Homemade Bread You Have Time For
09 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Breads, Brunch, Snacks Tags: baking soda, bread for tea, easy bread, fast bread, Ireland, Irish bread, irish soda bread, no-knead bread, quick bread, St. Patrick's Day
Yeasted breads are wonderful things, but we all can agree there’s one thing they do take: time. Time to proof the yeast, time to rise, time to rise again. You can skip the kneading step if you like with the recipe in this post, but that time element is the replacement for kneading – though it has delicious results.
There’s another answer out there though, provided by our Irish friends: baking soda! I’ll take this opportunity to wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!, and if you’d like the right treat, try this rich Guinness Chocolate Mousse on for size.
Back to bread. Irish Soda Bread allowed people without ovens (many people, back in the day) to make bread in a cast iron vessel in a fire, though now that most people have ovens we like to use them for this as well. Read more about the traditional Irish Soda Bread here, on Epicurious.
Nowadays, it’s just plain simple and easy! The payoff is great, particularly slathered with some high-quality butter. MmmmMmm.
If you don’t have buttermilk around and aren’t in the mood for buttermilk pancakes this weekend (though really now, how often is that the case?), sub in ‘sour milk,’ milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar per cup mixed in and set aside for five or ten minutes. It’ll do the trick.
Brown Soda Bread
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3 T. toasted wheat bran
3 T. toasted wheat germ
2 T. old-fashioned oats
2 T. (packed) dark brown sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 T. (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 c. (approximately) buttermilk
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Butter 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; mix well.
Stir in enough buttermilk to form a soft dough. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles fine meal.
Transfer dough to prepared loaf pan. Bake until bread is dark brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Turn bread out onto rack. Turn right side up and cool on rack.
Of Tea Time, Apples, and Cardamom (with Gluten Free option)
16 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Brunch, Dessert, Party Food Tags: apple cake, autumnal, breakfast, brunch, cardamom, gluten free, tea cake, tea time
We at New Pi have been running around a lot these days, hosting a slew of festive events, and now I think it’s time for a tea break. If you’re thinking, ‘What events?’ then I really am sorry, and we ought to get you in the loop! We tend to have a good time (40th New Pi Party, Wine Freak Out, Local Holiday Sample Fair, all in the last three weeks) and it’d probably be even better with you there next time.
I’ll find a spot on here to link you up with our events calendar so that missing them doesn’t have to happen again.
Alright, shifting gears here. So you want a recipe? Is that what you say?
I was searching for something autumnal, with apples and spice, and ideally suited with brunch or afternoon tea. I found just what I was looking for on a beautiful blog here.
As I do, I tweaked it slightly, as I made it a couple times (regrettably because I made mistakes, all of which were avoidable and not the recipe’s fault – timing on my part and oven malfunction on… the oven’s part. Or the operator’s, but that’s a different story).
I made this cake into individual tea cakes by pressing compostable parchment paper into large muffin tins, pressing the folds to crease them to hold their shapes.
One important word to the wise: this cake is baked in two steps – the cake base bakes for 10 minutes, and then a topping is added and it finishes baking. I endorse completing the topping before putting it in the oven, otherwise you may have a partially baked cake waiting unhappily for you to hurry up and possibly sinking in the process. Don’t make the cake wait – do your prep work in advance.
With that advice, enjoy this cake! It’s a beauty, and tasty to boot.
(Gluten Free option) French Cardamom Apple Cake
Adapted from tarteletteblog.com
Butter a 9-inch round baking pan (or several 3 to 4-inch baking pans on a baking sheet, or lined large muffin tins for smaller cakes).
Prepare the topping:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until fluffy (the quantity is too small for a stand mixer). Add egg and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and reserve.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Separately, whisk together the milk, oil, and egg until just blended.
Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients, whisking well to make sure that everything is well incorporated, about 40 to 50 strokes. Pour into prepared pan(s) and arrange the apple slices on top in a circular pattern.
Bake the cake(s) in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread topping over. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make it Local
30 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Brunch, Snacks Tags: #eatlocal, blueberries, breakfast, Eat Local, Kalona SuperNatural, liquid breakfast, mint, peaches, smoothie, yogurt
So you want to enjoy the best of summer? Try something refreshing, healthy, and LOCAL. Monday kicks off our Eat Local Week at the Co-op, August 1-7. Stop in either store to make an Eat Local promise, and be entered to win New Pi gift certificates. Why the heck not, eh?
I mentioned in my last post that we define local as produced in Iowa or within 250 miles, which includes parts of the surrounding states. This time of year, with these kinds of options, eating local’s just the way to go.
Coming up in the August eCatalyst, out in email/our website on the first, Genie’s made a great list of local meal suggestions from dawn till dusk (including this recipe I’m providing here). Shop close, shop environmentally friendly, and shop tasty. Local’s where it’s at.
I’m big on preserving summer’s bounty for winter (I might have just bought a new chest freezer…), and my favorite way to do that is freezing, because it’s so easy and quick. The last couple summers my family’s gone blueberry picking together and then frozen bags and bags of the tasty things. And the Missouri peaches from the Co-op are so good I might need to make some freezer preserves this year. Man, this is a tasty time of year.
Here’s one for the first thing out of bed in the morning:
Local Smoothie
1 c. Kalona SuperNatural yogurt
1 c. local blueberries
1 1/2 c. ripe Missouri peach slices
a couple mint leaves
local honey, if desired
Whiz it all up in a blender or with a stick blender, taste and alter as you see fit, and enjoy! What a great morning or afternoon pick-me-up.
