Bread, the staff of life, at least for those who are not gluten-intolerant. Once you learn the basics of bread making and have flour, salt and yeast in your cupboard, you won’t go hungry even if the roads are closed and no groceries come in.
It isn’t difficult, just try it and learn. It’s a skill that will serve you well.
Here is a basic recipe:
You’ll need a large bowl. Warm it and add 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups warm milk or water, a tablespoon of honey or sugar, and a tablespoon of dry yeast. Stir and let it sit for five minutes or so, and then add a cup of flour. Let it sit anywhere from an hour to all day. If you cover it make sure it has air to breathe, or it can choke.
When you come back, stir it down and add a teaspoon of salt and about two tablespoons of slightly cooled melted butter. I always like to add one or two beaten eggs.
Then start stirring in the rest of the flour, a cup at a time and beating well. It will probably take about three cups of flour. When you think it’s stiff enough, turn it out onto the floured counter, put more flour over it so it doesn’t stick to your hands or the counter, and keep turning, flattening, folding it over and shaking flour over it as necessary. When it seems to hold its shape well (around five minutes of this kneading) you can fold it into a loaf shape, put it into a greased pan, let rise until double in bulk and bake it at 350-375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes.
There are a lot of other things you can do with it.
– You can roll it out, spread it with brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter, roll it up and cut into rounds to make cinnamon rolls (more butter is better, of course, and so is the addition of raisins and chopped nuts).
– You can make pizza: cut the dough into two halves, roll them out into large circles, and put on some tomato sauce, pepperoni, cheese and whatever else you like.
–Or you could cut the dough up into about twelve pieces, set them in a 9”-by-12″ pan, let rise, and have dinner rolls.
– Focaccia is also wonderful: roll the dough out to fit a 9”-by-12″ pan, let it rest in the greased pan for a few minutes, and then poke your fingers all over it, making little indentations. Drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle it with rosemary and salt (flaky salt is very nice here).
Any of these should take about 20-25 minutes at 375.
The price of flour has gone way up, like everything else, so consider buying it in larger quantities, which are far cheaper per pound. I buy it in 10-pound bags ,which is not only cheaper but you don’t run out of flour all the time. If a 10-pound bag of flour costs about $15, then you should be able to make this recipe for less than $1.50
Yeast will add about $1.50 to the cost of a loaf if bought in those little foil packets, but the jars are cheaper per tablespoon and buying it by the pound is even cheaper.
I usually make it with part milk or add milk powder.
I rarely make 100% white bread. I prefer to use part whole wheat, barley, einkorn or spelt. Any of these whole grain flours should be added at the beginning of the bread making so they have plenty of time to absorb moisture; otherwise, they go on absorbing it later and causing the bread to be dry. Finish with white flour as in the basic recipe. Non-wheat flours taste delicious but have little or no gluten, which is great for gluten-intolerant people, but it’s hard to get bread to stay light without it.
You don’t have to use butter in the recipe. Old American recipes called for melted lard or suet, which turns out to be excellent. Many people use olive oil, especially for pizza.
If the power goes out, you can cook bread in a covered cast iron pan over the coals of a fire like our great-grandmothers did (nowadays that would likely be over the barbecue). She also grew her own wheat and had it ground. Wheat, barley and oats all grow very well in Haines if you care to try them.
Sally McGuire is a 40-year resident of the Chilkat Valley who raised four healthy children in Fairbanks and Haines on a budget, but always with an eye to real food and producing as much as possible of what the family ate. Her column Eating Well in the Chilkat Valley is focused on making affordable meals with what’s local, seasonal and available at the grocery store.
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Eating Well in the Chilkat Valley: A basic bread recipe
Bread, the staff of life, at least for those who are not gluten-intolerant. Once you learn the basics of bread making and have flour, salt and yeast in your cupboard, you won’t go hungry even if the roads are closed and no groceries come in.
It isn’t difficult, just try it and learn. It’s a skill that will serve you well.
Here is a basic recipe:
You’ll need a large bowl. Warm it and add 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups warm milk or water, a tablespoon of honey or sugar, and a tablespoon of dry yeast. Stir and let it sit for five minutes or so, and then add a cup of flour. Let it sit anywhere from an hour to all day. If you cover it make sure it has air to breathe, or it can choke.
When you come back, stir it down and add a teaspoon of salt and about two tablespoons of slightly cooled melted butter. I always like to add one or two beaten eggs.
Then start stirring in the rest of the flour, a cup at a time and beating well. It will probably take about three cups of flour. When you think it’s stiff enough, turn it out onto the floured counter, put more flour over it so it doesn’t stick to your hands or the counter, and keep turning, flattening, folding it over and shaking flour over it as necessary. When it seems to hold its shape well (around five minutes of this kneading) you can fold it into a loaf shape, put it into a greased pan, let rise until double in bulk and bake it at 350-375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes.
There are a lot of other things you can do with it.
– You can roll it out, spread it with brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter, roll it up and cut into rounds to make cinnamon rolls (more butter is better, of course, and so is the addition of raisins and chopped nuts).
– You can make pizza: cut the dough into two halves, roll them out into large circles, and put on some tomato sauce, pepperoni, cheese and whatever else you like.
–Or you could cut the dough up into about twelve pieces, set them in a 9”-by-12″ pan, let rise, and have dinner rolls.
– Focaccia is also wonderful: roll the dough out to fit a 9”-by-12″ pan, let it rest in the greased pan for a few minutes, and then poke your fingers all over it, making little indentations. Drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle it with rosemary and salt (flaky salt is very nice here).
Any of these should take about 20-25 minutes at 375.
The price of flour has gone way up, like everything else, so consider buying it in larger quantities, which are far cheaper per pound. I buy it in 10-pound bags ,which is not only cheaper but you don’t run out of flour all the time. If a 10-pound bag of flour costs about $15, then you should be able to make this recipe for less than $1.50
Yeast will add about $1.50 to the cost of a loaf if bought in those little foil packets, but the jars are cheaper per tablespoon and buying it by the pound is even cheaper.
I usually make it with part milk or add milk powder.
I rarely make 100% white bread. I prefer to use part whole wheat, barley, einkorn or spelt. Any of these whole grain flours should be added at the beginning of the bread making so they have plenty of time to absorb moisture; otherwise, they go on absorbing it later and causing the bread to be dry. Finish with white flour as in the basic recipe. Non-wheat flours taste delicious but have little or no gluten, which is great for gluten-intolerant people, but it’s hard to get bread to stay light without it.
You don’t have to use butter in the recipe. Old American recipes called for melted lard or suet, which turns out to be excellent. Many people use olive oil, especially for pizza.
If the power goes out, you can cook bread in a covered cast iron pan over the coals of a fire like our great-grandmothers did (nowadays that would likely be over the barbecue). She also grew her own wheat and had it ground. Wheat, barley and oats all grow very well in Haines if you care to try them.
Sally McGuire is a 40-year resident of the Chilkat Valley who raised four healthy children in Fairbanks and Haines on a budget, but always with an eye to real food and producing as much as possible of what the family ate. Her column Eating Well in the Chilkat Valley is focused on making affordable meals with what’s local, seasonal and available at the grocery store.