Recipe: Sesame Rings

Sesame Rings that look like Taralli

Makes too many (about 7 dozen)

I would call them taralli but I think I strayed too far for these to be authentic. File under: recipes I made one time but haven’t thoroughly tested. Eddie and I can’t stop eating them and my notes are pretty thorough, but if you spot an error let me know!

310 grams warm water
21 grams fresh yeast (or 7 grams instant yeast)
50 grams tahini (Seed + Mill or Soom)
400 grams all purpose flour (King Arthur
125 grams semolina flour (Caputo’s Semola)
11 grams kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
25 grams olive oil
about 1 cup sesame seeds

In a small measuring cup, crumble or sprinkle the yeast into the warm water and stir to dissolve. Let stand about 5 minutes until the yeast hydrates, then slowly whisk the yeasted water into the tahini. At first the tahini will thicken and become creamy, but as you continue adding water it will thin out again.

Combine both flours in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add the tahini mixture and stir until a rough dough forms. Add the salt. Knead on low speed (Kitchenaid speed 1) for 5 minutes until the dough is fairly, but not perfectly, smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and continue kneading until the dough comes back together, about 10 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead gently into a pretty smooth ball.

Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Set in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour until doubled.

Return the dough to a clean work surface and pat into a square about 12-inches across. Fold the top half down to meet the bottom and the left edge over to meet the right. Round into a ball once more, return to the oiled bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and set a large pot of water to boil. Spread about half the sesame seeds on a rimmed baking sheet. Line a few rimmed baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, pat into a rectangle about the size of a sheet of paper, and cut into strips of dough about 3/4-inch wide (the exact size isn’t very important). Using the palms of your hands, roll and stretch the dough into long ropes that are as thin as you can get them without tearing. Somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch should be good. You’ll need a lot of counter space to prep all the ropes at once, but you can work in batches. The thinner the ropes, the more delicate the crackers will be.

Working with one rope at a time, cut into strips about 6 inches long. The longer the strips, the bigger the rings will be. It’s up to you. Wrap a piece of dough around your fingers and pinch the ends together to seal, forming a ring. Set the completed rings on your work surface or a sheet pan. If you have a friend to help, you can start boiling the rings as you're making them, otherwise it’s probably easier to make all the rings at once before you move on to the next step.

Add about 5 or 6 rings to the boiling water, stretching to reshape them as you place them in the pot, and cook until they float, plus about 30 extra seconds for good luck. Using a spider or a slotted spoon, strain the rings out of the water and shake off the excess, then drop them into the sesame seeds. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets when they are cool enough to handle and replenish the sesame seeds on the baking tray as needed. You can crowd the baking sheets with rings, they don’t expand much in the oven.

Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. If your rings are brown but not completely cracker-dry, return them to the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes to dehydrate. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe: Nan-e Barbari (Persian Flatbread)

Dave was screaming at me yesterday when I opened the refrigerator. To be fair, I’d left him in there a pretty long time, so it’s no wonder he was feeling neglected. Luckily, he wasn’t so much angry as he was raring to go, so in the end we both made out okay.

(I should say at the outset that Dave is my sourdough starter, named after David LaChapelle. Ten points to anyone who can thread that needle.)

A couple weeks ago in my mindless instagramming I came across a recipe for nan-e barbari, a Persian flatbread I first encountered at a Before Times dinner at @sofreh_brooklyn, and it seemed like a perfect way to put Dave to good use. Crisp, tender, salty and savory, perfect for dipping or on its own.

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Nan-e Barbari (adapted from @kates_bread and @hotbreadkitchen via @kingarthurbaking)
Makes 2 

For the dough:
425 grams bread flour
75 grams whole wheat flour
385 grams water
100 grams sourdough starter
10 grams Diamond Crystal kosher salt
olive oil, for the bowl
Semolina flour, for dusting

For the glazing paste and finishing:
2 teaspoons bread flour
60 grams water
Sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Combine the bread flour, whole wheat flour, water, and sourdough starter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir together by hand until a sticky dough forms. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

Add the salt and mix on medium speed using the dough hook attachment until the dough cleans the sides (but probably not the bottom) of the bowl. It might take as long as 15 minutes to get there, so be patient. 

Form the dough into a ball and place in a generously oiled bowl. Cover and set in a warm spot to rise until doubled, about 4 hours. Stretch and fold the dough in the bowl at the 30 minute and 1 hour marks, then leave to rise undisturbed for the remaining time.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface dusted with semolina flour. Divide into two pieces and shape each into an oval. Set on semolina-dusted parchment sheets to rest, about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 475F with a pizza stone in the upper-third position about 1 hour before baking.

Make the glazing paste: combine the flour and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Working with one loaf at a time, rub the glazing paste over the dough, gently stretching it. If you’re feeling bold, you can transfer the shaped loaf to a pizza peel, or you can bake directly on the parchment paper. Either way, use your fingers to press deep grooves into the surface. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and brush away any excess flour from the parchment or peel.

Bake until deep golden brown and crisp, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack too cool.

Apricot, Date, and Halzelnut Sourdough Bread

Pantry baking can include loads of dried fruit, especially when you’ve just written a book about fruit cake and you still have too much of it on hand. This bread has so many apricots and dates that it’s basically self-jamming… which is good because that’s the one thing we didn’t stock up on.

I made this up as I went and barely wrote down what I did, but if you want to try to follow along here’s the “recipe”.

• 250 grams dried fruit (I used apricots and dates)

• boiling water

• 500 grams flour (I used a mix of bread flour, semolina, and a mystery flour I found in the back of my pantry)

• 75 grams sourdough starter (fed and ready)*

• 10 grams salt

• 50 grams lightly toasted hazelnuts

*If you don’t have a sourdough starter try using 3/4 tsp instant yeast (Mix it in with the flour. It should work. I think.)

Chop the fruit and place it in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand 30 or 40 minutes or overnight or however long you want. Strain the fruit out of the water and set aside. Add enough cold water to the infused water to bring it up to 390 grams. Use less if you’re not used to working with very wet dough. 

Combine the flour(s) and water in a large bowl and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and rest for 45 minutes. Add the starter and use your hands to pull/stretch the dough up from the sides and over the top of the dough until all the starter is incorporated. Add the salt and keep stretching/folding until combined. Shape into a ball as best you can and place in an oiled bowl to rise 45 minutes. Use two hands to grab the dough at 9 and 3 o’clock and pull up, stretching the dough and letting other two ends fall underneath. Lower the ball and rotate the bowl 90 degrees. Grab the the dough at 9 and 3 o’clock again and stretch the dough up and then lower it onto itself again. It’ll look a bit square now. Cover and rise 45 minutes. Repeat the folds 3 more times with 45 minute rests between each. Let the dough bulk rise until about doubled or put it in the fridge and cold ferment overnight.

Flip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch into a circle about as big as you can get it. Maybe 18 inches? I didn’t measure. Scatter the soaked fruit and nuts evenly over the dough, then roll up like a jelly roll into a log. Roll the log into a coil and then shape into a ball. The dough might tear because there’s probably too much fruit in it, sorry. Do the best you can. Cut the dough into two pieces and let it bench rest for 20 minutes.

Shape the dough into balls or batards or whatever you want. It’s soft and sticky, just do the best you can. Place the dough in really well floured bannetons or colanders with floured linen napkins or whatever you can find without leaving your house FOR GOD’S SAKE STAY HOME. If you have rice flour dust with that I hear it helps the sticking but I don’t have any and I’m not going to go get it. Let the dough rise until it’s doubled or at least full of air and gently springs back. Preheat the oven with a pizza stone in the upper third position to 500 degrees. Set a sheet pan you don’t care about on a lower shelf. 

Flip the dough out onto a floured peel and score with a sharp knife or a razor blade. Slide one loaf into the oven towards the back of the stone. Repeat with the other loaf and try to get it towards the front. Carefully dump about 1 cup of ice cubes onto the sheet pan and close the door. Bake for 20 minutes until the bread is beginning to brown. Lower the oven to 450 and bake another 10 minutes. Carefully remove the sheet pan full of water if it hasn’t already evaporated and bake another 10 minutes until the bread is almost burnt. Check if the bread is done by tapping on it to see if it sounds hollow. When it’s finished, turn the oven off and crack the door open. Let the bread sit in the oven for 10 minutes to finish developing the crust. Cool completely before serving. Is it serving if you aren’t allowed to have guests?