Grammie Nancy's Bread Recipe
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Category: |
Category: |
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1 cup of milk or some combination of milk, cream, powdered reconstituted milk, or half and half. Whatever you have.
2 eggs, thoroughly beaten, plus 1 egg yolk for bread glaze. Do not add the extra white to the bread.
1/2 cup sweetener (sugar, honey, maple syrup - whatever).
2 tbs. or 2 packets yeast.
3 1/2 - 4 cups high gluten bread flour (I love King Arthur Bread Flour).
1/2 cup oil. Use a neutrally flavored oil, not EVOO.
1 tbs. salt for the bread.
Salt for the egg wash 1- 1/2 tsp., water, 1 egg yolk, and sesame or poppy seeds to decorate the top of the bread if you like.
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Directions: |
Directions:Put oven on 150º (or whatever is your lowest setting) ahead of time to prepare for bread to rise. Turn off as soon as it reaches temperature, warm not hot, the exact temperature does not matter as long as you can put your hand in the oven and it is cozy, not hot.
Place the 2 eggs in a large (warm) mixing bowl and thoroughly scramble.
Warm up 1 cup of milk (whatever mixture) in the microwave, in 30 second intervals until warm to touch (stir before testing so you get an accurate read).
Add milk to eggs, it should not be hot enough to cook them.
Add 1/2 cup of sugar or honey (more or less to taste. I have used maple syrup when I had the good stuff).
Add 2 tsp. or 2 packets of yeast - sprinkle to cover the whole top.
Put mixing bowl in warmed oven (make sure it is not too hot, it will kill the yeast.
Do not add the salt yet, that will also kill the yeast. Place a slightly moist, warm hand towel over the bowl and let the mixture get bubbly (see photo, this is called blooming).
After it gets bubbly (10 minutes?) mix it with a whisk vigorously.
Add 1/3 cup of oil, mix until combined.
Add the salt to the flour.
Start adding flour a ½ cup at a time and stirring in between each addition until fully (mostly?) incorporated (this can be done in a Kitchen Aid too).
Add flour until the mixture is sticky but comes off your skin. It takes 3 to 3 1/2 cups of flour in total.
Knead dough 8 minutes in Kitchen Aid - 10 minutes by hand. It should not be very sticky and come away from the side of the bowl. If you take a piece and stretch it between your two hands, you should be able to see light through it without it tearing. This is called the "windowpane" test.
Warm the oven back up to150º. If you are using the oven for something else, the back of the stove should be warm enough.
Form into a ball, put in your greased "rising bowl" and again cover with a hot damp dish towel.
Place in oven and let rise until doubled 1 1/2 hours +/- or until it just barely bounces back when you gently poke it with your finger.
Take out and knead 3-4 times. Divide into 3 pieces and roll out into "logs".
Place on oiled aluminum foil on a baking sheet and braid. Pinch the ends and tuck under the loaf.
With a fork, mix egg yolk, 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. water. Brush over bread. (you can sprinkle on sesame or poppy seeds if you like). The eggs will change color.
Stick the bread back into the warm oven to rise again.
After the loaf plumps up, take it out and put it on top of the oven.
Turn oven on to 350º, put in the bread after it comes to full temperature.
Cook for 20 - 30 mins until golden brown.
Remember I love you whenever you have this bread. |
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Number Of
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Number Of
Servings:One (if you are Uncle Mark Diamond) |
Preparation
Time: |
Preparation
Time:2 Hours |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: I started making bread when I was 15 years old in 1975, and modified and tweaked the recipe over the years. This is really stinking basic. However, it has resulted in the best bread ever. It is based on Jewish Challah bread from Papa Joseph Wine (Great Grammie Judy's second husband), but clearly is no longer Kosher. I have fed my family this bread, with love, since 1976 - that is for the 50 years before I wrote this cookbook! Please continue to share this with the people that you love.
It took me years to be brave enough to put enough salt in the egg wash to make a good salt crust. It was then that I started to make the bread a little sweeter. The saltiness of the crust against the sweetness of the bread is magical. I have occasionally placed a lasagna pan full of boiling water on the rack below the bread. This seems to do better when you do not make bread with an egg wash and gives a chewier crust, so leave out the egg wash and use the water for an Italian loaf.
I would start this bread in a double batch early on holiday mornings. You can make it the night before - use and extra tsp. of yeast and let it rise in a colder place such as the porch or mudroom with a very damp towel on it. With the second batch I would make you fried dough for breakfast, if we were lucky, we had tourtière with it.
To make fried dough: after the first rising, roll out and cut into rectangles approximately 1 1/2" X3" - a little smaller is fine. Poke a finger through the middle to make an opening for the oil to bubble up in so it cooks all the way through. Let them rise a bit while you melt Crisco in a cast iron frying pan - about 1 " deep. I would pinch off a little piece of dough and try it in the grease to see if the temperature was right. When it floated and started bubbling around the edges right away, it was ready and I did not get it any hotter. Place the dough in the hot Crisco (maybe 370º? Who knows?) and hopefully they will float up in a minute. Let them get golden brown on the bottom and flip them over to cook the other side. I used a fork for this but in later years found out that a fish spatula or chopsticks work great. Serve with butter and maybe a little powdered sugar on the top.
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