Sunday, December 20, 2009

Bread fun


bread
Originally uploaded by Antiquity Oaks
Here's the bread we had for Thanksgiving. (I just realized I never posted this!) I used my standard French bread recipe and then played around with it. I made two small, plain loaves (upper right), and I kneaded raw, chopped red onions into two loaves (upper left). The onion bread was gone first! Everyone who tried it went back for second helpings. And the bread in the front is just a braid. Make three long skinny ropes and braid it just as you would hair.

All of this bread was made from my regular batch of French bread dough, which includes:
3 cups warm water (bath temperature)
2 T. yeast
2 t. salt
7-8 cups of unbleached flour

I put all the ingredients in the Kitchen Aid bowl* with a dough hook, in the order listed. Start with only seven cups of flour, and if it's sticky, add more. It's always easy to add more flour, but if you've got a dough that's too dry, it's an icky nightmare to try adding more water. Once it's all mixed up, cover the bowl with waxed paper or a towel that was wet and wrung out. Let is rise until doubled in size, which could be 45 to 90 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Don't sweat it if you can't get back to it until it's more than double. If you're making regular loaves, this will make three, so cut into thirds and shape into a ball, a baguette, or skinny ropes to make braids, etc.

After braiding or putting into bread pans, bake at 400 degrees F for 20-35 minutes, depending upon how thick the bread is. The thicker it is, the longer it has to bake. The smallest loaves only took about 20-25 minutes. Onion loaves took 30. The braid took 35 minutes.

*Please note that I have the large Kitchen Aid (says "Professional" on the side). If you have a smaller mixer, you'll need to cut the recipe by roughly 2/3. (2 c. water, 1 1/2 T. yeast, 1 t. salt, 5-6 cups flour)

Edited at 9:40 a.m. Monday, thanks to readers' comments! Just holler if anything else is unclear.

7 comments:

Kathy Parham said...

Did you put the chopped red onions in raw or did you saute them 1st? I've keep putting off the experimenting -- but want to make my own onion rolls. The ones I purchase look like they were sauteed first, but the lazy gal that I am would just rather use them raw if I can :)

Blessings & Thanks so much for sharing,
Kathy Parham

SkippyMom said...

You are awesome. I love any recipe I can make in my mixer with the dough hook and the braid is lovely.

If I make the onion bread my whole family will gain 10 lbs. lol

Thanks. We all have off tomorrow because of the snow [Dad included] so I know what we will be doing.

Thanks for sharing! Hugs

IsobelleGoLightly said...

I'm coming over for a SNACK!

Abiga/Karen said...

Have you tried the five minute artisan recipes from the book or as posted in Mother Earth mag? I do not have success with the dough rising in the subsequent batches. I make a first loaf right away and it rises somewhat but then the rest are blobs of dough/bread, ugh. I make lots of other breads and it works out but not that particular recipe. Anyone out there try it? Have a great day and try to stay warm!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to make bread for the first time EVER today! Was going to try the Mother Earth recipe, but now want to do your French bread braid. Do you have to let this rise? Thanks for the great recipe and inspiration! Happy Holidays to all, Anne

Deborah Niemann said...

Kathy, I used raw onions. I'm not lazy; I just don't like to do anything that's not necessary. :)

SkippyMom, I forgot to mention that I have the big Kitchen Aid. I taught a breadmaking class a month ago, and the organizer said she had a KA. I didn't think to ask which one. She had the smaller one, and this was too much dough for it. So, unless you have the "professional" one, cut the recipe by 2/3 (only us 2 c. water, etc).

Abiga/Karen, Yes, I do refrigerator dough. I have the Artisan Bread in 5 book, but I don't follow the recipes much. I had found refrigerator dough recipes in my old cookbooks before learning of the ABin5 book. I take the dough out of the frig a few HOURS before I'm planning to use it. I think they say 20 minutes?

Anonymous, Yes, let the bread rise. I need to edit my recipe. Can't believe I forgot that part! Check the recipe again in about ten minutes!

CONEFLOWER said...

Your bread is beautiful!! Very professional looking and I'm sure it was delicious. Good for you!!

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