If you are just joining this story, check out this page for a little background :)
The first step in my pizza dough adventure was to find a recipe. I wanted my crust to be 100% whole wheat, which is apparently a tall order. Almost every whole wheat recipe I found had a combination of whole wheat and refined white flour, until I found one on 101 Cookbooks that uses white whole wheat flour.
Before you stop me and say that white whole wheat is a contradiction, let me share what I've learned: most traditional flour is made from hard red winter wheat. Producing all-purpose flour requires stripping away the nutritious bran and germ to leave only the endosperm, which is then ground up. This produces a much lighter and softer flour than the whole-wheat flour produced from the whole grain. But there is another kind of wheat - soft white wheat, or albino wheat, which is lighter in color and has a texture and taste closer to refined white flour. This flour has virtually the same nutritional benefits as the hard red variety, allowing it to be used in its whole grain form without compromising the texture to the same degree as regular whole wheat flour. Sounds pretty amazing, right?
So, despite the fact that my small apartment-sized pantry now houses all-purpose flour, stone-ground whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, whole wheat bread flour, cornmeal, and coconut flour, I decided I had to add white whole wheat flour to the collection. This was not as easy as it sounded - I had to look in about 6 grocery and health food stores before I finally found it!
The other ingredient I needed to find was yeast. Not having any experience with yeast, I bought the first one I found, which was active dry yeast. Upon rereading the recipe at home I realized that it actually called for instant yeast. I had no idea if these were interchangable or completely different, so I did a bit of reading. Apparently the instant variety is more potent, so you can add it directly to dry ingredients rather than activating it first in water. But you can substitute one for the other, adjusting the recipe to use about 20% more active dry yeast and activating it first using some of the liquid in the recipe. Next time I will try to find instant yeast since it seems like it would be much easier to skip the activation step!
I was now set to give it a try, as the other ingredients - salt, olive oil, and cornmeal - were all in my pantry. More to come on how it went in the next installment!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
A few months back, I posted a recipe for Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes that are absolutely delicious - light, fluffy, and sweet. The only problem is that they achieve this by including half all-purpose flour along with the whole wheat. I tried remedying this by using all whole wheat pastry flour in the same recipe, but this led to a completely flat pancake that was not particularly exciting. I decided the next time around I'd find a new recipe, and in looking for something with 100% whole grains I came across Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes on Epicurious. The recipe was originally in Gourmet, which is not a publication I would have generally thought of for healthy versions of classic foods, but the reviews were amazing: out of 90 reviews, 100% would make these again, and the average rating was a full 4 forks! I had to give them a try.
I made a few minor changes (of course!). I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the whole wheat flour, used 2 eggs instead of 1 (some reviewers suggested this but I'm not convinced it was necessary), used regular sugar instead of brown (because my brown sugar is still hard as a rock), and oil instead of melted butter (because I find melting butter to be an annoying step; I compensated for this by buttering my skillet instead of brushing with oil so we'd still have the buttery taste - yum!). Apparently this is a flexible recipe, though - reviewers also used regular milk or a yogurt milk/combo instead of buttermilk, all purpose flour instead of whole wheat, all kinds of oats (the original recipe said quick oats; I used rolled).
The resulting pancakes were really yummy - not as fluffy as the ones with some white flour, but I'm not convinced fluffy is possible in an all whole-grain recipe. I'm also not convinced that pancakes need to be fluffy - I find thinner ones are often more moist and I really enjoy the texture. The oats made these hardy but not heavy, and the flavor from the cinnamon and nutmeg almost made me like them better without syrup. Plus, they freeze and reheat in the toaster beautifully, maintaining the buttery crunchiness on the edges. I highly recommend giving these a try next time you're looking for a weekend treat!
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
adapted from Epicurious
3/4 cup oats (quick is best, but I have used rolled successfully too)
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk, divided (or 3/4 cup milk + 3/4 cup yogurt)
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon sugar
Soak oats in 3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk) 10-15 minutes (my rolled oats soaked about 15 which was fine).
Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, oil, sugar, and remaining 3/4 cup buttermilk (or yogurt). Add this and oat mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Heat a griddle/large skillet over medium heat until hot and lightly butter (I run the end of a stick of butter quickly over the pan). Working in batches, pour batter onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown. Flip with a spatula and cook other side, about 1 minute more. (Lightly grease griddle between batches.)
Freeze leftover pancakes in a zip top bag separated by wax/parchment paper or plastic wrap and reheat in toaster oven.
Makes 20 pancakes using a 2 tablespoon scoop
I made a few minor changes (of course!). I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the whole wheat flour, used 2 eggs instead of 1 (some reviewers suggested this but I'm not convinced it was necessary), used regular sugar instead of brown (because my brown sugar is still hard as a rock), and oil instead of melted butter (because I find melting butter to be an annoying step; I compensated for this by buttering my skillet instead of brushing with oil so we'd still have the buttery taste - yum!). Apparently this is a flexible recipe, though - reviewers also used regular milk or a yogurt milk/combo instead of buttermilk, all purpose flour instead of whole wheat, all kinds of oats (the original recipe said quick oats; I used rolled).
The resulting pancakes were really yummy - not as fluffy as the ones with some white flour, but I'm not convinced fluffy is possible in an all whole-grain recipe. I'm also not convinced that pancakes need to be fluffy - I find thinner ones are often more moist and I really enjoy the texture. The oats made these hardy but not heavy, and the flavor from the cinnamon and nutmeg almost made me like them better without syrup. Plus, they freeze and reheat in the toaster beautifully, maintaining the buttery crunchiness on the edges. I highly recommend giving these a try next time you're looking for a weekend treat!
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
adapted from Epicurious
3/4 cup oats (quick is best, but I have used rolled successfully too)
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk, divided (or 3/4 cup milk + 3/4 cup yogurt)
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon sugar
Soak oats in 3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk) 10-15 minutes (my rolled oats soaked about 15 which was fine).
Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, oil, sugar, and remaining 3/4 cup buttermilk (or yogurt). Add this and oat mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Heat a griddle/large skillet over medium heat until hot and lightly butter (I run the end of a stick of butter quickly over the pan). Working in batches, pour batter onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown. Flip with a spatula and cook other side, about 1 minute more. (Lightly grease griddle between batches.)
Freeze leftover pancakes in a zip top bag separated by wax/parchment paper or plastic wrap and reheat in toaster oven.
Makes 20 pancakes using a 2 tablespoon scoop
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Pizza Story (1) - Introduction
A few months ago, I read Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which is about the author's family's decision to move to a farm in West Virginia and subsist almost entirely on home or locally grown and produced foods for one year. I found their commitment to organic, local, and sustainable food to be incredibly inspiring. And while my lack of green thumb and current residence in a high rise apartment building without outdoor space to call my own does not really facilitate my ability to grow food, reading this book did reignite my motivation to purchase local food and make things from scratch whenever possible.
One of the Kingsolver family's traditions was to have homemade pizza every Friday night. For many people, making pizza at home means throwing a frozen pie into the oven. The somewhat more motivated might use pre-made crust, jarred sauce, and some shredded processed mozzarella. The Kingsolver family, however, took this about 100 steps further, even making their own cheese and growing their own tomatoes! I think that that pizza is one of the most universally loved foods throughout much of the world - even my father who doesn't like tomato sauce or cheese (I know, hard to believe, right?) ranks pizza on the top of his list! But it also often falls under the unhealthy category, presumably because it generally consists of white crust loaded with tons of cheese and other unhealthy toppings. But just like mac & cheese, I believe pizza can be a very wholesome meal when made properly (whole grain crust, moderate cheese) and topped with veggies and/or served with a big salad.
One day I hope to eat a pizza in which every component was created from basic ingredients in my home. Before reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I didn't even know it was possible to make cheese at home, but I now have a cheesemaking book tucked away on my shelf for a future project :). But just as every journey starts with a single step, I've decided to start with figuring out how to make my own wholesome crust. Given my lack of dough making experience (I have never made anything using yeast!) I have a feeling it's going to take me a while to get this right.
Please feel free to join me on this pizza journey as I document each step along the way in a few blog posts to come over the next several weeks, or months, or maybe years :)
Read on for part 2 - the ingredients!
One of the Kingsolver family's traditions was to have homemade pizza every Friday night. For many people, making pizza at home means throwing a frozen pie into the oven. The somewhat more motivated might use pre-made crust, jarred sauce, and some shredded processed mozzarella. The Kingsolver family, however, took this about 100 steps further, even making their own cheese and growing their own tomatoes! I think that that pizza is one of the most universally loved foods throughout much of the world - even my father who doesn't like tomato sauce or cheese (I know, hard to believe, right?) ranks pizza on the top of his list! But it also often falls under the unhealthy category, presumably because it generally consists of white crust loaded with tons of cheese and other unhealthy toppings. But just like mac & cheese, I believe pizza can be a very wholesome meal when made properly (whole grain crust, moderate cheese) and topped with veggies and/or served with a big salad.
One day I hope to eat a pizza in which every component was created from basic ingredients in my home. Before reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I didn't even know it was possible to make cheese at home, but I now have a cheesemaking book tucked away on my shelf for a future project :). But just as every journey starts with a single step, I've decided to start with figuring out how to make my own wholesome crust. Given my lack of dough making experience (I have never made anything using yeast!) I have a feeling it's going to take me a while to get this right.
Please feel free to join me on this pizza journey as I document each step along the way in a few blog posts to come over the next several weeks, or months, or maybe years :)
Read on for part 2 - the ingredients!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know about my quest for the perfect oatmeal cookie (see here and here if you're just catching up!). Well, a couple of months ago I discovered Sweet + Natural, a great blog for desserts made with wholesome ingredients. I've already had great success with Carrot Cupcakes and Banana Pumpkin Oat Muffins from the site, so I thought I'd give her Blueberry Coconut "Oaties" a try, too! The idea of throwing dried blueberries into a cookie was intriguing, and the recipe was pleasantly healthy for a cookie - if eaten in moderation (not easy!), they are moderate in sugar, have oil instead of butter, and get lots of good nutrition from oats, whole wheat flour, and blueberries.
After a couple of taste testers, the concensus seems to be that the blueberries could easily pass for raisins if they didn't know better, so feel free to use whichever you have/prefer. But the cookies themselves came out great. Not the most moist I've ever had, but I didn't miss the butter or extra sugar in a traditional recipe. I think the quest may have to continue, though, for a more decadent version when I'm in need!
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened dried blueberries
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and oats. In a separate larger bowl, mix together oil, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until blended. Stir in blueberries and coconut.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes to make it easier to work with (it will be sticky if used right away). Preheat oven to 350 when you put them into the fridge or whenever you are ready to bake.
Roll tablespoons into balls (I used my 1 tablespoon cookie scoop), flatten slightly and place on cookie sheet (note that these cookies do not spread at all, so make them into whatever shape you want your final cookie to be). Bake approximately 8 minutes until edges are just barely starting to brown.
Makes 24 small cookies
After a couple of taste testers, the concensus seems to be that the blueberries could easily pass for raisins if they didn't know better, so feel free to use whichever you have/prefer. But the cookies themselves came out great. Not the most moist I've ever had, but I didn't miss the butter or extra sugar in a traditional recipe. I think the quest may have to continue, though, for a more decadent version when I'm in need!
Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Sweet + Natural
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened dried blueberries
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and oats. In a separate larger bowl, mix together oil, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until blended. Stir in blueberries and coconut.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes to make it easier to work with (it will be sticky if used right away). Preheat oven to 350 when you put them into the fridge or whenever you are ready to bake.
Roll tablespoons into balls (I used my 1 tablespoon cookie scoop), flatten slightly and place on cookie sheet (note that these cookies do not spread at all, so make them into whatever shape you want your final cookie to be). Bake approximately 8 minutes until edges are just barely starting to brown.
Makes 24 small cookies
Friday, April 23, 2010
Blueberry Bran Muffins
Way back in December, I told you about a yummy Bran Muffin recipe I found. And while these were really tasty, they were a wee bit on the heavy side. Ok, so they were a lot heavy. I think the combination of bran and stone ground wheat flour made them really dense, so ever since I discovered whole wheat pastry flour, I've been dying to try these again. And am I ever glad I did!
But before I tell you to just sub the pastry version in my original recipe, I have to admit that as hard as I try, it seems as though I am incapable of making only one change at a time. In this instance my reasoning was purely circumstantial. First of all, earlier this week I made my favorite Broccoli Slaw recipe which requires a half cup of buttermilk, which left me with 3 1/2 cups to find good uses for! The other problem was that my brown sugar was hard as a rock (even with my fancy terra cotta thingy in it!), and I know there are all sorts of tricks for fixing that but I just couldn't be bothered for 2 measly tablespoons.
All this means that the resulting muffins are lower in fat and sugar, AND taste better! As I hoped, they are much lighter. They are not particularly sweet - they really benefit from the sweetness in the blueberries, so I'd definitely recommend including fruit. But the texture is really nice, and I personally enjoy the more pure taste of bran. These are especially delicious warm with a shmear of butter. I hope you enjoy!
Bran Muffinsadapted from me!
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk or yogurt
1 egg
1/2 cup honey or agave
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup frozen blueberries (optional, or other frozen/dried fruit)
Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, bran, salt, baking soda and sugar).
In a second larger bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, honey, and butter. Add the dry ingredients and fold in until everything comes just together. Fold in add-ins. Do not overmix!
Either grease a mini-muffin tin (I sprayed with canola oil) or line the tin with small muffin papers. Fill each 3/4 full (mine were filled nearly to the brim). Bake 12 minutes, until muffins are golden on top and cooked through. You can also make larger muffins in a standard size muffin pan, you just need to bake them about 5 minutes longer.
Makes about two dozen mini bran muffins or one dozen larger ones
But before I tell you to just sub the pastry version in my original recipe, I have to admit that as hard as I try, it seems as though I am incapable of making only one change at a time. In this instance my reasoning was purely circumstantial. First of all, earlier this week I made my favorite Broccoli Slaw recipe which requires a half cup of buttermilk, which left me with 3 1/2 cups to find good uses for! The other problem was that my brown sugar was hard as a rock (even with my fancy terra cotta thingy in it!), and I know there are all sorts of tricks for fixing that but I just couldn't be bothered for 2 measly tablespoons.
All this means that the resulting muffins are lower in fat and sugar, AND taste better! As I hoped, they are much lighter. They are not particularly sweet - they really benefit from the sweetness in the blueberries, so I'd definitely recommend including fruit. But the texture is really nice, and I personally enjoy the more pure taste of bran. These are especially delicious warm with a shmear of butter. I hope you enjoy!
Bran Muffins
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk or yogurt
1 egg
1/2 cup honey or agave
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup frozen blueberries (optional, or other frozen/dried fruit)
Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, bran, salt, baking soda and sugar).
In a second larger bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, honey, and butter. Add the dry ingredients and fold in until everything comes just together. Fold in add-ins. Do not overmix!
Either grease a mini-muffin tin (I sprayed with canola oil) or line the tin with small muffin papers. Fill each 3/4 full (mine were filled nearly to the brim). Bake 12 minutes, until muffins are golden on top and cooked through. You can also make larger muffins in a standard size muffin pan, you just need to bake them about 5 minutes longer.
Makes about two dozen mini bran muffins or one dozen larger ones
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Kale Chips
Last summer, we joined a CSA (community supported agriculture), which meant that we became shareholders in a local farm and received a selection of fruit and vegetables weekly from May through November. I loved having fresh organic produce, and was especially happy to be forced into finding uses for items I may have never purchased on my own. Some of my experiments were failures (I was never quite able to make bok choy taste good!), but we discovered some new favorites in the process. Like kale chips.
Did you know that if you bake kale leaves that they get light and crispy and melt in your mouth?? I would have never guessed - I always think of cooked greens as soggy and bitter, but something miraculous happens when kale is cooked in the oven just lightly tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt - hubby and I start fighting over who gets to finish the leafy greens :)
Kale Chips
adapted from too many sources to list
1 bunch kale (any kind should work)
olive oil
sea salt
Preheat oven to 350, and cover a large baking sheet (or 2!) with foil or parchment for easy clean-up.
Remove the stems and center ribs from kale leaves and cut or tear into pieces. Place in a large bowl and toss with a drizzle of olive oil. Place on prepared baking sheet(s) in a single layer and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. The chips do not need to be turned, but I'd recommend starting to check on them after about 15 minutes to make sure they don't burn.
Did you know that if you bake kale leaves that they get light and crispy and melt in your mouth?? I would have never guessed - I always think of cooked greens as soggy and bitter, but something miraculous happens when kale is cooked in the oven just lightly tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt - hubby and I start fighting over who gets to finish the leafy greens :)
Kale Chips
adapted from too many sources to list
1 bunch kale (any kind should work)
olive oil
sea salt
Preheat oven to 350, and cover a large baking sheet (or 2!) with foil or parchment for easy clean-up.
Remove the stems and center ribs from kale leaves and cut or tear into pieces. Place in a large bowl and toss with a drizzle of olive oil. Place on prepared baking sheet(s) in a single layer and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. The chips do not need to be turned, but I'd recommend starting to check on them after about 15 minutes to make sure they don't burn.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Carrot Zucchini Muffins
Well, I'm sad to report that my recent Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins, which I said may be perfect, are not - while I still stand by the deliciousness and healthfulness claims, they have the fatal flaw of being completely rejected by the munchkin. And while hubby thought it was good news that there would be more left for him, a big reason I make muffins is so that I can have healthy snacks on hand for the munchkin. I'm pretty sure that the reason she didn't like them was the walnuts and cranberries, so I decided to make a similar veggie-packed muffin without the mix-ins. I could have remade the same recipe, but I have been wanting to make my Carrot Cupcakes again as a muffin (i.e., no glaze), so I thought maybe I could use that recipe and replace half of the carrots with zucchini. And while I was at it, I decided to play around with an agave-sugar mixture instead of all agave in order to test a hypothesis that agave makes things brown a lot and also leads to stickiness.
In the end I didn't quite solve the stickiness problem, but they sure came out tasty. Next time I'll try without any agave and possibly cut down on the sugar amount altogether (they have a moderate amount, but are pretty sweet anyway). In the mean time I'd just recommend greasing the pan really well or using muffin liners when you make these, because the result is delicious and packed with wholesome ingredients. And they even passed the munchkin test - what more can I say :)
Carrot Zucchini Muffins
adapted from me!
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350. Line 1 1/2 muffin tins with paper liners or spray well with oil (I got 24 mini + 6 standard muffins).
In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. In a large bowl, mix together carrots, zucchini, coconut, agave, eggs, applesauce and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until well blended. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes for mini and 25 minutes for regular muffins until brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans.
Makes the equivalent of 18 standard or 36 mini muffins
In the end I didn't quite solve the stickiness problem, but they sure came out tasty. Next time I'll try without any agave and possibly cut down on the sugar amount altogether (they have a moderate amount, but are pretty sweet anyway). In the mean time I'd just recommend greasing the pan really well or using muffin liners when you make these, because the result is delicious and packed with wholesome ingredients. And they even passed the munchkin test - what more can I say :)
Carrot Zucchini Muffins
adapted from me!
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350. Line 1 1/2 muffin tins with paper liners or spray well with oil (I got 24 mini + 6 standard muffins).
In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. In a large bowl, mix together carrots, zucchini, coconut, agave, eggs, applesauce and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until well blended. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes for mini and 25 minutes for regular muffins until brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans.
Makes the equivalent of 18 standard or 36 mini muffins
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