Bread Makes The Meal

"Boughten" bread. On Sunday—though we didn't eat it until tonight. It's not that I couldn't have made it. We just haven't had a whole lot of time recently, and we picked our menu for today (meatball sandwiches) kind of hastily. So we had no bread in the house, and I happened to see this walking by the bakery department. By this evening it had started hardening (which I hadn't entirely expected), so we reheated it and split it for the sandwiches. I also got it because I thought I might like to try and imitate the loaf, if it was any good. Well, it was; but I'm debating whether to go ahead with the idea. My idea of "Country White Bread" has a bit softer crust, and something that doesn't dry out quite so quickly. Maybe with a bit more sugar to it? I have a recipe for it in Everything Bread ; maybe I'll make that on the cookie sheet rather than in the loaf pan. Just an idea. What's the difference for you between Country...

And better, I think. See if you agree. Looking back, I don't see that I've ever posted Leslie Bilderback's "Amish White Bread" recipe. Assuming I haven't, here it is, then (unless she tells me to please take it down): Amish White Bread 1 cup warm water ⅓ cup sugar 1¾ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast 1 cup flour 2 tablespoons oil (I usually use olive oil for flavor) ¾ teaspoon salt 2 more cups flour So start off by dissolving the sugar in the warm water (as always, not much warmer than body temperature) and adding the yeast. Stir until the yeast is all mixed in and go read a book or something for ten minutes. When the yeast is all foamed up on the top, add the oil, and then stir in the first cup of flour. When this is well mixed, add the salt, and then the other two cups of flour. Flour your surface, and empty the bowl out. You should have a soft, but fairly cohesive, dough. Knead this for eight or nine minutes. It'...

I was going to make some other kind of bread on Wednesday, but it was pointed out that we had a number of bananas that were ready to go—more than we were going to eat. And we didn't have long to eat them, so could I please do something with them? Four of these—perfect for banana bread. So I looked for a recipe with plenty of bananas, and guess what? Leslie Bilderback came through again! Thanks Leslie! (Note: I think I've described this before? But not with pictures like this.) Banana Bread ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter ¾ cup granulated sugar 3 ripe bananas 1 egg ¼ cup sour cream (I actually used closer to ½) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt (Optional; I don't usually bother) 1 cup chopped walnuts Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C; Gas Mark 4). (Here Leslie gives instructions for prepping a 9" x 5" loaf pan with "pan spray" and parc...

So Saturday we were out pretty much all day shopping and running errands, so I took most of Sunday off to recuperate :-) Today was going to be the recipe I gave for bread from 1857, but Nancie requested rye bread instead, so that takes precedence. Since I didn't have a sourdough started, I tried to modify the recipe. It's just coming to the end of the rise, but I thought I'd share with you what I've done so far: Dark Starterless Rye Bread (modified from Leslie Bilderback's Light Caraway Rye recipe) 1 cup warm water 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 2 teaspoons active dry yeast, about 1 package ½ cup cool water; 2 cups dark rye flour 1 teaspoon salt 3 – 4 cups bread flour In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, and yeast. Stir to dissolve, and let stand until foamy, about ten minutes. Add cool water and rye flour; stir to combine and form a sponge. Let the sponge stand for about 10 – 12 hours, until well fermented: Add enough bread flour to c...

Evidence: I was baking this afternoon while Nancie was trying to frost a cake. I wish I had a picture of the result; but here's where I wound up trying to mix and raise the bread: In case you're not sure, I'm doing this on the stove (next to the cookie sheet and loaf pans that I had to take out of the oven because we were baking the cake). What you see in the background is the microwave on the counter and the various things we have to have there in order to keep them off the counter. We manage, though. Somehow or other :-) So what I'm making right now is Tuscan White Hearth Bread from Everything Bread . This is unusual in that it has no salt. Or sugar; just water, flour, and yeast. It's the perfect kind of bread to use with spaghetti that has a lot of sauce on it. It might even be the excuse to make a little bit of extra sauce for the pasta! Tuscan White Hearth Bread 1¼ cups warm water 1¾ tsp. active dry yeast (1 package) ¼ cup whole whe...

That's what we had for dinner tonight. (Yes, I know, I still have the "Milk and Water Bread" recipe going. But this was a royal command suggestion from Herself. Of course, the world's best meatball parm sandwich requires the world's best Italian bread. Namely: Italian Batard ( Everything Bread , p.30) ½ cup warm water (I used very warm water, nearly hot) 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (I used the buckwheat honey; I do think it made a difference) 1¾ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package) (I put in closer to 2) 1 cup all-purpose flour (for a change, I followed this—see explanation below) 1 cup warm milk (mine was more like room temperature) 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ teaspoons [kosher] salt 3 – 4 cups bread flour ¼ cup cornmeal This is one instance in which I nearly followed the recipe. Not quite. The recipe calls for making a sponge and letting it develop for 8 to 12 hours. But as it was 1:00 in the afternoon when I got started, I decided to g...

I've been too busy over the last day or so to get to a computer. But I haven't forgotten my bread. Night before last, I tried (a variety of) Peasant Bread from Everything Bread . It called for ¼ cup each of rye and whole wheat flour as well as the bread flour. I unfortunately only had the bread flour, so I just went ahead and made it straight. I liked the bread; Herself didn't—I don't think I gave it enough time to rise. It was done, or nearly so, but the crumb was very dense. Here's the recipe: Peasant Bread 1½ cups warm water 1 tablespoon honey (I used buckwheat honey—I love the taste) 1¾ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package) ¼ cup rye flour ¼ cup whole wheat flour (I didn't have either, so I substituted ½ cup of bread flour) ¾ teaspoon salt (we don't have kosher, so I used plain iodized) 3 – 4 cups bread flour ¼ cup cornmeal In a large bowl, combine water, honey, and yeast. Stir to dissolve and let sta...

It (that is, the Sourdough Boule recipe from Everything Bread ) started off so well. Well, almost "so well". I didn't watch my timing as well as I wanted. Leslie in Everything Bread suggested to let the bread rise for an hour and a half at room temperature "or until the bread doubled in size". So I went off to the community garden for an hour and a half. By the time I got back, the bread had nearly tripled in size, I think! So I punched it down, divided it in two, and rolled it into boules. By that time, we had to go shopping. So I put the two boules on a big plate and put them in the fridge, figuring that would slow things down enough that they'd be about the same size when we got back. No such luck. When we got back about three hours later, the two loaves had grown together and I had quite a time trying to separate them. By the time they were on the baking sheet, one was much bigger than the other, and they were both flat on one side: You might n...

I got up this morning intending to make bread at some point today. I still am, and I'll report to you tonight! But Herself said, "Can you make chocolate-chip waffles today?" So of course I said, "Yes!" I knew that Everything Bread had some waffle recipes in it, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to get another recipe under my belt. Well, it turns out that there's a recipe for Chocolate Waffles (page 192); but what we both wanted was regular waffles with chocolate chips. So instead, I used the Belgian Waffles recipe a couple of pages earlier, and put chocolate chips into it. With a few modifications :-) We were out of butter, so I had a choice of melted tub margarine or canola oil. I went with the canola oil; melted tub margarine just has this really weird smell to it. Doesn't seem right. And (as I probably said earlier) we don't really have the space for a bunch of different kinds of flour. The recipe called for cake flour; we...

So I've decided - butter top will be the new bread that I'm making (page 22 in Everything Bread ). That will go great for sandwiches, which is a major component of lunch. And it appears that the starter, though thin and watery, may have been intended so. Apparently this is called a "100% hydrated" starter, because the amount of water (now 3 cups) is 100% of the amount of flour. I did the second feeding yesterday evening, and it foamed up really quickly: (I admit to tweaking the picture a bit - the flash reflected off everything and made it bright white. All I did was turn down the brightness a bit so you could see the foam on top.) So I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Or Sunday. Or both—whenever I get to the bread is fine. God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread .

So I decided to follow my friend Candace's suggestion and make challah bread out of Everything Bread (page 85). There were a couple of differences I had from the recipe. The instructions said to use a cup of all-purpose flour and two or three of bread flour—well, I didn't have any all-purpose flour around; so maybe the bread will be a bit stiffer than the recipe. Then, the recipe suggested that the bread might take two hours to double in size, rising at room temperature. I let it rise for an hour, and then we had to run some errands so I put it in the refrigerator and let it rise until we came back about three hours later. It was doubled by then, so I just let it warm up a bit and proceeded with the rest of the instructions. Only to hit a small snag. The instructions said, "Turn risen dough onto a floured surface," that's okay; "divide into 3 equal portions," I can do that; "and form a 3-strand braid." Umm, grind to a halt here. How do ...

The starter is doing really well (day 6). It was foaming up earlier, and I stirred it once. It seems to have gone very liquid; I'm not sure that's right, it had a much thicker consistency yesterday. I usually bake bread on Sundays, but today we had a little bit of a party - an early Independence Day party, more or less. So tomorrow I'll be baking, and I was looking over things I haven't done from the Everything Bread cookbook. Butter Top? Farmhouse White? Honey White? Hawaiian Bread? I'm not sure how much butter we have in the house - if I get desperate (and only if I get desperate) I could substitute margarine; but I'd rather walk down to the store, if it's open. What's your preferred sandwich or toasting bread? Anything special? God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread .

Well, Mobius' suggestion for a cinnamon raisin bread sounded like a great idea. I have a few different recipes. I was going to take the Everything Bread recipe and alter it enough that I could list it out here without worrying about copyright violation. Unfortunately, that was under the assumption that the alterations would keep the recipe decent enough for it to be worth listing. So here's what went down: I didn't have raisins, so I found the "Cinnamon Swirl" recipe rather than the "Cinnamon Raisin" recipe. Not a problem. It called for honey, and Herself was using the honey at work, for her tea, so we didn't have it. Not a problem, I thought, for honey I can just use white sugar, right? I now think that was a mistake. Then, there were instructions to add two eggs with the flour after proofing the yeast. I'm still not sure what eggs do for the dough, but for better or for worse I decided to leave them out. Next, the instructions said to...

Well, I would have posted something last night, but I was feeling pretty ill, and Herself ... let's say gently suggested ... that I call it a night. Today I'm staying home, so here's yesterday's entry. Everything Bread says, "Stir [the sourdough starter] once a day for the next three days." So yesterday, I stirred it the once. It was bubbly and gloppy, just what it's supposed to be. I came out to check on it this morning and saw this: Or in close-up: Which I think is exactly how it's supposed to look at that stage. So I'm happy. (Note: I hope the picture quality is improved; I'm taking pictures with the actual camera rather than with my phone camera.) We're just about out of sandwich bread (the Amish White from Everything Bread ). But on the other hand if I had made two loaves, one would be hanging around forever in the freezer. I just go ahead and make it every week anyway. I might make the biscuits again as well, or maybe use my...

Herself and I were out from 7:00 AM until after 9:00 PM yesterday, and when we got home I was way too exhausted to write anything. Apologies. I'm not sure I like The Complete Book Of Bread & Bread Machines , the cookbook that my neighbor gave me the other day. It's got lots of pretty pictures in it, but there are two big faults: Although it gives recipes for bread made from sourdough starters, it doesn't tell you how to keep the starter going. Surely that's the point of having a starter? It has a lot of descriptions of traditional regional breads, but It Doesn't Give All The Recipes . What's with that?? So instead, I'm going back to the Bilderback. Everything Bread has a good-looking sourdough starter recipe, and a rye bread made with it. In keeping with the best sourdough blogs :-) I'll post pictures as the starter develops. According to the recipe, the starter takes about two weeks to develop; but don't worry—I'll be baking (and pos...

This morning I finally got to make the buttermilk biscuits I've been hoping for the last two days. As I guessed, they took only a while to make (the recipe was ready by the time the oven was done preheating) and they were done in 17 minutes (the recipe said 15 - 20, I split the difference). I think I must have done something weird with it though, maybe with the butter; the biscuits looked and tasted good, but I thought maybe they were a little chewy. Herself agreed with me, too. She had them with butter; I had them plain. Biscuits aren't supposed to be chewy, are they? Maybe a problem with cutting in the butter. You could tell I haven't made biscuits for quite a while. So there it is, I've now made the Buttermilk Loaf and the Buttermilk Biscuits - both good but with each their own problems. I'll try them again, later. God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread . Edit: Added a picture.

By the way, I got an answer from The Source (of the Buttermilk Bread recipe, that is) about why I got the clumpy spots in my buttermilk bread. Leslie says, "There should be no mixing issues if you kneaded vigourously for 8-10 minutes...by hand or machine. There is no way something will not get mixed in at that rate. It looked more like uneven baking, and/or undercooked dough, at least from the picture. You can take its temp if you're not sure about doneness." So maybe a thermometer is called for? I've never stuck a thermometer in bread before, only meats. I'm not even sure what temperature I should be looking for. I also had the thought that there was quite a bit of dough there (the recipe called for 4 - 6 cups of flour and 2 of buttermilk for one loaf). Maybe next time I'll try splitting it into 2 smaller loaves?

So I had every intention of making my sister's scone recipe tonight. I was going to do it either right after dinner, or else late at night after my wife went to bed, as a surprise for breakfast tomorrow morning. Oh well. There were problems with New Jersey Transit , and I had to go and pick my wife up after work, about an 80 mile round trip. We didn't get home until well after 8:00 tonight. We had fast food for dinner (I know, I know - we were both exhausted) and she went to bed by 9:00. I was tired, but figured I'd push myself to do the scones anyway. Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter, egg - no eggs. At 10:00 at night, no eggs. Hmf. Deep breath. Oh well, let's see if the "Everything Bread" recipe calls for eggs. "Buttermilk Biscuits," hmm ... Nope! No eggs! (Well, one egg, to coat the top of the biscuits. But I can skip that part. I can get away without being fancy.) Thank you Leslie! Up the oven to 4...

So, I've liked baking bread for ages. I think I got it from my mom. Certainly I have great memories of watching her bake bread when I was a child. And I've always got so much satisfaction out of watching (and smelling!) the yeast come alive, and feeling the dough give under my hands - not to mention the taste and smell of it warm out of the oven. Could there be anything more satisfying? I think not. But I hadn't really done any baking since getting married five years ago—so I was really happy last Christmas when my wife gave me The Everything Bread Cookbook , by Leslie Bilderback (whose website, having discovered it, I now intend to fully explore). It took a couple of months, but I started in on it, learned a few interesting things—and then, today, got a new idea. I've thought about blogging before, but I always thought, "What do I like enough, do well enough, think about enough that I could write about it once or twice a week? And today it came to me. I m...