I had been considering making my usual biscuits and gravy recipe ever since I started the small skillet year, but it seemed like a cop-out as it’s just sausage and a general white gravy with store-bought biscuits.
Thankfully, I found a twist on the traditional recipe that allowed me to make one of my favorites *and* try something new. Bless you, Bon Appetit.
Cornmeal biscuits recipe.
Even if I hadn’t been considering biscuits and gravy all along, this recipe had me from its name that implied to me a south by southwest mash-up.
In place of traditional flour biscuits, a cornmeal-based biscuit that very much resembled cornbread. In place of breakfast sausage, chorizo. In addition to all that, and if it wasn’t filling and unhealthy enough, the addition of cotija and avocado, as well as cilantro and scallions.
Of course, it was a delight.
I’m focusing this week just on the biscuits, as I believe each *could* be made individually, and I felt like throwing too much out at this point could be overwhelming.
Chorizo and/or gravy may not be for everyone, and I feel like it’d be possible to just use store-bought biscuits and use next week’s gravy recipe if one were not inclined to bake biscuits.
So, how did the biscuits turn out?
I was nervous that an 8-inch skillet wouldn’t be enough to separate the biscuit batter, and even using a 9-inch it was a single biscuit instead of distinct ones (however, placing them individually still made it easier to separate once baked). I think it must have been a typo. But a medium-skillet will work; even if you end up with a single biscuit, it’ll be possible to pull them apart.
The taste, though, was amazing. It really was like a cornbread in biscuit form. It’s not that they’re interchangeable, but it was the perfect combination of biscuit consistency with buttermilk cornbread flavors, and it worked really well with the particular gravy recipe. It’d also work as just a biscuit with butter, like I may have done with one leftover biscuit.
I used a little more buttermilk than the recipe called for but otherwise stuck to it, though I might recommend a slightly larger skillet (which may affect cooking time).
The giant singular biscuit still tasted like the perfect cross between biscuits and cornbread. So I don’t care, I love it.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
1 c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. cornmeal
1 T. sugar
1 ½ t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
¼ t. black pepper, freshly ground if possible (I did not measure but grinded generously)
½ c. (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ to 1 c. buttermilk (I used it all but if your consistency is good and sticky after ¾ c., don’t add more)
Directions
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour until the pieces are chickpea-sized. Add buttermilk and mix to blend until dough is just combined and sticky.
Drop dough by heaping ¼ cupfuls into a medium cast-iron skillet, spacing if at all possible. Bake, rotating once halfway through, until biscuits are puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly and enjoy with butter or next week’s gravy recipe!
Another week of self-isolation, another simple recipe for the end times.
My sweetie found this simple egg dish from the Add a Pinch blog that managed to use ingredients we mostly had lying around the house. We did end up needing to get more eggs by the time I worked up the energy to make it, but so much of the dish called “eggs in purgatory” includes household staples that make this a simple and tasty breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.
Eggs in purgatory ingredients.
As is typical when I try to poach eggs, I overcooked them. I pretend that one day I’m going to solve this but I have eaten eggs where the whites aren’t quite done and I would rather eat hard yolks for an eternity than have to eat underdone eggs ever again. So, I will live with my choices.
However, for you dear reader, know that 9 minutes is likely waayyyy too long; three minutes definitely was still too short, so somewhere in between is probably good.
Other than that (not very) helpful advice, the only other key is to use a good tomato sauce as it makes up most of the flavor. I ended up using a straight up pre-made pasta sauce, particularly arrabbiata, so if you have that on hand, it’s even better. Oh, and a good bread to serve this with makes this dish go from good to great.
So simple, so good.
Here’s what I did, slightly adapting the recipe:
Ingredients
~1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 ¼ c. tomato sauce or pasta sauce (the more flavorful the better, but whatever you have on hand will work)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
¼ t. red pepper flakes (I didn’t measure but did not use a lot as arrabbiata is already semi-spicy)
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ c. fresh parsley, chopped, divided
4 eggs
¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese
Toasted bread, for serving (optional)
Directions
Drizzle olive oil into a 9- or 10-inch skillet set over medium heat. Once the skillet warms, add the onions and cook about 3 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
Then, stir in the tomato/pasta sauce, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Add about half of the parsley and cook for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken and flavors to meld.
Break eggs into each quarter of the skillet on top of the sauce (the recipe, of course, says to place it into a small bowl first, but I’ve never dirtied another dish *embarrassed face*). Top with the grated cheese and any additional salt and pepper, as desired.
Cover the skillet and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are done to desired level (see note above for how long-ish to do that). Remove from heat, sprinkle on the remaining parsley, and any additional cheese, and enjoy with a fancy bread!
It’s been nearly a decade since my family made a trip to Spain. It was, as many family trips, an experience filled with unforgettable moments, both good and bad. I’m thinking Vacation here, but like, scaled-to-reality levels of joys and traumas.
Among my favorite memories, though, was our cooking class with Josetxo.
I learned about drinking wine to cure hangovers, how to make mayonnaise from scratch, and the joys of anchovies. I also learned how to make a tortilla.
Frittata (*cough cough* tortilla) ingredients.
To American ears, this is not what you’d expect. It’s like a large frittata, not a flat flour- or corn-based wrapper for tacos or burritos. It was also the simplest and most satisfactory meal I knew immediately I’d be bringing to my kitchen at home.
My only issue with it is that it’s an egg dish that requires flipping, which usually results in a kind of eggy plate. Of course, in Spain, they make matching skillets that take care of this with ease. I never sprung for one, so I do it the difficult way.
That is, until I found a frittata — the French version of the Spanish dish — that had all the Spanish flavors I was hoping for … and some greens too.
Thanks to Bon Appetit I could make this at home easier.
However, I still am no expert in using my own broiler. The recipe said to cook in the broiler for 5 minutes; it was brown after 2 and not jiggly, but cutting in to the eggy dish revealed it was not finished yet. Trial and error minutes later it was ready. Thankfully, it never got browner but it was touch and go there for a bit.
Either way, it was worth it. I got a cleaner plate but still got my fix of eggs, potatoes, and Spanish chorizo.
Seriously, eggs, potatoes, and chorizo (and sure, greens) are the simplest but most incredible meal.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
8 large eggs
1 c. Manchego cheese, grated
1 T. flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 T. chives, chopped
4 oz. Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced (I used D’Artangnan chorizo, and 1 sausage link was 1 oz, shy but I went with it because I used extra cheese)
½ small onion, diced
6 fingerling potatoes, thinly sliced
1 small bunch Swiss chard, ribs and stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Heat broiler.
Whisk eggs in a large bowl, and whisk in the cheese and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
On the stove top, add the oil and cook the chorizo in a 9- to 10-inch cast iron skillet, over medium heat. After the chorizo is crisped, about 3 minutes, transfer to plate. Then, add the onion to the oiled skillet (or braiser), and season with salt, stirring often. Cook for about 1 minute, and then add the potatoes, until they are just softened, about 5 more minutes. Add the chard in batches, and cook each batch until wilted and fits in the skillet. Add salt and pepper, and mix back in the chorizo.
Pour the egg mixture on top of the sausage mix, tilting to ensure even distribution. Cook for about 2 minutes on the stove top, and then transfer to the oven and broil until the egg is cooked through, about 5 minutes. (Again, it seemed to me to be done after about 2 and then wasn’t so keep a close eye to ensure it’s not burnt but the eggs are also cooked through.)
Run a spatula around the edges to loosen, and slide on to a plate (or cut into wedges), and enjoy!
This recipe was recommended to me, and as soon as I saw it, I had to move it to the top of the queue. And not just because I was too lazy to come up with anything else on my own.
Mostly, the breakfast Yorkshire pudding recipe won me over with bacon, a limited ingredient list, and, of course, a specific skillet size. Like last week, it did say 10 inches, but I was hoping that 9 inches would work Spoiler: It was fine.
Yorkshire pudding with eggs ingredients.
Aside from the skillet size, I pretty much obediently followed the recipe from Serious Eats. Since I was using a slightly smaller dish, I did start checking the oven a little sooner, but unlike last week, the change in size didn’t seem to affect the cooking time.
Overall, I frickin’ loved this recipe.
I am glad I read it the night before I planned to make the Yorkshire pudding, because the batter should be made the night before (and up to three nights before). It was really quick, so it wasn’t a problem, but it would have been had I checked it Saturday morning.
My only two notes for the next time (or, more importantly, for readers):
The recipe recommends cooking the bacon for about 8 minutes before adding the batter. It didn’t look quite done so I did it for a minute or two longer … but I didn’t realize that much of the bacon would continue to cook slightly in the oven, so it was quite well done and this is coming from someone who likes her bacon extra crunchy. Next time, let it cook for 8 minutes (or until mostly done) and call it good enough.
Honestly, and this is just a taste thing for me, I would skip making the fried eggs to serve on top, and instead use the optional Hollandaise sauce that I skipped. I enjoy a fried egg just fine, but it’s nothing special to me (unless served on top of fried potatoes with hot sauce), and I also frickin’ love Hollandaise. I should have included it, but it was optional and I was lazy. But for my tastes, I’d rather enjoy this bread-y treat with an eggy sauce than with just eggs.
The only other thing I know for next time is that there will be a next time.
Eggy pudding with 2 eggs. So good, but so lacking in Hollandaise.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
3 large eggs (plus 4 more for serving, if desired)
~¾ c. flour
~½ c. plus 1 T. whole milk
~1 ½ T. water
½ t. salt
8 oz. bacon, diced (I used kitchen shears)
2 oz. grated Parmesan (optional, but not for me)
Hollandaise sauce (optional, but not for me in the future)
Directions
Combine (3) eggs, flour, milk, water, and a half teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl, and whisk until a smooth batter is formed. Refrigerate overnight (and up to three days). Remove from refrigerator during preparation.
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Meanwhile, heat the 9- to 10-inch skillet on the stovetop. Once warmed, add the diced bacon. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until crisp and mostly browned, about 8 minutes (don’t overcook; it will continue to cook a bit in the oven).
Pour prepared batter into the skillet once bacon is ready and immediately transfer to oven.
Bake until the batter is puffed, and deep brown and crispy, about 20 to 25 minutes (I started checking at 15 minutes for my 9-inch braiser; it was fine but best to err on the side of caution and check earlier if using 9-inch skillet).
About 5 minutes before pudding is ready, sprinkle on the Parmesan (if using). At about the same time, begin to prepare the (4) fried eggs to your liking (if using) and/or the Hollandaise sauce (if using). Enjoy!
As I scoured for recipes that may work in my little Le Creuset, I was so grateful to come across the first one that I noticed that specified an exact size for a skillet. Now, sure, it said 10 inches, but 9 inches is close enough for comfort.
So, I tried my hand at bing bread.
Bing bread ingredients.
In addition to its specified size, it is bread (good) stuffed with potatoes (good), scallions (good), bacon (amazing), and cheese (amazing), and then slightly fried and also baked. It was also supposed to incorporate sesame oil, which I love, but I forgot to put it in the rolled-up dough, and stupidly thought it’d be OK to add it with the frying oil. Don’t do that. It didn’t ruin it, but it didn’t help any either.
If I make it again, and I will make it again, I will be remembering to brush the dough with sesame oil and skimping on the frying oil. Also, I need to remember that a smaller pan is going to reduce cooking time.
Since this makes two bread rounds, I was lazy and made one in my Le Creuset and the other in the 10-inch Lodge skillet, and (I am loathe to admit) the larger pan definitely worked better. However, I think it’s mainly because I failed to account for the fact that smaller pans could cook faster.
While the fried side of both definitely looked a bit charred, they both ended up tasting just fine. I think the extra oil mostly made the edges a little chewier, but it didn’t taste burnt at all. Proof that presentation isn’t everything, especially when you have bacon and can top it with sour cream butter.
Deliciously decadent. And not too burnt.
Here’s what I did, following the thankfully specific Bon Appetit recipe:
Ingredients
2 ¼ t. active dry yeast (1 package)
2 T. plus 2 t. honey, divided
2 ½ t. salt, divided
2 c. plus 2 T. warm water, divided
4 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for coating
1 large potato, baked and diced
3 T. vegetable oil, divided
1 lb. bacon, cooked (I baked mine on a grate) and diced
2 T. toasted sesame oil, divided (sort of optional since I mostly forgot, but it is delicious)
8 oz. white cheddar, grated (about 2 c.)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 T. soy sauce
2 T. sesame seeds, divided
For sour cream butter (not strictly necessary but recommended)
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 T. sour cream
Scant 1 t. salt
Directions
Combine the yeast with the 2 T. honey, 2 t. salt, and 2 c. warm water in a large bowl, and whisk to dissolve the honey. Let sit until the yeast activates and becomes foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add 3 c. of water and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough begins to form, adding flour (up to about another cup) until a shaggy ball begins to form. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 50 to 70 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the bacon and potatoes if you haven’t already (I did mine early and just chopped while I waited). Also, while waiting, whisk together the soy sauce, 2 t. honey, and 2 T. water in a small bowl until the honey is dissolved.
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Once dough has doubled in size, gently push it down and transfer to a floured surface, kneading and adding flour as necessary until a sticky, smooth dough is formed. Divide the dough in half, and cover one half in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out while you prepare the first.
Roll out the half of a dough into about a 13-inch round that’s about ¼ inch thick. Brush with 1 T. sesame oil (don’t forget!), and then sprinkle on the round half the potato, bacon, cheese, and scallions. Roll dough up like a jelly roll, and then pinch ends and seams together to seal. Then, squeeze and press from the center toward the ends to elongate the roll slightly and even out the thickness. Then, starting from one end, coil like a rope to form a large spiral. Flatten the spiral to form a 9-inch round.
Cover the round and repeat with the remaining dough, using up the rest of the sesame oil, potato, bacon, cheese, and scallion.
Heat a 9- to 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 T. vegetable oil, swirling to coat. Carefully place one spiral in the hot skillet, and brush with the soy glaze. Cover with lid (or aluminum foil) and cook until the underside is golden brown between 5 and 10 minutes. Uncover and carefully flip bread over. Brush the browned top with soy glaze and sprinkle with 1 T. sesame seeds. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, until underside is also golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to wire rack and let cool 15 minutes.
Repeat with second round (or use 2 9- to 10-inch skillets), and don’t forget the glaze and seeds. Once cooled, cut into wedges and serve with sour cream butter, which can be made ahead, and enjoy! To make butter, whisk 1 stick room temperature butter, 2 T. sour cream, and scant 1 t. salt.
My mom got me a great gift for Christmas a couple years ago. All this silly chef could ask for, really. A Le Creuset. With a beautiful lilac finish. That I just love.
The problem? There isn’t one at all. Except that for years and years I’ve been thinking too big, most recently with sheet pans and Dutch ovens, and my little pseudo-skillet hasn’t gotten nearly as much love as it deserves. So, this year, I’m thinking small.
While I’ll be using my specialty equipment (sold as a braiser, apparently), the recipes I’ll be making this year will work in a 9- or 10-inch skillet, though a lid (or some aluminum foil) will be useful this week, and likely throughout the year.
I’ve done some minor research on recipes to ensure that I’ll have plenty to work with, but it’s not super easy to find recipes that say the exact size of the pan, pot, or otherwise that should be used for each recipe.
My vague memory is that pies were a rare exception among the hundreds of recipes I’ve looked at since recording my foodie adventures that specify the size of the equipment I should be using. So aside from thinking small, the challenge this year will be kind of a more literal version of “if it fits, I cooks.”
Mexican breakfast ingredients that fits so I cooks.
Mercifully, as I was thinking small, I remembered that one of my favorite cookbooks (another Christmas gift, this one from my brother) has recipes that uses just 5 ingredients. Now, this doesn’t have to mean small, but there are options. And even better, the author Jamie Oliver does occasionally list the size skillet. None were my 22 cm small, but several were close enough. I hoped.
With my fingers crossed, I tried my first recipe and prayed that a can of beans plus 4 other ingredients would fit. If it didn’t, I may have been reassessing my choice. I breathed a heavy, happy sigh of relief when my first test of Mexican breakfast was a success. I still overcooked the eggs.
I’m still working out some kinks in becoming an expert but I hope you, dear readers, will be patient and stick with me through the ride. Welcome to small skillet 2020!
Perfect Saturday breakfast for two, and maybe kinda healthy too.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
1 can (14 oz.) black beans
4 eggs
½ jalapeno, diced, divided
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
Juice from 1 lime
Olive oil
Directions
Add the olive oil to your small (9- to 10-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add about half the diced peppers. Once they start to sizzle, crack in the eggs, and then immediately spoon in the black beans, including about half the juice from the tin. Cover and simmer the eggs to your liking, probably around 4 to 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the avocado slices by squeezing on some lime juice.
Once the eggs are ready, remove from heat, top the mixture with the avocado around the pan, and then add the remaining peppers, and enjoy!
Mistakes were made in the creation of this week’s recipe, but because it all turned out to be fine in the end, I’ll parrot the great Bob Ross in saying that it was a happy little accident.
Since my sweetie was out of town for the week, I didn’t want to make any hefty meal that I’d have to eat all on my own. That’s kind of a challenge when it comes to making things in a Dutch oven.
So, I thought a safe thing to make might be bread. Sure, it’d make a lot but it’d be easier to freeze and share. Even better, I found a recipe for dinner rolls in my Cook It In Your Dutch Oven cookbook so I could make mini-sized bites.
But I didn’t need dinner rolls for light solo dinners. Breakfast rolls sounded better.
This is where things went off the rails. I started looking in another cookbook for sweet breads, decided on cinnamon rolls, saw a recipe for bacon maple bread, and then amended my plan to make bacon maple cinnamon rolls.
A quick Google search confirmed that I wasn’t the only one who’d had this idea so there was a good chance my idea wasn’t totally crazy.
I tracked down a cinnamon roll recipe I made a few years ago and then updated it to what I thought would work for my tastes. The Googled recipes also offered some hints but I wanted to do it my way.
It was a little difficult to fit in my Dutch oven, and the center did not hold as it baked, but it hardly mattered once I tasted it.
It turned out to be about the most deliciously decadent thing I’ve made. And totally inappropriate for me to eat all by myself.
Thank goodness my sweetie is back to share them tomorrow.
Bacon maple cinnamon rolls. So decadent.
Here’s how I made the happy little accidents:
Ingredients
For the dough
1 c. warm milk
1 stick butter
½ c. sugar
2 ½ t. active dry yeast (or one package)
1 egg
2 t. salt
4-5 c. all-purpose flour
For the cinnamon center
1 stick butter, softened
3 t. cinnamon
4 T. brown sugar
4-5 T. maple syrup
10 slices bacon, cooked, cooled, and chopped
½ c. chopped pecans (pecan chips, if available)
For (optional) cream cheese topping
4 T. butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 T. maple syrup
½ t. vanilla
¾ c. powdered sugar
1 t. ground cardamom (optional)
½ c. pecans, for topping (optional)
Directions
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the milk. Heat the milk to just warm but not too hot so it doesn’t destroy the yeast. Add the sugar and yeast to the butter and milk mixture. Let activate for about 15 minutes.
Add the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the remaining dough ingredients. Add flour until a dough forms, and then knead for 5 to 10 minutes until springy and smooth, adding flour as necessary.
Shape into a round, place back in bowl and cover. Let rise for about 2 hours. (I opted to do this over two week nights, so I refrigerated the dough after this rise, and then let warm back up for about an hour after getting home the next night; also possible to do once its in roll form in the Dutch oven.)
Meanwhile, mix together the cinnamon center ingredients. In a small bowl, stir together butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Prepare the bacon and pecans, if not already ready. Prepare the Dutch oven by making a foil sling by folding in half to long sheets of aluminum foil, so you have 2 long, roughly 7 inch sheets. Place sheets perpendicular to each other, like a lowercase t, and carefully smooth down into the bowl. Spray with a little bit of oil.
When the dough is ready, roll out into about an 18 inch by 9 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Spread with the cinnamon mixture, and then place the bacon pieces and pecan pieces on top.
Roll the coated dough along the long end into a log. Cut into about 14 even pieces. Turn and place the pieces in the Dutch oven, starting with the outside adding about 9 to 10 pieces along the edges and then placing the remaining rolls in the center.
Cover and let rise for about an hour to an hour and a half. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Once dough has risen, uncover and place the rolls in the oven, and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes until golden on top.
Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients of the cream cheese topping, if using. Let rolls cool for at least 5 minutes but while still warm, add the frosting, and then cool a little longer before enjoying!
I was looking for another savory breakfast food when I was reminded that for years I’ve thought about making the Middle Eastern egg and sauce dish called shakshuka.
There were no hard-to-find ingredients; it just never quite made the cut when I was looking for something new to try. Until this week.
Green shakshuka ingredients.
My now-beloved Cook It In Your Dutch Oven cookbook even had a recipe all ready for me. Sure, it’s a different take than the traditional — it has a green sauce rather than a red tomato-based one. But that sounded even better. I can always use more greens in my diet.
The recipe turned out fine, if not my favorite. It calls for adding herbs in at the end, though I think adding them to the base sauce and then again at the end would be better — so that more of their flavor seeps into the sauce but also has the fresh zip that their late addition adds. (I should add that my sweetie quite liked the dish so maybe I just don’t appreciate greens as much as I should.)
Other than that, be prepared to buy a lot of Swiss chard, and preferably the kind without red stems if you want it to look vibrant green rather than my brownish-green.
Look at all those beautiful herbs. Noms.
Here’s what I did, roughly following the recipe (though changing some proportions):
Ingredients
3 bunches Swiss chard, stems removed and reserved and leaves chopped
12 oz. baby spinach
¼ c. olive oil, divided
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, to taste
2 t. ground coriander
½ c. vegetable broth
1 c. frozen peas
2 T. lemon juice
8 eggs
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2 T. chopped dill (I recommend more for sauce)
2 T. fresh mint (I recommend a little more for sauce)
1 t. dried Aleppo pepper, optional (I had on hand but it’s a mild crushed pepper so regular crushed pepper isn’t a good substitute unless you want to add a little spice)
Directions
Chop chard stems to yield 1 cup. Discard the rest or save for another use.
Heat Dutch oven on medium heat. Add 2 T. olive oil. Add the chard stems, onion, and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened and lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and coriander, and cook for about another minute.
Add the chard leaves and spinach (I had to do it in batches so they would wilt down), and cook until wilted but still green, about 3 to 5 minutes. Here I’d recommend adding some herbs for more flavor, to taste. Remove the mixture from heat and add 1 to 1 ½ c. of the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth, about a minute. Stir the blended mix back into the Dutch oven.
Add lemon juice and peas, and stir.
Place back on heat, medium to medium-low. Make 4 indentations in the mix and crack 2 eggs into each indentation. Sprinkle with Aleppo pepper, if using, and more salt as desired. Cover the pot and cook until egg whites are just set, 5 to 10 minutes (You have to keep a close eye on it). Remove from heat and let sit, covered, until the whites are fully set, another 2 to 4 minutes.
Add the herbs, feta, and drizzle with more olive oil.
During my year of bread, babka — or the similar povitica — was always on my list but I was too afraid to spend the time needed to make this beautiful treat.
Fate tempted me back when I found a wonderful looking babka recipe in my Cook It In Your Dutch Oven cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen.
I won’t lie, it’s a multi-day affair. That bothers me less now that I work your standard 9 to 5 with weekends free. But it does take some planning, say, when you’re scheduled to have 3 hours of your afternoon spent at the theater with Avengers: Endgame.
Forgot an ingredients photo but here’s my table with the 18 x 24 dough covered in filling, pre-roll.
Even with that, I found it to be worth the effort. So much so that I made it two weeks in a row. (I may have also seen Endgame two weeks in a row.)
Mostly I just wanted to try to redo the recipe with my favorite filling. I know, I know it’s sacrilege to think there’s something better than chocolate, but I frickin’ love cream cheese filling.
The second time worked slightly better in some ways, but I think that’s mostly just the nature of breads. Sometimes the mix needs some tweaking.
My first attempt had the stand mixer get the dough perfectly concocted in well short of the 10 to 12 minutes recommended, so I stopped it. But that meant that I had to let my dough rise for longer because the yeast didn’t activate as well. The second time it was sticky and slow like it was supposed to so everything rose well.
The second time my filling was softer because I probably could have used a little more cream cheese. (I replaced 12 oz. of chocolate chunks/cocoa with 8 oz. cream cheese, and I think 12 oz. may have made a better, thicker consistency, but it still worked.) The first time it was smooth and just stiff enough to spread and keep a nice firm shape.
Either way, as long as you’ve done a handful of breads before, I think anyone can make this one. It wasn’t even *that* hard to make it look pretty.
The creamy cream cheese one.The gooey chocolate one.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
For Dough
4 c. all-purpose flour
1 T. yeast (The recipe calls for instant or rapid-rise, which I didn’t use. If you knead well in the stand mixer, it didn’t seem to matter. I had a good rise the second time.)
1 t. salt
1 c. whole milk (I used 2% the second time and didn’t notice any major differences.)
½ c. granulated sugar
4 large egg yolks
2 t. vanilla extract
2 sticks (16 T.) butter, softened
For Chocolate Filling
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick (8 T.) butter
6 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
½ c. confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg whites
For Cream Cheese Filling
8 to 12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick (8 T.) butter
½ c. confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg whites
For Finishing
1 large egg, lightly beaten, with 1 T. water and pinch of salt
Directions
For Dough
Whisk together flour, yeast, and salt, in the bowl of a stand mixer. In a separate bowl (that holds at least 4 c.), mix together the milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla, until the sugar has dissolved. Use a dough hook attachment on low, and begin to slowly add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, and continue to mix until the dough starts to form.
Increase the speed on the stand mixer to medium-low, and add the 2 sticks of butter 1 T. at a time, until the butter is fully incorporated, about 3 to 4 minutes. Continue to knead in the stand mixer for another 10 to 12 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic, and clears the sides of the bowls. (Like I said, this happened within a couple minutes the first time, and I should have kneaded by hand for longer instead of stopping when a clump formed, but the second time it was definitely too sticky to handle until about 10 to 12 minutes, and I even added a titch more flour.)
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter and knead by hand for about 30 seconds and form a smooth, round ball. Place the dough, seam side down, in a large greased bowl. Cover and let rise by about half for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Once risen, refrigerate dough until it is firm, at least 1 hour to up to 24 hours (an ideal time to go watch a long action-packed superhero movie). Let rest at room temperature for 15 minutes if you refrigerate for much longer than an hour.
For (either) Filling
Microwave the chocolate chunks, cocoa, and butter OR the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl for about 3 minutes at 50 percent power, stirring often, until the mixture has melted and a smooth, soft filling forms. Add the confectioners’ sugar, and then let cool for about 30 minutes. Then, whisk in the egg whites, until fully combined and the mixture looks glossy (less noticeable with the cream cheese filling, so mix well).
To Combine
Press the dough down to deflate, and then transfer to a lightly floured counter (I had to use my whole damn kitchen table so make sure you have space). Roll dough into an 18 inch by 24 inch rectangle, keeping the shorter side parallel to the counter. Once rolled out, spread the filling on the dough, leaving about a ½ inch border around the edge.
Roll the dough away from you into a firm, taut cylinder. Pinch to close the seam. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate (on a large baking sheet if possible but mine weren’t big enough so I just cleared a space on a shelf) for about 30 minutes.
To Finish
Meanwhile, make a foil sling for the Dutch oven by folding in half 2 long sheets of aluminum foil, so you have 2 long, roughly 7 inch sheets. Place sheets perpendicular to each other, like a lowercase t, and carefully smooth down into the Dutch oven bowl. Spray with a little bit of oil.
When dough is ready, transfer the log back to the lightly floured counter with the short end facing you. Carefully cut the dough in half lengthwise so that you will have the swirls of filling facing up to you. Pinch together the two dough halves and then braid end over end, as tightly as possible. Pinch the second end together, and then wrap into a spiral with the ends tucked underneath.
Put the dough in the prepared Dutch oven, and let rise for another 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and brush the egg mixture on top of the dough.
Cover pot, and bake for about 20 minutes. Uncover, rotate pot, and continue to bake for another 35 to 45 minutes, until the loaf is a deep golden brown.
Lift dough out of pot using the foil overhang, and let cool completely (about 3 hours) on a wire rack, and then finally, enjoy!
I love it in all its forms, but one of my favorites is the one I made earlier this year, since it’s so simple and yet so tasty. I also love the store-bought jalapeno-cheddar bread, but I’d never thought to make it myself.
Then, I came across a recipe from 50 Campfires that pretty much combined the two. It basically took the recipe I used earlier this year, and then just added jalapenos and cheddar.
I forgot to snap a pic before I started, but picture the ingredients from my earlier bread recipe and then picture them mostly combined to look like this floury dough ball.
I decided to give it a shot.
My only concern as I was making it was the sheer amount of jalapenos. I like spicy but I have my limits, and this bread includes two in the dough (and rises for nearly 24 hours with them in it) and then one on top.
Mercifully, if you follow the instructions to remove the seeds from the two that go in the dough and just keep them for the one on top, it’s not overly spicy. There’s a little kick from the top slices but otherwise, it’s pretty mild. I’m sure the yeast and cheese help.
It’s more effort than store-bought but even better, and considering how quickly this stuff disappeared, I’ll be making it again (and again).
The cutest and tastiest little ball of bread ever.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. active dry yeast
1 t. salt
1 c. grated sharp cheddar, divided (I didn’t really measure but this is a good reference amount)
3 jalapeno peppers, divided
1 ½ c. warm water
Directions
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add in all but 4 T. of the grated cheddar cheese. Seed and chop two of the jalapenos, and add into the flour mix. Stir to combine all.
Add the water, and stir until a shaggy, sticky dough forms (a dough scraper works really well for this).
Cover the bowl, preferably with plastic wrap (grease it if you expect it to rise to touch the wrap). Let the dough rise in a cool, dry place (not the refrigerator) for 12 to 24 hours.
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Place the Dutch oven in the oven, covered, for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer the dough to a heavily floured surface and shape it into a rounded loaf, but don’t knead it.
When the Dutch oven is ready, carefully remove from oven and remove lid. Carefully place the dough inside, and cover again. Bake covered for 30 minutes.
Carefully remove from oven, and remove lid. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with the remaining cheddar, and the sliced jalapeno (with seeds, if desired) and set slices on top. Bake uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes until the bread and cheese are golden brown.
Carefully remove loaf from the Dutch oven, place on a rack to cool (for at least an hour before slicing), and enjoy!
