Rye Crispbread

As a starter for an upcoming Scandinavian dinner we're hosting, I wanted light starters. I'm a fan of the Knäckebröd I first encountered at Ikea and wondered if I could make it at home. We tried a couple recipes -- the first with yoghurt was a bit flat, the second alarmed me as it lacked yeast -- and liked the latter. While it didn't have the lofty layers of those Ikea disks, they were really tasty, crunchy, earthy and honest.  We devoured them all over a couple days.

Sadly, I've lost that recipe (cue song "MacArthur Park") so will have to re-create it.

Nigel Slater's recipe looks the most straight-forward so let's start there. I found a variation on his using sourdough that had appetizing image but I'll just use my standard direct yeast method here. I have a few more under References below if I want to tweak this one.

Makes 2 residential sized half-sheet pans when rolled about 2mm thick

• 400 g rye flour 
• 4 g fine sea salt 
• 10 g dry yeast 
• 350 ml water, room temperature

Combine the ingredients in a stand mixer and knead a bit with a dough hook; you can mix and need it hand, too. Rye's not got much in the way of gluten so you're looking to combine rather than develop white-bread style structure.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour; it'll rise a bit but not nearly as much as a conventional bread dough, just a little puffed.

I chose to make rectangles out of these and got OCD about the shapes. Set a Silpat or parchment on the counter that will fit your baking sheet. Set two straight-edges on either side: their depth will determine the thickness of the crispbread (I used two L-shaped carpenter's squares about 2mm in thickness). Place the dough on the Silpat and cover with cling film. Roll out evenly, moving excessive dough to voids, and saving truly extra dough for another sheet. If you like, you can add coarse salt, caraway, sesame or other seeds and roll gently one final time to press them in.

Rolling to thickness with rulers as guides

Scoring with fluted pastry cutter

Use a fluted pastry cutter (or pizza wheel) to cut the dough into rectangles, but don't separate. Into each, dock (poke holes) with a skewer, nail or whatnot. I got crazy and built a little wooden block with small nails in the pattern of my initials, mirror-image reversed: the nail heads imprint each rectangle with my initials in the correct orientation; it makes for fast work too. If the dough is too wet and sticky, dust with some rye flour -- spreading it very thinly with a soft pastry brush.

The branding stamp, letters mirror-imaged

Docking the dough with the stamp

Transfer the Silpat and its dough to a baking sheet and bake at 200C/400F. Depending on thickness, it could take 15-30 minutes until crisp.

Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

I top these with home made gravadlax, smoked herring, and other good things. They're hard to resist just nibbling with no topping too; the rye's an enticing flavor.

2014-04-30 Lower hydration, give some rise

When I first made them, the dough was too wet: 350ml/400g gives 87% hydration: the cutter gummed up. The crackers were a bit thin and... crackery, rather than that Ikea-style half-cracker/half-bread.

So I made them again with 75% hydration. After rolling out the dough, scoring and stamping, I let it rise about 30 minutes to give some lift and texture. It helped: the dough didn't stick when scored and stamped, and the crackers had a bit more texure. Next time I'll let it rise even longer.

2014-05-02 Mixed flours, low hydration, more rise

The rye flour I'm using right now is quite coarse, so I'm mising 300 g Rye with 100 g King Arthur AP flour, again 75% hydration (300g water); first rise of 90 minutes, then 45-60 minutes after rolling, scoring and cutting.

References

QuetzalGirl's Rye Crispbead

This one uses butter and no yeast.

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=95976

2 c. dark rye flour

2 Tbsp. butter 

1/2 tsp. salt 

3 oz. (6 Tbsp.) water

Rub the butter in to the flour and stir in salt. Stir in the water and mix to a firm dough. Divide dough in to two halves. Knead each half lightly on a floured surface. Roll each half out thinly in to about a 9" square. Cut into 3" squares and put on lightly greased baking sheet. Prick each square well. Bake at 390 for 10 to 15 minutes or until edges just begin to color, but do not let them brown. Cool slightly on the baking sheet then transfer to wire racks. 

SWEDISH CRISP BREAD FROM LOTTA JANSDOTTER

This one has yeast and a mix of flours

http://www.sweetpaulmag.com/food/swedish-crisp-bread-from-lotta-jansdotter

1 package dry yeast

2 cups lukewarm water

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon fennel, crushed or 1 tablespoon anise seed

3 1/2 cups coarse rye flour

1 1/2-2 cups wheat flour

RYE CRISPBREAD RECIPE

No yeast!

http://www.painlesscooking.com/cracker-recipes.html

1 ¾ Cups rye flour
1 ½ Cups whole wheat flour
½ Teaspoon salt
½ Teaspoon finely ground caraway
2 Pinches freshly ground fennel
½ Cup warm water
3 Tablespoons warm buttermilk
3 Tablespoons sunflower oil
Oil for brushing

Bread and Milk and Blackberries

http://www.breadandmilkandblackberries.com/2011/12/swedish-rye-crisp-bread-with-caraway.html

This was one I looked at, it mentioned a special rolling pin but I improvised. It's now blocked and I can't find a cache, but other references to it mention an overnight rest, which I don't recall doing, so maybe it's not "the one":

Bacalao Espuma

Scandinavia produces a lot of salt cod -- Tørfisk, Klippfisk, Clipfish. They can dry it in the cold air without worrying about spoilage. I first had it in Spain, as Bacalao, and fell in love with the slightly funky flavor it contributes to dishes.

For a Scandinavian dinner, I wanted a stable warm foam, or "espuma", to top a birch-wrapped, sous vide cooked cod fillet. I wanted to double-down on the cod.

From previous attempts, I've found it hard to keep a foam stable at high temperatures: whipped cream preparations are typically served cold. My additions of Agar Agar and even Xanthan Gum (in small amounts) didn't help much. I was looking for something almost as thick and solid as whipped cream, or at least shaving foam.  Ferran Adriá refers to these warm temperature foams as Espumas so I will follow suit.

Here, I synthesize what I hope is a simple but stable Bacalao-flavored espuma. This is a condiment so I don't need a ton; I'm targetting a 1.0L iSi Thermo Whip so a maximum of about 0.5L product.

To top 6 filets

• 250     g       Bacalo, bone- and skinless, rehydrated and desalted
• 250     g       Potato, peeled
• 250     ml      Heavy Cream

Rehydrate the Bacalao and soak in water for 2-3 days, changing the water 2-3 times a day to remove much of the preservative salt.  Cut it up fine so it will stay submerged in the Cream.

Simmer the Bacalao very low in Heavy Cream to infuse flavor, 30-60 minutes. You don't want it to bubble and reduce. (A sous vide bath might be helpful for this).  [I might need more Cream to Bacalao]

Meanwhile peel potato and cube, and boil 20 minutes until just cooked.  (Can I just cook the potato in the cream for 20 minutes?)

Thoroughly blend cooked potatoes and Bacalao cream, preferably in a Vitamix. While it whipped, it did NOT create a whipped cream: this was in retrospect a bit of a surprise; why not? Does this bode ill for the espuma?

Strain through coarse then very fine mesh seive. This gave me 400ml of bacalao-potato-cream.

Pour into iSi Thermomix. Check your volume, it should not be more than half full.  Charge with 2 N2O cream cylinders and shake vigorously. Hold in a water bath at a max of 75C (165F) until ready for service.

Resources

Below, I cite a number of recipes and resources from around the web. Some use additional flavors (shallots, coconut cream, chicken stock, cheese) but I wanted to let the Bacalao flavor dominate. The techniques I kept finding seemed to use heavy cream and potato: the fat from the cream will foam, and the starch in the potato may provide some stabilization.

iSi Potato Celeriac Foam (75C)

http://www.isi.com/en/culinary/for-professionals/recipes/recipes/recipe-of-the-month/?tx_isirecipes_recipes%5Brecipe%5D=1372&tx_isirecipes_recipes%5Baction%5D=show&tx_isirecipes_recipes%5Bcontroller%5D=Recipe

150 g Potatoes (floury)
75 ml heavy cream
75 ml Water
50 g Butter
75 g pureed celeriac
1 g Salt
1 g Pepper
1 g Nutmeg

Bring the cream and water to a boil in a pot and then, along with the boiled potatoes, blend into a fine puree. Add the pureed celeriac and the butter little by little then season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pass through the iSi funnel & sieve directly into the 0.5 L iSi Whipper, screw on 1 iSi cream charger and shake vigorously. Keep the iSi Whipper warm at max. 75 °C in a bain-marie or in a water bath.

Espuma caliente de grasa de foie gras

http://vimeo.com/37517154
Xanthan 2.5g
Chick stock 300g
Whiz wiht immersion blenter very well
Add pepper, salt
Melt foie gras, add to Xanthan stock, whiz well
Striain, add to siphon
2 charges N2O
Hold at 70C

Potato Espuma

http://www.thestaffcanteen.com/recipe/potato-espuma/
600g cooked potatoes
450g hot double cream
150g hot milk
seasoning

Boil potatoes just until cooked, drain and slightly cool, peel and mash potatoes Add seasoning, add hot liquids and check seasoning adjust were needed, pass through double sieve, place into charger and use two charges and keep warm at 55oc

Pea Espuma (warm)

http://www.isi.com/en/culinary/for-professionals/recipes/recipes/vegetable-espumas/?tx_isirecipes_recipes%5Brecipe%5D=1104&tx_isirecipes_recipes%5Baction%5D=show&tx_isirecipes_recipes%5Bcontroller%5D=Recipe&cHash=635b0b38457dffc706c8fab2c5c212fc

200 ml heavy cream
100 g Peas
150 g Potatoes

Peel the Potatoes, cook until soft and mash with a potato masher. Blanch the Peas and puree in a blender until smooth. Heat the Heavy Cream, mix with the potatoes and the pea puree and season with salt, nutmeg and 50 ml mint oil. Pass through the iSi funnel & sieve directly into the 0.5 L iSi Whipper, screw on 1 iSi cream charger and shake vigorously. Keep the iSi Whipper warm at max. 75 °C · 165 °F in a bain-marie or in a water bath.

Potato foam 

250 g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
125 g single cream
30 g virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Place the potatoes in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil, and cook for about 20 minutes until soft. Drain, reserving 100 g of the cooking water. Place the cooked potato and the water in a blender. Purée, adding the cream little by little. Follow the same procedure with the oil until you have a smooth emulsion. Season with salt. Strain, then fill the siphon using a funnel.  Charge with nitrous oxide, shake, and keep warm in a bain-marie at 70 ºC.  Ferran Adria via http://www.chubbyhubby.net

elBulli Hot potato foam

http://www.foodsfromspain.com/icex/cda/controller/pageSGT/0,9459,35868_6908153_6910167_4459102,00.html
250 gr potatoes for mashing
100 gr potato cooking water
125 gr cream, 35% fat content
35 gr extra virgin olive oil
500 ml ISI siphon
2 N2O chargers
salt

Peel and cut the potatoes and place in cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for approximately 20 minutes. When cooked, drain and reserve the water. Place the cooked potato and 100 g / 3 1/2 oz cooking water in the Thermomix at 60ºC / 140ºF. Blend and gradually pour in the cream. Do the same with the oil until a very thin, smooth emulsion is formed. Season with salt. Strain and fill the siphon using a funnel. Charge the siphon and place in a bain-marie at approx. 70ºC / 158ºF.

Cod Cooked Sous Vide in Birch Bark

Scandinavian Dinner

We're having a Scandinavian-themed dinner and I figured I channel my inner Redzepi for it. Each diner gets a portion of cod wrapped in the birch bark it was cooked in. It imparts a slight woodsy flavor and makes for great presentation. Because we're emphasizing the Birch, I'm omitting the (frozen) olive oil and lemon zest I'd normally use when cooking cod sous vide.

Brining the fish in a 10% salt water solution firms the fish and prevents oozing of ugly white proteins.

We expect about 4 ounce serving per person. Skin the fish first and portion it before cooking because it's too fragile after.

Look for birch bark sheets big enough to wrap your individual portions, but thin enough to be flexible. Carefully peel large birch bark sheets of the tree or find ones on the ground. Boil to soften and kill any nasties. Hold in the water to retain the flexibility until ready to use.

My setup is a Sous Vide Magic temperature controller driving a cheap hotplate with a large covered pot of water. Food is sealed in Tilia FoodSaver. This is pretty easy but you could do it normal stovetop pot with a careful eye on a thermometer in the water bath -- the time's short.

Recipe

Serves 6

• 6       pieces  Birch Bark sheets, boiled
• 24 oz Cod fillet, skinless (6 x 4 ounce portion)
• 500 g Water
• 50 g Kosher Salt

If the Cod has the skin, carefully remove and while prepping, heat in a nonstick skillet, weighted to keep flat, until crisp; use as a condiment on the finished dish.

Heat water with temperature controller to 132F/55C.

Make a 10% brine solution by dissolving the Salt in hot Water, let cool.  Add to ziptop bag along with Cod and brine 15 minutes.  Drain and pat fish and birch dry.  Cut into 6 serving pieces; it's too fragile when cooked.  Wrap each portion in a birch bark sheet, and place in a vacuum sealer bag.  Chill the fish in the bag well before sealing otherwise the liquid will get sucked out and ruin the seal.  Then vacuum seal the bag.

Seal and cook in the sous vide water bath at 132F/55C for 30 minutes; if your fillet is very thick, you could give it more time to ensure the heat penetrates evenly, 45 minutes should be enough but 60 shouldn't hurt..  Remove from bag and finish for presentation.

Plating for Service

For this Scandinavian theme, I plate the fish on the unwrapped birch to reveal the fish, then top with a bacalao espuma, garnish with bright orange, citrusy Sea Buckthorn Berries and add a few pearl-like bits of Salmon caviar.