Bread Diary – American-style White Sandwich Bread

It may have been a looooong while since I’ve given you a bread update, but, in fact, since I received that bread book for my birthday last June, we haven’t bought a store-baked loaf since (ok, maybe here and there the odd time). I try to make bread regularly each week. One batch gives us for two loaves; I mix the batter Sunday afternoon, let it rise, then pop the first loaf in Sunday evening and store the remaining dough in the fridge. The next weekend, I put in the second loaf to bake. I actually have it down to quite a science and for the white bread version we usually eat, I don’t need the recipe any longer.

Matt and I are both creatures of habit, and our weekday breakfasts/lunches are fairly plain and simple: a homemade oatmeal or banana muffin to start the day, and a peanut butter (and honey for me) sandwich, an apple, a yogurt, and we’ve got ourselves a lunch. It might sound bland, but we don’t need fancy lunches at the office every day. Plus, the homemade bread makes it special.

Well, it was time for a change, and while I enjoyed the usual white bread, I was looking for a recipe that was a bit lighter; the usual one was kind of dense (but good). Luckily, the bread book has no shortage of recipes, so when I came across the recipe for the American-style sandwich bread, which promised to be a lot lighter, I was excited to try it out. The recipe didn’t differ much, except for the addition of an egg and some sugar, and preparation was exactly the same. The result, a really nice and light sandwich bread for our peanut butter. I was happily impressed and continued to bake it for a couple weeks.

Baking our own bread, we like to think, is saving us some money, but lately we’ve been wondering if it’s worth the effort. I mean, a loaf of fresh bread from the bakery is about $3.00. So, that’s about $6.00 for two weeks. If you take into account the ingredients that go into the fresh loaf, it probably does work out to be less than $3.00 a loaf, but we found out this weekend that lugging home about 15 kilos of flour (it’s better to buy in bulk) has a cost in itself (like a grumpy husband with a sore back…). I’m thinking I might be ready to leave the fresh bread for weekend dinners.

Bread Diary - Rye Bread

Finally... the bread I've been dying to make. I love the smell of rye bread, and as an adult packing a lunch for work, it was my go-to bread of choice. Slather on some mustard and then layer the pastrami, and you've got yourself a delicious lunch time snack. In my attempt to follow along with the recipes in the book, rye bread was stuck in the middle, so I patiently waited as I cooked through the various other loaves (yes, anyone else probably would have just skipped ahead and baked that one... but not me). I also wanted the rye bread to coordinate with our 3rd piece of brisket. And so, finally, the stars aligned.

Baking up the bread, you can already smell the rye with a hint of caraway seeds bringing a nutty aroma to the kitchen. That's probably what I love most about the rye bread. Without the caraway, it is really not the same. And it baked up so nicely, you might almost think it came from the store. But let's get straight to the point - the brisket!

The brisket steams over a boiling pot for about 3 hours, the saltiness wafting in the air. Combine that with the cooking rye bread, and it was like my condo was turned into a mini deli (I don't know how the neighbours would feel about that...). I had even planned on making my own mustard for this event, but after reading the directions and seeing that it had to rest for 2 weeks, I realized I was a little late on starting. Luckily we had a bottle in the fridge, but next time, it will be the real deal (we still have 1 piece of brisket left, and have already decided to pick up another from Schwartz's if we go to Montreal this year. Although, I think they do deliver...).

It was time to put it all together... slice the meat (aided greatly by an electric cutting knife my mother had 'lent' me - allowed some nice thin slices), slice the bread, slather with mustard, pile on the meat, and enjoy! With a side of salt and vinegar chips, no less (not homemade this time...). Pretty soon I think I might be able to make an entire meal from scratch!

Mmmm...I'm already looking forward to the 4th and final piece of brisket. But in the meantime, turns out rye bread is pretty good with peanut butter and honey in the morning.

Bread Diary - Wheat Stalk

For a family dinner a few weekends ago, I offered to bring the bread and the potato salad. With a new batch of dough resting in the fridge, I had been waiting to try this shape of dough for a while. It seemed the most interesting in the book, and the French name, Pain d'Epi, was given because of the shape of the bread - a Wheat Stalk.

I also thought this would be good one to make for the dinner. People could just tear the 'stalks', sort of like dinner rolls to spread with butter. Turns out that is exactly what we did, and it was good! I'm really liking this new batch of dough... it makes me feel healthier knowing there isn't just white flour in it.

Making the stalks was a bit more difficult than I first thought it would be. The baguette shape I first made was too long, so I opted to cut it in half and make two stalks. I don't think I rolled them out thin enough...but practice makes perfect. At least they were still edible...

Bread Diary - Peasant Loaf

So, finally we get to the part in the book where we start using some different types of flour. This Peasant Loaf calls for a mixture of Rye flour, whole wheat flour, and white flour. I found the combination turned out a very nice bread, and was perfect for toasting for breakfast, or with peanut butter and honey for lunch. That seems to be how most of the bread gets used up. But I am saving some slices for a bread salad that I am hoping to make in the near future...

This loaf turned into garlic bread for the homemade lasagna I made for dinner this past week, and it was goooood (both the bread and the lasagna. I think I've finally found the trick to non-runny lasagna, and that's to let the sauce simmer for a couple hours, if you have the time). Of course, in my opinion, anything toasted with butter, garlic, and Parmesan cheese would be delicious. And its kind of funny that we never buy bread any more. It's nice to be able to pull a freshly baked loaf out of the oven, and it only took about 5 minutes to make it! I'm not sure why anyone would ever buy bread again after having found this book...

Bread Diary - Crusty White Sandwich Bread

I realize the name of the bread might not be that appetizing... but to finish off the last of my white dough mixture, I made a sandwich loaf for Matt to enjoy his peanut butter sandwiches on at the office, and for myself to enjoy a few pieces toasted for breakfast, too.

This bread is baked up in a loaf pan, and therefore really easy to prepare. It had to rest on the counter for about an hour and half, probably the longest resting time, and then only 35 minutes in the oven. You take it out, let it cool, then slice it up. I don't know if we'll ever go back to buying store bought bread again! The next thing on my to-buy list is a bread slicer, like the mechanical one they have at the grocery stores in order to get nice uniform slices, but for now, I guess we'll to to stick with a knife and cutting board. Although.... I did just come across this link for a bread slicing guide made out of wood (and another on Amazon for something similar). Perhaps my talented father could whip up something similar...  

Since this was the last of the batch, the dough had really increased in flavour, adding a very nice sourdough scent and taste. And, since that used up that last batch, I can now move onto the next chapter in the book...the peasant loafs!

Bread Diary - Finally...a Pizza Peel!

To accompany our chili the other night, I also made just a simple white loaf of bread that we could use to dip in the chili, so, nothing really new for you guys. But the really exciting thing for me, was that just this past Saturday I found myself a pizza peel! A peel is what pizza makers use to move the pizza crust into the hot wood oven stove, and so the same principle applies when baking bread and transfering the resting dough onto the hot pizza stone in the oven.

This may not be as interesting/exciting to you as it is for me, but I had been looking for a peel for a while now and couldn't seem to find it in any of the kitchen stores. But I finally found one at Crate & Barrel, which has also become my new favourite kitchen store (we didn't browse too long). The dough now rests nicely on the floured peel, and when its time to move to the oven, it's just a simple little flick of the wrist onto the hot stone. It slides off very nicely, keeping it's shape and form.

And voila! When it's time to come out of the oven, the peel makes it a whole lot easier to grab the bread from the oven. I had been making do with floured cutting boards and flippers and tongs, but they were often floppy and didn't allow the dough to move as nicely when moving into the stove. So, with my new pizza peel, I am one happy baker!

Bread Diary - Ciabatta

To accompany the fresh pasta and sauce we had for dinner Monday night, it was only fitting that we had a bit of Italian bread on the side (like we needed more carbs....). It was also the next loaf in the book, so it worked out perfectly (it was like I planned it or something...).

There are some really interesting facts I'm learning as I progress my way through this bread book. For one, a lot of breads use a very similar dough, usually white flour, and the variation is in how you shape and form them. A ciabatta, for example, is a flattened oval loaf that rises only slightly in the oven, creating some lovely air pockets. It also does not require a dusting of flour on the top, and instead you shape the bread with wet hands (to keep from sticking). This gives the crust a more uniform and golden colour and crunch.

Even though the recipe didn't call for it, I sprinkled a bit of garlic powder on top of the bread before I baked it for our version of garlic bread. In hindsight, I might have just made a garlic butter, because its a little powerful on my toast in the morning...

Bread Diary - Loaves 3 & 4

I have to say that loaves 3 and 4 in the bread book were not all that exciting; I mean, they were pretty exciting for me to bake up, but nothing really special to share with you here today. I baked them more to use up the dough before we left for the cottage, so they were pretty much a variation of the first loaf.

The one pictured above turned into sandwich bread for Matt's lunch for the week Nothing says lunch like a fresh loaf of bread with peanut butter at the office (this is what Matt enjoys EVERY day, in fact... with an apple and a few handfuls of pretzels. We like consistency in our little family...).

The last loaf we took up to the cottage (I never like to come empty handed, so I also brought along some peanut butter cookies...). This one really had a great sour dough flavour, and we toasted it for breakfast one morning to enjoy with scrambled eggs and the BEST smelling maple bacon. This latter is a very odd thing for me, because smelling it made me really crave the sweet and the salty, but I really have this thing about sweet meats; you know, like dipping your bacon in the syrup from your pancakes - these two things never happen on my plate! But just the smell of this maple bacon made my mouth water, plus, I'm a sucker for bacon in any form, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I don't think it's going to make me start dipping my bacon in syrup, but I just might pick up a package next time I'm in the market for bacon.

So that wraps up the first round of bread baking. The next round uses the same dough but shapes it differently. They do sort of all taste the same, as would be expected, but I'm having a lot of fun experimenting and practicing my bread techniques.

Later recipes call for some different flours, such as rye and whole wheat. In anticipation of those recipes, we took a quick trip to the bulk barn to pick up a few different flours. I could have easily spent hours in there and left a lot poorer, but I settled on just two different ones... I'll keep you posted!

Bread Diary - Fresh Baguettes

The next loaf in the book was a fresh baguette. It uses the same dough as the previous bread, just shaped differently, and with the dough sitting in the fridge a few days longer, it also picks up more of a sour dough tanginess. I'm trying really hard to follow closely to the book, making each bread in order, but I have to admit that I get a little bit impatient as the desserts are at the END of the book... but we'll get there eventually.

So, after lifting out the next pound of dough and letting it rest to room temperature, I formed them into two small baguettes. These were destined to be breakfast toast one Saturday morning, but would be equally as nice if used for fresh bruschetta or garlic bread (something to try out at a later date...) . We settled, however, on slicing them to toast. Matt enjoyed his with butter, and I added a bit of honey to mine. Not much more to say about these little guys, except they were delish!

Bread Diary – The First Loaf

While the newly mixed dough rested in the fridge over night, I then got to planning our meals for the week to decide when we should enjoy our first loaf. These past few weeks in June have been extremely busy, actually, so we found ourselves eating in less and less, and instead, tended to grab quick meals before we headed out for the night. With baseball games, music concerts, and all the birthday surprises Matt had planned, well, dinners in seemed to be on the very bottom of our list.

letting the dough rise, left, and after taking out of the oven, right

But, if you know me, I can sometimes be very impatient when I have something new to try out, so I decided that dinner one night when we needed a quick meal would be grilled cheese on a fresh loaf of bread. And so, I set out to work, following the directions of measuring off about a pound of dough, shaping it into a small loaf, letting it rise for 20 minutes, then baking it in a hot oven. It was lovely to watch the dough rise bigger and bigger, and then begin to brown, all the while the smell of fresh bread filled the condo. It wasn’t long (only 30 minutes) before the bread was ready to come out and we were ready to enjoy.

After slicing into thick slices, slathering on butter and layering with cheese, I popped them into a skillet, low and slow (I actually pick up a lot of really great cooking tips from watching the TV cooking shows…), until they were golden brown on both sides. Served up with a side salad (so we don’t feel terribly guilty about the fat we were about to ingest), and it made for a really great dinner, and the bread with delicious!

I’m guessing the trick with baking fresh bread is to make a loaf that’s small enough to be enjoyed in one sitting, and this first trial run seemed to be just right. No leftovers! I would call it a success.

Bread Diary - In the beginning...

I recently celebrated a birthday, a milestone birthday in fact (the big 30), and I have to say, the transition from my 20's to 30's so far has not been that bad. Perhaps it will hit me later, but for now, 30 is turning out to be a pretty good year. And, as with most birthdays, I got to celebrate with good food, my dearest family and friends, and even received a few presents. There was certainly a kitchen theme this year, probably because most of my family reads this blog, and I am always excited about kitchen stuff.

My mother was very kind to take me shopping at a kitchen store as part of my birthday gift, and honestly, it's like I was a kid in a candy store! So many great little kitchen gadgets, so many cooking pans and cooking utensils... what a great way to spend an afternoon with your mom! I ended up picking out a few things I needed for the kitchen, but since I also have to take space into consideration, I didn't leave with any big items. That will come later when I have a big kitchen to fill. Plus, I was looking for a few items to accompany the other gift I received... A bread book!

In keeping with the them,  Erin gave me the above book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. She also has a copy at her house, and probably saw me flipping through it, and so, very thoughtfully, thought to get me my own. As the title suggests, the recipes in this book are pretty quick to bake up, but the trick here is that you actually mix together one large batch and keep it in the fridge in a large container with a lid (thanks to Erin, I now have a new bucket, too!). The idea is that when you want a fresh loaf of bread, you cut off a small portion (the dough makes enough for 4 loaves), shape it, let it rise, and then bake it while you're making the rest of your dinner. And each loaf is different as the dough sits longer, developing a sour dough flavour over time. The author's do preface that the 5 minutes a day does not actually include the resting and baking time, but after baking a few loaves already, it really does take just 5 minutes to get the dough ready.

left: after mixing up the batch;                                             right: after 3 hours of rising

So, needless to say, I was very anxious to get mixing the giant batch to keep in the fridge, and then very excited to watch the progress as the dough increased in volume. You might think it was like watching paint dry, but not at all! It didn't take long for the dough to triple in size, then you store it in the fridge for up to two weeks. I have a goal to try out every recipe in the book, and sort of like the Julie/Julie project, I hope to keep you all posted as we progress.