Pain de Mie

I'm sure you'll agree the aroma of freshly baked bread is comforting during the cold winter season. Pain de Mie is just another way of saying a fresh baked pullman loaf of bread (a long rectangular loaf). Do you prefer yours toasted with butter or jam? Or, maybe you fancy a simple egg salad, tuna salad or BLT sandwich? You might want to go for the full energy classic combo of peanut butter and banana.

Baking really is a science and baking bread successfully proves that there are so many factors to consider when thinking about how your loaf is going to bake-up. For example, the air temperature, the quality of the flour, the type of liquid used - are all to be taken into consideration. But, I'll spare you and won't turn this into a Baking 101 Class. I've given you a basic but fail-safe recipe should you want to bring out your inner most boulanger (bread baker).

Pain de Mie

Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 1 loaf

2/3 cup milk

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1 cup water

6 Tablespoons sweet butter, softened

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons potato flour

4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For Full Recipe

Blueberry Nut Muffin

The Blueberry Nut Muffin is the most popular muffin! No sweat if fresh blueberries are not available, a good quality frozen berry will do just fine. Note, I usually stock up my freezer with summer blueberries for recipes just like this. Oh, and blueberry just happen to be my favorite muffin too!

 

Tip: Did you know? Tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking. 

Blueberry Nut Muffins
Recipe by George Hirsch | Makes 10-12 muffins

For the topping:
1/3 cup lite brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons nuts, walnuts or pecans, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 Tablespoon sweet butter

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts. Blend butter in with a fork until mixture is crumb like.

For the muffin mix:
1/2 cup sweet butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon flour for coating blueberries, plus greasing muffin cups
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup pure cane granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup milk

Grease a regular size 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour, banging out excess flour; or use muffin cups liners.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a separate bowl use a mixer to cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest to beaten eggs, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until eggs are absorbed. 

With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture and milk in three stages, mixing until all are incorporated.  Do not over mix. 

Toss blueberries in a fine strainer with about one Tablespoon of flour to lightly coat. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries. With an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three quarters full. Add remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of the muffins and divide crumb topping over muffins.  

Bake about 25-30 minutes, until muffins are golden brown. Check muffins half way through and rotate if oven temperature is uneven. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin and it should come out clean; or when touched lightly the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.  

Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan.

Tip: Did you know? Tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking. 

Dedicating today's Muffin Monday's post to the Blueberry Nut Muffin, the most popular muffin! No sweat if fresh blueberries are not available, a good quality frozen berry will do just fine. Note, I usually stock up my freezer with summer blueberries for recipes just like this. Oh, and blueberry just happen to be my favorite muffin too!

Quiche or Tart

Some people think the bigger the better. OK, if you like that kind of stuff. But I've always made my quiche tart-like in delicate proportions. Meaning, packed with flavor, but reaching only an inch high - which is the height of my tart pan. Makes sense, right?

But, more important than the height is the bottom crust. No soggy bottom on my quiche/ tart. Pre-bake lightly, cool, and then your ready to add the filling and resume baking. You are guaranteed, a fully baked non-soggy crust.  

Broccoli Ham Quiche

Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes six servings 

1 nine inch pre-baked pie crust
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
1 cup broccoli florets, cooked & chopped
1 cup Smoked Ham, chopped
4 eggs, well beaten
1 pint half & half
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
Pinch fresh grated nutmeg
Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Beat eggs with half & half, parmesan cheese, hot sauce, nutmeg, and pepper. 

Add olive oil to sauté pan, heat ham, cook onions and broccoli until slightly tender. Cool and put in pre baked pie shell. Pour egg mixture over the filling and place in oven. 

After 20 minutes, the eggs begin to set, lower the heat to 350 degrees for 4-5 minutes, until firm yet moist. 

Baked Bavarian Style

Pretzels are commonly thought to have originated in Bavaria, but they can be traced back to Roman times. Legend says that the crossed ends represent arms folded in prayer.
Easy to make, allow one hour to rise, these pretzels are a great fall addition to an Oktoberfest party or stack them up on dowels and take-along to the weekend tailgate. Mustard optional!

Hot Baked Pretzels Recipe
Makes 12 large pretzels
 
1 teaspoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water, 120 degrees F
4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
 
For Pretzel Wash:
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
 
For The Topping:
1/4 cup kosher salt
Optional Additional Toppings: caraway seeds, sesame seeds, Parmesan cheese
 
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and brown sugar in warm water. Let yeast bloom for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the dough is too wet add the remaining 1/2 cup a flour a little at a time. Knead the dough until smooth and it comes off the sides of the bowl cleanly about two minutes; then remove to a floured board and knead for a total of about 4-5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place (about 80 degrees) until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a large lightly floured cutting board and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about eight inches in length, and twist into a pretzel shape. With a large skimmer, dip each pretzel dough into the baking soda solution and back on cutting board, top each pretzel with salt and any other optional topping.
Place pretzels on a greased baking sheet, bake for 8 minutes, or until browned.
 
[ From Adventures in Grilling Cookbook, by George Hirsch with Marie Bianco.]

Honey Cake

I bought a jar of our locally made honey by Don Sausser Apiaries, a necessary ingredient for today's recipe post. This is one of those cake recipes you can whip up as an impromptu dessert and now that the holidays are here, a special homemade gift from your home kitchen. Those are the best kinds of gifts! 

Honey Orange Cake

recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 8 servings

as seen on George Hirsch Living it UP! TV Series

chefgeorgehirsch.com

2/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup honey, heated

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel

1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly grease and flour bottom and sides of a 9-inch pan.

In medium bowl, blend orange juice, honey, butter, egg yolks and orange peel; set aside. In large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.

In small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Mix orange juice mixture into flour mixture until blended. Gently fold in egg whites. Turn into prepared pan.

Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and serve warm or cool 10 minutes on a wire rack until cooled completely. Just before serving, sprinkle with confectioners sugar. To serve, cut into wedges and garnish, if desired, with peeled orange wedges and whipped cream. 

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