baker’s yeast

Butternut Brioche

If I’m remembering my childhood correctly, there was a time when I didn’t like winter squash. Hard to believe, because I can’t get enough of it now: roasted or steamed; stand-alone, stuffed, or in risotto or pasta; with sweet spices or savory herbs. On top of all that, I have discovered it makes a pretty darn good brioche.

This bread is only lightly spiced so the squash flavor really shines through. Feel free to increase or tweak the spices to your taste. Also, it has less butter and sugar than a typical brioche; if you leave the pecans off the top, it could pass for dinner rolls, but the nuts push it over into pastry territory in my book. Either way, I think it’s a delicious and festive addition to a holiday table.

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A Sweet Fast Track to Power and Charisma

If you want to win friends and influence people, you could read Dale Carnegie’s book and get some excellent advice. But I’ve found a faster way: bake cinnamon rolls and sticky buns.

Which is not to say that my way is at all inconsistent with Carnegie’s. Here are some of his principles:

Arouse in the other person an eager want. Simply pulling these rolls out of the oven should do the trick.
Start with questions the other person will answer yes to. “Can I interest you in a cinnamon roll? How about a sticky bun?”
Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest. “I suggest you clean the garage and then you can have one.”

See how that works? They will be putty in your hands.

You can of course tailor the recipe to your own tastes and those of your influencees. Substitute another spice, or a combination of spices, for the cinnamon. Add chopped dried fruits to the filling. Try a little citrus zest in the dough.

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Saltless Tuscan Bread

Salt is generally considered to be one of the four basic ingredients in bread (along with flour, water, and yeast). It contributes to flavor, of course, but also reinforces the gluten structure, controls (by slowing) the rate of fermentation, inhibits the oxidation that breaks down color- and flavor-enhancing pigments, and enhances the keeping quality of the bread. A dough without salt is likely to be sticky, slack, and hard to work with, and the resulting bread lacking in flavor and shelf life.

That said, there is one bread that is typically made without salt: Tuscan bread. The reason for the saltlessness is unclear; some sources say tha centuries ago, the government levied a hefty tax on salt that the Tuscans didn’t want to pay. Whatever the reason, the strong flavors of Tuscan cuisine are well-suited to a less strongly-flavored bread. This type of bread, which stales quickly, is apparently traditional for panzanella (tomato-bread salad).

For my first attempt at saltless bread, I adapted the Tuscan Bread recipe in Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. This version was interesting to me because it employs a technique in which a portion of the flour is mixed with boiling water into a paste the night before baking. This gelatinizes the starches in the flour, Renhart explains, which brings out distinct flavors that enhance the bread’s unique quality. The Tuscan Bread recipe in The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz includes a similar paste, which Oriz refers to as the bouillie (mush).

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Pesto Fans

I’m a big fan of pesto. In recent years I haven’t made it as much as I’d like because I haven’t had access to a ready supply of basil. Of course I could buy it, and sometimes did, but I got spoiled for fresh-picked basil pesto when we lived in Vermont and I had a decent vegetable garden, something I’ve never managed to quite get going in all the years we’ve lived in California. It’s quite lame, actually.

I’m happy to report that this year, inspired by my brother-in-law’s incredible garden, I now have a small plot of my own, a raised bed in our tiny but eminently sunny front yard. It’s not what the real estate agents would tell you makes for optimal curb appeal in this suburban neighborhood, but the back yard is just too shady for most summer vegetables. Grass lawns are so 20th-century anyway.

I got a late start, so while other gardeners around here are already harvesting squash, peppers, and tomatoes, mine won’t be ready for another few weeks. But I have herbs! Last night I picked the first basil of the season, and buried my nose in it for about 20 minutes before I got down to the business of making the pesto.

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Hamburger Rolls

Last weekend, we grilled the first hamburgers from our newly-joined meat CSA. They were most excellent accompanied by a little lettuce, tomato, and red onion on these rolls. I made everyone wait while I took a photo before we could eat. (This is just one of the ways I endlessly embarrass my daughter, who is convinced I lie awake at night plotting new ways to do this.)

The rolls are quite a bit more substantial than the squishy cottony ones that seem, unfortunately, to be standard cookout fare. With about 40% whole wheat flour, the crust is chewy-tender, the crumb soft but still hearty and flavorful. And they’re not just for burgers; they work for just about any sandwich. Sized a little smaller, they would also make fine dinner rolls.

The preferment in this recipe is prefermented dough (AKA “pâte fermentée” or “old dough”). This is essentially a simple white bread dough that has already undergone its first fermentation. You can make it from scratch, as described here, but if you have some extra dough left over from making French bread or pizza, go ahead and use that. Or, in a pinch, you can use store-bought dough (Trader Joes’ isn’t bad).

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Yellow on Yellow: Peach Brioche Tart

peach brioche tart before baking

Last Sunday’s baking was some brioche-crusted peach tarts. Just as the first one was ready to go into the oven, the early morning sun came streaming in through my dining room window.

I thought the streaks of light falling across the yellow fruit on yellow dough evoked the hopeful theme of Click! Yellow for Bri. This month, the photo event hosted by Jugalbandi supports a fundraiser for Brianna Brownlow (Figs With Bri). Please go read about it and donate now if you haven’t already. The tart will be here when you get back.

This is what the baked tart looked like:

peach brioche tart

The tart is very simple in construction: a disc of brioche dough spread with a thin layer of crème fraîche and topped with sliced fresh peaches. This is a great way to eat brioche because, as a crust, a little goes a long way. Although the butter content of the dough is quite high, the tart overall is not what I would call very rich, nor is it terribly sweet.

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