Accounting for Taste

The Hubs and I are recipe testers for America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) and our particular task in this instance was to make the no-knead bread as directed and then fill out a survey. The drawback was, we couldn’t post the recipe until it appeared in their upcoming Everyday Bread book. Well now many months later, it is widely available in a multitude of stores.

ATK’s mission was to take baking all kinds of breads out of the once-in-a-while category and make it easy and accessible for your unique timetable. I’m not so sure I would categorize it as “easy” due to so many steps before you have a finished product. However, the results were fantastic!

The loaf is so superlatively hearty, yet it still maintains the moist texture and appropriate chew of a proper rustic loaf. I’m not a big bread eater so when I do occasionally indulge, I want it to have some healthy attributes, and this loaf delivers!

The flavor that the beer adds is preferred, but you can substitute an equal amount of water if desired. Be sure to score the dough ½-inch deep in step 9, and don’t be afraid to go back and slash the loaf again if the score isn’t deep enough.

No-Knead Seeded Oat Whole-Wheat Bread

Servings: 1 loaf
Time: 2 hrs, + 13 hrs rising and cooling
Difficulty: moderate
Print

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. raw pepitas
3 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds
4 tsp. sesame seeds
4 tsp. poppy seeds
2 tsp. caraway seeds
⅔ cup (2 oz.) old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup (4 oz.) boiling water plus 3/4 cup (6 oz.) room temperature water
½ cup (4 z.) mild lager, room temperature
1 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar
2 cups (11 oz.) bread flour
⅔ cup (3 ⅔ oz.) whole-wheat flour
1½ tsp. table salt
¼ tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and caraway seeds in bowl. Measure out 6 tablespoons seed mixture, spreading into even layer on rimmed baking sheet, and roast until seeds are lightly golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Reserve remaining untoasted seed mixture.
Meanwhile, combine oats and boiling water in medium bowl; let sit until water is absorbed and oats have cooled to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Stir in room temperature water, beer, and vinegar.
Whisk bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, yeast, and cooled, toasted seed mixture together in large bowl. Using rubber spatula, fold oat-water mixture into flour mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl and pressing dough until cohesive and shaggy and all flour is incorporated. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 18 hours.
Using greased bowl scraper or your wet fingertips, fold dough over itself by lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle and pressing to seal. Turn bowl 90 degrees and fold dough again; repeat turning bowl and folding dough 6 more times (total of 8 folds). Flip dough seam side down in bowl, cover with plastic, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Lay 18 by 12-inch sheet of parchment paper on counter and spray lightly with vegetable oil spray. Turn out dough (seam side up) onto lightly floured counter and pat into rough 9-inch circle using lightly floured hands. Using bowl scraper or your floured fingertips, lift and fold edge of dough toward center, pressing to seal. Repeat 6 more times (for a total of 7 folds), evenly spacing folds around circumference of dough. Press down on dough to seal then use bench scraper to gently flip dough seam side down.
Using both hands, cup side of dough furthest away from you and pull dough towards you, keeping pinky fingers and side of palm in contact with counter and applying slight pressure to dough as it drags to create tension. (If dough slides across surface of counter without rolling remove excess flour. If dough sticks to counter or hands, lightly sprinkle counter or hands with flour.) Rotate dough ball 90 degrees, reposition dough ball at top of counter, and repeat pulling dough until taut round ball forms, at least 4 more times.
Transfer dough seam side down to center of prepared parchment then spray or gently brush loaf with water. Sprinkle reserved untoasted seed mixture over top and use your hands to gently press seeds onto sides of loaf. Cover with inverted large bowl and let rise until dough has doubled in volume and springs back minimally when poked gently with your finger, 1 to 2 hours.
Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position, place Dutch oven with lid on rack, and heat oven to 475 degrees.
Using sharp knife or single-edge razor blade, make one 6-inch-long, ½-inch-deep slash with swift, fluid motion along top of loaf. Carefully remove hot pot from oven and, using parchment as a sling, gently transfer dough and parchment to hot pot. Working quickly, reinforce scoring in top of loaf if needed, cover pot, and return to oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake loaf in covered pot for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep golden brown and registers at least 205 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes. Using parchment sling, carefully remove loaf from hot pot and transfer to wire rack; discard parchment. Let cool completely, about 3 hours, before slicing.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen

A work of art—and not by me. Recently we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the home of friends Rosanne and Gary (Mr. and Mrs. Z, as you may recall). And the showstopper was the Rustic Pear Crostata, a recipe Mrs. Z. got from well-known chef Lidia Bastianich.

Now I know I’m not much of a dessert eater, but the crostata was a thing of beauty—and I’m sure those purple edible butterflies may have had something to do with the attraction. Yes, that’s correct, I did say edible butterflies. I was so intrigued, I questioned where Rosanne got them.

The answer? From http://www.DecoMachineLLC.com where they sell edible dessert toppers or, “pictures you can eat.” These are very thin and almost translucent (see through), similar to a “communion wafer” and are virtually tasteless, not sweet at all and, are sugar-free.

The Hubs LOVED his portion! He’s a pear man to begin with, and then served with a generous dollop of homemade whipped cream, you’d think he died and went to Heaven. He certainly didn’t decline the offer to take some of the leftovers home…

Couldn’t resist giving a shout out to my gal-pal for the fabulous dinner with the eye-catching finale! Drum roll please…

Rustic Pear Crostata

Servings: 8
Time: 2 hrs+
Difficulty: moderate
Print

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
8 Tbsp. very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 Large egg

Ingredients for the filling:

¼ cup apricot jam
2 Tbsp. sugar, plus more for sprinkling
3 Firm-ripe bartlett pears, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon juice
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 Large egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

Directions

For the dough, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Pulse just to combine. Scatter in the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the egg and 2 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl and pour over the flour. Pulse just until the dough comes together in loose crumbs. (Add a little more water if the dough is too crumbly or a little more flour if it is too wet.)
Mound the dough on a work surface and knead a few times to make a cohesive dough. Wrap in plastic and flatten into a disk.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to overnight. Let rest on the work surface for 10 minutes before you begin to roll it out.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, with a baking stone, if you have one, on the bottom rack.
For the filling, warm the jam in a small bowl in the microwave to thin it out, then stir in the sugar. Toss the pears, cornstarch, and lemon zest and juice until the cornstarch is absorbed. Drizzle with the jam mixture and toss to combine.
Roll the dough on a piece of parchment to a circle with a 13-inch diameter. Mound the pear mixture in the center, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Dot the top with the butter pieces.
Fold the crust over the top of the fruit, pleating as you go. Slide the crostata, still on the parchment, onto a baking sheet. Brush the crust with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake until the filling is bubbling and the bottom of the crust is crisp and golden, about 40 minutes. Remove to a rack and let cool at least 30 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature. If desired, shake on some powdered sugar just before serving.