CD-ROM Aktief 1995 #3/CDA3.iso/survival/bread.rcp

Text File | 1994-07-06 | 49KB | 1,099 lines

Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes
From: Anne Louise Gockel <[e-mail]>
Subject: BREAD: Bread Recipes Collection
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Taronga Park BBS
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 93 09:57:57 -0500
Lines: 1090

The following is my favorite collection of bread recipes.  There is a
bibliography near the end of this list.  There are several sourdough recipes
as well as several recipes for cheese breads, whole wheat breads and breads
with oatmeal.  Please post this collection to rec.food.recipes at your
convenience in whatever manner you prefer...... or suggest changes that you
think are appropriate.
                    -Anne Louise Gockel
                    Cornell Computer Science

Internet: [e-mail]        UUCP: cornell!alg
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All of the following recipes have been adapted from the sources listed.  These
recipes reflect how I make them, not neccessarily how the author intended them
to be made.  I've only included the recipes that I thought were generally good
and successful.

I regularly add one step that is nonstandard: I almost always give the bread
an extra rising when the flour is half mixed in.  The extra rising make the
bread smoother.  With sourdough the extra rising allows the starter to digest
many of the lumps of flour which makes the dough almost silky soft.  After
adding about 1/3 - 1/2 of the flour the dough is the texture of muffin, waffle
or brownie batter and I let it rise until doubled.  Some of the recipes (esp
the ones with potato) refer to this as a "slurry".  Some recipes, especially
those that use potato to enhance the yeast, do call for this extra rising;
however I add this step to all bread recipes.

Please note that I got tired of typing while entering these recipes.  The
first recipes have much more detail than the later ones.  The early ones may
say "Turn dough onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic,
adding more flour as neeeded."  The later ones say "Knead."  If the later
recipes look sparse, read a few of the earlier ones for added details.  I
trust you'll get the idea.

All bread cookbooks try to describe what bread that has the proper amount of
kneading looks and feels like. Most cookbooks say that the properly bread is
"smooth and elastic".  The "smooth" part is easy.  I've never known exactly
have to interpert the "elastic" part.  _The Enchanted Brocali Forest_
describes the kneaded bread as "the consistency of your earlobe".  I think
this is actually one of the better descriptions.  The bread is not really
sticky, and it has some give and flexibility.  So take off your earrings and
check it out.  Additionally, _The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ illustrates
taking a piece of bread dough and stretching it to see the gluten.  A small
piece can be stretched until it is almost paper thin without tearing (well,
without tearing too much!) and you can see the gluten strings when you hold
the dough up to the light.  If you cannot stretch the dough fairly thin
without tearing it to pieces, it needs another 100 strokes of kneading.  Bread
with alot of oatmeal or cheese may be more difficult to stretch and may
require more kneading.

I have been told that it is almost impossible to overknead bread if you are
kneading by hand.  I think this is true.  You can overknead with a mixer or a
food processor, but not by hand.  Laurel's Kitchen suggests kneading each loaf
of whole wheat bread 300 times (e.g. 600 times for two loaves).  This is
definitely a good rule for the bread made only from whole wheat flour.  I find
that 400-500 strokes is usually adequate for two loaves of bread that contains
at least half white flour.

The purpose of kneading bread is to cause the gluten to form and the bread
becomes smooth.  The purpose is NOT to incorporate flour.  You might use a
kneading sort of action to mix some of the flour into the dough when the dough
is too heavy for other utensils.  During the kneading stage, you need to use
flour or water to keep the dough from sticking to your board and invariably
some will be incorporated into the dough.  But incorporating flour is NOT the
purpose of kneading!  Indeed, Laurel's Kitchen recommends kneading using water
to control sticking instead of flour. (And I know that sounds sacrilegious,
but I tried it and *it works*.)

To proof yeast, fill a small metal or ceramic bowl with very very hot water.
This will warm the bowl.  When the bowl is warm, dump out the hot water and
add 1/4 cup of water at 85-95 degrees. This is "baby milk" temperature; when
you place this water on the inside of your wrist it feels warm, but does not
hurt.  Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir it in.  Add 1/4 cup or less
of sugar.  Let the yeast sit for 15-30 minutes.  it should form a bubbly head
at least 1" high; this is similar to the foam on a head of beer.  If the
yeast doesn't rise within 30 minutes your yeast may be dead; throw it out and
try a fresher package of yeast.  If your yeast rises only an inch and it takes
30 minutes to rise, the yeast isn't very strong; consider using extra yeast so
your bread will rise as expected.

Some cookbooks say that when you make a double recipie you should not double
the quantity of yeast.  I usually double the quantity of yeast for a double
recipe, but I'm the sort of person that never follows instructions.

When baking bread I usually make an extra small loaf of bread for eating
immediately.  If a large loaf of bread is cut while it is steaming hot, the
loaf will usually collapse and be less attractive after it cools.  If you plan
to eat the entire loaf in a few hours this is fine; but if you only want a
slice or two you may not wish to damage the rest of the loaf.

If you look around you should be able to find a small, 6"x3" loaf pan that
holds about 1/3 - 1/2 of a loaf of bread.  Simply increase the liquids and
flour in your recipe by about 1/4 and you will have enough dough for this
small loaf pan.  If you have extra ingredients like oatmeal or cheese you
might increase them a bit, but it's not neccessary.  The small loaf can be
served hot directly from the oven as a treat for the cook and anyone else
hanging around the kitchen.


Basic Sourdough Starter (from Sourdough Cookery)

First: see if you can get some from your friend instead!  If not:
2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbl sugar
1 tbl yeast (1/2 pkg)
2 c. lukewarm water

Never let sourdough starter touch metal.  Use a wooden spoon and plastic,
ceramic or wooden bowl.

With a wooden spoon stir dry ingredients together and gradually add warm
water.  Stir until mixture resembles a smooth paste.  Cover with towel and set
in a warm place to sour.  Stir mixture several times a day.  In 2-3 days the
sourdough will be ready.

Store in a plastic container, with holes punched in the lid to allow gases to
escape.  I use a yogurt or margarine container with holes in the lid.

To make batter for a recipe, take out 1 cup stater and add 1 cup flour and 1
cup lukewarm water.  (I usually just use all of the starter and add 1 cup or
more of flour and water).  Stir with a wooden spoon.  Don't worry about the
lumps.  Cover and set in a warm location overnight (or at least for a few
hours).  Before you use the starter be sure to save at least 1/2 cup (add it
to any saved starter).  As soon as the lumps are gone it's ok to use the
batter.  If you leave it overnight it may seperate before morning, just stir
it back together.

Once a week replenish the starter this way.  I typically just put all of the
starter into a bowl and add 1/2 - 1 1/2 cup of flour and water. If I don't
intend to make bread I use just 1/2 cup, if I need alot of starter I use up to
1 1/2 cups.  The starter stays more "sour" if you leave it on the counter for
several days at a time and if you try not to add too much flour at any one
time.  However I have never gotten a truely sour sourdough out of this
starter (well, see additional notes below).

If the starter starts acting somewhat whimpy, add 1 tbl of yeast when you
replenish it.  Be sure to occassionally completely clean the container that
yo