Rye Bagels

This week is the school's February Vacation. I spent the first part of the week recovering from the flu and a cough, but now I'm making up for it with plenty of baking and crafts.

Today's endeavor was bagels. I'd followed the basic recipe for bagels from my bread book (Ultimate Bread) once before back in 2002. This time I wanted to change it up a bit to add more flavor so that the bagels didn't just taste like boiled bread. I decided to add whole wheat and rye flour to the recipe as well as caraway seeds in the dough to make rye bagels. I also learned from my cracker making a few weeks ago, that an egg wash does wonders to help toppings adhere. So I used an egg wash to add the sesame and poppy seeds to the top of the bagels.

The bagels turned out well, chewy outside, soft inside and with a pronounced rye and caraway flavor and my poppy seeds stayed firmly on top the bagel.
Rye Bagels

Ingredients
2 tsp dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups water (divided)
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, plus extra for kneeding
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp caraway seeds
1 egg, beaten
poppy seeds
sesame seeds

Makes 8 bagels

Directions
Sprinkle yeast and sugar into 1/2 cup of warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile in a large bowl mix the flours, salt, and caraway seeds. Make a well at the center of the flours.


After yeast has rested for 5 minutes, stir to dissolve it. Pour dissolved yeast into center of flours. Pour 1/2 cup additional water into the flours. Mix into the flour. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup water, as needed to form a firm and moist dough.

Turn dough out on a floured surface and kneed the dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. As you work the dough, add as much additional flour as you can kneed in, the dough should be firm and stiff.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled boil, turn to coat with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 hour until doubled in size. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 * F. After the dough has rested 10 minutes, divide dough in to 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Use your thumb to poke a hole in the center of the ball and then move your finger around inside the hole to widen it to about 1/3 of the bagel's diameter. Place the bagels on a cookie sheet, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare a large pot of water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. After bagels have rested 10 minutes, use a a slotted spoon to lower bagels into the water, two or three at at time. Cook for about a minute, turning once until they rise above to the surface. Drain bagels and place on lightly greased baking sheet or un-greased silicon mat.

Brush bagels with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Slice and enjoy with cream cheese or butter.

Olive Oil & Rosemary Crackers

A few years ago, I babysat for some friends of mine so they could go out for an anniversary dinner. They told me to help myself to dinner, and introduced me to some wonderful rosemary crackers. I had one or two and had to heartily restrain myself from eating the whole box. They were amazing. I looked for the brand and crackers and found a box or two but soon the brand seemed to stop making the rosemary variety. I've settled into buying the multi seed version instead, always craving the wonderful rosemary crackers.

Lately, I've contemplated making crackers of my own since the multi seeded variety are rather expensive per box. I was further spurred on to do so by this week's Minimalist column. The version in the column was a cream and Parmesan variety, but Mark Bittman always encourages innovation. I knew my variety would include olive oil and rosemary. Here is my version.

Olive Oil and Rosemary Crackers

3/4 cup white flour
1/4 cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
less than 1/4 cup water
coarse salt
dried rosemary

Preheat oven to 400 *F.
Combine flour, salt in food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the olive oil, and begin mixing again. Slowly add the water until the dough is smooth but not sticky. If the dough gets sticky, add a bit more flour to even out the dough.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface, or a silicon baking mat. Roll out until 1/4 inch thin. If not using a baking mat, transfer to a floured or parchment-lined baking sheet. Otherwise, move silicon baking mat onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and rosemary. Score with pizza cutter.

Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on a rack.

Next time I may try adding an egg white wash to help the rosemary stick better. Or I may add some rosemary to the flour mixture so that it is incorporated into the dough. I'm also curious how long they will stay fresh, though we consumed many of them already today. As you can see, we even ate a few before the picture was taken.
Update: We made two more batches of these on Sunday. I added rosemary to the dough and brushed it with an egg white wash before baking one batch. The rosemary stuck better. For the second batch I brushed it with the egg white wash and sprinkled it with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and caraway seeds. The egg white wash kept the seeds well attached.

Lussekatter

I came across a food blog called Lucullian Delights, and found this recipe of Lussekatter. I decided I just had to try it since saffron and cardamom are some of my favorite spices. I've used cardamom before in pilafs and curries, but never in baking. It was wonderful. My rolls didn't turn out quite as yellow as Ilva's because I had saffron threads, not ground saffron, but the flavor and some of the color was still present. We heartily enjoyed them as dessert and as breakfast too.

Here's her recipe, and below you'll find it again with my estimates for US measurements and adaptations:

Lussekatter

2 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
14 tablespoons butter
2 cups milk, plus a little bit more
scant cup sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
small pinch of saffron threads
1/2 tsp salt
6 and 1/3 cups flour
1 egg
raisins

1. Combine yeast, salt, sugar and cardamom in mixing bowl.

2. Melt butter in sauce pan. Crumble saffron threads and add to melted butter. Pour milk in to pan and warm to just finger warm around 98 degrees F.

3. Add liquids to yeast in bowl and stir to mix.

4. Add the flour and mix well. I used my Kitchen Aid to knead the dough until it was smooth.

5. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 hour.

6. Divide the dough into balls around the size of a fist and roll into snakes between your hands. Shape into S shapes and lay out on parchment lined baking sheet. Let rolls rise for 40 minutes. I noticed they didn't seem to change much as they rose, but that they did expand a good deal once in the oven. Make sure you leave room between them on the baking sheet.

7. Brush rolls with brushed egg. Top with strategically placed raisins.

8. Bake in a 440 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes. It took more like 15 minutes in my oven. Cook on a rack.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

I've decided to take on baking bread on the weekend more regularly. We enjoy having fresh bread for toast in the morning and with dinner at night. This week I made Honey Oatmeal Bread from the recipes that came with my Kitchen Aid Mixer. It was a nice light tender loaf with just a hint of sweetness. I actually followed the recipe to the letter this time, which is unusual for me when making bread. The only change I made was halving the recipe because we only needed one loaf, not two. Next time I'll be experimenting with adding whole wheat flour instead of all the white flour to make it a more hearty loaf.

Herbed Oatmeal Pan Bread

My sister requested this recipe so she can give it a try Thanksgiving in China this year. Since it's typed I might as well share the recipe here as well. My memories of this are associated with having company over for dinner when we were growing up. I loved the topping and the soft oatmeal bread. I'm not sure of the source, except that I have it in an old printed out email from my mom that is date in 2002. I think I've only made it twice since then, and most recently at last Thanksgiving. I should find a reason to make it again soon.

Herbed Oatmeal Pan Bread

Bread
2 cups water
1 cup rolled oats
3 tablespoons butter
3 3/4 to 4 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 packages dry active yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1 egg

Topping
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp garlic powder
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Grease a 13 X 9 baking dish or 2 9x9 pans

Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan, stir in oats. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons butter. Cool to 120-130 degrees F.

In a large mixer bowl combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast and blend well. Add rolled oats mixture once it has cooled to temperature and egg. Blend at low speed until moist. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Slowly stir in 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 cups flour until dough is stiff.

On a floured surface knead in 1/2 to 3/4 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape dough into a ball and cover with a large bowl. Let rest for 15 minutes. Punch down several times and press into greased pan. Use a sharp knife to cut diagonal lines 1 1/2 inches apart, cutting through the dough completely. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes. (Alternatively, let rise at room temperature for 20 minutes, then refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, let dough stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before baking.)

Preheat the Oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Uncover dough and refine cuts by poking knife tip into cuts until knife hits the bottom. Do not pull the knife through the dough.

In a small bowl, combine cheese, basil, oregano, and garlic powder. Spoon 4 tablespoons of the melted butter over the dough. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Brush on the remaining butter and sprinkle on the herb mix. Bake 10-15 minutes more until golden brown. Serve warm or cool (but they are best warm).

Rye Dill Bread

On my day off last week I was eager to make bread and to use two ingredients: rye flour and dill seed from my garden. I used two Joy of Cooking recipes as my guide and made plenty modifications.

Here's what I ended up with.

Rye Dill Bread

Combine the following in a large bowl or mixer.

1 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 whole wheat flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dill seeds
1/4 cup chopped onion
I package yeast ( 2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/4 tsp salt

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add:
3/4 cup warm water (115-125 degrees F)
1 large egg

Mix together with spoon or dough hook on mixer. Add 1/4 cup of all purpose flour at a time for a total of 3/4 to 1 cup, until dough is smooth but not sticky.

Knead 10 minutes until elastic.

Place in oiled bowl and let rise for 30-45 minutes until doubled in size. Punch down and place in greased loaf pan. Let rise again for 30-45 minutes until doubled again. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. When loaf is risen, brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with dill seeds and salt.

Bake 10 minutes at 450, then decrease oven temperature to 350 and bake 35-40 minutes more. Loaf is done when crust is a deep brown and sounds hollow when knocked on the bottom. Turn out of pan and cool on wire rack.

My loaf made a nice brown crunchy crust because I used a stoneware baking pan. The rye flavor wasn't pronounced, I may increase the rye next time. I was conservative with it because I know it can negatively influence how much the bread rises. The dill flavor was definitely there, but not too strong.