Good Bread

Asleep in my arms- a rare occurrence these days.

Clay's Multi-Grain Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Sister Loaves

 My Mom makes really good bread. So good in fact, that all her daughters make it too. It's hard to forget something this wonderful.

Emy's

Libby's

(photo by Mark)

 Mine. Come on, they were my first ones!

Recipe for Mom's Whole Hard White Winter Wheat Bread
5 c hot water
2 T lemon juice
1 c honey (I use 1/2-3/4c)
2 1/2 T yeast
2 T dough enhancer (optional)
1/4 c Canola Oil (olive is good too!)
1 T salt
14-15 c fresh whole hard white winter wheat** (dont bother with the more common red winter)

Grind wheat*. Combine all but flour in a mixer with dough hook*. Blend well. Add flour in three parts, mixing well after each addition. Mix until dough cleans itself off the sides of the bowl (adjust flour). Let mixer run 6-7 minutes (I always need more like 10-12). Let rise in covered bowl for 20-30 minutes, or about doubled- it will be a LOT of dough). Punch down and shape into 5 loaves. Last rise in loaf pans in a warm place. Bakes at 325 for 25-30 minutes. "cool" or wait as long as you can before you devour a hot loaf.

grinding wheat and hands

*Note: we all use L'Equip's Nutrimill to grind the wheat and Bosch Mixers to handle the dough. My mom had her Bosch for her whole marriage and she used that thing well. We also have an uncle who distributes both these products..so.
**Wheat: the best and by far cheapest place to get white winter wheat is through the LDS Church Bishop's Storehouse/Distribution services.

Sweets. 

Hat by James' Grandmother

One million grain bread

That's right, one million. 

I am currently cleaning out the kitchen for a move, which means random food for a week. I needed to use my extra 10 grain cereal and found this recipe.  The bread really cant develop gluten because the grains tend to prevent those bonds. So instead I just feebly folded it for a couple minutes (its like glue!) and threw my expectations to the wind. I also didnt want to wait for the oven to preheat so I threw it in my le creuset and into the oven before it was preheated. The crust was not thick and crunchy like other breads I make, but it was great for the bread. The lack of gluten made for a really crumbly soft bread that wouldn't have held up  a thick crust. It was great and stayed soft for days. A very satisfying, rich tasting bread.

Notes:

-I tried it again a couple days of later and didn't use the starter it calls for (again cleaning out that kitchen!!), instead subbing it for 1/3 tsp yeast dissolved in water. It tasted very similar because I let it sit for about 16 hours for the 1st rise. I am converted to the long rise, the flavor of the bread really does seems to develop better. 

-I used a lot more flour than it called for. granted I live next to the ocean and my books warp from the humidity. I also added only whole wheat flour. 

-Tried baking it once on stone, once in le creuset. liked the le creuset better. 

comfort food

Bread may be my favorite food in the world. 

I am working on no-knead recipes from breadtopia.com. I don't have all the tools he uses so I looked up the original no-knead recipe featured by Mark Bittman on his NYtimes blog. The baker, Jim Lahey, makes his in a Le Creuset instead of a Le Cloche. So much french bakeware. Any heavy covered stone/ceramic/dutch oven etc etc will do. 

Mine turned out like this:

Its called no-knead because you combine the ingredients and let it sit overnight or so. The time apparently makes up for the kneading and allows for a very wet dough- which makes the big holes inside. I used a wild sourdough starter that I made using the recipe found on breatopia.com. But im not sure it made a huge difference.

I really like the loaf with some flavor additions- garlic and rosemary was REAL good. It lasted 1.5 days between the two of us. 

What I'm trying right now.

Breads. Whole wheat variations. I have yet to perfect/find the perfect recipe that works for me. On my counter right now is Spelt bread from Breadtopia. Thanks for passing along the site mom, I have spent a lot of time looking at breads there. 

Im collecting Bread recipes and techniques. Does anyone have an opinion on sourdough starters vs yeast, no-knead varieties vs lots of knead, or bread making supplies? I plan on getting some personal lessons in the next few weeks and I will post the results!