You Dough Girl!

When I was in 6th grade, a friend of mine was given a book by her mom that talked about becoming a woman. Of course, we poured over every detail. I can clearly recall only one sentence from the book; “When I get my period, I like to bake bread with my Mom.”

And that my friends, has nothing to do with the rest of the story. Unless of course, it’s a deep rooted issue I am harboring with making homemade bread.

Because I never have.

Hey look, purple corn on the cob!

A friend of mine, Chloe, who is an amazing chef (and human bean) made homemade bread wrapped around weenies for one her kiddo’s birthday party. She said the bread dough was crazy easy and emailed me the recipe.

And there it has sat, in my inbox, since there was snow on the ground.

Then I found purple sweet corn at the grocery store. I shaved it off the cob, after steaming, and threw it on top of a bed of baby greens with garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. I mixed up a quick balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below) and fell head over heels in love with this salad combination.

All I needed was a fresh piece of crispy whole grain bread to make this meal complete. And yes, I was planning on eating this salad at every meal until my supply of purple corn was depleted.

So I decided to make bread.

Isn’t that so womanly of me?

It’s amazing how easy it is. And the aromas that fill the house, oh my. My kids were on the counters clapping as the finished loaves were (finally) pulled from the oven. We all snarled and purred as we inhaled 3/4 of a loaf smothered in sweet cream butter and Amish strawberry preserves.

You will need:

1 Packet Active Dry Yeast
3 Tablespoons Honey
2 Cups Tepid water, 1 cup used at a time
6 to 8 Cups Flour, I used half whole wheat, half white
2 Tablespoons Salt
Extra flour for dusting

First, you must make a well. Pile the flour on to a clean surface and make a large well in the center. Pour half your water into the well, then add the yeast, honey and salt. Stir with a fork to mix well.

Slowly, but confidently, bring in the flour from the inside of the well. (You don’t want to break the walls of the well, or the water will go everywhere.) Continue to bring the flour in to the center until you get a thicker consistency, add the remaining water. Continue to mix until it thickens again, then you can be more aggressive, bringing in all the flour, making the mix less sticky. Flour your hands and pat and push the dough together with all the remaining flour. (Certain flours need a little more or less water, so feel free to adjust.)

This is where you can get messy and have some fun. I had two pairs of hands ready to pounce so I stood back and let them work up a sweat. Knead the dough, for 4 or 5 minutes, until you have a silky and elastic finish.

Form your dough into a large ball and place in a bowl. Top with a towel and place in a warm, dry area to rise for at least 30 minutes. Once your dough has doubled in size, punch it down. Go on, get mad. Squish that puppy and knock the wind out of it.

Shape your dough into whatever loaf, roll or braid size you desire. I did two loaves. Allow the dough to rise again, doubling in size.

I ended up transferring my loaves to two separate greased baking sheets and basting with an egg wash (1 T water mixed with whites from 1 egg).  They baked at 350º for about 20 minutes. Watch your loaves closely, cooking times will vary based on loaf size.

When our loaves came out of the oven, I rubbed over the tops with a stick of butter to fill in the dry spots and make them look pretty. And oh boy, did they look pretty!

Cool for an hour (if you can wait that long) before slicing.

And as promised…

Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette
by Emeril Lagasse

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar, white or brown
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Whisk together and spoon over greens.

Note to You: This post was a little all over the place. SQUIRREL!