Holy snowfall, Batman!

That’s right, we had our first snow here today (well, more like a rain/snow snot — yes, snot — but snow was involved). We also had the most insane wind gusts — so insane, that my poor umbrella became a casualty. I’d show you the remains, but I maintain respect for my beloved umbrella. Just imagine a tangled mess of wires and me, once dry, now soaking wet, my bangs in a bird’s nest-like shape. It was a lovely sight, I’m sure.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to coming home tonight and cozying up with my cat, my husband, a pair of warm socks and a tasty Indian dinner I had planned, complete with chapati.

What’s chapati, you ask? Well, that was the very question I asked the husband upon his return from India when he told me it was one of the recipes he’d learned how to make abroad. But seeing as I’m the most amazing wife ever and I just happened to have a copy of the new Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day book lying around, I decided to surprise him by making it myself.

I have to say, once I opened this book and took a peek at all the delicious recipes tucked within, I wondered if chapati — a non-yeasted, whole wheat dough — was really the way to go. I mean, I knew it would be delicious and healthy (and also happens to be the fastest recipe in the entire book, bonus!), but when mine eyes came across words like “curried sweet potato, lentil and arugula pizza,” “rainbow beet pizza,” “chicken potpie pizza,” “fougasse,” “stuffed naan” and “skillet peach pie,” I wondered if I was going in the right direction. Turns out, even the simplest of recipes in this book are out of this world.

Not that I’m surprised. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is one of my go-to books for bread recipes. Having a signature no-knead bread in your recipe arsenal is a necessity, in my opinion. You know what else is a necessity? Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day. True story.

Well, good news friends. I’m giving away a copy! That way, you can make all the yummy chapati — or fougasse, or skillet peach pie — your heart desires.

So here’s the giveaway rundown. To enter, leave a comment below answering the following question: What are you thankful for this year?

Extra entries:
1. Tweet about the giveaway and attach this link: http://tinyurl.com/6qx2fvg Tell me in a separate comment that you did so.
2. Share the link above about the giveaway on your Facebook wall and tell me in a separate comment that you did so (while you’re there, become a fan of Girl Versus Dough’s Facebook page!).

And that’s it! Contest ends on Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. CST. Winner will be announced Monday, November 14.

Happy giveaway!

Update: Valerie B. is our winner. Thanks for playing, everyone.

Chapati (Non-yeasted whole wheat dough)
Courtesy of Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day

Yields: Six 6-inch chapatis

Ingredients:
1 cup lukewarm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tbsp oil

Directions:
Mix together the flour, salt, oil and water in a large bowl. The dough can be used right away, but is handled best when refrigerated or sitting for at least half an hour. You can also refrigerate the dough in a lidded container and use over the next 5 days.
When ready to make chapati, preheat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat until water droplets sizzle and skitter off the surface. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces and roll each into a ball. On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out each piece into a thin circle about 1/16-inch thick. Cook each piece in cast-iron skillet on each side for about a minute, then lay directly over the flame of a burner on medium-high heat, using a pair of metal tongs to hold in place (I skipped this step because I have an electric stove, leaving me with softer, more supple, but equally delicious flatbreads). Turn the dough with the tongs until the dough is puffy; remove from heat. Repeat with remaining dough.

Full disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary review copy of Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day, but that’s it. Just wanting to share the love!

As you may or may not know, I’m a fan of beer. I’m a really big fan of wine, but I’ve already put that into a pizza crust. I’ve put beer into bread before, too, but I wanted to use it in a pizza crust, as well. Just you wait — next time, I’ll make a bread with wine in it.

(Maybe. I can’t make any promises. It makes me nervous.)

In any case, the reality of this story is that I’ve made quite a few versions of pizza crust before. It’s kind of on par with my obsession with biscuits. I really branch out, I know. But what makes this particular pizza crust stand out — what makes it really, extra special — is the flavor: That classic yeasty beer bread-like flavor, only in pizza dough form. In other words, it’s fantastic.

The recipe for this crust lends itself well to a darker beer, which is kind of confusing, as it’s the opposite case when it comes to beer breads. So bust out the oatmeal stout for this one and drink the Hefeweizen — though I didn’t read the directions thoroughly enough beforehand and used a wheat beer when making my dough. But all was not lost. Though the flavor wasn’t a one-two punch in the face, there was still a hint of that yeasty flavor in the crust.

My favorite part of this pizza crust? It tastes even better the next day. The flavors, given overnight to relax and have a cold one themselves, double in intensity over time. For fans of cold, leftover pizza like myself (and beer, see above), this is fantastic news.

Beer Pizza Crust
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Yields: 2 crusts

Ingredients:
4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour OR 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups semolina OR 2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (what I used)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups room-temperature beer (the stronger the flavor, the better)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment and mixed until just combined. Replace paddle attachment with dough hook and knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes (or knead by hand on a lightly floured countertop for about 10 minutes). Form dough into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Remove risen dough from bowl and punch down. Divide in half and shape each piece into a 10-12 inch round or 8-by-12 inch rectangle. Place rounds or rectangles onto pizza stones or parchment paper-lined baking sheets. For thin crust, bake pizza immediately. For medium to thick crust, let dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Bake crusts without anything on them for about 5 minutes. Add meat and veggie ingredients and bake another 10 minutes. Add half the cheese and any herbs and bake another 3 minutes, then add remaining cheese and bake until cheese is just melted, about 3 more minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

I’ve had a thing for crackers ever since I made those Blue Cheese & Walnut Crackers, along with my love letter to Ina Garten. There were those, and then, these flat breadsticks. Then this (these?) knäckebröd, which I made because I love those Wasa rye crisps from the grocery store, but mostly because I love the word “knäckebröd.”

(Which means “break bread,” for those sans Swedes in their families.)

It’s really a crime to even compare these to the rye crisps you get from the store. First of all, they’re not made with any rye flour. Secondly, they’re thinner than rye crisps and, thirdly, some of these are covered in seeds, which I’ve also heard is entirely non-traditional. But I hope you’ll forgive me, as they still serve the same purpose — to carry slices of meat and cheese into my mouth.

I was pleasantly surprised, upon eating one (then two, then three, then four… then I lost count) of these crackers, to find a hint of a buttery, “enriched” dough taste. Enriched doughs, like brioche and challah, always have that distinct rich flavor from the eggs and milk, and these wafers, though egg-less, still offer that delicious taste. Combined with the nutty, savory crunch of sunflower, sesame and flax seeds*, I don’t care what they should be called — they’re just worth making.

Swedish Knäckebröd
Courtesy of The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook (King Arthur Flour Cookbooks)

Yields: About two dozen crackers

Ingredients:
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Artisan bread topping (optional)

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine melted butter and milk. In a separate small bowl, whisk yeast into warm water and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add it to the milk mixture.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together salt, baking soda and flours. Add them to the milk mixture, stirring to combine. Knead the dough with the dough attachment or by hand for about 5 minutes, then let it rest, covered, for 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease the outside bottom of two half-sheet baking pans (preferably 13 x 18-inch). Divide dough into two pieces and roll out onto the outside bottoms of the pans, going all the way to the edges and trying to make the dough an even thickness all over the pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds or a mixture of seeds, if desired, onto the dough and go over once with a rolling pin to secure them. Prick the dough all over with a fork and, using a pizza cutter, cut it into 4 x 2-inch pieces. Don’t worry about spreading the pieces apart; they’ll shrink while baking. Repeat with remaining piece of dough.
Bake for 25 minutes or until flatbread is a deep, golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Break connected pieces apart, if necessary. The crackers should be crisp, not soggy or pliable. If they are, let them sit out overnight to crisp them up.

*Note: I made two versions of knäckebröd, one with seeds and one without, to appease those in favor of keeping with tradition. Though I have a bit of a preference towards the former, the latter were equally yummy (and possibly better for holding toppings, as the seeds overpowered other ingredients a bit in terms of flavor).

Let me tell you why.

Though I love my trusty pizza dough recipe, it just wasn’t cutting it in the flavor department. Sure, it’s moist and soft and holds pizza toppings with such talent, but on its own, it’s just… Meh. This baby, however, is a star. It’s kind of upstaging the other one a little. It’s like the Liberace of pianists, or the Lady Gaga of… well, no one compares to her, really. But you get the point.

yields: 1 thin crust loaf (serves about 2 people)

ingredients:
6 tbsp warm water (might need 1-2 more, depending on how dry the dough feels)
2 tbsp cheaper white wine (not too cheap, though, or it’s pointless)
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups flour

directions:
In a large bowl, combine white wine, water and yeast and whisk until yeast dissolves. Add honey, salt, olive oil and stir to combine. Add in flour and work with fingers or a spoon until the dough comes together. Pour dough onto a lightly floured countertop and knead about 2 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Add the extra tbsp or two of water if the dough seems really, really dry (but try to avoid it).
Pour kneaded dough into a lightly greased medium bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Pour risen dough on a pizza stone or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and spread out with fingers into desired shape. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it’s as thin as you like. Top the dough with 1/2 cup tomato sauce, some oregano, basil and mozzarella cheese (or whatever toppings you desire) and bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve immediately.

Normally, I’m not one to follow the trend of making New Year’s resolutions. This is mostly because I’m not so good at keeping them. There was that one year when I vowed never to procrastinate — then I procrastinated on my resolution to stop procrastinating.

Then there was the year I promised myself I’d keep a daily journal — my last entry was on January 21.

There also have been, of course, many years when I’ve written in permanent ink, on multiple sheets of paper, Word documents and all over my hands, that I WILL exercise more this year. And, more importantly, I WILL eat healthier. You can guess how well that resolution also has gone.


I’ve noticed a lot of other people have made the same resolution — it’s undoubtedly a common one after the (oh so delicious) gluttony of the holidays. In keeping with their “healthy eating” resolutions, I’ve noticed a few other bloggers are giving up, among sweets and processed foods, bread. Egads! As a bread baker and fellow blogger, you can imagine how this makes me feel.

For those of you out there who think you need to give up bread to be healthier this year, I’m here to tell you, you don’t. And though I am a teensy bit biased, I also am trying to eat healthier this year, and I won’t be giving up on bread. Instead, I’ll be focusing on healthier bread recipes, such as:

Though I’m all for cutting down on candy, chocolate (sigh) and processed foods, bread is the one food I cannot (and don’t need to) give up on in my resolution to be healthier in 2011. And with these healthy bread recipes under your belt, well, neither do you.

A lot of the traditions in our family (as you can probably gather) revolve around food. It’s not Christmas without Grandpa’s rouladen. It’s not a birthday without a cheesecake sampler (a story for another day). And it’s not breakfast without my dad’s crepes.

My dad has been The Breakfast Maker for as long as I can remember. Weekend mornings, for him, are perfect times to pull out the griddle and make about 4,598 pancakes (he’s on a pumpkin pancake kick lately, and I have no objections). Sometimes he makes omelets and bacon. And sometimes (my favorite times), he makes these crepes — aka, thin, pancake-like round things that taste like magic.

It’s taken me a while to get the recipe down so it’s close to his — he knows it like the back of his hand so, like most family recipes, it’s always “add a little bit of this” and “pour in a smidge of that.” None of this makes sense, of course, if you don’t know the “feel” of the perfect batter. Once you’ve got that down, then, bits and smidges make tons of sense.

Now that I’m on the side of understanding my Dad’s description of this recipe, there’s not much I can tell you about amounts of ingredients other than the “feel” of the batter, which should be more liquidy than pancake batter but not as liquidy as a bunch of beaten eggs. I know this isn’t much help to you, and it’s imperative that you make this recipe part of your own familial traditions, so I’ve done my best below to give exact amounts of ingredients. But, like I’ve said, it’s all about the “feel.” Go with that more than anything.

And Merry Christmas, everyone.

Debrief: My dad swears by using corn oil in the skillet when he makes his crepes, but I’ve been using vegetable oil this whole time and haven’t noticed a difference in taste or result. So it’s up to you, I guess.

Crepes
Courtesy of my father, The Breakfast Maker

Yields: No specific number, anywhere between 8 and 12 round crepes

Ingredients:
6 eggs
Same amount of milk as there is egg batter, or about 1 1/2 cups
1 tsp sugar
2 cups flour
oil (see note above)

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat eggs together. Add milk and mix. Add sugar and whisk in about a 1/2 cup flour at a time, making sure you get rid of all the lumps (be skimpy with how much flour you add in at a time, so you don’t make the batter too thick — if it DOES get too thick, add milk). Keep whisking together ingredients until the lumps are gone and the thickness of the batter is slightly thinner than pancake batter.

Heat a large or medium skillet to medium heat. Pour a very, very small amount of oil, enough to barely cover the bottom of the skillet (seriously, about 1/2 tsp at a time). Using a soup ladle, ladle in about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of batter into the skillet and, holding the skillet handle, roll the batter all the way to the edges until you have a nearly paper-thin circle of batter in the bottom of the skillet.

Cook until small bubbles begin to form on the top of the crepe or until the edges start to curl up, about 2 minutes. Flip over using a turner, and heat the other side for about 1 minute. The crepe should be cooked through and have light brown spots on it. Place on a plate and repeat above process until all batter is used up. Serve warm.

Extra punches: You can really put anything your heart desires into these crepes — jelly, jam, sour cream, cottage cheese, cheese and ham, ricotta and lemon curd (as I did above, in the pictures) — it’s up to you. You can either spread the fillings on the insides of the crepes and roll them up, too (see pics) or fold the crepe in quarters (also, pics) and spread the fillings on top.

I’m taking a (short!) break this week from baking — but don’t worry, I’ll be back in the kitchen as soon as you can say… see, I’m already back.

I’m currently obsessing over non-bread related baking items, like homemade apple chips. Yum. SO good with my new-found love, almond butter. Yes please.

But when I get the chance to make another bread, you’ll be the first to know about it (besides myself, of course. And my husband. But after that, you’re the first, promise!).

For now, here’s what I’ve been working on for the Tablespoon blog over the past few weeks. Take a look and let me know what you think about my original recipes! I have a new post there every Friday.

Granola bread.

Sundried tomato basil bread.

Brioche hamburger buns.

Cheesy onion pita bread.

Chipotle corn bread.

There you have it. A nice smattering of recipes to whet your whistle. Happy Friday, you. And have a very blessed weekend.

I know, I know, I swore I would never eat Indian food again after my month-long trip there over a year ago. But I must admit, this recipe really warmed me up again to the idea of Indian cuisine (I even had a rice and potato curry dish with it for dinner last night — egads, I am risky!).

Anywho, enough about me. It’s time for you to read my next post on Tablespoon! This time, Wheat Naan. Want some bread? I have naan left because I ate it all. Get it? Ha. ha.

Ha.

Oh dear. A happy Monday to you all.

I was going to bore you with another “Sifted Words” post on an article I recently read in The New York Times’ “The Minimalist” by Mark Bittman, but when I really dove into his article/recipe on Olive Oil Matzo and realized it takes only THIRTY minutes from start to finish, I decided to instead make the darn bread instead of wasting my time writing about it, which would probably take longer. And if I keep talking about why I made this bread in the first place, I may waste more of your time than you would actually making this bread. So here we go.



It’s quite ironic, actually, that I discovered and decided to bake this particular bread. Bittman mentions in his article that the origin of matzo (or, “unleavened”) bread is from way back in the day when the Jews were forced to flee from Egypt after Passover. In their haste they had no time to let their bread rise: thus, matzo bread. He digresses, however, that their bread was not so good. This recipe is worlds away from the original unleavened bread — salty and crispy, with the slightest olive oily taste. It’s also known as “carta musica,” or sheet music, for its incredible thinness.

A side note: It may be some time before I am able to post another yummy recipe for all of you to enjoy, and for this I am eternally sorry. You can blame Iowa for purchasing our souls and beckoning us to move to its greener pastures on such short notice. And, once you are done blaming Iowa, I’m sure enough time will have gone by that you can check back here again and voila! A new post will appear before you.

Debrief: This flatbread is deliciously crispy and multidimensional in taste all on its own, but a little hummus and capers don’t hurt, adding a little oomph to your unleavened snack.

Olive Oil Flatbread
Courtesy of The Minimalist (of The New York Times)

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Combine flour and salt in food processor. Combine olive oil and water in small bowl, whisking them together into a “vinaigrette”-like substance. While running the food processor, add olive oil and water mixture to the flour mixture slowly. Run the food processor until all ingredients combine into a firm dough ball. Remove dough from food processor and knead slightly into a ball. Cut ball in half, then in smaller pieces, until you have 12 small pieces of dough. Roll each piece into a ball.
Flatten each piece on a well-floured surface into a 3-4 inch patty. Roll out with rolling pin into a 6-8 inch circle. Make sure it is very, very thin (you should be able to see your fingers on the other side when looking through the dough with light behind it). Place thin circles on ungreased cookie sheets and sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Bake circles for 2 minutes on one side and one minute on the other (for me, this was give or take 3-4 minutes on each side; just keep a very close watch on the dough until it is thisclose to burning, then remove from the oven). Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Extra punches: As I’ve mentioned twice before, and will do so again — WATCH THE BREAD. Seriously. Sit on the floor (pillow is optional), look through the glass and watch the bread bubble and brown, because there are crucial seconds between that necessary browning and irreversible burning.

In our continuing quest for good, vegetarian-friendly grub, the husband and I decided to make ourselves a homemade margherita pizza, with our own flair (queso fresco instead of mozzarella, plus some spinach… I’d say it was a result of culinary innovation, but really it was because we had nothing else in the fridge). I’ve always hated the buttery taste of store-bought pizza doughs, so I searched for a healthy, easy pizza dough recipe, as I’ve been longing to make my own pie base for quite some time now. Leave it to my handy dandy Food Network Magazine to come through in the clutch with a pullout section for what? Pizza. Schwing.

The recipe was so short it fit within the confines of a 3/4-by-2-inch box in the center of a list of 50 pizza recipes, and despite the gashes in my current food supply I had all of the ingredients necessary for not one, nay, but TWO pounds of pizza dough. My stars!

The original recipe calls for all-purpose flour alone, but in an effort to make a healthier dough I incorporated 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour with 2 cups all-purpose (I could have tipped the scales more in favor of whole wheat, but at the risk of make a super-tough dough I declined this time). In a matter of minutes the dough was ready for kneading, and my wonderful husband decided to take a stab (or a fist) at kneading for the first time (I guess he had a lot of stress to release).

Seriously, if you’re salivating over these pictures (which you should be, because this pizza was ah-mazing), grab these ingredients out of your cabinets (or cupboards, if you are a gnome and live under a thatched roof) and get to business. It’ll be easier than poaching an egg! (I know, because I did just that this weekend.)

Debrief: This was certainly an inspirational recipe, to say the least, in the sense that it got me thinking about so many different kinds of pizzas I could make with this simple dough. Maybe a breakfast pizza or fruit pizza is in my near future.

Pizza Dough
Courtesy of Food Network Magazine

Whisk 3 3/4 cups flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Make a well and add 1 1/3 cups warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 packet yeast. When foamy, mix in 3 tablespoons olive oil; knead until smooth, 5 minutes. Brush with olive oil, cover in a bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Divide into two 1-pound balls. Use 1 pound per recipe (unless you want to make a thicker crust, deep-dish or a stuffed pizza… in which case follow the recipes on Food Network).

Extra punches: Really, you can make any pizza your little heart desires using this dough. It’s mild enough that it can be topped with anything from tomato sauce to barbecue sauce to hummus to yogurt. Go crazy! And send me the recipes.