Saturday Night Homemade Pizzas

(Click on pizza#1 to see pizza#2)

Bardeco at the corner of St-Mathieu and Lincoln in Montréal, then Royal Pizza in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona were my weekly, lazy-let’s-order-in night favourites.

I used to order pizza in all the time, but it was too much cheese, too much salt that I woke up in the middle of the night with a dry mouth!!! I also bought pre-packaged pizza crusts from the grocery stores, but they tend to be too soggy!

…Until I discovered homemade pizzas.

Easy, cheap and most delicious!

The great thing about homemade pizza is that you can make the dough, forget about it for a few hours, and knead it again for a short second rise while preparing the toppings. If you plan ahead, you could let the dough rise while you are out and about, relaxing at the movies or splurging on a new pair of Arnold Churgins!

Even better, you get to create your own pizza. Anything you can imagine for tasty homemade pizzas: barbequed red peppers, piccantelli olives, anchovies, and fresh buffalo mozzarella and herbs! Infinite possibilities! You have here two toppings for you to try. For the adventurous palate, the first one combining apples, capicollo, with Serrano peppers is sweet, savoury and spicy; the second one with tomatoes, anchovies and olives is for the conservative palate.

I adapted the recipe for the dough from the Joy of Cooking, added a tiny bit more water and reduced the amount of salt.

Ingredients for 2 pizza crusts:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1½ cup warm water

2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Toppings for Pizza#1:

1 egg yolk

¼ cup mustard

2 tablespoon lemon juice or cider vinegar

100 g capicollo

1 apple (or grapple: grape-flavoured apple)

1 red pepper

1 small red onion

4 Serrano peppers

¼ cup grated parmesan, preferably grana padano, or gruyere

Fresh Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Toppings for Pizza#2:

¼ cup tomato paste

4 slices pancetta

6-8 anchovies

1 tomato

1 yellow pepper

2 tablespoons capers

¼ cup piccantelli olives

Italian herbs

¼ cup grated parmesan, preferably grana padano, or gruyere

Fresh Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water.

2. Let dissolve for 5 mins.

3. Stir in the olive oil with sugar and salt, then the flour.

4. Knead the dough for 10 mins to form a smooth and elastic ball.

5. Place the ball of dough in a bowl, cover and let rise for 2 hrs in a warm location, until doubled in size.

6. Punch and divide the dough into two balls.

7. Lightly knead, wrap in plastic film and let rise again while you prepare the toppings.

8. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

9. Grease or line two pizza pans.

10. Roll the dough using a rolling pin and place on the lined pans.

11. Allow the dough to relax before adding the toppings.

12. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 mins.

13. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Frangipane Buns

It has been 30°C below zero all week up here, in Edmonton – almost 50°C with windchill! The best way, and of course my favourite, to fight these frigid temperatures is to bake. Nothing is more comforting than letting the warm scents of flour and yeast fill the house. You will find these almond swirls perfect for breakfast – or for gouter! One or two of these goodies and you will be ready to shovel the snow off your sidewalk ...or simply cuddle up in your favourite blanket by the fire.

Ingredients for 12 buns:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

½ cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (approx.)

Frangipane:

1 cup whole unblanched almonds

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

3/4 tsp kirsch (or almond extract)

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 tbsp icing sugar

1. Add 1/4 cup warm water to a large bowl and stir in 2 tsp of the sugar.

2. Crumble the yeast into the sweet water and allow to dissolve about 10 minutes.

3. In a small saucepan, heat milk , remaining sugar, butter and salt until butter is melted; let cool to lukewarm.

4. Stir the milk mixture into the yeast mixture along with eggs.

5. Stir in the flour in three parts to form a shaggy dough.

6. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

7. Transfer into a large greased bowl.

8. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 ½ hours.

9. In the meantime, make the frangipane, by finely chopping the almonds in a food processor.

10. Pulse in sugar and flour.

11. Add butter, egg and kirsch to obtain a smooth paste.

12. Punch the dough down and roll the dough into 18 by 14 inch rectangle on a floured board.

13. Leaving a 1-inch border, mound some frangipane on one long side and spread the rest evenly over the dough.

14. Starting with mounded side, tightly roll up and pinch seam to seal.

15. Cut the roll into 12 slices using a serrated knife.

16. Line 13 by 9 inch metal cake pan with double thickness parchment paper.

17. Place the slices, cut side up, in the prepared pan.

18. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

19. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

20. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the sliced almonds.

21. Bake until golden and rolls sound hollow when tapped on bottoms, 20 to 30 minutes.

22. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then on a rack.

Parker House Rolls

Two years of buttery croissants and danishes from the Bee-Bell bakery, and we kept on seeing customers popping into the store just for Parker House rolls! Once we tried them, we were hooked! They can be kept in the freezer for a few weeks and reheated for 10 mins in a 350 F-oven. Perfect with stews and soups!

No wonder I had to try and adapt this recipe from the Joy of Cooking(again!)as soon as I found it.

Ingredients for 30 rolls (see other bread recipes for pics):

3 2/3 cups cake or all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons warm water

3/5 ounces (approx. 35 grams) fresh yeast

1 cup milk

¼ cup butter

1 tablespoon sugar

¾ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1. In a small bowl, warm the milk and stir in the sugar, butter, and salt until dissolved and let cool.

2. In a larger bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

3. Stir the milk mixture then the egg into the yeast mixture.

4. Stir the flour in and knead lightly for 2 mins to form a ball.

5. Brush with melted butter.

6. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

7. Roll the dough into a long log.

8. Cut into 30 one-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. 9. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten into a two-inch disk using a rolling pin.

10. Fold each disk into two using a knife and place on a greased baking sheet.

11. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 mins.

12. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

13. Bake for 10-15 mins, until golden.

14. Let cool on a rack.

Crusty Baguettes

If you have never had a piece of crusty baguette with a chunk of old, runny camembert and a glass of Merlot (or Pinot Noir for the Sideways fans), then you have definitely been missing out on the joys of life.

What else can I say about baguettes!? A staple in French households, you can find baguettes everywhere but finding the perfect baguette can be a challenge. Too chewy, too soft, too crusty, too doughy…etc. Hard to make everyone happy!

My favourite baguettes are crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside, just like the ones will get from this recipe that I adapted from the Joy of Cooking. The recipe makes two baguettes, but you can bake one loaf the first day and save the other one for breakfast the next day. Just make sure to have butter, jam or nutella handy!

Ingredients for 2 baguettes (check the other bread recipes for pics):

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

3/5 ounces (approx. 35 grams) fresh yeast

1½ cups room temperature water

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.

2. Crumble and mix the fresh yeast with the flour.

3. Make a well at the center and pour the water into the well.

4. Stir thoroughly by hand and knead for about 15 mins, until a soft and elastic dough is obtained.

5. Cover the dough and let it rise for about 2 hrs in a warm place, until doubled in size.

6. Once doubled in size, punch the dough.

7. Divide the dough into two rectangles on a floured board.

8. Roll each rectangle to form a long, thin loaf. 9. Place each formed baguette on a greased baking sheet.

10. Score each loaf with a knife and cover with a floured cloth.

11. Let rise in a warm place for 30 to 45 mins, until almost doubled in size.

12. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

13. At the bottom of the oven, place a baking pan filled with water.

14. Bake the baguettes for 15 mins. (Reduce the time to 10 mins to less crusty bread.)

15. Lower the heat to 350 F and bake for another 30 mins.

16. Beat the egg white with water.

17. Brush the baguettes with the egg wash and bake for another 5 mins.

18. Let cool on a rack.

Whole Wheat Flaxseed Bread

I made this bread when I first found fresh yeast at the local supermarket, and I have used this recipe several times since. The loaves always turn out light and fluffy, perfect for breakfast, lunch or even for snacks!

Ingredients for 2 gigantic (or 3 9x5 in.) loaves:

17 grams (3/5 ounces) fresh yeast (or 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast)

2 ¾ cups warm water

1 large egg

¼ cup butter

1 ½ teaspoon salt

¼ to ½ cup corn syrup or sugar

4 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups all-purpose or white bread flour

½ to 1 cup flax seed (sunflower and poppy seeds give extra crunch and meat to the loaves) .

1. Pour ¼ cup of warm water into a large bowl and crumble the fresh yeast into it. Let stand for 5 mns until the yeast is completely dissolved.
2. Beat the egg in a smaller bowl with a whisk.
3. Melt the butter and add to the egg while stirring.
4. Add the salt and pour the egg mixture into the yeast suspension.
5. Stir in the rest of the water and the syrup.
6. Add both flours at ounce and work the liquid ingredients into the flour using both hands.
7. Knead the sticky mass for 10-15 mns to obtain an elastic and smooth dough.
8. Add the flax seed and knead for another 5 mns to incorporate the seeds into the dough.
9. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it into a floured bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place it in a warm location, allowing the yeast to develop for 1 hr.
10. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it with your fist. (Your fist should leave an imprint in the dough).
11. Divide and shape the dough into 2 or 3 loaves, knead for 5 mns and let the loaves double in size again for 1 hr.
12. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
13. Transfer the loaves onto baking sheets. Bake for 45 mns, until the crust is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
14. Allow to cool on a rack and store in an plastic bag to preserve.

Luscious Butterscotch Filled Brioches

Ingredients for 12 brioches:

¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose or cake flour

1½ oz. fresh yeast

2 quarts and 2 tablespoons warm water (40°C)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 or 3 tablespoons milk

Enough butterscotch chips for the filling

For the egg-wash glaze:

1 egg yolk

1 or tablespoons water or milk

1. Make a well with ¼ of the flour and crumble the yeast into it. Mix the flour and crumbled yeast with 2 tablespoons of warm water until you obtain a paste.
2. Shape the paste into a soft ball, snip a cross in the top and drop the ball of dough (or starter) into the rest of the warm water.
3. Let the starter rise to the surface and double in volume for 8-10 mns. Make sure that the water is not over a burner to prevent any extra heat from killing the yeast. Also, make sure to keep the water warm to allow the yeast to develop.
4. Once doubled in volume, the starter must be drained on a cheesecloth or paper towel and covered.
5. While waiting for the starter to grow, mix the rest of the flour with the sugar and the salt and form another well. Break the eggs into its center and add the milk.
6. With one hand only, mix them in by drawing the flour for the sides of the well and work the dough until you form a cohesive, sticky mass.
7. Gather as much as possible with the sticky mass and throw it back hard onto the floured board. Repeat this throwing process several times over 15 mns to allow the gluten to develop, giving a glistening, smooth and elastic dough which should not stick to your hands.
8. Work the soft butter into the dough then the drained starter.
9. Gather the resulting paste into a ball, put it in a floured or buttered bowl, and chill in the fridge for 1 hr.
10. Butter your muffins tins.
11. Once the dough has chilled, it should be easy to handle. Flour your hands and knead the chilled dough.
12. For each brioche, roll the dough into 1/8 cup- and 1 tablespoon balls. Fill the center of the 1/8 cup ball with ½ teaspoon of butterscotch chips. Make a slit into the larger ball, and 3 smaller cuts radiating out from the center. Firmly place the smaller ball at the center.
13. Allow the brioches to rise in the muffin tins for 20 mns or until they double in size. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
14. Prepare the egg wash by diluting the egg yolk with the milk and glaze the brioches with a brush.
15. Bake the brioches for 10 mns or until the glazed portions are golden brown. (If the egg-washed parts brown too rapidly, protect the brioches with foil).

Bon appetit!