one good loaf

summer baking :: oregano bread

 
 
Turning on the oven in the summer is not the hindrance that I once thought. For the most part, most modern ovens are really good at heat containment, and in my home we happen to have central air. Not to mention we're not spending our time inside the house anyway; we're out enjoying the yard.

Inspired by cuttings from my potted oregano, I went seeking an herb bread with an emphasis on herbs. The one I chose, Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Breads, served well with some modifications, the most significant of which was doubling the herb quotient. I wanted it really chock full of flavor.

Be sure to wash the fresh herbs really well. I soaked and swirled them in a large bowl, then rinsed for a good while. Lay the clean oregano on a towel and pat to remove moisture. I left it overnight like this, but in no way were these herbs dried in the traditional, long term sense. Using dried herbs would certainly require far less (perhaps half?) the amount needed.

Remove leaves and coarsely chop them; discard stems. Whatever you don't use for the bread can be further left to dry, of course, for your pantry.

When adding ingredients I added the oregano at the dry flour and dry yeast stage, before adding the hot water and olive oil. I also added dehydrated onion for extra kick. Next time I might try adding fresh, caramelized onions. I think they'd add moisture to the finished bread.

Another great thing about summer baking is resting the covered dough outside to rise, letting the warm weather work its magic on the yeast. You do need to be careful not to kill the yeast, by overheating. I read this quote recently from the collected essays of James Beard in his book, Simple Foods:

"... [temperatures] over 95 degrees can kill fresh, active yeast cells in live yeast ...  granular yeast, on the other hand, requires water of [ and can withstand] higher temperature, from 110 to 115."

The same is true of the rising environment. Not too hot otherwise your yeast can accelerate rapidly, and the bread won't taste right without corrective measures. I'm not going to get into all of that today. Suffice it to say: be aware of temperatures and don't place dough directly in the sun.

 

Oregano Onion Bread *

• 1 packet dry yeast
• 3 1/2 cups bread or unbleached white flour
• 1 Tbl. sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 hot water (120-130 degrees, f.)
• 3 Tbl. olive oil
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup dehydrated onion
• yellow cornmeal to coat

In a stand mixer combine all dry ingredients, including herbs and onions. Whisk well.  Change to bread hook attachment. Add olive oil to hot water and with mixer running slowly, add water gradually in a steady stream. Allow bread hook to knead approx. 8-10 minutes 'til dough pulls away from the bowl and the sides are clean.

Form dough in a loose ball and place in a well oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap (or a moist towel if you prefer) to rise in a warm, shady spot for about 2 hours.

 

Remove risen dough to a board dusted in cornmeal, press and fold gently to remove large air pockets, form into a loaf and place in bread pan for the second rise of about an hour. Score with serated knife or razor blade.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temp. to 350 for remaining 20 minutes. Bread is done when crust is golden and knocking on the top yields a hollow sound.

* modified from Bernard Clayton's six herbs bread

 

In the half an hour before dinner, as its scent drifted out from the kitchen the kids asked if we were having pizza. It had all the flavor of a rustic, fresh pizza with added crunch and crumble. 

Apparently I'm a summer baking convert. Clearly happy gardeners make happy bakers. Let me know if you try my kid's latest favorite summer "pizza bread."

 

 

golden flaxseed bread

Patience bread. It will rise in it's good old time.

Free of the usual recent distractions of the thrift store or library, this snowy weekend seemed like a good time to return to playing with yeast bread.  What could be better with the sweet potato soup I had planned? I started the dough Saturday afternoon and set it aside in the warm oven for a couple of hours, but the dough didn't rise.

Rather than panic, I made some quick biscuits for dinner and decided to let time work on the dough and just see what happened. Left covered overnight in our 68 degree boiler room, and --  in its own time --  it did in fact decide to rise about 10-12 hours later, doubling in size to a beautiful mass of wet dough by Sunday evening.  'All things in their own time' is certainly one of the lessons of bread making.

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Golden Flaxseed bread*

2 cups warm water

1 packet instant yeast (2 +1/2 tsp.)

2 tsp. sugar

 -- whisk together all three, and let stand for 30 min. to proof the yeast.

4 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached white)

4 tsp. vital wheat gluten

1 tsp. salt

4 Tbl. milled flax seed (I used Hodgson Mill brand)

3 Tbl. nonfat dry milk

Add water/yeast mixture to stand mixer over dry ingredients and blend thoroughly with dough hook until dough pulls away from the wall, forming a mass around the bread hook. Knead for about 10 minutes. Place in oiled bowl and cover to rise 2-12 hours. (see notes on rising time above.)

When doubled in volume turn out dough on floured surface and fold over and form into a free-form loaf. Transfer to baking sheet covered in parchment. Score the top (I used a cross-hatching pattern.) Cover with towel and let stand 1/2 hour until it relaxes and rises slightly.

Bake in preheated oven at 400, for 30-35 minutes, or until tapping on the top of the loaf yields a hollow sound.

This bread has a bold, developed flavor (likely due to the long rise), fleck-y coloring from the milled flax seed hulls, and a hearty, dense [but not overly so] crumb texture.  It turned out far better than I believed it would after the first two hours of rising.  Being my first foray into adding vital wheat gluten -- an ingredient I understand aids rising and adds protein and fiber --  I don't know if that makes a contribution to its flavor but it was a wonderful bread for thick slices if you can wait a couple of  days after starting the dough.

* modified from the Hodgson Mill box, their recipe is here.

baking powder biscuits

Sometimes you don't need to look any further than Martha Stewart for the inspiration.

These baking powder biscuits were part of a feature I tore from an older issue (2002) that featured so many delicious varieties. The article also suggested several great ad-ins like crumbled bacon and onion, cheddar and dill, or any combination of chopped fresh herbs. I added poppy seeds. That's really all they needed along with a bowl of homemade vegetable soup and a spinach salad.  Satisfiying enough for an early autumn weekend dinner.

I tried making them moose-shaped, like Ella's lovely photo, but this dough was far too sticky so I defaulted to the mini biscuit circle prefered by my kids.

crusty rosemary bread

This bread began as a shortcut to the dutch oven bread concept. 

So many days I find myself thinking a nice fresh bread would round out our dinner table. You know, satisfy the kids' appetite in a way unlike greens and proteins. Trouble is I usually think that the very day I want it served. Advance preparation for that 12-16 hour slow-rise method isn't always realistic in my meal planning.

Since the pre-heated enclosure in the dutch oven approach is responsible for creating the desired crust and crumb, it seemed logical that using that technique with any recipe might yield a similar (maybe passable?) artisian effect. 

The first test was with a basic 'first loaf' recipe from Clayton's Complete Book of Breads, using a combination of whole wheat and unbleached bread flour. Crunchy crust and caramel color were pretty good. As I often find with my whole wheats the dough was a little dry, but the bread was good, if dense.

Next, I modified the same recipe (quite enough to comfortably share it here as a unique treatment) with an even better result than I could hope for. My kids' favorite home-baked bread to date, it combines the sweetness of cornmeal with the piney fragrance of fresh rosemary. 

 

I need not have scored the top, as the dough expanded too much to recognize the markings, however it trapped some of the cornmeal inside the bread while baking which contributed to its rich color and texture.

  

If ever I can break my pattern of always baking something new, I'll serve this one again. Please let me know if you try this and if you develop any helpful advice or variations.

Crusty rosemary bread

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
• 3 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbl. fresh chopped rosemary (if using dry use half the amount)
• 4 cups bread flour (I used King Arthur brand) + extra for kneading
• cornmeal for crusting

Whisk together water and yeast; let stand about 10 min. Add to a stand mixer bowl with all other ingredients and pulse slowly with a bread hook until all are well combined and the dough begins to pull away from the bowl forming a mass around the hook. The dough should be rather moist. Knead by hand on a well-floured board until smooth, but still tender beneath the floured exterior. Cover in an oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours until rising substantially; doubled in size.

Turn out dough onto a surface dusted with cornmeal. Gently fold over while dredging. Place dough on a clean towel also dusted in cornmeal to prevent sticking. Fold towel over the top and let rise for an hour. Pre-heat oven to 425; pre-heat the dutch oven casserole dish as well. I didn't pre-heat the lid, for ease of the next step. Unwrap and  turn dough out into the pre-heated dutch oven. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove cover and bake 10 more minutes to brown the crust.

when the dough doesn't rise

 

What do you do?

I decided to roll it into long breadsticks, brush with butter, sprinkle with garlic powder and bake it anyway.  425 degrees; 15 minutes. 

 

It must have been some bad yeast, because everything else was fairly precise.  This was just an ordinary white loaf recipe that I had adapted to half whole wheat.

The kids never guessed it was a remedied situation. 

So you can get a sense of scale here ...

   

It's like he's passing the peace pipe or something.

dutch-oven bread :: bread no. 8

 

easy no knead crusty bread :: from Mother Earth News

No fuss rustic artisan bread. You've heard the rumors and today I support every one. 

This recipe closely resembles others that I've shared in earlier posts in its simplicity of ingredients, long rise time, and "leave it alone" philosophy.  The single distinctive technique: baking in an enclosed oven-proof dish.  It makes ALL the difference.

I do not own a dutch oven, and apparently any covered oven-proof dishes I once had have lost their lids. That was not going to stop me.  With a little kitchen ingenuity, I sized together a spring-form cheesecake pan (pre-heated at 475  as called for ) with a stainless steel bowl turned upside down as a cover. 

Even without a tight seal, this did the essential trick -- capturing moisture inside during baking -- with remarkably crunchy crusts and moist, tender wholly centers resulting.

The kids asked why I hadn't baked two loaves.

friday is rye day :: bread no. 7

Most of the sources I've looked at make rye sound so complicated: "the key to a good rye," says one "is to use several fermented pieces reserved from an earlier loaf.  Store bought will do."  What?  If I wanted to purchase a loaf of rye bread I wouldn't be baking my own.  At some point there must be a starter. 

I'm inventive in my day to day cooking, so why not try a little experimentation in the baking area as well? How hard could it be? Right? I set aside the recipes and set out on my own.

What follows is an adaption garnered from some basic recipe ingredients, incorporating the long rise method of the Bittman NYT 'no knead' article, (right sidebar) which mirrors the principals of the heretofore mentioned, Andrew Whitley.

seeded rye

step 1:  make the starter:

1 cup rye flour

1 cup water

1 tsp. yeast

1 small onion (finely diced and sauteed or microwaved util soft)

Mix all. Let stand at room temperature, overnight or 12-18 hours.

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step 2: Add to the starter:

1 cup water

2 tsp. salt

3 Tbl. olive oil

3 Tbl. molasses

1/4 cup caraway seeds

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 + 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour

1 + 1/2 cups rye flour

In stand mixer whisk all ingredients but the last 1/2 cup of flour.  Change wire whisk to bread hook attachment and continue adding the final half cup until incorporated.  The dough will be very wet and will not wrap itself around the bread hook as it does with other breads.

scrape out dough into greased bowl and cover with plastic.  Let stand 2 hours - overnight (or longer, or refrigerated overnight if desired).   

Bring dough back up to room temp.  Cut in half for two loaves.  Turn out onto floured surface, coating each in flour all around.

  

[bake one today; refrigerate one for tomorrow.]

Quickly form into ball and place on a lined baking sheet. Let rise 1-2 hours.  Timing is really flexible on all of this, as I followed the "practice patience" advice of the NYT article.

Pre-heat oven to 400.  Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temp to 350 for remaining 15-20 minutes, or until tapping on the loaf makes the desired "hollow sound."

Let bread cool, then slice and deliver to your handsome, hardworking husband in his home office.

 

It turned out not half bad, and I'll be sure to freeze a couple of crusts of this loaf for the fermented 'starter' for the next. 

Cheers!

bread no. 6 (another variation on 3+4)

 

I know, I know ... I'm supposed to be "trying something new" this week for the give-away theme,  and even though I am removing myself from the running for the prize, I do plan to play along thematically baking 'something new' tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the kids still need to eat, and this recipe is so wonderfully simple that I quite literally don't look at the recipe anymore.  This time, I changed it up with half rye flour instead of all the wheat and baked in one large pan instead of two.  It was lacking that hearty rye flavor so I'm going to look for a traditional seeded  rye recipe next time.

I find it interesting that, when I began thinking about baking each week I never conciously thought that we would eliminate all of the store-bought breads right away.  My family can consume big quantities, so I thought initially that we would be supplementing our meals this way.  A happy consequence of baking has been an easy shift -- I haven't bought bread in the store in weeks.  None.  

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Several 'one good loaf' bakers who are sharing recipes and posts on their blogs have been added to the sidebar list to the right.  Please send me a comment if I have, by chance, missed yours.

The 'something new' submissions in the group pool this week are so deliciously inspiring. 

There is still time to enter a photo for the book give-away challenge; which closes Sunday afternoon, at 4pm (EST.)

bread no. 5 :: classic banana nut

 

A junior baker makes the classic favorite, but no walnuts for us; it's pecans all the way.  Nine year old Helen measured and mixed and blended and spooned her way through The Joy of Cooking's Banana Bread.  All mom did was sit by to answer a question or two, and to chop the nuts with the big knife.  I also removed it from the oven because she was nervous to get to near.

 

She was pretty pleased with herself upon tasting, having learned a good lesson: baking is, most certainly, its own reward.

breads no. 3 & 4 :: variations on one recipe

After watching the video lecture by Andrew Whitley, and reading his blog post, and reading a couple more articles here and there, and what Deb, from Smitten Kitchen wrote ...something just clicked with me. I believed in the notion of a long rising time and the slow fermentation to develop a richly flavorful bread.  I also believed that I could accomplish this; that, in fact -- it is simple. 

With Mr. Whitley's metric recipe in hand, I promptly began converting the measurements and have been playing with it since.

In short, what I found in this recipe is pretty much what I was seeking at the outset:  with very few, natural ingredients and using healthy olive oil as the element of fat, I could create a hearty strong bread with flexible/forgiving timing.  You do not have to stand around for 3 hours to be near the oven at the correct time.  In fact, if you use a stand mixer with bread hook attachment, this is literally a one-bowl operation from sponge to kneading.  Super simple!

Something else that I appreciate about the process is that it requires a fraction of the yeast of nearly every other recipe I've read.  That is just plain good economics.  Those little yeast packets are expensive. Imagine yielding 4 recipes from one pack rather than one! 

Now the question I'm left with is this: what to do with those canisters of milk powder and shortening I have on hand?

Though this is a two step process, it is VERY simple.  You just mix it, then go about whatever your business might be. Time does the work developing the "fermentation" of the sponge.  The next step comes together easily with so few ingredients, and the reward of the full-bodied flavor is very gratifying.

Converted to US measurements and adapted from Andrew Whitley's recipe on Word of Mouth.

The basic recipe

step 1. overnight sponge

1 tsp fresh or 1/2 tsp. dry yeast

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup water

Set aside and let stand at room temperature 12-16 hours.  The bubbly mass should triple in size.

 

note: The second time I made the sponge I ran out of time in the day to bake.  I simply covered and refrigerated the sponge (cold slows/halts the yeast reaction).  Bring 'starter' back up to room temp. for an hour or so before proceeding to step two. This very long developing time caused no noticeable problems with the bread. 

step 2.  the final dough

to the overnight sponge add:

2  1/4  to  2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup warm water

3 Tbl. olive oil

1 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients into a soft, wet dough.  Knead without adding extra flour until it is silky and slightly stretchy.  (I did all kneading with my stand mixer and bread hook, but you need not - hands will work fine.)  Cover and let rise 1 hour. (I let it rise slightly more time in both trials with no adverse reactions.) Divide in two equal portions (for mini loaves) dredge in whole wheat flour to coat and hand shape into greased tins.  Allow to stand 15-30 min. until dough crowns a bit.  Bake at 400 degrees for first 10 minutes, then reduce temp. to 350 for remaining 15 minutes.  Tap top of loaves, listening for that "hollow" sound to check that it is done.

yield: two small loaves (mini tins). You could certainly try 1 large loaf and watch/adjust baking time.

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Variation no. 1

I used 100% whole wheat flour just as the recipe called for, but I added to the recipe 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, and 1/2 cup of flax seeds.  I love the contrast of crunchy nutty seeds mixed with soft, stretchy bread.  Hand forming into a boule gave me the 'restaurant quality' that I wanted, but the dough spread more in width than height.  I was so happy with the end result it felt like a tiny party in my kitchen.

 

 

variation no. 2

This time I substituted unbleached bread flour for 1/2 of the total flour content.  In other words, in addition to the sponge, I added 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup bread flour.  (I used unbleached King Arthur Flour which apparently contains an amount of barley according to the package.)  Also added 1/2 cup oat bran.  Hand formed small loaves to fit my small bread tins. It rose wonderfully.  This may have been my kid's favorite bread to date.

 

 

It's a wonder I got any photos of this loaf at all.

Let me know if you give it a try.  For me ... this is a keeper.

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Note:  Watch for our first group challenge/giveway on Friday this week.