PECAN OR HAZELNUT ROLLS

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Nuts are my favorite snack, when I'm starting to get hungry, and try to stay away from our little hoard of German chocolate bars (no, not that kind, I mean the real thing: Ritter Sport!)

I remember my mother coming home from her gynecologist's office, always grabbing some chocolate, before she started cooking our dinner. I must have inherited that from her, same as her gene for high dessert priority.

Both combined are a sure recipe for waistline disaster, but I have my first aid in the kitchen drawer, almonds or walnuts: good fat plus high fiber.

Being an optimist, I even planted hazelnuts in our garden, hoping for a harvest some year soon.

My precious little hazelnut

I'm very fond of baking with nuts, too, whether in cakes (Hazelnut Chocolate Cake) or breads. But when I started baking breads for sale, I was confronted me with a dilemma.

In Europe, hazelnuts are abundant, they grow wild, are easy to cultivate, and very tasty. And cheap! But here in the US, they cost a fortune and are often hard to find. So I had to use a different kind of nut for my breads in order to keep them affordable for my customers.

For this recipe, adapted from "Brot aus Südtirol", pecans are a great alternative. The rolls taste a little different, but equally good. (Much as I like walnuts, here there are not a good choice).

Pecan Rolls

Meanwhile, thanks to Trader Joe's, I can get hazelnuts for a reasonable price and good quality. With Aldi, the popular German chain for cheap skates, as parent company, they offer a lot of European goods.

Whenever we are in Portland, Maine, we stock up on Irish butter, German beer, Italian truffle cheese, and, of course, HAZELNUTS!

Toasted hazelnuts or pecans - you cant go wrong with either

PECAN OR HAZELNUT ROLLS
(12 rolls)

340 g/12 oz water (at 95ºF/35ºC)
    5 g/0.18 oz instant yeast
150 g/5.3 oz hazelnuts or pecans, toasted
350 g/12.4 oz Italian 00 flour*)
100 g/3.5 oz rye flour
  50 g/1.8 oz spelt flour
  10 g/0.35 oz salt
    5 g/0.18 oz light brown sugar
1 egg, mixed with 2 tsp. water, for egg wash
hazelnuts or pecans, whole or chopped, for decoration

*) can be substituted with pastry flour, but NOT with all-purpose flour!

DAY 1
Stir yeast in warm water to dissolve.

Place toasted nuts in food processor, and  ground to a coarse meal with some larger pieces remaining. (If you prefer a finer meal, add some of the flour to the nuts to prevent them from turning into nut butter!).

Add all dough ingredients to mixing bowl. Mix at low speed (or with a large wooden spoon) for 1 - 2 minutes, until all flour is hydrated. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Resume kneading at medium-low speed (or by hand), adjusting with a little more water if needed (dough should be a bit sticky). Knead for 6 more minutes (dough should still be more sticky than tacky)

Transfer dough to an oiled (or lightly wet) work surface, and, with wet or oiled hands, pat and stretch it into a rough rectangle. Then fold it from top and bottom in thirds like a business letter and repeat this folding from both sides. Gather dough into a ball, and place, seamside down, in a lightly oiled bowl.

Cover, and let dough rest for 10 minutes. Repeat the stretching and folding process 3 times, at 10 minute intervals. After the last fold, place dough in oiled container and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2
Shape cold dough first into 12 rolls, then roll them with your hands into strands. Place rolls on perforated or parchment lined baking sheet. Using a metal spatula (or back of a knife), press a deep crease lengthwise in each roll (don't cut through bottom!). Brush rolls with egg wash, and decorate with nuts.

Mist rolls with spray oil, cover, and let rise for 45 - 60 minutes at room temperature, or until they have grown 1 1/2 times their original size, and stay dimpled when poked. In the meantime, preheat oven to 410ºF/210ºC.

Re-press the crease, if necessary. Bake rolls for 12 minutes, rotate baking sheet 180 degrees, and continue baking for another 12 minutes, or until they are rich golden brown.

Let rolls cool on wire rack.

(Based on Richard Ploner's Haselnussbrot from "Brot aus Südtirol") 

Hazelnut Rolls, lighter in color than Pecan Rolls

Completely updated and re-written post (from June 2011)

Submitted to YeastSpotting

Submitted to Panissimo:  Bread & Companatico

                                        Indovina chi viene a cena                                            

OLIVE BREAD - DON'T THE ANDERSONS HATE OLIVES?

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There are two things members of our patchwork family have in common - we love good food and we hate olives!

Even the pickiest of our kids, Valerie, producer of the famous "square mouth" whenever I made her try at least one bite before she said she didn't like it; and Francesca who ordered "just white rice" when we ate at a restaurant, ended up as foodies. Valerie even became a chef!

Chef Valerie with proud Mom

The Andersons and their offspring pick olives off pizzas, and leave them untouched in the salad bowl. They don't order tapenade and don't drink martinis. But then something strange happened...

Knowing that a lot of people are olive fans and crave them in all kinds of foods, I looked for an olive bread recipe to satisfy those die-hards among my customers.

I found one in my favorite "Brot aus Südtirol" and decided to give it a try, tweaking it a bit (using a preferment and overnight refrigeration).

It was quite a struggle to force the slippery olives into the dough (maybe they sensed my negative vibes).

I also found it not very easy to roll the dough into the right shape for dividing it into equal sized pieces, without a lot of leftover cut-offs.

No wonder, my first batch of "Pane di Olive", looked like misshapen scones, with dark bruises (from my abuse?), but (at least) they didn't smell bad.

With some misgivings and no great expectations I bit in an olive studded roll. Took another unbelieving bite and was deeply shocked - the olive bread tasted good, really good, incredibly good!

Incredibly good!

I gave one to Richard, the most willing guinea pig of all husbands (but, also, staunchest olive hater of us all) who eyed it with visible distrust. "You should probably call that "Malfatti" (Italian for "badly made") he suggested, but then, just to please me, nibbled gingerly at one corner.

IN NO TIME THE OLIVE BREAD WAS GONE!

Good quality olives are important

Making the olive bread again and again - it proved to be a big hit with my customers at A&B Naturals, too - I learned a few tricks to make the mixing and shaping easier.

It is very important to use good quality olives, like Kalamata. The bread's taste depends on those olives, so don't skimp on this essential ingredient.

Drying the coarsely chopped olives killed two birds with one stone

Not only draining, but letting the olives dry for several hours on kitchen paper towels, makes them less slippery, and much more willing to embrace the dough. Killing two birds with one pit stone,
this simple measure also takes care of the ugly "bruising" of the bread.

Instead of using a preferment, I find it easier to work the dough with stretch and fold, with an overnight stay in the fridge. This method requires less yeast, so I reduced it a bit.

A template makes rolling and cutting the dough easier

And, finally, a bit of calculation (not my strongest point) and a paper template made the rolling and cutting of the dough a cinch!


OLIVE BREAD   (adapted from Richard Ploner: "Brot aus Südtirol")
(10 pieces)

250 g/8.8 oz Italian 00 flour
250 g/8.8 oz all-purpose flour
    4 g/0.14 oz instant yeast
    9 g/0.3 oz salt
    5 g/0.18 oz honey
  30 g/1.6 oz olive oil
100 g/3.5 oz Kalamata olives, pitted
240 g/8.5 oz water


TOPPING
12 g/0.4 oz milk
12 g/0.4 oz whipping cream
7 g/0.25 oz sugar

 
DAY 1:
Drain olives in a strainer, chop coarsely, place on kitchen paper towels, and let dry for several hours.

Mix all ingredients, except for olives, at low speed (or with large wooden spoon) for 1-2 minutes until all flour is hydrated. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Knead at medium-low speed (or by hand) for 2 minutes, adjusting with a little more water, if necessary (dough should be a bit sticky.) Knead for another 4 minutes, while feeding olives slowly to dough. It should still be somewhat sticky rather than just tacky.

Starting with the top, fold dough in thirds like a business letter

 Transfer dough to a lightly oiled work surface. With oiled or wet hands, stretch and pat it into rough square. Fold from top to bottom in thirds, like a business letter. Then fold the same way from both sides. Gather dough into ball, and place, seam side down, into lightly oiled bowl. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.

After stretching and folding you have a neat package of dough

Repeat this stretching and folding 3 more times, at 10-minute intervals. After the last fold,  place dough, well covered, in refrigerator overnight. (It doesn't have to warm up before using.)

DAY 2:
Preheat oven to 410º F/210º C.  Cut parchment paper into a 24 x 30 cm/12 x 9.5" template. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

The dough has doubled overnight in the fridge

In a little bowl, mix topping ingredients, place in microwave, and bring to a boil. Remove, and set aside.

Rolled out and marked for cutting into 10 pieces

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a square (24 x 30 cm/12 x 9.5"), using the template (about 1.5 cm/0.5" thick). Trim edges. Using pizza cutter or knife, cut dough square first lengthwise in half, then each half into in 5 equal pieces. The dough will be very soft.

Brush with milk mixture and dock with wooden spoon

Transfer pieces to parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with milk wash. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, press deep holes in the dough, evenly spaced. Cover, and let it rise for 30 - 45 minutes, or until breads stays dimpled when poked with finger.

Bake breads (no steam) for 10 minutes, rotate pan 180 degrees, and continue baking for another 10 minutes, until they are golden brown (internal temperature at least 200ºF/93ºC)

To this day we are still amazed that we Andersons do like olives - when they come with Olive Bread!

Completely updated post (originally posted in 5/30/2010)

Submitted to Panissimo:  Bread & Companatico

                                        Indovina chi viene a cena                                            

MALT RYE ROLLS WITH SESAME & PUMPKIN SEEDS

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My first "Equal Opportunity Bread" (see my last post) had to be a batch of rolls. I like having a supply of rolls in my freezer, when we come home from a trip, and want a bread that thaws less sluggish than a large loaf.

So I grabbed one of my most favorite baking books - hey, who said I couldn't include my favorites in my fair baking? - "Brot aus Südtirol". Richard Ploner's breads are all small, mini breads, or rolls. The (professional baker's) reasoning: "They should all have the same size in a mixed bread basket".



This baking book has everything going for it, interesting recipes and appetizing photos. Unfortunately, it has not been translated into English, yet. Because of this sad omission I am happy to be able to translate at least some of its wonderful recipes for English speaking bakers.

The one thing I always change - apart for an adaptation of the ingredients to what is available in the US - are the very short fermentation times. Ploner doesn't retard his doughs, but I do, using either pre-doughs or the Stretch-and-Fold technique (S + F) and I am sure that even these nice breads benefit from it.

The original recipe lists sugar caramel color (15 g) - I didn't have it and didn't see a real need for it, either. Richard Ploner lets you choose between toasted soy flakes and pumpkin seeds - for me a no-brainer, since I love toasted pumpkin seeds, and buy them in bulk. The sesame seeds I toasted, too, to enhance their "nuttiness".

MALZBROT - TYROLEAN MALT RYE ROLLS WITH SESAME AND PUMPKIN SEEDS

    6 g instant yeast (or 9 g active dry)
280 g water, lukewarm
300 g all-purpose flour
100 g medium rye flour
100 g whole wheat flour
    5 g malted barley flour (non diastatic) (1 1/2 tsp)
    5 g sugar (1 tsp.)
    6 g sesame seeds, toasted (2 tsp.)
  50 g pumpkin seeds, toasted, chopped
    3 g caraway (1 tsp.)
  10 g salt

DAY 1:
1. Dissolve instant yeast in warm water. (Though this is not strictly necessary, it helps with the stretch-and-fold technique.) Mix with other dough ingredients to form a rough ball, 1 - 2 minutes on low speed (or with a wooden spoon). Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

2. Knead on medium-low speed (or by hand) for 2 minutes, adjusting tablespoon-wise with more water, if needed (dough should be a bit sticky). Continue kneading for 4 more minutes, the last 20 seconds at medium-high speed (dough should still be more sticky than tacky).

3. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled work bench, and, with wet or oiled hands, stretch and pat into a rough square, then fold it in thirds like a business letter. Fold it the same way again from the short sides. Tuck sides under dough to shape a ball, and place dough package in oiled bowl, seam side down. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.

4. Repeat S & F for 3 more times at 10 minute intervals (total time 40 minutes). After the last fold, place into oiled container, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2:
5. Remove dough from refrigerator, it should have doubled in size.

6. Preheat oven to 428ºF/220ºC, including steam pan. Divide dough into 10 equal pieces. Pre-shape into rounds. Cover and let relax for 5 minutes.

7. With both hands, roll rounds into 10-cm/4" long strands, with tapered ends. Place, seam side down, on parchment lined baking sheet. Score lengthwise. Mist with oil spray, cover with plastic foil, and let rolls rise for 45 - 60 minutes, or until they have grown ca. 1 1/2 times their original size.

8. Bake rolls for 12 minutes, steaming with 1 cup of boiling water. Remove steam pan and rotate rolls 180 degrees for even browning. Continue baking for another 13 minutes, until they are golden brown. Leave rolls in switched-off oven with door slightly ajar for 5 more minutes, then let them cool on a wire rack.

Submitted to Yeast Spotting.

A HINT OF PROVENCE - LAVENDER BREAD

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In front of the store where I sell my breads I saw a bed of lavender in full bloom. The smell was wonderful, recalling memories of glorious summer holidays as a student in the Aix-en-Provence.

It also reminded me of a bread recipe with lavender that I always wanted to try.

Lavender in full bloom - a feast for nose and eyes

The lavender buds in my garden have not opened, yet, but I have some dried lavender flowers, and the assurance of reliable sources in the internet that fresh and dried lavender had the same strong aroma, and were therefore interchangeable.

At the first bite the breads' seasoning appears a bit unfamiliar, but then the taste buds open up, and welcome the subtle lavender flavor - a hint of Provence.

Especially good with butter and honey

LAVENDER BREAD          (adapted from Richard Ploner's "Brot aus Südtirol")
(6 mini breads or 8-12 rolls)

STARTER
22 g whole wheat mother starter (or white starter)
63 g all-purpose flour
45 g water

DOUGH
3 g instant yeast
270 g water, lukewarm
all starter (130 g)
400 g all-purpose flour
100 g bread flour
20 g sugar
12 g salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 tsp. dried lavender flowers, or fresh lavender flowers (from 6 stems)

DAY 1
In the morning, mix starter. Cover, and let sit at room temperature.

In the evening, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add to all other dough ingredients. Mix at low speed (or by hand) for 1 - 2 minutes, until all flour is hydrated. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Knead at medium-low speed for 2 minutes, adjusting with more water as needed (dough should still be sticky). Continue kneading for 4 more minutes, the last 20 seconds at medium speed (dough should still be somewhat sticky).

Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, and (with wet hands) stretch it gently into a rough square, and fold it like a business envelope. Turn it 90 degrees, and, from the small sides, fold it again in thirds.

Gather dough package into a ball, tucking edges under, and place in lightly oiled bowl (seam side down). Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Repeat Stretch & Fold 3 more times, at 10 minute intervals. After last S & F place dough in oiled container, mist with baking spray, cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2:
Remove dough from refrigerator at least 2 hours before using. Its volume should triple.

Preheat oven to 425ºF/220ºC, including steam pan.

Divide dough into 6 (mini breads) or 8-12 (rolls) equal pieces. Shape pieces first into rounds, then roll them  into strands. Cover, and let rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes, or until an indentation, made with your finger, remains visible. Slash lengthwise.

Bake breads at 425 F/220ºC for 12 minutes, remove steam pan, rotate loaves, and bake for another 13 minutes, or until rich golden brown (internal temperature at least 200 F/95 C)

Let breads cool on wire rack.

Karin and friends taking French language classes in Aix-en-Povence (1970)

TYROLEAN PUMPKIN SEED MINI BREADS

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One of my most beloved bread baking books is written by Richard Ploner, a master baker from South Tyrol ("Brot aus Südtirol"). Unfortunately neither this nor any of the other good German bread baking books have been translated into English, yet.

American artisan bakers who want to bake German, Austrian or East European breads all have to rely on the same few recipes in American baking books, recipe collections and websites. (Since I first wrote about this, a few German bread baking bloggers, like Brotdoc and Bernd's Bakery, started putting bilingual posts in their blogs, too.)

To bring some fresh flour into all this "inbreading", I'll post a favorite Tyrolean recipe: Kürbiskernbrot.

Toasted pumpkin seeds

These pretty, tasty little breads are studded with toasted pumpkin seeds and a mix of flours. If you can get hold of it, use pumpkin seed oil to make them more authentic. But other vegetable oil works, too.

The soft wheat flour Italian Tipo 00 (or pastry flour) is necessary to give it the right consistency, so don't swap it for AP.

Enjoy!

Whole rye, spelt and pumpkin seeds make these little breads a real treat!

PUMPKIN SEED MINI BREADS  (adapted from Richard Ploner's "Brot aus Südtirol")


340 g/12 oz milk, at 95ºF/35ºC
6 g/0.2 oz instant yeast
50 g/1.8 oz whole rye flour
300 g/10.6 oz whole spelt flour
150 g/5.3 oz Italian Tipo 00 soft wheat flour (or pastry flour*)
10 g/0.4 oz salt
5 g sugar (1 tsp.)
30 g/1 oz pumpkin seed oil (or other vegetable oil)
150 g/5.3 oz pumpkin seeds, toasted
water, for adjustments
1 egg, slightly beaten, for egg wash

*) Do not substitute with all-purpose flour - the crumb will become too chewy!)

The dough is studded with toasted pumpkin seeds

DAY 1
Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add to all other dough ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix for 1 - 2 minutes by hand or with mixer at low speed, until all flour is hydrated and ingredients come together. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

The dough will be somewhat sticky, but a stiff from the pumpkin seeds

Knead dough for 2 minutes at medium-low speed, adjusting with a bit of water as needed, dough should be smoother but still sticky. Continue kneading for another 4 minutes. Dough should be still somewhat sticky. Prepare a clean, lightly oiled bowl.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled (or wet) work surface. Lightly oil (or moisten) your hands.

Pat and stretch dough into a rough square

Pat and stretch dough into a rough square, then fold it from top and bottom in thirds, like a business letter. Repeat stretching and folding in thirds from left and right.

Folded into a neat package

Place dough ball, sides tucked under, seam side down into prepared bowl. Cover, and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Repeat those stretches and folds 3 times, at 10 minute intervals (total time 40 min.) Dough will become smoother, but, with all those seeds, be also a bit stiff.

After the last fold, cover bowl, and immediately place into refrigerator for overnight fermentation.


DAY 2
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using, to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 410ºF/210ºC, including steam pan.

Fold edges to the center to shape a roll

Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface, and divide into 6 equal pieces. Shape these into rounds or rolls, and place them, seam side down, on parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash.

Using scissors, make 8 incisions around rim of each bread (see photo). Then, with a small round cookie cutter, press down in the middle to create the flower shape (the breads will spread and flatten a bit). Spray lightly with oil, cover, and proof for 30 - 45 minutes, or until they have grown 1 1/2 times their original size (finger poke test.)

Risen and ready to be baked

Place breads in oven, steaming with 1 cup hot water (optional), and bake for 12 minutes. Remove steam pan, rotate baking sheet 180 degrees, and continue baking for another 13 minutes, until breads are a deep golden brown, and register at least 200ºF/93ºC (instant thermometer.)

Let breads cool on wire rack.

Pumpkin Seed Mini Breads are as cute as they are tasty

 Updated 12/27/15