From: ag297@freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Seeley) Date: Sat, 25 Sep 93 14:43:06 EDT INGREDIENTS whole wheat flour water non-instant powdered milk 7 grain cereal rolled oats wheat flakes rye flakes honey yeast salt (optional) ginger YIELD: 2 loaves The following recipe routinely takes between 3 hours 15 minutes and 3 hours 30 minutes from the beginning until the bread comes from the oven. It involves a total of four risings, one as the sponge, two as the dough, and one as loaves. IMPORTANT! In order to bake bread successfully there are two things to remember: 1. All ingredients must be warm, that is, not too cool and not too hot. Yeast requires an environment of 85 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit in which to work; 2. The only two ingredients which should be carefully measured are the water and yeast. The water determines the overall quantity of bread and the yeast determines the speed at which rising takes place and the amount of air in the bread. Too little will result in a good bread, but one which tries your patience; too much will result in a large air hole running the length of the bread which is a definite embarrassment to the baker. C=:-( METHOD 1. Take the flour from the fridge or other cool spot and half fill a 13" x 9" x 2" pan. Put the pan in the oven and slowly turn the dial until the oven just comes on. Turn on the oven light too. 2. Take out 2 beer mugs, a coffee cup, a 1 cup measuring cup, large bowl, a tablespoon, a teaspoon, measuring spoons and a whisk. Take the yeast and oil from the fridge. Also take out the honey, 7 grain cereal, rolled oats, wheat flakes and rye flakes. 3. Fill one beer mug with hot tap water and let sit for just a moment. Empty the hot water and refill 1/3 full with tap water that is warm, but not hot, to the wrist, (like baby's milk), and stir in a teaspoon of honey and 1/4 teaspoon of ginger. 4. When the honey has mostly dissolved, stir in a level tablespoon of yeast and stir immediately. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise until at least double in bulk. This should take about ten minutes. 5. In the meantime, fill the second beer mug three quarters full of non-instant powdered milk. Put a large tablespoon of honey in the bowl. This "tablespoon" probably contains 1/4 to 1/2 cups honey. Add 2 1/2 coffee cups of warm-to-the-wrist water. Add the non-instant powdered milk and beat well with a whisk. As you beat, the phrase "non-instant" in non-instant powdered milk will take on real meaning. If there are a few lumps remaining, don't worry, they won't survive the next steps. 6. Add a handful of rolled oats, a handful of wheat flakes, a handful of rye flakes, and a handful of seven grain cereal. Beat lightly with a whisk to moisten. 7. By now the yeast should have risen to with an inch of the top of the beer mug. Using the teaspoon, give it a good stir for about 5 seconds and pour it into the bowl with all the other stuff. 8. Take the flour from the oven and turn the oven off! <-- IMPORTANT! Leave the oven light on as it will be the only heat source required for the risings. Add flour to the bowl one handful at a time and beat vigorously with the whisk. You are done when its kinda hard to add more flour and the resulting mixture can best be described as thick mud. Adding the flour with the whisk only takes about 3 minutes. 9. Using a rubber scraper, clean the sides of the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and put in the oven to rise. This rising will take about 30 minutes. At this stage, the bread with half the flour added is called the "sponge." 10. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup oil into the coffee cup and put it into the oven to warm. Also, half fill the 13" x 9" x 2" pan with flour again and put it in the oven to warm. Put the measuring spoons over to where you will be working next and get out the salt now so you don't forget. 11. Wash everything else and put it away. By now you should have about 25 minutes to do other things like have a beer, do FreeNet, or both. 12. When the sponge has risen to within 3/4 of an inch of the top of the bowl, or until double in bulk, remove from the oven. 13. Sprinkle 3/4 of a tablespoon of salt on top if you wish. If you would rather not add salt, omit this step. Your bread will be just a little sweeter, that's all. 14. Slowly pour most of the oil around the edge of the bowl. Save an ounce or so of oil in the cup. Using the rubber scraper, fold the sponge down so that it is almost its original size before rising. This process should take no longer than 2 minutes. FOLDING? It goes like this. Grab the bowl with your left hand at the ten o'clock position and insert the scraper with your right hand at the twelve o'clock position. While turning the bowl counter clockwise with your left hand, bring the scraper clockwise around the edge of the bowl with your right hand. When you left hand and right meet at the 6 o'clock position, that's 6:30 in Newfoundland, flip the dough across the bowl back to the twelve o'clock position. Try to keep the sponge together as a whole. 15. Sprinkle a handful of flour on top of the bread and fold it in. Sprinkle additional flour around the edge of the bowl and fold it in too. When the folding gets tough, stop. 16. Sprinkle a handful of flour on the counter. Pour the dough onto the counter. Using the rubber scraper, clean the bowl the best you can, Pour the remains on top of the dough. Nothing gets wasted here. Using the bit of oil remaining in the cup, oil your hands and the bowl. 17. Knead the bread until three consecutive kneads don't stick to the bare counter. KNEADING? It goes like this. Grab the far side of the dough and bring it towards you, thus folding the dough in half. Using the heels of your hands, push the dough away from you. Using your left hand, give the dough a quarter turn, grab the far side, bring it towards you, thus folding the dough in half, and push the dough away from you. Using your left hand, give the dough a quarter turn, ... , et cetera. 18. Put the dough, good side down, in the bowl, remove, and put it back in the bowl good side up. If there is any noticeable accumulation of oil in the centre, rub it to the outside with your hand. Cover the dough with a damp tea towel, return to the oven and let rise about 30 minutes or until double in bulk. 19. This step is called "punching down." Take a moment, close your eyes and picture someone who you would like to punch, if even, playfully. Punch the dough down by first nailing it right in the centre and pushing all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Punch down the rest working from the centre to the outside of the bowl. Finish off by punching the centre again. This punching down process should take no more than 25 - 30 punches. I like this part! 20. Again, cover the dough with a damp tea towel, return to the oven and let rise about 25 minutes or until double in bulk. 21. Punch down as before, this time when you are done roll the dough out onto the counter. NOTE: If you are a bit pressed for time, one of these intermediate risings can be omitted with negligible effect on the final product. If, however, you are a perfectionist like me, you'll do all risings, time permitting. 22. Using a sharp knife and a good eye, cut the dough in two. Using four or five folds each, form the two pieces of dough into loaves, cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for a few minutes while you perform the next step. Please note: in this step don't be too concerned about the shape of the loaves, the actual final shaping comes in Step 24. 23. Grease two loaf pans with butter. 24. Using four or five folds each, form each loaf and place good side up in the loaf pan. Cover the loaves with a damp tea towel, return to the oven and let rise 15 to 20 minutes. If your risings so far have corresponded to the times mentioned above, use 15 minutes in this step. If they have been five or so minutes longer, use 20 minutes. 25. Remove the covered loaves from the oven and turn the oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. It will take about 5 minutes to warm up. 26. Uncover the loaves and put into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes or until the loaf rapped on the bottom gives a nice hollow sound. 27. Remove the loaves from the pan by giving each pan a gentle twist. Put the loaves to cool for about eight hours. An oven rack makes a good cooling rack for bread. 28. Clean the loaf pans immediately with a paper towel. If you use soap and water on loaf pans, it should only be on the outside for appearance sake. 29. You may have heard that you should not eat bread straight out of the oven because it will sit heavy on your stomach and be bad for you. Bullfeathers! How can anything this good possibly be bad for you? 30. Enjoy! C=:-)
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