It IS about time. Time for me to start my blog, although without a digital camera, mine won't be as entertaining as all of yours! And its about my LACK of time trying to be a fulltime student and work fulltime! SO... my blogs will probably very,very short. But I will still try to make bread on Saturdays. Its therapy for me.
About memories... remember in Hightown I used to make 6 loaves at a time ! We were big eaters then. So.... for the bread recipe...I recommend trying it when you need something to occupy your mind and your hands. This is an old ,old recipe from an old,old Joy of Cooking cookbook. The recipe is not found in new versions.
2 1/2 cups of water
1 1/2 TB dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar(white or brown) or honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup oil
7 - 8 cups of flour: I use approximately 4 cups of unbleached white
1 to 1 1/2 cup whole wheat
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup wheatgerm
1/4 cup cracked wheat
2 TB flax seed
You can use all white flour or any combination of flours, but you need to have
at least 4 cups of white flour for this bread to rise.
Warm 1 cup of water to bath temperature. Add a tsp or so of sugar or honey and the yeast and let rest for 10 minutes. ( I heat up my tea water in the microwave and then pop my yeast mixture in there with the door closed and its nice and warm and steamy in there!)
Meanwhile melt the butter in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water. Add this to a big bowl with your sweetener,salt ,egg and oil. When the yeast is nice and bubbly, add it also. Then begin adding the flour, starting with 2-3 cups of white. Mix well, adding the other flour until it gets too stiff to mix with a spoon. Now is the time to start kneading.... the best part ! Turn onto a floured surface and start kneading...pushing with heels of your hands and turning. The dough will be sticky....that means just adding a little flour at a time so you can knead it some more. Knead for 15 minutes. At some point it won't need very much flour at all, it will be nice and elastic! Don't worry if you don't add all 7-8 cups of flour: weather, humidity and alignment of the planets make every batch different and some doughs accept more flour then others. After you have kneaded for 15 minutes, find a bowl that will accomodate your dough x 2 because it needs to double in size while it is rising. Again, I make another cup of tea in my microwave, and then pop in my bowl, which I have greased before putting in the dough, and I cover it with a damp towel. It rises for about 1 1/2 hours or so until it doubles. Then you deflate it by punching it down and turning it out and kneading it for just a minute or two.Repeat the rising process for a second time. This time will be shorter, but again let it double in bulk. Punch it down and let it rest now for 10 minutes. Divide in 3 equal parts. Make each part a rectangle and roll it up width wise and place in a greased bread pan. Maggie and I have found that glass or ceramic bread pans are the best! Now let all 3 loaves rise in a warm place until they reach the top of the pans. Place in a COLD oven. Turn the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 350 and bake 20-25 minutes more. The loaves are done when they are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. Cover the loaves with a towel while they cool. You can use this recipe to make rolls( just let them rise and don't bake them so long) or cinnamon bread( after you make the rectangle of dough, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon and roll up). They keep well in the freezer and make great gifts...
OK! Time to get back to work. Let me know if you have trouble with the recipe. For GREAT
French bread you will have to ask The Beermaker because he is the expert at that!
