©2014
D is for Dough. Break bread if you please.
Bread is truly magical. I used to hate baking it because I could never get the yeast right. I spent the better part of three years trying to replicate my grandma’s Sally Lunn bread, a magnificent and fluffy treat made in a Bundt pan with leftovers perfect for French toast. All I ended up with was a short, dense brick-like substance that I wouldn’t force on even the birds. I don’t know why it gave me such difficulties, but one afternoon, my senior year of college, my mom and I tried again and she showed me how to proof the yeast. It’s a simple little task that takes a bit of patience, but I’ve never been disappointed since. And now I feel like I’ve joined a community that dates back longer than I can fathom.
You see, bread is old. We’re talking 30,000 years. And for as long as we can look back, it seems to be associated with community. Growing wheat was at the heart of agriculture, the practice cited as one of the main contributors for modern civilization as it allowed people to stay in one place instead of moving as hunting and gathering required. Widely known is bread’s religious symbolism in Christianity but a bit earlier than that, folks in the Neolithic Period noted that after a stalk of wheat died, more wheat grew back in its place, so it, along with women ‘s ability to create life, was regarded as sacred. Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks similarly connected bread, grain, and agriculture to their respective religions. All of this goes to say, bread has got quite the history.
Originally, as refining techniques for flour were discovered, they became associated with society’s elite. To be seen as powerful, you needed good clothes and a white-bread sandwich in hand. Only the poor ate whole grains as purchasing processed goods was out of their reach. The reversal of this mentality is relatively recent and due to science informing us of the nutritional chasm between refined and whole grains driving up the price of artisan bread and lowering the cost the supermarket brand.
And then somewhere in the late 1990s, in the name of eating healthier, bread became public enemy number one. It has more or less stayed there since, all because of carbohydrates. Here’s the deal though. Carbs are found in all foods, especially all those fruits and veggies we’re told to eat. The problem is when fiber is missing from the mix. You see, carbohydrates turn into sugar and starch when digested, which gives us energy. Fiber slows that process down so the energy is long lasting. Without fiber, all that sugar gets absorbed at once and our bodies have a hard time handling that. Refined flours used in generic pasta, coffee-shop muffins, and almost any mass-produced bread have much less fiber. Whole grains have a whole bunch of it.
What it all bakes down to is this: bread is a delicious part of human history. If you’re worried about health, eat whole grains. If not, understand that it is basically a sweet and should be treated like one―enjoyed in moderation.
CHOCOLATE RYE BREAD
This became a favorite in my house the first time I made it. It requires molasses, which can be a great sugar substitute in other recipes such as ginger cookies, but it can also live quietly in your fridge for a long while between uses for this bread. If you don’t want to buy it, honey is a great alternative as is maple syrup. Sugar is fine but it won’t add any flavor to the final product like the others will. Yeast can also be expensive if you’re not sure you want to do this a whole lot. The little packages next to the jars in the store work great for starters. However, the jar will keep for a long time in your fridge or freezer.
Also, start this late morning and take the whole afternoon, leisurely letting the dough rise. Fermentation develops the flavor. Bread making is an art and should be practiced with the gut as much as the head. Feel it out and trust yourself. Though I know you’ll do great, don’t worry. If it doesn’t work the first time, welcome to the club. We’ve made t-shirts.
Makes: 2 medium loaves or 1 large loaf Hands-on time: 30-35 minutes Total time: 3 ½-4 hours
Ingredients:
FOOLPROOF PIE DOUGH
I grew up watching my mom make everything except for three recipes: pancakes for the first day of school, the Fisher Family cranberry sherbet recipe for Thanksgiving, and pies. These were Dad’s territory. He would take over the kitchen and reign supreme for those hours. At some point, he scanned the worn and stained page from Betty Crocker with the piecrust instructions, and I held it in the highest esteem. And then I found this recipe. I haven’t used Dad’s since.
This may seem like a bit of an exaggeration, but what is true for people is true for pie. Behind every powerful person is a partner who works their butt off to make it look flawless. Similarly with pie, the filling gets all the credit, but the crust is what really determines the success of the dessert. Because of this, I really recommend giving this a go, though it requires a bit more thinking―mainly because most people haven’t done it before. If you go through the process once or twice, it becomes as easy as pouring a bowl of cereal. You really can do it and the result is worth it. I will warn you, though. As soon as you do it, store-bought piecrusts will never be good enough. You will become a crust snob. If you’re worried about consuming animal products or gluten, I’m simply going to recommend that you pass this by. Sorry but there’s just no getting around it.
Also, though it will take more time and much more effort, you can do all of this with a pastry blender or a fork. And if you’d like, I love including the zest of a lemon when combining the flour, salt, and sugar.
Makes: 1 double piecrust (bottom & top) Hands-on time: 15-20 minutes Total time: 75-90 minutes
Ingredients