Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

I've had several requests to do a thread on bread baking. I've hesitated, because it's been quite a while since I baked bread; I'm by no means expert at it; and I don't like to post recipes that I haven't tried and proven recently. But, due to popular demand, here we go!

My first experience with baking bread was back in the 1970s when so many of us young folks were bitten by the 'back-to-nature' bug. I was also experimenting with various levels of vegetarianism, and was very interested in cooking with whole grains.

The first bread I made was a completely whole wheat loaf, from the original 'Laurel's Kitchen' cookbook. At the time, I didn't have a KitchenAid, and did everything by hand. It was very hard kneading this dense dough for the required amount of time, but it turned out pretty well for a rank beginner's attempt. (I'm not sure if making this with a KitchenAid would be a very kind thing to do to the machine's motor, so I would suggest only using the mixer up to a point.)

I found a link to the recipe I used on a forum, and here it is:

http://cathe.com/forum/threads/laurels-kitchen-whole-wheat-bread-recipe.230551/

***************************************************

Some years ago, a New York Times article on 'No Knead Bread' made quite a splash, and I tried it. The recipe requires a Dutch oven, and we had just bought a new Lodge enameled one (the poor man's Le Creuset ;-).

Well, I proceeded to almost destroy the beautiful new Dutch oven, by baking this bread in it at the recommended temps. I never tried it again, but recently I found a simple solution to the problem of burning your Dutch oven, which also makes transferring this very wet, sticky dough much easier: use parchment!

Here is the original recipe:

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

And here is YouTuber Dale Calder, showing how he does a sourdough no-knead version using parchment. It's 12 minutes, but he shows some good handling techniques - and his Dutch oven is pristine, compared with what mine looks like now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmADkUSRatY

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

We have frozen flour tortillas many times, with no problem. Don’t have much experience with the corn ones. I don’t see why you can’t; but I’m sure that there are others here that have more expertise. (There are lots of Texans around here :-)

-JT

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Thanks. I’ll give it a try.

[Jamestown1630]

You might want to put waxed paper/parchment/cling wrap between them. I suspect that the corn ones are ‘stickier’ than the flour ones.

Let us know.

-JT

[greeneyes]

Speaking of bread and life, here’s a sweet little story about a lady who loves cooking. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/18/co-owner-of-williston-deli-shares-her-history-with/#ixzz3dBfU6iEC

[V K Lee]

For those so inclined, there are web site communities whereby one can keep their own creations to share on line, as well as collect recipes from other sites. No longer the ‘only game in town’ Blogger and a number of other multi-interest sites are slowly being emerged into areas of particular interest. ‘KEEP RECIPES’ is one such site. http://keeprecipes.com/

Another suck site was found this week (sorry, unable to remember name at this time) The new avenues have the ability to show pics, actually be a part of a like-minded community. The net is ‘evolving’

[newb2012]

“If you ever try a completely whole wheat loaf, let us know how it turns out.

-JT”

I tried a couple different recipes. All completely whole wheat loaves turned out pretty dense and heavy. I like’em less dense and light. Is there a fix?

[newb2012]

One of the recipes had wheat gluten that was optional - which I dint add. Would adding gluten make a difference?

[JRandomFreeper]

I NEVER use gluten. Flour (4% protein), water, yeast, salt, and a touch of sugar is all I use. I suggest the same for everyone.

This is how I want my bread dough to look after a few minutes in the mixer.

I'm getting tired, so mornings are the best time for me to answer questions. Ping me in the AM and I'll see what I can do. I've got pics.

/johnny

[newb2012]

Will do. Thanks!

[Liz]

Bahama Breeze Restaurant recipe.

Roasted Cuban Bread

METHOD Steep overnight in glass dish 1/4" slices 2 lge beefsteak tomatos, marinade. Spread bread loave halves w/ herb butter; lightly toast 450 deg.

ASSEMBLY slightly overlap tomato slices on buttered loaf; add Parm. Oven bake/melt 1-2 min. Cut each crosswise, into 8 pieces. Sprinkle w/ julienned basil leaves; arrange on warm server.

SERVE garnished w/ basil sprig.

HERB BUTTER fork/mash 4 tb butter, 2 tb evo, tsp minced garlic, ½ tsp Fresh thyme leaves, tb thin Scallion rounds.

MARINADE blender ½ cup White wine vinegar, ¼ c oj, tb L/Juice, ¼ c evo, tb ea Dijon, minced garlic, br/sugar, tsp ea chp Fresh oregano leaves/parsley, ¼ tsp S/p.

[prairiebreeze]

Hello John. I’ve been away for several weeks. Just wanted to say “Hey!”

[JRandomFreeper]

Hej.

I've been away for a while, too.

Right now, I've lost a rolling pin somewhere in the kitchen. Lost... It's a small room.

I'll find it eventually.

/johnny

[CyberAnt]

I have a new recipe which is really yummy.

I saw a portion of an ad for Applebee’s, and they mentioned 3 words: Maple, Bacon, Chicken ..!!!!!

Oh my goodness - this is an awesome combination. First you cut bite-size pieces of chicken; sauté in skillet with small amount of olive oil; while that’s cooking, microwave the bacon (crispy is good); Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of maple syrup over the chicken in the skillet; crumble up the bacon on top of the chicken and ad another small drizzle of maple over the bacon. Then, stir several times until all the chicken and bacon are coated with the maple syrup.

I was just cooking for myself that night, so I only prepared a single serving.

You will scarf this up .. but be careful, the crumpled bacon could catch in your throat .. so CHEW carefully .. and savor the flavor.

Enjoy ..!!!!

[JRandomFreeper]

Sounds good.

You are right about the bacon. Be careful. It can choke you in a heartbeat. I know that for a fact. We used the vacuum thingy to get it out.

/johnny

[CyberAnt]

LOL .. I knew I shouldn’t have said that.

[JRandomFreeper]

Just don't sspend time in a hospital.

Besides, it was Turkey Bacon. Damn Islamics.

/johnny

[CyberAnt]

Well, I insist on the real stuff .. pig bacon.

[Jamestown1630]

We never used gluten until we bought a bread machine that called for it in WW bread. I didn’t notice that it made a whole lot of difference.

Gluten helps WW flour have more elasticity, and helps with the rise; this may be more true in hand-made bread than machine bread but I’ve never used it in hand-kneaded bread.

Any WW loaf is always going to be much denser; you’re not going to get that airy-ness of grocery-store white bread, by any method. Most of mine have had almost a muffin-like denseness. When you buy so-called whole wheat bread in the grocery store, and the texture is just a little denser than the better white breads, it usually means that it has *some* whole wheat in it; it’s not 100%.

I have not tried whole wheat sourdough; and I haven’t baked with the white whole wheat flour that you can buy now. I did buy a loaf of bread made from white WW once, and it didn’t agree with my innards ;-)

The 100% WW breads that you can get in a good health-food store are generally very good, not as dense as most home-made ones. I suspect it’s the more industrial machinery and the thorough kneading that make it so.

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

The one time I’ve been in a hospital for an extended time, it was a Seventh Day Adventist one. They are excellent hospitals in my area, but not only is the vegetarian food terrible, so is the carnivore’s choice.

But, I guess that’s true of most hospitals ;-)

-JT

[newb2012]

Agree with you on WW bread density. But the ones I could make with a few different recipes are particularly very dense. I’d like to see if the result with white whole wheat would be any different.