Lessons Learned...

Several things motivated me to bake bread over the weekend: there was the nearly-empty bag of bread flour sitting on my pantry shelf taking up precious space, I was making lasagna for dinner and wanted a good bread to go with it, and most importantly, I had an inkling to bake something savory rather than sweet for a change.
Remembering also that I had a small bag of unused soy flour lurking somewhere in my kitchen, I decided to peek into a cookbook I haven’t picked up in years, The Whole Soy Cookbook, sweetly given to me by my younger brother almost 10 years ago. Inside, the recipe for soy parmesan focaccia caught my eye because it didn’t require a lot of ingredients, had only one rising time (yippee), and doesn't focaccia go so well with lasagna?
The recipe used a combination of both unbleached AP flour and soy flour, but leave it to me to not leave well enough alone. Remember that bread flour I mentioned? Yeah, you guessed it… I used this in place of the AP flour. Little did I think that bread flour, with its higher gluten and protein content, would create a texture that was not as soft and tender as I would have liked. Oh, the focaccia was not a complete disaster and actually looked quite lovely coming out of the oven but truthfully, I was disappointed with the toughness of the bread. On the bright side, I can probably still use this as a base for some homemade pizza, and if you really want to punch it up a little more, how about adding some sun-dried tomatoes or kalamata olives next time? Oh, and stick with the all purpose flour too. That’s key.

Soy Parmesan Focaccia (adapted from The Whole Soy Cookbook by Patricia Greenberg):
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
1 cup soy milk
1 package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 cup soy flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
Cornmeal, for dusting
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons or more chili flakes
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (or soy parmesan cheese if you'd prefer)

Directions
1. Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl and stir until yeast is dissolved and foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt, pepper, and rosemary; gradually add the yeast liquid, mixing thoroughly with a rubber spatula until a soft dough forms.
3. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes or until dough is no longer sticky (dough will be very sticky so add flour as needed).
4. Form dough into a ball and place in a slightly oiled bowl; cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F; line a11 x 17-inch baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal.
6. Flatten the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a rectangle to fit the baking sheet; sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese and the chili flakes. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Slice and serve hot.
(yields 8 large pieces)

Any Time Pumpkin Bread

I used to think that baking pumpkin bread was reserved only for the fall baking season, or for holiday gift-giving, but that silly notion was immediately put to rest after I started making this delicious, lowfat pumpkin bread. It's from a recipe I found on the Allrecipes website which uses applesauce in place of any oil or butter. Now I know you might be thinking that the lack of fat must also equal lack of taste, right? Wrong! This bread comes out as moist, tender, and rich in flavor as any full-fat quick bread I've ever made before. In fact, friends who have tasted this bread cannot believe it's actually "low fat", and usually, I just don't tell them. See for yourself and bake some of this luscious pumpkin bread. You'll make your tummy and your waist line very happy, and you don't even have to wait til Christmas or fall to do it. Enjoy! (click here for the recipe)

An Ode To Carbs...Homemade Pretzels

I am the first to admit that my pretzels really do not look like your traditional soft pretzel. Maybe a pretzel-goldfish is more accurate? Well, what can I say, I'm a little challenged in the pretzel-forming arena! In any case, I was pretty pleased with the way these "pretzels" turned out. Right out of the oven, they were especially soft and slightly chewy, and the sprinkling of coarse sea salt gave these a really nice flavor. I thought about baking these for Christmas gifts but discovered that to truly experience the deliciousness of it all, the lucky recipient really ought to receive the pretzels soon after baking. I'm talking maybe an hour or so after coming out of the oven. If that's not possible though and you'd still like to give someone these homemade pretzels, then just remember to tell them that a quick zap in the microwave ought to do the trick (I discovered this even a couple days after baking--the pretzel actually did become soft and chewy again). I cannot even remember where I found this recipe but I had it in my recipe file and recall making them once before. If you give this a try, let me know what you think and maybe someone out there can give me some tips on pretzel shaping? Enjoy!

Soft Baked Pretzels

1 package dry yeast

1 and 1/2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 cups AP flour (I used unbleached)

1 beaten egg

Coarse sea salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water; add sugar and flour and mix. Dough will be soft but not sticky. Add a little more flour if it is too sticky. Let dough rise for 30 minutes.

2. Cut dough into 12 pieces. Roll pieces of dough into 16-inch ropes. To make pretzels, curve ends of each rope to make a circle; cross ends at top, twist ends once and lay down over bottom of circle (or, be like me and shape them like goldfish)!

3. Spray cookie sheet with baking spray and arrange pretzels on sheet. Brush on egg and sprinkle with coarse salt if you'd like.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden in color.

One Potato, Two Potato...

Boy, this was challenging! I wasn't sure how my bread would turn out but as you can see from the photos, I managed to get through the November Daring Baker's Challenge in one piece. Honestly, I was semi-panicking throughout the process because my dough was soooo soft and sticky and hardly manageable that I almost threw in the towel (and threw out the dough!) half-way through. But, like any other Daring Baker would, I trudged along, determined not to quit and actually, my curiosity on how the dough would turn out got the best of me (thank goodness). I decided to make a black olive foccacia and some mini loaves, and to my amazement, the end-products were delicious! I've never baked a potato bread (or tasted one) before so I really did not know what to expect. What I got however was worth all the hard work and perseverance. Thanks Tanna of My Kitchen In Half-Cups, for thinking up this month's Potato Bread challenge! (If you'd like to try your hand at this recipe, click here).

I Kneaded That!

Well, okay, actually, I didn't, but since I love puns, I really wanted to use that line for the title of this post. I finally made the infamous “No-Knead Bread” that everyone was talking about some months back. You know, the one that was created by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery, and published in the New York Times. Many food bloggers before me baked this bread and wrote about how wonderfully amazing it was. Trying it myself was on my list of things to-do for some time now and over the weekend, I finally got around to baking it. You can still find the recipe here. You have to take your time with this recipe because of the extra long rising process that it entails—around 18 hours. The reward however is a carbohydrate-lover’s dream: a beautifully golden loaf of crusty-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside white bread that without restraint, can be easily devoured in one sitting. We enjoyed a few hearty slices of this for our Sunday morning breakfast while it was still warm, right out of the oven. It’s just as delicious all by itself or slathered with a bit of butter and strawberry jam.