what's for dinner?

january 98

We're experiencing a revival of old homemaking crafts that were once necessary for survival -- and bread making is at the top of the list. If you're still relying on store-bought bread, you owe it to yourself (and your family) to experience the results of combining four simple ingredients -- flour, yeast, salt, and water. First timers tend to be leery of working with bread dough. Only experience can tell you when you've added enough flour or kneaded the dough a sufficient amount of time. Making bread by hand is both a physical and psychological experience -- as we're kneading, we become quiet and introspective. My mother used to say that "nothing cures anger faster than kneading dough for a loaf of bread." Indeed as one kneads, a peaceful calm take over. If you're like me, there are times when just taking care of our diabetes -- the taking of medicine (or insulin), the constant testing, the exercising, going to the doctor or dietitian, etc. makes us angry and wishing for the days before diabetes. That is when I take out my crockery bowl, my jar of yeast, and concentrate for awhile on the basics of life. And when I've produced an attractive, hand-wrought loaf with superior flavor and texture, I am so proud of my endeavor that my petty gripes seem just that, petty. In testing literally hundreds of recipes for my bread cookbook, Heartland Cooking: Breads ©, Readers Digest Association, I discovered two important things about making bread: 1) While we think of water as being tasteless, actually it's not. Chlorine, fluoride, and who knows how many other chemicals are put into your tap water. So I always make bread with bottled spring water (still, not carbonated, please). 2) Flours milled from wheat grown in different states vary greatly; therefore your success with a recipe may vary from state to state, even when using the same recipe (this is particularly true in a bread machine). To compensate for these variances, the recipes don't call for an absolute amount of flour. Use the least amount called for in the method, adding additional flour as needed to achieve a dough as described. Bread tastes better when made with unsalted butter which we keep in the freezer for this purpose. You use so little butter in these recipes that the cholesterol of the butter is not really an issue; butter and regular margarine are equal in fat content. The bakery in the village market near my former Connecticut home town carried loaves of bread redolent with fresh dill. The bread, made by a woman who lived in the next village, was delivered every day at exactly 10 a.m., seven days a week. By 11 o'clock, the day's supply was gone. Out of self defense (I usually shopped later in the day), I experimented with the ingredients until I could produce a loaf at home that was reminiscent of the delicious bread that woman made. Fortunately fresh dill is available at most supermarkets and a 2/3-ounce (18.6 g) package of fresh dill is more than sufficient for two loaves. The bread is best fresh, but it freezes beautifully. So there's one loaf to eat now and one to freeze for a later date. The loaves are quite large, so a half-slice is 1 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch) exchange. If you baking at altitudes higher than 3,000 feet above sea level, you likely already know the adjustments you'll need to make. If not, you can get full instructions by consulting a bread cookbook, calling Fleischmann's Yeast baking experts at 1-800-777-4959, or visiting the Fleischmann's website at http://www.breadworld.com/tips/baking/altitude.html. Rustic Peasant Bread with Dill The second recipe is for a basic white bread, made in a bread machine. This is a excellent, nicely textured loaf that makes wonderful sandwiches and great toast, but it's miles away from store-bought bread. The recipe calls for dry buttermilk -- look for it next to the powdered dry milk in your supermarket, or you can call the manufacturer, SACO Foods, at 1-800-373-7226 to order a tin by mail. Many of you have either been making bread with a bread machine for some time now, or have just started experimenting with your new Christmas gift. Once you try this recipe, you're sure to use it again and again. It's important to watch the dough during the first mix-knead cycle. The dough should form a soft ball and pull away cleanly from the sides of the bread pan. It the dough is too dry and crumbles, add some water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough reaches the right consistency. If it's quite humid and the dough seems too wet, you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of additional flour. If you're using your bread machine at altitudes higher than 3,000 feet above sea level, you may find your bread collapsing during the bake cycle. Try reducing the yeast by 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) at a time to slow the rising. Also try reducing the water by no more than 2 tablespoons (30 ml). Consult your bread machine manual for further instructions. Best Ever White Bread (from a bread machine) (Adapted from Reader's Digest Heartland Cooking: Breads © by Frances Towner Giedt) This last bread is an adaptation of a recipe given to me by the Irish chef who helped me orchestrate an Irish "high tea" in honor of Myrtle Allen of the famed Ballymaloe Cooking School in County Cork, Ireland. Mrs. Allen was in Connecticut on a book tour for her just published Myrtle Allen's Cooking at Ballymaloe House (Stewart, Tabori & Chang). For two exciting hours, hundreds of invited guests feasted on a sumptuous buffet which included a similar whole wheat soda bread which Mrs. Allen said made her think she was back at Ballymaloe. The butter has been reduced from the original recipe to just 2 tablespoons, producing a soft, mealy textured bread. Since the bread goes together so quickly, it can be baking while you're making the rest of the supper. Again, the loaf is so large that it should be first cut in half, then sliced. A half-slice will equal 1 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch) exchange. Whole Wheat Soda Bread (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)