Blogs That Make My Day

Marye from Kettle and Cup included Baking History among the blogs that make her day. I was very happy and honored to receive this award from her. I read all of her blogs and they all make my day—I always look forward to reading her posts.

Thank you Marye! Your energy, wit, and sense of humor are an inspiration for me!

The best part of receiving an award—besides the recognition in itself—is the opportunity to bestow it on other people, and I am very happy to do so with 10 of my favorite bloggers:

Susan of Wild Yeast for her amazing breads, wonderful pictures, and perfect instructions to recreate her recipes

Sarah of What Smells So Good for writing beautifully and suggesting great healthy recipes

Miri of Room for Dessert for her scrumptious recipes and mouth watering pictures paired with nicely written stories about how her recipes were created (even in dreams!)

Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen for her wonderful recipes. Indian vegetarian food is my favorite, and I am learning a lot from her blog

Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska: for her amazing recipes and pictures of wonderful Greek dishes

Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte for her recipes and for many, many great blog events such as World Bread Day and bbd

Jelly of Fragole e Cioccolato for her great gluten-free dishes

Elizabeth of Blog from OUR Kitchen for her humor and all of her recipes—but especially for the Vínarterta

Burékaboy of Is That My Buréka? for writing about so many splendid Jewish recipes, providing flawless instructions to make them—and for writing about the cutest cat ever

The Chocolate Lady of In Mol Araan for writing about recipes (and more) in the beautiful Yiddish language

Yellow Cornflour Cakes (LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow 2008)

Buttery tea cakes with a sunny yellow color and a sandy texture

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This is my entry for the blog event A Taste of Yellow supporting LiveSTRONG Day and hosted by Winosandfooodies.

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The Lance Armstrong Foundation works to promote awareness and provide support to cancer patients fighting against this illness. This year LiveSTRONG Day is scheduled for May 13.

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From the original recipe by Giuseppe Ciocca

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In: “Il Pasticcere e Confettiere Moderno”, 1907—Italy

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Ingredients

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2-3/4 cups (325 g) whole-grain yellow cornflour (cornmeal is too gritty)

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1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (75 g) sugar

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2 sticks (225 g) butter, room temperature

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3 hard-boiled yolks

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grated zest of 1 (organic) lemon

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Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)

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Cream the butter at high speed until fluffy, then add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time beating well after each addition. Add the grated zest and the crumbled hard-boiled eggs and beat until well incorporated and creamy.

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Mix in the flour to make a very soft dough. Form the cookies on a cookie sheet using a pastry bag fitted with a large star-shaped tip.

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Place the cookie sheet with the formed cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to chill them so that they retain their shape better during baking.

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Bake for about 10 minutes.

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Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet, they are extremely fragile while hot and they will crumble if removed from the pans while warm. Once the cookies are completely cool, remove then gently with a thin spatula and store them in an airtight container.

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Zwiebelplatz (Potato-rye flatbread with onions) bbd #07

An excellent rye flatbread with a chewy crumb speckled with potato bits and topped with sweet onions

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Roundup is HERE 

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This is my entry for bbd #7 hosted this time by Cascabel of Chili und Ciabatta and initiated by Zorra. Cascabel proposed a great theme: flatbreads.

This rye flatbread—made with dark rye flour, potatoes, cornmeal, and a generous topping of onions—is amazingly good. The potatoes and rye provide a moist, chewy interior, speckled with potato bits. The roasted onion topping adds layers of flavor and sweetness. One of the best breads I have ever made.

From the original recipe by Florence Kreisler Greenbaum

In: “The International Jewish Cook Book: 1600 Recipes According To The Jewish Dietary Laws With The Rules For Kashering: The Favorite Recipes Of America, Austria, Germany, Russia, …”,1919—USA

Ingredients

2 cups (275 g) (Yukon Gold) potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tbsp (18 g) kosher salt

2 tbsp (15 g) yellow cornmeal (whole grain, stone ground)

1 cup (102 g) dark rye flour

3 cups (400 g) bread flour (King Arthur brand) or as needed

1/2 tbsp (6 g) sugar

1 tsp (4 g) active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water

2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter

Topping

1 onion, sliced paper-thin

1-2 tbsp (15-30 g) butter

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Strain and reserve cooking water. Mash the potatoes and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer. Measure 1-1/2 cups of the potato water (add extra water if necessary to have 1-1/2 cups) place in a saucepan and mix with the salt and cornmeal. Bring to a boil, then take off the heat and add the butter, stirring until it is melted. Pour the mixture on the mashed potatoes and mix briefly. Let cool.

Once the potato mixture is cold, add the flours and then the yeast dissolved in 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water. Knead until the dough develops, about 7 minutes at low speed. The dough will be tacky, if too sticky and wet you may need to add a little more bread flour. Don’t add too much, the dough should be tacky because of the rye and potatoes.

Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover and let it rise—preferably overnight in a cool place. The refrigerator might be fine, but a room with a temperature of 50°F (10°C ), such as a basement, is best.

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C), place a rack in the middle slot.

Once the dough is fermented, take it out of the bowl and delicately, without kneading it, stretch it and flatten it with the palms of your hands to form a thin rectangle. Place it in a buttered jellyroll pan (11 x 16 x 0.5-inch—28 x 40.5 x 1.27 cm), spread on the surface the onion slices and dot with butter here and there. (click on picture to enlarge).

Immediately bake the bread for about 20-25 minutes. (click on picture to enlarge)

Notes: it is important that the potatoes are mashed while still hot and mixed with the flours when cold. Warm potatoes make the dough gooey and tend to absorb lots of flour, ruining the final result.

Mashing the potatoes with a fork so that small pieces remain whole is better than using a potato ricer—the potato bits are tasty to find in the finished bread.