Onion-Herb Bread

I'm really getting this bread baking thing down! With this one recipe, at least. haha.
Thanks again to Mary Gubser, author of "Mary's Bread Basket and Soup Kettle" circa 1970 something. Helpful tips, easy to read recipes, confidence building all around!

One tip she stresses is that no bread recipe can possible call for the exact amount of flour you'll need. All flours absorb different amounts of liquid, so you'll just have to get a 'feel' for how dough is supposed to stretch, etc and when you're done adding flour. I added about a cup less than she recommended, and i'm pretty sure it was behaving properly.

Two things i did differently that helped my success:

• I have a new meat thermometer that is, gasp ACCURATE. Plus it comes with a handy booklet that recommended adding water a temp of 100 or so degrees to activate the yeast. This is much 'warmer' than the warm water i've been adding to my previous bread attempts.
• I canned some chicken stock in the morning, and used the empty (save the inch of warm water) but still warm and humid pressure canner to do my incubating. That was some happy, rising dough!

Onion and Herb Bread, Adapted from Mary Gubser

• 1 package active dry yeast (I believe that's 2 1/2 T)
• 1 1/4 Cup warm water - I used half whey/ half water
• 1 tsp powdered chicken stock - I used no sodium stock
• 1/4 Cup hot water - i used all whey (note: i think whey acts different than water, producing a denser bread perhaps? Next time, i will use all water and see if it makes a flavor/texture change)
• 1 1/2 T sugar
• 1/4 Cup oil
• Several T fresh, chopped herbs. I used rosemary, oregano, dried basil, sage
• 1 multiplying onion with greens, chopped. Could use chives or scallions.
• 1/4 t salt
• 4-5 Cups flour - I used about 3.5 cups, a mixture of all purpose and bread flour

Combine yeast with warm water and dissolve. In small bowl, blend powdered chicken stock and hot water. Add the sugar, dissolved stock, and oil to the yeast. Beat in 1.5 cups flour until smooth. Stir in herbs and onions and gradually add in enough flour to make a workable dough. Turn out onto floured surface and knead about 10 minutes until smooth and satiny. Round into a ball and place in a warm, greased bowl. Cover loosely in plastic wrap and a towel and set in a warm, protected spot to double - about 1 hour.
Punch down, knead on floured surface about 3 minutes, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Shape into a greased loaf pan and let rise to the tops of the pan, about 40 minutes. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes until over 190 degrees inside.

Makes a great egg salad sandwich!

Bread Attempt #3: WOO HOO! Total Bread Success!!!

I've finally done it! I've succeeded at baking a loaf of light and fluffy bread. Granted, it's not as salty or flavorful as it could be as i didn't have the sodium packed chicken boullion the recipe called for, but it's pretty darn tasty, just the right texture and is going to make some amazing egg salad sandwiches!

I picked up this book at a local book store about a year ago. I've tabbed a lot of soup and bread recipes i've wanted to try, but my repeated bread failure made me hesitant to try my hand at any of her yummy sounding recipes. These recipes are not fancy. They're not new fangled. They're just good, basic and interesting sounding breads and soups. After my success today, i'm willing to say this was one of the best $1s i've ever spent. Way to go, books from 1974! While working on the bread i thumbed to the beginning of the book where i hoped there would be, and was happy to find, a section on how to knead, what to expect during rising, and other basic tips (like put the rising dough in a WARM greased bowl and where to and where not to put it to be cozy and rising.)

Everything went like clock work, i learned how to knead, and i used up some of the whey from my failed attempt at mozz the other day to make a delightful loaf of bread, plus a bonus loaflet ( i halved her recipe .)

Woah! Totally doubled! Finally!

 I like not failing. I enjoy succeeding. I WILL i WILL i WILL be able to be a proper homemaker and make loaves of bread for pennies a loaf (without any weird preservatives!).

Ciabatta Attempt= Quasi Success

Well, it tasted good, but was NOT the light and fluffy texture ciabatta ought to be. Why? Cuz bread just don't rise in this here house! (said in a hillbilly type moonshiner's accent).
My husband has been clamouring for his 'favorite summer meal' since we've had all these tomatoes draped everywhere in the kitchen: tomato and mozzerella sandwich on ciabatta. We went to the store to buy the mozz and the bread and i thought to myself "9.50$ for a little ball of mozz! I can do that for way less." Normally i'd be right. In this case i was wrong. I got the milk too hot before i added the rennet and the curds just wouldn't congeal. I added more rennet and finally got some curds, but added them to too hot of water for the stretching part and ended up with completely dissolved and disappeared cheese that i salvaged some semblance of curd from that was at least salty and tasted LIKE mozz. Sigh. Plus my bread didn't rise and we ended up with some seriously filling and dense bread that tasted like ciabatta on the outside at least.
I will master this skill if it kills me! Today i'll be utilizing the yummy whey to make some herb bread (i will succeed, i will i will i WILL succeed at baking!), use it in my cranberry nut bread for the holidays, and maybe add it to the chilly i'm making today to tenderize the beans. Not sure if that works or not. Ha. Maybe it's time to make some mayo as well....

Anyway, may not have risen or congealed, but the flavors were still good and these sammies were a filling and great combination with the season finale of Dexter. What an episode!

 

Not light, fluffy, or full of air holes. At least the crust is perfecto.

 

 Is there a technique in the kitchen or any other homesteading skills you just can't get the knack of?

Attempt at Bread #2 = SUCCESS!

Last night i started out this bread, and i did it right! I awoke to this in the fridge, and continued following my friend's recipe, with minimal mistakes. Here's how i did:
I did the sponge correctly this time, and woke up with it looking like this:

It's supposed to look like this! Yay!

OMG, this mixer is so awesome. How did i live without one?

The mixer really made mixing up the dough easy and efficient.

 On second thought, I either need to find a manual for this, or get some instruction....... i don't think the dough is supposed to climb up and clog the beaters....

I had to wash my hands to take this photo: this dough was SUPER sticky and globbed all over myself while kneading, even when i added flour. I finally got it to a decent consistency. Not sure if this is normal or if i had my water to flour ratio a bit off.

 Has it risen? Hard to say.... oh, and i remember my friend said to cover with plastic wrap, i've been using a towel.... am i in for failure once again?

A nearly indecipherable difference, it had in fact risen.

I have hope! It stretches and acts much more 'alive' than my previous attempt, and has definitely risen at least SOME.

On with some saran wrap AND a towel and back into the cozy warm lit oven for another hour.

Woo hoo! Not only did it rise, it actually rose to 'poofing above the pan' as it was supposed to! Maybe not as much as it COULD have risen, but i'm pleased.

And how does it look 45 minutes at 350 degrees later?

Up to temperature! Gorgeous! Delicious!
My first successful loaf of bread! A new world has opened up to me. Now i'll start experimenting with adding things to this loaf ( i added some sunflower seeds this go round ) and then start looking for a new recipe using this same 'starter sponge' technique. I like the technique and the proofing in the fridge, but i'd like a more interesting loaf. Maybe oatmeal? More grains? Veggies added?  Feel free to email me your favorite recipes. But please include 'how to' tips, as i'm by no means a pro!

Bread = Fail

I'm not sure what it is about me, my house, and bread making - but i'm just no good at it! I rock muffins, quick breads, pancakes, you name it - but yeasty leavened bread just dosn't work for me. I can never get the stuff to rise at ALL much less double, and the resultant bread is always tasty, but dense and overly nutritious.

My friend Heather was recently nice enough to send me a well photographed 'how to' to baking a simple sandwich bread from The Bread Bible. Simple.
Fail.

I followed all the steps, but messed up the first one pretty majorly, don't have a mixer, and don't know how to knead. This was what went into the oven: an unrisen lump of dough:

blurry photos are lame.

I guess it's a good thing that i'm no good at baking bread, cuz homemade bread is really delicious and i end up eating gobs of it at 11:30 pm slathered in honey, peanut butter, cheese, or hot sauce - none of these are good for the waistline when you spend your days sitting at a drafting table, drawing cute things.  It would be nice to save money on bread though - so feel free to send me your fool proof multigrain bread recipes. For now, i'll stick to my recently made muffins and try some cool variations. I have some cranberries in the freezer and the jalapeno plants are falling over with fruit. Jalapeno muffins anyone?