Bread

Yesterday we made bread at Eisenbrauns. Robin, one of our customer service reps, is leaving at the end of the week. It is a sad loss for us, but a gain for the county library.

Anyway, she has been bugging me to show her how to make bread for several years now. I figured it was now or never! So, I drove to work yesterday, bringing along our convection oven and enough fixings for two loaves of bread. No, I didn't put it on my bike trailer!

The recipe I used is one that I adapted from The Whole Plants Cookbook. It is simple to make—only takes about 5 minutes of your time. The rest of the time is waiting for it to rise and then bake. So, I made the first loaf and Robin watched and made the second one.

The smell of the bread rising and then baking was wonderful. We need to get an oven here at work! We were eating fresh bread before 9:30. Of course, we let everybody else in the business know—as if the smell hadn't clued them in! I'm not sure some people liked it; it is a whole wheat bread and somewhat heavy. But, I like it and so did Robin, so it was a success.

Here's the recipe:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1½ tsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 ¾ cup water (lukewarm)

Combine dry ingredients. Make well in center. Pour in water. Mix & knead in bowl about 2 minutes (the dough will pull away from the side of the bowl). Place in 9x5 bread pan lined with baking paper. Cover & let rise about 40 minutes. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Notice that there is no added oil, which is why you need the baking paper. You can use a non-stick pan, but the bread's crust is shiny, almost like you varnished it. I also make a rye bread variation...