Bread Bowls

Bread bowls are very popular in the United States (we Americans love our carbs).  They are normally used to serve thick cream based soups and stews like New England clam chowder or chili.    This recipe makes a tasty, springy dough and because of the relatively large amount of yeast used it takes slightly less time to rise than the average bread dough.   The egg wash gives a lovely shiny exterior, making a beautiful vessel for your favorite soup or stew.  

I started living with my boyfriend a little more than a year ago and its been a wonderful experience to see him learn how to cook and plan meals.   When we met pretty much everything he consumed came out of a fast food bag and his best dish was buttered toast.   Now he plans the weeks meals, does the grocery shopping and cooks healthful dinners for us almost every night (I know, I'm the luckiest girl ever).   One of his favorite tricks is to cook a whole chicken one night, make chicken stock with the carcass and then  make soup with the chicken stock the next day.   He also saves our vegetable scraps and regularly makes veggie stock as well.   Believe me, homemade stock is the bee's knees.    There could probably be a whole other blog dedicated to his culinary adventures.  Last night he made cream of broccoli soup and I made these sweet bread bowls to go with it.   

Bread Bowls
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
Makes 6 bowls (or 8 if you want small ones)


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6-7 cups all purpose flour

• cornmeal
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon water

Preparation: 

• In a large bowl proof the yeast by dissolving it in the warm water for about 10 minutes or until it becomes bubbly and frothy.  
• Add 4 cups of flour, the vegetable oil and salt and mix well. 
• Add the remaining flour a 1/2 cup at a time until a firm dough is formed.  You may not need the entire 7 cups of flour.  You will want a stiff dough so it will hold the round shape of the bread bowl.  
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 6 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.  Cover with a damp cloth and allow the dough to rise until doubled (approx. 40 minutes).  
• Punch down the dough and divide it into 6 equal parts.  The best way to divide dough is to weigh it, but if you don't have a scale you can always eyeball it.  I find the easiest way is to divide the dough in half, and then divide each half into 3 or 4 parts (depending on if you want 6 large bowls or 8 small ones).  Place the balls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal and allow them to double in size once more (approx 35 minutes).  
• Preheat your oven to 400F.   In a small bowl beat together the egg and water to make an egg wash.  Brush half of the wash over the bread bowls and slash the tops.  
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, then give them another coating of egg wash.  Cook for another 10-15 minutes until the bread is golden brown and cooked through.  Larger bread bowls will require slightly longer cooking times. 
• To make bowls, cut off the top and scoop out the centers, leaving at least 3/4 of an inch on all sides.  Fill with hot soup and serve immediately.  

Irish Potato Bread

St. Patrick's day is approaching so I'm working on my Irish recipes.   Irish beer bread is my favorite, but I already did a post on it so I decided to try another popular Irish bread - potato bread!  I found this recipe at one of my favorite sites, The Fresh Loaf.  It was originally a "baked potato bread" because it included traditional baked potato ingredients - chives, bacon, sour cream.   I was lacking all three of those ingredients (classic) so I left out the chives and bacon, and used yogurt with a little bit of baking soda as a substitute for the sour cream.   I used non-fat yogurt and it came out just fine (and even made it a bit healthier..)

Instead of using potato flakes or starch, this recipe calls for mashed potatoes.  It is a great use for leftovers, even if they have milk and butter in them.   Next time I make this recipe I am going to save the water I boiled the potatoes in for use in the bread batter.  Oh yeah, and I'm going to put bacon in.  

Ingredients (makes 2 1lb loaves, or 1 large loaf):

• 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
• 3 to 4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour 
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• optional: 1/4 cup cooked bacon, 1/2 cup chopped chives, or any other add-ins you can think of

Preparation: 

• Mix the potatoes, yeast, salt, and two cups of flour in a large mixing bowl.  If you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast you will need to proof it before adding.  Use the 3/4 cups water from the recipe to proof your yeast.  Check out my old post on yeast for details on how to properly proof your active dry yeast. 
• Add the water, sour cream and any add-ins you want to include.  If you add bacon feel free to include the grease for added flavor.   Mix this all together well.
• At this point your dough will be soupy, add flour by the handful until it starts to come together, turn out onto a well floured surface and continue to knead in handfuls of flour until your dough is solid enough to form into a ball, but still very damp.  A wetter dough is harder to work with but will ultimately have a better end result.  
• Let your dough rise until doubled (about 90 minutes) in a oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap.  
• Once risen, shape your loaves (or loaf if you are going for one big one) and let rise until doubled again (about 45 minutes).  I chose to make mine a bit oblong, but the shape of your loaf is up to you.  
• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.  Once my loaves were fully risen, I dusted them with flour and slashed the top.   Bake for 5 minutes at 425, then turn your oven down to 350 and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until they are brown on the outside and sound hollow when tapped. 

Beautiful! Even though there was no bacon, and I had to make some substitutions (yogurt instead of sour cream, and active dry yeast instead of instant) this recipe still came out great!

Yeast - Active Dry vs. Instant

I'm working on testing out some new recipes for you folks and thought I'd include an important service announcement.   Yesterday I was working on making some english muffins, I was using a great recipe that is acclaimed across the web, written by a professional baker.  In my haste, I neglected to notice that the recipe called for instant yeast.  I went my merry way, measured out my active dry yeast and set about mixing my dough.  

Then I started kneading.  

Then I noticed all the little balls of active dry yeast where still present in my dough, like little bits of sand they weren't dissolving.  Then I had a giant "duh!" moment and went to check the recipe.  Sure enough, I had to start over because I hadn't activated my yeast and my first batch was never going to rise. 

Let this be a lesson to you all!  So, what is the difference between active dry yeast and instant yeast?  There is one important difference - instant yeast can be added directly to your recipe, and active dry yeast needs to be "activated" first by being dissolved in warm liquid.   It is possible to substitute active dry for instant like I did by activating it and using a little more than you would if you were using the instant yeast. 

Read my last post on yeast for more details on how to properly activate it, and also check out this Yeast FAQ over at The Fresh Loaf for more info on the differences between active dry and instant.