Recipe Notes: August 2017

7 August 2017
French Butter Cake

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, January 2017

This cake is from the Brittany region of France where it is known as gâteau Breton. The article in the recent Cook's Illustrated describes it as a "simple, yet pretty cake, rich in butter, with a dense, tender crumb that falls somewhere between shortbread cookies and pound cake." This version includes an interesting apricot jam filling to help offset the richness of the butter-rich cake.

Preparing the cake took less than an hour. The filling was created using dried apricots which are always available. These were chopped and processed in a blender with some water. This mixture was then cooked, with some sugar, to thicken it and then finished off with some lemon juice. The cake batter was made by beating two sticks of butter then adding sugar, egg yolks, rum, vanilla extract, flour, and salt. The recipe calls for dark rum but I used clear rum as we have no dark rum.

The finished cake is attractive and good to eat. It is rich from the butter and egg yolks and not too sweet. It is sturdy enough that it can be eaten out of hand without a fork without making a big mess. The apricot jam filling complements the cake well, I wouldn't mind there be a little more of it in the cake.

13 August 2017
Grilled Chicken Drumsticks

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, May 2017

For a summer supper it's hard to beat grilled chicken. This is particularly true if the chicken has great flavor, is juicy, is easy and quick to prepare on a gas grill, and works well left over. This recipe looked like it could deliver so I gave it a try.

The recipe calls for 5 pounds of chicken drumsticks which is a lot for two people. At the supermarket drumsticks were sold in packages of 6 which weigh a little under 2 pounds. This is a reasonable amount of chicken for us, enough for three meals if we each have one drumstick. Preparation is straightforward: the chicken is first brined. I chose to brine it for the minimum time of 30 minutes to avoid it becoming too salty. It is then rubbed with a spice mixture. Three mixtures were provided in the recipe: barbecue spice rub, jerk-style spice rib, and Ras al Hanout spice rub. I chose the latter, making half of what the recipe details, which includes warm, North African spices: paprika, coriander, cumin, brown sugar, cardamon, cinnamon, salt, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper. The drumsticks are then cooked over indirect heat on the grill. When they are cooked through they spend a few minutes over direct heat to provide a little char and crispiness.

Cooking time was about 50 minutes producing good chicken which was nicely seasoned (not too salty) with crispy skin. It was easy to fix so I must say it fulfills the requirements set out. This is a dish worth making again the next time we want grilled chicken.

June 2018: I made this again using the barbecue spice rib which includes brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. It was a little spicy but not too spicy for us. This rub is also good. I can't compare it with the Ras el Hanout rub after so much time other than to say both are good.

28 August 2017
New England Hot Dog Buns

Potato recipe from Bread Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, 2016, p. 137
New England hot dog pan usage from King Arthur Flour

I have written about New England hot dog buns but I have not made them for several years. I don't know where to find the recipe that I used, it came with the pan. Thus I need to use another recipe and to figure out how much dough to use to fill the special pan that is used to make these buns. I have been happy using a potato roll recipe recently to make slider buns, would it work for the New England hot dog buns, too? Fortunately I found a web page with instructions for using the pan.  (I did not try the King Arthur recipe because it includes several ingredients that I don't normally have on hand.)

The recipes I found online for using the pan employ 3 cups of flour, but the potato bun recipe uses only 2¼ cups. However, it also uses 1 cup of mashed potatoes so I was hoping the amount of dough would work out OK. I made the dough following the recipe through the first rise of the dough. I then sprayed the pan, pressed the dough into it, and let it rest for 15 minutes. I then stretched the dough to fill the pan, covered it with plastic wrap, and let it rise until it was about ½ inch from the top of the pan. The dough was sprayed with cooking spray, a piece of parchment was placed on top, and this was covered with a weighted sheet pan and baked at 375° for 18 minutes. I verified the temperature of the buns was then greater than 190° and it was done!

The resulting buns are very good. The recipe provided the right amount of dough. I cut the crusts off each end of the loaf so each bun has two sides ready to be buttered and toasted. The buns freeze well. They are pale, compared to most bread, perhaps cooking them for a few minutes without the weighted sheet pan would provide some more color. However, the eternal question remains even with these homemade buns: why do buns come ten at a time when hot dogs come in packages of eight?

29 August 2017
Whole Wheat American Sandwich Bread

Recipe from Bread Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, 2016, p. 86

My search for a great whole wheat sandwich bread continues. The previous recipe I tried produced a nice bread and was easy to make. However, it was lacking in whole wheat flavor and texture so I am trying more recipes. This one is based on a recipe for white sandwich bread, substituting some whole wheat flour for white, adding wheat germ and honey. I suspect the result will be similar to the previous recipe I tried, but the recipe is pretty easy so there is no harm in trying.

Making this loaf was straightforward. The dry ingredients (bread flour, whole wheat flour, toasted wheat germ, instant yeast, salt) were whisked together, the wet ingredients (milk, water, melted butter, honey) were combined, the wet was added to the dry in a stand mixer with a dough hook and mixed and kneaded. I used 2% milk instead of whole milk and I added an additional 2 Tablespoons of flour during kneading because the dough was a little too sticky. The dough rose very well, was shaped into a loaf and rose again until it was 1" above the top of the loaf pan, then baked. The total process took about 3½ hours, mostly hands off, quite reasonable for a loaf of sandwich bread.

My initial impression is that the loaf met my admittedly low expectations. It is a good sandwich bread, perhaps with a little more whole wheat flavor than my previous recipe, soft yet strong enough to stand up to fillings. However, I think I need to try the Test Kitchen's more wheaty recipe, which I have been avoiding so far because it takes a little more effort.