barley

Wild Mushroom Rieska

February 10, 2016


Rieska is a traditional thin, unleavened bread made from barley or oat, sometimes with potato as additional ingredient. Because we have lots of lovely forests full of edible mushrooms here in Finland, I also put some dried mushrooms in my rieska dough. If you don't have dried mushrooms, you can use fresh ones or follow the recipe without them. 


3 – 4 pcs.

300 g potatoes
0,5 dl (0,2 cup, US) dried horn of plenty
0,5 tsp salt
50 g soft butter
2 dl (200 g) skim milk
3 dl (165 g) barley flour

Bring a pot of unsalted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm. Peel and grate the potatoes. Crush and soak the mushrooms in cold water for 20 minutes.

Stir all the ingredients together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into 3 or 4 thin, round breads. Line two baking trays with parchment papers and place the rieskas on them.

Preheat the oven to 250°C. Bake for 15 minutes.

Enjoy the rieskas while still warm with a touch of butter or "munavoi" (a spread made of butter and hard boiled eggs).

leftover

Carrot Rolls

February 03, 2016


In midwinter I have a habit of pressing carrots, oranges and ginger through a juicer when I'm feeling a little under the weather. 1 kg of carrots leaves 2 cups of dry carrot pulp behind. I add the pulp to bread mixes within 24 hours or freeze it for use in recipes later. 

If you don't make juices, substitute the leftover juicer pulp with regular grated carrots. This pulp is not as dry as the carrots from the juicer, but the recipe will still work just fine. 

14 pcs.

5 dl (500 g) buttermilk 
50 g fresh yeast 
1,5 tsp salt 
2 tbsp honey 
1 tbsp fennel seeds, coarsely crushed 
5 dl (2 cups, US) grated carrots 
1 dl (60 g) graham flour 
about 13 dl (850 g) wheat flour 

Stir the yeast, salt, honey and crushed fennel seeds into lukewarm buttermilk. Mix in the grated carrots and graham flour. Keep kneading and adding wheat flour until the dough is bouncy and elastic. This will take about 8 minutes.

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it softly, for just a moment or two. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a rope. Cut each rope into 7 pieces. Shape each piece into an oval ball. Line two baking trays with parchment papers and place the rolls on them.

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

With a sharp knife, score the rolls. Preheat the oven to 225°C. Bake for 15 minutes. 

Transfer to a wire rack, cover and let cool.

no-yeast

Sourdough Potato Bread

January 27, 2016


Sourdough Potato Bread is one of my all time favorites. I'll never get tired of it! It takes time to bake sourdough bread, but it's not difficult. I hope you'll try this recipe even if you haven't baked with sourdough before. You don't have a sourdough starter? You can easily make one with this recipe. 

That said, a word about salt. I usually apply salt sparingly, but this bread is the exception that proves the rule. Sourdough Potato Bread needs one tablespoon salt or it tastes like nothing at all. 

2 breads

First day, evening

1 dl (100 g) sourdough starter
3 dl (300 g) lukewarm water
3 dl (200 g) wheat flour

Combine the starter, water and flour in a large mixing bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave at room temperature overnight.

 Second day

 400 g potatoes
the starter dough from the evening before
3 dl (300 g) lukewarm water (left from boiling potatoes)
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp caraway seeds
about 12 dl (800 g) wheat flour

 Bring a pot of unsalted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm. Reserve 3 decilitres of water the potatoes were boiled in and let it cool. Peel and grate the potatoes.

 Blend the lukewarm cooking water, salt, honey, caraway seeds and grated potatoes with the starter dough. Add 6 decilitres of wheat flour. Knead vigorously for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the flour and knead at medium speed another 5 minutes.

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature until doubled, this will take several hours. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and sprinkle some flour on top of it. Use a dough scraper to assist you and fold the dough gently. Add some more flour if necessary. But, remember that the dough should be soft. Add just enough flour so you can shape it into two round loaves. 

Line two baking trays with parchment papers, place the breads on them, cover and leave to rise at room temperature. 

Don't score the breads. Let them tear apart in the oven and get a rustic-looking crust. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake for 30–40 minutes.

Cover and let cool on a wire rack.


oat

Monday Bread

January 21, 2016


Sometimes it's nice to decorate an everyday bread. Even scientists have proved that food tastes better when it looks good – and the trick works on bread too.

1 bread

5 dl (500 g) cold water
1/3 package of fresh yeast (about 17 g)
1 tsp salt
about 9 dl (450 g) multigrain flour (sämpyläjauho in Finnish)
1 egg
a pinch of salt

Stir the yeast and salt into the cold water. Gradually mix in the flours. Knead the dough until it doesn't stick to your hands. It takes about 8 minutes.

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 2 hours. 

Add a pinch of salt into one egg and whisk slightly. The salt breaks down the globs, making the egg watery and easier to spread. 

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it gently. Divide the dough in half. Form one half into a round loaf and place it on the baking tray. Decorate the bread with the other half using the egg glaze as a glue. 

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 45–60 minutes. The dough has risen enough when it bounces back after the finger poke test. 

Brush the bread completely or partly with an egg. 


Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake for 25–35 minutes. The bread is ready if it sounds hollow, when you knock on its base. 

Cover and let cool on a wire rack.

roll

Brolls

January 13, 2016

Buttermilk Rolls by Scandinavian Bread

Brolls are breads somewhere between small breads and large rolls. 

 3 breads

 2 dl (200 g) buttermilk
2 dl (200 g) milk
25 g fresh yeast
1 tsp salt
9 dl (600 g) wheat flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and salt in buttermilk-milk mixture. Gradually mix in the flour and knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic.

Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead about 3 minutes. Cut the dough into 3 pieces. Shape each piece into a large oval. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, place the rolls on it, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. With a sharp knife, make couple of slashes into each roll. Bake for 25 minutes. 

Cover and let cool on a wire rack.