A Day at the Red Mill

Jocie and I went for a tour of Bob's Red Mill. You know Bob? He's the man who looks like Santa on those bags of flour and grain sold all around the world. Bob lives in Portland!  So does his mill.  And I love a factory tour with all my heart. I'll tour anything, especially if it's related to textiles or bread. This fit the bill exactly, so we went, and we enjoyed.

I mean, it was kind of what my baby daddy would call a 'lobby tour'. Though it looks like I was in these rooms, everything was observed through windows, since you can't be letting the dirty public around food. Still interesting, though! What about these giant bags of flour?! We learned that they're only ever used once. Then they're sold to gravel companies. Fascinating!

There was construction (and it was loud), but we could see where they stickered the bags there near the lobby. Apparently you need a hair net to apply the stickers...  

Then, Bob came in. There was a buzz of excitement, as we all asked for photos. Bob looks amazing! At age 84, he gifted the company to the employees when he was 82 and still holds an office upstairs. Some days he comes down and holds a sing-a-long with the tour! I wish they hadn't told us that. We didn't get the sing-a-long :(. Bob was sweet, though, asking us all where we are from. It was like meeting a jolly politician. Can you kiss my baby, Bob? Ok, maybe just a photo, then.

Jocie and I had a look around the rest of the lobby and learned a few things about milling.  We also investigated some machinery Bob acquired for the old mill, that had survived the Big Fire (ohhh, the drama, folks).  As they say at Bob's, "we grind with stones, we don't eat them" (or some such, I can't really remember).

 

After the tour, we headed down the road to the faux red mill, where you purchase your grains in the fabulous shop and eat your lunch, or breakfast, or breakfast for lunch, which rivals IHOP as the best ever, but that's a topic for another day...

It was a great morning!  I am counting the days when Penny is old enough to take a trip to the Holy Grail of Oregon tours, to see more machines doing what they do. I know it's not so exciting, but I just love it!

Penny Jones just likes meeting celebrities, and Bob is her biggest (and only) one so far!

P.S. Penny wore her HarVest, and got many compliments.
P.P.S.  There were also free samples, and now I have more favorite products, and some bread mixes to try!

Starter Again

We had 2 days above 100 degrees this Summer.  Only 2, I know!  It's not that hot here, and never humid, and we have very few bugs...don't hate me!  BUT it rains for 9 months, so stop being jealous.  Anyway, what do you do in such heat?  I get a sourdough starter going again.  That is the only productive thing I can do.

This one is from the same book as the last, but it's made from potato water (just like my favorite pumpernickel).  I had both a starter and cooked potatoes at the end of a hot day.  Score!

It made my tastiest no-knead bread yet.

Gone in no time, I now make all my bread (and pizza dough, and rolls) with this sourdough starter.

Make it yourself, and see how good it is!

Potato Water Sourdough Starter

from Sourdough Cookery by Rita Davenport

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 qt. water

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon salt

1 pkg (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast

2 1/2 cups potato water

Cook approximately 3 medium potatoes in water until tender.  Drain, reserving liquid.  Use potatoes in a favorite recipe.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast.  Mix well.  Stir in reserved potato water.  Cover with a towel or cheesecloth and place in a very warm place - 85 degrees Fahrenheit or 30 degrees Celsius, for 1-2 days or until mixture becomes bubbly.  Stir down several times a day.  Store until needed in refrigerator in a clean plastic container with tight fitting lid.  The lid must have a small hole punched in it to allow gases to escape.  To replenish, add equal amounts of all-purpose flour and lukewarm water at least once a week.

Upper Crust

What are you eating this Summer?  

I'm trying to find the perfect pizza crust recipe.  This one is from a new baking book I picked up at the thrift store.  It made a lovely thin cracker crust that tasted like an English milk biscuit.  Try it and tell me what you think!


Pizza Dough:

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2/3 cup warm milk (110 degrees Fahrenheit)

1 package (about 1 TBS active dry yeast)

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons olive oil

To make dough:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir sugar into warm milk and sprinkle with yeast.  Let stand 5 minutes or until the surface is frothy.  Stir gently to moisten any dry particles remaining on top.  Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.  Pour in yeast mixture and oil, combining with flour to make a dough.  On a floured surface, knead dough until smooth, 5 to 10 minutes.  Grease 2 baking sheets.  Roll out dough into 2 7-inch rounds.  Place on greased baking sheets.  Top with sauce, cheese, and toppings of your choice.  Bake 40 minutes or until edges of pizzas are lightly browned.  Serve hot.

Special Kneads: Bean Bun, Trial 1

Bean buns are one of my favorite foods. When I was in college, there was a place called "VP2" (still there?) around the corner from my dorm on Washington Square West, that served amazing baked and steamed buns with beans and fake meat. A few years ago, I found a great place in London's Chinatown that sold fresh steamed bean buns for £2. Here in Portland, I can only buy frozen ones at Uwajimaya. Though still a good choice, I've decided to try crafting my own, in a few different varieties.

For this baked bean bun, I used my usual weekly bread dough, filled the rolls bean paste from this recipe, and baked them off.

They were great! We had them with soup, and I froze the rest for quick breakfasts to take to work. They tasted like a bialy, and the paste was the perfect taste, if just a touch dry. Next time I'll add 2 tsp of oil to the mix after mashing.

Next up: I'm going to use my Krumkake maker to craft pancake-style bean treats, like Angela's store-bought variety, maybe with sesame seeds on top? I'm working my way up to the coveted steamed kind. Any tips, anyone?

Sourdough Details

Here's my Sourdough Bible of the moment, friends.  It's doing me well, and I can't wait to try more recipes from it.  I used up my first batch of starter.  I thought that was maybe it for my interest in sourdough.  Then, I started missing it.  I guess it really is like a pet!  So this coming warm weekend I'll be fermenting some more.

I also made the prune cake I was talking about in my last post.  It was DELICIOUS.  As usual in any recipe I doubled the cinnamon, and added a teaspoon of baking soda, as there was no additional yeast to this quick bread and I was scared it wouldn't rise at all.  I took it to work (didn't tell them it had prunes) and everyone loved it.  Recipe below.

 

Finally, I show you the back of this grotty book I bought at an estate sale for $.25 because I want you to see what a triumph Rita herself is (click to photo to enlarge).  I'd like to take a photo of myself and my bread like this.  I also need some hot rollers to achieve this hairstyle, most perfect for practicing the domestic arts.  The book says she was a TV chef.  Anyone know anything about this?  I must look it up!  Make Rita's prune bread, and enjoy!

Sourdough Prune Nut Bread

(from the book above)

2 cups sourdough starter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup wheat germ

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 ( to 1) teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup powdered milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cooked, drained prunes, chopped.

1/2 cup chopped nuts (i used almonds)

1 tsp baking soda (optional)

Measure sourdough starter into a large bowl.  Add sugar, wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, egg, milk, and powdered milk.  Mix well.  Fold in flour, prunes, and nuts.  Pour into a well greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until done.  Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.  Makes 1 loaf.

Starter Up

I've wanted to try making Sourdough bread all Summer, and finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago.  I think the idea of a starter that you have for a long time, generations even, is so Romantic.  Bakeries that use the same starter that came from when the bakery opened, even though the people who started the bakery have long since passed away, really inspire me.  It's sort of like a pet that outlives you, like a tortoise who is over 100 years old, originally kept by your grandfather.  The only pet I've had in my adult life is this starter, and given my track record with houseplants, it probably won't outlive me.  Still, I'm going to see how long I can keep it.

The starter, now in its first replenishment, smells potent and fermented:

My first loaf of bread from the starter.  So delicious.  Used most effectively on my new favorite sandwich, strong cheddar and pickled beets (try it, you will love it).

The recipe was for two loaves, but i made one giant one instead.  Instead of doing a double rise, I used my tried and true Jim Lahey method, and it worked perfectly.

It made the most amazing toast.  I can't  even tell you.

I also made sourdough carrot raisin cake, though it was more of a quick bread.  All of my recipes are coming from one book, which I'll share with you soon.  I'm going to make some kind of sourdough prune cake next, if only because I've never eaten a prune.  I associate them with old people's diets and constipation relief, though at times I am known to covet both.  Onward!

Special Kneads: Pennsylvania Pretzels!

I'm taken it upon myself to compile a workplace cookbook. We've gotten over 100 recipes so far! One coworker brought me his family cookbook, with four of his favorites marked, and told me to "take whatever else you want". So I paged through, and the recipes were amazing. Not fancy, and so much fun. I copied four of my faves, and I'll be recipe testing them in current weeks. When I saw "Pennsylvania Pretzels", I could not resist, as they combine my home state, my love of bread, and my interest in boiling then baking dough. The recipe is originally from Francis Reynolds (my changes in parenthesis).

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water (I needed another .25 cups)
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg
salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dissolve yeast in one cup water (and wait for 10 min. until frothy).
Gradually add flour to make a stiff dough (add rest of water if needed).
Knead 5 minutes (with dough hook on Kitchen-aid mixer).
Make dough into a ball and put into a (greased) bowl.
Cover and let stand in a warm place for 30 minutes.
When dough has doubled, punch down and let rise again.
While waiting, fill a large pot half full of water.
Add the baking soda and bring to a simmer.
Roll dough into a 6 inch square. With a knife, cut strips the size of a finger.
Twist each strip into a pretzel shape and pinch ends together.
Slip pretzels one at a time into simmering water. They will sink, then rise.
Take out (after no more than 15 seconds) with a spatula.
Place pretzels on greased cookie sheet.
Beat an egg with a fork. Brush each pretzel with egg.
Sprinkle with salt.
Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
They will be soft.
Eat warm, with mustard.

My only change to the recipe would be to let the pretzels "rest" in their twisted form and maybe rise a bit more before boiling. The great thing about them is that when they come out they are a great soft pretzel, and when they've cooled, a wonderful hard pretzel (kind of like these) . I also had a vague idea that this boiling, being the same technique as bagels, should be attempted for just that. So I saved some of the dough, and went for it. The result:

My first bagel! And not a bad one, though I will be investigating further for a more specific dough recipe (and buying some sesame seeds for the top!). Thank you, Francis Reynolds, for the inspiration!

Special Kneads: Leann Rye-ms

This is the most delicious bread I have ever made! It might be the tastiest bread I have ever eaten. It involves many ingredients, and even more steps. It's a good thing I had just been on a buying binge at Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Store and had everything on the list.

The recipe is from my favorite bread book, and I'm passing it on to you, with modifications where I made them as I went (in parenthesis). It has mashed potatoes. It has rye flour. It has molasses. It can only be great. I thought the dough was so thick it would never rise, but (by golly) it did, and made the best breakfast toast in the world.

German Pumpernickel

1 medium potato
1.5 cups water (plus lots more for boiling potatoes)
1.5 teaspoons active dry yeast (I bumped it up to 2tsp)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1.5 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon margarine
2 cups wholewheat flour
1 cup rye flour (i used half bob's rye, half pumpernickel)
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons bran (i used wheat bran)
3 tablespoons cornmeal
.5 teaspoon caraway seeds (I bumped it up to 1 tsp.)

Method:

1. Peel the potato, cut into quarters (I used even smaller pieces), and cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain, (reserving the potato water), and mash smoothly (my mashing wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. Next time I'll use the food processor). Leave to cool.

2. Bring the 1.5 cups fresh water to a boil in a saucepan, then pour about 4 tablespoons of the boiling water in a large bowl (I used the bowl to my Kitchen Aid Mixer). Leave until it is lukewarm then stir in yeast and brown sugar until well mixed. Leave in a warm place until frothy, about 10 minutes. Stir the molasses and margarine into the remaining hot water and stir until dissolved then leave to cool until lukewarm.

3. Place 1 cup of wholewheat flour and all the rye flour in the bowl with the yeast. Add the salt, bran, cornmeal, and cooled molasses liquid. Mix thoroughly and beat well for at least 4 minutes or 2 minutes with a food mixer at high speed (I used the paddle attachment and my Kitchen Aid).

4. Mix in the mashed potatoes, and a further .5 cup of wholewheat flour. Beat well for another 4 minutes, to give a very thick batter. (This was too thick for me. My mixer was laboring, so I filtered the reserved potato water, and added that, slowly. I probably added about one half to three quarters of a cup, until it was what i imagined to be 'thick batter' consistency.)

5. Add the caraway seeds and remaining wholewheat flour (again I added some more filtered potato water, probably another quarter cup) to give a fairly soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, cover, and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

6. Knead the rested dough until smooth and elastic. This will take about 15 minutes (I used my Kitchen Aid again, this time with the dough hook). Place the dough in a greased bowl and leave it to rise until it has doubled in size. (Here I was convinced the dough was too dense to ever rise. But it did!)

7. Preheat the oven to 350 (I used 375). Punch down the dough (I kneaded by hand for 2-3 minutes) and return to the bowl to rise for another 30 minutes. Punch down the dough again and shape into a loaf to fit into a large loaf pan, greased. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until it almost reaches the top of the pan.

8. Bake risen loaf toward the top of a 350 degree oven (I went up to 375) for 45-50 minutes. Turn onto a cake rack and leave to cool.

Enjoy the most delicious loaf in the world and dream about living in Northern Europe, where they eat this kind of bread every single day.

Special Kneads: I Get Around

Behold the Pyrex 'Bake a Round', found at the Goodwill for $8! I was intrigued, excited, and a bit fearful, as the only instructions it came with were 3 photos on the side of the box.

It's a glorified glass tube in a wire rack, where you stuff your dough before the second rise. Could it really make me an elongated crusty loaf?

I greased the glass. I had images of myself poking half cooked dough out of the tube with the handle of a wooden spoon. I put those thoughts out of my mind, and stuffed the dough in, and waited.

At the point where there was only a small amount of space at either end, I couldn't wait anymore, and popped the rack in the hot oven.

After checking it a few times, there was jumping up and down with glee. It worked! It was toasty and crusty and looked edible! I danced like Peanuts Characters. I praised Pyrex, and the Goodwill, and of course myself!

We had sandwiches on fresh loaves, for lunch. Mr. Jones doesn't want you to see his half eaten sandwich, but I don't care. I like the bite marks, and the unruly tomato, and the bread.

Next time I use the 'Bake a Round', I'm going to try a pure white loaf, so it's really light and airy. This was made with Bob's 10 grain bread mix, and though delicious, was a bit dense. Other than that, I loved it! It reminded me of the bread we used for the hoagies we made in high school, for the school band fund raiser (ahhh memories).

If you see one of these contraptions at your thrift store, pick it up, and bake around! It was outstanding.

Special Kneads: I Knead a Hero

My adventures in bread making have been going really well. Usually on a Thursday morning before work, I'll mix up a batch of Jim Lahey's no knead artisan bread (I use a bit more yeast than is recommended, maybe a bit less than a teaspoon) and leave it on the counter to rise. When I get home in the evening the house smells like a brewery. I do the second rise, then bake it off, and we've got really nice bread for the weekend.

I found a panini maker at the thrift store for $10 and it has changed weekend lunchtimes around our house. Stick whatever ingredients you've got left over in a sandwich, grill it in a panini maker, and it magically becomes the most delicious sandwich you've ever eaten.

I have a habit of spending lunchtime talking about possible sandwich fillings to put in future paninis. Mr. Jones generally interrupts with, "Are you gonna just list sandwich ingredients, again?". Lunchtime ends with a wipe to the corner of our mouths, an explanation that we "would have paid £8 for that in the center of London", and a proud clearing of the dishes.

I love a new kitchen gadget, don't you? I know I've gotten old(er) because now I buy more kitchen gadgets than CDs. Are there any quirky things that make you know you're getting older? I would love to hear.

Special Kneads: OLIVEr CRUMBwell

I made olive basil bread. I didn't have a specific recipe, just used what I knew from making this loaf, and adjusted accordingly. It's my favorite homemade bread so far.

I'm really enjoying the breadmaking. You can follow a new recipe and make an interesting bread from a foreign country, or use what you know, and add what you like. Kalmata olives and basil are definitely things to love.

The top might look a bit dark because I left the loaf in the oven a tad longer than usual. I brushed the top with melted butter, and it was amazingly good.

I've written up the recipe here, on a one sheet, should you want to make it. Just click on the image to enlarge it, drag it to your desktop, and print/use it as you'd like.

I named it OLIVEr CRUMBwell for its ingredients, and my Anglophile ways. Enjoy!

Special Kneads: Hull and Oats

I tried this bread as a recommendation from Lisa in my comments section of this post.  It looks like they have an amazing selection of bread recipes (and recipes for tons of other stuff) on their site!

It was delicious, and made excellent toast.  Thanks so much, Lisa!  I'm still interested in your favorite loaf (that you've made, or just eaten).  If you fancy, let me know what it is!

Special Kneads: Rosemary's Baby

I'm expanding my bread baking experiment called "Special Kneads". This time, I made rosemary cheddar bread, a combination of a cheddar cheese bread recipe I found in my book, with the addition of rosemary, because, why not? Rosemary and cheddar go great together! I also included some whole wheat flour, and took out/added ingredients as made sense to me from my last bread baking success.


I made two loaves, and gave one to friends. Then I made another loaf, and gave that one to a friend. All reports came back positive, so I think we have a winner!


So that I don't forget what I did, and you can partake in the fun as well, I've made a PDF version of the recipe for Rosemary's Baby. You can have it by clicking HERE.


I hope you'll make a loaf, or three. And once slightly stale, one friend commented that it would surely toast up for nice croutons. True! I've used this bread for french toast, a sort of savory kind, made the usual way but with a bit of ketchup on the side instead of syrup all over. Try it...delish!

Special Kneads: Getting It Right

I've been working so hard on my bread skills. I've bought books. I've researched. I've enlisted the help of Kitchenaid + dough hook, I've let it rise for hours upon hours, and I've sought advice from friends. Only to, at first, produce this mess:


Upon further reading, I realized my water was too hot, therefore killing the yeast straight away. So I went back to lukewarm water, kneaded electrically with the dough hook, and tried to regulate the temperature of the rise by doing it in the oven, as per this recipe. I got this:


It wasn't bad. I took it to dinner at a friend's house and his children gobbled it up with butter. But I knew I could do better. Then a new friend (who knew D.O.P.'s of films gave such good domestic advice?) told me to do it by hand so I could feel the dough, only let it rise 45 minutes the first and second time, turn the oven up so the blast of heat makes it puff even more, and use more yeast than is recommended. So I pressed on.


I tried more tips from this book, which I found at the thrift store. I sifted the flour so it would be nice and fine and absorb the yeast easily. I also frothed the yeast, placing it in lukewarm water with a teaspoon of sugar, and letting it foam for 10-15 minutes on its own, before I added it to the flour and fat. I baked it at about 400 degrees, and I had to take out the top rack since it was growing so high. Friends, look what I got!


There was much jumping up and down at the stove. There was mozzarella and rocket eaten on this bread. There was the best toast we've had in months, topped with a free range egg. And though I'm going back to trying whole wheat soon, I'm so happy to have succeeded on my first farmhouse white loaf. A few more of these and I can start to get creative. Stay tuned for more "special kneads"!
P.S. I love these photos. It looks like the loaves are looking wistfully out the window.
P.P.S. Do you have a favorite loaf?