Only some stale bread, but it became a feast.

The horrors of the past- we have all heard about them. Parents who had to walk 16 miles uphill each way to get back and forth to school, children being smacked with rulers in the name of corporal punishment while in school and lunches featuring a boiled egg and little else. Grandparents being so poor they ate flour soup or only ate meat once a week. I think parents pass these tales of horror on in an attempt to make their offspring appreciate all of the sacrifices made for them and the world of privilege they now live in.  Sad thing is that in painting this sort of picture they set up an instant aversion to anything from the past. Rotary dial phones, being able to see a television program only at the time the network aired it, fans with blades that could actually cut your fingers off and creative uses for what is usually tossed in the trash today-bones, veggie trimmings and stale bread- all become very bad things.

The first two items can be used to make a bone broth that is delicious, nutritious and the base for many a tasty recipe.The third could be used as croutons, breadcrumbs or a brilliant , tasty side dish called Panzanella Salad. It's what Italian Grandmas used to do with bread that had become too stale. Never ever waste good , real bread. Elves will visit you in the middle of the night , wipe out the phone book on your cell phone  and hide all of your pens. The horror !

So in order to avoid tragedy and annoyance, let's turn this

into this:

It's a snap !


Panzanella
Stale bread – 4-6 slices – cubed OR 3-4 stale rolls
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 ripe tomatoes – roughly chopped- OR 1 pt grape tomatoes, halved
pinch pepper
6-8 fresh basil leaves – roughly torn
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 Into a medium sized serving bowl add bread.

 Drizzle the red wine vinegar over bread. Season with pepper. Add tomatoes, basil. Drizzle olive oil on top.
 Toss with two forks to combine. Allow to sit and marinate prior to serving.

 Taste ? Really flavorful ! If you enjoy bruchetta or salad with croutons, you will like this one. It makes for a fast, no cook side for those days when you fire up the grill or need  a little something to round out a meal. Italian Grandmas are never wrong. And that flour soup ? What they didn't tell you it was broth thickened with a roux and combined with whatever veggies or meat they had. The original cream of whatnot soup, and yummy comfort food . Without the modified food starch, "natural" flavors, thickening agents and hydrogenated fats.

Bread and a decorating plan that includes Johnny Depp

It's been a mix of rainy and then almost warm here the last few days. The kind of weather where you start thinking about garden plans and patio furniture , but when you step outside you are reminded that winter isn't finished yet. In our area, winter seems to mean an endless series of cold, colorless days with no snow and even the mud turns a  nondescript shade of grey. If it weren't for the occasional flash of a cardinal, you might think all color had left for the winter as well. So you stay indoors , watch a lot of TV and dream. Dream of warm weather
 dream of Johnny Depp showing up looking for directions

and if you are like me you dream of a piece of bread that does not suck ! Sure, sliced bread is a wonderful thing and we live in a day and age where you can buy ultra miracle 20 calorie a slice bread that contains so much fiber that a forest would be impressed. However, it has no taste, no body and about as much soul as a section of PVC pipe.  Somewhere along the line, people have forgotten that bread is supposed to taste good, have body , and be something treated as a staple of life. A wise man once made a request that someone give us our daily bread, and a famous woman lost her head for suggesting that the people of the land eat cake instead of bread. I don't think they would hold the same passon for an Arnold's Thin sandwich bun.

I tolerate the store bought stuff for stretches at a time and then go mildly insane and remind myself that I can make bread. Good bread. Bread with body and taste. Guess what ? If you have an oven, so can you . Through the years I have experimented with a variety of loaf recipes, but one stands out as the best tasting an easiest to make. At first you will read it and think it is all kinds of wrong, but it works and makes a loaf with body, taste and soul.It takes about a day to make , but only about an hour of that requires your actual presence and attention.

Boule ( French everyday bread)
3 c flour
1/4 t yeast
1/4 t salt
2  c water

Mix in a bowl, cover with a towel and let rise 12-24 hrs.This seems like an incredibly insufficient amount of yeast and bad ratio of water to flour, but it is correct. What you are doing is making a kind of a sponge that allows the yeast and flour mixture to attract yeast spores in the air and come to party. There is no sugar required because the yeast feeds off of the flour. The small bit of salt helps the yeast to work and gives the bread a delicious semi sweet flavor. Salt brings out the natural sweetness of food when used in the proper ratio.

yeast, water and salt dissolved

Add flour, mix and cover to let sit in a draft free place for 12-24 hrs. The longer time is better than shorter from a flavor perspective.

After 24 hrs you have this wonderfully bubbly, yeasty smelling mixture that is ready to party ! At this point , dump it onto a board with flour, or cheat and put it into the bowl of your kitchen aid. Add just enough flour ( kneading the flour into the batter) to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Sticky as in playdough sort of moist.Because you need to do this by feel instead of a number of cups of flour added, I will not state the amount of flour to add. It really and truly depends on the amount of humidity in the air, the age of flour and a number of other things that have never heard of a recipe, let alone read one.  Slightly moist dough makes for a well rising dough- dry dough makes for a loaf that comes out like a brick. Keep in mind that we are making bread and not bricks !

After the addition of flour, this bad boy is now ready to rise. Place in an oiled bowl and cover , OR place it in an oiled , covered cast iron dutch oven  ( this is the traditional french way for making everyday bread). After 2 hrs ( or when doubled in bulk), bake in a 425 oven for 50 minutes. A hot oven makes for a very tasty loaf of bread.

After baking, immediately remove to a cooling rack. If you leave finished bread in a pan it will become soggy. Now comes the hardest part- DO NOT slice the loaf for at least 2 hrs. While warm from the oven bread tastes delicious, it is a death knell for the loaf. Hot bread when cut allows the remainder of the loaf to become smooshy. Bread needs the crust to cool with the proper moisture content. If you are patient, you will be rewarded with a loaf that is good today, tomorrow, a few days down AND leaves a few stale slices to do some wonderful kitchen magic with. Things like bread soup and bread salad- two dishes that are a lot more delicious than they sound.

Good bread is a very good thing to have on hand. It's an even better thing to make on your own. In the process of baking, you can open your door, fan the aroma out and lure in any Johnny Depp look alikes into your kitchen so you can stare at them meaningfully and perhaps consider using them for some kind of kitchen decoration. When your husband and kids come home , they will not ask questions right off because they will be distracted by the smell of bread and start looking for the loaf. At that point they will probably discover your Johnny look alikes, so just cut em a slice to prevent any questions. Mischief managed !

Soaked grains bread

I have been so pleased with the results of soaked grains that I could not wait to try making bread using this method. Home made bread is an aroma that could charm snakes, and if you get the basic technique down , a very tasty thing. Use quality  ingredients and it becomes very healthful and superior to anything you will find on the store shelves. So using those ingredients in a way that brings out their maximum potential has to be the very best of all possible worlds.  So what are we waiting for...let's get baking !


Whole grain  soaked bread

12 to 24 hrs before you plan on baking  place the following in a bowl:
2 cups water
2 tablespoons whey, cider vinegar or lemon juice ( I used whey)
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup multigrain cracked grains mix( sold as hot cereal)

Mix it up, cover the bowl and let it sit on the counter for up to 24 hrs.

Then the next day when you are ready to bake, place the soaked mix in your mixing bowl. In a seperate container combine

1/4 cup warm water ( baby bottle warm)
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon honey

Mix and let sit for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy. ( If this does not happen toss this mixture and repeat with new yeast). In yet another bowl, combine and mix well

1/3 cup melted coconut oil, melted butter or olive oil ( I used coconut)
1/3 c honey
2 teaspoons salt

add the contents of the smaller bowls to the soaked grains and add 1/3 cup of vital gluten ( skip this if you have a gluten intolerance) . Mix and add 2-3 cups of flour( I used white all purpose) until you have a smooth, elastic, non sticky dough. Tacky is fine, but sticky means add more flour.

Place in a greased bowl and cover.

Place bowl in a warm place( I like on top of my stove with the pilot lite for heat, in the oven or on top the fridge are other good places) and let rise to double in bulk- about 1 /2 hours.

Punch down, knead and place back in the bowl, covered to rise again.

Punch down and form into loaves. To do this divide the dough into two balls.

Using a rolling pin ,roll out each half to a rectangle

And then roll the rectangle up into a blanket roll, tuck under the ends and place in a greased loaf pan

 Let loaves rise for about 30 minutes, or to double in bulk. Do not let them rise longer , or your bread will collapse in the oven . This looks just about right .

 bake at 375 for 30 minutes.Try to keep children and husbands for insisting bread is done and ready to eat !

Turn out to cooling racks immediately, or your loaf will get soggy. Brush the entire surface with butter to get a soft, sliceable loaf ( skip the butter if you like a crusty loaf)

Cool for at least 30 minutes ( the hardest part of the whole process) and then slice

Allow hungry son to eat the bread , and grab a slice for yourself !

The verdict ? Soaking made for a dough that was a little easier to work with and had a more even rise. The smell was even better than non soaked flours and the taste was a lot more rich and mellow. Strange thing was it did not inspire a feeding frenzy ( as fresh bread sometimes can). It also made for very long term satiation . Nick and I each had a sandwich for lunch using this bread and were not in the least bit snacky or hungry until dinner, and that was late.

I don't think I will ever make any grain product with a different method again !

There's a new bun in town

Move over Arnolds Thins, there is a new kid in town ! This one is lower in calories and an actual bun !! Healthy Life now makes a wheat bun that looks like a hamburger bun, tastes like a hamburger bun, but comes in at a skinny 80 calories ! That is a mere 10 calories above an average slice of bread, but for a whole bun !

Here is the nutritional information ( sorry for the bad photo !)

For those following a Weight Watchers points program ,these come in at one point per bun- Better than Arnolds ! They are also cheaper per package. I found these in our market and really wanted to give them a try. I have bough other Healthy Life breads in the past and was very happy with the quality. To see that they now also have buns in my market was a happy thing ! Yesterday for lunch we had these with an Aldi's find- Salmon burgers ( I hope it is not a seasonal item !)
Here is the nutritional information for these tasty little guys
Click on it to "embiggen"- lables seem to be ard for my camera to capture . These two finds met, liked each other and were married in order to form a tasty, healy lunch that came in at 310 calories for the whole shebang

I am very thankful that it is not required for me to dress up like a clown and stand under an arch to get my family to like a burger type lunch ! I think those big shoes would be a hazard to my health .