An East European-ish Favorite - Honey Oat Bread (as rolls)

You probably already figured out from the title that this is my take on a recipe that hails from Eastern Europe. I honestly don't remember this bread from the 'legendary Bernie's Bakery' from my childhood in Nova Scotia. But it could have been there, and I just didn't know it. Could be my family didn't buy this kind of bread. Whatever. This bread is super healthy and super easy. Just pay attention to the details, of course, and be patient. But that's good advice for just about anything.

Here's What You'll Need:

• 2 Tbs. dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 cups milk, scalded
• 1/3 cup butter/margarine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup molasses*
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
• a handful of various seeds (sunflower/pumpkin etc.) for added texture if desired

Here's What You'll Need to Do:

1) Make sure have all the ingredients ready before starting.
2) Place the yeast, water and milk in a large bowl, and mix thoroughly. Wait about 10 minutes, then add the butter/margarine, salt and molasses*.

3) Mix in 3 cups of the flour, the whole wheat flour and  the oats. Then gradually mix in the rest of the flour using only as much as needed to make a soft dough. If using, add the seeds now.

4) Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently until the dough is smooth and elastic.

5) Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat then cover to let it rise until doubled, about one and a half hours.

6) Deflate the dough. Divide it into two equal pieces then shape it into two loaves or rolls if you prefer. Place the shaped dough into two 9 X 5 loaf pans (23 X 13 cm), or place the rolls on a covered baking sheet, brush with melted butter and cover for the second rise. About 1 hour.

7) About 20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Bake for about 35 minutes (about 17 minutes for rolls) or until deep brown. Cool on a rack. For a softer crust, you can brush the hot loaves/rolls with melted butter when you remove them from the oven.

* Molasses makes the bread a little tangy and, of course, colors the dough dark brown. If you prefer you can use honey and the bread will be golden rather than dark brown.

Pain Noir - 'Black' Bread with a Twist

This is a bread I have been 'threatening' to bake for a long time. I say threatening, because, for me at least, it is a very unusual bread. I have made many breads using AP flour, of course. And whole wheat. I have even made some using rye. But the color and the texture of this bread is so unusual, for me, that in a way I was a little intimidated. Also, the flavorings. This bread is dark, dark brown. Almost black. Hence the name - Pain Noir - literally Black bread. The color comes from two sources: dark, bitter-sweet chocolate, and molasses.

And here is the problem, the molasses. Molasses, especially blackstrap molasses has a very strong flavor. Sharp, bitter and a little sour. This recipe, if followed exactly from Bernard Clayton's encyclopedic New Complete Book of Breads, ends up, in my opinion, too sharp. Too bitter. Too sour. And so, I have adapted it, just a little to lessen the flavor impact of the molasses. The result is a wonderful, almost creamy textured bread, with a soft crust. Black as coal, almost and, toasted, with mustard, perfect with cold-cuts, or a nice sharp cheese. Definitely, worth trying and tweaking to your palate. Let me know what you think.

Here's What You'll Need:
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup cold water
2 1/4 tsp. dry yeast
1 oz. (30g) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 Tbs butter
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 cup mashed potatoes (or 1/3 cup potato flakes)
2/3 cup rye flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup AP flour
 1 egg, beaten
coarse salt for garnish

Here's What You'll Need To Do:

1. Stir the cornmeal into a pan with the boiling water. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth. Gradually add the cold water. When the mixture is only just warm, stir in the yeast.

2. In a small pan, melt together the butter with the chocolate. After they are combined, let the mixture cool.

3. In the large bowl from your mixer, combine the cornmeal mixture, the chocolate mixture and the molasses, honey, salt, caraway and mashed potatoes. Beat this altogether with the paddle attachment (or a large spoon) until smooth. Add the whole wheat flour to form a shaggy dough. Cover and let it stand to ferment for about an hour.

4. Add the rye flour. Remove this very shaggy dough to a floured work surface, and, using a scraper, lift and fold the dough to knead it for up to 8 minutes.. This dough should be quite sticky and hard to handle. Add AP flour liberally to keep it from sticking to the work surface.

5. Place the elastic (but sticky) dough in a lightly-oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover and let it rise for about 1 1/3 hours until doubled in volume. When finished, remove the cover, punch it down, the form into a ball. Let the dough rest for another 15 minutes.

6. Shape it into a round loaf, and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover and let it rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

7. Pre-heat the oven to 375 F (190 C) about 20 minutes before baking time. Paint the loaf with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Slash the loaf 3 or 4 times just before baking.

8. Bake for about 35 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a rack.

Sentimental Journey With a Twist - Old-fashioned Raisin Bread

I have written about Bernie's Bakery before. Somehow, when all is said and done, I keep coming back. And usually, it's at this time of year. When winter is finally over, and the weather stabilizes into summer warmth, I like to bake things that are a little decadent. Not fattening mind you. But definitely designed for your comfort zone. So that brings me to this post - old-fashioned raisin bread. I remember the raisin bread from Bernie's we would eat on Sunday's still warm from the oven. The bakery was right around the corner, after all. Still, this was a concession of sorts to New World sensibilities, by someone who was very decidedly Old World. Raisin bread is North American. Especially soft, white raisin bread like this one. This bread is wonderful still slightly warn (but wait to slice it so it can 'rest'). It is even better toasted with butter melted all over. Or strawberry jam. This is my modern adaptation of a very old-fashioned bread. With dollops of nostalgia thrown in for good measure!

Here's What You'll Need:
 1 1/4 cups warm water
1/2 Tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 large egg
about 3 cups AP flour
3/4 cup raisins, plumped in hot water then drained

for the glaze:
1/2 Tablespoon molasses
1 Tablespoon hot water

Here' What You'll Need To Do:
1. Place the yeast in a small bowl with 1/2 cup warm water and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Mix to dissolve then set aside for about 10 minutes until nice and foamy.

2. In the meantime, mix the flour with the rest of the sugar, the salt and the yeast mixture. Add the butter and water and mix to form a rough dough. Knead (either by hand on a lightly-floured surface, or with an electric mixer) for about 5 minutes, until smooth and soft. The dough should be slightly tacky, but not stick to the tabletop.

3. Mix in the raisins only at the end so they don't get overly mangled by the mixer. Then place the kneaded dough in a lightly-oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover and let it rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

4. Deflate the dough then roll into a loaf shape and place in a lightly-oiled loaf pan (9 by 5 inches or 23 by13 cm) and cover with a damp kitchen cloth to rise again. It is probably a good idea to slash the bread at this stage so it doesn't 'explode' while baking. This time it will take about 45 minutes to an hour. Depends on the heat in your kitchen.

5. About 20 minutes before baking time, heat the oven to 180 C (350 F). Brush the loaf with the molasses diluted in hot water,

then bake for about 30 minuted until golden brown and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If you like, you could give the bread an additional brush with molasses halfway through the baking.

6. Cool completely on a rack before slicing.

A Bit of This and That - Sesame Molasses Bread

Lately I've been reading quite a bit about the health aspects of bread, especially the flour. Of course, flour is the most important ingredient, and that which determines the character and the structure of the entire loaf. But there are other considerations as well and they do influence the 'health' index of a good loaf of bread. These include eggs. Also, sweeteners, if any and the fat content. When I say fat I mean any type of fat which for most breads  means butter or margarine. Sometimes it means some kind of vegetable oil (and that is usually a kind of oil that has no taste like canola or soy oil although for Mediterranean bread it almost always means olive oil). So the 'health index' of bread means whether you bake with whole wheat flour (and what percentage), liquid oil (and how much) and to a lesser degree fiber content (by adding bran). This bread that I made for the first time scores quite high on the 'health index'. It uses whole wheat flour (but mixed with white flour to develop gluten) and molasses (rich in B vitamins and iron). It is very versatile and very tasty. It has a slightly sweet taste and therefore is probably more suited to butter, jam and soft cheese type sandwiched rather than smoked meats and cold cuts. It is a great breakfast bread. I know you'll love it. It is based on a recipe found in that wonderful bread cookbook The Bread Bible: 300 Favorite Recipes, a book worth adding to your cookbook collection in any event.

Here's What You'll Need for 3 small loaves:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbs. yeast
Pinch of light brown sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 light molasses
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
5 to 5 1/2 cups AP flour

Here's What You'll Need to Do:
1. Dissolve the pinch of sugar and the yeast in the warm water. Let it stand for about 10 minutes until it becomes frothy.
2. Mix in the light brown sugar, molasses and the whole wheat flour. Stir until mixed and hydrated, then cover and let it stand to ferment until bubbly, about 1 1/2 hours.
3. Add the AP flour, 1 cup at a time along with the oil, sesame seeds, cornmeal, salt and eggs. Keep adding flour, one cup at a time making sure to incorporate it fully. Do not let the dough get stiff. This dough should remain a little sticky so avoid the temptation to make it more pliable by adding more flour. In the end this will make the bread heavy and dense.
4. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover and let it rise until doubled, about an hour.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl, and divide into 3 portions without kneading the dough further. Place each portion, now oval loaf-shaped, onto a prepared baking sheet. Cover and let the portions rest for an additional 45 minutes or so.

6. Meanwhile, about 20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350 F (170 C). Lightly brush egg white over the loaves, and sprinkle more sesame seeds if you like.
7. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until very deep brown in color and they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

8. Cool completely on a rack before slicing and serving.