What is Truly Artisan?

You've probably noticed as I have that products on grocery store shelves have increasingly featured the words "Artisan" this or that.

So what does it mean to have artisan pizza, bread, chocolates, etc.?

There is no guidance or oversight for the use of the word "artisan", so technically a food company could use it on whatever they choose.

A generally accepted description of an artisan product would be one that is handmade (you would probably know the person or at least where the business is located), contains whole unprocessed ingredients,  prepared using traditional methods of cooking/baking, and usually in small quantities.

If the item doesn't fit the generally accepted description above, (and almost all of the grocery store stuff won't), it just isn't an artisan product.

For the real deal, check out local bakeries, farmers markets, and off-the-path restaurants.  You'll know when you've found it.

Easy Homemade Pretzels

This is a fun way to engage the kids (our yourself!) in making a homemade, relatively healthy, treat this weekend.

I found the recipe at www.kingarthurflour.com (and only recommend their flour).  Their bakers also blog about their experience making these pretzels here.

I used a bread machine to make the dough, but can just as easily use a stand mixer or your hands.  Here is the recipe from KingArthur's web site (using my photos):


dough

• 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 7/8 to 1 cup warm water*
• *Use the greater amount in the winter, the lesser amount in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is a soft dough.

topping

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• coarse, kosher or pretzel salt, optional
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Finished Pretzel Dough in Bread Machine

1) To make dough by hand, or with a mixer: Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl, and beat until well-combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it's soft, smooth, and quite slack. Flour the dough and place it in a bag, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

2) To make dough with a bread machine: Place all of the dough ingredients into the pan of your bread machine, program the machine for dough or manual, and press Start. Allow the dough to proceed through its kneading cycle (no need to let it rise), then cancel the machine, flour the dough, and give it a rest in a plastic bag, as instructed above.

Finished Pretzel Dough Resting for 20 Minutes

3) To make dough with a food processor: Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in the work bowl of a food processor equipped with the steel blade. Process for 5 seconds. Add the water, and process for 7 to 10 seconds, until the dough starts to clear the sides of the bowl. Process a further 45 seconds. Place a handful of flour in a bowl, scoop the slack dough into the bowl, and shape the dough into a ball, coating it with the flour. Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, close the bag loosely, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Dough Pieces Ready to be Made into Pretzels!

4) While the dough is resting, prepare the topping: Combine the boiling water and baking soda, stirring until the soda is totally (or almost totally) dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm (or cooler).

5) Preheat your oven to 475°F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper.

6) Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces (about 70g, or 2 1/2 ounces, each).

7) Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour the baking soda/water into a 9" square pan.

Little Hands Love Rolling Pretzel Dough

8) Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28" to 30" long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Working with 4 pretzels at a time, place them in the pan with the baking soda/water, spooning the water over their tops; leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on the baking sheet. This baking soda "bath" will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color.

9) Transfer the pretzels to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt, if desired. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Salted and Ready for Baking on Parchment Paper

10) Bake the pretzels for 8 to 9 minutes, or until they're golden brown.

11) Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you've used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that's what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.

Hot Buttered Pretzels!

Yield: 8 large pretzels.

nutrition information

Serving Size: Servings Per Batch: 8 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 171 Calories from Fat: Total Fat:4.7g Saturated Fat: Trans Fat: . Cholesterol: 12mgSodium: 888mg Total Carbohydrate: 27g Dietary Fiber:1g Sugars: 1g Protein: 4g.

* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.

Instant vs. Dry Active Yeast

When I started making bread for our family on a regular basis, I came across bread recipes that called for "instant yeast".  I had only used active dry yeast -- of which Red Star and Fleischmann's are the most common brands.  Was it the same thing I wondered?  I made a return trip to our grocery store and couldn't find "instant yeast" anywhere.

Some time went by and I saw it again.  This time I did some research and discovered that instant yeast is available at King Arthur Flour, health stores and some grocery stores and is generally sold under the SAF brand name -- an affiliate of Red Star brand.

So what's the difference?  It's in the processing.

Active dry yeast is less active from the start, though it doesn't require proofing as it did in the past.  Instant yeast is, well, instant.  And it can be used straight from the freezer where it should be stored once opened.

The difference between the two is most noticed in the opening rise time where one can visibly see the instant yeast performing quicker from the start with a rapid dough rise.  However, the active dry yeast eventually catches up over an extended period of rise time.

Yeast makes some nervous.  It shouldn't.  A tremendous resource to learn more about everything yeast (and the instant vs. active dried) can be found at King Arthur's web site.

We personally prefer (as do most professional chefs and King Arthur bakers) the SAF instant yeast and have always achieved good results with it.

What do you use and why?  What is your yeast experience in bread baking?

A Bread Pan Designed for Gluten Free Bread

A special bread pan for gluten free breads?  Yep!  And it really works!

It's slightly narrower than a traditional pan and slightly taller.  The measurements are 9" x 4" x 4".

This pan is made by USA Pans for King Arthur Flour and can only be purchased there for $17.95.  It features a lifetime warranty and is coated with an all-natural silicone that releases breads with little or no greasing.

King Arthur occasionally run a discount of 20% when three USA Pans are purchased at one time through them, which is how I got ours.

Why this pan?  Because gluten helps traditional bread rise, gluten free yeast breads tend to be squat in appearance compared to their wheat counterparts.  This pan gives them the added support needed to create a more traditional looking loaf of bread.

While this is designed for gluten free yeast breads, I made a gluten free banana quick bread using the pan today and it turned out better than when I use a traditional pan.  The loaf had great form and the bread was baked nicely throughout.

I use it for gluten free yeast and quick breads and highly recommend it.

By the way, I used the gluten free banana bread recipe found on the back of Bob's Red Mill 32-ounce all purpose flour bag that can also be found here.

The bread was so delicious the kids each had three slices!

Making Homemade Bagels using Non-Diastatic Malt Powder

I really enjoy bagels and making them at home is quite easy -- and delicious.

I began with a couple of key *ingredients:  1.)  King Arthur Flours "Sir Lancelot" flour with a high gluten content that makes the bagel have a nice chew and 2.) non-diastatic malt powder to give the crusts a nice shine.

*If you don't have these exact ingredients, don't worry.  Use the best flour you have and replace the non-diastatic malt powder with brown sugar and you will still have a very nice result.

 We have a busy house, so I let the bread machine (and its dough setting) usually do the work.

I used the dough recipe on the back of the Sir Lancelot bag (8 Bagel Yield):

• 1 Tbs Instant Yeast
• 4 Cups Sir Lancelot Flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs non-diastatic malt powder (or brown sugar)
• 1 1/2 Cups lukewarm water (a bit more during the winter or in dry climates)

Mix the ingredients making a stiff dough and let rise in a covered bowl for 1 - 1 1/2 hours until puffy -- though not doubled.  I let the bread machine handle all of this step.

 Next, divide the dough into 8 round balls, cover with loose plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.  I lightly spray the inside of the plastic wrap with a canola spray so that it doesn't stick to the dough when I later peel it away.

While the balls are resting, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.   Get a large pot of water (about 2 quarts), along with a 1 TBS of sugar and 2 TBS of non-diastatic malt powder (or brown sugar), boiling.  The bath gives the bagel its shiny crust and chewy texture.  Most commercial bagels are produced with steam, but lack the texture and taste of the traditional method.

After 30 minutes of rest, and with the oven and water bath ready, take each ball of dough and poke a hole in the center and set in a greased baking pan or parchment lined baking pan for 10 minutes of rest.

After 10 minutes, gently place each one into the bath for two minutes on each side.  Place as many in the bath as you can with crowding them.  After two minutes of bathing on both sides remove and replace on the baking sheet until they are all finished.

I made an egg wash (1 egg and 1 TBS of water blended) and brushed the egg wash over each bagel followed by a sprinkling of sesame seeds.  Feel free to add no toppings or any toppings of your choice. The egg wash helps keep them in place.

 My bagels were slightly over-done before 20 minutes, so watch them carefully and pull them out of the oven when they get a nice sandy-brown on top.

These were delicious -- and gone in two days.

How to Make Gluten Free Hot Dog Buns

It took a while to crack this one.  And I suspect, if you are reading this, you've been looking/trying too!

Gluten free hot dog buns at the store are extremely expensive and taste a bit powdery and bland.  And, if you've ever baked with gluten free flours, you can forget about forming the dough into anything meaningful.  So my wife has been eating the occasional hot dog or chicken brat on a hamburger bun for the past year or so -- until now.

I recently discovered there are different hot dog bun designs such as the New England style hot dog bun.  I found a baking pan for the task that I acquired from King Arthur Flour.

I prepared an entire package of King Arthur Gluten Free Bread Mix I purchased at our local grocery store ($5.49) and poured it into the mold being certain to smooth out the top with a damp spatula.  The consistency of this mix is a bit like cake batter -- perhaps a bit stickier.  Cover the batter with a greased (I use a bit if cooking spray) plastic wrap and let rise for 30-60 minutes -- though most of the rise from gluten batter will occur in the opening moments of baking.

Once the batter is smooth, grease the underside of a baking sheet and lay on top.  This prevents too much rise and over browning.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.  Remove the baking sheet after 20 minutes to get the top a little browner before the baking has finished.



Use an instant thermometer to check the temperature.  The baking process is done when you reach an internal temperature between 205-210 degrees -- higher than the typical 190 degrees for standard wheat baking.

Remove the buns from the oven and let rest for about 5 minutes, then flip the bun loaf out and let cool (about 45 minutes).  Cutting into it sooner will risk losing moisture and creating a dryer result.



After the loaf is cooled, use a good bread knife and cut along patterned lines.  This will give you 10 hot dog buns.  Take each bun and make a slice down the middle, about 75% of the way down, being careful to not cut all the way.

There you go!  Fresh gluten free hot dog buns!  Or, promptly freeze them in a good freezer bag or container and reheat when needed in the microwave.

Finally -- a real bun for brats and hot dogs!

English Muffin Attempt

My success at bagel-making the other day received great praise and are officially eaten! With my wife at a Christmas party, and the kids fast asleep, I tried another of my favorites tonight -- the English Muffin.

I used my bread machine's "dough" setting and the recipe from Beth Hensperger's book, "The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook".

I rolled the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness over plenty of cornmeal. And not being able to locate a round biscuit cutter, I flipped one of our glass drinking cups over and used the top to make perfect 3" circles of dough. I was doing great...

The recipe suggested using a cast iron pan. I used one square and one round one from our options. The recipe said to let the formed dough set in the pan on medium heat for ten minutes on each side. I set mine on low heat for the full ten minutes and was unpleasantly surprised to find them more black than brown when I flipped them! Needless to say, the flipped side was watched more carefully and I ended their heat exposure at 5 minutes with a nice brown top (the only tops I will show in the picture -- smile).

Things of value I learned from my first attempt:

1. Cast iron rocks and the square pan was easier to arrange than the round.

2. I will only lightly spray the pans with butter/oil ahead of the first side browning.

3. I will spread the dough thinner than 1/2 inch (I like my English muffins thinner than how these finished).

4. Every gas oven range burner cranks out a different level of BTU's. My english muffins will not require the entire 10 minutes. I will watch closely until nicely browned on each side.

5. I will not be afraid of using too much cornmeal.

The recipe, from pg. 90 (*The batch below will make about one dozen English muffins):

1. 1/2 cups fat free milk

2. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3. 1 large egg (I use organic, free-range chicken eggs)

4. 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use a whole wheat blend)

5. 2 teaspoons sea salt

6. 2 1/4 teaspoons SAF yeast

7. 2/3 cup yellow corn meal for rolling out and covering when cutting and baking

I had one of my English muffins, toasted, with unsalted sweet cream butter and homemade strawberry jam while I wrote this post. I have to say, both sides, brown and black, were delicious!

I hope these posts encourage/inspire you to try making something from scratch. It's better for you and a lot of fun. As long as you try, I've succeeded!

P.S. One of our friends has started making her own breads for their family. I mentioned my success at bagels the other day and she made fresh homemade cinnamon bagels for her family this morning! How cool is that!? Be inspired and create in your kitchen!