Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 23:33:18 -0700 (PDT) -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v100.n067 -------------- 001 - ehgf@primenet.com - No Need To Knead 002 - alexandra mahoney Subject: almond flavor Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 22:33:39 -0400 (EDT) I love sweet breads with almond flavoring and would like to have some such recipes under my best. Does anyone have a tasty loaf using almond paste in particular? Or recommend any improvisational ways of using it? Pairing almond and raspberry or cherry is particularly tasty. Any other suggestions are welcome. On a separate note, I wanted to recommend a good book on artisan bread baking called "Amy's Bread," written by owners of an NYC bakery. It has lots of detailed explanation about technique, texture and flavor, and its photos are particularly inspirational! I have only made the easier recipes from the book, but love good crusty Italian bread and recipe for the wand-style loaf in this book is very good. Can anyone else comment on their experience with the book? Alexandra M. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.3 --------------- From: Andie Paysinger Subject: No need to Knead Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 06:36:52 -0700 I make the recipes from this book all the time. I mix all the dry ingredients together in a dough trough or shallow bowl, make a well in the center and then begin adding the liquid. When the dough reaches the correct consistency, i.e. soft, sticky, gooey and stringy, I stop adding the liquid. The amount of liquid can vary considerably depending on the temperature, humidity, altitude, age of the flour (and possibly the alignment of the planets) but it can be different from day to day. Some flour can absorb water like a sponge and another flour will turn into soup. When I get a new batch of flour (I usually buy in large bags) I will test it by scaling out 4 oz and adding 1 oz of water and checking the way it mixes. When making dough in one of my machines, I measure out the water and place about 3/4 into the pan, add the dry ingredients and start the process. If the dough looks dry after it has processed well into the cycle I can add more liquid. However once you have added it you can't take it away. Adding more flour can totally change the texture and taste of the crumb and crust. I would not recommend it. -- Andie Paysinger & the PENDRAGON Basenjis,Teafer,Cheesy,Singer & Player asenji@earthlink.net So. Calif. USA "In the face of adversity, be patient, in the face of a basenji, be prudent, be canny, be on your guard!" http://home.earthlink.net/~asenji/ --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.4 --------------- From: "Willie J. Prejean" Subject: Potato Bread Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 08:34:22 -0500 Linda Perry requested a recipe for potato Bread made with mashed potatoes. Below is one I used with great success. The recipe is in the CHEFMATE BREAD MACHINE "BREAD AND DOUGH MAKER INSTRUCTIONS & RECIPES" POTATO BREAD -1.5 POUNDS-(Select the Basic Mode) Water 1-1/4 Cup Bread Flour 2-2/3 Cups Dry Milk 1-1/2 Tablespoons Sugar 1-1/2 Tablespoons Salt 1-1/2 teaspoons Butter or Margarine 2 Tablespoons Mashed Potato 1 small boiled potato Dry Parsley 1-1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast 1-3/4 teaspoons OR Fast Rise Yeast 1-1/4 teaspoon NOTE: The recipe calls for Potato Flakes, but I used a small boiled potato. Do not use a large potato, because the the bread crumb will be gummy. Potatoes act the same as Bread Softeners used by Commercial Bakeries. It is an anti-staling ingredient, plus it has many other benefits in dough fermentation. The following information was copied and pasted from Willie Prejean's Baking and Baking Science web site: Potatoes contain a large percentage of carbohydrates occurring in the form of gelatinized starch. This gelatinized starch is readily converted to maltose sugar by the flour enzyme Diastase (Alpha Amalyse and Beta Amalyse). This is the reason why potatoes speed up the fermentation process. Potatoes also contain growth promoting mineral substances which stimulate yeast development. Emulsifiers ( bread softeners) are not needed because potatoes function as stale retarding agents which helps to reduce the rate at which the bread crumb becomes firm. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.5 --------------- From: TheGuamTarheels@webtv.net (Bob) Subject: Hunza Bread Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 16:53:25 -0400 (EDT) Here's that Hunza Bread recipe. I got it from AllRecipes,com and have not tried it. Hunza Bread II Hunza bread refers to a Hungarian sweet bread filled with golden raisins. This is a simple version that's made by hand. Prep Time: approx. 30 Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 45 Minutes. Makes 2 - 9x5 inch loaves ( 20 servings). Printed from AllRecipes.com, Submitted by Holly 3 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 8 cups bread flour 1-1/2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons salt 6 egg yolks 1 cup margarine, melted 1-1/2 cups warm milk 1 cup golden raisins 2 egg whites, beaten Directions In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, egg yolks, margarine and warm milk. Stir until a soft dough is formed. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in the raisins. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F (175C). Brush the risen loaves with egg whites. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until golden brown. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.6 --------------- From: Haacknjack@aol.com Subject: Parts...Slack dough handling...brotforms...Ciabatta!! Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 22:25:25 EDT From: Patrick Subject: help with a part Culinary Parts Unlimited (800) 543-7549 is as good as its name. I've posted this contact before, but everyone should have it in their resource file. No surprise, it's a big help to have the model number of the machine you're seeking a part for ... but they are well-versed and well worth a call. from: Shauna Can someone who's had success with this book give me some pointers on dealing with the sticky, soupy dough? While I haven't purchased the No Need to Knead book specifically, I have recently been playing with Ciabatta dough (more on this later in the msg). It's real...well...SLURPY. I got the big metal cookie spade from King Arthur (though if you're handy you could surely make one at home virtually for free). It's almost a foot square and has a plastic handle with an oval hole in it for easy gripping. I can slither it under the slurpy dough and slop the dough onto the baking sheet, much like using a peel (which would probably work too). You're not picking this stuff up by hand, that's for sure. Anything very thin and flat would probably do the trick ... maybe that nasty, thin cookie sheet that you only use for collecting the boil-over from your apple pies?? From: Cindy Subject: inexpensive Brotforms? I think the very fine advice was, put a thin untextured towel (flour sacking or similar), well floured, into any cheap basket of your choice. Let the bread rise in it, invert it gently onto the baking sheet, and enjoy the lovely result. Now on to the good stuff--the Ciabatta recipe and its rescue. Here's a sneak peek at former-private correspondence between me and a good buddy in The Hague, The Netherlands ... who I believe is a lurker, but I hope my (approved) publishing of her coaching will encourage her to contribute in person! Me to my friend: You know, some days one is dummer than others. Brought up a dandy Ciabatta bread recipe that had wowed people last year, and reminded me very much of the little rectangular flatbread you served us one night at dinner. But I read through it and find I've left out the second dose of flour & water (aargh!!). Of course I recycled the recipe many months ago. Wonder if you can lend advice on the second step. The first step is an overnight biga consisting of a cup of water to 3+ cups of flour and a tablespoon of dry yeast. This sits overnight (as I type!) and softens to an oatmeal-like consistency. Then in the morning, I'm s'-posed to add more flour and water to work in the bowl to a "shaggy mass" and then turn it into two loaves pretty much like your nice one. Got any advice on how much flour and water to add in the second pass? Friend to me: This is surely not a case of dumbitude -- if one kept every last promising recipe, one would be ankle-deep in them, and never have room to walk around. As I suspect we both know all too well... But back to your blob of biga. You have heaps of choice. A whole tablespoon of yeast will raise anything up to 20 cups of flour if you've got the time. But assuming you haven't gone into the ciabatta business on an industrial scale, and assuming you want two loaves roughly 9 X 13, then all you need to do is decide how thick and "bready" you want them. The ones I usually make are more focaccia than ciabatta -- they're breadier and the dough is sturdier and less gloppy. For those I'd use about 3 1/2 - 4 cups of flour total per loaf (counting both the biga and the second-step addition), plus the odd bit for kneading. If you already have a biga with a cup of water and 2+ cups of flour, that would be something like 4+ cups more flour and 1/2 - 3/4 cup more water for 2 large flat loaves. Our flour here is pretty low-gluten and doesn't require as much water as you probably normally use. Our weather is also humid, as perhaps you recall... Ciabatta is usually wetter than focaccia, and usually requires another rising before you form it into loaves. Italians like to use very low-gluten flour for this kind of thing, so it's _really_ slack. So add the flour (maybe 3 1/2 - 4 cups) and then add water until you reach your preferred state of glop. Then add the salt and watch the whole thing develop and get springy as soon as you do. Set it aside to rise. After the second rise, the dough is very bubbly, so you have to be careful not to destroy the bubbles when you form it into loaves. Rather than kneading it, just cup your oiled hands around the dough and turn it over in the bowl a few times, then divide it up into loaves and ease them into greased pans or onto your peel without pounding them down. For focaccia, you make a stiffer dough and after you flatten it into loaves, you poke indentations in the surface with your fingertips, pour oil on top so it collects in the holes, and sprinkle with coarse salt. Let rise and bake. Herbs can be added with the second addition of flour or sprinkled on top. Ciabatta is usually just baked plain and gets its charm from the holes in the dough. Both these doughs benefit from a bit more salt than people tend to use, in order to keep it strong enough to support the bubbles and not taste insipid. About a scant 1/2 teaspoon salt per cup of flour, I would say. Not too much oil -- no more than a half-tablespoon per 4 cups of flour, probably a bit less, or it will get heavy. You'll be oiling your hands to work with it anyway, and that will add some. Sounds yummy! What are you serving it with? Me to friend: Thanks for the grand tour of un-kneaded breads. I took a gut hunch and added a cup of water; the remaining "flour" was semolina which always does like a good drink. In the end you cut the dough in half, do your best to segregate the two pieces on your work surface, and finally slide a couple of turners under each and flip it onto a semolina-covered baking sheet. They were grand. I loved your ramble through casual breads. Would you mind if I send it along (suitably anonymized) with my end recipe to the bread-bakers list? Me to the list: so in the end, here's the recipe: Ciabatta (originally from Bon Appetit, sometime in spring '99) BIGA 17 Tblsp warm water 1 Tblsp active dry yeast 3 1/3 cups bread flour (or white flour + 1 tsp. vital wheat gluten) LOAF 1 cup warm water 1 pinch active dry yeast 11 Tblsp semolina flour (this is the sandy yellow flour you use to make pasta) 2 1/2 tsp. salt additional semolina flour to prevent sticking BIGA: Sprinkle yeast over warm water; let stand until proofed (about 8 minutes). Add 1 cup flour, stir until blended. Scrape sides of bowl; add another cup of flour. Repeat blending & scraping. Add remaining 1 1/3 cups flour; cut in until small moist clumps form. (Preceding steps can be completed in food processor if desired.) Gather dough into a ball; place in large bowl (dough will be firm). Cover; chill overnight. Biga will soften, resembling thick oatmeal in texture. DOUGH: Pull biga into walnut-sized pieces; place in a clean large bowl. Add water, yeast & 11 Tblsp semolina. Using one hand, squeeze ingredients together for 2 minutes. Work dough for four minutes by scooping sections from the sides of the bowl and pressing them into the center, blending into a very soft, shaggy mass. Using a spatula, scrape dough from the sides of the bowl into the center. Let the dough rest in bowl 20 minutes. Sprinkle the salt over the dough. Using one hand, knead dough by rotating the bowl 1/4 turn at a time, scooping dough from the sides and folding down into the center until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Scrape dough from hand and sides of bowl. Cover bowl with towel; let dough rest in bowl 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 425F. Sprinkle work surface with additional semolina. Turn dough out onto semolina. Using pastry scraper or large knife, cut dough in half; keep halves separated. Let stand, uncovered, 20 minutes. Sprinkle 2 large baking sheets with additional semolina. Transfer each dough half, semolina side UP, to one sheet. Stretch each dough half to 16" x 4" rectangle. Press fingertips into dough in several places to dimple the surface. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes; cool on rack. (I originally made this as an offering for the after-performance snacks for my son's piano teacher's spring recital. Usually it's sugar in 50 varieties, so I cut this bread into "fingers" and made some low-fat dips and provided veggies. Guess who brought home an EMPTY plate!!) --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.7 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: bread baking class Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 22:09:16 -0700 I just received this and wanted to pass it on to all of you ... I have never attended a class here. BREAD BAKING-PENNY PRICHARD 11/17/00 - 11/19/00 Locations: Brasstown, North Carolina Focus: Baking-Pastry and Vacation Program Sponsored by John C. Campbell Folk School http://cookforfun.shawguides.com/JohnCCampbellFolkSchool --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.8 --------------- From: fred smith Subject: Re:{salt-rising bread} Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 16:15:24 -0400 > From: JFertig299@aol.com > Subject: Re: Salt-rising bread > Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 11:15:44 EDT > > More tips for salt-rising bread. > > I'm currently working on Prairie Home Breads, which will be out next year. > I've been baking and testing bread recipes for the past year, and salt->rising is one of the trickiest. Even the late great James Beard had trouble >with it. I'm no expert (I must admit that up front) and haven't made TONS of salt-rising bread, but... Here's what little I've gleaned about it the dozen or so times I've made it. I work from the first edition of Bernard Clayton Jr's "The Complete Book of Breads" (which I believe is a better bread book than the current edition, which I recently perused at a local bookstore). however I've never been able to get the cornmeal mixture he recommends to ferment on its own using "wild yeast". After a few experiments, though, I've found a method that seems to work pretty well: By hand separate out ONE SINGLE grain of yeast particle from a package or jar of yeast and use that to "seed" the mixture. Keep it warm and otherwise process/treat as recommended in your recipe. After it ferments in its warm place overnight it does have the aroma of a strong cheese and oh what a wonderful aroma when baking and flavor when being eaten! > Maintaining the necessary fermentation temperature of 100 to 105 degrees is > the tricky part. I found that sitting the bowl of batter on a heating pad > turned to the medium setting did the trick. But you also need an instant > read thermometer to accurately gauge the temperature of the cornmeal and > milk batter. (Your heating pad might be different than mine.) If the batter > gets too hot, it curdles, and you have to start all over again. (I use a > batter that ferments naturally, not the King Arthur product). I used to keep it warm in my gas oven, when my gas oven had a pilot light, which they no longer have. I don't think I've made it since those olden days, so I'll have to try the bit with the heating pad. Thanks for the hint! (I used to make yogurt, by the half-gallon, in that oven too. Oh how I miss it. Some fresh yogurt with a spoonfull of my homemade rhubarb jelly was just out of this world.) Fred -- ---- Fred Smith -- fredex@fcshome.stoneham.ma.us ---------------------------- The Lord detests the way of the wicked but he loves those who pursue righteousness. ----------------------------- Proverbs 15:9 (niv) ----------------------------- --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.9 --------------- From: "Carolyn Hollenbeck" Subject: Cinnamon chips Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 16:17:46 -0400 Joan requested a source for cinnamon chips. They are available from the Baker's Catalogue. Check under Baking Chips on page 33 in the October 2000 catalogue. For those out there that don't get the catalogue check www.KingArthurFlour.com. Carolyn --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.10 --------------- From: Dan Aldrich Subject: 7 grain recipe Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 15:12:36 -0400 Hopefully this isn't too stupid of a question, but does anyone have a recipe for 7 grain bread? I'm sure that there are lots of variations of what 7 to use. Just moved to Eastampton NJ, just outside of Mt Holly. There's a bakery with a wood fired hearth. All the breads are good, but their 7 grain really is the best of the bunch. Thanks, -d --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.11 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: classes in the Northwest Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 21:46:30 -0700 I got these from the Oregonian newspaper. There isn't 2 weeks notice but they might have room ... http://www.oregonlive.com/ Saturday, Oct. 21 Sourdough Bread Baked in an Earth Oven; 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Hannah Fields and Kiko Denger; Bob's Red Mill, 5209 S.E. International Way, Milwaukie; 503-654-3215; $65. ********* Wednesday, Oct. 25 Quick Bite Class: Wheat-Free Quick Bread; 2 p.m or 6:30 p.m.; Marco Berlin; Nature's Northwest Vancouver, 8024 E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver, Wash.; 360-695-8878; $7.50. ******** Registration is required for most classes. Send notices two weeks in advance to: Classes, FOODday/The Oregonian, 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201; 503-294-5045 (fax); or foodday@news.oregonian.com. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.12 --------------- From: Reggie Dwork Subject: ARTISAN BAKING ACROSS AMERICA Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 18:34:48 -0700 Here is a listing from Jessica's Biscuit that I got via email. Congratulations Maggie!! This will be a wonderful addition to my bread cookbook library. The Breads, the Bakers, the Best Recipes! ARTISAN BAKING ACROSS AMERICA by Maggie Glezer Copyright October 2000 Item #00812 List Price: $40.00 Jessica's Biscuit Price: $28.00 30% OFF LIST! http://www.ecookbooks.com/products.html?item=00812 Impeccable recipes that reproduce the excellence and craft of the best breads being made today, scaled down and written for the home kitchen. In addition to the recipes, the author offers sumptuous color photography and portraits of the bakers, in words and pictures, that tell the story of America's artisan bread movement from the wheat breeders in Kansas, to a gristmill in Rhode Island, to specialty bakers from Berkeley, California, to Long Island City, New York. --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.13 --------------- From: "Bill and Audrey Konie" <2ofts@bigsky.net> Subject: Freezing Bread Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 17:07:09 -0600 My husband (the hunter and home-butcher) and I (the wrapper and cook) have been successfully freezing game animals and birds for several years by wrapping very tightly with plastic wrap, forming it around the product and then overwrapping with freezer paper and taping securely shut. I also use this method for baked goods, including breads, and it works wonderfully. The big secret here is to keep air away from the product. It is the air contact which causes the freezer burn and lack of flavor. We never keep breads that long, but we have used game from our freezer that was almost four years old and would defy anyone to tell the difference between that and a like piece of meat that was similarly wrapped and frozen only days before. Try it - as "Haacknjack" says, "If you have done the wrapping improperly (not air-tight enough) you can always use the bread for croutons, stratas, crumbs, etc." --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v100.n067.14 --------------- From: "Judy Mayberry" Subject: Reply to Scullery Maid about new Cuisinart food processor Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 15:17:05 -0700 I hafta tell you--I've been thinking about getting the 14-cup Cuisinart food processor for a long time. I have the 11-cup KitchenAid and it is very quiet and does a great job, except in one very annoying respect. The stubby shaft/handle on the chopping blade (NOT the handle on the dough blade) has perforations on the top, so that liquids and flour fall through it during processing and you end up with leaked stuff on the spindle when you remove the work bowl. Very messy. I ran with your mention of the NY Times article and read it. She was very admiring of the slower dough speed button not only for dough but for better nut chopping. So I took an expired "Bed, Bath & Beyond 20% Off" coupon to the store and lo! they honored it. I haven't gotten any farther than washing out all the parts, but I did watch the 30-minute video, and the bread portion of it (pizza and baguettes) was demonstrated by Charles Van Over. He artfully omits showing HOW he slid the pizza from the peel to the oven stone, which gave me quite a laugh, since that's the hardest thing about it. Anyway, the machine looks awesome! About the NY Times article (www.nytimes.com), be advised that after the week is over, it goes into archives and costs $2.50 to see. I was lucky I caught it while still online. --------------- END bread-bakers.v100.n067 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2000 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved