Daring Cooks April Challenge: Create your own recipe - Rosemary potato bread pouches with eggplants and caramelized onions

Our April 2012 Daring Cooks hosts were David & Karen from Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients!

We were given three lists of ingredients from which we had to choose one each and design our own recipe - quite different because they didn't match that well (which was on purpose I guess).
There were recipes for inspiration but I didn't need them. The first thing that came to my mind when I read balsamic vinegar and goat cheese were some focaccias with caramelized onions and goat cream cheese I made some time ago. The recipe was inspired by one of my favourite cookbooks (which is all about caramel). I didn't post the recipe (unfortunately) but kept in mind that onions caramelized with balsamic vinegar and goat cream cheese are amazingly tasty. Why don't add some grilled eggplant slices? To put alltogether onto pizza dough was to easy and boring though (you of course can do I you find making the bread to time consuming). The additional rosemary and potato flavour just gives the final bread pouches a full and extesive flavour. No 'usual' main dish, I know, but we were asked to be creative, and this is my luxury version of a pizza.

So I chose the following ingredients from the three lists given: Eggplants, balsamic vinegar, maple sirup, goat (cream) cheese and made:

Rosemary potato bread pouches with eggplants and caramelized onions

Potato Rosemary bread
adapted from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice"

makes 6 medium-sized  bread pouches 

Note:  The Biga for the dough must be prepared one day in advance! 

Biga

• 170 g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast 
• 115 ml water

Stir togehter flour and yeast, add the water and stir until everything comes together and forms a ball. Adjust with some water or flour until the dough is tacky (not too sticky or too stiff). Knead for about five minutes until soft. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with clingfilm and let sit at room temperature for 2-4 hours until doubled in size. Knead lightly to degas, return to bowl again and cover again and keep in the refridgerator overnight. Can be made in advance up to three days. Remove an hour before using.

Bread

• one batch of biga (see above)
• 425 g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cube (21 g) fresh yeast
• 200 g cooked and mashed potatoes
• one tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 110 ml lukewarm water

In a large bowl, mix the water, crumbled yeast, small pieces of biga and olive oil. Stir until all the yeast is dissolved. Add flour, salt and rosemary and stir with a wooden spoon until you get a ball. Add more water or flour if necessary. Knead the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until soft and tacky. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and let ferment at room temperature for 2 hours.

Caramelized onions (left) & grilled eggplant slices (right)

Caramelized onions

• 2 medium sized white onions, sliced
• 3 shallots, sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon maple sirup
• about 90 ml good balsamic vinegar
• olive oil

Heat the olive oil into a saucepan. Saute the onions for about 5 minutes until they get soft. Turn up the heat and add the maple sirup. Stir until all of the sirup is absorbed. Start adding the vinegar in small quantties, stirring constantly. The vinegar should be simmering. When evaporated, add the next portion. repeat until all the vinegar has been used up. The onions should be very soft, have a deep purple color and a sweet (and a little bit sour) taste.

Grilled eggplant slices

You'll need about one medium-sized grilled eggplant. Normally I buy them ready-made ones in glasses but I couldn't find them this time. I just halved the eggplant and made slices (about 0,5 cm wide) lenghtwise. Sprinkled them with oil, salt and pepper and grilled them in my oven until slightly brown. They were even better as the store-bought ones.

Assembling:

• 200 g goat cream cheese, crumbled
• one batch potato rosemary bread dough
• grilled eggplant slices
• one batch caramelized onions

Divide the dough into  2 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle (20x35 cm in size). Spread half of the grilled eggplant slices and caramelized onions on top, leaving a 2 cm edge. Fold the left and right third of the rectangle to the middle (like you would fold an envelope) and press the dough at the adeges together to seal them. Cut the small folded rectangel crosswise  so you get three medium-sized pouches. Close/seal the one in the middle on one side. Lay the pouches on their 'backs', flatten them and shape into ovals. Put onto a rack (leave enough space in between), cover with plastic wrap and let proof for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 200°C. Season the pouches with salt and pepper and add the geat cream cheese on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the dough is golden brown. Enjoy!
The cooled pouches can be stored in the refridgerator (and rewarmed in the oven)for at least three days.