The Bread Project #3

This time, my attempt at making bread failed. It's not so fun to write about something that didn't turn out, but hey, it happens. I went for pretzel bread. It seemed simple enough and I love pretzels. During the school year when I have a break I walk to the closest bakery and get a pretzel stick. I always thought that making pretzels was difficult but it's really not... if you do it right! 

"With bread all sorrows are less” - Sancho Panza, Don Quixote 

I associate pretzels with Germany even though I've never been, however I imagine that if I were to go to Germany I would eat a lot of brats and pretzels. So I did a little research. Some accounts say that pretzels originated in Italy, others in France and Germany. The only place though that has historical documentation is Germany from 1111 ! 

Do you see the pretzel? 

Hortus Delicarum- 1185 from an abby manuscript in Alsace

The pretzel is considered a very spiritual type of bread. Many records of pretzel making come from monasteries and in the traditional looking pretzel the  knot is like folded hands praying and the three holes represent the Holy Trinity. 

I didn't roll out the dough and make traditional pretzels, instead I found a recipe that was for a loaf of bread. 

 This recipe also called for the KitchenAid and some kneading. 

The problem was that my dough didn't rise. I used some yeast which I think is supposed to be instant. It needs to be kept in the refrigerator. The recipe said not to dissolve the yeast, so I didn't. However this, having been in the fridge and not dissolved I don't think it mixed well or had the right properties to do what yeast does. 

 But since I had already made the dough and waited at least 4 hours to see if it would rise, I thought I might as well finish the process and see how it turns out. What's interesting about pretzels is that they are "cooked" in a baking soda solution for 2 minutes to create the Maillard Reaction. This is what gives it that tough, thick, brown outer coating.

 So I baked my two tiny little pretzel loaves, but not having risen they were heavy, dense, and felt like rocks. The taste wasn't so bad, but it definitely isn't how a pretzel should be. It was easy enough to make and now I know I'll either use dry yeast or try to dissolve the refrigerated kind the next time I attempt pretzels!  

I looked around for a few recipes and this one from Allrecipes seemed to give the smallest quantity and the most simple. I didn't have Fleischmann's RapidRise yeast and so that might explain why it didn't rise....

Pretzel Bread

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 27 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour 49 Minutes Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS:

Dough: 1 cup milk 2 tablespoons butter or margarine 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 envelope Fleischmann's® RapidRise Yeast 2 teaspoons salt 3 cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed

Boiling Solution: 3 quarts water 3/4 cup baking soda Egg Wash: 1 egg 1 teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat milk and butter until warm (100 degrees to 110 degrees F); the butter will not completely melt. Combine with undissolved yeast and brown sugar in a large mixer bowl. Stir in salt and 2 cups flour, beat for 3 minutes. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3.	Combine boiling solution and bring to a boil. Punch dough down and divide into 2 equal pieces. Form each piece into a tight, smooth ball. Boil each loaf in the solution for 2 minutes, turning after 1 minute. Remove loaves from pot using a slotted spoon and place on a greased baking sheet.
4.	Brush with egg wash and cut a cross in the top. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake an additional 10 to 12 minutes until the loaves are evenly browned. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

The Bread Project #2

Ciabatta Bread 

For my second bread attempt, I went with the Italian classic Ciabatta. "Ciabatta" in Italian means slipper , and I suppose this bread kind of looks like a big comfy winter slipper. According to wikipedia this bread was created in the Veneto region as a reaction to the increasing use of  French baguettes to make sandwiches. The Italians decided they need to have their own version of sandwich bread and so hence the ciabatta loaf was born.

I looked at a few different recipes and they were all more or the less the same. They called for a mixer like a KitchenAid. It felt a little strange  using a mixer instead of  kneading the dough myself. I felt like I was cheating on the bread making process. However, all that high speed mixing is what gives it the airy consistency and so it would be impossible to do by hand. (And really I love any excuse to my KitchenAid and so it was a good reason to also try out the hook attachment for the first time.)  

This dough is a "wet" dough. As I was mixing it, I kept thinking I should add more flour because it was so sticky. However it is supposed to be like that. The recipe said that the dough should start to climb up the hook of the mixer and just as it's about to go over that's when you need to stop mixing. I had the mixer on for over 10 minutes and I still didn't see the dough climb. I was worried that I made a mistake in the recipe, that it was too runny, and that I had over mixed it. I sure it was going to be a flop. 

I put the dough in a bowl and set it aside to rise until it was 3 times the original size. It was cool to see how all the mixing made the dough porous-like.

After rising for over 2 hours, I formed the dough into loaves and let is rest for another hour before going in the oven. I felt like my loaves were a little small, however quite a bit of dough was lost in the mixing bowl and the white bowl because it was so sticky. 

Putting flour down to form the loaves helped a lot. 

Looks good! I baked it just right this time. It had a lovely outer crispy crunchy crust. 

And the texture on the inside was perfect! However after Luca and I bit into the fresh warm baked bread we both said it was delicious but something wasn't quite right..... I FORGOT THE SALT!  If I had remembered the salt it would have been absolutely perfect. However that night we had cold cuts and so the salty prosciutto and mortadella were a perfect match for the bread.

This is the recipe I followed from Foodienarium: 

Quick And Easy To Make Italian Ciabatta

Serves: 2 ciabattas       Prep: 15 mins       Cook: 25 mins     Ready In: 4 hrs 40 mins

Ingredients

• 500 grams all-purpose flour (4 cups)
• 475 grams water (~2 cups + 2 tbsp)
• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 
  

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixer with the paddle and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
2. Knead the dough with the same paddle at high speed. It will take about 8-10 minutes. Somewhere in the middle of the process I change the paddle to the dough hook. To the end of the process the dough starts to leave off the walls, they will become kind of cleaner. When this starts to happen, closely watch the process. Next, the dough will begin to properly ‘climb’ the hook. Catch the moment before it will climb above the hook and turn off the mixer.
3. Move the dough into a bowl well-greased with oil and close with the cling film. Let the dough rise in a warm place. It will take about 2.5 hours. The dough must triple in size!
4. Then throw out the dough onto a work surface really well-covered with flour. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape the ciabattas. Poke them a little with your fingers. Sprinkle them generously with flour, cover dough with a plastic bag and leave it for 45 minutes.
5. At this time, warm the oven with a baking stone to 230C (500F). Also put a pan for water on the bottom. By the way, I use a usual stair tiles instead of the stone and that works well for me.
6. Next, you need to turn the ciabattas and put them into the oven. I put the baking paper on the plank, sprinkle it with flour and lay ciabattas on it. Then I tap paper with ciabattas on the rocks from this plank right onto the stone. Also pour a cup of boiling water into the pan at the bottom of the oven, cover it, and bake the ciabattas for 15-20 minutes.
7. When the ciabattas are ready, put them on the wire rack and let them cool.

The Bread Project

Since it's summer and school is out I've got a lot of free time on my hands. I've decided to try making different bread recipes throughout the summer and hopefully even longer! Why buy bread when you can easily make it right at home? Everything homemade tastes better. 

The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight." --M.F.K. Fisher

I've always admired people who make their own bread. 

The other day my husband was talking with some friends and said that a meal isn't a meal unless there is bread. So I can try to fulfill my husband's idea of dinner with fresh baked bread right from our home. 

I had wanted to start with Tuscan Bread since my husband is from Tuscany and is a strong believer that it is the best type of bread out there. Tuscan bread doesn't have salt, so it has a particular taste and tends to be dry and crumbly. I looked up the recipe on King Arthur Flour but I needed to make a sponge the night before and so I couldn't make it right away and I wanted to start right in that moment. 

So I looked up an easy bread recipe. And sure enough I found a quick, easy, no-knead bread recipe. I found the recipe link from pinterest and is from the blog The Baker Upstairs. 

Here is the recipe that I followed below, and here is her link.

Crusty Artisan Bread

1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
3 cups warm water
1 tablespoon salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting dough

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix in salt and flour, stirring until there are no dry patches. The dough will be very soft and not like a typical bread dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours.

After rising, divide dough into two pieces and shape each into a round ball. Place each ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper, and let rest 40 minutes.

During the second rise, preheat oven to 450. Place a baking stone or overturned baking sheet on the upper oven rack, and a broiler pan or metal cake pan on the lower shelf. Heat the baking stone at least 20 minutes before baking.

When the dough is ready to bake, dust it with flour and cut three deep slashes across the top. Slide the dough on the parchment paper onto the baking stone using a pizza peel (or a thin cutting board). Pour a cup of water into the broiler pan/cake pan and shut the oven door quickly. Bake until golden brown, 24-28 minutes.

adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

My oven is quite small and so I couldn't put both loaves in together. The first loaf I think I took out a little early since it's quite soft and not very crunchy and it's pretty white. I left the second loaf in a little longer and it has a better light brown color, but it still seems a little soft and not the regular artisan bread texture. 

So for my first attempt I'd say it went well! We ate with our dinner and Luca liked it so I think this recipe passed, but could be better. I look forward to baking different breads and improving my bread making skills. 

City with a View

The past two weeks I've been traveling around Italy with my dear friend and her husband. We hit all the important cities for a first time trip to Italy, such as Florence, Rome, Venice, and of course Bologna! 

The best way to view the city is from up above. So we climbed the Cupola in Florence and Rome and the Towers in Bologna. 

3 euros and 498 stairs up to the top of the Torre Asinelli. Such a beautiful view of Piazza Maggiore. 

10 euros and 463 steps to the top of the Cupola of the Duomo Santa Maria dei Fiori.

                                     

7 euros and an elevator ride plus 321 stairs up to the Cupola of Saint Peter's Basilica. 

End of School

School has ended which means Summer has started! 

It has been a wonderful academic year. I started working for a new school in the fall as the native language English assistant. I had the opportunity to work with the elementary school, middle school, and high school. Working across the board on all ages definitely kept things interesting and I got to see what age groups I really enjoy working with the most. 

Every grade as their ups and downs but in the end I have to say high school was my favorite age group to work with. Working with the elementary school was a blast and the kids are so adorable. They love you for really no reason at all. They come up to you with big hugs, little presents, and lots of drawings they've made you. However if I were to work them all day, every day, I think I would go crazy because they are so little and need direction and help in everything they do. The teacher I worked with is amazing with the kids and she definitely deserves a lot of credit for her work. 

As almost everyone knows middle school is a rough age group to work with. I had never really worked directly with middle school kids before and I had heard people say that it's difficult. This year I had a taste of what it's really like and what everyone says is true. These kids think they're older than they are, but don't want to take responsibility for anything, and are too cool to be smart. Many lessons felt like pulling teeth. All teachers who choose to work in the middle school must be saints. 

In Italy high school lasts 5 years, not 4 like in the States. So what would be our 9th, 10th, and 11th grade still need quite a push and some encouragement to get them to study, do their homework, and really care about their work. But the students in their last two years are almost adults and so when teaching you can go more in-depth, expect good results, and joke with them. 

For the last day of school, the whole school (around 500 students) walked up San Luca to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. The church is located up on one the Bolognese hills and you walk up 666 porticoes to reach the top. As we were walking, one of my students told me that the porticoes are like a snake and the sanctuary at the top crushes the snake's head.

Now that school is out and the weather is nice, Luca and I are able to spend our weekends at the beach in Castiglioncello. We've been enjoying lying out in the sun, relaxing, and reading. Let the summer roll on! 

The Apartment Search

Buying any home is never an easy task. However it felt especially difficult in Bologna despite not having tried to buy a home anywhere else. 

I suppose nowadays almost everything can be done on the internet, however it seemed like looking for  apartments that were for sale was only done on the internet since it was the fastest way to see what was available, where, for how much, and with photos. And I'm not even sure if  personal realty agents exist. 

We looked on large sites like immobiliare.it or casa.it but we also looked on smaller specific sites like abitare bologna and santo stefano immobiliare however most of these listings where also on the large sites anyway. It is incredible what is out there and for sale and at what price. If you're ever curious just take a look. We looked, and searched, and hunted and about one possibility would pop up over every three months or so. 

So we tried to book a few appointments together to have a better idea of what our options are and see more homes.  After each visit the representative would usually ask what kind of home we're looking for. They'd take note and write it down and they said they'd keep their eye out. However, from dozens of visits, only two agencies contacted us with other options that more or less matched our criteria. So we had no help from an expert who would help us with the search process. 

Our "dream house" just wasn't possible. First of all, there weren't many options that matched what we wanted and second, if there was something it was waaay out of our budget. So we knew we had to let something go. 

Finally, after over a year of looking we saw a publication online that looked interesting. It was on the other side of town and it didn't have a terrace but it did have 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a studio, wood floor, an open living/kitchen space, and it was on the 5th floor with an elevator. However it was still over our budget. But we decided to take a look at it anyway. 

We visited it, and we both loved it! It was a beautiful place, with high ceilings, and our ideal kitchen even with an island! So we went back and had a second look just to be sure we really liked it. Then we called up the in-laws to come and see it too to get their opinion. They thought it was a great place too! Unfortunately there was still the problem of the price. But one must know that everything in Italy is negotiable. When you go house hunting you can expect to drop the price at least 5%. 

We said we wanted to put in an offer on the house about 10% less than the asking price. We stated our price and the representative said that the owner wouldn't even accept an offer that low. So we played the Italian game and waited and pretended to not show interest for a week. Sure enough we received a phone call saying the rep spoke to the owner and would take a look at our offer. Just a few days later we got the final phone call saying it's a deal! 

We arranged for everyone to meet about 6 weeks later to sign the papers and close the deal. From then on we had the keys to our new home! 

Thankfully we gave notice immediately to our landlord of the place we were renting in which we had to give a 3 month notice before moving out. We notified him at the beginning of February and at the end of April we were hauling car loads on over to the new place to get settled in! 

We've Moved! Goodbye Galvani

If you haven't heard yet, we've bought a house and we've moved! 

We had been looking for a place since we've been married so essentially two years and the housing market is no easy maze to walk in Italy. 

Houses aka apartments are very very expensive compared to the States. It was hard for me to look at homes and know that there could be something 5 times as big in Minneapolis for a quarter of the price. However that is in Minnesota and not Bologna, Italy. 

 Since I've been living in Italy, we've lived on the South side of the city. Bologna is essentially a circle with the train station at the north and the bolognese hills at the south. First we were in Via Castiglione and then we moved just a few blocks north to Via Cartoleria. This side of the town is called Zona Galvani. It is a really beautiful area but also rather expensive. 

This part of town is considered part of the historical center and it still has quite a medieval feel to it. We would have liked to continue living on that side of town but it's just too expensive. So now we're on the complete exact opposite side of the city near the train station. This area is called Zona Marconi. 

After living in the same neighborhood for two years you really start to feel like you belong there. There are definitely something I will miss: 

This pink church which we lived next to for a year, right under the bell tower. Even though the bells ring every half hour even through the night you become used to them and they are really helpful while you're getting ready in the morning or having a private lesson. 

Literally the best gelato shop in probably all of Italy- La Sorbetteria Castiglione. I think we definitely took for granted having such a delicious gelateria so close by. 

Not only was there an amazing gelatria there is also a delicious bakery- Regina di Quadri. We've ordered their incredible mille foglie cake more than once and have had our fair share of croissants.And also while walking to the bus stop early in the morning for work and smelling the waft of freshly baked goods. 

 Saying that I live near Porta Castiglione 

Which is right next to Giardini Margherita, the largest gardens in Bologna. This was definitely nice for going walking with friends and for taking Macchia. 

And living in a historically rich, beautiful part of town

However all of Bologna is beautiful and so I'm sure we'll soon find the places we really enjoy on this side of town. Our neighbor is the owner of the bar on the corner so we've already had breakfast there a few times and there is also a nice place to grab a piadina and sit out in the sun to eat around the corner. 

I'll write and put pictures up of our  new place in another post! But for now- Goodbye Galvani!