November, 2011 archive

I’ve been experimenting with bread lately, having fun making olive bread, asiago cheese bread, and other variants.

Here’s my basic bread recipe.

Warm water: Use approximately 3/4 to one cup per loaf desired.
Yeast (for lighter bread, use two packets).
Salt. I usually use about 1/4 teaspoon.
Sweetener (to feed the yeast): Cane sugar or brown sugar. Depending on the desired sweetness, use one to two tablespoons per loaf; use more brown sugar than you would white sugar.
Flour: Unbleached white flour with either white whole wheat flour (it’s made from a different strain of wheat from the whole wheat flour we are used to) or rye flour.

Honey wheat bread: Substitute 1/4 to 1/2 cup honey per loaf for the sugar before adding the flour.
Olive bread: About 3/8 cup or more chopped or sliced green olives or “salad” olives plus the juice before adding the flour. (I save olive jars when the olives are gone so I can use the juice); supplement with black olive slices if desired. Pimento-stuffed olives are fine.
Asiago bread: About 1/2 cup or more shredded cheese per loaf before adding the flour. May substitute or blend grated Romano and Parmesan (avoid the pulverized kind that comes in a shaker).
Garlic bread: About three to four tablespoons of minced garlic per loaf. Avoid the hard, dried minced garlic from your spice rack; prefer the minced garlic that comes in a tube or jar; supplement with garlic powder for extra oomf. Alternately, peel and sauté one bunch of garlic, cutting the cloves into large chunks, and mince and sauté one clove per loaf in butter or olive oil and add the whole mixture, including butter or oil, before adding the flour.
Onion bread: About a quarter cup of onion flakes per loaf before adding the flour; supplement with onion powder. May also used fresh chopped sautéed onions.

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