How I Spend My Sundays: The Calm of Making Bread

I've really gotten into a bread kick. Maybe it's because I've come ever closer to perfecting the ratio of all purpose to whole wheat flour; the amount of olive oil or walnut oil, lightly kneaded into the bread; the time that a pan of steaming water should be left in the oven as the dough bakes to crusty perfection.

My favorite is a rosemary-thyme-black pepper loaf. It's crusty on the outside, with just enough crumb formation, while the inside remains soft, chewy, with pockets where air from the yeast gently massaged the innards of the loaf. I love this bread with butter; I love this bread with homemade blueberry or nectarine-basil preserves; I love this bread with melted Fontina cheese; I love this bread sopping up whatever sauce fell delicately off the pasta in my bowl. But I also came to the realization that it might be time to try other breads. It was the bread, it was me, and "me" was ready to move on.

This past Sunday was damp, cool, and overcast, not like a typical Sunday in DC during the summer, that typical Sunday being wretchedly hot, followed by massive, pitch-black clouds, thunder, lightning, and torrential downpour. (Actually, that sounds like everyday this summer!) I wanted to go to the mall, but Mike convinced me that it would be nice to just stay in and relax all day. Of course, I was not content with simply sitting on the computer, in front of the TV, eating chips and salsa all day.

To me, relaxation means kitchen time. I would much rather get my hands dirty, elbow deep in tomatoes and olive oil, than sit in front of the TV watching sports center reruns, eating cups of granola, pretending that by eating extra granola I am being extra healthy. I baked three loaves of bread. All three bursting with a different flavor, a different season, a different personality.

Nectarine, rolling in cinnamon and nutmeg, is ethereal, and, perhaps with a few refinements, something beyond spiritual. It brings about the calling of autumn, mingling with the orange flesh of summer, fresh on ones lips with each bite.

The tart bite of cranberries floats around the herbal scent of rosemary and thyme, with a touch of honey asking for sweeter things to come. It evokes the flavors of a summer herb garden, bushy and overrun, practically begging to be picked, to be inhaled.

That same herb garden is full of basil leaves, reminiscent of Genoa. They are a ripe green, green with jealousy of stories of basil consorting with Parmesan, and garlic, olive oil and nuts, to form a sauce that hugs a shapely pasta. But this time, they will be deconstructed, separate, but equally stuffed into a ball of well-oiled dough.

Ok, so I may be an ocean's away from a career in food writing. I am no Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain, or Michael Ruhlman. But I know I love to bake bread, and I enjoy describing the food I make. Cooking is full of imagery. Moreover, it is an implicitly sensual experience, as food will entice you with its taste, the superficial appeal of its colors, the way its flesh yields to your grip, however slack or firm.

From Left to Right: Deconstructed Pesto Bread, Rosemary-Thyme Cranberry Bread, Cinnamon-Nutmeg Nectarine Bread

Whole Wheat Pesto Bread

In keeping with my baking theme, I woke up this morning hoping to make a plan to clear our my fridge this week. I came across a jar of spinach-walnut pesto that I had made last week as well as a ball of whole wheat dough that had been resting in the fridge. The first thought that came to mind was Pesto Bread, a recipe I came across last night.

I had a loaf that was approximately 5 oz flour to 3 oz water, so it wasn't very big, but rather just enough to experiment with. So I hand rolled it out to about a 10x5 "rectangle"and blanketed  the inside with my homemade pesto. I then rolled it up jelly-roll-style, sliced it down the middle, and twisted it back up, which should have been easier considering I twist/braid my own hair relatively often. I then slid it onto a baking sheet, preheated the oven to 500, placed a water-filled saucepan at the bottom of the oven and baked the loaf for 12 minutes (it cooked quickly because it was such a small amount of dough). Here are the pictures, maybe if you have this week off from work like I do (!!!) you'll be able to experiment with some dough and flavors of your own.

Bread: The Story, The Savings

I've been reading ratio by Michael Ruhlman, as I've mentioned so many times at this point. The first ratio that is presented in the book is one or a basic bread dough. He calls for a ratio of 5:3 (flour:butter). I mixed 10 oz of flour (~1 cup) with 6 oz of water. Despite never making a brewed dough, I found this ratio to be insufficient and my mix to be too dry. So I added a little bit more water. From there I found the mixture to be too runny and added more flour. In the end, I believe the ratio came out to about 15 oz flour to 12 oz water (3 cups flour to 2 cups water), far from the 5:3 I had planned on.

The bread came out well, nonetheless. It is a little gluten-y, though, and I believe it I the lack of flour that is holding it back. Also, it could use more flavor, in the form of salt or garlic, or even some sweet ingredients. But my priority was to produce a decent loaf of bread, and that I did.

Basic Bread Dough

Ingredients:
2 C of all-purpose white/whole wheat flour (~10 oz)
3/4 C water (6 oz)
1 T yeast
1 T olive oil
dash of salt

Method:
In a bowl add the flour and salt. Measure the water and add the yeast, allow it to dissolve completely.

Add the water/yeast combination to the flour and mix. Add the olive oil and combine.

Let the dough sit at room temperature, covered with a damp towel, for 2 hours. You can bake at this point or keep it in the fridge for two weeks.

Cut out a grapefruit-sized amount and roll into a ball, on top of some dusted white/yellow cornmeal and let it rest for 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place your baking stone in the oven during preheating (if using a baking stone, I don't have one so it's not necessary), and place a saucepan filled with water at the bottom of the oven. This steam that is created will replicate professional steam baking. You can take out the saucepan after the first 10 minutes of cooking, when steam is the most crucial for baking.

Slice the dough three times on top with a serrated knife then slide into the oven on a baking sheet or onto the preheated baking stone. Bake until browned, about 30 minutes.

Let the bread cool completely before slicing. Enjoy with honey butter or olive oil.


Bonus Recipe: Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

2 C of all-purpose white/whole wheat flour (~10 oz)

3/4 C water (6 oz)

A big pinch of yeast

1 T olive oil

dash of salt

Method:

In a bowl add the flour and salt. Measure the water and add the yeast, allow it to dissolve completely.

Add the water/yeast combination to the flour and mix.

Add the olive oil and combine. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, then let it sit for 2-3 hours. You can bake at this point or keep it in the fridge for 2 weeks, or in the freezer for 2-3 months.

When baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, with your baking stone already in it. This step is crucial, as if you put a cold baking stone into a 450-500 degree oven, it will crack and split beyond repair. If using dough that was in the fridge, let it sit for 15-20 minutes, before kneading and shaping.

Enjoy!

Notes: if using whole wheat flour, you may need to adjust the amount of water you use to more than this, or any recipe calls for.

Meals for Movers

Today I'm moving all of my belongings from my apartment into a house. This means that I'm fighting a losing battle to use up all of the remaining food in my fridge. Moreover, Mike decided that he needed to go home the other day. The only positive thing that came out of this decision was that the food I had left would be more likely to be eaten. While it seems surprising, because he eats so much, given the kind of food I have left, it would be more likely to be eaten by me than him, anyway.

I have lots of bread left, and while the thought of eating nothing but whole wheat sandwich bread and strawberry jam is enticing, I figured it was a less than practical approach to my situation. So after work I picked up some eggs, which I have been using to make egg toast, with a side salad, which has also helped in using up all of the balsamic vinegar I still have. It is a healthy meal, providing protein, fiber, complex carbs and vitamins and minerals from the greens. It is also a cheap one, which makes my wallet as happy as it makes me ($1 for a 6-pack of eggs, $2.50 for the loaf of bread, $1.99 for a bag of salad greens, you do the math).

I've been obsessed with vinaigrettes lately, so I decided to do a 3 olive oil : 1 balsamic vinegar, rather than my 2/3 vegetable oil, 1/3 olive oil : 1 balsamic vinegar ratio. Then, as an emulsifier, I used my pest-amole mix. Don't be afraid, it's simple mixture of the spinach pesto I had made earlier and some guacamole. I got an amazing vivid green color and it tasted divine. As an emulsifier, it wasn't as good as the dijon, but it provided a more muted, yet flavorful element that you could really only get from avocado, definitely a contract from the strong, vinegar-y dijon.

Another way that I have been using up left over ingredients is by making calzones. I make the dough (see my earlier post on making your own pizza dough), mix up the cheeses, prep the toppings, bake and freeze for future lunches and dinners that cook quick. Here's a list of some of my calzone creations (resulting in 14 total calzones):

Pepperoni
Pepperoni and Pesto
Onion, Spinach and Cheese
Red Onion, Spinach, Tomato and Cheese
Bacon, Onion, Spinach and Cheese
Bacon, Red Onion, Spinach, Tomato and Cheese
Pesto, Red Onion, Spinach, Tomato and Cheese

Pesto, Bacon, Red Onion, Spinach, Tomato and Cheese

Bacon, Onion, Mushroom and Cheese

Pesto, Bacon, Onion, Mushroom and Cheese

Beef and Mexican Cheese

Pest-amole, Beef and Mexican Cheese

Pes-amole, Black Beans, Beef and Mexican Cheese