Prairie Bread

So I have a list of Food Goals for myself (I'll probably end up doing a post on that later) and one of them was to make bread from scratch. What better occasion than my parent's house? My mother is an excellent bread maker and coached me through my first experience.

This is such delicious bread! If you have some time you should definitely make it!
Here's how - (Don't worry, there's a complete recipe at the bottom)


So start by scalding that milk. Now the trick to scalding milk - honestly I used to be so freaked out by any sort of scalding or boiling dairy products. But the secret is to put the burner on medium, sprinkle some sugar (about 1 tsp.) and don't touch it. How easy is that!? Once steam starts coming off the top - it's scalded!

Add honey and molasses and let cool till lukewarm.


While that's cooling, start the yeast. Just like magic!


At flour, one cup at a time. Mix in bran and flax. Wait until the dough starts to pull away from the edges and doesn't stick to your hands.




Start kneading.


Divide into four loaves and leave in the oven (with light on) for 1.5 hours. Remove and preheat oven, then bake!


Enjoy!

Prairie Bread
2 cups Milk (scalded and cooled to lukewarm)
2 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Molasses
1/3 cup Oil (I used olive)
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 cup Warm Water
2 Tbsp Active dry yeast
6 3/4 cups Flour (I did three white and the rest whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4-1/2 cup Bran
2 Tbsp Flax

Secret to scalding milk - Put on medium heat and sprinkle sugar over. Just let it sit there until steam comes off. It's scalded!

Place first four ingredients in mixer and let cool. Once almost cooled start yeast .

Mix sugar, water in bowl. Sprinkle yeast over. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes.

Make sure milk mixture is lukewarm and then add yeast. Mix.
Add flour 1 or two cups at a time till the sides of the bowl are clean. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes.

Place in greased bowl and grease the top of the dough. Put lid on and let sit in the oven (with oven light on and door closed) for 1 1/2 hours (until doubled in size). Punch dough down. Divide in 4 equal portions and shape into 4 round loaves. Cut three slashes into the top of each loaf.

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and put in the oven (with light on and door closed) for about 45 minutes until doubled in size.

Remove and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until browned beautifully. Put onto racks to cool.

roasted garlic, fresh basil and goat cheese pizzas

So my friends and I are obsessed with garlic on pizza. Whether roasted or raw it always ends up on every pizza we make.

My intent for this blog is to share my own experiences in making food.
Lately I've found myself trying a new recipe and wishing I had a camera to document the fruits of my labour. I turn to the table to avoid homework, experiment, and lose myself in the cathartic process of creating food. Ultimately, I love food. Sometimes it's all I think about (to the detriment of my friends and family).



Part of this love for food stems from the community that food creates. This pizza was made by my friends and I and is one of the many meals we have made together recently. I absolutely recommend that you put garlic, fresh basil or goat cheese on your next pizza. We found the roasted garlic to compliment the goat cheese best.

Whenever I make pizza I turn to my mother's tried and true pizza dough recipe.

Pizza Dough

Makes 2 pizza rounds
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp quick rise yeast
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
3-3 1/2 cups flour (I often mix whole wheat and white)

Combine the water, sugar and yeast and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Add oil, salt and 2 cups of flour to the mixture. As you start mixing add more flour. I put 3 cups of flour and then begin kneading the dough on a floured surface. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. Knead for five minutes. Roll into whatever shape your pan is and add desired pizza toppings. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I enjoy my pizza with a cold beer and fresh parm.



All pizza pictures courtesy of my dear friend j. at my suitcase heart