Lavash

Inspiration:
When I saw these on Lindsay's blog, I knew I had to try them. Then Tim and I went to her home, and he had some. "You made these?" He was shocked and impressed, which made Lindsay and I laugh a little. Lindsay gave him a bag to take home, and he ate all of them by the time we got home. So, I made him some more today.
Recipe adapted from Bread Baker's Apprentice


Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup room temperature water
• one egg white, lightly beaten with 1t water
  
• coarse salt
  
• spices (I used dill, cumin, caraway, and rosemary)
  

Instructions:

1. Stir the flour, salt yeast, honey and oil together.
2. While continuing to stir, slowly add the water into the dry ingredients. Stir until the dough gathers into a ball.
   
3. Lightly flour the counter top and knead the dough for 10 minutes. You will know the dough is ready when it stretches thin without breaking. (Do the windowpane test.)
   
4. Spray a bowl with oil and swirl the dough to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 90 minutes -- the dough should double in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Lightly oil the counter top. Place dough on the oiled surface and sprinkle with flour. Roll the dough out until its paper thin. It should be at least 12" x 15".
7. Place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
   
8. Using a pastry brush, thinly coat the dough with the egg wash. Sprinkle coarse salt and any spices you would like onto the dough.
9. If you would like pre-cut crackers, use a pizza cutter and cut the desired shapes - the crackers will break even once removed from the oven.
10. Bake the crackers for 15-20 minutes, when the crackers are evenly browned.

Notes: I didn't roll the dough as thinly as I should have. I still like the result, but Tim prefers Lindsay's crunchy crackers. She used whole wheat flour, which I will try next time. (I am currently out.)

Tim's Rating: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 9/10

Homemade Pizza

Inspiration:
A desire to make another edible yeast-bread recipe.

Ingredients/Instructions:

• pizza dough (see link for instructions)
  
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
  
• pizza sauce (just mix together)
  
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• toppings
  
• cheddar/mozzarella cheese
• pepperoni

Notes:
I was finally able to find instant yeast at the co-op. Finally! I can't believe I couldn't find it at our other 4 grocery stores, including Whole Foods. This was so easy, and tasty, we were very impressed with ourselves. We'll be making pizza quite often!

Tim's Rating: 9.5/10
Liz's Rating: 9.5/10

Naan

Inspiration:
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup ghee or oil
  
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt

Instructions:

1. Whisk the warm water with the yeast and sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes.
2. Sift flour and salt three times into a large bowl add the yeast mixture, half of the ghee or oil and all the yogurt. Mix into a soft dough then knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size .
3. Punch down dough then knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Let rise for an additional 10-30 minutes if you have the time. Roll each piece out into 8 inch round naans.
   
4. Brush the naan with a little of the remaining ghee or oil. Heat oil in a large flat skillet. Pan fry naan one at a time for about 2 minutes on each side or until puffed and just browned, adding additional oil as necessary.
   

Recipe Notes:
"This is an authentic Indian Naan recipe. I have made this many times. It goes well with Indian curry which has a lot of gravy, such as the Butter Chicken." (Original recipe uses ghee instead of oil.)

My Notes:
This is my best yeast-bread result so far. I have to say I am pretty impressed with myself- this naan tastes exactly like that of our favorite Indian/Nepali restaurant, Everest on Grand.

Tim's Rating: 10/10
Liz's Rating: 10/10

Pepperoni Mozzarella Bread

Inspiration:
Slightly modified from this recipe on Erin's blog, which was taken from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

Ingredients:

Sponge

• ½ cup bread flour
• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
  
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, lukewarm (or whole milk)

Dough

• 4 ounces pepperoni, cut in quarters
  
• 3 ½ cups (16 ounces) bread flour
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) Salt
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) Sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• ¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup coarsely shredded or grated provolone or other cheese (I used mozzarella)

Instructions:

1. Proof yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.
   
2. To make the sponge, stir together the flour and yeast mixture to make a pancake-like batter. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 1 hour.
   
3. While the sponge is fermenting, dice the salami into small cubes and saute it lightly in a frying pan to crisp it slightly.
4. Stir together the flour, salt, and sugar with a spoon. Add the eggs and the sponge until the ingredients form a coarse ball. If there is any loose flour, dribble in a small amount of water or milk to gather it into the dough. Mix for about 1 minute, then let rest for 10 minutes. Divide the butter in 4 pieces and work into dough, one piece at a time while mixing. After mixing about 4 minutes, the dough will change from sticky to tacky and eventually come off the sides of the bowl. If not, sprinkle in more flour to make it do so.
5. When the dough is smooth, add the meat pieces and mix until they are evenly distributed. Then gently mix in the cheese until it too is evenly distributed. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
6. Ferment at room temperature for about 90 minutes, or until the dough increases in size by at least 1 1/2 times.
7. Remove the dough from the bowl and leave as 1 piece for 1 large loaf or divide into 2 pieces for smaller loaves. Bake in 1 large or 2 small loaf pans by misting the pans with spray oil, shaping the dough, and placing it in the pans. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and cover.
8. Proof for 60-90 minutes, or until the dough just reaches the top of the pans.
9. Place pans in a 350′F oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until the center of the loaves registers 185-190′F. The dough will be golden brown on top and on the sides, and the cheese will ooze out into crisp little brown pockets.
10. When the bread is done, remove the bread from the oven and from the pans and cool for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.

Notes: I really like this recipe. I don't think I had the best results, but this is only my second attempt at yeast bread... I will try it again!

Tim's Rating: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 8/10

Updated: No-Knead Bread from The New York Times

First attempt: Not a total success. Flavor- great. Texture-great. Height of loaf- only 2 inches! I am trying again with a few modifications. The first attempt, I used 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast and 1 and 5/8 cups room temperature water. I left the dough to rise for 2 hours in step 3.

Second attempt:
I would consider this a success, but not a total success. Tim does-- he says it tastes just like restaurant bread... he's impressed.
Flavor is still great. The loaf is definitely higher, although I would like it to be even an inch or so higher.
I used 1/3 teaspoon active dry yeast and 1 1/2 cups warm water. I let the dough rise for 3 hours in step 3.Third attempt:
What do you suggest I try? Can I get the bread to rise a little higher? Should I use a little more yeast, a little warmer water, a warmer resting place, try bread flour, or try the almost no-knead bread recipe? Any advice would be appreciated!

Inspiration:
Jim Lahey's recipe featured in The New York Times

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
• ¼ teaspoon instant yeast OR 1/3 teaspoon active yeast
  
• 1¼ teaspoons salt
• Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 4-quart heavy covered pot (I used an enameled cast iron dutch oven) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Tim's Rating: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 9/10