|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Making Home Made Bread, the New Fashioned Way By
Arlene Correll |
|
Many years ago, I made bread that came from Hazel Wright’s 5 loaf
recipe. Matter of fact it was Hazel who taught me how to make bread.
Making bread was an ordinary chore at the farm.
Part of life that was taken for granted!
No one ever brought home a loaf of “store bought” bread!
“Store Bought” bread was the only kind I was raised on and
making bread did not enter my life until I was 19 years old.
It was a joy to knead the bread, to inhale the scent of yeast as I worked the dough, to feel the consistency of the dough change |
|
|
under my fingers and
the final aroma of the baked bread filling the kitchen. To say nothing
of the great taste! Over the years, it became something I just did until
the children grew up and we moved to Florida.
The bread making, along with the wine making stopped.
It wasn’t convenient or whatever the reason.
So for 14 years we frequented the local bakeries. Running the B&B,
the campground, the store, and restaurant in TN for the next 6 years
took so much time that I was lucky to have time to use the store bought
frozen bread dough to make rolls for the restaurant.
Somewhere along the
way, after we sold the TN operation, and we were slowing down, I decided
to start making bread again. The
reason being there was not a decent bakery within miles of our home in
KY and I felt that “store bought” bread had now deteriorated to a
quality defying definition. However, my hands
were not as strong as they used to be and it seemed that now was the
time to try out the automatic bread machines.
I started to research them and was amazed to find out how low the
prices had dropped on them. I finally settled on the 2 pound Regal Kitchen Pro.
I think I bought it in Wal-mart in 1999 or 2000 and the price was
in the high $30.’s price range.
To me it was a cheap enough gamble in case I did not like the
results. I was so impressed
with this machine, that whenever someone I thought would enjoy a bread
machine, they got one for their birthday or Christmas.
Not necessarily the same brand, but a comparable one and the
recipient did indeed seem to welcome it and enjoy the results. The last time my
brother, George was here, he talked about making bread. He still makes
his the old way and surprisingly enough does not have a bread maker. He made a funny remark that probably has a real ring of truth
in it. He said,
“Today’s store bought bread had so many additives in it that it
would probably preserve your dead body better than formaldehyde.” At any rate, there
still seems to be just a little something about having the fragrance of
home made bread in the kitchen. Also, once put upon the table, it seems
to disappear quickly. So it
must be good! Plus
it makes the greatest toast, providing there is any left in the morning
for toast! While I was writing
this, I decided to try to find out the price of my particular brand of
bread machine and after spending about 20 minutes on the web, I could
not find one single Rival bread machine.
Rival seems to make lots of other things, but the bread machine
doesn’t seem to be one of their products nowadays.
But there are plenty of other bread machines for those of you who
want to venture into this arena and in the $40.00 price range.
My oldest daughter, Donna, found a beauty for only $20.00 in a
West Palm Beach Goodwill store and it was brand new! I use good machine
bread yeast. I use bottled
water (simply because our water here is city water and loaded with
Chlorine) and I use a good, but not expensive, unbleached all purposed
flour. Here is my Light
Whole Wheat Bread Recipe for a 2 pound bread machine. 12 ounces water with
2 tbsp butter and I put in the microwave for 1 minute. I take it out and
put it in my bread machine pan. (I suppose one can use margarine.) 1 & ¾
tsp active dry yeast ( Once opened, I keep my jar in the
refrigerator, so I take this out first and let the required amount sit
for awhile to become room temperature.) On the side I have
put into a bowl the following: 1 cup whole wheat
flour 3 cups unbleached
flower 2 tbsp sugar
(For those of you who want sugar free, this recipe works well
with Splenda.) 2 tbsp dry milk
powder 1 tbsp Vital Wheat
Gluten (I like Hodgson Mill & once this is opened, I keep this in
the refrigerator also.) 1 & ¾ tsp salt.
(I like kosher salt) When I have all the
dry ingredients assembled (except the yeast) I pour it on top of the
water and butter mixture in my bread machine pan. (Do not stir. The
machine will do the stirring for you.) Then I make a little
indent in the top of the dry ingredients and add my dry yeast. I close the cover
and set the machine to #3 and a light crust setting and forget about it
until it is complete. Once
complete, I remove pan and shake the bread out unto a baking rack to
cool. It is a golden rule in this house that no one cuts the bread for
at least 30 minutes. This
gives the bread a chance to cool down and not become a mashed mess that
bread can become if cut while too hot. |
|
serving for dinner.
¼ cup of poppy
seeds or ¼ cup of rosemary
or ¼ cup of any kind
of herbs we want to have in the bread that day. I figure it costs me
between 50 and 60 cents to make a 2 pound loaf of bread and I am
including the cost of the electricity to run the machine.
In our family of 3 people right now I make bread every other day.
When we have company, a two pound loaf usually goes in one meal. This is a picture of
my bread maker and its product. I
gladly give it the counter space it needs.
|
|
|
Most machines come with a little book of recipes and there
are tons of Bread Machine Recipes books out there.
Plus the machines can do all kinds of bread and/or kneading for
you once you get into the spirit of the thing. A
word to the wise… do not buy a machine that only makes a 1& ½
pound loaf. My machine will
make either a 1 & ½ pound or 2 pound loaf.
The only quirk I
have ever found this particular model to have is when it says upon
getting the complete signal, “press stop and unplug”.
Once I forgot to do that and the next time I went to use it, the
computer chip or whatever is in it went crazy when I tried to do the
settings. I had to do all kinds of stuff to get it back to normal. So
now, immediately upon completion, I press stop and unplug. Here are some other
recipes for the bread machine. Bread
Machine Turkey Stuffing Bread 2/3 c milk 1 egg 1/4 c finely chopped
onion 1 tbsp butter 2 c bread flour 1/4 c cornmeal 1 1/2 tsp brown
sugar 1 tsp celery seed 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp dried sage,
crushed 1/2 tbsp poultry
seasoning 1/4 tsp freshly
ground pepper 1 tsp active dry
yeast Add ingredients to
the bread pan in the order they are listed. Select setting to Basic
or Rapid . Change
crust color or leave it at P or
medium as desired. Press
Start/Stop to begin. When display reads 0:00, press Start/Stop for 3
sec. to cancel. Use oven mitts to handle hot bread pan. Note: This makes a
very dense bread. Fresh herbs can be used in this bread.
Try using fresh sage, rosemary, minced onion, or garlic. :Prep/CookTime
: > 2 hrs Black
Forest Pumpernickel - 1 lb Serving Size
: 1 2 Ts Active dry yeast 1/2 C Bread flour 1 C Rye flour 1 C Whole wheat flour 3 Tbsp Cocoa powder 1 1/2 Ts Salt 1 1/2 Tb Corn oil 1/2 C Molasses 1 Tbsp Caraway seeds 1 1/8 C Warm water 2 Tb Warm water Add the ingredients
to the pan in the order recommended by machine manufacturer. Select
"white bread" setting; crust color medium. Beer-Cheese
Bread - 1 1/2 lb Serving Size
: 1 10 Oz Flat Beer 3 C Bread Flour 1 Tbsp Sugar 1 1/2 Tsp Salt 1 1/2 Tbsp Nonfat
dry Milk 1 1/2 Tsp Bread
Machine yeast 1 Tbsp Butter or (if
you must) Margarine 2 Oz Monterey Jack
Cheese -- Shredded Add all ingredients
in order recommended by machine manufacturer.
Select "white bread" setting; crust color medium. From Bagels to
Raisin Bread, you will be able to do just about anything with a bread
machine. “Tread the Earth Lightly” and in the meantime… may your day be filled with….Peace, light and
love, Arlene Correll ©Copyright 1996 - 2004 www.learn-america.com
All rights reserved. |
|
This page is brought to you by PhancyPages Publishing. Please sign up for our free weekly email newsletter. Click on Link Below ! Thank You. |
