My bread recipe

I just I never opened this up to everyone when I went to post this, so hopefully you guys can get this!

A couple of you asked for the bread recipe, so here it is:

2 cups water approx 110 degrees
2/3 cup sugar (you can adjust to taste, but this is the original amount)
1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast ( it seems like a lot, but you get 2 loaves)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil and some to grease bowl for 1st rise
6 cups flour (I use King Arthur bread flour, but all purpose unbleached can be used in a pinch.)

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in water, then stir in yeast.  I let it sit 5 minutes to proof.  It will be foamy.

Mix in oil and salt.  Add flour a cup at a time.  ( truth - I add 3 cups and mix and then add the rest and knead it in.  I can't keep count of the cups one at a time!)

Knead on a floured surface until smooth and not lumpy.  It takes practice to recognize it, but it almost feels velvety.  It will take a good 10 minutes of kneading to get the right consistency, maybe longer.

Put a little oil in the bowl to grease it and then put the dough in it.  Turn the dough to coat and lay a clean cloth over the bowl.  Let rise in a warm place for an hour.  It will double in bulk.  The clean dishwasher after removing the dishes is a great place to do this in the winter!

Punch down the dough and knead again, but not as long.  Shape into loaves  and put in 2 buttered or oiled loaf pans.  I use large pans (don't know the size).  Cover and let raise again for 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 in center of the oven for 30 minutes.  I butter the top of the bread before baking with a little melted butter.  Take the bread out of the pans and cool on a wrack.  (Hint - knock on the bottom of the bread when you take it out of the oven.  If it sounds hollow, it's done!)  If you leave the bread in the pans to cool, steam with condense and you will have damp bread.

So so good and so so bad!

Good news first - the first batch of pickles have mellowed and are perfect!!  Just had some with dinner and they were great.  I also tasted the tomatoes and they are awesome, but I am going to keep them in the brine until tomorrow just to seal the deal then into the fridge.  Now if I can keep my family from eating them all!  The tomatoes had a more pleasant appearance than the scummy top of the pickles, so my sister was willing to eat them.  I have to ease her into this!  Both of those pickles are definitely going to class.  I am also going to make bread and bring some in because the kids are begging for it (I am the only one in the family that makes bread from scratch that they get to knead) and if I am making bread, I might as well make enough to share!

The bad news - the pickles without a source of tannin are mushy after just 3 days.  I will bring them in as a comparison, but they have a terrible mouth feel.  It is amazing to me to think that 1/2 teaspoon of black tea could make such a difference!  It didn't add or detract to the flavor, but it certainly protected the crunch!


Can't wait wait to share with you all in class!! (You'll have to wait for class to see what they look like!)

Pickles - round 2

Ok - so on to something different!
Dylan, Taylor, and Drew are here visiting from Maryland (my nieces and nephew) and they want to get in on the pickle process.  I don't think they knew that you could make pickles on your own.  We decided to take some of my Mom's cherry tomatoes (store bought - ours aren't ready yet!) and pickle them.  I wish I saved the site where I found the recipe!  I printed it, but it didn't withstand the over zealous pouring of salt water on the pickles!  Fortunately it was really simple and I remember it!

Pickled Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 Tablespoon sea salt or kosher salt per 1 cup distilled water
basil leaves to taste
cherry tomatoes

With a toothpick, poke one hole in each washed cherry tomato.  Layer Basil and Tomatoes in a jar leaving room for water.  Mix enough salt and water in the above ratio to completely cover the tomatoes.  The Tomatoes will float, so fill a sandwich bag with extra salt water and place on top of the jar to weigh down the tomatoes.  (This way, if the bag leaks, it does not mess up the flavor.)  Let sit at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 3 days.  Taste and continue pickling until desired flavor is reached.  Remove any growth from the top of the jar around the bag, cover and refrigerate.

We also made the second batch of pickles without the tea. I am not hopeful as I have read about the importance of tannin on many sites.  I almost picked some oak leaves from the front yard to experiment with an different source of tannin, but I read if the leaves are pointed instead of rounded they have too much tannin and will render the pickles too bitter to consume.  I am hoping for the best without tea!  It was fun including the kids in this and explaining what would happen in the process.

They worked!

The pickles are done and after skimming off the foam on the top of the jars and making sure they were covered with brine, they went into the fridge to wait for our last lab to share.  The tea seemed to do the trick.  They were nice and crispy, but a little too much garlic and coriander for our tastes.  I am going  to try a small batch of pickles without the tea to see if they are mushy without them.  They are going into the fridge and will be consumed with delight! (At least by me - I'll have to see if I can get my family to like them more!)

First tasting!

Okay, today is the day to try the pickles!  I left 3 jars with Pyper and Eric and took 3 home with me.  I took the cheesecloth off the top, removed the dill, and grabbed a pickle.  They were clearly growing some good bacteria as the color of the pickles darkened and the brine was now cloudy as the recipe told me to expect.  They were good, but not quite pickled all the way through.  Pyper's were the same.  We are going to leave them for another 3 days.

Pyper's Pickles

I enlisted the help of my boyfriend's daughter, Pyper, to help with the initial process.  We followed the recipe from Primally Inspired at http://www.primallyinspired.com/ridiculously-easy-homemade-dill-pickles/.  We followed her directions to a t, but followed the suggestion from Shannon at http://blog.culturesforhealth.com/the-one-ingredient-youll-need-for-crunchy-lacto-fermented-pickles/ to add black tea to the pickles to add tannins to the brine.  This helps keep the pickles crunchy.

Now we just have to wait!

Let's get going!

Ok, this is my first blogging experience.  Sure, I have read the odd blog hear and there, I may have even commented on some, but never thought I would set up one! Please forgive any weird placements or entries - I am learning!

This blog is originating from a microbiology assignment, but I think it might be a fun new activity to share with family and friends.  I thought a lot about what it was I wanted to make and so many ideas popped into my head.  I love to cook and bake and share what I have made with others.  I started thinking about how much microbes play a part in my meals and I don't even realize it.  I eat yogurt a lot, especially on clinical days because it does a good job of keeping me full and it's easy to eat at 5 in the morning when I'm not really in the mood to eat.  I could live happily with cheese and bread (and maybe a little wine) for the rest of my life.  I thought about when I baked bread with my little nieces and nephews and how much fun it was to see their expressions and excitement when they learned about yeast and how it works. I will never get sick of the textures and smells of making and baking bread and I loved sharing that with them, taking the time to let them experience the process from start to finish. Let's be real - who doesn't like sinking their fist into a bowl full of fluffy dough? But I bake a lot, especially in the winter, so I wanted to try something new.  I started to think about the lunch I make with that fresh bread - turkey with fresh lettuce and tomatoes, a little mayo and PICKLES!

 

I love pickles.  A good dill pickle goes with anything - sandwiches, burgers, thanksgiving dinner, sugar on snow - I could go on and on.  My Mom made pickles when I was a kid and we still get them as gifts from my great aunt, Sr. Jane Francis, Bread and Butter, tongue pickles, all good, but dill pickles are my favorite.  

In searching the web for ideas, I came across the notion that putting grape leaves, oak leaves, or black tea in when making pickles releases tannin that will help keep the pickles crispy.  I Think this is a great project for Pyper (my boyfriend Eric's daughter) and I to tackle today.