Risotto Bread with Basil

Now this is what I call a lazy post! The only thing I need to do is post pictures: the recipe is already all written up (with many photographs) on my friend breadsong's beautiful and creative blog. I didn't change anything to her formula (which is based on Jan Hedh's Risotto Bread from his book Artisan Breads), except adding a tad more water to the dough (it was a hot day and the flour was thirsty). Otherwise she made buns and I made a loaf although I did make the one bun, so that I could show you the crumb.
I froze the loaf for when our visitors from France arrive at the end of the month. Grilled or toasted, topped with roasted peppers and/or roasted tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella (and finished off with a balsamic reduction), it will make wonderful sandwiches. Whatever is left will be roasted as croûtons for a late summer gazpacho.
For the risotto, I used leftovers from Mark Bittman's zucchini risotto recipe using both green and yellow zucchini (hence the green and yellow specks you see in the crumb). The rice was short-grain brown. The basil was freshly picked and combined with the yogurt and the parmesan cheese, it gave the dough a very enticing aroma. The beautiful golden durum flour was a present from... breadsong when she came and visited. This was my first time baking with it and what a pleasure it was!
Thank you for everything, breadsong! For the flour, for the adapted and illustrated recipe and for the marvelous idea of stenciling with basil leaves. I would never have thought of it! 

The Risotto Bread with Basil is going to Susan from Wild Yeast for this week's issue of Yeastspotting.

Carrot-Zucchini Bread with Candied Ginger

Here we are, back in the Pacific Northwest where the nights are blissfully cool and the days sweet and bright (for now at least). After more than a month in the food desert that is the little corner of upstate New York where we have been spending our summer vacations since forever, I was eager to bite into vegetables which didn't look as if they had sprouted, plastic-clad, on a supermarket shelf, in other words, I couldn't wait to go back to our little CSA.
I knew it was too early for tomatoes in our neck of the woods, so I wasn't expecting any (I wasn't disappointed!). I also knew zucchini season was on and I was ready with some recipes but  I wasn't prepared for our basket to be almost completely taken over by the green and yellow stuff!

What you see on the picture above is just a sample of the crop. We had way more than that and I knew I had to go beyond sautéed garlic zucchini, zucchini risotto or courgettes farcies (stuffed zucchini). I needed to make something we could freeze and enjoy later, maybe when summer would be but a memory.

It so happened I had just put away a little bag of candied ginger I had bought in Vermont on my way back from Gérard Rubaud's bakery (I have noticed that ginger helps me stay alert when I have to drive long-distance, maybe because it is so spicy) and I had been wondering what to use it for now that I was back home. 
So when I saw a recipe for a bread using zucchini, carrots and candied ginger in Janet Fletcher's beautifully photographed book, Eating Local, The Cookbook Inspired by American Farmers, I knew I had found what I was looking for.
I adapted the recipe a bit: I replaced all of the all-purpose flour by white whole wheat flour and all of the canola oil (which I didn't have) by extra-light olive oil; I more than halved the sugar (using 150 g instead of a whooping 390 g!) and I didn't use any cinnamon (which I don't much care for). It came out so tasty that even my eleven-month old granddaughter (already a miniature foodie) loved it (despite the heat of the ginger). Try it if you are swimming in zucchini. You won't regret it... 

Ingredients: (for two quick breads)

• 400 g freshly-milled white whole wheat flour (I had white wheat berries I needed to use but store-bought flour would work just fine)
• 3 g ground ginger 
• 5 g baking soda (1.5 tsp)
• 1 (scant) g baking powder (1/4 tsp)
• 4 g sea salt
• 90 g chopped candied ginger
• 3 large eggs
• 200 g extra-light olive oil
• 150 g sugar
• 10 g vanilla extract
• 110 g carrots, scrubbed and grated
• 150 g zucchini, grated (unpeeled)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/163°C and lightly oil two quick-bread pans (Fletcher says to use 8.5 x 4.5 pans but I only have the two I bought at Ikea and they are 10 x 4.5)
2. Mix together flour, ginger, baking soda and baking powder, sifting if you like (I didn't sift but I whisked). Add salt and candied ginger and whisk
3. In large bowl, whisk eggs until foamy. Whisk in oil, sugar and vanilla. Add carrots and zucchini and whisk again
4. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and stir with wooden spoon until roughly blended
5. Divide the batter between the two pans
6. Bake about one hour (do the toothpick test to judge doneness)
7. Cool on a rack (but wait 10 minutes before taking the breads out of the pans)
8. Enjoy!

There are many more glorious recipes in Fletcher's book and even though it was recommended to me for the photography (which is by Sara Remington and truly stunning), I know I will refer to it over and over throughout the summer, the fall and into early winter just to figure out what to cook from the CSA or the market. It is organized by veggie or fruit and there are also a poultry, meat and eggs section at the end. It features ten different farms from across the country.
It is a lovely book to own if you have a garden or have access to a farm or farmer's market. I got mine used online and it is stamped "No longer the property of the St. Louis Public Library" in bold red letters. It still bears its Dewey identification number: 641.5 EATING.  Since it was only published in 2010, your local library might also still own it.

Nuke-the-Zuke Quick Bread

I wanted to celebrate World Day 2009 by making a bread that could be mixed, baked and put on the table in less than an hour (with less than 10 minutes of actual busy work). I also wanted to demonstrate that fast food doesn't need to be junk food, so I used 100% whole wheat flour (I chose white whole wheat which is as nutritious as regular whole wheat but much lighter).

Since so many quick recipes rely on meat or meat products, I wanted this bread to be vegetarian (albeit not vegan as I could never ever renounce eggs and cheese). So I chose zucchini, a quick cooking vegetable - which I washed without peeling it, sliced and nuked for 4 minutes in the microwave. To make sure this quick bread was packed with enough protein to make it a main course for a family with teenagers, I used eggs, goat cheese and yogurt (as well as a tiny amount of almond milk) and to make it fun, I spiced it up with some "piment d'Espelette" brought back from France last spring. Paprika - hot or regular - can be used instead. The result is a colorful and flavorful savory bread which can be eaten hot, warm or cold, on its own or accompanied by a bowl of soup or a salad. Excellent at room temperature with a side dish of diced zucchini sauteed in olive oil and splashed with lemon juice!

Bottom of the bread

Ingredients (for 6 servings): 250 g white whole wheat flour (I used Trader Joe's) 100 g fresh goat cheese (from Trader Joe's again), crumbled 125 g plain yogurt (I used sheep milk yogurt from the farmers market but regular yogurt would be fine) 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 200 g zucchini, unpeeled, washed, sliced and steamed for 4 minutes in the microwave 2.5 tsp aluminum-free baking powder 60 g milk (I used almond milk but regular milk would be just fine) 7 g piment d'Espelette (or paprika) pinch of salt

Method:

1. Turn on the oven (350F/180C)
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and piment d'Espelette (or paprika)
3. In a smaller bowl, thoroughly mix (with a fork) goat cheese, yogurt, eggs, olive oil and milk
4. Spray a bread pan with oil
5. Place a handful of zucchini slices in a row on the bottom of the pan (in case you decide to serve the bread upside down)
6. Pour the egg and cheese mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients
7. Mix gently until incorporated
8. Add the zucchini
9. Pour the batter into the bread pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a tester or cake knife comes out clean
10. Serve hot, warm or cold. Enjoy!

Nuke-the-Zuke Quick Bread was sent to Zorra for the 2009 bread roundup she is kindly hosting on her beautiful blog.