I finally got around to making bread. Its been one of those things I'd like to do in an abstract sense. You know, its nice to think about making your own bread without having to go to all the trouble of actually doing it. But today I said to myself, "today is the day you learn to make bread."
And of course, not just any bread. I had to go and try making gluten free, dairy free bread. I used Silvana Nardone's recipe found on the Saveur website. So basically, the first time I try my hand at it I've got to go and pick the trickiest kind of bread possible. After driving all around town to get my obscure ingredients (sorghum flour, whey powder) and learning that 'seltzer' is just another way of saying 'club soda', I got down to it.
I had been looking forward to the kneading of the bread. That lovely rhythmical action that feels (I imagine) romantic and will make me reconnect with the generations of bread making women before me. But then it turns out that gluten free bread does not need to be kneaded. The point of kneading is to warm and stretch and elasticize the gluten in wheat flour, creating the little pockets that hold the gas created by the leavening agent, which is what makes bread dough rise. And since this bread has no gluten, kneading is sort of a moot point. Hunh. Bummer. Anyhow, after mixing and resting and baking in the pan and then doing a final short bake on a cookie sheet, here is the finished bread. Ain't that purdy? So crusty and nice. And I'm telling you, it smelled like heaven.
It rose a little unevenly, so there is some wonkieness to the loaf, but I think I can rectify that next time.
Anyhow, gluten or no gluten, it sure smelled good when it was baking. The Little Dude came running into the kitchen to ask me if I was making pancakes. And when I said no, I was not, he asked in a voice full of wonder "what is making that delicious smell?". I was very pleased to tell him I was making bread and he was very happy to tell me that he wanted to eat some of that bread when it was baked. Totally heartwarming. Here he is making his self described 'yum face'. You can't quite see it, but he has his little tongue sticking out in that cartoonish way of someone licking their lips in anticipation. He has a little toy dog with this kind of face and always refers to him as the 'yum dog'.
You should know that this is just a first attempt. I certainly don't expect to master gluten free bread on the first try. I didn't really have the right equipment and quite possibly messed up this batch. It did not rise at all during its 90 minute 'rest' period, and this I blame on my over handling it. I didn't have a stand mixer and used a small electric hand mixer that not only has no 'low' setting, but also was way too small and caused the dough to climb up the beaters so badly that I had to stop every few minutes and scrape it all off and start all over again. Totally messed up my hand mixer too, which practically started to smoke with the effort, and definitely overworked the dough causing it to de-gas. (I just tried to write that word as 'degas', which makes me think of my bread being baked by ballerinas surrounded by water lilies. Comment if you get that joke.) Which is why, despite the fact that it smelled good and tasted pretty good, it was quite dense and more cake-y than bread-y. As you can see in this photo. See. It should be loftier and have bigger, stretchier holes. I'm totally going to try again tomorrow because my mom lent me her stand mixer and it has bread hooks, so I think I can make it work. Also, I might try a different brand of yeast. And its possible I may have the wrong kind of whey powder. I'm still working out the kinks.
But when all was said and done, even though I don't think it was the best bread ever, (due to my leavening issues), a good dollop of melty butter covers a multitude of sins. I'd pretty much eat my own foot if it was hot out of the oven with butter on it.
And I had no shortage of takers. It came out of the oven just before dinner, and who doesn't love a bread basket? Anyhow, the real test will be if anybody wants to eat it tomorrow when it is cold. (and yes, I know butter defeats the puprpose of wheat free/dairy free, but remember that Hubs is the one who is off diary, not me.)
I'll keep you posted on my second attempt, when I get around to it.
I do like Impressionism.
Posted by: Lisa D. | 07/31/2012 at 05:14 AM
I bet it would have been delicious toasted the next morning!!!
Mary
Posted by: Mary Griffiths | 07/31/2012 at 12:12 PM