100 Percent Whole Wheat Bread

For Christmas, my sister-in-law got me Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread's.  Until now I have been too busy to even sit down and read it, let alone make anything out of it.  I have been interested in getting into whole grain breads for a little while now, several people, both friends and family have to switch over to whole wheat bread for health reasons.  Store bought whole wheat bread still has much of the same softness that white bread does and a lot more flavor.  However, I have tried making whole wheat bread before, and to me it tastes like eating my horse's grain.  It's ok, but only when slathered with butter, therefore negating some of the health benefits of eating whole wheat bread.

Peter Reinhart's book is interesting, in that he explains that the job of the baker is to evoke that best possible flavor from the grain.  He challenges us to use different methods to do this.  The recipe for the above bread is for his 100 percent whole grain sandwich bread.  This bread uses a soaker and a biga starter.  The idea behind the soaker is to start the activation of enzymes in the whole wheat flour.  Those enzymes start to break down the carbohydrate chains to release the sugars.  The biga is made separately with a little bit of yeast to start the process of fermentation.  Both the biga and the soaker are made on day one of the bread making process.

100 Percent Whole Grain Bread adapted from Whole Grain Breads

Soaker (day 1)
8 ounces whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 plus 2 Tablespoons milk (I used 2 percent milk cold, unscalded)  You can optionally use water

I mixed the ingredients together in a glass bowl with a metal spoon.  In the cookbook, Peter Reinhart states that the book that the soaker should be a firm ball.  My soaker however was more like a thick paste.  I am not sure if I used too much liquid or what.  I covered the soaker with plastic wrap and left it at room temperature overnight.

Biga
8 oz whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
6 oz water (I used room temperature filtered tap water)

I mixed these ingredients together in a metal bowl with a metal spoon until they came together into a ball.  I then kneaded it by hand for 2 minutes and let it rest for 5 minutes.  I then kneaded it for an additional minute, covered it with plastic wrap and stuck it in the refrigerator.

In theory, I was going to make this final dough the next day.  However, life got in the way and so I did not get around to making it until a couple days later.  If that is the case, just stick your soaker in the fridge along with your biga.  The soaker will get gross if you leave it out on your counter for 3 days.

Anyway, the day that you want to make your final dough, take both the soaker and the biga out of the fridge a couple of hours early to take the chill off.

Final Dough
All of the soaker
All of the biga
7 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Chop up the biga and soaker into pieces into your bowl.  Add the additional ingredients and mix together until the ingredients form a ball.  Here Peter Reinhart recommends autolaysing the bread for a few minutes to allow the gluten to start forming on its own.  When I made this bread I was dog sitting my sister's 1 year old lab and she managed to break the line she was tied out on and I had to chase her around the neighborhood.  Thus my bread autolaysed for 10-15 minutes, not the recommended 5.  However, it seemed to work out fine.  The directions in the book also indicate that you should only have to knead for 1 additional minute after the autolayse, however, in order to pass the windowpane test I had to knead (with my KA mixer) for more like 7 minutes.  I then let it raise for about an hour and a half.

After that additional hour, I kneaded it for about 1 minute and shaped the bread into a boule.  I then let it raise for another hour.  I baked the bread at 425 degrees for twenty minutes and then reduced the temperature to 350 degrees and baked for another 10 minutes.

This bread turned out so much better than I was anticipating.  It was soft and subtly sweet.  The sweetness was similar to that of breads I had made before with much more honey or sugar.  I believe that the soaker and the biga really contributed to the sweetness.  This bread is a great choice for some breakfast toast or for a sandwich. 

Happy Birthday Grandma

Today is my grandmother's 75th birthday.  Tonight her family is going to get together to eat lasagna and celebrate her life.  She is the mother to six children and the grandmother to five.  Recently she has even acquired a couple of great-grandchildren.  I have been an incredibly lucky girl, because I grew up only twenty minutes away from my grandmas.

This was the grandma who used to bake with us.  For Easter, we attempt to make elaborate Easter basket cakes and at Christmas, lots of sugar cookies.  She would find things in magazines that she thought we would like to create and save them until we came for a visit.

She was the grandma who used to let us do really messy crafts in her house.  The ones with glitter and glue and Popsicle sticks.  Anything we could come up with was fair game.  There was always a craft to be done.

This was the grandma who lived on a farm, with a creek, whose grandchildren had to play in the creek and catch toads and fish.  She even let us come in her house after that.

So these cookies are for her.  Literally.  Because as I stated above, I am a lucky girl and she lives close. 

Mini Cheesecakes

I made these mini cheesecakes for my sister's bridal shower last weekend.  They tasted fantastic and went over really well.  They were the perfect size and nice and creamy.  I was skeptical about making cheesecakes in muffin tins, because I always have anxiety over regular cheesecake (is it done, is it overdone, is it too wiggly still?)  These, however, were really easy and they did not take very long to bake at all.  The two hour baking time is another drawback of regular cheesecake.

I found the recipe in a wedding magazine from Martha Stewart, however it is also on her website here.  The hearts were such a cute addition and so easy.  All that was done, was drop some raspberry puree onto the top prior to baking and drag a toothpick through the middle.  The most difficult part was straining all of the seeds out of the raspberry puree!

These cheesecakes did not bake these in a water bath and I did not run into any difficulties, however, I did fill some of the tins too full of batter and it puffed up and cracked.  It is best to keep the tins only about 2/3 full.  Also, this leads to the best ratio of crust to cheesecake.  Another thing to note, as with all cheesecake, cream cheese does not melt so it is imperative to have the cream cheese at room temperature to be able to successfully beat all of the lumps out of it.

For practice the week before, I decided to try Taretlette's goat cheese cheesecakes.  These too were phenomenal.  The earthy flavor of the goat cheese was just the right compliment to the sweetness of the cheesecake.  I had been looking for a goat cheese cheesecake recipe ever since I tried it at The Turf Room, a restaurant my husband and I ate at for our anniversary a year ago.  This one really hit the spot.  Blood oranges are not available in my area, so we just ate them naked.  I ran into a bit of trouble with the muffin papers sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Tartelette specifically mentions spraying the pan before putting the muffin papers in, however, I failed to follow these directions.  The mistake was corrected when I made the above cheesecakes and had no problems pulling them out of the pan.

Overall, mini cheesecakes always seem to be a hit and are defiantly going to be made again.

Wordless Wednesday

Grandma Goodell's Whole Wheat Bread

 I think that it is interesting how people are able to live on through recipes and through our taste memories.  This recipe for this bread was that of my husband's grandmother.  He tells me that this is the only bread that he can remember her making.  Sadly, she is no longer with us and I never really knew her, but through her bread he can remember her and I can get to know her.  It is a wholesome bread that tastes amazing.  It is healthy without being being boring.  Perfect for anyone at any age.  The recipe actually comes from my husband's uncle, but since it was his grandma who made if for him, it shall forever be Grandma Goodell's Whole Wheat Bread.

I had never made a 100 percent whole wheat bread recipe before.  It always intimidated me too much.  I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  The seeds and whole wheat flour provide a wonderful texture in the mouth, while the honey gives a sweetness and moisture.

Grandma Goodell's Whole Wheat Bread
6 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups dry milk
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds (I used 3/4)
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons wheat germ
6 tablespoons honey (I used 1/2 cup; technically 6 tablespoons is about 3/8 cup)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 cups hot water ( I ended up using 2 1/2 cups water)
1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast ( used 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast)
1/4 cup oil or melted butter

If using active dry yeast, proof in 1/4 cup warm water for 10-15 minutes.

Mix together flour, seeds, and milk.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the remaining hot water.  Add the honey, oil, and yeast.

Mix together until you can not stir anymore.

Knead 10 minutes by hand (shorter if using a mixer)

Allow to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours (do not skimp on this time, because of the weight of the whole wheat flour it takes quite awhile for the bread to rise)

Knead briefly and then divide into two loaves (I made 5 mini loaves) and allow to rise until the bread dough peeks over the top of the bread pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (I baked mine for 25 minutes because they were mini)

Notes:
I do not feel that I got a very glutenous bread.  I am not sure if it is because I did not knead the bread long enough (it did not pass the windowpane test, however I am unsure if whole wheat flour will pass the windowpane test) or if it is because of the weight of the whole wheat flour.

Christmas Cookies

Every year since I have been a little girl, my mother, sister, and I have baked Christmas cookies together.  Some years my aunt and grandmother would come, sometimes not.  For many years when I was young, my sister and I hosted cookie baking parties with our friends at Christmas time. ( That ended the year we got into a flour fight and caught the cookies on fire).  To me, it isn't Christmas time until we have baked the Christmas cookies.

Now that we are all grown ups, we do a crazy version of a cookie swap.  Instead of each of us making cookies and swaping with each other, we all get together and make all the cookies that each of us will need for the Christmas season.  That means a whole lot of cookies.  The whole kitchen is covered in flour.  My floor is sticky for weeks.  Half way through I had to con my husband into a trip to the store because we were running out of chocolate.  Complete insanity but so satisfying.

This year we made:
Sugar Cookies
Butter Cookies
Mint Chocolate Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Coconut Bon Bons
Peanut Butter Balls
Almond Bark Pretzels
Peppermint Bark
Peanut Butter Fudge
Chocolate Fudge

So many cookies...so tasty.

Toll House Pie

In my family, each person get to choose the kind of cake they want for their birthday.  This year, my mother asked for pie instead of her usual German Chocolate cake.  Specifically Toll House pie.  For those of you who have never had Toll House pie, it is essentially a chocolate chip cookie in a pie shell.  This is not a pie for the weak.  It is extremely rich and gooey, made more delicious by warming it for a few seconds and adding a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream. 

Toll House Pie:
   adapted from verybestbaking.com

• 1 unbaked pie crust (9 inch)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips, however the original recipe calls for semi-sweet)
• 1 cup chopped nuts ( I used pecans, however, my mom always used walnuts)
• Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (I used Cool Whip)

1. Beat the eggs until they are foamy.
2. Beat in flour, sugar, and brown sugar.
3. Beat in the butter.
4. Fold in chocolate chips and chopped nuts of your choice and pour into pie crust.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour (or as a pastry chef friend of mine once said "until its done")