If ever weather called for homemade soup and bread, it is now. We’ve been having quite the little storm here in Northern California, so yesterday I made a super healthy chicken vegetable rice soup and a batch of whole wheat bread with a hint of oat bran, polenta, and pumpernickel.
Hearty, healthy, and delicious!
For the soup, I precooked some short grain brown and black rice in my rice cooker (positively one of the best kitchen inventions EVER!). I sauteed in a little olive oil some carrot, celery heart, and crimini mushrooms just to soften a little. I set these aside, and in the same big soup pot, I sauteed 3 chicken sausages and about 4 ounces of leftover herbed chicken breast from the night before. I used Trader Joe’s chicken sausages (2 sundried tomato and 1 smoked apple chardonnay, but you can use whatever brand or flavor you like). I sliced them into about 1/4-inch slices, then in half, and sauteed them just enough to heat them through and brown them just a bit for flavor. I added back the vegetables, about 1 cup each of frozen peas and green beans, and some baby kale, chard, and spinach (Trader Joe’s Power to the Greens), and some fresh thyme. I sliced a few cherry tomatoes in half (Trader Joe’s heirloom cherry tomatoes), then used about 2 1/2 quarts of organic chicken stock (Kirkland brand). I let it cook gently while I finished up the bread.
The bread is based on the Tassajara Bread recipe, with a couple of variations.
3 cups filtered or bottled water, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons dried yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 cup dry milk
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup polenta
1/2 cup pumpernickel flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup butter, melted & cooled
2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 to 1 cup flour
additional flour as needed for kneading
Prepare the sponge:
- Add the honey to 1 cup of water, then sprinkle the yeast over top. Set aside for the yeast to soften and begin to dissolve in the water (5-10 minutes).
- Combine 2 cups of the water, dry milk, oat bran, polenta, pumpernickel, and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour. Gently stir to make a smooth mixture, but be careful to not over-mix at this point.
- When the yeast has dissolved, stir together the water, honey, and yeast mixture and then add to the bran, polenta, and flour mixture. Again, stir to make a smooth mixture, but don’t over-mix.
- Cover with a towel and set aside to proof about 15 minutes.
While the sponge is proofing, melt your butter, then set aside to cool. Combine 2 cups of whole wheat flour with the salt. When the sponge looks “proofy” (starting to bubble and rise), add the melted butter on low speed (or stir in by hand) until mostly combined. Then, add the flour and salt mixture 1/2 to 1 cup at a time. If you’re using a mixer, do this on low speed. If you doing it by hand, stir it in with a large, heavy wooden spoon. When you can no longer stir it in with the spoon, you can work it in with your hands.
Just out of the mixer
This dough turned out to be fairly wet, so I ended up using at least 1 cup additional flour. It’s important to go by feel, not just by measurement when you’re making bread. It takes some practice, but once you get the feel of dough, you just know. Flour varies a lot by brand and type, so you can’t always measure exactly and expect consistent results. I used a combination of King Arthur and Guisto’s flours; both are premium flours. King Arthur flours are available in pre-packaged bags, and Guisto’s flours are usually in bulk.
Both of these brands are available online:
Guisto’s: http://giustos.com/home_baker
King Arthur: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/
I mixed this dough a long time on low because it was so wet, then finished it with about 3 minutes on high speed. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer, but this is a great dough to do by hand, also. It’s very satisfying to handle; it just feels good. Turn the dough out onto a floured board. You want to use enough flour to prevent the dough from sticking, but be careful to not use too much; you don’t want to work too much more into the dough.
The polenta adds a nice, slightly sweet crunch.
After the first rise.
Shape the dough into one large ball and place in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, then with a towel. Allow to rise about 45 minutes, then “punch down” the dough by gently pressing down on it. Then, fold the dough over itself, keeping the smooth top up. Recover and allow to proof another 45 minutes to 1 hour.
This batch will make two large loaves (9 1/4 x 5 1/4-inch loaf pan), or as many smaller loaves, or rolls, as you care to make. I like to use about half of it in a loaf pan, and then make 1 or 2 more rustic loaves that I proof in a baker’s couche (a linen cloth made for proofing yeast doughs). You can use a towel (the flour sack kind, NOT terry cloth!) to create a make-shift couche. Generously flour the couche. For this dough, I used whole wheat and pumpernickel flours, and for one of the loaves I also sprinkled on some polenta. Place the shaped dough top down (seam up) on the floured couche.
My make-shift couche, dusted with whole wheat and pumpernickel flours, & polenta.
Free form loaf.
Cover loosely with towels so the loaves don’t dry out too much. With the couche, the dough will dry out just enough to allow a really nice crust, but you want to make sure you don’t expose the dough directly to the air or it will dry out, creating an unattractive crust. If you’re using loaf pans, you’ll want to cover lightly with plastic wrap. Remember, the dough will rise again, so you don’t want to restrict it by covering it too tightly.
The dough will need to rise about 30 minutes, so start preheating your oven after about 20 minutes. You’ll want to bake the rustic, couched loaves first. They’ll need a hot oven (400-450 degrees) and a preheated baking sheet. If you have a baking stone or tile, that’s best, but you can also turn a professional sheet pan over and place that in the oven while it’s heating. A half-sheet pan will fit in most home ovens. I have one that I have sacrificed for this; it’s the oldest of the sheet pans I have, so it’s not in great shape, anyway, but it works like a charm for this.
When the oven is ready, place a sheet of foil on a baking peel and gently transfer the dough to the peel. This dough is sturdy enough that you can do this by hand, but if you have a delicate dough (like a ciabatta) you will want to use a hand peel to transfer the dough from the couche. Place the dough seam down on the foil. Score with a razor or very sharp knife.
Ready to score ...
Ready to score ...
Scored and ready to bake!
Transfer the scored loaves to the oven. I bake them on the foil on the inverted, preheated baking sheet. You want to keep as much heat in the oven as possible, so quickly spritz the dough with water or throw a couple of ice cubes on the bottom of the oven. If you use a spray bottle, be very, very careful to NOT spray the light bulb in the oven! It will shatter and your bread will be ruined. I speak from experience. After about 5 minutes, you can throw 2-3 more ice cubes in the bottom of the oven, or spritz with a little more water. What this does is to help to mimic that nice, chewy crust you get in breads baked in a professional oven.
Bake until the loaves are a nice, golden brown. They’re done when they sound hollow when you give the loaf a little thump on the bottom crust.
Fresh out of the oven. Smells so good!
Be sure to allow the bread to cool at least most of the way before you slice into it.
Now here is a little slice of heaven!
This will
warm you,
fuel you, and
nourish you.
Enjoy!
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