http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x47062Alas, the poor primitives!
Always re-inventing the wheel, the poor primitives!
badgerpup Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 02:28 AM
Original message
Things I discovered this weekend while experimenting with bread.
Been playing with the idea of a bread with spinach and onion in it.
I like bread and toasted cheese with spinach and onion, and thought if the veggies were incorporated into the bread, it would be rather handy as well as tasty.
Figured bits of spinach and onion would burn while baking, so I pureed the stuff...about 1 lb of fresh spinach and one and one half medium yellow onions. Would have added the second half, but when I tasted the concoction, the onion was almost overpowering.
I've used pureed onion in bread before...a dill-and-onion rye which is killer, so I thought this would work just as well.
The addition of the spinach made for a beautiful bright green dough and I was starting to wonder if this was such a good idea. Still, it rose beautifully, and when I baked it, it gave off a very rich, pleasant aroma. The green faded during baking to an interesting goldish color...
BUT IT DIDN'T TASTE LIKE SPINACH OR ONION!
It's very good with toasted with butter or melted cheese...and my friend (who was beta-tasting) said it made a killer ham sandwich...but it's NOT what I had in mind!
I can add more onion to the next batch, but I'm wondering if the spinach flavor is an Impossible Dream.
Bakers? Can you enlighten me?
It's just easier to buy spinach-and-onion bread at the grocery store.
grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 02:54 AM
Response to Original message
1. what about a braid with a spinach-onion filling braided in?
That sounds delicious.
badgerpup Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 03:53 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. It does indeed!
But how would one make the filling?
The pureed stuff does NOT lend itself to braiding!
grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 11:56 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. well, there's too much water in it
Spinach is mostly water. You would have to cook the spinach first and squeeze out all the water, as is done for a Greek spinach pie. Then mix it with an egg and perhaps some cheese and your onion. You could then spread the mixture on the rolled out bread and make it like cinnamon rolls in shape.
Dora Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 10:09 AM
Response to Original message
3. How about rolling?
Spinach spiral loaf?
I think you could incorporate spinach into a savory quick bread too. Could even add grated cheese to the batter... hmmm.
supernova Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 10:13 AM
Response to Original message
4. Unless you made it like monkey bread or a biali
The braiding would leave room on the top for little pocked to form where you could put the spinach and onion. I think chopped onion works well in baked goods. You might have to sweat the onion and spinach a little first though in a sautee pan. That's only for fresh spinach, if youi use frozen, then it would already be properly wilted. Just wring out the excess water as usual.
Monkey bread is pull-apart pieces of dough all formed together in a ring. Usually it's sweet and in the same league as coffee cake, but I don't know why you couldn't make a savory one.
The other alternative would be a stuffed bread with spinach and onion filling inside.
hippywife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 12:20 PM
Response to Original message
6. You guys are making me remember the pepperoni bread we used to have as kids, stuffed with lotsa cheese and pepperoni. My mom wasn't a bread baker so they bought it at a local store that baked and sold it fresh. Never had to worry about having any left for dinner, it got eaten while it was hot out of the oven while we were all still in the car.
Husb2Sparkly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-22-08 12:38 PM
Response to Original message
7. o/~ .... memmmmmmories ....... of the foods we left behind ....... o/~
My mother used to make spinach bread and parsley bread.
Very simple.
Make a bread dough as for French/Italian bread. Roll it out and spread it with the topping (see below). Roll it up like a jelly roll, seal the seam and set it on a sheet pan with a lot of corn meal on it seam side down. Let it proof. Slash the top with a razor or sharp knife and bake.
In CRED ible!!!!!!
For the spinach, cook it or use frozen. Squeeze it hard to remove all water. Saute it with garlic and olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Allow it to cool.
Do the very same thing, but with parsley instead of spinach. Flat parsley looks better, but both flat and curly prestty much taste the same.
Man I miss that stuff! Thanks for the reminder!!!!!!
sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Wed Jul-23-08 01:14 PM
Response to Reply #7
9. Oh Yum
I think they put whole spinach leaves on the pizza at Papa Murphy's take 'n bake. The leaves look whole to me.
So why does that not seem to work in a rolled bread?
Sentath Donating Member (849 posts) Wed Jul-23-08 02:52 PM
Response to Reply #9
10. evaporation
The pizza leaves the leaves largely exposed, rather than sealed up inside the loaf.
sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Wed Jul-23-08 03:12 PM
Response to Reply #10
11. I wonder
Could you do some in the rolled dough, and then pat the loaf with some chopped leaves for a more artisan affect.
I'm wondering what an "artisan affect [sic]" is.
Probably to make something look pretty, aesthetic?
But the stomach doesn't have eyes.
