There's nothing better on a fall afternoon than a slice of homemade bread slathered in butter. I remember in my childhood, my mother would get up real early on the weekends, and let me help her gather the ingredients together to bake up some crusty luscious bread. As we waited for it to bake, the fragrant aroma of sumptuous loaves would waft up through the air and assault our senses with the warm fuzzies. She would tell me stories of how she and her mommy, Mama Connie, would bake bread as well. Her mother would drizzle olive oil on the warm bread and top it off with some crushed oregano. Her mother used to serve the bread with a side of Sicilian orange salad which was basically an orange sectioned off into a bowl drizzled with olive oil, crushed oregano and sprinkled with Kosher salt. The combination of sweet and salty was divine. I know this because my mom would make it for me and now I make it for my children. Don't knock it until you give it a taste.
Today, I thought I'd share two recipes. This bread dough recipe makes enough dough to bake up two loaves of bread as well as two 12 inch round pans of focaccia bread. Oh and feel free though to serve the orange salad on the side. Hope these recipes are as comforting to you as they are to me and my family. Enjoy!
Bread Dough
Scant tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup boiling water
1/2 stick butter cut into slices
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups cake flour
1 cup sprouted whole wheat flour (or your favorite whole grain flour)
6 cups A.P. flour
1 egg (beaten)
I use a KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook attachment. My mixer happens to be a hand-me-down from my mom. If you do not happen to own one of those beauties, this recipe can be done by hand. Just throw all the ingredients into the largest bowl you have on hand.
The only tricky part of this recipe is to try not to kill the yeast. Make sure to mix the hot water and milk until the mixture is luke warm.
I use the baby bottle method -- don't laugh yet... it works every time.
Simply sprinkle a few drops of the milk/boiling water mixture on the inside of your wrist. If it doesn't burn you, it's perfect!
If you happen to have a food thermometer... 95 degrees works even better.
You may set aside any leftover liquid for later. Once you've established the correct temperature, add the butter slices and sugar. Stir until you notice the yeast is completely dissolved and the butter has melted. Let sit so the yeast can colonize or multiply, approx. 10 minutes.
Begin adding the cake flour and the sprouted wheat flour. Mix until incorporated. Next, add A.P. flour (one cup at a time). Add any remaining milk/boiled water little by little as needed until dough becomes smooth. If dough is too sticky, add more flour. If dough is too dry, add more liquid. You may end up with a half cup of leftover flour in which you may use during the kneading process.
When you see the dough begin to come together and separate from the mixing bowl it is ready to knead.
Let gravity do the work for you by turning bowl over onto lightly floured surface. By using the heals of your hands, press dough, turn dough about 45 degrees, fold over, and knead again. Knead for probably a good ten minutes.
Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Place a kitchen towel over the bowl and let sit in the warmest place of your home.
When dough is doubled, usually 1 to 2 hours... separate into thirds. Set aside 1/3 for later. Punch down the rest and divide into two loaf shapes and place each one into well greased 9" X 5" loaf pans.
Cover again with the same plastic wrap you used before (if you wish to conserve), place the towel over the loaf pans and let sit once again until dough doubles or triples in size and takes up the entire pan.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Brush the beaten egg over the top of each pan of bread dough. If you wish, you could sprinkle on some sesame or poppy seeds.
Anyway, place loaf pans in preheated oven and bake at 450 degrees for the first five minutes.
After five minutes, lower the oven to 375 degrees. Bake until bread is golden brown with an internal temperature of approximately 200 degrees. My mom taught me her traditional way of knowing how the bread loaf was done. I did it her way for years before I owned a food thermometer. I guess I was too lazy to purchase one at the time. Ha! Anyway, I remember she would tell me to remove the loaf of bread out of the pan and knock on the underside a few times. If it sounded hollow, it was done. However, I definitely prefer the high tech food thermometer method to check for doneness.
Sometimes, during last few minutes of baking time I remove the bread from the pans and place directly on the oven racks. This enables the loaves to be golden brown all over.
If you haven't already removed the loaves from the pans, do so after taking them out of the oven. Place bread on cooling racks. Try to refrain from cutting off a slice for at least 15 minutes. It ensures the hot dough won't lay in your belly and cause a bellyache. Well, that's what Mama Connie and my mother used to say anyway. LOL.
If the aroma hasn't driven your smell-buds crazy by now, dig in by carefully slicing with a serrated bread knife using a gentle sawing motion.
Some serving suggestions:
Top with your favorite things in life... like butter, olive oil, herbs, cream cheese, goat cheese, jams etc. Also, this bread is perfect for dipping into a small bowl of olive oil with roasted garlic, herbs, and grated cheese. Oh and the next day it is wonderful as a toasting bread or even great with sandwiches... like grilled cheese. It's wonderful for a panini as well!
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Focaccia
3 scallions (cut on the diagonal into thin strips)
Tuscan and Italian Seasoning (or your favorite spices)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese (my favorite is Locatelli)
extra virgin olive oil
Divide above ingredients in two.
Use remaining third of the dough to form two equal 4 inch round ball shapes. Place ball shapes on 12 inch pizza pans that have been well-oiled. Flatten out with your hands. Work the dough out to the edges of the pan, trying to be patient because it has a tendency to snap back. When the gluten relaxes, it will eventually stay put.
Drizzle olive oil over flattened out dough. Add cheeses, scallion slices, and spices. Bake at 400 degrees on the bottom rack until the bottom of the crust is golden brown, then move up to the top shelf and bake until top is golden.
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| Note: I often use a rounded piece of foil to prevent toppings from burning while I'm waiting for bottom crust to brown. |
When cooked, transfer to a cooling rack. After a few moments, you can move it onto a cutting board and slice into rectangles.
