The staff of life

[calmloki]

Know many of you are cooks and bakers - I'm not. Still, ran across this recipe yesterday and it seemed like something even I could make.
Kitchen Hack: One-Minute Bread - Stepcase Lifehack
One minute prep time? I'm in! Well, one minute after a store run for yeast. and corn meal. and flour. Hit the bulk food area - no point buying yeast that would sit around for years, so just got about what I thought the recipe would require. My Waremart receipt shows 3 cents for yeast (have enough for maybe 3 more loafs), a nickle for corn meal, again plenty for 3 more loafs, and 63 cents for flour (who knew there was specific white bread flour?) - probably got about a cup excess. Minus fuel and cooking cost my loaf of bread cost maybe 52 cents.

Was it good? yes. Probably used too much water, as the loaf spread a bunch and was pretty flat, though huge. Also didn't sprinkle enough corn meal, so the loaf stuck to the cooking sheet. Will do it again, maybe adding garlic cloves or olive chunks.

[ksr]

Homemade bread is great, isn't it? And one of the things I love about it is how it makes the whole house smell. Even a mediocre loaf of bread smells wonderful.

[bbbamI]

This bread is easy to make and comes out perfect every time. Yummy.

Monkey Bread

Melt 1 stick butter - set aside
Scald 1 cup of milk. Put in large bowl to cool to lukewarm.
Add 1 pkg yeast to milk, add melted butter, 1 tsp. salt, 4 tbls. sugar, 3 ½ cups plain flour.
Stir well, cover and let rise 1 hour in warm place.

Roll dough to ½ inch thickness.
Melt 1 stick butter.
Cut dough into 2” by 1” strips.
Dip dough into melted butter then transfer to bundt pan (coated with non stick spray)
Cover and let rise 1 hour in warm place.

(Warm place….I usually put it in the oven on lowest temp. When it reaches that temp, I turn othe oven off)

Bake at 375 degrees 25 to 30 minutes.

[freebird5825]

Um...I don't own a Bundt pan.
Plan B?

[Amethyst]

Thanks, calmloki, I love the definition of "kitchen hack." Too many folks judge all food by how much trouble it took to make!

I plan to try this recipe, but would like to use a loaf pan so the bread won't turn out as flat. It's hard to see how you could get a satisfying sandwich slice out of a flat loaf. And it's not quite flat enough to function as a "wrap."
-A.

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki Know many of you are cooks and bakers - I'm not. Still, ran across this recipe yesterday and it seemed like something even I could make. Kitchen Hack: One-Minute Bread - Stepcase Lifehack .

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Um...I don't own a Bundt pan. Plan B?

I've never tried it, but you might be able to put it in a large baking dish, bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until it's close to golden brown. It's a pull apart type of bread.

[WhoDaresWins]

I love good bread. I just gave away my bread machine, but I live near a somewhat famous Italian store that makes superb breads daily...Talonica, sourdoughs, breads baked with red peppers or olives or pepperoni, etc. I also live near a monastery where the monks grind their own flour and a local organic bakery does the actual baking and distributes it to a few stores in the area twice a week(Tuesdays and Saturdays).

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Um...I don't own a Bundt pan. Plan B?

"There's a hole in this cake"

YouTube - MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING - Meet the family

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI I've never tried it, but you might be able to put it in a large baking dish, bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until it's close to golden brown. It's a pull apart type of bread.

I just went to Amazon for fun to look at Bundt pans. I never knew there were so many intricate designs for these things. Cathedrals, stars, flowers...cool!
I will keep my eye out at garage sales this spring for an old fashioned Bundt pan. In the meantime, I do have a round bread pan with 5" vertical sides that should work nicely. Miss Engineer will fashion a middle out of aluminum foil or use a glass Pyrex mini casserole dish. Maybe I'll even patent my "w*rking prototype".
Hey, I'm FIREd and have lots of time on my hands.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh "There's a hole in this cake"

That is even more funny than usual considering my ethnic ancestry.

[RonBoyd]

In November of 2006, Mark Bittman posted a "no-Knead" bread recipe on the NYTimes website. Jonquil captured it and has it on his website (The original is on the dark side of the "Pay for" firewall at NYTimes). The important part is there are a number of "fine-tuning" tips that make it even better.

In the past month I read another article that explored this in much greater detail. I have been unable to find that article but I believe someone wrote a book (surprise, surprise) on the subject.

Anyway, the need to knead bread has been debunked for quite some time... I still do it, however.

[kyounge1956]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonBoyd (snip)In the past month I read another article that explored this in much greater detail. I have been unable to find that article but I believe someone wrote a book (surprise, surprise) on the subject. Anyway, the need to knead bread has been debunked for quite some time... I still do it, however.

the book you are thinking of might be Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I read that some months ago and IIRC the bread is not kneaded. Again IIRC the dough is allowed to rise in the refrigerator, then you bake some of it and keep the rest as a yeast starter for the next loaf. The book also has many variations on the basic idea including bagels, sweet rolls, other grains besides wheat, etc.

[kyounge1956]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Thanks, calmloki, I love the definition of "kitchen hack." Too many folks judge all food by how much trouble it took to make! I plan to try this recipe, but would like to use a loaf pan so the bread won't turn out as flat. It's hard to see how you could get a satisfying sandwich slice out of a flat loaf. And it's not quite flat enough to function as a "wrap." -A.

I think ciabatta is supposed to be flat. There is a bakery in my office building which has small individual ciabattas and they are quite flat. They'd be a good size for a sandwich if split horizontally though. I take it the dough from this recepe is very soft—maybe it could be spooned onto the baking sheet with a big ladle to make individual rolls rather than poured out all at once, and then the rolls split for sandwiches if desired.

[calmloki]

Just mixed another batch - figure I'll be baking at 10 tonight. Had some whole wheat flower left from another store trip i made - it has been sitting , as i was informed it was NOT the desired type. This will be about 1/2 whole wheat, remainder yesterdays bread flour and some general purpose white flour. Used less water, will try this in a breadpan, maybe with some spray release. Yesterday's loaf was about an inch high - not quite the Costco Pugeliese i had in mind - not heavy, just spread like mad. In any case, it seems to be gone now....

[two4theroad]

Beer bread.

This is best eaten the same day as cooked. The darker the beer the more complex the flavors, a lighter beer makes a sweeter bread.
It is VERY good. Use real butter if you take the time to make this type of bread; wonderful flavor! It is the easiest loaf of bread you'll ever make. The beer gives it a deep yeast flavor. If you like, add your favorite herbs or seeds such as sesame, millet, etc., or even a bit of shredded cheese.

3 cups self-rising flour*
3 tablespoons sugar
1 (12-ounce) can of beer

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease or spray a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

Makes 1 loaf.

*Or you may substitute with 3 cups all purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

Enjoy,
2fer

[WhoDaresWins]

Two4theRoad---I might just have to bake this bread. Three ingredients is simply remarkable. And I do have one of the ingredients at hand. I will have to get the other two plus some butter.

[two4theroad]

I often run into problems keeping the main ingredient on hand. Have to hide one (in the vegetable drawer) or warn DH that he better leave me one for the bread.
2fer

[WhoDaresWins]

2fer---the main ingredient is the only one that I have. And the only reason I have it is because I had house guests in September and the husband is a beer drinker. I prefer wine, drink beer only once in a blue moon. I don't bake, so no flour. No sugar(except for a few little packets if I get a guest who wants it in coffee). No butter, as I use olive oil and have just a small tub of a product called Olivio in the fridge. As you can deduce from my odd pantry, I live alone

[Moemg]

I'm going to try both of these breads .Thanks for the recipes!

[ERD50]

The Jan/Feb Cook's Illustrated has an variation on this called "No Knead Bread 2.0". Have not made it yet, maybe this week though.

Considering how simple the ingredients are, it is amazing that bread gets such reactions from people. It really is good stuff. Sometimes I use some beer making ingredients, like some lightly roasted barley malt ('crystal malt'), or some of the left-over grains from making beer. These grains have the sugars converted in them, so add some very nice toasty sweetness, crunch, and fiber (barley has husks).

-ERD50