Bavarian-style Whole Grain Pumpernickel Bread ...for World Bread Day 2010

How can something be kind of bitter...yet also comforting all at the same time?  It looms so prominently in front of you.  It beckons you with an unspoken promise of satisfaction...fulfillment...riches.  You can smell it.  It's luring you into its web.  Then suddenly you take a bite and are confronted by something far more strong and complex than you imagined.  Each move of the jaw releases a pungent...yet not unpleasant...assault to your taste buds.  Almost jaw-achingly chewy crust gives way to warm, tender insides.  Sure, that initial bubble of dreams you got caught up in has vanished...but a new world, full of possibilities looms before you.
Am I talking about Pumpernickel or my elimination from PFB 2010?  Perhaps both.  You decide.  Either way, I want to make sure that everybody who supported me and voted for me throughout the process knows how much I appreciate that...you guys rock my world! I'm of the mind that whispers inspiring things like..."when one door closes, another one opens" and "things happen for a reason", though...so no worries, my friends. 

Bavarian-style Whole Grain Pumpernickel Bread

from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

yield: 4 lbs. dough (easily halved or doubled)

2½ c. whole wheat flour

2¾ c. rye flour

2½ c. unbleached ap flour

1½ Tbs. granulated yeast

1 Tbs. kosher salt

¼ c. homemade liquid caramel color *see recipe below

¼ c. vital wheat gluten

1 Tbs. caraway seeds

2 Tbs. molasses

3¾ c. lukewarm water

Whisk together flours, yeast, salt, vital wheat gluten, and caraway seeds in a 5 quart bowl of lidded food container.

Combine liquid caramel color, molasses, and water and then mix them into dry ingredients, using a wooden spoon...switching to your hands in the end if necessary to mix in the dry ingredients.  Dough will be wet. 

Cover (not airtight), and allow dough to sit at room temperature until it rises and collapses (flattens), ~2 hours.

Use dough immediately, or refrigerate covered (not airtight) and use over next seven days.  Dough is easier to work with when refrigerated.

When you're ready to bake, cut off a piece of dough according to what you need.  I used a 1½ lb. piece to make this loaf.  I have yet to get myself a brotform/banneton (basket mold made for rising wetter dough), so I lined a bowl w/ a linen towel and dusted it very well with flour.  Sprinkle some flour on your work surface, then form dough into  a ball by stretching the surface of the dough to the bottom while rotating, quarter-inch turns.  Place loaf into bowl (or brotform/banneton), rounded side down.  Cover loosely w/ plastic or a floured towel and let rise at room temperature for ~90 minutes (or ~40 if using immediately w/out refrigerating).  This type of bread doesn't get a huge rise here.  (You could also make a free form loaf and let it rise on a floured pizza peel.)

Preheat oven to 450° F. during the last 30 minutes of rising time, placing your baking stone on the middle rack.  You can either place an empty metal broiler tray on a different rack (and add a cup of boiling water immediately after putting loaf into oven) or simply be ready to throw in some ice cubes like I do.  I did read somewhere that this lowers the temperature of the oven a bit duh!, but I like to do it this way.

Gently turn your basket/bowl upside down onto preheated stone.  Make ¼" deep slashes in a cross pattern on top.  Bake for ~35-40 minutes, until firm.  Allow to cool on rack. 

*Caramel Coloring

yield: ~¼ c.

(Caramel color powder is made by overheating sugar until it almost burns, use this in place of it if you can't find it, decreasing water by the amount used...which is what I already did in recipe above.)  This is very important for pumpernickel breads because it imparts a bitterness that compliments the wheat and rye flavors, as well as enhancing the color of the bread.

3 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. water

pinch Cream of Tartar

(¼ c. boiling water- reserved until the end)

Place sugar and water in a small saucepan.  Melt sugar over low flame, then increase heat to med-high.  Cover boil for 2 minutes.  Add cream of tartar and continue to boil, uncovered, until mixture becomes very dark.  WARNING: this happens in the blink of an eye...almost immediately w/ this amount, actually!  Remove from heat, allow to cool partially.  Very carefully stir in the boiling water to dissolve the caramelized sugar.  Store in fridge until needed (unless making and using immediately).

You decide to take that wisdom...the wisdom gained from having your expectations turned upside down and rearranged...and use it in new endeavors.  Perhaps you'll even slice it, butter it, grill it...add a little swiss and make it all melty, some hot corned beef, smelly-delicious sauerkraut, and that oddly-fascinating Thousand Island dressing...and make yourself a Reuben.  The world is your oyster...

How will you celebrate World Bread Day 2010?
This bread has been Yeastspotted! A baked good for BYOB.  The reuben is heading over to Souper Sundays!

Anadama Rolls...earthy, comforting, traditional

Although I usually make this bread in cooler months, there are times when I simply must listen to my body and satisfy a craving!  Anadama bread is a type of  corn bread, rooted in Native American tradition; it's sweetened with molasses, which is an unrefined sweetener.  It's deep, complex...somewhat like a bitter caramel (not unlike the flavors I look for in my favorite beer).  I'm fortunate enough to have a local grain mill that has some gorgeous cornmeal, though I'd love to find some blue cornmeal to use in a future batch of Anadama bread.  Make a large, round, free-form loaf and rip off a hunk to eat with some grilled meats this summer...or wait and bring it to your autumn table and serve it with roasted meats and game.  Either way, you may find yourself craving some at the oddest times.

Anadama Bread (or rolls)
recipe (ever-so-slighty-adapted) from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois
makes 4- 1# loaves, recipe easily doubled or halved

1 1/2 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. wheat germ
2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
3 c. unbleached ap flour
1 1/2 Tbs. granulatd yeast,
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1/4 c. vital wheat gluten
3 1/2 c. lukewarm water
1/2 c. molasses

1. Whisk together first 7 ingredients in a 5-qt bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) container.

2. Combine water and molasses and mix them with the dry ingredients w/out kneading, using a spoon, a 14-c. food processor (w/ dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (w/ paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you're not using a machine.

3.  Cover (not airtight), and allow dough to rest at room temp until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), ~2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold.  Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days. 

5. On baking day, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough w/ flour and cut off a 1-lb. piece (grapefruit size). 

Dust w/ flour and quicly shape into a ball by stretching surface of dough around to bottom on all four sides, rotating a quarter-turn as you go and let it rest on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal...or divide into ~12 even pieces and form balls to make rolls, putting them in a 9x13 pan, dusted with cornmeal or sprayed.

6.  Allow the formed dough to rest, loosely covered w/ plastic wrap for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you're using the dough immediately instead of from the refrigerator).  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F thirty minutes before you're ready to bake.

7. Place a baking stone on center oven rack and an empty metal broiler tray on bottom of oven. 

8.  Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crust w/ water.  Slash the loaf w/ 1/4" deep parallel cuts, using a serrated bread knife.  I didn't actually do this with the rolls.

9.  Slide the loaf (or pan of rolls) directly onto the hot stone.  our 1 c. of hot water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door.  Bake for ~30 minutes, until richly browned and firm. Check after ~20 if making rolls.

The method that is used to make dough in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a no-knead method...it's a great way for you to start baking your own bread if you're a bit yeast-shy.  I love the actual process of kneading, but I also like being able to keep some bread dough on hand, ready to be baked at any time in the fridge!

These Anadama Rolls have been YEASTSPOTTED!

I am also sending this to BYOB, hosted this summer by Cathy of Bread Experience...HBin5 bread braid hosted by Michele of Big Black Dog...Fight Back Friday by Kristen of Food Renegade and Wholesome Whole Foods hosted by Michelle of Health Food Lover.

Twisted-up Everything Bread ...and yummy stuff for shmearing...on Moon & Stars bread...or any other.

There's been lots of fun with yeast around mi casa over past week or so.  I went to make another batch of Whole Grain Artisan bread, only to realize I was basically out of Whole Wheat flour...and I had already begun mixing the other things. I changed it up a bit and hoped for the best.  I ended up having less than a cup of the ww flour, so I subbed bread flour...not quite as healthy, but turned out every bit as satisfying!  Next came deciding what to actually make from the dough.  This was a crazy week anyway with it being the last week of school for the kiddos...which included field trips, end of year programs and field day...so we were out of the house a lot.  That's one of the cool things about making the no-knead dough...it lasts a few days in the fridge.  Although, my dough was kind of iffy this week...it seemed to be getting a bit too wet!?  It was hard to form...it just sort of sat and spread it's way across the surface it was resting on.  Basically it didn't rise as well as it could have, but you know...it didn't lose any of its appeal. You know how I adore food with rustic appeal, anyway.

The first loaf I made was from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day...called Moon and Stars Bread...although I prefer to call it Crescent Moon bread; that's what it looks like after all!  Since this was the first loaf made from the dough, it wasn't quite as wet as it got later...but you can tell it didn't rise as much as a regular, kneaded loaf.  But the dusting of sesame seeds on top and the fun shape totally made up for it!  I used the recipe (slightly adapted, obviously...with the flours) for Whole Grain Artisan Bread found HERE at the HBin5 website.  From here you just form a 1 lb. size piece of the dough into tapered ends and form it into a crescent shape.  After a 90-minute rest, brush it with water and sprinkle it with sesame seeds before cutting slits around the sides with kitchen shears.  Bake ~30 minutes or until done.

This was a great tasting loaf made even better by shmearing with a little White Bean and Roasted Garlic Purée w/ Thyme, which is from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.

White Bean Purée with Roasted Garlic (& thyme)
slightly adapted
2 c. cooked Great Northern Beans
20 roasted Garlic cloves
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 Tbs. olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Purée beans, garlic and thyme in blender or food processor...adding a bit of the bean cooking liquid or water or stock until it just makes a smooth purée.  Add to small saucepan with olive oil and mix until hot.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dip it, spread it, shmear it!

...and now on to my favorite surprise from this dough...a happy surprise!  Although I had my doubts...when I turned out the last 3 pounds of the dough onto the counter, it was wet.  Very, very wet.  I added a bit of flour just to help me form the loaves.  I divided it into five ropes and rolled each rope in different delicious toppings.  I wanted to make a twisted-ropelike loaf...um...it was a struggle just to braid them.  Once I left the loaves (I cut it in half because it was a lot of dough) to rise...they just sort of melted together...no visible twist.  Ugh.  BUT, the gorgeous toppings were still twisted and combined and scattered...they looked gorgeous!

I let them rise for ~1 hour and cooked them at 450 degrees F for ~35 minutes, until they were golden and inviting!  What was really cool about the bread was the goodies enveloped inside...since the ropes melded together, there were seeds, crunchy salt, pungeant garlic and mellow, roasted, delicious garlic cloves hidden inside!  It was soooo tasty.  It didn't form and rise perfectly...as a matter of fact it kind of looked like a loaf of ciabatta...but man, was it tasty!

It was delicious sliced lengthwise and made into sammies!  I used what I had today which was salami, pepper-jack cheese, roasted red peppers and bbq potato chips...sound strange?  It was awesome! Mingled with all the deliciousness going on in the bread itself...I think I'll go make another when I'm done here, actually.

Me and my Twisted Everything Bread...we're goin' places.  Like on a picnic...yeah, that sounds perfect.

*I am submitting my Twisted Everything Bread to my friend Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies for Bread Baking Day #30~ Breads with a twist.
*I am submitting both breads to the current HBin5 Bread Braid...our host for HBin5 is Michelle of Big Black Dog...where the HBin5 group is based!
*The White Bean Purée with Roasted Garlic is my entry to this week's Herb Garden theme over at IHCC...please join us!
*And last, but not least...I'm sending the bread to Susan at Wild Yeast submission into Yeastspotting this week.
Whew!

This bread has been YEASTSPOTTED!!!

Whole Grain Artisan Bread

It seems like a long time since I posted my last yeast bread...I guess cuz it has been.  Hmmm (easy explanation).  Well, don't worry...I haven't given up bread ; )

This Whole Grain Artisan Bread from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a great all-around bread dough (and a Master Recipe from the book).  I love slicing it for sammies, ripping it off for sopping up lovely juices or soups and forming it into pizza dough...it's fantastic!

I'm going to give you the link for the Whole Grain Artisan Bread recipe at the Healthy Bread in Five website...because it's long...and I'm lazy.  Far too lazy to write it out...but I'll show you some highlights.

The beautiful rise...works every time!

Free-form baguettes rising

I wanted to add some gorgeous sea salt to the top...

Oh, Yeah!

Check out that nice crumb!

Can't you just smell it!?  This is a fabulous book for both beginners and advanced bakers, alike.  I recommend it to anyone who loves the smell of fresh baked bread permeating their kitchen!  I'm gonna try to add this to the bread braid for HBin5, hosted by Michelle of Big Black Dog...except that the braid for this particular bread was waaaaay back in January (while I was on hiatus)...time for me to get baking so I can catch up!

This bread has been YEASTSPOTTED!

I am also linking this to Chaya for her Meatless Mondays over at My Sweet and Savory. ...and to Laura of Hey What's for Dinner Mom's Just Another Meatless Monday!

Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries & Orange Zest (for our 2nd Bread Braid)

Bread baking time again...hooray! Do you remember me joining the fairly new baking group HBinFive? The one that helped me conquer that fear of the BBY forever? Well, it's time for our December bonus recipe...and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out! We officially begin baking from the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day in the new year, so you have plenty of time to grab your own copy and join us over at Big Black Dog our home base with our host Michelle. While our bonus recipe last month was given to us by Zoe Francois, one half of the team who brings us the book HBin5, this months was chosen by the other half, Jeff Hertzberg, MD. While I can't post the recipe for the Whole Grain Challah with cranberries and orange zest, I can tell you that it is posted HERE...and then show you my process of baking it...so pretty and just begging to be photographed! One thing that I love and that has been so helpful in conquering my fear of the BBY, is the simple process given for the bread in HBin5. Mixing the dry ingredients... ...and then adding the wet...that's it. Look how beautifully this dough rose over the course of a couple of hours! I ripped off an approximately 1 lb. piece and divided into three, formed them into ropes and did a simple braid for my first try. Take my picture, take my picture!! I let it rise for ~90 minutes oh yeah and then gave it an egg wash and sprinkling of sugar and orange zest. It came out of the oven all golden and crusty and beautiful...and sliced up just as nice. Why did I ever fear yeast? I no longer remember. Be sure to head on over to this months Bread Braid to see all of the other variations that were baked up by the members of HBin5!