breadmaking-msg – 3/20/08
Period bread recipes and re-creations. Useful breadmaking hints.
NOTE: See also these files: bread-msg, BNYeast-art, yeasts-msg, brd-mk-sour-msg, brd-mk-ethnic-msg, brd-mk-flat-msg, flour-msg, trenchers-msg, pretzels-msg, porridges-msg, rice-msg, grains-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: "ysabeau" <ysabeau at mail.interquest.de>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 10:26:30 +0000
Subject: Re: SC - Turnips a la Beauce
<snip>
And a tip for bread bakers, to get that hard crunchy crust with a
soft inside, either mist the bread with water every 10- 15 minutes
or put a heat-proof bowl of water in the bottom of the oven. This
simulates the steam that builds up in stone hearth ovens (according
to my Germany bread baking class). Also I was told that our whole
wheat flour is too fine. Look for the whole wheat or grain flours at
health food stores to simulate what they use over here.
Ysabeau of Prague
Vielburgen, Drachenwald
Baumholder Germany
Ysabeau at interquest.de
From: Ray at amygdala.demon.co.uk (Ray Almond)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Recipe for scones?
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 97 19:19:53 GMT
akela at charleston.net "Bill Martin" writes:
> Does anyone have and, more importantly, wish to share a good recipe for
> scones?
Well it depends on what type of scones you want.
If you want oven baked scones then I would suggest:
8oz flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 or 2 oz butter or margarine
5 fl oz milk
mix the dry ingredients, rub in the fat and then add enough milk
to give a soft dough. Turn on to a floured board, knead lightly
if needed to remove cracks, roll out to about 3/4 inch thick, cut
into two inch rounds with a pastry cutter or into triangles with
a sharp knife. Brush with milk then bake at 450 F for 8-10 minutes
until brown and well risen.
If you want you can add raisins or chopped dates after the fat and
before the milk.
For cheese scones add 1-2 oz grated mature cheese and 1 teaspoon
of mustard powder to the mixture and once cut out brush with milk
then top with 1-2 oz grated cheese. Bake at 425 F.
If you want drop scones then try:
4oz self raising flour
2 oz caster sugar
1 egg
5 fl oz milk
mix flour and sugar, stir in beaten egg and enough milk to make
a batter the consistency of thick cream. Drop the mixture in
spoonfuls on a hot lighlty greased griddle or heavy based frying
pan. Keep the griddle at a steady heat and when bubbles rise to
the surface turn over and continue cooking until golden brown on
the other side.
Serve hot with jam and whipped cream.
--
Ray Almond
From: The Kirby's <yarak at mcs.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: scone recipe
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 12:34:11 -0500
Here's a scone recipe I use. I use golden raisins, but you can use
other fruits as well.
2 1/4 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter (chilled)
1/2 c raisens
1/2 buttermilk
2 eggs (room temp, beaten)
1 tblsp honey
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter then mix in the rest of the
ingredients. Flour your hands and form (gently) 1/2" circles and place
on a cookie sheet. Brush with milk and bake at 450 degrees for approx.
12-15 minutes.
Laura
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 13:30:44 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Manchet (LONG POST)
I said I would post this when I finished experimenting. Since I'm going
to switch to experimenting with French and Spanish breads (panacea for
depression, the State of Oklahoma has scheduled me into an all day
meeting on the day I would be driving to St. Golias for their yearly
feast), I think I better post this before my notes disappear into my
home singularity.
Commentary on my experiments follows the recipe and notes.
Fine Manchet
Recipe By : The Good Huswife's Handmaide for the Kitchen, 1594
Serving Size : 4-6 Preparation Time :1:00
Categories : Medieval
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
- -------- ------------ --------------------------------
8 ounces water, warm
1 ounce yeast barm
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds flour, mixed
Proof 2 teaspoons dry active yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm (90 to 110
degrees F) water with a pinch of sugar. After 15 - 20 minutes, add 1
1/2 cups lukewarm water. Let stand for 1 hour. Pour into a clean jar.
Refrigerate. This is used as a substitute for ale barm.
Decant 1 ounce of the liquid from the yeast barm. Add to the warm water
in a medium bowl.
Add salt.
Sift 1 pound unbleached white flour and 1/2 pound whole wheat pastry
flour together.
Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. Knead in the
remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough becomes stiff. Knead
the dough into a ball. Cover.
Let rise for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES : Take halfe a bushell of fine flour twise boulted, and a gallon
of faire luke warm water, almost a handful of white salt, and almost a
pint of yest, then temper these together without any more liquor, as
hard as ye can handle it: then let it lie halfe an hower, then take it
up, and make your Manchetts, and let them stande almost an hower in the
oven. Memorandum, that of every bushell of meale may be made five and
twentie caste of bread, and every loaf to way a pound besyde the
chesill.
From David, Elizabeth; English Bread and Yeast Cookery.
A bushel weighs 56 to 60 lbs. A pint is 20 fluid ozs. A gallon is 160
fluid ozs. A caste is 2 to 3 loaves of bread, each loaf equal to 2
manchets. Chesill is the finer dross seived out in the second boulting,
1 peck (14 lbs.) to the bushel.
Commentary: The recipe is approximately 1/20 of the original. All
baking was done on a terracotta baking stone in an electric oven. Each
batch was divided into 4 loaves.
The first test was undertaken with 2 pounds of Hodgeson Mills 50/50, 1/4
teaspoon of dry active yeast and 10 ounces of water (the flour was very
dry). The flour is unsuitable, containing too much bran. The yeast
failed to activate properly. The dough was too stiff for much rising.
The result was what I refer to as Francis Drake's Bowling Balls.
I created the barm as a replacement for ale barm, so that I would have a
fully proofed yeast liquor.
The second test used 1 1/2 pounds of whole wheat pastry flour, 1 ounce
of decanted yeast liquor, 8 ounces of water. I used wet hands to form
the loaves and smooth the crust. These were baked at 400 degrees F for
45 minutes. These produced beautiful brown whole wheat loaves which
split across the top during baking.
The third test I replaced the whole wheat flour with 1 1/2 pounds of a 2
to 1 mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour. This
required nine ounces of water as the all purpose flour was drier than
the whole wheat flour. Two loaves were formed and allowed to rise
before baking, two loaves were allowed to rise then formed. No
appreciable difference was found in the end product. The loaves were
formed with dry hands and scored around the middle to allow for rise in
baking. These were baked a 350 degrees F for 1 hour. The results were
very pale loaves with a hard crust and a some what doughy interior.
All of the loaves had an interior which resembled a heavy muffin rather
than what we currently think of as a loaf of bread.
Manchet was made from the next to finest white flour, twice bolted. The
whole wheat pastry flour I used would have been the finest flour, but it
isn't white. Mixing it with all purpose flour makes what I believe to
be a reasonable substitute for fine period flour with its lower germ
extraction ratio.
The goal appears to have been to create a "white" loaf (visually) with a
finer texture than most coarse breads. Unfortunately, taste appears to
have taken a back seat in this recipe. This particular recipe should be
served hot from the oven for maximum flavor.
I am of the opinion that these loaves should be formed with wet hands,
as it helps close any fissures in the stiff dough and forms a more
disticntive crust which in turn helps retain moisture in the bread. The
bread will rise during baking, splitting the hardening crust. The crust
splits at the weakest points and the wet formed bread will tend to slpit
where it is scored rather than at random.
To improve the bread in keeping with other manchet recipes, I would
triple the yeast barm and increase the rise to 1 hour (ala Gervase
Markham) and replace the water with warm milk or an equal mix of warm
water and warm milk. I might also add an egg (ala Lady Arundel's
Manchet). My personal addition would be to add 1/2 teaspoon of salt
rather than 1/4 teaspoon.
To soften the crust, brush melted butter on the loaves before baking.
Bear
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 14:37:52 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Manchet (LONG POST)
>adding the salt to the liquid...wouldn't that kill the yeast and prevent
>the bread from rising? I have always mixed the salt into 1/2 of the flour
>and used that first then added the remainder of the flour..
>
>Dragonfyr
I've never had any problems from the salt, but then I normally use
exceptionally hard to kill dry active yeast, which I usually proof to
get it started. If I add the salt to the yeast, it is immediately
before I start adding the flour.
Technically, I should have sifted the salt into flour. Since I am
working with a yeast liquor rather than dry active yeast, it would have
been better to add salt to the flour. I will correct this point on my
recipe for future use.
The failure of the first batch was not due to the salt, which I had
forgotten until I had already stirred in the first half cup and quickly
added to the flour. I goofed the proof using such a small amount of
yeast. It was the yeast failure which got me to try making a barm.
When I try this again, I'll follow Markham's technique of mixing the dry
ingredients together and then adding the liquor to the dry mix.
Thanks for catching my faux pas.
Bear
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 23:29:45 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Manchet (LONG POST)
><< e: adding the salt to the liquid...wouldn't that kill the yeast and
>prevent the bread from rising? >>
>
>Adding the salt to the recipe would slow down the growth of the yeast. This
>is good. Fast growing yeast produces unwanted compounds which could, for
>instance, cause a decided bitter flavor in the finished product.
>
>Ras
Good point. Salt is generally added to improve the flavor of the bread,
which is why I'll increase the salt the next time I make manchet. It
does slow yeast activity and by doing so "sweetens" the bread. The
ratios of yeast/salt/flour differ based primarily on the length of the
rise.
In the case of the recipe for manchet, the major rise of the bread is
during baking and the rise times are so short that you really don't
worry about fast growing yeast. Standard bread recipes usually call for
1 teaspoon of salt to one or two teaspoons of dry active yeast and about
two pounds of flour with a two hour first rise and a one to two hour
second rise.
The place where the balance gets tricky is when you create a slow rise
bread or a starter. Either of these may rise for as much as twelve
hours. Some of the recipes I've seen call for tablespoon of salt to a
teaspoon of yeast and two pounds of flour.
Bear
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 13:09:19 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Long-Period food, bread, etc.
James & Melody Mahanna wrote:
> Anyway ...(big deep breath) is there anyone with a GOOD yeast bread
> recipe. I have a wonderful Russian Round Bread recipe, but I am not
> quite sure how "period" it is. Thanks!
There aren't a heck of a lot of period bread recipes that have survived.
This is probably because much of the bread that was eaten in period
would have been baked by professional bakers, in a bakery, which had
little or nothing in common with the kitchens whose recipe collections
have come down to us.
A simple "white" bread recipe, as suitable for most of period Europe,
would be something like this:
2 packets dry yeast, or equivalent in sourdough starter, barm, etc.
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs sugar
~1 cup lukewarm water (~100-110 degrees F.)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
Various things like a couple of tablespoons of butter or an egg could be
added, and something like milk or ale could be substituted for the
water, but I find technique to be more important than non-essential
ingredients, especially when you are dealing with potential
ovo-lacto-vegetarians, to say nothing of period dietary laws regarding
animal products.
If you're using dry yeast follow the directions on the package. Anything
else you might use, be it fresh cake yeast, barm, sourdough, or
whatever, would end up being mixed with the sugar, the salt, and the
liquid. Start with a cup of the liquid, but you may need a bit more. You
don't want to use any more liquid than is absolutely necessary.
Add the flour and mix to make a stiff dough. Use only enough liquid to
absorb all the flour into the mass of dough. Knead the dough until it is
smooth, elastic, and not sticky. It may actually have a slight shine to
it. This should take around ten minutes, but whole wheat doughs might
take longer, so you're better off with the above signs. Put the dough on
a floured board, and cover it with a _slightly_ oiled bowl, or put it
into the oiled bowl, roll it around a little until it is coated with
oil, and cover with a piece of plaswrap. Leave it to rise in a warm,
draft-free room. Preheat your oven to around 425 degrees. If your
kitchen wasn't warm enough to be a warm, draft-free room, it probably
will be in a few minutes after you light your oven. Let the dough rise
until double in bulk, probably around 45 minutes. Punch it down, give it
a quick knead of one or two turns, and return it to the board or bowl,
and let it rise again until almost double in bulk. This time it will be
faster, probably around 30 minutes.
Now form your loaf. The easiest way to do this that I have found is to
flip the dough over, so that the domed top is now on the bottom as the
dough lies on the board. Gather the edges up and together, pressing them
together like drawstring pouch. Keep repeating this process until the
top is a small knot of compressed dough in the middle, and the rest of
the surface (the bottom) is a tightly stretched elastic membrane of
extended gluten. Now flip it back over, tucking the knot into the center
as you flip. Now your stretched membrane, which is the foundation for a
good crust, is on top, where it belongs. Place it on a baking sheet, or
in a greased pan (I'm extremely fond of using a cast-iron skillet), or
on a wooden baker's peel, or whatever you plan to use to get ead into
the oven. You may want to slash the surface of the dough with a sharp
knife, razor blade, etc. A cross is nice, and very common, but you might
want to experiment with, for example, the Gervase Markham trick of
slashing a circular cut around the waistline of your round loaf, which
will give you a sort of hatbox shape to your baked loaf. Let the loaf
rest one more time, for 20 or 30 minutes. Again, it will have risen
somewhat. Put the loaf in the oven.
Beep. Beep. Certified professional baker's trick alert! Keep handy a
clean plant mister filled with plain water. Spray the loaf with a fine
mist of water just before putting it into the oven. After five minutes,
do it again. After another five minutes, do it a third, and final time.
This helps develop a good, baguette-like, crust. (If you miss and hit
the back or bottom of the oven, instead of the loaf, it really doesn't
seem to make a difference, provided you don't extinguish the oven flame.
Electric ovens are shielded from this type of thing, and should pose no
problem.)
Bake for anywhere from 25-45 minutes, depending on the size and shape of
the loaf. If, after half an hour or so, it shows no signs of browning,
you might consider a wash or glaze of some kind. An egg beaten with a
little water and some salt is the industrial standard, but you can use
whites only, with water and salt (which gives a shine, but no browning),
yolks with water and salt, or even milk or cream and salt, for both
browning and sheen.
The bread is done when it produces a hollow sound when rapped on the
bottom. If you have it in a loaf pan, you can do the old bit with
sticking a skewer in it, or try tapping it on the top.
I'm sure there are others on this list, who bake more than I do, and who
might have different methods, or favorite special recipes. But, this one
works well, and provides a good all-purpose period-type loaf, and is
almost universally acceptable to anyone who eats bread at all, so even
those who don't eat eggs, or milk products, or who want assurances that
no yaks were molested during the production of this loaf, should have no
problems. The only real problem I can think of would be for those who
don't eat processed sugar, but then the yeast will have eaten most of
it, anyway.
Adamantius
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 12:25:58 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: RE: SC - Long-Period food, bread, etc.
At 9:43 PM -0600 11/20/97, Decker, Terry D. wrote:
>I've got Markham's recipe and I was planning to experiment with it. I
>do not have the recipe for the rastons and would appreciate it if you
>could post it when opportunity permits or if you know where it can be
>found online, point me in the right direction.
from our Miscellany:
Rastons
Two Fifteenth Century p. 52
Take fayre Flowre, and the whyte of Eyroun, and the yolk, a lytel; than
take Warme Berme, and putte al thes to-gederys, and bete hem to-gederys
with thin hond tyl it be schort and thikke y-now, and caste Sugre y-now
ther-to, and thenne lat reste a whyle; than kaste in a fayre place in the
oven, and late bake y-now; and then with a knyf cutte yt round a-boue in
maner of a crowne, and kepe the crust that thou kyttyst; and than pyke al
the cromys with-ynne to-gederys, an pike hem smal with thyn knyf, and saue
the sydys and al the cruste hole with-owte; and than caste ther-in
clarifiyd Botor, and mille the cromes and the botor to-gederes, and keuere
it a-gen with the cruste, that thou kyttest a-way; than putte it in the
ovyn agen a lytil tyme; and than take it out, and serue it forth. [end of
original--I think I replaced all the thorns with th's, but if something
looks funny I probably missed one]
2 1/4 c flour 1/2 T dried yeast (mixed with 1/2 c water)
2 egg whites 1/2 c sugar
1 egg yolk 1 c butter
After mixing all ingredients except for butter, let the dough rise 45
minutes to an hour. Mold the dough on a greased cookie sheet, let rise a
little more. Bake at 3508 about 1 hour. Cut off top as described, mix
insides of loaf with melted butter, and replace top. Second baking is about
5 minutes at the same temperature.
and also from the Miscellany...
On Bread
Platina pp. 13-14 (Book 1)
... Therefore I recommend to anyone who is a baker that he use flour from
wheat meal, well ground and then passed through a fine seive to sift it;
then put it in a bread pan with warm water, to which has been added salt,
after the manner of the people of Ferrari in Italy. After adding the right
amount of leaven, keep it in a damp place if you can and let it rise. ...
The bread should be well baked in an oven, and not on the same day; bread
from fresh flour is most nourishing of all, and should be baked slowly.
1 1/2 c sourdough 1 c whole wheat
2 1/4 c warm water 5 3/4 c white flour: 5 1/4 c at first, 1/2 c later
1 T salt
Put sourdough in a bowl. Add warm (not hot!) water and salt, mix. Add whole
wheat flour, then white, 1 or 2 c at a time, first stirring in with a
wooden spoon and then kneading it in. Cover with a wet towel, set aside.
Let rise overnight (16-20 hours). Turn out on a floured board, shape into
two or three round loaves, working in another 1/2 c or so of flour. Let
rise again in a warm place for an hour. Bake at 3508 about 50 minutes.
Makes 2 loaves, about 8" across, 3"-4" thick, about 1.5 lb, or three
smaller loaves.
>>> To be a little closer to period, I would use a pinch of sugar in the
>>> water to help start the yeast and leave out the rest of the sugar. I'd
>>> probably also use less yeast, but those are just minor arguments of
>>> technique.
Sugar is not necessary to start the yeast; yeast does just fine on flour
(see Platina recipe above). Also, given how expensive sugar was and how
basic a food bread was, I find it hard to believe that sugar would have
been a standard ingredient, even in small quantity. For my ordinary home
baking, I normally use a scant tablespoon (= 1 envelope) dried yeast per
1.5-1.75 lb loaf; Marian of Edwinstow, who uses the sponge method, I
believe uses a third of that.
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 22:52:08 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Galette de Dame Carcas
When Charlemange laid siege to the city of Carcassonne, Dame Carcas
tricked him into lifting the siege of the starving city by stuffing a
pig with the last of the wheat in the city's granary and throwing the
fat animal off the battlements. Believing he was being taunted by a
well provisioned fortress, Charlemange moved his army on to more
profitable endeavors. Her reward is a galette named for her.
For my version, I used 3 tablespoons of dried orange peel, softened in
water and chopped fine. And canned orange juice. I also used a baking
stone rather than a baking sheet.
The result was a little drier than I would like, so I will probably test
the loaf by thumping it on the bottom at 20 minutes rather than 25.
Bear
Galette de Dame Carcas
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
- -------- ------------ --------------------------------
Finely grated zeste or peel of 2 oranges
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 teaspoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water (105 - 110 F)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 egg yolks (room temperature)
4 oz butter (room temperature)
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
Place finely grated orange peel in a cup and add the orange juice. Set
aside.
Dissolve yeast in 2 tablespoon of warm water (105 - 110 degrees F).
Blend 1 cup flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the dry
mixture and pour in yeast mixture.
Separate egg yolks and add to the mixture one at a time. Stir after
adding each yolk, pulling flour from the sides of the bowl into the
mixture.
The result will be a heavy batter
Divide the butter into small pieces and drop them into the batter.
Blend the mixture with twenty strokes of a wooden spoon or rubber scraper.
Add the orange peel and juice.
Add enough flour to form a ball which can be lifted from the bowl.
Knead for about 5 minutes on a lightly dusted surface. The fat content
of the dough will keep it from sticking. The flour is to keep excess
butterfat from the surface. DO NOT OVER FLOUR.
The dough should be soft and elastic, yet able to hold its shape for 2
to 3 minutes on the work surface.
Cover the ball of dough with a bowl and let it rise for 30 minutes.
Press the dough into a circle about 1 inch thick. This recipe will make
1 loaf about 9 inches in diameter or 2 loaves 6 inches in diameter.
Place the loaves on an ungreased baking sheet, cover with wax paper and
let rise for 45 minutes.
Mix egg and milk. Brush onto the galette. Pierce dough half a dozen
times with pick or skewer.
Bake 25 minutes in preheated oven at 400 degrees F.
Cool galette on a metal rack.
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 22:49:55 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Pain de Campagne - Honfleur
This recipe for Honfleur Country Bread produced a lighter loaf than I
expected. It has a medium density with excellent aeration.
I would recommend leaving the starter for about twelve hours. Four
hours isn't enough to bring out the full flavor of the bread.
If the odor of fermentation causes you distress, you may wish to avoid
this recipe. It gets very pungent during the second rise.
Bear
Pain de Campagne - Honfleur
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
- -------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup warm water (105 - 110 F)
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
all of the starter
2 cups warm water (105 - 110 F)
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour
Starter:
Dissolve the honey in the warm water and add the yeast. Stir to
dissolve, then let rest for about 15 minutes while the yeast becomes
active and the mixture looks creamy.
Add 1/2 cup each, whole wheat and all purpose flour. Stir to form a
thick batter.
Add the rest of the flours and mix until the dough can be worked by hand.
Knead on a floured surface for about 3 minutes. Add additional flour if
the dough is slack or sticky.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Leave at room temperature for 4 to 24 hours.
Dough:
Place the starter in a large bowl.
Pour two cups of warm water over the starter.
Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber scrapper to break the dough apart.
Add the salt.
Taking 2 cups each of the all purpose and whole wheat flours, add equal
parts of each, 1/2 cup at a time.
If the dough is sticky, add more all purpose flour.
On a floured surface, knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes with a strong
push, turn, fold motion. To be very French, every 2 or 3 minutes, slam
the dough onto the work surface 3 or 4 times and resume kneading.
Place dough in a clean, greased bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap
and allow to rise until double in volume, about 3 hours.
Punch down dough. Turn out of a floured surface. Divide into four
equal parts.
Hand shape dough into tight balls. Place on a greased baking sheet.
Press top lightly to flatten.
Cover the loaves with wax paper and allow to rise until triple the
original size, about 2 1/2 hours.
In a preheated oven, bake for 40 minutes at 425 degrees F.
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 14:22:32 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Barm Revisited
After five weeks of it sitting in my refrigerator, I decided to test how
my yeast barm was doing.
I made two loaves of bread, one using a teaspoon of dry active yeast,
the other using one ounce of thoroughly agitated barm. I made the
loaves in the following manner:
1 cup of warm water (105 - 110 degrees F)
Add the yeast to the water and let rest for fifteen minutes
Mix 2 teaspoons of salt into 1 cup of all purpose flour and add to the yeast
Add enough flour to make elastic bread dough
Let rise until doubled, then shape and allow to rise in the bread tin
until doubled
Bake a 425 degrees F for 40 minutes
The dry yeast required 2 cups of flour. The barm required 2 1/2 cups of flour.
On the first rise, the dry yeast took 2 hours, the barm 3 1/2 hours.
On the second rise, the dry yeast took 1 1/2 hours, the barm took 2 hours.
The barm loaf had slightly better flavor and texture, probably
attributable to the longer rise times.
Bear
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 16:40:39 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Breads
>We're just a little stressed *twitch*twitch* And the thought of making
>that much bread at once is a little daunting the first time.
>
>kael
I can empathize. I'm baking bread for a feast tomorrow and I think some
of the panettone has a rising problem (real fun since a batch takes
about 12 hours with the traditional techniques I'm using). To add to
it, I can't attend the event, I'm scheduled in to work.
If it were me, and I had a kitchen on site, I would probably bake the
loaves on site and put fresh bread on the table. If I didn't have an
oven on site, I would bake it the night before.
I assume you are planning to bake a plain white or whole wheat bread
and make 1 to 2 pound loaves. If you can get your hands on a couple of
13 quart stainless steel bowls, you can mix up most of the dough you
need at one time. A 13 qt. bowl can handle 8 to 12 loaves of bread. As
a field expedient, you can use a stock pot or a roasting pan. Don't try
to do this two loaves at a time when the standard home oven can handle
8.
If you are short of baking tins or sheets, buy some aluminum pie tins at
the grocery. They are usually packaged about 4 for a dollar and they
hold a round cottage loaf quite nicely. They can be washed and reused
for several events.
One of the nice things about bread is you can go work on other things
while it rises. The bad thing is, it does take oven time.
Bear
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 21:50:48 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Panettone - OOP
Namron Rapier Champion is over and I have survived my baking. I chose
to go with Panettone for the second bread. While Panettone may be
period, this particular recipe is probably not.
The bread is labor intensive and I couldn't get production to overlap
and flow properly. It is also an expensive bread to make. While I may
make this as a treat in the future, I don't plan to make it for an event
unless I have a commercial kitchen and a lot of time..
Since I used traditional French methods to make the bread, 80 loaves
took about 32 hours. These were 40 loaves of Pain du Campagne and 40
loaves of Panettone. Cost per loaf was about 88 cents.
Bear
Panettone
Starter:
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 teaspoon dry yeast (1 pkg.)
1 teaspoon malt syrup
3/4 cup all purpose flour
Dough:
All of the starter
1 1/4 cups warm milk (105-155 degreesF)
7 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
4 oz butter at room temperature
4 egg yolks at room temperature
2 eggs at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup candied mixed fruit or citron
2 Tablespoons pine nuts
1 Tablespoon ground anise seed
2/3 cup of raisins
4 Tablespoons of butter for the crust
To make the starter:
Dissolve yeast in warm water in a 1quart bowl, let rest for about 5
minutes.
Add malt syrup and stir to dissolve in the liquid. Considering the
viscosity of malt syrup this may take a bit of work.
Stir in flour to make a soft ball. Knead for about 3 minutes.
Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and leave for a minimum of six
hours or overnight at room temperature (70-75 degrees F).
To make the dough:
Place the starter in a large bowl.
Add the warm milk.
Cut the butter into pieces (quarter a stick of butter lengthwise and cut
the quarters into small pieces while chilled. Allow the diced butter to
warm to room temperature).
Stir the butter, salt and 2 cups of flour into the starter and milk.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together until
light yellow and frothy.
Slowly pour the egg mixture into the starter mixture and blend
thoroughly.
Blend additional flour into the batter 1/2 cup at a time, until the
dough mass can be worked by hand.
Turn the dough out on a liberally floured surface and knead. Use a
dough scrapper if the dough remains sticky.
Add flour as necessary, until the dough become soft and elastic.
When the dough is smooth set it aside to rest for about five minutes.
Mix nuts, candied fruit and anise seed together.
Punch the dough into a flat oval.
Spread half of the fruit mixture over the dough.
Fold into the dough and knead until the fruit disappears.
Repeat using the second half of the fruit mixture.
Place the dough in a large greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and
allow dough to rise until approximately tripled in size. About 2 hours.
Punch down dough. Divide into 4 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball.
Place loaves on a greased baking sheet. Flatten the tops of the loaves
slightly.
Cover with wax paper and allow to rise until doubled. About 1 1/2
hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and allow it to stand at that temperature
for about 20 minutes before loading the loaves.
Using a razor blade, cut an X into the top of each loaf about 1/2 inch deep.
If using a single rack, bake in the middle. If using two racks, bake on
the top and the middle.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Five minutes after loading the loaves, open the oven and put a
Tablespoon of butter in the center of each cut. Close oven door.
If using two racks, switch the baking sheets halfway through the baking.
Notes:
The dough did not take as much flour as the recipe calls for.
The batches I made did not rise as much stated, but baked up nicely.
You can use a knife to make the cuts, but a knife produces greater drag
when passing through the dough and may pull the points where the two
cuts cross out of line.
For large quantities of this bread, baking sheets are better than
individual pans.
This is a high sugar bread. It continues to cook and caramelize after
being pulled from the oven. The optimum baking time for my oven using
two racks was 37 minutes.
The loaves should be a deep brown with a light yellow center at the top.
I am informed this bread freezes well, but needs to be eaten within 6
weeks.
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 18:38:37 -0800
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Bread Making From Platina
> Hello all! According to Barbara Santich's THE ORIGINAL MEDITERRANEAN
> CUISINE, bread was a staple of the Mediterranean diet. In there she
> quotes Platina's De Honesta Voluptate:
>
> I recommend to anyone who is a baker that he use flour from wheat meal,
> well ground, and then passed through a fine sieve to sift it; then put
> it in a bread pan with warm water, to which has been added salt, after
> the manner of the people of Ferrari in Italy. After adding the right
> amount of leaven, keep it in a damp place if you can and let it rise.
> That is the way bread can be made without much difficulty. let the
> baker beware not to use more or less leaven than he should; in the
> former instance, the bread will take on a sour taste, and in the latter,
> it becomes heavy and unhealthful and is not readily digested, The bread
> should be well baked in an oven, and not on the same day; bread from
> fresh flour is most nourishing of all, and should be baked slowly.
>
> Now, I remember, vaguely, a conversation about bread making months ago.
> But can't remember much of it. Could someone out there (bakers beware)
> help me in redacting this recipe. I am not much of a baker and don't
> want to ruin 28 loaves of bread to test out all the possibilities.
>
> Murkial af Maun
The critical part of the recipe is the leaven. Platina is talking about
adding the leaven (not barm or yeast) and letting the bread rise overnight
if I understand his instructions about not baking on the same day. What he
is probably talking about is using some dough reserved from the previous
breadmaking which is known as a leaven. You would use about a cup to 2 cups
of leaven to eight loaves (from my experience with starters).
The leaven would be broken up in the warm water. The salt could be added to
either the water or the flour (Platina appears to add it to the water). The
flour would then be added to the liquor a cup or so at a time and stirred in
until the dough turns into a ball.
Kneading the flour helps work the ingredients together, but it is not
absolutely necessary. Platina does not specify kneading, but it may be
understood and it does make a better loaf.
The bread is put in a bowl and set aside to rise. A damp, slightly cool
place would keep the surface of the dough from drying out and would slow the
rise.
Although Platina does not say so, the bread is probably punched down, shaped
and allowed to rise again. It would then be baked in a cooling oven.
Bear
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 11:57:36 -0800
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Rye Bread
I needed to bake some rye (at the wife's request) and I wanted to
experiment, so I killed two birds with one stone last night. I made a
batard (long, wide loaf) of rye with a single rise. The bread was fairly
dense (to be expected with a single rise and rye flour), but tasty. Were I
to make this again, I would probably let the bread rise 3 to 4 hours or
until tripled in size and use 2 teaspoons of yeast.
By doing a single rise loaf, I double checked what I remember about single
rise breads. It is very possible that the bread Platina was describing used
a long, slow single rise.
As an aside, rye flour contains gluten, but not as much a wheat flour. Pure
rye flour does not rise very well, so most rye bread is a 1:1 misture of
wheat and rye flours.
Bear
Rye Bread (makes a single 2 pound loaf)
2 cups of warm water (105 - 110 degrees F)
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of dry active yeast
2 cups stone ground rye flour
2 to 3 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon of salt
Dissolve the sugar in the warm water.
Dissolve the yeast in the water and allow it to proof until foamy (about 10
minutes).
Add salt.
Add 2 cups of rye flour and two cups of white flour, 1 cup at a time,
alternating types and stirring it to blend the flour into the mixture.
A soft,slightly sticky ball of dough will form.
Place the dough ball on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. If
the dough is sticky, sprinkle it with flour from the remaining cup of flour
(you may or may not use all of this flour). The dough should be soft and
have an even color and texture.
Shape the loaf and put it on a greased baking sheet.
Let rise until at least doubled (about 2 hours).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for about 45 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
Brushing the surface with a little melted butter or oil will improve the
color of the loaf and help keep the crust soft.
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 20:17:20 -0800
From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Bread Making from Platina
Hi all from Anne-Marie
Here's another bread recipe for you to play with. This stuff is amazingly
rich, no doubt due to all the butter. Here's a hunk from my CA-in-Progress
on French food in period. This recipe is not medieval (1654), but still
darn tasty stuff. My bread making friends are amazed that this recipe
works...only one raising, all that fat from the butter...yum!
Enjoy!
FRENCH BREAD
One of the unfortuante omissions in medieval and renaissance cookbooks is
the total dearth of bread recipes. We know they ate bread, but according to
the "shopping lists" we have access to, bread was bought already made, or
else it was the realm of bakers, not of the cooks who wrote down the other
recipes.
In the reign of Edward I in England (1272-1307), London bakers were making
a white "light bread, known as French bread", also known as puffe or poufe.
The Assay decree of 1288-9 said that this French bread was to be made from
flour of the same bolting as wastel, a bread of second quality, and that
weight for weight, it's price was to be half that of a loaf of demeine or
finest quality Bread.
We have a recipe from the English source by Robert May, who was partially
trained in France (Robert May's French Bread the Best Way), and we have a
very different recipe from The Perfect Cook, a translation of Le Patissier
francois, published in London in 1656. Le Patissier is often ascribed to la
Varenne, though his name appears on it nowhere, and the source gives
incredibly detailed instructions, unlike The French Cook, which we know he
wrote.
This recipe from Le Patissier yields an amazingly rich loaf of bread, with
a stiff crust and a moist interior. Interestingly, Robert May's recipe
yields a much lighter loaf, more in keeping with the name "pouft", and the
recipe presented here suggests in it's baking instructions that this Bread
Dipped in Eggs is no ordinary pain demain.
To Make Another Soft Cake or Tart Without Cheese, which cake the Flemmings
do call Bread dipped in Eggs.
Put into a Bason, or upon a Table, two pints of fine flower, break and
beat two eggs into it, adde there unto half a pound of fresh butter which
you shall have caused to be melted over the fire, with a quarter of a pint
of milk, put also into this mizture a spoonful of good beer yeast which is
somewhat thick, and rather more than less, as also salt at discretion. You
must mixe and work all these things together with your hands, till you
reduce them into a well-knitted paste, and in the kneading of this your
paste you must now and then powder it with a little flower.
Your paste being thus well powdered will be firm, after which make
it up into the form of a Loaf, and placing it upon a sheet of Paper, you much
cover it with a hot Napkin.
You must also observe to set your said paste neer unto the fire, but
not too high, lest that side which should bee too nigh the fire might become
hard. You shall leave this said paste in the said indifferent hot place
untill it be sufficiently risen, and it will require at least five quarters
of an hours time to rise in and when it shall be sufficieiently risen,
which you may know by its splitting, and separating it self, you must make
it up into the form of a cake, or tart, which you must garnish over, and
then put it into the Oven to bee baked.
The Ovens hearth must be as hot almost as when you intend to bake
indifferent great household Bread. This Tart or Cake will require almost
three quarters of an hours baking, or at least a great half hour; and when
it is drawn forth of the Oven, you may powder it with some sugar, and
sprinkle it with some rosewater before you do serve it up to the Table,
which depends of your will.
Our version:
1 c. butter
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 oz dry yeast
about 6 c. unbleached white flour
2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
optional garnish:
- --beaten egg
- --poppy seeds
- --almonds
- --lemon peel
- --sugar
- --1 tsp rosewater
1. Heat butter with milk till butter is melted. Let cool till it's body
temperature (ie just warm to the touch).
2. Add the yeast, and let it dissolve, mixing with a fork. This may take
five minutes.
3. Sift 5 cups of the flour and the salt into a large bowl, or onto a flat
work surface.
4. Make a well in the flour, and pour in the beaten eggs, and butter-yeast
solution.
5. With your hands, mix, drawing in the flour until you have a nice soft,
non-sticky dough. Add more flour as needed.
6. Knead on a floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic (about
five minutes).
7. Shape your loaf into a ball, and set on a floured cookie sheet. Cover
with a cloth dampened with hot water, and set in a warm place to rise for
1-1.5 hours, till surface begins to split and crack.
8. Shape into a round loaf, and garnish as desired, ie
- --slash the top
- --brush with an egg glaze (1 beaten egg + 1/2 tsp salt)
- --chopped almonds
- --poppy seeds sprinkled on top of egg glaze
- --lemon peel
9. Bake at 400o for 1/2 hour. Turn down the heat to 350o, and bake for
about 50 minutes till the loaf sounds hollow when rapped.
10. Cool on a rack.
Makes one large round loaf.
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 00:20:29 PST
From: "Arabella de Montacute" <ladyarabella at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: [Dstlg] beer bread, OOP
Puck,
I'm new to this list and have been quietly been listen for about a
week. I have not yet tried using spent grains yet but my lord husband
is new to brewing and there's a workshop demonstration this month in our
barony, I'll let you know how it went.
I am not claiming to be anywhere near an expert, but I've got ideas
to share with you.
I have had the same problem with my bread maker. I have found that
wheat flour takes longer to cook, and the very best flour for a bread
machine is the type ground specially for the machine. Gold Medal makes
one, it comes in a yellow package. There's is something about how it's
ground that makes it different from regular bleached flour. I also use
bread machine yeast in a jar kept in the fridge, seems to be fresher,
instead of packages kept in the fridge.
I let the machine make the dough then remove it and cook the dough
on a baking stone, (you know the kind from Pampered Chef for pizzas) It
makes a nice round period looking loaf.
I use a egg bread recipe that has had the same doughy middle. I
found if I take the bread out of the machine and let the dough sit on
the baking stone, on top of the stove while the oven heats up, it rises
again and is not so heavy in the middle. I've also tried to cook it a
little longer. The crust is really crisp but it's done in the middle.
If your using a bread machine the liquid you use should be no hotter
than 100 degrees. Any hotter and your yeast will die.
I look forward to hearing how you it comes out again. Hope my tiny
bits of wisdom helps.
Arabella
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 09:16:37 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - beer bread, OOP
> OK, I finished brewing my second ever all grain batch today, and took the
> spent grains to make beer bread. It was delicious, but soggy in the
> middle. Here's the recipe, ideas anyone? Phlip and I were surmising too
> much liquid.
>
> For 1 1/2 lb loaf:
> 1 cup spent grain
> 8 oz homebrew (quality not important)
>
> Mix grain and beer in blender to pulverize. Add to bread machine with
> 2 1/2 cups white flour
> 1 tsp salt
> 1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
> 2 tbsp sugar
> 1 pkg bread yeast
>
> Well, as I said, it was absolutely one of the tastiest breads I've ever
> made, but virtually mush in the middle, and didn't rise hardly at all. If
> anyone can help me fix the recipe, I will happily bake my little Puck butt
> off and mail out loaves to any who want one, as I have some 12 pounds of
> spent grain that will either go into bread or go out back for the
> critters.
>
> Regards, Puck
You're probably right about the excess liquid. The grain absorbs a fair
amount during the brewing. The oil and the alcohol are probably causing the
problems with the rise. You need to proof the yeast and get it working
before building the dough. I don't know how to correct the problems for the
bread machine (I've never used one), but I can tell you what I would try for
regular baking.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in 1/4 cup of warm water (105-110 degrees F).
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of dry active yeast (1 Pkg) in the sugar water. Let
stand until frothy (10 minutes or so).
Add 3/4 cup of home brew.
Mix 2 teaspoons of salt with 1 cup of flour and stir into the liquid.
Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour 1/2 cup at a time, blending it in
thoroughly. (You may require more or less flour, depending on the type and
dryness of the flour).
For a single rise bread:
Break up the grain in a blender.
Turn the dough out on a floured surface. Knead the dough until it is smooth
and elastic.
Shape the dough into a rectangle. Add half of the grain to 1/2 of the
surface. Fold the dough over and knead to work the grain into the dough.
Repeat.
Shape the loaf and place it in a greased tin to rise.
Let rise until triple in size, about 3 to 4 hours. (This is an ideal rise.
In practice the loaf may not triple. Giving the loaf 3 to 4 hours should
give it reasonable aeration even if it doesn't rise ideally).
Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F until the loaf is a nice brown and
sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom (40 to 45 minutes).
For a double rise bread:
Turn the dough out on a floured surface. Knead the dough until it is smooth
and elastic.
Place the dough in a covered, greased bowl.
Let rise until triple in size, about 3 to 4 hours.
Break up the grain in a blender.
Punch down dough and turn out on a floured surface.
Shape the dough into a rectangle. Add half of the grain to 1/2 of the
surface. Fold the dough over and knead to work the grain into the dough.
Repeat.
Shape the loaf and place it in a greased tin to rise.
Let rise until double in size, about 2 hours.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F until the loaf is a nice brown and
sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom (40 to 45 minutes).
Bear
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 17:27:59 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Bread tip-softer crust
ladyarabella at hotmail.com writes:
<< The crust is really crisp but it's done in the middle. >>
Tip o' the day> To soften the crust on bread immediately brush with butter or
margerine when removed from the oven. Turn out of pan and lay a cloth over all
until cool.
Ras
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 13:33:21 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - beer bread, OOP
Most of the brewers I know break the grain before fermentation, so the grain
is already coarse pieces. I'm neutral on the point of chopping up the grain
or leaving it whole, since it will be only a minor textural difference in
the bread.
I tend to use 1 teaspoon to yeast to one cup of water to 2 to 3 cups of
flour and 1 teaspoon of salt with a pinch of sugar dissolved in the water to
activate the yeast. For flours other than wheat, use a 1:1 mix between
wheat and non-wheat flours. Eggs, butter or oil can be added to enrich the
bread.
I use a wooden spoon to mix the dough and my hands to finish the blending.
I don't have a mixer heavy enough to use dough hooks.
Personally, I would add the spent grain during kneading by flattening out
the dough, sprinkling the grain on it, then folding over the dough and
kneading it in. In the mixer, I would add it to the mix early on, before
changing to the dough hooks. This would allow it to get worked into the
dough before adding the flour that stiffens the dough.
Bear
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 13:43:35 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: Event bread (was SC - Flours)
> Can I store the dough in "Pickle Buckets" (actually filling buckets from
> the local donut place) without the plastic affecting flavor? I assume
> that the leaving of the dough overnight will "sour" the dough, This may
> not be bad, but how will that affect a sweet dough?
>
> Brandu
Plastic buckets will work fine for storing dough as long as they don't hold
the flavor of their previous contents. I'd love to have some five gallon
buckets for rising bread in. I would not try to mix the dough in them. I
would spray the insides with some oil to keep the dough from sticking. I
would thoroughly clean them as soon as possible after removing the dough.
If you cover the containers to keep out wild yeast, the amount of souring
should be minimal. Using a tablespoon of salt to three or four pounds of
flour will also help sweeten the flavor. You can also extend the rise by
chilling the dough. I know that chilling the dough to between 35 and 40
degrees F can extend the rise up to twenty-four hours without sacrificing
much in texture or taste.
By a sweet dough, I assume you mean a dough enhanced by sugar, oil and eggs.
The kind of dough you would find in a festive brioche or a fruit bread.
Such doughs normally go from mixing to the oven in five to six hours. They
tend to go off faster than plain bread doughs. I've held them for about 9
hours and Elizabeth David says you can hold them up to 12 hours (8 to 10
hours in the first rise, 2 hours in the second) without damaging the flavor.
Bear
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 10:04:35 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Payne Puff
> > From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
> >
> > At 10:11 AM +0000 2/27/98, CHRISTINA van Tets wrote:
> > >5. Pastry: I did post this some months ago, but it seems that it is
> > >needed again. Payne puff is mentioned (line 497) in John Russell's
> > >Book of Nurture (Harl. MS 4011), c. 1452, given in F. J. Furnivall's
> > >Early English Meals and Manners, Early English Text Society, London,
> > >1868. His footnote states that the last recipe in the Forme of Cury
> > >is for payn puff. His quote, unfortunately, does not appear to be
> > >complete, or to give adequate directions for the pastry. What he
> > >does provide is this:
> > > Payn puff, Forme of Cury, # 196
> > >
> > > Eodem modo fait payn puff. but make it more tendre 6e past,
> > >and loke 6e past be rounde of 6e payn puff as a coffyn & as a pye.
> > >
> > >Perhaps someone else can help further?
> >
> > _A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye_ has a recipe for Panne Puffe (p. 27); I
> > don't know if it is the same thing or not.
> >
> > Take the stuffe of Stock frytters and for hys paest take a quantitie of ale
> > and a lytle yest and Suger, Mace and Saffron, than heate it on a
> > chavyndysche and ut it to youre floure with the yolcke of a rawe agge, and
> > so after this maner make up your paest.
>
> Interesting how slight textual variatons can make a big difference. The
> version of FoC in Curye On Inglysch contains the following:
>
> "203. The pety peruaunt...
>
> <I'll omit the filling ingredients for a fairly typical medieval custard
> tart with fruit and marrow>
>
> ...and loke (th)at (th)ou mak (th)y past with (y)olks of ayren 7 (th)at
> no water come (th)erto; and fourme (th)y coffin and make vp (th)y past."
>
> Followed by # 204:
>
> "Eodem modo flat payn puff, but make it more tendre 6e past,
> and loke 6e past be rounde of 6e payn puff as a coffyn & as a pye."
>
> Either meaning, 'in the same way flat payn puff', etc., or 'in the same
> way make payn puf', assuming "flat" to be an error, and that "fait" was
> intended.
>
> Anyway, it's not really clear, for certain, whether any other shortening
> is included. All other things being equal, the only way I can think of
> to make the pastry more tender, without adding shortening or sugar
> (neither of which is mentioned for the pastry) is to add more egg yolks
> (i.e. more liquid and more egg yolk shortening), making the dough
> softer, or else to knead it less, or to knead it to the point where the
> gluten is fully developed and then begins to break down. That's quite a
> bit of kneading...maybe Bear could tell us more about that?
>
> Adamantius
> troy at asan.com
I'm afraid all I can say about over-kneaded, unleavened dough is that it
gets leathery when baked. Since this is a finished product I try to avoid,
I haven't really experimented with it. When working with any kind of pastry
dough, I tend to mix the ingredients and knead only enough to get the
desired consistency, not that I'm any great expert with pastries.
Looking at the egg and flour dough recipe, I wonder if this may not have
been a common, utilitarian dough in the 14th and 15th Centuries. In Maggie
Black's The Medieval Cookbook, she quotes Harleian 279 for a recipe for
Cruste Rolle, which is a griddle cake:
"Cruste Rolle. Take fayre Flowre of whete; nym Eyroun & breke ther-to &
coloure the past with Safroun; rolle it on a borde also thinne as
parchement, rounde a-bowte as an obyle; frye hem and serue forth; and thus
may do in lente but do away with the eyroun, & nym mylke of Almaundys, and
frye hem in Oyle, & then serue forth."
The egg and flour pastry dough would certainly yield a better tasting
product than flour and water. I would also expect a dough that could be
used for boiling, frying or baking, depending on the thickness of the dough
and its contents.
While it is not mentioned in the recipe, another trick that could be used to
make the pastry tender is to add sour cream to the mixture, which would add
semi-liquid and butter fat. Modern pelemi dough uses sour cream in a
standard pastry dough and produces a smooth dough which is easy to roll and
to work. I will add the caveat that I think using sour cream in this manner
is a recent practice, although I would love to be proven wrong.
Bear
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 10:14:16 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Palladius, tamarind, buckwheat, soap
> 3. Is buckwheat (and presumably its relation, rhubarb) period?
> Found myself wondering the other day as I failed dismally to remember
> my favourite recipe for buckwheat/buttermilk pancakes. Does anyone
> have access to the Sunday Times' Book of Real Bread? Or else another
> good suitable recipe? My preference is for yeast-risen, not carb
> soda.
>
> Cairistiona
I believe buckwheat is period, but that the use may have been primarily as
animal fodder. It is used in some parts of England and France to make
pancakes, but the major use appears to have been in the US.
There is a yeast based recipe for buckwheat cakes in Modern Domestic Cookery
& Useful Receipt Book by Elizabeth Hammond, 1817. But I would use Elizabeth
David's recipe, which follows.
Buckwheat Cakes
2/3 Cup buckwheat
2/3 Cup unbleached flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 Cup milk (body temperature)
1 tsp yeast
4 eggs
1/2 Cup milk (room temperature)
Sift flour and salt together in a bowl.
Turn the yeast to a thick cream with some of the warm milk.
Add to the flour, stir in the rest of the warm milk.
Cover and let rise (about 1 hour).
Stir in the 4 eggs and the 1/2 cup of milk (as needed). Keeping the batter
fairly thick.
Cover and let rise (about 1 hour).
Make into small pancakes like blinis.
Bear
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 13:17:55 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Palladius, tamarind, buckwheat, soap
> Where is the end of the recipe for Buckwheat Cakes, after forming them
> into pancakes? The cooking procedure, time, and temperature is not given.
>
> Arlene Silikovitz
> West Orange, NJ
Since no special cooking instructions were with the recipe, I assume the
instructions are covered by the term pancake. Pan or griddle cakes are
cooked in a frying pan or on a griddle, usually at medium or lower heat,
depending on the heat source. Heat the pan, then lightly oil it. Let the
oil warm then pour some of the batter into the pan to form a pancake. Cook
until the outer edge sets up then turn and complete the cooking. I favor
cooking just below the smoking point of the oil.
I haven't tried this recipe, so I don't know how to tell if the yeast rising
pancake is setting up properly. The following comments may not apply to
this recipe.
Chemical rising pancakes develop bubbles in the batter which work their way
up to the uncooked top of the pancake. When a bubble breaks and the hole it
makes fills with batter, the cake is still under done. When the bubble
breaks and leaves a hole, the batter has set up. The outer edges of the
cake are thinner and tend to set up faster, so turning the cake helps even
the cooking of the center of the cake and helps prevent burning.
David suggests serving them with butter and a sprinkling of brown sugar.
I'd probably grab for the maple syrup.
Bear
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 00:05:03 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Rosemary Bread
Here's the recipe for the rosemary raisin bread, which is a Florentine
dessert bread. If you drop off the raisins, it should come close to what
you had.
If you choose to reduce the amount of oil in the bread, increase the amount
of water by an amount equivalent to the oil you leave out.
With all purpose or bread flour 2 1/2 cups should be enough to make a stiff
dough. Softer or fresher flour will require more flour.
Bear
Pain de Ramerino
(Rosemary Raisin Bread - Florentine)
1 teaspoon dry active yeast (1 pkg)
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 cup milk
3 Tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry rosemary
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups flour
1/2 cup raisins
olive oil for oiling pans
In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water. Allow to dissolve
and become creamy (about 5 minutes).
Combine milk, sugar, salt and rosemary in a sauce pan and heat until warm
(90 - 110 degrees F).
Beat 1 egg and 1 egg white (reserve yolk) into the milk mixture.
Beat the olive oil into the milk mixture.
Add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture.
Gradually beat in flour to make a stiff dough (this may not take all of the
flour).
On a well floured surface, knead the dough until it is smooth and satiny (10
to 20 minutes). Add flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
Flatten the dough out into a large circle. put the raisins on one half of
the dough and fold over the other half to cover. Fold and knead the dough
lightly to get the raisins evenly distributed in the dough.
Place the dough into an oiled bowl. Rotate the dough ball to coat with oil
and cover.
Allow to rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).
Punch the dough down lightly and form into a smooth ball.
Place the dough on an oiled baking sheet or cake pan and press to flatten
slightly.
Cover and allow to rise until puffy (1/2 to 1 hour).
Slash a cross in the top of the bread with a razor blade. The cuts should
be about 1/2 inch deep.
Beat the reserved egg yolk with 1 Tablespoon of cold water and brush onto
the loaf as a glaze.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake for about 35 minutes or until loaf is brown and sounds hollow when
thumped on the bottom.
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 10:56:06 +0100
From: "Mark Fry" <mfry at FRIENDSPROVIDENT.btinternet.com>
Subject: SC - C15th Bean/Pea Breads
Hi Caroline & all
Just some more 'bready' thoughts to pass onto you cooking info circle.
I'd have no problems about you also passing on my bread experiment article
in the WC newsletter 67. if that might help people - there is also my
research (in a 1997 WC newsletter) on the quantities of food given to
soldiers and galley marines which might be of interest but I don't have an
electronic copy of either text anymore.
The bread(s) I've been experimenting with are the various mixed grain types.
At least one of these was called 'horse bread' during the C15th and this
appears to have been an inferior quality bread (if we are to believe the
complaints of soldiers issued with it as rations) made from a mixture of
pea/bean flour and wheat flour. I've also experimented with rye/wheat and
barley/flour mixes as well. There is also refferance to a 3 grain bread -
wheat, rye & bean/pea - but I've not tried this yet.
<snip of some bread history - see bread-msg file>
The recipe I've based all my experiments on is an adaptation of the Maggie
Black recipe from the Weald & Down Open Air Museum Cookbook (I think this
is now out of print which is a great shame as it's a great source of modern
adaptations of medieval & renaissance recipes) :-
BAYLEAF FARMHOUSE BREAD
1 lb (450g) - Pea/ Bean/Barley/Rye flour*
1 lb 14oz (850g) - strong white baking flour~
2 oz (50g) - rice/corn flour^
1 oz (25g) - dried yeast (fresh is much better)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt (you will need to reduce this for the beans)
4 tea spoons clear honey
1/4 pint (150 ml) strong brown ale#
1 - 11/4 pint (575-850 ml) warm water
(* I used dried butter beans, yellow split peas and dried pearl barley,
which I ground in an electronic coffee grinder bought specifically for the
purpose. The rye flour came from a health food shop. Dried marrow fat peas
are actually more 'period' than any other form of modern pea/bean, but I
have heard that the flour from these starts to 'de-grade' very quickly once
mixed with water - but I've not tried this yet).
(~ You could use a 50/50 strong white to rye flour mix which produced a
very acceptable loaf - which did rise - just keep the total flour weight
consistant).
(^ I'm not too sure about this as it's a bit 'rich' for inclusion in a
'cheap' bread ?).
(# Possibly this was included by Maggie to represent the fact that most
C15th yeast was a brewing by-product but that's only my own personal
guess).
Maggie also has some recipes for oatmeal 'cakes' which I've tried and which
went down very well with my various guinea-pigs at events. They're made
from a 50/50 oatmeal/wheat flour mix with suet but also include parsley
(I've made them with veggie suet & they work just as well). I'll dig out
the recipe for these and forward them onto you in my next communication.
The C13th refferace to bean bread is very interesting and I'd like to have
a look at the original text for any other 'clues'.
Regards
Mark Fry
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 09:29:25 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Bread Soup Bowls
> I need 100+ individual bread bowls. To save money for our Barony, I'll be
> making them from scratch. I plan to raise the dough and then freeze them.
> What's the best way to do this?
Warning: Edible bread doughs will leak if you put a lot of liquid in them.
If they are dried out (4 days old like trenchers) they will absorb more
liquid, but they will still leak. Put the bread bowl inside a regular bowl.
That's more fun than soup dribbling off the table.
To freeze the dough: Make your dough, let it go through the first rise,
punch it down, shape your loaf, lightly flour it, wrap it in wax paper, then
wrap the wax paper package in aluminum foil or a plastic bag. Freeze
immediately. The dough keeps for several months.
To bake: Remove from the freezer, unwrap, place in greased tin or on
greased baking sheet, let thaw and rise until doubled, bake normally.
The light flouring and wax paper help keep the dough from sticking to it's
wrappings.
You may wish to increase the yeast to improve the rising action. Doubling
is about maximum to avoid an overpowering yeast flavor. Average bread
recipes tend to use too much yeast anyway.
> Should I raise the dough, once, divide and freeze? Twice and freeze?
> Twice, bake for 5-X minutes, and then freeze?
You can bake the bread and freeze it. If you do, let the bread cool down
after baking (overnight might be advisable). When it's cold, seal it in a
plastic bag and freeze.
To thaw: Remove from the freezer and the plastic bag. Wrap in a towel and
let stand on the counter for 3 to 4 hours or bake the bread in a 300 degree
F oven for about 15 minutes (I'm assuming 1 pound boules, larger loaves
require longer in the oven).
> (I have the counter space to raise the dough a second time on the day of
> the event, but I'm not sure if yeast survives freezing?)
Yeast survives freezing quite nicely, but recovers slowly as it thaws.
Yeast dies around 140 degrees F.
> Rosalyn MacGregor
> (Pattie Rayl)
For what you are attempting, I like freezing the dough and thawing and
baking it on site, given enough oven and counter space. I use the technique
when I know I can not make and store the bread fresh (the 200 loaves for
First Ansteorra/Calontir InterKingdom comes to mind). Dropping fresh, warm
bread on the table at a feast is always fun.
Be careful about choosing your recipe. Some doughs do not take kindly to
freezing. As you are talking of bread bowls, I'm assuming a dough of flour,
water, yeast and salt, and, perhaps, a little shortening. These doughs do
well in the freezing process.
I recommend preparing some dough and freezing it for several days, just to
learn what the process is like. That way you will know what to expect when
the hurley-burley of setting up for a feast surrounds you. You might also
test the differences between freezing dough and freezing bread. And try out
your soup in the bowls to see how badly they will leak.
Bear
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 21:08:48 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: Freezing Bread Dough (was Re: SC - Bread Soup Bowls)
> Does anyone on the list have tips for freezing bread dough in general, not
> just for trenchers?
The freezing techniques I mentioned work for your average bread. The
application is as a trencher, but the method works for most general
applications. In period, the trenchers would have been a coarse wheat loaf,
four days old, trimmed and sliced for the table.
> Bread from scratch is _much_ cheaper and usually tastier. However trying
> to produce enough for a feast on that day without tying up the kitchen or
> exhausting the cooks (I am NOT a morning person) has just not seemed
> feasible. (This time I'm delegating bread to a moring person.) I know
> bread dough will freeze, but how much has to be done to it afterwards?
Frozen dough must thaw and rise. You need counter space and ovens. You can
lay batches to fill the ovens about an hour apart. Fire up the ovens when
the first batch is ready and roll an assembly line of baking. A standard
kitchen oven holds about 8 one pound loaves. For really large feasts, I've
put in three sixteen hour days just for the baking. Freezing the dough can
shorten the time, if you have the oven capacity to push it through. At the
InterKingdom I mentioned, I had four ovens and spent Friday night with all
of then hot. Other specialty baking had been done on Wednesday and
Thursday. Sunday, I died.
> Does anyone have recipes that are better suited to such freezing and will
> give reliable results?
Most standard bread recipes work fine, especially if you double the yeast.
I do not recommend freezing doughs fortified with eggs or large quantities
of sugar. The only way to be sure is test the recipe. Bread from frozen
dough is usually a little denser than bread from a fresh rise.
> What about bread made, baked, frozen, and reheated? What little
> experience I have of this hasn't been too happy. But my roommate owns a
> bread machine....
You can't allow condensation to develop on the crust, it will turn leathery,
so it's out of the freezer into the pan and into the pre-heated oven.
Larger loaves take more re-heating than smaller loaves. You may want to use
an oven thermometer to make sure the oven temperature is right.
> I'm not a bread baker; my results when working with yeast-risen dough have
> been, well, erratic. Not enough practice yet to predict results. I'm
> usually not in one place long enough to do all the fiddling with it over
> time that it seems to require! And I am certainly not going to plan on
> serving from a recipes of whose results I cannot be reasonably certain. I
> can't even get consistant results from the bread machine unless I use a
> mix. That's too expensive for a feast, and anyway while they're predictable
> and easy, the loaves have a rather boring taste & texture.
Proof your yeast first. I use dry active yeast and add it to a half cup to
a cup of water with a pinch of sugar dissolved in it. In five to ten
minutes it will foam and turn creamy, then you use it to make the dough. In
most cases, the liquids need to be between 70 and 90 degrees F. In some
cases, the recipe asks for 110 degrees F. Don't go above 110 or the yeast
may lose some of its potency.
To change the flavor of the bread, use a tablespoon of honey, molasses, or
malt syrup in place of the sugar. If you want a little more change,
dissolve the sweetener in a cup of water. Stir in two cups of flour into
the water, then cover the bowl with plastic, let it stand for four to
twenty-four hours. Use this a starter. Subtract the water, flour and
sweetener from the recipe, break the starter apart in a bowl containing the
remaining water and make the recipe as per instructions.
> The regular ovens at the site where I'll be doing a feast in Feb. ( I
> think -- the autocrat hasn't officially confirmed bid acceptance) don't
> work but they have two commercial convection ovens. (Finally - a site with
> any kind of working oven besides one tiny residential style stove!) What
> effect might this have on baking the bread?
Convection ovens bake bread faster and quite well, but I would worry about
breakdowns, since it is obvious the owners of the site don't believe in
maintenance. Depending on quantities and timing, I might pre-bake.
Convection ovens are trickier when it comes to re-heating frozen bread.
> Also, I know there is a temperature adjustment that has to be made for
> using convection ovens but I haven't yet found out what it is. Does anyone
> have experience with this?
>
> Jocetta
Can't help you with that, I haven't used a convection oven in years and I
don't remember the differences. I do know I wouldn't trust the official
oven temperature until I ran a test batch through the ovens.
Bear
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 00:05:45 EST
From: DianaFiona at aol.com
Subject: Re: Freezing Bread Dough (was Re: SC - Bread Soup Bowls)
jocetta at ibm.net writes:
<< What about bread made, baked, frozen, and reheated? What little
experience I have of this hasn't been too happy. But my roommate owns a
bread machine....>>
This is what we usually end up doing--we don't have enough time/hands/counter
space/ovens to do it fresh. It can work just fine if you keep a few things
in mind.
Underbake the bread slightly--get it done, but not too brown.
Wrap it very well before freezing--aluminum foil, then freezer bags
is a good idea.
Thaw it well in advance of the feast hour; the day before ideally. It will
sweat as it thaws and you need to give it time to re-absorb the moisture.
As close to serving time as possible considering the rest of the menu, run
the loaves through a hot oven until hot all the way through and browned. If
you have to do this well in advance of the dinner hour, put them back in the
bags while still a bit warm, to conserve moisture and soften the crust. (I
only like hard crusts on bread when it's just out of the oven and
crispy--yummm! ;-) )
Ldy Diana
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 12:13:08 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: Freezing Bread Dough (was Re: SC - Bread Soup Bowls)
> I don't know if there is some secret to it, like extra yeast or something.
You normally increase the yeast for frozen doughs to get a reasonably quick
rise. Most people don't have the time or patience to wait out a long rise.
> Probably it needs to get frozen faster than my
> standard issue kitchen freezer can manage.
Self defrosting? A normal refrigerator freezer tends to fluctuate between
freezing and non-freezing temperatures if it is self defrosting. This isn't
good for dough. Deep freezes work nicely (unless the power goes out).
> I agree wholeheartedly that bread has been a major let-down for at
> feasts I've eaten. But then, I'm very picky about bread. My
> suggestions:
I'm picky about my bread, too. That's why quality bakegoods are a signature
of one of my feasts and why several cooks often ask me to handle the baking
for their feasts. If you can pull it off, fresh bread is a fabulous
addition to the normal board.
> 1) find out what last weeks cook did to get bread from the Big Sky
> Bakery in Raleigh. That bread was a definate improvement over the
> grocery store french bread we usually enjoy.
A good idea. If the bakery closes on Sunday and they are overstocked on
Saturday, you can find bargains to use or freeze.
> 3)(very small voice) I'm a baker, though never on quite such a scale as
> Ymir will demand. I'm even a morning person, though less so when
> sleeping in the high volume cabins at Camp Kanata.
For baking large quantities, you need to be a morning, noon, and night
person. If you plan to bake fresh for 200+, be prepared to begin the minute
the site opens on Friday and work until Saturday afternoon. Between the
baking and the cooking, scheduling the ovens is critical. The equipment
must be reliable.
Bear
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 22:41:25 "GMT"
From: Page Hutchinson <Pagedgrt at mediaone.net>
Subject: SC - Bread Bowls: A BreadRecipe.com Recipe for You
Her is the recp for those who do not have access. However if you do please
visit this site.
- --------------------------------
Bread Bowls
Submitted by:Jack Dickson
Bread and stew, and no dishes to wash after dinner.
Ingredients:
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg white
Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add one cup of bread flour and one cup
whole wheat flour. Mix until smooth. Keep adding flour, alternating bread
flour and whole wheat flour, and mixing until very hard to mix.
2. Turn dough out on a floured work surface, and knead until dough is smooth
and not sticky. Work as much flour as necessary into the dough. Roll into
a ball. Place into a lightly oiled bowl, and turn to coat the whole surface
with oil. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled. Rising time
is between 1 1/2 and 2 hours.
3. Punch down the dough, and let rest 10 minutes. Divide into 4 balls.
Place on cookie sheets, and flatten into disks. Allow to rise for another 1
to 2 hours. If desired, brush with egg white.
4. Bake in a preheated 375 degree F (190 degree C) oven for 40 to 50
minutes. When done bread should sound hollow when thumped on bottom.
Remove from oven, and let cool.
5. Cut a circle out of the top of each loaf, and remove that part of the
crust. Either remove the soft bread beneath, or compress it to form a bowl.
- --------------------------------
Visit http://WWW.breadRecipe.com
Copyright 1998 Emergent Media. Inc.
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 22:27:37 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Crusty bread
dy018 at freenet.carleton.ca writes:
<< Would it make any difference to just put a little pan of boiling water in
the oven, or am I over simplifying this? >>
Many recipes for French breads, crusty rolls and other things call for the
inclusion of a pan of water on the bottom of the oven. Seems like a better
idea than opening the door and letting your heat out to spray things.
Ras
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 22:31:04 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Crusty bread
> >I read that pro bakers sprayed water in the ovens like you do when
> >bakeing bread.
>
> Would it make any difference to just put a little pan of boiling water in
> the oven, or am I over simplifying this?
>
> Micaylah
From some experiments, misting will give you a thinner crust. You can
humidify the oven by putting a pan on the lower rack, bring the oven to
temperature, then pour in about a 1/2 cup of water. Wait about 5 minutes
then load your bread onto the upper rack.
Bear
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 19:24:06 +1100
From: Charles Dean <charles at macquarie.matra.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Crusty bread
Two very effective methods to get steam in into a
oven are:
1) Get a kitchen spayer and mist the oven when you put the
loaves in and then again after 5 minutes of baking.
Be careful not to mist the oven light or bang the
door when you close it.
2) Put a pan containing a few ice cubes in the bottom
of the oven as you put the loaves in. The ice cubes
help spread the time you have a humid oven.
Less effective but handy is to wet the surface of the loaf
just before you bake it.
Charles (of the Park)
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 06:57:28 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Crusty bread
LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> Many recipes for French breads, crusty rolls and other things call for the
> inclusion of a pan of water on the bottom of the oven. Seems like a better
> idea than opening the door and letting your heat out to spray things.
>
> Ras
OTOH, the spray method works just fine, and appears to produce results
indistinguishable from the pan or ice methods. I had a baking instructor
who swore by wetting and lightly wringing out a kitchen towel, and
cracking it like a whip against the back or floor of the oven, three
times, at five minute intervals. I doubt it matters too much how you do
it, as long as there is some steam at the beginning of the baking process.
Adamantius
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 12:01:44 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Steam in the Bread Oven
> The Sourdough Rye was, uh, rather dense -- even more
> dense than I'd expect a rye to be; but good flavour. I'll definitely try
> this one again.
The gluten in flour depends on the variety of cereal used to make the flour.
Rye in general is lower in gluten than wheat, which is why many rye bread
recipes call for a mix of rye and wheat flour. You may have a rye flour
that is particularly low in gluten and can probably improve the density by
adding some wheat flour.
> I found millet meal at a local organic food store. Anybody tried baking
> with millet? Also found spelt and barley grain -- anybody have any
> experience with grinding these? I may just send a half-cupful through the
> grinder just to see what they do.
>
> Elizabeth
Millet doesn't have gluten so you will need to mix it with wheat flour for
yeast baking. Try toasting the millet to improve the flavor.
Bear
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 12:10:31 -0800 (PST)
From: Donna Hrynkiw <donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA>
Subject: Re: SC - Time to give something back
Greetings from Elizabeth,
In the spirit of Maedb's "sharing" posting, I'd like to offer a recipe
for Porridge Rye bread. I made this a couple of weekends ago (and froze
it) and it was the star of my "different kinds of bread" display at
this past weekend's Baroness's Birthday Tourney A&S display. People came
back for second and third helpings of the samples, and as I was packing
up, the remaining heel was begged off of me.
Elizabeth Braidwood, An Tir
donna at kwantlen.bc.ca
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: The Village Baker - Classic Regional Breads from Europe and America
by Joe Ortiz. (Italics are indicated by dashes around the words.)
- -Pain Bouillie-
Porridge Bread
Whenever you see a French recipe that begins with the instructions "Fair
une Bouillie..." you know you have come across a very old recipe because it
starts off with a mush made by pouring boing water over flour. The mush,
with will ferment slightly overnight, is used the next day mixed into a
bread. The most fascinating recipe I have heard of for -pain bouillie- is
one
from the Alpine region of France around the town of Villar-d'Arne. The
- -boullie- is made with dark rye flour and set aside for rest for seven
hours. The porridge is then mixed into a dough, without any yeast, and
allowed to rest for another seven hours. When the dough is finally made
into loaves, they are placed in an an oven that has already been used for
making bread and so the temperature is only about 200F. The loaves bake for
seven hours and the process produces a moist, dense, completely sourdough
bread that lasts well over six months -- or so the story goes. The bread is
traditionally made in November and it keeps best when stored in wine
cellars and hay lofts.
In the following recipe yeast and some white flour are included to make the
procedure a little easier for the contemporary home baker.
[EB: I suspect that in the original recipes, the porridge captured
sufficient wild yeast to take care of the leavening.)
Makes two 14-ounce loaves.
THE -BOUILLIE- (PORRIDGE)
2 teaspoons honey
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 cup organic rye flour
1 cup organic cracked rye grain [EB: I substituted rolled oats. Who has
cracked rye on hand?]
THE DOUGH
1 teaspoon active dry yeast [EB: I used 3/4 - 2/3 cup of my sourdough
yeast culture and adjusted the amount of
white flour to compensate for the added
liquid.]
3 tablespoons warm water [EB: omitted.]
All of the -bouillie- from the previous step
2 teaspoons fine sea salt [EB: I used table salt.]
2 teaspoons caraway seeds [EB: omitted. I dislike caraway.]
1 tablespoon raisins [EB: omitted. Without the caraway, the
raisins don't make sense.]
2 cups organic, unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour
[EB: I used Robin Hood unbleached white
-- Canadian all-purpose flour.]
TO MAKE THE -BOUILLIE- (PORRIDGE), dissolve the honey in the boiling water
and pour it over the rye flour and grain in a ceramic bowl. Let the mixture
soak for a few minutes, then stir it with a wooden spoon until the flour is
completely wet. Cover the bowl with a towel and set it aside overnight in a
warm place. [EB: I used my usual proofing place -- the cupboard over the
fridge. Always a toasty 76-80F.]
TO MAKE THE DOUGH, [proof the yeast in 2 tablespoons of warm water.] Place
the -bouillie- in a medium-sized bowl, sprinkle the salt over the porridge
and stir it in. [Crush the caraway seeds in a mortar, add the raisins, and
grind the mixture to a paste. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of water.
Add 2 teaspoons of this caraway flavouring to the -bouillie-.] Gradually add
1 1/2 cups flour, a handful at a time, while mixing with a plastic dough
scraper. Mix in the yeast. Continue adding the rest of the flour by
handfuls until it is all incorporated and you have a medium-firm piece of
dough. Knead the dough on the worktable for between 5 and 8 minutes using a
small additional quantity of white flour if necessary. The dough will be
firm but if you press your fingers into it it will feel sticky.
Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with a moist towel, and place it in
an unlit oven for between 1 1/2 and 2 hours to rise. [EB: my notes say that
my yeast culture took a little longer -- about 2 1/2 hours to doubling
in size.]
When it has doubled in bulk, cut the dough into 2 pieces. Shape the pieces
into flat loaves that are 5 inches square and 2 inches high by flattening
and then folding the edges toward the middle and sealing the joins with the
heel of the hand. Oil one side of each loaf and place them, oiled sides
abutting, side by side in a greased bread pan that measures 9 inches by 5
1/2 inches by 3 inches. [EB: He's making two half-loaves and putting them
in the same pan. I made one loaf.]
Let the dough rise, again covered with a moist towell, in an unlit oven for
30 minutes, until the dough has risen about 1/2 an inch above the top of
the pan. [EB: My rise at this point took a whole hour.]
Give each loaf a straight, 2-inch slash on the top with a razor blade and
brush the tops with a little salad oil. [EB: I slashed, but did not oil.]
Set the oven at 450F and immediately place the loaves inside. Bake the
bread in what is known as a rising oven for 25 minutes. Then reduce the
heat to 400F and bake the loaves for 45 minutes longer. They will be quite
dark.
Remove the loaves from the pan and place them on a cooling rack. When
cooled the bread is best sliced very, very thin.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man, talk about a wordy recipe. An experienced baker could pass this to
another experienced baker in about 1/3 the space.
E.B.
donna at kwantlen.bc.ca
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 13:09:11 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Bread
> I am looking for a good loaf to go with soup or stew....
>
> Stacie
For soup and stew, Pain de Campagne is excellent.
Here is what I plan to make, sans raisins, to go with a cassoulet for New
Year's. It might be interesting with soup or stew.
Bear
Pain de Ramerino
(Rosemary Raisin Bread - Florentine)
1 teaspoon dry active yeast (1 pkg)
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 cup milk
3 Tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry rosemary
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups flour
1/2 cup raisins
olive oil for oiling pans
In a medium bowl, sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water. Allow to dissolve
and become creamy (about 5 minutes).
Combine milk, sugar, salt and rosemary in a sauce pan and heat until warm
(90 - 110 degrees F).
Beat 1 egg and 1 egg white (reserve yolk) into the milk mixture. Beat the
olive oil into the milk mixture.
Add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture.
Gradually beat in flour to make a stiff dough (this may not take all of the
flour).
On a well floured surface, knead the dough until it is smooth and satiny (10
to 20 minutes). Add flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Flatten
the dough out into a large circle. put the raisins on one half of the dough
and fold over the other half to cover. Fold and knead the dough lightly to
get the raisins evenly distributed in the dough. Place the dough into an
oiled bowl. Rotate the dough ball to coat with oil and cover.
Allow to rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).
Punch the dough down lightly and form into a smooth ball.
Place the dough on an oiled baking sheet or cake pan and press to flatten
slightly.
Cover and allow to rise until puffy (1/2 to 1 hour).
Slash a cross in the top of the bread with a razor blade. The cuts should be
about 1/2 inch deep.
Beat the reserved egg yolk with 1 Tablespoon of cold water and brush onto
the loaf as a glaze.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake for about 35 minutes or until loaf is brown and sounds hollow when
thumped on the bottom.
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 21:45:06 -0500
From: Brenna <sunnie at exis.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Bread
Stacie wrote:
> Does anyone have good bread recipes, is there
> a good webpage for old fashioned bread recipes? etc...I'm looking for the
> kind that mother's would make 8-)
I have a very simple recipie which won me first place in a bread-making
contest at our spring coronation (not to toot my own horn). It is very
tasty, but incredibly easy to make. Here goes.
2 cups of hot water (105-110)
1/2 Tbsp of shortening
1 pkg of dry yeast (I use a quick-rise, so my times are based on that)
1/4 cup of honey
1 tsp salt
flour (buy whole wheat and "Gold Medal brand wheat mix")
Melt shortning in water. Add yeast and sugar and stir until dissolved. Addsalt and begin adding flour while mixing with a fork (alternate 1/2 cup measuresof the two flours to keep an even amount of them in the mixture) until the doughis able to be kneaded. Dump dough onto a tabletop liberally floured with thewheat mix flour. Fold in as much of that flour as the dough will hold, thenknead it for a few more minutes. Grease a bowl with shortening. Place the doughin the bowl, and coat the top with a thin layer of the shortning. Let rise in awarm place for 45 minutes. Punch down. Let rise an additional 45 minutes.Punch down again and seperate into 2 greased loaf pans. Let rise 35 minutes.Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees and bake 45-60 minutes (untilbrowned and hollow sounding).
If I'm serving the bread soon after, I butter the tops while hot out of the
pans. If I'm freezing them, I skip this step.
Brenna
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 18:55:50 -0900
From: "Reia M. Chmielowski" <kareina at eagle.ptialaska.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Bread
Stacie wrote:
> Does anyone have good bread recipes, is there
> a good webpage for old fashioned bread recipes? etc...I'm looking for the
> kind that mother's would make 8-)
Well, I don't have web page addresses, but I tend to make my bread the
old-fashioned way.
I always start with a bread sponge. Put about a cup full of flour in a
bowl with some yeast (I never measure--but typical bread recipes use two
packages of dry yeast) and add roughly the same amount of warm to hot water
gradually--stirring all the while. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and
set it aside for an hour, or over night, or until you remember to get back
to it.
It should look much like a sponge when it is ready. Then I add more warm
liquid (sometimes water, sometimes milk, sometimes water that I boiled
vegetables in--whatever) and flour (sometimes white, sometimes white in
combination with whole wheat, or rye, or barley, or whatever I feel like
today, but if I'm using lots of "heavy flours I'll add some gluten to keep
the dough soft), a bit of salt, and perhaps some sweeter (honey, molasses,
sugar, whatever) in small quantity. If I'm feeling decadent I'll also add
butter (or some other shortening or flavored oil), +/- egg(s), and then any
other extras (like fresh peeled garlic cloves with herbs, or dried fruit,
or nuts, or whatever).
All that bread really needs is flour, yeast, water, and salt--the rest is
optional depending on today's inspiration. Once I've mixed it all together
and kneaded it well I set it to rise and hour or three or more and then
punch it down and let it rise again before shaping. Many recipes say to
omit second rising to save time--but if you are doing the bread in small
bursts of energy while working on some other project it is really worth the
extra time in terms of texture. I often set the sponge either the night
before, or in the morning before leaving for work, then I'll have time to
do the rest later.
Yes, this is more of vague description than a recipe, but that is the way I
cook--I pinch of this, a dollop of that, and different every time, but
always delicious! Oh--yes, I recall that she wanted bread to go with a
stew. In that case I'd tend to be using a fair bit of rye or other dark
flour and put in powdered milk (much cheaper out here than the real stuff)
and butter for richness. I'd also try to time it so that the bread was
done around the same time as the stew--so start the sponge the night
before, knead the dough first thing in the morning, have it punched down by
lunch time, shaped two hours before the meal, and then it should be baked
right on time...
- --Kareina
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 07:49:56 PST
From: "Bonne of Traquair" <oftraquair at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Bread
Kareina, your guidelines pretty much describe my breadmaking!
The winter I committed myself to learning to bake bread, I worked
closely with a book called "Breadtime Stories". Tacky name, but one of
the few books that describes the process rather than simply giving a
recipe. The instruction on how much ignoring a batch of bread could
take, and the very apt descriptions of the texure and feel of the dough
at each stage surely cut a lot of trial and error out of my learning
process. It was as good as having an experienced baker visit every
Saturday and keep an eye on me through my first half dozen attempts.
The book opens with a history and materials chapter. Then follows a
long chapter on "the basic loaf". Something like 4 pages of text and
illustration on the making of a loaf. A chapter on common variations
(of flour, liquids etc) and the difference those ingredients make in the
finished loaf. A chapter on shaping and baking techniques somewhere in
there. The book closes with an international collection of bread
recipes paired up with soup or stew recipes from the same culture.
Bonne
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 10:57:00 EST
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Bread
Okay. This is a lovely, mild bread, but not just another boring white loaf.
Oatmeal Bread with Cooked Oatmeal,
from On Bread, by James Beard. Alfred A Knopf, 1973, copyright 1973
James A Beard
[The original recipe is for 2 small loaves. I 'm giving the quadruple version
I usually make, because otherwise it's all eaten up in one day. It freezes
nicely. Actually, I've made a few small changes, but it's his recipe,
really.]
Ingredients
4 C (1 quart) coarse rolled oats
4 C (1 qt) boiling water
8 pkgs (8T, scant) dry yeast
4 tsp granulated sugar
1/8--1/4 tsp ground dry ginger
1 C warm water (to proof the yeast)
1 Qt warm milk {either regular or 1/2-1C dry milk, then fill up qt measure
with regular}
4 Tblsp salt (I usually use coarse)
1 C dark brown sugar, packed
16-20 C (4-5 Qt) white flour
1) Cook the oats in the boiling water until thickened, about 3 minutes.
Pour into a very large mixing bowl and cool to lukewarm.
2) Stir yeast, ginger, and sugar into warm water. Let it sit a few minutes
to proof.
3) Add warm milk, salt, brown sugar, and yeast mixture to the lukewarm oats.
4) Stir well, then stir in 14-16 C flour, (3-1/2 --4Qt), in medium-sized
dollops. (Original says to add 1 C at a time, but we're talking larger
here.)
5) Turn out onto floured board and knead into a smooth, pliable, elastic
dough. If necessary add up to 4 C more flour.
6) Kneading will take 10-20 minutes. Final dough will have a wonderful
feel.
7) Shape into ball, put into well-buttered bowl, and turn to coat on all
sides. Cover with damp towel and let rise in warm, draft-free place until
doubled, about 1-11/2 hrs.
8) Punch dough down and knead for 2-3 minutes.
9) Shape dough into 4-5 large loaves. Place in buttered loaf pans, cover,
and let rise again until about even with top of tins, or almost doubled.
10) Preheat oen to 375^ F, place tins in the center of the lowest rack, and
bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, until loaves sound hollow when rapped on
the bottom.
11) Return the loaves, without the tins, to the oven rack to bake for about
5 more minutes, then remove to racks to cool.
Beard says that you can coat the crust with butter at this point for a soft
crust, but I think the crunchy crust is much nicer.
NB: When you are shaping the loaves (flatten to an oval, then roll up
firmly) you can sprinkle them with chopped nuts, and/or cinnamon and sugar mix.
Devra the Baker
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 09:21:35 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Bread
> when I was in the middle of
> it I realized that that I had used 1 cup water instead of the 1/4 cup it
> should have been so instead of 1 cup milk I used 1/4 cup. Well the
> question is I know the amount of liquid total was correct but would the
> reversal ( ie boo boo) I made affect the overall taste/ consistency?
> The bread is great but I am curious if correcting the boo boo would make
> it better? Is it six of one and half a dozen of the other? Or does the
> original have 1 cp milk 1/4 water ratio for a reason?
>
> Morwenna
The total amount of liquid determines how much flour can be used. It is
normally 2 to 4 cups of flour to each cup of liquid, depending on how dry
the flour is and how stiff you want the dough.
Milk enriches the dough by adding proteins, fats, and lactose. Milk
enriched bread usually has a softer, more delicate crumb and a richer taste.
The proteins improve the crumb. The fats and lactose improve the taste.
Correcting your error would improve the bread, but the change will probably
go unnoticed.
One other thing, enriched breads have a shorter storage life than plain
breads and they are more susceptible to molds. This is normally not a
problem in the presence of the average ravening horde.
Bear
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 12:33:46 -0800 (PST)
From: Donna Hrynkiw <donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA>
Subject: Re: SC - Bread
Somebody already mentioned that using milk as part of the liquid
in bread makes it richer (which is true), but something in the back
of my mind says that it also makes the crust softer.
More water - crispier crust
More milk - softer/more tender crust
So by adding more water, your crust should be crisper -- which jives
with your description.
Elizabeth
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 10:47:16 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - once again bread
> But I have a question...I love making sour dough bread.....but to me it is
> never sour enough....can it be made sourer ? is that the proper way to say
> it even?
> Stacie
The best sourdoughs are produced by a symbiotic reaction between Candida
milleri, a strain of Saccharomyces exiguus, and Lactobacillus sanfrancisco.
The reaction does not occur with S. cerevisiae (regular bread yeast).
C. milleri strengthens the gluten and L. sanfrancisco improves the
fermentation of the maltose and provides the characteristic sourness.
Unfortunately, most of us are not in San Franciso where this combination is
readily available.
To make a sourdough starter, in a bowl, mix 2 cups of flour with one cup of
water. Place the bowl on the counter and wait. It does not matter whether
the bowl is covered or uncovered. The water and the flour will activate a
natural amylase reaction to convert starch into sugar. The yeasts present
in the flour will use the sugar to ferment the dough and create a sourdough.
Exposing the starter to the air increases the probability of gathering wild
yeasts and lactobacilli in the starter. None of this insures a good starter
or decent sourdough. That is the luck of the draw. If you have problems
with bugs, tape a couple layers of cheese cloth over the starter bowl. If
it is sealed to the sides of the bowl, it will keep most bugs out, but let
the yeasty beasties in.
In my opinion, most recipes for sourdough starter are too complex and depend
on S. cerevisiae to boost them, which defeats the idea of wild yeast and
lactobacillus. I am considering trying a little sour cream or buttermilk to
initially boost the lactobacilli in the starter, but this introduces other
organic compounds which may be susceptible to molds and other infections.
If you have a starter. Try leaving it on the counter and feeding it twice a
day with 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup of flour. Use a big bowl, and be
ready to bake two or three times a week. Keeping the starter on the counter
makes it more active than keeping it in the refrigerator and it needs to be
fed regularly to keep it from dying.
If the bread still isn't sour enough, try baking bread made with starter,
water, flour and salt. Leave out the shortenings, the sweeteners, and the
yeast. Your first rise will likely take 8 to 12 hours. Your second rise
will take 1 to 2 hours.
Bear
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 13:34:28 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - once again bread
> > The reaction does not occur with S. cerevisiae (regular bread yeast).
>
> Whose name, ironically, suggests it is, or was, in fact a brewer's
> yeast, which might help account for the phenomenon.
>
> Adamantius
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the yeast found in ale barm. Today's baker's
yeast is a variant of S. cerevisiae, so if you use compressed yeast or dry
active yeast to leaven your bread, you are using the equivalent of ale barm.
Most, if not all, of the top fermenting brewer's yeasts are variants of S.
cerevisiae.
Just to add to the confusion, variants of S. cerevisiae have been bred to be
bottom fermenting and these are replacing the variants of S. carlsbergensis
which were previously used in beer making.
The symbiosis between C. milleri and L.sanfrancisco occurs because C.
milleri can not use maltose, but can use all of the other sugars released by
the amylase reaction. This leaves the maltose free to be used by L.
sanfrancisco. Additionally, C. milleri is more resistant to the acidic
environment created by the lactobacilli than many other yeasts. This
fortuitous combination optomizes fermentation and sourness.
Apparently, S. cerevisiae is a little wimpy in high acid environments.
Bear
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 18:47:25 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Was Pizza Wars - OOP, Now Bread Rising
> I have professed before that I do bake a bit of bread. However, everything I
> do is the basic "rise until doubled - 1 to 3 hours" or variations there of.
> Could we start an educational discussion of other ways and reasons for rising
> bread. Especially extending risings, chilled risings, 8-24 hour risings and
> the like.
>
> Katarin
In for a penny, in for a pound, I've been baking for 35 years and I'm still
learning things.
Rise until doubled is fine. You use about 1 teaspoon of dry active yeast or
equivalent for two pounds of flour and make bread. The rise is fast enough
for most people, the quantity of yeast is low enough so that the bread
doesn't taste like a cake of yeast, and the end product is better than most
of the insipid, underbaked stuff the groceries sell as bread. I use this
method often, usually with enriched, sweet doughs which do not work well
with extended rises.
Going beyond the common quick rise, you are seeking improvements in texture
or flavor or both.
The first trick is the sponge. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of sweetener (honey,
sugar, malt extract, etc.) in 1 cup of warm water. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon
of dry active yeast and allow to cream. Blend in two cups of the flour(s)
you will be using to make the bread to form a dough. Cover and let stand
for 4 to 24 hours. The sponge sours slightly producing a better flavor.
Letting it stand 12 to 24 hours is best in my experience.
Break the sponge apart in the remaining liquid for the recipe you are
preparing. Blend in the remaining ingredients and rise and bake as usually.
Professional bakers tend to use less yeast and allow more time for nature to
take it's course.
A variation on the sponge is the "quarter rise," where the sponge is created
in stages. The first step is a normal sponge using 1/4 of the total flour
and water, all of the yeast, and a little salt. Let it ferment for 12
hours, then break the sponge apart in 5/8 of the remaining water. Add a 1/3
of the total flour, 1/4 of the total salt and all of the sweetener. This
will produce a second stage batter sponge. In an hour add the remaining
ingredients, let rise for an hour, knead and form the loaves.
I don't use this method and I don't really recommend it except as a
experiment. The method is used with large quantities of dough (the recipe
I've seen it used with calls for 280 lbs of flour and 8 oz. of compressed
yeast). If you use it in a normal recipe, try a scant 1/8 teaspoon to 4 lbs
of flour. However, it does point out a simple fact. If you want a longer
rise, use less yeast.
A sourdough starter is a sponge created from a spontaneous leaven rather
than from a commercial yeast. It works slower than regular yeast and as
stated previously will take 8 to 12 hours to get a good first rise. Once
the yeast is spread through the dough, the second rise will be faster. The
majority of sourdough bread recipes boost the sourdough with yeast to get a
fast rise. I prefer the longer rise and increasing the salt to control
leavening and sourness of the bread.
Raising the loaves of bread in a cooler is a professional boulangier's
trick. It lengthens the time of the rise overnight, so that the baker has
better control of his time. It is a necessity of economics rather than of
baking. That being said, a refrigerator rise allows a home baker to delay
baking for up to 24 hours.
The home refrigerator is colder than the boulangier's cooler and not as
benign an environment. When making bread to rise in the refrigerator, I
tend to double the amount of yeast. Shape the loaves after the first rise
and put in their tins. Cover with plastic wrap and put into the
refrigerator. When you go to bake it, put the dough into a cold oven and
bring it to temperature. Bake until done (50 to 60 minutes, for standard
bread dough).
Refrigerator rise improves nothing. It allows the home baker to schedule
more efficiently. Breads rise in the refrigerator best between 4 and 12
hours. I use the technique primarily to have bread fresh and hot from the
oven in the morning by letting the dough rise overnight.
A rise extending technique I want to try is "peggy tub," where the rise is
slowed by wrapping the dough in a cloth and immersing it in cool water.
Apparently the rise can be extended to about 12 hours and the water improves
the texture of the bread. It is a method first described by Pliny when
commenting about Parthian bread.
That's a start. I have to go and cook supper. Until later.
Bear
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 16:00:34 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - bread adjustments for higher altitudes
> Well I am back to bread again ( seems a recurring theme with me hehe).
> I wanted to give a friend Devra's yummy oatmeal bread recipe, but the
> problem is she lives at a higher altitude so I dont know how to adjust
> the recipe for her? Anyone out there have any experience with this?
> She is at 6500 ft.
> Morwenna
For most yeast leavened breads, you don't have to worry much about altitude.
Since you're using a sweet dough, I would recommend running a couple test
batches. Sweet doughs tend to be more finicky about baking conditions than
plain doughs. Run one according to the recipe, if it comes out, fine. If
it doesn't, then you have to decide which changes need to be made.
The problem with high altitude baking is water boils at about 198 degrees F
at 7500 feet. The boiling point of water at sea level is 212 degrees F
(this does not change appreciably until above 2500 feet). For the high
altitude baker, this means the internal temperature of the bread is lower,
lengthening the baking time, while the liquid in the product is evaporating
faster, drying out the crumb.
If the first batch doesn't turn out, use just enough flour to keep the dough
from being overly sticky (around 16 cups with the recipe given) and try
baking at 400 degrees F to raise the internal temperature of the loaf.
If you are interested in solving the problems of high altitude cooking, take
a look at the Colorado State Extension Publications at:
http://www.colostate.edu/depts/CoopExt/PUBS/FOODNUT/pubfood.html
Bear
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 14:02:12 EDT
From: Seton1355 at aol.com
Subject: SC - REC: Oatmeal bread
I am in the process of going through my recipes and transfering them to disk.
I came across this recipe for oatbread from the Quaker Oats people. I
haven't made it for years, but everytime I did make it, my family loved it.
It always struck me as a "hearth" loaf (well, if you don't put it into pans)
and while not period, exactly...it could be "period - like!"
YIS, Phillipa
HINTS OF HONEY LOAF
2 packs yeast 2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2C warm water 6 C flour
2 1/4C milk scalded 2 C qroats, uncooked
1/4C shortening 1/3 C honey
Dissolve yeast in water
Pour milk over shortening, honey & salt; cool to lukewarm.
Stir in 2 cups of flour.
Add dissolved yeast & oats; mix well.
Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface & knead until smooth & elastic
Shape into a ball & place into a greased bowl, turning once to coat the top
surface,
Cove & let rise for 1 hour.
Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.
Divide dough in half, roll out each half to form a 15 X 9" rectangle.
Roll up, starting with the narrow end, pressing together the seam to seal.
Place in 2 greased loaf pans.
Cover & let rise for 45 minutes.
Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.
Remove from pans & cool on wire racks.
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
To: "'sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG'" <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG>
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 10:21:50 -0600
Subject: SC - Ciambelle (was Bread)
> I do not have primary source, but the
> one I read said the receipt originally was in the notebooks of a
> late-16th-Century Italian nun, Maria Teresa Somethingorother (it's not
> here). The name of the item is "Drowned Chiambelle" (sp may be off) and
> they really are like miniature bagels seasoned with anise. Quite yummy,
> and
> not sweet.
>
> ---= Morgan
I think your recipe comes from Gillian Riley's Renaissance Recipes. Only
the redactions are given, there is no translation of the primary source and
no information other than the bibliography as to where she got the
redactions.
The recipe comes from the notebooks of Sister Maria Vittoria della Verde
(Portia della Verde) of the convent of San Tommaso in Perugia.
Bear
Drowned Ciambelle
1 lb. strong white flour
1 tsp. dried yeast
1 tsp. ground anise seeds
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. white sugar
Water as required
Knead the flour and yeast with water, salt and ground anise to make a soft
dough. Leave to rise until the dough has doubled in size. Knock down, then
take egg-sized lumps and roll them into strips. Join the ends to make a
circle with a hole in the middle. Cook in batches in a large pan of boiling
water. When they come to the top, they are done. Take them out and leave
them to dry in the open air or in an uncovered baking dish in a cool oven.
Then bake them in a hot oven for ten minutes.
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 14:58:21 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - help - my own bread recipe!
As requested, Bear.
Ravensgard slow-rise multi-grain bread
c. Chimene des CinqTours / Patricia R. Dunham, 1995, rev. January 1999
This recipe has its roots in the French Country Bread recipe in the
Feb/March 1995 issue of Fine Cooking magazine. The following instructions
assume some basic familiarity with bread making; this is probably not a
recipe for an absolute beginner.
A. Make a sponge (damp yeast starter) of:
2/3 cup warm water (105-115 F)
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup Stone-buhr 4-grain cereal (wheat/ rye/ barley/ oats)
OR 7-grain (cracked wheat/ oats/ bran/ rye/ corn meal/ flax seed/
hulled millet)
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour
Mix ingredients thoroughly in a medium-size bowl; let proof for 4-16
hours. Cover the bowl while it's sitting and the yeast is working; keep
it out of drafts and temperature changes as much as possible. When
finished it should look (like it has been) bubbly and should smell yeasty.
B. For the bread:
In a larger bowl, combine the sponge and:
FOR 4-GRAIN:
3/4 cup water + 1/8 cup water
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar + 1 T. water (originally this was 1 T. Honey)
1 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup cereal
3 cups unbleached bread flour (approximately)
********
FOR 7-GRAIN:
3/4 cup water
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar + 1 T. water (originally this was 1 T. Honey)
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4 cup cereal
3 cups unbleached bread flour (approximately)
********
Knead about 5 minutes. Keep your kneading surface floured with the
minimum amount of flour to prevent the dough sticking to it, or to your
hands. This is a damp dough, but works nicely. When finished kneading,
the dough should spring back when pressed with a finger.
Let rise at room temperature 2-3 hours or up to 12 hours in the
refrigerator in a lightly greased bowl. If the dough has been
refrigerated, let it come to room temperature (I do NOT know how long
this "coming to room temp" should take, always seems like forever to me
and I think I usually short it). Shape loaf and set to rise on baking
surface (whatever you're using), until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.
(Additional rises are possible early in the process, if you wish, or if
timing problems require.)
The baking surface(s) I use are Superstone ceramic cloches (WONDERFUL
things; I have both the original round/beehive top and the baguette-loaf
shapes). These easily simulate period bread baking conditions*. I place
the shaped loaf (previous step) on a sprinkle of flour in the base
section for the rise (and put the lid on to prevent drafts). When risen,
I remove the cloche lid, slash the loaf, rinse the cloche lid interior
with water and replace it. This produces an initial "steam" treatment for
the crust. Oven temperature of 375 for about 30-40 minutes. Loaf should
sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. If the bread has not browned by
the time it should be done, remove the cloche lid for about 5 minutes,
that should take care of it.
(The original recipe's baking instructions -- non-cloche -- indicate: 450
for the first 15 minutes, and spritz the oven walls with water from a
spray bottle every few minutes for the crust effect; then finish at 425
for 30-35 minutes. The one time I tried these times and temperatures with
a cloche, I got a blackened rock; hence the cooler and shorter figures
for cloche baking.)
IMPORTANT! Be sure to slash this loaf (sharp knife, razor, even snipping
with scissors). There is (supposed to be) a sudden expansion of the loaf
when the heat hits, and the crust will tear explosively and randomly if
not given a route for rapid expansion via the slashes. You need to slash
deeply, about 1/2 inch (thanks, Bear), and you may have to experiment to
find the tool that works for you. You may have to encourage the slashes
to open as you cut, by GENTLE finger-tip pressure on either side... at
least this is the stage I'm currently at, 8-) -- the dough is moist
enough that it just closes around the razor edge I'm using... maybe I'm
pressing too hard or trying to go too fast?
This should produce a moist, chewy loaf with an interesting multi-grain
content which is nice for a period feel (rougher flours with multiple
ingredients). To our taste, the 4-grain gives a somewhat milder -and-
richer taste, and has fewer "period-questionable" components. The
4-grain version contains a bit more water and yeast, which I tried in
response to the recent SCA-cooks thread on barley breads being very
difficult to leaven. The dough may be a bit wetter at the kneading
stage, but comes out only a bit denser than the 7-grain one. I have made
the 7-grain with honey, but my husband doesn't like the taste, so...
The steps can be done at long or short times, and the possibility of
extra rises makes this a recipe that can be very flexible -- or drive you
crazy trying to figure out how to fit it into the work-a-day world... 8-)
* See Karen Hess' discussion of reproducing period baking conditions in
modern applicances, esp. pp 19-20, Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery;
contents ca. 1575-1625.
Date: Sun, 04 Jul 1999 21:08:49 -0500
From: "Sharon R. Saroff" <sindara at pobox.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Bread for a wedding feast...
I used to make this for friends weddings. It is partially taken from a
Greek wedding bread recipe I saw in a bread recipe book I used to own from
Sturbridge Village. Since I experiment a lot I changed the book's recipe.
I researched the customs that I note below, though I don't have my sources
handy.
Sindara
Wedding Bread Recipe:
3/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup cool water
1 stick sweet butter, melted 1/2 cup honey
2tbs rum 1 tbs amaretto or almond extract
1 tsp vanilla 2 tbs dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water 1/2 tsp sugar
3 eggs 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated orange peel 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp anise seed 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice 1/2 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp coriander 7-7 1/2 cups of flour (white)
eggwhite for glaze
In large mixing bowl place yeast, warm water and sugar. Stir and let
stand until froth begins. Add liquid ingredients (make sure the melted
butter is cooled so as not to kill the yeast) and stir. Beat in eggs one
at a time. Add dry ingredients, add flour a cup at a time. Mix until
dough can be handled. Knead on floured board about 5 min or until
elastic. Placed in greased bowl, making sure that the dough gets coated
w/ the grease and coover w/ wet towel. Let stand until doubled in size
(about 2 hours). Punch down and knead again until elastic. Check for
air bubbles. Divide dough into four parts. Roll three parts into tubes
and braid them together. Form a circle with the braid (You now have a
braided wreath) Roll out the fourth piece until flat. With cookie
cutters form shapes and decorate the braid. Let stand covered on greased
cookie sheet until doubled in size. Brush w/ eggwhite and sprinkle
w/grated peel, currants and chopped nuts if desired. Bake at 400F for 15
min then drop temperature to 350 and bake 40-45min or until bread has a
hollow sound when tapped at bottom.
The custom is to serve the bread on a silver tray surrounded by
dried fruits and nuts. Place a lit candle in an enclosed holder in the
center. This represents the "Eternal Flame of Love."
Another note: The people of the South Pacific have a curious
wedding custom of placing an agate bead in the shell drinking vessels of
the bride and groom. Upon doing this the bride and groom take a drink
from the vessel and the priest says, "Just as these two beads, So you
shall go down together, but never apart."
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 21:01:26 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - OOP - Cheese Bread
> Ooooh, cheese bread! One can never have too many recipes for that (or
> anything else :-) )! Please, please??
>
> -- Harriet
Start with a basic bread recipe (makes 2 loaves). I used:
2 cups of water about 90 degrees F
1 teaspoon of yeast
2 Tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups of flour