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Simple No-Knead Ciabatta

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If you are looking for a simple and yet tasty ciabatta with just a few steps this will be perfect for you…

I love baking bread, trying all different kind of dough from no-knead to the ones using the mixer…the pleasure that I have with the first bread cutting is out of this world…the expectation of finding out how the crumb turned out.

I love seeing uneven holes in rustic bread and even, soft crumb in the Asian style bread…it is amazing to think that you can do so much with mainly two ingredients…flour and water and it all depends how you handle it…

My husband always teases me when I show him how the dough raises or the bubbles in the sourdough starter gets larger and larger…the truth is I am very content with these small things…anyway…let’s get back to the ciabatta.

– Where did I get the inspiration for this recipe?

Right here…at Umi’s Baking

– Why no-knead ciabatta?

Because it is easy and does not require any skills.

– Do I need any special gadget?

Absolutely not…just a scale and a rectangular container (plastic or glass).

– How long it will take me from the beginning until I have the ciabatta ready to eat?

If you start in the morning, in a warm day, you will be enjoying this light, soft and slightly chewy crumb ciabatta by lunch time.

– Should we start?

Here we go…

Ingredients:

  • 290 g water
  • 2 g yeast
  • 385 g bread flour
  • 30 g olive oil (or less if you prefer, 15 g)
  • 7 g salt

Method:

In a rectangle container with lid, mix the water with yeast.  Stir gently until all the yeast is totally dissolved.

Add in the flour and olive oil to the yeast mixture.  Mix using a Danish dough whisk as the dough will be very wet. Add the salt and continue to mix until the dough comes together.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 1 hour in a warm environment.

Using a fold/coil method, wet your hands and reach under the dough which is spread on the container and lift slowly, the front of the dough will detach and go under forming a coil, repeat on the opposite side. Then use the same method on the other side.

Let the dough rest for 30 minutes and repeat the method of fold/coil. Again, rest for another 30 minutes and last fold/coil in the container.

Rest for 40 to 45 minutes, sprinkle flour on the counter and on top of the dough. Turn the container with the dough on the counter and let the dough fall into the flour surface.

Sprinkle more flour on the dough and loose the bottom with the help of dough scraper.

Cut into 4 pieces, and place them on a flour couch. Sprinkle more flour on the top if necessary to avoid sticking. Cover for approximately 45 to 50 minutes.

In the meantime preheat the oven to 450oF with a pan containing water.

Gently transfer the dough to a pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15 minutes at 450oF. Remove the water in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 425o F and bake for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

– Ready for more no-knead bread recipes?

Check these out…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Purple Sweet Potato Bread

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This soft and cottony purple sweet potato bread is amazing, so light, almost like a cloud…you will not stop munching on it…

The color of this bread is so enticing…very appealing and super attractive….not to mention it softness…indeed like a cloud.

This bread stays light, moist and soft for days like all the breads baked using tangzhong method. Since I baked two loaves, one I stored in the refrigerator and microwaved for 20 seconds and the bread is like out of the oven.

– Why purple sweet potato?

Purple sweet potato contains a lot of anthocyanin, which give the purple color of the flesh. Anthocyanin is the same pigment found in red grapes, blueberries and red cabbage.

– What is the texture of the bread?

The combination of tangzhong or water roux method and the creamy mashed purple sweet potato is magical…soft and cottony bread, almost like mochi.

 -Are you ready to try it?

Ingredients:

Water roux or Tangzhong

  • 50 g bread flour
  • 250 ml water

Purple sweet potato dough

  • 500 g bread flour
  • 245 g purple sweet potato, steamed and mashed
  • 80 g sugar
  • 7 g salt
  • 6 g yeast
  • 8 g vital gluten
  • 30 dry milk
  • 80-100 ml water
  • 80 g butter (room temperature)

Method:

Water roux or Tangzhong

Whisk together the water and the flour until the mixture is well blended and free of lumps.

Stir the mixture while it cooks over the medium heat to reach 65oC/149 – 150F. It takes about 2-3 minutes.

Continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken. The mixture of flour will have “lines”.

Remove from the heat.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with a plastic film to avoid “skin” from forming.

Ready to add to the bread dough once is cool.

Water roux or Tangzhong can bend kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Purple sweet potato dough

In the mixer, add all the water roux, and all the other ingredients under bread, except for the butter.

Turn the machine and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until a uniform very wet and sticky dough.

Increase the speed to “2” and let it mix for 15 minutes. The dough should be very sticky. Do not add extra flour as the dough will be less sticky as gluten forms.

Add the butter and mix for 15 to 20 minutes more. Take a small portion of the dough (like a golf ball) and stretch gently until a very thin and transparent membrane (windowpane).

If the dough tears mix for another 2-3 minutes until you achieve the windowpane test. The window pane test, demonstrates that the gluten is very well developed and it will create a very light crumb. The dough should be very elastic.

Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let dough proof until the dough tripled to its original size.

Assembly

Now it is time to shape the dough…

Knock back the dough and split into approximately 8 little balls (approximately 140 g each) and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter.

Flatten the ball making sure that the air is removed and fold into thirds, then roll it like a Swiss roll.

Place the Swiss rolls into 2 Pullman pan, (4 each) pan and let it rise until triple of its original size.

Cover the pan and bake in a preheated oven of 350oF for approximately 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and flip the bread into a wire rack to cool. Slice according to your like.

– More bread recipes? Sure…check these out…

Did you know that the purple sweet potato contains more antioxidant than blueberries? Antioxidants helps combat cardiovascular disease and cancer. Moreover, sweet potatoes in general contain a lot of fiber, vitamin C, vitamin A and manganese.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



No-Knead Rosemary Rolls

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Care for a rosemary bread roll which is light and crumb filled with lots or air pockets? You arrived at the right place…

 

– What is hydration in bread language?

This bread contains 80% hydration, which means for every 100g of flour 80g of water is added to the dough…in another word, it is the percentage of the liquid in relation to the flour in weight.

Regular bread usually the hydration is in between 58 and 65%, so you can imagine 80% hydration, the dough is super wet, sticky, therefore impossible to knead…but using a simple method of stretch and fold almost like magic will be able to produce a bread with a crumb that is super light, airy, with lots of air pockets and a crispy crust.

– What is poolish?

Yes, it is a sort of starter, pre-fermented dough added to the final dough and consist of a mixture of same weight of flour and water with a little bit of the leavening agent such as yeast.

Adding polish to the final bread dough adds flavor and more texture, and somehow, I feel that increases the speed of the bulk fermentation.

It is not a big deal to make polish, you just must plan…if you plan to make bread, before going to bed make your poolish and it will be ready when you wake up.

– How about a hint of fresh rosemary?

Absolutely wonderful, you will be amazed of what just adding fresh minced rosemary to the dough will do…it will wake your sense of smell, you will want to inhale every bit of the aroma of the bread and rosemary in the air…got the feeling?  Okay…

– Now it is time to get working…

Ingredients:

Poolish

  • 150 g water
  • 150 g bread flour
  • 1 pinch yeast

Dough

  • 150 g water
  • 225 g bread flour
  • 4 g salt
  • 2 g yeast
  • 4-6 sprigs of rosemary, minced
  • Extra flour for dusting or cornmeal

Method:

Poolish

Place all the ingredients under the poolish in a medium to large bowl.  Using a fork or a Danish dough hand whisk, mix well until all the water is absorbed by the flour. The dough very, very sticky. Cover the bowl and place in a warm place overnight or up to 16 hours.

Dough

Add the 150g of water and the yeast to the poolish and mix well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a fork or Danish whisk into a wet dough.

Using the stretch and fold method (see the description here) go around the bowl 40 times stretch and fold, 4 times stretch and fold make a complete circle around the bowl.

Leave the dough to rest for 45 minutes.

Repeat the stretch and fold around the bowl once (set of 4 stretch and fold), followed by a 45 minutes rest, 3 more times, totaling 4 times.

On last time of stretch and fold, followed by 1 hour rest.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and stretch and fold once, placing the seam under.

Cut the dough into approximately 12 portions (I used a scale, 56g each roll). Let the dough rest for another 10-15 minutes.

Stretch and fold each portion and place the seam under. Place the rolls on a baking pan lined with parchment paper dusted with flour or cornmeal.

Lightly dust the rolls with more flour before covering and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, until double its size.

Preheat oven to 4750C. Place a pan with water at the bottom of the oven to create steam.

Spray generously each roll and score the rolls or use a scissors.

Let it bake for 5 minutes and repeat the water spray. Another 5 minutes in the oven and spray again with water and turn the pan around so the rolls bake evenly.

Let it bake for another 5 minutes or until the crust turns brown.

Remove the rolls from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Please allow to cool before devour it…

I hope you enjoy this simple method to make great bread…

– More bread recipes?  Take a look at the recipes below.

Did you know that rosemary has been used since ancient Greeks? Rosemary has its origins in the Mediterranean region. Apparently rosemary contains essential oils known to boost memory and contain high levels of antioxidants.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Simple Sous-Vide Scallops

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This is the most simple and easy way to cook scallops…sous-vide. The scallops are moist, tender and yes, perfect.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed precious time surrounded by your loved ones…we celebrated the holiday at my uncle’s home and it was a huge potluck with plenty of food from traditional Thanksgiving dishes to  all over the world cuisine dishes…with that said…we did not bring home any leftover, therefore I am sharing with you this week a very easy and quick way to cook scallops…

– Are scallops tricky to cook?

Scallops are mainly composed of water (up to 80%) and the remaining in protein and small quantity of lipids (fat) and carbohydrate, therefore if properly cooked it will be very tender with a unique sweet flavor…

Due to the facts above, cooking scallops is a very tricky thing for me…I like when cooked to almost, I mean almost…not quite well done…it is a fine line in between as I dislike the raw and slimy texture…like them firm and soft…as you see, it is a difficult process, not too soft and not rubbery and stringy…

– Why sous-vide?

I found through the internet that using sous-vide method I can really accomplish the perfect texture when cooking scallops…and I can assure you that it is indeed very true and very easy to control….time to bring the Anova Precision Cooker out…

This method is so easy and simple and only require a few ingredients…salt, pepper and olive oil and the best quality of Atlantic Sea jumbo scallops.

– Where did I find this recipe?

The recipe below was mainly based from food for net.

– Should we take a look on how it was done?

Ingredients:

  • Approximately 1 lb Atlantic Sea jumbo scallops
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Olive oil

Method:

Bring the water-bath to 52C.

Pat dry the scallops, and sprinkle salt and fresh ground pepper generously.

Pace the scallops in the plastic bag, make sure to have it in single layer.

Drizzle olive oil into the bag.

Make sure to remove all the air bubble from the bag when “cooking” the scallops in the water-bath. To create a vacuum in the bag, carefully place the bag with your ingredients into the water-bath, make sure to immerse the bag until near the seal, this will create a vacuum, then seal the bag.

Place the bags gently into the water-bath and set the time for 20 to 25 minutes.

Once the time is up, gently remove the bag from the water-bath, drain the liquid from it and pat dry the scallops.

In a cast iron skillet, add a little olive oil or butter, and sear both side of the scallops until golden brown.

Serve immediately.

– Looking for more sous-vide recipes?

If you enjoy using sous-vide method, you might want to take a look at the others Sous-Vide Recipes below.

Did you know that scallop is actually the adductor muscle of scallop? Pretty confuse right? This is the muscle that is used to open and close the shells, which is how the scallop swim.  Scallops, in spite of high content of protein, contain high cholesterol, therefore should be consumed in moderation.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



No-Knead French Baguette with Overnight Poolish

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This is another no-knead bread recipe with a twist. The rustic baguette is airy with all size of air pocket in its crumb. The bread is soft and slightly chewy with a crunchy crust. It is perfect for you everyday sandwich.

This is such a simple recipe for no-knead bread.  Just be aware that a little planning is necessary for this recipe since it requires an overnight fermentation.

The addition of an extra step of making polish the night before is so worth it, it sure adds an extra deep flavor to the bread. Another nice thing…since the poolish is a pre-fermented dough the fermentation time of the final dough is much shorter, therefore in a fairly warm day, if you start the process early in the morning you might even have the bread ready for lunch.

This recipe calls for 80% hydration, meaning that the dough is pretty wet since for every 100g flour 80g water is added.

Ingredients:

Poolish

  • 100 g water
  • 100 g bread flour
  • 1 pinch yeast

Bread Dough

  • 150 g bread flour
  • 100 g water
  • 2 g yeast
  • 3 g salt

Method:

Poolish

The night before baking the bread, in a medium bowl place all the ingredients listed under polish.

Mix using a Danish whisk or a fork. Make sure mixture is evenly combined. Scrap the walls of the bowl and cover.

Place the mixture over the counter in a warm place of the kitchen.

Bread Dough

The polish should be all bubbly with a fresh fermentation smell. Add the water and mix gently using the Danish whisk or a fork to incorporate the water into the polish. Add the flour, yeast and salt, mixing all together. The dough will be soft and sticky.

Use a “stretch and fold” method: using a wet hand or Danish whisk, scrape a section of the dough (approximately ¼), lift and stretch it, then fold into the center of the bowl. Repeat 4 rounds around the bowl, being each round a complete circle of 4 “stretch and fold”.

Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm place of the kitchen for 30 minutes. Repeat 4 rounds of “stretch and fold” and let it rest 45 minutes in between.

After the last round of “stretch and fold” let the dough rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 475F with a pan of water on the lower rack.

Gently remove the dough from the bowl over a floured surface and split the dough into approximately 2 portions.

Fold the dough over itself and roll as you push out until elongated in the form of baguette. Repeat with the other dough.

Place the baguettes on the baking couch. Dust the top of the baguette with flour and gently cover the baguettes with a plastic film.

Leave to rest for approximately 1 hour or until almost double from its original size.

Transfer the baguette on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper lightly dusted with cornmeal.

Spray the baguettes generously with water. Using a sharp scissor cut the bread making diagonal marks of approximately 45 degree, make sure to tuck in the tips.

Let it bake for 5 minutes and repeat the water spray. Another 5 minutes in the oven and spray again with water. Turn the pan around and turn the oven down to 425F so the baguettes bake evenly. Let it bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust turns brown.

I hope you enjoy this simple method to make your everyday baguette…for more bread recipes, pleas check HERE.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Simple Homemade Yogurt

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This is such a simple recipe for homemade creamy yogurt. The yogurt is made using non-fat milk and inoculated with previous batch of homemade yogurt…confused?  Continue reading and you will find out how…

We always have yogurt in the morning and the amazing thing is that I do not even remember when the last time I bought yogurt was.  I make my own yogurt from organic non-fat milk using the yogurt that I made previously…so it is a continuous production of yogurt by taking approximately 2 tablespoons or so from the jar that it is in used. The recipe is very versatile, you can use 1% fat, 2% fat, or whole milk. The more fat content in the milk the thicker the yogurt will turn out.  Although I use non-fat milk I can assure you that my yogurt still very creamy.

There is no excuse to not make your own yogurt as no fancy gadget is required, use your imagination to keep the inoculated milk with yogurt somehow warm by using oven with the light on, top of refrigerator, Instant Pot, rice cooker that has a keep warm setting, cooler or a thermos cooker (which is very similar to a cooler, only retains the temperature more efficiently).

I personally use the thermos cooker when making a large container, but often use the oven if I want to have the yogurt in small individual cups.

Oh! Make sure that you have a candy thermometer or any thermometer as the temperature is very important.  If the temperature of the milk is too high it will kill the live culture, or if it is too cold it will not the optimal for the culture to develop…therefore the only important parameter is the temperature.

The making of yogurt always reminds me of my microbiology laboratory where I used to cultivate all kind of bacteria and yeast…a lot of fun!

Ingredients:

  • 2 quart of milk (any of your choice)
  • 2 tablespoons of plain organic yogurt, preferably nothing added but live and active culture.

Method:

Place the milk in a pot and bring to simmer until bubbles form around the edges, around 180F. Stir frequently as it heats preventing crust in the bottom of the pan.

Remove the milk from the heat and let it cool until approximately 110 to 120F, do not add the yogurt below 110F or above 118F.

Place the yogurt in the jar and pour approximately ¼ of the milk and stir gently, once the yogurt is totally incorporated in the milk, add the remaining milk to the jar and stir again. I like to pass the milk through a fine colander to retain any unwanted particles or film produced during the heating process to have a smooth and creamy yogurt.

Cover the jar and place in the warm spot you selected. Do not disturb the jar while resting. Let the mixture sit for 6 to 12 hours. Just remember that the longer the yogurt sits the tangy it will taste.

Transfer the jar in the refrigerator and chill.  The yogurt will continue to thicken as it cools.

If you care for a thicker yogurt you can pour the whey liquid away and pass the yogurt through cheesecloth.

Make sure to reserve roughly 2 tablespoons of the yogurt for the next batch.

I hope you enjoy this simple method of making yogurt…check on the some of the recipes these recipes…Fresh Berries with Vanilla Yogurt or Yogurt with Honey Caviar recipes.

Did you know that yogurt is the most consumed fermented dairy product? Not only prevents osteoporosis due to the calcium and vitamin D from the milk, yogurt is loaded with live good bacteria, called probiotic. Probiotic food help to keep you gut healthy. The good bacteria use the sugar in the milk (lactose) and transforms into acid lactic, therefore for its tangy flavor.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Sous Vide Steak

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Have you ever used sous vide cooking method? Well, this is my first attempt and I am loving it…the steak came out perfect! No fuss and no mess…I already can tell you that sous vide cooking will be on my list of favorite gadgets.

Well, after considering carefully all the aspects of sous vide cooking I finally decided to try. What I mean by considering is the fact that sous vide method uses cooking in a water bath under vacuum in an accurate regulated temperature, and in order to cook under vacuum the food has to be in contact with plastic, which I am very skeptical about it…after reading a lot about the sous vide method I could not resist a perfect cooked piece of steak. Moreover, since the temperature used in sous vide is much lower than the normally used, I assume (please do not quote me on this) that chemical would not be released from the plastic from heat since the temperature used in this method is not that high.

There are many options for sous vide cooking, from DIY to very fancy professional ones. I decided to go with the ANOVA cylinder one. You mainly stick the cylinder in a pot of water, set the desired temperature and cooking time. Once the desired temperature is reached, place the prepared food and place into the water bath and let it cook. Yes, the one that I have has a bluetooth, which you can set all the parameters from the phone or tablet. It will beep once the water has reached the desired temperature alerting you that it is time to place the food in the water bath.

You can find plenty of information by searching the internet for sous vide. With all this said, I am sharing with you my first recipe using sous vide method and it was based in this recipe. Again this is a “no-recipe” post. I generously coated a New York steak with fresh grinded salt and pepper, both sides. Placed the steak into a 1 gallon freezer quality plastic bag and added a dry bay leave and a little olive oil. To create a vacuum in the bag, carefully place the bag with your ingredients into the water-bath, make sure to immerse the bag until near the seal, this will create a vacuum, then seal the bag.

For a medium rare-medium 1½ inch New York steak, I cooked for 1½ hour at 56C degree. Once the cooking time is up, remove the bag from the water bath. Discard the juice from the steak. Heat a cast iron skillet with butter, sear both sides of the steak in high heat. Once seared, remove from the heat and serve. There is no need to rest the steak.

So…were I able to tempt you to give sous vide cooking method a try?

I will be back with more sous vide experiments as I already cooked fish, and it came out delicious!

Update…Since I made this perfect steak I used sous vide in so many more recipes…please check it here.

Did you know that “sous vide” is “under vacuum” in French? This method cooks food in a sealed plastic bag under vacuum in a controlled temperature.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



No-Knead Bread Two Ways…Stretch and Fold

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This is a very simple way to make bread…no-knead using simply stretch and fold. The bread is light and loaded with air pockets.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving…the recipe that I am sharing today is very simple to put together, and come handy especially during holiday season as everyone is busy shopping and cooking…this bread can be stored in the freezer and ready to serve in a blink.

Before I start, have you ever heard of “stretch and fold” technique method of bread dough?

Well, this is a very simple technique where you literally stretch and then fold the dough. This is a super easy and simple method to accomplish great results. So, instead of the traditional physical workout kneading the bread dough, in case you do not use a mixer, you only gently stretch the dough and fold it to the center during the initial proofing stage.

I used the no-knead method and try them in both way…the conventional way, leave the dough until ready to shape and by incorporating the “stretch and fold” technique during the first hour of the proofing.

As you can see by the pictures below, adding a simple “stretch and fold” the bread has a better structure because the dough develops nicer gluten strands, therefore more air and larger air pockets.

Better flavor? To me it was hard to tell, but I love the idea of more uneven air pockets. And it was definitely easier to shape since the dough was kind of “self contained” after the stretch and fold technique was applied.

After this experiment, I sure will use this simple technique when baking no-knead bread. The ratio between water and flour used in this recipe was the same as used HERE, 80% hydration.

Ingredients:

  • 160 g water
  • 200 g bread flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon yeast

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl.  The dough will be soft and very sticky. Cover the bowl and place in a warm place.

For the “regular method” you can read HERE, as for the “stretch and fold” method, during the first two hours “stretch and fold” every half hour.

How to “stretch and fold”: Using a wet hand, scrape a section of the dough (approximately ¼), lift and stretch it, then fold into the center of the bowl. Repeat 3 more times, ¼ at the time, 20 minutes in between.

After 4 sessions of “stretch and fold” let the dough rest for 10 to 12 hours.

When ready to bake, gently remove the dough from the bowl over a floured surface and split the dough into approximately 2 portions.

Fold the dough over itself and roll as you push out until elongated in the form of baguette. Repeat with the other dough.

Place the baguettes on a cookie sheet on a floured parchment paper. Dust the top of the baguette with flour and gently cover the baguettes with a plastic film.

Leave to rest for approximately 1 to 1 ½ hour or until almost double from its original size.

Preheat oven to 550F (or as high as your oven will permit). Place a pan with water on the bottom rack of the oven.

Use a sharp scissor cut the bread making diagonal marks of approximately 45 degree, make sure to tuck in the tips.

When ready to place the baguettes in the oven spray the baguettes generously with water. Let it bake for 5 minutes and repeat the water spray. Another 5 minutes in the oven and spray again with water and turn the pan around so the baguettes bake evenly. Let it bake for another 5 minutes or until the crust turns brown.

For the “regular method” I made two baguettes as for the “stretch and fold” dough I made one baguette and 4 small rolls.

I hope you enjoy this simple method for homemade bread.  For more bread recipes you might want to take a look here.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!