my bread is never pretty, but it usually tastes good!

One in the Oven

Today is World Day of Bread, and to honor it I'd like to encourage all of you to bake a loaf of bread this week (or perhaps this weekend) and post a picture of it on the blog! (Perhaps taking one step closer to that perfect focaccia, Sam?)

Here is a recipe for one of Kira's favorites, a simple Light Wheat Bread (from the Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart):

2 1/2 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar or honey
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons powdered milk
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (2 1/4 active dry yeast)
2 tablespoons shortening or unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature

1. Stir together the flours, sugar (if using), salt, powdered milk, and yeast in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the shortening, honey (if using), and water. Stir (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) until the ingredients form a ball. If there is still flour on the bottom of the bowl, dribble in additional water. The dough should feel soft and supple. It is better for it to be a little too soft than to be too stiff and tough.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Add more flour if needed to make a firm, supple dough that is slightly tacky but not sticky. Kneading should take about 10 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The dough should pass the windowpane test (ask me about this if you don't know) and register 77 to 81 degrees. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

4. Remove the dough from the bowl and press it by hand into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, 6 inches wide, and 8 to 10 inches long. Form it into a loaf.* Place the loaf in a lightly oiled 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch bread pan. Mist the top with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap.

5. Proof at room temperature for approximately 90 minutes, or until the dough crests above the lip of the pan.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

7. Place the bread pan on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue baking for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the oven. The finished loaf should register 190 degrees in the center, be golden brown on the top and the sides, and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

8. When the bread is finished baking, remove it immediately from the loaf pan and cool it on a rack for at least 1 hour, preferable 2 hours, before slicing and serving.

*To form a sandwich loaf: Working from the short side of the dough, roll up the length of the dough one section at a time, pinching the crease with each rotation to strengthen the surface tension. The loaf will spread out as you roll it up, eventually extending to a full 8 to 9 inches. Pinch the final seam closed with the back edge of your hand or with your thumbs. Rock the loaf to even it out; do not taper the ends. Keep the surface tension of the loaf even across the top. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled pan. The ends of the loaf should touch the ends of the pan to ensure an even rise.

Putting Food Up Part II

I'm glad you like this idea for a new discussion strand, Zach. I have been really into it lately, although I have to purchase my raw materials at the farmer's market. Even so, a big part of the joy I get from this activity is that I am prolonging the period during which I break the ol' industrial food chain a bit.

I have basically tried three types of long-term food storage this summer/fall: freezing, pickling, and drying. Freezing is easy but since our freezer is now completely full (no room for ice cream, even), I have focused more energy on pickling and drying.

Pickling is usually a one-time thing for me each summer. This year, I did a big batch of pickled cucumbers, beans, beets, and carrots in mid-August, which means they are ready about now. It is a deceptively simple process. Since the vinegar is such a strong acid, you don't need to worry at all about botulism. As long as you sterilize your jars and lids and get the brine in the jar, you pretty much can't go wrong. I use my Grandpa's brine recipe, which makes great, strong dills:

3 quarts soft water (Obviously, you'll want to adjust this to the size of your batch.)
1 quart white vinegar
1 cup pickling salt
1/2 cup sugar (Don't worry, they still come out dill.)
Bring this to a boil, then just keep it hot.

Clean whatever you are going to pickle, then stuff it in your sterilized jars along with a lot of dill and maybe a shallot or a garlic clove. Shake in a few red pepper flakes, more if you want a kick, then a just a pinch of Alum powder (optional). This last helps keep the pickles crunchy. I've heard rumors that it may contribute to Alzheimer's, but I can't remember where I read that.

Once you've stuffed your jar, fill them to about half an inch from the top with brine. Screw on the lids, then boil for five minutes. Set the jars out to cool and wait for the lids to pop down. If they don't however, they are still fine. I was worried about that last year, so when I tried a non-lid-popped jar, I made sure Marja was there to call 911 if I started dying. I didn't and the pickles tasted the same.

As far as drying goes, I'm still new. I too built a solar dryer, but it was so small it could do only one apple at a time. They turned out great, but I didn't want to eat them when it took 36 hours of drying time for four little apple rings. My newest purchase, which Marja immediately labeled my birthday present, is a Ronco electric food dryer. This little baby is worth 39.99 at most Target stores (probably cheaper on the internet).

So far, I've dried bananas, apples, tomatoes, and red peppers. The fruit is easy and is a superb pick-me-up at school. It is light and easy to store, too. The vegetables take a little longer to dry, but taste fantastic. The red pepper slices in particular are just packed with flavor. I had the dryer running for about the first week I owned it, but Marja cut me off when I started rooting around in the fridge for stuff to dry. This weekend I'm hoping to scrounge some apples from a neighborhood tree and get the dryer up and running again. Anyway, I highly recommend the little guy. It has no moving parts, just an electric coil, and it does a wonderful job. Pete and Jane, if you have any extra produce that you want me to dry for you, let me know.

Ok, I guess that is it for me. I'm thinking we might have missed our window somewhat on the food preservation front as the season is really winding down. Next year, though, I think we should at least have a big pickling party. It is a full-day affair to make a decent sized batch, so the more the merrier. I'd also be interested if anyone wants to try making sauerkraut. Apparently cabbage is one of the last vegetables regularly preserved by lactic fermentation.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Sam

Putting Food By

Now that "National Eat Together Week" is long gone (and I must admit it ended a bit abruptly--on the final evening when Kira was gone and I was up all night baking bread I had a Pabst and an old muffin for dinner), it's high time we take Sam's suggestion and start a conversation about putting food up.

Despite today's high of 91 degrees in North Manchester, I have to believe that cooler days are on their way, and we won't be harvesting fresh produce all winter. The gardens on the farm, however, are loving this endless summer. The weeds seem confused and the bugs have given up, so we're left with some beautiful fall crops of lettuce, snow peas, and green beans. The cabbage and purple cauliflower are hanging on, too, much to our delight. I went out to the farm at the end of last week to pick a bunch of produce, and spent the evening freezing beans and cauliflower while Kira was at rehearsal.


We've got corn, zucchini (pre-shredded for breads and soups), purple pesto, tomato sauce, and roasted red peppers in the freezer. I tried drying some tomatoes in the oven at the end of the summer, so those are in their too. (Sam, I'd love to hear more about your food dryer. I made a rough--ok, very rough--solar food dehydrator using these plans, but never actually tried it out.) I had big plans to try my hand at pepperoncini, jam, and salsa, as well, but never got around to it. Next year, I suppose. Until then, Kira and I plan to freeze more of the fall crop, keep potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, parsnips, etc. in a cool, dry place, and keep pulling carrots out of the ground. Maybe we'll get fancy and try braiding some garlic like Barbara Kingsolver, but the old screen in the barn on which they sit at the moment may suffice through the winter.

I'm also going to try to extend lettuce season as long as possible using a cold frame (I just found out that my dad has a long, tunnel-like frame in the barn). We'll see how that goes.

Sam, will you talk more about pickling? I'd love to hear about your experiences. One day I plan to pick up the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz (I read his other book The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved this summer and really enjoyed it). Speaking of books, I have commandeered a book from my parents' bookshelf called The New Putting Food By by Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan, and Janet Greene and it has been a great resource in learning about food preservation.

Can't wait to hear about the different ways you guys are prolonging the harvest!