with tea towel.  Let it stand at warm room temperature (25 c -27 c) for 2 hours until it almost double in size.

Note: Croissants are proofed and ready for the bake when the layers become visible and the croissant are very soft and wobbly.



Proof -croissant with visible layers, soft and wobbly texture



Preheat the oven to 240c.

Brush the surface of croissant with egg wash before baking. Reduce oven temperature to 190c and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until it is deeply golden brown.

There are lots of room for improvement.

Pain au Jambon (Ham and Cheese Croissant) Recipe
makes 4 croissants

Croissant ingredients and method are as above

Additional ingredients
2 large round smoked ham (or 4 small pieces ham or your choice)
4 thinly sliced gruyere or swiss cheese (or cheese of your choice)

Follow the instructions making croissant as above.

After cutting the dough into triangle, place a rolled-piece of ham and cheese at the base of triangle. Roll the dough and following instructions as above for shaping, final proofing and baking.

Rolled ham and cheese are put inside the croissant

Seriously yummy!

Submitting this post to YeastSpotting.

Bourke Street Bakery's Mr Potato Bread Sourdough - whoa, tasty!

Bourke Street Bakery cookbook is a great all-round baking companion that I should use more often. It is full of interesting breads and pastry recipes, very mouth-watering ones too. The thing is, I am a sucker for the cookbooks and I have too many in the collection that it is hard to share the love around.

Well, when a cookbook got picked from the shelf, there is a tendency that it will get used for the next few weeks, especially an inspiring one like Bourke Street Bakery from which I baked amazing Tomato Parmesan Flatbread the other week.

Flipping through the book, I came across Mr Potato Bread recipe that would be a great way to use up some of the 5-kg potato bag that S got from his Dad weeks ago. We've tried to make a few things to use up those potatoes; gnocchi, potato bread, mashes, and the bag is still more than half-full. 

 

However, the recipe only uses 250 g of potatoes, which means there'll be more potato cooking to do as I hate to throw food away, unless it is absolute necessary (somehow, I feel guilty throwing away food).

In the past, whenever I made sourdough bread from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook, I changed the sourdough starter preparation to Jeffrey Hamelman's liquid levain built method from Bread cookbook. I found Hamelman's method to suit my schedule better. But this time, I followed the BSB method on feeding my starter three times before the bake instead of two feedings I usually do. The proportion of starter in the final recipe is quite high, which could be the reason behind relatively active dough.

This time, I wanted to follow the recipe to the T. I even bought nigella seeds specifically for this bread. Normally, I am a serious offender when it comes to ingredient substitution. I would substitute whatever I don't have with something in the pantry, mix of baking powder and bi-carb soda for cream of tartar, honey for molasses, black sesame seeds for white sesame seeds, and the list goes on. I have a firm stand on not to buy a whole pack of ingredient simply for one recipe.  

Follow the recipe to the T? Umm, I have to admit that I didn't. I made a minimal tweak. BSB's recipe has 62% hydration, which I found relatively low to my liking. I generally like to work with high hydration dough, at least 66% hydration. I knead the dough mostly by hand and I find that high hydration dough is more fun to work with. It is soft, silky and more kneadable.

Oh, I just remember another tweak! I also include 10% of rye flour in the recipe (by cutting down bread flour by the same 10%).

This bread is different from potato bread I usually make which would include mashed potato into the dough. But this recipe calls for chunks of par-baked potato, which would remain in chunks after the bake. It was a pleasant change to bite into the bread and found soft potato pieces. It added texture and surprises into the eating experience. 

chunks of potato can be seen in the bread, very rustic

The bread tastes really good. S and I had the discussions and we agreed that the bread would be great for sandwiches, or with barbecue meat. It would pair well with savory dishes. The recipe would be perfect for bread roll too. 

The aroma and taste of Nigella seeds and rosemary were quite pronounced.  I have never cooked with nigella seeds before and I am glad I bought the seeds for this bread. It added the extra dimension to the bread, which I enjoy tremendously. The bread was truly aromatic. Its aroma was very addictive especially when it was hot of the oven and when it was toasted. Nigella seed (also known as kolonji seed in Indian cuisinse) is used widely in Indian cooking. It is also used to sprinkle onto Nan bread after the baking.



Here is the recipe...

Mr Potato Bread (sourdough) Recipe
from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook

makes 2 large loaves
Mature starter 405 g (100% hydration and active starter)
Bread flour 665 g
Rye flour 100 g
Water 440 g
Potato 250 g, cut into 2-cm cube
Olive oil 60 ml
Nigella seeds 10 g (also known as kolonji seed in Indian cuisine)
Rosemary 8 sprigs, leaves picked
Salt 15 g
pinch of pepper and salt to season the baked potato

Put potato cubes in baking tray and mix 3 tablespoons of olive oil through potatoes. Seasoning with salt and black pepper.

Bake potato at 220°C for 15 minutes. The potato will only be partially baked. It will be slightly soft and continue to be cooked inside the bread. Set baked potato cubes aside until needed.

Mix starter, bread flour, rye flour, water and the rest of olive oil together until it forms dough ball. Leave it to autolyze in a bowl covered with plastic bag for 15 –30 minutes. 

Sprinkle salt over the dough and mix the dough on a medium speed in the mixer for 3-5 minutes until medium gluten development is achieved. I kneaded this by hand and it took 15 minutes to get the desired gluten development.

Mix in nigella seeds, potato cubes and rosemary into the dough at a low speed in the mixer until ingredients are incorporated.

If mixing by hand, fold nigella seeds, potato cubes and rosemary into the dough by patting the dough into rectangle, and putting all the above ingredients in the middle of the rectangle. Do the letter-fold the dough to enclose the ingredients and continue the patting and folding until all ingredients are incorporated into the dough.

Quite noticeable how scoring have an effect on the shape of the loaves.
One with a deep cross in the middle rather rising than spreading.

Leave the dough in an oiled container covered with plastic bag for 2 hours (or until doubled in size) for bulk fermentation. Do one stretch-and-fold after one hour of fermentation.

Divide the dough into two equal portions and pre-shape them into rounds. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough into boule or batard (round or oblong) and put them into proofing baskets or bowls.

Retard the shaped loaves in the fridge overnight for further flavour development.

Next day, remove the doughs from fridge and let them sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to the highest temperature.

Steam the oven or mist it with water spray. Loading loaves into the oven. Bake at 220°c for 30 –40 mins. Turn the turn half-way through the bake for even browning.

not so happy with the scoring, it's not asymetrical!

Submitting this post to YeastSpotting.

Tomato Permesan Basil Flatbread - it does resemble pizza but it's flatbread

Though it doesn’t feel like we are having summer this year, our tomatoes were doing relatively well. S’ mom gave us the peach tomato plant months ago (the plants came from The Digger’s who specialise in heirloom plants). At first, we had no clue that this tomato was peach tomato and that it was different from normal tomato. It is the kind that would never turn red. It’s the yellow tomato. So, many tomatoes got rotten on the vine (not vine-ripen, but vine-rotten tomato). We finally figured it out after looking at the plant tags (why didn’t we look at the plant tag before, you might ask!).

These tomatoes are relatively small. Its size is about cherry tomato size. The taste and texture are also different from general tomato. It is sweeter, softer and not as acidic. We have used them in salad, pasta, and now in flatbread. They all turned out delicious.

It is a shame though that the plant is now dying (well, as I'm editing this post now, S has killed the plant. It has now gone to heaven). Tomato loves the consistent warm weather. That’s why it is doing so well in summer and warmer climate and we are having an unusual hot-then-cold summer this year. As a matter of fact, the summer is almost finished and I don’t feel we have any summer at all. It is sad that the plant is dying before its time.

I picked the tomato, parmesan and basil flatbread recipe from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook to utilise our home-grown peach tomato. This recipe uses the basic olive oil dough as a base. I tweaked the recipe a little by using my sourdough starter instead of preferment, which I believe give the bread extra flavour.

I love working with this dough. For some reasons, be it the water percentage, milk or olive oil in the dough mixture, the dough was silky smooth and easy (and fun) to work with. I made the full olive oil recipe following the book and froze half of the dough (Happy to report that it freeze well). You can double the amount in the olive oil dough recipe below if you plan to freeze the bread dough or intend to serve four persons.  

This post is submitted to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Graziana from Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herb).

Tomato parmesan and fasil flatbread recipe
from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook

make one large flatbread

Ingredients
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
25 g parmesan cheese, cubed
small handful of fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
1-2  tablespoon basil pesto (optional)
500 kg olive oil dough (see below for recipe or you can also use the pizza dough for this)

METHOD
Make the flatbread dough by following the intruction at the bottom of the blog. Once the dough finished its bulk proofing, shape it into flatbread.


To shape flatbread : turn the olive oil dough onto a lightly floured workbench and press down evenly with your hands, to get rectangle shape with 2-cm thickness.


Place flatbread on a baking tray line with baking tray line with baking paper or baking mat. Use your fingers to press down into the dough and create shallow indents over the surface.


Cover the tray/dough with tea towel or plastic bag and set aside in a warm place (25c) to proof for 15 minutes.


Press the cherry tomato halves and cubed parmesan into each flatbread untit they are almost half-sunk into the dough (tomato looks better with cut-side up).

Press half of basil leaves into the dough and brush the dough surface with the basil pesto mixed with olive oil (note: this is my own adaptation to add basil pesto).


Set aside to proof for further 15 -20 minutes (note: the topping are put half-way through proofing, so that they won't deflate the dough before baking. It gives the dough time to rise and have a proper proofing).


Preheat the oven to 180c. Bake for 25 -30 minutes, turning the flatbread around after 15 minutes.

Olive oil dough  recipe
from Bourke Street Bakery cookbook

makes 600 g (enough for the one flatbread)
Ingredients
308 g bread flour
2 g  instant dry yeast
202 ml water
10 ml extra virgin olive oil
10 ml milk
2 teaspoons salt
90 g sourdough starter (100% hydration, fed 10 - 12 hours before mixing)


Method

Put all of the ingredients into the bowl of the mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for another 5 - 8 minutes.  The dough should come away from the edges of the bowl and have a silky complextion when done.

Place the dough in a container that has been sprayed with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to bulk prove for 1.5 hours. Knock back (stretch and fold) the dough every 30 minutes during bulk prove -- this means you will need to knock back the dough twice in total.

Once has finished to bulk prove, it is ready to be used in the tomato, parmesan flatbread above.

Submitting this post to YeastSpotting.

Chorizo pesto pizza with whole wheat pizza base

I can't recall I ever had whole-wheat pizza before. It sounds rather un-Italian but I want to experiment a little and see how the whole-wheat pizza would turn out. It would be great if it works so that we can, at least, claim that it's wholegrain pizza and somewhat a healthy choice, even though it is fully loaded with cheeses, chorizo, and etc, lol. 

When I told S that I was making whole-wheat pizza for dinner that night, he went "baby, you know, those Italians, they know their stuffs and they will never make a whole wheat pizza". Umm, that remark didn't stop me, I determined to find out. In fact, that saying "Those Italians, they really know their stuffs" is actually mine. Every time when I have Italian food, I would say this. I think Italian food is one of the best cuisines in the world. The simple and fresh ingredients that they use match each other perfectly. Think about basil and tomato with a splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It’s simple yet so delish.

 

I used pizza base recipe from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice and replace 70% of bread flour with whole wheat flour. The recipe incorporates the cold fermentation, which Peter Reinhart suggests that it provides two benefits, one for the flavour and the other for the shaping.

Overnight fermentation brings out more flavour trapped in the starch. It also helps relaxing the gluten and make dough shaping easier.

When it comes to pizza topping, less is more. More toppings doesn't equal good pizza. It is, in fact, counterproductive. It makes the crust soggy and takes longer to cook. It is recommended to limit to only 3-4 toppings, including the tomato sauce.

Instead of tomato sauce, I spread the pizza base with Italian pesto (I got three big jars from CostCo that will last for so many pizzas and pastas) and topped it with mozzarella cheese, onion and chorizo (spicy Spanish sausage). The cooked pizza then topped with baby rocket leaves (arugula). Chorizo is something I love to cook with. It has such an intense well-rounded flavour that complements any dishes really well.

The whole wheat pizza crust works quite well. It is not as moist and soft as the one made with white flour. The crumb is also not as open but it is tasty nonetheless. I also feel that the whole-wheat base is crispier than the white flour base.  



I couldn't help myself pinching the crust to check the crumb!

Not bad crumb, after all!

Yes, those Italians know their stuffs, but it is also good to find a way to enjoy our favourite food in a somewhat healthier way. The whole-wheat pizza is not bad after all and it can still feel Italian to me:)


Recipe note:
I halved Peter Reinhart's recipe. You can double the recipe and make 3 large pizza crusts.

The dough can be stored in fridge for up to three days or frozen for up to three months.

The recipe calls for chilled flour and iced cold water. If you don't have cold water at hand, mix a number of ice cubes with water to get an iced cold water.

Chorizo pesto whole wheat pizza recipe

Whole wheat pizza base recipe
make 2 medium size pizza crusts (255 g or 9 oz each)
Adapted from Peter Reinhart's pizza napoletana from The Bread Baker's Apprentice

200 g whole wheat flour, chilled
90 g bread flour or all-purpose flour, chilled
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
29 g olive oil or vegetable oil (optional)
397 g water, ice cold
6 g Salt

Pizza topping

3 tablespoons basil pesto
1 small onion, thinly sliced
70g mozzarella cheese, shredded
250g (2 sausages) chorizo (spicy Spanish sausages), sliced into 0.30-cm thick
100 g baby rocket leaves (arugula)

1.    Stir together the flour , salt, and instant yeast in a large bowl. With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with a paddle attachment). If kneading by hands, knead for 10-15 minutes until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If using electric mixer, switch to dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should be clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50F to 55 F (10 C – 13 C).

2.   Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Mist the counter or a tray lined with parchment paper with spray oil. Using dough scraper or blunt knife, cut dough into two equal pieces (approximately 255 g or 9 oz each). Sprinkle flour over the dough and lightly coat them with flour. Gently shape the doughs into balls and transfer the dough balls into sheet pan or a zip-lock plastic bag. If using sheet pan, slip the sheet pan into a food-grade plastic bag and chill the dough overnight in refrigerator. The doughs can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

3.   Remove the dough balls from the fridge 2  hours before making the pizza. Dust the counter with flour, and the mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour, gently press the dough into flat disks about ½ inch thick. Sprinkle the dough with flour; mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Rest the dough for 2 hours.

4.   About an hour before making pizza, place a pizza baking stone on a bottom rack of an oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (I preheated mine to 275 C or 527 F). If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can bake pizza on the back of baking trays or on a pizza pan. However, you don’t need to preheat the trays.

5.   Generously dust the pizza peel or back of sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Stretch the dough disks into flat pizza pieces. Lay the dough onto pizza peel or baking trays. Spread the pesto thinly onto the pizza base. Put mozzarella cheese on top, followed by sliced onions and top with sliced chorizo.

6.   Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the baking trays)  and close the door. Checking after 2 minutes if the pizza needs to be rotate for even browning, do so if it needs to.

7.   The pizza should take about 6-10 minutes to bake depending on the crust thickness and fillings.

8.   Remove pizza from the oven and transfer to the cutting board. Top the pizza with baby rocket leaves. Wait for 3 –5  minutes to allow the cheese to set before cutting. Top

This post is submitted to YeastSpotting

Buon Appetito

Washed down the pizza with our favourite beer, Corona with a slice of lemon.
It cant’ get any better.

Weekend Herb Blogging - Silverbeet Ricotta Quiche

Spring has finally sprung. It's been slow coming this year. We've had the coldest and wettest September in years in Melbourne... the water storage dams increased from below 30% to almost 50%. Yes, Melbournian is quite obsessed with weather and the water shortage/drought situation. And I'm so obsessed that I can't help starting the blog with this:)

I'm always fascinated by how lifes begin and Spring sure makes it obvious what warmth can do in terms of life creation. Our plants in the garden just spring back to life once Spring starts. The vegies and herbs seems to grow inches and inches everyday.

I also came across a blogging event called Weekend Herb Blogging from this blog. Perfect timing, I think it might be a good idea to submit this blog as part of Weekend Herb Blogging. This will be the first blogging event I participate. So, I'm getting a bit excited. For more details of the post participating in this blogging event, you can visit this logomachia.blogspot.com blog.

Our garden produces are doing so well. The silverbeet is almost as high as my knees and just asking to be picked and eaten. We are also having S' mum over for lunch. Umm, what's for lunch, I'm sure silverbeet and ricotta quiche will make a perfect light lunch for us.

I used the shortcrust pastry recipe from Michel Roux's  Pastry: Savory and Sweet. I love this book. The instructions are very clear and well illustrated. It is very easy to follow and produces the yummiest pastries ever:).  Plus, the book also gives instructions for working by hands. I love making pastry and bread by hand rather than a mixer. It feels like I am really creating something:)

I used the Pate Brisee recipe for the quiche base. You can find the recipe in this link http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/RECIPES/RECIPES/BREADS_TWO/pastry_dough/pate_brisee.html.  The recipe produces about 450g. I used about 300-350g for the above 25cm silverbeet quiche. I kept the left-over pastry in the freezer and will use it for blueberry or strawberry tart next weekend. The pastry is quite versatile. It can be used for both sweet and savory.




I worked the pastry by hand following the instructions and it was good fun.
You can also use food processor to mix the dough.

 

Here goes recipe for silverbeet and ricotta quiche.....

Note: you can also substitute silverbeet with spinach (fresh or frozen)

Ingredients

350g  Pâte Brisée (left at room temp for about 5 mins before using)

half a bunch of silverbeet (about 8 big leaves), chopped coarsely

1 medium brown onion, chopped finely

1-2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

4 eggs (large)

125 ml cooking cream (35% fat, or you can use milk as a lower fat option)

100g ricotta cheese

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)

pinch of salt (about 1 teaspoon)

pinch of pepper

METHOD

Preheat oven to 190c/210c (convection/conventional).

Roll the pastry to about 3mm thickness and large enough to cover 23cm or 25cm tart tin. You can use your tin to measure the pastry. The pastry should be about 5 - 7 cm bigger than your tin (depending on how deep your tin is)

Line the tart tin with the pastry. You can use the rolling pin to help lining the tin by rolling the pastry onto the rolling pin and lifting the pastry into the tin.

Chill the pastry for at least 20 mins. This is to prevent shrinking when baked.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and prick the base all over with fork.

Blind-bake the pastry at 190c for 15 mins. ( i.e. line the pastry tin with non-stick baking paper and fill the pastry tin with either beans, raw rice or pie weight)




Silverbeet in the garden and pastry is ready for blind-baking

 

Take the pastry out of the oven and remove pie weight. Reduce the oven temperature to 170c/190c (convection/conventional). Bake the pastry for another 5 minutes.



In the meantime, heat olive oil in a pan and cook onion in the pan over medium high heat until they are soften. Add silverbeet to the pan and cook until they are wilted.

Whisk eggs, cream, parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper together in a bowl until well-combined.

Line baked pastry with cooked onion and silverbeet and pour egg mixture over silverbeet. Scatter pieces of ricotta on top of the quiche.

Bake at 170c/190c (convection/conventional) for 20 mins or until the top is brown slightly and the quiche is firm.

And there you have it...a simple and reasonably healthy lunch, silverbeet and ricotta quiche.

I serve the quiche with lettuce (home-grown), avocado, pine nut salad with balsamic vinegar  & olive oil dressing, then grate the parmesan cheese on top.

We all love this dish. The salad with balsamic dressing matches really well with the quiche. I also love the pastry base. It's so flaky and delicate...just melt in my mouth.

Do try:)...I love to know how you go with recipe and will love to see the photos or comments.

I'm sure you can do it .... at home!!!

Chorizo and Thyme roll

We had to go to S' mom's home and I was bringing over some snacks for lunch. I love the idea of some roll for a light lunch.

Sifting through my favorite cookbook,Bourke Street Bakery, I came across a very promising recipe that would make a perfect light lunch, Chorizo and Thyme Roll....and yes, I wasn't dissapponted. The recipe is really easy to make and srumptious. Plus, I love chorizo....I really thinks it makes any meals tastier with less efforts.

I come across the  Bourke Street Bakery  cookbook by accident. I live in Melbourne so I know nothing about  Bourke Street Bakery.  They are a very famous Sydney bakery in Surry Hill. The cookbook consists of recipes for all (I think) products sold at their bakery. They all looks scrumptious and really make me want to go to Sydney to see the shop. I won't miss this BSB when I'm in Sydney next time, I promise.

 Bourke Street Bakery

I adapted/tweaked the original recipe from the book a little bit. Instead of baking the chorizo, I pan-fried them. I also used my sourdough starter instead of yeast in the olive oil dough pre-ferment (so, I guess, it is a  really a levain instead of pre-ferment).

The recipe got quite a few parts altogether, the roll itself, the olive oil dough and caramelised onion. .... and here you goes the recipe....

Chorizo and thyme roll recipe
makes  4 rolls

Ingredients
100 g chorizo, cut into 1.5 cm cubes
125 g caramelised onion (store bought, or see below of the blog for recipe)
3 thymes sprigs, leaves picked
1 tablespoon milk
500 kg olive oil dough (see below of the blog for recipe or you can also use the pizza dough for this)

METHOD
Pan fry the chorizo over medium high heat until it's gold brown. Set aside to cool completely.

In a bowl, mix together the chorizo and onion with their oils and add the thyme. Stir in the milk until well-combined; set aside until needed.

Follow the instructions for making olive oil dough below

Pre-heat the oven to 220c (convection oven, or 240c for convention oven)

To shape the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out into 25 x 10 cm rectangle, about 1.5 cm thick. Lay the long side parallel with the edge of your work  bench and mark the dough into thirds with your finger. Lay half of the chorizo mixture inside the middle third of the dough, spreading it evenly to the edges. Fold the right third of the dough over the middle and lightly press down to push out any air bubbles. Evenly spread the remaining chorizo mixture onto the folded third and fold over the left flap, lightly pressing down to seal.

Use your fingers to mark the dough into thirds, this time parallel to the bench. Fold the top third over the middle third, then overlap with the bottom third. Press the dough down and leave to rest for 30 mins.

Cut the dough into four pieces. Place on a greased baking tray (or tray line with baking paper), then place in the oven (and steam the oven if you'd like by spraying the oven wall with water several times, at one minutes interval for the first few mins).

Reduce the oven temperature to 200c and cook for 20 minutes, turning the tray after 10 mins, or until cooked and golden.







Didn't look exactly like the one in the book,
but I was really happy with it. It is a very yummy roll...

   




Nice open crumb

The roll tastes really nice. The spicy chorizo really goes well with camelised onion and I'm also really impressed with the flavour of the bread itself. It make me wonder how would it taste like at the Bourke Street Bakery itself?

olive oil dough (this recipe can also be made into paninis, flatbreads and grissini)

Pre-ferment

Ingredients
50 grams bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon milk
35 ml water
15g sourdough starter (or 1 g instant dry yeast)

Method
If using instant dry yeast - Put all ingredients in the bowl of the mixer on low speed for 2 minutes. Increase speed to high and continue mixing for 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a covered container that has been sprayed with olive oil. Rest the dough in the fridge overnight before using.

If using sourdough starter (like I did) - Mix all of ingredients about 10 -12 hours before you make the final olive oild dough. Let the mixture sit at room temperature in a covered container until ready to use.

Olive Oil Dough recipe
make 500 g

Ingredients
300 g bread flour
5 g  instant dry yeast
200 ml water
10 ml extra virgin olive oil
10 ml milk
2 teaspoon salt
Pre-ferment (all of the above)

Method

Put all of the ingredients, except the pre-ferment, into the bowl of the mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to high and continue mixing for 5 mins. Break the pre-ferment up with your hands and scatter into the bowl. Continue mixing on low speed for 1 minutes, then increase the speed to high and mix for 5 minutes, or unitl well-combined -- this may take an extra couple of minutes -- the dough should come away from the edges of the bowl and have a silky complextion when done.

Place the dough in a container that has been sprayed with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to bulk prove for 1.5 hours. Knock back (stretch and fold) the dough every 30 minutes during bulk prove -- this means you will need to knock back the dough twice in total.

To knock back the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and press out into a rectangle, about 2.5 cm thick. Use your hand to fold one third back onto itself, then repeat with the remaining third. Turn the dough ninety degrees and fold it over again into thirds. Place the dough back into the oiled container, cover with plastic wrap, and continue to bulk prove for a further 1 hour. Once has finished to bulk prove, it is ready to be used in the chorizo and thyme roll above.

Caramelised Onion

Ingredients
500 g brown onions, thinly sliced
20 ml olive oil

Method
Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat. Add the onion and cook for an hour, stirring every 10 mins, until the natural sugars caramelise and turn the onion brown. All to cool.