Happy Valley Chow

gour-mand (noun): one who is excessively fond of eating and drinking

Filtering by Category: "Olive Oil"

Focaccia Bread


As some of you know, I am a Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Major at Penn State University. One of the classes we have to take is actually running a restaurant/kitchen. It's a really fun class, especially being a foodie like myself, we get to mess around a lot in the kitchen and create a lot of great stuff. Today we made up some sun dried tomato focaccia bread which turned out delicious, so I figured I might as well snap some pics of it and share with you all. The recipe below is just a straight focaccia recipe, but we added in some sun dried tomatoes. You can add in whatever you want (i.e. sun dried tomatoes, olives, pepperoni, etc). Just make you don't add in more than 10% of the weight in flour, in other addition ingredients. So if you are adding in sun dried tomatoes, you should take 10% of the 2.5 lbs (4.0 oz) and only add in around that much sun dried tomatoes. Enjoy!

Ingredients
  • 24 oz. Water
  • 1.0 oz. Yeast 
  • 2.5 lbs. Bread Flour
  • 3.5 tsp Salt
  • 1.25 tsp Sugar
  • 2.0 oz. Olive Oil
Directions

Place a cast iron skillet in your oven and Pre-heat to 425 degrees F

Measure out your water, being as precise as possible, and mix in the yeast. In a bowl combine the flour, salt and sugar until incorporated. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the dough hook attachment fitted, place your flour mixture in and add the water/yeast mixture and olive oil in. Start the mixer on a low speed and mix for 8 minutes. If you are adding in extra stuff, throw that all in the last minute of mixing to incorporate into the dough.

Once your dough has reached a proper consistency transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a dish towel and let proof for 1.5 hours in an 80 degree F area (2 hours in 75 degree F). Once proofed transfer to an oiled sheet pan and mold dough to the shape of the sheet pan and let proof for another 30 minutes. Once proofed, take your pointer, middle and ring finger and gently push holes down into the dough the whole way around (this is to have little pockets for the olive oil). Generously drizzle the top of the focaccia dough with olive oil coating the whole thing and then sprinkle with kosher salt (You can also use some chopped fresh herbs on top as well, be creative!)

Place the dough in the oven and throw a few ice cubes into the hot cast iron skillet to create steam. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown. 


Why Steam Bread??

Ever wonder how professional bakers get those beautifully domed loaves a bread with glossy brown crusts? The secret - at least one of them - is steam...
In the first few minutes of baking, loaves of bread will rise rapidly as the gases trapped inside expand and the yeast has a final burst of activity (this is called "ovenspring"). Steaming within this time helps keep the crust soft. This allows the bread to continue expanding freely.
The steam that has settled on the surface of the bread also dissolves sugars in the dough. As the bread stops expanding and the steam begins to evaporate, the sugars are left behind to caramelize (yum!) and create a glossy crust.
Steaming is really only useful during the first 5-10 minutes of baking while the yeast is still active and the internal structure hasn't set. After this time, the crust needs its own time to set and dry out.
There are several different methods for getting steam inside your oven and the trick is always doing it without losing too much heat. Personally, I prefer to set a cast iron pan on the oven floor and let it preheat along with the oven. When the time comes, I slide the loaves in and then I either quickly pour a cup of very hot tap water into the pan or toss in a handful of ice cubes.
Some bakers advocate using a spritzer bottle to spray a mist of water into the oven, but I feel that this lets out too much heat and doesn't really generate the same amount of steam as using a pan with water or ice cubes.
Also, you can add steam when baking any bread, whether it's a simple white sandwich bread or a hearty country round loaf. You learn something new everyday!



Dutch Oven Bread


I am really starting to enjoy baking bread, it's so easy and satisfying! The weekend I decided to make my lasagna I thought late Friday night "you know what, I want some homemade bread with it."  Sure it was like 11PM, but that's the beauty of this bread recipe, you just throw all the ingredients together and let the dough sit over night so it becomes nice and fermented. Then just turn it out, give it a few little kneads, throw it in the dutch oven and waaaallaaaaa homemade bread! Give it a try, you won't regret it!

Ingredients 
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour + some for dusting
Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast into water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise over night (18 hours preferably) at room temperature. 

The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 min. 

Shape into a ball, using more flour if necessary to keep from sticking. Place a clean dish towel flat on a work surface and sprinkle with flour. Place the dough on the dish towel, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and place another dish towel on top. Let rise for 1 to 2 hour or until doubled in size. 

About 20 min. before the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place dutch oven in the oven as it heats, as to heat the dutch oven. When dough is ready, carefully remove dutch oven from oven and remove lid. With the seem side up, brush the outside of the bread with some olive oil and sprinkle the top with Kosher salt. Cut a few 1/2" deep slits in the top, in the design you want...I forgot to do that. Carefully place dough in the dutch oven, again seem side up. If need be shake the pot to redistribute the bread, it may not look beautiful but it will look great when baked. 

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Carefully remove bread from Dutch oven and let it cool on rack for at least an hour. Slice and enjoy!
Song of the Recipe




Nothing says bread baking like some blue grass and fiddle shredding! Not the most famous group, but they are really awesome and you should check them out. 


Happy Valley Cheesesteak


Well call up Pat and Geno down in Philly and let them know that there is a new cheesesteak in town. Then also let them know it was made by a diehard Pittsburgh Fan (LETS GO PENS!!). This is a pretty classic cheesesteak, but I did have to give it some of my own personal touches. I used some thinly sliced Delmonico Steak, sauteed onions, peppers, jalapeno (for good measure) and I made a Beer and Cheddar sauce. Of course, if I'm going to make a Pennsylvania sandwich, I better use some Pennsylvania Beer to make the sauce...probably my favorite cooking beer, Yuengling. I was really pleased with how this turned out...of course if I wanted to make it out of this world, I would have to give it the Pittsburgh touch by adding french fries and coleslaw...but I figured I'd just keep it simple. Enjoy!

Ingredients
  • 1 cup beer, preferably a lager
  • 2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1 rounded tablespoon of all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
  • Few drops of Worcestershire sauce
  • Few drops of hot sauce
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 Vidalia Onion, halved & sliced
  • 1 Red Pepper, halved & sliced
  • 1 Green Pepper, halved & sliced
  • 1 Jalapeno, seeded, halved & sliced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 lbs Delmonico Steak, thinly sliced
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 4 hoagie rolls
Directions

Heat beer in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. In a separate bowl mix the cheddar cheese with the flour. Then whisk in shredded cheddar & flour mixture, spicy brown mustard, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce into warmed beer. Whisk until cheese is melted and smooth. Keep warm on low.

Melt butter in a large sautee pan over medium heat. Add in onions, peppers and jalapeno and sautee until caramelized, stirring occasionally for about 12-15 min.
For the beef, I asked the butcher at the grocery store to slice the delmonico steak as thin as possible (If they don't sell delmonico's, get a ribeye). Don't be afraid to tell them what you're using it for, that will give them an idea for how thin to make it. While the butcher did a good job, I actually ended up slicing the sliced steak into strips. 

Heat the olive oil in a large sautee pan, or use a griddle if you have one, over medium high heat. Add in the beef and sautee until cooked through about 7 min. Season the beef with salt and pepper.

Slice open the rolls and evenly distribute the beef into them. Add the caramelized onions, peppers and jalapeno and then top with a generous amount of the cheddar beer sauce. Have plenty of napkins on hand!

Since it's that time of year, I figured I'd post my favorite hockey goal of the season so far. GENO!! GENO!! GENO!!

<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

                        var disqus_forum_url = 'happyvalleychow';

                    </script>

                    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://mediacdn.disqus.com/1364932970/embed/squarespace.js"></script>

                    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://disqus.com/forums/happyvalleychow/embed.js"></script>