Fresh bread, BC grown
April 27th, 2009 by Admin
Check it out, it’s homegrown:
Our friend and Urban Grains collaborator Chris generously gave us a few kilos of his fresh, stoneground flour a week or so ago and yesterday the miracles of fermentation helped me to transform it into my first local loaf. It was one of my more successful bread-making attempts. Although I consider myself a competent baker, I am not as confident in my bread-making skills. Puff pastry from scratch – that I can do, but the perfect rise still seems to elude me. So I keep trying. I even bought a bread-focused cookbook this weekend and have been educating myself about the science behind the loaf. After chatting a while with folks at Barbara Jo’s Books to Cooks, I picked up a copy of Bread Matters: why and how to make your own (by Andrew Whitley). It has recipes, of course, but also offers discussion of the history and politics of bread making. Though the author is British (and often refers to “British bread”) the issues are valid here as well.
Does anyone have a bread book to recommend? Leave it in the comments!
Nom, nom, nom!
We sliced it hot and slathered it with butter – the only respectable thing to do with a fresh loaf. After such a fresh and flavourful treat, we are certainly looking forward to more of this. To local grains!
- 14 Comments »
- Posted in Grains + Flour
April 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Okay, not a book, but my go-to recipe for homemade bread. I’ve been a SAHM for about 10 months now, and have been making bread weekly for about 7 of those months.
Take:
2 c your favorite flour
1 t salt
1 T sugar (I sometimes use honey)
2 1/2 t quick rise yeast
BLEND.
Then add:
2 T melted butter (like, liquid)
1 c of the hottest tap water you can muster
1 more c of your favorite flour.
Knead. Or, in my case, let KitchenAid do its thing for a few minutes, until all little bits are picked up and the mass is one big ball.
Turn out into oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise about an hour.
Then punch down and form into a loaf and put in your loaf pan, and reuse plastic wrap and cover again, and let rise another hour ish. Remove plastic wrap, fire in preheated oven.
I use a glass loaf pan, so I bake at a slightly lower temperature and a slightly shorter time that others might. Bake at about 425 for 10 minutes, then reduce to 325-350 ish for 20 more minutes.
remove from oven and consume! The loaf is “done” if it sounds hollow on the bottom when tapped. You can also add stuff like ground flax seed or wheat germ or oat bran as your heart desires. I also once added 1 c raisins and a T of cinnamon and it was delish.
April 27th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Oops! yeast should be 2 1/4 t, not 2 1/2 t. Sorry!
April 28th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Awesome, Jen! Thanks for the recipe! I would love to gather a bunch from our members and compile them into a post, or package.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Your bread looks delicious Ayla! I had been feeling the same way, like a very competent cook but not very lucky with bread making. I made a resolution to learn this year and it’s been going really well. Bread is just such an awesome thing to make – it’s so simple, so few ingredients, and so amazingly tasty right out of the oven. And endless possibilities for creativity. I’ve been loving a few of the recipes from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I’m reluctant to say one of her books is my favourite, but for bread she’s got it going on. Her foccacia is amazing. I’ve posted some bread-making stories and a few of her recipes on our food blog: http://wedine.blogspot.com/2009/03/bread-update-two-unqualified-successes.html.
The multigrain rolls are really great.
I really want to gather a bunch of good whole wheat bread recipes in preparation for when the CSA flour arrives though, so I love your idea to put together a collection of some kind!
May 1st, 2009 at 11:12 am
We could put together a baking recipe booklet and sell it as a fundraiser. I’d volunteer to help compile it!
May 1st, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Dan Lepard and his book is the way to go:
http://www.danlepard.com
Check the forums, amazing details: http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=641
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:26 am
Once I find a suitable container (pyrex, 30 litre), I am going to try to make bread from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.
The book is available at your library, and the website is here:
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/
It’s a good read, and one of the authors is a professional baker. And who doesn’t want fresh bread every day…
David
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:11 am
I’ve been wishing I had a suitable container for that as well…
May 3rd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I love “Beard on Bread” (OoP, I think, but floating around thrift stores and on ABE), and have been making the Sullivan Street Bakery’s No-Knead Bread for over a year (since Mark Bittman wrote about it in the NYT), and have succesfully adapted it for sourdough. The King Arthur Flour website has tons of info and recipes, too.
May 4th, 2009 at 9:46 am
My absolute favourite bread book and my choice for the one I would choose if i was only allowed one is: The Village Baker, by Joe Ortiz. It is all about learning the three basic methods: yeast, spoonge, and sour dough, giving regional variations from France, Germany and Italy. Once you get the methods, you don’t need any recipe because you can work things out yourself.
Enjoy!
May 8th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Re: a large container.
I checked the Gourmet Warehouse, Canadian Tire, Costco, even Home Depot.
I spent hours Googling, tweaking search terms. I also checked out the Pyrex website.
I ended up going with an acrylic container from King Arthur Flour. It was the best I could do.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Just stumbled on your beautiful bread pictures while waiting for my own dough to rise, which it unfortunately isn’t really doing. Sigh. Anyone have any idea why my favourite recipe for No-Knead Bread (i.e. only rises once) won’t seem to work in BC? It’s my Grand Father’s recipe from South Africa, but it always worked in Ontario and Quebec… somehow it just won’t work here despite repeated attempts (with new yeast, flour, etc.)
Clues?
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:55 am
Jen’s recipe sounds great…next loaf is this one. But:
2 c your favorite flour
1 t salt
1 T sugar (I sometimes use honey)
2 1/2 t quick rise yeast
BLEND.
Then add:
2 T melted butter (like, liquid)[I use 1/3 cup]
1 c of the hottest tap water you can muster
[and I add 2 tbsp of lemon juice, la secret ingredient]
1 more c of your favorite flour.
Another tip for those who don’t have a food processor with a dough hook is in the kneading: don’t go hard. Take your time, be firm but gentle. Somehow works better.
Lastly, on the crust issue, refer to Martin Bittman’s no knead recipe. Heat a baking container with a lid to over temp before unloading your raised loaf. Pop in your loaf, cover (remember your oven mitts) and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover for the last 10 or 15 minutes. Pro bakers use steam in the oven for the same effect.
Bread on!
April 28th, 2010 at 11:33 am
The Bread Baker’s Apprentice- by Peter Reinhardt. Excellent photos and details on the science of breadmaking. Detailed directions to make slow rise artisan breads!