Lynsie Hallah

So Apron Strings girlfriend Lynsie now wife made a Challah (bread) and for a first attempt it was fabulous. The recipe came from the Food Network Magazine one of their contests. The winner was Aliza Schwartz of New Jersey. Yummy my babies use to get their Challah every Friday night which is Shabbat kind of of the Sunday dinner for the Jews. Alright so let us get right to the bread.

Now a couple of tips this bread was so big I think you could split the dough and get two loafs instead of one. But if you are having a family gathering or taking it to a party then one big one is okie dokie. Or freeze one.

Oh and get your ingredients all measured out ahead of time it is so helpful to have your stuff ready. It is what the chefs do and the cooking schools do. Either way this bread is delicious.

Chocolate Chip Challah Bread

2 packets active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup sugar, plus a pinch
7 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the bowl
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375*. Mix the yeast, a pinch of sugar and 1 cup warm water in a small bowl. Set aside while you measure out the other dry ingredients, or until the mixture is foamy.

2. Whisk 3 1/2 cups flour, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and salt in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Add 1 egg, the vegetable oil and 1 cup of warm water: stir until combined. Gradually stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups of flour until the dough starts to come together. Mix in the chocolate chips.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a large oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes.

4. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a ball, then roll each ball into a 1 1/2-to2-inch-wide strand, about 16 inches long. Lay the strands side by side on a piece of parchment paper and pinch together at one end.

5. Braid the 2 strands: Cross the right strand over the middle strand. Then cross the left strand over the middle strand. Repeat crossing the strands until all the dough is braided. Pinch the end together.

6. Slide the loaf (with the parchment paper) onto the baking sheet. Beat the remaining egg with one tablespoon water in a small bowl, then brush the egg wash all over the loaf. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

How to make Tartine Bread Starter

I have taken my baking to the next level. Kind of like an over-eater or alcoholic I'm obsessed. Now I have made Sourdough in the past and been satisfied but now it is a battle with myself. My original sourdough turned out ok if you ask me. The rye bread well how do I put it boring but good rye.

So now I set off for Bread Alley my own kitchen. Yesterday I did try to make a loaf and one stuck to the pan. The other is good and tasty but the size of a half cantaloupe.


Do not get me wrong I have made some delicious bread's but I am a girl who wants better than the last attempt. Does that make sense?

So here we are day two the starter is back out of the refrigerator. I do make a mean loaf of Country Bread from a book I purchased in San Francisco called Tartine Bread. I bought it on one of my visits to  my daughter "Ms.Independence" on the Island of Oakland.


This is my Tartine Adventure in Bread Baking thank you for joining me.


Well by now it is day three I have spent most of the morning reading a website Azelia's Kitchen the site is brilliant and just a wee bit more understandable yet I must be a word dork. I am really making my starter by smell and bubbles. She has gotten me closer to an understanding but again I have both my starters out now. Her website breaks it down so you completely understand the making as well as the science.

So with everything ready here I go. Here is the Recipe to get your starter going. You need two Quart wide mouth mason jars or comparable plastic or glass no issue. I just do as much stuff with glass. Not big on plastic but that is another post.

Tartine Starter from the Book!

To make a Starter you need Culture. No not personal Culture Starter Culture. The Culture is created by flour and water being combined.  The combination of the wild yeasts and bacteria present in the flour, the air and your hands begin the fermentation immediately. After this all begins you just need to feed your Starter.





I have made starter from powder San Francisco starter I sent for to try all ways and it to turned out great. You will need 5 pounds of flour this seems like a lot but you are going to use it to build the starter and feed it.  Half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour mixture.

Alright to get started you will mix in a quart wide mouth mason jar or a small clear container that you can see through. Fill halfway with warm water.



Now add a hand full of your 50/50 flour mix to the water and mix  to achieve the consistency of a thick pancake batter with no lumps.

Use a dough spatula to clean the clumps off  the sides of the container. Cover the container with a kitchen towel and put it in a cool, shady spot for 2 to 3 days. After 2 or 3 day's you should have some bubbles like the picture to the right. If not give it a few more day's.

After 2 or 3 day's check and see if any bubbles have started to form around the sides and in the middle.  If not let it sit for a couple more days. Stir it



 

Once the starter has a film on the top and you pull it back and it is bubbly and smells like stinky cheese and has a sharply acid taste you are ready to start feeding your starter. Fermentation has started your ready for Lift Off!

To feed the starter you will need to remove 80 % of it. Replace it with equal amounts of warm water to the 50/50 flour mixture.
Do not worry about the quantities in these feeding you want a thick batter. Like a good thick bubbly pancake batter.

You want to repeat this process every 24 hours  As the volume of the batter increases you will notice the batter becoming bubblier and thicker. Your bacteria is growing.

This process is daunting but worth the effort. In the end you will have a starter you an use for years to come. You can also share it with other like minded baker people. The picture to the left is a beautiful starter and yes it is mine! Proud Mother Starter!





Well the next post will take you through the Making of the Leaven and the Dough

Look  at the pictures they look pretty darn good. But just not good enough for me! If you are a baker you know what I am talking about. I have many a satisfied eater but it is like at Thanksgiving and someone says "You carve the turkey you do it so well" what you meant to say was "You carve the turkey because no one else wants to do it"

Swedish Rye Bread Supreme

Seedless Rye Bread was a must this Irish Holiday. Mama lives here now and she has diverticulitis no seeds. I have a small breads book and one of many that had rye bread recipe's. The book is called Homemade Bread by Nell Nichols. Part of the Farm Journal .

Ingredients for Swedish Rye Bread Supreme

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons shorting
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degree to 115)
2 1/2 cups rye flour
3 1/2 cups sifted white flour

* This makes two loaves


Combine brown sugar, molasses, salt and shortening into a large bowl.

 




Pour in the boiling water and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Set aside to cool to lukewarm.





Sprinkle the yeast into the warm water and stir to dissolve.
Sift the rye flour prior to measuring it.
Measure it and add it to the sugar-molasses mixture beating well.





Stir in the yeast and beat until it is smooth. *I did this bread by hand and half way through I wished I had used my Kitchen Aid.










Mix enough of the white flour, a little at a time, first with a spoon and then with hands. Make the dough smooth soft dough.

Turn onto lightly floured board. Knead until satiny and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turn the dough once to grease top.
Cover and let it rise in a warm place until dough is doubled .This takes about 2 hours.

 Once it has risen punch it down. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and divide in half. Round up the dough to make 2 balls. Cover and let it take a 10 minute nap.


Shape the dough and place into loaf pans. Cover and let them sit for another 2 hours again let it double in size.  The loaf in the pan is half of the original . Let your oven 375 degrees and bake the loafs for about 30 minutes. If they get to brown on the top just cover them with aluminum foil the last 15 minutes of baking.

If you want a softer crust brush the loafs with melted butter while they are warm.

Also you can always add the seeds I had to do seedless for Mama! 

Rye Bread

All my breads are started with my Mother Starter. I got it from a friend about a year ago. With this starter I can make bread for a lifetime. It is something that every cook should have "A Sour Dough Starter" and it is a breeze to keep. Once you have a good starter you need only keep it refrigerated and every time you use it you will feed it. I have my San Francisco Sourdough recipe is here it took time to perfect it.

 Here is Rye Bread for now

 

Rye Bread

 

1 cup sourdough starter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups rye flour 1 1/4 cups warm water.
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds

Combine starter, rye flour, and one cup of the water in a large bowl. Stir to blend. I like an extra-sour flavor (like my sourdough) I cover mixture with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place over night or 6-12 hours until bubbly and sour, even boozy, smelling.




I start my dough right before I go to bed so that the next day I have fresh bread for dinner. After the mixture has rested 6-12 hours start by Combining

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups of the all-purpose flour
salt, sugar, and caraway seeds

I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer on low speed until dough comes together.

Knead 9-10 minutes in Kitchen Aid stand mixer on speed #2 until dough is smooth and springy * add more all-purpose flour, a tablespoon at a time during the kneading process as needed to reduce excess stickiness (this particular dough will remain somewhat sticky)










Place in a large bowl cover and let rise about 1 - 1 1/2 hours in a warm place until doubled. Punch down dough and knead a few strokes to release air.







Shape into a round loaf and place on a greased baking sheet.
Cover loaf lightly and allow to rise about 1 hour until almost doubled.


Once your loaf has doubled spritz it with water and put in a 400 degree oven. Cook for 15 minutes then turn the oven down to 375 and spritz once more with water. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes or until top is crisp.


The water makes the crust crunchy. If you want a lighter crust not so crunchy do not spray it.






This is delicious rye bread.  Crusty crunch from the outside with Ryelicious inside.

Old School Beer Bread

Beer Batter Bread that sounds great. Sorry I have been gone I have had some Family stuff to tend to and this looks like a another family kinda year.

All good just lucky to have family when you need them. So while at my Mama's back in the day Maureen her friend who is 90 gave me her Beer Batter Bread recipe.





I did some research and found that there are a zillion recipes like this on the internet but I find that when it comes from a recipe box of a friend it is well special. Super special when the friend is 90 years young.

 Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of self-rising flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 12oz. can/bottle of beer
1/2 cup of butter

 
This is the best part of the bread! 








Directions and they could not get much easier.




Stir all the ingredients NOT the Butter with a wooden spoon














The Batter is lumpy











Place dough into prepared loaf pan in a loaf pan


First :  Melt 1/2 cup of butter- pour 1/3 of butter over dough and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degreez







Second :Remove the bread and add and additions 1/3 of the butter and cook an additional 10 minutes.






Last add the remaining butter to the top and cook for about 5 more minutes

Let this cool on a wire rack and serve with Lot's of butter !