Just Because Sometimes White Breads are Delicious

I know I have been all about whole grains and seeds, and particularly in breads. But, you know, sometimes there are some old recipes that just taste so terribly good. How could I let them slip away? I really cannot. And so, I am revisiting some oldies that I have been making for at least 20+ years. Not all the time. But just - sometimes. And these two recipes are so marvelous. And so different.

One of the breads is fantastic due to all the added flavors. The other is fantastic for just the opposite reason; no particular flavors added, so it is so great with highly flavored foods. Think spaghetti or lasagna, maybe? 

The first bread is one I started making, with my own changes, since I read it in one of the booklets that came with my very first DAK Bread Machine, way back in the '90s. I loved the result, though I had a hard time ever getting the breads to bake properly inside the bread maker, so instead I would let the kneading happen and then turn out and finish it by hand and bake in the oven. Later on, after reading the ingredients in the packet of onion soup mix, I opted to create my own recipe for a Dry Onion Soup Mix. The bread is so jam-packed with flavor with all the herbs and the dry onion soup that it is wonderful all on its own, but it makes some truly great sandwiches, also.

Herbed Onion Loaf

Herbed Onion Loaf

Makes 2 loaves

Herbed Onion Loaf

¼ cup water
¾ cup cottage cheese
¾ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 envelope dry onion soup mix, or use one recipe of my Dry Onion Soup Mix
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter
3⅓ cups bread flour
1 packet "instant" or "quick-rise" yeast
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons gluten, optional
1 large egg
2 - 3 tablespoons finely minced fresh herbs (such as dillweed, rosemary and/or thyme)

Mix together the water, cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, dry onion soup mix and butter and bring to lukewarm, either in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave. Do not over-heat. Pour this mixture into the bowl of a heavy duty mixer with bread hook. If making by hand, pour into a large bowl.

Separately, whisk together in another bowl the bread flour, yeast, soda and gluten, if using, along with the fresh minced herbs. Pour these dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and begin mixing together slowly. If by hand, you might start with a spoon, then switch to hands to knead. Add in the egg and mix well. Knead by machine for about 8 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead for 10 to 12 minutes. If the dough starts to climb up the dough hook, or if it is very dense and hard when kneading by hand, dribble in a little water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough becomes soft, a bit tacky but not sticky. If the dough is too wet, add in a little flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough comes together, smooth, a bit tacky but not sticky. 

Grease another bowl and gather the dough together into a neat ball and place into the bowl, turning once to grease all sides. Cover with a towel or plastic film and set aside to rise to about doubled in size.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal sized balls. Roll up each ball into a loaf shape and set into two greased loaf pans or roll them out into more elongated loaves and set onto a parchment lined baking sheet, set well apart (or onto two smaller parchment lined sheets). If making dinner rolls, divide each half of the dough into 12 pieces and roll into balls. Set the balls into greased muffin tin wells or, well-spaced, onto parchment lined sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled. 

Have oven preheated to 350 degrees. Bake freestanding loaves for 25 to 30 minutes, loaves in pans may take 5 or more minutes longer, to an internal temperature of about 195 degrees F. Dinner rolls will bake in about 15 minutes.

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The second bread is fantastic due to its lack of added flavors, making the bread itself wonderfully flavorful in all its "bread-ness," but also making it a superb pairing with anything with lots of highly flavored sauce. It is an Italian style bread, and also a soured bread. It is up to your own discretion how long to allow the souring to go on, from one to three days, before working with the bread. Not a true sourdough in the sense of using a starter that is maintained and fed regularly, but a one-time sourdough, nonetheless. Any time bread is left to develop flavors this way, it unlocks things inside the wheat that bring out new and different flavors than would have been there if just made straight through in one day. Just be sure to plan ahead for when the bread will be needed, from one to three days.

Italian Bread

Italian Bread

Italian Bread

Makes 2 loaves

STARTER:
1 cup water
1 cup bread flour
1 packet (2½ teaspoons) "instant" or "quick rise" yeast 

DOUGH:
1 cup water
3½ cups bread flour
1¼ teaspoons instant or quick rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt

cornmeal for sprinkling

MAKE STARTER: Place the 1 cup of water into a large mixing bowl. Stir together the 1 packet instant yeast and the 1 cup bread flour, then add to the water in the bowl and stir well, about 4 or 5 minutes. Cover with plastic film and set aside in a room temperature place for 1 to 3 days. At this point it should have risen, become bubbly and possibly fallen again. It will smell yeasty and possibly with an alcoholic tang to the smell. 

French Bread Pan

MAKE THE DOUGH: Add the extra 1 cup of water to the soured mixture and stir. Separately, stir together the additional 1¼ teaspoon instant yeast and the 3½ cups bread flour with the salt, then stir this into the bowl with the soured mixture until the mixture comes together, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. Coat a large bowl with olive oil, then set the kneaded dough into the bowl, turning once to coat all sides. Cover the bowl and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. 

If you own a French bread pan, spray the pan with cooking spray, then sprinkle well with cornmeal. If you do not own this type of pan, spray a rimmed baking sheet (or two, if small) with cooking spray and coat with cornmeal. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a long loaf and set into the wells of the French bread pan or onto the prepared baking sheet(s), well apart. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, about 1½ or 2 hours.

Have the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Bake the risen loaves for about 30 minutes, or until nicely golden. Cool thoroughly before cutting.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Beer Bread Turns Out Perfect

I  mentioned a few days ago that I have been trying to prepare for the arrival of 4 guys as guests here next week. Making bread and getting it frozen so it's available at a moment's notice is one way to prepare. I saw a recipe for a bread using a whole bottle of beer, and thought, "most guys like beer, so this should be good". My husband is one exception - he hates beer. Even so, I decided to give it a try and see what the flavor was like. At worst, my husband wouldn't eat it. At best, everyone would love it. 

Beer Bread

I took the concept from that same cookbook that has so often steered me wrong in past, but with the amount of experience I have with making bread, I can usually see when there are problems and correct before they go too far wrong. Sometimes, there needs to be more tweaking, such as with the Cinnamon Raisin Bread I made last week. Eventually it comes out right or I give up the recipe concept as a no-go and leave it at that. The Cinnamon Raisin Bread was wonderfully tasty; no problem there. The only real difficulty was how it rose gigantically and spilled sticky cinnamon sugar butter all over the oven. Easily fixed: make 3 loaves instead of 2 from the recipe.

The Sponge: just mixed; after 30 minutes note bubbles

Back to the Beer Bread. Making a sponge to start with is a nice way to avoid having to knead for a full 8 or 10 minutes. The action of the yeast in the sponge takes on a part of the process. I made the sponge, and let it set for 30 minutes, though 45 minutes would also have been fine. You can see here how it is nice and bubbly after that time. The beer is slightly heated before using it in the sponge. I warmed it on the stove, while prepping the other ingredients. It takes seconds to whisk the sponge ingredients together, just until they are combined. Then you let the yeast do the work for you. After the sponge grows, you add the rest of the flour and knead for another 5 minutes or so, until the dough comes together nicely. 

This recipe uses a long, slow chilled rise after the loaves are formed, which really gives the yeast time to work slowly, and may also contribute to the overall tangy flavor of the bread. You will need room in the fridge for this long rise. Or, if you are still having freezing weather like we are - I set the pan, well covered, in my "sun room," which is at about 50 degrees. All this cold weather is good for something, after all. I set the loaves  onto a chair, and tented flour sack towels from over from the back of the chair to cover the bread. I didn't want the towels to stick to the loaves and chance deflating when uncovered. If you begin making the bread in the afternoon, you may allow the bread to do its slow rise overnight. I started the loaves early in the morning, and baked after 6 hours in the chilled sun room and the bread was done at supper time.

French Bread Pan

I have a large French Bread pan I acquired many many years ago, and it is wonderful to use. It keeps the bread nicely rounded and it is long; probably about 15 or more inches. I used the French bread pan to make my Beer Bread, forming the loaves nice and long. I lined the pan with parchment. This was a new idea; something I had never done before with this pan. The pan is perforated so the heat can really get to the crust and make it nice and crisp. Parchment is also porous, so I just gave it a try. I sprayed the parchment with cooking spray before setting the long, formed loaves into the wells. 

After all, the bread came out with a far crispier crust than I have ever managed previously with any loaf. The finished bread did have a slight bitterness at the end, but tastes wonderful. I shared an end with my husband and he liked it very much, despite that slight bitterness. I cannot truly taste beer, but it is evident that there is something very different in the flavor from other French Bread or other loaves of this sort. Here is my recipe.

Beer Bread - Just out of the oven

Beer Bread

Makes 2 long loaves

SPONGE:
1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer
1½ teaspoons instant yeast
pinch of sugar
1 cup warm water, 100 to 115 degrees
1 cup bread flour

2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
up to 2 cups more bread flour

FOR BRUSHING LOAVES:
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt

Make the Sponge: Heat the beer briefly to about 110 to 115 degrees, or until it feels nicely warm, not hot, on your pinkie finger. Set aside. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer, whisk together the 1 cup bread flour, the yeast, pinch of sugar and salt. Whisk in the warm water and then the beer until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute or less. Set the sponge aside to rise for 30 to 45 minutes, until bubbly. Do not try to speed this process.

Once the sponge is ready, if using the mixer, attach the bread hook and add in the first 2 cups of bread flour and the salt and slowly start the mixer. If working by hand, add these ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon. Once the spoon becomes difficult to work with, switch to kneading by hand. Once these ingredients are well incorporated, begin adding more flour, ½ cup at a time, up to 2 cups, as needed. Knead until smooth. This process should take about a total of 5 minutes. 

Loaves risen, after 6 hours; ready to bake

Set the dough into a greased bowl, turning once to coat. If using a heavy duty mixer, just remove the dough hook and leave the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside to rise until about doubled in volume. Do not try to speed the rising process. The rising time should be about 2 hours or so.

Once risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Gently knead out the large air bubbles and roll each piece into a log shape, then using palms and a rocking motion, roll out to long narrow loaves. If you own a French bread pan, grease the pan. Line with parchment if desired. Alternatively, grease a baking sheet and strew with cornmeal; set the formed loaves on the baking sheet, well apart. Brush the loaves with oil, then gently dust with a little flour. Make ¼ inch deep slashes diagonally across the loaves, about 4-inches apart. Cover the loaves lightly and set in the refrigerator for 6 to 12 hours for a very slow rise.

To Bake: Preheat oven to 425 (400 on Convection). Remove the bread from the refrigerator. Mix together the ¼ cup water with the ¼ teaspoon salt. Using a pastry brush, gently brush this over the loaves. Set the pan in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, brushing with the salt water once more about half way through the baking time.  When done, the loaves sound hollow when tapped. If you own an instant thermometer, the internal temperature should be about 204 degrees. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.