Pumpernickel Boule ドイツ黒パン

Although, most of the time, we eat home-baked bread, we buy some breads to use especially when we make sandwiches. Pumpernickel bread/boule is one of them. We used to get it at the bakery in Whole Foods. Sometime ago, for some reason, they stopped baking pumpernickel and Russian black bread.  We also discovered the local Giant grocery store stopped selling pumpernickel bread. So our usual commercial sources are not available. If we want pumpernickel we have to make it ourselves. I have baked a traditional pumpernickel bread which is very dense and good as a cocktail bread but not good for making sandwiches. So, I was tasked by “she-who-tasks” (i.e. my wife) to make pumpernickel bread suited for sandwiches. So I baked this pumpernickel bread using a recipe from King Arthur. It came out rather nicely ( picture #1). It has a nice crust but not too thick.

The cut surface shows nice uniform air holes and just right texture (picture #2). It has nice flavors as well, We had it as a part of breakfast with butter and honey. 

I made some common sense modifications especially in the directions.

Ingredients: (I weighed except for the yeast)
4 cups (480g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup (116g) Pumpernickel Flour*
2 tablespoons (11g) black cocoa, for dark pumpernickel color
2 1/4 teaspoons (14g) table salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (425g) water, lukewarm

* The original recipe listed  1 cup as 96g. We keep pumpernickel bread in the freezer and my wife got me 1cup which happed to be 116 grams. The original recipe calls for  “rye bread improver” and “deli rye flavor” from King Arthur but we did not have and did not use them.

Directions:
1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix and knead  using a standing mixer fitted with a kneading hook for 7-10 minutes or until the dough is elastic and slightly sticky.
2. Let the dough rise in a lightly greased, covered bowl for 1 to 2 hours in a 85F proofing box; it should become puffy.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Gently deflate it, and shape it into a ball.
4. Place the shaped loaf onto a “round silicon round loaf  lifter” with tabs (or parchment paper) and place in the bowl, covered with a plastic wrap and placed it back in the proofing box for 1 hour (or until the volume doubled)
5. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
6. Slash the loaf making a cross on the op  and place the dough in a preheated Dutch oven and place the lid
7. Bake the loaf for 35 minutes with the lid on and 5 more minutes with the lid off
(digital thermometer inserted into the center reads 190°F to 200°F) 
8. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, and transfer the bread to a rack to cool completely. (I used “silicon round loaf lifter” which made this transfer easy and safe)

This bread had a light crispy crust and a nice, moist, dense interior texture. It also had a gentle savory pumpernickel flavor. The quality of the bread was perfect and far superceded the commercial variety. The sandwiches have “stepped it up a notch”. 

Shrimp Shumai 海老焼売

This is my third attempt at making “shumai” 焼売 dumplings.  In the previous 2 attempts the dumplings fell apart when I cooked them and I ended up with cooked ground meat and separated dumpling skins which served almost as pasta. This time, everything worked. The dumplings held together and I made some decent shumais. I made this for a lunch and served them with pickled daikon, cucumber, blanched sugar snaps, braised burdock root きんぴらゴボウ (kinpira), pumpkin salad (curry flavored) and braised eggplant in miso sauce. I served the shumais with Japanese hot mustard and a mixture of rice vinegar and soy sauce (picture #1). The wonton skin stayed with the filling. The filling was the combination of shrimp and chicken with minced onion and garlic chive which worked well.

The shumais are rather large and cutting them in half made it easier to eat (picture #2). I left some shrimp in large pieces (they can be seen in the cut surface toward the top.

Ingredients: (made 20 shumais)
Shrimp about 100g, thawed and hand chopped making a mixture of finely chopped and small chunks
Ground chicken 150g (this was breast meat)
1 Onion, small. finely chopped
4-5 stalks of garlic chives, finely chopped (optional)
20 Wonton skins

Seasonings:
2 tsp potato starch
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tbs Shaoxing wine (optional)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp grated ginger

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients for filling (except the wonton skin) and the seasonings in a bowl, mix well.

I tried three different ways to assemble shumai:
1. Place the skin on your palm and spread the filling using a silicon spatula  leaving only the rims of the skin. Inverse it on the tip of the spatula and squeeze to foam shumai.
2. place the balls of filling on the cutting board and place the skin on the top. Using five fingers, squeeze the skin around the ball of the filling and pick it up and form shumai, and
3. Place the skin on your palm and spread water using a finger and then place the ball of filling. Squeeze to make shumai. 

For all three methods, make sure the bottom is flattened and the tip of the shumai is squeezed to make it narrower than the bottom (#1 and #2 in the composite picture). This time, all three methods worked and the skin did not separate from the filling. I am not sure why this was. In any case, place the shumai in the steamer basket and steam for 10 minutes (#3 and #4 in the composite picture).

This was a success! The addition of shrimp (combination of finely chopped and small chunks worked well adding taste, and texture).  I added garlic chives since I had some fresh ones from Weee. They did not add much flavor but added nice green specks (picture #2). I served this with Japanese hot mustard and a mixture of rice vinegar and soy sauce (picture #1).

Filled Wool Bread 毛糸のパン

This appears to be a variation of “Frangipane rolls”. The original recipe came from the King Arthur web site. My wife decided to make this. The recipe calls for the dough to be formed into a ring shape in the pan.  Although she used the suggest sized pan the dough didn’t fit as just a ring around the edge so she made a ring with three segments and the 4th segment went in the center (picture #1). The texture and flavor of the bread were excellent.

The filling distributed through out the bread but not very evenly (picture #2) Nonetheless the filling taste complimented this soft milk bread.

Ingredients: ( X 1)
Tangzhong (starter)
3 tablespoons (43g) water
3 tablespoons (43g) milk, whole preferred
2 tablespoons (14g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

Dough
1/2 cup (113g) milk, whole preferred; cold
2 1/2 cups (300g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1 large egg
4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon (9g) instant yeast

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (6g) table salt

Filling
half an 8-ounce package (113g) cream cheese, softened*
2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
zest (grated rind) of 2 medium lemons
pinch of table salt
2 tablespoons (4g) freeze- dried raspberries, lightly crushed
2 tablespoons (15g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
*The cream cheese should be at warm room temperature, at least 68°F.

Topping
2 tablespoons (28g) milk, whole preferred

Ingredients: ( X 2)
Tangzhong (starter)
6 tablespoons (86g) water
6 tablespoons (86g) milk, whole preferred
4 tablespoons (28g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

Dough
1 cup (226g) milk, whole preferred; cold
5 cups (600g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
2 large egg
8 tablespoons (114g) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoon (18g) instant yeast

1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoon (12g) table salt

Filling
8-ounce package (226g) cream cheese, softened*
4 tablespoons (50g) granulated sugar
zest (grated rind) of 2 medium lemons
pinch of table salt
4 tablespoons (4g) freeze- dried raspberries, lightly crushed (I didn’t have the raspberries so I used candied ginger.)
4 tablespoons (30g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
*The cream cheese should be at warm room temperature, at least 68°F.

Directions:
1. To make the tangzhong: Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
2. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook the mixture, stirring regularly, until thickened, paste-like, and the spoon or spatula leaves lines on the bottom of the pan. This should take 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the strength of the burner.
3. Remove the tangzhong from the heat and transfer it to a large mixing bowl, the bowl of a stand mixer, or the bucket of a bread machine (whatever you plan to knead the dough in).

4. To make the dough: Add the milk on top of the hot tangzhong; it will help cool the dough to lukewarm. Add the flour and remaining dough ingredients. Mix to combine, then knead until a soft, smooth dough forms, about 8 to 10 minutes on medium-low speed of a mixer. (The dough may be tacky and stick to the sides of the bowl slightly; that's OK.)
5. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest in a lightly greased bowl, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.

6. To make the filling: Combine the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, and salt, mixing until smooth.
7. Add the freeze-dried raspberries (or candied ginger) and flour, mixing until everything is evenly distributed.

8. To assemble: On a lightly floured surface, gently deflate the dough, divide it into four pieces (or eight if doubling the recipe), and shape each piece into a ball.
9. Cover the dough and let rest for 10 minutes.
10. Line a 9" springform or a 9" round cake pan (at least 2" deep) with parchment and lightly grease the parchment.
11. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it into a 6" x 12" rectangle. If the dough begins to snap back during rolling, set it aside and begin rolling out the second piece. Return to the first piece to continue rolling it to the full size after a couple of minutes, giving the gluten a chance to relax.
12. Portion a quarter (or eighth of the filling for doubled recipe) onto the top half of the rectangle. A tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.
13. Position the rectangle so its 12" sides are vertical. Starting at the top, spread the filling across the entire width of the rectangle (leaving about 1/4" bare on each side) and down about 6" or 7", leaving the bottom 5" to 6" bare (#1). If the filling is difficult to spread, warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds and stir; check the consistency. Repeat, if necessary, until it's an easily spreadable consistency.
14. Using a bench or chef’s knife, cut the uncovered dough at the bottom into very thin strips (anywhere from 1/8" to 1/4" wide) (#2).
15.  Fold the long edges of the rectangle in to prevent any filling from seeping out and pat them gently to flatten.
16. Starting from the filling-covered top and rolling toward the uncovered strips, roll the dough into a log about 6" long (#3).
17. Lightly press the strips into the rolled log to secure. Place the log, seam-side down, into the bottom of the pan so it's snuggled up against the pan’s outside edge (#4).
18. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, placing them into the pan to form a complete circle around the pan’s outside edge. (Or until all the pieces are in the pan) (#5)
19. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
20. Cover the wool roll and let it rise for 60 to 75 minutes, until
puffy.
21. To finish and bake the roll: Brush the roll with milk, being careful not to deflate the delicate dough.
22. Bake it for 28 to 32 minutes, until it’s golden brown on top; a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf should read at least 190°F. (#6)
23. Remove the roll from the oven and cool it in the pan until you can transfer it safely to a rack to cool completely.
24. Storage information: Store leftover wool roll bread, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days.

Tips from our Bakers
The tangzhong starter can be made ahead of time. Simply cook it up (making a double, triple, or quadruple batch if you like, for future use) as instructed in steps 1 – 3. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl, pressing a layer of plastic wrap over the top of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Cool to room temperature then store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to five days. When you're ready to bake your Wool Roll Bread, add the tanzghong to the dough. (If you've made a big batch of tangzhong, use a heaping 1/3 cup (95g) for a single batch of dough.) Use warm milk when mixing the remaining dough ingredients; proceed with the recipe from step 4.
Let your culinary imagination run wild with this recipe, since the sky is the limit for filling combinations. Cinnamon sugar? Chocolate? Butter and garlic? Pesto and cheese? Whether you go sweet or savory, don’t overload your bread with filling.

This is wonderfully elegant. The bread is a very light slightly sweet milk bread. The filling is very subtle but goes perfectly with the milk bread. It forms a pudding-like filling which is distributed through out the bread. (No need for butter or jelly here). The filling has a slightly sweet taste and a hint of the cream cheese flavor peeks through. The candied ginger contributes a random burst of gingered sweetness which is a nice contrast with the rest of the flavor of the filling. This is a bit of effort to make but it is worth it and although this bread seems to be a version of frangipane rolls they are two different breads with two different personalities. The difference makes it worth while to make both. 

Gyoza made with New Round Gyoza Skin 日本風の餃子の皮で作った餃子

When I make gyoza, I use “wonton skin” which is readily available at a regular grocery store. The wonton skin is square and a bit thicker than a classic Japanese-style gyoza skin. Japanese-style gyoza skin (picture #2) is available (most are frozen) but I did not bother to get it until now. Since we were getting groceries from Weee anyway and they had Myojo brand 明星食品 frozen Japanese-style gyoza skin, I ordered this with frozen ground pork for making gyoza.  The result is definitely worth it (for us). Since it is round, the gyoza looks nicer and the thin skin makes a nice crispy outside without being too heavy or filling (#1). I served the gyoza with pickled daikon, cucumber and marinated quail egg. 

The filling is my usual. Finely chopped cabbage which I blanch and squeeze out moisture, finely chopped scallion, ground pork, grated garlic and ginger. I added soy sauce and small amount of sesame oil. 

Cooking is also as usual. First, brown all sides of the gyoza (the standard method is brown only one side but we like brown and crispy on all sides) with vegetable oil with a splash of dark sesame oil. Once all sides are brown, add a small amount of water and place on the lid. Steam for 1-2 minutes or until no more steam is coming out. Remove the lid and crisp up the skin again.

I made quite a few gyoza. We keep them in a sealable container in the fridge and warm them up in the toaster oven. It works well and the gyoza tastes almost exactly like they were just cooked.

Steak and 2004 Insignia ステーキデｨナーと2004 Joseph Phelps Insignia

This was a sort of cerebration. We did not plan anything ahead of time. So we made a dinner with what we had. We had frozen filet mignon (last two packages from Omaha Steak), gnocchi my wife made some time ago which were cooked and then frozen. I also made a sauce from the pan juice, reduced port wine, butter, and sautéed shiitake mushroom stems and shallot *. My wife’s frozen gnocchi were pan fried without thawing to warm up and came out nicely hot and crispy. For a quick unplanned celebratory dinner, this was not too bad.

*When I get fresh shiitake mushrooms, I remove the stems, tear them into strands and cut into small pieces. I sauté them with finely chopped shallots in olive oil. This is a handy thing to have since it can be used in many ways. The separated caps are then placed in a ziploc bag with paper towel which makes fresh shiitake last longer.  I took the picture before I put on the sauce.

For wine, we decided to open one of the older vintage of Joseph Phelps Insignia that we had. This was 2004 vintage (picture #2). I decanted it about one  hour before serving. It had some sediments which were left in the bottle. The wine had a slight tinge of brown at the edge indicating some age but tasted quite good with a well-controlled classic California cabernet profile upfront dark fruits, a bit of vanilla. and chocolate ending with a firm but mellowed out tannin. Perfect!!

With the steak and reduced port wine sauce, this 2004 vintage  Insignia went so well.

Focaccia Bread Baked in Breville Pizzaiolo Indoor Pizza Oven

I have made focaccia bread and its variations baked in a convection oven. We liked a thicker and breadier version which was cooked in a baking pan in lower temperature (350F) for longer time (30 minutes). 

Recently, my wife gave me an indoor-electric pizza oven, Breville Pizzaiolo as a birthday gift. I am making pizza several times using different flours, dough recipes and temperatures. Generally, I am quite impressed with the quality of pizza that can be made in this oven but I am still making pizzas to find the best combination for me. Once I have enough information, that will be the subject of a separate post. This post is just to note a few things I can do to improve the focaccia. The focaccia was great albeit one side of the top was a little too high done (#1). The result of  using the top heating unit is a bit uneven for heating.

I used the carbon iron pan that came with the oven for baking the focaccia. I pre-seasoned the pan as per the instructions and it worked great. With a 30 minutes secondary rise, the bread has nice texture and flavors (#2). We really like the crusty surface and nice soft interior.

The recipe is just for my notes so that I can improve it next time.

Ingredients:
3 and 1/2 cup bread flour
2 tsp Kosher salt
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp instant yeast
1 cup and a bit more  lukewarm water

Olives, black and green, sliced
Fresh rosemary, leaves removed and roughly chopped
4 or more tbs olive oil

Directions:
Add the flour, salt and yeast to a food processor fitted with a kneading blade. Mix briefly and pour in the olive oil in a thin stream. While the blade is turning in low-speed, add the water in a thin stream. Look carefully until a dough ball forms above the blade (the dough ball is slightly sticky). Let is stand for 5 minutes for even hydration. Turn the processor on low speed for 1-2 minutes. Turn the dough ball out on well floured board and knead for 3-5 minutes making a smooth elastic dough. Shape the dough into a  smooth round and place it in lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat. Let it rise for about 1 hour (I use a proofing box at 87F).

Deflate the dough and fold several times on well floured kneading board making a disk of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes (so that the gluten relaxes and it becomes easier to stretch). Meanwhile lightly oil the carbon iron pan. Add the disk of dough in the pan and using your finger tips spread the dough to fill the pan. Add the rosemary to the olive oil and spread over the dough and scatter the olive slices. Using your finger tips, press and embed the olive (picture #3). Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes (or skip this and immediately proceed to baking*). 

*I like the fluffy texture and usually let it rise second time but baking in the pizza oven, it may better without the second rising since the top heating element is very close to the surface.

Using  the pan pizza setting (475F for 18 minutes) and the top heat in the middle (I may reduce the top heat to prevent the surface scorching too much, see picture #1).

Remove the bread from the pan using spatula and let it cool on the cooling rack.

We really like this version of focaccia bread. Compared to my usual focaccia, it has nice crust and the texture is much better. With a good flavorful olive oil with salt and a glass of good cab, we made the dinner from this bread.

Daikon Steak and Two Appetizers 大根ステーキ

This was the second set of appetizers we had one evening. From right to left are “daikon steak” 大根ステーキ, “charred broccoli” 焦がしブロッコリー　and “braised spicy tofu” ピリ辛豆腐.  These appetizers are vegetarian and none of them is completely new but these versions included some changes. 

This is just notes to myself.

The daikon steak (left) was first precooked in simmering water with some raw rice grains for 30 minutes and then cooked in melted butter on both sides until the edges turned brown. I added a small (off heat) amount of soy sauce to finish.

The broccoli was parboiled (I freeze parboiled broccoli in small batches). I cooked the broccoli with the daikon steak until the sides became blackened and then seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The spicy tofu was marinated (Sriracha, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sake, grated ginger and garlic) overnight and then drained. This time I dredged it in flour (mixture of AP flour and potato starch) and cooked until nicely brown on four sides. The dredging process made a nice crust.

So, this was nice second set of appetizers of the evening.