Bread Diary Update

I have recently discovered an efficient way to make home made bread. This is a flexible rising and baking plan, and it offers options for the final product, as well.

After you have mixed your bread dough,* put it in a glass or enamel bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set it in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. The great thing about this method of bread making is that you do not have to complete the additional steps at any particular time. The bread dough can sit in the refrigerator for up to one week. I like to have some dough waiting in the refrigerator almost all of the time.

When you want to bake, simply take the amount of dough you want to use, and put the rest back.
For instance, if you want to make a single loaf, pull off about 1/2 of the dough and form into the shape you want.

Let it sit in a warm place until it doubles in size. Then bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. The rise from the refrigerated state will take about 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

Another advantage to having bread dough in the refrigerator is that it is an easy way to make naan, which is an East Indian fry bread. Pull off several small lumps of dough (plum size) and, with floured hands, form them into round, flat shapes - approximately 7 inches in diameter. Fry with a small amount of oil on a medium low temperature.  No rising time is needed for these; you can fry them as soon as you form them. I like to use these as sandwich bread.

You can also use the naan to make a sort of multi-national breakfast taco. Fill the naan with scrambled egg and bacon and any condiments you like, such as: sour cream, chopped fresh basil, salsa, or chutney.

Basic recipe:

1/2 cup warm (80 - 90 F) water with a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of yeast
Put the yeast mixture in a glass container and let it sit in a warm place until it begins to bubble and foam. It should rise up about an inch or two.

After your yeast has worked a bit, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

1 3/4 cup warm water
5 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup flax meal
2 eggs (optional)

This recipe will not work well as a gluten free option, but you can certainly vary the flours you use. Oat flour, amaranth, spelt, einkorn, whole wheat, fava bean flour, garbonzo bean flour, almomd meal, and many others can be used in place of a portion of the wheat flour. No wheat flour = no gluten= no rising. But a dough with 1/2 wheat and 1/2 alternatives seems to work pretty well.

For more ingredients that can be added to bread, see some older posts or be an adventurer and just add something you like!

Be kind whenever possible; it is always possible. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama