Icelandic Pumpernickel (Rye) Bread アイスランドのライ麦パン

My wife wanted to use pumpernickel flour (whole or dark rye flour) before it gets too old. We have already made “classic” pumpernickel bread and also German Black (Pumpernickel) boule. We found a recipe for “Icelandic Rye (pumpernickel) bread” at King Arthur Flour website. The recipe appeared interesting. Since it is a “soda” bread, my wife took the initiative for making it (soda bread is not my shtick). This bread turned out to be pretty good and the texture/density is something between the classic pumpernickel bread and Pumpernickel boule (picture #1). It is a bit sweeter and made perfect sandwich bread (picture #2).

This was a lunch. We happened to have a hot smoked (in Weber grill) pork roast. I made sandwiches with avocado slices, mayo and Dijon mustard.

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups (477g) Pumpernickel Flour (original recipe calls for “medium” rye flour)
2 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon baking powder 
3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
2 cups (454g) buttermilk 
1/2 cup (168g) honey
1/2 cup (170g) molasses

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the center position.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, honey, and molasses.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring to combine.
Transfer the batter to a lightly greased 9" pain de mille (pullman) pan and smooth the top. Lightly grease the lid, and place the lid on the pan. (We do not have a pullman pan so I just used a regular loaf pan. Luckily I put a tray underneath because the batter over flowed the loaf pan big time). Next time I will put the batter into two loaf pans.) 
Bake the bread for 2 hours. Turn off the oven and remove the lid from the pan. Leave the loaf in the turned-off oven for another 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and turn out of the pan onto a cooling rack.

Since this bread is denser than usual sandwich bread, I sliced it a bit thinly and made perfect roast pork sandwiches. 

Mary Walsh's Currant Cake マリイウオルシュのカラントケーキ

We like food themed travel shows. One of which was by Phil Rosenthal. It started as a PBS show “I’ll Have What Phil is Having” which evolved into a Netflix show called “Somebody feed Phil”. Although we had forgotten about it, turns out we had a copy of “Somebody feed Phil The book”. We rediscovered it while looking for another cookbook on the book shelf. It is an interesting read of behind-the-scene stories of the first 4 seasons but it also contains recipes provided by the local chefs they visited during the show. Among those recipes, was one titled “Mary Walsh’s Currant Cake”. Since St. Patrick's day was coming up and the current cake was basically an Irish soda bread my wife decided to make it. According to the book, although it was called current cake one of the secrets of why it tasted so good was that Mary didn’t use currents. She used sultanas (golden raisins) instead. Maybe she used sultanas because she didn’t have any currents. We, of course, didn’t have any currants either (we also didn’t have any sultanas). So my wife used raisons and dried fruit medley from Harry and David. (So really we should probably call our version dried fruit medley cake). As the queen of ingredient substitution in recipes my wife did not stop there. The recipe called for orange and lemon zests but we did not have any oranges. We did, however, have some Meyer lemons which have a flavor that is a cross between a lemon and an orange. So she used that instead and it worked well.

You can see the dried fruit medley and raisins on the cut-surface (picture #1)

Ingredients:
2 ounces (½ stick/55g) unsalted butter (room temperature), plus more for the pan
3¼ cups (450g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons (25g) castor or light or dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Zest of 2 Meyer lemons
1 cup dried fruit medley
1 cup of raisins
1 large egg
1¼ cups (300ml) buttermilk
2 tablespoons (30ml) heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and place a baking rack in the lower third of the oven.
Lightly butter an 8-inch round cake pan. In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt together. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. Use a citrus peeler to zest the Meyer lemons. Add all the zest and the dried fruit to the bowl with the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Put the egg in a medium bowl and whisk in the buttermilk and cream. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk mixture.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the remaining buttermilk, stirring to make a very moist, shaggy dough. Or, use your hands: grip the edge of the bowl with one hand, stir with a broad circular motion with the other. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and dust your hands lightly with flour. Gently shape the dough into a thick, roughly 6-inch (15cm) round and use a bench scraper or large spatula to transfer the dough to the center of the cake pan.

Brush the top and sides of the dough with the reserved buttermilk mixture and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top (#2). Put the cake pan in the oven, reduce the temperature to 400°F (180°C).

Bake for about 40 minutes until the bread is lightly golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped (#3). Transfer the bread to a wire rack and let cool for about 20 minutes. Cut the bread into thick slices and serve it warm with butter.

This is a very nice soda bread. Perfect for Saint Patrick’s day. It had a dense moist texture and a mild slightly sweet taste. The robust flavor of the butter milk as well as the citrus note from the Meyer lemon zest came through nicely. The dried fruit added a nice burst of sweetness.

Corn Sage Muffin Variation コーン、セージ、マフィンバリエーション

It is getting to be the season for fresh corn and we have gotten quite few ears of it recently. We (mostly my wife) love corn and we’re making quite a few corn dishes. This particular baking project started out as one of my wife’s regular sage corn bread (in muffin form) but she realized the recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of corn puree and she only had a cup; not quire enough of the corn puree required to make the batch of muffins. Then she remembered we had left-over corn, roasted red pepper, edamame and bacon salad that we had made a few days ago. She thought, ‘That salad included corn. If I substitute the salad for the missing corn, wouldn’t that make up the shortfall?’ She first contemplated pureeing the salad and adding it to the corn puree but in the end, she decided to just put a cup of the salad into the batter to add some additional texture.   I will never fathom how my wife (the queen of substitutions in recipes) comes up with these things but this substitution happened to result in a very good muffin. The red in the picture is the roasted red pepper. The green is the jalapeños pepper and boiled edamame. The flavors of these ingredients, particularly the roasted red pepper really comes through and went beautifully with the over all corn sage flavor of the muffin. This is a variation well worth repeating.

The picture below shows the salad she added.

The ingredients and directions for the two recipes she combine are shown below for convenience

Ingredients: For the muffin
1 cup grated corn
1 stick butter
6 large sage leaves (or several sprigs of rosemary)
1 cup of corn salad (this is the current variation in the recipe) (Salad recipe below)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 corn flour (or corn meal)
2 cups All Purpose (AP) flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar (or more for a slightly sweeter muffin)

Directions:
Grate the ears of corn on a stand grater. Scrape the ears with the back of the knife to get the remaining "corn milk" . Melt the butter in a saucepan (do not allow it to boil or brown). Mix in the grated corn, salt, and sage leaves. Cook until creamy and thickened, making a kind of polenta. Remove the sage leaves. To achieve a really smooth emersion blend it further in a “motor boat” blender. Allow the mixture to cool. Add the buttermilk and eggs and mix until blended.

In a large bowl sift together the corn flour (or corn meal), AP flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar. Add the 1 cup of corn salad and mix in the dry ingredients to coat with a bit of the flour. Add the liquid ingredients and stir until blended. Scoop into the prepared muffin tin. Cook in 400F degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes for muffins, or until a skewer comes out clean and the muffins are nicely browned.

Ingredients: For the corn salad
1 roasted red pepper, skin, ribs and seeds removed and cut into small squares
2 ears of fresh corn on cob, microwaved wrapped in wet paper towel for 2 minutes or more until cooked
1 sweet (Vidalia) onion, finely chopped
2 strips of bacon, cooked to crisp and crumbled
1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded, deveined and finely chopped
1 cup of boiled edamame, shelled (or lima beans)

For dressing:
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tbs honey
2 tbs rice vinegar (or any vinegar)
8 tbs or more fruity olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
For roasted red pepper
I roasted them at 450F in the toaster oven on convection mode for 20 minutes turning a few times so that all the surface was cooked/charred. I then put them in Ziploc bags to steam for 30 minutes. Once cooled down, remove the stem end, skin, ribs, seeds and peel. (The skin will come off easily).

Combine all the ingredients, add the dressing and stir well.

Soda Bread with Raisin, Craisin, and Caraway (Soda Bread V4)

Over the years my wife has baked various versions of Irish soda bread. This year my wife initially baked version #3 of Irish soda bread, which was by far our favorite, in preparation for the upcoming St. Paddy’s day. This bread was really great especially with the honey butter she spread on it after a light toasting. I, then, found a recipe called “Americanized Irish soda bread” in the Washington Post which looked interesting and told her about it. She baked this as Irish soda bread (Americanized) version #4. This bread was very good—on a par with version #3 but with a subtly different taste. It had great texture and was slightly sweet from the inclusion of raisins and craisins (dried cranberries).

As usual, my wife modified the recipe mainly due to ingredients we did not have.

Ingredients:
2 cups mixture of raisin and craisins, (substituted for currents called for in the original recipe.)
6 cups (750 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 cups (480 milliliters) whole buttermilk
8 tablespoons (4 ounces/113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (120 milliliters) heavy cream
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a very large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, caraway seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Scatter the dried fruits into the flour and fold them in with a flexible spatula until evenly distributed.
Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, cream, egg and the oil until combined. Pour into the flour mixture.
First using a spatula and then hands, stir and mix the dough together. (The original recipe says, “do not use a mixer”.) The dough should be slightly wet but not gloppy. Add a bit more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the dough feels too wet and is spreading. Re-flour your hands and gently knead the dough, turning and folding it over itself, just until it is somewhat firmer, sprinkling more flour on your hands or the work surface as needed. Try not to add too much more flour to the dough.
Divide the dough in half, shaping each portion into a round loaf 5½ to 6 inches in diameter, positioning any seams on the bottom. Do not flatten the loaves, making sure they are shaped more like mounds.
Place the loaves several inches apart on the prepared baking sheet (they will spread a little) but not up against the rim. Use a lame to gently score an X no more than ¼- to ½-inch deep into the top of each loaf (see picture below).

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the baking sheet from front to back halfway through, until the loaves are nicely browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The loaves should also sound hollow when tapped on the bottom (see picture below). Cool completely on a wire rack

Among the 4 versions of soda breads, we like the version 3 and 4 the best.

Creamy Tomato Soup クリーミィトマトスープ

I get Campari tomatoes almost every week and prepare them by removing the skin. Then I keep them in the refrigerator which is very convenient to make a quick cucumber tomato salad or just add as a side. Often, we can’t use up all the tomatoes and my default is to make them into marinara sauce. This time since we already had a batch of marinara sauce which had been re-heated several times, I decided to make the excess tomatoes into a creamy tomato soup. I served the soup with macaroni salad (for the salad dressing I used mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard) and couscous salad, Campari tomato and a slice of baguette I made few days ago. I made this bread using biga made of rye flour and buttermilk (My wife prepared this for me). As a result, this baguette had a slightly different flavor which we really liked.

Ingredients:
5 Campari tomatoes, skinned, cut into small chunks
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small stalk of celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp tomato paste
1 cup water/chicken broth (I used whey from the cheese curd my wife made recently)
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) (to reduce the acidity of the soup, optional*)
1/2 c heavy cream

*Digression alert: If tomato sauce or soup is too acidic, the most common suggestion is to add a small amount of sugar. This may mask the acidic taste but does not reduce the acidity (or does not raise pH). Adding sodium bicarbonate does reduce the acidity. My understanding is that tomato’s acidity mainly come from oxalic acid. So, the addition of bi-carbonate will produce carbon dioxide (CO2 gas), water (H20) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Reportedly, the resulting sodium carbonate may give rise to a “bitter” and “soapy” taste but I have not experienced this. I have found that adding a small amount of sodium bicarbonate definitely makes these tomato containing dishes less acidic without negative effects in taste. The sodium ion from sodium carbonate in water may add some “saltiness” so the salt seasoning may have to be adjusted. It should be noted that when you add bicarbonate, the soup bubbles up for several minutes.

Directions:
Add the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the butter and sauté the onion, celery, and garlic for a few minutes. Set the vegetables aside and add the tomato paste and sauté for 30 seconds (I use the type of tomato paste that comes in a tube, Cento tomato paste. It is much easier to use tomato paste from a tube when a small amount is needed compared to opening a whole can). Add the tomato and the liquid (I used whey). Cook 10-15 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked and soft. Using an immersion blender, make smooth soup. Season with salt and pepper.

(Optional) This process is to reduce the acidity. While it is simmering, add the sodium bicarbonate and mix (lots of bubbles come out, keep stirring for serval minutes until the bubbles subside.) I tasted the soup at this stage and it was very good without cream.

Since I was not planning to serve this immediately, I quickly chilled the soup by putting the pan in a large bowl with running water while stirring. Then I put it in sealable container in the refrigerator.

The next day, I served this for lunch. I warmed up the soup and added the cream. With an the addition of the cream, this became quite a luxurious soup.

Blueberry cake with miso crumbles ブルーベリーケーキとブルーベリー味噌クランブル

 We, especially my wife, have been exploring Western-style dishes using miso such as miso-peanuts butter cookie, miso maple syrup loaf, smothered chicken with miso and bourbon, carrot cashew spread with miso and avocado miso dressing. This is another one of these dishes made by my wife. The miso is in the crumbles.

This is a very moist and delicate cake/muffin with a nice crusty top. I can definitely taste miso.

I will ask my wife to fill in the ingredients and directions.


Ingredients:
For the crumble:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (3/4 cup for the crumble, 1 3/4 cups for the cake)
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 Tbs. Butter melted
3 Tbs. White miso

For the cake:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (mentioned as part of the 2 1/2 cups above)
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole milk greek yogurt
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 pint blueberries

Directions:
Mix the ingredients for the crumble until combined and set aside. In another bowl mix together the dry ingredients (flour through baking soda) and set aside. In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients (melted butter through vanilla). Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the blueberries. Spread in a 9X13 pyrex baking dish that has been light greased with a greased parchment paper on the bottom. Spread the crumble over the top. Cook in a 350 degree oven for a total of 60 to 70 minutes. Start checking every 30 minutes and tent the top with aluminum foil if the crumble starts to get too dark. Cook until the top is firm and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for a least 2 hours. 

This is a very unusual cake (in a good way). The combination of the whole wheat flour, miso and brown sugar makes a sweet/salty/robust flavor we have never tasted anywhere else. The miso is very pronounced. The blueberries add a burst of fresh sweetness which helps bring the other flavors back into balance. The crumble is nice and crunchy. It complements the tender texture of the cake. And the cake is extremely tender. I had trouble getting it into a storage bag in one piece even after cooling several hours. I couldn’t slice or serve it until it had been in the fridge overnight. Even then we had to eat the slices with a fork or spoon. Nonetheless it is a nice bread with coffee in the morning.

Cabbage stir fried Japanese style 日本風キャベツと油揚の炒め物

This is a simple Japanese family-style cabbage dish which my mother used to make. I thought I must have posted this before but obviously I did not. When we celebrated St. Patrick’s day this year we had a sort of Irish dinner with Shepherd pie, Irish soda bread, and I contributed this cabbage dish to complete the meal. This is a vegetarian dish since instead of meat, deep fried tofu or “abura-autge” 油揚げ is used. I also added onion but it was most likely not included in the original recipe. The seasoning is a typical Japanese one; soy sauce and mirin. This can be a drinking snack or accompaniment for rice (in that case, more soy sauce is called for). 

 I made. this with the center portion of cabbage I had left in the refrigerator. Since I was trying to use up the last of the cabbage, I made a bit more than I intended.

Ingredients: (The amount of the ingredients are arbitrary)
Cabbage, thinly sliced, soaked in water for 10 minutes and then moisture removed in a salad spinner (#1).
Deep fried tofu (abura-age), rinsed in hot water to remove excess oil, cut in half and sliced into thin strips (#2).
Onion, cut in half and thinly sliced (#3).
Vegetable oil with a dash or dark sesame oil for stir flying (#4)
Soy sauce and mirin as seasoning.

Directions:
Add the oil to a wok on medium-high flame
Stir fry the onion for a few minuets and then add the cabbage and continue cooking or few more minutes or until the cabbage softens.
Add the mirin and then soy sauce. Add the seasoning to taste.

This is a nice side dish and a nostalgic reminder from my childhood. 

Shepherd's pie

It was St. Patricks day so what would be the best way to celebrate? My wife suggested that at the very least a shepherd's pie should be involved. Since St. Patricks day fell on a weekday, we made this shepherd's pie on the following weekend. I theoretically knew what shepherd’s pie was but I had never made it and I do not think I ever even tasted one. In any case, here is a Shepherd's pie made from ground lamb in small individual ramekins topped with cheddar cheese.  This one really tasted lamb-y/mutton-y with nice mashed potatoes on top. So to continue, shouldn’t a traditional Irish meal include some cabbage?  My contribution was a Japanese-style cabbage dish. (This is a simple home style dish my mother used to make. I realized I never posted it. Therefore, subject for future post).  This Irish celebration was rounded out with the addition of a slice of Irish soda bread my wife made recently. 

Ingredients: (from Washington Post, for 4 servings which made 8 small ramekins, see below #1)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced (I chopped it in fairly small dice)
1 teaspoon minced thyme (I used dried thyme since we did not have fresh one)
1 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth (I used chicken broth)
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley (Our parsley in the fridge was too old and we did not have dried one, so we skipped this altogether).

--The potato topping was my wife's territory---
2 russet potatoes
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 tablespoons onion & chive cream cheese
1 cup cheeses, grated (optional) (we used cheddar and smoked gouda).

Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees.

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil until shimmering. Add the lamb and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes or until browned. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. With a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a medium bowl. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Stir in the onion and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft but not browned. Add the carrot and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add the broth, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring.

Return the meat to the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15, or until the lamb is cooked through and the sauce has slightly thickened. Stir in the parsley and adjust the seasonings to taste.

Meanwhile, for the potatoes: Cook in the microwave with skin on for about 10 minutes (5 minutes turn and another 5 minutes) until a screwer goes in easily. Peel and put in a bowl. Add the butter, cream cheese, salt and stir until smooth.

Using a large spoon, transfer the meat mixture to a medium casserole dish or 4 ovenproof 8-ounce ramekins (As you can see below, we used small ramekins which made total of 8 servings, #1). If there is any sauce left in the skillet, add it to the casserole or divide it among the individual ramekins. Drop spoonful of the mashed potatoes on top, then spread the potatoes across the meat mixture, forming peaks, and to the edges of the dish(es) (#2). Add the cheese (#3). Bake at 450 for 20 minutes (#4).

This was a great meal of Irish dishes (with a slight Japanese twist on the cabbage dish). The lamb/mutton taste was very pronounced (read: STRONG). My wife really likes lamb and thought it was great but it was a bit too strong for me. We think with this celebration we adequately honored St. Patty and his day. 

Miso maple syrup loaf 味噌メープルシロップローフ

I saw this interesting quick bread in one of the food blogs I follow (in Japanese) using “miso” and “maple syrup”.  This recipe was credited to Dorie Greenspan and it was easy to find the recipe in English in the New York times cooking section among other sites. So, I commissioned my wife to make this bread loaf. While baking, it definitely had the smell of  nutty miso. It is mildly sweet and salty with nutty overtones. It’s quite unique (in a good way) and nice. We had this as an ending dish the evening she baked it and also as a breakfast bread.

Ingredients: (Pictures #1 & #2) (Makes one loaf)
4 ounces (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¾ cups (238g) all-purpose flour
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
Finely grated zest of 1 orange or 2 tangerines (or 1 tsp. Orange flavoring)
¼ cup (70g) white miso
¼ cup (60ml) pure maple syrup
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
⅓ cup (80ml) buttermilk (well shaken before measuring)

Recipe doubled (makes 2 loaves)
8 ounces (226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
31/2 cups (476 g) all-purpose flour
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup (300g) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Finely grated zest of 2 orange or 4 tangerines (or 2 tsp. Orange flavoring
1/2 cup (140g) white miso
1/2 cup (120 ml) pure maple syrup
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 tsp. teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk (well shaken before measuring)

Directions:
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Put the sugar, salt, and zest in the bowl of a stand mixer. Rub the ingredients together until the sugar is moist and fragrant; it may even turn orange. Add the butter, miso, and maple syrup to the bowl. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl and beater(s) as needed to form a creamy mixture. One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after each. Beat in the vanilla. The mixture might curdle, but this is a temporary condition. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk and mix until they are incorporated.


Scrape the batter into the greased loaf pan, working it into the corners and smoothing the top (#3). Cook in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes. Check the loaf after 40 minutes and cove the top loosely with a foil or parchment tent if it’s browning too fast. The loaf is properly baked when it pulls away from the sides of the pan and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The top will be flat and most likely cracked down the middle (#4). Transfer the pan to a rack and let the bread rest for 5 minutes, then run a table knife around the edges of the loaf and unmold onto the rack; turn it right side up.

This was quite an engenius flavor combination. The bread has a very tender texture and the maple/miso combo plays extremely well together. Praise-be to whom ever thought of combining maple syrup and miso. (Side note: My wife made the bread in the late afternoon and it came out of the oven just before dinner. That night my wife woke up smelling miso. Her first thought was, ‘someone is making miso soup…who would be making miso soup at this hour?’ Then it dawned on her. It was the residual smell of the bread she had just baked.) We highly recommend this bread.

Our plum tree has been blooming recently in response to several warm days we had. It was a nice reminder that spring was indeed on its way. It looked beautiful and it had a lovely fragrance that was wonderful wafting on the breeze. Then a “bomb cyclone” whipped through, dumping snow, ice and cold temperatures. We woke up to a white winter wonderland. Everything, including the plum blossoms covered in snow and ice. But our plum tree stood fast. We still had plum blossoms even after the snow melted. Spring was not to be deterred by the late winter icy temper tantrum of a mean old bomb cyclone! 

Crumpet Version 4 クランペット 第4弾

This is the 4th version of crumpet we (my wife) made. She essentially combined V2 ingredients with  V3 cooking method. She got much better at regulating the flame and made really good crumpets. Compared to thin and small crumpets (V2), V4 has nice crunchy crust but much softer inside. We liked V2 flavors and liked cooking method of V3 (using an 8 inch frying pan). So, this is culmination of all the good aspects of crumpets we made.

Ingredients:
(makes 7, 8 inch crumpets)
2 cups AP flour
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. cake flour
600 ml. warm water
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Sugar
3 tsp. Baking powder (The recipe said baking soda doesn’t work as well)
3 tsp yeast
3 tbs. warm water

Directions
Bloom the yeast in the warm water. Put the flour, water and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on speed 5 for 1 minute until smooth paste forms. Add the yeast mixture, sugar and baking powder and mix on speed 5 for another 30 seconds. Cover with cling wrap and put in a warm place for 15 to 30 minutes. The surface should get foamy but it will only increase in volume by 10 to 15 % (#1 picture below). 

The whole secret of getting the little holes in the crumpets is in the cooking. (They need a burst of heat at the beginning of the cooking process for the water in the batter to form steam bubbles which create little holes when they burst on the surface of the cooking batter.)  Put 1 tsp. butter in an 8 inch skillet and heat on low for at least 5 minutes.  Increase heat to medium and heat skillet for an additional 1 minute.  Increase the heat to high and immediately pour enough batter into the skillet to cover the bottom. (This will give the batter a burst of heat to start the bubbles forming.) After the batter is in the pan quickly reduce the heat to medium low and contiue cooking until the edges are risen, set and beginning to dry out (about 4 minutes). Keep checking the bottom to make sure it isn’t burning. Take skillet off the heat. Place a dry flat spatula on top of the crumpet and pull up sharply to remove the excess batter and reveal the underlying holes (#2). Turn the crumpet over (#3). Return to the heat on medium until the edges on the second side are lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack (#4). Wipe any crumbs out of the pan. Add a little more butter. Turn heat to high pour in more batter and repeat cooking process.

As can be seen in the picture 3 the bottom of these crumpets came out nicely lightly browned. These crumpets were really good. They had better flavor than V3 because the batter was cooked in butter, which gave it a browned butter taste. In addition we avoided the last step in V3 of adding additional water. We used the batter straight from the proofing stage. As a result it still made the required bubbles but the lovely yeast flavor came through. The texture of V4 was better than the texture in V2 because of the addition of the cake flour. When toasted the surface was crunchy with a browned butter taste. The interior was soft with a nice yeasty flavor. Slathered with butter that dripped into the many holes that formed in the cooking process this made a really nice breakfast bread. 

Wacky waffle cake bowl with ricotta cheese topping

In trying to decide how to use the waffle bowls we made a few days ago, my wife was inspired by two items. The first was the realization that there are several Pennsylvania Dutch desserts such as funny cake or shoofly pie  that are essentially cakes in a pie shell. In addition she thought of Japanese melon pan which is essentially a cakey bread covered in a cookie (and wasn’t the waffle bowl a kind of cookie?) So based on these inspirations, she decided, as an experiment, to fill several of the waffle bowls with a PA Dutch cake called Wacky cake topped with ricotta filling. She chose wacky cake because it is so simple to make. If the experiment didn’t turn out, it wouldn’t be a great loss. In fact the “experiment” turned out quite nicely. The picture shows a whole wacky waffle cake plus one cut in half to show how the ricotta filling dips into the cake as it cooks.

The waffle bowls were cooked again and got really brown and crispy. Then after some time, stored in the refrigerator they became a bit soft again. My wife  heated them up in the toaster oven just before serving which made the bowls crispy. I turn the platform over to my wife to describe how she made them.

Ingredients:

For the cake 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbs. vinegar
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water 

For the ricotta filling

1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg 
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients for the ricotta filling until smooth and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients from the flour thru the cocoa powder in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until smooth. I put the waffle bowls in a tin for large muffins to provide support as the cake cooked (and in case the waffle bowls fell apart during cooking the mess would be contained.) I then filled them with the cake mixture and topped them with a scoop of the ricotta filling. (These are shown in the bottom row of muffins in the next picture). I had some batter left over after filling the waffle bowls so I just made some large muffins by putting the batter directly into the muffin tin and topping them with the ricotta mixture. (These muffins are shown in the top row of muffins in the picture). I cooked them at 350 degree for about 30 to 35 minutes until the ricotta topping firmed up and a skewer came out clean. 

The wacky waffle cakes were surprisingly good. Even though the shell was double cooked and got a bit high done it was nice and crispy and tasted very good. The combination of cookie-like crispiness, soft sweet chocolate cake and smooth moist ricotta filling made each chew a nice complex texture experience. The three different flavors of each element also went very well together. I think I may be onto something here. Stand back! 

Irish-style soda bread #3 アイルランド風ソーダブレッド ＃3

 This is the third and last of my wife’s Irish soda bread baking binge. This one is quite different from the “traditional” recipe. This came from “Nancy Silverton’s Pastries from the La Brea Bakery”.  It is much more complicated than the traditional recipe. (It wouldn’t be La Brea if it wasn’t). It is a muffins/roll and uses eggs, butter, sugar and Caraway seeds. This one is accordingly called  “Irish-style”. As a result, it has a very different flavor from the traditional. (Although I used an Easter bunny plate for the picture, my wife pointed out that I covered up the “bunny’s” face with the bread when I took a picture below so only his feet are showing). (Sorry).

Like all the other Irish soda breads my wife made this has the same rough brown texture on the crust.

I will ask my wife to fill in the rest.

Ingredients
3 3/4 cups AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup wheat flakes (I didn’t have any so I left it out)
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 Tsp. baking soda
1 Tbs. lemon zest (or 2 tsp. lemon flavoring)
2 Tbs. caraway seeds
1/2 stick (2 oz.) butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes and frozen
1 3/4 cup buttermilk

1 egg

Directions:
In a bowl whisk together the dry ingredients from the AP flour to the the caraway seeds so they are well distributed. In the bowl of a food processor with a steel blade add some of the mixed dry ingredients with the butter and pulse until it resembles fine meal. Add the rest of the mixed dry ingredients and continue pulsing. (I found this works better to fully incorporate the butter. If all the mixed dry ingredients are added at once the butter remains in cubes.) Put the dry mixture into a large bowl. Mix the buttermilk and egg. If using lemon flavoring add it to the buttermilk now. Mix the buttermilk egg mixture into the dry mixture. Mix just until everything is incorporated. (I found I had to add more buttermilk for the dough to form otherwise it would have been just crumbs and not held together). Turn out onto a floured surface and gently pat into it together. (The original recipe calls for patting it into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle and then cutting it into various shapes using about 1/2 cup of dough for each shape.) I just took a 1/2 cup measure. filled it with dough and turned it out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

This was without a doubt the most complex and refined version of the Irish soda breads my wife made. It had depth of flavor. The caraway seed with the slight hint of lemon was a very good addition. It had the familiar rough crunchy crust and soft moist interior. Traditionalist would say, “but it is not genuine soda bread.” Next time my wife said she would make it even less so by adding raisins.

Irish soda bread #2 アイルランドソーダブレッド ＃2

After making one Irish soda bread, my wife is on a roll and made this Irish soda bread from her favorite bread recipe book “Beard on bread”. This one used whole wheat flour.

Because of the whole wheat flour, the flavor is a bit different from the first bread she made but came out also nicely moist.

I will ask my wife to provide the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup AP flour

1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk

Directions:
Combine the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to distribute the soda and baking powder. Add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. It will be the consistency of biscuit dough but should be firm enough to hold its shape. Knead for 1 or 2 minutes until smooth and velvety. Form into a loaf and place in an 8 inch pie pan well buttered or lined with parchment paper. Cut the traditional cross on the top of the loaf. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

This was a nice variation on the Irish soda bread theme. The whole wheat flour gave it a slight nutty flavor. The texture was fairly dense but also moist. It tasted great slightly microwaved and slathered with butter.

Traditional Irish soda bread 伝統的アイルランドソーダブレッド

 Just a few days before St. Patrick’s day, I happened to see  a  “real Irish soda bread” recipe on the “Serious Eats” website. I showed my wife the recipe and in passing mentioned that St. Patrick’s day was coming up. Next thing I knew she has found 2 other Irish soda bread recipes and for 3 days in a row when I came home a new loaf was cooling on the rack. What a treat!  This is the first loaf she made. It was baked in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven like “no-knead bread” and produced a nice brown crust and center was moist.

She cut the traditional cross on the top but the dough was very wet and just filled in. Nonetheless you can still a light impression of the cross.

The below recipe is from “Serious eats”

Ingredients
15 ounces all-purpose flour (3 cups; 425g)
1 3/4 teaspoons (7g) kosher salt; for table salt, use the same weight or half as much by volume
1 1/8 teaspoons (6g) baking soda
18 ounces low-fat cultured buttermilk (2 1/4 cups; 510g), well shaken

Directions
1.Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 450°F (230°C) at least 15 minutes in advance. Roughly cover the bottom of a deep 10-inch cast iron or enameled Dutch oven with a sheet of parchment paper; no need to trim.
2.Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk a full minute to combine. Stir in buttermilk with a flexible spatula until dough is fully moistened and no pockets of flour remain. For extra-fluffy results, stop folding as soon as dough comes together. For extra-chewy results, fold dough about 20 seconds more. Scrape sticky dough into prepared Dutch oven and smooth with a spatula into a rough boule-like shape. Score deeply into quarters with a sharp knife or razor, cleaning the blade between each slice.
3.Cover and bake until well risen and golden, 45 minutes. Remove lid and continue baking until chestnut brown, with an internal temperature of 210°F (99°C), 12 to 15 minutes longer. Invert onto a wire rack, discard parchment, turn right side up, and cool until crumb has set, about 30 minutes. Cut thick slices to accompany hearty soups and stews, or slice thinly for sandwiches. (This will be easier if bread is allowed to cool 2 hours more.) Store up to 24 hours in an airtight container and toast to freshen bread before serving.

The bread had a nice crunchy crust and the interior was moist with a nice crumb. The buttermilk gave it a subtle tang. The flavor was a bit salty. We had this with a lamb stew I made. (What else would you have for St. Patrick’s day?) This was the perfect bread to accompany the stew. 

Our plum tree was in full bloom and our backyard was filled with the nice sweet smell of plum blossom. This is the plum tree we got many many years ago. We wanted the type of plum that produced the fruit used to make Japanese salted plum and umeshu.  After some search, we finally found one at an Oregon nursery. It arrived as a twig in a small envelope but it miraculously grew into a good sized tree and provided lots of plum fruit over the years. We used the fruit to make “umeshu” plum wine. Then, a few years ago all the plum trees in the area got a fungal disease. Our poor tree was no exception. We thought it was a “goner” especially after we had to transplant it during a landscaping project. Although the tree is much smaller than it was at its peak, it appears that this plum tree is surviving. Spring is almost here.

Basil and pine nuts quick bread バジルと松の実の速成パン

 My wife made this quick bread as an effort to use more of the basil we are growing in our windowsill herb garden. In addition to the basil, it has pine nuts and parmesan cheese. So it is a kind-of disaggregated “pesto” bread.  This is a savory quick bread which is good for breakfast or even as an hors d’oeuvre with wine.

The cut surface shows basil and pine nuts.

Ingredients: (three small loaves)

2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder<

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 tbs minced fresh basil (or more to taste)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter the three small loaf pans (5x3 inch).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the cheese and minced basil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter milk, egg and olive oil.

Pour the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, stir together until just combined.

Fold in the pine nuts.

Bake 30-35 minutes at 350F

Let it cool down for 15 minutes and remove the loaves

This bread is very flavorful. It is really good lightly toasted with melted butter. Since it is late in the season, the basil taste was a bit muted but still present. 

Pumpkin muffins with topping

This is a muffin-form of pumpkin bread my wife made a number of years ago. She is now really into muffins and rolls rather than loaves and is converting bread loaf recipes into muffin/roll recipes. This is one such example. Because of the topping, this is a bit sweeter than usual but not too sweet. 

She usually omits the toppings but this time the topping really worked with pumpkin/pumpkin seasoning. As usual, I ask my wife to provide the recipe.

Ingredients:
Topping:
5 Tbs. packed light brown sugar,
1Tbs. all purpose flour,
1Tbs. unsalted butter softened,
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon,
1/8 Tsp. salt.
I used my fingers to mix all the ingredients together until the mixture resembled coarse sand.

Bread:
2 cups all purpose flour,
1 1/2 Tsp baking powder,
1/2 Tsp. baking soda,
1, 15 oz. can of unsweetened pumpkin puree (According direct mathematical conversion 15 oz. should equal 425 grams.  But when I weighed the actual contents of the can it came out to 418 grams. I provide this information in case I don’t have a can of that exact size),
1tsp. salt,
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon,
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg,
1/8 tsp. ground cloves,
2 cups granulated sugar,
1 Tbs. molasses,
1/2 cup vegetable oil,
4 oz. cream cheese cut into pieces,
4 large eggs,
1/4 cup buttermilk,
1 cup walnuts or pecans toasted and chopped.

1/2 cup candied ginger chopped. 


Directions:
I mixed the flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl and set it aside. I combined the pumpkin puree, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a large sauce pan and cooked continuously until it turned brown and reduced by about half. I removed the pan from the heat and stirred in the sugars, molasses, oil and cream cheese. I mixed it until everything was incorporated and homogeneous. I whisked together the eggs and buttermilk and added it to the pumpkin mixture. (This step requires some care not to curdle the eggs so either let the mixture cool down or temper the eggs a bit before adding.) I poured the cooled pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter. I folded the walnuts into the batter. Using a large scoop I distributed the dough into heavily greased muffin tins and sprinkled the topping mixture on top of the muffins. I cooked the muffins in a 350 degree oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer came out clean. Just after cooking, the muffins are very tender so I let them rest in the pan for about 20 minutes before I attempted to remove them.

This is a great seasonal treat. It has lovely pumpkin spice flavor. The texture is very tender with a nice crunch from the nuts. And muffins are just the right size for breakfast with coffee.

Carrot bread muffin キャロットブレッドマフィン

We made carrot juice recently since we had quite a few carrots which were beginning to put out roots and had to be quickly used. The juice was very sweet and delicious but my wife looked at the left over carrot pulp and thought it would be too wasteful to just throw it away. So, she used the left over pulp to make these carrot bread muffins.

The carrot pulp that remained in the juicer was very different from grated carrot which is usually used in carrot cake muffins. As shown below it was very fine and kind of dry after the juice was extracted. Despite this difference it made very nice carrot cake muffins. The recipe came from somewhere on the web but it appears to be a standard recipe.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsp. sour cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup grated carrots (from about 4 carrots)
1/2 cup golden raisins (she used regular raisin)
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger (#1 left bowl). In another large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients; melted butter, brown sugar, egg, sour cream, and vanilla (#1 right bowl). Stir the carrots (#2), into the liquid ingredients until thoroughly blended (#3). Add the raisins,(#4) and pecans. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. (# 5). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with butter. Divide the batter among the muffin tins (#6). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Despite using the somewhat dry carrot pulp, the muffins came out really nice and moist with the characteristic carrot cake flavor. This muffin is perfect for breakfast.

Prune and coffee muffin プルーンとコーヒーマフィン

This is my wife's binge baking again as she is making her way through the quick bread muffin section of the  "Pastries from La Brea Bakery" during the Covid-19 induced yeast shortage. It has rum-soaked prunes and ground coffee which give really nice flavor. As you can see in the picture below the muffin has a nice oversized top.

Shown below is what happened to the "runt" muffin my wife always makes specifically for me, so I will leave the others alone when I can't resist a taste. This one had barely stopped steaming before I busted into it. See the inside with lots of rum-soaked prunes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rum (original recipe calls for brandy)
20 soft prunes chopped up
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbs. finely ground coffee* (might recommend an extra tbs would further add to the coffee flavor in       the final muffin)
2 sticks (8 0z.) butting cut into cubes and frozen
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs
1 tbs. vanilla extract

*This happened to be home roasted coffee beans to FullCity plus for our espresso.

Directions:
Put the prunes and rum in a measuring cup and heat gently in the microwave until just warm. Cover and leave them to soak overnight. Drain the prunes and cut into pieces. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and coffee. Pulse to incorporate the mixture. Slowly add the frozen butter pulsing until the mixture has the consistency of fine meal. Put the flour mixture in a bowl and add the prunes so they are coated with flour (this will help keep them from sinking to bottom of the resulting dough or clumping together) (#1). Mix the yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Add the yogurt mixture to the flour mixture (#2). Using a medium sized scoop put the dough into a heavily greased muffin tin (#3 & #4). Cook in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they are firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. When they come out of the oven let them rest a few minutes (#5) then move them to a cooling rack (#6).

These are truly remarkable muffins. The coffee flavor comes through and is pleasantly surprising. As a result my wife said next time she might add a bit more coffee. The combination of rum, prunes and coffee is a perfect harmony. Even though the original recipe called for brandy we think the rum is excellent. (My wife said she doesn't know why she substituted the rum, maybe because the recipes usually call for rum when soaking dried fruit in liquor?) The texture is very moist. We will be making these again.

Banana chocolate muffin バナナチョコレートマフィン

As we endure the corona virus inspired yeast shortage, my wife has been focusing on quick breads made with baking powder and soda. Both of which, we have in abundance. Also, under "stay-at-home" directives, she has been baking to her hearts content basically making her way through all the muffin recipes in the "Pastries from the La Brea Bakery" cook book. While taking an inventory of items in the freezer, she came across a bag of frozen red bananas which she had prepared some time ago to make her usual banana bread. She remembered that the La Brea cook book had a recipe for banana chocolate muffin and decided to use the bananas in that recipe instead. These muffins turned out to be more like a cake than a muffin but they are certainly good muffins. Since my wife reduced the sugar it is perfectly suited for breakfast.

Ingredients (makes 2 dozen muffins)
3 3/4 cup AP flour
3 cups sugar
2 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp baking powder
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cup of ripe banana, mashed (she only had 1 1/2 cups but went ahead without further adjustment)
5 eggs
1 1/4 vegetable oil

1 Tbs. vanilla

1/2 Recipe (makes 1 dozen muffins)

1 3/4 +1/8 cup AP flour

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup of ripe banana, mashed 

3 eggs
1/2 + 1/8 vegetable oil

1/2  Tbs. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowel mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder (# 1). In another bowel mix the bananas, eggs and vegetable oil (#2). Combine the flour mixture with the banana mixture (#3). Using a large ice cream scoop fill a heavily greased muffin tin (#4). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins are firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean (#5). Let them cool for a while and remove from pan (#6).

These muffins don't rise so much as spread out. Thank goodness we put a cookie sheet under the muffin tin. Otherwise, muffin mixture would have been all over the bottom of the oven making quite a mess. As seen in #5, the muffins bled together making the tops heavy relative to the bottom so we had to cool them upside down as shown in #6 so the bottoms wouldn't collapse under the weight of the tops. Once they cooled completely, however, the bottoms could "stand up" to the oversized tops. Also, if we make these again we would try using two muffin tins.

These muffins were a mixture between a brownie and chocolate cake. They also reminded us of wacky cake but that may be because the main chocolate flavor came from the Hershey's powder used in both. They had a very chocolate flavor but we didn't taste the banana at all. The top was nice a crunchy. With the ridiculous amount of eggs that went into the batter the inside texture was very tender and the contrast between the crunchy crust and tender interior was very nice.

"Rescued" sour cream bread "救助”されたサワークリームパン

Due to the shortage of yeast during the Covid-19 pandemic, my wife has been relying on biga/poolish as the leavening agent for bread. She has experimented with substituting preferments in various of her favorite bread recipes with great success. So she decided to try making sour cream bread based on a recipe in "Beard on Bread" using biga. She made the biga the night before and by morning it had puffed up nicely. She used it to make the dough; making adjustments for the moisture and flour already in the biga. She made the dough in the morning but by 5:00 PM basically nothing had happened. The dough sat sullenly in the bottom of the bowl just basically where it had been in the morning. We consulted each other about what to do with the recalcitrant dough. Should we give it a time out by just putting it into the fridge and letting it spend the night getting its act together and hopefully rising? Then I suggested, "Maybe we should just cook it now like a focaccia". That sounded like a plan to us so I rolled it out on parchment paper. (This is a new technique I read about recently for getting these types of bread in and out of the oven and found it works very well). We decided to top it with cream cheese and black olives.

This is the loaf after it was cooked. It had some rise, at least it wasn't flat like a cracker.

Ingredients:
Biga:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sour cream
1/8 tsp yeast

Dough:
biga
3 tbs. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 to 4 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

The night before baking mix together the biga, cover it with towels and leave at room temperature overnight. Next day in an electric mixer with a dough hook combine the biga, sugar, salt, baking soda and flour into the smooth elastic dough. Knead on the dough hook for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the bowl and hand knead a few minutes more. Put into the bowel and lightly coat with oil. Let rise.

In this case it did not rise. After some consternation and discussion it was decided the bread had been re-designated as focaccia and I stepped up to "center stage". I  took the dough out of the bowl in which it had spent the day and transferred it to a piece of parchment paper (big enough to hold the final rectangle). I stretched the dough into a rectangle shape, then folded all sides inward and stretched it again to make the same sized rectangle. I repeated this 2 times and ended up with the focaccia shape shown above. I covered it with plastic wrap and a towel and let it rise (hopefully) for another hour. Meanwhile I preheated the oven with a baking stone in it to 390 F. After one hour, I pressed the dough with my finger tips like I would do with focaccia bread. I brushed the surface with olive oil. At my wife's suggestion, I put small cubes of cream cheese and slices of black olives on top of the loaf. I transferred it still on the parchment paper using a metal pizza paddle to the baking stone and baked it for 30 minutes.

Surprisingly this bread was very good! The texture was dense and chewy but soft at the same time. The basic recipe was slightly sweet with a slight tang from the sour cream. Those flavors came through and went extremely well with the saltiness of the olives and the creaminess of the cream cheese. This turned out to be a very good breakfast bread that went well with coffee. It is a prime example of how "forgiving" yeast breads can be. We have taken to calling it "rescued" bread.  We wouldn't mind making it again but we are not sure we could reproduce the "mistake" that resulted in this version of the bread rather than the one we were expecting. We think maybe the ratio of biga to flour was not correct and most of the gluten was eaten by the resulting yeast so the bread couldn't rise. (Just a theory. Who knows? We'll be working on this.)