Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Baking Bread. It is a wonderful thing to do when the world seems out of control. We are living in fraught times. Kneading bread and smelling the baking loaves does much to quiet the troubled soul.

One of the things I was gifted with during Christmas was sourdough starter from my cooking-enthused Daughter-in-Law, Kristen. She has been baking bread for several months now and developed the starter from one of the best French bakeries in Cary, La Farm Bakery. I receive catalogs from King Arthur Flour and saw this recipe in their Christmas publication. It sounded unusual and a good recipe for my sourdough starter. They also featured a Bread Baking Bowl that is the perfect vessel in which to bake it.

It makes a hearty loaf studded with sweet cranberries.

I have since made a simple Honey Wheat Bread. I have a feeling there will be lots of bread baking in my immediate future. Stay safe, healthy and sane during these perilous times.

Wild Rice, Cranberry, and Cornmeal Sourdough Bread

• 1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) sourdough starter
• 1 cup (227g) lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast, optional; to ensure rise if your starter isn’t very active
• 1 cup (138g) cornmeal, whole-grain preferred
• 1 cup (113g) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup (120g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 cup (164g) cooked wild rice
• 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
• 1 cup (113g) dried cranberries

1. In a large bowl, combine the starter, water, yeast, cornmeal, and flours. Mix and knead for 5 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
2. Knead in the cooked wild rice, salt, and dried cranberries. Knead by hand for 6 minutes, or for about 3 minutes using a stand mixer. Or place in a bread machine programmed to the dough cycle. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes (or let the bread machine finish its cycle).
3. Turn the dough out and fold it in thirds. Return it to its container, cover, and let rest for 20 minutes.
4. Shape the dough into a round or oval and place, seam side up, in a basket or bowl lined with a damp tea towel heavily sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours; or cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. One hour before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven (with a baking stone on the middle rack, if you have a stone) to 475°F. If the dough was chilled overnight, take it out of the refrigerator before turning the oven on. Set up a shallow, stovetop-to-oven pan or skillet with 1″ of water in it.
6. When the dough looks puffy (it won’t necessarily double in size), bring the pan of water to a simmer on the stove and place it in the oven below the baking stone. Turn the loaf out of the towel onto a piece of parchment on a peel (or onto a baking sheet, if you’re not using a stone). Slash the top from end to end, 1/2″ deep, with a sharp knife. Slide the dough and parchment onto the stone. If you have a spray bottle, spritz the inside of the oven 5 or 6 times before closing the door.
7. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, until deep golden brown all over, and the center measures 195°F or higher when tested with a digital thermometer. The bottom will sound hollow when thumped.
8. Remove the bread from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing.
9. Store the bread, tightly wrapped in plastic, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

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I am sending all of you my best wishes for a safe and secure Thanksgiving. We will have a small Thanksgiving with just six of us. All of us have been very careful. I made these Cranberry Orange Muffins for breakfast to enjoy, either between the two of us or shared with our limited family members. They freeze well.

There is lots of orange zest, orange juice and a small hit of citrus flavoring in the batter along with frozen cranberries that burst in the oven and lend their tart essence to the mix.

You can find the recipe here. Let the holidays begin. It has been a tough year. Let us hope for a better New Year.

Week three of home confinement.  We have fallen into a rhythm; marking the days with small household tasks, canceling airline tickets for a Fall trip to Europe, cooking, reading and cherishing our continued good health. It is on my mental list to do some major cleaning to closets and bathroom tiles.  But for now, all I can manage are small steps.  Trips to the Supermarket are fraught with worry.  We try not to go often.  Cooking has been one of the ways that restores calm.  I bought a bag of Navel oranges a few weeks ago and have been using them in baked goods.

This simple one bowl poundcake came from Melissa Clark of the New York Times.  Rubbing the sugar with orange zest seems to release the oils in zest and impart more flavor.

It is a treat to have this bread available for a quiet breakfast on the deck with a cup of coffee each morning. The beauty of nature soothes us in these turbulent times.  Stay safe.

 

CITRUS POUNDCAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

1 Cup sugar
Zest of 1 navel orange
2 Tbls melted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla (or 1/4 tsp Fiori de Sicilia Citrus flavoring and 1/4 tsp vanilla)
Grated nutmeg (optional) or 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup plain cornmeal
1 1/4 cup flour

In a large bowl, rub the sugar with the orange zest.  Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine.

Whisk in the dry ingredients in this order; salt, baking soda, baking powder and cornmeal.  Once smooth whisk in the flour until combined well.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Let the bread cool in the pan.  Remove.  Slice and serve as is or place in a toaster for a crispy warm treat.  Butter optional (or not).

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I have been hesitant to share this recipe with you.  Not because it isn’t delicious, but because it uses a couple of ingredients that I first thought were questionable.  My philosophy is to use as many natural and high quality ingredients as I can find.  But because my husband is limiting his carbs, he is always ordering ingredients to compensate for higher carb alternatives.  Corn and cornmeal are high in carbohydrates.  This cornbread is made with almond flour with the addition of Sweet Corn Extract.  The extract contains no artificial ingredients.  Even though it is rather expensive, a little goes a long way and it has a long shelf life.

I was surprised by how much I loved this “cornbread”.  It was extra moist, slightly sweet and definitely corny.  I will be adding this to my repertoire of low carb recipes.  By the way, David made this; start to finish.  He did a good job and cleaned the kitchen too.  All I did was photograph it!

LOW CARB CORNBREAD (From Wholesome Yum)

5 cups Blanched almond flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup Besti monk fruit allulose blend
1 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup Butter (melted; plus more for greasing)
2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
6 large eggs
1 Tbsp Sweet corn extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet with butter.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sweetener, and sea salt.

Stir in the melted butter, almond milk and eggs, until smooth.  Stir in the sweet corn extract.

Transfer the batter into the skillet and smooth the top with a spatula.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden brown.

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One of my Christmas presents from my Daughter-In-Law Kristen was a small bottle of citrus flavoring that can miraculously transform many kinds of baked goods.  The flavor is subtle with warm and zesty overtones.  It is described as a combination of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet.  You will want to use it in everything.

Fiori de Sicilia is sold by King Arthur Flour.  This Italian flavoring is used by Italians to scent their panettone and pandoro.  But it can be used in cookies, pound cake, pies, meringues and sweet breads.  It is strong, so no more than 1/2 teaspoon is needed to flavor your baked goods.

Fiori di Sicilia certainly woke up my blueberry muffins.  The recipe I used came from Bobby Flay’s new cookbook, Bobby at Home.  His recipe only called for lemon zest and vanilla extract for flavoring.  I’m sure the original recipe would be just fine if you don’t have the Italian flavoring.  That option will be in the following recipe.

We are happily settled in our Florida cottage for the Winter.  The muffins will go in the freezer for all of our guests and friends over the next few months.

CITRUS INFUSED BLUEBERRY MUFFINS (Adapted from Bobby Flay)

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 cup frozen blueberries
(1 teaspoon lemon zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract) or (1/2 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp fiori di sicilia)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.  Whisk the egg in a medium bowl until smooth, then add the buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla (or vanilla and fiori di sicilia combination).  Add lemon zest if using.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter just comes together.  Fold in the frozen blueberries.  Evenly divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attache 18 to 20 minutes.  Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from the tin and let cool 5 minutes longer.

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