Tuesdays With Dorie : Bagels

After being absent for almost 2 months, I am back to blogging with a bagel recipe from Baking With Julia.. Writing anything is never easy to me, but today it feels especially difficult.. Here we go..

I never thought I would ever bake bagels at home, especially when I have a bagel store right next to the building I live in.. But I did, thanks to Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) group.. This is one of the reasons I love baking along with TWD.. It makes me bake the recipes that I would read through but never try by myself.. Especially after watching the youtube videos of this recipe (links are at the second last paragraph) and seeing how sticky the dough is, I would for sure be discouraged..

The process was not as difficult as I expected.. It starts with the usual suspects: flour, yeast, water, some vegetable shortening, sugar, salt, black pepper.. I stirred all with a wooden spoon until I couldn't anymore, and kneaded it on a floured surface with extra flour to prevent sticking.. My dough was not as sticky as the one in the  video although I used less than 5.5 cups flour, including kneading.. I don't know if it is because of the type of flour used (I used bread flour) or the temperature/humidity of our place.. But I was happy with not that sticky dough, no complaints.. Then, the dough rose for an hour, and then waited in the fridge overnight.. The rest is time consuming, but not difficult at all. I made rings from the dough, boiled them for couple of minutes, put them on a baking sheet dusted with corn meal and the toppings used, brushed with egg white wash and sprinkled toppings.. Lastly baked them in very hot oven for 15-20 minutes (the book says 25 minutes but mine baked much earlier than that).. The result: Home baked bagels coming out of my oven :)

I made 3 different types: 3 with sesame and poppy seeds, 4 with sesame, poppy and caraway seeds, and 2 with only coarse salt.. They look like store-bought bagels, all puffed up in the oven.. However, taste and texture of my bagels were different than store-bought ones.. Taste-wise: I like these much better, these were the tastiest bagels with a hint of black pepper.. Texture-wise: Mine were more bread-like than chewy like the real bagels.. I like the chewiness of real ones.. And the verdict is: I liked them.. If I have the time and patience, I will make them again when having guests for breakfast..

If you would like to bake bagels at home, visit this week's host Heather's blog, or buy the book Baking With Julia.. If you want to watch the video of the episode of Julia Child's show where Lauran Grovemen baked these bagels: click here (part1) and here (part2)..

Sesame-poppy seed bagel with cream cheese-lox spread.. 

Thanks for stopping by, see you in 2 weeks..

Tuesdays With Dorie : Popovers

 

Today's recipe is Popovers.. According to Wikipedia "The popover is an American version of Yorkshire pudding and similar batter puddings made in England since the 17th century,^[2] though it has evolved considerably.^[3]" It is selected for this month to honor Marion Cunningham, who contributed this recipe to Baking With Julia and has died in July 2012.. I had never eaten or seen these crispy outside hollow inside eggy bread before trying this recipe.. That is why, I don't know whether mine ended up being a good one or not..

I like that the recipe is as easy as it gets with the ingredients one always has at home.. You mix all-purpose flour, melted butter, salt, milk and eggs in a blender (I used food processor) and pour the batter into muffin or custard cups.. Then, bake at high temperature until they are puffed, browned and crisp at the exterior, and decrease the temperature and bake a bit more to dry the interior.. And they are ready to eat as soon as they come out of the oven.. My only problem with the recipe was the baking times mentioned in the book.. Although I took them out of the oven before the mentioned baking time was finished, mine were still over baked.. If I bake these again I will decrease the baking times for both temperatures..

They do not have any particular flavour.. I enjoyed my popovers with feta and honey right after I took the above picture.. The exterior was very crispy and inside was empty with some stringy dough right under the crust.. I don't know if it was supposed to be like that or is it because mine were over baked.. The book says the inside should be custardy, mine definitely was not..

If you would like to try this very easy recipe, please visit the blogs' of this week's hosts: Vintage Kitchen Notes and Bake With Amy.. Or buy the book Baking With Julia..

Thanks for stopping by..

Tuesdays With Dorie : Semolina Bread

Here is Semolina Bread from Baking with Julia.. According to Wikipedia, semolina is "the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta, breakfast cereals, puddings and couscous." In Turkey, we use semolina to make a dessert called Irmik Helvasi, which is one of my favourite desserts in the world.. Especially if it is served warm with vanilla ice cream.. So delicious.. I should post the recipe for it one day.. 

Back to the bread, as the name implies this bread is made with combination of semolina and unbleached all purpose flour.. It is very easy to prepare, but you need patience because there are three of 2 hours rising periods that you should wait for the dough to be ready for baking.. Preparation includes, mixing the yeast, warm water and some of the flour to create the sponge - wait for 2 hours.. Then, mix it with more flour and semolina until you have a smooth dough, it takes only five minutes.. I handled this part with hand mixer with a dough hook.. Put the dough into an oiled bowl - wait for 2 hours.. Then shape the bread and put it on a baking tray with parchment paper - wait 2 more hours.. Then, finally, ready to be baked for 35 minutes.. 

It smells great while baking in the oven, thanks to the yeast.. It has a tender crumb and tastes delicious.. This bread is definitely a keeper for me.. It is a type of bread I would be happy to be served at a nice Italian restaurant.. I ate multiple slices dunking into extra virgin olive oil with crushed chilies in it.. Yummy..

For the recipe, please visit blogs of this week's hosts: Keep It Luce and The Way to My Family's Hearth.. Or buy the book Baking With Julia..

Next recipe will be Blueberry and Nectarine Pie, sounds and looks delicious..

Thanks for stopping by..

Tuesdays With Dorie : Oasis Naan

Today is my birthday.. Number 33.. I really enjoy my 30s but still amazed at the speed of the years passing by.. Well, since this is the youngest I will be for the rest of my life, serefe (cheers in Turkish) to my new age and things it will bring :)

The picture below is the main reason of my blog post for today.. A type of flat bread called Oasis Naan.. Apparently these type of flat breads are very common in Central Asia..

This recipe is very easy and fun to make.. I made the half recipe, and it makes four Oasis Naans.. 

• You mix instant dry yiest, warm water and some of the flour in a bowl with a wood spoon, add salt and rest of the flour, and stir until you can't.. Put the mixture to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes until it makes a smooth and workable dough.. (I really enjoyed kneading this soft dough, it is very easy to work with)..

• Next, put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.. Leave it for 2 hours to rise.. Mine rose beautifully at the end of 2 hours..

• Then comes the baking part.. You divide the risen dough into four and roll them into small disks (I think I made mine bigger than the actual size), prickle the centre with fork (I think I overdid this part, even my sides are flat), and lastly sprinkle with salt, cumin seeds and green onions.. Bake for 6 minutes in a very hot oven (500F).. The book (Baking with Julia) says cook it on stone heated in the oven, I used bottom side of my cast iron pan.. It did the trick..

I am happy that I tried this flat bread, I really enjoyed the process.. It tastes great, very simple.. Reminds me of small version of a type of flat bread we have in Turkey called Pide.. Although I found mine a bit on the dry side, I enjoyed my products with some meze (small plates of hummus, feta, goat cheese stuffed red peppers) and definitely will bake this recipe again.. It is a keeper.. I believe the dryness is due to me rolling them out too thin..

For the recipe please visit blogs of this week's hosts, Maggie and Phyl : Always Add More Butter and Of Cabbages & King Cakes, or buy the book: Baking with Julia..

The next recipe will be French Strawberry Cake.. I am so looking forward to trying it..

Thanks for stopping by..

Tuesdays With Dorie : Irish Soda Bread

This week's recipe for Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) is Irish Soda Bread.. And it is possibly the easiest recipe there is in Baking With Julia (BWJ)..

The process is: Mix flour, salt, baking soda, buttermilk in a bowl, with a fork. Transfer to a floured surface to knead for 1 minute and make a ball.. Bake it for 50 minutes in the preheated oven.. Wait until it reaches room temperature to eat.. Do you know any bread recipe easier than this? At least I never knew baking a bread could be this easy before..

The original recipe uses unbleached all purpose flour and gives the option of adding raisins for a non-traditional (according to Dorie Greenspan) Irish soda bread.. After reading comments on TWD blog about the recipe being open to improvisation in terms of additional ingredients, I decided to make 2 versions of it: One with all purpose flour and raisins - following the original recipe, and second one with half all purpose half whole wheat flour, with 1,5 tablespoons caraway seeds.. Result: They are both delicious but very different than each other.. First one is soft, white and sweet with the additional raisins (which I boiled in water for 2 minutes, drained and dried before using for the bread), second one is brown, heartier and flavored generously with caraway seeds.. They both have substance and texture to support variety of toppings for open-faced sandwiches..

With all purpose flour and raisins..

With half all purpose half whole wheat flour, and caraway seeds.. And also baked in cast iron skillet.. 

BWJ says that this bread is only good for day one and gets rock hard afterwards.. I was positively surprised that it was not the case.. I baked them on Friday, tasted a piece when cooled to room temperature, wrapped with plastic wrap and kitchen towel.. We, my husband and I, ate our bread both on Saturday and Sunday for breakfast.. Although not as good as fresh, I am happy to say that the bread keeps for 2-3 days, locked in sealed plastic bags at room temperature.. They are also good toasted..

Below are pictures of our delicious breakfast items with home-made Irish soda bread.. We ate raisin bread with butter and apricot lekvar (thick dried apricot paste with lemon juice and almonds - from rugelach recipe) and some crushed almonds on top, and the other one with dill-cream cheese and smoked salmon, topped with some fleur de sel..

Raisin Irish soda bread with butter and apricot lekvar..

Caraway seeds Irish soda bread with dill-cream cheese and smoked salmon..

Conclusion: This recipe is so easy and open to variations, I will for sure bake it again and again.. And I recommend you to try it even if you don't consider yourself a baker or are scared of baking a bread.. It is very easy, and eating bread you baked is so satisfying.. You can watch the video of the Irish soda bread episode of Julia Child's TV show, from this link..

For the recipe please visit blogs of Carla and Cathleen : Chocolate Moosey and My Culinary Mission, or buy the book: Baking with Julia..

Looking forward to meeting you in two weeks with the next recipe for TWD: Pizza Rustica..

Tuesdays With Dorie : White Loaves

There is a blog called Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD), where a group of bakers from all over the world had been baking through Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home To Yours" book from 2008 to end-2011. As of today, they started baking through another book of Dorie Greenspan's; "Baking with Julia" (BWJ), and I decided to join them in this round. I will be baking something new from BWJ every other other week, and posting here on Tuesdays..


The first recipe is White Loaves.. This was the first time I baked bread at home.. It is fairly simple to make but you need patience to wait two 45 minutes for rising of the dough, and another 45 minutes to bake it.. And since I do not have a stand mixer it was very tiring for my right arm to use hand mixer with dough hook for +15 minutes.. But then, when it started baking in the oven and released that fresh bread smell all over my house, it all worth it..


The recipe makes 2 loaves, but I halved the recipe to make only one, since it would be too much delicious white bread at home.. The result was great, I had a honey-brown colored 4,5 inches high white bread, crunchy on the outside and substantial texture inside.. It is a kind of bread you would be happy to get at a high-quality restaurant or a bakery, and it is even more enjoyable knowing that you baked it yourself.. BWJ says slices would be great for toasting, I will freeze the remaining slices to make grilled cheese sandwiches in the weekend, can not wait..


Only the hosts for the week are allowed to post the recipe, so I can not give the recipes in my blog but will give a link to their sites. Here are this week's hosts: Slush and Someone's in the Kitchen.. The recipe is given in the latter one..

Have a great day!