Ricette treccia al burro con ingrediente Americano

Faccio il Zopf con i seguenti ingredienti degli Stati Uniti:

1 lbs      500 g     Farina bianca
1 bustinetta         Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast  
1 cup      2.5 dl    Latte
1/2 cup    100 g     Burro
1 tsp      1 Teel.   Sale
1/2 tsp    1/2 Teel. Zucchero
1          1         Uovo



Riscaldare mezzo tazza di latte nel forno al microonde circa 50 secondi (temperatura tra 100 ° e 110 ° F,  (circa 50 sec. molto caldo, ma ancora di tangibile). Sciogliere lo levito secco nel latte e aggiungere lo zucchero. Laccare
Steer in lieviti secchi attivi e zucchero. Laccare riposare per 20 minuti in un luogo tiepido.

Mescolare farina, sale e burro ammorbidito in una ciotola grande. Aggiungere lo leviot scagliato e aggiungere di latte fino al contenuto della ciotola diventa una consistenza che può essere impastato. Impastate per circa otto minuti. Lasciate risposare per 80 minuti. Forma treccia, mettere su teglia e spazzare con un uovo sbattuto. Lasciate riposare per 10 minuti. Mettere in frigorifero per 30 minuti e cuocere in forno a 400° F (200° C) per 35 minuti.

Il prodotto finale dovrebbe essere simile a questa:

I miei consigli personali:

Questa ricetta richiede esplicito lievito secco del tipo Acitve Dry Yeast. Vedi qui per una variante con il lievito Rapid Rise Yeast (in inglese) . E 'più veloce di preparare con lievito Rapid Rise Yeast, ma i tempi riposizionamento sono meno tolleranti.

Il modo più semplice per ammorbidire il burro dal frigo è da mettere nel microonde per circa 15 a 20 secondi. Si dovrebbe ottenere morbido pero no tropo caldo. Ingredienti troppo caldo distruggere il lievito. Ingredienti troppo freddo rallenta il lievito.

L'aggiunta di liquidi è una cosa fondamentale nella preparazione di pasta con il lievito. La quantità necessaria dipende seconda della farina e della umidità dell' aria .
Aggiungo in un primo momento solo circa la metà della quantità e mescolare l'impasto. Quando vedo che e troppo secca, aggiungo la metà del liquido restante. Ripetuto l'ultimo passo fino a quando si forma un impasto impastabile. L'impasto deve assorbire tutte le briciole e non più appiccicoso. Il liquido deve essere sempre calda - poco più che tiepida, ma ancora tangibile con il polso.

Zopf - Swiss Braided Sunday Bread w/ Active Dry Yeast

This version is fail save and uses Active Dry Yeast.

I make the Zopf with the following US ingredients:

1 lbs      500 g     White Flour
1 packet             Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast
1 cup      2.5 dl    Milk
1/2 cup    100 g     Butter
1 tsp      1 Teel.   Salt
1/2 tsp    1/2 Teel. Sugar
1          1         Egg


Heat half cup of milk to temperature between 100° and 110 °F (about 50 sec. in microwave oven).
Stir in Active Dry Yeast and sugar. Let sit for 20 minutes.

Mix flour, salt and softened butter in a large bowl. Poor yeast mixture in the bowl and add milk till the content of the bowl becomes a consistency that can be kneaded. Knead for about eight minutes. Let rise for 90 minutes. Form braid, put on cookie sheet and sweep with a beaten egg. Let rise for 10 minutes. Put in fridge for 30 minutes and bake at 400 °F (200 °C) for 40 minutes.

The final product should look like this:

My personal hints:

This recipe calls explicitly for Active Dry Yeast. See here for a variant with Rapid Rise Yeast. It is quicker to prepare with Rapid Rise Yeast, but less tolerant regarding rising times.

The easiest way to soften the butter from the fridge is by putting it in the microwave for about 15 to 20 sec. It should get soft and warm, but not hot. Too hot ingredients in the dough destroy the yeast. Too cold ingredients slow the yeast down.

Adding liquids is a crucial thing in preparing dough with yeast. The really required quantity is depending on the flour. Therefore I add at first only about half of the quantity given in any recipe and mix the dough. I add the half of the remaining liquid once it is obvious that it is too dry. The last step gets repeated till I have dough which can be kneaded. The dough should absorb all the crumbs and not be sticky anymore.   

The liquid should be always warm - little more than lukewarm, but still touchable with the wrist. 

Kneading should be always done till it's done. Dough doesn't get better the more you knead it. Over-kneaded dough will have some sort of a strange rubbery structure. Best is to learn it from somebody already knowing the process. The basic movement is flattening the tough and fold it over. For instruction you can also stick to to that video.

Raising

When using Active Dry Yeast the raising can be done at room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Leave the sugar away when you plan to rise in the fridge. 

The raise of the Zopf is too long once it starts to grow more in width than in the height. The overall shape of the cross section should stay square size not rectangular size.

Braiding

There are thousand instructions for braiding a Zopf in the net. So I add here instruction #1001, but this is how I explain it: 

1. Make two dough rolls of approximately 18'' (45 cm) length. The bread gets the typical slightly tipped shape if you make the dough rolls also slightly tipped to the end.
   
2. Lay the dough rolls in front of you as shown in the picture below
   
3. Now come the rules:
   - you always do one step with both hands touching the same dough roll
   - the upper end goes diagonally across the layout to the lower opposite corner
   - the lower end goes diagonally across the layout to the upper opposite corner
   - the lower end goes always over the top end
   - start with the lower (black) dough roll for braiding
   
   
   
   
   
   
   So it should look like this:

   

   Start

   

   Step 1

   

   Step 2

   
   
4. My braid is normally finished after about three to four steps. The ends of the dough rolls should be tucked firmly under the end of the braid. Avoid touching the braiding since it will destroy the shape in non-reparable way.

Ok, for those who are really seeking the challenge in braiding they can go through all the varieties shown here (in German only).

btw: There is also a version using Rapid Rise Yeast. It goes faster than this version, but needs more skills, is less fail save and give a result of slightly less quality.

Jeb Corliss: Location of 'Grinding the Crack'

Did you see this extreme wingsuit fyling video by Jeb Corliss? The location is in Switzerland above the Wallensee. The start is below Hinterrugg, goes over Hinterbüls where the Crux is and landing is in Walenstadt. See map below, no guaranty for nothing!




View Jeb Corliss " Grinding The Crack" in a larger map

Zopf - Swiss Braided Sunday Bread w/ Rapid Rise Yeast

This is the way I make the Zopf with US ingredients:

1 lbs      500 g     White Flour
1 packet             Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast
1 cup      2.5 dl    Milk
1/2 cup    100 g     Butter
1 tsp      1 Teel.   Salt
1/2 tsp    1/2 Teel. Sugar
1          1         Egg


Mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add softened butter to the mix. Poor warmed milk into the dough till it becomes a consistency that it can be kneaded. Knead for about eight minutes. Let rise for 10 minutes. Form braid, put on cookie sheet and sweep with a beaten egg. Let rise again for 20 minutes. Bake at 400 °F (200 °C).

The final product should look like this:

My personal hints:

This recipe calls explicitly for Rapid Rise Yeast. I prefer the variant with Active Dry Yeast. It takes longer to prepare, gets more delicious and has is more tolerant regarding rising times. You can let it rise also over night in the fridge.

The easiest way to soften the butter from the fridge is by putting it in the microwave for about 15 to 20 sec. It should get soft and warm, but not hot. Too hot ingredients in the dough destroy the yeast. Too cold ingredients slow the yeast down.

Adding liquids is a crucial thing in preparing dough with yeast. The really required quantity is depending on the flour. Therefore I add at first only about half of the quantity given in any recipe and mix the dough. I add the half of the remaining liquid once it is obvious that it is too dry. The last step gets repeated till I have dough which can be kneaded. The dough should absorb all the crumbs and not be sticky anymore.   

The liquid should be always warm - little more than lukewarm, but still touchable with the wrist. 

Kneading should be always done till it's done. Dough doesn't get better the more you knead it. Over-kneaded dough will have some sort of a strange rubbery structure. Best is to learn it from somebody already knowing the process. The basic movement is flattening the tough and fold it over. For instruction you can also stick to to that video.

Raising

When using Rapid Raise Yeast the first raise should only be about 10 minutes. The second raise should be about 20 minutes. The raise of the Zopf is too long once it starts to grow more in width than in the height. The overall shape of the cross section should stay square size not rectangular size.

Braiding

There are thousand instructions for braiding a Zopf in the net. So I add the here instruction #1001, but this is how I explain it: 

1. Make two dough rolls of approximately 18'' (45 cm) length. The bread gets the typical slightly tipped shape if you make the dough rolls also slightly tipped to the end.
   
   
2. Lay the dough rolls in front of you as shown in the picture below
   
   
3. Now come the rules:
   - you always do one step with both hands touching the same dough roll
   - the upper end goes diagonally across the layout to the lower opposite corner
   - the lower end goes diagonally across the layout to the upper opposite corner
   - the lower end goes always over the top end
   - start with the lower (black) dough roll for braiding
   
   
   
   
   
   
   So it should look like this:

   

   Start

   

   Step 1

   

   Step 2

   
   
4. My braid is normally finished after about three to four steps. The ends of the dough rolls should be tucked firmly under the end of the braid. Avoid touching the braiding since it will destroy the shape in non-reparable way.

Ok, for those who are really seeking the challenge in braiding: they can go through all the varieties shown here (in German only).

  

Pepperoni, what's that?

This post is in English for Max Vishnev from CityRover Waking Tours in New York. We discussed the thing I like to call the  .....

The Peperoni Confusion

When you use the word Pep(p)eroni in a multicultural environment there is a good chance that everybody think on something different without being aware that there could be a misunderstanding. The confusion rises about sausage, vegetable and spicy things.

Here a table listing three items with the different names depending from the region:

Item	US	Germany	Switzerland	Italy
	Bell Pepper	Paprika	Peperoni	Peperone pl. Peperoni
	Hot pepper	Peperoni Chili Pfefferoni	Peperoncini Chili	Peperoncini Peperone picante
	Pepperoni	Salami	Scharfe Salami	Salame Piccante

As we see the word Pep(p)eroni stays for all items shown on the left side, depending where you are. Ok, in US a p was added, but this is not too much of a difference.

Bell pepper and hot pepper both belong to the plant species Capsicum which originate from South America and was brought by the Spaniards to Europe. Italian migrants brought the vegetable to the European countries North of the Alps and to North America. The fact that Bell Pepper was at the beginning not ready available in the local market in Switzerland and Germany made the immigrants bringing large amounts of the vegetable from their home leaves. Therefore Italian immigrants were often nicknamed as Peperoni Eaters in Switzerland.

The American Pepperoni most probably got its name from the hot sauce which is used to season spicy salami in Italy, which is made from peperone calabrese (hot pepper from Calabria). As the most things get shortened in US it may have become Pepperoni. The invention of this type of sausage is clearly American since the Italian versions are normally made much spicier and named Salsiccia Napoletana Piccante or in another way, but never Peperoni or Pepperoni.

Driven by the confusion above there is another confusion about pizza, which I like to name ...


The Transatlantic Pizza Topic Confusion


Here again a table listing pizzas and their names in different regions:

Item	US	Germany		Italy Switzerland
	Pizza Pepperoni	Pizza Salami		Pizza Diavolo (en. devil pizza)
	Pizza w/ Sausage	Pizza mit Hackfleisch		Pizza con carne macinata
	Pizza w/ Bell Pepper	Pizza mit Paprika		Pizza con peperoni

From above we see that there are two confusions:

• Those Europeans who think that Salami is a sausage and think that they get a Pizza Pepperoni are disappointed by getting a pie with meat crumbles. 
  
• Those Europeans who think that Pepperoni is bell pepper like in Peperoni in Italy and order a Pizza Pepperoni get disappointed since they find a pizza with meat instead of vegetable. This is especially disappointing for a vegetarian.