Ok so I vanished for a bit… but not in vain.
I’ve actually been quite busy in the kitchen… Some days trying new recipes… some days making birthday cakes… and some days simple trying to give a spin to tried and tested all time favorite recipes.
It’s been a hectic week… so hectic that I couldn’t even manage to get myself to the gym more than thrice… (for those who know me … know how important my gym is to me.) However, in all the chaos I managed to stumble on some fab recipes… that will definitely make an appearance here in the near future.
As part of the chaotic week … my father (for perhaps the first time) asked me to make him my pepperoni bread. Now to make my life simpler I could’ve just left it at that and whipped up the tried and tested recipe in no time. But NOOOO !!! I have to make things difficult for myself … I have to try new things… what’s the point in making the same thing again and again eh?? Experimentation is the spice of life … right? Well kinda… but that doesn’t mean its gotta be easy! Don’t get me wrong… the end result is fabulous but it’s just the process that was so strenuous.
Anyhow… I’ve got this cool app on my phone that lets me gawk at recipes and blogs on the go …(I am a self proclaimed recipe hoarder remember). So while my browsing I came across this wonderful recipe that was a perfect way to re-do my pepperoni bread. The recipe called ‘Herbed Salami and cheese rolls’ was inspired by ‘Red Shallot Kitchen’
I was dying to try out the recipe, so excited that I overlooked so many things before starting… for one the conversions! Anyone and everyone who knows a bit about baking knows that it is very scientific and one needs to be precise with measurements. Well I made the cardinal sin! Anyways … about half hour into my kneading and the dough still not coming together… I realized my mistake and corrected it (…its never to late I say).
Also, I only had plain flour at home and no bread flour… so I improvised… I had some extra gluten and bread improver that I had bought from a bakery near my house, which I used to cover up for the lack of gluten in plain flour.
Baking bread is not as difficult as people believe it to be. You need to try it at least once to understand the difference between store bought and fresh bread and I can guarantee that you will be tempted to do it over and over again.
Herbed Salami and Cheese Bread
What you will need:
Large Mixing Bowl, 2 small bowls, a set of measuring spoons, saucepan, grater, table scrapers, large 10 inch rectangular casserole dish / two bread loaf tins, flour sifter, pastry brush.
Ingredients
Flour 285 gms / 2 ½ cups
Sugar 2 Tbsp
Salt ½ tsp
Egg 1 (extra for egg wash)
Warm Milk ½ cup
Water roux 120 gms (35 gms flour + 1 cup water)
(a mixture of flour and water combined over low heat in a saucepan until thick)
Bread improver 2 gms
Gluten 2 gms
Yeast Instant 2 tsp / Fresh 10gms
Butter, cubed 60 gms
Hot salami, roughly chopped 150gms
Cheddar cheese, grated 100 gms
Fresh Basil, chopped 1 Tbsp
Paprika 2 Tsp
How do you start:
Start by preparing the water roux. Combine 35 gms flour with 1 cup water in saucepan and whisk together over low heat. Continue whisking over heat until the mixture is thick and smooth. Take the saucepan off the heat and let the mixture cool.
In a small bowl, combine the yeast with warm milk and let it sit for 5 minutes until it is slightly frothy.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, bread improver and gluten. ( if you have good quality bread flour then you do not need to use gluten and bread improver… as I said… I made do with what I have… so should you).
Add the egg and water roux to the flour mixture and combine. I unfortunately don’t have the fancy kitchen aid stand mixers to do my mixing and kneading for me… so I did the kneading process the old fashioned way… by hand. If you are one of the lucky ones with a mixer… your life’s way simpler. Just click on the paddle attachment, add the ingredients to the bowl and mix for 20 minutes and you should have ready gorgeously smooth dough.
If your like me, then you gotta put in a little bit extra manual labor (I quite frankly did not mind… because that’s way I’ve been making bread forever now).
After you egg and water roux is combined with the flour, rub in the butter into the mixture. Now you have to knead this dough for about 20 minutes and it will be a sticky kneading process. You need to keep dusting your work surface with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
You will know the dough is ready, if by taking a chunk you are able to stretch it to a really thin membrane before it breaks, and when it does break, the break should form a circle ( for those of you familiar with the bread making process… the dough for this bread is similar in consistency and texture to the dough for ‘Lavash’, the middle eastern bread).
Next add in the chopped salami, cheese and fresh basil. Knead well until all the ingredients are well mixed. Gather the dough and shape into a ball and transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel / cling film (this creates a warm atmosphere for the yeast to start acting in).
Leave the dough in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
After an hour, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide either into 8 equal portions of two equal portions and cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for another 15 minutes.
(If you are using the casserole dish, then divide the dough into 8 equal portions… this will make 8 small individual sized bread rolls. However, you could also make two medium bread loafs with the dough using bread tins, in which case we divide the dough into two equal portions).
Grease your chosen baking dish and dust with some flour. Take one portion of the rough and flatten it by hand and roll up from one side, shaping it into a ball, sealing up the edges. Repeat the process with the remaining portions. Transfer to the casserole dish or to the bread tins. Cover and rest again for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180-degree C. Beat an egg and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the rolls lightly.
Optional: press in salami rounds on each loaf and sprinkle with some extra cheese.
Sprinkle with some paprika and bake the bread rolls for 30 minutes or until they turn golden.
Enjoy warm with some fresh salsa or as is.
I’ve actually been quite busy in the kitchen… Some days trying new recipes… some days making birthday cakes… and some days simple trying to give a spin to tried and tested all time favorite recipes.
It’s been a hectic week… so hectic that I couldn’t even manage to get myself to the gym more than thrice… (for those who know me … know how important my gym is to me.) However, in all the chaos I managed to stumble on some fab recipes… that will definitely make an appearance here in the near future.
As part of the chaotic week … my father (for perhaps the first time) asked me to make him my pepperoni bread. Now to make my life simpler I could’ve just left it at that and whipped up the tried and tested recipe in no time. But NOOOO !!! I have to make things difficult for myself … I have to try new things… what’s the point in making the same thing again and again eh?? Experimentation is the spice of life … right? Well kinda… but that doesn’t mean its gotta be easy! Don’t get me wrong… the end result is fabulous but it’s just the process that was so strenuous.
Anyhow… I’ve got this cool app on my phone that lets me gawk at recipes and blogs on the go …(I am a self proclaimed recipe hoarder remember). So while my browsing I came across this wonderful recipe that was a perfect way to re-do my pepperoni bread. The recipe called ‘Herbed Salami and cheese rolls’ was inspired by ‘Red Shallot Kitchen’
I was dying to try out the recipe, so excited that I overlooked so many things before starting… for one the conversions! Anyone and everyone who knows a bit about baking knows that it is very scientific and one needs to be precise with measurements. Well I made the cardinal sin! Anyways … about half hour into my kneading and the dough still not coming together… I realized my mistake and corrected it (…its never to late I say).
Also, I only had plain flour at home and no bread flour… so I improvised… I had some extra gluten and bread improver that I had bought from a bakery near my house, which I used to cover up for the lack of gluten in plain flour.
Baking bread is not as difficult as people believe it to be. You need to try it at least once to understand the difference between store bought and fresh bread and I can guarantee that you will be tempted to do it over and over again.
Herbed Salami and Cheese Bread
What you will need:
Large Mixing Bowl, 2 small bowls, a set of measuring spoons, saucepan, grater, table scrapers, large 10 inch rectangular casserole dish / two bread loaf tins, flour sifter, pastry brush.
Ingredients
Flour 285 gms / 2 ½ cups
Sugar 2 Tbsp
Salt ½ tsp
Egg 1 (extra for egg wash)
Warm Milk ½ cup
Water roux 120 gms (35 gms flour + 1 cup water)
(a mixture of flour and water combined over low heat in a saucepan until thick)
Bread improver 2 gms
Gluten 2 gms
Yeast Instant 2 tsp / Fresh 10gms
Butter, cubed 60 gms
Hot salami, roughly chopped 150gms
Cheddar cheese, grated 100 gms
Fresh Basil, chopped 1 Tbsp
Paprika 2 Tsp
How do you start:
Start by preparing the water roux. Combine 35 gms flour with 1 cup water in saucepan and whisk together over low heat. Continue whisking over heat until the mixture is thick and smooth. Take the saucepan off the heat and let the mixture cool.
In a small bowl, combine the yeast with warm milk and let it sit for 5 minutes until it is slightly frothy.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, bread improver and gluten. ( if you have good quality bread flour then you do not need to use gluten and bread improver… as I said… I made do with what I have… so should you).
Add the egg and water roux to the flour mixture and combine. I unfortunately don’t have the fancy kitchen aid stand mixers to do my mixing and kneading for me… so I did the kneading process the old fashioned way… by hand. If you are one of the lucky ones with a mixer… your life’s way simpler. Just click on the paddle attachment, add the ingredients to the bowl and mix for 20 minutes and you should have ready gorgeously smooth dough.
If your like me, then you gotta put in a little bit extra manual labor (I quite frankly did not mind… because that’s way I’ve been making bread forever now).
After you egg and water roux is combined with the flour, rub in the butter into the mixture. Now you have to knead this dough for about 20 minutes and it will be a sticky kneading process. You need to keep dusting your work surface with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
You will know the dough is ready, if by taking a chunk you are able to stretch it to a really thin membrane before it breaks, and when it does break, the break should form a circle ( for those of you familiar with the bread making process… the dough for this bread is similar in consistency and texture to the dough for ‘Lavash’, the middle eastern bread).
Next add in the chopped salami, cheese and fresh basil. Knead well until all the ingredients are well mixed. Gather the dough and shape into a ball and transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel / cling film (this creates a warm atmosphere for the yeast to start acting in).
Leave the dough in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
After an hour, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide either into 8 equal portions of two equal portions and cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for another 15 minutes.
(If you are using the casserole dish, then divide the dough into 8 equal portions… this will make 8 small individual sized bread rolls. However, you could also make two medium bread loafs with the dough using bread tins, in which case we divide the dough into two equal portions).
Grease your chosen baking dish and dust with some flour. Take one portion of the rough and flatten it by hand and roll up from one side, shaping it into a ball, sealing up the edges. Repeat the process with the remaining portions. Transfer to the casserole dish or to the bread tins. Cover and rest again for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180-degree C. Beat an egg and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the rolls lightly.
Optional: press in salami rounds on each loaf and sprinkle with some extra cheese.
Sprinkle with some paprika and bake the bread rolls for 30 minutes or until they turn golden.
Enjoy warm with some fresh salsa or as is.
