The night got deathly quiet, and the gambler, he broke even. But in his final words, I found an ace that I could keep.
I made Outrageously Easy BIG Bread last night. Thank you Renae, for the recipe. It turned out delicious. There was one problem however, as the bread never really got BIG. It was more of a small to medium sized loaf. Perhaps I do need to find some vital wheat gluten or maybe just use a little baking soda for additional leavening. Or should I look for a decent self-rising flour instead?
The recipe called for 6 cups of flour, so I used 5 cups whole wheat and 1 cup unbleached white. I even mixed and kneaded the dough with my hands. Upon it's departure from the oven, it smelled so good that I could not help but to cut it while it was still warm and share a couple of pieces with my husband. He said it was great and he does not really like wheat bread. The recipe made two loaves so I decided I would send the other loaf to my in-laws via my husband, since he was heading that way to attend a funeral today.
I was so proud of my creation that I decided that I did not want it to get hard by sitting overnight. I cut a vacuum sealer bag. I sealed one end. I slid a beautiful loaf into the bag. I started the machine. The bag started to shrink and take on the shape of the loaf. As I struggled to find the button seal the bag at that certain point, I witnessed the fate of my lovely loaf flatten into something that looked like an oversized raisin. I grabbed a pair scissors to hopefully rescue the bread by cutting into the bag. It was too late. The loaf never regained it's former self.
I called my mom-in-law and told her about my wonderful creation and about how I ruined it. She laughed and said that was ok and to send it her way. She was sure that it tasted great anyway. She also gave me a few pointers as to what to do with the bread instead of smushing it. There is always next time.
The recipe called for 6 cups of flour, so I used 5 cups whole wheat and 1 cup unbleached white. I even mixed and kneaded the dough with my hands. Upon it's departure from the oven, it smelled so good that I could not help but to cut it while it was still warm and share a couple of pieces with my husband. He said it was great and he does not really like wheat bread. The recipe made two loaves so I decided I would send the other loaf to my in-laws via my husband, since he was heading that way to attend a funeral today.
I was so proud of my creation that I decided that I did not want it to get hard by sitting overnight. I cut a vacuum sealer bag. I sealed one end. I slid a beautiful loaf into the bag. I started the machine. The bag started to shrink and take on the shape of the loaf. As I struggled to find the button seal the bag at that certain point, I witnessed the fate of my lovely loaf flatten into something that looked like an oversized raisin. I grabbed a pair scissors to hopefully rescue the bread by cutting into the bag. It was too late. The loaf never regained it's former self.
I called my mom-in-law and told her about my wonderful creation and about how I ruined it. She laughed and said that was ok and to send it her way. She was sure that it tasted great anyway. She also gave me a few pointers as to what to do with the bread instead of smushing it. There is always next time.
posted by Nikki | 7:51 AM
2 Comments:
I'm glad you liked the bread! That is the problem with whole grain, though - they never rise as much. One solution would be to use more bread or all-purpose flour vs whole wheat, which would have the added benefit of your husband liking it even more. I think most people need to be "weaned" into liking whole wheat bread because it's such a departure from what they are used to. Once you get used to it, it's hard to go back.
Oh, and I thought of something else. If you CAN find a bread maker in a thrift store, you can use it just for the kneading cycle and then bake the bread yourself. That'd be a lot cheaper than getting a stand mixer you don't really need otherwise.
I am going to the store tonight because my husband messed with the refrigerator thermostat and froze the majority of my produce, so I will see if they carry any King Arthur Whole Grain Unbleached Bread Flour as I saw in their website when I replenish my produce, since I will already be there. Last night, I did not have much white flour at all (maybe a cup and a half) when I made that batch of dough last night and my traditional whole wheat flour supply is pretty much depleted now also. I plan to use a half white
and half whole grain mixture next go around.
Mixing and kneading the dough with my hands was not much of a chore at all. I may not be so lucky with another recipe. In fact, I almost found it to be theraputic. It reminded me of the poor Nikki that used to knead and roll pizza dough many years ago.
It did surprise me that hubby liked that homemade wheat bread so much. Maybe because it was fresh from the oven and the house was smelling yummy. He is usually all about the store brand white thin sandwich stuff.
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