The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [118]
Keep in the bowl to rise, covered and protected from drafts, at room temperature. When you can poke your finger into the dough and the center of the hole does not fill in, probably about 1 to 1 ½ hours, deflate the dough and let it rise again. The timings are variable because the rye sour may add yeast activity of its own. The second rising will probably take about 30 to 45 minutes.
Divide the dough in half and knead gently into balls, then let them rest until they soften. Using plenty of dusting flour, shape into round loaves and roll the tops in poppy seeds. These bake very nicely in two 1 ½-quart stainless steel bowls, covered, or in one 2- to 2 ½-quart covered round casserole. Let rise again in a warm place, 90°F, until the dough warms up and feels spongy to the touch. Pour 3 tablespoons of warm water over the top of each loaf, cover and bake in an oven preheated to 375°F for 50 to 60 minutes until done.
Bron’s Wonder Loaves
1 medium raw potato (1 cup cooked and mashed)
1 cup water (235 ml)
1 cup skim milk (235 ml)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)
½ cup warm water (120 ml)
6 cups whole wheat bread flour (900 g)
½ teaspoon diastatic malt flour
4 teaspoons sesame seeds (12 g)
This bread is remarkably light and tasty. Made from fresh, simple ingredients, it fits gracefully into the most rigorously healthful diet. The diastatic malt flour (dimalt) is available in most health food stores, or you can make your own (see this page).
If you are cooking the potato from scratch, scrub, peel, and cut it into chunks. Cook in one cup water until soft. Using real potato rather than instant, and fresh milk rather than powdered, makes an enormous difference in this recipe.
Scald the skim milk and set it aside to cool.
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
Drain the cooked potato and mash it. Combine the potato water with the skim milk and add water of a suitable temperature to bring the liquid measure to 2 cups, body heat.
Combine the whole wheat and malt flours. Rub the mashed potatoes into them. Make a well in the center and pour in the liquids, including the yeast solution. Mix the flour gradually into the liquids to make a dough that is soft, but not too soft—it should have some substance to it. Add more flour or water as necessary.
Let the dough rise covered in its bowl, in a warm place, about 80°F. Meanwhile, toast the sesame seeds by stirring briefly in a skillet (no oil is necessary). After about an hour make a ½-inch hole in the center of the dough with your wet finger. If the hole does not fill in at all or if the dough sighs, press it flat and round it again, putting it in its warm place to rise again. The second rising will take about half as long as the first.
Deflate the dough and divide in two, forming smooth balls. Let them rest until the dough softens. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on the table and press the smooth top of each piece of dough on the seeds. Roll into a circle and shape as usual. Place in two 8″ 4″ loaf pans and keep in the same warm place to rise again, until the dough feels spongy. Bake in an oven preheated to 425°F for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F for another 25 minutes or until done.
Rice Breads
For those who cannot eat wheat, a whole-foods diet that is not centered around meat poses challenges. Of course there are many, many interesting grain dishes, especially when you look to the cuisines of the East. But for a Western palate, nothing can quite take the place of bread, and nothing is so convenient or so comfortingly familiar—sandwiches and toast, how could we get along without them? In this chapter we offer a selection of breads and other good foods that will be