Brioche ブリオーシュ

We found some small disposable brioche cooking cups in the cupboard. My wife told me she got them to make individual fruit cakes one Christmas some time ago. She then came across a brioche bun recipe in “Frog Commissary  Cookbook”.  So with the juxtaposition of these two events she decided she had to make it. This is the end result (Picture #1). I am not sure why but the traditional brioche bun has a small “topknot” attached to the “body” making it a snowman shape (#1). In the case of this batch almost all the little knobs fell off. No worry. They made nice little bites for breakfast. These were very nice slightly sweet, rich buns. We had them toasted for breakfast and they were perfect. I will let my wife take over.

Ingredients:
¼ cup milk
½ pound butter, in bits
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 package dry yeast (4 ounce each)
¼ cup warm water
6 eggs
5½ cups flour (1½ pounds) 
1 egg yolk (optional)

Directions:
Gently heat the butter with the milk until the butter melts.

Put the sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and pour on the warm milk-butter mixture. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, bloom the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl. Add to the milk mixture. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Add 3½ cups of the flour and again mix until smooth. Switch to the dough hook and stir in the remaining flour. The dough will be too sticky to knead but should begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl; this may take 5-10 minutes of mixing. (I could not add all the flour specified in the ingredients because the dough became quite thick before I was able to add it all. Next time I may not add so much flour leaving the dough a bit sticky as suggested in the instructions.)

(Note: This bread requires 3 rises;  the first 1 to 1 1/2 hrs, the second about 1 hour, the third about 1/2 to 2 1/2 hrs. This is anywhere between 2 1/2  to 4 1/2 hours total. In order to have freshly baked brioche for breakfast, the recipe suggests putting the bowl in the refridgerator for the second rise to occur overnight. They suggest checking on it periodically to make sure it doesn’t rise too much before it cools to the temperature in the refrigerator. Then the third rise could be done the next morning after taking the dough out of the fridge. This is what we did.)

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1-1½ hours. Punch down the dough and lightly knead in the bowl for 1-2 minutes. Cover again and let rise once more in a warm spot until doubled (about 1 hour). Punch down and knead for 1-2 minutes. With floured hands, divide the dough into 14 pieces (about 3½ ounces each). Shape 12 of the pieces into balls and set one in each of 12 greased individual 3-4 ounce brioche tins.

Divide the remaining 2 pieces into 6 pieces each and roll them into little balls. Poke a hole with your finger in the top of each brioche and put one of the small balls in each indentation for a "topknot” (#2). Set the brioches in a warm spot to rise until very light and doubled in bulk; this could take ½-2½ hours depending on whether dough has been refrigerated Preheat the oven to 375°. Beat the egg yolk and brush it lightly over the brioches as a glaze. (This is optional and we did not do it.) Bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned (#3)

These were very good and made a very nice breakfast. We sliced one into 4 slices and lightly toasted it. Then spread on butter to melt in the residual heat. We each took 2 of the slices. What is not to like? Next time I think I will forgo the top knot and maybe cook them in the smaller sized brioche muffin cups we have.

Kabocha Blini かぼちゃビリーニ

Recently, in keeping with the fall season, we got a whole Japanese “Kabocha” 南瓜 squash from Weee, I made the classic Japanese stewed kabocha かぼちゃの煮物 and potage かぼちゃのポタージュ.  Both dishes were great mainly because of the quality of the kabocha was extremely good—very tender (not dry and chalky) and slightly sweet. After some time, we had some of the potage left. My wife decided to make “Kabocha blini” from it. This turned out to be pretty good. It has a nice yellow color, moist inside crispy outside. The kabocha flavor is subtle but it’s there. This is a good blini variation.

Ingredients: makes 12 blini
2 cups kabocha puree (or in this case thick soup/potage)
6 tbs melted butter
3/4 cup cream
6 large eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup + 4 Tbs. cake flour
1 Tbs + 1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
may need additional liquid to bring the batter to the consistency of pancake batter.

Directions:
In a bowl add the kabocha puree, melted butter, cream and eggs. Stir until well blended. Then add the flours, baking powder, and salt and whisk until well blended. (You may need to add some additional liquid so the batter is the consistency of pancake batter.)

Melt 1 Tbs. butter. In a cast iron platar, brush some of the melted butter to grease each of the platar cups before adding the batter. Pour the batter into the cups until they are full using the largest ice cream scoop. Cook over moderately low heat, turning once, until set, about 5 minutes or more per side. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter.

These were remarkably good. They had a tender texture, were slightly sweet and had a lovely subtle kabocha flavor. They tasted great toasted and topped with butter. This just proves the possibilities for blinis are limitless.

Indian Pudding インディアンプディング

This is another of my wife’s baking projects. Although my wife is not PA Dutch, she grew up in rural Pennsylvania and is very fond of the PA Dutch dishes she ate as a child. As a result she has collected quite a few PA Dutch cookbooks. While she was browsing through the cookbooks, she found this recipe called “Indian Pudding”. ** This was one of her favorite childhood desserts and she had not tasted it in years, so she decided to make it. I found this to be a somewhat unusual dish—I had never tasted anything like it before. But it was a success and quite enjoyable as a dessert (#1). It has a nice but not too strong molasses flavor combined with a complexity of cinnamon, and ginger spices plus a burst of sweetness from the raisins. The consistency is like an extremely wet cake referred to as “pudding” consistency. While this was new to me I see why my wife likes it and now I do too. 

** Indian pudding originated with New England colonists in the 17th century, who adapted a traditional British "hasty pudding" to incorporate cornmeal, a staple crop learned from Native Americans. The name refers to the colonists' term "Indian meal" for cornmeal, not to the modern country of India. It became a quintessential American dessert, especially popular during the colonial era.

Ingredients:
(X1)
1/4 cup cornmeal 
1 cup milk, scalded 
1/2 tablespoon butter 
1/8 cup table molasses (1/16 molasses, 1/16 karo), 
1/3 cup raisins 
1 large egg, lightly beaten 
1 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 cup milk 

(X2)
½ cup cornmeal
2 cups milk, scalded
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup table molasses (golden, barrel, or King Syrup), do not use baking molasses
⅔ cup raisins
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Stir cornmeal into hot milk with whisk, stirring until smooth. Add butter, molasses, raisins, egg, sugar, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly and let stand until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour into buttered 1-quart baking dish. Top with remaining cup(s) milk. Bake for 1 1/2 hours  (2 hours if double recipe) or until set. I used the small square corning bake dish. Serve warm.

We were not sure how the milk poured on top would work out. But as the picture we took while it was in the oven shows (#2) it eventually formed a crust topping which added another dimension of texture to the overall dish.

This is a picture of the final product (#3). Isn’t it a beaut?

This is a homey, hearty, savory dessert. It somehow evokes the image of a comfort food on a cold winter’s night. This was truely an old friend rediscovered for my wife and a new friend met for me.

Japanese Cucumber with “Sudachi” Miso 酢橘味噌胡瓜

This was the second  time we got fresh Japanese produce from Suzuki Farm. Last time, we got green yuzu or “ao-yuzu 青柚子” and made “yuzu miso 柚子味噌”. Japanese citrus for cooking include “Kabosu かぼす”, “Yuzu 柚子” and “Sudachi 酢橘” (the differences between these three citrus are  described in English in the linked website.) (They are also summarized below. **) This time we got “sudachi”.  “Sudachi” is the smallest of the aforementioned three Japanese citrus. I have not tasted “sudachi” before but I have seen it used with grilled “さんま” pacific saury” and “sudachi-soba 酢橘蕎麦”. In any case, I made “sudachi miso すだち味噌” and enjoyed with Japanese cucumber (chilled in ice water). I also served salmon belly with crispy  skin (dried over night in the refrigerator). Sudachi indeed has different flavor more complexed herbal flavor and more gentle acidity as compared with yuzu. We really liked the “sudachi miso”. Of course, well-chilled japanese cucumber is really great with this miso.

** Summary of the differences between the various Japanese citrus 
Sudachi 
Region: Tokushima Prefecture (accounts for 97% of Japan’s sudachi production) 
Season: August to October 
Flavor: Milder sourness, fragrant and less bitter than kabosu 
Best Uses: Topping grilled mackerel, soba noodles, matsutake mushrooms, and other fall dishes 

Kabosu
Region: Oita Prefecture (produces over 90% of Japan’s kabosu)
Season: August to October
Flavor: Well-balanced sourness with a juicy punch
Best Uses: Grilled fish, dipping sauces, hot pot, vinegared dishes, salad dressing

Yuzu
Region: Mainly Kochi Prefecture
Season: Green yuzu from August–October, yellow yuzu from November–December
Feature: Intense fragrance due to "yuzunone" aroma compounds
Best Uses: Zest for aroma, yuzu baths, yuzu marmalade, ponzu sauce

Prefer mild sourness for Japanese-style meals? → Sudachi
Want lots of juice and versatile sourness? → Kabosu 
Looking for a strong aroma with zest appeal? → Yuzu

The combination of chilled  Japanese cucumber with sudachi-miso served with crispy skin salmon belly is great.This is not a recipe but just a description of how I prepared the “sudachi-miso”.

Ingredients:
4 tbs of Saikyo miso 西京味噌 or other type of miso (I think sweet white miso like Saikyo-miso is the best)
2 tbs of sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
2 sudachi
2 tbs mirin (or more to make the desired consistency.

Directions:
Using a micro-grater, grate the zest of the sudachi (skin is thin so be gentle).
After the zest is grated, squeeze the juice of the sudachi into a small bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, add the miso, sugar, sudachi zest and juice and mirin and mix well.
If too stiff, add more mirin

Although “yuzu-miso 柚子味噌” is most common, we really like “sudachi-miso 酢橘味噌. We would like to try this for other dishes such as topping simmered daikon or “furofuki-daikon ふろふき大根.

Cheese Pennies チーズ (ペニー) バタークッキー

This is one of my wife’s appetizer projects. This is a savory and cheesy butter biscuit. The recipe came from the King Arthur.

Ingredients
2 cups (227g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated (Or any combination or cheese that may be available. We used sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, and parmesan.)
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (180g) All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
paprika, optional

Directions:
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients to make a cohesive dough, sprinkling in a tablespoon or so of water if the dough doesn't seem to want to come together. As soon as the dough starts to come together, turn off the mixer and gather it into a rough ball. Transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a 16" log about 1 1/2" in diameter (#1). Wrap the log in waxed paper or plastic wrap, and chill it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Using a serrated knife, slice the log crosswise into 1/8" rounds (#2). Place them on an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving only about 1/2" between them; they won't spread much as they bake. Sprinkle them with a bit of paprika. Bake the cheese pennies in a preheated 400°F oven for 11 to 13 minutes, or until they're just beginning to brown (#3). Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan for several minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely.

These are cheesy, slightly salty with hits of spices from mustard and cayenne pepper. This is a good appetizer that goes well with red wine but it is not a dessert. We really like it.