Posted on 01/21/2017 10:04:48 PM PST by CottonBall
Hello fellow cooks! This is Cottonball, your 2nd substitute thread poster for Jamestown1630, along with Yaelle.
I decided to indulge in one of my favorite hobbies for this week’s foodie thread - I LOVE making bread. Just like growing plants, making bread for me is an act of love and creation – the little yeasties making the flour and water into something magical always excites me and gives me a feeling of accomplishment. Seeing the dough rise and take shape is like giving birth (without the pain or medical staff).
I wasn’t always able to make edible bread – I spent probably 15 years making bread that had more in common with bricks than bread. At some point though, something clicked and I decided to ignore the directions on rising times, and instead focus on what the dough actually looked and felt like. Sometimes, my dough takes twice as long to rise as recipe directions say, and other times, half as long. The dough itself now decides when it is ready, and that has made all the difference to successful loaves, rolls, or pretzels.
I have 3 favorite and beloved bread recipes to share with you this week: a surprisingly light and fluffy 100% whole wheat bread, an easy no-knead holey and crispy loaf, and a beautiful marbled rye that gets lots of compliments.
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100% Whole Wheat Bread – patience is the key to this one, let it rise until puffy and jiggle, given it time – it will get there!
prepared pantry
The key to really great 100% whole wheat bread is to extract the best flavors from the whole wheat and temper the harsh tones that sometimes accompany whole wheat flour. Good whole wheat bread has an almost nutty taste without a bitter aftertaste. A long fermentation gives the yeast a chance to produce its own flavors and convert the starch to sugar. By refrigerating the dough overnight, you can make excellent 100% whole wheat bread.
This is one of our favorite bread recipes. Yeasts perform differently at low temperatures. In this recipe, the dough is mixed the day before and refrigerated. The acids and enzymes produced by the yeast at lower temperatures temper the harshness of the whole wheat and develop wonderfully complex bread flavors. It's no more work than other recipes; you just mix the dough the day before.
Bakers note: This bread should be very light and fluffy, not dense. The secret of making it so is to make sure that the dough rises fully both in the first rise and in the pans. The dough will fill two 5 x 9-inch loaf pans and should be very soft and puffy before baking. If you let it over-rise, you may see a blister or two in the dough. Poke the blisters with the point of a knife and hurry the bread into the hot oven.
5 to 6 cups fine-ground whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons wheat gluten (optional)
1 teaspoon dough conditioner
1 seven gram packet of instant yeast (or two teaspoons)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted and slightly cooled butter
1. Place about three cups of the flour in the bowl of your stand-type mixer. Add the yeast. Carefully measure 2 cups room temperature (80 degrees) water. The water should feel cool to the touch. Mix the water with the flour with a dough hook for 30 seconds or until the yeast is dissolved and the ingredients begin to combine.
2. Add the salt, sugar, and butter and continue mixing. Add most of the remaining flour, the wheat gluten, and dough conditioner and continue mixing at a medium speed for at least four minutes adding more flour as needed to reach a soft dough consistency. (It is important that the dough be mixed for at least four minutes to develop the gluten.) The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but will be soft, not firm, to the touch.
3. Once the dough is mixed, place it in a large greased bowl, turning once to coat both sides, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or for up to three days.
4. On the day that you would like to bake your bread, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm to room temperature--about three hours. The dough should rise to nearly double in size.
5. Once the dough has risen, form the loaves. Coat your hands with flour and gently form a loaf by pulling the dough around itself to create a slightly stretched skin. You may need to coat your hands several times if the dough is sticky. If necessary, pinch the seams together on the bottom of the loaf. Lay the loaf gently in a well-greased loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with the second loaf. Let double again in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the dough has doubled (the loaf should be very puffy), place the two loaves on a shelf in the top half of the oven, well-spaced so that air can circulate between the loaves. Bake for thirty minutes or until done. The interior of the loaves should register at least 185 degrees when an insta-read thermometer is inserted through the bottom crust. Remove the bread from the pans and cool on wire racks. Let it cool completely before cutting.
Variation:
SWEET WHOLE WHEAT BREAD RECIPE
- I wanted to make the loaf a bit more interesting for gifts and these additions make it a delightful loaf, wonderful with peanut butter or butter. It makes great toast too.
Add 1/3 c honey, and 1 T molasses, and ½-1 cup more flour
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Crusty No-knead Holey Bread – this one has a crusty, crackling crust and a soft, moist interior. I don’t know what they mean by a roasting pan, but I’ve made this in a Dutch oven and in a disposable foil 9” cake pan, with great results.
1 ½ tsp yeast
1 ¾ cups water (70 to 75°)
3 ½ cups + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tbsp cornmeal or additional flour
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. In a large bowl, mix 3 ½ cups flour and salt. With a rubber spatula, add yeast mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until smooth (dough will be sticky). Do not knead. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature one hour. Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into a 9 inch square. Fold dough into thirds, forming a 9 x 3” rectangle. Fold rectangle into thirds, forming a 3 inch square. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until almost doubled, about one hour. Punch down dough and repeat folding process. Return dough to a bowl; refrigerate, covered, overnight. Line bottom of the disposable foil roasting pan with parchment paper. Dust with cornmeal. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead gently eight times; shape into a 6 inch round loaf. Place into prepared pan; dust top with remaining 1 tbsp flour. Cover pan with plastic wrap; let rise at room temperature until dough expands to a 7 ½ inch loaf, about 1 ¼ hours. This will give good oven spring and bigger holes. If rise more, smaller holes. Preheat oven to 500°. With a sharp knife, make a ¼ inch deep slash across the top of the loaf. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake on 2nd or 3rd lowest rack 25 minutes (on lowest bottom will burn). Reduce oven setting to 450°. Remove foil; bake 25 to 30 minutes longer or until deep golden brown. Remove loaf to a wire rack to cool. Variations: before kneading dough after taking out of the frig, sprinkle with 4 ounces diced sharp cheddar cheese. Or sprinkle with 1 cup dried cranberries & 4 tsp grated orange peel
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Marbled Rye – makes a lovely, impressive loaf that is great with club sandwiches. It’s not as complicated as you might think – after making it once, you’ll see that and want to make it again and again.
Light rye:
1 1/2 cups of white rye flour
3 cups unbleached bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsps instant yeast
2 Ts shortening
1 T molasses
1 1/3 cups water @rt
Dark rye:
Light rye recipe
2 tsp instant coffee granules
3 Ts cocoa powder
First, mix the light rye. Mix until the dough forms a loose ball, adding an additional T of water or two if necessary to bring the dough together. The dough should feel supple and pliable but not sticky. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling to coat it all over. Cover and set aside.
Next, make the dark rye in the same way. Ferment both doughs at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, or until they double in bulk.
Next, turn each of the doughs out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide each color into 6 equal segments. Use a rolling pin to roll them out into rectangles approximately 8″ by 5″ in size. Layer the rectangles so that the colors alternate, making sure that the light rye is on the bottom, using 3 light and 3 dark for each loaf. Starting on the long side of the rectangle, fold about 1/3 of the dough towards you, pinching the dough down to form a seam. Next, take the other long edge of the rectangle, and fold it up and over the rolled-up dough, again pinching the edge to form a seam. The entire outside of the roll should be covered in the white rye, stretched around the inside layers. Repeat this shaping process with the other pieces of dough.
You can place them on a large baking sheet lined with parchment or into well-oiled loaf 8×5″ loaf pans. Mist the loaves with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Proof at room temperature for 60-90 minutes, or until the loaves double in bulk. (Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days before proofing and baking.) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk one egg with 1 tsp of water, and lightly brush the loaves with this egg wash. Bake on the middle rack for about 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the bread is 190 degrees (you can use a meat thermometer or a fancy bread thermometer for this). Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack for 1-2 hours before slicing or serving.
It sure if good to be back! I missed all of you during the inauguration. I'm sure everyone had yummy things ;)
Ping to this week’s cooking thread.
And welcome back!
Yum!!! There is no better smell than bread baking.
This is the recipe I use. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-100-whole-wheat-bread-recipe
King Arthur Flour has a great recipe for hamburgers/hotdog buns on their website. Store bought buns are no comparison to homemade. Juicy Loosies (lucies??) on homemade buns are the best!
Who says we can’t have it all?!
Oh yes, the aroma of bread baking is the best!
Thanks for reminding us, navy mom.
I think KA recipes are the gold standard, tested, tried, and true.
Although....I’ve liked most breads to be 180 degrees internally these days, otherwise they can be dry. The exception is dense, eggy breads and then I go for 190-200. Could just be a personal preference. I can tolerate breads a little underdone, but not overdone.
Yum, good idea. I made hamburger buns from the KA site once and then forgot I could do that when making burgers or hot dogs again, LOL! You’re right, they are good. And stand up well to sloppy joe type meats. Is that what a loosie thing is?
I hate dry crumbly bread!
I have also made the no knead loaf that bakes in a dutch oven with good results.
Bookmark
If we can have it all ..
Then I want Guernsey butter from Ireland !
Cotton, when you started the cooking thread, did you break the Internet???? ;) Great to be back!!!
Craving beef ribs today, I hit up Yelp and found a place not too far away where I grabbed a bunch and brought them home. Wow. The ribs were cooked to perfection and did not need any sauce. Talk about satisfying an itch. Mmm.
Bread! Yay! I have such trouble digesting commercial bread. I believe I could digest homemade sourdough so last year I tried and tried. And I really made some very flavorful bricks.
I’d like one to look like your no need crusty holey bread. That is my goal.
(I used to read the King Arthur catalogue like food porn.)
Here’s a video for the no-knead bread.
Using parchment paper dusted with cornmeal
makes getting the dough/bread in/out of the hot dutch oven easier.
This turns our perfect every time. It *IS* worth the time.
It makes for great toast, too.
Video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_peoc8F-cuI
Recipe.
http://laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/no-knead-rustic-dutch-oven-bread/
BLT Steak Famous Gruyere Popovers
Complimentary popovers arrive w/ butter pot and sea
salt shaker......and the recipe. Recipe makes 12 popovers.
ING 4 cups milk, warmed 8 eggs 4 cups Gold Medal flour 1 ½ heaping tbsp. salt 2 ¼ cups Gruyère cheese, grated
METHOD Place popover pan in oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350 degrees. Gently warm milk, and set aside. Whisk eggs until frothy, and slowly whisk in milk (so as not to cook eggs). Set mixture aside. Sift flour with salt. Slowly add dry mixture, and combine until mostly smooth.
FINAL Once combined, remove popover pan from oven and spray with nonstick vegetable spray. While batter is still slightly warm, fill each popover cup three-quarters full. Top each popover with 2 tb grated Gruyère. Bake 350 deg 50 min, rotating after 15 min. Remove from oven and liftout to server.
I’m all in on that crusty holey bread too. My favorite along with some herbed olive oil.
On the holey bread - I always buy the active dry yeast packets, do I use the same amount?
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