In January of 2009, I resolved to learn to bake bread. Late that Spring I purchased a copy of the Bread Baker’s Apprentice, hoping that it would provide the guidance and inspiration I needed to successfully master the magic of yeast and dough. A few weeks later my path crossed with Nicole of Pinch My Salt, who was gathering the online troops to tackle what she called the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge. Simply put, the challenge was to bake every single recipe in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice cookbook in order. There were no time limits (thank goodness!) and no restrictions on who could join. I bravely signed myself up and bought a bag of bread flour, preparing to face my fears of bread baking once and for all.

As fresh loaves of bread now emerge from my oven on a weekly basis, it has become necessary to get creative and ensure that it does not got to waste. Besides enjoying lots of toast and jam for breakfast, I have also started to work bread into our dinners. In moderation, I’ve found that bread is a great meal extender- allowing small quantities of other ingredients to shine while ensuring we are still full and satisfied. (It is also is very budget friendly- which is always appreciated!)

A big loaf of leftover sourdough inspired me to create an Autumn riff on a traditional panzanella (Italian bread salad). I cubed the loaf of bread and then toasted it with a red onion and sweet potato to create the base of the salad. Toasted pepitas added a flavorful nutty crunch, while a big pile of grated Parmesan cheese melted around the warm bread cubes nicely.

To create the dressing, I played around with a combination of sage, garlic, olive oil, cider vinegar, and thyme until it had just the right balance of savory herb flavor, pungent garlic, and bright acidity. Once mixed together, the flavors melded beautifully and created a savory alternative to traditional panzanella.

This would be a delicious salad to take to a potluck and would shine as a side dish alongside my favorite roast chicken with meyer lemon and sage. Or if it is a Tuesday night and you just want something simple, dish up a bowl for dinner and call it a day!

Autumn Panzanella (Printable Recipe)
Serves 4 as a main course or 8-10 as a side salad

Be sure to allow the finished dish to sit for an hour before serving. This is necessary for the flavors to fully develop, otherwise the bread will not have time to absorb the dressing and may taste rather bland.

Ingredients:

Salad
10 cups cubed Sourdough bread (cut into 1″ pieces)
1 cup diced sweet potato (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large red onion, cut into 1/2″ wedges
2 cups diced fresh tomato (or a 14oz high quality can, drained)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pepitas, toasted (pumpkin seeds)

Dressing
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh sage, minced
1 teaspoon, fresh thyme
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon herbes de provenence

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, with a rack in the middle. Line a large rimmed baking pan with foil, and evenly spread the bread, sweet potato, and onion across the sheet. Drizzle 1/4 cup of olive oil over the baking pan, and then toss all ingredients so they are evenly coated with oil. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring the contents occasionally, until they are evenly toasted and the vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, assemble the dressing. Place olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sage, thyme, vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbes de provenence in a blender. Blend in quick five second bursts, until the garlic is emulsified and the ingredients are well combined.

Once the bread and vegetables are toasted, place them in a large bowl along with the diced tomatoes, grated Parmesan, pepitas, and dressing. Gently toss all ingredients until they are well combined and the bread is evenly coated with dressing.

Cover the salad, and let it sit at room temperature for an hour, which will give the bread time to absorb the flavors of the salad. Once the flavors have melded together nicely, taste the salad to see if it needs any additional salt, pepper, or apple cider vinegar. Adjust seasonings to your taste, and serve.

Teriyaki Tempeh Sandwich on a Kaiser Roll (Recipe at the End!)

It has been well over a month since my last bread update, and I’m happy to report that in that time I’ve still been elbow deep in dough, going through more flour than I ever thought possible! For those who are just now joining in the fun, I am part of the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge. A wild and crazy effort to bake straight through The Bread Baker’s Apprentice cookbook- one recipe per week. Recipes are not posted online (since we are baking all of them), however after a more than a dozen loaves I can say with confidence that this book belongs on your shelf.

When I started this challenge my fear of yeast bread was right up there with spiders and swim suit shopping. Things to be avoided at all costs! Now after several months of baking, I find myself actually looking forward to measuring out flour, kneading the dough, and filling the house with the comforting smell of fresh bread. So what have we been gleefully eating this month?

Camembert cheese, Avocado, Tomato, & Lettuce Sandwich on French Baguette

I’m submitting this bread to Yeastspotting. If you want to see the most beautiful loaves on the web go visit Susan at Wild Yeast for inspiration!

Strawberry Butter (Printable Recipe)
Recipe Adapted from Gourmet via The Kitchen Sink
Makes Approximately 2 cups of Butter

Ingredients:
1 pint strawberries, hulled
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
pinch salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (I used Plugra European style butter)

Directions:
Place the strawberries in a food processor or blender, and purée until smooth. Place a fine mesh sieve over a small saucepan, and using the back of a spatula, press batches of the purée through the sieve into the pan. Once all of the purée is in the pan, add in the honey and lemon juice. Place pan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir constantly for 3 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of a warm custard. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and add in a pinch of salt, to taste.

Using the bowl of a stand mixture, combine softened butter and cooled purée mixture. Beat mixture with the paddle attachment on a low speed until the butter begins to incorporate into the strawberry mix. At this point turn up the speed and vigorously beat the mixture until it is well combined, and appears smooth and creamy. This will take about 3-5 minutes. Once the mixture is creamy, transfer it to a small airtight container and let it stand, covered, for an hour at room temperature. (This will help bring the flavors together.) Store container in the fridge, allowing the butter to warm up slightly before spreading.

If an evil curse forced me to eat only one type of cheese for the rest of my life I would cry. Then I would eat burrata. Burrata causes me to swoon and wax poetic. I will ramble on about how it tastes of spring meadows, rainbows and butterflies; how one bite will cause you to have a cheese epiphany consider quitting your job, importing a herd of water buffalo, and starting a cheese making business. (Mr. B logically pointed out that the water buffalo would probably not enjoy sub-zero temperatures. Dream killer.) How every time you visit a Whole Foods you will ask the cheese monger if they have any burrata, and become so disappointed when they do not that all the other cheeses loose their appeal (well almost). Burrata is my cheese.

What is burrata you may ask? It is a silky ball of fresh Italian cheese traditionally made from the milk of water buffalo. This milk is richer than cows’ milk and lacks yellow carotene so it is pure white. The cheese is created by creating an outer shell with mozzarella curds and filling it with a mixture of curd and fresh cream. This means that when you break the soft outer shell of a burrata ball it will ooze a buttery creamy liquid onto the plate. Oh, the liquid goodness! This is definitely a case where the cheese stands alone. You do not need much more than a bit of bread or a slice of heirloom tomato to convey the cheese directly into your mouth.

Burrata is best eaten within 24 hours after it is made and beyond 48 hours is considered past its prime. Much like fish, it should be handled with care and enjoyed at the peak of freshness. Now last I checked, there are not any water buffalo herds in the U.S. and overnight shipping from Italy would make this cheese cost prohibitive. However we are in luck, for on the outskirts of L.A. a man named Vito Girardi is creating Italian quality burrata for our enjoyment. He manufactures 1500 pounds a day, with each ball formed by hand. A marvelous L.A. Times article featuring Vito can be found here.

As burrata has grown in popularity over the past few years, I have seen a copycat version pop up at Trader Joe’s. Sadly, it does not compare to the quality of burrata produced by Vito. Whole Foods carries Gioia’s burrata (Vito’s brand) and while it is not cheap (about $10- $16 per pound) it is well worth the price. Each creamy bite will fill your mouth with a burst of freshness. Tasting of spring grass, tangy curd, and a haunting sweetness it will leave you daydreaming about water buffalo and making cheese.

Burrata Cheese on Grilled Bread (Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh burrata cheese
1 loaf artisan bread (nice and crusty)
High quality olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
Sea Salt
1/2 lemon
2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half

Directions:
Pre-heat your grill on medium-high (to about 400 degrees). Remove the burrata from the fridge and let it warm to room temperature while you prepare the bread.

Slice bread in 1″ thick slices. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Once grill is hot, place bread slices on the grill, turning them over after three minutes to cook on the other side. Grill until bread is toasted and grill marks begin to show. Remove bread from grill. Lightly rub the garlic halves across the top of the bread (You want just a hint of flavor here- not garlic bread.) Rub the cut half of the lemon across the top of the bread.

Remove the burrata from the liquid in the container and place it in the center of a large plate. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil on top of the cheese. Lightly sprinkle the burrata with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

To serve, slice into the burrata and spread it on each slice of bread.

Enjoy!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Filled Brioche Rolls

Most people realize that brioche is a delicious rich flavored bread. But do you know just how much butter it takes to achieve that level of flavor? Cups. Yes plural- as in more than one cup. There is so much butter in this bread that if those who freak out over trans-fats ever get wind of it, we just may find brioche outlawed in several states. If you are one of those people just look at the pretty pictures and don’t read the following paragraph. (Actually if you are one of those people this website may scar you for life. Run, run away!)

The past two weeks in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, had me creating not one, not two, but three versions of brioche. My arteries may never forgive me. The first challenge was to make a classic brioche dough. Three options were presented with varying levels of butter indecency. Rich Man’s brioche (for those who can afford liposuction) with a butter ratio of 87% contains one whole pound of butter. Middle Class brioche (for those who have a gym membership) has a somewhat reduced amount of butter, and Poor Man’s brioche (jogging is free), is a prime example of poverty being “relative” because compared to most breads it still has lots of butter.

Making the Brioche Loaf

I decided that Middle Class brioche was rich enough for our blood and proceeded to make the bread. Compared to any dough I’ve made the brioche dough was incredibly smooth and silky. Chilling the dough overnight prior to working with it was absolutely necessary, as otherwise I think it would have simply dissolved into puddles of butter on the counter. Since the recipe made a double quantity I first went the traditional loaf route and then changed things up, turning the remaining dough into cinnamon-style rolls. A leftover strawberry-rhubarb compote was hanging out in my fridge so I incorporated that into the rolls along with a bit of cinnamon. After taking a very long time to rise (at least 4 hours) the brioche finally went into the oven.

Classic Brioche Loaf

The results? Decadent and delicious. The outer edge of the traditional loaf turned a deep golden brown and provided a nice chewy ring around a light and buttery interior. I used too much filling in the rolls, however, and they reacted by sinking in the oven. The strawberry rhubarb flavor was incredibly good in the brioche dough. I need to play around with this concept a bit more as I think it will be awesome once perfected.

Casatiello Loaf

The second challenge was to take the brioche dough and transform it Italian style into a Casatiello loaf. This meant that not only do you use a lot of butter, but now you add in salami and cheese. That’s right, hanging out with the French may make you feel fat, but hanging out with the Italians could very well get you killed! (Side note: I’ve always wished I was Italian.)

Making the Casatiello Bread

A surprise trip to Wholefoods meant I had the luxury of finding authentic Italian hard salami, along with a lightly smoked Gouda and a tangy Swiss cheese. These ingredients took the Casatiello loaf over the top into the “dangerously delicious” category. Once baked, the loaf was studded with mouthwatering chunks of salami and oozing pockets of cheese. Each slice could be a complete meal. When lightly toasted and topped with an egg cooked over easy…you’ll be jumping out of bed before the alarm to eat breakfast. It is that good!

Casatiello Cross-Section

If you haven’t picked up a copy of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice yet, I would encourage you to look it up. So far the bagel recipe and the Casatiello recipe are worth the cost of the book. With over forty recipes to go it is probably only going to get better from here!