Bread Baking: Sweet Potato Bread

From Recipes [ Photograph: Donna Currie ] When I go to a grocery store, after I’ve found the things I came for, I always scout around for interesting new ingredients. When a new ingredient is something I can use in bread, I silently “squeee” a little bit before I toss my prize into my cart. My latest find was at Whole Foods and the ingredient was at the same time exotic and familiar. Sweet potato flour. Squeeeee! I’ve used white potatoes in bread, and I’ve used instant mashed potato flakes. And I’ve used winter squash purée. For no good reason, I’ve never used mashed sweet potatoes in bread, but this was even better. This is flour, so it’s shelf stable. And since it’s dry there’s no need to make late adjustments for the unknown amount of liquid in mashed potatoes. White potatoes make bread fluffy but they add no flavor. When I added squash to bread dough, it made the bread a very pale orange, and the flavor was very subtle. But like dried herbs that are stronger than fresh ones, the dried sweet potatoes in the flour added a very distinctive flavor. The color wasn’t a bright orange like my double-tomato flatbreads. Instead, it was an earthy orange-tinted light …

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Bread Baking: Almond Rolls

From Recipes [ Photograph: Donna Currie ] These rolls have a layered dough, sort of like croissants, but they’re as easy as pie crust. Or, if you think pie crust is difficult, disregard that last sentence. They’re pretty easy, considering the result. This dough is actually pretty hard to mess up. If you process the butter too much or let it get too soft during the rolling, it will incorporate more into the dough and you’ll end up with a sweet, buttery soft dough with lovely layers. It won’t be as flaky as one where the butter was kept chilled and stayed separate from the dough, but neither result is bad. Almond filling can be found at most supermarkets. It’s been sold since I was a kid. It’s the flavor that I remember from bakery almond confections way back when. I’ve tried some boutique brands of almond spreads, but they just aren’t the same as the old-fashioned grocery store brand. If you don’t like almonds, you can substitute your flavor of choice. These would be nice with a simple sprinkle of cinnamon or a nice dollop of thick jam in the center. And if you really like almonds, you could sprinkle some on top, after the…

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Bread Baking: Dressed-Up White Bread

From Recipes [ Photograph: Donna Currie ] If you’re going to serve a loaf of bread to company, why not make it pretty as well as delicious? This one looks impressive, but it’s simple to do. As far as flavor, I brought this one to a potluck, and one of the comments was that it was so good, it didn’t need butter. It’s not a plain white loaf – there’s semolina and oatmeal to add character and flavor – but it’s also very approachable for diners who aren’t adventurous. And while it’s a dressy-looking bread for dinner, the leftovers are perfect for breakfast toast or lunch sandwiches. If you don’t need a fancy loaf, you can skip the snipping and make it a plain loaf. Or use the snipping technique with your own favorite bread recipe. About the author: Donna Currie has been cooking for fun and writing for pay since the days when typewritten articles traveled by snail mail. When she combined those talents in a food column for a newspaper in her area, she realized that writing about food is almost as much fun as eating. She most recently launched the blog Cookistry and has now joined the Serious Eats team with a weekly column about baking. Ingredients 1 cup lukewarm water 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 …

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Equipment: The Best Mixing Bowls

Follow Kenji on Facebook or Twitter . The way I cook, mixing bowls are almost as essential as cutting boards, knives, and pots and pans. I simply couldn’t do without them—preferably in a good assortment of sizes. For me, the ideal mixing bowl must have the following features: Durability . My bowls go through a lot of abuse. I don’t want a bowl that will overly warp, dent, crack, or chip. For instance, the Pyrex Prepware 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set ($15.79) that often comes highly recommended has a fatal flaw: the corners chip very easily. In some kitchens I’ve worked in, over half of the glass bowls had chips on their edges. Where do these glass bits go? On the floor? In the food? I’d rather not find out . An all-metal bowl is a much better option. Stain and Odor-Proof . Plastic bowls, like the Mixing Bowl Set from Trudeau ($16.95) can absorb odors from vinaigrettes or become discolored from canned tomatoes or oil-based products. Once again, metal is the material of choice. Wide and shallow shape . Bowls with really high sides, like the Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set from Cuisinart ($54.95) or the Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls from All-Clad ($99.99) make whisking and stirring difficult …

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Bread Baking: Crispy Rye Breadsticks

From Recipes “In theory, they can last a long time. In practice, they disappear pretty quickly.” [ Photograph: Donna Currie ] I adore breadsticks. They’re nice at the dinner table with just a touch of butter, make a great little snack, and a lot easier to make than most people imagine. As a snack, breadsticks aren’t the worst you could do. They’re not as salt-laden as pretzels or chips, nor are they sugary like cookies. And if you’re making them yourself, you can opt for more whole grains, or top them with your favorite seeds or nuts. For these, I used both caraway seeds and nigella seeds, both of which are optional. I also added extra gluten (also optional). It makes these breadsticks easier to handle, but it’s not critical if you don’t have any on hand. Another great thing about breadsticks? The crispy version have an extremely long shelf life. Unlike a moist bread that can get moldy, these are dry-like crackers—and since they’re already dry, they don’t dry out and get stale. In theory, they can last a long time. In practice, they disappear pretty quickly. Since I bake …

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Bread Baking: Light Rye Buns

From Recipes [ Photograph: Donna Currie ] When I was growing up, there were a couple local places that served burgers on rye buns. Not dark and hearty rye, like you’d use for a patty melt, but a light and fluffy burger bun with a subtle rye flavor. And when I say subtle, let’s just say that it took me quite a while to figure out the the buns had rye in them. OK, I was just a kid, but I knew rye bread—the serious seedy rye—and these buns weren’t that serious and the rye wasn’t that obvious. It was just an extra nuance that made those burgers different from all the other places. Rye buns must not be popular, given that I’ve never seen them sold anywhere. But why not? Besides using them for burgers, buns are great for sandwiches of all types. And a little bit of rye makes them a lot more interesting. This recipe uses a medium rye flour, but you can certainly use any type of rye you have available. And since I wanted these buns to be light and fluffy, I used one of…

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Bread Baking: Mega-Multigrain Bread

From Recipes [ Photograph: Donna Currie ] After making a few too many plain loaves of bread, I decided to go wild with grains and seeds. The resulting bread is a symphony of textures, with a nice crisp crust and bits of interesting things inside. This is also a very customizable bread. If you don’t have one of the grains or seeds I used, substitute something similar. I specified red quinoa because the color is nice in the bread, but white would be fine. Sunflower seeds would be great instead of the pumpkin, but walnuts would work well, too. Since the amount of water in the cooked grains is going to vary, and since all the other grains are going to absorb varying amounts of liquid depending on brand and source, there’s no sense in fussing over exact weights of everything. When it’s all assembled, you need to go by feel to adjust the final amount of bread flour. The dough will still be sticky when you’re done kneading, but it will firm up during the long rest as the grains soak up more of the moisture. If it’s still …

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Bread Baking: Babcia Bread

From Recipes Every Tuesday Donna Currie ( Cookistry ) drops by with a bread-baking recipe for us all. Today, a tale of a lost recipe found. —The Dash

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Quiz: What’s Your Ice Cream IQ?

[Photograph: Robyn Lee] Ice cream shouldn’t make you think too hard. The procedure goes something like: eat with a spoon, then enjoy. But we wanted to test your ice cream intelligence to see how much you really know about that scoop (or three or four) in your bowl. Take the quiz!

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Potato Kugel

From Recipes [ Flickr: The Gifted Photographer ] Note from Arthur Schwartz: All the old recipes for potato kugel come out sort of heavy and gluey, which is not at all the kugel taste of today in New York City. These days, the kugel sold in the take-out shops and delicatessens, not to mention those made at home by modern balabustas, are still full of good onion flavor but they are high and light. What may seem like an inordinate number of eggs is the secret. Some recipes call for baking powder, too, but I’ve found the baking powder does absolutely nothing and lots of eggs are definitely the ticket to lightness. It also helps to use Russet potatoes, baking potatoes, which were not nearly as available in grandma’s day as they are today. Drier Russets produce a fluffier kugel. – serves at least 12 – Recipe from Jewish Home Cooking by Arthur Schwartz. Ingredients 3 pounds Russet (baking) potatoes 12 eggs 2 medium onions (12 ounces), peeled and cut into chunks 2/3 cup matzoh meal 1 tablespoon salt 3/4 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (for a parve pudding) …

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