Hearth Bread

Lately, I have been teaching my husband to make bread with me. I've taught him how to proof the yeast. I think his favorite part is the kneading. He takes all of his aggression out on it. It is nice since we have been having homemade bread more often. My son decided he wanted to be my food stylist for me. I think he did a pretty good job. He even sprinkled some herbs around the baking sheet. I really will not be surprised if he grows up to be a chief.

Hearth Bread
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
2 cups warm water, 110 degrees F
5 1/2 cups to 6 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp salt
 1 Tbsp rosemary, crushed and more for topping
1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, salt, and water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
2. Slowly, add two cups of flour.
   Add the salt and rosemary to the mixture.
3. Continuing add the flour until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Onto a floured surface, knead the dough even if it is still a little sticky.
5. Knead the bread for 5 minutes. Continue to sprinkle a little flour to help prevent sticking. 
6. Allow the dough to rest to rest for 5 minutes.
7. Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
8. Knead the bread for another 3 minutes.
9. Place the dough into the greased bowl. Turn it over. 
10. Cover the top of the bowl with a damp towel. 
11. Allow the dough to rest for 1 hour or until it doubles in bulk.
12. Punch down the dough.
13. Knead the dough for 1 minute. 
14. Cut the dough into half. 
15. Shape the dough into 2 loaves.
16. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
17. Place the loaves onto the cookie sheets.
18. Allow the dough to rest for 40 minutes.
19. With a sharp knife, lightly slash the tops with a double of diagonal lines.
    Lightly brush the olive oil on top of the dough.
20. Sprinkle the tops with additional rosemary if desired.  
21. Place a roasting pan with water into the oven.
22. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
23. Bake the bread for 15 minutes before lowering the temperature to 400 degrees. 
24. Bake the bread for 10 minutes or until the crust is golden and the bottom sounds hollow to the touch.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur.

One year ago..........................I made White Cake.
Two years ago........................I made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Three years ago......................I made Tortilla Soup.

Did you already know..............
-Yeast is a single cell fungus. 
-The Egyptians used baking yeast as a leavening agent.
-In 1859, Louis Pasteur studied yeast which made the manufacturing process of yeast possible.

No Knead Bread

Have you ever read The Story of the Little Red Hen? When I cook, sometimes I feel like the little red hen. Who will help me make supper? Any volunteers? Who will help me clean up? Any volunteers? Sometimes it is better to delegate. I will admit my little ones help more in the kitchen than my oldest. Since I think it is a great skill to know, I will ask for their help. They do like to help cook so it is easy. So, I asked who wants to help me make some bread. My youngest daughter volunteered. I found this recipe awhile ago on Steamy Kitchen but just hadn't made it. She has great instructions on her blog with her four year old son demonstrating how to make this bread. She even has her son kiss the bowl good night. Well, I really thought my nine year old would give me a crazy look when I suggested this move. Nope, she just giggled and kissed it good night. The best part of making this bread was her sense of accomplishment. At supper, she told everyone that she had made the bread. It has a nice crunchy crust with a soft inside. Oh, it is very good. It does need to be started the night before but it is quick. 

No Knead Bread
1 1/2 cups warm water (around 105 degrees F)
1 package of instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp dried rosemary

Directions:

1. In a large cup, combine the water with the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar.
2. Allow to proof for about 5 minutes to check the yeast.
3. In a large bowl, combine the yeast water with the flour, salt, and rosemary until the dough comes together.
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 12 to 20 hours.
5. After sitting, dump the dough onto a floured surface. With greased hands, fold the ends of the dough over a few times.
6. Place the dough onto a piece of parchment paper.
7. Lift the parchment paper with the dough in the center of it and place into a large bowl.
8. Cover the dough and allow to rest for 2 hours.
9. When the dough has rested for 1 hour and 30 minutes, slip an oven safe pot (Dutch oven) into the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
10. Carefully, remove the preheated pot from the oven and place the dough into the pot.
11. Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
12. Uncover and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and the middle of the loaf has reached 210 degrees F.
13. Carefully, remove the bread from the pot and allow to cool on a wired rack.

Recipe adapted from Steamy Kitchen.

One year ago..............................I made Fruit Smoothie.

Who will make the bread? I will said my youngest.

Did you already know................
-The Little Red Hen is thought to be a Russian folk lore.
-The moral of the story: if you don't help then you shouldn't be rewarded.
-The story has been used by political leaders for the economy.

Baguette Bread

Oh, I love baguette bread. Since I made lasagna this weekend, I figured I would make up some bread to go with it. I actually made the dough the night before and refrigerated it until I was ready for the second rise.

The crust was crisp with a soft inside. This bread accompanied the lasagna nicely. The left over bread we placed in the freezer to make some croutons at another date. Next time, I'm going to knead some herbs into the dough before baking.

The Almost No Knead Baguette
3 cups lukewarm water
5 cups all purpose flour
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp instant yeast

Directions:

1. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In another large bowl, add the water and yeast. Allow to rest for 5 minutes to make sure the yeast proofs.
3. Add the flour and salt to the yeast water and stir to combine. 
4. Mix the dough until no dry spots remain and the dough is fairly soft.
5. Knead the dough by hand for a few minutes. The dough will be sticky.
6. Add the dough to the greased large bowl and flip.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
8. Divide the dough in half and shape into a slightly flatten oval. 
9. Fold the dough lengthwise in half. 
10. Seal the edges of the dough with the heel of your hand.
11. Flatten the dough slightly and fold in half lengthwise. Seal the dough with the heel of your hand.
12. With the seam side down, gently roll the dough into desired size.
13. Place the dough seam down on a lightly greased of a baking sheet or a baguette pan.
14. Roll out the other half of the dough.
15. Cover the dough and allow the dough to rise for about 1 1/2 hours.
16. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 450 degrees F.
17. Slash three or four times onto the baguette diagonal.
18. Spritz the dough with warm water and bake for about 25 minutes or deep golden brown. 
19. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur website.

Did you know...
-The bakers of Vienna invented the steam ovens and were the first to begin to bake hard crusty breads.
-In France around 1920, a law went into affect that did not allow bakers to begin work before 4 am. The bakers needed a bread for their customers. Since the baguette baked faster, the baguette bread became popular with bakeries.

Parker House Rolls

When I was in Junior High, I took a Home Economics class. I really liked the cooking section. The parenting section was alright but the sewing section was my least favorite part. Maybe this is why my blog is about cooking and not sewing. 

 I am very lucky since my Mom and 2 of my sisters can sew very well. I can sew a button and other minor items. I could probably make an outfit like I had to in class. The only thing I will not sew is a zipper. For extra credit, my Home Economics teacher said we needed to sew a zipper. I asked my Mom to help me. She showed me how to do it but wasn't going to complete my work for me. I tried and tried but I couldn't do it. Finally, my Mom came over and looked. She had accidentally showed it to me upside down. My Mom did feel really bad but I guess being awesome at sewing was not in my future.

In my class, my teacher showed us how to make bread from scratch. How to make sure your water was warm but not too hot before adding the yeast. How to add a little sugar to the water to help the yeast along. The nice thing about making bread is if your dough doesn't rise then something went wrong. The dough needs to be in a warm room or area because it will not rise. If the room is warm or the bowl is in the sun and it still doesn't rise, I would just throw it out and serve biscuits.

Parker House Rolls 1 1/2 cups milk
1 stick unsalted butter plus additional for the top of the rolls
1/2 cup of sugar plus a pinch for the yeast
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup water, between 110 to 120 degrees
3 large eggs
1 tsp salt
6 cups all purpose flour

1. Place milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.
2. Remove pan from burner and add the butter and sugar. Stir and let cool
3. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast with the warm water and a pinch of sugar.
4. Set aside for about five minutes.
5. In a large bowl, grease the sides and bottom. Set aside.
6. In another large bowl, add the eggs and lightly beat.
7. Add the milk mixture, salt, and 1/2 cup of flour. Mix well.
8. Add the yeast and mix.
9. To the milk mixture, continue to add 1/2 cup of flour at a time. Mix well after each time. 
10. Mix until the dough comes together into a ball.***
11. Generously flour a working surface.
12. Remove dough from bowl and place on the floured surface.
13. Knead the dough about 5 minutes. 
14. Add more flour if the dough is really sticky but a little at a time because you do not want your dough dry.
15. Place the dough in the greased bowl and cover.
16. Place the bowl in a warm place so it can double in bulk. 
17. After at least 60 minutes to about 2 hours, punch down the dough.
18. Roll the dough in the desired shape and place in a pie pan.
19. Leave about 1 inch between each ball of dough.
20. Cover the dough and let rise about 30-40 minutes.
21. 
    
22. Preheat the oven 350 degrees.
23. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. 
24. Remove the rolls from the oven and brush with melted butter if desired.

Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay.
***I added a little bit of chopped rosemary to some of the rolls for additional flavor and they came out great!

Did you already know..............
-The Boston hotel Omni Parker House created the Parker House rolls and the Boston Cream Pie.
- In the early 1940s, Malcolm X worked as a busboy at the Hotel.
-President Kennedy had his bachelor party at the hotel.