From the Family Table

January 1, 2014 · 4:19 pm

CHUNK O’CHEESE BREAD

One of our family’s favorite breads is Chunk o’Cheese. The original recipe was developed by Mrs. Richard W. Ojakangas from Duluth, Minnesota. With it she won Second Grand Prize in the ninth annual Pillsbury Grand National Bake-Off. The recipe was published in Best of the Bake-Off Collection, Book Publishing Industries, Inc., 1959, page 21. Since then, the recipe has been reprinted numerous times in various cookbooks and recipe collections as well as on the internet.

Chunk o’cheese loaves fresh out of the oven

During a recent visit to Los Angeles, I made the bread with my grandson, who had a great time pushing the little chunks of cheese into the dough. That is a very important step, because cheese on the surface of the dough melts in the oven. It can make a big mess. For that reason, be sure to line your baking pans with aluminum foil Also be sure to remove the foil from the finished loaves while they are still cooling. Otherwise you will wind up with pieces of aluminum foil stuck in the cracks of the firmed-up bread.

All it needs is some butter

The basic recipe is really the very old-time American classic, anadama bread, but the cheese sets it apart. The original recipe called for American cheese. (That and Velveeta were the kinds of cheese found in most American kitchens in the 1950s.) I prefer to use sharp Cheddar, but you can choose your favorite so long as it melts easily. Monterey jack, Muenster, Swiss, mozzarella, or provolone will also work. You can even try a mixture of cheeses. I have also added a little whole wheat flour to make the loaf even more flavorful and crunchy.

RECIPE

Chunk o’Cheese Bread

Ingredients

2¼ cups lukewarm water (110°F)
½ cup cornmeal + more for shaping loaves
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup molasses
2 tablespoons butter or vegetable shortening
1 package dry yeast
½ cup whole wheat flour
4½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 pound cheddar cheese, cut into ¼ to ½ inch cubes

Method

In a 2 quart saucepan, combine 1 3/4 cups of the warm water, cornmeal, and salt. Stir until smooth. Then place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Continue to stir until thickened, about 5 minutes after it comes to the boil. Remove from the heat.
Stir in molasses and butter or shortening. Cool to lukewarm.
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the remaining ½ cup of warm water. Add the cornmeal mixture and blend thoroughly.
Stir in the whole wheat flour until well combined. Then, one cup at a time, stir in 3½ cups of the all-purpose flour to form a sticky dough.
Spread the remaining 1 cup of flour onto a clean work surface. Place the dough on the flour and knead until the flour is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic.
Return the dough to the washed, dried, and greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean cloth, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough has doubled in volume.
Turn the risen dough onto a work surface sprinkled with cornmeal, and work the cheese cubes into the dough by flattening the dough, sprinkling with about ¼ of the cubes, and folding over the dough, then repeating the process until all of the cheese cubes are incorporated. Make sure that all of the cheese cubes are covered.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces.
Shape into two round loaves. Place in two 8 or 9 inch cake pans tightly lined with well-greased aluminum foil. Make sure the cheese cubes are well covered. Otherwise they will melt during baking and make cleanup difficult. Cover the shaped loaves with a clean cloth and let rise until doubled.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 1 hour. Test for doneness. When the loaves are baked, remove from the oven and cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Remove any bits of aluminum foil that cling to the loaves while they are still warm. Otherwise you will have a hard time removing the foil.
Cool completely before slicing. although you will be tempted to try an early sample.

7 Comments

Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes

Tagged as aluminum foil, American cheese, anadama bread, Cheddar cheese, molasses, Velveeta, whole wheat flour

December 22, 2013 · 5:04 am

RED VELVET CAKE AKA WALDORF ASTORIA CAKE

We were in Los Angeles to celebrate Thanksgiving as well as my oldest grand-daughter’s thirteenth birthday. Among her food requests was a red velvet cake for her birthday cake. Red velvet cake is a family favorite, making appearances at weddings, birthdays and other celebrations. It is also a Southern favorite for festive occasions. In our family it is also known as Waldorf Astoria cake, based upon an apocryphal story about one of my wife’s favorite aunts.

Supposedly a friend of this aunt was in New York City and happened to dine at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where she was served this delicious cake. At the end of the meal, the lady asked the waiter if she might have the recipe for the cake. Bowing deeply, the waiter excused himself and then returned a short time later with a sheet of paper inscribed with the recipe. Thrilled, the woman took the recipe back to her home in Delaware and wowed all of her friends with her new, secret, delicious recipe. A short time later, she received a letter from the hotel. When she opened it she found a bill for some absurd amount to cover the cost of providing the recipe.

Enraged, the woman immediately made copies of the recipe and distributed it to all of her friends. Supposedly, my wife’s aunt was one of the luck recipients of the now-not-so-secret recipe. Not likely to be true, but it makes a good family legend.

To be made properly, the cake requires a large amount of red food coloring. In this day and time, some bakers are worried about potential hazards of food coloring. In the USA, commercial red food colorings are either or both Allura Red AC (US FD&C Red 40) and Erythrosine (US FD&C Red 3). There is some concern about Allura as it is an azo dye made from petroleum. It has been associated with hyperactivity in children, although data are conflicting. Nevertheless, it is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. There are no restrictions on Erythrosine. Early studies suggested that in high doses it might cause cancer in rats, but more recent studies have not shown it to be a mutagen.

Still, some bakers would like to avoid the potential risk of these synthesized dyes. The most commonly used “organic” alternatives are beet juice and carmine (also called Natural Red 4), made from powdered female cochineal, scale insects from Mexico and South America that parasitize prickly pear cactuses and their relatives. A common use for carmine is to color lipstick. There is concern that these “more natural” coloring agents may add an undesirable flavor and even cause allergic reactions. Neglected in much of the discussion is that the extraction process for carmine. The substance producing the red color is extracted from ground insects with either ammonia or sodium carbonate. Then it is precipitated as an aluminum salt by adding alum. Stannous chloride, citric acid, borax, and/or gelatin may be added as stabilizers. This raises the obvious question as to what is “natural”?

One of my daughters wanted red velvet cake for her wedding. The vegetarian baker tried repeatedly to use beet juice, but it just wouldn’t work, so my daughter had to choose another cake flavor.

For all of these reasons, if you are worried about food additives, you may not be able to bake – or eat – this cake. That would be too bad, because it is delicious.

There is a final decision: what do you want to use for icing? The family recipe uses a simple milk and flour base for the frosting while most Southern cooks insist that the only icing that will do is cream cheese icing. I’ve given you both recipes

RECIPES

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients

½ cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
1½ cups sugar
3/4 cup red food coloring
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
2¼ cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Method

Using a stand mixer, cream the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition
In a small bowl, mix the red food coloring and cocoa together to make a paste. Then add to the shortening, sugar, and egg mixture
Sift together the salt and flour. Add in thirds to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk until all combined. Mix well but do not overbeat. Then stir in the vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, mix together the soda and vinegar. They will foam up. Don’t be alarmed, but make sure you have a big enough bowl so that the foam doesn’t overflow. Stir the mixture into the batter until well combined
Pour into two cake pans prepared with baking parchment, greased, and floured.
Bake in the middle of a preheated oven at 350°F (177°C) for 30 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, remove from the oven, cool in the pans for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a baking rack to cool completely before frosting.

Waldorf Astoria Frosting

Ingredients

2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Combine the flour and milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until thick and smooth. Set aside
With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the cooled milk mixture along with vanilla extract. Refrigerate until ready to ice the cake.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 box (16 ounces, 2 cups) powdered sugar
½ cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

With an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and fluffy
Ice the cake, Make certain the cake layers are completely cooled

Cutting an aluminum foil non-stick liner for the cake pan

Liner in place before greasing and flouring the pan

Really red cake batter

Filling the cake pans

Batter evenly divided between two pans

Ready for the oven

Out of the oven and ready to be turned out on the cooling rack

Happy Birthday!

Ready for the first bite.

6 Comments

Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes

Tagged as beet juice, cochaneal, cream cheese icing, food coloring, Los Angeles, red food coloring, red velvet cake, Waldorf Astoria cake, Waldorf Astoria Hotel

December 18, 2013 · 6:17 pm

BLT+ARO

One of our family traditions – probably a tradition in your family, too – is that for birthdays, the honoree gets to select the menu for the whole day. While we were in Los Angeles, my grand-daughter celebrated her thirteenth birthday. That was a momentous occasion not only for her, but also for her younger brother and her parents. Officially, she became a teenager, but these days that is only semantics. Fortunately, she is not driving yet, but the birthday was a stark reminder that the day for that is not far away.

Included in my grand-daughter’s food selections for the day was bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for breakfast. Of course, she got to sleep late on a weekend so it was closer to brunch than breakfast. Still, a little odd for my elderly clock, but I freely admit that they were delicious.

These were not your usual BLTs. Challah was the preferred bread. That seemed to be an odd companion to bacon, but nobody blinked.

No one in the family likes mayonnaise, so there was none. How can you have a BLT without mayonnaise? They allowed me my own. The bacon was crisped in the oven, and the lettuce was the tender butter kind. The tomatoes were beautiful heirlooms, almost purple in color.

Everyone in the family is averse to onion as well, but they accommodated me with thick slices of red onion. They don’t like avocados, either, so they sliced a perfectly ripe avocado just for me.

We gathered around a buffet to assemble our personal creations. Mine was an elaborate BLT+ARO. Then we enjoyed a beautiful Southern California morning on the back patio. Gifts were opened, including a new iPhone – every California teenager needs one, I was told.

Crispy bacon

Butter lettuce

Heirloom tomatoes

Challah

My special BLT with avocado and red onion

All in all a great way to start a day of celebration.

BLT+ARO

Ingredients

2 slices challah
mayonnaise
3 strips bacon, fried crisp
2 large slices, heirloom tomatoes
2 leaves butter lettuce
½ ripe avocado, sliced
1 slice red onion
salt and pepper

Method

Spread the slices of challah with mayonnaise
Arrange the bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion on one slice of bread. You may need extra mayonnaise between layers.
Season with salt and pepper
Top with the remaining slice of bread for a thick sandwich.
Eat with plenty of napkins handy or over the kitchen sink.

3 Comments

Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes

Tagged as avocado, bacon, BLT, butter lettuce, California, challah, heirloom tomatoes, mayonnaise, red onion, teenagers

December 13, 2013 · 2:36 pm

CROQUE MONSIEUR AND CROQUE MADAME

I have been away from my blog for awhile. First, I spent some time with family at Thanksgiving. That was a lot fun. What has not been fun is frustration in uploading my images to Word Press. Over the last several days, I have worked closely with the folks at Word Press. They demonstrated remarkable knowledge and incredible patience. Together, we were unable to solve the problem. Then I changed to an old wireless router I had replaced a while back and everything – well, nearly everything – worked again. Frustration over.

Recently I wrote about baking pain de mie for the express purpose of making croque monsieur and croque madame sandwiches. That is exactly what I did with the bread. If you are a big fan of these sandwiches, you already know that there are many, many recipes some of them not much more than an American grilled cheese and others very elaborate

There are, however, some absolute essentials: good bread (hence the pain de mie), the best sliced ham you can find, and Gruyère cheese. Of course for the croque madame, you will need a perfectly fried egg.

You can sauté the sandwiches in a pan, broil them, toast them in a panini press, or use a traditional French sandwich mold that makes them look a bit like a giant madeleine. Then you have to decide whether or not you want to go to the trouble of making a béchamel to moisten the contents and provide a topping – with more Gruyère, of course – that can be browned under a broiler.

Inside patterns of the French sandwich toaster

Sandwich toaster in the closed position

Toasted croque monsieur

Croque monsieur with béchamel and broiled Gruyére

This, then, is only one version, but it was fun to make. I chose to use the French sandwich press that has been hanging for years on our kitchen wall as a sort of decoration. I also added some béchamel.

Frying eggs for the croque madames

Croque madame

RECIPES

Béchamel

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup whipping cream
salt and white pepper

Method

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and then stir in the flour. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, to make a light roux. Be careful not to brown.
Stir in the cream and bring to a simmer. Stir until the sauce is thickened. Remove from heat.
Adjust seasoning with slat and white pepper. Set aside.

Croque monsieur

Ingredients

4 slices pain de mie
4 tablespoons béchamel
4 thin slices ham
2 slices Gruyère
4 tablespoons butter, melted
béchamel
sliced Gruyère

Method

Spread béchamel on one side of each slice of bread
Arrange one slice of ham on each slice of bread. Then place a slice of Gruyère on two of the slices. Form into two sandwiches.
With a pastry brush, paint both sides of both sandwiches with the melted butter and arrange the sandwiches in the sandwich mold.
Close the sandwich mold and heat over an open flame on your range, turning once or twice until the sandwiches are well-toasted on both sides.
Place the finished sandwiches on oven-proof plates, top with more béchamel and Gruyère, and place briefly under a broiler until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Croque madame

Ingredients

1 croque monsieur sandwich
1 fried egg

Method

Top the sandwich with the fried egg.
Serve immediately

PAIN DE MIE

For some now forgotten reason I decided that I wanted to make croque monsieur and croque madame sandwiches. I realized that I didn’t have the right bread. American white sandwich bread is such a lump of dough that it wouldn’t hold up to the other ingredients. Artisanal breads also didn’t sound right. The only thing that would really work is French sandwich bread – pain de mie (“soft-in-the middle bread”). It also goes by the name of a Pullman loaf in the USA. I grabbed onto that idea, because my pain de mie pan, complete with lid, had been gathering dust. There really is no bread that will substitute for pain de mie: if has a fine crumb, the crust is soft and brown, it cuts so easily that you can turn it into thin Melba toasts, it toasts beautifully, and it has a delicious flavor not remotely the same as American sandwich bread.

Besides all that, it is a kitchen gadgeteer’s dream because of the special bread pan with a lid. Of course, if you don’t have such an implement, you can fashion your own with a regular bread pan and some sort of lid – a tile or small metal pan that can serve as a lid. You will also need a weight. I used a piece of flagstone from our yard.

If you want to make the investment in the pan, you may have a hard time finding it at your local kitchen store. Fortunately the pans are readily available by mail order or on the internet. I bought mine from King Arthur Flour . They sell two sizes of the pain de mie pans complete with lids. The smaller size measures 9 x 4 x 4 inches and sells for $29.95. The larger pan measures 13 x 4 x 4 inches and sells for $34.95. This recipe is designed for the larger sized pan.

Notes:

The crumb of this bread is amazingly soft. At the same time, the crust is brown and, well, crusty. All of this is due to the ingredients::

You should use a flour with lower protein content. Don’t use bread flour. All-purpose flour will work, but Southern lower-protein flours like White Lily, Martha White or Gladiola, are even better.

Potato flour, made from ground dried potatoes and also called potato starch, adds moisture.

Powdered milk also adds moisture along with a little sweetness, but it may prevent the dough from rising as fully.

Butter should be unsalted, and it should be softened to room temperature so that it can be readily incorporated into the dough.

Be sure to pre-heat the weight so that baking of the bread is even.

Classic pain de mie pan complete with lid

Improvised pain de mie pan with aluminum-foil-wrapped oven-proof ceramic tile for a lid

Milk

Softened unsalted butter

Yeast

Potato flour for moistness

Incorporating flour into the wet ingredients

Dough kneaded and ready for the first rise

Kneaded dough

Risen dough

Dough deflated, patted out and ready for the bread pan

Dough in the well-greased pan, ready for the final rise

Lid opened just enough so that you can observe the bread rising

Ready for the oven

Bread in the oven complete with the weight

Remove the lid and finish the baking

The finished loaf cooling on a rack