Buttermilk Biscuits

Who doesn't love a flaky, buttery biscuit slathered with your favorite jam?  Or perhaps as the perfect companion for your bacon, egg, and cheese?  Oh, that's right, everyone does, duh.  Break out the flour and frozen butter, buttery goodness is in your near future.

I keep butter in the freezer for pastry dough and biscuits.  Remove from freezer and place in the fridge for 15 minutes before ready to use.  Otherwise, put the stick of butter on ice for 1 hour.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes 1 dozen biscuits
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold/frozen unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 cup cold buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together.  Pulse 3-5 times.  Add in the butter pieces.  Blend until butter is pea-sized, about 1 minute.  Transfer mixture to a large bowl.  Drizzle in cold buttermilk and stir until a moist and shaggy dough forms.  It will be very sticky if you use your hands!

3.  Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface.  Sprinkle the top of the dough and your hands with flour.  Gently form the dough into a 1-inch thick circle.

4.  Using a 2 1/2" round cutter (or glass jam jar!), cut out as many biscuits as possible.  Press straight down and do not twist.  Set the biscuits onto the parchment paper.  Reform the dough into the 1-inch thick circle and repeat until only scrapes remain.

5. Bake until the biscuits have risen and are golden brown, about 15-16 minutes.  Serve hot! or transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool if freezing.

Recipe adapted from Christine Gallary, Chowhound

American Irish Soda Bread

Traditional Irish soda bread uses buttermilk and baking soda for a quick-rising bread.  This American version adds in raisins and sugar, so it's a sweeter bread that is perfectly paired with an apple and cheese for a light lunch.

Traditional Irish soda bread is on my to-do list, so keep an eye out for it!


American Irish Soda Bread

Yield: 1 loaf, serves 12
Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil + more for greasing skillet
3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup raisins or currants



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 10-inch oven-proof skillet or 9" x 9" square baking pan and line with parchment or waxed paper.*

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.  In a second bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs, and 2 tablespoons canola oil. Add the wet to the dry and stir until just combined.  Do not overmix.  Add in the raisins or currants.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared dish.  Bake until golden and firm to touch, about 50 minutes - 1 hour.  Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Storage:
Wrap tightly in aluminum foil.  Best within three days.
To freeze, wrap tightly in aluminum foil and place in freezer bag.  Defrost in the refrigerator or on the counter.

*I have the Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch bakeware.  I, therefore, never grease the pan or add paper because it is supposed to be non-stick.  This bread was sticky.  It eventually came loose without sacrificing an intact loaf, but do grease or use the paper as advised like I should have.


This recipe is adapted from Melissa Clark at the New York Times.

Pesto Knots

I love little garlic knots or breadsticks at Italian restaurants and wanted to recreate them at home.  A lot of places just use pizza dough, so that's what I did.  Making your own pesto is a breeze as well.  Presto, a perfect little side for soup or pasta!

Pesto Knots

Makes about 24 knots
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 batch of pizza dough
1/2 cup basil pesto

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.  On a lightly floured surface, divide the pizza dough into roughly equal pieces.  For each piece, roll into a long log shape, then tie into a knot.

3.  Arrange the knots onto the baking sheets.  Brush each knot with pesto.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the knots are lightly golden.  Serve warm.

Sandwich Bread

Impress one and all by making your own sandwich bread!  This bread takes a little more time than pizza dough or pita, but it's still pretty straightforward.  It tastes so good, you'll want to put anything and everything on it.  Enjoy!

Sandwich Bread

Makes 1 large loaf (about 16 slices)
Time: At least 3 hours, largely unattended

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1-2 tablespoons sugar or honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/3 cups milk, preferably whole or 2%, warmed to 110-120ºF

Directions:

1.  Prepare the yeast by adding to the warmed milk and allowing to stand for 5 minutes.

2.  Add the flour and salt to a food processor and pulse for 5 seconds.  With the machine running, add the sweetener, oil, and yeasted milk.  Process for about 30 seconds, then remove the cover.  The dough should be a well-defined, barely sticky ball that is easy to handle.  If dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time.  If dry, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

3.  On a floured surface, shape the dough into a rough ball, and then place in a lightly oiled large bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and allow to rise for at least 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.  Deflate the ball and re-shape it into a ball; let rest, covered, on a lightly floured surface for at least 15 minutes.

4.  Gently knead the dough into a rectangle the size of your loaf pan.  Grease a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan).  Place the loaf into the pan, flattening the top of it with your hand.  Cover and let rest for 1 hour, or until the top of the dough is level with the rim of the pan.

5.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Put the loaf in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it (it should easily fall out of the pan when turned).  Remove the loaf and cool on a wired rack before slicing.

Recipe adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

Pita

My newest cooking project is bread-making.  I am super excited about it and will be posting my adventures here!

I thought pita would be hard to make – wrong, friends! Super easy, and it tasted way better than any store-bought pita.  It really was not all that different than pizza dough.  So without further ado...pita!

Pita

Makes 8-12 pita, depending on size
Time: At least 2 hours, largely unattended

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions:

1. Prepare the yeast.  Heat 1 cup of water to 120-130ºF.  Add the yeast and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.

2.  Combine the flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar in a food processor.  Turn the machine on and slowly add the yeasted water through the feed tube.

3.  Process for 30 seconds, or until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly stick to the touch.  If dry, add 1-2 tablespoons water and process for 10 seconds.  If wet (unlikely), add flour by 1 tablespoon at a time.

4.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and softly knead into a ball.  Put the dough in a large mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap or damp towel.  Allow the dough to rise over 1-2 hours, until it doubles in size.
– If freezing any part of the dough, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for 1 month.  Defrost to room temperature when ready to use.
– If baking immediately, proceed to Step 5.

5. On a lightly floured surface, form the dough into a ball and divide it into the number of pieces you want to make.  Roll each piece into a round ball.  Lightly sprinkle with flour and cover with plastic wrap or towel.  Let rise until they are slightly puffy, about 20 minutes.

6.  Roll each ball out to less than 1/4-inch thickness, using flour to keep from sticking.  As you work, keep the flat disks covered on the floured surface.  Once all the disks are made, preheat the oven to 350ºF or heat a heavy skillet over medium-low heat.  Spread the disks out on the floured surface and cover, allowing them to rest for at least 20 minutes after rolling.
– If you have a pizza stone, use it on a low oven rack.  Allow it to heat as the oven preheats.
– If not, lightly oil a baking sheet and put on the middle oven rack.  Allow it to heat as the oven preheats.
– If using a heavy skillet, lightly wipe with oil.

7.  To bake, slide as many disks as will fit comfortably onto your pan (stone, cookie sheet, or heavy skillet).  Bake until lightly browned on the first side, then flip and brown the other side.  Total baking time will be between 5-10 minutes, but usually only 5-6 minutes.

8.  Serve warm if eating immediately or allow to cool on a cooling rack and store in plastic bag.  Gently reheat in a skillet over medium-low heat.

Recipe adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman