Bread baking!

Back in the day, when I was spending more time at the commune than at home I used to try my hand at baking bread. The stoned bastards there would eat just about anything around 3am, so it wasn't hard to get rid of whatever I'd been experimenting on. Bread was my nemesis. I could buy the frozen dough loaves and make those perfectly, but that's not from scratch. From scratch, I ended up with what my father called "Cat Head Bread". It was dense as a brick and dry... oh, so very dry.

Recently, I found a recipe that worked for me. I passed it to my cooking chum and it worked for her as well. So far, I haven't found too much in the carb lovingest bread-land that I can't make with this dough as the base.

It go like this, here it go...

One packet yeast
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp sugar (white or brown, dealer's choice)

Warm the water to not hot and add to the yeast & sugar in your mixing bowl. Stir gently.

*If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast. I don't use a thermometer. Do the wrist test, if it's just a touch too hot for baby, you're there.

Beat one egg into 1/4 cup of oil. Set to the side.

Add 2.5 cups of flour to your foamy bowl o' yeast. I like to use 1/2 c ground flax, 1 c Whole wheat and 1c All Purpose Flour. Mix until combined.

Add the oily egg stuff and 1/2 tsp salt and 2 Tbsp sugar. Mix until combined.

Add 2 cups Bread Flour. Mix until combined.

Sprinkle more flour onto a board and flop your dough outta the bowl right on it.
Knead by folding the dough towards you, then spinning it 180 degrees and folding it again - whilst mashing it with the heels of your palms. Do this until the dough becomes smooth. Too much kneading will wreck your goodness, so keep an eye on what you're doing.

Grab your can of spray grease and grease up a new bowl. Toss the dough into it and spray the top of the dough. Cover with a damp paper towel and let rise in a warm spot for 20 minutes.

* I put the oven on 200 degrees then set the dough bowl on top of one of the turned off burners. There is usually enough heat bleed through the back eye to warm the dough nicely.

Grease your hands and grab your dough. Let it slump across your fist and tuck the edges under a time or two. Re-grease the bowl and throw the dough back in. Grease it, too. Remoisten your paper towel and cover the dough. Let it sit for another 20 minutes, then do it all over again.

Third time is for the shaping. This should make two loaves or 16 hoagie buns.

My fav thing to do right now is making homemade hot pockets.

Yeah, I'll post that recipe too...