Beautiful, Bountiful, Bodacious Bread

Without question, one of my most favorite things to make, and eat, is bread. I get to make many types bread, 2 or 3 times per week, at the restaurant, including, but not limited to sour dough breads, white breads, wheat breads, quick breads, and sweet breads (not to be confused with the sweetbreads from the inside of a bovine, which I also like to cook and eat, but I digress). Man has been preparing breads for many thousands of years, and the baker trade is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Many places in the Bible talk of bread, both leavened and unleavened. There were arguments during the Greek and Roman times on whether white or brown bread was the best, an argument that apparently still goes on today. However, during the Roman times, only the rich ate the white bread, because sifting and collecting the ground white flour apparently took quite a bit of labor and resulted in small amounts. Loaves and rolls have even been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, some over 5000 years old. Probably not very tasty anymore, but impressive none-the-less. Needless to say, making bread is a very old trade. It is generally thought by archeological scholars that yeasts for leavening bread and brewing beer were discovered about the same time, and very likely by accident. Regardless of when or how, it is definitely to our benefit that both have been improved upon over time. I like bread and I like beer. Beer we will save for another blog (or two). Bread we will discuss now.

As I discussed above, bread baking dates back to ancient times, and not just the times of our grandparents (insert tasteless joke here). Over many centuries, bakers have learned to manipulate the basic ingredients of flour, water, salt and leavening to produce a vast variety of breads. Lucky for us as consumers, a renewed interest in the traditional craft of baking has seen a new rise in many new bakeries in recent years. We, as customers, are demanding an exciting new assortment of breads, and bakeries and restaurants, including the one where I work, are providing these new concoctions. I, for one, enjoy going to restaurants to investigate what they are serving in their bread course. Many times I’m either unimpressed, or quite disappointed. But on occasion, there is an opportunity to experience some wonderful and novel approach to using yeast and flour. Pure happiness. In all truthfulness, I can make an entertaining evening out of a crusty loaf of bread, cheese, fruit, dried meat or sausage and a wonderful bottle of wine or artisan beer. Life just doesn’t get much better than that.

Yeast breads can be dividing into two major categories; lean dough and rich dough. Lean dough, such as those used for crusty French and Italian breads; contain little or no sugar and fat. Traditional sourdough and rye breads are lean dough that requires special handling to bring out their unique flavor. Rich dough, such as brioche and challah, contain significantly more sugar and fat than lean dough breads. Finally, laminated or rolled-in dough, so called because the fat or butter is rolled into the dough in layers, are a type of rich dough used for baked goods such as croissants and sweetened Danish pastries. The egg and cream bread that we will discuss, and prepare, below falls into the classification of rich dough, though it can be used as an every day bread. I will also include a very nice wheat bread, the same one I use for my kid’s sandwich bread. This is also a very healthy and flavorful bread that is easy to make.

The first bread, which is an egg and cream bread, is pretty easy to make. You will notice that I refer to using my trusty KitchenAid mixer when making this bread. While you can, and I have, made this bread kneading the dough by hand (and my wife thinks it’s pretty sexy to watch me do, not sure why, buy I don’t ask), in the essence of time and cleanliness, I recommend using a mixer with a dough hook. Life becomes so absurdly easy when using one and the cleanup is a breeze. I got the base recipe for this bread from one of my many cookbooks, and I’m not even sure I remember which one. However, I have experimented and adjusted this recipe so many times, that it is truly my recipe. The same is true with the whole wheat bread recipe. Some things you do so many times and have so many adjustments, that it is OK to call it yours.

Finally a note on measurements. I do all, read ALL, my baking by weight measurement. One cup of flour packed down in a measuring cup is not the same as a cup of freshly sifted flour. Because the sifted flour is full of air pockets, it will have less flour in the cup. This really does count in baking, which is a chemistry experiment every time you do it. You will also find that doing the same recipe, even using the same brand of ingredients, will give you a noticeably different bread depending on the altitude where you are baking, the humidity levels and the temperature at which the dough will rise. I periodically address these issues as we move along, which I’m quite sure you are ready for me to do. I also will specify whether to use high gluten or bread flour as opposed to all-purpose flour. Sometimes I’ll use both.

Egg and Cream Bread

- This should make about three good size loaves of bread if done in 4.5” x 9” x 2.5”loaf pans. Personally, I like to make either braided loaves, good size boules (large round rolls), artisan style round loaves or long loaves. This is strictly up to you, as it is fun to play with how the bread will look.

Recipe:

¾ oz yeast
1 lb. 5 oz high gluten or bread flour
½ oz salt (please do not use table salt, use kosher or sea salt)
2 oz sugar
1 oz butter (softened a bit)
2 fl. oz heavy cream
2 medium to large size eggs
10 fl. oz warm (110 degree) water (this may change a bit)

Method:

You will need a relatively warm, moist place to proof your dough. I turn on my over to its lowest setting (170 degrees). When it has preheated, I turn it off and leave the door open just a bit. Using my oven thermometer, I try to get it down to about 120 degrees, which I consider a good temp for proofing. I also heat an oven proof skillet on the burner to get it very, very hot. When I put the dough in the oven for its first proofing, I put the skillet on the lower rack, quickly add water and shut the oven door. This keeps a very moist and relatively constant temperature that the yeast will like.

I prepare the entire recipe in the mixing bowl. First I weigh or measure out all of my ingredients and have them ready to add (also called mise en place in the culinary world). I then proof the yeast by adding the sugar and yeast to the mixing bowl and about 8 fl. oz of the warm water. Stir it around for a bit, and let it bubble and foam. After about 5 or 10 minutes, when the yeast and sugar mixture is really foamy, add the flour and then the rest of the ingredients. Using your nifty dough hook that came with the mixer, begin kneading the dough on a slow speed until everything seems incorporated. Add a little more warm water as needed to get the dough into a ball. Sometimes you may add too much water. If this happens, and the dough does not ball up in a couple of minutes, add a bit of All-Purpose flour (by the tablespoon) until it balls up again. If the dough just doesn’t ball up and seems sticky, that is OK. It will still make a pretty good bread. You can speed the mixer up a number at this time. Let the mixer continue to churn and roll the dough for about 10 minutes or so. While this is happening, get a bowl for your dough to proof in. I prefer a large stainless steel bowl, but any heat resistant bowl will probably work. Add a small amount of olive or vegetable oil and use a paper towel to coat the side and bottom of the bowl. When the dough has mechanically kneaded for approximately 10 minutes, use a plastic dough scraper, or any kind of flexible scraper, to scrape the dough out of the mixing bowl into the proofing bowl. Cover with a clean dish towel, set it on the upper rack of the warmed oven (this rack should be on the middle level to give room for the bread to rise), put the hot skillet on the lower rack, and add about ¼ cup of water quickly to the hot skillet and shut the oven door. Clean up your equipment.

This first proofing should take anywhere from 45 minutes to just over an hour to double in size. After it has doubled in size, remove the bowl, punch down a bit and remove from the bowl to a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts, and roll them up into a log to put in a loaf pan, or a ball to put on a baking sheet. I recommend using a layer of parchment paper (NOT wax paper, they are not the same) on the baking sheet if making rolls or artisan loaves. Put the formed bread dough back into the oven on the upper rack to proof a bit more, this time for probably 15 or 20 minutes. After this time, you should see a noticeable growth in the dough. Take the dough out of the oven, leave the skillet (hopefully ovenproof) in the oven, and turn the oven on to 425 degrees to preheat. As it preheats, get an egg out of the fridge, beat it in a bowl until well homogenized, get a basting brush or paint brush (I use a silicon brush), and a sharp knife or razor blade. Using the knife, cut some distinguishing marks on the top of the bread. For example, I either do three angled parallel lines, about ¼” deep, or two lines crossed in the middle. This makes the loaf look very artisan and interesting. Afterward, brush the entire visible part of the loaf with the egg wash. This will aid in the browning of the bread. When the oven is at the proper temperature, put the bread on the upper rack, and toss a bit more water, ¼ cup or so, into the skillet, and quickly shut the oven door. Cook for about 25-30 minutes or until the top is GBD (Golden, Brown, and Delicious). When done, remove to a cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes or so. Slice and enjoy.

As with the cheesecake recipe, I will need to get some pictures added to this blog posting the next time I do bread at home, and my wife can capture the sequence on film.


Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is prepared the same as above, so I’ll give the recipe and let you all experiment.

Recipe

½ oz yeast
2 ¼ cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
1 tb kosher or sea salt
4 tb butter
1 lb whole wheat flour
1 lb 2 oz high gluten or bread flour

Method:

Proof yeast with honey and 1 ¼ cup water. After it is all foamy, add the remaining ingredients and prepare as above. I make loaves with this bread, and use it strictly for making sandwiches and grilled cheeses. It is a very tasty bread that is quite healthy as well. Enjoy!

I hope you have enjoyed the long dissertation on basic bread making. These bread recipes will help you quite a bit when entertaining guests. I have used the egg and cream recipe to make the most magnificent pull-apart rolls for Thanksgiving Dinner. Instead of using an egg wash, you can just brush them with melted butter right before you put them in the oven. Small braided loaves look pretty awesome as well. Just take one of the three sections you have after the initial dough proofing, break it into three more sections and roll into equal length ropes. Braid them and pinch the ends together and down. Egg wash, and bake as above. Looks impressive.

Please leave any questions or comments in the comment area on the blog. I’ll do my best to answer them in a reasonably and timely manner.