Frugal Kitchens 101: Breads (1)

The holiday season is upon us meaning more people are baking so I debated which Frugal Kitchens 101 article to post first. As one reader guess from the poll the topic of breadmaking would be featured at some point. Who can resist the urge to cut a thick slice of piping hot bread just out of the oven? Of the 65 who participated 35% did not make any bread at home and the majority 49% made 1 to 3 loaves of bread weekly. Bread in some form is a fundamental part of many meals and snacks. It is the first choice for lunches eaten at home, taken to work or school and when eating out. One of the most popular ways breads are used is in the form of buns for the American favourite hamburger. The reason bread has been such a staple throughout history and continues to be a staple is because bread is inexpensive to make with a few simple ingredients making breads one of the best budget stretching foods possible.

Despite this making bread at home has for the most part fallen out of favour although breadmachines has brought some of that back over the past decade. It's just too easy to stop at the grocery store and buy a loaf of over priced bread conveniently sliced and stuffed into a plastic bag. If you really want that homemade aroma you can buy the over priced refrigerator rolls or dough in the freezer section or over priced bread machine mix. More discriminate buyers will opt for the often over priced specialty breads. The common theme here is over priced. You are really paying for that convenience while buying products in most cases heavily laden with preservatives.

Breads fall into three categories:

1. unleavened breads - These are simple breads that do not rise. Examples: flat breads - naan, pita, tortilla, pocket breads
   
2. yeast breads - These breads use yeast as a leavening agent. Examples (click links for recipes): sweet breads (cinnamon rolls), pumpernickel, twelve grain, 100% whole wheat, bagels as well as several others in the archives for this blog
3. quick breads - These are breads that use baking powder or baking soda/buttermilk as leavening agents. Examples: soda breads, pancakes, muffins, zucchini loaf, banana bread, corn bread

Why is making your own bread a good budget stretching strategy? The most expensive ingredient in most breads is flours. All other ingredient (salt, sugar, yeast, oil) costs are so low that they barely more than a couple of cents to the overall cost of the bread. Time to do some math. If we do a cost comparison of my French bread that makes 2 large loaves or 3 large baguettes the store bought equivalent at our prices would cost me $4.47. The cost to make the loaves myself including the electricity for baking 32¢ for the flour, < href="http://momskitchencooking.blogspot.com/2006/11/party-sandwich-canned-carrots.html">basic white bread is more expensive to make because it has an egg (10¢) and milk (5¢) as ingredients that at my costs add an additional 15¢ to the overall cost of that loaf. However, this loaf of bread is far superior to the cheap, sandwich bread in the stores. It is more in line with the more expensive packaged breads or bakery type breads that cost anywhere from $2.49 to $3.29 per loaf so even though this breads cost me under 73¢ to make I am still saving a considerable amount of money. Similar saving can be shown for quick breads and flat breads. In short, there are very few breads that you can buy that cannot be made cheaper at home. If you substitute just one loaf of store bought bread for homemade per week you will be saving money.

People often use the excuse that making bread at home is too difficult or time consuming. For quick breads there is nothing more involved than measuring and mixing the ingredients then baking. Quick, easy and budget stretching! Yeast breads involve a little more prep work but need not be difficult or time consuming. Once the dough has been kneaded, the only time involved is waiting for proofing and baking of which you can be doing something else while you wait. First, the dough can be made:

1. by hand - This involves manually mixing and kneading the dough. It is the most time time consuming but is cheaper because it eliminates any special equipment or additional electricity.
2. breadmachine - These little workhorses take the guess work out of breadmaking. Simply dump the ingredients into the baking pan, hit the desired setting and the machine does the rest. However, I highly recommend you watch the dough to ensure it is not too dry or too stick after the knead and adjust the flour or liquid if needed. Many people are using breadmachines on dough setting only then baking in the oven because they don't like the bread baked in the machine.
   
3. KitchenAid® stand mixer or similar - A stand mixer gives you the greatest degree of control without the time involved by hand. It allows you to increase or decrease the knead time as desired. It also allows you to make the dough for more than one loaf of bread at a time.

I've discussed the monetary savings so now will give some tips on ways you can save time to make breadmaking an enjoyable experience. Did you know that you can make yeast bread doughs then refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze for later use? Well you can and that can be one of your biggest time savers. Make a batch of yeast bread dough for two to four loaves. Bake one or two then put the rest in the fridge or freezer to use as needed. Do the same thing with pizza dough or any other sweet dough. Allow to come to room temperature then shape as desired then proof and bake. You can even make muffin (one recipe here) and pancake batter ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator to use later. Now here is the beauty of keeping these kinds of doughs in your refrigerator or freezer. For a fraction of the cost of store bought and with in most cases under 10 minutes prep time you have created a convenient way for you to enjoy homemade bread throughout the week.

*this is a general estimate for basic low cost ingredients (salt, sugar, yeast, oil)

Bagels

The smell of fresh baked bread wafting through the house is one of life's little pleasures. Store bought bread just does not compare. Homemade breads are very frugal to make regardless of how you make the dough and you control the ingredients. I've been making homemade breads ever since we married years ago and still make most of the breads we eat. It always surprises me to hear someone marvel at the taste of my breads followed by the comment that breadmaking is so much work. You would be surprised at how easy making bread is!

Breadmachines and stand mixers take a lot of the work out of kneading the dough and free up valuable time. I have and still occasionally use a Black & Decker All-in-One Plus™ breadmaker bought in the late 1980s. It still works nicely and has been a real workhorse but more and more I was using for making the dough only as we prefer breads baked in the oven. The second problem I ran into with the breadmaker was the limitation of the amount of dough that could be made at one time. Traditional recipes had to be adjusted for the breadmaker as well. This often meant making two or more batches of dough and because they were proofing at different times the oven had to be on for longer periods for the baking. This year I bought a KitchenAid® Professional series stand mixer as a way to eliminate as many single purpose small appliances as possible. I have been testing and converting my favourite breadmachine recipes to use with the stand mixer.

I made bagels yesterday using the recipe (see below) from my breadmachine manual except I used the KitchenAid® stand mixer. The yield was nine large bagels. This recipe could easily be doubled.

I think the biggest change for me was determining when the dough had been kneaded enough. The dough was mixed on Speed 2 until smooth and elastic (1) for a total of about 4 minutes. Then I covered the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough proof. Once the dough had proofed, I divided it into somewhat equal portions (2) on a sheet of parchment paper to rise. I omitted the step of greasing the top electing instead to cover them with parchment paper then laying a tea towel on top.

What gives bagels their unique texture is boiling them for a short period before baking. According to Breadtime by Susan Jane Cheney it is the shape and method of cooking not the dough that makes a bagel a bagel. Her method is to boil a minute or two on each side in lightly salted water. The instructions for this bagel recipe was to simmer 5 to 6 minutes per side in water with a tbsp of sugar added. Either method will give good results. Before baking the bagels were brushed with an egg yolk and water mixture. The end result (4) was worth waiting for.

Ready to Enjoy

The outside of the bagels is a nice golden brown. I opted to leave them plain as this was a test batch. After brushing on the egg mix, the bagels can be sprinkled with poppy or sesame seeds, diced onion, garlic chips or cheddar cheese if desired. The taste and texture got two thumbs up from my husband and son who basically just inhaled. Five of the nine bagels are already gone so by tonight they will likely all be gone! I will be making a double batch next leaving half plain and topping the other half but I have decided with what. Now I just have to work on forming them a bit better.

Bagels

modified for using a stand mixer by Garden Gnome

1 c water
1 1/2 tsp organic sugar
1 tsp sea salt
3 c unbleached flour
1 tsp instant dry yeast

Combine the sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the mixing bowl. Mix on Speed 2 with spiral dough hook then slowly pour in the water. Continue mixing on Speed 2 until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl adding a bit more water if needed. Knead on Speed 2 for 2 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot free from drafts to proof. When the dough is double in size, remove from bowl and divide into 10 equal portions. Form into round, smooth balls. Using your thumbs make a 1 1/2 inch hole in the center of each ball. Place on parchment paper and cover with parchment paper with a tea towel on top. Allow to rise for 30 minutes or until double. Bring 3 quarts of water and 1 tbsp of organic sugar to a boil. Reduce the temperature to simmer. Simmer 3 to 4 bagels at a time in the water for 5 to 6 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon. Place on greased baking sheet dusted with cornmeal (optional). Brush with egg yolk mixed with a little water. Sprinkle on toppings if desired. Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) 25 to 30 minutes.
Yield: 10 bagels

Cheese Sticks Are Up!

Cheese sticks make great snacks and can really accent a meal. They look fancy but are oh so easy to make! They are perfect for that lazy winter night served with homemade tomato soup. Talk about comfort food.

Cheese Sticks

This recipe is actually for pizza dough but I decided to see what else I could do with it. This is one result. The recipe is for a breadmachine however it could easily be adapted to do by hand or using a Kitchen Aid. Once the pizza dough has proofed, it is cut into chunks, rolled into long strands and covered with cheddar cheese. You can use other cheeses but our family likes them made with cheddar.

If you want to use this recipe for its intended purpose, beer will result in a thicker crust while substituting water will give a crispier crust. We prefer the crust made with beer. It will yield enough dough for two large round pizzas.

Pizza Dough
1 1/2 c beer
1 1/2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/8 c white flour
1 1/2 tbsp instant yeast

ABM - add ingredents to pan as per your manufacturer's instructions. Set to dough setting. Remove dough when timer sounds. Then proceed using the instructions for either cheese sticks or pizza.

Handmade/Kitchen Aid: Mix 1/2 to 3/4 the flour with the rest of dry ingredients. Pour in liquid and mix. Slowly add in rest of flour 1/2 c at time until dough cleans side of bowl. If continuing by hand, remove from bowl and hand kneed until smooth and elastic. If using Kitchen Aid, kneed 2 minutes. Cover bowl and let rise until doubled.

Cheese sticks - When finished, turn into cheese sticks by cutting into chunks. Roll and stretch into a long strand. Roll the strand in shredded cheddar cheese until well covered. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Allow to rise about double. Bake at 400ºF until golden brown.

Pizza - When finished, divide the dough and form into two large rounds to fit your lightly greased pans. Top with pizza sauce, toppings and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400ºF 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Apple Bread, Roasted Chicken, Shortbread Cookies and More

Life has a tendency to get in the way of the best intentions and so it was yesterday. This is precisely why I do not menu plan. So needless to say I did not get as much cooking accomplished yesterday as I had hoped. The house smelled good despite all the necessary delays.

I make a lot of bread and while I use a breadmachine for the dough, very few loaves are ever baked in the breadmachine. I think baking in the oven gives better results while tantalizing the palate.  Apple bread is always a delight but more so this time of year. It brings in all the smells and flavours of the fall harvest. It is a comforting bread that when coupled with yogurt cheese or cream cheese is sure to please. This bread is very easy to make and trust me that's a good thing because it will be gone within minutes of baking!



Apple Bread (ABM but baked in oven)
source: original recipie was from Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway but I just had to tweak it so what follows is my version

1/2 c unsweetened apple juice
1/2 c unsweetened homemade applesauce
3 c unbleached flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 c cored, peeled and chopped cooking apple (eg. L-star or Northern Spy), in lemon juice water solution until ready to use
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch fresh grated nutmeg (2-3 quick passes on fine grater)
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

Put all ingredients into breadmachine pan except for apple pieces. Set to dough setting. When dough is ready, remove from pan onto lightly floured board. Carefully distribute apple pieces through dough with your hands. Shape into loaf and place in lightly grease and floured loaf pan or use a silicone loaf pan. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise in warm spot until dough is doubled. Remove towel and bake in pre-heated oven at 400ºF for 20 minutes then lower the heat to 350ºF and bake 20 to 30 minutes longer, or until the loaves have a distinctly hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Shortbread cookies are one of our family favourites and I don't mind making them as they take only four ingredients that are always in ample supply in our home give or take my modifications. Do not even attempt to mix the ingredients with anything other than your hands. These are melt in your mouth cookies and should never be overbaked. This is a butter only and don't even try to substitute! You want just a light goldening of the bottoms! They are easy to make, inexpensive and just taste good! It is a true, buttery comfort cookie sure to please and make excellent homemade Christmas gifts. The recipe that follows is the original recipe. You can easily multiply as I do for larger batches. I made 9 dozen today and will repeat that amount tomorrow.


Shortbread Cookies
Source: back of corn starch box, Canadian brand long forgotten due to the age

1/2 c corn starch
1/2 c icing sugar
1 c flour
3/4 c butter

Mix well then form dough into small balls about 1-inch in diameter. Pre-heat oven to 300ºF. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet then use a floured fork to flatten. Bake 20-25 minutes until lightly golden around the edges. Remove from oven an allow to cool on rack.


Grilled Cheese

Grilled cheese sandwiches in our home are never the run of the mill thing, ever! And one thing you will never find in our home is those plastic orange things trying to pass for cheese. My husband wanted comfort food last night so we played with cheeses: asiago, sharp cheddar, mild reserve cheddar and pepper jack. Then we played! But grilled cheese sandwiches have to be made a certain way! This is one of the best ways to discover what kind of melted cheese you like. Now our rule is the cheese is always sliced about 1/4" thick and new combinations are always welcomed. These delectable sandwiches are usually served with home made tomato soup. It's a comfort thing!

Roasted Chicken


Roasted chicken is a pleasure and last night despite the alternate meal the chicken filled the house with a wonderful smell. I roasted the chicken unstuffed on a broiling pan, no rack, no roasting pan and used convection heat. I wanted to see specifically the difference between the regular way I roast chicken and the convection way. I was not disappointed as the chicken came out nicely browned with moist and very tasty meat. I want to try this again stuffing the bird just to see the results. So far what I've seen I like!