polenta bread

This delicious loose crumbed bread pairs well with just about anything.

Yield: 1 very large loaf
1,940 calories per loaf
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: Overnight proof required, about 17 hours

ingredients
5/8 cup almond milk (this is equivalent to 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
1 1/8 cup water
1 teaspoon yeast
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups high gluten flour
1 cup polenta

preparation
the day before:
1. In a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine the lukewarm water and milk. Heat, in the microwave, for about 1 minute. The mixture should feel warm, not scalding hot.

2. Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to the milk mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes.  If your milk and water mixture was too hot, the yeast will die and you won't see any foam develop during the 10 minute fermentation. That said, given the small amount of yeast called for, you won't see a lot of foam.

3. In your stand mixer bowl, combine the flour, polenta, and salt. "Stir" to combine the ingredients.

4. Slowly add in the milk mixture and knead, on "stir" until a cohesive dough forms, about 5 minutes. If your stand mixer can knead the dough on '2' after the shaggy mass forms (the photo on the left), go for it. Mine sounded like it was going to burn out, so I opted not to push it.

5. Turn the dough out onto your counter top and knead by hand a few turns, forming a ball.

6. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and put in the fridge to proof overnight.

the day of:
7. Remove the dough from the fridge and punch it down. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until it has doubled in size, about 3 hours.

8. Turn the dough out onto your counter top and knead by hand for about 30 seconds.

9. Shape into into a loaf, place on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

10. With about 30 minutes remaining in the final proof, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

11. Arrange a water bath. See step 9 of "carbs, glorious carbs" for more on water baths.

12. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees, decreasing the oven temperature to 400 and baking until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped, about 35 minutes. 

Other modifications:

• This was a mammoth sized loaf, even though I halved the original recipe. I recommend forming two loaves, in step 9, which will decrease the baking time and make this loaf more manageable. 
• Use an egg wash to give the loaf a shiny sheen. 

Original recipe found here.

sourdough pretzels

For the past two weeks, I've been maintaining a sourdough starter and experimenting with different (and easy) recipes for the fermenting dough outside of standard bread. This simple recipe delivers an updated alternative to the frozen SuperPretzel many of us grew up eating.

Yield: 16 pretzels
120 calories per pretzel
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 90 minutes

ingredients
¾ cup lukewarm water
1 cup unfed sourdough starter, straight from the refrigerator
3 cups high gluten flour
¼ cup nonfat dry milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast

preparation
1. Combine warm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Combine the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl and "stir", slowly adding the water and yeast
mixture to form a cohesive dough. After a rough dough has formed (photo 3 below), gradually increase mixer speed to 3 to make a smooth dough, about 5 minutes. The dough will be slightly sticky. If the dough seems dry, add in an additional tablespoon or two of water. If the dough or flour is sticking to the side or bottom of the bowl, you may need to knead or adjust the by dough by hand to ensure everything is incorporated.

3. Form the dough into a ball, place in a lightly floured or greased bowl, cover (I used plastic wrap and a towel), and let rest for 1 hour.

4. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and begin to bring 10 cups water and 2/3 cup baking soda to a slow boil.

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, folding it over a few times to gently deflate it.

6. Divide the dough into 16 pieces. I like to cut the dough into halves to ensure even portions.

7. Shape into a pretzel by rolling each piece of dough into rope, taking the ends and drawing them together so the dough forms a circle, pulling the ends towards yourself connecting to the base at five and seven o’clock, adhering gently to seal.

8. Gently drop the pretzel in the slow boiling water for 30 seconds (it will float up when ready) and place on parchment or silpat lined baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. I find it is easiest to work two at a time by shaping one, placing in water, shaping the second, removing the first from the water and then placing the second in the water. (For the record, I placed my pretzels too close to each other.)

9. Brush the pretzels with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with coarse pretzel salt or topping. I used a pizza topping that I found at Marshalls.

10. Bake for 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet 180 degrees after about 15 minutes. Pretzels should be golden brown.

Other modifications:

• Make 8 large pretzels
• Use shredded cheese as the topping or knead it into the dough before you divide it.
• Use wheat flour: The consistency of the pretzels will be more dense.
• Don't boil the pretzels before baking: The pretzels will not have the chewy crust.

Original recipe can be found here.