September | 2013 | onedadskitchen

Ciabatta, Ciabatta, You Bet!

I have always kind of shied away from making bread. I don’t really have any counter space to roll and knead dough out properly. Our kitchen is about the size of a closet with one small counter to do work on, so I have always been limited in what I can do. That being said, I have tried to get a little more adventurous and try some dough that can be done in the food processor or in a stand mixer. I love ciabatta bread, so that was immediately one of the first that I tracked down a recipe for. After finding a good one, I set about making it. You need to know you are doing this one a day in advance, so make sure you give yourself time to do it. It takes a lot of waiting but it’s worth it.

Homemade Ciabatta Bread

1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons warm water

1/3 cup warm water

1 cup bread flour

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons warm milk

2/3 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

To make the sponge: In a small bowl, stir together the 1/8 teaspoon of yeast and the 2 tablespoons of warm water and allow it to stand for 5 minutes, or until creamy. In a medium bowl, stir together the yeast mixture, the 1/3 cup of warm water and 1 cup of bread flour. Stir together for 4 minutes, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the sponge to stand at a cool room temperature for at least 12 hours and up to 1 full day.

To make the bread: In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 teaspoon of the dry yeast and the milk and allow it to stand for 5 minutes, or until it is creamy. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, blend together the milk mixture, the sponge, water, olive oil and flour at low-speed until the flour is just moistened; add the salt and mix the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

Let the dough rise at room temperature until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. The dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and cut it in half. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form it into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple the loaves with floured fingers and dust the tops of the loaves with flour. Cover the loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let the loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

At least 45 minutes before baking the ciabatta, place a baking stone on the oven rack with the lowest position in the oven and pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Transfer 1 loaf on its parchment paper to a rimless baking sheet with a long side of the loaf parallel to the far edge of the baking sheet. Line up the far edge of the baking sheet with the far edge of the baking stone in the oven and tilt the baking sheet to slide the loaf with the parchment onto the back half of the baking stone. Transfer the remaining loaf to the front half of the stone in a similar manner. Bake the ciabatta loaves for 20 minutes, or until a pale golden brown. Cool the loaves on a wire rack.

I was a little skeptical before I even tried the recipe how this would come out, but it was really good. The crust is perfectly crunchy with a great texture to the bread itself. Sean and I each had a slice while it was still warm and it was awesome. I then made a sandwich with the bread later on for dinner and it was fantastic. Michelle took a sandwich for lunch herself today. The only thing I might change is the shaping of the loaves. I did not shape them in the oval as recommended and went for a little bit of a longer loaf. I think the oval would work out much better and give you larger slices to work with. I will definitely be making this again. I know around here they get about $4.00 a loaf for ciabatta and I figure the cost of making two loaves at home is about a dollar, so it is certainly worth the time you put in. Most of the time is actually waiting for the dough to rise, so you don’t have a lot of effort to put in for great results and savings.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another new recipe that I have tried this week. We have tried several already, so I have a bunch of new ones to choose from. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on September 4, 2013 in Breads, Cooking

Tags: ciabatta bread, ciabatta bread recipe

A Sweet Treat – Heath Bar Brickle Drop Cookies

03 Sep

My wife makes great cookies. I don’t know what it is about them when she makes them, but they just come out better than anyone else’s cookies, most of all mine. That is why I leave the cooking baking to her. She is the expert. Michelle knows how much I like Heath Bars. Heath bars are really the only candy bar that I can say I really like and would eat regularly. I just love the English toffee in them. When we saw the Heath bar brickle bits in the supermarket not that long ago, Michelle knew right away I was going to want to try them out and have some cookies. This is the recipe that is right on the back of the package and is also available through Hershey’s website (the maker of Heath bars).

Heath Bar Brickle Drop Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 1/3 cups (1- 8 ounce package) Heath Bits ‘O Brickle Toffee Bits

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.

Beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl until blended. Add the eggs; beat well. Stir together the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in the toffee bits. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly and remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat the process with the remaining cookie dough.

The recipe says it makes about 6 dozen cookies, which seems to be about right. These cookies come out most and chewy and have the great toffee flavor to them. They go great with a nice cup of coffee or just as a midnight snack when you have to get up and walk the dog at night. For me, they rank right up there with Michelle’s chocolate chip cookies and her oatmeal raisin cookies, both family favorites around here.

That’s all I have for today. check back again to see what recipes come up next. I do have recipes for some polenta with roasted vegetables, a homemade Shake N’ Bake pork chops recipe, and I have the dough for the ciabatta bread proofing right now, so we’ll have that one this week as well and anything else that may come along that strikes my fancy. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal (or your cookies)!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on September 3, 2013 in Cookies, Cooking, Dessert

Tags: brickle drop cookies, dessert, Heath bar brickle drop cookies, Heath bar cookies, toffee bits

Rainy Labor Day? Make Some Indoor Beer Can Chicken

02 Sep

It looks like it is going to be a rainy, cloudy and muggy day here for Labor Day today, which may put a damper on some people’s plans for picnics or cookouts. While you may not be able to have the barbecue you were hoping for on the last unofficial day of summer, you can still have food that tastes just as great. I came across this recipe in the New York Times awhile back and have been waiting for the right time to use it and with the rain we had yesterday and the fact that I found a whole chicken on sale for $4.00 the time was right to give it a try. I have done beer can chicken outdoors before, but I had never ventured to try it in the oven.

Indoor Beer Can Chicken

1 whole chicken, about 4 to 5 pounds

4 tablespoons sweet paprika

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 can beer, ideally yellow in color, with the top half consumed or poured off

Remove the top rack from the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the neck and giblets from the chicken. Rinse the chicken well in cold water and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Combine all the spices together in a large bowl and blend. Apply the dry rub to the chicken both inside and outside. Place the beer can on a solid surface such as a counter top or tabletop. Pick up the chicken and, taking a leg in each hand, put the cavity of the chicken over the beer can and slide the bird down the can. Carefully transfer the bird and the can to a roasting pan and place the pan carefully in the oven.

Roast the chicken for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until the breast meat registers 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer or until the legs of the chicken feel very loose in their sockets. You can tent the chicken with foil after 45 minutes of cooking if you want to try to keep the skin from getting too dark. Carefully remove the chicken from the oven, remove the can from the chicken and allow the chicken to rest, tented loosely with foil, for about 10 minutes before carving.

The one I cooked was literally falling off the bone. It was very moist on the inside and the spices not only added great flavor but made for a super crispy skin that everyone just loved. You could easily just use this spice rub if you want to just roast some chicken pieces or do some chicken on the grill. You could also baste the chicken with barbecue sauce along the way as it roasts if you want that flavor, but I chose to just go with the dry rub this time. We had the chicken with some mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and biscuits and it was delicious. I’ll definitely be making this one again.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again during the week to see what else comes up. I have a few things on hand to make this week and I am going to get to the lemon icebox pie, ciabatta bread, some homemade pizza rolls, a new pork chop recipe and a nice polenta with roasted vegetables recipe I got from Williams-Sonoma. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on September 2, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Poultry

Tags: beer can chicken, indoor beer can chicken, new york times, New York Times beer can chicken

Best Summer & Picnic Side Dish Recipes : Cooking Channel

01 Sep

Best Summer & Picnic Side Dish Recipes : Cooking Channel.

It’s never too late to make some of these great side and picnic dishes. While they are perfect for your summer time events, who says you can’t use some of them all year round? Cooking Channel gives you some great options of things to make for yourself or bring to a party. Check it out!