Beer Anyone?

Vortlimpa - sweet and dark!

I'll admit, I'm not a beer drinker.  It’s not that I couldn’t get to like some of my husband’s homemade dark beer, it’s a calorie and quantity thing.  To me drinking a delicious tasting homemade dark beer is like eating an entire chocolate cake by myself in one sitting - too rich and too filling.  I prefer a nice dry red!

But, there’s more than one way to have your stout... A number of years ago, I first made this delicious bread using a homemade stout. So, beer drinkers and aficionados of fine taste, here is my favorite way to have beer.

The recipe originated from my 1987 version of Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads. 

Vortlimpa

This recipe makes 2 long slender loaves.  Bernard describes it this way, “Stout (or dark beer) tempered with molasses, orange zest, and fennel gives Vortlimpa a sweet, dark taste that will confound and delight the tongue.”

Ingredients:       (My changes and comments are in italics.)

2 cups stout or dark beer
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons butter
½ cup dark molasses
2 packages dry yeast
3 cups medium rye flour          (1 ½ cups medium rye and 2 cups whole wheat)
2 cups unbleached bread or all purpose flour, approximately
Zest of 1 orange, finely chopped    (1/4 teaspoon orange oil)
1 Tablespoon ground or crushed fennel seed   (Optional )

1 Tablespoon molasses mixed with 2 Tablespoons water

(The rye flour is sticky and I like the flavor mixed with whole wheat.  I rarely have a fresh orange on hand, but I always have my orange oil in the pantry so I don’t have to buy any special ingredients. I’m sure the orange zest would be wonderful if you have it.  I also do not use the crushed or ground fennel seed, I just like the bread without.)
Warm the beer, salt, and butter until the butter has melted.  Let cool to lukewarm and stir in the yeast.

Measure the rye flour (and whole wheat flour if using) into a large mixing bowl and pour in the stout mixture. Beat by hand about 100 strokes and add the orange zest (or orange oil), and (optional) fennel seed.  Stir and work the dough.  (You might be tempted to skip the orange, but don't, it really makes the overall flavor. I encourage you to try to fennel too.)

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface with a cup of flour.  In the beginning the dough will be sticky. Handle the new dough gingerly, dusting well with flour until you have struck a workable balance. This could mean the addition of a cup or more of flour. After the dough is well formed, continue kneading for at least another 8 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Leave to rise at room temperature until doubled.  (My dough and my loaf look a little grainy.  I used a medium ground rye flour which turned out ok, but I think I'll go back to my finely ground rye flour in the future.)
Turn the dough out onto a flat work surface and cut in half.  Flatten each half with the palm of your hand into a long rectangle. Roll each into a long slender cylinder, about 12"-14" long.  Place on a prepared baking sheet (greased and dusted with cornmeal).  Be sure to place them far enough apart that they do not touch when they rise.  If they threaten to touch, place a flour dusted kitchen towel between them. Let them rise a second time to be about double.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees about 20 minutes before baking.  Prick the tops with a toothpick, 1" deep to allow steam to escape without lifting off the top of the loaf.  Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 30 minutes more.  Halfway through baking, turn the loaves around and brush the tops with the molasses-water glaze.  About 4 minutes before the loaves are done, brush them with the glaze again.

They are done when the loaves are dark and shiny and the bottom crust is hard and sounds hollow.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  (By all means, have some softened butter ready, hack off a piece and enjoy it as soon as you can handle it.)

To keep it crisp, store it in a paper sack.  For a soft crust wrap it in a plastic bag.

The Missoula Community Food Co-op now has a nice selection of wine and beer and as soon as I heard that, my first thought was of this bread! 

Muffin Magic!

Even if the thermometer says 50 degrees, it's still only January.  Time for soup and bread.  As I started the beans for a pot of delicious chili, I decided to experiment with a muffin recipe that I had been wanting to try. These muffins had their origin in Vermont, in the test kitchens of King Arthur Flour Company. These people have been making and baking since 1790 and they have some extremely talented bakers.  I love all of their products.

I came across this recipe last fall on the King Arthur web site.  http://www.kingarthurflour.com  I’ve made it a number of times and it is fabulous!  But probably not what I would want with chili so my brain has been running through this idea of taking the basis of this recipe and making it savory.  First here is the recipe from King Arthur.  I only made one minor change to this recipe when I made it and that was, I used ground ginger instead of cinnamon... it just sounded better to me. You will not believe how delicious these muffins are and really, you would never know they had tomato juice in them.

Whole-Grain Vegan Cranberry-Nut Muffins   
Muffins without eggs, milk, or butter — what's the secret? Tomato juice, which adds the necessary acidity for leavening; nice, moist texture, and gorgeous burnt-orange color to these cranberry-nut muffins. And don't worry; they don't taste like tomatoes!


    2 1/4 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
    1 cup brown sugar
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon  (I used ground ginger)
    1 cup dried cranberries
    1/2 cup diced walnuts or pecans, optional
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    1 1/2 cups tomato juice or blended vegetable juice (e.g., V8)

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease and flour the wells of a muffin pan, or line the pan with paper liners, and grease the liners.
2) Whisk together all the dry ingredients, including the cranberries and nuts.
3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, vegetable oil, and tomato juice.
4) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients; don't over-mix, stir just until everything is moistened.
5) Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each nearly full.
6) Sprinkle the tops with coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired.
7) Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until they've domed nicely and they're lightly browned around the edges.
8) Remove the muffins from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Yield: 12 muffins.

Now here is the recipe for my Savory Dinner Muffins using the genius, tomato-acid leavening concept.  The corn gives them a rustic appearance, only enhanced by a bowl of chili.  Give them a try.

Savory Dinner Muffins
 2 cups of unbleached or white whole wheat flour (or 1/2 and 1/2 )
1/2 cup of medium ground corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon dried herbs (I used an herbes de Provence blend)
1 cup frozen corn (or use your imagination - I can’t wait to try chopped olives, sundried tomatoes, green peppers, sharp cheddar or asiago cheese or a combination of these - just make sure you are adding about 1 cup total for 12 muffins) 
1/3 cup vegetable oil or olive oil
1 1/2 cups tomato juice or blended vegetable juice

Follow the same mixing directions and put into the muffin cups.  Fill those cups right up to the top.  This makes 12 beautiful muffins.  I sprinkled the tops with a little coarse salt and some more of the herb blend.  The baking took just a little longer because I had frozen corn in the mix.  They were done in about 21 minutes.  (You know how to test these little quick breads for doneness don't you?  Just tap on the top with your finger - if they seem spongy, they aren't done - if they are firm to the touch good to go.)
At around 10 minutes the smell of the herbs was mouth watering and I could hardly wait to try one.  As soon as they came out of the oven, I sampled one immediately.  These don’t taste overwhelmingly like tomato either, and they are fabulous, just like the sweet cranberry version.

Until next time...