No matter how many loaves or boules (as in this case) of bread I pull out of my oven, I am always in awe of what I have accomplished. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not being conceited. I’m just stating that I still can’t get over the fact that a simple combination of flour, yeast, water, and salt can somehow miraculously transform itself into bread. And the mere fact that I had anything to do with creating this amazing wonder, I find truly amazing. Because let’s face it, bread baking isn’t rocket science. There is some science involved however, but only in the form of following a given formula. And even then, the formula for achieving delicious yeast bread is pretty darn loosie goosy. Not at all like baking a cake, for example, where in order to produce a really great product, you need to measure your ingredients very carefully.

But with yeast breads, the equation is more liberal. As long as you use enough leavening (yeast or sourdough starter) to feed on the sugars in flour that result in the expulsion of carbon dioxide which makes bread rise, you can go wild and crazy with the other ingredients.

So, when I decided to try my hand at Pain de Campagne yesterday, I donned my mad scientist hat and came up with this recipe.

Now, putting all modesty aside, this boule turned out to be one of the best breads I have ever produced. And it was stinkin’ easy to build. The crust turned out perfectly crunchy, the crumb soft but chewy, with a pleasant flavor from the small inclusion of both rye and whole wheat flour in with the bread flour. In other words, a basically simple loaf of everyday bread, but with a bit of character thrown in for good measure.

Now, something you should know. Most Pain de Campagne recipes do not include active dry yeast. Leavening is provided solely from the sourdough starter. But I have grown a bit weary of making bread that takes 2-3 days. I still do it, but the older I get, the less time I feel like pampering ingredients. Plus, I usually only think about making bread when we are down to our last couple slices from the previous loaf. (Pre-planning our meals, has never been my greatest accomplishment.)  So, is this a “true” Pain de Campagne? Perhaps not. Is it close enough for Mr. C and me? Darn tootin! So, whatever it may be, I hope you enjoy this bread as much as we do. And call it what you may. Who cares? What’s in a name anyway? Whatever it is, it’s damn fine bread!

As always, keep thinking peace, keep reflecting goodness, and keep cooking and baking up a storm. And always remember to look outside. Mother nature has not been impacted by covis-19. And she is sharing all that is glorious with us every single day. Peace and love to all.  

1½ c. warm water

¾ c. sourdough starter discard, room temperature

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ c. rye flour

¼ c. whole wheat flour  

1 T. vital wheat gluten flour

3 c. bread flour, plus more as needed

extra virgin olive oil 

Place the warm water, sourdough starter, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the salt, rye flour, wheat flour, vital wheat gluten flour, and 1 cup of the bread flour. Mix together with your bread hook. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add enough remaining bread flour to make a soft, elastic dough. Dough should ball up around the bread hook, leaving just a bit stuck to the bottom of the bowl. The dough should be a bit sticky, but not tacky. Pour a bit of oil in the bowl and using your hands and a stiff rubber spatula, form the dough into a ball, completely greased with the oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in volume, about 90 minutes. Punch down once during this rising.

Cover a cookie sheet with a rectangle of parchment paper. (Enough parchment paper to allow for lifting the dough into a Dutch oven or clay baker.) Gently shape the dough into a ball, using flour as needed, but avoid kneading. Place the dough ball on the parchment paper. Dust with a bit of flour and cover with the same piece of plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot for an hour.

In the last half hour of rising, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Place your clay baker or Dutch oven on the middle rack of the oven at the same time. You want your clay baker or Dutch oven to get hot right along with the oven.

Once the oven comes to temperature, slash an “X” on the top of the dough. (Don’t use too much force or you will deflate the bread.) Just let the weight of the knife do the work.

Remove the Dutch oven from the oven being very careful not to burn yourself. Carefully, using the sides of the parchment paper, lower the dough into the hot Dutch oven. Cover the Dutch oven.  and return to the oven.

Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and allow to finish baking. Total baking time is about 40- 45 minutes. The top should be dark brown. The internal temperature should reach at least 205 degrees. Remove from oven and carefully lift the parchment paper and bread out of the clay baker or Dutch oven onto a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before slicing.

Please note: A trick I use to make lifting my clay baker in and out of the oven, is to place it on a low sided baking sheet before it ever goes into the oven. It’s much easier to lift a baking sheet in and out of the oven than a clay baker. Much less likely to burn yourself. Dutch ovens – no problem. They have nice handles made for the purpose.

Also, if you don’t own a clay baker or a Dutch oven, simply lift the risen bread, parchment paper and all, onto a baking sheet. Then bake away as instructed above. (May take longer to bake then the time given above, so to be certain, take the breads temperature to make sure it is done to perfection.)

I love cornbread. And I have several really good cornbread recipes already on this site. But for whatever reason, this cobbled together recipe I think is going to be my favorite. First of all, I love using buttermilk. (I almost always have some on hand.) Now granted, I don’t drink the stuff, but I love adding it to pancake batter, for example, because I love the tiny bit of tang it provides. Another reason for this recipe – I didn’t have a super plain, slightly sweet, buttermilk cornbread recipe at the ready. Now I do. And as far as I’m concerned, it is the perfect cornbread recipe. Easy to build. Just enough sweetness for my taste. And super moist. All the qualities I believe a fabulous cornbread should possess. And it contains only the most essential of ingredients, all of which I normally have on hand.  

Now don’t get me wrong. My other cornbread recipes are great too. And I will still enjoy eating them when I serve certain dishes. But for an all-around, multi-purpose, you can serve this with just about any dish cornbread, this is now my go to recipe. It is perfect for breakfast slathered in butter and drizzled with warm maple syrup. Great with a big old bowl of soup or chili for lunch or dinner. And if you are into cornbread dressing, this recipe would work really well. (See recipe below) However, I would suggest reducing the sugar to 1 or 2 tablespoons. Your choice of granulated or brown sugar.

So that’s it for today. It’s rainy and very windy here in our part of the world. I can still see Port Susan, but the mainland and the mountains are hidden from view. I know they will come back to me, but for now all I have is their image in my memory banks. It’s kind of like how we are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. We are going to treasure our memories of past gatherings. And lift a glass or two to our family and dearest friends. But we are going to stay safely tucked away in our own home. And by doing so, help our dearest friends stay safe too. All the while looking forward to when we can all once again celebrate and give thanks together.

Happy Thanksgiving Day my friends. And please stay safe. And as always, peace and love to all.

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted (I use a large glass mixing bowl and melt the butter in my microwave)

¼ c. granulated sugar

¼ c. brown sugar, packed

1 c. buttermilk

2 eggs

1 c. cornmeal

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (fluffed)

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

fleur de sel or other flaky salt

Butter an 8-inch square pan or an 11×7-inch rectangular pan. (I use glass Pyrex dishes.) Set aside.

Mix the melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together. Stir in the buttermilk and then the eggs. Stir until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and kosher salt together. Add to the butter mixture and stir just until combined. Avoid over-mixing the batter. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth. Pour into the prepared pan. Lightly sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 22-26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don’t overbake.

CORNBREAD DRESSING

½ lb. Italian sausage (pork or chicken)

4 T. (½ stick) unsalted butter

¾ c. diced celery

¾ c. chopped onion

6 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

½ tsp. dried sage

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. poultry seasoning (or more to taste)

¼ tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. dried parsley

3 c. cubed rustic bread, toasted (I like part sour dough)

2 c. cubed and dried cornbread (just cube the cornbread and let it sit for a few hours on your counter) 

1 egg, beaten

2 c. chicken broth

Fry sausage (crumbling it as it browns) in a large frying pan or Dutch oven. When browned add the butter, celery, onion, and mushrooms; cook until the onion is transparent.  Stir in the sage, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, granulated garlic, and dried parsley. Remove from heat and gently stir in the bread cubes and cubed cornbread. (Don’t worry if the cornbread breaks down.) Whisk the egg and chicken broth together. Pour over the bread mixture; gently stir until combined.

Spoon the dressing into a buttered casserole pan, cover with lid or aluminum foil, and either refrigerate until ready to bake or place in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Remove lid and bake an additional 5 minutes or until starting to brown on top. Serve hot.

I love receiving our every other Saturday farm box. And in our last box we received 2 beautiful organic zucchini. Although zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables (actually it’s a fruit, but who gives a hoot about nomenclature for all practical purposes), I forgot about these 2 beauties in my quest to use up some of the more exotic veggies before our next delivery arrived. So when I decided to take another look in my veggie drawer, I was met with 2 veggies I know had seen better days. I felt so bad. So I decided to honor these 2 zucchini by preparing something with them that would pay homage to their versatility. And the first thing that came to mind was zucchini bread.

Although I already have daughter Ursala’s great zucchini bread recipe (Zucchini Seed and Nut Bread) on this site, I was up for an adventure. So I went on line and found Jenn Segal’s (Once upon a Chef) Zucchini Bread recipe. Now I very much respect this wonderful chef. But I can almost never leave a recipe alone. So I made a few changes and came up with this version. And it turned out very nicely. In fact – we loved the bread.

So if you too would like a moist and tender, very tasty quick bread to serve to your family, I offer up this recipe. It really is a fabulous way to use zucchini, even zucchini that has seen better days. And one of the marvelous things about this recipe, besides not having to use a mixer – you don’t have to wring the liquid out of the grated zucchini. Just pile it into a measuring cup and call it good!

So as always, I hope you enjoy this recipe. I also hope you are planning to make this Thanksgiving as special as every other previous Thanksgiving. Even if, or should I say, especially if only immediate family members are going to be at table. All the more reason to make this Thanksgiving meal memorable. After all, who is more important than your own family members?

If you need inspiration, don’t hesitate to search my blog under Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes for suggestions and recipes for everything from appetizers to desserts. For help deciding on a menu, search under Thanksgiving Menu. Peace and love to all.

1 T. brandy, apple juice, or water

½ c. golden raisins

2½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed

½ c. whole-wheat pastry flour or regular (fluffed) whole wheat flour in a pinch

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

3 lg. eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. granulated sugar

¾ c. brown sugar, packed

2 c. grated zucchini (do not wring out the liquid)

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and mostly cooled (slightly warm is fine)

1 c. chopped walnuts

Generously grease two 8×4-inch loaf pans (glass preferred) with nonstick cooking spray. Place a piece of parchment paper along the bottom of each pan and give the parchment paper a light spray too. Set pans aside.

Gently warm the brandy and golden raisins in a small pan. Remove from heat, stir, and set aside to cool. (Plumped raisins are best in any kind of recipe. Especially when they are plumped with booze!)

Whisk the flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt together in a small mixing bowl. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together. Add the grated zucchini and melted butter. Using a rubber spatula, stir to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the nuts and golden raisins. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the middle of each bread comes out clean.

Remove from oven and set the pans on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto the rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Great gently warmed and lightly spread with room temperature butter.

And yes, I am still playing with sourdough starter even though active and rapid-rise yeast are both dependably back on grocery store shelves. There is just something about the tang of sourdough bread that leaves me almost giddy. I love it, that’s all there is to it! And you know, once you’ve fallen in love, it’s difficult to direct your heart (or as in this case – your taste buds) in another direction. So despite having several wonderful sourdough bread recipes in my hip pocket, I continue to mess around with other people’s perfectly wonderful recipes to come up with exactly the flavor and texture combination my spoiled taste buds are after. And then I can’t just keep my new recipe to myself. Oh hell no! I have to keep posting new bread recipes so you will know that I am spending my time wisely even though I really should just call it good and be happy with the great recipes I already have on hand. But that’s just not how this old gal functions. It’s ever onward striving for a bread that’s just a little bit better than the one I just baked. But I guess if I have to be obsessed with something, baking sourdough bread has to be a whole hell of a lot better than having a gambling addiction or wanting to write the definitive biography on Donald Trump! (Any obsession has got to make more sense than that!) So please bear with me.

So I made the predecessor of this bread last week. It was good, but it was too dense. (I had a lot in common with that loaf.) So I went back to the drawing board, and came up with this version. First of all, I love oat bread. Then if you add some seeds, I’m an even happier camper. So I am very happy with this version. You can toast this bread, spread it with peanut butter and jelly or slather it with room temperature unsalted butter, and it can hold its own even when plated with crispy bacon and over easy eggs. So, I have now completed my quest for my ideal sourdough oatmeal seed bread. Check that one off my list. (And yes, I do have a list. But then, I have a list for all kinds of things I know other people might find strange. For example. I am an avid reader. I now have to keep a list of the books I have read. (Should have starter this list about 50 years ago.)  And I have a menu for every dinner party, JazzVox concert, and special event we have hosted for the last 12 years. Should have started that list earlier too.)

Anyway, if you like sourdough bread with oats and seeds, give this recipe a try. It’s easy to prepare, and although there is a bit of waiting for the dough to rise, I’m sure you can find something to fill the time. You could make a list!

As always, be kind, be considerate, and be aware of what others around you are finding stressful. This is not an easy time for anyone. And if you can make it better for someone, make it happen. We are all on the same team. Team humanity.

Peace and love to all.

1 c. sourdough starter discard

2 tsp. quick-rise dry yeast (sometimes labeled as instant or rapid-rise also)

1 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl

2 T. honey

½ c. + 2 T. lukewarm whole milk

¾ tsp. kosher salt

1 c. rolled oats 

1½ – 2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ c. sunflower seeds

3 T. sesame seeds, plus more for top

Combine the sourdough starter, yeast, olive oil, honey, and milk in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt, oats, 1½ cups flour, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds. Using your bread hook, mix until a loose dough forms. Cover and let sit 30 minutes.

Still using your bread hook, knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until the dough is soft, smooth, and elastic. (The dough will still be quite wet when you start the kneading process, so you might need more flour. Just add as little as possible to keep the dough soft. When perfect, the dough will ball around the dough hook, but there will still be a bit of the dough stuck to the bottom of the mixing bowl. Resist the urge to add more flour.)

Pour a bit of olive oil over the dough, and using your hands and a stiff rubber spatula, roll the dough (even the recalcitrant dough from the bottom of the bowl) into a ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 90 minutes. (It won’t quite double in bulk, but it should look larger and puffy.)

Roughly shape the dough into a loaf (or loaves), then place in a greased 9 × 5-inch or 2 – 7.5 x 3.5-inch loaf pan or pans. Pat the dough into the corners of the pan(s) and flatten the top(s) as much as possible.

Loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray (greased side down). Let rise for 90 minutes or until the dough has just reached the top of the pan(s). At this point, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.   (This should give your oven plenty of time to pre-heat as your bread finishes rising.)

Sprinkle the loaf or loaves with a few sesame seeds and bake for 45-50 minutes (9 x 5-inch loaf) or about 30 minutes for the 7.5 x 3.5-inch loaves or until the bread is nicely browned and registers at least 200 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Remove from oven and tip the loaf or loaves out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container. 

So, you might be thinking – what the heck is huntsman cheese? Well, first of all, it is a favorite of Mr. C. (Mine too, if you want full disclosure.) Huntsman cheese is a happy marriage of two wonderful cheeses – double Gloucester and blue stilton. Two layers of strong, richly veined blue stilton sandwiched between three layers of full fat, rich and creamy double Gloucester. And I must say, just like my own marriage, this combination of cheeses is a marriage made in heaven!

So originally I conceived this recipe to use some blue cheese that was left over from preparing blue cheese salad dressing. But when I realized I really didn’t have enough to prepare this recipe, I went hunting for other types of cheese that might be complimentary. What I found was Mr. Cs stash of huntsman cheese. Ta-da. Problem solved.

So instead of using the last little bit of blue cheese, I happily chunked up a half cup of the huntsman cheese. (And yes, I asked permission first.) (And no the blue cheese did not go to waste. I sprinkled it on our salads the next evening.)

Anyway, the huntsman cheese made for some very tasty biscuits. And oh so easy to build. No rolling out dough, just an easy use of my #40 ice cream scoop* and Bob’ your uncle. Bake for a few minutes and all is well with the world. Crunchy and full of flavor. Just perfect, delicious, homemade biscuits.

Now another wonderful part of this recipe, is that you can use other types of crumbly or grated cheese. Gorgonzola, blue, Gruyère, Parmesan, Pecorino-Romano, to mention a few. Just don’t go all crazy and add more than a half cup. And don’t pack the cheese into the measuring cup. Just let it fall where it lies and call it good. (I say this, because I have a tendency to consider cheese the same way I do a beautiful warm summer day in the NW. The more the better! And I know I am not alone in this regard. Right Jim?!?! But fight the tendency. This is not like making mac and cheese or cheddar cheese soup. Consider following this recipe as carefully as you would a high school science experiment with your teacher watching every move you make! (I say this only to preserve the integrity of this recipe and to keep your oven pristine.) All kidding aside, I hope you make a batch of these biscuits, because they are really, really delicious.

As always, keep baking, keep laughing, and keep counting your blessings. Peace and love to all.

1 c. + 2 T. unbleached all-purpose flour (fluffed) 

1 T. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

tiny pinch freshly ground black pepper

4 T. (½ stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

½ c. crumbled huntsman cheese (not packed)

4 tsp. thinly sliced fresh chives

½ c. buttermilk (Bavarian style if possible)

Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter resembles small flakes. Don’t over mix. 

Add the cheese and chives, slowly mix until just combined. Pour in the buttermilk and again, mix just until combined.

Using an ice cream scoop* (about 2 tablespoons worth of dough), drop balls of dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten gently with your fingers. (And of course, if you don’t have the right sized ice cream scoop, just a couple tablespoons of free form dough plunked onto the baking sheet will do nicely.)

Bake in a pre-heated 450 degree oven for 14-16 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes before serving. If you can’t eat the biscuits while they are still warm, gently warm them in your microwave before serving. Butter is not necessary with these babies. Recipe is easily doubled.

*I round/heap the dough (make a ball) in a number 40 ice cream scoop to form these biscuits. This produces fairly small drop biscuits. But that’s just fine with me because what I like best about drop biscuits is all the crispy edges.

Learn more about ice cream scoops below.  

ICE CREAM SCOOPS

I use ice cream scoops for all kinds of cooking projects. But mainly I use them to make certain all the cookies from a batch are of similar size. Let’s face it, it’s much easier and more efficient to form cookies using a scoop. Takes about a third the time of dropping the dough by spoonfulls. Anyway, I have 4 scoop sizes that I mainly use. (OK, I only own these 4 sizes of scoops. But none-the-less, they work for me.)

#100 – 2 teaspoons (which means that if you are dishing up ice cream, you would get 100 scoops from 1 quart of ice cream) I use this any time I want tiny little cookies.

#60 – 1 tablespoon. I use this scoop for small cookies and meatballs

#40 – 1½ tablespoons. I use this scoop for larger cookies and for this recipe. (When I make cookies I flatten the dough to the same level as the rim of the ice cream scoop. For this recipe, I basically make a ball.

#10 – 3/8 cup. I use this scoop for muffins, cupcakes, and ice cream  

So, how come no one ever told me about cinnamon sugar bread? I’m a nice person and share all my favorite recipes with you all. The least you could have done was tell me about this treasure. But no, I had to discover this bread on my own. But I’ve got broad shoulders, so once again, I’m going to reveal my benevolent side, and tell you all about my recent discovery. OMG – this is the best and probably the easiest quick bread I have tasted in a long time. And the truly unique thing about this bread, is that it doesn’t contain any fancy ingredients or even a new flavor sensation. It’s just a simple vanilla flavored quick bread batter with swirls of cinnamon-sugar streusel. That’s it. Like I said – nothing fancy or new.

I found this wonderful recipe on the beyondfrosting.com site. I halved the recipe again and then doubled the streusel part, because I could. (The real reason is that I wanted a 2^nd bread to share with our neighbors Mark and Vicki. They just moved into their new home and they are still feeling a bit discombobulated (I always wanted to use that word) from the move. And what could be more calming than a nice quick bread made with lots of sugar? Am I right?)

Anyway, I made the bread and we all agreed that this was a recipe to keep. So thank you Julianne. This is truly a wonderful recipe.

Now before I go any further, I want to reiterate: this is a simple bread to build, and the flavors are not going to be new to your taste buds. When I take a bite I am reminded of eating cinnamon toast as a kid, or biting into one of my grandmother’s soft cinnamon-sugar cake donuts. This is comfort bread, not a dazzling new flavor sensation for your taste buds. It’s a bread this grandmother plans to build for her grandchildren when it’s once again safe to be in their presence. (Or they in our presence.) (I really pray this pandemic ends soon!)

So as always, keep staying safe. The numbers of new covid-19 cases is increasing as many of us are unconsciously semi letting our guard down. (Guilty as charged.) So be vigilant. Take more precautions than even the medical community advises. Even after all these months, no one truly understands all of the ramifications of contracting this disease.

And please vote in the upcoming presidential election. Vote as if your life and your children’s lives depended on it. Vote with your brain and heart. Ask yourself these questions: Which candidate cares about the environment? Which candidate cares about people? Not just rich powerful people. But everyone – people of color, different religions, differing beliefs, sexual persuasion, etc. Which candidate can speak intelligently about world conditions? Which candidate would represent the United States with poise and dignity and class?

You know, class is something not often mentioned in reference to adults who are not wealthy or influential. But I feel it is an attribute to which all adults should aspire. It should be as intrinsic to our natures as saying “hello”, or “thank you”, or “have a good day”. And I feel it is especially imperative for our political leaders to be the very embodiment of this quality. They should be our examples of how class manifests itself when difficult situations arise. They should reflect kindness and concern. When verbally attacked, they should be able to take the high ground. And of utmost importance, they should be genuine people who care about all of the citizens they took office to protect and defend.

And one final question for you to consider: Which candidate would you unhesitatingly welcome into your home?

And for those of you who are confused whether my blog is a cooking blog or a political site, you aren’t alone. I don’t have that answer either. I just know that this coming election will influence what direction our country takes for generations to come. And I wish all of my progeny to have a chance at as nice a life as I’ve experienced. As is my wish for you and yours. Peace and love to all.  

1½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 c. + 2 T. granulated sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. kosher salt

3 lg. eggs

¾ c. vegetable oil

¾ c. sour cream

3 T. whole milk

4½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the Streusel:

½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

6 T. light brown sugar, packed

3 T. granulated sugar

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

6 T. (¾ stick) unsalted cold butter, cut into small pieces

Lightly spray 2 – 9 x 5-inch loaf pans or 2 – 7.5 x 3.5 x 2.75 inch loaf pans* with cooking spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper**. Then give the parchment paper a quick spray. Set aside.         

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, veggie oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract together. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Set aside.

For the streusel: Whisk the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Add the cold butter, and mush the butter into the flour mixture with a fork. Or use your fingers to press the butter together with the dry ingredients until well combined. The mixture should be crumbly but stick together when pressed between your fingers.

Layer a fourth of the batter in each pan. Then add a fourth of the streusel to each pan. Add the remaining batter on top and finally, the remaining streusel. Gently swirl the streusel into the batter. 

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until the edges of the bread begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves should come out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. If you use an instant read thermometer, the internal temperature should be at least 190 degrees. 

Remove the pans from oven and quickly, but carefully remove the loaves from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. You can peel the parchment paper off the bottom either when the bread is hot or after the bread has cooled completely.

BTW – if you would like to make this as a coffee cake, use a 9-inch square pan.

*I use Stellar James Martin 1lb. (7.5 x 3.5 x 2.75 inch) Non-Stick Loaf Tin Pans. They are not inexpensive, but they are wonderful pans.

** I don’t use parchment paper along the sides of the pans because parchment paper is recalcitrant. It simply will not form or attach itself to the sides of baking pans. So I always make a bloody mess. The batter ends up going between the sides of the pan and the paper, under the paper, and everywhere else it shouldn’t be! Plus I like the kind of sugary crust that forms along the sides of the bread when it’s just batter against the lightly greased sides of a pan. The bottom is a different story. Sugary batter just adores sticking to the bottom of any kind of pan. So parchment paper on the bottom only makes good sense. But if you are proficient with parchment paper, by all means use it to line your loaf pans. Just don’t tell me. I feel inept enough as it is. Sigh….       

Yah, yah, yah! I know. Another darn bread recipe. But first and foremost, this is my blog. So I get to choose which preparations I plan to develop and then if they work out, which recipes I want to share with all of you. So for those of you who are bread lovers and bakers, please keep reading. Those of you who follow my blog just to keep track of any new trouble I’ve gotten myself into, you may be excused. (I’ve been terribly boring lately, so you will have missed nothing exciting if you read no further.)

But for those of you for whom bread truly is the staff of life, start getting excited. This sourdough ciabatta bread really is easy to prepare, and absolutely delicious. And you get to use more of your sourdough discard. Yea team!

So a couple days ago, I wanted to bake a nice versatile bread to serve with dinner that really didn’t need to be buttered, but most definitely could be dunked into a hearty bowl of soup. And be substantial enough in both flavor and texture to hold its own against all the other flavorful ingredients in the soup. And a bread that was flavorful enough to be enjoyed all by itself. (Not asking too much, right?!) Plus, the shape of the bread was also a consideration. I wanted to be able to dunk the bread, and then be able to get the entire dunked end in my mouth without having to go through multiple napkins to stay presentable throughout the meal. (I tend to be kind of messy, so I have to plan ahead.) So I thought about the lovely flat shape, and nice thin pieces you can cut from a loaf of ciabatta bread.

So when I decided ciabatta was the right bread for the occasion, I knew just what additives I wanted to use. And yes, I have other bread recipes (Rustic Sourdough Bread with Garlic, Rosemary, Black Pepper, and Kalamata Olives and Rosemary Olive Bread) on this site that include rosemary and Kalamata olives. And they too are wonderful. But remember the dunked bread to mouth requirement I mentioned above, well the other two recipes just didn’t quite fill the bill in that regard. Plus I absolutely adore the texture of ciabatta bread.

So having bored you almost senseless with the reasons I chose to prepare this ciabatta bread, let me switch to some scintillating repartee to describe how delicious it is. It is YUM! Enough said.

As always, start thinking about cold weather food (soup, stew, chowder, chili, pot roast, etc.), keep remembering how wonderful home baked bread smells as it’s baking, and how comforting it is to your family members to know that someone who loves them is in the kitchen building food for their sustenance and enjoyment. And as the cook, how good it feels to provide that comfort. Peace and love to all.

¾ c. sourdough starter discard

1½ tsp. active dry yeast

¾ c. lukewarm water

1 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl and the unbaked dough   

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. granulated garlic

1 T. finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 c. Kalamata olives cut in thirds

2½ – 3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

flaky or coarse salt

Mix the sourdough starter, yeast, and water in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. (However long it takes you to chop the fresh rosemary and cut the Kalamata olives in thirds.)

Add the olive oil, salt, granulated garlic, 2 cups of the flour, chopped rosemary, and sliced olives. Using your dough hook, knead the dough, adding enough more of the flour to make a slightly tacky, smooth, and elastic dough. 

Pour a bit of olive oil along the edge of the mixing bowl. And using a stiff rubber spatula and your hands, form the dough into a ball lightly covered with oil. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Lightly punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured parchment paper lined baking sheet. The baking sheet needs to be large enough to accommodate an approximately 8 x 14-inch rectangle. I use my 13 x 18-inch half sheet cookie pan (also referred to as a jelly roll pan) for this purpose. Pat the dough into a rounded rectangle about 8 x 14-inches. Use additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to both your hands and the parchment paper.     

Cover the formed dough with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap and let rise for 60-70  minutes or until slightly puffy.

Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Just before placing in the oven, brush the ciabatta dough liberally with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Bake the bread for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Then lower the oven temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the bread is a very light brown and the internal temperature has reached at least 200 degrees. 

Turn off the oven, open the door, and allow bread to stay in the cooling oven for about 30 minutes. Then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container or bag in your refrigerator. This recipe can easily be doubled. Lovely lightly toasted just before serving.