I Flipped My Lid
Jan 22, 2007 | From the kitchen of Rose
Having fallen in love with my new cast iron pots with the intended use of baking bread, I found myself gazing admiringly at the lids when inspiration struck. Why not cook on the inverted lids ?! And why not borrow the technique of preheating them from the no knead bread recipe?
So I preheated the lid with the oven to 450ºF./230ºC. tossed some quartered little potatoes and a few mushrooms with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
The lid handle fits right through the opening in the oven rack keeping the lid stable. After about 30 minutes, turn the potatoes and remove the mushrooms. Sprinkle the potatoes with chopped garlic and continue roasting for 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are browned and tender.
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Cooking Gal
04/13/2007 06:44 PM
Oh, your kitchen equipment is just AMAZING! There is nothing healthier than a cast iron pan!
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Jeff Roberson
02/16/2007 07:03 PM
Great stuff!
I learned to bake my first bread from my dad in a large cast iron dutch oven in the backyard over a wood fire. At that time he still had the sour dough starter he'd picked up in San Francisco following his discharge from the Marines and service in WWII. The Dutch Oven now hangs on the wall in my kitchen next to Granny's dough bowl and my large collection of cast iron skillets and iron baking ware. His technique (I use the term loosely) was to let the dough rise up the sides of the pan making a gigantic loaf that would somehow slide out when cooled. At least that's my memory. I haven't made bread in cast iron in quite a long time, but I always cook cornbread in a hot skillet, the batter sweetened with brown sugar and the skillet buttered just before the batter goes in.
Happy baking!
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
02/15/2007 02:18 PM
you can read hebrew but you can't understand my instructions?! (just kdiding i can too--i just don't know what it means!)
o.k.--you press down the dough to keep it from over-rising so it doesn't wear out the gluten.
good question about pressing it down--if you work quickly so it doesn't heat up it's find to do a quick fold--but pushing ti down with your knuckles is fine too.
the great thing about pita dough is that you can tear of a small piece and add more flour and bake it as a test to see if it will puff. i found that on a very humid day it was very sticky and didn't puff well but if it's a very dry dough it won't have the moisture necessary to puff. you only need to let it rest say 15 min. to relax the gluten if it is hard to pat down.
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YeshivaGuy
02/15/2007 11:28 AM
Please save my pita
I didnt understand the instructions in THE BREAD BIBLE to press the dough down every hour for the first four hours.. does that mean you dont want it to rise? ..
Also, this "pressing down" , does that include a "folding the dough" to redistribute the the yeast..
Last but not least.. if the pita didnt "puff" do you just kneed in a few drops (how sticky should it be?) of water per little ball of dough (I assume you would have to let it rest agian but for how long?
As you can see Im lost here.. please help..
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
02/10/2007 05:02 PM
preseasoned
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Sandy
02/10/2007 02:43 PM
Did you purchase the preseaoned 2 qt Lodge Dutch oven or the regular one?
Thanks, I love this site and your books.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
01/25/2007 08:41 PM
p.s. so nice to think of that wonderful wellington being made and enjoyed!
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
01/25/2007 08:40 PM
use the tip of a straight edged single sided razor. if it collapses it could be due to over-proofing.
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RuthWells
01/25/2007 04:05 PM
Hi Rose, and kudos on that gorgeous wedding cake! Can't wait for the new book to come out.......
I wanted to share that Hubby and I made your beef Wellington from the Pie & Pastry Bible for Christmas dinner this (last, actually) year. It was phenomenal! I managed to find the time to do the blitz puff from scratch, which I'm sure makes all the difference. (I have a decent picture of it, but don't know how to send it to you....) My kids want to know when we can have it for dinner again. ; )
Now that our weather has finally gotten cold after a lengthy warm spell, I'm back to baking bread, and have a question about slashing. I seem to always manage to horribly deflate the more delicate doughs. Technique question: is it better to slash with the point of the razor blade, or with the flat of the blade?
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Anonymous
01/25/2007 10:50 AM
I just bought a Staub 2 qt. for the same reason. I just baked my second loaf of bread in my entire life, at age 63. And just ordered my Kitchen Aid Pro 600
Jim
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
01/24/2007 04:41 PM
it would be really great if you would try the preheating and compare the results. for one thing, having that oven spring from the hot pot is pretty amazing. you get a great shape to the bread. but the proof is in the pudding so do let us know!
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Hector
01/24/2007 04:35 PM
Aloha Rose, I have been reading about the cast iron pots and bread baking. About 2 years ago, I've started making your breads on my Le Creuset and Lodge cast iron pots (enamel coated for the Le Creusets, preseasoned for the Lodges), primarilly because I only have 2 "real" loaf pans and often I will bake more than 2 breads. So I have all these pretty cast iron pots with very heavy tight fitting lids and decided to use them as bread pans. I brush lightly the inside of the pots and lids with extra virgin olive oil. Then I put the dough after it last punching for the stage of final shapping and keep the lid covered. After the dough has risen 2 or 3 times, I put the whole thing in the 450oF oven, without the lid. However, recently (after reading more your postings), I am leaving the lid on for the half time. I am happy with the results, the top crust is wonderful, and it is just so much easier to not having to transfer a bread after its final shaping =) Is this cheating? I really like the fact that the cast iron pot holds my delicate bread and helps on the rising.
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Lola Lee Beno
01/22/2007 07:20 PM
Wow . . . I never thought of this before . . . will definitely have to try this out next time I need to cook roasted potatoes or whatever in the oven.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
01/22/2007 05:30 PM
yes!
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bev
01/22/2007 03:54 PM
is the inside of the lid also seasoned?
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