Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

I didn't have a chance to go shopping after work yesterday. I need an easy bread, that works around my work schedule. This one does the trick. The recipe is from the internet, but I cut all in half. 225g bread flour, (all purpose will work as well) 3/4 cup of warm water 1 tsp of rapid dry yeast 1 tsp of kosher salt In a bowl mix the salt, dry yest and flour. Add the water and mix it with a fork or a wooden spoon until there are no flour pockets left. The dough will still be sticky. Cover the bowl air tight. I use cling wrap for this.  All this takes about 5 minutes. Set aside in a warm spot. My warmest spot is my computer room. The warmest spot in the computer room is on a running laptop. The work day can start. About 2.5h later I pre-heat the stove  to 450F with a Dutch Oven including the cover inside. After another 30 minutes it is lunch time. The dough has doubled. I just got myself a silicon baking matt. This makes a lot of things easier and I don't need to mess up the cou...

The recipe was posted from Sascha Inden on Facebook. She references  Axel Schmitt as the author of the recipe. It sounds all pretty easy. When I read the recipe, I was not sure it will all work out as such. 300g flower (all purpose) 4g yeast 6g salt 200g water It states to all just mix in a bowl, so the flower is all wet. Not more then 20 seconds.... I would think one would dissolve the in the water and one uses warm water. But ok. Cover the bowl air tight and put it in the fridge for 14-20 hours. This morning, when I check, the dough still had the size from yesterday.  The instructions say, to leave it on the counter top for 15 min, while the oven pre-heats to 250C. Add some water into a separate bowl, to generate steam.. Sprinkle some flower on the counter top. Cut the dough in half and fold it over a couple of times. Then bake for 15 minutes.  That is where I left he instructions. I did flower a surface and did fold it over for a couple of times. And then I decided to ...

I wanted to get some real rolls. Crunchy and still having a decent consistency the next day. Not like the soft things one can get here at groceries store, that one can press down to the size of a table tennis ball and when it is released, one does not see anything of the shape it was just in. The original recipe is from  this website  . This way to much food for me. OK, I cut everything in half. 500g all purpose flower 200 ml warm water (the finger should still be comfy to stick in) 100 ml milk 1 tsp of dry active yeast 10g salt 1 tsp sugar Sounds easy. For what ever reason I used the 400ml water from the original recipe. I made up for it by using 3/4 of  a cup of additional flower. In the bowl of my stand mixer I mix the flower and the salt. In a pot I heat the water and milk. I use a glas measuring cup for a lot of things. Glas does not react with things. Add the yeast and sugar with 1/4th of the warm liquid, stir to dissolve the sugar and yeast. Let it stand for 5 minu...

I have another sour dough starter. They somehow turn out pretty runny. Oh well. I can work with that. 250g runny sourdough starter 250g King Arthur bread flower 1/2 tsp salt (mix with the flower) 100g warm water with 1/2 tsp of instant yeast and 1/2 tsp of sugar (let stand, so it gets foamy) 1/4 tsp Chipotle powder (yes, I wanted some kick in the bread) 1/2 tsp of neutral veggie oil Mix all in a bowl. I used a stand mixer for 10 minutes. The dough was still pretty sticky, so I added another 3-4 tbsp of flower. Let stand for about 2h. It is hot here. I covered it with  towel and put the bowl on the porch. Preheat the oven to 475F. Line a Dutch Oven with parchment paper. Dump the down into DO, cover and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the cover, turn the heat down to 420F and bake another 30 minutes. I love warm fresh bread with butter.   -Mahlzeit-

I always wanted to make some bread dumplings. Together with a mushroom ragout this is delicious. I found a recipe that sounded good, all posted in German and a ton of commercials on the page.  So this post will be a rather lengthy one.   Bread Dumplings I dried hot dog buns. Big mistake. They have a sweet after taste. Not what I want in my dumplings. Right now there is a french baguette, cut in half in over the length and it is drying now for the next week. The recipe calls for 11 oz of dried bread cut into cubes 1 cup of hot milk 1 medium onion cut very finely 1 tbsp of butter a hand full of chopped parsley (I used flat leaves parsley)  1/2 tsp of salt 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper a little bit of ground nutmeg If needed bread crumbs if needed In a big bowl add the dried cubes of bread crumbs.  Heat up the milk. On the rim it should start to show little bubbles. Do not cook it, but should be to hot to stick the finger in. Pour the milk over the bread crumbs. Stir i...

 I didn't have a lot of the 14% whole wheat flower left, just 1 cup. My sour dough starter was lazy not rising.  Here is what I came up with. 1 cup whole wheat flower 1.75 cups of all purpose flower 1.5 cups of hand warm water In a mixing bowl mix all of this with a dough hook for 5 min on 1, then 10 min on 2-3. Remove the bowl, cover and let sit for about 2 hours. 3/4 tsp salt sour dough starter by volume 3.5" x 3.5" x 2.5" 2 tsp of active dry yeast. Mix all of this for 15 minutes on 3 again. The dough should only be lightly sticky. Remove from mixer, cover and let stand for 3 hours. Onto the mixer it goes again, mix for 5 minutes, put into a banneton. The banneton goes into a plastic bag with room to expand. Into the fridge for 12-15 hours (final time depends on when I wake up the next morning 😂 ). Bring the oven up to 495F. Place the DO in it. After 30 min. remove the DO from the stove. Use good gloves. The DO is hot, hot, hot. Remove the dough from the fridge, f...

This bread came out great. 2 cups of whole wheat strong flower (14%) 1.5 cup warm water Mix for 15 minutes with the dough hook on low. Cover and let it sit for 60 minutes on a warm place. Back on the mixer it goes. Add 3/4 tsp of salt, 2 tsp active dry yeast, sourdough starter (see note 1). I had to add 2 more tbsp of flower to get it less sticky. Mix for 15 min on low, cover and let it stand for 3h. One more time in the kitchen machine for 5 minutes on low. Flower a banneton, add the dough, put wrap it with a plastic bag, I used a target shopping bag, into the fridge for 14-15h. Put a DO into the oven and preheat the oven to 495 F, with the DO inside. Once the oven is at temperature, still wait 20 min. Take out the DO (protect your hands, that thing is HOT, HOT, HOT) Add parchment paper, flip over the banneton, cover and back in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Then uncover and reduce the temperature to 435. Bake for another 20 min. Remove and onto a cooling rack it goes. 😊. Let it coo...

The last 2 weekends I did experiment with sour dough bread. This weekend, I decided to switch gears and make a Turkish bread with sesame seed. The original recipe I found on the internet. I have a habit of not following instructions from time to time, so it ended up with some modifications. We need 1 egg 500g of all purpose flower 2 tsp active yeast 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup milk sesame seeds olive oil 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar Mix the water and the milk and warm it up, so it is lukewarm. Add the salt, sugar and 1 tsp of yeast. Mix it all up and let it stand for 15 min. In a mixing bowl add the flower and the remaining yeast and mix it all up. Turn mixer on 3. Slowly drip the water/milk/yeast mixture. Keep mixing for about 10 min.  Mix the dough per hand on flowered surface for 5 more minutes. Greece a bowl with the olive oil, put in the dough, cover and let it rest at a warm space for 1 hour. It should double in size. After 1h knead the dough again for 5 minutes, roll it out. Cover a b...

250g sour dough starter 250g all purpose flower 125g rye flower 125g bread flower 2 tbsp spelt (whole grains) 1 tbsp sun flowers (whole grains) 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tbsp dried active yeast 3/4 cup of warm water 1/2 tsp of sugar In a small bowl mix the water, yeast and sugar and let it sit for 10 min. In the mean time mix in a bowl for a stand mixer with a dough hook all the flowers and the grains. Mix them up well. When the yeast in the bowl is starting to get frothy, add the starter into the bowl and start mixing on low speed. Then slowly add the yeast water. Mix on low for 5 minutes , then vary between low and medium speed for about 5 minutes. Spray a bowl with cooking spray. Flower your hands, shape the dough, put into the bowl and cover. Let stand in a warm place for 3h. Shape, put into a banneton. Let rise for another 1h. Preheat the oven to 450 F at the end of the time. Put the bread on a turned over cooking sheet, score it and with 1/2 cup o...

I was going through different websites again today. I had some sourdough that really needed to be used. The volume got to big for the jar. I decided to jump into the deep end of the pool and just make something up. I have not baked many breads so far. So here we go: 200g sour dough starter 200g all purpose flower (not self rising) 200g strong whole wheat flower (14.7) 1 cup of water  hand warm 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp dry active yeast 1/2 tsp sugar 1 tbsp balsamic (yes balsamic, yes that is vinegar) In a bowl mix the 2 flowers and the salt. Bring the water to hand warm temperature, add the dry yeast and the sugar and stir. It should all dissolve Put all of the ingredients into a bowl for a stand mixer. With a dough hook mix them all on low speed, Once the dough curls up to a ball around the hook, we need to get to hand kneading. Turn off the stand mixer, remove the dough and keep kneading it for 10 min on a well flowered surface. Spray a bowl with non-stick cooking spray...

I changed the recipe: 1 cup of sourdough starter 2 cup of organic all purpose white flower 1 tsp salt. 2 tsb of instant dry yeast 1 cup of luke warm water 2 slices of bacon Slice the bacon in small pieces and render them in a pan until crisp. Remove them and let them cool down. Pad them down with paper. I don't want the extra fat. Mix everything including the bacon bits on low speed with a dough hook in a kitchen machine until it is smooth (about 5-7 minutes). Remove the hook and put the bowl somewhere warm for 90-120 min. The dough will rise. Then grease a baking form. Transfer the dough in to it, spread it out. Let it stand for another hour in a warm place. The dough will rise again. The preheat the oven to 425F. Bake for about 30 min. My oven usually needs a bit more time. Check during the last minutes on how dark the bread is and adjust time according to your liking. When done, take it out and put it on a cooling rack. This time the inside is no...

After my sourdough starter went funny at the end of last week, I had to skip last weekend. I really missed to have some good bread. So this week was time to get back into it: 1 cup of sourdough starter 1 cup of King Arthur bread flower 1 cup of organic all purpose white flower 1 tsp salt. 1 3/4 tsb of instant dry yeast 3/4 cup of luke warm water Mix everything on low speed with a dough hook in a kitchen machine until it is smooth (about 5-7 minutes). Remove the hook and put the bowl somewhere warm for 90-120 min. The dough will rise. Then grease a baking form. Don't be afraid to experiment with different forms. This time  I use a rectangular one. Transfer the dough in to it, spread it out. Let it stand for another hour in a warm place. The dough will rise again. The preheat the oven to 425F. Bake for about 30 min. My oven usually needs a bit more time. Check during the last minutes on how dark the bread is and adjust time according to your liking. When ...

This year I started a new tradition. Every weekend I bake a small bread that lasts me through the week. Last week, I screwed it up a bit and it turned out a bit on the sweet side. However that got me a few ideas. This week I decided let's put in some flavor. I love Old Bay seasoning. So here we go. 1 cup of all-purpose flower 1 cup of King Arthur bread flower 1 tsp of salt 1 1/2 tsp of dry yeast 3/4 cup of ripe sourdough starter ( I eyeball that one) 3/4 cup of lukewarm water 1tsp of old bay seasoning. Mix everything on low speed with a dough hook in a kitchen machine until it is smooth (about 5-7 minutes). Remove the hook and put the bowl somewhere warm for 90-120 min. The dough will rise. Then grease a baking form.   Don't be afraid to experiment with different forms. This time  I use a rectangular one. Transfer the dough in to it, spread it out. Let it stand for another hour in a warm place. The dough will rise again. The preheat the oven t...