Polly's HOKKAIDO MATCHA LOAF BREAD

HOKKAIDO MILK LOAF - Polly’s with Matcha   3/15/2017

Basic recipe by Yvonne C. “65’CTang Zong Bread” book I purchased.

2 LOAF PANs - Size 12?? -
   I used one Pullman loaf pan with Cover 9 x 4 x 4 inch or 28.8 x 10.1 x 10.1 cm.
  And a full size disposable aluminum loaf pan with Cover 11.5 x 5.5 x 3.5 inch.

Ingredients:

Group A:

540 g - Bread Flour or Natural White - Wheat Montana Unbleached Non GMO All Purpose Flour

68 g  - Organic cane sugar

6 g ( orig: 8 g)  - Kosher Salt

11 g  Dry Yeast

Group B: 

86 g whole eggs (about 2 small eggs)

59 g Butter - room temp

54 g  Milk

9 g natural Milk flavoring?? I  did not use... I suppose the commercial baker use this to enhance the aroma??  (Yak!)

To make 65'C Roux or Tang Zong:
184 g Tang Zong (Roux) -
     Polly's modified measurement:  200 g water + 40 g Flour with Matcha.
        Premix 150 g flour with 12 g Natural Matcha - Not for the smoothie type with food color - use the real stuff, then measure out 40 g flour with Matcha.

Group C:

49 g Sour Cream (unsalted fermented milk butter - is what it says in the book)

1 egg wash - I used whole egg, but removed some most of the egg white.  Add 1 tsp of milk

To make Roux -TANG ZONG 65'C

In a small pot, add 40 g pre-shifted Match flour.  Add about 1/4 C of 200 g water and whisk.  This method avoid lumps compared to when you pour all the liquid into the dry.  As the mixture smooth out, add some more water, and eventually all.

Cook over a low heat with Thermometer handy.
Stir continuously with a whisk or heatproof spatula.
Take the temp every few seconds.
It will thicken from the edge quickly.   Keep stirring the edge in or it will form lumps!
 As soon as the temperature get close to 65'C, the mixture would thicken... rather quickly, so keep stirring and remove the pot off the stove top immediately.  Keep covered  (with plastic film - hopefully non leaching pta or other yaky chemical) to store to avoid skin to form.  I just let it set aside to cool while I got all the Group A ingredients measured into the mixer.

Weigh out 184 g of Roux

 

There should be a bit more than 184 g completed roux.

Mixing Dough:

Add all Group A ingredients into a mixer bowl.  Hand Whisk them together first.

Add Group B.  Hand mix with spatula

Add Group C.  Hand mix with spatula.

Why hand mix?  - If you love your mixer, hand mix at the beginning to avoid fine flour particles to settle into your mixer's enclosed motor unit.  Believe me, they will get in there overtime.

With Dough hook, at speed one - Stir mode, mix the ingredients 30 to 45 sec.

(Kneading time with Kitchen Aid Professional 5 Plus model:  30 min. - 10 min interval check.)

Change to speed #2.  Knead for 10 min.  Stop and check.  The dough is quite well formed.  Leaving the bowl’s side with no flour.

Knead for another 10 min., Check.

 Knead another 10  min.  

Because of the Egg and butter in the dough, the dough would not form the 'normal' elasticity. 

But take time to knead until a good elasticity is formed to bake into a nice pulled crumb.

Place in slightly oiled plastic bag for 1st rise.

I used Turkey roasting pan with cover filled with hot water (about 120'F or feel quite warm when your hand is dipped in without burning) to simulate the bread proofing box.

1st Rising:

About 40 min in 28’C, 75% moisture.   A Large Turkey roast pan filled with hot water.  Placed large metal bowl with dough in oiled plastic bag placed in the water with roast pan cover.  After 40 min, the dough doubled in size on time.

Portioning:

Divide dough into 4 - 265 g each  My portion is about 261 g each.

Bench Rest: 15 min. Up to this point, everything went accordingly

 After 15 minutes.

 Form  - no problem forming

Last Rise in baking bread mold:  8 min - in room temp 38’C with moisture 85%.
  The last rise is taking longer tan 8 min for the doughs to fill the bread mold as illustrated in the book’s.  Extending the rise time to 15 min. covered in the Pullman bread pan in one and Buca’s pasta's to go pan with cover in the other.  Both lined with organic parchment paper.  Placed on open turkey roast pan filled with hot water.  Inverted bowls inside at the bottom to hold the bread pans.

I can easily heat up the water when it becomes too cool.  But Do Not leave it on no longer than 30 sec and do not leave kitchen.

At 13 min - the dough in Pullman bread pan has expanded to almost touching each other.

The doughs in aluminum bread mold with cover from Buca pasta delivery are still slow in rise, but it is rising.

*Checked at end of 15 min in bread molds over the hot water in roasting pan.

The dough has not increased in double in size as shown in the book illustration.   The required temp is 38’c with moisture 85% that I do not have.

At this time of rising in the mold, the oven is turn on to 350’F  *Hoping the heat from oven would help in rising in the pan

1.  15 min  not rising much

2.  15 min  rising well and very very close to touching each other.  Applied egg wash.

3.  15 min  or 10 min?  this is difficult.  I heat up the water again in the roasting pan with bread pans over it.   

            Perfect rise at 12 min.  I thought - Doughs are touching each other.   Ready for baking.  But after the baking, I realized that I should have let them rise the full 15 min.

Bake:  Preheat oven to 350’F  - 150'C on top and 180’C on bottom - Bake 35 min.
  I do not have the specialized bread oven.  Just my large gas oven.  So, know your oven's BTU.

Oven is filled with a pan of hot water under the mid bottom rack in a brownie pan.

Baking rack at the mid section for baking when ready.

Since I do not have a commercial oven that would emit heat 150’C on Top and 180’C on bottom.  I have a pan of water with hot water in the oven to simulate Hotness of the environment. Hmm... really?

When ready to bake, I removed the pan of water.

Result of baking in Pullman or covered bread mold for 35 min: 

( I love taking pictures of food.)

 It is so fluffy... and smell wonderful!

the large aluminum mold’s bread showed a bit of under bake at the top and bottom.  Either waited a full 3rd 15 min for the final rise before baking could prevented it or baked for 8 more minutes?
The bread in Pullman mold also showed some ‘not full risen’ sign at the top and bottom.

However, overall, this is a great recipe to keep trying.

 Slice them up and Eat!!

Wow.  Only a small slice and you can feel the full packed taste and satisfaction.
Awesome sandwich bread!!
3/19/17 - Forget the 'bit dense' dough at the top or the bottom.  After I toasted them, oh my goodness! they are light and delicious!

YEAR 2017 MOCHI MAKING JOURNAL

Ever wanted to pound your own MOCHI to make that fluffy tasty round DAIFUKU MOCHI?
This will be my second time to try my hand on MOCHI-ZUKI (pound MOCHI at home). 
Here is my Photo Journal.
After soaking GLUTINOUS THAI RICE for several hours, sweet rice is steamed at high till cooked.
Then, they are added to my commercial size cake mixer bowl to be 'kneaded' into MOCHI.
Try it! using your smaller cake mixer - it works!

 I want to add YOMOGI - Mugworts plants into my MOCHI.  It adds color and make my MOCHI healthy treats.  (Rehydrating YOMOGI in warm water.)
Red Bean Paste Prep work:  Make your own Red Bean paste, if you have the time.  Otherwise, canned red bean pastes are heated in a pot till hot to allow moisture to dry up.  When the red bean pastes are thick.  Remove from heat and let it cool completely before using.

Hmmm... this is softer than I wanted.  I think the sweet rice was not cooked long enough.
Better job next year!

 Spread 'POTATO' starch - Japanese KATAKURIKO all over the baking sheet.
Transfer the pounded MOCHI and cover with KATAKURIKO.

Polly's Morning Matcha Pecan Biscuits on the Go

Great Happy Rooster Year 2017!!
We made thru many years of great food blogging thanks to Google Blogger app.  I hope Google will continue to support the app.  I sure miss the direct upload from PICASA, however.  Google+ is a 'chicken'.
But year 2017 is no chicken.   We are all up and ready to go every morning tackling great weather of rainy seasons that we were missing in California at least for 30 years.  There were some great rain 14 years ago, but nothing like we are experiencing the last few months.
In the morning, when I bake, I promised myself to add a bit more nutritious ingredients to make every bite counts.
So, I came up with Polly's Matcha Pecan Biscuits.

Ingredients:            Preheat oven to 425'F        
Make 8 to 12 depending on the size of the biscuit butter you use and how thick the biscuits you want - I will leave it up to you.

1-1/2 C shifted Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Pastry Flour
1/2 C shifted Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Cake Flour
1 Tbsp Non-GMO Baking Powder without Aluminum
1 Scant Tbsp Matcha - Green Tea in Powder - but not one of those "smoothie" green tea 'flavored' mix with food color and all the artificial stuff.
Pinch Kosher Salt
3/4 of 4 oz Stick Butter cut into chunks
3 Tbsp Daisy's Sour Cream
 3 Tbsp Organic cane sugar
1/3 C Chopped Pecan
1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed
Cold Organic milk -  1/2 C or by Visual - enough to 'Moisten' the flour mixture - not dry, not wet.

Shift All flour together and remeasure 2 Cups into a mixing bowl.
Add baking powder, Matcha, and salt and shift or using a whisk to mix well.
Slice 3/4 of a stick of butter into a Tablespoon slice.  Then, flip them over and slice into thirds.  Repeat it crosswise to end with small cubes.
Toss into flour.  Using fingers, toss butter chunks and flour together. Smash butter between fingers.  Note:  this is a "Free" form smashing.  Just Keep All Butter in Large flat / chunky form - NOT in mill form or pea size or whatever else you learnt, but smash it 'flat' between fingers.  You should see smashed/some still in squashed chunks in the bowl.
Add Ground Flax seed.
Add sour cream and Toss around to mix in with hand.
Add some cold milk.  Mix to pick up the dry flour at the bottom of the bowl and form a shaggy dough.  Add a bit more milk if the dry flour at the bottom of the bowl would not stick to the ball of dough.
Add chopped pecan.  Mix.  Add more milk to dry parts of the mixture to allow absorption.  Mix gently with hand to 'incorporate'.
Handling the dough gently, bring dough together into a shaggy BALL.
Transfer to slightly floured work surface (flour from the other half cup of flour)
Fold the dough over each other and give a couple of kneading down about 10 times - end result is a fat disc ready to be rolled out.
Using a rolling stick, roll out the dough gently to the thickness of your liking for your biscuit to be - Remembering that it would rise at least 1/2 inch.
Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the dough and place on a small baking sheet.
Based on the thickness and size of the biscuit ring/cutter you use, there should be enough biscuits to serve 3 people 2 biscuits each or for 4 people.
I just use the small toaster oven's baking sheet.
Bake till golden.
Serve with family's favorite eggs and grilled bacon, etc.

 Ah.,... this is bit too much milk than usual.   Do not make the dough too wet like this.

 Need to add some more flour to rescue.