No-knead Cranberry Walnut Carrot Bread

Have you watched the Food Network show Chopped? I’m sort of slightly addicted. When I’m at college, I only have cable at the gym so the amount of TV I watch is limited to how long I’m willing to run, aka not that long. Now that it’s summer break I’ve developed this horrible habit of getting home from work, microwaving whatever food I cooked the night before, plopping my ass on the couch, and letting Food Network run in the background while I browse the internet on my laptop. 90% of the time this means watching Chopped.

The premise of the show is that four competitor chefs compete for three rounds (one chef is eliminated per round), where they have limited time to create an appetizer, entrée, and then dessert using “basket ingredients”. Each round has a different basket, but this usually means 3-4 unrelated and unusual ingredients. Sometimes the chefs absolutely kill it and create beautiful dishes and meals, and other times the clock or ingredients get the better of them.

While I am far too unqualified to ever compete in a show like Chopped, I am a huge fan of its premise, and am constantly trying to incorporate unusual ingredients into the foods I make. Mostly for fun (see sweet potato brownies)…and sometimes due to impulsive purchases. This carrot bread is because of the latter.

One day I found myself driving home from Trader Joe’s with a bottle of carrot juice, and a craving for a carrot cake smoothie. I made the smoothie (it was pretty good), and put the remaining juice in the fridge, only to find it a week and a half later when I was scrum-aging for ketchup. I didn’t want to let it spoil, and I had recently begun a no knead bread kick, so I decided that although I had never heard of yeasted carrot bread, it would probably taste alright. Turns out someone had the idea before me, and yeah, it’s a delicious combination!

If you’re not already a confident bread maker, my recommendation would be to learn how to make no knead bread before proceeding with carrot bread. No knead bread only has 4 ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast), so it’s super cheap to make, but the dough can be a bit finicky so it’s best to develop some intuition before spending money on extra ingredients such as walnuts and carrot juice.

I kept the bread savory and didn’t add any sweetener besides the naturally sweet carrot juice, but I think an eight to quarter cup of brown sugar, either added at the beginning or folded in before baking would be delicious. Lastly, you can add the walnuts and cranberries with the initial ingredients, which is what I did, but they’ll absorb water and lost their chew and crunch. For this reason I recommend adding them later.

No Knead Carrot Walnut Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread flour [400g] (I used all purpose. ymwv)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed carrot juice
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup roasted walnuts
• (optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon)

Baking process:

Combine in a large bowl:

• 3 cups bread flour [400g] (I used all purpose. ymwv)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed carrot juice
• (optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon)

Stir together until a shaggy dough forms. The dough should be moist, but have some shape. Add a few tablespoons of water if the dough looks dry.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set on a warm counter to rise for 12-18 hours. It should double in size and be dotted with bubbles.

Deflate the dough by folding in:

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup roasted walnuts

Flour a flat surface. Scoop the dough onto the flat surface and folding the edges of the dough to the center to create a ball.

Wash out the bowl used originally, and grease with a thin layer of oil or cooking spray. Place the dough ball seam-side down into the bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for 1-2 additional hours.

Half an hour before baking, place a 4-5 quart dutch oven on the center rack of your oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

After 30 minutes, gently dump the dough into the dutch oven (seam-side should now be on the top), and cover the dutch oven with its lid. Bake for 25 minutes, remove the dutch-oven lid,and bake for 10-20 minutes more. The crust should be dark golden bread.

Cool on a wire rack and serve with cinnamon butter or cream cheese.

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Homemade Pizza for One

This is my kind of pizza.

It has a thin, unimposing crust that’s soft and chewy, but also sturdy enough to hold triple its weight in toppings.

Because I love toppings.

However, I usually shy away from making pizza because I don’t want to buy entire cans of olives or pineapple since it’s a hassle to use up so much of one ingredient.

(Yep, my favorite pizza combination is black olives and pineapple. I discovered this salty sweet combo in middle school and haven’t looked back.)

Recently, I’ve cracked this problem. Salad bars! Ok, I might look a little weird buying a container of artichoke hearts, mushrooms, black olives, salmon, corn, and pieces of pineapple picked out of pineapple salsa, but it’s so worth it because now I can get the perfect amount of pizza toppings/omelette fillings.

I feel so empowered.

And now with my topping dilemma solved, I anticipate a lot more pizza in my future.

Pizza for One

Makes one small pizza–double if you’re hungry!

Making pizza to share? Check out this recipe.

Crust:

Makes one 6 inch crust. Double or triple the recipe as desired.

• ¼ cup (30g) spelt or all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp instant yeast
• 1/8 tsp sugar
• tiny pinch salt
• warm water
• ½ tsp oil

1. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and ¼ tsp oil, in a small bowl.

2. Add warm water, 1 tsp at a time, until the dough is moist, but not wet.
Knead the dough until smooth. The surface should be supple but not sticky.

3. Coat the dough with the remaining ¼ tsp oil, and then place covered in a bowl to rise for an hour.

4. Use the dough immediately, or place in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Assembling the Pizza:

• 1 pizza dough [above]
• 2-4 tbs pizza sauce*
• 3 tbs shredded mozzarella cheese
• ½ tsp parmesan cheese
• toppings! (I added grilled pineapple, baked cauliflower, sauteed mushrooms, black olives, and artichoke hearts)

1. Roll out the dough into a circle and place on a greased pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

2. Add pizza sauce on top, sprinkle with the parmesan, and add as many toppings as desired.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes (I baked mine for 14 minutes but I had a lot of toppings and pizza sauce).

Update

I’ve been at college for over two months now.

My most accurate way to describe it would be busy, busy, busy, but incredibly cool.

I’ve made a few desserts since I’ve arrived, but it’s hard to carve out time to take pictures. (And on a side note – there’s always someone to eat your desserts. It’s great!)

I’ll definitely keep posting, but expect my posts to be less frequent than before (although, not that I was particularly reliable before college).

Until my next post, enjoy a slice of banana bread! The recipe can be found here.

Gluten Free Bialys

When I was younger and my dad still ate gluten, we use to walk to a local bagel store every morning before he dropped me off at preschool.

I would have a sesame or poppyseed bagel with cream cheese (and remember being disgusted by the horribly uneven bagel to cream cheese ratio) while he would order a bialy.

Well, he would order one but I would usually toss aside my bagel and eat it instead. As picky as I was, I knew a good breakfast when I tasted it.

That morning routine seem so far away now, especially considering my dad hasn’t eaten a bagel, let alone a slice of bread, in nearly a decade.

Since I’m interested in gluten free cooking, today I decided to make gluten free bagels. As I was making the dough I remembered the bialys from my childhood, and was inspired to recreate them.

I can’t take credit for the dough because I used Pamela’s bread mix, but the final texture was fantastic. Of course, like all gluten free breads, the bialys were distinguishable from normal gluten ones, but they still tasted great.

Seriously, look at the beautiful texture of the bialys:

However, in the interest of giving you full disclosure, there is one issue with the bialys I made.

In my defense, I tried to cut the onions, I really did. It’s just– I had my glasses on and the sink running and glass of hot water by the cutting board to boot, and I still was chopping wildly with one eye closed and the other one in severe pain. Eventually I just gave up.

For anyone still confused, here’s the problem with these bialys: the onion pieces should be finely diced while mine are the size of small spaceships.

Also, while I’m being honest, I didn’t cook the onions nearly long enough. Don’t be like me and cook them until they are golden brown.

Moral of the story: be stronger than me – chop the onions finely and cook longly.

Still, these bialys were delicious and even though I may have to accept my failure and scoop off the topping, I will be making them again. Just with precut onions (or someone else’s help).

Gluten Free Bialys

Dough:

• 3 ½ cups Pamela’s Bread Mix
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/3 cup warm water
• ¼ cup oil

Filling:

• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbs oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp poppy seeds

1. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix the Pamela’s Bread Mix, instant yeast, warm water, and oil. Whisk on medium speed for 3 minutes.
2. Scoop out ½ cup sized portions of the dough and flatten into disks on a greased baking sheet.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for an hour.
4. Bring water to a boil and boil each disk for 25 seconds. Return to a baking sheet. (Technically bialys are not boiled, however I like the texture it gives the final product and chose to include this step.)
5. Create divots in the dough by smoothing the insides of the disks with wet fingers.
6. To make the filling, heat up the 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan.
7. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown.
8. Stir in the salt and poppy seeds and remove from heat.
9. Divide the filling among the bialys and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.