walnuts

red beet pkhali / pkhali di barbabietole rosse

| Simona

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[versione in italiano]

red beet pkhali / IMG_4927

ready to spoon some?
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan1 which tells the story of four women in Kent, UK, during WWII. The food rations in effect at that time play a central role: they affected everyone and cooks in particular, tasked as they were to prepare nourishing and tasty meals with what the rations provided. (Vegetable gardens and foraging enriched the limited availability of ingredients.)

The novel's title refers to a BBC program devised to provide ideas on how best to make use of those rations. The four women compete to become the program's co-lead by cooking a starter, a main dish and a dessert that showcase what's possible within the confines of the wartime pantry.

The book includes the competition recipes and a few others. It is interesting to read the alternatives people devised for ingredients that were in short supply, like sugar. The one surprise in the story is the croquembouche Zelda (the chef among the four women) brings as her entry for the dessert part of the competition.

Red beets are mentioned several times in the book using their British name, beetroots. Audrey grows them in her garden and they are featured in a couple of the recipes provided in the book. I don't grow them, but like to get them at the farmers market, particularly when they are sold with their greens, which are delicious in their own right.

I last featured red beets in a salad2 inspired by Finnish rosolli. This time, for inspiration I turned to Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya von Bremzen3 and John Welchman. The book includes recipes from a large area, from the Baltics to Uzbekistan. In the Zakuski section (appetizers, antipasti), I read about Georgian pkhali, a dish made from a finely chopped cooked vegetable (like spinach, eggplants, beets) with a dressing of ground walnuts (noci tritate), garlic, vinegar, spices and herbs. I decided to make Beet Pkhali.

I halved the recipe and adjusted a couple of other things, most notably 1) I toasted the walnuts; 2) used parsley instead of cilantro; 3) used sherry vinegar since I couldn't find tarragon vinegar.

The headnote says that pkhali must be made "at least 6 to 8 hours ahead for the flavor of the garlic to settle properly" (page  25). The result? Oh my! The vinegar and spices balance out the distinctive sweetness of red beets and the walnuts provide a light body to the soft texture of cooked beets. Pkhali is served as a pâté but I've also read it defined as a spreadable salad. It is a bit addictive: you taste a small spoonful, spread some on a cracker, drop a dollop on green salad, and before you know it, it's gone.

The second time I made the recipe I measured the ingredients more precisely, then the next time I adjusted some more. Below is my current version and further down there is a link to the recipe that inspired me.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Red beet pkhali

Ingredients:

  • 2 red beets to obtain 6 ounces / 170 grams when cooked and peeled (see Note below)

For the walnut sauce:

  • 1 1/2 ounces / 42 grams walnuts, preferably freshly shelled
  • 2 small garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced red spring onion
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/8 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground fenugreek
  • A small pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons / 22.5 ml water
  • 3/4 tablespoon / 11.25 ml sherry vinegar

For the pkhali:

  • The roasted red beets from above
  • The walnut sauce from above
  • 1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml sherry vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
  • Fine sea salt, if needed, to taste

Note: If possible, purchase red beets with their greens. Cut off the greens about 1 inch / 2.5 cm from the root and consume them as soon as possible like you would other types of dark leafy greens. (You can also use them, together with spinach, to make Spinach Pkhali) For efficiency's sake, I recommend that you roast more beets than you need for the recipe and add the extra ones to a soup or salad.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Scrub the red beets well. Wrap each beet in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Put the beets in the oven and roast them until easily pierced with a blade. Check after 45-60 minutes (depending on the beets' size) and gauge the cooking time remaining.

Let the red beets cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Weigh the amount you need for the recipe. Cut the beets in bite-sized pieces and set them aside.

To make the walnut sauce
Heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C.

Distribute the walnuts on an unlined baking sheet or cookie sheet and place in the oven. Roast the walnuts for a few minutes until they smell fragrant. Remove them from the sheet and let them cool.

Ground the walnuts in a food processor. Place the ground walnuts in a bowl and add all the other sauce ingredients. Mix well and set aside.

To make the pkhali
Process the roasted red beets until coarsely minced. Add to the bowl with the walnut sauce. Mix well.

Add the other pkhali ingredients and mix well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (6 to 8 is better).

Take out of the refrigerator the pkhali ahead of time, spread it on a serving plate and smooth the top with a spatula. (I shaped it more like a low mound.) With a knife, make a pattern of diamonds on the top.

Serve at room temperature.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.



A colorful, delightful way of serving this nutritious root vegetable.

1 The book's page on the publisher's website
2 From briciole's archive: Red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad
3 Cook the Books club read von Bremzen's memoir some years ago, and, inspired by the book, I made Mushroom and egg salad
4 Section on pkhali in Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pkhali di barbabietola rosse

or launch the pkhali di barbabietola rosse audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey From Rock. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event. 

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

red beets, walnuts, salad, spread, Georgian cuisine

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Newrule

pkhali di barbabietole rosse

red beet pkhali / IMG_4927

pronti all'assaggio?
(tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Le barbabietole rosse sono una delle verdure che amo comprare al mercato dei produttori, soprattutto quando hanno ancora le foglie attaccate (come nella foto in basso), che sono una delizia.

In un post dell'anno scorso le ho presentate in un'insalata ispirata al rosolli, piatto tipico finlandese. Stavolta l'ispirazione me l'ha data il libro Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook di Anya von Bremzen3 e John Welchman. Il tomo racchiude 400 ricette provenienti dall'area che va dalle repubbliche baltiche all'Uzbekistan. Nella sezione Zakuski (antipasti), ho trovato il pkhali, piatto tipico della Georgia composto da una verdura cotta e tagliata finemente (come spinaci, melanzane, barbabietole) condita con una salsa di noci tritate, aglio, aceto e spezie. Ho deciso di provare a fare il pkhali di barbabietole rosse.

Ho dimezzato le dosi e ho cambiato dei dettagli: 1) ho tostato le noci; 2) ho utilizzato il prezzemolo invece del coriandolo fresco (che negli USA si chiama cilantro); 3) ho utilizzato l'aceto di sherry perché non ho trovato quello al dragoncello. 

La ricetta nota che il pkhali deve essere preparato "almeno 6-8 ore in anticipo in modo che il sapore dell'aglio si assesti" (page  25). Il risultato è eccellente. Aceto e spezie bilanciano il sapore dolce delle barbabietole e le noci danno una leggera corposità alla consistenza morbida delle barbabietole cotte. Pkhali viene servito come pâté ma ho anche letto una definizione di insalata spalmabile. Ne assaggi un cucchiaino, ne spalmi un po' su un cracker, ne aggiungi un cucchiaio ad un'insalata verde e in un batter d'occhio non ce n'è più.

La seconda volta che ho preparato la ricetta ho misurato le quantità con più precisione e la volta successiva ho fatto minimi aggiustamenti. Qui sotto c'è la versione corrente e più in basso il link alla ricetta che mi ha ispirato (in inglese).

Ingredienti:

  • 2 barbabietole rosse per ottenere 170 grammi, peso cotto e netto (vedi Nota in basso)

Per la salsa alle noci:

  • 42 grammi di noci, preferibilmente appena sgusciate
  • 2 piccoli spicchi d'aglio tritati
  • 1 cucchiaio di cipollotto rosso tritato
  • 1,5 cucchiai di prezzemmolo fresco tritato
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di coriandolo in polvere
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di fieno greco (trigonella) in polvere
  • Un pizzichino di pepe di Caienna
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di sale fino
  • 1,5 cucchiai / 22,5 ml d'acqua
  • 3/4 cucchiaio / 11,25 ml di aceto di sherry

Per il pkhali:

  • Le barbabietole rosse arrosto (vedi sopra)
  • La salsa alle noci (vedi sopra)
  • 1/2 cucchiaio / 7,5 ml di aceto di sherry
  • 1 cucchiaio di prezzemmolo fresco tritato
  • Sale fino, q.b.

Nota: Se possibile, acquistare barbabietole rosse con ancora le foglie attaccate. Tagliare le foglie un paio di cm al di sopra del bulbo e consumarle prima possibile (si possono preparare come altre verdure in foglia). Per essere efficienti, raccomando di arrostire più barbabietole di quante ne servano per la ricetta e utilizzare il resto come ingrediente in una zuppa o insalata.

Scaldare il forno a 190 C.

Pulire le barbabietole rosse. Avvolgere ciascuna barbabietola in un pezzo di carta stagnola e metterle su una placca da forno. Infornare e arrostire le barbabietole rosse fino a quando si possono perforare facilmente con un coltello. Controllare dopo 45-60 minuti (a seconda della grandezza delle barbabietole) e valutare il tempo di cottura rimanente.

Far intiepidire le barbabietole, poi pelarle. Pesare la quantità necessaria per la ricetta. Tagliare le barbabietole a pezzi e metterle da parte.

Preparare la salsa di noci
Scaldare il forno a 170 C.

Distribuire le noci su una placca da forno. Tostare le noci per alcuni minuti.  Toglierle dalla placca e farle freddare.

Tritare finemente le noci nel robot, versarle in una ciotola e aggiungere tutti gli altri ingredienti della salsa alle noci. Mescolare bene e mettere da parte.

Preparare il pkhali
Tritare le barbabietole rosse nel robot. Aggiungerle alla ciotola con la salsa alle noci. Mescolare bene.

Aggiungere gli altri ingredienti del pkhali e mescolare bene. Coprire la ciotola e tenerla in frigo per almeno 4 ore (6-8 ore anche meglio).

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero il pkhali in anticipo, versarlo su un piatto da portata e lisciare la superficie con una spatola. (Io l'ho gli ho dato la forma un po' a collinetta, invece che piatta.) Con un coltello marcare la superficie con una decorazione a losanghe.

Servire a temperatura ambiente.

Serve 4 come antipasto.

1 Sezione su pkhali in Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook di Anya von Bremzen e John Welchman (in inglese)
2 Il libro di memorie di Anya von Bremzen: L'arte della cucina sovietica

UnMondoIngredientiLogo 329221889_1929099054116173_1830165923816230171_nContribuisco il mio pkhali di barbabietole rosse dalla Georgia alla lettera B di Un mondo d'ingredienti evento creato dall'instancabile Aiu' di Trattoria Muvara

 

FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall'azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.

 

recipe: red beet pkhali

| Simona

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honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites / bocconcini di zucca, formaggio erborinato e noci

| Simona

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IMG_3604 / honeynut squash

Appetizer in progress
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams1, a mystery that revolves mainly around a bookstore (libreria). 

The bookstore's owner, Nora, having once been healed by books, has chosen to do the same with other people. Besides Nora, the society of the title includes three other women, quite different from each other, each with a secret, a story she will at some point share. One of them is a baker with a special gift of baking 'personalized' scones, which evoke intense memories (ricordi) in those who eat them.

The novel strikes a balance between the murder plot and the background stories of the four women, particularly of Nora. She emerges as a courageous person and steadying force in the group. 

It would have been fitting to develop a recipe for scones, a pastry of which I have been a great fan ever since tasting it for the first time in London, many years ago. This blog includes eight recipes for scones2 using ingredients like carrots, persimmons, strawberries, red beets (see the complete list at the bottom of this post). But as the story focuses on the slow opening up of each woman to the others, I thought I would prepare a dish that could be shared during one of their meetings.

Then life happened: in early November, I fell on the sidewalk, broke my left little finger and have had my left hand in a half cast and bandage ever since. Everyday things, like washing my face, chopping foods, picking up a pan, typing, became difficult and tiresome. I still clung to my original idea and the recipe below reflects the season with its availability of countless varieties of winter squash. No matter how many new ones I try each fall, the following year I find some new ones. 

honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites

Almost ready: a quick stay in the oven and then: Buon appetito! (bar board 
by BHV Woodworks5, placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The honeynut squash looks like a mini butternut squash: it has the same elongated shape, solid neck, bulbous end, but it is smaller, darker in color and sweeter in flavor. When I see a new-to-me type of winter squash, I always think that I had not been looking in the right place. But honeynut squash is indeed a relatively new variety, as a 2017 article in Bon Appétit explains3. A recipe for blue cheese and butternut squash crostini on an advertisement page in the current edition of Edible East Bay4 and honeynut squash in my squash stash contributed to the creation of this appetizer (in particular, the idea of toasting walnuts in rosemary-flavored oil).  

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites

I am not giving set quantities but general directives. Assume 4 bites per person as an appetizer and estimate 1 honeynut squash will serve 3-4 people, depending on size.

Do not worry about preparing extra squash slices and/or topping components: they can be stored for a couple of days or used in other dishes.

Ingredients:

  • Honeynut squash
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Walnuts, possibly freshly shelled
  • Needles from a fresh rosemary sprig (rametto di rosmarino), chopped
  • Shallot or red onion, chopped finely
  • Fine sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Blue cheese of good quality
  • A small amount of milk, dairy or not

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. Prepare a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat.

Using a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler, peel the squash. Slice off top and bottom. Cut the squash into 1/4-inch thick slices. When you get to the seed cavity, cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds and strings (a grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool to do this). Cut the squash into 1-inch sections to form small boats.

Distribute the squash pieces on the baking mat and bake them for 15 minutes: they should be tender. If not, flip and bake a few minutes longer. Transfer the squash onto a plate.

In the meantime, warm up a small frying pan and oil it lightly. Add the rosemary needles and stir. After 30 seconds, add the walnuts and toast them until fragrant, stirring often. Remove the walnuts and rosemary from the pan and transfer onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Let the walnuts cool slightly then chop finely. Set aside.

Again warm up the frying pan, add some olive oil and cook the shallot or onion until crisp/tender, stirring often and paying attention not to burn it. Sprinkle some sea salt and black pepper, stir again and set aside.

In a ramekin, crumble the blue cheese and add enough milk to turn into a thick cream, using a small fork to mix.

Assemble the bites: take a piece of squash, deposit a bit of the shallot or onion, top with a bit of the cheese and sprinkle some walnuts on top. Repeat until you have as many bites as needed. Avoid piling up too much topping: you want to be able to use your hands to pick up a bite and to taste all the flavors without one being overwhelming.

Put the baking sheet in the oven at 300 F / 150 C for a few minutes to just warm up the bites.

Transfer to a plate and serve immediately. 

1 The novel's page on the author's website
2 Scone recipes from the blog: strawberry, persimmon, pear & coconut, baby zucchini & walnut, roasted carrot, red beet, apple & pistachio, curried pumpkin & ginger, ricotta & poppy seed
3 Bon Appétit article on honeynut squash
4 Edible East Bay
5 I purchased the board and coaster from BHV Woodworks

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

bocconcini di zucca, formaggio erborinato e noci

or launch the bocconcini di zucca, formaggio erborinato e noci audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linens free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

winter-squash, honeynut squash, blue cheese, appetizer, walnuts

recipe: honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites

| Simona

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chocolate and walnut whole-wheat dinner rolls / panini integrali al cioccolato e noci

| Simona
chocolate and walnut whole-wheat dinner rolls / DSC_8328

everything is better with chocolate, including bread
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

On a recent visit to a local bookstore, I purchased Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout1. A friend had told me the movie was really good, but I rarely watch TV, so the recommendation made me buy the book. I loved every page of it. The writing is superb and the characters of the stories are drawn with delicacy, precision and empathy.

I also like the author's choice in writing a collection of short stories, rather than a novel. In some of them Olive is the protagonist, in others she makes an appearance. Having been a math teacher in the school of her small town in Maine, she knows a lot of the residents. And her husband Henry was for many years the pharmacist and is a well-liked member of the community.

Olive's stern manners make students fear her. Christopher, Olive and Henry's only son, gets crushed between his parents and moves to California to build his own life, rather than the life his parents had planned for him (they design and build a house for him, which he promptly sells after getting married). Sometimes it is hard to imagine what Olive wants. She may say something rather rude one moment and the next she empathizes deeply with a stranger or refuses to leave alone a former student whose emotional trouble she senses.

There are a lot of doughnuts in the book: people eat doughnuts at the local cafe on the bay, Bonnie expects a doughnut (not cinnamon) when her husband, Harmon, comes back home from running errands, which include a visit to Daisy, for whom he will eventually leave his wife. Olive talks about her preference for doughnuts with Nina, a young woman with anorexia:

Olive finished the doughnut, wiped the sugar from her fingers, sat back and said, “You’re starving.”
The girl didn't move, only said, “Uh—duh.”
“I’m starving, too,” Olive said. The girl looked over at her. “I am,” Olive said. “Why do you think I eat every doughnut in sight?”
“You’re not starving,” Nina said with disgust.
“Sure I am. We all are.”
…
Olive Kitteridge was crying. If there was anyone in town Harmon believed he would never see cry, Olive was that person But there she sat, large and big-wristed, her mouth quivering, tears coming from her eyes.
…
Olive shook her head again, blew her nose. She looked at Nina, and said quietly, “I don’t know who you are, but young lady, you’re breaking my heart.”

I don't understand doughnuts: They don't appeal to me. Good bread, on the other hand, attracts me like a magnet. At the Temescal farmers' market, in Oakland, I purchased some chocolate sourdough from the Midwife and the Baker bakery2 Made with 40% whole-wheat flour (farina integrale), it beats all the doughnuts of the world. I decided to try making some chocolate bread and to that end, I reworked a beloved recipe for buns3.

chocolate and walnut whole-wheat dinner rolls / IMG_1051

homemade cheese goes well with homemade bread
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

I ran a few tests and below is the version I liked best. I suspect Olive would mumble if I arrived at her place with a bag of buns instead of doughnuts. I would leave the bag on her table without making a fuss. She would eat one, thank me brusquely and add a morsel of her sharp wisdom, like: "Don't be scared of your hunger. If you're scared of your hunger, you'll just be one more ninny like everyone else." That's the best one can expect from Olive. But if I were going through a rough time, Olive would be there and not leave, sensing the sadness welling up from deep down inside me.

The recipe calls for a long, slow rise (lievitazione) in the refrigerator to enhance flavor. Make sure to allow time for it.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Seeded whole-wheat dinner rolls

Note: I specify the brand for the flours I use, because flours are not created equal; however, this in not an advertisement, i.e., I don't get receive any payment for mentioning the brands.

Ingredients (for 10 rolls)

For the sponge:

  • 3/4 cup / 180 ml water
  • 2 grams (slightly more than 1/2 teaspoon) instant yeast
  • 100 grams King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour
  • 15 grams sprouted whole-wheat flour
  • 10 grams Ultragrain all-purpose flour (or King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour)

For the dough:

  • 25 grams millet
  • 20 grams hemp hearts
  • 35 grams walnuts, finely chopped
  • 1 large egg, possibly from pastured poultry, lightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoons / 30 ml olive oil
  • 70 grams whole-spelt flour (I use stone-ground from Capay Mills4)
  • 150 grams whole-wheat flour (I use stone-ground, hard red whole-wheat flour from Beck's Bakery5)
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
  • 55 grams extra-dark chocolate, finely chopped (I use 88% cacao, but I am used to eating 100%, so it tastes sweet enough; if you are not used to unsweetened chocolate, I suggest you use 70-72% cacao)
  • 1 teaspoon / 5 grams sea salt
  • a bit more all-purpose flour to dust your work surface

The sponge
Pour the water into a mixing bowl, add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Whisk in the flours to make a batter. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for about 30 minutes, at the end of which you should see tiny bubbles (yeast at work).

The soaker
In the meantime, put the millet, hemp hearts and walnuts in a small bowl and cover with boiling water (1/2 cup / 120 ml). Leave to soak for 30 minutes, then drain the excess liquid (some will remain in the mix and that is fine). Stir the mixture into the sponge.

The bread dough
Add to the sponge and millet mixture the egg, the olive oil, the spelt and whole-wheat flours, the cocoa and chocolate. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together in a shaggy mass. Sprinkle the salt on the surface and let the dough rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes.

Lightly oil your work surface. Transfer the dough on it and knead with wet hands until smoother (a minute or two). The dough will be a bit sticky: use a dough cutter to help you knead. Avoid adding flour: during fermentation the flours will absorb water and by the time you cut it and shape it into rolls, the dough will be easy to handle.

Fold the dough and place it into a clean, oiled bowl. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Better still, make the dough in the morning and bake the rolls the following morning or later in the day. The slow rise in the refrigerator allows a more complex flavor to develop. 

chocolate and walnut whole-wheat dinner rolls / IMG_1043

oh, the dough!

Shape the rolls
When ready to cut and shape, prepare a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Take the bowl with the dough out of the refrigerator, uncover it and flip it onto a lightly floured work surface. Scrape all the dough from the bowl. Cut the dough into 10 pieces, each weighing 77-80 grams.

Shape each roll as follows: Flatten the piece of dough then fold the corners towards the center, then fold again inward into a small bundle. Flip it seam side down on a piece of clean work surface and roll it with lightly floured hand to shape it into a tight ball. [This short video shows my hands rolling a larger piece of dough, but should still give an idea.]

Place the roll on the lined baking sheet, seeded side up, about 2 inches / 5 cm apart from the others.

Repeat until all the rolls are shaped. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap and place the baking sheet in a warm place until the rolls have doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hour, depending on the ambient temperature. Check the rolls' progress and when they are 15-20 minutes from being ready to be baked, turn on the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Home stretch
Bake the rolls for 15 minutes. The internal temperature will be close to 210 F / 99 C (bake a minute or two longer, if needed). Take the baking sheet out of the oven then transfer the rolls onto a rack. Let cool. Enjoy!

I LOVE these rolls. You can nibble one by itself or with cheese6 or with a slice of prosciutto. They are delicate, a bit crunchy, ever so slightly sweet. Move over doughnuts!

1 The book's page on the author's website and the miniseries page on HBO
2 the MIDWIFE and the BAKER bakery
3 On this blog: seeded whole-wheat dinner rolls
4 Capay Mills
5 Beck's Bakery
6 On this blog: English-style coulommiers

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

panini integrali al cioccolato e noci

or launch the panini integrali al cioccolato e noci audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

Small_NFlogoThis is my second contribution to the 33rd edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started some time ago and that I continue to host.

The roundup of the event.

Fr2018-150I am also contributing to the June edition of Foodies Read the reading/cooking event hosted by Heather of Based on a True Story.

Visit the linkup page to see what others have read and cooked.

FTC disclosure: I have received the placemat free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

bread, dinner rolls, whole-grain flour, whole-wheat flour, chocolate, walnuts, millet, hemp seeds

recipe: chocolate and walnut whole-wheat dinner rolls

| Simona

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pane al lievito naturale con uvetta e noci / walnut raisin sourdough bread

| Simona
IMG_1664 / walnut raisin sourdough bread

a feast for the senses

The seeds sprouting tomorrow are sown today.

This is true for the bread baker as well, when the bread planned includes a preferment, like sourdough starter (lievito naturale or pasta madre), for which a bit of advanced planning is needed.

I enjoy baking a variety of breads, yet if I were to choose one bread to carry with me on a deserted island, this walnut raisin sourdough boule would be the one: it has a crisp crust and soft crumb (crosta croccante e mollica soffice), a nuanced sour note, a sweet note thanks to raisins and a crunchy note thanks to walnuts. It carries centuries of tradition yet looks and tastes modern, it is simple yet provides a complex eating experience. It is the epitome of nourishing.

It does take a bit of advanced planning, but wouldn't you want to take out of the oven something as beautiful as the boule in the photo?

walnut raisin sourdough bread

just baked

One inspiration for this bread was a recipe for Hazelnut and Currant Sourdough in How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou, which includes interesting recipes and a relaxed approach to baking bread hat resonates with me. Much as I like hazelnuts (nocciole), I found their flavor overpowering in bread, hence my preference for walnuts. What I got from the recipe is the amount of flour, sourdough starter and salt. Everything else comes from my taste, my experience and things I learned at the San Francisco Baking Institute. 

Important: this bread uses a starter that requires some advanced planning. The raisins should also soak overnight.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Walnut raisin sourdough bread

Ingredients:

For the preferment

  • 30 g sourdough starter (refreshed previously, if stored in the refrigerator)
  • 60 g water
  • 60 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread) 

For the raisins

  • 60 g raisins
  • 125 ml lukewarm water or tea

For the dough

  • 60 g walnuts (see below)
  • 140 g preferment (sourdough starter) prepared in advance with the ingredients listed above
  • 260 ml water at 85 F / 30 C
  • 0.4 g / 1/8 teaspoon  instant yeast 
  • 40 g stone-ground whole-wheat flour (I use locally grown and milled Hollis wheat)
  • 35 g sprouted whole-wheat flour (the one I use is also from KAF)
  • 300 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour, plus as needed to shape the bread
  • 6 g fine sea salt

Prepare the preferment and the raisins
12-16 hours before starting to make the bread, prepare the preferment: weigh the ingredients in a 2-cup container, stir well with a fork, cover and let ferment at room temperature in a draft-free place. (Adjust the timing as needed for your starter and your room temperature so that by the time you start making bread the preferment is bubbly active.)

Place raisins in a small bowl and pour over them the liquid of choice. Cover the bowl and let rest overnight, until the raisins are needed.

Prepare the walnuts
If your walnuts are freshly cracked, toast them lightly in a dry pan, shaking the pan often.

Otherwise, in her “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison gives instructions on how to treat walnuts to improve their flavor when they aren't freshly cracked, and make them less irritating for people who are sensitive to their skins. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add walnuts and let them stand for one minute, then drain them and absorb the excess moisture with a towel. Finally, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat and place them in the oven preheated to 300 F / 150 C until they have dried out, 15-20 minutes. Remove them from the oven as soon as they are dry. (I do this for 6-8 oz. / 170-225 g walnuts at a time, since I use walnuts often in my recipes. Store walnuts in the refrigerator.)

Prepare the dough
I start making the bread early in the morning, so I am sure the boule will be baked and thoroughly cooled by dinner time.

Chop prepared walnuts with a knife. Drain the raisins. 

In a bowl, mix preferment (sourdough starter), water and instant yeast. The small amount of yeast I use helps keep the leavening process within a predictable time frame in the cool environment of our house. 

Add the flours and stir with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk.

Add walnuts and raisins and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Sprinkle salt on the surface.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest 5 minutes. In the meantime, oil well a plastic tub with lid where you will transfer the dough when fully mixed.

Wet the spoon (if using it) and mix dough until it is homogeneous.

Transfer the dough to the oiled tub. With wet hands, letter-fold the dough and then flip it to oil the surface. This is your time 0. Cover the tub and let rest for 45 minutes.

This very nice video on The SF Baking Institute website describes and shows a couple of important techniques I apply to bread dough.

  1. Stretching and folding: as Mac says in the video, the stretching part is of fundamental importance in gluten development
  2. Pre-shaping and shaping rounds (useful for later)

The video is not long, but if you don't have time to watch it in its entirety, you can start at 4':30" and watch about 8 minutes until Mac shows how to shape a boule.

  • A) Stretch and fold the dough in the tub along both sides.
  • B) Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.

Repeat A and B two more times, at which point you will be at time 3 hours.

Check gluten development by stretching a corner of the dough to make a windowpane. If you don't get a windowpane, let dough ferment a little longer. 

Shape the bread
Lightly flour your working surface and transfer dough onto it. Use a bench scraper to help you move and turn the dough.

Gently pat dough to flatten it into a thick circle and degas. Fold corners of dough towards the center, flip (so it is seam side down) and pre-shape into a boule on an unfloured section of your working surface, which offers some resistance (see video at 8'). Move the round towards you, then back with a slight rotation, all the while tucking dough underneath. Bring a bit of tension to the dough, but not as much as you will later, during shaping.

Let pre-shaped round rest for 20 minutes, covered (I leave it on the kneading board and cover it with the plastic tub turned upside down).

In the meantime, generously flour a lined round bread basket or similar container (my brotform is unlined, so I have a square piece of cloth that I flour and use to line it). Flip the dough (so it is seam side up) and flatten lightly, then fold corners of dough towards the center. Flip (so it is seam side down) and shape into a boule on an unfloured section of your working surface, which offers some resistance (see video at 12'). Move the round towards you then back with a slight rotation, all the while tucking dough underneath. Bring tension to the dough, but do not overdo or the surface will tear.

Gently flip the dough and place it seam side up into the prepared basket. Cover (I use a clean shower cap for this) and let dough rest until doubled in size (also, until a dimple made on the dough with your fingertip persists), in my case 3 to 4 hours, depending on the room temperature.  

Prepare the oven
You can bake this bread on tiles and use your preferred method for creating steam in the oven, or you can use a lidded 5-Qt cast-iron Dutch oven. I have used both methods with success and will describe the latter method here, which is easier and works well.

Place the lidded cast-iron Dutch oven in the cold oven. Preheat the oven to 475 F /245 C. 

DSC_4979 / walnut raisin sourdough bread

star-shaped scoring using scissors

Bake the bread
When the dough is ready to be baked, cut a piece of parchment paper large enough so that you can take hold of it by the corners and use them to help you lower the dough into the Dutch oven and later to retrieve the bread from it. Lay the parchment paper onto the back of a baking sheet. Flip the dough onto the parchment paper, lift basket and peel away liner.

Score the surface according to your preference. I got the star-shaped scoring you see in the photo from the recipe for White sourdough in How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou: With scissors, cut the points of the star all around the top of the boule. 

Take the Dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. Pick up the parchment paper and lower the shaped dough into the Dutch oven. Put the lid on and place the Dutch oven back into the oven. Turn the oven temperature down to 425 F / 218 C.

Bake for 15 minutes,  then remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes. At this point, check the bread's internal temperature: if it is 210 F / 99 C, it is ready. Otherwise, continue baking for another 2 minutes, then check again. In my case, it takes 32 minutes for the bread to bake.

Carefully extract the bread out of the Dutch oven using the parchment paper flaps to lift it up. Place on a rack to cool. Restrain your desire to go at the bread with your knife: let it cool completely, at least two hours, then slice and feast on it with all your senses. 

DSC_4986 / walnut raisin sourdough bread

baked on tiles

This bread is simply magnificent. The balance of ingredients is perfect, in my opinion.

Resist the temptation to add more raisins or more walnuts: you want to taste bread first and foremost. The additions have a supportive role and should not steal the show. 

You can serve this bread with anything: a bowl of soup will love it, cheese will be thrilled to be paired with it, salame, prosciutto or bresaola will be its best friends. It is perfect to fare la scarpetta and above all, it enchants when tasted solo.

Nuovo italia (1)I am sending this bread to the June edition of Panissimo, a monthly event created by Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? and hosted this month by Valentina of Non di solo pane.

 

Nowy2And to the monthly showcase Sourdough and Yeast by Wisla (in Polish). The roundup of the event.

Finally, to Yeastspotting. This page contains the first part of the roundup and  links to the other two parts.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pane al lievito naturale con uvetta e noci

or launch the pane al lievito naturale con uvetta e noci audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

bread, homemade bread, sourdough

Related articles
pane di Pasqua bulgaro / Bulgarian Easter bread
treccia di pane con uvetta e noci / raisin walnut braided bread

broccoli al vapore con salsina al miso e noci / steamed broccoli with walnut miso dressing

| Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

broccoli and romanesco broccoli

fresh from the farmers' market

When vegetables are this fresh and pretty, it is almost a pity to cut them up and cook them, so I try to treat them gently. In this recipe, I steam them until tender to my liking and accompany them with a nut-based dressing. 

broccoli and romanesco broccoli

just steamed

I save the water at the bottom of the pot where I steam the broccoli and use it to blend miso and lightly toasted walnuts. 

walnut and miso dressing

red miso, walnuts and the dressing

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for steamed broccoli with walnut miso dressing

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb. / 680 g broccoli OR 1 lb. / 450 g broccoli and 1/2 lb. / 230 g romanesco broccoli (cavolo broccolo romanesco), freshly harvested and possibly organic
  • 1/4 cup / 60 ml broccoli cooking water
  • 1 oz. / 30 g walnuts
  • 1 tablespoon / 20 g mild red miso (see Note below)

Note: miso (fermented soybeans with rice or barley and salt) comes in several varieties, i.e., various degrees of flavor intensity and saltiness. The one I use has a nice balance of both characteristics and it is also in balance — in terms of quantity — with the vegetables, so the flavor of the dressing does not overwhelm that of the broccoli. You may need to adjust the amount of miso up or down based on the kind you use and your personal preference, but try to keep the balance so no note rings louder than the others. 

Prepare the broccoli
Wash and cut broccoli heads into florets. Halve large florets lengthwise to get bite-sized pieces. Peel the tough outer layer of the stalk(s), quarter if very thick, and cut crosswise into coins. Steam to desired softness. (I like both broccoli and cauliflower soft, but I know that not everybody shares my preference.)

Remove broccoli from the steam basket and let cool in a salad bowl. Set aside the cooking water.

Prepare the walnuts
If your walnuts are freshly cracked, toast them lightly in a dry pan, shaking the pan often.

Otherwise, in her “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison gives instructions on how to treat walnuts to improve their flavor when they aren't freshly cracked, and make them less irritating for people who are sensitive to their skins. Bring a pan of water to a boil, add walnuts and let them stand for one minute, then drain them and absorb the excess moisture with a towel. Finally, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat and place them in the oven preheated to 300 F until they have dried out, 15-20 minutes. Remove them from the oven as soon as they are dry. (I do this for 6-8 oz. / 170-225 g walnuts at a time since I use walnuts often in my recipes. Store walnuts in the refrigerator.)

Prepare the dressing
Close to serving time, place walnuts into a blender and chop finely. 

Add miso and water and blend.

Pour dressing onto the broccoli, using a slender spatula to get all the dressing out of the blender. 

Stir well and serve. (The amount of salt in the miso I use is sufficient; depending on the miso of your choice, you may need to adjust the salt.)

Serves 5-6.

steamed broccoli with miso walnut dressing

ready for dinner

I like to serve farm-fresh broccoli dressed this way as a side (contorno) to Alice Waters's slow-cooked king salmon. 

image from 2.bp.blogspot.comThis is my contribution to edition #437 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and Brii of briggishome. and hosted this week by Haalo.

The roundup of the event. 

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

broccoli al vapore con salsina al miso e noci

or launch the broccoli al vapore con salsa al miso e noci audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

[jump to Comments]

broccoli, miso, walnut, side dish

Newrule

broccoli al vapore con salsina al miso e noci

broccoli and romanesco broccoli

freschi dal farmers' market

Quando la verdura è così fresca e bella è quasi un peccato tagliarla e cuocerla, quindi uso maniere delicate: cottura al vapore e un velo di condimento.

broccoli and romanesco broccoli

cotti al vapore

Metto da parte l'acqua che rimane in forno alla pentola nella quale cuocio i broccoli e la uso per frullare miso e noci tostate. 

walnut and miso dressing

miso rosso, noci e salsina

Ingredienti:

  • 680 g broccoli oppure 450 g broccoli e 230 g cavolo broccolo romanesco, freschi e possibilmente bio
  • 60 ml acqua di cottura dei broccoli
  • 30 g noci (vedi sotto)
  • 20 g miso rosso delicato (vedi Nota)

Dosi per 5-6 porzioni

Note: esistono diverse varietà di miso (fagioli di soia fermentati), dal sapore più o meno intenso e più o meno salate. La varietà che uso io è equilibrata per quanto riguarda queste caratteristiche e ne uso una quantità tale da non sopraffare i broccoli. A seconda del tipo di miso che usate e dei vostri gusti potreste doverne aumentare o diminuire la quantità, ma cercate di mantenere un equilibrio tale che nessuna nota risulti più acuta delle altre. 

Preparare i broccoli
Lavare e tagliare i broccoli a cimette. Pelare il gambo, tagliarlo in quattro per lungo se molto grosso, poi tagliarlo a rondelle. Cuocere al vapore fino a che i broccoli non siano teneri a seconda del vostro gusto.

Togliere dal cestello e far raffreddare in un'insalatiera. Mettere da parte l'acqua di cottura.

Preparare le noci
Se le noci sono appena sgusciate, tostatele leggermente in una padellina a secco, scuotendo la padellina spesso.

Altrimenti, nel suo libro “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”, Deborah Madison spiega come trattare le noci per migliorare il loro sapore quando non sono appena sgusciate e renderle meno irritanti per le persone sensibili alla pellicina che le ricopre. Portare a bollore una pentolina d'acqua, versarci le noci e sbollentarle per un minuto, poi scolarle e assorbire l'eccesso di umidità con uno strofinaccio.

Distribuire le noci su una placca foderata con un tappetino di silicone da forno. Mettere nel forno scaldato a 150 C fino a quando le noci si sono asciugate bene, 15-20 minuti. Tirare fuori dal forno non appena sono asciutte. (Preparo in questo modo 170-225 g di noci per volta, dal momento che le uso spesso nelle mie ricette. Conservare le noci in frigorifero.)

Preparare la salsina
Verso l'ora del pasto, mettere le noci in un frullatore e tritare. 

Aggiungere miso e acqua e far andare il frullatore fino a che si formi una crema. 

Versare la salsina sui broccoli. Usare una spatolina per estrarre tutta la salsina dal frullatore. 

Mescolare bene e servire. (Il sale nel miso che uso è sufficiente. A seconda del miso che scegliete, potreste dover aggiustare il sale.)

steamed broccoli with miso walnut dressing

pronti per cena

Mi piace servire questi broccoli come contorno al salmone cotto lentamente al forno (ricetta di Alice Waters). 

image from 2.bp.blogspot.comQuesto post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 437 di Weekend Herb Blogging, evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, ora organizzato da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e Brii di briggishome e ospitato questa settimana da Haalo.

Il raccolto dell'evento. 

recipe: steamed broccoli with walnut miso dressing (broccoli al vapore con salsina al miso e noci)

| Simona

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recipe: Bulgarian Easter bread (pane di Pasqua bulgaro)

| Simona

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