Gastroanthropology

Cinnamon Walnut Loaf

It's really amazing how much time flys - Kyle is already over a month old! He is preparing for a life of international intrigue so to get him ready we've spent the morning at the US embassy getting his birth reported and his passport application submitted. While the jury is still out on whether he will be a painter, pianist, poet, or pastry chef he is already helping me bake and this is what we came up with last week...

Because this loaf cake is not cloyingly sweet like many other baked breakfast treats it's perfect for morning coffees on the beach during the warm summer months. Bake this the night before or the morning of if you are an early riser. Because of the cinnamon swirl its best to let the loaf cool before slicing and enjoying.  

CINNAMON WALNUT LOAF

• 7 oz unsalted butter, room temp
• 5 oz sugar
• 3 eggs, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 Tbs sour cream
• 7 1/2 oz all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 oz brown sugar
• 2 oz walnuts

METHOD

Preheat oven to 325ºF /165ºC.

Cream together butter and sugar for 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla extract. Add sour cream. Make sure everything is well combined. Add flour, baking powder, and salt - mixing till just combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together cinnamon and brown sugar. Take about 1/3 of the vanilla batter and add to the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture till completely mixed in. Add walnuts to the remaining vanilla batter.

Fill loaf pan with the vanilla batter. Dollop the cinnamon batter and swirl through with a knife.

I divided the batter between two small loaf pans (6.5 x 3.5 in) and the bake time was 35 min. For a larger loaf pan increase baking time to 40-45min. Check loaf with cake tester to make sure it is done. 

 

ps Getting a four-week old to look directly into the camera, with his eyes open, for his passport picture is significantly harder than baking this loaf cake =).  

Brown Bread Ice Cream

We've been a bit disappointed with the food scene in London. It's true you can get just about anything you want, but the quality and price of food in the grocery stores and restaurants often falls far from our least expectations. That being said we have found a few gems in the Big Old Smoke. One such gem, just a few blocks away from our apartment flat is Andrew Edmunds*. It's a tiny candle-lit place with tables squashed together and squeezed in corners. The food, however, is pretty darn good and on one recent visit I tried the Brown Bread Ice Cream. I had never had it and the server told me it was from Victorian times where old toasted bread was stirred into vanilla ice cream. I had to give it a go - it was delicious! I've never seen it on any other menu and haven't seen it in any ice cream shops in England so I wanted to try making it at home.

First step, make some brown bread. I wanted something moist and easy to crumble so I made my Irish Soda Bread. This is the simplest bread to make (taking mere minutes to stir together) and absolutely heaven to eat warm from the oven. Would be a perfect too for a certain holiday that falls tomorrow. If you don't have the time, energy, tools to make ice cream for the Brown Bread Ice cream you must still do the following: (1) make this bread and eat the better part of it minutes out of the oven, standing at the kitchen counter with a huge slab of softened butter; (2) save a few bits of bread to make the brown bread crumbs (recipe below); (3) stir into your favorite store-bought vanilla ice cream (softened); (4) freeze it for a bit and enjoy your Brown Bread Ice Cream.

If you do have the time, energy, and tools to make ice cream at home use this ice cream base recipe - it's basically a vanilla ice cream base, but some of the regular sugar is replaced with dark brown sugar.

BROWN BREAD ICE CREAM BASE

• 2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• pinch salt
• 6 egg yolks
• 1x Brown Bread Crumbs (recipe follows)

METHOD

Heat cream, milk, sugars, vanilla bean (scraped and leave pod in pot) and salt. Heat the mixture to a scald. Meanwhile whisk egg yolks. Temper the eggs with the hot mixture. Put everything back on a low heat to thicken the mixture so it coats the back of a spoon. Strain. Chill mixture. Spin the ice cream following your ice cream machine's instructions. Just as it is done spinning, add most of the brown bread crumbs, reserving some for garnish. Keep in freezer till ready to serve.

BROWN BREAD CRUMBS

• 3 oz (2-3 slices) brown bread
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 oz unsalted butter

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350ºF/175ºC. Crumble brown bread between your fingers - some should be like sand, other like small pebbles. Because my bread is so moist using your hands will be possible if you use my Irish Soda Bread recipe. If you use another brown or whole wheat bread you may need to use a food processor. Melt butter and brown sugar on low heat till sugar is melted and the mixture barely comes to a bubble. Put brown bread crumbs in a heat safe bowl and pour the brown sugar+butter mixture over top. Stir in till well mixed. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment (grease with a small bit flavorless oil) or use a silpat. Bake for about 15-20 minutes till edges crisp up. It will bake into one piece, but let it cool for a few minutes after it comes out of the oven and then crumble, leaving some bits larger than others. Do not use in the ice cream base until it is completely cooled. Reserve some crumbs for garnish.

These brown bread crumbs are pretty delicious and I can see them making an appearance as a crumble topping for lots of sweets, especially as the streusel for a coffee cake or jam tart.

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day I'm joining Daily Spud's St. Paddy's Day Food Parade with this post!

*Andrew Edmunds does not have a website. The restaurant is located at 46 Lexington Street in Soho, Central London. Reservations taken only a week in advance at +44 (0) 207 437 5708.

Banana Nut Monkey Bread

Happy New Year! 2011 promises to be quite an exciting year. For one, the Gastroanthropologist has been dilligently working on a nine-month baking project that will be ready in less than three months! Quick apologies for the lack of posts, but planning for birthing a little baby boy abroad when all of our family and friends are in the States has taken a bit of planning and mental fortitude.

Gastroanthropology will not morph into a baby blog, but I will be launching a separate baby blog when the little peanut is starting to eat things other than milk.

So far, the pregnancy has been great with minimal morning sickness and no odd cravings. However, as I enter the third trimester the belly is definitely growing at a rapid pace, and the appetite grows more voracious. This morning I woke up and brioche with lots of cinnamon, some sweetness, a sprinkling of nuts, and banana was just the thing the belly was begging. Not sure if it's pratice for motherhood, but the usual annoyance I have for waiting for yeasted doughs to rise has melted into an abundance of patience. So today, I have no problem waiting a few hours for this recipe to come together.

This bread is called monkey bread, because the dough is divided and rolled in cinnamon-brown sugar, and once baked together can be pulled apart. When you pull apart to eat, you sort of mimic the way a monkey might eat bread. I added mashed banana and nuts to this, but it is totally optional, so feel free to leave out.

BANANA NUT MONKEY BREAD

The Starter

• 1/4 c whipping cream (can use half & half or whole milk)
• 1/4 oz (7 grams) active dry yeast
• 2 oz (56 grams) all-purpose flour

The Dough

• 10 oz (280 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 oz (28 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 oz (7 grams) salt
• 4 eggs, room temp
• 8 oz (224 grams) unsalted butter, room temp

Cinnamon-Brown Sugar

• 1/4 oz (7 grams) or about 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3 oz (84 grams) brown sugar
• 1 oz (28 grams) chopped walnuts, optional
• 1 medium ripe banana, optional (leave in separate bowl)

METHOD

Heat cream to warm (not hot, about 100°F / 38°C). In a small mixing bowl, combine first measurement of flour and yeast. Add warm cream and mix to moisten flour mixture. Cover with plastic and place in a warm spot until doubled.

In the bowl of a mixer with the dough hook attachment, put the second measurement of flour, sugar and salt. Add doubled yeast mixture and eggs to the bowl and mix until a smooth dough forms. Add softened butter, a few ounces at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding more. Continue to beat on medium to high speed until dough becomes sticky and elastic, and slaps against the sides of the mixing bowl.

In a separate shallow bowl mix together the cinnamon, brown sugar, and nuts. Mash the ripe banana in a separate bowl.  

Butter or use non-stick spray for the loaf pan of your choice (you could also use a bundt cake pan). I used three small 6-inch greaseproof paper loaf pans. Remember your dough needs room to double in height. 

Spray a bit of non-stick spray on your hands and grab golf ball sized portions of dough. Roll around in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and place in the loaf pan. Repeat until you have a single layer in the bottom of the pan. Add the mashed banana on top of the dough and continue to portion the dough and roll in cinnamon-sugar, covering the mashed banana, and using up all the remaining dough. Once finished sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar on top.

The dough must be set aside in a warm spot to double.

If you use the paper loaf pans, place them on a sheet pan as sugar may melt a little and leak a bit of sticky syrup. Loosely cover with plastic and put into a warm spot to proof until doubled. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175 °C and bake until golden and tester comes out clean. Depending on if your baking a single loaf, or a few small loaves it should take anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes. 

This monkey bread should be eaten warm out of the oven. As soon as it cools enough to touch, pull apart and enjoy. It's a lovely bread for brunch. It will keep for a day, but should be served warm (just pop in the microwave for a few seconds). It also makes a decadent french toast bread, but it should really be two to three days old (you want it dried out a bit and stale) before you attempt this (it will fall apart if it's too fresh). Instead of pulling apart, slice the bread, and continue as you would when making french toast.

Apple Brown Butter Betty

When I want to make a quick and simple dessert an apple crisp always comes to mind. Peel and slice up a few apples, toss with lemon, cinnamon, brown sugar, a smidge of flour and a sprinkle of salt. For the top - a few oats, almond flour, a bit more flour, sugar, salt, and butter to keep it crumbly and crisp, and in the oven. Done. Maybe some ice cream on top and everyone is happy. What could be even easier with a similar result? Brown Betty. 

Brown Betty is the girl next door you never really think about, or talk to your friends about. You're not attracted to her at first sight, but you love it when you run into her and exchange hellos. Then one day, you hang out with her, spending some serious time and you can't believe you never noticed how amazing she really is. She doesn't require copious amounts of effort. She's perfect - never too much or over the top. You can bring her home to mom, but your friends think she's great too. Brown Betty is the dessert that is never really craved or swooned over, but when it's there you can't imagine life with her.

Brown Betty is way easier than pie and doesn't really require much of a recipe. To start, cube day-old brioche bread, or a mixture of country white bread and croissants into 1/2 inch cubes. You could also do this with fresh bread, just cut and cube a few hours before and set out to dry the bread a bit. Then, in a bowl, peel and slice tart apples. They should be sliced relatively thin - if they are too thick they won't soften enough by the time the bread on top browns. Toss apple slices with a squeeze of lemon, a generous amount of cinnamon, a bit of clove and nutmeg, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and a splash of brandy or calvados. Toss together and set aside. In a pot melt and brown butter. When the butter starts to brown and get nutty, pour most of the butter over the cubed bread and toss together. Reserve a bit of brown butter for sprinkling on top. In a buttered baking dish, layer the now brown buttered bread and/or croissant cubes with apples, starting and ending with the bread cubes. Sprinkle the remaining butter over top. You could sprinkle a bit of turbinado sugar on top as well, but it's not necessary. Bake in a 350F oven, for about 30 minutes. The apples should be soft, but not mushy, and the bread cubes on top should be a golden brown.

As a general guide I used a mixture of 6 cups of cubed white bread and croissants. I also used 6 apples, juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup brown sugar (add more if you like your desserts on the sweeter side), 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon, pinch each of nutmeg, clove and salt (use whatever spices you like with apples), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 2 Tablespoons of calvados (if you don't want to use alcohol fresh apple juice is fine, but it does need a bit of liquid), and 4 ounces of butter. This fit perfectly in an medium-depth 8x8 inch baking dish.

Serve warm, with or without fresh heavy cream or vanilla ice cream. The bottom layer of bread soaks up all the cinnamony apple juice that caramelizes a bit while the top is crisp and buttery. It's understated, but perfect on a cool fall day.

Roasted Tomato + Fresh Garlic Soup

I spent this morning at Borough Market. I love going on Thursdays - not all the stalls are open, but the Saturday crowds are nowhere to be seen. I went with a mission to procure some lovage, a new herb I fell in love with earlier this week. I was hoping to recreate a carrot + lovage soup that I had at Lumen Cafe, a new social enterprise committed to serving local, seasonal and sustainable food. Unfortunately, my trusty herb man did not have any lovage today! Fingers crossed he has some next week so I can share you the wonders of lovage.

I was a little miffed I didn't get any love-age so I was tempted to grab some lunch and go. At first, I ignored the tomatoes because its just a little to early for them to be any good. But as I walked by, their scent lured me in. If I can smell a tomato from a few feet away, I know that something good must be going on. 

I got a bunch of tomatoes and roasted them in a hot oven (400F) for about 30 minutes till their skins split and their juices started oozing and browning. Then I broiled them for a few minutes to gently char their skin. Before they went in the oven I food-processed parsley, basil, squirt of lemon, salt + pepper, a few cloves of raw garlic, and lots of olive oil to make a loose pesto. Gently toss the tomatoes in this runny pesto before putting in a baking dish. This is a trick I learned from a fellow chef friend of mine and it really gives great flavor to roasted tomatoes. You could eat them like this as a side, but while I had the oven on I decided to roast this fresh garlic as well.

For the fresh garlic - cut the tops off, douse in olive oil and wrap in foil. They were in the oven the entire time the tomatoes were, so about 40 minutes. What comes out is amazing - the garlic turns into a smooth, mellow, paste that can be scooped out and spread on crusty bread, or literally just sprinkled with a touch of salt and eaten plain.

I roasted multiple bulbs. You can literally squeeze all the insides out of the garlic once they cool enough to handle. Some went in the tomato soup and some went on a lovely pugliese bread that I toasted under the broiler after liberally spreading olive oil and sprinkling sea salt over. The tomato soup was simple...just heat up the roasted tomatoes in a soup pan with the roasted fresh garlic and some chicken (or veg) stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and make smooth with an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with a bit of raw fresh garlic (it is mild enough to eat raw), parsley, and good olive oil. Serve with roasted fresh garlic bread and little vino. I don't have rules for this goes with red or white - I just drink what tastes good.

If you can't be bothered to make the soup, just smush roasted tomatoes and roasted fresh garlic onto toasted pugliese or similar bread. Just remember add salt and lots of good olive oil. 

Summer is a comin'.