Saturday, May 20, 2006
This is the kind of bread that my mother and grandmothers made when they made "homemade bread." Simple, basic, white bread. The kind you don't eat any more because it's not a complex carbohydrate and it doesn't have enough fiber to satisfy the dietary police. Still, it's awfully good, especially when it's cooled just enough to slice and spread a little butter on it.
I made open-faced sandwiches for dinner: toast the bread, spread with tapenade and sliced smoked mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is starting to turn brown and bubbly, and top with roasted red pepper strips. It's a nice marriage of old-fashioned bread like Mom made and three foods she had never heard of when she baked her bread.
5 comments:
BBC,
I think I love the way you eat.
ECL
I would love the recipe! Where is it? :-)
Melissa,
I'll be glad to send you a condensed version of the recipe--just let me know if you'd like it. But it's worth the initial outlay to buy the book because that's the only way you can get the step-by-step instructions, plus the advice on why things work (or don't work).
can you send me this recipe?
mel
Mel,
Sorry it's taken me a while--I'll condense the recipe.
Dough Starter:
2 1/4 c. plus 2 1/2 T. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 3/4 c. water, at room temp
2 T. plus 1 T honey
3/4 t. instant yeast.
Combine flour, water, honey and instant yeast. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.
Flour mixture and dough:
2 c. plus 3 T. all-purpose unbleached flour
1/4 c. dry nilk
3/4 t. instant yeast
9 T. butter, softened
2 1/4 t. salt
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, dry milk, and instant yeast. Sprinkle this on top of the sponge and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow it to ferment for 1 to 4 hours at room temp.
2. Add the butter to a mixing bowl and mix with dough hook on low speed about one minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rest about 20 min.
3. Sprinkle on salt and knead on medium speed for 7-10 minutes.
4. Scrape dough into 4-quart dough-rising container or bowl, lightly oiled. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
5. Scrape dough onto floured counter, press down to form a rectangle. Fold the dough twice, using business letter turns, and set it back in container, again letting it rise until doube.
6. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and cut in half. Shape into loaf. Put each loaf into an oiled loaf pan. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise until center is above the top of the pan, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 350.
8. Bake for 50 minutes, or until medium golden brown.
9. Remove bread from oven and set on rack. If desired, brush top of bread with melted butter. Unmold and cool.
Post a Comment