I can't remember the last time I bought a loaf of "regular" bread. "Regular" bread meaning a loaf of whole wheat or multigrain sandwich bread. Over the last few months I've been experimenting with different whole wheat bread recipes and have come up with one that I'm happy with.
This loaf is pretty basic: whole wheat and unbleached flours, yeast, butter, honey, water, salt. The variations are limitless: vary the proportion of whole wheat to unbleached flours, throw in other flour or grains, seeds or nuts.
Lately I've been wanting to explore Junior's Filipino heritage. What better way to learn about a culture than through its food? I started to research different ensaymada recipes and came up with one that I like. Although the rising times seem long, the extra time for the yeast to ferment results in a rich flavour that complements the eggy flavour of the dough and the sweet-savoury topping.
Because the recipe makes a large amount, I've also included instructions for freezing and baking individual ensaymada.
In my spare time (ha!) I've been baking bread. I had been looking for a slow rise bread that would work with the rhythms of our household. Something that was flexible enough to mix and set aside for a few hours or even a few days.
I came across a recipe from Homebaking by Alford and Duguid for a simple loaf that starts with a biga, a yeast, flour, water mixture that ferments from 12 hours up to several days. As the yeast grows and ferments slowly, the mixture develops a rich yeasty flavour.
Fellow Bryght guy, Boris Mann, has started, Food Like That, a new recipe site where you can make some money by submitting your recipes. Check it out and make some money OR just enjoy the recipes!
This year I didn't have the energy to do my usual Christmas baking (8 dozen each of 6 to 8 varieties of cookies). So for gifts I made a few different appetizers, froze them and packaged them up in lovely boxes with charming labels. I made lamb sausage rolls based on a recipe I found in the Canadian Living Holiday Baking guide, Turkish spinach and feta sigaras and mushroom almond turnovers (recipes to follow!)
These were a hit and were much less labour intensive!
I love savoury pies. When I made tourtiere at Christmas, I finally realized that making savoury pies isn't such a big production after all and I should make them more often. This savoury pie crust is hardy yet flaky and would suit a variety of fillings especially those flavoured with herbs.
January probably isn't the best time to post a recipe for a rich, luscious chocolate mousse as a lot of us are trying to work off all the goodies consumed during the holidays. But I made this mousse for dessert for Christmas and it's a winner. Not overly sweet, terribly rich. Super easy. Because this mousse is fairly firm, it would also make a good filling for a genoise roll or a chocolate sponge cake.
I met my friend Eriko at a mom and baby group over a year ago when our kids were just infants. Now that our boys are toddlers it's really fun to share ideas about what we're feeding them.
Eriko gave me this recipe for chicken and eggs in miso sauce that's both tasty and kid-friendly. The chicken can be substituted with other meats and is particularly delicious with fish.
Sausage(s) of your choice - (I use spicy italian or lamb bought from Choices, but any raw and in casing types will do) White navy beans - (1-1/2 cans, half drained, keep about 1 cup liquid)