Giada's Potatoes!

I came across a solid recipe from Giada's show on the food network the other day and gave it a go.  This is the third recipe of hers that I've tasted and the first that I've attempted to recreate.  I have to say...My love for Giada has grown after tasting this potato pancake recipe, that girl can cook!

Click for Recipe!

Saffron is Greek?

While doing some research on Greek Cuisine and the different regions of Greece, I came across an article which I found pretty interesting.  It turns out that Saffron is a Greek Spice!  Northern Greece's cuisine sounds a lot spicier than what I'm used to, and for that fact what most are used to from the Greek Culinary World.  Anyway, here's a link to the article...Enjoy!

http://www.nrn.com/article/cutting-edge-macedonia-thrace-greece

Puff Pastry

I'm not gonna lie, home made puff pastry is one of those things that involves a good amount of effort, but the end result is well worth it. So I grabbed my mixing bowl and got to work.

-3 cups AP FLOUR
-3 oz. BUTTER room temp. cut into little squares

I worked the butter into the flour with my fingertips until the bits of butter were about corn kernel size.

-2 tsp. SALT
-1 1/8 ICE WATER

Next, I diluted the salt into the water and slowly poured it into the flour and butter mixture. Mixing gently with a rubber spatula and then with my hands while forming a round cushion shape out of the dough. At this point the dough looked rough and flaky and almost falling apart, but that's exactly how I want it. I covered the ball of dough with a sheet of wax paper stuffed it into a zip lock bag and through it into the fridge for 30 minutes.

-12 oz. BUTTER room temp
-1/2 cup AP FLOUR

Next I grabbed the 12 ounce block of butter and pounded it down with my rolling pin until the thickness was about an inch. Next I worked the flour into the butter with the heel of my hand. With my dough scraper I folded the butter over itself and continued working in the flour. I worked quickly trying to avoid the butter from melting. I formed a 5" x 5" square about 1 1/2 inches thick then I went to grab my dough from the fridge.

I took my rolling pin and rolled out the ball of dough, bringing it down to about a half an inch thickness while maintaing a round shape which started to resemble a pizza pie. I then placed the square of butter in the center of the flattened dough, folding the dough around the square of butter creating a little package, then pinching and sealing the folded edges closed. Next I want to roll out the dough package into a rectangle shape 16 inches long and 8 inches wide flouring the top of the dough lightly as well as my work surface to prevent sticking.


This next process is referred to as turns 1 and 2.

Once I have my rectangle made I move onto the folding. I fold the bottom third over the center of the dough and then the top third over that creating something similar to a tri-fold pamphlet or brochure. Then with the folded edge facing me and to my right I rolled out the dough again creating another 16”x8” rectangle (turn #1). I repeated this process one more time folding in three and rolling out (turn #2), folded one more time and wrapped the dough in wax paper slid it into a zip lock and placed it into the fridge for an hour.


What makes this recipe intimidating for most in my opinion is how long it takes to complete, but most of the time is spent refrigerating the dough so you can get a lot of other things done in between each turning process.

Next on the list is turns 3 and 4.

I repeated the previous process two more times....folded...wrapped in wax paper stuffed into a zip lock, and then placed the dough back to the fridge for another hour.

I’m almost done...Turns 5 and 6.

Again I repeated two final times...folded...wrapped in wax paper...back in the refrigerator...and two hours later my homemade pastry was ready roll out and bake.

Another great thing about this recipe is that you can make this dough and freeze it until your ready to bake, so you can have homemade pastry whenever you want.

Enjoy!

Baby Artichokes

My first experience with baby artichokes was a messy and painful one at first but as I got through about 20 of them I figured out a little trick that helped me breeze through the rest of the batch. I realized that the top of the artichoke was the part with sharpest needles, so before I started peeling off the leaves I cut the top off of each artichoke. Only about a half an inch or so but it made a huge difference.

Artichokes brown very quickly after being cleaned so I filled a container with water and lemon juice (2-3 lemons). Supposedly, the acid from the lemons prevents them from browning.

We had some extra beer batter laying around, and I thought that it would be a cool idea. But first I needed to cook the artichokes and a quick boil would do the trick. About 15 minutes or so until they were tender.


BEER BATTER:

2 cups AP FLOUR
1 bottle of BEER
2 EGGS
2 tsp SALT
1 tsp PEPPER
1 tsp PAPRIKA

(Like I said the batter was already made but the recipe is very simple. Throw the dry ingredients + the eggs into a mixing bowl and hit them with a hand mixer while slowly pouring in the beer. The batter works better when on the thicker side so you might not need the whole bottle of beer.)

I ran some cold water over the artichokes to make the next steps a little easier, and then grabbed a frying pan with about a cup of vegetable oil. I dipped each artichoke into the batter one by one and gently placed them into the hot oil cooking until golden brown on each side, then removed them from the oil onto a plate covered with a couple of paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

Best if served hot with either Marinara sauce or skordalia (potato & garlic dip).

ENJOY!

Yet Another Bread Pudding...

My day off has me a little bored and left with not much to do but sit here and write on my iPad, so I decided to take some week-old bread that Dani brought home from the health food store and throw together a bread pudding. I guess I've been fascinated by the dessert recently and it's endless possibilities. I don't do much cooking at home besides the occasional scrambled eggs with bacon for breakfast, but honestly haven't even done that in a while.

Cutting up this bread was a little difficult...being a week-old it was almost petrified! I got through it anyway, cautiously crunching off the crusts with my wusthof that we got as an engagement gift a few months ago while trying not to chop off my fingers in the process. Getting all of my ingredients together was also a little tricky...like I said I don't do too much cooking at home so the supplies are sparse. I managed to put a few things together none the less.

-5 EGGS
-1 quart 1% MILK
-1 cup SUGAR
-1 tbsp CINNAMON
-1 tsp ALMOND EXTRACT
-1 VANILLA BEAN
-1 tbsp ORANGE ZEST
-1/4 cup DRIED FIGS chopped
-1/4 cup DRIED APRICOTS chopped
-1 stick of SALTED BUTTER

My reasoning for adding the butter was due to the fact that I had no heavy cream...so I had to rough it out with the 1% Milk in my refrigerator. But, after tasting the pudding I definitely could have done without it or maybe just a lot less…it didn't really mix in well with the rest of the ingredients. I whisked all the wet ingredients together, tossed in the chunks of bread and let them soak for a half an hour. Then I transferred everything into my baking tray loosely covering it with aluminum foil and slid it in to the oven which I preheated @325.

Baking time is normally 45 minutes-1 hour. Although the butter threw off the texture a little, I was very happy with the flavors. Next time I'll make sure I go to the store and pick up some heavy cream…should make a huge difference.

ENJOY!

Chocolate Bread Pudding

With HomeMade Challah Bread:

This recipe is great for all of that leftover holiday bread that nobody seems to want to even look at anymore. Once beautiful, soft and fluffy now stale and unattractively torn apart...its only hope_Bread Pudding. I guess the best way to describe it is like a warm chocolatey french toast.

12-1 inch thick SLICES OF BREAD
1.5 quarts HALF & HALF
10 ounces CHOCOLATE (bittersweet 75%, chopped)
1 tbsp COCOA POWDER
1/2 tsp NUTMEG
1/2 tsp CINNAMON
1/4 cup GRAN MARNIER
1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT
10 EGG YOLKS
1 1/2 cup SUGAR

So I grab to leftover stale bread and cut it into one inch by one inch squares while at the same time slicing off the crust. Next I pour my H & H into a 5 quart sauce pan, turn the heat on low and bring the temperature just to about 100 degrees. An easy way to measure the heat is just above body temperature, so I dip my finger in (clean finger) periodically to get it just right…warm but not hot.

At this point I take the H & H off of the stove and add in the chocolate and stir it in until completely dissolved and resembles chocolate milk...which it pretty much is. Next I add in the cocoa powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, gran marnier and stir again.
In a separate bowl I throw in the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract and blend together with my hand mixer until creamy and smooth. Then I add the two together_similar to the method we used for "galaktobouriko". I stirred this up and threw in the bread to let it soak up this chocolatey mixture for 30-40 minutes.

Then I pour everything into a 4 inch deep baking tray and cover it loosely with aluminum foil. I punch a few wholes in the foil with my knife and throw the tray into the 325 degree preheated oven.

45 minutes later…we were ready to eat some "clog your heart up" bread pudding. Definitely not for the health conscious people out there but it is damn good.

ENJOY!

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Crappy Coffee

I came across this article today in the NY Times and one thing came to mind after reading it…Who was the sick bastard who actually thought to boil these shitty coffee beans and drink them. I can picture him afterwards chasing this little animal around to scoop up it's crap for his morning brew.

Must be a good cup of coffee. $227/lb

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/world/asia/18civetcoffee.html?emc=eta1

How to Make Galaktobouriko

::GREEK CUSTARD WRAPPED IN PHYLLO::

If you're familiar with the Greek language at all you'll notice that the first part of this long scary word means milk_"gala". Milk in this case makes up a good portion of this recipe, which I grew up eating trays full with a fork and a smile, while butting elbows with my brother over the last bite.
This recipe is fairly easy but does require a good amount of patience. You'll see why in a minute.

First I grabbed all of my ingredients.

-1 gallon MILK
-3 1/2 cups SUGAR
-2 1/2 cups SEMOLINA
-18 EGG YOLKS
-1 whole LEMON PEEL
-1 tbsp VANILLA extract
-1 box PHYLLO #7
-1/4 lb melted BUTTER

I grab a pot, pour in the milk and turn the stove on medium heat. Heating up the milk before hand helps speed up the thickening process. Then I grabbed my mixer and a bowl and threw in the sugar, vanilla and egg yolks and blended them together with my hand mixer. Starting slow as always to make sure that everything stays in the bowl and doesn't splatter all over the walls. I continue mixing till the mixture is thick and turns a creamy eggshell white color. This process takes approximately 3-4 minutes.

The temperature of the milk at this point should be a little above body temperature and thats exactly what I'm looking for. So I pour my semolina into the milk and stir until the mixture is well combined and the semolina isn't clumped up at the bottom.

Now it was time to combine the two mixtures together. So, I grabbed my rubber spatula and slowly poured the creamy egg yolk and sugar mixture into the milk and semolina. At this point I turn the heat on high, and throw in the lemon peel.

Now the stirring begins and continues for the next 10-15 minutes. Any stirrer seems to work at this point but after a few batches of practice I found that the rubber spatula is the best tool for the job. I stir and stir making sure that the bottom doesn't burn, and it will burn fast if I don't. The mixture thickens pretty quickly and as soon as I see large bubbles, my job is complete.

The next part of the recipe deals with the phyllo. I will post a video on "How to Wrap Galaktobouriko". Check back in soon!

Holiday Breads…Challah/Penia/Tsoureki

Last week was full of all different types of ethnic cuisine, more specifically some
very good holiday breads. The Jewish have their challah, the Italians have their penia, and us Greeks have our tsoureki. (the French also have their brioche which are very similar to the Italian penia and the greek tsoureki which are highly enriched
with milk and butter, but I'm not sure if this is their traditional Easter bread)
Challah is traditionally served during passover and usually consists of a large number of eggs, all purpose flour, water, yeast and sugar. There are variations to the basic challah where whole wheat or spelt are substituted for the All purpose flour and where molasses or honey are substituted for the sugar. The main difference between the other holiday breads that I've mentioned is that challah is not traditionally made with any milk or butter (parve).

Penia is an Italian Easter bread similar to a brioche with addition of lemon zest, juice and anise. Traditionally brushed with egg then topped with sprinkles.


Tsoureki is the bread that I'm most familiar with. My mother makes it every Easter and she stays pretty true with the traditional recipe, which consists of eggs, milk, yeast, sugar, mahlepi (is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of the St Lucie Cherry), orange zest and mastic which is an aromatic resin obtained from the mastic tree, also used to make chewing gum. The loaves are then brushed with an egg wash and topped with seeds, most commonly sesame.

Well, I made my own version so call it what you will.

-1 1/2 cups WATER (warm)
-1/2 cup MILK
-4 EGGS lightly beaten
-3/4 cup of HONEY (warm)
-1/2 cup BUTTER (melted, but not too hot)
-1 1/2 tbsp YEAST
-1 tbsp ORANGE ZEST
-7+ cups of AP FLOUR
-1 1/2 tbsp SALT

So I grabbed my mixer bowl and threw in all the above ingredients except for the salt and flour. I mixed everything well and made sure that the honey didn't settle at the bottom of the bowl. Next I threw in the flour and salt, I never let the yeast come in direct contact with the salt that is why I always add it mixed in with the flour. I allowed the mixer to do it's thing for the next 5 minutes and then kneaded with my hands for another 5 minutes.

After rising for about 2 hours I punched down the dough to release all of the air bubbles and put aside to rise again. A second rise allows the dough to become much lighter in weight and texture.

Now it's time for the rolling and braiding of the dough. I ripped off 3 grapefruit size pieces of dough and rolled them out so each rope was about an inch and a half thick and about ten inches long. Next I lined up the ropes of dough vertically and made a simple braid. This part I have to give credit to my fiancé for cause I've never braided anything In my life. This recipe is good for about 4 good sized loaves so I placed the finished loaf on a buttered baking sheet and continued working on the next three loaves.

Once finished I covered them loosely with a dry towel and let them rise again for another hour. Finally, I placed the trays in my 300 degree heated oven and cooked for about 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

I hope you give this recipe a try, you'll be very satisfied with the end result even though it is a little time consuming.

How to Make Spinach Pie..aka..SPANAKOPITA

The clearest memory I have growing up was the smell from my mothers kitchen.  A lot of great food came out of that kitchen from Avgolemono Soup to Galaktobouriko, but the one smell that I can remember most was the Spanakopita.  The butter starting to brown the phyllo, the melting feta cheese, the unmistakeable smell of the dill and leeks...just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

-1.5 tbsp EVOO

-1 LARGE ONION

-4 cups LEEKS

-2 cups SCALLIONS

Starting with the prep work I finely chopped all my veggies.  Then I turned the stove on high and threw in the Olive Oil.  Next I added the onions, leeks and scallions. I let those cook down for about 15 minutes while stirring frequently.

-6 lbs frozen chopped SPINACH

-1 cup DILL

-1 tbsp SALT

-1 tsp PEPPER

Once the onions are cooked down I add the Spinach and Dill and mix together with the sauteed veggies.  I did this on medium heat for about 10 more minutes while stirring until the Spinach absorbed the flavors of the other vegetables.  Then I added the Salt and Pepper.  At this point a take the filling off the stove and I'm ready to move on to the next steps.

-1.5 lb RICOTTA CHEESE

-1 lb COTTAGE CHEESE

-1 lb FETA CHEESE

-4 EGGS lightly beaten

Now for the cheesy goodness!  First I crumbled in the feta cheese, then I added the eggs, ricotta and cottage cheese. Mixed it all together and that was that.

Now it was time to fold the pies in the phyllo dough and before I get into trying to explain the steps in this post, I shot a video (coming Soon!) to give you a better idea on how it went down.  ENJOY!

Truffled Feta Pies.

I guess this is a spin on Greek Cheese Pies (Tiropites) and a Broiled Feta appetizer called "Feta Fotias" which I tried a few years ago in Astoria, Queens.  First I grabbed my puff pastry (I made it from scratch, but the any puff pastry you find in the super market is ok) and rolled it out to about a quarter of an inch thick.  then I grabbed a round object to use as a stencil which in this case was a soup bowl almost 5 inches in diameter.  I then took my pairing knife and carefully cut out each piece of pastry, lightly floured each side and stacked each piece on top of each other.

-FETA CHEESE

-DRIED FIGS

-CREMINI MUSHROOMS

-SOPRESSATA

-TRUFFLE OIL

-fresh PARSLEY

-PAPRikA

-2 EGGS

I didn't really measure everything exactly on this one but I guess that's why I like it...you can't really mess it up.  If you want it a little cheesier, add more cheese...a little sweeter, add more figs...and so on.  One thing that I should mention is be careful with the amount of Truffle Oil that you use because it is very strong stuff, a little goes a very long way.  I thinly sliced the mushrooms and sopressata, and gave a rough chop to the feta, figs and parsley.  I mixed everything up in a large bowl tossing everything for a few minutes.

First I scrambled the eggs and grabbed my pastry brush. Then I brushed some egg onto one side of the pastry circles (you can easily do up to 3 at a time).  Next I placed a small handful of the mixture on the bottom half of the circle leaving a little border of egg wash untouched.  Folding the top part over with both hands while I pinch the ends closed making a half circle.  Finally, I transferred each onto a lightly buttered baking sheet leaving one inch in between each pie, and brushed a little egg wash on the top.  Then into the oven at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.  

How To Make Baklava!

Today was a pastry day, my Thia Amalia taught me how to make baklava!

-5 cups Chopped Walnuts

-1/2 cup Sugar

-1 tsp Ground Clove Spice

-1 tsp Cinnamon

-1/4 tsp Nutmeg

-1 lb. Unsalted/Sweet Butter

-2 boxes Phyllo Dough #4 weight

This recipe is pretty easy if your accustomed to working with phyllo...if not, it takes a little getting used to.  Grab a mixing bowl and through in your chopped walnuts (if you can buy them chopped great, if not just throw them into a food processor), sugar, clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg all together and mix well.  That's about it for the filling...Easy so far, right?

Next we get to the more complicated part...working with the dough.  Luckily I made a video to make it a little easier!  ENJOY My Baklava Youtube Video

Tartar Sauce...

-2 EGG YOLKS

-1 EGG

-1 tbsp SALT

-1 tbsp PEPPER

-1 tbsp DIJON MUSTARD

-2 cups high quality OIL (salad or olive)

-1 KOSHER DILL PICKLE minced

-2 tbsp CAPERS minced

-2 tbsp PARSLEY chopped
-2 tbsp SUGAR

-pinch of CAJON SPICE

-LEMON JUICE or WHITE VINEGAR to taste

All in All I have to say this isn't one of my favorites, but this is supposed to be a journal of everything that I make so here it goes.  I started with the Egg and the Egg Yolks blending them together for about 1 minute with my hand mixer.  Having all of my ingredients within hands reach I grabbed the Salt, Pepper and Dijon Mustard and tossed them all in together.

With the mixer still working I poured in the Oil.  I used a measuring cup with the pouring spout so that I could pour the oil in very slowly with my left hand while still mixing with my right.  It helps to put a towel under your bowl so that it doesn't slide all over the place.  I kept mixing till the "mayonnaise" at this point became really thick.  Do not over mix or the oil and the eggs will separate.

Next I chopped up the pickle, capers and parsley and tossed them in along with the cajon spice and lemon juice and mixed them all together.

If your feeling up to the challenge and really feel like the jarred tartar sauce isn't cutting it...give this a try...or if you have another recipe, send it my way.

update...my buddy Rich suggested I add a couple tablespoons of sugar...well he was right, the sugar definitely brought the sauce to another level.

The Madeleine

 -3 EGGS
-1/4 tsp SALT
-1 cup SUGAR

-1/3 of a VANILLA BEAN

-1 cup ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

-1/4 lb BUTTER

The first time I ever heard about these cookies was in the movie "Transporter", and I've wanted to make them ever since.  All in all it turned out to be a very easy recipe, but first I needed to go buy a madeleine baking sheet.  It was about twenty bucks form Bed Bath & Beyond.

First I melted the butter and let it cool down until it almost became solid again.  Then I preheated my oven to 375 degrees and lightly buttered and floured the baking sheet.  Next I grabbed my mixing bowl and my handheld mixer and blended the Eggs, Salt and Sugar together until the mixture became thick.  At that point it started to resemble pancake batter.  Then I grabbed the flour and started to fold it in to the egg mixture, a rapid but gentle fold.  After all the flour was mixed in I grabbed the congealed butter and repeated the previous process of folding rapidly.

All that was left to do was grab a soup spoon and drop the mixture into the moldings of the baking sheet.  One at a time I filled them almost 3/4 of the way up allowing some room for the cookies to rise.

Into the oven they went for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Once on the cooling rack I finished them off with a little powdered sugar.

Awesome cookies!  I highly recommend giving this recipe a go!

How to Make Greek Stuffed Peppers.

How to Make Stuffed Peppers:

Today I learned how to make Stuffed Peppers.  This is broken down into three sections:

1.  PREPPING THE PEPPERS.

-16 Large GREEN BELL PEPPERS

We were gonna make enough for 8 orders so I grabbed 16 Green Bell Peppers, a pairing knife and got to work.  I cut the tops off of the peppers leaving just a little rim so that the stuffing won't pour out in the oven.  Then I cleaned them out removing the seeds and the excess white rhine, doing the same for the severed tops.  Once I finished with the cutting and gutting I brought them over the sink and thoroughly washed them all.

2. GROUND BEEF & RICE STUFFING.

-2 minced ONIONS

-5 cloves of minced GARLIC

-1/2 cup chopped PARSLEY

-3 tbsp EVOO

-2 tbsp CHICKEN BASE

I started by prepping all of my vegetables and put my large stock pot on the stove.  I add the Olive Oil, then the Onions and Garlic.  I let those cook partially covered and stir them frequently until they're cooked.  I add the parley, and the chicken base and stir it all together before adding the ground beef.

-5 lbs GROUND BEEF 85% lean

-3 tbsp SALT

-2 tsp PEPPER

-2 tsp CUMIN

-3 cups TOMATO SAUCE

-1 cup WATER

Once I put the beef and the spices in I grab my potato masher and start breaking down the beef.  I do this for about 10 minutes pretty frequently, then I stir everything with my wooden spoon.  Once the meat is cooked halfway I added the tomato sauce and water and let the meat cooked almost all the way through and then add my rice.  Once I add the rice I have to stir frequently so it doesn't stick to the pot.  Continue for about 10 minutes until the rice is just a touch undercooked.  Off the stove and allow to cool dowon for about 15 minutes so the mixture is easy to work with.

Once cool enough to work with, we start stuffing the peppers.  One tablespoon at a time until each pepper is filled to the top.  Then I grabbed the tops of the peppers which I placed to the side earlier and capped of the peppers.

3. SAUCE

-1 cup TOMATO SAUCE

-1 cup WATER

-1/2 cup chopped PARSLEY

-1 tsp SALT

-1 tsp PEPPER

-1/2 cup OLIVE OIL

Throwing all the above ingredients into a measuring cup, I grabbed a whisk and blended everything together.  Then I poured the sauce onto the peppers which I laid out in a deep baking tray.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and put them into the oven @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the aluminum foil and cook for another 20 minutes to brown the peppers.

They are traditionally served with potatoes which you can quarter and cook in the same tray with the peppers.

pictures coming soon...

My First Go @ Baguettes.

Today I'm taking on the task of learning how to form a traditional baguette.  I will be using as my reference "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child.  For this first trial I will be using the recipe from my previous post "Baking the Perfect Loaf" with a different technique in rising.

So with our dough mixed with our kitchen aid, and kneaded for a good 10 minutes, I place the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover with my lint free towel.  I let the dough rise initially for 2-3 hours and it pretty much tripled in size. (see photo)  I removed the dough onto my lightly floured counter top and punched it down to release all of the air bubbles.  All punched down the dough resembled an enormous pizza.  Now I folded the dough over itself starting with the left side, then repeated with the right side to form a round pillow shape.  I threw the dough back into the mixing bowl and set it to rest for another 2 hours.

Next, I pushed out all of the air bubbles from the dough for the second time and then cut the dough into 8 equal portions.  I folded each portion in half over itself and place them aside on a lightly floured section of my counter, covered them with plastic wrap and let them sit for 5 minutes.  This gave me enough time to get my tray and floured table cloth ready.  I grabbed my full size baking tray and placed a table cloth over it covered with flour that I rubbed in by hand.  This part can get a little messy!

This is where the loaves start to take their form.  This technique is broken down by Julia Child into 7 steps.

Flatten the dough with the palm of your hand.

Fold the dough over itself and pinch it closed with your thumb.

Rotate the loaf so that the seam is point up towards the ceiling.

Flatten the dough again.

Make a crease down the center of the dough (the long way) with the Karate chop part of your hand.

Fold the dough over itself and pinch it closed again with your thumb.

Roll out the loaf to form your baguette.

My ends seemed to be sliding all over the place on this last step not allowing me to make the ends pointy enough...I guess I had to much flour on them...so I lifted each end up of the table one at a time and rolled them in between my hands until I got the points I was looking for.  As soon as I have it rolled out to the length that I want, I picked it up gently and placed it on the floured table cloth.  Repeating the same steps for the next loaves.

Almost time for these babies to go into the oven but first I have to cover them with a few towels and let them rise for another 1-2 hours.  I let about an hour and a half go by until I pre-heated my oven to 450F.  I also took this time to get another baking tray buttered and ready to go.  For the next step I had to get a little creative.  It called for a flat long wooden board..of which I had none.  So I cut a piece of cardboard as long as my loaves and covered it with aluminum foil.  This acts basically like a transfer sheet from your floured table cloth to your lightly butter baking tray where they are then baked off.  It seemed to do the trick.  Transferring each loaf one at a time over to the buttered tray (the side that was laying on the floured table cloth facing up at the ceiling) leaving a good 3 inches between each loaf.

This is where I get a quarter cup of milk and lightly brush the tops of my loaves.  Next I made three long gashes vertically down each loaf less than a quarter inch deep, and Finally they're ready to go into the oven!  About 20-25 minutes until golden brown and they make a nice hollow thud when tapped with your knuckle.  I was amazed at how light these loaves came out...and overall very happy with my first go @ Baguettes.  Let me know how yours come out.

How to Roll Grape Leaves

Today I learned how to Roll Grape Leaves ...aka... Dolmades.  Normally you would prepare the stuffing first but this journal isn't meant to be in any particular order.  I will get to the rest of the recipe soon, but for now...just Rolling.

So with that out of the way, here is what I've learned.

First we get our grape leaves out of the jar and rinse them off under some cold water.

Next I grabbed my pair of poultry shears to clip off the stems.  Give a quick reference to see that I made sure not to clip to much off to prevent the leaf from tearing.

Once I've got them all clipped it's time to start rolling.  I grab about a tablespoon at a time of the filling and roll it into an oval meatball shape.  Take one leaf and lay it flat on its back, and place the "meatball" towards the bottom flaps of the leaf.

Now, fold over the bottom flaps...Then the side flaps...Holding it all together firmly, roll forward.

This technique is very similar to how we fold our spinach pies, so it was pretty easy for me to pick up.  After three or four you should be able to do it with your eyes closed.  Repeat the process you run out of stuffing, and be carefull not to use up all of your leaves 'cause you will need enough extra leaves to line the bottom of the pot.  Again, we'll save that for next time...

Trying to Bake the Perfect Loaf.

-2 cups WARM WATER

-1 cup WARM MILK

-1 tbsp SUGAR
-1 tbsp DRY YEAST
-6+cups ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

-2 tbsp SALT
-1/4 cup MILK (to brush your loaves)

...Add the Water, Milk, Sugar and Yeast into your mixer bowl and whisk them together until the yeast and sugar have dissolved.  Can be made without milk...Although it seems to give the crust better color.


...Then, add the Flour and Salt to you yeast mixture, and start mixing.  Mix for 3-5 minutes.  Dough texture should be a little sticky but firm.


I use a regular kitchen aid mixer with the dough hook attachment.  Start on low so your flour doesn't end up everywhere, and gradually turn up the speed when you see there is no more loose flour.  Most kitchen aid's tell you no to go past level 3 on you mixer with heavier doughs, so I would listen to them.


After the dough is mixed I place it on a lightly floured table and start to gold and knead for 5-10 minutes...adding a little flour when the dough starts to stick.  The more you knead your dough, the lighter your loaf will be resulting in bigger air pockets inside the bread.


Place your dough back into your mixer bowl and cover with a clean lint free cloth.  Let rise for an hour or more till the dough has doubled and you start to see little bubbles forming on the surface of the dough.  For a deeper flavor allow to rise over night in the refrigerator.  You can also store the dough at this point in the fridge with a loosely covered container for up to a week, possibly longer if you don't use any milk in your recipe.

At this point I usually get my baking trays ready. I use semolina to powder the trays so that the bread doesn't stick, this also adds a nice layer of crunch to the bottom crust.
Now it's time to form the loaves, but It takes a little time to get comfortable working with dough. Just keep your working area and your hands lightly floured and start by folding a small grapefruit size piece of dough around itself to make a ball shape. Then roll the ball firmly with the cup of your hand in a circular motion on your table. It's best to use a spot on your table with no flour...a little friction on the table makes the ball shape better. You can stop there and just bake them off as dinner rolls or roll them out as I did.

Once you have them all laid out on your tray, ( make sure to leave a good 3 inch gap between each loaf so they don't join together during the proof ) grab your brush and a 1/4 cup of milk and lightly brush the tops of the loaves. This is where I get a little anxious and I wanna just throw them in the oven. But the longer the bread proofs ( second rise ) the lighter and better your bread will come out. I'd say about 2 hours is a good amount of time. Right before you pop them in the oven grab a serrated edge knife ( the rounded edge ones work best...the pointier the edge on the knife the more it seems to pull the dough making uneven cuts ) and make 3 semi-deep slashes on the top crust of the bread.

They're now ready to go into the pre-heated oven at 375-400 F and bake till golden brown...normally around 30-40 minutes.

ENJOY!