Thursday, April 16, 2015

Yeast, Dough, and Homemade Bread

I could probably make this a series, because there's a lot to be said about that staple of civilization, bread.

Among my early, very happy, childhood memories are ones spent with my mother in our dim, 1940s-relic kitchen, baking or sewing. One of my favorite times to spend with my mother was bread day, even if I couldn't stand the bread she made (it included orange zest, to which I don't object in certain applications, buuuut ... not in bread) I'd wash my hands, grab one of Mom's aprons, and we'd both knead the dough on the breadboard.

The smells of yeast blooming, dough proofing, and bread baking are so comforting!

These days, it would appear that the "in" thing to do among certain types of food people (and some kinds of diet-overhaul people) is to bake one's own bread. So there are an abundance of no-knead bread recipes in cookbooks and online.

I tried one of these the other day, because I wanted bakery rolls to go with reheated meatballs and sauce, though I departed from my normal "follow the recipe exactly the first time" procedure to try and incorporate white whole wheat flour into the mix for a bit of extra fiber and nutrition.

While the dough turned out fairly well, the resultant rolls and boule loaf were a bit more dense than either my husband or I wanted, and the kid wouldn't touch it.

I'll re-make it at some point, but I'll happily follow the recipe exactly for a lighter texture.

If I'm going to work with the whole wheat flour again, I'll simply have to look into a kneaded dough recipe.

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