Dough Rae Me by Thryn Franz

The Ingredients

And so it begins, fellow ruggers know that Saturday is a rugby day. Today is a cooking day. Plans, plans, and yet- no plans. I aim to make bread and lots of it. My cooking pattern follows that of the binge alcoholic, I can’t have just one, so I usually knock out a week of meals in a day. While I love to create and prepare, one only has so much time for indulgences. On numerous occasions I have been referred to as having an ‘Old Soul’ for my fundamental interests (i.e. baking, knitting, gardening) Perhaps it is just my fierce independence rearing its head that has me attempting the basics but I have a strong belief that one should know how to make the things that you use on a daily basis. Starting with things like ketchup, mayonnaise, and salsa that are easy and building on that. Not suggesting that you should always & only make them, but rather to have that information in the reserves, for a rainy day. If nothing else you know what your food is or perhaps should be comprised of. A dear friend once said to follow the K.I.S.S. philosophy; Keep It Simple Stupid. While this is applicable to many avenues of life it’s particularly refreshing in the food world as it gets muddled with the GMO’s, chemicals, and hormones. But I digress, enough of that- WE HAVE TO MAKE BREAD!


A quick inventory tells me that I have no bread, of any kind, but all of the ingredients to make bread. Well, sort of. My recently acquired 25lb bag of Unbleached All-Purpose Flour waits patiently in the corner while it appears that I only have about 3-4 cups worth of Bread Flour. The difference you may ask? Sit down child and I will explain! Flour production involves separating the cracked grain into three different parts: germ, bran, and endosperm. It is the endosperm that contains the gluten, which is a protein. Bread flour is specifically bred to have higher protein content. This protein is imperative to proper bread production as is allows the dough to become elastic through moisture and agitation (aka kneading). The elasticity or strength of the dough is directly related to its ability to rise as it has to trap the gasses released during fermentation. With that being said all-purpose is certainly the next best thing and can be used to make bread, it just has a lower protein content. Some suggest adding a teaspoon of gluten flour or vital wheat gluten per cup of all-purpose but I don’t have that either so we are just going to cross our fingers and hope the best.

Breads and cheeses are some of the only things that I adhere strictly (relatively) to a formal recipe as you are dealing with live organisms and you have to respect that cause if you don’t they die and it messes everything up. The first recipe of the day comes from one of my favorite people, my Dad. He is the source of my culinary passion and despite my inability to concentrate, walked me through my first loaves of bread. DILYMTYWELM. The recipe is for a basic white bread loaf but trust and believe, we are going to spiff it up a bit.

Ingredients:

· 2.5 t or 1 pkg - active dry yeast
· 1 t sugar
· ¾ c warm water ( 110° F or 45° C)
· 12 oz. can evaporated milk
· ¼ c shortening, melted
· ¼ c honey (I used agave nectar in the absence of honey)
· 2 t salt
· 5-6 c bread flour* ( see substitutions below)
· 1 T buttah (when in Rome right?)
· ¼ c high quality H²O

*I ended up using 2 c bread flour, ¼ c dry milk, ½ c dehydrated potato flakes, and something like 3-4 c all-purpose flour.

Check, check, check. Yet something is missing. Ahhh, how can one expect to whip up miracles in dead air? I throw on a favorite pump up mix, courtesy DJ A-con (give it a listen at: http://soundcloud.com/djacon/play-this-at-a-party-live-mix) and I’m ready to go. As previously mentioned the baking of bread is some serious business, we are dealing with live micro-organisms! Yeast is the particular fungi in question and the first step to baking is convincing the little guys (or girls if you will) to ‘wake up’. You can accomplish this by feeding it in a warm and moist environment.

A Nice Frothy Yeast

So I mixed the active dry yeast, sugar, and warm water in a small ceramic bowl (I have no idea if it’s true that yeast is reactive to metal in this phase but I was once told that and I’ve obliged the alleged preference ever since). Once mixed let it sit undisturbed for about 5- 10 minutes. You want it to have a nice bubbly froth on the surface which is indicative to whether or not it’s working. Yeast releases two byproducts when fed; carbon dioxide and alcohol, hence, the aforementioned texture.

While that’s brewin’ I threw together the evaporated milk, additional water, shortening, agave nectar, and salt. Once the yeast concoction is ready I tossed that with the liquid mix and gave it a stir for even distribution. Here is where you start adding the flour and I would advise sifting it. Not only is it oddly satisfying but it practically eliminates the chance for nasty flour clumps contaminating your dough.

Start by adding 2 c of flour and mixing, then ½ c at a time the rest until it had pulled together (You can substitute 1 c flour for ½ c dehydrated potato flakes & ¼ c dry milk, which I did). Once it resembles a mass, albeit more tacky than sticky, you can turn it out on a floured surface and begin the kneading (remember this is the part that sets up the protein elasticity!) until smooth and springy, roughly 8 minutes.

All Dressed And No Where To Go...But UP

Oil a large ceramic bowl, insert dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until it has doubled. You can go have a dance party, run some errands or stick around and make something delicious to go on your bread because it usually takes one to two hours to rise. I tend to cook since by this point I’m already covered in flour and am, therefore, pot committed. Today is no different and I begin to prepare more batches of yeast for breadsticks and hamburger buns, both firsts for me.

It Has Risen!

Two hours elapse and the breadsticks, hamburger buns, and basic bread have all risen to the occasion and it’s time for my favorite part! Frustrations and anger be gone- it’s time to punch down the dough!!! Truly it’s a moment to be savored. With the first whack the whole swollen mass collapses in defeat, leaving me standing over it with a triumphant look. Yes, I’m dominating my dough. So what, who cares?! We don’t stop there with a couple more one-two’s to ensure a nice compact dough and its ready for shaping and proofing.

Proofing is the fancy pants term for the second round of rising but first we must mold our pre-pubescent dough to the loaves they will become. This is easily accomplished by simply dividing the dough in half, rolling into loaf like shapes, and pinching the ends to seal it. Place the shaped loaves into two butter or oiled 9x5” loaf pans. Brush the melted butter over the tops of them, loosely cover with a plastic wrap ( I use plastic grocery bags), and set to rise in a warm spot to proof for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

The Beatdown

Here is where my tendency to overschedule myself got me into trouble. Typically proofing, as mentioned, is usually 30 minutes. I naively made the mistake of scheduling a horse riding session on a baking day thinking that “surely I would be done by then”. This was not the case and I found myself darting out the door leaving my bread to proof for a solid two hours. Alas, I am my own obstacle in my pursuit for baking perfection and I’m okay with that.

Upon return I immediately throw the oven 375° and brace myself for what is waiting under the plastic. While uncovering they shrink back but just barely, as if flinching from the exposure. I find two voluptuous mounds that have certainly taken the ‘until double in size’ to heart. There seems to be no perceptible harm aside from the fact that they’re huge. Well alright then!

I’m so close to being done I can almost taste it. Almost. When baking bread we want a nice crust to form with soft and fluffy innards and to do this we need moisture. If the air in the oven is too dry then it dries out the loaf and makes it hard and crunchy on the outside leaving the inside undercooked and gooey. I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeves that I’ve borrowed from others sleeves to keep things kosher, not literally. One, you can fill a small pan with hot water and place it on the lowest rack to add moisture to the internal environment. Two, you can use a spray bottle filled with warm water to periodically pop the oven open and spray the loaves directly.

Kind Of Looks Like Two Ugly Fetuses

Dough On 'Roids

The oven dings signifying the desired temperature has been reached and I recoat the tops with another layer of butter and center them on the oven rack at mid-level. If you have a good memory then rotate the pans mid-bake or if not, set the timer to remind you. Baking time ranges from 25-35 minutes and we want a golden brown color. That’s if everything goes according to plan and my plan was a little hectic. In my haste I forgot to rotate or spray with water. Combine that with the enormity of the loaves and I ended up having to remove them from the oven prematurely to avoid a burnt crust. After removing and cooling I discovered this left a small portion in the very center of one of the loaves uncooked and gooey, however the crust and ends were phenomenal. My resourcefulness kicked in and I cut the ends off and used the less than adequate center to make veggie burgers that paired fantastically.

All in all I declare this a success as I ended up with a loaf and a half of useful bread, pizza dough, breadsticks, hamburger buns, veggie burgers, and I still got in some riding time! Next time I will leave the day free and clear though.

Beautimus Breadimus