Sourdough Pan de Muerto

This is my favourite sourdough sweet bread. It is a versatile recipe enriched with butter, milk, eggs and a little sugar that can be used in many ways after the dough has completed the first rise. 

I used it for Pan de Muerto or Day of the Dead bread. Pan de Muerto is popular in Mexico at this time of year. The dough can be flavoured with citrus, anise, and cinnamon and the bread can be glazed during or after baking. 

The basic bread shape is decorated with dough shaped like bones or skulls. The "femurs" I moulded rose in the oven making them look more like fingers. 

If you don't have a sourdough starter, any basic yeast bread recipe that includes butter, milk, sugar and eggs would work. There are numerous recipes on sites like AllRecipes.

Sourdough Pan de Muerto

1 cup (190 grams) sourdough starter, recently fed
3 cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (or orange zest)
1/3 cup milk (83 g or 80 ml)
4 tablespoons butter (57 grams)
1/4 cup sugar (50 grams)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten

1. Place milk in a small saucepan with the butter and heat until the butter melts. Add the sugar, salt and citrus zest, stirring until combined.

2. Beat the eggs until they are frothy. Add eggs to the lukewarm milk mixture and then combine with the sourdough starter in a large bowl.

3. Add the flour gradually, stirring well. Add the last bit of flour with your hands and knead the bread until it is smooth and not sticky. You may need to add a little more flour when kneading the bread. I used 2/3 white bread flour and 1/3 whole wheat flour.

4. Cover dough and allow it to rise overnight or for 8-12 hours. 

Punch the dough down and shape it as desired. I removed a golf-ball-sized piece of dough for the "bones". I divided the rest of the dough into 3 parts, rolling them into 15-inch ropes. I braided the dough ropes and shaped them into a ring on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I used the remaining dough for the decorations.

Cover the dough and let it rise again for a couple of hours.

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.

I made a glaze from the juice of one lemon and icing sugar and spooned it on the warm bread, making sure to fill all the nooks and crannies.  

Afghani Chana

 

We recently enjoyed take-out food from an Ottawa area Afghani restaurant. Harir Kabob House offered several vegetarian options and the usual kabob dishes. The Eggplant Qorma and spinach Sabzi were delicious with Qabelli rice and sourdough naan bread. They also serve a Chana dish made with chickpeas and kidney beans that differs in flavour from Indian Chana Masala. It was exceptional and I looked online for a recipe to recreate the dish at home. 

I made the dish today and was pleased with the outcome. It tasted similar to the restaurant dish but was a bit spicier due to generous amounts of black pepper, red pepper flakes and fresh green chillies. I used fresh-picked jalpenos from our garden and they were hotter than average. These three ingredients could be adjusted easily for more delicate palates. Here is the recipe.

Afghani Chana

3 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds, slightly crushed

1 lg red onion, diced

1 generous tbsp grated ginger and garlic

Cook together until the onions are softened

Add

2-3 seeded jalapenos, diced*

1/2-1 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp coriander

1 tsp black pepper*

1 tsp dried chilli flakes*

1/2 small tin tomato paste (2-3 tbsp)

1/2-1 cup water

2-1/2 to 3 cups cooked legumes- (1/2 chickpeas. 1/2 kidney beans)

salt to taste

Simmer x 20 min on the stovetop. Top with chopped cilantro before serving

Adjust seasoning and add liquid if necessary during cooking

*Adjust quantities as desired to control heat level

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I made brown rice with freshly crushed cardamom seeds, grated carrots, raisins and pistachios and fried up a plantain as a side dish. Leftovers will taste even better tomorrow!

Tea Biscuits

We enjoy digestive biscuits with our tea and I found a simple recipe that is better than any store-bought version. I will print out the recipe below in case this webpage vanishes.

Tea Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 F.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional but delicious)


Combine flour, baking powder and butter in a food processor and process until the mixture looks like crumbs. Add sugar and pulse until it is blended.


Place the mixture in a bowl and add the milk and vanilla.
Mix with a spoon and your hands until a ball of dough forms. Roll out to a 1/8" thickness and cut in rounds with a cookie cutter. Place on a cookie sheet.


Bake for 15- 20 minutes. They need to be nicely browned so they stay crisp when cooled.