I am extremely close to getting banished from the kitchen. It isn't really the constant mess or flour, butter, and sugar's daily appearance on the grocery list. Its more my mom's (me too! me too!) sugar addiction. I'm not sure one would actually qualify it as a problem, per se, but we...
1) would gladly swap most main courses (steaks, caviars, cheese, etc etc) for a 50 cent Reese's or any type of cookie
2) cant say no. I mean, we can... but we're really not that into it.
So, to keep myself sane (and my poor mother that wakes every morning saying "Arghhh... I don't feeeeeel good. You have to stop this") I just needed to re-evaluate my approach to baking. Do I always have to bake a cake, double chocolate tarte, or cookies? Well, I will ignore my instinctual answer and give a more sanity based: no. So, as I wanted to bake the other day I came across a recipe for wheat thins. I love wheat thins! So I swapped the butter and sugar for some salt and whole wheat flour and got to business rolling out these cute and salty crackas.
Whole Wheat Thins (Homemade!)
Makes a whole-lotta
The idea of making a cracker and then storing them in old Lipton boxes, thankfully not occupied by those sad tea bags any longer, was really fun and exciting. The first go around, I didn't roll the crackers thin enough and I made them too large, so they weren't as snappy as the original. But by golly, the second time, they turned out just like the Nabisco boxed version... except better. Well at least that's what my mom said, but I'm sure shes just encouraging my new direction of butter-less baking. But I really must say, the wheat thins, well, they tasted like wheat thins. Quelle surprise I say! Lets roll....
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar (I like turbinado/sugar in the raw)
2 tsp salt (plus more for tops)
3 TB olive oil (et plus pour les tops)
3/4 cup milk
And let us begin. Take your white whole wheat and white flour and sift them together into a rather large bowl.
(this is the flour. and the bowl.)
Add the salt et sugar and remix.
Add a little of this (the olive oil). Combine oil and dry mixture with fork until it resembles tiny pebbles.
Then add a little of that (the milk). Mix together so it forms a ball. And there is your dough. Now how easy was that? Well, I don't think I forgot anything...
Take your dough and roll it out on a floured surface until it is fairly thin.... let's say about the size of a wheat thin or your favorite snappy cracker. The thinner the dough, the crispier it will be.
I used a pizza cutter and a straight edge to get these squares. Then I brushed the tops with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt .... the signature of the wheat thin. (Tip: It is easier to brush the dough with oil before you cut them, but be careful not to brush the sections that are leftover from the squares as you gather the misfits and roll those again to make even more)
I forgot to tell you earlier, but set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the squares on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes... although I check mine about every 10 minutes or so. They are done when they are golden brown.
Let crackas cool on a rack and Enjoy! Take that Nabisco.
Music Pairing
"Gone, Gone, Gone" from the soundtrack Crazy Heart. Because these thins aren't hanging around the kitchen for too long (forgive the corniness s.v.p.)... and like all the other music pairings... its just an excuse to post some more great music....or crappy stuff that I just like.
So Sydney had this great idea to bake some baguettes. Now, I love baguettes, but my only experience beyond pouring some eggs into a Duncan Hines mix and tossing it into the oven was making some 'made from scratch' cookies last summer...and you should ask my mother if she's managed to clean the flour out of the grout on the kitchen counters yet. In any case, I said, 'what the hey, sounds like a good experiment,' and here we are. It's 4:11PM on a Friday afternoon, and the dough is rising.
Question number one: When they ask you to fold the dough every twenty minutes, what does that mean, exactly? I've done a bit of origami, but I have a feeling those skills don't quite add up here...
Fact number one: Baking is fun when it is combined with any or all of the following: Pierre Hermé macarons (huile d'olive et vanille, fraises et wasabi, caramel et beurre and the new taste sensation, abricot peche et saffron - I'm thinking of you, Steph!), a bottle of rose (this one's a Bordeaux Rose, 'Blaissac' 2009), and a couple of episodes of Blackadder...
Ingredients: 4 cups (500g) of flour 1 1/2 cups (350g) of water 1 tbsp (12 g) of salt 1/2 tbsp (7g) of yeast
Directions: 1. Mix the yeast in the water (make sure it fizzes). Mix well-sifted and flour and salt in a big mixing bowl, add the yeast and water mixture and mix carefully to blend well with the flour. You'll get a sticky dough. (It's what's supposed to happen, don't add flour!)
2. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 hour and 20 minutes with one fold every 20 minutes. This gives you:
First check: 20 minutes, followed by a fold (we flipped the dough over and got sticky hands - make sure you flour your hands!!)
Second check: 20 minutes, 2nd fold
Third check: 20 minutes, 3rd fold
Fourth check: 20 minutes, 4th fold
3. Then cover and let rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. We split the difference and let it rise 1:15.
4. Gently pour the dough onto a well-floured surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough then fold it in half, then in half again. (Hot dog, then hamburger.) Cover with a towel and let the dough rest 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, repeat hot dog-hamburger fold. Repeat once more. That's a total of 40 minutes more of rising and 3 folds.
5. After the last fold, weigh the dough and split it into three equal pieces (approx 285g each) and gently form balls (Balls!). Cover the dough and let it rest 20 minutes.
6. Gently roll the balls (Balls!) into baguettes. It's full of bubbles! Don't press too hard! (That's what she said...) Cover and let rest 20 minutes. Go do some chores.
7. While the bread is resting heat the oven to 445F (230C). Put some water onto the baking tray.
8. Powder the baguettes with flour, slice the baguettes diagonally (not all the way through) and put them in the oven. Lower the heat to 430F (220C) and cook 15-20 minutes.
(this is the flour. and the bowl.)
