Basket Case

One really cool thing about bread making, is how few ingredients so many different breads use. the recipe I tried titled "Bread-in-a-Basket" has only 7 ingredients.  It really can be, or at least feel, cheaper to make your own bread.  (Although I'm not sold on making my own sandwich bread since I can buy a loaf of  Pantry Essentials bread at Safeway for something like  88 cents). With yeast, water, salt, honey, butter, unbleached flour, and wheat germ, preparing my dough didn't take long at all.

Basket Bread was insanely easy to put together and it looked pretty cool  when it was done. The idea is to let your bread rise in a basket so that the dough gets imprinted with the design of the weave. Apparently, this is a trick used by European bakers to give their loaves a rustic look.  The recipe I worked from suggested a basket with a tight weave for better effect, I found that you need more than a tight weave you need thick basket material, like that of a wicker laundry basket, though obviously you want a basket small than that. I didn't have one this time around but I will try to find one before I make bread like this again. I would imagine you can use any bread dough that needs to rise twice to make basket bread, but I found this recipe very tasty.

This was my first ever bread that called for wheat germ. Boy, was it an adventure tracking some down.  I had been told I could fine some at most any grocery store but I scanned the baking aisle of my local Safeway 3 or 4 times and couldn't find it. I went to the local natural foods store and only found toasted wheat germ. I checked the internet via my trusty DROID phone and couldn't decide from the information I found it toasted versus untoasted makes a difference.  I called my mom. She didn't know either, but she guessed that raw would be better and said she always got hers from the bulk section in Fred Meyer.  I turned the corner to go to the bulk section and ran right into it.  In a refrigerated case.  The best part is, when I sat down to dinner and asked my husband where he would look in a store to find wheat germ, he knew it was in the cold section.  He knows some of the most surprising random facts.

Most things I've read say that bread needs to be kneaded for about 8-10 minutes. This particular bread needed to be kneaded for 15-20 until it appeared "smooth and springy with small bubbles just under the surface."  I learned something about kneading bread also.  If you are short like me, get a stepping stool.  You get more leverage that way and your arms get less tired.

This basket bread has a long rise time. First, an hour in a greased bowl, then I had to punch it down, shape it into a round ball, and place it in a greased and floured basket

to rise for another 45 minutes or until nearly doubled.

Totally worth the time.

 Catch the Breadbug

Brea

Maize-ing Bread

I have caught the breadbug. After making crusty bread to eat with spaghetti the other night, I fell in love with bread making. There are 256 bread and baked goods recipes in my big box o' recipes. There are 366 days this year. I now plan to make all 256 by December 31st.
Today the chosen recipe read: Southwestern Cheese-Corn Bread. Larch has renamed it Maize-ing bread. And it absolutely is ahmaaaazing! I was sort of expecting one of those bread Larch loves and I only find "meh." I ate 3 thick slices. This one is going in the keeper book.
Instructions:
Mix 2 pkgs. Active dry yeast, 1 C yellow cornmeal, and 1/2 tsp baking soda.
Heat 1/2 C oil, 1 C buttermilk, and 1 Tbsp each sugar and salt to 105° to 115°F in a saucepan.
Combine wet and dry ingredients, stirring well.
Add 2 eggs, 1 C creamed corn, 1 4oz can diced green chilis, 1 small onion minced, 1 1/2 C grated cheddar cheese, and about 4 cups flour. Mix well and then add enough additional flour to make a stiff dough.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.
Return to bowl and let rise about 1 hour until doubled.
Divide dough into two loaves and place in two 9X5 loaf pans that have been buttered and dusted with cornmeal. Allow to rise for another hour until doubled in size again.
Bake at 400° F for half an hour. Cool on rack.
My house smelled good enough to eat. And the bread was super amazing delish both warm and completely cooled.  You might also try shaping dough into 16 rolls and cooking on a buttered and dusted cookie sheets to use for hamburger buns. I plan to try that this summer for BBQ season. If you cook rolls, bake only 20 minutes.
Catch the Breadbug
Hugs and warmth
Brea