Twisted Date Bread

A few months back one of the food magazines had a recipe for a twisted dessert bread that looked something like this.I think it was for a Babka? I remembered how they twisted it (because it was very easy) and I thought I could do something similar with the dough I make all the time. I make a basic dough that I also use for focaccia, onion rolls, challah, pizza and cinnamon buns. Then I just rolled out the dough, made the date filling and rolled it up from the LONG ENDS. Then I just sliced the long rolled dough in half and just twisted the two pieces together. It was pretty FORKING EASY! I threw the dough in the oven and I almost burnt it but I didn’t. It got really dark and got me nervous but isn’t burnt! I put it in at 450 degrees F and pulled it out at about 18 minutes. I didn’t cover the bread but maybe I’d recommend to lightly cover halfway because it was that close. The bread is delicious and moist. Only a minimal amount of sugar was used because the dates are so sweet. You will have some extra date filling but it’s so delicious you won’t mind. You can use it for breakfast on toast or in your oatmeal. The two clementines and their zest I added just accent the date filling so well. I think next time I’d spread the date mixture a little thinner than I did. I thought some would bake into the dough but it didn’t. This technique is great for all kinds of different breads.

Twisted Date Bread

Ingredients for about 16 servings

1 packet active dry yeast – (2 1/4 teaspoons or 1/4 ounce)

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water 100-110 degrees F

3 cups bread flour

1/4 cup scant extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

1 cup bread flour – this is the extra flour that you knead into dough, let dough ball rest in and also use to flour surface and rolling pin.

1 lb 6 oz dates pitted and chopped (I note I had about a cup of extra filling I didn’t use for recipe)

2 1/2 cups water – Your amount of water may differ…..depends on how dry or moist your dates are…

2 clementines – just the zest and fresh squeezed juice

1 Tablespoon cinnamon (I used Vietnamese)

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

pinch course sea salt

1 large egg –  beaten with a teaspoon of water

Directions

Start out with a large bowl and put the sugar and yeast in a bowl and add the 1 1/2 cups of 100-110 degree water. Mix it up and wait for a foam to develop on the top to make sure your yeast is alive and working. It should take between 10-30 minutes.

After you got foam add the (3 cups) flour, oil, salt and mix well. Keep mixing till the dough comes off bowl and your hands. Make a dough ball and get the remaining cup of flour. Let the dough ball rest on most of the flour and sprinkle the top of the dough ball with flour.

Cover with plastic wrap. Now work on the dates.

In a sauce pot on medium heat add the dates, One of the cups of water (start with less than the 2 1/2 cups I don’t know how much you will need keep adding water as you need it. That’s what I did) clementine juice and zest, cinnamon, dark brown sugar and pinch of course sea salt. If your dates are like what I used they kept absorbing the water quickly. I slowly added water until the dates stayed at a jammy consistency. Then I took them off the heat and used a stick blender and blended them up. I’d say they were close to apple butter like. Then I set them to the side.

Around this point you can turn your oven to 450 degrees F

Your dough should have doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and keep kneading it till it feels smooth and doesn’t stick to anything. Use the extra flour in the bowl to dust surfaces. Make it into a rectangle.

Pat the dough out as much as you can to a big rectangle shape and finish with a dusted rolling pin,

Sheet under the dough is 16×24 inches

From LONGWAYS you roll the dough like a jelly roll.

Then you cut in half LONGWAYS.

Then you put the two pieces of dough next to each other with the date side up and start on an end.

You just keep laying one piece over the other BACK and Forth! Like the right piece goes over the left piece till you get this. I made this on a Quilon Baking Sheet and I lifted the whole thing up on to a baking sheet and made it fit by squishing it together but you can cut the bread in half or make a circle…..

Then I cut off the ends of paper than hang off the sheet so they don’t burn. Next I brush the beaten egg mixture on the bread twice and avoid where it meets the paper so it doesn’t stick.

I put it in the 450 degree F oven for 18 minutes but next time I’d put a loose cover on it half way threw because another minute and it might have burnt…I got it out just in time and it was done. I don’t like cutting it that close…got lucky.

Twisted Date Bread

Came out Forking Delicious and I think it’s kind of pretty too!

The Forking Truth

Basic Herb Sauce

I had some herbs leftover at the end of the week so I blended them up to be herb sauce. I made it very basic so it would go with lots of things. I used my leftover parsley and cilantro and added a small amount of hot chili for added flavor and a small amount of heat. I think this sauce will go well many things, eggs, grilled meats, pasta and rice.

Ingredients for at least 4 servings

1 bunch parley  – chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro  – chopped

1 good sized shallot – chopped

4 liquid oz. (almost) extra virgin olive oil

1 large fresh juicy lemon – just the juice

hot chili to taste – I used part of a roasted hatch chili – chopped

1 teaspoon course sea salt

Directions

Blend till smooth and serve (goes Forking Amazing with Tequila Cilantro Lime Turkey Meatballs  recipe to be published in the near future)

Basic Herb Sauce

Enjoy! Don’t waste your herbs!

The Forking Truth

Potato String Crusted Spicy Mexi- Style Beef Stuffed Anaheim Pepper

About two years ago I made vegetarian Potato String Crusted Chipotle Rice Jalapeños. They sort became famous…….. Here is a similar meal kind of variation of the appetizer I made before. I get inspired sometimes by what I have at home. We just ground up a big batch of beef because I don’t eat grocery store ground beef.  I portion the beef into burgers and make other things with the rest. I had a bunch of Anaheim Peppers (mild – medium heat pepper) and Potatoes so here is Potato String Crusted Spicy Mexi- Style Beef Stuffed Anaheim Peppers. I note the amount of peppers and potatoes you need for this recipe will differ because I doubt the peppers and potatoes are the same exact size. I got 17 stuffed peppers from this recipe and some were bigger than others. You might want to use a bigger ones for dinner and the smaller ones for lunch. I KNOW the pepper and filling will freeze well but I’m not sure about the potato strings.  I wouldn’t recommend doing this recipe unless you have some sort of machine where you can make potato strings or you will go crazy trying to make them. You also need to know that you will have LOTS of extra potato strings because many of the strings will be too short to wrap around the peppers so you have to put them in a bowl of cold water and do something else with them. I didn’t write down exactly what I did but I saved the extra strings (drained them), added a ziplock bag of shredded cheese (pepper jack, sharp & extra sharp cheddar) 1/4 diced onion and three leftover Anaheim peppers chopped up and one egg to hold it together. I pressed the mixture into a sheet pan sprayed with non stick spray and it went into a 400 degree F oven for a half hour. It got nice and very brown. I put it in the refrigerator and the next day I cut the potato mixture in 8ths and brown side down and again in a 400 degree f oven for a half hour. Salt and pepper the tops. They came out just like they were fried. My husband was really excited to eat them. He said they are like McDonald’s hash browns if McDonald’s was good……..Oh and by the way the Potato String Crusted Spicy Mexi-Style Stuffed Anaheim Peppers are pretty awesome. That’s a fact…They are full of flavors and the filling is moist but not mushy and perfect! You can even make them without the potato string to save you a lot of work…(I won’t tell).

Ingredients for up to 17 servings

2 lbs ground beef (mine was a blend of brisket, chuck and rib about equal portions)

4 large eggs – slightly beaten

3/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons course sea salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/4 sweet onion – chopped fine

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

3/4 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup masa flour -essential for that just right taste

1 cup cooked white rice

1 cup cooked corn kernels

2 chipotle peppers in adobo – chop fine and add some adobo sauce (like a teaspoon)

3/4 cup scallions – chopped

1 carrot – peeled and shredded

1 teaspoon ground annatto (also called achiote molido)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro – chopped

17 Anaheim Chile Peppers (you might need less or more depending on size)- lightly roasted – about 1/2 roasted

5 large baking potatoes (you might need less or more depending on size)

Non Stick Spray – canola or vegetable – or you can use a neutral oil

fresh ground sea salt to taste for finish

fresh ground black pepper to taste for finish

Directions

If you didn’t already start roasting your peppers do that now. You want them only about half roasted because they will finish cooking latter when you bake them. I put them in a big zip lock bag after I roasted them. Put them to the side.

In a big mixing bowl combine the eggs, waster, salt, pepper, onion, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, panko, masa, rice, corn, chipotle peppers and sauce, scallions, carrot, ground annatto. Mix well. Now add beef and mix well. Add cilantro and mix again.

Set your oven to 350 degrees F.

Make a split in a pepper. Remove the cluster of seeds by the stem. Next with a teaspoon fill up the pepper the meat mixture. Repeat till you are out of meat.

Now make your potato strings. This sort of machine works better than any other I tried. Put a towel or something under the machine unless you want a big wet mess on your counter.

Wrap a small handful of strings around a pepper and put peppers on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray. Repeat till down leaving a little space between the peppers. Repeat till down.

Spray the tops of the potatoes lightly with either oil or non-stick spray and place the pans in a 350 degree oven for half an hour. After half an hour TURN UP THE OVEN TO 400 degrees F. Make sure you have the top rack filled and after 15 minutes the top rack should be brown. Remove when brown and add other pans to top rack for 15 minutes to brown. Top with fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper to taste.

It comes out like this and yes it’s Delicious!

If you do what I suggested with the leftover strings it will come out like this.

Delicious Cheesy Crispy Potato Squares

Potato String Crusted Spicy Mexi-Style Beef Stuffed Anaheim Pepper

A Forking Good very original recipe by me!

The Forking Truth