Happy Birthday, hubby! Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

It's my husband's birthday today!  He finally caught up with me (for a few months).  He LOVES pumpkin pie, so when I offered to make a pumpkin cheesecake for him tonight, he enthusiastically said YESYESYES!

I found a recipe on Once Upon a Chef that looked promising...

Ingredients:

• Crust
• 7-1/2 ounces gingersnaps (or 1-1/2 cups finely ground gingersnap crumbs)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• I doubled it because I wanted to go up the sides a bit.  It was too much! I'll probably toast the left over crumbs to use as a crumble for something...

• Filling
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée
• Not pumpkin pie filling, or it'll be too sweet and too spiced!
• 1-1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 5 large eggs, room temperature

• Caramel sauce
• There is a recipe on the original above, but I'm opting to use the Apple Cider Caramel I made last week.  Yummmmmy!!

Instructions:

1.  Mise en place the crust:
   
2. Preheat oven to 325°F.
3. Wrap a 10" springform pan in several layers of aluminum foil (heavy duty is best) and spray the inside with non-stick cooking spray.
    
• This step is to keep the water out when you do the water bath.  We discovered later that I didn't have a roasting pan the right size, so really didn't need to do this step. Oh well.
4. Blitz the cookies and brown sugar in a food processor until a fine dust.
5. Stream in melted butter while pulsing until combined
6. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the springform pan and up the sides a bit, as desired.
7. Bake crust @ 325° for 15 minutes.
8. Remove and set on a cooling rack while you make the filling.
9. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil to use for the water bath.
10. Mise en place the filling:
    
11. In a sauce pan, combine pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt.
12. Bring to a "sputter" (this mixture is too thick to really boil), stirring constantly.
13. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes until it is thick, dark, and shiny.  Stir constantly!
    
14. Put the hot mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer (you can use a large food processor if you have an 11-12C one).
15. Beat for a minute or so to release steam and smooth out the texture.
16. Add the cream and cream cheese and process for 30 seconds to a minute.  Scrape the sides of the bowl, as needed.
     
17. Add the eggs and lightly mix until just combined (15 seconds at most).  Do not over-mix this!
     
18. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan and crust into a larger roasting pan with high edges. Pour the batter into the cooled crust.
    
19. Pour enough boiling water (step 9) into the roasting pan to reach 1/2 way up the springform pan.
• I didn't have a roasting pan (ooooops), so I put a cake tin filled with water into the oven to at least introduce some moisture.  My cheesecake cracked a little, but not enough to worry about.
20. Bake at 325° until just set - about 1 1/2 hours.
21. Remove and put the entire roasting pan on a wire rack to cool for 45 minutes.
22. Remove the springform pan from the water bath, discard the foil, and put on a wire rack to continue to cool for 3 hours.
23. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (and up to overnight).

Here it is all ready to go - we just have to wait 7 hours for it to cool!

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

Last night I posted a recipe I tried for Apple Cider Caramel.  Yummmmmm

Now today, the recipe I made to go with it:  Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts (based off the recipe from King Arthur's Flour)!  I don't have a doughnut pan (yet), so made them in my mini-muffin pans to resemble doughnut holes.  It worked pretty well, I think!

Ingredients
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup applesauce, unsweetened
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons boiled cider
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
1/8 teaspoon ground clove*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour

* The original calls for just cinnamon; I added more for the flavors I like.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Put 1/2 C cider into a sauce pan, bring to a boil, and reduce until just a few Tbsps are left.  Set aside to cool.
3. In the stand of a mixer, combine all the ingredients except the flour and mix until well combined.
4. Add the flour and fold in gently until just mixed.  Lumps are ok; overmixing is bad.  Overmixing = tough nuggets that resemble doughnut holes but are no fun to eat.
5. Spray mini muffin pans (for doughnut holes) or doughnut tins with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Fill pans.
   
7. Bake ~10 minutes for doughnut holes or 15-18 minutes for doughnut pans.  A toothpick inserted at the end should come out clean, like with cake.
8. Loosen doughnuts from pan and let cool for 5 minutes.
9. Turn out onto cooling racks to cool.
10. (Optional) While still warm, but not hot, toss in a bowl of cinnamon-sugar to coat.
11. (Optional) Drizzle/glaze/dunk in the Apple Cider Caramel sauce from last night.

I skipped the sugar coating once I tasted them. SO yummy without the extra sweetness.  The caramel is a nice addition instead.

Apple Cider Caramel

I found the recipe on Cookies and Cups... and knew I wanted to make some to go with the baked doughnuts that are coming up next!

Ingredients
1 cup apple cider
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup salted butter, cut into cubes and room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream, room temperature
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. On medium-high heat, bring cider to a boil on the stovetop.
2. Boil for ~12 minutes.  It should be reduced to about 1/4 cup.
3. Add in sugar, butter, cream, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir until combined.
4. Boil for 2-3 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
6. Cool.

Lake of molten caramel

An apology, a promise, and a teaser for things to come very soon!

So... You've probably noticed that it's been ages since I posted.  Life got a wee bit chaotic for me and work has been intense (in a good way)... so I have had very little time or (if I'm being really honest) energy for baking at all.

But it's October.  It's Autumn.  This is my favorite season (even if Arizona weather isn't cooperating).  So.... an apology for being so absent, in the form of my favorite thing: fresh apple cider and the things we can make with it.

I haven't found good apple cider here yet, so I'm saving my hot spiced cider recipe for later.  For now, I grabbed a gallon of the store brand (after making sure it was really cider and only cider).

Things I'm planning on making:

• Apple Cider Caramel (yes, really)
• Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts (probably doughnut holes since I don't have a doughnut pan at the moment)
• I'm still on the hunt for a molasses cake doughnut recipe - My grandfather used to get us some from somewhere in Maine and, although I haven't had them in years, I still crave them.  (When I say years, I mean like... 20-30 years probably).
• Hot Spiced Cider (with a twist) once I find a local cider
• Maybe I'll entertain the idea of making my own cider...

**Funny side note: I've now written "Cider" so many times, it looks wrong...

Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

I got this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine and first made it about 2 years ago. I love it - dill and caraway are two of my favorite flavors!  Making it with purple, white/yellow, and red-skinned potatoes gives it a little flair for the weekend cookouts, and tastes amazing, too!

Ingredients
2 lbs potatoes
1 shallot, chopped finely
1/3 C olive oil
S&P
1/4 C vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
2 tsp toasted caraway seeds

Instructions

1. Cover potatoes with cold salted water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender; drain and transfer to a large bowl.
• I found that my purple potatoes needed more time than the others - I would recommend starting them a bit earlier or cooking the potatoes in color/type batches.
2. In a small, dry skillet, lightly toast the caraway seeds until warm and the aroma begins to fill the air.  Remove and set aside until later.
3. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped shallot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until soft.
• The original called for 1/2 an onion, chopped.  I'm not a huge fan of onion and find that I prefer the gentler taste of a shallot.  Use what you like.
4. Remove from heat and mix in vinegar.
• The original recipe calls for apple cider vinegar. I'm planning on playing with various vinegars to get a taste that I really love. I might try something more sweet and less abrasive. I love the bite of vinegar, but I don't like when it's all I taste.
5. Add to warm potatoes along with dill and caraway seeds. Toss, crushing potatoes slightly; season with salt and pepper.
• It's important to add the dressing while the potatoes are still warm or hot. They will drink up the dressing and infuse each bite with flavor.

This is wonderful served warm or even room temperature.  It's great for picnics and cookouts because it doesn't have mayonaisse (no need to try to keep it cool).

Update: Homemade Peanut Butter

2 weekends ago, I posted a recipe for homemade roasted peanut butter.

What I didn't mention was that we didn't actually eat much of it.  It came out very dry and firm.  Now, I had an idea that came from another recipe I'd seen for Creamy Peanut Butter. The difference?  Nourishing Joy put the ground peanut butter into a saucepan with warm palm  oil and kind of cooked it.  I thought it sounded odd (and I wasn't in the mood to go searching for palm oil...), so I didn't bother.

I'm still not sold on using palm oil in my peanut butter.  Part of why I'm making it at home is to LIMIT the number of ingredients.  This seemed to be counter-productive.  But... I have peanut oil.  So... I put some peanut oil into a sauce pan, dumped in my very dry and crumbly peanut "butter" and put it on medium low for awhile.  Stirred it about.  Mashed up the lumps.  Let everything come together in a nice melty mess.

Let it cool for a bit (so I didn't shock my mason jars into breaking) and I have a much better consistency.  MUCH.

Now to foist it on my guinea pig (a.k.a. husband) to see what he thinks. :)

Asiago Cheese Bread

It probably comes as no surprise that I like cheese bread.  I've already made a Cheddar Cheese Bread back in January.  Lately, I've been craving Asiago - so I found a recipe at Seasons and Suppers and (of course) adjusted it.

Asiago Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

• Dough
• 14 oz bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2.5 Tbsp sugar (white or brown) or 1.75 Tbsp honey or agave
• 1/2 C lukewarm water
• 1/2 C (plus 1 Tbsp) milk or buttermilk
• 1 pkg (7 g/.25 oz/2.25 tsp) Active Dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• Filling
• 1.5 C Asiago Cheese
• 1/4 C butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or about 2 tsp. minced fresh) - Optional
• 1/4 cup minced herbs (parsley works well) - Optional

Instructions:

1. Mise en place!
   
2. Melt the 2 Tbsp of butter and set aside to cool.
   
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, salt, and sugar.
   
• Note: If you're using honey or agave, add them to the liquid ingredients instead of the dry.
4. Warm the water and milk to ~105°-110°F.  Add the yeast and let it bloom for 5-10 minutes, until it is bubbly on top.
   
5. Add the yeast mixture and cooled melted butter to the flour mixture.  Using the dough hook, mix the dough for 2 minutes.
   
6. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
7. Continue kneading the dough until it is smooth, soft, and tacky.
8. Turn the dough into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel.  Let rise somewhere warm until doubled (about 90 minutes).
   
• For me, somewhere warm is my oven.  I turn it on to the lowest temperature for a few minutes and then turn it off.  You can also just turn the light on, if you have one.  It will be enough warmth to encourage your wee yeasties to rise!
• Alternate: If you want, you can cover the dough and put it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days (according to the original recipe).  I haven't tried this yet, but I'm sure I will.  A long, cold proof is supposed to be amazing for the flavor of the bread.  If you opt for the refrigerator proof, bring it out about 2 hours before you'd like to work with it, allowing it to come to room temperature before the next step.
9. Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out.  Roll it into a rectangle about 10" by 16".
10. Spread the softened butter across the whole rectangle and cover with cheese, garlic, and herbs.
• I opted to just do cheese and lots of it!
• Note: I did too much cheese and too much butter!  Stick to the recipe...
11. Starting on the shorter side, roll the dough into a tight roll and pinch the final edge closed tightly.
12. Grease or line a 9x4" loaf pan and place the bread in, seam side down.
    
13. Cover and let rise somewhere warm until over the rim of the pan.
• Again, I used my oven as a proof-box.
14. Remove the pan from the oven!
15. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
16. Bake for 45-50 minutes.  Cover with foil if the bread is browning too quickly.
17. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before trying to remove.
18. Remove bread and let cool at least an hour on a cooling rack.

Enjoy!!

You'll notice the cheese seemed to sink to the bottom... and I think I used too much butter.

Homemade Creamy Roasted Peanut Butter

I'm a total addict.  I LOVE peanut butter.  In anything.  On anything.  By itself (on a spoon..mmmmmm)!

So I tend to buy a lot of peanut butter and lately I've been thinking that it's silly to buy it when I could make it (now that I have a really good food processor).  So I researched - because that's what I do - and came up with this!

Creamy Roasted Peanut Butter

Ingredients:
2 cups peanuts
sweetener (honey, agave, molasses, maple syrup, sugar)
fine sea salt
oil (optional) - peanut would be best, I'm using EVOO because it's what I have on hand and I like it

Instructions:

1. Mise en place - this one is simple!
   
2. Put the peanuts on a sheet pan and toast in a 350° F oven for 5-10 minutes.
• Mine were already roasted, so I only needed a few quick minutes to warm the oils; the peanut butter is supposed to be smoother that way.
  
• The nuts are ready when you can begin to smell them and they are glistening a bit.  Don't let them go too far - burnt isn't the flavor we're going for today!
  
  
3. Put the nuts into a strong food processor and go for it.  It's really this easy!
• There are a few stages that you'll see:
• Chopped nuts
  
• Graham cracker crumb-like
  
• Rough nut butter
  
• Peanut butter!
  
4. At this point, add in the sweetener, oil, and salt.  These are all completely optional!
• I prefer mine sweet, so I used honey.  I'll probably try agave another time.
• Mine was a bit thick, so I did add some oil.  I need to pick up some peanut oil at some point, so I'm not changing the flavor too much.  I used a small amount of olive oil this time and it still tastes great.
• I had a can of peanuts handy, so they were already salted.  I tasted and only added enough to make my taste buds happy (and I do tend to like salty items).
5. Find an airtight container and you're all done!
   
6. Store this in the refrigerator for up to 2 months!  (HAHA - that's really funny!  Like it'll last that long!)

I love this because it's so easy and I have control over the texture and taste.  This picky eater is always happier when she is in control over her food!  That's what got me into practicing in my kitchen in the first place!!

Arizona Spring

Golden sunrise hidden behind a soft grey blanket of clouds
Gentle velvet brush of the air on my face
Liquid promises in the scent of impending rain
A rare and beautiful spring morning




**Not sure what prompted me to write this morning, but I found words for how I felt and I loved them.  So I'm sharing.  No, it's not about food...or my puppy.  But it's from me. :)

I'm back... with my super-easy Chipotle Pasta Sauce!

It's been over a month since I cooked or posted anything.  Several things have happened:

1. I discovered that I'm allergic to my sourdough starter, or something in it.  The cooked products are fine, but when I have it out to "wake up" and start to use it, my eyes get red, itchy, swollen, watery, etc.  I look (and feel) a mess.  So for now, the sourdough experiment is done.
2. We got a PUPPY!  We got a pug and named him Hercules Mulligan (Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction. When you knock me down I get the f*ck back up again!*)  We're calling him Mulligan.

* This is a line from Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway show Hamilton.  My husband and I are a bit obsessed with it and knew that we wanted to name the pup after one of the characters.  Hercules Mulligan (played incredibly by Oak Onaodowan) was a patriot spy during the American Revolution, and a great friend of Hamilton.

Now on to my recipe for the evening.  This is something I've made up after having a nice spicy pasta one night and knowing I could do something better (and cheaper) at home!

This is more like a set of instructions, since this is a total cheat recipe.  I don't MAKE anything.  I dump things into pots and serve it up as something magical.  It's amazing and there is no shame.  We're all busy and need a quick go-to recipe once in awhile.  The beauty of recipes like this is that you can adjust it to your own tastes.

Jenn's Guidelines for Chipotle Pasta Sauce

 Ingredients

• 2 24oz jars of marinara sauce
• Cheat #1: I use store-bought.  You can make your own, if you want.  I don't.  I get 2 different jars to vary the flavors a bit.
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• I buy a can of them and buzz them up in my food processor.  Then I freeze the paste in snack-size zip-top bags.  This way I have what I need.
• I use a good amount (you can see in the picture below).  Probably 2 Tbsp?  My husband and I like things spicy, so this is...
• 8 oz of cream cheese
• Cheat #2: I use the jalepeño, to add to the overall flavor and creaminess with one ingredient.
• Cream/milk products help diffuse the heat, so if heat is a problem, don't leave this out!
• 1 lb dry pasta
• Cheat #3: Yes, I use boxed pasta.  Let's be real: this is meant to be a quick meal.  If I had time to make my own pasta, I'd probably have time to make my own sauce from scratch.
• I used mini penne because it's what we had and it's handy.  Use what you like, but I recommend penne or rigatoni, etc.
• Extra-virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• Splash of milk or cream, optional
• Grated parmesan to top

Instructions

1. Mise en Place (of course!)
   
2. Follow the directions on the pasta package to prepare.  Don't forget to salt your water!
3. While the pasta is boiling, dump the rest of the ingredients into another pot and stir until heated through and the cream cheese is melted.
• Yes, really.  That's the whole thing. :)
  
4. Add a splash of milk or cream toward the end if you'd like to have a more pink sauce.
   
5. Add herbs or spices or meats to your taste.  I don't.  I choose jarred sauces that are different but complementary and don't stress about the rest.
6. Plate up some pasta and top with sauce and grated parmesan.
7. Enjoy!

It really is that easy.  We have more than enough for dinner tomorrow and a few lunches for me.  It's quick but different enough to not feel like jarred sauce.

It's good to be back, practicing in my kitchen!  Let me know if you try this and what changes you try!  I'd love to be inspired by you!!

The Clever Carrot's Sourdough Noir

I skipped posting last weekend, so this will be a mid-week catch-up post.  I turned 43 on Monday, so decided to take a break from cooking and posting.  I love celebrating birthdays - I think it's important to celebrate life and not worry about the numbers.

Maybe because it's my birthday week... or because I'm a girl... or because I have a love-love relationship with it... whatever the reason, I have been craving chocolate.  I am swimming in sourdough starter (haven't figured out how to tame it yet) so I went looking for something chocolate-y.  I decided to try the Sourdough Noir from The Clever Carrot.

I didn't take a lot of pictures this time - call it part of my lazy birthday week attitude. ;)

The Clever Carrot's Sourdough Noir

Ingredients:

• 150g active fed starter
• 350g water, preferably filtered
• 50g sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
• 500g bread flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 8g fine sea salt
• 150g semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Mise en place
• Get your stuff together.  You'll use almost all the ingredients in the first 10 minutes.
2. Autolyse
• Combine the starter, water, sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined.
• It will be wet.
• I used strong coffee in place of most of the water.  Coffee tends to enhance the chocolate flavor and I'm wanting a chocolatel-y bread here.
• Sift in the bread flour and cocoa powder.
• Mix to combine.
• I used my stand mixer with the dough hook.  Don't knead it to death, just get it to combine into a slightly sticky dough.
• Cover and let rest (autolyse) for 2 hours.
  
  ***Note: This time I decided to use my mixer to help with the dough.  My last few I've been trying to be a "purist" and hand mix only.  The mixer worked out much much better for me.  I'm giving up the "purist ideal" and going with what actually works for me.  No one is going to come into my kitchen and tell me I'm doing it wrong; if it tastes good and Scott and I like it.... it's good.  Done.  No stressing about what I'm supposed to do or what it's supposed to be.  If it's edible and I'm happy with it.... then it's perfect... for us.
  
3. Dough
• After the autolyse, add the salt and any other add-ins you would like.
• Knead gently until combined.
• The original calls for walnuts and raisins (65g each) along with the chocolate chips, but if you know me you know I don't like nuts or raisins in anything.  It's a texture thing.
• I realized partway in that I didn't have any chocolate chips.  Ooops.  I do have a chocolate bar.  It's not quite enough, but it's better than nothing.
4. Bulk Proof
• Once the salt and add-ins are mixed in, cover and let rise.
• The original calls for 4-12 hours at room temperature, depending on the temperature of your home.
• I'm choosing to do a refrigerated retard for this bulk proof.  This will buy me some time, since I don't want to bake for 24 hours and should intensify the flavors as well.
5. Divide, form, and second rise
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.  This recipe will make 2 smaller loaves than the recipes I've been doing previously.
• Gently form into 2 rounds.
• Line 2 bowls or bannetons with clean towels and dust generously with rice flour.
• Rice flour doesn't mix with the moisture from the dough and make a paste.  It stays dry and becomes like ball-bearings to keep the dough from sticking.  It's a HUGE difference and really worth having on hand.
• Invert the dough into the bowls so the bottom is now the top.
• Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.
• Let rise for another hour.
6. Prepare
• While the dough is resting and rising the last time, place your pans in the oven and preheat to 400°F.
• When the dough finishes rising, invert it out of the bowls onto parchment.
• PARCHMENT!!  Do not forget this step like I did once before...
• Slash the top of the loaves with a sharp knife or bread lame.
• Using the parchment, lift and lower the dough into a pan and cover.
7. Bake
• Place the covered pans into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove the lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
8. Cool
• Using the parchment, carefully lift the breads out of the pans and put on a rack to cool.
• Let it cool completely before cutting into it!!
• Yeah.... good luck with that... it smells SO chocolate-y!!

The bread is chewy and the crust is crisp but not super-crunchy (so I'm a happy girl).  It tastes like chocolate, but isn't overly sweet either.  I would definitely make this again... and I'm sending one of the loaves to Scott's daughters so they can enjoy this treat!

The Search for Softer Sweeter Sourdough

This weekend, I'm trying a variation on the Sourdough loaf from last weekend.  It was so good, but it was very chewy with a very firm crust.  I'm a soft bread kind of girl.  I know that people enjoy the artisan, homemade feeling of a really crunchy crust, but not me.  So if I'm going to make sourdough breads more frequently, I'm going to have to find a way to make it more enjoyable for me.

Thankfully, lots of people have played with this before, so I'm not having to reinvent the wheel.  I can just work off what others have done.  This week, I started with Home Joys Soft Sourdough Bread and then applied some of what I'm learning about sourdough from a few websites (like Northwest Sourdough) and a few Facebook groups.

Softer Sweeter Sourdough

Ingredients:

• 1 C (8 fl oz) milk
• 1/4 C oil or melted butter (I used butter)
• 1/4 C honey
• 12 oz whole wheat flour
• 12 oz AP flour
• 4 oz water, divided
• 1 Tbsp fine sea salt
• 2 C active sourdough starter

Instructions:

1. Mise en place
• You know I always say this, because it really does help.  Start organized. Put things away as you use them. You'll be glad you built this habit.
  
• But Jenn!  Sourdough takes all day to make; I don't want my counters cluttered that long!
• You're right - but we use up almost all the ingredients in the first 10 minutes.  Trust me!
2. Mix the base of the dough.
• Mix milk, butter (or oil), honey, flours, and 2 oz of water together until well combined.

  

  I should have trusted my instincts here that I didn't like how this looked...

  
  
• I used all unbleached AP flour.  It's a texture thing for me; I've never really liked whole wheat flours.  I'm working up to it.
• Always try to use the same measuring utensil for the oil/butter/greasy product and the sticky one.  In this case, I measure the butter first (even though I can measure it from the wrapper, I pour it into a measuring cup).  Then, when I measure the honey, it doesn't stick to the cup!  Magic.  Seriously.  I learned this in my 40s.  I've been trying to cook for... a lot longer.  This works for honey, molasses, maple syrup, etc.  You're welcome.
• Cover and let rest for 2 hours.
• This is what is called autolyse.  It lets the flours hydrate and begins the gentle process of building the gluten that holds your bread together, without over-handling it and making it tough.
• We do not want salt in here yet.
• Last week, my starter was part of the autolyse.  This week I'm trying it without the starter.  I've read about both ways and thought I'd try it this way.
• Combine the salt and remaining 2 oz of water in a small bowl and allow to dissolve.
  
• I had to warm up my water a bit to get the salt to actually dissolve. 10 to 15 seconds in the microwave.
• We're doing this to help with the distribution of salt in the next step.  Otherwise, we might end up with pockets of salt in our dough.
3. Mix the final dough together.
• Add the starter to the rested autolysed (Is that even a word??) part and combine.
  

  

  Uhhhh... This is gonna be tricky...
• Once it is mostly combined, add the salt water and squish it with your hands until combined and forming a rough dough.

  

  I don't like the looks of this at all...

  
  
• This is supposed to be a wet dough (like last week), so it will not look like a finished, kneaded loaf like we saw in the yeast doughs I made last month.  It will come together in the end, I think...
4. Stretch & Fold (S&F)
• Every 30 minutes for 2 hours, stretch the dough and fold it back on itself 4 times (12 o'clock, 3, 6, and 9).
• You can read my attempt at a description on last week's recipe, or search the internet for some videos.
  
  **At this point in the game, I need to admit something.  I'm an hour into my planned S&F... and it's a mess.  An embarrassing mess (I didn't even take a picture).  So I just dumped it all into the bowl of my stand mixer, stuck the dough hook on it, and kneaded it for a minute or two at varying speeds.  It still felt lumpy, but it was much better.  And it was still wet and sticky, but I decided to do some extra S&F to make up for this odd extra step.  It's noon - and I'm going to restart the clock on my S&F - so 2 more hours before Rest#1.
  
  
5. Rest #1
• At the end of the 2 hours, cover the dough and let it rest for an hour.
6. Divide and Pre-shape
• Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.  I use my kitchen scale to make sure!
• Gently coax the 2 lumps of dough into rounds.  It doesn't have to be perfect, but we want to get a start at forming the skin and building the surface tension.

  

  They're looking better.  I kneaded in some extra flour and they're holding shape fairly well.

  
  
7. Rest #2
• Cover the dough and let it rest for another 30 minutes to an hour.
• Resting is what makes sure that our bread doesn't get too tough.  The strands of gluten need time to relax every so often.
8. Shape and put in bowls or bannetons
• While the dough is resting, prepare your bowls or bannetons.  I still don't have bannetons, so I'm using bowls that are different sizes. This should be interesting.
• Line the bowls with clean kitchen towels.
• Generously dust the towel with rice flour.  Go to town.  Rub it in.  Make a pretty good layer because this is what will prevent you from getting annoyed at the towel in a few steps.
• Gently do one round of S&F.
• Form into rounds by cupping your hands around either side of the dough and gently pull under and around.  A bit like turning a steering wheel while trying to adjust your steering wheel cover.  I know, I know. That makes no sense.  It's so hard to explain this bit.  You are turning the dough with your hands and stretching the surface to build tension all with one fluid motion.
  
• Place the rounds of dough upside-down into the towel-and-flour-lined bowls.  Yes, upside-down.  Trust me.  We're going to invert this one more time before baking, so what is now the top will become the bottom.
  
9. Final Rise (Rest #3)
• Cover the bowls with plastic wrap and towels.
• Let rise for 3-4 hours.
• I keep my apartment on the cool side, so I will often let my doughs rise in an oven that I've preheated to the lowest possible temperature and then turned off.  There is just enough heat to be an environment that the wee yeasties love!
  

  

  Ooops.  This might be a bit over-proofed...
  

10. Bake
• Remove the dough from the cold oven!
• Preheat oven for at least 30 minutes to 450°
• Preheat the pans for at least 10 minutes
• Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper that are long enough to get into your pans or dutch ovens or cloches.
• Invert a bowl of dough gently onto a piece of parchment.
  
  **Another note: It was definitely over-proofed.  It deflated pretty seriously when I got it out onto the parchment.  I was able to score it, and get it into the pans, but I probably should have dealt with the over-proofed-ness (That is TOO a word... shush!).  I'm stubborn... I pressed on pretending that there wasn't a problem.
  
• Use a sharp knife or lame to score the top.
• Do not skip this step.  It is essential for the proper baking of the bread.
• You can do a simple X or + shape.  As you get more comfortable, you can start to make designs to decorate the top of your bread.
• Using the sides of the parchment, lift the loaf and gently (and carefully) lower the loaf into the pan.
• The pan is hot!  Don't forget that.
• Parchment Parchment Parchment!  I forgot it last week in my excitement - and my bread was thoroughly stuck to my pans.  It was very sad.
• Cover with the lids and put into the oven to bake.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove the lids.
• Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until the color is good and the bread sounds hollow when you thump it.
• Use the parchment to lift the bread from the pan and allow to cool completely on a rack.

 I live a charmed life.  These loaves are so pretty!  There was plenty of "oven spring" (which is just a fancy way of saying "it puffed up while cooking").  It probably would have been better if I'd allowed for a last extra rise... next time.

Tonight was a good experiment in my kitchen!