Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Health and Nutrition => Topic started by: s2srea on September 27, 2011, 03:11:12 PM
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Hi everyone. Any bread makers here? I've made it a few times in the dutch oven, and I'm thinking I should do it more often. Plus there's nothing like filling the house with the smell of delicious bread- especially now that winter's coming up. I'm sure its cheaper in the long run too!
Here's a great recipe for no kneed bread I've used before:
http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html
I love olive bread, but I have a few stalks of rosemary outside and am thinking of making rosemary olive bread this week!
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Homemade bread is the best kind.
We used to make *all* our own bread, but now we're busier and we get free bread every week (my wife's uncle gets free food at the church every week, and passes a bunch of it on to us. The variety of what we get changes every week, but various kinds of bread are almost always included)
So rather than waste that free bread and make our own bread (which we don't have time for), we just eat the free stuff.
But as our family gets larger, and our children become "of age" for working in the kitchen -- that might change.
BTW, we used a bread machine. We also own a nice electrical grain grinder -- we haven't used it much, but it's good for making *fresh* whole wheat bread. Whole wheat flour goes bad much more quickly than white flour, because of the oils present.
That's why most commercial whole wheat bread doesn't taste as good. They don't grind the grain and bake the bread on the same day :)
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BTW, we used a bread machine. We also own a nice electrical grain grinder -- we haven't used it much, but it's good for making *fresh* whole wheat bread. Whole wheat flour goes bad much more quickly than white flour, because of the oils present.
That's why most commercial whole wheat bread doesn't taste as good. They don't grind the grain and bake the bread on the same day :)
:scratchchin: I'm thought about a bread machine. But grinding your own flower sounds great! Sounds like theres a big difference between store-bought wheat and your own which is also very interesting. Is it done by hand?
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BTW, we used a bread machine. We also own a nice electrical grain grinder -- we haven't used it much, but it's good for making *fresh* whole wheat bread. Whole wheat flour goes bad much more quickly than white flour, because of the oils present.
That's why most commercial whole wheat bread doesn't taste as good. They don't grind the grain and bake the bread on the same day :)
:scratchchin: I'm thought about a bread machine. But grinding your own flower sounds great! Sounds like theres a big difference between store-bought wheat and your own which is also very interesting. Is it done by hand?
I just realized it said "electric" :facepalm:
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My mom has an electric grinder which she uses to grind whole wheat flower. We use a Bosch mixer which can handle up to 5 POUNDS of flower at a time - perfect for a family our size.
You can't beat the taste of hot bread with melted butter.
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Found this, thought it was interesting:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/docuмent/howto/MA07_BreadBaking.pdf
(http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/docuмent/howto/MA07_BreadBaking.pdf)
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Cooks Illustrated is the best cooking magazine around. The America's Test Kitchen cookbook from CI has been my most trusted book. The pie crust in there, if you don't get scared of the tiny amount of water, is the best you will ever have.
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I was inspired by s2srea and this post to make bread today. I failed. My husband came into the kitchen tonight and started laughing. That should say a lot. But it tasted, smelled wonderful! But it was one big flat blob of bread. Wasn't pretty at all.
I'll do another batch when I have the day off and report back :)
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Darn! I'm sorry WSG! What kind did you try to make? Have you tried the no knead recipe yet?
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I love making bread... nothing beats the smell of fresh, homemade bread! I use a bread machine, and mostly I end up making white bread, raisin bread or cheese bread. So delicious! I haven't tried the no-knead bread yet, but thanks to that link, I'll look into it!
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Wisconsinsheepgirl,
Was your yeast old? expired? Was your liquid too hot or too cold? Yeast also needs a tiny bit of sugar or honey in the recipe to activate it, doesn't it?
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Hi everyone. Any bread makers here? I've made it a few times in the dutch oven, and I'm thinking I should do it more often. Plus there's nothing like filling the house with the smell of delicious bread- especially now that winter's coming up. I'm sure its cheaper in the long run too!
Here's a great recipe for no kneed bread I've used before:
http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html
I love olive bread, but I have a few stalks of rosemary outside and am thinking of making rosemary olive bread this week!
I make bread and it makes my house smell wonderful ...even the people who live next to me know when I'm baking bread :wink:
Have you tried any Amish recipes?
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Wisconsinsheepgirl,
Was your yeast old? expired? Was your liquid too hot or too cold? Yeast also needs a tiny bit of sugar or honey in the recipe to activate it, doesn't it?
Not in my experience. Make sure your water isn't to hot, it will kill the yeast. Too cold won't activate it...I'd do a little hotter than luke warm. Make sure your yeast is not expired and keeping in the freezer is best.
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OH and make sure your keeping it warm enough to rise.
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I love baking bread. I don't do it as often as I'd like, but I have had enough practice to become very good at it. Precise measuring, fresh ingredients (especially yeast) and proper kneading will ensure great bread.
I have the morning off today because my daughter has a doctor appointment. I've been advised I need more carbs in my diet :-) so I woke up early and now have 2 loaves done and 2 more in the oven. It smells so good!
I order wheat berries and use an electric grinder to make my own whole wheat flour. I make it as needed so it is always fresh.
I do have a bread machine that was given to me, but I really prefer to use my Kitchen Aid mixer to knead the dough and then I shape it myself into pans for baking.
I am diligent with buying baking supplies when they are lowest cost and so I can make a loaf of whole wheat for 1/4 or less of the cost of buying a nutritionally equivalent loaf that is inferior in flavor anyway.
My favorite bread to make is sourdough, but that is a bit more complicated. :-)
Saturday I'm going to make beer bread.
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I love making bread! My favorite is potato bread. Using half the yeast and using mash potato, even sweet potato, and I use the water of the cooked potatoes. The recipe can keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. I especially love, sweet breads. I make the swedish tea Ring. I have a recipe for south of the border bread with onion, sour cream, cheese and you can put chilies in it too! Yum! You can put bread in tin cans and I have terra cotta pots, glazed inside for making bread. Oh, that is fun! I like making bread because you can make so may different varieties. If you are looking for any certain recipe, ask and I will post it. I like making a bread dough for making calzones! I have a recipe for a tea ring with any filling: chicken, tuna with egg and onion and put a cheese sauce on top for a meal.
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Songbird would you kindly post the calzone and the tea ring recipes?
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It has been a long time since I had the luxury of home-made bread. When I buy bread at the store I'm amazed at the fluctuations in sugar content from one brand to another. I've finally found a great value on a whole wheat, no high fructose added, 3 grams of sugar content that satisfies. I would even prefer a lower sugar content or none at all.
Is it possible to make bread without sugar and if so, is the result satisfying? What does sugar add to it in terms of quality and taste? Are store bought brands just feeding the sugar industry? My body simply does not agree with sugar.
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A small amount of sugar is needed to help with the increase of yeast fermentation. That is if you're using yeast whilst making your bread. For example if your recipe calls for 1 tsp of sugar and divided amongst 2 loaves of bread, that would amount to approximately 1/6 of a tsp per serving. More importantly, the very activity of the yeast in the bread "eats" the sugar and turns it into carbon dioxide.
But, if you want a recipe for an amazing homemade whole grain bread using no sugar, I created my own and will post below.
If you want to cut out sugar in your diet, be sure to check all food you eat for hidden sugars, and the many names its disguised under, and foods you might not think as containing sugar such as if a person drinks any alcohol. Without getting into it too much, here is a healthy tip: What you want to pay attention to with sugar, is the Glycemic Index.
A bit labor-intensive, but so worth it, enjoy!
3 cups warm water
1/3 cup raw honey (if you have access to raw honey)
5 cups whole wheat flour (I grind my own wheat berries)
4 1/2 tsp of active dry yeast
3 TBS melted butter
1/3 cup raw honey
1 TBS Sea salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 TBS melted butter
Directions:
In a large pot or bowl mix together 1/3 cup honey, warm water and yeast together.
Add 5 cups of whole wheat flour.
Let the dough sit for 30 minutes until it gets big and fluffy.
Add 3 Tablespoons melted butter, another 1/3 cup of raw honey and 1 TBS of sea salt and mix together.
Add 3 more cups of whole wheat flour and mix together as well you can… then take it out of the pot/bowl and knead the dough and whatever more flour you didn’t get mixed in – into the dough.
I have found that buttering up my hands when kneading dough helps quite a bit in getting the type of dough you want.
You want your bread dough to not really be sticky any more. (add more flour if you need to.) Roll it into a ball and put back in pot.
Let it sit covered with a towel until it has risen to at least double the size. (I usually turn my oven on at this point to preheat for the bread and stick the pot on top of the warm oven.. it helps it rise faster.)
Then punch it down.
Then knead the dough for a little bit longer to get all the air bubbles out.
Separate into three loaves and stick in a GREASED pans.
Cover with a towel and let the loaves rise until they are around an inch higher than the top of the pan.
Place pans in preheated oven at 350 degrees and cook for between 20-25 minutes or until done.
Place pans on cooling rack.
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BTW, raw honey is loaded with health benefits: Antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients. Make sure you're eating raw, unprocessed honey which is considered a superfood and a remedy for many health ailments.
One of the worst culprits as a "hidden sugar" is Maltodextrin. Foods that have maltodextrin often say “Low Sugar” or “Complex Carbohydrate”, but this sweetener should be avoided!
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morningstar, your recipe is almost identical to the one I use. It is hard to find raw honey, but I do make sure to use locally sourced. Real maple works too.
I'd love the calzone recipe too! Yum!
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Man you guys are making me so hungry. There is indeed nothing like the smell and taste of hot, fresh baked bread with real butter. Mmmm.
My grandmother used a sourdough lump that her mother had used to make fresh sourdough bread- there are sourdough starters out there that are centuries old. Crazy.
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I always get my sourdough starter from my Grandma. :)
Mmmm grilled sourdough sandwiches, some sweet potato fries, fresh green salad and peach crumble with fresh whipped cream. :smile:
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morningstar, your recipe is almost identical to the one I use. It is hard to find raw honey, but I do make sure to use locally sourced. Real maple works too.
I'd love the calzone recipe too! Yum!
PW, I don't know if you're able to buy online, but if so Vitacost.com has wonderful raw honey, and I think their pricing is good. I've used them almost exclusively for the past 15 years.
http://www.vitacost.com/productResults.aspx?ss=1&x=0&y=0&ntk=products&Ntt=Raw%20honey
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I always get my sourdough starter from my Grandma. :)
Mmmm grilled sourdough sandwiches, some sweet potato fries, fresh green salad and peach crumble with fresh whipped cream. :smile:
STOP! Now officially starving and don't get off work for 3 hours!
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My husband makes all our bread. Never used a breadmaker. always an oven or very rarely a griddle. We buy a bag of wheat (probably 25kg I think) from the feed and saddle shop. He grinds the wheat fresh each time using a Samap electric stonegrinder. So it is always fresh, delicious and nutritious. He's been doing it 20 years and still occasionally has a flop, so don't be downhearted if you have an occasional failure.
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I've been baking bread for quite a number of years. It's something that my mother and I used to do for fun, and I've done it virtually every week of my adult life. My only tips for bread-making are to make certain you measure precisely, use enough salt (it's a great stabilizer that helps even out the loaf), and that the most important part of the process is the knead-rise cycle. The number of times that you knead and let rise, or using an different second leavening, greatly affects the taste and texture of the bread. For instance, if you're making a bread like challah (or any bread that's heavy in sugar, butter or eggs) one can really improve how the bread comes out by refrigerating the loaf after the first leavening, for at least six hours, a second leavening and then baking.
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Sweet (swedish) tea ring.
1 pck yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105- 115)
1/2 cup warm milk
1/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
Dissolve yeast in warm water, in large bowl. Stir in milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg (warm egg, not cold) and add 2 cups flour. Beat (you may use a mixer) Then work in another 1 1/2 - 2 cups more flour til it is smooth and no longer sticky. Place in a warm place.( you can pre heat the oven to 100 and then turn off, 80 degrees is warm) Place a cover/ towel over and let rise to double about 1 -1/2 hours. Punch down the dough and shape. Roll 1/2 of dough to a 15" X 9" rectangle. Smear melted butter on dough, not heavy. Then put filling on such as cinnamon/sugar (or any filling you like) sugar about 1/2 cup and 2 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle it on the smeared butter. Seal the ends. Do the other dough the same.Put sealed edges down on greased cookie/pizza sheet. Shape into a ring. Cut 2/3 of the way through ring at one inch intervals. You are making a fanned out ring laying sections out a bit, a flare look. Heat at 350- 375. Have some aluminum foil to cover the outside of the ring into the cooking so as not to burn, like you do with pies. You can decorate the tea ring with icing or glazes, nuts or cherried cherries to look festive. You can also use the tea ring at Easter time and fill the middle ring with hard boiled eggs. Great for breakfast. You could also shape in the form of a candy cane.
Tea Ring for a meal! Use the same recipe as above with some changes: water 1 cup(using no milk) use less sugar about 2 tablespoons sugar is enough, use shortening instead of butter. Make up the dough and let rise. Then form in the same way; 2 rectangles and fill. Fill with tuna, one egg, some sauted onions and shredded cheese. Be sure the tuna is dry. Or use chicken chopped, or whatever filling you like. Put some slits on the top of the bread rolls for vents. And bake and serve with cheese sauce.
Calzone: same recipe or you may use bisquick. I use regular bread dough. For this recipe one roll is made, that is a larger rectangle rolled out. For filling: in a skillet sautee onion, gr. peppers in thin slices in 2 tablespoons of Italian dressing. Then spread that on your rectangle and then use thin sliced meats, very thin, and cheese, to your liking. You would like to get your meat at room temp and not cold before putting in the roll. Roll it up. and pinch closed. In this calzone it is not a spiral roll up like the Swedish tea ring, it is folded and pinched with air vents, slits and bake. Oh, this is so good! I watch for luncheon meat on sale. When due date comes up our store will take off 50% and even 75% and what a treat. Watch your dairy and they too can have dough ready to use! When you have that combination, it's time to make a calzone!
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I love making bread. Our children made the Swedish tea ring the Tradition for Christmas. There is no Christmas without the Swedish Tea Ring. My sister got a blue ribbon for this. I am looking for pots that are small and like plant pots with a glazed enterior. I bought them as a set of 6 years ago and I love them for making individual bread pots at everyones table setting. I can not find them to buy. It makes me love my pots even more. If anyone spies them, please let me know. They are not ruffins(?) used for custards. My daughter would like to have pots like ma. If not she will have to wait til my death. Ha!
Pretzels are alot of fun. Easy! One yeast packet, 1 cup warm water, 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tablespoon honey. (honey makes bread soft,,chewy) Put aluminum foil on cookie sheet and powder with flour. shape your pretzel and brush with egg yolk for gloss. Melt choc. chips, or cheese sauce or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or powder sugar. As a family we put on the living room floor the plastic TWISTER GAME and put all the goodies there for fun and easy clean up.
Pizza dough: same idea, but add fine shreded cheese and use onion powder and garlic powder and use honey, it makes for a great texture. I roll out the dough on a greased cookie sheet with a can good( can of peas or whatever) it is the right size for rolling it out. Let rise about 20 min or so and add your goodies on top. Don't put cheese on top, put something over the cheese, mushrooms or peppers onions and that way the cheese will melt nicely and not burn.
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Thank you Songbird! :)