Brioche Loaf

I had some time on my hands so I decided to try bread. I didn't end up taking a picture because my bread turned out ugly haha.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 large eggs
2 sticks of unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-tablespoon pieces, room temperature
1/3 cup of heavy cream, plus extra for brushing top of loaf
3/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

Directions:

1. Begin by activating the yeast. In the bowl of a stand mixer add yeast and cream that's been heated to 105-110 degrees. Set aside for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add eggs, flour and salt then place under the mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix on low for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes on low increase the speed to medium and mix for another 7-8 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Remove dough from mixer and cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 1 hour until it has doubled in volume. The dough will be a lot stickier as the butter has not been added yet.

4. Once risen uncover plastic and dump the dough back into the mixer with the dough hook attached. With the mixer on low add a little butter at a time so it incorporates evenly. Scrape the butter down from the sides of the bowl as you go. The dough will be very buttery so you have to be patient and work carefully.

5. Once all of the butter has been incorporated, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape it into in a log the size of a 9x5 loaf pan. Stretch the top of the dough and tuck it under so the top has a nice smooth surface. Place into a greased 9x5 loaf tin then use a sharp knife to make slits in the top of the loaf. Cover with plastic and proof once more for 6 hours.

6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Brush the top of the proofed loaf with cream and bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour until the bread is golden. Allow to cool on a rack before slicing.

Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

I wanted to use up my loaf of Brioche Bread I made and went the sweet route. This bread pudding is best served right out of the oven but you can also make it ahead and par-cook it. Then allow it to heat up for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven to serve.  You can also make the caramel sauce ahead too. Just reheat the caramel sauce in a heat proof container in a pot filled with water just enough to cover the height of the caramel in the bowl. (Water should not go in the caramel!) Allow to warm up over low heat until caramel sauce is fluid enough to drizzle over the bread pudding.

Special trick: cube the bread a few hours before you plan to make the bread pudding and allow it to dry out a little bit. This will let the bread soak up the chocolate custard better.

Ingredients:

Bread Pudding:

1 3/4 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
6 1/2 inch thick slices of Brioche Bread, cut off crust and chop into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups). 

Caramel Sauce:

3/4 cups sugar

1/6 cup water (just measure by filling a 1/3 cup half way)

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean

Directions: 

1. Bring cream, 1/2 cup sugar, and milk to simmer in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup chocolate chips and whisk until melted and smooth.

2. Whisk egg and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot chocolate mixture. Cool chocolate custard 10 minutes, stirring often.

3. Add bread cubes and remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips to custard and toss to coat. Transfer to 9 x 9 inch pan that is greased with butter. Allow bread cubes to soak while oven preheats to 325. Bake until custard thickens and center is just set, about 50 minutes. Serve warm.

(Do ahead - follow all steps and make custard. Only bake for 30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil and place in fridge. You can do this earlier in the day the same day you plan to eat it.)

To make Caramel:

1. Use a medium size pan that will allow enough room for liquid to bubble up. Heat the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat the sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and swirl the pan so the sugar melts evenly, and continue cooking until it is a dark amber color.

2. Carefully add the heavy cream (the mixture will splatter and bubble up) and cook, stirring until all the caramel has dissolved. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and stir in the sea salt and vanilla.

 

French Fries

I had some time to cook and had been asked to make burgers for dinner. Instead of doing my normal bag of chips I decided to make french fries. These we're so freaking delicious, but they took a long time. I definitely spent a lot of my day doing these, mostly waiting for my pot of oil to get to the right temp and the fries to freeze. These are a great make ahead side since you can make a bunch in advance and store them in the freezer.

Ingredients:

3 large russet potatoes, peeled or not (up to you if you like potato skin on your fries)
Vegetable oil for frying
Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Begin by slicing the potatoes into planks. Then slice each plank into logs to make the french fries. Feel free to make these as thick or skinny as you like but make sure they are all as close as possible to the same size. Keep the fries long as they will break up a little during the process. As you cut the fries, drop them into a large bowl of water to wash off any excess starch.

2. Heat a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Add enough salt so it tastes like the sea. Blanch potatoes in the boiling water and cook until tender -- about 4 minutes. Remove from water and strain then lay out in a flat layer on a sheet tray and place in the freezer to cool and firm up.

3. Have a Dutch oven filled 2/3rd of the way up with oil heated to 350-360 degrees F. Fry the fries in batches so as to not overcrowd the pot and fry potatoes for 2-3 minutes until crispy on the outside. The first time frying is to help develop a super crispy exterior. Place back in the freezer to cool again. (* At this point you can keep the fries in the freezer for convenient use whenever you want to fry them up and serve, simply store in an airtight bag once individually frozen)


4. To perform the third and final step, fry the French fries in 360 degree F oil for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and super crispy. When done, remove with a wire mesh strainer to a paper towel lined plate and season with salt immediately.Fry in batches so you don't overcrowd the pan. Store french fries in 250 degree oven until serving but sever as soon as possible.