Making Bread
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I’ve been making bread for years, or so I thought. I’d just been picking recipes out of books and whipping them up. My results were so-so. Everything changed, however, when I picked up the book Bread: Artisan Breads from Baguettes and Bagels to Focaccia and Brioche by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno.

This isn’t just a recipe book. It’s also an illustrated technique book, which takes you step-by-step through all the stages of bread making from ingredients and equipment to kneading and baking methods.

One of the most important things I learned from the book is that many doughs are quite moist, even sticky. Guilty in the past of over flouring, this was a real eye opener for me. By changing my flouring habits, I’ve actually come to appreciate that bread really is the staff of life. Dough is alive. It moves and grows. And it has a beautiful elasticity and resiliency.

The second major item I learned about was yeast techniques. You can use the sponge method with many bread recipes. To do: mix a bit of the flour into the yeast liquid and let it froth for 20 minutes before actually mixing your bread dough together. This allows the yeast taste to work out through the rising and proofing stages, leaving a lovely bread flavour without any yeasty overtones.

Bread has a great number of excellent recipes listed under the categories Basic Breads, Sourdoughs & Other Breads Using Starters, Flavored Breads, Enriched Breads, Flat Breads, Quick Breads, and Festive Breads. Recipes come from regions, such as France, Italy, Britain, Europe, America, and the Far East.

So far I’ve experimented with:
  • Classic Corn Bread, a ‘quick’ bread that’s great with stews and soups.
  • Hungarian Potato Bread, my number one favourite so far, a fabulous bread.
  • South African Seed Bread, a very nut-dense single-rise loaf.
  • Ballymaloe Brown Bread, another single rise, crunchy loaf. I’m experimenting with converting this to a gluten free loaf.
  • Broa, a nicely textured, yeast risen Portuguese Corn Bread.
  • Ciambella Mandorlata an Italian Easter Bread covered with a tasty blend of cinnamon, sugar, and toasted chopped almonds.
  • Ciabatta aka Italian ‘Slipper Bread,’ hard to believe this goopy dough makes such great bread, perfect toasted and covered with melted cheese and grilled onions and mushrooms.
  • Pain de Seigle a French Rye Bread, which is very nice, though I think I’ll add caraway seeds next time I make it.
  • Pain aux Noix or Walnut Bread, absolutely scrumptious, my second favourite.
  • Country Oatmeal Bread, a good hearty loaf.
  • Daktyla aka Greek Village Bread, so nice with its added cornmeal and topping of sesame seeds. Tied for third favourite.
  • Multigrain Bread. There’s something addictive about this rich chewy bread. Tied for third favourite.
I highly recommend Bread. Every recipe I make from it turns out perfectly.

Here’s the recipe for a bread so chock full of nuts it’s a great choice to bring along on hiking, hunting, or ice fishing trips:

South African Seed Bread

Ingredients
3 tsp dry yeast
1-2/3 cup water
4 tsp honey
3 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
3 tbsp each sesame, sunflower, flax, and poppy seeds, and chopped mixed nuts
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp milk

1. Grease an 8 x 4 x 2-1/2 inch loaf pan with butter. Sprinkle the yeast into 1-1/4 cups of the water in a bowl; add the honey. Let stand for 5 minutes; stir to dissolve. Mix the flours, seeds, nuts and salt in a bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the dissolved yeast. Mix in the flour from the sides of the well. Stir in the remaining water, as needed, to form a soft, sticky dough that just begins to leave the sides of the bowl clean.
3. Spoon the dough into the greased pan using the back of the spoon to smooth it level. Proof until the dough has risen just about the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350 F and bake for 30 minutes. The top of the bread will remain flat. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Immediately brush the top and sides of the loaf with milk.

To get bread inspired, head on down to the blog, ‘A Year in Bread ~ 3 bakers, 12 months, 36 recipes.’ It’s a visual and tantalizing site delving into the experiences of three passionate bread makers.

Me, I’m working my way up to making the baguette, an addictive crisp bread, which takes precision measuring, little flour, and lots of rising time. Bread, wonderful bread. As English poet Robert Browning once said, ‘If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.’

Bulk organic herbs, spices and essential oils. Sin

Photo Credit: Sanja Gjenero
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