William Penn Life, 2004 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-03-01 / 3. szám
The Hungarian Kitchen with Főszakács Béla Bountiful Breads FARADJON BEA MAGYAR KONYHÁBA. Thank you to all those who sent letters and emails in support of the Hungarian Kitchen. Time has gone very fast this year and it seems to go by much faster when you are cooking. So many things to cook and so little time to enjoy them, and we do the best we can. I did receive a telephone call from a reader in Ohio about the Dobos Torte recipe in last month's column. He told me it was not like the multi-layered cake he remembered his mom making. I agreed with him and promised to print an original recipe that is a true Dobos Torte. The recipe I did print however is a good one and everyone should try it to practice. A true Dobos Torte requires much work to make it successful. All the parts of the recipe must be flawless and then you assemble the cake. I felt that most of the readers would benefit from the experience of trying a simple törte recipe. Believe me when I tell you it is hard to produce a Dobos Torte on your first attempt. That being said I will include what I think is the best recipe ever for a Dobos Torte in the April column. Now let me put on my chefs hat and join Chef Vilmos in the HK. This month, let's talk about something that has been a diet staple that is made from flour, liquid and a leavening agent and can be baked (any traditional oven loaf), fried (langos) or steamed (brown bread). You know of it and you love it.. .bread. There are four major types of bread recipes. The first is yeast bread, which uses yeast as a leavening agent and requires kneading or stretching of the dough to soften the gluten in the flour. Remember we talked about gluten last month? Some examples of yeast bread are your basic white, whole wheat, oatmeal, rye and pumpernickel. The second type is yeast batter bread that uses yeast and strenuous beating with a mixer instead of hand kneading to obtain a very thick batter. Examples of this would be anadama, corn and raisin breads. Third is quick bread requiring no kneading and uses baking soda or baking powder or eggs to leaven the bread. Some common examples would be biscuits, muffins, popovers and scones. Our last category is unleavened bread which uses no leavening agent in any way. Think of crackers, lavash, matzos and bread sticks. Okay, here is a pop quiz? What category would a pretzel be in? (I will give you the answer at the end of this column.) Let me give you some basics about making bread. The loaf itself can be long, round, oval, fat or skinny. Look at the varieties next time you visit the bakery department in the super market. The flour used ranges from whole wheat to rye to all-purpose to bread flour high in gluten to self rising and any combination of the aforementioned. Yes, combinations of flour are used to obtain the desired result specified in the recipe. Getting the bread to rise would require the use of a leavening agent. Leavening agents lighten texture and give volume to our bread. They can be a yeast that comes dry active (packets) or fresh (cake form, must be refrigerated) or dry double active. You might also use baking soda or baking powder or double active baking powder. Double active means it works two times: once when it is mixed with a liquid, and the second time when it is heated up in the oven. Another tip I will give you is about letting the dough rise. A gas oven with a pilot light is about 100 degrees and an excellent place to proof bread. After the bread is proofed, remove it from the oven so you can preheat to bake bread. Types of liquid could be milk, buttermilk, water, carbonated water, juice, soda or wine. Again, it depends upon the recipe. Last is the flavor of your bread, which you can accent with herbs or seeds, salt, spice, and any other flavoring agent. Here is one more tip I will give you about bread recipes: If you can make bread, you can make rolls. A roll is just a little loaf of bread that requires less baking time. The answer to the pop quiz is categories 1 and 4. A pretzel can be made from yeast type dough like the kind you enjoy from a street vendor or the unleavened kind you have when enjoying a beer watching the ballgame. Enjoy this month's selection of recipes and remember: If you want to get rich, start baking because you will always be rolling in the dough! Jo M fösza/Uo® 14 ffilliu Pen Lile, March 2004
