Wordless Wednesday—Christmas (cactus) in March

BBA Challenge Bread #36 — Stollen

No, you're not reading that title incorrectly or have slipped into a time warp and missed about eight breads. I finally got a chance to get back to BBA baking and am at the sourdough section. I didn't plan enough ahead and my starter wasn't ready. I'd neglected the poor thing and it needed lots of feedings and attention. While that was happening, I skipped past the sourdough section and landed on Stollen. And oh, what a landing.

I'm baking my way through Peter Reinhart's award winning book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, along with a number of other amateur bakers (I'm not sure how many are still with us, and a few have finished!). Want to join in the madness, or just learn more about this semi-crazy undertaking? Check out the following links:

• Pinch My Salt BBA Challenge page—master resource for the challenge
• Buy the Book Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
• List of Breads See what's coming up.
• Blogroll See who's baking. Great list of some amazing foodie (and not-necessarily-foodie) blogs.
• Flickr Group Photos, photos and more photos!
• Facebook
• Twitter Search for #BBA to find challenge tweets.

Stollen is an celebration bread, this time from Germany. We've baked a few other celebration loaves, including Artos, the Greek celebration bread, and Panettone, the Italian Christmas bread. I loved the Artos bread and will definitely make it again. After all, Easter is just around the corner. I didn't love the Panettone. It was just OK, but thought about giving it another shot.

Until I made Stollen. Like Panettone, Stollen begins with booze-soaked fruit, but they become distinctly different after that.


For one thing, this stollen comes togther very quickly–for a yeast bread, at any rate. It's a one day bread (not counting the fruit soaking) that mixes, proofs and bakes in about 4 hours. Trust me, that's lightning fast.


I started the fruit on Friday night. I decided to used orange extract and rum. It was cheap rum, but it's what we have. What can I say, we don't have snooty taste buds in this house. I mixed up the bread on Sunday, so the fruit had plenty of time to soak up all the flavor and plump up nicely.


The fruit-to-dough ration is pretty crazy. I thought the Cranberry Walnut celebration bread was packed. That has nothing on this. Check it out:



The shaping was tricky. I read and re-read the directions and couldn't quite figure out how what was described was what was shown in the book. I went by description, and it ended up being a pretty basic letter fold. You add extra fruit plus slivered almonds to the folds, bend it into a crescent then let it proof about an hour.






After baking, you immediately brush with butter. When I was doing some research on Stollen, I read where someone brushed with butter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, then repeated both, creating a much "crustier" sugar coating. I gave it a shot and it worked great.




I love this shaker. I have one for powdered sugar and one for flour. It's perfect for dusting cake pans.


I thoroughly enjoyed this bread. I keeps a long time because of the booze (nice) and gets better through the week. I loved it so much that I made another half batch this weekend. This time, I soaked the fruit in triple sec. WOW! Excellent flavor and none of the in-your-face alcohol flavor that the rum had on the first day (although it did mellow after the second day).

I even got the shaping right! Turns out the shaping is more of an accordion fold than a letter fold.

Man, I miss being able to take my food photos in natural light. Doesn't this look about a bazillion times better than the others?


If you like panettone or other celebration breads, I sincerely hope you give stollen a shot. It's SO worth it!

Dear Winter,

Hey. It's me. I know you and I have never been the best of friends and I've been mostly OK with that — although for the last few years it's gotten worse and worse for me. And I think it's time we called it quits. I know I'm not the only one feeling this way, Winter. SO many of my friends are feeling the same way.

You're a drag, man. Sticking around long past your welcome, dumping tons of snow all over the place. It's got to stop.

I know, I know. It's still only February but you have to admit that it's been too cold for too long and it's time for you to start moving on. I suppose this is where I'm supposed to say, "It's not you, it's me" but we both know that's not true. It's totally you. And a bit me, too. Fine, I confess that I have it out for you, I'll give you that.

It all comes down to this:  I am SO over you. Now get your stuff and GET OUT!

Sincerely,

Me

Random Dwight-isms

Dwight likes to pronounce superhero names as if they're someone's last name. Like, Joe Spiderman wouldn't be "Joe SPI-der-MAN", but "Joe SPI-der-men". Suddenly, Peter Parker's alter ego sounds vaguely Jewish.

Dwight almost never buys just one of something, particularly canned and packaged goods. I've caught this habit myself. It's maddening – and can lead to a REALLY full pantry.

Dwight can't make just "a little bit" of anything when he cooks. It comes from having been a short order cook and working in a kitchen when he put himself through college. When he makes chicken and dumplings, we could invite the entire neighborhood over and still have leftovers. But we don't because it's so good *I* want all of the leftovers!

Dwight talks to our cats at least as much as I do. (We talk to them like they know what the hell we're saying–silly humans.) At least a few times a week, I'll hear him talking from another room, and I'll holler, "Were you talking to me or the cats?" It's almost always the cats.

One time when I went away for a weekend visiting a friend, I came home and Dwight had repainted our bathroom (which is a BEAST to paint) and redecorated it a bit. It was like being on that show, "While You Were Out." It was SO cool.  He does that kind of thing a lot. I came home one day, and he'd completely swapped the furniture between the living room & the family room. Couches, chairs, end tables – the works. He switched around pictures, changed up the mantle – all by himself. When he's on a mission, watch out. The man knows how to get things DONE.

He's pretty cool.

Mozzarella Stuffed Bacon Pull Aparts a.k.a The Greatest Thing Ever

 
Seriously, this is the best savory bread I've ever made. Ever.

This is the best party food IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.

This would have been dinner Saturday night had we not already put the steaks on the grill and made the mashed potatoes and vegetables. As it was, Dwight, myself and our dinner guests had to exercise every bit of restraint we had to stop eating this bread so we could eat the rest of dinner. But I think we all would have been happy as clams had I only made this.

This is what I'm now calling my Electric Chair meal. If I were going to the electric chair, this would be what I'd ask for. This and a bottle of wine. Seriously.

I mean... just LOOK at this bread:


It's bread dough, enriched with butter and an egg, seasoned with oregano (God, how I love oregano) and basil (ditto). Bake that up and I'd be a happy camper. BUT WAIT. There's more.

Take 8 ounces of bacon, dice it, fry it and save the grease. Oh, yeah.

Take a bunch of green onions and chopp em all up.

Take half a dozen oil packed sun-dried tomatoes and chop THEM up.

Mix all of those together. And you start to realize that this really might be the best thing ever.

After proofing the dough, you divide it up and to form little rolls— BUT you wrap the dough around *sniff* fresh mozzarella. I know.

BUT WAIT.

After you roll up the cheese-stuffed ball, you roll it in — hold on — the reserved bacon grease and melted butter. I KNOW!

BUT WAIT.

THEN you roll the bacon butter coated roll in parmesan cheese and more herbs. Put them in a bunt pan and layer with the bacon mixture until you've rolled up the last, beautiful roll. Proof, bake, eat and die a happy, happy person. My rolls didn't really hold together as rolls, probably because we ate it about 5 seconds after it came out of the oven. We totally didn't care. We grabbed a couple of forks and dug in. It wasn't pretty:


Head over to the Choosy Beggars site for the full recipe and lots of great step-by-step photos. It's where I got the original recipe. The only changes I made are:

• I used almost 16 oz of fresh mozzarella, twice what's listed in the recipe. Hells yeah. (The recipe calls for bocconcini but my store didn't have them.)
• I didn't get scientific with dividing the dough and getting a certain number of pieces. I just snipped pieces and rolled them up. This is also why I ended up using so much cheese.
• I didn't use olives. I don't like them. Sorry.
• I ended up using about 4 cups of flour instead of 3-1/2. The dough was way too wet. Use your judgment.

Please, do yourself a favor and try this. But make sure you're having company over, otherwise you might disgrace yourself and eat the whole thing. I'm just looking out for your well-being.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

In case you'd forgotten, Sunday was Valentine's Day today. I know, it's basically a Hallmark holiday, designed to sell overpriced cards, mediocre chocolate and hothouse roses that will wilt and die in about 24 hours. Can you feel the love?

I won't lie and say it isn't nice to have a Valentine, despite the general bah-humbug-ness I have about the holiday. Dwight and I have been together for the past 14 years and I'm certainly not bah-humbug about that.

It's a lot different than it was for the first Valentine's Day. We'd only been dating a few weeks and were still a bit shy and nervous. We went out to a nice dinner, were on our best behavior and went through the agony of picking out just the right card – nice without appearing TOO forward or lovey dovey.

After 12-1/2 years of marriage, we no longer bother with dinner out. Instead, we took some NY strips out of the freezer, invited over another couple, and I made cheesecake. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, to be precise. Who needs to go out with that kind of menu?

And what says "I love you" more than Triple Chocolate Cheesecake? Not much.


Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
Adapted from Prevention.com

Ingredients
9 oz graham crackers, crushed (You can use chocolate wafer cookies instead. I just didn't have any on hand)
1/4 c Smart Balance spread, melted (can use butter)
2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
5 oz mini chocolate chips (about 2/3-3/4 cup)
3 pkgs (8 oz ea) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), at room temperature
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
3 lg eggs, at room temperature

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9" spring-form pan with oil.
2. Melt spread or butter. Blend graham crackers in food processor into crumbs. With processor running, slowly drizzle melted butter over crumbs until combined. Press into bottom and slightly up the sides of pan. Set aside.
3. In stand mixer or large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
4. Add sugar, cocoa, vanilla and salt. Beat well. Add melted chocolate.
5. Pour approximately half of the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle mini chips evenly over the top. Carefully cover with remaining batter, dropping by spoonful and gently spreading to evenly cover the chips.

(see the little chips in the middle?)

6. Bake for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. It will be slightly wobbly. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack, leaving the cake in the pan. Once cool, place in refrigerator overnight.

Ganache Topping
adapted from Smitten Kitchen (this is from the Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake I made for Dwight's birthday last year)

Ingredients
3 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 oz butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)

Directions
1. Place chocolate in small, heat proof bowl.
2. In small sauce pan, heat butter over medium low heat until melted. Add cream and heat until nearly boiling, stirring constantly. Don't over heat.
3. Pour hot butter and cream mixture over chocolate.  Let sit, without stirring, about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and sugar. Mix thoroughly with small whisk, stirring until smooth and glossy. Taste and add additional sugar if you want.
4. Pour over chilled cheesecake, smoothing the top. I let mine stay within the natural "well" the top of the cheesecake made, but you could push the ganach over the edges for an artful drippy look or cover completely.
5. Chill at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.


Now, I didn't do the whole water bath thing or prop the oven door after it's done baking thing because I wasn't worried about having a pristine top. I didn't care if this cracked because of the ganache glaze. The way I see it, the imperfection of the chasm means just that much more ganache for the lucky person or persons that get those slices.

How To: Make a Shrug from a T-Shirt

I found this quick and easy, not to mention super cute, sewing project at Cut Out & Keep, a craft tutorial site full of fun ideas. This t-shirt shrug is their most viewed project and third most popular and for good reason. It adorable and easy. I bought a $5 clearance shirt at Wal-Mart, but this would be great for the shirt you still love, but got shrunk in the dryer. Don't you hate that? Now you can give it a new life.

This is a perfect "first sewing project" for any age. I started sewing when I was about 10 years old, and this would have been an ideal project. I attempted to make a shirt from scratch with just two pieces of fabric, one for the front, one for the back. It hitched up in the armpits and was just about impossible to get in and out of. But hey, I tried! This would be much better. It actually fits!

When I saw this project, I immediately thought of dance class. It's often chilly in the studio in the winter, at least at the start of class, and I usually wear a cardigan or hoodie. This is a MUCH better alternative, which is why I went with a long sleeve shirt.


Lets get started. Here's what you'll need:

T-shirt, long or short sleeves, round or v-neck. (I used a ribbed shirt which might be a little harder to work with if you've never sewn before, so it's best to stick with a basic t-shirt knit if you're a novice sewer.)

Thread - matching or contrasting. Just remember that matching will blend so you won't see any imperfections.

2 yards ribbon or cord - I used drawstring like you'd find in a sweat shirt. If you want a less utilitarian look, opt for ribbon. 


Cut the shirt up the front in the center and around the collar.



Turn the shirt inside out. Fold cut edge in about 3/4" – 1". Because this is knit, you don't have to worry about it fraying. You don't need to make a traditional finished hem.


Here's where I ran into a slight problem and my first suggestion. There's a hard corner where the collar met the shirt. I ended up rounding it off a bit.


But I would recommend rounding it even more. I adjusted for the transition by gathering the edge a bit and could have done that a bit more to soften the transition. But if you round it out first, you'll eliminate the need or reduce it.



In order to match the other side, I took the piece I cut from the first side, matched it up, and cut along the same line. Much easier than eyeballing it.


Continue pinning all round.


Sewing time. This is the quickest part. Create a running stitch along the hem leaving enough room for the ribbon or cord. Double back on any corners and at the beginning and end. This just reinforces those areas. Trim the thread and turn the shirt right side out.


Put a safety pin at the end of the ribbon or cord and start threading it through the channel.



Done! But don't cut the ribbon until you've tried on the shirt! Leave the ends long until you know how much you need. Oh, and if you have kitties nearby, cut a piece for them before you start. That way they'll leave you alone while you work.


Try it on, adjust the ribbon as needed and bask in the glow of a job well done. Easy-peasy!




I must say that this is one of the very, very, very, very few times when being small-chested is a plus. The gathers are very flattering as is the neck line. That isn't to say you can't wear this if you have normal, adult female size breasts. You'll just have more of a va-va-voom thing going on.

Go forth and sew. And check out the original project page for lots of inspiration for kinds of shirts as well as ribbon and embellishment ideas.