Bread Recipe

Jude 11's recipe

Experiment with adding herbs to the dough like garlic and onion powder, oregano, basil, thyme etc. Tried raisins and cinnamon...fantastic!

Have also made this in an outdoor clay oven and yay!

* 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
* 1 1/2 tablespoons salt coarse salt.
* 3 cups water
* 6.5 cups flour ( I like 1/2 and 1/2 white and cracked wheat), more for dusting dough.
* Cornmeal

1. In a large bowl (I use a pail and a loosely applied lid), mix yeast and salt into 3 cups warm water. Add flour, and stir to combine completely. Let dough rise in a warm place for at least two hours, until it rises and collapses (up to 5 hours – or even overnight won’t hurt it). The dough may be baked at this point, or refrigerated for later use.

2. Cover dough, but make sure it is not airtight – gases need to escape – and place in fridge. When you are ready to use it, throw a small fistful of flour on the surface and use a serrated knife to cut off a piece of the size you desire. (recommend a 1 pound loaf – which means cutting off grapefruit-sized piece of dough). Turning the dough in your hands, stretch the surface of the dough and tuck in under. The surface will be smooth, and the bottom with be bunched.

3. Dust a pizza peel (or any flat surface – I use a rimless cookie sheet) with cornmeal. (This prevents sticking, and adds a nice, rustic crunch. You can use flour instead, but you’ll need to use a very generous dusting). Allow dough to rest in a warm place for 40 minutes – longer (up to an hour and a half) if you use some whole wheat flour in place of the white, or if you make a larger loaf.

4. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees with baking stone (or overturned baking sheet) inside on the middle rack, plus a shallow pan on the top rack. Throw a small fistful of flour over the dough, slash it 2-4 times with a serrated knife (in a cross, a tic-tac-toe, or a fan), and slide it into the oven, onto the baking stone. Throw 1-2 cups of tap water into the shallow pan, and quickly shut the oven door to trap steam inside. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crust is well browned and bread sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom.

ALMOST NO-KNEAD BREAD (aka Crusty Beer Bread)

This is the recipe from cooks Illustrated a number ofyears ago. The original recipe calls for mild-flavored lager and white vinegar. Any beer and any vinegar works. This is a rustic great tasting bread. Easy to make.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
scant cup water, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3 oz) beer
1 tablespoon vinegar

Stir flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the water, beer and vinegar and add to the flour mixture. Stir until mixture forms a shaggy ball and incorporates all the dry flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours, as your schedule permits. (perhaps overnight)

Lay a sheet of parchment paper in a 10 inch skillet and spray with cooking spray. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead 10-15 times. Shape dough into a ball by pulling edges to the middle. Transfer the dough to the parchment lined skillet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled insize and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, (about 2 hours). Just before placing in overn cut a 1/2 inch deep slice on the top down the middle of the dough.

About 30 minutes before baking, place a 6-8 quart covered Dutch oven into oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Once preheated, using the parchment paper, lift the dough and place it in the Dutch oven. Cover. Reduce the temperature to 425 degrees immediately. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes until bread is golden brown. Remove bread from pan and cool on a rack.

Bannock
Recipe #1 Simple bannock
2 ½ cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 tblsp lard
1 cup cold water (approx)
Let's not forget the all time easiest campfire bread....BANNOCK!

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the lard and mix in thoroughly. Gradually add the water (you may not need it all) and mix until the dough is thoroughly dampened, but not sticky.
Knead the dough on a floured board for 30 seconds. Flatten the dough to 1/2" thick. Cut into 8 pieces, and fry in a lightly greased frying pan, on medium heat, for 12-15 minutes each side.


Recipe #2: Bannock for six
3 cups of white flour
2 cups of whole wheat flour
½ cup of bran
½ cup of wheat germ
2 tbsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
2/3 cup of shortening
2/3 cup of milk powder



Tips for making Bannock
Tip #1

There are no rules. As you can see, the two recipes listed above are quite different. Bannock is usually made from whatever ingredients you have on hand. The recipe will be altered to create the type of mixture you require, for whatever method you are cooking it. Minimum ingredients would include some type of flour, and a liquid to bind the flour together. I have eaten bannock made from just flour and water, cooked on a hot rock, in an open fire, and I found it to be delicious. However, if you took the same two ingredients, and mixed in too much liquid, you will create a great glue for paper mache. In order to make great bannock, you must practice, practice, practice. Typical bannock recipes might include ingredients from the following categories:

Flour
white all purpose, whole wheat, cracked wheat, etc…
Exotic types of flour could include flour made from the roots of plants, and the inner bark of trees.
Rendered Fat
butter, margarine, cooking oil, bacon grease and lard are among the modern favorites

Baking Powder
nice if you want the bannock to be fluffy and light in texture.

Salt
a pinch will help bring out the flavors

Sugar
brown is my favorite.

Tip #2

Always thourally mix the dry ingredients, then add the fat and mix again until it is all absorbed. Lastly add the water, a little at a time, until you have a dough of the right consistency for your cooking method.


Tip #3

There are many things you can add to Bannock to alter it's taste.


* flavored instant oatmeal can change taste and texture
* milk, either powdered or dry, will cause the bannock to brown when baked
* adding cornmeal, or rolled oats can change the texture
* any sweet liquid can be a substitute for both sugar, and moisture.
Some examples are corn syrup, maple syrup, honey, orange juice, Baileys, etc…
* add instant coffee, or cinnamon
* try adding candied fruit, brown sugar, and cinnamon for a dessert style bread.


Tip #4

Cooking methods can change both taste and texture

* Baking in an oven usually produces a light, airy type of bannock
* If you roast it over, or in an open fire, the bannock will pick up some of the smoke flavor of the fire.
* It will absorb the flavor of any type of fat you fry it in.
* If thinned out, and poured into a hot, dry skillet, you will have hot cakes
* You can steam raw dough on top of any type of stew to create dumplings.


Tip #5

Experiment with different combinations of ingredients and cooking methods in order to discover which work best for you. To help you along, try some of the recipes listed below.

Australian Damper

Mix up your favorite Bannock recipe.
Add dried fruit. Wrap and seal in foil,
Bury it at bottom of fire for about half an hour. Extract cooked fruit bread from foil.
The outside will probably be burned, and can just be committed to the flames.
The centre can be removed, smothered with butter, and enjoyed.

Bannock on a stick

When in the bush, this is probably one of the easiest ways to cook bannock, and there are no dishes to clean. You should use a green stick. The bark can be left on, or taken off, as desired, but you should try and find a stick that does not have a bitter taste to it, or the bitterness will be absorbed by the bannock. Just take a strip of bannock and wrap it around the green stick, so it looks like the stripe on a candy cane. Set up a rest so you will not have to hold the stick over the coals.

It is not very difficult to master the art of cooking this way if you remember one simple thing. The heat has to have time to penetrate inside whatever you are cooking. If you have your food too close to the fire, it will burn on the outside, and still be cold, or raw on the inside. Rule of thumb tells you to keep larger items farther away from the fire, so they will cook slower and more evenly than smaller items.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMxJgIpe38Q&feature=related


Love Always
mudra

Buttermilk Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons sugar

1½ teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons shortening

1 cup warm water for active dry yeast; lukewarm for compressed yeast

1 package cake yeast

½ teaspoon baking soda

6 cups sifted flour

Heat buttermilk, stir in sugar, sold and shortening. Cool to lukewarm. Measure water into large mixing bowl. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Add milk mixture. Sift together baking soda and 3 cups flour; add to yeast mixture and beat until smooth and elastic on lightly floured board. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Divide dough, shape into 2 loaves; place in greased pans (9 x 5 x 3”). Brush with shortening, cover and let rise until center of loaf is slightly higher than edge of pan. Bake at 400° for 50 minutes.

Hello Scottaleger, that looks tasty!

seekeroft

seekeroftruth wrote:Hello Scottaleger, that looks tasty!

seekeroft

Thank you seekeroftruth