Dirtbag's Delight (First Pass, IPA Edition)

First off: long span without a post. It's not that I haven't been cooking or that I don't like my readers. I've just been very lazy the past few weeks. I've cooked a few meals - the most recent of which didn't even have kale in it (though I did cheat and use broccolini, but it was stir fry and not cooked in the oven). I've failed miserably - if cooking teriyaki sauce from scratch follow the directions. Yes, you do need that much sugar and soy sauce. It is disgusting and you are probably better off not knowing. I've partaken in some delicious cookies, though I didn't cook them. You should, though. Quite good. I even made some bread and didn't show you any of it. But I do return, triumphantly, with a delicious loaf.

I wanted to create some bread for climbers, hence the name and ingredients. "Dirtbag" isn't the best of words, but for climbers it means someone who may live out of their van and spend their days climbing and being cheap on food. A standard meal might be a can of beans, or a loaf of bread and a block of cheese. So - a loaf inspired by this life style. It has everything you'd need during/after some hard work: bread, cheese, beer, and nuts. You could even put peanut butter on it, if you dared. For an experiment, it was quite good. I did have some spillage, as you can see. I even poked holes in the bread to let it air some, but this was not very effective. Instead of going for a spiral, kneading in the cheese would probably be a better option, though you will be left with a much softer crust.

I used a standard bread base (Lean Bread from Artisan Breads Everyday) and built on that. I wanted to be a bit conservative, so only half the water in the recipe was replaced with beer. Taking it higher could work, but I would worry about the crumb keeping and about the yeast/salt/flour ratios being off. I added a small amount of walnuts; not because I didn't think more would work, but rather that it was all I had left. It was so small a percent, in weight, that I didn't think I needed to counteract it with wheat bran (maybe put some in if you go over 25% flour weight in nuts/seeds/non-wheat flour). The amount of cheese was a guess, just putting on enough to cover the surface area I had available before rolling up the log. As mentioned above, consider not doing a spiral or finding some other way of keeping the cheese in.

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Dirtbag's Delight (IPA Edition)

Makes 1 standard loaf (feeds 8-10 people for a snack, fewer for a meal)

340g unbleached bread flour

127g cold water

127g beer (I used BrewDog's Punk IPA)

~30g walnuts, very coarsely chopped (could probably up this to ~45g without trouble)

7g salt

4g instant yeast (could probably go down to 3g and give it two nights in the fridge instead of one)

maybe 4oz finely cubed cheese that melts (I used about 2/3 of a 6oz block of sharp cheddar)

The night before baking, in a bowl combine the flour, salt, yeast, and nuts then mix. Add in the water and beer, stirring with a wet wooden spoon for 1-2 minutes, until the bread is an even consistency. It should lightly stick to your finger if you push it with a little pressure, but the finger should pull away mostly clean with little stretching of the dough. Let rest for 5-10 minutes in a covered bowl. Then stretch-and-fold the loaf 4 times, waiting 10 minutes between each iteration. Especially on the first iteration, the dough may rip - be careful to not let this happen. It should be very firm and resist the stretching quite a bit by the final iteration. Put the dough in a covered bowl in the fridge and let sit for at least a night.

The day of baking, about 2 hours before placing the bread in the oven, remove the dough from the fridge. Flour a work surface and your hands. If making a spiral, pat the dough into a rectangle that will roll up into a loaf and spread the cheese over the surface, then roll up the log, smooth the seam closed, and gently roll into the desired shape. If kneading in the cheese, gently work the cheese into the dough mass, then proceed to shape it as you see fit. Let the dough proof on a parchment-lined baking sheet, covered, for at least 1.5 hours.

Preheat your oven to ~500 degrees and place the bread in after waiting for the proofing time. Reduce heat to 450 and cook for 15 minutes before rotating, then cook for another 15-25 minutes. The internal temperature should be in the 185-195 degree range before you call it done. Let the bread cool a bit before slicing. Eat.

Peanut butter beer sauce

So that title was probably says enough for most people. Either you want this stuff right now, or you think I have no taste in food. Honestly, it is probably both. But I've been playing around recently with making sauces/glazes/etc for my cooking, and I think I came up with something good last night. You can be the judge. The sauce doesn't look that appetizing below; maybe because its on bok choy and quinoa? Maybe because it was taken on a cell phone camera at night? It was all I had and I just wanted to cram some food and play Portal 2. I'm a simple man.

I've learned a lesson from some past bread baking experiments: you can substitute beer in for water. It makes things good. I think they did a study where groups had {water, beer, gatorade} after exercise, and beer helped recovery the most. So science agrees with me too, good ole science. Can't be doubted - they proved it in a study I may vaguely remember! Anyway, sauce:

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Peanut butter beer sauce

Makes enough sauce for one dish for one person.

• 1/3 cup beer (I used a Bock; you should, likewise, use something with a strong flavor)
• 1 tbsp red miso paste
• ~1 tbsp peanut butter
• splash of white wine vinegar
• squeeze of honey

I think the rest is obvious; just make sure that when you start the flambee, you don't let the dutch oven get too hot. Otherwise, should be a piece of cake.

Crunchy Cheese Rolls

A while back, I made some bread with beer and cheese. It was delicious, but rather heavy. It had both buttermilk and butter. Today, I made some more bread with beer and cheese; crispy on the outside and airy on the inside, like a baguette. Except more delicious. I went with very strong cheeses, so as to use less of it. I also used very little beer, to keep most of the airy baguette goodness. A roaring success, according to my coworkers.

There isn't much to say about these - they were delicious, quick, light, crispy, and salty. The beer didn't provide much flavor but it moistened up the bread a little bit. The shaping didn't work out as well as hoped, but it still worked. The cheeses were great together. So, recipe:

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Crunchy Cheese Rolls

Makes 8-10 large-ish rolls, good for a snackwhich

(adapted from Lean Bread recipe in Artisan Breads Everyday)

340g bread flour

200g lukewarm water

50g beer (I used 21st Amendment's current seasonal, Bitter American)

30g shredded asiago (or other hard, strong cheese)

block of sovrano grana (or other very hard, very strong cheese) for grating on top

7g salt

3g instant yeast

The day before baking, combiner flour, asiago, salt, and yeast in a bowl and stir. Add in water and beer, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes, until the dough is hydrated. Let rest for 5 minutes, then stir again for 2 minutes, and let rest for 5 more minutes. Then stretch-and-fold 4 times, with a 10 minute rest between each. Put dough in a clean, oiled bowl, cover it tightly, and place in fridge overnight (or a couple days, but no more than 3).

The day of baking, remove the dough about 2 hours before you want to bake it. Break the dough into 8-10 pieces for rolls, and shape each into a ball then roll them into logs. This should be done on an oiled work surface, no flour. Put the shaped rolls on a parchment-lined sheet pan, coated with corn meal, and cover. Rest for an hour, uncover, and rest for another hour.

Preheat oven to 550 degrees. After 2 hours of the bread being out of the fridge, grate the sovrano grana (or other very hard cheese), enough to sprinkle on top of each roll. Take a dull knife and press, lengthwise, through each roll, then spread grated cheese into the crack with your fingers. Bake for 8 minutes, rotate the pans, and bake for 8-10 more minutes. Let cool for ~15 minutes, then eat.