Unless otherwise noted, recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The bread served at The Villa Italian Restaurant was a favorite of many customers of the much-missed Little Rock institution.
Our thanks to Ken Shivey and Barbara White for sharing the recipe.
The recipe was in restaurant quantities -- enough to make four bakery trays, requiring a whopping 25 pounds of flour and a pound of fresh yeast. To make the recipe practical for a home kitchen, first I divided it by 10 and made adjustments for using active dry yeast. My test batch was adequate. I didn't get the shape right -- if memory serves the bread wasn't very tall, but was served in long, thick slices with a billowy top -- but the flavor and texture was close to what I remember. And warm from the oven slathered with butter, it was delicious.
But even at the reduced size, the recipe made a generous amount of bread, so much that it strained my stand mixer.
So I further reduced it by half and adjusted the liquid to make softer dough. The second batch was much more manageable, though, unless you have very strong arms, I don't recommend trying to mix it by hand.
I tried it using all-purpose flour and bread flour. The flavor is slightly better with bread flour, but more liquid may be required.
Villa Bread (Downsized)
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees), divided use
1 1/4 teaspoons fine salt
2 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for coating pan
1 1/4 pounds all-purpose flour or about 41/2 cups, plus more for dusting (see note)
In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast with 1/4 cup of the water, the salt, sugar and vegetable oil. Mix well. Add the flour and remaining water and mix until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Transfer dough to the oiled bowl and let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
Punch down. On a lightly floured surface shape dough into a wide, flatish loaf or into traditional loaves. Place in a lightly oiled baking pan or loaf pan. Let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake until internal temperature of loaf reaches 190 degrees, 15 to 45 minutes depending on the shape of the loaf. A traditional loaf shape will require up to 45 minutes.
Makes 1 large loaf.
Note: I strongly recommend weighing the flour. But if you don't have a kitchen scale, thoroughly stir the flour to aerate it, then spoon it into a measuring cup.
Judy Saindon shares this raisin cookie recipe for Lena Scroggins. Saindon says she thinks adding a teaspoon of lemon zest or orange zest would also be delicious in these.
Raisin Jumbo Cookies
2 cups raisins
1 cup PLUS 1 tablespoon water, divided use
4 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (Saindon uses less)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup solid shortening (such as Crisco)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup nuts, optional (Saindon uses either English walnuts OR pecans)
Combine the raisins with the 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan and bring, uncovered, to a boil and boil for 3 minutes or until raisins are plump. Remove from heat to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together, set aside.
In a separate bowl cream the shortening and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla; stir to combine. Add raisins and raisin liquid plus the remaining 1 tablespoon of water; stir well. Last, add the flour mixture and nuts if using them. Stir to combine. Drop by tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet pan, about 1 inch apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen large cookies.
REQUEST
• Raisin pie for JoAnn Breedlove. "My aunt used to make the only [one] I have ever liked. It had plump white raisins with a lot of almost custard-like filling. I think it used a lot of eggs, but not sure. It was golden and crispy on top."
Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:
kbrant@arkansasonline.com
Food on 08/24/2016