March 15th Bread Braid with HBin5 Part Doce (II)

Assignment: 1/2 recipe of Avocado-Guacamole Bread, pgs 160-161
1/2 recipe Pesto Pine Nut Bread, pgs 98-99,
We can make substitutions, but share what and how we substituted with the group in our blogs.
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Pesto Pine Nut Bread
Substitutions:
4c AP, 1 c WWW (white whole wheat for whole wheat)
2c Spelt flour
1½ Tbsp kosher salt
Did NOT add ½ c pine nuts (not at the price they are right now!)

For the first version of this dough I used my homemade pesto which had pine nuts in it, and the in the second batch I used a commercially made pesto (Classico Pesto) which contained pine nuts.

As I’ve said in the previous post, I did a full recipe of the dough for the Pesto dough which calls for spelt flour as well as whole wheat and all purpose. After mixing the dough, I then split it apart, in ½ I added the pesto and in the other I added the guacamole which I made by mashing an avocado and adding a cup of chipotle salsa I bought at Sam’s. I was very surprised that the avocado stayed bright green. Yet, the pesto (homemade last summer from basil I grew) turned brown due to oxidation.

With that 1/2 batch of Pesto dough I made pita pockets. It took a bit of practice to get them just right, and the first three ended up way to thin and stretched out. So I only got 3 usable pita pockets out of the first batch.

But I decided to give this dough another try and made a full batch this time. I have a question for you readers…does your dough talk to you? Does it tell you WHAT it WANTS to be? Well, mine do. This one though was acting like a person with multiple personalities! It wanted to be this, it wanted to be that!

So I listened and here’s what I made:

Chicken Pesto rollups:
I deboned the thigh and leg of a roasted chicken, chopped the meat up and added a few ounces of some smoked turkey that a friend had given me. I mixed that up with the last of pesto in the jar (the pesto for this full batch was a commercial pesto). After flattening out a section of dough, I cut it into 4” wide strips, and put about 3 heaping soup spoonfuls of the chicken mixture on the dough. I folded the short ends inward, then carefully pulled the long ends toward the center and pinched them shut. Then I carefully picked it up and turn it over and placed it on the oiled cookie sheet. I repeated this process until I had used up all of the filling. But the last one I formed more like a Stromboli, or pocket sandwich or empanada…whatever you want to call it. Then I set those aside to rise for about 30 minutes.

 

Personal Pizza:
Next I rolled out about 5 ounces of dough into a personal pan pizza size. Using my Misto, I misted the dough with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), and sprinkled shredded mozzarella cheese. Thinly sliced tomatoes and sliced black olives went on next and I finished with fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt. That went into a 500 degree oven for 25 minutes or so. It made a delicious breakfast for me and brought back wonderful memories of my time in Seattle!

I used to order pizza from Pagliacci’s and it was delicious! During Pesach, many of us Jews do not eat anything that is leavened, so no bread, no pasta, etc.  At the end of Pesach (Passover), I think every Jew was calling Pagliacci's for rapid delivery! We’d practically yank the pizza out of the poor delivery person’s hands when he/she showed up at the door! LOL.

http://www.pagliacci.com/index.shtml

Ciabatta:
Finally, I decided to wrap mozzarella with dough, making a healthy snack, but the last section of dough spoke to me…it REALLY wanted to be ciabatta! So I rolled out a big rectangle, and placed it on the last oiled cookie sheet. But I wanted a few sandwich buns so made four of those as well! Since I ran out of room on the cookie sheet, I pulled out two of my large muffin size silicone forms and put the last of the dough in them. I set those aside to rise also for about 30 minutes. I flattened all four sandwich rolls down to spread them out more and make them more sandwich roll shape instead of dinner roll shape.

By now it was time to pop the Chicken Pesto rollups in the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. First I brushed them with beaten egg. I’ve had this type of treat at Sam’s and Costco for lunch before and felt that I could do better, and frankly, I did! LOL. The rollups and the Stromboli came out wonderful!

Next it was time to prepare the Ciabatta for the oven. I again spritzed the ciabatta with EVOO, then taking just my fingertips I quickly and forcefully poked indentations in the dough. This time I did not put anything else on top, no salt, no olives, no rosemary. The four rolls I brushed with beaten egg and then using a scissors, I cut into the dough for an area for it to bloom. I often use scissors like this if the dough is not high enough for me to slash with a serrated knife.

The ciabatta and sandwich rolls came out great!

While I like this dough, I think I would be more inclined to make the guacamole and salsa dough on a regular basis. The guac-salsa dough delivers more of the flavor.

But the sandwich rolls I made with the Pesto dough will make a delicious sandwich with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and thin slices of tomatoes…which is one of my favorite summer sandwiches!

Since Pesach is rapidly approaching...it's time for me to switch gears and work with a libation. 

Watch for my next post on making Pesach Mead, a great substitute for beer during Pesach.