Yes my fellow readers reader. I baked on my grill this past week. No. Not a cake. Bread. A beautiful loaf of casatiello bread. And while the daytime temperatures hit 105. My kitchen inside stayed cool. See when I decided to take on the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge, it was spring. My morning’s were a brisk 50° and I could leave my doors and windows open without a care.

But now day time temperature are hitting about 187° and the electric bill will put me in the poor house. The thought of heating up my kitchen with a 350° oven so that my AC has to crank even harder seems like a no win. Besides, those little hamsters are working their little legs off to keep that AC running and I think they are about ready to form a union. So with a little help from my friend over at Bucky’s Barbecue & Bread, I turned my grill into an oven. And out popped this beauty.

It was easier then I would have thought, but I did learn a few thing that makes baking on the grill much different then in an oven. But first the prep. After preparing the loaf and rolls for the casatiello, I placed them on a baking stone dusted with corn meal.

Then prepared the grill.

I lit the grill, which is three burners, and then turned off the center burner leaving only the outside ones going. Then took another baking stone and centered it on the grill.

Placed 4 tuna cans on the outside “corners” of the stone. Yes I know circles do not have corners, just work with me will ya?! Nit picker…

Close grill and wait until you have reached 350°. You have to leave the grill at 350° for about 5 - 10 minutes before putting the bread on to make sure you can maintain your baking temperature. The Temperature will go down when you open the grill to put the bread on, but will easily climb right back to where you need it to be.

Then I put the bread which is already on the other stone, on the grill, using the 4 cans to keep it elevated. This is done so that the stone is not directly on the fire. Fire bad.

Monitor the temperature and do not open grill until you are at least half way through your baking. Because? Hello, as we already discussed, opening any grill releases heat. Pay attention! Baking time was about 10 minutes shorter then the recipe called for. The rolls came out at the half way mark. With the exception of some over browning on the sides, the bread was perfect!

Next bread is challah. On the grill should prove to be interesting. I have, however, to make a few minor adjustments based on some observations.

1. The temperature could probably stand to be about 5-10 degrees less then is actually called for. This theory will be tested on the guinia challah.
   
   
2. Usually a baking stone should be brought to temperature prior to placing what you are baking on it. I kinda forgot that with the casatiello. It seemed to actually be a better option, as I am pretty sure a pre-heated stone would have over baked the bread.
   
   
3. Over browning on the sides of the bread was due to the flames not being covered on the sides. Covering the whole grill with baking stones should stop that. I think foil on the grill over the outside burners would also inhibit that from happeneing. More cost effective as well since 2 more stones would be about 40 bucks. That is a lot of dough.
   
   Get it? Dough? HA HA HA! I slay me.
   

Will report back on my findings soon. But baking on the grill was NOT a fail but a success. My house stayed nice and cool and the hamsters love me again.

Yesterday I casually tweeted that I was making butter for the next bread in the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge - the brioche. I received a flurry of responses.

"Making butter like shaking the hell out of cream?"

"Making your own butter - how decadent".

"Do you have a butter mill?"

Ha ha no, I do not have a butter mill. I didn't grow up on a farm. One day years and years ago when I was a child, my dad was making fresh whipped cream for pumpkin pie. I asked him, how do you make cool whip from milk. He laughed and said "First off, this is cream you silly child and second, not only can you make the best and freshest whipped cream ever from it, you can also make butter." It was like he told me I could take over the world...

With the right butter, you can.

First we start with the right heavy cream. The best possible cream to use is non-ultra pasteurized, high butterfat content (36-40%), organic, and from pastured cows. Just pure cream.

Mmm cream...

For sake of this recipe we are starting with 2 cups cold cream. This will yield 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of buttermilk.



We are also using the ever faithful Kitchen Aid with whisk attachment.

Pour cream into your bowl and turn on your KA. A nice slow speed is good here, say a 2.



First the cream with thicken slightly. See how it coats the whisk?



Then it will become whipped cream...Or if you aren't paying attention like I was, broken whipped cream...



But it's OK! We're not making whipped cream. Our goal is butter. Put down the sugar and Kahlua and pay attention. Turn off your KA to avoid injury and scrape down the sides of the bowl.



Turn that Kitchen Aid back on and watch the magick happen...

Whoop there is is!



Now, let the buttermilk drain from the butter. And please for all that is sacred in this world. DO NOT just throw away the buttermilk. Make pancakes! Make biscuits! Chicken! Drink it! It's amazing...

Almost done, we still need to rinse the butter to remove any trace of buttermilk. I do a simple cold water bath while squeezing the butter. It will start out like this:



And when it is thoroughly rinsed, should look like this:



At this point you can wrap it in cheese cloth and squeeze out the excess water, or just allow it to strain off. I do the latter.

Now is the time you can add herbs or salt or sugar or honey or whatever to flavor your butter. I leave it as is mostly. But then again I make butter weekly... However, I do have a ton of different butter recipes to share. Soon. Or if you are DYING for one now, email or tweet me and I will set you up. I have so many yummmmy recipes...

Ahem, to finish. I take the butter and press it into a jar.



Press it down real good so that you push out any air pockets between the butter pieces or at the bottom of the jar. Top with cold water.



Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. Every time you need butter, simply pour off the water, take what you need and top with fresh, cold water before covering and returning to the refrigerator. This has the same effect as a butter bell.

That's it. Yep! It is THAT easy. You can even get some cool silicone ice trays and use them as individual butter molds. Wow your friends! Impress your family! Confuse your enemies!

With home made butter - you can take over the world.

Lousy? Hardly. Mmm bagels.

As you may have already read, my bagels were put on hold due to a little binge drinking friendly gathering. The rest of the BBA is already going into brioche week... or wait is it casatiello? Whatever, I am still slaving over bagels. But oh - they are my absolute favorite. So far. So much bread so little time. How can something that tastes so damn good be so bad for your belly. Who cares. I look forward to every little bit of it.

I, however, unlike most of my Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge friends have learned to bake for 2. I halve most recipes. If I made 24 bagels I would try and eat each and every one. It would be ugly. Very very ugly. I cut the recipe right in half and lo and behold - I didn't have to hand knead. Hint Hint to my single bakers out there.

I baked a inept baker's dozen. (11 bagels) And I couldn't decide what kind to make so I made a slew of different ones. 2 sesame, 2 super seeded, 2 plain, 2 cinnamon sugared, 2 mozzarella and sun dried tomato, and one cheddar jalapeno for my baker friend in Indiana... but I ate it before I could send it. I think they may have over proofed or were to smart to retard in the fridge or something happened because once done, they were the size of my hand. I have big hands...



I of course enjoyed my favorite of the group, the sesame bagel, with some chive and onion cream cheese. The best thing about these bagels other then the taste was the texture. Because I am sure I did something wrong, I do not know if this was the desired effect, but the crusty outside was just that, chewy and crusty, especially after I toasted that big ole' bagel and sent myself into carb paradise mere minutes after they came out of the oven.

I do wish I took photos while I was doing the sponge and the kneading and the shaping and the retarding (which wasn't overnight... shhhh) and the boiling and the baking. But the chances of an ever so slightly hung over under the weather baker's apprentice wielding her camera while the Kitchen Aid whirled and flour kinda exploded out of the bowl and she ended up looking like she was being prepped to be dipped in beer batter - not so good. Not. So. Good. But they look good don't they? They don't look like the bagels of an abusive alcoholic mother.



I think not.

If you my readers reader would like to join me on this baking adventure, pick up The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge by Peter Reinhart and get baking. Be prepared to wear more flour then you use...

Hello Tuesday.

You snuck up on me and I don’t quite appreciate it. Seems like just yesterday I was fixing my first bagel sponge. Minding my own business. Working and cooking. How I like to spend my day. Then Saturday came around and with her came Tequila Rose and my bagel sponge grew 10 times the size and started crawling across the counter top and damn I need to grill some brats for the Brat Showdown! Oh mah GAH who can eat a BRAT now? Maybe if the world would stop spinning so fast…

So while all my partners in brat crime followed the rules and posted on MONDAY (some even stretched and posted at like 10 pm on Monday… you know who you are… ) I was just DINING on my brats Monday by the time most were in bed. And mmm were they good.

When I first signed up for this brat showdown my mind started to race. How can I use brats in an original way? Something different. Special. Never done before.

Ooh! Now THIS has never been done before!
 
I’m sorry, but for those not in the know - I am a Chicago girl. One of my rights of passage other then a Maxwell Street Polish or an Italian Beef Sammich’ is a good ole beer brat, grilled to perfection. If I had some Gonella bread I would have been in heaven.

But I don’t because they don’t deliver to Arizona which annoys the crap out of me.

So instead of a bun, I made the next best thing. Potato and scallion pancakes. I went total Bavarian! You there - hand me my lederhosen and let’s forget about the tomatoes and duck confit! Scrap the idea of goat cheese and truffles. Someone pass me the horseradish!

Will admit, when I first proclaimed my menu for dinner it was welcomed with mixed emotions. And questions about what kind of syrup to use… Oh my food lovin’ head…

After the first bite however. All were hooked.


Simple and tasty.

Ingredients:

For the brats:
Package of brats.
One white onion sliced
Two bottles of beer.

Put brats in pan.

Top with onions

Pour in one bottle of beer.

Simmer till cooked, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and pan.


For the Potato Pancakes:
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and grated coarsely.
3-4 scallions, trimmed and cut into quarters.
1 1/2 T flour
1 egg
1 t lemon juice
1 t parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

While the brats are simmering, crack open that other beer and coarsly grate those potatoes. Let them drain on a paper towel in a colander.

Add them to your food processor with the remaining ingredients and pulse a few times until the mixture is smooth and the scallions chopped.

Heat some oil in a skillet and pour out some of the potato batter onto it into little pancakes. Cook till browned, then flip. Come on now it’s not like you don’t know how to make pancakes - you can do that right? If you seem perplexed, have another beer.

While you are browning the pancakes - grill these brats so that the skin is nice and crispy.

Serve and eat quickly before anyone wants seconds.

You CAN remove the brats from the pan and add some butter to the onions and cook down and add some salt and pepper and serve with the brats which is a side of heaven, but because I was grating potatoes they reduced to onion charcoal. ICK.

Be sure to check out the rest of the brat lovin’ fools here! Be sure to tell them you think HEATHER won… heh heh.

Eric @ Eric Rivera Cooks
Paula @ Bell’ alimento
Jeff @ Culinary Disaster
Kristy @ The Wicked Noodle