Challah with Raisins and Cranberries

When I visited Baking Bites' blog site, I noticed this beautiful picture of Challah with Raisins.  I love bread, and it seems to be calling me, so I went right to work.  For Challah with Raisins recipe that I made mine from, please visit http://bakingbites.com/2010/09/challah-with-raisins. Since, I did not know what Challah meant, I consulted the Internet and found it to be quite in time for this holiday season.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah, and I am glad I made it.  My Challah is three rope braid.  And not knowing the tradition, I added chopped cranberries. It tastes very good with raisins. I would like to try making the sufganiyot, like PONCHIK, the next time.

My Challah has some modification to the recipe I got from the Baking Bites' site. I added Tangzong - Flour ROUX to give extended moisture and softness as a test.
Tangzong - Flour ROUX is not my recipe either. I learned it from some of the Malaysian and Singaporean food bloggers. They reference Yvonne Chen, the bread doctor. For example, you can visit Pei-Lin's blog site. http://dodol-mochi.blogspot.com/2009/10/tangzhong-or-water-roux-method.html.
For Tangzong:  Mix 25 g of flour with 125 ml of water in a saucepan.  Have a thermometer ready.  Mix well and cook over medium heat.  While stirring continuously , measure the temperature often to make sure that it does not exceed 65'C (centigrade).  Remove from heat to cool before use.
Since my kitchen is either too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter, to make sure all my mixtures for the dough is at desirable proofing temp, I added my Tanzong roux while at 90'F (Farenheit) into the flour mixture.

Bread dough Ingredients:
Dissolve 1 tsp sugar + 1/2 C warm 110'F water + 1 Tbsp active dry yeast for 10 min. until bubbles form on top.
Manual Mixing (since I kind of gave up using my Kitchen Aid dough mixing function):
Total of flour used in my variation:  'approx.' 3-3/4 C + roughly 1/2 C for kneading
When it's about 8 minutes into the yeast fermentation, start adding 1/2 C oil, 1 Tbsp honey, 1/4 C sugar and 2 C flour and 1/2 C warm 110'F water in a large mixing bowl.
Mix all well together, and add yeast mixture.  Add Tangzong.  And mix all well together.
In the beginning, I was using a spoon to incorporate everything.  You can use spatula or hand, but I know the mixture is very wet, and I was not yet ready to get my hands all occupied, so, you will see the spoon in the photo.  Once the dough mixture is well mixed.  I let it set for 5 minutes.
Bring two eggs to room temperature under warm water and chop 2/3 C of raisins and cranberries in the mean time.
Add 1 C flour, raisins and cranberries in.  Pass two eggs through the mini-strainer to separate Albumen, chalazae, etc. and it's mashed evenly when done in the bowl.
Mix all well again with the spoon or with your hand.
The mixture is really wet.  Transfer the mixture out to floured work surface.
Start pulling and pushing down the mixture.  Adding handful more of flour up to 1 more Cup.
Repeat pulling and pushing down the mixture, scraping and rolling until the gluten is formed.
After an hour of manually 'kneading' the dough this way, the dough's gluten is well developed for me to round it to form a ball.  Ready for the proofing.
Cover with plastic and a cover and place in a warm place to proof until double in size.
*I heated the oven to 350'F and turned it off.  Waited 15 min and measured the interior temp.  85--87'F.  I placed the bowl inside with lamp on.  It took three hours for the dough to rise.
As I removed the plastic cover, the dough deflated on its own.   I did not pound down any further because I want to keep as much air bubble as possible.
Transfer the dough to lightly floured work surface.  Divided it into three equal parts.
Prepare a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  Set aside.
The dough is soft and pliable.  Gently pull and elongate the dough.  I rolled the dough into a log shape, then, rolled on the surface gently to form into a long rope.  Repeat with the other two.
Braid the ropes and tuck the ends under.
Transfer to the baking sheet pan line with parchment paper.
Beat 1 egg whites with 1 tsp water - egg wash the formed dough.
Spray the plastic wrap with vegalene and lightly cover the dough for the 2nd rise.
I covered my dough with the inverted rectangular plastic container.  Then, placed the sheet pan
back in the oven with light turned on.  Proof until double in size.
Remove from the oven.  Preheat the oven to 375'F.
I  egg washed it again.  Bake until deep golden brown.  Interior temperature read 200'F.
Cool completely.  **The crust of the bread will become tender as it cools.
You can view video of how I managed to knead the wet dough by visiting YouTube - How to Knead Wet Challah Dough - Step 1 of 4
(click on the photo to view larger image and other details)

I can't wait to make some more this!
FYI - After 8 days, a slice of toasted Challah or microwaved for 5 sec or just as is still tastes very good. & as for the Challah with Raisin, it turned out fantastic.  

Butternut Squash Soup

My friend gave me this beautiful butternut squash from his garden before the cold frost hit his garden, and I was not quite sure what kind of dish to make it into.  There is always the easy butter roasted squash.  Then, I remembered the wonderful butternut squash bisque served at The Kitchen restaurant I went.  Even though I did not have the other three varieties of squash, I thoughtfully created my Butternut Squash Bisque Soup - as there is no shellfish stock involved.
Tools:  Blender, knife, large spoon, strainer, saucepan, bowls, large spoon/ladle, heatproof spatula, peeler, cutting board, aluminum foil, quarter size baking sheet for the counter-top electric oven.
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1 1lb+ butternut squash
4 pearl onions, peeled and chopped
1/2 C carrots, peeled and chopped
1 C Chicken Stock   *Should use vegetable stock.  Chicken stock was overpowering.
3 Tb Butter

Homemade vegetable stock:  Bring 2 C of water to boil.  Add 3 stalks of chopped celery,  1 Cucumber, roughly cut, 1 shallot or quarter of a small onion, roughly cut.  Salt to taste.  Boil for 15 min.  Strain to a bowl.  Store unused portion or add a dab of Miso and have a cup of Miso soup for a break.

Preheat oven to 425'F.
Cut the head of the butternut squash off.
Cut the butternut squash into halves.
Using a large spoon, scoop the fiber and seeds out.
Put 1-1/2 Tb butter in each butternut 'cup'.
Place on top of quarter size baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.  Cover the butternut squash with another piece of aluminum foil.  Roast it in the oven for an hour.
Take it out, peel the skin off and cut into chunks.
Add all into the blender and Puree.
Strain the pureed mixture into a small saucepan.
Add 1 C 'vegetable stock' and heat through.  Remove from heat
Serve in soup bowl.  Top with a tablespoon of heavy cream.  Shredded Mozarella and Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle of freshly grounded black pepper.
(Click on image to view details)

Stir Fry with the Last Summer Garden Veges

Right before the day the frost covered the ground, I cropped the last group of summer and fall veges in my garden.  Baby pumpkins, green bell pepper, and tomatoes.    I peeled and sliced the baby pumpkins, cut green bell peppers, added pearl echalote and carrots I got from the store and stir fried in butter and salt.

Persimmon Bars

Late fall and early winter in the lunar calendar are time for many comfort food.  Hot Pot, SUKIYAKI, Beef Stews, Hot Chili, Onion Soup, etc. and the list goes on to keep us warm through the cold winter. But what about the persimmons? can it make the list? Most of us like to eat it fresh - that is the non-astringent type - FUYU 'KAKI' - persimmons.  And it has been making appearances in some of the restaurant menu......in salad, for instance. Many bakers have included it in their baking ingredients and use it like raisins and dried cranberries. Fresh ones are pureed and, so forth.  How about the taste of persimmons after it has been heated?  The flavor diminishes. When fresh, I tested the fresh slice of persimmons with salt and sprinkles of Chili Peppers or lime juice and it tastes great.  But once it is incorporated into flour mixture, the persimmon flavor is suppressed.  Most of the time in a recipe, just like pumpkins, cinnamons and all spices are used heavily to enhance the flavor. Maybe the KAKI should be eaten traditional way - wind dried hanging in the winter or fresh.  But, it's the other curiosity as usual that drive me to think, just maybe, it will work out when used this way.  So, this one is my attempt in using dehydrated HACHIYA persimmons from last year's crop and fresh FUYU KAKI in the ingredients.  My goal is to try to find a way to balance the spice flavor and bring out the taste of persimmons when used in baking.  And at the end, maybe the conclusion will be that the persimmons are best eaten the way it is - fresh, not cooked?  who knows.

I made up the the following Persimmon Bars' filling recipes.  It really tasted good fresh when they were all mixed together before being baked.  Lime is a good choice with persimmons, and I was almost tempted to add chili flakes.

Making the Filling
Ingredients:
1/2 C dried persimmon slices
1/4 C Maraschino Cherry juice  **modification - skip

5 Maraschino cherries   ** modification - skip
Fresh lime juice from 1 whole large lime  ** modification use 1/2 C Lime Juice and pulps and zest
1 large Fresh and rather soft FUYU persimmon
1/2 Tbsp Orange Zest
1/4 C sugar  ** modification - 1/2 C sugar

pinch of salt   ** modification - 1/2 tsp salt

*** Modification:  skip maraschino cherry juice and just use Lime Juice throughout and include Lime pulps with persimmons

Combined 1/4 C Marashino cherry juice and dried HACHIYA persimmon slices in a microwaveable glass jar or measuring cup.
  *It does not matter if the dried persimmons is FUYU or HACHIYA. 
Holding Maraschino cherries over the dried persimmons in the glass jar, break them apart into small chunks.
Push the ingredients down to make sure the ingredients are immersed in liquid.
Microwave it for 1 minutes.
Take it out and set aside. 
Add all ingredients into Food Processor.
Using Pulse to chop all food into small chunks. 
*Do not Puree.
By the time the large rehydrated persimmons are chopped into small chunks, the whole thing looks like a jam.

Drying the filling:
Pay visual attention to the liquid level and consistency of the mixture.
Transfer ingredients into a small saucepan.
Over medium low heat, heat the mixture to reduce liquid.
Keep stirring with heat-proof spatula or large spoon.
**Do not brown the mixture. 
Control the stove/range's heat/temperature
Stop when the mixture is thickened and looks like a jam.
Transfer to a large surface plate to cool.  Set aside.

The following recipe is adapted from Chef Nick Malgieri who casted in Baking with Julia Child TV show.  Sicilian X cookies, Baking with Julia Child Cookbook, page 318.  **Half Batch

Ingredients:
2-1/8 oz flour about 1-1/2 C flour
1/3 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 stick butter
2 large eggs
1 beaten egg for egg wash

Add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into a food processor.  Pulse 10 sec.
Add 1 stick butter into processor.  Pulse it 15 to 20 times.
Add 2 large eggs - Pulse again - 10 times & take out and mix by hand.
Knead 4 times gently & wrap & chill in refrigerator.
Take out of the refrigerator after half an hour and roll into log/rope - 12 " long and 3" wide.
Flatten it.  (Roll to 1/4 thick.)
Use knife to split the dough at the top but not cut through like butterfly.
Brush with egg wash all around the edge.
Place Persimmon fillings in the center all the way across the rope.
Seal the dough.
Preheat oven to 350'F

Cut into 2-1/2" log.
Cut  each end just enough to split to make open ends as though you are making a letter 'X'
Place on parchment line baking sheet.
Brush with egg wash.
Bake in the oven 350'F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar.   Cool.

Storage:
It will stay fresh for a month in airtight tin.


My Optional creation - Lime Glaze:
Juice from 1 large lime
1 Cup powder sugar
Mix both ingredients together.
Mix well.  The mixture should be like a glaze.
Drizzle over the bars.  Let the glaze dry before storing in the tin.

Lemon Bars

This lemon bars recipe is from the "Ad Hoc at Home" cookbook, page 304.  The original Lemon bars recipe is called Lemon Bars with Meringue. 
In this Ad Hoc at Home cookbook, Chef Thomas Keller included several basics and important step-by-step techniques and illustrations.  Since I am a visual learner, the cooking illustrations help me a lot and motivate me to cook something beautiful and tasty, too.  So about a month ago,  I had my hands-on testing of the first recipe out of the cookbook - the buttermilk fried chicken recipe.  I was quite pleased with the result of my buttermilk fried chicken, then, I found out that it is served every other Mondays at the Ad Hoc Restaurant in Yountville, Calfornia.  I planned several visits to Ad Hoc in hope to taste the real buttermilk fried chicken by the true master chef, but I striked out three times - remembering the wrong date or wrong time of the day. I wound up at the Bouchon Bakery and purchasing pastries to comfort myself.  That's when I discovered the lemon tarts.  I fell in love with the Lemon Tarts.  The Bouchon Bakery's lemon tart is addictive?  It seems to have encoded something in my memory.  I keep on thinking about it and wondering how it is made.  How is the lemony custard so creamy and full of fresh lemon taste?  The tart shell is light and buttery.  The fork would cut right through the tart shell.   It motivated me to test the recipe in the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook.  Unfortunately, the local grocery did not carry pine nuts, so I decided to make the lemon bars.
Result:
While I have made lemon bars many times in the past and successfully, I am a bit disappointed with my lemon bars' appearance.  I used the exact same amount of ingredients, but the lemon bars turned out quite thin.
The crust:  I made sure to roll the crust's dough into 12-by-16" rectangle, but the crust turned out quite thinner than I am used to.  It seemed it did not have enough dough to be rolled out into reasonable 12-by-16" rectangle.  I was really over stretching it.  The thin crust did not hold the weight of the filling and broke as it is picked up.  Perhaps, it is not meant to be a finger dessert, I think so.
The filling:  The process of making this filling was very interesting.  The bain marie process solidified the liquidy lemon juice and eggs and sugar into a smooth and creamy, pastry cream like, custard.  It took me about 30 minutes, rather than the 5 minutes, to thicken it to the consistency of 'medium peak' beaten egg whites.  When the butter was added bit by bit, I was almost afraid that the mixture would turn soft, but it held the form.
The taste of the filling:   Of the 6 lemons I used, four are from my mother's lemon tree and two are from the store.  The acidity of the lemons from my mother was sweet and tart, but the sunkist's were sharp.  The filling tasted very tart and a bit too much.  It overpowered the creaminess.  The taste of lemon tart from Bouchon bakery is lemony and tart, but not leaving acidic taste at the back of the throat.  So, if this is my bakery product, I will make sure I know my supplier, the type of lemons I am getting, where the lemons are grown, and its tartness level.

Would I make the lemon bars again with the same recipe?  definitely, yes.  Until I get the same picture like lemon tarts and lemon bars as in the ones in the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook. 

 Once the filling has thickened and strained, poured over the crust, distributed and smoothed out, cover with parchment paper and plastic wrap and freeze it. 

Bring the frozen lemon bar sheet out and follow the instructions in the cookbook to lift it out of the sheet pan.  My method:  After loosening the lemon bar sheet all around the edges,  with the parchment cover and plastic wrap still on it, place the backside of another sheet pan on top of the covered lemon bar sheet and turn it over.  Then, press on the bottom of sheet pan to dislodge it.  Once it is out, put the backside of the sheet pan on the exposed crust and turn the lemon bars over to its right side up.  (I think I will bake it with the Silpat or silicone baking mat at the bottom of the crust the next time.) 
Carefully, remove the plastic wrap and parchment paper.  Cut into serving size.
Transfer them to the serving platter.
Sprinkle with powder sugar.  Or following the cookbook, pipe the meringue on top and roast it with the kitchen torch.

What did I learn from this process? 
It was a good idea that I was patient to have waited for the filling to thicken.  Using my gas stove and makeshift double boiler, cooking filling mixture for 5 minutes was not enough to thicken and to coat the whisk.  (*When thickened the mixture reached 180'F - is this too high?  I don't know, but the mixture is thick enough to coat the whisk and formed soft peak.)
Maybe - Use Silpat or silicone mat to bake the crust for easier removal of the lemon bars out of the baking sheet.
Maybe - Make double batch of the lemon filling for higher volume or use a bit smaller pan size than 12x16"
Use Myer Lemon or test with lemons that are less acidic.
While my eggs are fresh and organic, always use the most fresh eggs for this. 
Cut the bars smaller into bite size might have saved the crust from breaking if eaten as finger food.  I think, as illustrated in the cookbook, this lemon bars are supposed to be served over the plate rather than as the finger bars.  Perhaps, what I made is perfectly fine and the roasted meringue on top of the lemon bars would have made it look perfect(?).  Only the next test in plan will tell.