Blood Orange Marmalade from the Heart

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Today is the day we share gifts from the heart with friends and loved ones around the world.  So my dear friends and visitors, this Blood Orange Marmalade is my gift to you. 

 

I haven’t made marmalade in a while and I just got a new cooktop so I had to test it out. The cooktop works great and so did the marmalade! 

I hope you enjoy it.

 

Blood Orange Marmalade Recipe

Makes: approximately 4 half-pints

From: The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves by Linda Ziedrich.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 pounds blood oranges
• 7 cups water
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups sugar

 

Directions:

If the oranges are not home-picked or labeled organic, put them in a colander in the sink and pour boiling water over them to remove any wax.  Scrub them well.

 

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest of the oranges in large strips, leaving behind as much of the white pith as possible. I had to scrape off the extra pith with a small utility knife.

 

Slice the strips crosswise into very thin shreds.  Put the shredded zest into a saucepan with 2 1/2 cups of water.

 

Cut the oranges into chunks without removing the pith.  Put the orange chunks into a nonreactive pan with 4 1/2 cups of water.

 

Bring the contents of both pans to a boil.  Ok. This photo isn’t really part of the process, I just had to get a shot of my new cooktop. 

 

Reduce the heat and crush the orange chunks with a potato masher. 

 

Gently boil the contents of both pans, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

 

Drain the liquid from the saucepan of orange zest into the pot of oranges, reserving the zest.  Pour the oranges (and water) into a damp jelly bag set over a bowl or pan.  I used my Chinois lined with cheesecloth.

 

Let the juice drip fro several hours and then measure it. I ran some errands while the juice was dripping into the pan.

 

You should have 2 1/2 to 3 cups of juice. I ended up with 2 3/4 cups of juice.

 

Discard the contents of the jelly bag.

 

Combine the juice in a preserving pan with the zest, the lemon juice, and 1 cup of sugar for each cup of juice. I had 2 3/4 cups of juice so I used 2 3/4 cups of sugar.  Over medium heat, stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves.

 

Raise the heat to medium-high and boil the mixture until it reaches 220 degrees F. on a jelly thermometer or mounds in a chilled dish.

 

I used a thermometer and it worked really well for this recipe.  Sure enough, the marmalade was done when the thermometer reached 220 degrees F.

 

Remove the pan from the heat and let the marmalade cool for 5 minutes.  It will thicken a bit during this time.  Stir the marmalade and then ladle it into half-pint mason jars or 8 oz jelly jars.  Add lids and rings, and process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling- water bath.  Refer to the instructions at the National Center for Home Preservation.

 

I ended up with 2 1/2 jars so I only processed 2 jars and placed the other jar in the refrigerator to enjoy.

 

Happy Canning and Baking!
Cathy

 

Here are some of the references I use in my canning adventures.

• Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
• The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving
• Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs
• National Center for Home Preservation

Restarting a Dried Sourdough Culture

Last month, I went through the process of drying and restarting my apple starter so that I could share some of it with a hiking buddy. You can find the process for drying a sourdough starter here. In this post, I’ll continue the experiment and show you how to activate the dried starter.

After drying and restarting my starter several times, I ended up with a couple of jars of dried start. I stored one in the freezer and kept the other one in the refrigerator since I knew I would be using it right away.

 

How to Activate a Dried Sourdough Starter

What you’ll need:

• 2 teaspoons of dried starter
• Water (I used Spring water), but you can use tap water if you let it sit out to remove the chlorine.  My tap water also has fluoride in it so I don’t use it for baking.
• Unbleached all-purpose or bread flour (I tested both, it worked with either flour, but some people prefer to use bread flour)
• Quart-size mason jar or glass mixing bowl

 

Process:

Mix a couple of teaspoons of the dried starter in a quart mason jar (or mixing bowl) with 1/2 cup of water at 95 to 100 degrees F. Mix briefly and let stand for 15 min.

 

Add 1/3 cup of unbleached bread flour (or all-purpose), mix well and proof for 24 hours at 85 deg. F. If you’re using a quart jar, the jar lid should not be tightened. During the first 12 hours the culture should be stirred once or twice as convenient.

 

At the end of 24 hours the culture should start to bubble, but it could take longer. Add an additional 1/2 cup of 85 deg. F. water and 1/2 cup of flour. Then stir vigorously to whip some air into the mixture. Return it to your warm place for 12 hours.

 

When the culture has a layer of foamy bubbles on the surface, it is ready to use. Some cultures will fully activate in 24-48 hours, but some may require 3 to 5 days.

If the culture is not active at this point, discard half of it and continue the feeding schedule.*  During this time, keep the culture at 85 deg. F., add water and flour at about 12 hour intervals and stir briskly.

 

* Mine took about 5 days to activate. On days 3 and 4, I discarded half of the mixture at 12-hour intervals and fed it with ½ cup water and ½ cup all-purpose flour. By the morning of the 5^th day, the culture was active and bubbly.

 

That’s it!  My next experiment will be using the fed sourdough starter to bake some bread. 

Now that I’ve tested the activation process and know it works, I can give some of the dried start to my hiking buddy. I put 6 teaspoons of the dried starter in a Ziploc bag.  She only needs 2 teaspoons but she may want to experiment a bit.

 

Thanks for joining me in my experiment.  Stay tuned to find out how it works in some sourdough bread.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

 

Here are some of the sources I used for my experiment:

• http://yumarama.com/2624/drying-your-starter/
• http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/59765/Sourdough-Starter-Drying-and-Re-Starting
• http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2011/02/dehydrating_your_sourdough_starter.php
• I also consulted the book Classic Sourdough by Ed Wood.  He doesn’t outline the process for drying a sourdough, just restarting.

Making Bread Bowls

A visitor to my site recently asked me if I had any recipes for bread bowls. I realized I had only made them a couple of times. I sent her a recipe for whole wheat bread bowls and told her about the ones Frieda of Frieda Love’s Bread made during the BBA Challenge.

These bread bowls are made using Italian Bread dough. I thought it was such a neat idea at the time, but I had forgotten about it until my visitor asked about recipes for bread bowls. I decided now was the time to try these bowls for myself.  I used an adapted version of the Italian Bread dough from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

 

Making Bread Bowls with Italian Bread Dough

Makes: Six 6-ounce Bowls

Adapted from: The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Ingredients:

Biga:

• 1 1/4 cups (5.625 oz) unbleached bread flour
• 1 1/4 cups (5.625 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (.055 oz) instant yeast
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons to 1 cup water (7oz to 8oz), at room temperature

Final Dough:

• 3/12 cups (18 oz) biga
• 1 1/4 cups (5.625 oz) unbleached bread flour
• 1 1/4 cups (5.625 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 2/3 teaspoons (.41 oz) salt
• 1 tablespoon (.5 oz) sugar
• 1 teaspoon (.11 oz) instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon (.17 oz) diastatic barley malt powder (optional)
• 1 tablespoon (.5 oz) olive oil
• 3/4 cup to 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7oz to 8oz) water 
• Semolina or cornmeal for dusting or use parchment paper

Directions:

1) Making the Biga

Stir together the flour and yeast in a bowl or you can use your stand mixer if you prefer. I used my Danish Dough Whisk. Add the water and stir until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball.  Adjust the flour or water as necessary to ensure the dough is neither too sticky nor too stiff. 

 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours, or until it nearly doubles in size.  Remove the dough and knead it lightly to degas.  Return the dough to the bowl and recover with plastic. Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 3 days.

You can use the biga the same day you make it instead of letting it ferment overnight. This is what I did.  Since I was making bread bowls that would be filled with chili, I didn’t need the extra flavor you get from letting the dough ferment in the refrigerator overnight.

 

2) Mixing the Dough

If you let the dough ferment in the refrigerator, remove the biga from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough.  Cut it into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for an hour to take off the chill.  I skipped this part.

Stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and malt power in a bowl. Add the biga pieces, olive oil, and water and stir together until a ball forms. The dough should be slightly sticky and soft, but not batter like or too sticky. Adjust the flour or water as necessary.

Transfer the dough to a floured counter, and knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is tacky, but not sticky, and supple.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and roll the dough around to coat it.

 

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the dough ferment at room temperature for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.

 

3) Shaping the Bowls

Remove the dough from the bowl and transfer it to a lightly floured counter.  Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (about 6 ounces each).  Form the pieces into balls by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating it as you go. When it's correctly shaped, the ball will be smooth and cohesive. This shouldn't take very long.

 

4) Proofing the Loaves

I placed the boules (balls) on a greased baking sheet to proof, then changed my mind.  It’s best to bake these bowls on a baking stone to achieve a crusty outside that will hold up when you fill it with chili or soup.  So I transferred the balls to parchment paper.  I put 3 balls on each piece so they would have room to rise and fit nicely on my baking stone when it was time to bake them.

 

Lightly mist the boules with spray oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Proof at room temperature for about an hour, or until the loaves have grown to about 1 1/2 times their original size.

 

5) Preparing the oven for hearth baking

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place a baking stone on the middle rack and a steam pan on the bottom rack. Score the loaves with 2 parallel, diagonal slashes using a serrated knife or lame.

 

6) Baking the Loaves

Transfer the loaves to the baking stone using a baker’s peel or the back of a sheet pan. Pour a cup of hot water into the steam pan and close the oven door.  After 30 seconds, spray the oven walls with water and close the door. Repeat 2 more times at 30 second intervals.

Lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F. and bake the loaves for 10 minutes.  Rotate the loaves for even baking and continue baking another 10 minutes, or until the loaves are a rich golden brown. It should take about 20 minutes for the loaves.

 

7) Cooling the Loaves

Remove the loaves from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing. 

 

8) Slicing and Forming the Bread Bowls

Once the loaves have cooled enough, slice off the top using a serrated knife. Just slice off enough to make it easy to scoop out the inside.

 

Then, scoop out the insides to form a bowl.  You can scoop out as much as you like, but leave enough to hold the soup.

 

9) Serving the Bread Bowls

Now it’s time to fill the bread bowls with the soup of your choice. I served 5-Alarm Chili in these bread bowls.  It was delicious.  The bread was too!

 

Thanks for the idea Frieda! This dough worked great and the size of the bowl is just right.

 

Thanks for joining me in the bread-baking blog. I hope you enjoy these bread bowls.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

5-Alarm Chili in Bread Bowls

A friend of mine sent me the recipe for this 5-Alarm Chili last week. I love chili; however, I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy chili so I toned down the heat a bit. My version would probably be considered 3.5-Alarm Chili, but who’s counting, right?  It’s hearty and has a wonderful flavor with just the right amount of heat, for my taste buds.  You can always add more heat it you like.

The best part about this chili (besides the taste) is that it’s made in the crockpot. This turned out to be a very good thing, because…

 

I’ve been without my cooktop for the past week. I got a new cooktop that I’ve been chomping at the bit to use, but I had to wait. We had to order a new regulator. The cooktop is installed and looks beautiful, but it’s not workable – yet. So I decided to use my crockpot.

I was really excited about making this chili. I had most of the ingredients, but needed just a few items so I went to the store and got what I needed.  Then I came home and set out to make the chili.  It was then that I thought, "How will I brown the meat?  My cooktop isn’t working.” Yikes!

Then I remembered I had a pressure cooker. I always claim that I’m not a gadget person, but it sure does help to have the tools you need when you need them in the kitchen. This was one of those times.

 

5-Alarm Chili (toned down a bit)

Serves: 8 – 10

Adapted from this 5-Alarm Chili recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions (about 2 cups), chopped
• salt, to taste
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• 2 1/2 lbs. stew meat, cut into cubes
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder (or to taste)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin (or to taste)
• crushed red pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1- 28 oz can crushed tomato
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 3 (14-oz) cans beef stock
• 2 (15-oz.) cans light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 
• 2 (15-oz.) cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-oz.) can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-oz.) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

 

Directions:

1. In a large skillet (or pressure cooker), heat the olive oil. Add the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and cayenne pepper.
2. Add the stew meat, ground beef, chili powder, cumin, crushed red pepper and oregano. Brown the meat for 5-7 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic and chopped peppers. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

   

    

4. While the meat is browning, add the stock, crushed tomato, tomato paste and the beans to the slow cooker. Put the slow cooker on hot and cover.
5. Once the meat is browned, add it to the slow cooker and stir well.

   

    

6. Put the slow cooker on low and cover. Cook for 4-6 hours, stir occasionally. I cooked it on high for about an hour, then turned the slow cooker down to low and let the chili cook for another 6 hours or so until the stew beef was tender.

   

    

   I served this chili for dinner on Super Bowl Sunday in some homemade bread bowls. Look for instructions on making these bread bowls in an upcoming post.

   

    

   Thanks for joining me in the bread-baking blog.  I hope you enjoy this chili.

    

   Here are some additional resources you might enjoy:

   • Soup Recipes
   • Bread Recipes
   • Bread Cookbooks
   • Bread Making
   • Baking Supplies

Semolina Bread with Wholegrain Soaker

The Mellow Bakers’ journey through Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman officially came to an end last month, but we’re not starting the next book until April so I decided to work my way through some of the breads I missed.

This Semolina bread is similar to Semolina (Durum) Bread in that it includes a flying sponge; however, this one also includes a grain-and-seed soaker.

 

I made some substitutions to the grains in the soaker. I used millet flour instead of millet grains and added some amaranth grains. I also used a combination of all-purpose and bread flour rather than just bread flour.

In addition, I changed the process a bit to fit in with my schedule. After the bulk fermentation, I shaped the loaves, placed them in Banneton baskets and let them proof in the refrigerator overnight.

 

Semolina (Durum) Bread with a Whole-Grain Soaker

Makes: 2 Large Loaves

Adapted from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman

Soaker:

• 2.6 oz (5/8 cup) coarse cornmeal
• 1.9 oz (3/8 cup) millet flour
• 1.9 oz (3/8 cup) sesame seeds (I used a mixture of white, tan and black sesame seeds)
• 1 T amaranth grains
• 8 oz (1 cup) water, boiling

 

Sponge:

• 6.4 oz (1 1/2 cups) durum flour
• 3.2 oz (3/4 cup) bread flour
• 3.2 oz (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• .9 oz (1 1/8 cups) water
• .17 oz (1 1/2 tsp) yeast

 

Final Dough:

• 9.6 oz (2 1/8 cups) semolina flour
• 4.8 oz (1 cup + 1 T) bread flour
• 4.8 oz (1 cup + 1 T) all-purpose flour
• 8.3 oz (1 cup) water
• .7 oz (1 T + 1/2 tsp) salt
• 14.4 oz (all of above) soaker
• 1 lb, 6.2 oz (all of above) sponge

 

Directions:

1) Make the Soaker:

At least 4 hours before mixing the final dough, pour boiling water over the soaker grains.  Cover the soaker with plastic to prevent evaporation, and let stand at room temperature.

 

2) Make the Sponge:

Mix the semolina (durum) flour, bread flour, all-purpose flour, water, and yeast until thoroughly incorporated.  The sponge will be fairly loose. 

 

A sponge temperature of 78 to 80 degrees F. is required to allow the sponge to ripen fairly quickly. It should be ripe after about 1 1/2 hours, when it will be on the verge of collapse.

 

3) Mix the Dough:

Place all of the ingredients in the mixing bowl, including the soaker and sponge.  In a spiral mixer, mix on first speed for 3 minutes in order to incorporate the ingredients.  Check the dough consistency and make corrections as necessary.  Turn the mixer to second speed and mix for about 3 minutes. 

 

The dough should be of medium consistency, with a resisting tug when pulled on. Desired dough temperature is 76 degrees F.

 

4) Bulk Fermentation:

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it bulk ferment for 1 1/2 hours. 

 

5) Fold the Dough:

Fold the dough after 45 minutes of bulk fermentation and place it back in the bowl to ferment for another 45 minutes.

 

6) Divide and Shape the Loaves

Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces, about 1.5 pounds each.  Preshape lightly into rounds and place on a lightly-floured work surface, seams up.  Cover the rounds with plastic.

 

When the dough has relaxed sufficiently (10 to 20 minutes), shape into tight round or oval loaves.  I did one of each and sprayed the top of the loaves with water and sprinkled them with raw sesame seeds.

 

Place the loaves into floured bannetons or on lightly floured baker’s linen and cover with plastic.

 

7) Final Fermentation:

Proof the loaves for approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 75 degrees F. At this point, it was late so instead of letting the loaves proof on the counter, I covered the baskets with a linen towel and placed them in the refrigerator to retard overnight.

The next morning, I took the loaves out of the refrigerator and let them warm up to room temperature.

 

8) Prepare the Oven for Hearth Baking:

Prepare the oven for hearth baking by placing a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven and a steam pan underneath. Then preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

 

9) Score the Loaves:

Invert the loaves onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  Then score the loaves in the desired pattern.  I scored an X in the round loaf and a slash down the middle on the oval loaf.

 

 

10) Baking the Loaves:

Once the oven is preheated, slide the breads (on the parchment paper) directly onto the baking stone and pour 1 cup of water in the steam pan. After 30 seconds, open the door, spray the walls with water, and close the door. Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals.

Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F.  Continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes more.  Check the breads during the bake and rotate them 180 degrees for even baking if necessary.

 

11) Cooling and Slicing the Loaves:

Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

 

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the weekly roundup.

 

 

I enjoyed making this bread.  It tastes okay, but I think it could be improved.  It’s a dense bread and I don’t mind that; however, the grains seem to overwhelm the flavor of the bread.  I think letting the grains soak overnight instead of just 4 hours and using an overnight sponge rather than a flying sponge would improve the flavor.  I might also prefer sifted cornmeal in the soaker rather than the coarse cornmeal the formula called for. 

 

Mellow Bakers was started by Paul at Yumarama. We’re baking breads from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy