Love for Liberia

Last year in June I went to Liberia to help with a school that gives good education to the less fortunate. Over there the fortunate are just about par with our homeless in dear old Seattle, or perhaps less so, then the less fortunate are in pretty bad shape. In 2003 they had just gotten out of a 14 year civil war that devastated EVERYTHING! In power was a corrupt warmonger by the name of Charles Taylor, the second person EVER to be charged with war crimes while still in office. There was indiscriminate missile fire from all sides, taking down buildings filled with innocent bystanders. Only recently has travel been opened up between us and Liberia again.

While I was there I was able to bring art to kids who haven't had much exposure to it. The war stopped pretty much all production of any thing artistic and destroyed so much. A lot of their culture was lost and many don't even remember the names of certain rivers anymore and have no way of finding out what they were. The sketchbook I brought, however, had more of their drawing than mine. :) I got to spend some time in the kitchen helping to cook dinner, too.

I fell in love with the people there. They taught me so much. It was difficult to leave and I could talk about these guys forever, but that's not this blog. BUT on June 4th there is a fundraiser for the organization that I went with, Serve the Children, based in Gig Harbor, WA. They're holding a dessert auction and last year one dessert went for $2000! I cried so hard. Anyway, I'm going to make a Bread Basket filled with different breads for the auction. I'm darned excited. So, in the upcoming weeks before the auction, I'm going to be practicing with the basket making process and coming up with the contents as well. I'm so FREAKING EXCITED! Send prayers and inspiration my way.

With bread,
~Chad

Bread Day - April 16

On Saturday my friend Natalia and I hosted our monthly Bread Day. We started this in January, inviting our friends over to make bread with each other and enjoy the fruits (?) of our labor. Natalia and I experiment on a new kind of bread each event. Nat made a Rosemary Olive bread using whole wheat flour. It had a few issues rising for a while, but after a bit of futzing, it decided it was time to start doing it's job.









We had 6 doughs being made at once so the kitchen was indeed full. 4 Challah, 1 Wheat Bread with a few alterations made by my cousin Jaclyn, and Natalia's Rosemary Olive.
Noelle (right) is a newcomer to bread making and she joined in the Challah fray with the rest of the bunch. Tammy and Noelle made some beautiful 3 strand braids.

Devin made his braid into a wreath and it turned out really cool. Scott made. . .a tumor. He calls it his :"bee hive". Whatever it is, it is a mass.



What is bread without it being broken over some food? Sadly enough the bread wasn't ready by dinner time, but as it is another tradition on bread day, we eat. Natalia made Pesto Chicken Wheels paired with Penne pasta with some more pesto and salad. I wasn't able to make any bread that day, sadly, but I made a Ginger Creme Brulee with a Lime Sauce. Pretty good, but the ginger wasn't strong enough.







Bread days hold so much excitement here. It's amazing how we can make something so basic to life. Bread is such a blessing.

With bread,
~Chad

Bread Day - Anadama Bread

Today wasn't a scheduled bread day, but it turned into one anyway. At my house on Thursdays we have communal dinners. We have groups that take turns cooking and cleaning. This quarter, because most of the people here go to the University of Washington, we're "traveling around the U.S." in foods. Last quarter we went around the world and got to try a bunch of different styles of cooking. AWESOME! Today we visited the New England region. I know what you're thinking, because everyone elses responses went a little like this, "*GASP* Are we having New England Clam Chowder!?!?!" No, we did not have New England Clam Chowder. Our budget doesn't cover seafood often. So we had American Goulash, Succotash, and Roasted Potatoes. Where this ties in to this blog is the bread I made for it. I made Anadama Bread. LOVE! Again, thank you allrecipes.com.

ANADAMA BREAD
Origins: This is a true bread of the United States. There is a little discrepancy on the true origins of it, but the one I like the best is this - way back when in Rockport, Massachusetts a woman left her husband in a flurry and the man was livid furius, not only for leaving him, but she had the nerve to only leave behind a pot of cormeal mush and some molasses for dinner. He threw together those two along with some yeast and flour all the while exclaiming, "Anna, Damn 'er!", which was later changed to Anadama, to be a little less offensive.
Characteristics: Depends on your molasses. Peter Reinhart mentions in his book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, that the molasses drives the flavor because of how strong it is. People testing his recipe preferred Brer Rabbit Golden Molasses because of its lightness. "Molasses is high in iron and other minerals, but some brands are harsher and darker." He advises to get lighter, more refined brands, unless a more intense flavor is preferred. I do prefer the darker, more rich taste.
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 2 1/2 hours Total; 20 minutes Prep; 100 minutes Rising; 30 minutes Cooking
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 F)
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)
1 tsp salt

Bring water and cornmeal to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir occasionally and cook until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the butter and molasses then let cool to lukewarm.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for about 10 minutes. Combine the two mixtures then add 2 cups of the flour and salt. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly each addition. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let sit for an hour.

Punch down the dough and form into a loaf. Either place in a bread pan or place on a cookie sheet with a little corn meal. Let rise for 40 minutes.




Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 30 minutes or until the top is a darker brown and when tapped, the bottom sounds hollow.

RESULT
AMAZING! I got so many compliments on this bread. One friend said it was the best bread I've made yet, whether this is true or not is debatable, but man-o-man, it was tasty.

With bread,
~Chad

Bread Day - Rye

I have a friend who is intolerant/allergic to wheat gluten and I always feel bad because she doesn't get to have bread often and if she does she suffers for it. I wanted to make a bread that she can enjoy, so this is my search for today, a good wheat free rye bread. Apparently rye bread using straight rye flour is hard to find in cookbooks. Thank God for allrecipes.com. The reviews were varied. The people who didn't like the recipe had certain dietary needs going in and were expecting a result equal to regular bread. Rye is not wheat.

STUFF:
2 cups milk
2 2/3 tsp dry active yeast
2 tbsp molasses
1 egg (I used 3)
7 1/2 cups rye flour
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp caraway seeds

Heat the milk in a sauce pan until it bubbles, then remove from heat and let cool to a lukewarm temperature. Add the yeast and let sit for 10 minutes until milk thickens. (I didn't quite understand that part. My milk didn't thicken.)

In a large mixing bowl, mix the yeasty milk with the molasses then combine with eggs, 4 cups of the flour, salt and seeds. (I used flax seeds because I couldn't find my caraway and I wanted some extra fiber in it, though if you want the true rye flavor, go with caraway.) The mixture will look like soft cookie dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 45 minutes.

Stir in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time making sure the dough is mixed thoroughly after each addition. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly coat a large bowl with oil and turn the dough around inside of it until greased. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

I look back at my saying how Rye is not Wheat. Boy, am I right. Kneading this dough is like kneading a large lump of playdough without the salty smell. Partially, this frustrated me because it was completely new and didn't work the way I wanted it to, but it doesn't have the wheat gluten which keeps it together like the regular doughs, which is the point of making this rye bread, so my complaining is kept in check.

Punch down the dough and separate into 2 lumps. Place each into their own greased bread pan and press down until flat on top and the dough meets the sides and corners. Cover with the damp towel and let sit for 40 minutes or until it has doubled in size. (I sprayed a mist of water on the top and pressed down some more flax seeds on top.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. The top should be golden brown and should sound hollow when the bottom is tapped.

RESULT

My bread came out super dense and didn't really rise that much. Maybe I killed my yeast with too hot of milk or rye just doesn't contain the gas that the yeast produces. The consistency of the dough would support that theory. I suppose the eggs I added to the recipe didn't help with the fluffiness either. It still tastes good. I think the only improvement would be to work it enough to create bonds in the dough to hold in the gas from the yeast.

Let it sit for a little bit before slicing, then dig in.

With bread,
~Chad