Rosemary bread

One of my best friends asked me to do a post on rosemary bread.  Never one to say no, I started my Internet search for the perfect bread.  Oh did I ever find it! The Food Network rarely fails me.  This bread is soft, chewy, moist and has a delightful rosemaryness (is that a word???) without being too overpowering.  And I can't forget a magnificent salty top!  TGIM isn't a fan of rosemary but somehow he managed to eat almost 2 loaves. 

Recipe from The Food Network. 



 Here's what you need.... flour, sugar, salt, olive oil, yeast, water, and fresh rosemary.

 Stir 1 1/4 tsp (or 1 packet if that's what you use)  2 tsp sugar and 1/4 c warm water in your mixer bowl.  Or in a regular bowl if you're going to hand mix/knead your bread.

 Let that sit for about 5 minutes to get nice and foamy.  Meanwhile chop up 2 Tbl fresh rosemary.

 Add 1 Tbl olive oil to your yeast/sugar/water mixture

 Add to that 2 1/2 cups of flour.

 Then add 1 1/2 Tbl rosemary

 Already this smells wonderful

 Add 1 Tsp salt.  The recipe says to add fine salt but I don't have any so I used kosher and it was just fine.

 Lastly, add 3/4 cup warm water

 With your dough hook, stir until a dough forms

 like this

 Then knead for a few more minutes (about 5) until the dough is smooth and doesn't stick to the side of your bowl.  See all those lovely bits of rosemary?  My mouth is watering already.

Here's where I forgot the camera.  Oil a metal bowl and add the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours, until doubled.  Punch down and divide into 4 equal balls.  Form each ball into a loaf and place on a greased baking sheet.

Let rise uncovered on the baking sheet until each loaf has doubled, another 2 hours

 Preheat the oven to 400 and bake the loaves for about 10 minutes, brush with olive oil and sprinkle the remaining rosemary and some kosher salt on top.  Continue baking another 7-10 minutes.

And you will have this! 

At first I wasn't going to post this recipe because I forgot to take pictures of a few of the steps AND the pictures that I did take aren't that great.  The lighting in my kitchen stinks and I have stuff everywhere.  Then I thought.... I'm not The Pioneer Woman, who by the way I love love love, and my pictures don't have to be perfect.  They're here to give you an idea of how the process looks, not so much to entice you into making whatever it is that I've posted.  I figure if you're here reading, you actually might want to make this bread no matter what my pictures look like.  Don't let my poor photographs stop you!  Enjoy your time in the kitchen.  

10 Grain Bread

Yesterday we had buns, today sandwich bread.  Over the last few years, we've (what I really mean is I and TGIM pretty much has to go along with it because I run the kitchen) gone through our own "food revolution."  Love ya Jamie!  We try not to eat processed foods, foods with ingredients I can't pronounce.  Love you too Michael Pollan.  The hows and whys I'll save for a different post. 

We used to get the whole grain bread from Costco and we'd get 4+ loaves per trip and that wouldn't last long enough until the next trip.  Costco is even further that the regular grocery store, over an hour away.  With gas (and time) costing so much, we only make the trek down the mountain when we "need" to. 

For my birthday last year Mr. M went big and got me a beautiful, wonderful, magnificent Kitchenaid Mixer.  One thing you have to know about my normally thrifty husband is that when he decides to invest in a tool (and you better belive a mixer in my kitchen is a tool) he goes big.  We lucked out and found the Professional 600 series on sale for only $10 more that the "normal" one.  Yeah, for $10 you better believe I'm getting the ginormous one.  I got it home and immediately started playing.  I had grand ideas of bread baking so I got started and failed.  Seriously after the first 5 attempts at bread making I gave up and my beautiful mixer sat neglected on my counter.  The thing is so big it wouldn't fit into any of my cabinets and it stared at me and I swear it laughed at me. 

As I was reading some of my favorite food blogs I came across a book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  Several of them mentioned the book so I ordered it from Amazon.  It has changed my life!  With this book, and their 2nd book, Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, it's so stinking easy to have fresh baked bread there is no need (I seriously was almost punny and said "knead") to buy bread.

Here's one of my favorite breads from the "Healthy" book, 10 Grain Bread.  This recipe makes about four 1-pound loaves.  If you want a hearty sandwich size loaf, then use about 1/3 of the dough. 

The ingredients.... 2 cups  ten-grain cereal (Bob's Red Mill is what they recommend), 3 cups wheat flour, 2 cups white flour, 1.5 Tbl yeast, 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten, 1 Tbl salt and 3.5 cups lukewarm water

Put all the dry ingredients in a 5 quart bowl.  I used my mixer bowl because it's 6 quarts

I didn't take pictures of adding all the ingredients individually, I'm sure you're smart enough to add 2 cups of flour without a picture. 

Either whisk them together or give it a few turns with the paddle attachment of your mixer.  See how the cereal is incorporated into the flours.

pour in 3.5 cups of lukewarm water

without kneading mix it all together.  You might need to wet your hands to get the last little bits if you're not using a mixer.

Mix it until it looks like this.  It's going to be fairly wet.  Don't worry, it's supposed to be that way.

Plop it into your 6 quart container and cover (not airtight).  Let it rise for about 2 hours

until it looks like this.  At this point, you can bake a loaf of bread or toss the container in your fridge for use in the next 10 days.



When you're ready to bake a loaf, pull off a hunk and form it into the loaf (you can do a free form one too) and put it into your loaf pan.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour 40 minutes.  (only 40 if you're using fresh, unrefrigerated dough)

Preheat the oven to 450.  Make some slits on top of the bread with a serrated knife.  You can brush with water and add more of the cereal if you'd like.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes until brown and firm.

Let cool before slicing.



40 minute buns

I haven't bought a loaf of bread in almost 6 months.  In fact, I haven't even bought hamburger buns, pita bread, or tortillas in almost that long.  Well, one time I was in a pinch and bought a pack of tortillas at Trader Joe's.   Part of the reason I started baking my own bread is convenience.  CONVENIENCE???  Did I just say it was more convenient for me to make bread rather than buy it at the store?  I sure did. 

I meal plan for the week.  We subscribe to a produce co-op and when they post the contents of the basket, I make a meal plan around that.  And while I LOVE lists and am NOT a spontaneous person I don't necessarily stick 100% to the plan.  Occasionally TGIM (that guy I married) will ask for something not on the list for dinner.  If I can and it won't throw me off completely, I try and accommodate him.  I'm such a good wife, he he he.  I digress.... back to why it's convenient to make rather than buy.  A few months ago he asked for pulled pork sandwiches.  I happened to have some premade pork in the freezer but no buns.  So I did some quick thinking inside of my head (what book is that from???    Anyone, anyone?) and decided that I'd just make some.  Again, why is that easier you ask?  I live 15 miles from town and the grocery store and have to go up and over a mountain AND it was winter and icy outside.  I also have 2 boys ages 4 and 5.  That means I'd have to bundle them up, strap them both in the car and drive 30 miles roundtrip to the store AND shop with them.  Yeah, I don't love my husband that much. 

Instead, I called my girlfriend and we spent the afternoon baking buns.  The following recipe is not the one we used that day.  Then it was winter and cold outside so an afternoon of the oven on was welcome.  Today however, it's summer an 89 outside.  Generally, that doesn't stop me from baking bread, it just means that I do it early, before it gets hot outside.  Pulled pork sandwiches are on the menu for tonight and I had planned on getting them going first thing as it takes 2 hours to rise before you even get them in the oven.  Life and 2 children got in the way and I didn't get them started early enough.  I went "internet shopping" for a new and "quick" bun recipe and found one from Taste of Home that I modified a smidge.  Also, I thought with the sugar in the recipe, they'd be just a little on the sweet side and would go well with the bbq pork.

 Here's what you need... 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup wheat flour, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbl yeast, 1 egg and 1/4 cup sugar.  Oh and 1/3 cup oil that I forgot to include in the picture

 add the yeast to 1 cup warm water.

 give it a little stir until it's frothy

 add the oil

 and the sugar

 give it another stir

 let it sit for 5 minutes and it'll look like this

 add the egg

 and the salt

 then the wheat flour

 and the white flour.  Or the other way around.  I don't think it matters.

 Now stir it into a soft dough.  I used my hand (yes I washed them first) and mixed it up.  And for the life of my I don't know why this picture is rotated and I can't get it to turn so bear with me.

 then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it until it's smooth.  Don't let it rise first.

 form them into 8 balls and put them on a greased baking sheet (or your pizza stone).  Cover them and let them rise for 10 minutes.  At this point, turn your oven to 425 and by the time the oven is preheated, they'll be finished rising.

Bake them at 425 for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. 

In case  you're wondering.... it was a line from my favorite Dr. Seuss book, "I Had Trouble Getting To Solla Sellew."  Anyone get that?