Buttermilk Seed Bread

recipe found on www.allrecipes.com

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I used quick rise)
1 tsp white sugar
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup wheat germ
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp flax seeds (used ground flax seeds)
2 Tbsp poppy seeds (didn't have any of these)
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
2 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 cups bread flour
1 egg + extra seeds for on top

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Combine buttermilk, butter, honey and the yeast mixture in a large bowl. Add the salt, wheat germ, all of the seeds and the whole wheat flour. Stir to combine.

3. Add the bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time (did this in my stand mixer). When the dough has formed a ball, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes.

4. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl with olive oil, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

5. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves by flattening into two rectangles and rolling up from the short end. Pinch ends to seal.

6. Place the loaves into greased loaf pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

7. Beat an egg and brush on tops of loaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (or whatever other seeds you want on top).

8. Preheat oven to 375*F and bake for about 30 minutes or until the tops are brown and the bottom of a loaf sounds hollow when tapped.


This bread is AMAZING! Buttermilk apparently makes everything better. The middle is very dense with all the seeds and wheat ingredients but still so moist and doughy (some wheat bread I've made has been too dry and crumbly...this is not) It also has a nice crust because of the egg and seeds on top. I will most definitely make this again. It may even become our new favorite sandwich bread and replace our multigrain bread that I've been making for more than a year now!

I enjoyed this bread at lunch today with my usual melted cheese and turkey and hummus, but my favorite topping would have to be FIG PRESERVES. Those of you who have read our Blessed Endurance blog for awhile now may remember my obsession with figs that developed last summer because of the fig tree right outside my office. Last summer, I ate myself sick a few times because of too many trips to this tree during the day! (just FYI: figs = good laxative...) Despite a few days of discomfort because of overindulgence, I loved picking these delicious treats and making them into preserves. Our maintenance people tried to make this an impossibility this year since they decided to cut off every reachable branch last fall (not that I'm bitter...); however, they somewhat redeemed themselves last week by bringing me and my fig-picking buddy, Dr. Joe Martin, a 10-ft ladder to reach the top branches where all the figs are now. Last Thursday morning, he filled two gallon jugs with figs while I held the ladder. I went home at lunch that day and made granola bars with figs in them, and then I got to chopping the rest of the figs on Friday to make preserves. They were every bit as good as I remembered, and they made a perfect spread for my bread when it came out of the oven yesterday. Hopefully, we'll be able to get that ladder again to pick another batch in the next few weeks!

Yummy figs...


Chopped and in the pot...


Turning into figgy mush...


Almost two jars of figgy goodness!

Wheat Buns

A few weeks ago, our friend, Matt, gave us a big roast fresh from the recently slaughtered cow from his family's farm, and he suggested we try making BBQ out of it. I figured that if we had such fresh meat, we should definitely have fresh buns to put it on. Thus began my search for bun recipes. This one is adapted from one that I found on www.breadworld.com for Burger Buns. The main changes I made were to add wheat germ, whole wheat flour, and sesame seeds. I also made the dough a day in advance, let it go through the first rise cycle, formed 8 buns, and refrigerated them on parchment paper on top of a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap for about 24 hours. I let them sit out for 2 or 3 hours to warm up the night we wanted to eat them, reformed them into buns (they flattened out in the fridge), let them rise another 20ish minutes, and then baked. They turned out great! Here is the recipe if you want to try it too:

1/2 cup warm water (100-110*F)
2 packets active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp, I used quick rise)
3/4 cup warm milk (100-110*F)
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp butter, softened
2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 1/2 - 4 cup all purpose flour
Sesame Seeds
Olive Oil

1. In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, and yeast. Stir in warm milk, butter, salt, eggs, wheat germ, and the whole wheat flour.

2. Continue stirring in more flour until dough has formed enough of a ball that it can be dumped out on floured surface. Knead and add flour until smooth and elastic, 4-6 minutes.

3. Coat a large glass bowl with olive oil, put dough ball into bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

4. Punch dough down. Pour out onto floured surface and form into a long loaf. Cut into 8 equal pieces. I think this was done most easily by dividing whole loaf in half, then the halves into fourths, then fourths into eighths. Form each piece into a smooth ball and place on large, greased baking sheet (you may need two as they expand quite a bit and mine ending up touching if they were all on one). Let rise in warm place until about doubled, 20-40 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 400*F. Beat remaining egg and brush on rolls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (or poppy seeds or minced onions...) Bake 10-15 minutes (recipe says 10-15 minutes "or until done..." which was more like 20-25 minutes, but that may have been due to my addition of wheat flour and wheat germ). Let cool on wire rack, cut in half, pile high with meat and toppings!

Country White Bread

Since I have been making my multigrain bread almost every week for more than a year now (I am a creature of habit, what can I say?), I finally decided it was time to branch out and try something new. I found this recipe for Country White Bread on www.cookingbread.com and was quite pleased with the results!

Dough:
1 cup water (lukewarm 110 - 115F)
1 cup buttermilk (room temp.)
1/4 cup oil
5-6 cups bread flour (I used about 1 1/2 cups wheat flour instead of all bread flour)
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs (beaten)
1 tablespoon salt
4 teaspoons instant yeast

Egg wash:
1 egg white
3 tablespoons milk

1. Mix together water, buttermilk, and oil. Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour until smooth. Add sugar and eggs. Mix in the salt. Then stir in yeast. Allow to sit uncovered for 15 minutes.

2. Add flour a 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is just a little bit sticky (I did all this in the stand mixer...it was VERY sticky...I used ALOT of flour). Once it's not as sticky, dump it out on floured surface and continue kneading by hand until smooth and elastic.

3. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl (I used a towel, recipe suggests plastic wrap) and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.

4. Pour out onto floured surface and divide dough in two. Shape each dough ball into a rectangle the length of a 5x9 loaf pan. Roll the dough like a jelly roll being sure to press with each rotation of the dough. Pinch the seam closed with your fingers. Place into two greased 5x9 loaf pans.

5. Cover and allow to rise until double in bulk about 45-60 minutes (mine was already about 2 inches about the top of my bread pans after 30 minutes, so I went ahead and baked the loaves!)

6. Make egg wash and brush the tops of the loaves. Wait 5 minutes then brush again. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes (recipe said 30-35 but mine were done before 30 minutes). When you tap the bottom of the loaf it should sound hollow. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Here's the end result:



This bread smelled so good that I just had to cut a slice (or two...) as soon as it came out of the oven! It is perfect: good crust on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside. I'm so excited that it made such large loaves and did not collapse in the middle as some of my loaves have done when they got that high above the top of my bread pans. These were so big that I really think I could have divided the dough into three loaves. Perhaps I just need larger bread pans. As I was making a sandwich for Charles this morning, I realized that these slices are more than double the height of my usual bread because the entire round slice of provolone fit on one slice with room to spare whereas I usually have to fold the cheese in half on the other bread to get it to fit.

Well, it is lunchtime here, and I am off to eat my own sandwich!

Best Ever Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Many of you have asked about this recipe over the past year, so I finally decided I should go ahead and post it! Sorry for the loooooooooong delay. I'd like to try to update this blog more regularly with our yeasty feasts. We have made various types of pizzas using this crust recipe almost every weekend for more than a year now, so I thought I'd share the goodness so you can try it as well:

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp yeast, not quick rise (this is equivalent to one packet)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour (or more if you want it more wheaty)
2-4 cups bread flour
any herbs you want to knead into the crust for more flavor (basil, oregeno, etc...)
corn meal to put on baking stones

1. Heat water until it is warm to touch (sorry I don't know an exact temperature...I usually get warm water from the tap and then heat it 30 sec in our microwave, but I know everyone's tap and microwave are different temps...) In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water and sprinkle yeast over top to activate. Let stand until foamy.

2. Stir in olive oil and salt to yeast mixture. Add any herbs you want. Add 2 cups of wheat flour and about 1 cup of bread flour (you can use all wheat if you want...I just think it rises better with some bread flour combined). Stir in bowl until it has formed a sticky dough ball that you can dump out on a floured surface to knead. The more flour you're able to stir in while it's in the bowl, the less mess you have once you dump it out to start kneading. You can also make this in a stand mixer using the dough hook and just keep adding flour until it forms a ball. I then usually hand knead it for a while after that.

3. Keep adding flour until it is not sticky (this takes awhile and often makes a big mess in the process!) Pour a bit of olive oil into a glass bowl to coat it, then put dough into bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a towel and let stand for about 1 hour, until doubled.

4. Punch down dough, divide in half, coat another bowl with olive oil, and put one half into each bowl. Cover again and let stand for about 1 hour, until each has doubled.

5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Cover 2 baking stones with corn meal. Flatten each dough ball and form into round crust. It takes some practice to stretch it out without putting holes in it! Rolling pins are helpful. Don't stress if it's not really round. Sometimes we end up with square pizzas. If you like thicker crust at the edges, fold over a bit of the edge part.

6. Bake crusts by themselves for 5 minutes to precook (this makes them crispier on the outside but still doughy inside). Decrease oven temp to 425 degrees F. Add toppings and bake pizzas for about 20 minutes or until cheese begins to brown. Enjoy!!

7. Tips for leftovers: be sure the pizza cools completely before you wrap it up. We've found it gets soggy if it's still warm. Separate slices by foil if stacking in a tupperware. Also, toaster ovens are the BEST for reheating! Much better than microwaves, and must faster than the oven.

Here are some of our favorites:

Shrimp Pesto (or chicken pesto)


Pesto, shrimp or chicken, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, fresh basil, roma tomatoes, parmesan cheese, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese = AMAZING. Probably my favorite.

The Traditional


Red sauce, pepperoni or sausage (or both!), red onion, green pepper, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, feta cheese...whatever other cheese you want to add! This has the easiest ingredients, and it's the one we make most often.

Margherita


Olive oil, garlic, roma tomatoes, fresh basil, FRESH mozzarella (best part!), parmesan cheese, feta cheese. No meat, but it's delicious! Inspired by our New York trip March 2008.

Southwestern Chicken


Salsa for sauce, chicken, green peppers, onions (you can saute the previous 3 in some kind of fajita seasoning for extra flavor), jalepenos (if you like spice!), mexican cheese. Very good with margaritas!

Well, that's it for now! I promise to try to post more yeasty goodness in the coming weeks. Happy kneading!

Multigrain

This has become our favorite sandwich bread.

The recipe:

1 cup water
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup oats (we use regular, not instant, oat meal)
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/3 cut bran
5 to 5-and-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat flour (all-purpose rises best, whole wheat tastes best)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 packages rapid-rise yeast
2 tsp salt
2 eggs

Mix the water, yogurt and oil and simmer
Stir in the oats, wheat germ and bran
Cool to very warm (120F to 130F) let stand for 30 minutes
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, brown sugar, yeast and salt
Add the bran melange
Stir in 1 egg and the rest of the flour to make a soft dough
Knead 6-8 minutes, then let the dough rest for 10 minutes
Divide the dough in half, roll into 12X7 loaves, pinch the ends to seal
Put seam-sides down in greased loaf pans
Let rise (30-45 minutes)
Cut 3 diagonal slashes on each loaf (keep it superficial, now)
Brush egg on top, sprinkle some wheat germ and oats for that bakery-fresh look
Bake at 375 (25-30 minutes)

From breadworld.com

Emily O'Dell's Sourdough Sensation

Here's where bWead of Wife got its start, the result of a night on Brian and Emily's back porch. Sourdough is just so tasty. It rises to make pretty deep loaves, which means BIG sandwiches for hungry husbands! (not to be confused with hungry hippos).

Some game-breakers:

You've got to have sourdough starter, which I know nothing about (but I can find out for a later post).

You've got to have the water amount and temperature just right, or the yeast won't rise. I think this is a common bread issue. If the yeast doesn't activate, you get bread like this:



... which is OK, but pretty dense, and not really good for sandwhiches. And isn't that the point afterall -- making sure hungry husbands have lunch food? What, that's not the point?

But even when you get the temperature just right, sometimes the dough takes on a life of its own:



Anyway, the recipe:

2 packages yeast
1 and 1/4 cups warm water
1 cup starter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, beaten
5 and 1/2 to 6 cups flour

Mix the yeast and warm water together and let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine the yeast mixture, starter, oil, sugar, salt, eggs, 3 cups flour in a non-metal bowl.
Gradually stir in the flour to make a soft dough
Turn the dough on floured surface (so it doesn't stick), knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes -- it's a good work out)
Put the kneaded dough in a well greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size (about 90 minutes)
Get mad at your husband and take it out on the dough! Go ahead, PUNCH it down in the middle (this is actually part of the recipe whether you're mad or not)
Divide the dough in half, form into two loaves and put them in bread pans
Brush tops with oil, let rise (60 minutes)
Bake at 375 (30-35 minutes)

You know the bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Tip: Brush the tops of the loaves with beaten egg for a tougher, glistening crust.

Sharing aromas

There are few things as pleasant as the smell of baking bread wafting from the oven throughout the house. It's so good, in fact, that Nicki and I wanted to share it.

Thanks to a little inspiration from our friends Dena and Kari, we decided to share with you what Nicki is creating in the kitchen.

It all started at the first of the year with a crusade against high-fructose corn syrup. We were appalled to find it even in our grocery store-bought whole wheat bread.

So Nicki, despite her "terribly busy schedule" at work, began researching alternatives; she decided to take kneading into her own hands. The results have been fabulous. From sour dough to multi-grain, bagels to pizza dough, she's baking it all and more. We'll share all we can here in hopes that soon you'll have those comforting, homey, anti-HFCS smells coming from your oven.