Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Chocolate Peanut Butter Braid #TwelveLoaves

Chocolate yeast dough and peanut butter yeast dough, braided together, make a wonderful loaf. Two very different flavors that complement each other, intertwined so each bite contains a piece of both.


In many cultures, braids are a sign of unity, symbolic of a bond that is not easily broken. After all, what is a braid but the weaving in and out of three or more strands that become one and are generally stronger for the weaving? You can see where I am headed here.

This month’s theme for #TwelveLoaves is chocolate but I decided that chocolate would not stand alone. This is a loaf of love. Chocolate with peanut butter chips and peanut butter with chocolate chips. Because we are all a little sweet and all a little salty and it’s the combination of the two that makes life interesting.

The chocolate dough has been slightly adapted from David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Bread and the peanut butter dough has been adapted from Celine Steen’s Peanut Butter Bread.

Ingredients
For the chocolate dough:
6 tablespoons or 90ml milk, heated until just tepid
1 envelope active dry yeast (1/4 ounce or 7g)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 ounces or 45g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 egg - yolk and white separated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
2 scant tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the special dark.)
1/3 cup or 60g real peanut butter chips

For the peanut butter dough:
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1 envelope active dry yeast (1/4 ounce or 7g)
1/4 cup or 65g smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
3 tablespoons, packed, dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup or 65g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method
First we’ll make the chocolate dough.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk. Add one tablespoon of the sugar and it set aside in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes or until it gets foamy.

Put your butter and chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and give it a few quick zaps of 20 seconds, stirring in between, until both are just melted and form a smooth chocolate syrup.



Add the remaining sugar, the egg yolk, vanilla, and sea salt to the yeast bowl and mix well. (Reserve your egg white for glazing the loaf before baking.)



Stir in half the flour and cocoa powder.



Add the chocolate syrup and stir again.  Now add the remaining flour and stir until completely incorporated.



Beat for five minutes with the dough hook in your mixer or knead by hand.  The dough will be quite moist but I found that the butter kept it from being too sticky.

Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for two hours.

Now we’ll make the peanut butter dough.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Add one tablespoon of the sugar and it set aside in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes or until it gets foamy.

Add the remaining sugar, vanilla, and sea salt to the yeast bowl and mix well.



Stir in half the flour.


Now add the peanut butter and the remaining flour and stir until completely incorporated.



Place dough on a clean, lightly floured surface and start kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Add extra flour if the dough is too sticky. I tried to knead in my mixer with the bread hook but this dough was just too soft.  Kneading by hand worked best.



Cover and let rise for 1 – 1 1/2 hours in warm place.

The two doughs. The chocolate has risen a little and the peanut butter is just ready for rising.


When both of your doughs have done their rising, it’s time for the braid!

Punch down both doughs, adding in the chocolate chips to the peanut butter dough and the peanut butter chips to the chocolate dough, reserving a few to poke on top for decoration before baking. Knead a little bit to work them in.


Now break or cut each ball in half and roll the pieces out into dough snakes about 16 inches or cm long. The chips will keep wanting to fall out. Just poke them back in.




Now lay all four “snakes” out on your baking pan which has been lined with a sheet of parchment. In order to get the best braided look, start with the two chocolate ones and the two peanut butter ones next to each other. I took photos of every step of the braiding but I have to admit, they are hard to follow. So I am going to send you to the link I used to make the braid where the illustrations are clear and the instructions are easy to follow: How to braid challah. Go ahead, I’ll wait here.




Okay!  Now put the braid in a warm, draft-free place to rise again for another hour. My house is still quite chilly, so I covered the loaf with a big plastic container and set the whole thing over the sink filled with hot water.  Then I put a pan on top that was filled with hot water. You do what you need to!



About 10 minutes before the rising time is finished, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

When the rising time is finished, whisk your egg white and brush it gently on the loaf. Add the reserved chips if desired.




Bake in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you tap it.  Mine got a little too dark because somehow my oven shot up to 375°F or 190°C while the bread was baking. Don’t let this happen to yours! The chips got quite dark as well, but fortunately, they didn’t taste any different. Mr. Lebovitz offers the useful tip that you can insert an instant read thermometer in the middle (I poked mine in from the side so the hole wouldn’t show.) and a ready loaf will read 180°F or 82°C when it’s done.)



Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.


Enjoy!

The perfect bite, with some of each flavor!


The first warm slices were excellent with the dark chocolate perfectly complementing the rich peanut butter. If you really want to take this over the top, toast slices the next morning for breakfast and spread them with a little more peanut butter while still warm.


Looking for more chocolately bread goodness? You have come to the right place!



Posted by at 5:00:00 AM 20 comments
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Monday, February 3, 2014

Browned Butter Pecan Muffins #MuffinMonday

One whole cup of chopped pecans in the batter makes sure that each bite of these browned butter muffins is a delicious mouthful of nuts. Are there extra pecans in the brown sugar topping?  But, of course!

I was reading recipes the other day, as you do, and the words “butter pecan” were mentioned. As in ice cream. Well, I don’t make ice cream since I don’t have an ice cream machine, but I do make muffins. Doesn’t butter pecan sound like a great idea? Sometime last fall, I discovered browned butter and I went a little crazy putting it in no less than three different muffin recipes. Because it SO GOOD. And some of those even had pecans too.  But I have yet to make a simple browned butter pecan muffin. Isn’t it time to rectify that?

Ingredients
For the muffins:
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 100g dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup or 120g chopped pecans
1 egg
1/4 cup or 60g browned butter, cooled – use these directions here.  (Let me encourage you to make extra and keep it indefinitely in a clean jar in your refrigerator. It's soooo good.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup or 180ml milk

For the topping:
1/4 cup or 30g chopped pecans
1/4 cup or 50g brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your large 12-cup muffin pan by greasing lightly or lining with muffin papers.

Make your topping by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and using a fork to mix lightly so you have large crumble. Set aside.




In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and chopped pecans.



In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk the egg, cooled browned butter, vanilla and milk. The butter may try to harden up on you if your milk is cold, but just keep whisking. Even if it separates out a little bit, it will be mixed enough to allow you to pour the mixture into the dry ingredients.



Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ones and stir till just combined.



Divide the batter between the muffin cups.

Top with a generous share of the topping.



Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.



Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes in the pan then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.




Enjoy!



Posted by at 5:45:00 AM 13 comments
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Sunday, February 2, 2014

Spicy Roasted Corn Shrimp Dip




This spicy, extra cheesy baked corn dip with shrimp will become a party favorite. For a vegetarian version, substitute chopped black olives for the shrimp. 

Today is the biggest game day of the season for those who follow American football. It’s the championship they call the Super Bowl and it’s a pretty big deal even for folks who don’t have a team they normally support in the game. Over the years, we’ve woken up at some pretty bizarre times to watch the Super Bowl, because live television was the only way to catch the action. Now, with one-click record at the ready, we can watch at our leisure the next day, at a decent time and eat things like chips and dip.  (Nobody but me feels like chips and dip at 3 a.m., which is such a shame.) Anyhoo, I’m just here to tell you that I will be scarce on social media on Sunday evening and Monday, until we can watch the recording, because folks do persist in giving blow-by-blow accounts of the game as it is played and I don’t want to find out like that! Sort of ruins the fun, I’m sure you will agree.

What I wouldn’t mind a blow-by-blow of, on the other hand, is what you are serving so feel free to share those leading up to the game! The best part of Super Bowl watching parties is always the food and drink. If you are still dithering over what to make, the Sunday Supper group has got you covered with 50 great recipes for any game day!  I can highly recommend this cheesy corn dip with shrimp.  I brought it out sailing yesterday and even at room temperature, it got rave reviews.

Ingredients
12 oz or 340g shrimp or prawns, already peeled and cleaned
Olive oil
4 cups or 625g frozen corn, thawed (and drained, if necessary)
1 onion
Small bunch green onions (Mine weighed about 1 2/3 oz or 45g.)
1 large red chili pepper
1 jalapeño
12 oz or 340g extra sharp cheddar
1/2 cup or 110g mayonnaise
2 1/2 oz or 70g cream cheese, at room temperature
Freshly ground black pepper

For serving: Tortilla chips for dipping

Method
If you have a pan that can go from stovetop to oven, use it.  Otherwise, we’ll do the first steps in a skillet and then transfer everything to an ovenproof dish for baking.

In your pan of choice, cook the shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil until they are just cooked through.

 Remove them from the pan and chop roughly.  Set aside.



In the same pan over high heat, add another drizzle of oil and fry the corn until it gets a little browned or even charred, stirring every once in a while to keep it from sticking.

My lighting is poor but it really does have browndy bits.




Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Mince your onion, green onions, red chili and jalapeño and grate your cheddar cheese.



When the corn has some nice browned bits on it, remove it from the pan and set aside to cool a little.

Add yet another drizzle of olive oil to that same pan and, over a medium heat, sauté the chopped onions and peppers until everything is soft and the onions are translucent.  This will take about 10 minutes.  Stir regularly to avoid the onions scorching.




Remove the pan from the heat and add in the corn, chopped shrimp, cream cheese, mayonnaise and about two-thirds of the grated cheddar.  Give the whole thing a good couple of grinds of fresh black pepper.  Stir well to combine.



If your pan is ovenproof, spread the mixture out evenly and top with the remaining cheddar cheese.  Otherwise, transfer to a baking dish and do the same.



Bake for about 15-20 minutes in your preheated oven or until the dip is melted and the cheese on top is bubbling.  Don’t bake it too long or the oil starts to separate out of the cheese.

Serve with tortilla chips for scooping up big bites of the dip.



Enjoy!

Check out all the delicious party food we’ve got for you this week. Appetizers, main courses and sweet treats – there’s something for everyone here. Many thanks to this week’s Sunday Supper host, Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks! And may your own favorite team win!

Game Day Appetizers:

Game Day Entrees:

 Game Day Desserts:









Posted by at 1:28:00 AM 32 comments
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