Judging Yeast Breads

Everyone thinks it would be a fun and tasty job to judge 4-H foods at the state fair. Let me tell you, it is harder than it looks! This year I judged yeast breads, and thanks to helping with National Festival of Breads and the Kansas Wheat Commission, it was a fun and tasty job.

This blog will share some photos of the variety of breads I judged and give you some tips for your own baking with yeast breads. When judging, the judge looks for certain standards for each product as well as a product that is so unique and/or perfect that is stands out from the rest. The advice I give 4-Hers is that you probably won't win top awards with chocolate chip cookies or white dinner rolls or banana quick bread. Those are the most common things cooks enter and their entry has a harder time being noticed.

There is a complete "What Happened to the Yeast Bread?" chart at www.homebaking.org. It outlines problems such as too much or too little volume, pale or dark color, cracked or blistered crust, coarse or heavy or dry and crumbly texture, or poor flavor. The Kansas Wheat Commission also has good references and recipes (http://nationalfestivalofbreads.com/recipes)  Check out those sites for specific concerns, but here are some general tips for the best yeast bread product:

* yeast - measure accurately, use correct temperature for water or flour mixing, be sure yeast if fresh.
* Check the oven temperature. Use an oven thermometer to be sure it is correct and place the bread in the center of the oven.
* Measure accurately! Too much sugar or salt can greatly affect the outcome. This is not a time to try to adjust the recipe. Flour should be 'fluffed' with a whisk to lighten it and measure more correctly. Weigh ingredients for the most accurate measurement.
* Temperature is very important with yeast breads - for the yeast to dissolve, for the bread to rise, as well as baking.
* Kneading is also important. Kneading develops the gluten and helps distribute the ingredients. Under kneading or mixing will give you a heavy textured bread or a crumbly and dry loaf.
* Careful shaping gives the bread an attractive appearance. Judges look for dinner rolls that are the same shape and size. Weighing the dough when making the rolls is a good way to achieve this. Loaf breads are rolled out like you might for cinnamon rolls, then rolled into a loaf shape with the ends tucked under. Be sure to roll tightly or there will be holes in the loaf.

There were several Challah breads - quite a challenge for 4-Hers. 

Multigrain Sourdough Boule

This was one of the most unusual. Bird Seed Bread.
The topping is assorted seeds or grains such as millet, poppy seeds, sesame seeds. 

Poppy Seed Twist loaf was another method of
a shaped loaf. 

How do you like your eggs?

What do you have when you combine eggs with bits of meat, cheese, and vegetables?  Omelet? Quiche?  Frittata? Fancy scrambled eggs? All of these answers could be correct, but the methods of preparation makes the differences.
Omelets are popular and are made by cooking eggs in a shallow pan and folding the extra ingredients into the almost done egg mixture. Quiche is an egg custard with extra ingredients added, usually in a pie crust. It is baked in the oven. Frittatas are a creamy egg custard with the eggs mixed with cream and vegetables, meat and cheese added. It is made in a heavy skillet that cooks both on the stove top and in the oven.
Frittata is a popular egg preparation now and one that friends and I recently enjoyed when quilt-tripping to visit a friend in Denver. Our friend and her neighbor not only entertained us with a beautiful Sunday morning recital of classical duets played on a baby grand piano,  they also prepared a delicious brunch for us featuring a frittata.

Doesn't this look like a delicious brunch? It was! 

You can go shopping for special fresh ingredients of bell peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes, and spinach for your frittata or you can look in the refrigerator and see what you have that needs to be used. Throw in a few chopped vegetables, and brown some meat and a frittata can be on the table in 20 minutes. The recipe I use is a ratio using whatever ingredients you have. For every six eggs, use 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 cup cheese, and 2 cups total vegetables and meat. You'll need a heavy skillet such as a cast iron skillet or an oven-safe non-stick skillet. If your skillet isn't non-stick, be sure to use extra oil so the eggs don't stick to the pan.

The steps are simple:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with a rack set in the center of the oven.
2. Mix the eggs and cream with 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
3. Cook and drain the meat (bacon or sausage) leaving some fat in the skillet.
4. Saute the onions, green peppers, and other vegetables, starting with those that take the longest time to soften.
5. Wilt the spinach and add any fresh herbs you want to use. Cook and stir these for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until spinach wilts. Add the meat back in the pan and stir to distribute.
6. Add cheese and let it just start to melt.
7. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and meat and cook for a minute or two until the edges of the egg start to set.

My frittata at home in a cast iron skillet. 

8. Bake the frittata in the oven until the eggs are set 8 - 10 minutes (or longer for a big pan of frittata). If you'd like to brown and crisp the top, set the frittata under the broiler for a minute or two at the end of the cooking time.
Let set in the pan 5 minutes before slicing into wedges to serve.

Favorite Dessert - Coconut Cream ???

 I love coconut cream pie. When it is a choice at a church dinner, I sneak a piece out early and write my name on the plate. Since I'm still working on my pie baking skills, coconut cream pie doesn't happen very often at my house. When I found this recipe for Coconut Cream Pie Bars with a shortbread crust it sounded good. And it is! It also makes several more servings than a pie so it would make a good dessert for a group. 

COCONUT CREAM PIE BARS

Ingredients:

Crust – 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup powdered sugar

Coconut Cream Filling – 

3 cups half-and-half

3 cups coconut milk

4 eggs

1 ½ cups white sugar

⅔ cup cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cup flaked coconut

½ teaspoon coconut extract

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped Cream Topping – 

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon cold water (to dissolve gelatin)

1 teaspoon gelatin (for stabilizing)

3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 cup coconut, for toasting

Instructions:

1.    Make shortbread crust:                                                                                

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13-inch glass baking pan by spraying with non-stick baking spray. Cut the butter into the flour and powdered sugar with a food processor (about 6 – 10 pulses) and press the mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Bake 18-20 minutes or until light brown. Set on a wire rack to cool. 

2.    Toast the coconut for the topping:                                                                          

Spread about 1 cup of coconut flakes on a baking sheet and bake with the shortbread crust for 3-6 minutes, stirring every minutes or so, until the coconut is golden brown. Spread on a plate to cool completely. 

3.    Make the coconut cream filling:                                                                  

Combine the half-and-half, coconut milk, eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until it is thick and bubbling (15-30 minutes). Add coconut and vanilla extracts and the untoasted coconut (1 ½ cups) and stir. Pour this filling over the cooled crust, and refrigerate until firm, about 2-4 hours. 

4.    Make the whipped cream topping:                                                                                                 

Put 1 tablespoon cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the top. Let it soften for 2 minutes before microwaving for 30 seconds and whisking to dissolve the gelatin. Using a chilled bowl and beaters, whisk 2 cups of heavy cream and powdered sugar together until the cream forms stiff peaks, stopping to add gelatin mixture about halfway through. Dollop the cream over the filling and gently spread over the top. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Chill until ready to serve. Slice into bars with a sharp knife.