Keeping A Simple Eye

I've been wanting to simplify my life ... but then I tried to bake bread. I purchased hundreds of pounds of grain and a hand crank grain mill (just in case the electricity went out.)  Then came the bread machine, followed by an electric grain mill.  I can now grind large quanitities of fresh flour, but my bread machine doesn't seem to like it.  It does a beautiful job with store bought bread flour, but it gives me bricks when I use my whole wheat.  I obviously don't know what I'm doing.  Aren't we women supposed to know how to do this sort of stuff?  How come I can't even bake a simple wholesome loaf of bread - the staff of life - for my family?

(1)

Time to haul out the books, watch YouTube videos, and get down to basics.  I've got a stone for the oven and my 'peel' is on order.  (I love throwing this word about.  I didn't even know what one was.  They're those big wonderful wooden paddles that you place your bread or pizza on to slide them into the oven.)

So, I've decided to venture into the world of 'Artisan Baking'with whole grains.  I love my food storage and all those lovely buckets of grain, but you just can't stand there forever gazing fondly at your oat groats.  You need to use your food storage.  I am rather pleased at the prospect of being able to bake bread under any set of circumstances though, especially if you can't get to the store BECAUSE OF A SNOWSTORM THAT JUST WON'T GO AWAY! 

Here's my first batch of goop.

7 1/2 cups white hard winter wheat flour (fresh from my grinder)

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) vital wheat gluten

4 cups lukewarm water

1-2 tablespoons of whole seed mixture for sprinkling on top. 
Flax and Sesame seeds are good. 

Get yourself a nice big bowl and mix all the dry ingredients together first.  Then add the water, which will form a very wet dough.  Cover it with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for a couple of hours or so.  Don't punch the dough down or deflate it.  You want to try and keep the gas from escaping.  Refrigerate and use over the next 14 days.  When you're ready to bake, just tear off a grapefruit size section of dough and shape it into a loaf.  Since it's pretty sticky, coat your hands with flour.  You and your wedding ring will be a lot happier.  Note:  It seems like I get a better lift on my loaves if I let the dough set a few days.

This is baking day.  After I pull off a section of dough, I round it and tuck the edges under as I rotate it in my hands.  Kneading is not necessary.  This I like!  I let it rest on the pizza peel or parchment paper, and let it rise for about 90 minutes. TIP:  Sprinkle your surface with cornmeal.  It prevents the loaf from sticking.

I've already placed a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven, and a rimmed cookie sheet on the bottom rack. Then I preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  With my serrated knife I gently slice the top of the loaf with 1/4 inch deep cuts.  I slide the loaf onto the hot stone, then carefully pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the cookie sheet below to create a nice steamy environment for the bread to cook in.

Here are the results from my first try.   After the bread cooked for 30 minutes, I took it out and placed it on a rack to cool.  I didn't get much of a rise this time. Apparently whole grains need a longer rest time than white doughs.  It's not your pretty puffy store bread, but I tell you, I am more satisfied after eating one slice of this bread than the bread I buy at the store.   What's more, you don't have the chemicals found in single acting baking powder, nor the aluminum salt found in the double acting baking powder which may be harmful to one's health. (2) 

Practise makes perfect.  Here's a picture of a loaf I baked after I let the dough set in the frig a couple of days.  It seemed to hold a better shape ... or maybe I was just starting to get the hang of it.

(1) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
(2) "Baking powders are available both with and without aluminum compounds.[15] Some people prefer not to use baking powder with aluminum because they believe it gives food a vaguely metallic taste, and because of a possible (but controversial) link between aluminum consumption and Alzheimer's disease (see Aluminum).[16]"
SOURCE:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder

Shenandoah Valley Snowstorm - Feb, 2010

I don't think an explanation is necessary.  These shots were taken after the first storm hit us.  Our 4-rail fence looks like a 2-rail fence here and the horses are getting downright stir crazy.  Will spring ever arrive?  Frosty ponies, hens wanting to sit on frozen eggs, and little "hunka munkas" trying to squeeze into warm places - like my house - are just as impatient.
 
BradyCat has proven himself the ultimate mouser this year though.  He spends long periods of time staring between the refrigerator and dishwasher, listening for little scratching sounds.  He eventually pounces, I scream, we scurry around the room - me trying to save the mouse and Brady trying to kill it.  Then Cody Bear has to get in on the action.  It's quite a commotion.  If I succeed, hunka gets a free ride to the woods.  If Brady wins, its little body is placed in the garage for our screech owl to find.  I'm pathetic.
Oh well.  At least my garden seeds have arrived.  I ordered them as soon as the garden catalogs began to trickle in.  I was finally able to find Candy Roaster Squash seeds, but I've missed out on the True Red Cranberry Pole Dry Beans and the Mennonite Hyacinth Color Pole Bean seeds. They were sold out for the season.

I can't wait to see and taste the different varieties of heirloom tomatoes I've chosen.  Amazon Chocolate Tomato, Grandma Josie's White Tomato, the Sabre Ukrainian Heirloom Tomato, Chalks Early Gem (one of the few great tomatoes listed in 'Slow Food USA Ark of Taste'), Amish Canner and Riesentomate aus Siebenburgen are new for me.  I've decided the Amish Canner will be my main canning tomato and the San Marzano will do nicely for sauces.  And just for fun I've ordered Dinosaur Kale for the grandkids.

I swear I'm going to chart everything carefully this year!!  I've plotted rotations, estimated dates for spring, summer and fall plantings, and dedicated raised beds for polycultural plantings.  I'm trying hulless oats, corn, and wheat in the upper garden. This will also be my first year working with soybeans and a combination of rye & vetch for biomass.  I still need to find some more space for herbs though. 

Don't you just love the planning stage?  I'm a great planner, but the doer in me can tend to get hung up on the little things and gardening can turn out to be downright costly if you're not careful.  I mean, when 5 seeds can run you $2.50 you want to be sure you know what you're doing.  So it's time to get serious.  This is a year for making gardening count.