Bread Machine Food: Hybrid Baguettes

Baguettes

     1 c + 2 tbsp milk (or water)
     2 tsp olive oil
     2 1/4 c bread flour
     1 c whole wheat flour
     1 tbsp sugar
     1 1/2 tsp salt
     1 3/4 tsp yeast

Place ingredients into bread machine pan in the order specified by the manufacturer of your bread machine.  Set bread machine to dough cycle.  Grease a large baking sheet.  Remove dough and place on floured surface.  Divide in half and shape each half into a long cylinder.  Make diagonal slashes on top surface.  Let rise 40 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake loaves for 20 minutes.  Remove to rack to cool completely.

Mini Brioche

Several monumental things happened for D1 in the past two weeks.  First of all, she finished her college applications.  I guess we are now entered into the waiting game.

Second, D1 finally got her provisional drivers license.  I feel like it took her forever.  Unlike me, D1 was in no rush to drive so didn't do much practicing until I actually made the road test appointment.  In six months, if she remains in good standing as a driver, she'll be able to exchange her provisional license for the "real" one.  It occurred to me that six months will be about the time of graduation.  Yikes!

Third, D1 turned seventeen.  My, how time flies.  I'm getting old.  Seems like it was just a few months ago that I was taking her to preschool.

Unlike last year, D1 didn't want a fancy party.  Perhaps she realizes that she will be leaving Hilo within a year.  I dunno.  But she opted to celebrate her birthday with family.  Mr. Dependable took her out to her favorite restaurant, and we will go out to her favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner later this week.  Talk about having a good life! 

Since I wasn't invited to the Mr. Dependable dinner (not that I'm grumbling because I'm NOT), I stayed home and made brioche.  I was watching one of the Anthony Bourdain shows (Layover?), and when he walked past a bakery, the brioche caught my eye. 

I'm really not big on French cooking.  They use too much of the vile condiment, but the breads are a different story.  I love the egg-y-ness of brioche and the citrus-infused dough.  Mmmmmm.  I saved some for the Ds to have for breakfast. . .since I'm so nice.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Mini Brioche

     1/3 c water

     1/3 c butter

     5 eggs, divided

     3 1/2 c bread flour

     1/2 c sugar

     1 t salt

     Zest of 1 orange or lemon

     2 1/2 tsp yeast

     1-2 tsp vegetable oil

     2 tsp turbinado sugar, optional

Place water, butter, 4 eggs, bread flour, sugar and salt in the bread machine pan.  Sprinkle zest over all.  Make a small well in ingredients and add yeast.  Set bread machine for dough cycle.  Just before dough is done, pour vegetable oil into a large bowl.  Coat bowl well (all except the area within an inch of the rim) with vegetable oil.  Place dough in greased bowl, turning to coat dough evenly.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 4 hours.  Grease eighteen 2 1/2" fluted tart pans (if not available, grease a baking sheet).  Divide dough into 18 equal pieces (If not using tart pans, form each piece into a ball, place on prepared baking sheet, and follow rising, egg wash, and baking instructions).  From each piece, remove 1/4 of dough.  Shape larger portion into a round ball.  Place in prepared tart pan.  Roll smaller dough portion into a teardrop shape.  Poke a hole in center of dough.  Place small teardrop-shaped dough into indentation.  Repeat for remaining 17 pieces of dough.  Let rise 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  While oven is preheating, beat remaining egg well and brush over dough balls.  Sprinkle turbinado sugar.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from tart pans immediately.

Bread Machine Monkey Bread

PI'm still here!  Thank you to all those, from near and far, who expressed concern for our safety.  Natural disasters aren't fun, but Hurricane/Tropical Storm Iselle brought the opportunity to hear from my friends all over the world. . .Adamstown, Pitcairn Island; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Mililani, Hawaii; Kennewick, Washington; northern and southern California; Tucson, Arizona; McKinney, Texas. . .the list goes on and on.  I can feel the love!

The Kikukat house sustained only minor damage.  Two cypress trees fell against the house.  One of those trees fell from my neighbor's property onto the gutter of the garage.  The other tree, also a cypress, fell against the gutter near D2's bedroom. I was worried about the tall, decaying trees in bowels of another neighbor's property, but those, miraculously, are still standing.

In addition to the crazy howling and whipping winds, we experienced several power outages.  The longest lasted just under an hour, so we were very fortunate.  Other customers were without power much longer.  In fact, some of my friends who reside in the Puna (south southeast Hawaii)area still don't have electricity (it's been 4 days!).  The pictures they've posted on facebook were horrific.  Even more horrific is the absence of the state government in showing some compassion.  The governor (soon to be booted, as he lost his re-election bid in the primary on Saturday) was too busy usurping the mic at the headquarters of his challenger to even mention how much the people of Puna have been through.  Hilo (east Hawaii) was fortunate to be spared the full onslaught of Iselle.  Scroll down to the "pussyfooting" section if you want to see pictures of the effects of Iselle in east Hawaii.

I called the Rents to ask how they fared.  Kikukat Mom said Kikukat Dad had already called the cable company to ask how to bring his tv back online.  She also reported that their beloved kitty, Oreo, was safely sequestered indoors and would be taking his meals there until the storm threat was over.  When I called, he had just been served his breakfast.  Apparently he eats when the Rents eat.

All this storm stuff makes me thankful.  I'm thankful I still have a roof over my head.  But I need to move forward, and that means shifting my mental focus back to work.  Work....work......ugh.....this school year just did not start right.

Last week I took the high road.  I really wanted to bitch about work and the assholes who try to bring the rest of us down.  I still want to, but I won't (at least not too much).  There are too many around.  I won't have enough space/time to talk about all the dipshits, Iselle notwithstanding, who attempted to make my life miserable this past week.  The biggest joke was having an inexperienced person check the work of competent, experienced, veteran teachers and questioning us on our decisions and calculations.  Shit, I'm doing YOUR work!  YOU are supposed to know these things!  I just can't remember any time in the past (other than the year I spent at the school in the "goat herder" section of town) when the school year got off to such a rocky start.

When I applied for my current job, I was told by a friend at the school that the real monkeys at the school are not in my class.  So in the honor of the un-named "monkeys", this weeks post, monkey bread, is dedicated to them.

The original recipe for this appeared in Betty Shimabukuro's By Request column in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 2001.  Since then, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin merged with the rival daily, Honolulu Advertiser, and is now known as the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.  Not so creative, but I guess everyone (except the people who got laid off) was happy. 

Over a decade has passed since that recipe was published, but I finally got around to making it.  And I am stupid for waiting so long.  As far as doughs go, this was one of the easiest doughs to work with. . .if you tried my manapua post and did okay with the dough, then this one will be a piece of cake.  If you are a fan of the monkey bread served at Mariposa (Neiman-Marcus), I need to forewarn you that while this recipe is delicious, it will not produce a replica of Mariposa's monkey bread.
Although I like things made "from scratch", I don't have the patience nor the technique to knead dough by hand.  And while I've tried to do bread in the kitchenaid mixer, I just cannot get around how convenient it is to use a bread machine.  For those of you who enjoy feeling the dough between your fingers (or seeing it in the bowl), then follow Betty's recipe.  If you are like me, then use my cheater's method for the bread machine.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Bread Machine Monkey Bread

adapted from Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2001

     1 c milk

     1 c butter, divided

     3 1/4 c bread flour

     1/4 c sugar

     1 tsp salt

     4 tsp yeast

In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, heat milk and 1/2 c butter in the microwave for 1 minutes.  Pour liquid into pan of bread machine.  Microwave any remaining solid butter (from the 1/2 c) until melted and add to pan of bread machine.  Add flour, sugar, and salt (in whatever order recommended by your bread machine).  Make a well and add yeast.  Set bread machine for dough cycle and start.  When dough cycle is complete, turn dough onto floured surface.  Punch down and let rest for 5 minutes.  While dough is resting, melt remaining 1/2 c butter in a small bowl.  Roll dough out to 1/2" thick and cut into diamond shapes with a pizza cutter.  You should have about 48 pieces.  Grab 4 pieces and pinch them together.  Dip one side in melted butter, and turn and dip the other side in melted butter.  Place a buttered side down in ungreased muffin pan.  Repeat until all 12 muffin cups are filled.  You should have some melted butter leftover.  Let rise 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from muffin pan and brush with remaining melted butter.  Makes 12. 

coconut trees swaying near the canoe sheds (Hilo bayfront)
8-7-14

canoes moved away from the storm surge (Hilo bayfront)
8-7-14

Hilo Farmer's Market deconstructed
8-7-14

Downtown businesses boarded up with plywood

Kress Building windows taped and awaiting the arrival of Iselle

near Country Club Drive (Kaumana)

Bread Machine Rolls

"The best thing about a long weekend is a short work week."
                             -Kikukat's ex-boyfriend

Yup, yup, yup, even if the guy bugs me, he's right.  And thanks to Labor Day, this past week was indeed a short week (in time only).

A short work week means I have one less day to fret over what I'm bringing for lunch.  And fret I do.  I stress over what I'm going to bring as well as what D1 will eat.  Luckily, for at least one day each week (and its in the middle of the week so holidays don't usually affect it), I have Local Kine Errands deliver lunch for me.  Its always the same lunch...small salmon bento (the one without the meatball) from Puka Puka Kitchen.  I think I might try the large salmon bento next.  The small doesn't have too much salmon in it.

D1 normally brings some kind of sandwich with a whole deli counter of meat packed in.  Earlier in the school year, I offered to make her a wrap.  She came to my room that day and asked what I used to "spread" the meat.  From that day on, she has insisted (snicker, snicker) that she make her own sandwich/wrap.  The only thing I do is wash her lettuce when I wash mine.  I gladly dole out the $ for the cold cut supply because this takes a load off of me in the morning.  The Help says we are keeping the Safeway and KTA deli counters in business just with our dry salami and honey ham purchases.  Maybe we try roast beef next.

Frankly, I'm really not a sandwich person.  What I really enjoy is bringing some kind of soup for lunch, and this past week, I actually did just that.  The Help made a big pot of bean soup, which he shared with his parents.  I brought a bowl of it for lunch, and I was able to bring a bowl of it for one of the bosses who did me a huge favor.  In addition to the bean soup, I also packed fresh apple cake and some rolls.

The apple cake is the same one featured on my blog about a year ago.  It is often pinned on Pinterest, and people who try it always tell me how good it is.  This week, at the suggestion of some readers, I frosted it with a lemon cream cheese frosting, and it was really good.  I will eventually get around to posting that recipe.

The rolls...the rolls...where do I begin?  First of all, this is the only recipe you need to justify purchasing a bread machine.  Seriously.  Everyone here, including picky, picky D2, loves these rolls. 

It has taken me a while to develop this recipe just the way I like it.  I modified a recipe which came with the bread machine manual of my original bread machine.  The original recipe was not sweet at all.  I tried adding sugar, as much as 1/2 cup, to see how sweet I could get these.  At 1/2 cup of sugar, the rolls were too difficult to shape.  Cutting the sugar back to 1/3 cup gave me the sweetness I wanted with the ease of shaping that I needed (I am not Portuguese. . .shaping bread is NOT in my blood, but I can wrap a mean potsticker!).

And I have made these rolls into all kinds of shapes.  Because the original recipe gave instructions for making 15 rolls, for a while, I stuck to that and made 15 (like you see in the small picture below).  I made them in a shallow rimmed pan (large cookie sheet) and placed them kinda close so they'd touch when they rose.  They baked up really nice, and they spread a little.  These were good for making sandwiches.

Then I got a little wiser and realized that its hard to divide the dough into thirds then into  5 pieces, so I bought a large square pan (ordered from Amazon. . . around 11" x 11" or so) and made 16 rolls (4 x 4) in the square pan.  These are the rolls you see in the other pictures.  They spread less and are just slightly smaller than the ones made in the flat pan.  If you don't have a large square pan, dividing the dough into 15 pieces and placing them in a 9 x 13" pan will also give you the same result as the square pan.  I have divided the dough into 8 pieces, made them elongated and used these for hoagie-like sandwich rolls.  I haven't done it yet, but if you divide the dough into 10 or 12 pieces and shape them into ropes, those could be hot dog buns!

Normally, I dip the rolls in melted butter after I shape them, but I tried brushing them with water and sprinkling some fancy lavender salt on top.  This is fine if you plan to eat the rolls on the same day.  But after the first day, the salt melted and left the tops wet.  I will stick to the butter dip.

While I made these rolls to go with the bean soup, the Ds jumped in and helped themselves.  They always do, and they will readily partake in the rolls, no matter the shape.  They will each grab a roll (or half a roll if I make them like hoagie rolls) as they leave the house in the morning and eat it plain.  Sometimes they will stuff the roll with cold cuts (D1), shredded Costco roast chicken (D2), or salami (both).  And you can be sure that when D1 stuffs her roll, it is packed with a layer of meat nearly as thick as both bread layers combined!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Bread Machine Rolls

     1 c milk
     1 egg
     2 tbsp butter, cut in pieces
     3 1/4 c bread flour
     1/3 c sugar
     1 tsp salt
     3 tsp yeast
     1-2 tsp melted butter

Place first seven ingredients in pan of bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Set machine to dough cycle.  When dough cycle is complete, remove dough to floured surface and let rest 5 minutes.  Generously grease a 9 x 13" pan (low sides, preferable). Divide into 15 balls, somewhere between the size of a golf ball and a racketball.  Dip one side of ball into melted butter, invert and place in 3 x 5 pattern in prepared pan.  Let rise 30-40 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake rolls for 15 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.