136. Hot Cross Buns (p. 617)

I'm always amazed at how traditions and superstitions develop over the years. I've always seen hot cross buns in the supermarket bakery around Easter time, but I had no idea what a storied history they have. According to The Oxford Companion to Food and Larousse Gastronomique, these buns are traditionally cooked in England on Good Friday, but they trace their history much further back to the Saxons, who cooked buns in honor of Eostre, the goddess of light, and marked them with an X to represent the four quarters of the moon. Well, it turns out that Easter takes its name from Eostre, and the tradition of making X-marked buns came along with the name.

There are also a number of superstitions associated with these buns. They say that hot cross buns cooked on Good Friday won't get moldy. If you hang one in your kitchen, it's supposed to protect against fire in the coming year. (It's a good thing that they're supposed to be mold-resistant, since hanging a moldy piece of bread from the kitchen ceiling doesn't seem like a good idea, even if it does prevent fires.)

This recipe was the first of the yeast breads from The Book that I've made. First I warmed some milk and put it in a bowl with some yeast and sugar and let it sit for a few minutes until it got nice and foamy. Meanwhile, I sifted together some flour, allspice, cinnamon, salt and some more sugar in a bowl. Using my fingers, I worked in some butter until it was the texture of coarse meal. Then I made a small well in the flour mixture and poured in beaten egg and the yeast mixture. I added some golden raisins, currants and lemon and orange zest and stirred it until a dough formed. Well, I actualy stirred it until I thought that my wooden spoon was going to break, and then I switched to mixing it with my hands.

I turned the dough out onto my plastic pastry mat and kneeded it for about ten minutes. I formed it into a ball and put it into a large oiled glass mixing bowl and let it rise for a while. Then I kneeded it a bit more and divided it in two. I formed each half into a log and cut each log into twelve pieces. I formed each piece into a ball and put them on cookie sheets and let them rise some more.

After they had risen for a while more, I brushed each bun with an egg-and-sugar glaze and made a cross on the top of each bun with two strips of Basic Pastry Dough. This last step is a bit controversial. Teena thought that the pie crust crosses were "absurd," and Melissa skipped this step altogether. Most of the commenters on epicurious.com made the crosses out of icing instead of pastry dough. But, since I'm trying to do this Project "by The Book" as much as possible, and because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, I used pastry dough. Would I do it again? It's apparently very traditional to use pastry dough to make the crosses, but without any sugar in the dough, it doesn't add anything to the flavor of the bun, and because it's so flaky, it kind of crumbled and fell off the bun when we cut or tore them in half. If I make these again, I'll use icing.

Other than that, these were pretty good. Like Teena said, these buns are pretty dense, almost like a bagel. She found this to be a negative, but I liked that the buns were "substantial." I really liked the flavor. They were sweet, but not too sweet. The raisins and currants were sweet and chewey. The lemon and orange zest gave the buns a nice zing. As I was making these, I was a little nervous that the recipe calls for so much allspice, 1 1/2 teaspoons. That seemed like an awful lot to me, but I thought that the finished buns were just right.

I made these for Easter dinner, and (aside from some comments that they'd be better off without the pastry dough) they were a hit. I brought the leftovers to work the next day, and they went fast. (Ten seconds in the microwave does wonders for the leftover buns.)

Date Cooked: April 11, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: B+

125. Irish Soda Bread (p. 601)

I used to think that I liked Irish Soda Bread. Every St. Patrick's Day, I'd pick up a loaf from the grocery store bakery, all wrapped up in plastic covered in cute little shamrocks and sometimes even tied with a little green ribbon. I'd slice thick pieces and slather them with butter and chew ... and chew ... and chew. Sure, it could be a little gluey and dense and ever so slightly soggy. But, nonetheless, I'd eat it every year because it's just what you do on St. Patrick's Day. That's right, I used to think that I liked Irish Soda Bread. But now that I've made this recipe, I know that I love it.

First I sifted together my dry ingredients: flour, salt and baking soda (right, soda bread Adam says slapping his hand on his forehead). I mixed in a little bit of sugar and some healthy helpings of caraway seeds and golden raisins. Finally, I stirred in some buttermilk until the dough was evenly moistened, but still lumpy. (Can I just tell you again how happy I am that I found powdered buttermilk? No more trying to figure out what to do with the rest of a quart of buttermilk. I really think that it's changed my life.)

Then I turned the dough out onto a floured surface, kneaded it a bit and divided it into two halves. This was a little tricky because the dough was very, very sticky. But, I managed to shape the dough into two six inch rounds on a buttered, floured baking sheet. I cut an X into the top of each loaf and brushed them generously with melted butter.

I baked the bread until it had a nice, golden crust. To test for doneness, I took The Book's advice and picked up each loaf, tapped on the bottom, listening for a "hollow" sound. Just like a drum!

The Book says that the bread is best when allowed to sit for a few hours before slicing. Really? I think that it's just a test to see if you have enough will power to look at these golden, fragrant loaves and not tear into them right away. But, I behaved, and let them sit for three hours (but not a moment longer) before eating the first slice. Awesome! The crust was crisp and buttery. And inside, it was substantial without being heavy. The little bit of sugar gave it just a hint of sweetness, as did the golden raisins. The carway seeds lent the bread a nice anise flavor and some textural interest.

I sliced up one of the loaves and brought it to work with me. I left it in the kitchen next to the coffee machine, and it was gone in a matter of minutes. The other loaf was all mine. The Book gives all sorts of great ideas for different ways to enjoy this bread: with bacon and eggs; with smoked salmon. I'll have to make this bread again just to try them, because the loaf I had never made it past the butter dish. I devoured it all before I could think of creative things to do with it. But, it's got me thinking ... how would this be as the basis for a corned beef sandwich. I'm intrigued, but I'll have to think about it.

One thing's for sure, this will be one of the recipes that The Book will just automatically open itself to years from now after being made many, many St. Patrick's Days in a row.

Date Cooked: March 15, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: A

124. Skillet Corn Bread (p. 600)

A while ago, I made a huge batch of Black Bean Chili. It was OK, but I really didn't like it. The thing is, I made so much of it, that I had bags and bags of it in the freezer, just waiting to be eaten. I figured that it needed "something," and I though that this recipe for corn bread would be the something to complement the chili and make it sing. Oh, well.

I really love corn bread. So, I had been looking forward to making this corn bread ever since I got The Book. As a matter of fact, this recipe is the reason I asked for cast iron pans for Christmas. Apparently, this corn bread has to be made in a cast iron skillet, since The Book says that a non-stick pan will produce "anemic-looking, soft corn bread." Ick!

First, I put my empty cast iron skillet in the oven to pre-heat. Meanwhile, I mixed together some stone-ground cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, I whisked together some buttermilk and eggs. Then, I took the heated skillet out of the oven and put some softened butter in it. As I swirled it around, the butter sizzled and melted. I poured the melted butter into the egg and buttermilk mixture. Finally, I added the cornmeal mixture. Then I poured the batter into the hot skillet. The Book says to "scrape" the batter into the skillet. This seemed curious to me, since my batter was very liquidy, so there was no "scraping" at all. Did I do something wrong here? I put the skillet in the oven to bake for a while. It puffed up and browned very nicely, as you can see from the picture.

After I let the corn bread cool, I cut myself a nice slice and anxiously took a bite. How was it. Not that great, I'm sorry to say. First, it wasn't fully cooked in the middle. That may have been my fault because The Book says to use a nine-inch pan, and I used an eight-inch one, so my bread was thicker than what the recipe intended. But then there wast the flavor and texture. It was kind of oddly eggy and spongy. I though that it was strange that there was no flour at all in this recipe. Maybe this recipe is more "authentic," but every other recipe I've ever made for cornbread calls for at least a little flour. I also found the flavor to be a little bland. The recipe calls for only a half-teaspoon of salt. I think that it could have used more give the rest of the flavors more sparkle. The crust, however, was quite good. Buttery and crisp. I know that I'll make skillet cornbread againt, just not using this recipe.

I feel bad that the past couple of posts have been negative. Don't think for a moment that I'm losing any of my affection for The Book. Far from it. In the nine months since I started The Project, I've eaten so many wonderful things, and I've learned so much and gained so much more confidence as a cook. But, with more than 1,300 recipes in The Book, they can't all be my favorites. Stay tuned for my next post, which is one of my favories so far.

Date Cooked: March 8, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: C+

76. Coconut and Macadamia Nut Banana Bread (p. 599)

Like a lot of home cooks, when I find myself with a bunch of overripe bananas, I automatically think of one thing ... banana bread. But after a while, the old standby banana bread recipe gets a little tired, and you're ready for something new. This recipe* takes banana bread back to its tropical roots by including macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.

The first thing I did was to toast some sweetened, flaked coconut. OK, that was the second thing I did. The first thing I did was to scorch some sweetend, flaked coconut. Note to self, coconut cooks very fast. I scraped the burned coconut off the pan, fanned the acrid smoke out of the kitchen, and started over again. It worked out much better the second time.

The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward. I sifted together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). I creamed the butter and sugar until fluffy, and then added the eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest, mashed bananas and sour cream until well combined. Then I added the flour mixture. Finally, I folded in the chopped macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.

Like a lot of the other quick bread recipes in The Book, this recipe makes two loaves. Because I only have one loaf pan, when I made the Pumpkin Apple Bread, I cut the recipe in half and made one loaf. This time, I got a bit smarter, and even though I still only have one loaf pan, I poured half of the batter into my loaf pan, and put the rest in the refrigerator while the first loaf cooked. Once it was baked and cooled enough to remove from the pan, I took it out, washed the pan, and cooked the second loaf.

I liked this bread a lot. The addition of the coconut and macadamia nuts gives the bread a nice tropical flair ... this is the banana bread that Jimmy Buffet would make. The lemon zest and sour cream gave the bread a brightness and zip that your usual banana bread lacks. I'd make this again if I didn't already have a loaf stashed in the freezer.

Date Cooked: October 26, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: B+

*The recipe on epicurious.com is the same as the one in The Book, except it makes five mini-loaves, The Book's recipe makes two regular-sized loaves.

64. Pumpkin Apple Bread (p. 599)

What do you think of when you think of fall? Maybe it's the changing colors of the leaves, or the crispness in the air. But if you're like me, fall means two things: pumpkins and apples. Well, what do you know, this recipe* puts them together into what The Amateur Gourmet calls "fall ... bundled up and baked in a loaf."

This isn't your basic pumpkin bread. No siree. First, there's the sweet, crunchy streusel topping. Is there anything that isn't made better by adding streusel topping? Next, when you cut into this loaf, you're surprised to find it studded with sweet, tender chunks of apple. The other thing that I loved about this loaf is that it packs a punch with a healthy dose of my favorite fall spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. And, it smells great while it's baking.

Like several of the other loaf recipes in The Book, this recipe makes two loaves. But, because I only have one loaf pan, I cut the recipe in half. After the loaf I made was gone, I wished I had another loaf pan.

Date Cooked: October 15, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: A-

* This recipe isn't on epicurious.com, but The Amateur Gourmet has it on his site.