Bread basics

Bread has been a part of human history for at least 30,000 years, dating back to prehistoric Upper Paleolithic Europe.  The earliest versions of bread were unleavened, meaning that they were flat, cracker-type breads made without yeast.  Wheat and barley were two of the first domesticated grains and were grown in the region of biblical lands known as the Fertile Crescent more than 10,000 years ago.  The first evidence of the use of yeast for bread baking and for brewing ale came from Egypt in 4000 BC.  In fact, according to the book Food In History by Reay Tannahill, it seems that the discovery of ale was stimulated by the process of bread baking.  So if you like beer, you have bread to thank.

When I was a kid, my mom baked bread in a bread machine from freshly ground wheat that she ground in her wheat grinder.  The incredible smell that overtook the house when bread was baking is hard to forget, and I still think there are few things better than a warm piece of buttered bread fresh from the oven.  I have been wanting to bake my own bread for a while now, but have been a little intimidated by the process.  I had the false impression that it was a complicated process that needed to be done perfectly in order to be any good.  A co-worker recently told me that she and her kids baked bread together all the time and insisted that if her kids could do it, I could do it.  I wondered how I would know if I was kneading it too much or too little, and she said that her kids often "kneaded it to death" and it still came out just fine.

She shared her favorite french bread recipe with me, which came from a book by James Beard called Beard On Bread. Another friend recently took a bread baking class with French Chef Robert Barral, who is the former executive chef at the famous New England Culinary Institute and now runs the very popular Cafe Provence in Brandon, VT.  She was generous enough to share a recipe they made in class for Oatmeal Wheat bread.  Armed with two fantastic recipes and some encouragement, I decided to tackle my fear of bread baking.  I put on some music got to work.


Chef Barral's Oatmeal Wheat Bread

2 C whole milk
1 C old-fashioned rolled oats (plus more for topping)

1/2 C warm water (105-115 F)
2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 C honey
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
plus a little extra for buttering bowl and loaf pans
3 C stone-ground whole wheat flour
2 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp salt
1 lg egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water

Heat milk in a medium saucepan over low heat until hot, but not boiling.  Remove the pan from heat and stir in oats.  Let stand, uncovered, stirring occasionally until cooled to warm.

Stir together water, yeast, and 1 tsp honey in a small bowl.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  This is called proofing the yeast and is a way to make sure that the yeast is still live and active.  If the  mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over.  If the yeast is no longer active, your bread won't rise.  If the yeast mixture foams properly, proceed by mixing it with the melted butter, remaining honey, and the cooled oatmeal.

Stir together whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, and salt in a large bowl.  I am using some fantastic local flours that I want to tell you about quickly.  The whole wheat flour I am using comes from Gleason Grains in Bridport, VT.  Ben Gleason has been growing organic wheat on his family-run farm in Vermont for 30 years!  Ben delivers the flour in 50 lb bags to our co-op every week, fresh from the mill, and many insist it is the freshest flour available.   The organic all purpose white flour I am using comes from Nitty Gritty Grain in Charlotte, VT, which is another fantastic, local, organic family farm.

After combining the flours and salt, add it to the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.  Turn it out onto a well-floured surface and knead with floured hands, adding just enough of the remaining AP flour to keep the dough from sticking.  Continue kneading until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 10 minutes.  Form the dough into a ball, then transfer to a large buttered bowl.  Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.  Let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 and 1/2 hours.

Lightly butter two loaf pans.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times to remove the air.  Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a loaf.  Place a loaf in each buttered pan, tucking ends gently to fit.  Cover loaf pans loosely with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
Put oven rack in middle position an heat to 375 F.  Lightly brush the tops of each loaf with some of the egg wash and then sprinkle with oats.  Bake until golden, 35-40 minutes.  Remove bread from the pans and transfer to a rack until they cool.
 

James Beard's French Bread

1 1/2 Tbsp dry yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
2 C warm water (100-115 F)
1 Tbsp salt
5-6 C flour (all-purpose and whole wheat) 
3 Tbsp cornmeal
1 egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp water 

Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a large bowl and proof it for 5 minutes until it gets foamy.  Mix salt with your flour blend.  I used a combo of 3 1/2 cups Nitty Gritty all purpose white with  2 cups Gleason's whole wheat stone ground bread flour.  Add it to the yeast mixture one cup at a time until the dough is stiff.  Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for 10 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky.  Place it in a large buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, place it in a warm space free of drafts and let it rise until it doubles in bulk (1 1/2- 2 hours).  Punch down the dough then shape it into two loaves.  Place to loaves on a baking sheet sprinkled with corneal and slash each loaf diagonally with a knife.  Brush the loaf tops with the egg wash and place in a cold oven.  Bake at 400 F for 35 minutes. 

I think that the flavor and texture of both of these breads turned out great for my first attempt, and I hear from much more experienced bread bakers that loaf texture will just get better and better with practice.  Also keep in mind that bread freezes beautifully so if you are only baking for two, like I am, just place the extra loaves in freezer-safe packaging and freeze until you need them.  Another thing I love about bread is that even when it gets a little stale, you can use it to make your own croutons or bread crumbs with minimal effort.  Just toast it, cube it (for croutons) or use a food processor to turn it into crumbs, toss it in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and spices, and keep in an airtight jar.  You can serve the croutons on salads or soups and you can use the bread crumbs to make a delicious crust on things like casseroles, meats, or slices of squash or eggplant. 

Ode to a Meyer Lemon

Even though I am beyond thankful to have a freezer full of our own fruits and vegetables to select from this time of year, I still find myself craving fresh fruits and vegetables in the winter months.  That's why I was so thrilled to receive a box of fresh, home-grown Meyer lemons in the mail last week.  This generous gift came from my Aunt Janet, who lives in Arizona where Meyer lemons are in-season right now.  This particular variety of lemon is actually a hybrid of a lemon and a mandarin orange.  They have thinner skin and a sweeter, more floral taste.  My foolish attempt at growing Meyer lemons in VT resulted in lots of incredibly fragrant blossoms, but failed to yield a single fruit, so I'm excited to finally have some.  My imagination has been running wild with ways to use my cache of lemons and a recent article in the LA Times outlining 100 things to do with a Meyer lemon provided some inspiration.
The #1 suggestion on the list was to make Meyer Lemonade.  Coming in at #2 was a recipe for Cornish game hens with Meyer lemons, olives, and fennel, which I then used to inspire a similar dish of my own creation:  Chicken Linguine with Meyer lemons, fennel, capers, and olives.  Keep in mind that even if you don't have Meyer lemons, you can make both of these recipes with any type of lemon.  Here is how to make them:

Meyer Lemonade

6 Meyer Lemons
6 cups boiling water
1-2 cups of sugar or honey
3 cups cold water
2 half-gallon Ball jars

Begin by cutting each of the lemons in half and use a hand-held juicer to squeeze the juice and pulp from each into the two jars.  No juicing tool?  No problem.  Just squeeze as much of the juice as you can from each lemon into the two jars.  After squeezing in the juice and most of the pulp, throw the remaining lemons into the jars.  There should be 6 lemon halves in each jar.  Heat 6 cups of water in a pot on the stove until boiling.  Remove from heat and mix in 1-2 cups of honey or sugar, depending on how sweet you like it, and stir until dissolved.  Pour 3 cups of the hot liquid over the lemons in each jar and let sit for 5 minutes.  Top off each jar with cold water and stir.  Refrigerate until fully chilled and enjoy a tall, refreshing glass full with a fresh wedge of lemon.

Chicken Linguine with Meyer Lemons, Olives, Capers, and Fennel

2-4 pieces of bone-in chicken

(I used 4 chicken thighs)

Linguine pasta

2 Meyer lemons

1 medium fennel bulb

3/4 cups of green olives with Provencal herbs

1 Tbsp capers

4 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

Splash white wine

1/4 cup whole milk or cream

Salt & Pepper to taste

Fresh grated Parmesan or Romano

Heat the oven to 375 F.  Slice the fennel bulb into thin rings and lay it into the bottom of a 9 X 9 baking dish.  Next, slice the olives and garlic into thin slices and sprinkle all but 3 Tbsp of them onto the fennel in the baking dish.  I used green olives that came marinated in Provencal herbs.  If you aren't able to find these, just use any green olives and add some dried Herbes de Provence to the dish.  Herbes de Provence is a blend of French culinary herbs including some combination of basil, savory, fennel, thyme, and lavender.  Next, slice the lemons thin and and layer all but a few of them over the top of the fennel, olives, and garlic in the baking dish.  Sprinkle the capers into the dish, then drizzle the dish with olive oil and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper.  Toss gently.  Sprinkle each piece of chicken with salt and pepper, then use 2 Tbs of the reserved garlic and olives and push a bit of them under the skin of each piece of chicken.  Lay a lemon slice over each piece of chicken and then lay the chicken on top of the vegetables in your casserole dish.  Drizzle the whole dish with olive oil and bake for 45 min- 1hour, depending on the cut of chicken you use, until a thermometer inserted into the chicken reaches 165 F.  About 10-15 minutes before your chicken is done, pour a generous splash of white wine into the casserole dish.   

When the chicken is done, remove the dish from the oven and set aside.  Boil the linguine according to package directions, strain, and set aside.  In the warm pot that you boiled your pasta in, add the 1 Tbsp of butter and melt it.  Then add the final remaining Tbsp of reserved garlic and olives to the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.  Pour in a splash of the white wine and cook an additional minute or two.  Next, use a baster or large spoon to draw about 1/4 cup of the broth from the bottom of your chicken dish and add it to the pot along with the 1/4 cup of milk or cream.  Simmer for 1-2 minutes and add the cooked pasta.  Toss to coat.  Now remove the fennel, olives, capers and garlic from the casserole dish and toss in the pot with the pasta.  You can either serve the chicken pieces whole with the pasta on the side, or remove it from the bone, shred it, and and toss it into the pasta.  If it's too dry, add a bit more milk and broth from the casserole dish.  Top with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a fine grating of Parmesan or Romano cheese and prepare to be wowed.  This recipe is a keeper!