The Sinister Scribe

First the baking (fun) part of this post…

Made my first attempt at wheat-free bread last week. This is the loaf. It fell during baking but is quite edible. Maybe add a little more flour next time? The recipe (found here) calls for a lot of ingredients that I’m not used to putting into bread. LOL! Like gelatin. I think I’ll try it again with just a little more flour (or less liquid, next time)

This morning, I made Raspberry Buckwheat Waffles (recipe found here). They were yummy and crispy… if a bit hard to pry off the waffle iron. I didn’t have buckwheat flour so I used sorghum (I think, my collection of “flours” is getting hard to remember).

Today I baked a loaf of Multi-Grain Artisan-Style Bread (found here). It is yummy. Lots of flavor but rather dense. Very filling! I don’t have a picture of it though.

I *thought* I had this allergy thing under wraps. (I hear you laughing. Stop it.) Weeeeeelllll, today after dinner, I broke out in a rash all around my mouth. GrrrrrrRRRrrrr!

There was also nothing with wheat in it. The only difference between this week and last is that I cooked dinner today. It wasn’t from a box labeled “wheat free.” Egads! Do I have to replace all my cookware? The waffle iron is probably a biggie. I almost went out and bought a new one today (will do tomorrow). But what about the glass casserole dish the bread and then the chicken was cooked in?!

Last week I did bake those cookies and muffins… muffin tins, cookie sheet and spatula are all old ones and I didn’t have a reaction. I did grind the sweet rice for the bread, but the coffee/herb/grain mill has never been used for wheat. Oats yes, but not wheat.

No, I haven’t tested oats yet.

On a lighter note… I ran nearly 5 miles on Sunday. Go me! 4.75 to be exact. Took me 52 minutes exactly. Not great but not bad. Paid for it for the rest of the day. I was really tired!

*sigh* Back to year end test preparation…

I think I’ve finally realized the key ingredient for great bread… patience. Lots of. freaking. patience.

Take these beauties for example. If you count developing the “poolish,” it takes 17 hours of fermenting/proofing! But oh baby! is it ever worth it. Yeah, I know… I shouldn’t be eating bread. At least this recipe doesn’t make me itch as bad and my mouth doesn’t hurt at all… unless I eat the whole loaf… which is REALLY easy to do. *sigh* And it makes a great pizza crust!

One other thing… if you have a really crappy oven (like mine), cooking the loaves in a heavy lidded pot (like cast iron) while in the oven makes them turn out like a hearth bread. Oh so cracklingly crunchy on the outside. Soft and sproingy on the inside. As if I didn’t love my cast iron cook pot enough already.

Here’s how I’ve been doing it…

Day 1: Make poolish

• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups water

Mix well. Cover and let sit for 4 hours. Then pop in the fridge overnight. OR… take out one cup to make bread with today and store the rest in the fridge to make more bread tomorrow. (and the next day)

Day 2: Make bread

Take  a cup of poolish from fridge an hour before you want to use it.  Into the mixer it goes with 1 1/4 cups warm water, 3/4 tsp yeast and your flour. How much? Depends upon what flour, I’m finding. Usually around 3 or so cups. 1/4 cup of that is wheat, the rest is unbleached white. I add a little oil (tablespoon or so) at the end of the kneading (I use a kitchenaid mixer).

Cover and let rise for 2 hours. I just cover the kitchenaid bowl with a plate.

Punch down. Knead for a minute. And repeat the above line.

Carefully turn out the dough. Don’t really want to deflate it this time. I cut it into 2 pieces and form each into a round loaf by tucking the edges under unill the top is tight. Put them on a well floured cotton towel and cover.

Let rest for an hour. 30 minutes into that time. Preheat the oven WITH your heavy lidded pot in it.

Then, carefully turn the rounds over into the pot(s). Add slashes to their tops if you are so inclined. I bake mine at 425 for 15 minutes with the lid on. Then I take the lid off and bake for another 10 minutes or so.

Amazingly they pop right out of the pans. No oiling needed!

Day 3: repeat day 2

Day 4: do it all again ‘coz you still don’t have any bread in the pantry.

I could make batch after batch of this and never have bread sitting around. I swear it vaporizes. ;)  My son, bless his heart, goes on and on to anyone who will listen about how good this bread is.

Meet Herman!

One day in December, Bob brought home Herman. Yes, I named my sourdough starter. I figure if I’m gonna feed it and clean its “cage,” I need to name it. I am considering knitting him a frankenstein-looking cover. LOL!

Step 1: In mixer bowl combine; then mix well on the “2″ setting.

• 1C sourdough starter
• 1 1/2C warm water (distilled)
• 1T honey
• 1C bread flour
• 2t SAF yeast

Step 2: let “sponge” for 15 - 20 minutes

Step 3: Add to mixer bowl; incorporate flour a little at a time until dough is only a bit tacky

• 1T dough enhancer
• 1T olive oil
• 2t salt
• 4 - 5 1/2C bread flour (no more!)

Step 4: Kneed on speed 2 for 6 - 8 minutes using a little more oil as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Shape into loaves or what ever you’d like and let rise for one hour or until double.

Step 5: Bake on 425 until it passes the “thump” test.

Notes:

• Bread flour makes a huuuuuge difference!
• Dough enhancer really does help.
• This is not a strong sourdough taste.
• It does not have that crunchy sourdough crust.
• It is like a regular loaf of bread with a little bit of sourdough flavor.
• It does not bother my skin as much as 100% commercial yeast bread.
• It makes AWESOME pizza dough