Adventures with bread
Jan. 9th, 2019 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carbonelI'm not sure why I've been on a minor bread-making kick, but I have. A few weeks ago, I fired up my bread machine, after several years of hiatus, using a recipe I found online. The innards of the bread was fine, but the crust was dry and boring -- kind of like Wonder Bread at quadruple thickness. Also, the bread machine makes a cube-shaped loaf that's not optimal.
Just before New Year's, I had visions of making a batch of Tassajara bread, because that recipe makes four loaves, and I had three events, which would leave one loaf for my own use. However, I had to work on December 31, and I ran out of time. (It has a proofing step and a couple of rising steps, so it's a major production in time, if not actually in work.)
At the New Year's Day potluck gathering at the Minnesota Weavers Guild (Roc Day or St. Distaff's Day, though those technically take place a week later), someone brought a delicious chewy loaf of bread. I asked for the recipe, and she sent it to me.
Unfortunately for my uses, it turned out to be a sourdough recipe. I've never tried doing a sourdough starter because I don't eat enough bread to make it worthwhile (and I shouldn't, either). But the recipe was also a no-knead recipe. I've seen those, but never tried one. I was curious, so I went a-googling, and found this recipe, which looked so simple it was almost embarrassing. Three ingredients, water, and an overnight proof/rise, then bake in an oven-proof container.
I still managed to screw it up a bit: the recipe calls for "whisking" the water into the dry ingredients. My whisk quickly got clogged up with gluey dough. So I added another quarter-cup or so of water to thin it enough to deal with. Turns out (once I rewatched the video) that I should have used a rubber scraper rather than a whisk. So my dough was wetter than it should have been -- but the bread still turned out well. I'm guessing that this is a very forgiving recipe.
I could have baked it another few minutes for a more golden-brown crust.
But it's actually bread. Tasty bread, even.
And it toasts up really well.
This recipe is definitely a keeper. And next time, I'll do it with the correct amount of water. But if anyone has other simple bread recipes, I'd be interested in seeing them.
Just before New Year's, I had visions of making a batch of Tassajara bread, because that recipe makes four loaves, and I had three events, which would leave one loaf for my own use. However, I had to work on December 31, and I ran out of time. (It has a proofing step and a couple of rising steps, so it's a major production in time, if not actually in work.)
At the New Year's Day potluck gathering at the Minnesota Weavers Guild (Roc Day or St. Distaff's Day, though those technically take place a week later), someone brought a delicious chewy loaf of bread. I asked for the recipe, and she sent it to me.
Unfortunately for my uses, it turned out to be a sourdough recipe. I've never tried doing a sourdough starter because I don't eat enough bread to make it worthwhile (and I shouldn't, either). But the recipe was also a no-knead recipe. I've seen those, but never tried one. I was curious, so I went a-googling, and found this recipe, which looked so simple it was almost embarrassing. Three ingredients, water, and an overnight proof/rise, then bake in an oven-proof container.
I still managed to screw it up a bit: the recipe calls for "whisking" the water into the dry ingredients. My whisk quickly got clogged up with gluey dough. So I added another quarter-cup or so of water to thin it enough to deal with. Turns out (once I rewatched the video) that I should have used a rubber scraper rather than a whisk. So my dough was wetter than it should have been -- but the bread still turned out well. I'm guessing that this is a very forgiving recipe.
I could have baked it another few minutes for a more golden-brown crust.
But it's actually bread. Tasty bread, even.
And it toasts up really well.
This recipe is definitely a keeper. And next time, I'll do it with the correct amount of water. But if anyone has other simple bread recipes, I'd be interested in seeing them.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-10 02:06 pm (UTC)(If you meant to put pictures in, though, they're not coming through for me...)
no subject
Date: 2019-01-11 08:18 am (UTC)A former housemate liked the Bittman no-knead bread recipe, which I suspect is very similar. I found a brief discussion, with many links.
The only bread I've made is a whole-wheat recipe from a 1970s cookbook that we had. Not as simple a recipe, and it required some kneading.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-15 02:28 am (UTC)Most of the bread I make is potato and it's great, but take most of the day and lots of kneading is required. Of course it makes three full size loaves that I use over a few weeks so it's not a bad trade off. Still it would be nice to fresh breat with out quite so much work.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-15 04:48 am (UTC)I just mixed up another batch of dough for a second try. This time I used the prescribed amount of water, and ended up with the "shaggy" dough that's described in the recipe.
I'll be curious to see how it rises. It should be ready to bake in time for dinner.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-15 05:11 am (UTC)