Honey Oat Bread

This morning I woke up with absolutely no expectations.  Those are the best days because your day is unwritten.  I was thinking about dusting the house; I ended up not doing that. I'll be dusting tomorrow I suppose.  

The weather was favorable so I decided to make some bread. Around the 60s is perfect because it doesn't get too hot in the kitchen.  And I was really impressed with the first rise.  I think I finally perfected this proofing stuff.  My second rise resulted in a favorable proof.  I was very happy with the results today.  Most of the time, I tend to go rogue with recipes, but today, I followed it to a tee.  

I adapted this bread recipe from Laura in the Kitchen.  She has some really great recipes. So I would recommend checking her out.  She has a youtube channel where she shows you step by step how to make things.  It is very helpful.  

If you are craving homemade bread, this is a great one and it is super easy to make.  Your home will smell divine and it will make you smile.  

Honey OaT Bread Print

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

¼ cup honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 cups bread flour

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp honey

2-3 tbsp oats

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and butter in a small bowl and stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, salt, and yeast mixture. 

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 12 minutes on setting 6-8 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is nice and smooth.

5. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough. 

6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size. 

7. Grease a 9X5” loaf pan with some oil and set aside.

8. Form the dough into a loaf by rolling out the dough into an 8X8 and rolling it like a jellyroll.  Pinch the seams together and place it in the greased loaf pan seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size. 

9. Lightly brush the top with honey and coat with oats.

10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 40 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

Citizen Schools

Yesterday, we had the WOW! Spring Showcase 2014.  Over the past few months, Frank and I have been Citizen Teachers for Citizen Schools teaching a Comic Apprenticeship.  This was a very valuable experience that I would recommend.  If you have some expertise and want to give back to youth, this will be a most rewarding experience.

Over the past few months, I have learned a lot from these students. It brings me back to my middle school days and what life was like back then.

Citizen Schools is an after school program targeted at low-income communities, so on top of regular school hours, these students have a supplemental post session.  To learn more about how you can make a difference, click here.

At the end of our apprenticeship, there is a WOW! event in which the students demonstrate what they have learned in their apprenticeship.  Our students created their very own Comic Books.  They have a lot of imagination and some came up with really great stories. I am definitely going to miss seeing their faces!

WOW! Presentation

Comic Book Covers by the students

First Day at Burger King: loved the passion of the comic artist!

Big Foot vs. Chewbaca Part 2: This student made two, I was so impressed!

Robbed: a comic about Bob and Bob.

Chi-Town Shy Guy: graffiti art/sending a message

The Missing Book: very well done, like all the work and though put into this.

Pancake and Attack of the Waffles: Great story, very well done!

I really enjoyed reading their comics and more importantly, I loved how they enjoyed reading each others.

Craft Beer Week in Chicagoland

Whenever it is a nice sunny pleasant day, Frank and I do a lot of walking. So much so that we were both tired from this weekend. We walked to Half Acre on Saturday then checked out this coffee and tea shop and made our way over to Lakeview.  

It's Chicagoland's Craft Beer Week so there are a lot of happenings that Frank wants to check out.  This weekend we went to Metropolitan's Brew Tour.  They are a local brewery in Andersonville specializing in german lagers.  So if you like german lagers, you will most likely appreciated Metropolitan's beers. I surprisingly liked the Arc Welder which is a seasonal beer made during this time of year. Metropolitan runs an operation team of 6 people.  They emphasize "fresh" in their beers, which is commendable.  Typically, Metropolitan Brewing doesn't have any public brewery tour, but since it was craft beer week, we got to check out their space and their beers.

Metropolitan Brewery centerpiece made of industrial/beer part things.

Living out here, there are so many craft breweries that Frank would dare admit that "he gets tired of drinking..." We are fortunate to be so close to the sources and taste the freshness and local releases on tap.  

Metropolitan had these cute robotic statues on tap.

Ouch!

Oh man!  I just had some ice cream and it resulted in an ice cream brutality. The ice cream scooper took a large section of my lips.  So painfully!  I was bleeding like mad.  It still stings!  So don't bother licking or getting that extra bit from the scooper.  It will sting you like a scorpion.

Homemade Bread

Today the weather allowed for baking bread.  It wasn't hot at all, in fact it was quite breezy and a bit nippy.  I decided to make some whole wheat bread because I bought some whole wheat bread flour at Whole Foods.  I also wanted to see the difference using whole wheat.  It is suppose to be more nutritious than white bread.  

I adapted my recipe from Laura In the Kitchen's YouTube channel.  She has some pretty solid recipes. I substituted 1 tbsp of vegetable shortening for 3 tbsp of flax meal.  In the future, I might not use any vegetable shortening and just use all flax meal.  I think the vegetable shortening really made it easy for the dough to come together though.  I was also thinking about using 1 cup of oat flour and 3 cups whole wheat flour instead of using all whole wheat flour.  This way it adds even more grains and fiber. Chia seeds also sounds like a great idea.  

Whole wheat breads are not light and airy, they are more dense than white bread.  They will most likely make you feel fuller longer compared to white bread. I been craving a peanut butter sandwich, so I am exciting to try it out on this creation.

Whole Wheat Bread Print

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

¼ cup honey

2 tbsp vegetable shortening, melted

3 tbsp flax meal

4 cups whole wheat bread flour

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp oats (optional)

1 tsp honey (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.  Add shortening and honey to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. 

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add whole wheat bread flour, milk powder, salt, and yeast mixture. 

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 6 minutes on setting 6 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough. 

5. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size. 

6. Grease a 9X5” loaf pan with some oil and set aside.

7. Form the dough into a loaf by rolling out the dough into an 8X8 and rolling it like a jellyroll.  Pinch the seams together and place it in the greased loaf pan seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size. 

The top 2 pictures are from the first rising, see how it has doubled in size.
The bottom 2 pictures are form the second rising, it has doubled in size.

8. Lightly brush the top with honey and coat with oats (optional).
9. Preheat oven to 350 degree and bake for about 45 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Once cooled, slice away and enjoy!

Getting Old

I threw out my back yesterday.  This has been happening to me pretty often.  I must be getting OLD! Unfortunately, I had an appointment down at the Loop today so I just couldn't lay around. In cases like this, I am thankful for Motrin.  I was able to make it to my Lasik consultation appointment.

I am planning to get the Lasik procedure done in the next few months.  Right now, I am debating which doctor to go with.  It's about $1000 difference in price.  Also the method between the two doctors.  Microkeratome vs. IntraLase.  Both surgeons come very highly recommended.

I am excited to get this procedure done because I won't have to worry about contact lenses, contact solutions and my husband crushing my glasses.  

Red Bean Bread

Earlier today, I made some Red Bean Bread.  The past few days, we been eating clean with salads and such.  This was a nice treat.  This bread really isn't unhealthy.  After all it has red bean.  This is a great alternative to cupcakes and cookies.  You still get a little bit of sweetness; its a great compromise.  Plus it makes a great snack or you can have it for breakfast.

Typically, my recipe makes a loaf of bread. Sometimes though, I make 4 little buns and 1 loaf.  That just means, my loaf will be a little smaller since I took one of the sections to make 4 little buns.  If you just wanted buns, then this recipe will yield about 16 little buns. 

Personally, I think the loaf taste better because it has more texture.  I usually divide my dough into 4 parts, thus I will have 4 small sections loafs.  Great for portion control and easy to snack on.  However, you can also just make one section and fill it with red bean paste then roll it up like a jellyroll and you will have bigger swirls of red bean.

If you don't have a stand mixer, you can also use a food processor to get the dough to combine and then knead, and if you have neither, then there is always the old-fashion knead the dough by hand.  

Here's my recipe for Red Bean Bread, it's pretty much like my Hokkaido Milk Bread recipe but with a red bean filling.  

Red Bean Bread Recipe Print
(Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:

2½ cups bread flour

4 tbsp sugar  

½ tsp salt

2 tsp active yeast (1/4 oz packet)

1 egg

½ cup milk, warm

½ cup tangzhong, room temp

3 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into small pieces, room temperature)

¾ cup red bean paste

1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp of milk

1 tbsp melted butter (optional)

Tangzhong (water roux): make ½ cup of tangzhong

1/6 cup of bread flour

¼ cup milk

¼ cup water

Let’s make some bread!

1. First, make the tangzhong.  In a saucepan, whisk bread flour, milk and water well.   Heat over medium-low heat.  The mixture will thicken.  Stir consistently to prevent it from burning. Swirly lines will appear and when you have a pudding like consistency (ideally the temperature here is 149°F), take it off the heat.  You can transfer it into a small bowl.  Set aside and cool to room temperature.

2.  In your stand mixer bowl, combine bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.  Quickly mix using a dough hook, just to combine.  

3. Add warm milk, egg and tangzhong to the dry ingredients.

4. Knead on medium (6 on the stand mixer) for 5 minutes to let the gluten develop.

5. Decrease to speed to 4 and add in the butter while mixer is still kneading.  Continue to knead for an additional 10 minutes.

6. Once the dough is done kneading, form into a ball and place into a greased bowl.  Cover and let sit in a warm place for 40-60 minutes or until doubled in size.

7. Divide dough into four equal portions and form into the shape of a ball.  This will deflate the dough. Cover and let rest for another 15 minutes.

8. Prepare loaf pan by lightly greasing.  This will make it easier for your loaf to come out.  

9. Now it’s time to form the rolls!  Flour a nice clean working area. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an oval.  Then fold 1/3 from the top to the middle and 1/3 from the bottom to the middle.  Rotate 90 degrees; roll out with the rolling pin.  Spread 3 tbsp of the red bean paste.  And roll dough like a jellyroll.  Place the roll with seam side down into loaf pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.

The lower left picture is where the filling would be added.

10. Let sit for another 30-60 minutes in a warm place, or until the dough doubles in size. 
11. Preheat oven to 350°F.

12. Brush loaf with egg wash and bake for 30 minutes on center rack.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread browns before it is done, loosely cover it with foil.

13. When done, place on a wire rack and brush the top with melted butter.  This will soften the crust and add some deliciousness.  After 5 minutes, remove from loaf pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Here are the little red bean buns. I put roughly 1 tbsp of the red bean paste and baked them for about 18-20 mins at 350 degrees. If you are planning to make buns, then use about 1 cup of red bean paste and fill with about 1-1/2 tbsp of the filing.

Comic Apprenticeship with Citizen Schools

My apprenticeship with Citizen Schools is coming to a close.  We have about 2 weeks left.  Over the past 2-3 months, Frank and I have been teaching students about comics.  This week the students are working on their final drafts.  I hope at least half of them finish by this week. If not, they will have next week to finish up.  It's WOW! next week, where the students will present their comics to the public.  HOW EXCITING!

The first Saturday of May was FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, where participating comic book stores give out free comics.  We took the students on a field trip to a local comic book store and it was a lot of fun.  We all got on a bus; I've haven't been on a school bus in ages.

First Aid Comics is the local comic shop we visited and it was great!  They had face painting for kids, complementary snacks (churros and cookies, YUM!)  Thanks for the hospitality First Aid Comics! We had a grand ole time and the students had themselves a fantastic and memorable experience.  

May beginnings

Yesterday I was doing a headstand during yoga and I strained my neck pretty bad.  It must be a recurring pain because it is 10 times worse now and has spread along my back/spine area.  I did not take any anti inflammatory meds today and it is very uncomfortable.  I did however use those neck heat pads which helped for the most part of the day until now.

Tomorrow, I have a lot going on.  Frank and I are volunteering at this Health Fair sponsored by the Church we have been attending for the past few weeks.  Then we have  field trip with the Citizen School students.  We are taking them to a local comic book store for Free Comic Book Day.  Then the real fun begins when we pick up our friends at the airport.

I been slacking a bit on my blog these days.  However, I have spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen. I have been experimenting a lot with macaron recipes, buttercream and ganache fillings.  I made some cakes and crepes.  Today, I made some bread.  I must admit, homemade bread is so much more delicious than store bought bread.  If you have the time and patience, I would highly recommend making your own bread.

Honey Oat Bread

Other things that I have been up to include submitting my application for licensure to practice dental hygiene out here.  Once I get that, I will look for a part time job.  It has been really nice not working. It has allowed me to adjust to my new environment favorably.  I have had ample time to cook, bake, and explore the city.  I am thankful that I am able to live this lifestyle thanks to my other half.  It will be nice to start working though and ease into the working world again.

This week I got a special package in the mail.  My cousin is super creative.  This is what she sent me.

The birth announcement of their beautiful daughter, Ava, a wand, and a polaroid asking me to be her fairy godmother.  How cute is that?  

I can't wait to visit her in Seattle.  When she get older, we'll definitely be going to tea.