The origins of the breads may be from all over the world but the language of food is the same and the taste delicious. With recipes of breads from all over the world, ‘The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook’ connects us globally, bringing in delicious breads into our kitchens. It’s a way of uniting and connecting the world with bread!
The first time I saw the book with the appealing picture of Naan-E-Barbari, I gravitated to the book since it brought back memories of eating the amazing Naan- E- Barbari in a Middle Eastern bakery and fallen in love with this Naan bread. Opening the book, I was impressed with so many exotic recipes and pictures of breads from all over the world. Armenian Lavash , Persian Naan-E_Barbari, Indian Naan, Italian Focaccia and Ciabatta, German Stollen, Moroccan Msmen flaky flat bread, Ethiopian Injerra, French Boules and Batards, Jewish Challah, Tibetian Momos, Greek Spinakopitas, Dominican Tora corn bread, Mexican Tostadas and Flautas, Irish soda bread and more.
Just turning the pages of the book, my enthusiasm was rising like yeast and going through the recipes I started craving some fresh bread. But the hot bread kitchen doesn’t just have recipes. It has sections with tips on preparation, bread storage, yeast making, and detailing it out other ingredients in this recipes. Tips for leavened and unleavened breads, shaping and baking breads. They have all the help to make your own amazing artisanal breads at home.
The Author Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez, has to be applauded for the amazing effort of starting this socially conscious, global bakery employing and empowering immigrant women and bringing the authentic ethnic artisanal breads of the world into one bakery – Hot Bread Kitchen. The cook book written with simple details and clarity with Julia Turshen is an excellent book for bread recipes and with heartfelt stories of the bakery employees, it makes a great gift for the holidays.
While I make more of this recipes, bringing the world into my kitchen, and enjoying the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread at home and experiencing new tastes of bread, I highly recommend this book
Here’s the recipes I tried out and love to share for you to make and enjoy.
Nan-E-Barbari
MAKES 2 (14 × 5-INCH/35 × 13 CM) LOAVES; SERVES 6 TO 8
- 2 cups/450 g LUKEWARM WATER
- 2 ¼ teaspoons ACTIVE DRY YEAST (1 envelope)
- 4 cups/510 g BREAD FLOUR, plus more for shaping
- 2 teaspoons KOSHER SALT
- CANOLA OIL
- 2 teaspoons ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
- ½ teaspoon SUGAR
- ⅓ cup/80 g COOL WATER
- 1 teaspoon NIGELLA SEEDS (aka black onion seeds)
- 1 teaspoon SESAME SEEDS
- Stir together the water and yeast in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Add the bread flour and salt and mix on low speed until the flour is integrated. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until the dough is elastic, about 6 minutes. The dough should be cleaning the sides of the bowl. Coat the inside of a large bowl with canola oil and transfer the dough to it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or put the whole bowl in a large plastic bag and let rest at room temperature until the dough is softer than a firm balloon, is supple, and holds an indentation when pressed lightly, about 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half (each piece should weigh about 490 g). Gently form each piece into a rectangle and perform a log roll (page 120). Loosely cover the pieces of dough with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and let rest at room temperature until the dough has risen and is supple, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the all-purpose flour, sugar, ½ teaspoon canola oil, and the water in a small saucepan. Cook the flour paste over medium heat, whisking, until bubbles form around the edges and it becomes thick and opaque, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Put a pizza stone on the lowest rack of the oven and preheat to 450°F/235°C. Let the stone heat up for at least 30 minutes.
- Line the back of a baking sheet with parchment. Put one piece of dough on the parchment; leave the other covered and in a cool place. Gently pulling the ends and pressing down on the dough, extend it into a 14 × 5-inch/35 × 13 cm rectangle. Using your fingers, press 5 deep lengthwise ridges into the dough being sure not to break the dough. Rub half of the flour paste over the surface and sprinkle with half of the nigella and sesame seeds.
- Slide the dough and parchment onto the hot stone and bake until the bread has puffed up and is golden brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack, dispose of the parchment, and repeat the process to make the second loaf. Serve warm. Store any leftovers in an airtight plastic bag at room temperature for up to a couple of days
I enjoyed my Naan-e-Barbari with sides of Zatar spice powder, Olive Oil, Feta Cheese and Olives. It was a truly a delicious Mediterranean meal.
Reprinted from The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook. Copyright © 2015 by Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez.
Paratha
Makes 16 (6 inch /15 cm rounds, serves 8 to 12)
1 cup/125 g All-Purpose flour
Plus more for shaping
1 cup /130 g Whole wheat flour
¼ /40 g Rice Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
2/3 cup /160 g water, plus more if needed
4 tablespoons /60 g ghee (clarified butter)/ or unsalted butter , melted but not hot , plus more for shaping and cooking. {I used couple of spoons of vegetable oil and less spoons of ghee in my recipe}
Here is the method I used referring the one in the book.
Put all-purpose flour, wheat flour, rice flour, salt in a large bowl and mix in the water and ghee on low speed with dough blender for 2 minutes. Then combine all together with high speed for couple of more minutes to smooth dough. (Additional water can be added if required)
Cover the dough and set aside for 30 minutes or more.
Divide the dough into couple of large balls. Roll out this dough balls with a rolling pin ( ‘Indian Belan’ ) to flat on a flat board( Indian girda/ takhta)/ clean granite counter top or flat surface. Slather some oil or ghee or butter on the flattened dough. Now cut out ribbons in this dough with a butter knife or scoop and scrape tool. Stack couple of ribbons of dough and roll it like a small pinwheel and make small pinwheel dough balls.
Now take this small pinwheel dough ball disks and flatten into about 6 inch/15 cm round paratha with the rolling pin.
Heat the griddle over medium heat and cook the paratha 1 or 2 minutes on each side until browned and flip over and cook further while brushing it with ghee/ oil. While cooking you can press the paratha with spatula to make sure it’s not having under cooked spots. The parathas also puff up from the steam between the layers while cooking. When done on both sides, set aside in a bread towel for it to stay warm, while you roll out and cook all the other parathas.
Enjoy these parathas with any meat curry or lentil dal.
I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books and The Hot Bread Kitchen cookbook is truly categorized in my favorite recipe books section.
A photo posted by Birjis Rashed (@birjisrashed) on
A photo posted by Birjis Rashed (@birjisrashed) on
Book Reviewed: The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook