Recipes That Rock: 2009

[eldereno]

That looks sooooo good. I have copied the recipe into my file and plan on making these very soon! Got to get my new fridge first.

[Anna N]

Starter is bubbling away! Hope to make these to serve to family tomorrow night!

Well I made these and they went over very well with a couple of my family members but I was very surprised at how "chewy" the bread turned out. I am not sure what I was expecting. This was a challenging dough to deal with especially the attempt to roll the cheese inside the dough. They spread out much more than I expected and perhaps this contributed to the rather heavy nature of the finished bread. Thank you for sharing.

[Aloha Steve]

They came out great ! My first attempt making bread from scratch to boot

If I was served this is a fine dining restaurant or bought it from a good bakery, I would be happy and satisfied.

Before baking:

After

Oooh- I'm making that this weekend! Nice job!

Any idea how well the bread keeps? Does it need to be refrigerated? I'll probably bring some into work, so just trying to decide what day to make it and how to store it. Also trying to figure out if I'll be able to keep my hands off of the extra loaf.

With cheese you cannot leave it out more than a few hours. I cut the second loaf into two, and froze both for later.

Like Anna found, it is a chewy bread, so I nuked the first loaf after it had sat for out for a 10 seconds, it became softer and the butter melted better too

Any ideas what we can do to make the bread less chewy and more flaky (perhaps) ?

Edited October 4, 2009 by Aloha Steve (log)

[baroness]

For a much different cheese bread/pastry, try King Arthur Flour's "Lighter than Air Parmesan Puffs." Recipe here! They were a huge hit at the VIP reception I just catered -- and even my human-food-disdaining CAT likes them. You can make them ahead of time and reheat as the recipe directs. The only problem with the recipe is the addictive results....

[maggiethecat]

This rocked my world: Michael Ruhlman's recipe for Baked Buttered Corn. Only four ingredients, including salt and pepper.As he says, it's a great way to use starchy late-season corn. I used three cobs, plenty for two people, but I was grouchy about sharing. It's that good.

[Sony]

With cheese you cannot leave it out more than a few hours. I cut the second loaf into two, and froze both for later.

Like Anna found, it is a chewy bread, so I nuked the first loaf after it had sat for out for a 10 seconds, it became softer and the butter melted better too

Any ideas what we can do to make the bread less chewy and more flaky (perhaps) ?

Thanks Steve! I actually ended up doing home deliveries for a few friends today (made 4 mini loaves). I didn't take pictures, but they turned out golden and lovely- not quite as deep brown as the pictures have appeared here or on the KA website.

Here are changes I made along the way, some accidental, some purposeful. None made for a flakier loaf, but I didn't consider the texture overly chewy. I suspect adding fat to the dough would make it less chewy, more tender, but not necessarily flaky unless it was solid fat cut into the dough coarsely and kept cold (I'm thinking about biscuits....) Not sure how this theory will translate in the real world.

1. I add gluten to AP flour to mimic bagged bread flour. 2 teaspoons per cup of flour has worked for me, but when I made the starter, I accidentally added 2 TB of gluten. Consequently added a bit more water to the starter to create a cohesive mixture, and cut back on the amount of gluten I added later.

2.The dough looked VERY wet while it was being kneaded in my breadmaker (started with the upper amount of water in the bottom of the bowl, dry ingredients have to go on top). I was very low on flour....So in the middle of the 1st mix, I started adding in toasted oat bran, 1 TB at a time, until it was a wet but vaguely manageable dough.

3. No pizza flavor or garlic oil. Added herbes de provence to the dough mixture. Instead of shredded cheese, I added 1 layer of thinly-sliced munster across the surface (leaving a small border around the edge). Topped loaves with a generous sprinkling of Parmigianno Reggiano.

The loaves looked gorgeous- and the one I tried out tasted GREAT. I didn't have the extensive lava effect, probably because of the reduction and adaptation in the type of cheese. But this method of rolling flavoring into a boule is one I plan to tinker with a lot. Thanks for this recipe, cooks with love!

[Aloha Steve]

Sony, your variations sound great !

I think I've got to try most if not all next time

[Anna N]

Cheap, easy and incredibly good! What more can you ask of a recipe? Here it is. Ordinary onions elevated to the realm of the divine. So maybe I'm a bit over the top but man these were good.

[Kerry Beal]

Cheap, easy and incredibly good! What more can you ask of a recipe? Here it is. Ordinary onions elevated to the realm of the divine. So maybe I'm a bit over the top but man these were good.

Sounds good - did you use curry or turmeric?

[llc45]

This rocked my world: Michael Ruhlman's recipe for Baked Buttered Corn. Only four ingredients, including salt and pepper.As he says, it's a great way to use starchy late-season corn. I used three cobs, plenty for two people, but I was grouchy about sharing. It's that good.

OOOOOHHHH - I'm so glad you made that. I saw it and thought it looked to die for. I've been traveling a lot in the last few weeks and hope I can still get corn.

[Anna N]

Cheap, easy and incredibly good! What more can you ask of a recipe? Here it is. Ordinary onions elevated to the realm of the divine. So maybe I'm a bit over the top but man these were good.

Sounds good - did you use curry or turmeric?

I used a mild Madras curry powder (I checked and it really is mild!) If I thought hubby would/could eat them I would have used turmeric since he has an aversion to even the word "curry"!

[Lapin d'Argent]

Cheap, easy and incredibly good! What more can you ask of a recipe? Here it is. Ordinary onions elevated to the realm of the divine. So maybe I'm a bit over the top but man these were good.

Now this looks like it could be a good addition to the Thanksgiving menu lineup; I'll have to do a test run soon. Thanks, Anna!

[Marlene]

Cheap, easy and incredibly good! What more can you ask of a recipe? Here it is. Ordinary onions elevated to the realm of the divine. So maybe I'm a bit over the top but man these were good.

Thanks for this Anna! I'll be trying these soon.

[JAZ]

I have a recipe to add from Melissa Clark found on The Wednesday's Chef blog. It's Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli. Fast, uses one pan and is so delicious! Try it and let me know what you think...

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

Meredith -- thank you so much for posting this -- Just finished eating it and had to post immediately as it was FANTASTIC! So easy, so good -- definitely a recipe that rocks!

At the risk of being redundant, I want to LAVISH praise upon the Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli recipe. This is like the definition of a recipe that rocks - fast, easy, unfussy, dirties just one pan and one bowl, and totally delicious. If you weren't convinced already, go and make it now!

I had shrimp in the freezer and broccoli in the fridge, and I remembered these posts so I gave the recipe a try. While the flavors were great and the dish was very easy, I had some problems with the recipe as written. First, I found the cooking time to be way too short for the broccoli. Fortunately, I tried a piece after 10 minutes (when the shrimp is supposed to be added) and realized there was no way it would be done when the shrimp was. Then, when the dish was done, it was quite dry -- not the shrimp, which were moist and done nicely -- but the whole dish. I served it over pasta, so I added a couple ounces of pasta water and a splash of olive oil and that helped.

I probably will make it again, but will try blanching or steaming the broccoli for a few minutes before roasting. I think that will keep some moisture in the broccoli while allowing it to become tender in the oven.