Posted in Tightwad Tuesdays

Hello, Readers, and welcome back to Tightwad Tuesday with Canadagirl.  If you would like to join us with a tightwaddy tip, please do go visit our lovely hostess Mary to sign up.

My Tightwad Tip for today is a recipe (gasp!) that is sure to taste far superior to anything you could purchase pre-made, be much healthier for you, is extremely easy on your pocketbook, and is very therapeutic and relaxing to make.  Sounds like an ad for Mister-Uncle-Joe-Bob's-Magical-Elixir, now doesn't it?  Nope, nothing so fancy.  What we're going to be making today is homemade wheat bread.  Yum-yummmm!!

Homemade Bread is a true homemaking art form that shows a level of patience on the part of the homemaker, as well as perseverance to get it right, and love for her family.  Homemade bread is not something you just 'do,' it takes a little time to get comfortable with the process and acquire the knowledge of a few tips that work better than others.  The one consistent thing I've found from breadmaker to breadmaker is that there is no 'right' way, and there is no 'same' way of making bread.  I make it differently from my mother (a master breadmaker), who makes it differently from Robyn, who makes it differently from her mother, and so on and so forth.  I have been attempting to master the art of the basic loaf for quite some time now, and so you can imagine my complete shock and awe when my mom called me asking for the recipe of the bread that I had made and sent with my boys for sandwiches when they went with her one day.  She said she'd never seen wheat bread so moist and risen before, so asked Jigger for a piece to try it.  She loved it, and wanted to come over so that I could show her how to make it.  I have arrived as a breadmaker.  Ladies, it doesn't get any better than that.

So, in light of this wonderful bread recipe, I thought I would share my recipe with you.  I call it mine, even though I found the original recipe over at Alyssa's place sometime last year.  It was originally titled 'Wisteria's Everyday Bread,' but since I've tweaked it, we'll just call it Everyday Wheat Bread.  If you've never baked bread before, I have tried to walk you through this completely.  If you have, use your own method and have fun! 

Everyday Wheat Bread

3 teaspoons of yeast

2 cups warm water

3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

4 heaping teaspoons Vital Wheat Gluten

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 ½ - 3 ½ cups unbleached flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

Assemble your ingredients:

First, we're going to 'proof' our yeast.  (Disclaimer:  there are other terms for some of the things I'll be going over, but this is simply my vernacular based upon what I've been taught.)  Proofing the yeast is simply a test to see if your yeast is good or bad.  I use my KitchenAid mixer for the initial mixing of my bread, but I have done it by hand before.  There is really no difference in the output, it just depends on your preference. 

No matter, into whichever bowl you're using to mix your bread place your hottest tapwater.  This is going to pre-heat your bowl.  I find I get better results when I do this.  Let it sit for a couple of minutes (I do this before I assemble my ingredients, so while it's pre-heating I get everything out I need to, melt the butter, etc.).  After a couple of minutes, dump that water and replace it with the two cups of warm water.  Now, for those of you who have never made bread before, the water needs to be warm enough to activate the yeast, but not so warm as to kill it.  This means that the water should be a little uncomfortable to the touch.  Add your yeast to your two cups, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.  I find in the summer that the whole process is sped up, so when I give you my time estimates, it's a safe bet the the shorter times are for summer and the longer for winter (at least in *my* experience).

Okay, how you know the proofing is working and the yeast is active is that after a few minutes your yeast will begin 'exploding' to the surface, thereby gathering up together and looking something like this:

Now you add the honey, gluten, salt, butter, 1½ cups whole wheat flour, ½ cup of the unbleached flour, and mix on low using the dough hook for 30 seconds, scraping constantly.  (It's important to note that flour should be scooped up by a common teaspoon and placed in the measuring cup, otherwise your flour is compacted and affects the outcome of any recipe.)  Turn the mixer up to medium-high for two full minutes, scraping occasionally.  Now your dough looks like this:

Add two cups of unbleached flour and stir by hand.

It will begin to pull away at the sides and become stiffer; this is all good.  It will look something like this:

Now you're going to turn it out onto your kneading surface.  I use a marble pastry board my dear mother gave me for my birthday this year.  Put ½ cup of flour on your board, and turn your dough out onto it.

Sprinkle some flour onto the top, rub some flour over your hands, and begin kneading your dough.

For you beginners, kneading is done by pushing/pulling the dough , and folding it in on itself repeatedly.  Don't be wimpy about it, put some muscle into it.  Ü  Consider this your workout for the morning.  While I'm kneading, I pray and have a nice chat with God; here's your therapy part.  It's so relaxing.

This will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes (not a seasonal time; it just takes what it takes).  You will find yourself lightly sprinkling your kneading surface and dough often with more flour; don't add too much, though.  Just use what is needed, and no more.

Your kneading will be done when your dough is smooth and elastic.

To rise, set it in a prepared bowl with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in it.  Rub the olive oil up the sides of the bowl, effectively coating the entire bowl.  Place your dough 'top' side down to coat with olive oil, and then flip it over.

Cover with a towel, and let rise. 

Here, at practically sea level, it takes anywhere from ½ an hour (summer) to an hour and a half (winter).  It is risen when it is at least double in size.  Your altitude does indeed affect everything, so pay attention to what works for you so that you can better improve and/or duplicate your results the next time.

As an aside here, I place a plate under my bowl because when my oven is not in use I let my dough rise on the back burner of my stove top.  I learned the hard way that sometimes your dough forces the oil out of the bowl and onto the burner, thereby creating a lovely smoke-and-smell mess when you use that burner for the first time.

Okay.  Now you are going to punch your dough down.

You will do this a few times.

Turn your dough out onto your clean kneading surface (because your dough is oiled, it is not necessary to sprinkle more flour on said surface).

Cut your dough in half.

Roll each half into a loaf shape, making sure to seal the seams you acquire, and place each half into a pre-greased pan.  I don't personally use a rolling pin for this step; I simply use my hands.  Cover with a towel and set to rise for the second and final time.

This will take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half.  When your dough has at least doubled in size, preheat your oven to 365 degrees.

Let bake for 30 minutes, then take your beautiful loaves out of the oven.

Remove them from their pans, set them on a rack (the one pictured here was made for me by my dad), and rub some butter straight from the fridge on top of them. 

You have now made homemade wheat bread, and if your clan can wait for the bread to cool a bit to make the slicing easier, go for it!  Mine sometimes can't, because my boys are all addicted to hot bread with butter fresh from the oven.  Enjoy your delicious bread, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  I will find you an answer if I don't know, even if I have to call my mom.  Ü