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Walnut and Cranberry Sourdough Bread

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The combination of the nutty walnut and tart/sweet cranberry in this sourdough bread is just amazing…delicious plain or smeared with butter.

– Why sourdough bread?

Sourdough bread completely count on wild yeast found in air and lactobacillus to leaven the dough, very different from the bread leavened by commercial packaged yeast.

– Is sourdough bread healthier than the regular bread?

Apparently, bread using sourdough starter can be somehow considered as prebiotic, therefore it might help your intestine flora with good bacteria. Because the digestion of the starches starts to breakdown during the fermentation making sourdough bread easier to digest.

– How can I control the sourness of the sourdough bread?

To make it easier to understand…the longer the dough ferments the sour the bread will turn out, with this in mind let’s consider two scenarios.

  1. X amount of dough in a bowl + Y amount of sourdough starter
  2. X amount of dough in a bowl + 2Y amount of sourdough starter

Dough (B) has twice amount of sourdough starter as compared to dough (A).

When both doughs are placed to proof, the dough (B) will leaven faster than dough (A) right? It will take much longer to dough (A) to reach the same level of leavened as dough (B) because started with less raising agent (sourdough starter), so dough (A) will taste sourer than dough (B).

The take home message…the less sourdough starter used the sourer the bread will turn.

Now that I really confused you…

– Should we go to the recipe now?

Ingredients:

  • 65 g mature sourdough starter (1:1:1)
  • 255 g water
  • 275 g bread flour
  • 50 g whole wheat flour
  • 6 g salt
  • 12 g olive oil
  • 60 g toasted walnut (small pieces)
  • 60 g dry cranberries

Method:

Start by mixing both flours, water, and oil together in a medium bowl. Make sure that all the flour is incorporated into the water. Cover and let flour mix rest for 1 hour (hydrolysis).

Add the sourdough starter to the dough and mix until the starter is completely mixed to the dough. Use the stretch and fold method around the bowl, approximately 50 times. There will be gluten forming.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Add the salt and mix again using the stretch and fold method until all the salt is totally incorporated into the dough.

Rest the dough for 45 minutes and perform stretch and fold method on the dough. You will notice gluten forming as the dough will stretch farther.

Rest the dough for 45 minutes and perform lamination.

Spray the counter with a little water and place the dough on it.  Stretch the dough a much as you can, forming a rectangular shape.

Spread the walnut and cranberry on ⅔ of the sheet and fold into thirds, and again into thirds. Place the dough into a container and cover. Rest the dough for 45 minutes.

Perform sets of coil and fold and rest 45 minutes in between until the dough is somehow set, all the sides of the dough can pretty much hold itself.

When ready to pre-shape, sprinkle flour on the counter and on the top of the dough. Flip the bowl on the counter and let the dough fall on the flour surface.

Stretch the dough gently to form a rectangle, fold both side to the center and roll the dough. Seam the end of the dough.

Flour well the banneton and place the dough seam up.

Place the dough in the refrigerator overnight, uncovered.

Next morning, pre-heat oven to 475oF with an empty tray.

In the meantime, boil water.

Flip the dough from the banneton to a floury surface. Using a soft brush, gently brush off excess of flour. Make the cut on the dough and spray with water.

Place the dough into the hot oven.  Carefully add the boiling water to the empty tray to create steam. Close the oven door.

Spray more water on the dough every 3 minutes, 3 times. After 15 minutes of baking, remove the water tray and the parchment paper underneath the bread. Lower the temperature to 375oF, bake for another 20 minutes.

Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. Make sure the bread is completely cool before slicing.

– Did you enjoy this recipe, you might to look at these other bread recipes…

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



Orange Cream Scone

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Today I am sharing a simple recipe for orange cream scones. These scones are delicious and rich and loaded with cranberries. Great for breakfast or for your afternoon tea.

I must admit that this is my first time making scones…I always liked the flavor of scones, but not really the texture…maybe because every time I purchased scones, they were “old” or who knows how they “beat them up”…therefore I never could really understand what was the big deal with scones. Even my husband did not get very excited when I told him that I was planning to bake scone, he was like…”Why? They are so heavy and flavorless…”, well, I was able to prove him wrong with this recipe…after searching for literally dozens of recipes and reading the “what to do”and “what not to do”, I decided to merge a few versions into this recipe…and I must admit, it is so simple and easy to come up with a light, fluffy, moist scone with a thin layer of crispness…

I based this recipe from mainly this two sites…cookbook 365 and Splendid Table.

You can be very creative and you can “color” it the way you like by adding whatever fresh or dry fruit of your preference or other ingredients such as candy ginger, chocolate. You can use buttermilk instead of cream. You can make it savory by adding cheese, bacon, chives, olives…and spice it up with curry, oregano, you name it…so let your imagination float and color your scones the way you want.

By the way, these scones will be great for Easter brunch…

Ingredient:

  • 250 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp fresh orange zest
  • 50 g granulated sugar
  • 60 g cold unsalted butter, cut into approximately 12-mm cubes
  • 200 ml heavy cream
  • 1 large egg, cold
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 60 g cranberry
  • Enough heavy cream to brush scones
  • Crystal sugar for sprinkling

Method:

Cut the butter and place in the freezer while you are measuring the other ingredients.

Measure the cream and add the egg and vanilla extract, keep in the refrigerator until needed.

In a food processor bowl, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Pulse for a few times.

Add the butter pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal and no pieces of butter are larger than a pea.

Pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture, and pulse until a dough forms.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly flour surface. Add the cranberry and gently kneading it onto itself for a few times. Do not over mix or knead…gently fold the dough.

Pat the dough into circle of 2 cm thick. Cut the circle first into half, then into quarters until you reach 8 slices. Place the scone gently in a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Let it rest for approximately 1 hour.

When ready to bake, brush the top of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle the top with crystal sugar.

Bake for approximately 15 to 18 minutes, until the scones are slightly golden. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.

Allow the scones to sit in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool

Serve warm. Store the “leftover” scones in the freezer for later enjoyment.

To warm the frozen scones, place the scones in a 350F preheated oven for about 5 minutes.

If you enjoy this simple recipe for Orange Cream Scone you might want to check on Bacon, Cheese Green Onion Scone recipe.

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



Pork Chop with Cranberry Rice

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This is a very easy and simple recipe to prepare pork chop. I usually grill the chops, but this time I decided to bake first and then pan fry. I served the pork chops with cranberry rice. It is a great combination of flavor…very fruity and colorful.

Pork Chop

Ingredients:

2~3 lb pork chop
6 garlic cloves, minced
½ tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup light soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon cooking wine
¼ cup lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Marinate the pork chops with all the above ingredients.

Let it set in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (preferably overnight).

Arrange the pork chops in an oven safe tray and bake for 40~45 minute at 350 F.

Remove the pork chops from the oven and place them in a fry pan over high heat just to brown, both side.

Cranberry Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup cranberries
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

In medium heat sauté the onion in the olive oil, add the cranberries until the cranberries are slightly soft. Add the rice pre-rinsed and drained, the salt and the ground cinnamon, mixing gently. Add the boiling water and reduce the heat until all the water is absorbed.

Did you know that cranberries like grapes contain large amount of polyphenols? Polyphenols have the ability to scavenge free radical, therefore are considered antioxidants. Cranberries have been recommended to prevent urinary tract infection due its tannins content.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!