Our favorite bread

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
Here is a recipe for Italian bread that I bake at least once a week. It is our general everyday bread for sandwiches, toast, and just good eating, so I thought I would share it with you, since I just baked some today to take to a friend's house. You can add herbs (today I added Italian seasoning and powdered garlic, also grated Parmesan) of any kind. I usually make four baguettes, but you can use it for dinner rolls or sandwich buns as well. I make a half recipe for pizza dough. I think JoeV has a similar recipe.

Karen and Jerry's Favorite Italian Bread
Prep time: 10 minutes
(ready in 3 hours)
Makes two or four baguettes

2 Cups water heated to 115-120F (feels warm, but not hot)
5 Tablespoons olive oil
6 Cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 pkg. active dry yeast (or 4 and ½ tsp)
1 egg, beaten with fork in small bowl
Softened butter (optional)
Sesame or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions*:
Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In
large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast; whisk
well. Add warm water and oil; mix well. Turn dough out
onto lightly-floured surface. Knead dough 10 minutes
or until smooth. Place dough in lightly-greased bowl;
cover with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in
warm place (80 to 85 F) for 30 to 40 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Punch down dough. Cover dough with inverted bowl and allow
to rest on counter for 15 minutes. Shape dough into
2 large or 4 small baguette-shaped loaves. Place loaves on baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm place for 35 to 40 minutes or until doubled in
size.

Heat oven to 350 F. With sharp knife, make 3 diagonal slashs about ½ inch deep across each baguette. Brush loaves with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if desired. Bake at 375F for 25 to 35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped. For softer crust, brush or rub finished loaves with butter.

*If using KitchenAid stand mixer, combine dry ingredients on speed 1 (after whisking), add liquid/oil, then knead for five minutes on speed 2. Add more flour if dough is too sticky, a TBS at a time.
 

Attachments

  • 002.jpg
    002.jpg
    62.3 KB · Views: 182

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Awwwww, Karen, those look so mouth-watering!!!!

Someday, I am going to learn to bake bread. In the meantime, I live vicariously through the photos and recipes and reactions of you talented bread-bakers!

Warm, with butter????

Lee
 

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
Oh yes, I always have to slice off a few bits soon after it comes out of the oven and smear them with sweet butter - one for me and one for Jerry.
 

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
And Lee? Bread making is not hard at all, especially if you have a good stand mixer. I would be completely daunted by your BBQ/smoking skills - this is not nearly so difficult. You can do it. And it is SO worth it.
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
Beautiful bread Karen! I haven't tried the bread proofing feature of my grill yet, this may be the perfect recipe to try it out on.
 

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
Red Apple Guy said:
Those baguettes (or are they filones?) are beautiful

You got me there, RAG...I had to google "filone." The answer to your question is "yes", I suppose...a filone is an Italian baguette. From the images I was able to find, however, this bread has a much softer and denser crumb. That is probably the result of the conditions here, however - humid and very warm. Makes for very nice bread, but if you want crisp, you may have to wait a few months.

Mama said:
I haven't tried the bread proofing feature of my grill yet

What a nice feature! Don't need that here right now - our whole world is one big proofing chamber. Bread rises almost too quickly, but these loaves turned out great, at least according to our tastes.
 

JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
Very nice Karen. Your recipe is similar to mine, so I can see why it's a crowd pleaser.:a1: With 5 T of olive oil, I'm sure it has a nutty taste as well.

If you want a crispy crust even in the Summer time, take a water bottle and set the tip to spray, and spray the top of the bread three times at two minute intervals once the bread goes into the oven. This replicates the steam feature on commercial ovens, and gives a nice crispy texture to the top of the bread.

I don't want to seem preachy, but cutting into bread before it has cooled has both flavor and structure consequences. I know, I know, I know...nothing tastes better than fresh bread right from the oven. But cutting it before it cools actual stops the cooking process that gelatinizes the crumb/dough, and gives it its structure to stand tall, as well as developing its final flavor. Cutting the end off of the loaf before it is cool allows the steam to escape and can leave you with a "doughy" loaf that may also collapse. Rye bread suffers most from early cutting.

If you want to accelerate teh cooling process, it's perfectly acceptable to put a fan on and blow air across the loaves, thus cutting the cooling time in half. Keep in mind that this will also dry out the outside of teh loaf, which in your case, may be beneficial to achieve that "crusty" shell you desire.The fridge or freezer will not work as well as a fan, because they cannot blow the heat and moisture away from the loaf to cool & dry it.

FWIW, the optimal flavor of a loaf of fresh bread is when it cools down to 80F. Studies have shown this to be true, and I have to agree based on my experience of serving fresh bread. As with most foods, flavor degrades with time.

Keep up the good work. It's nice to see you baking bread regularly in that challenging heat of Mexico. You're a real trooper! Please sample some of my bread recipes and let me know how they work in Mexico.
 

Red Apple Guy

New member
You got me there, RAG...I had to google "filone." The answer to your question is "yes", I suppose...a filone is an Italian baguette. From the images I was able to find, however, this bread has a much softer and denser crumb. That is probably the result of the conditions here, however - humid and very warm. Makes for very nice bread, but if you want crisp, you may have to wait a few months.
Although I made a filone once (before I started concentrating on just 2 breads, determined to make at least one decent loaf), but don't recall the recipe. The recipes I just googled were just flour, salt, yeast and water, while your recipe is enriched with egg, sugar and oil. That's likely where the softness comes from. I like soft Italian breads.
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
Man, home baked bread looks SO GOOD...
I wish I was more of a bread man...
 

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
JoeV, I was hoping this thread might attract your attention - thanks for the advice! I had no idea that there were such consequences from our impatience...but it does all make sense. It is fun to learn from a real expert. I'll definitely be taking a look at your recipes. If I recall correctly, we use almost exactly the same recipe for cinnamon rolls, also. Haven't made any in awhile, so I guess I should give them a try soon - hubby loves them. Thanks for the encouragement - we cannot air condition our partially open Mexican home, so we have lots of ceiling fans. I put a large standing fan in the open back door before I bake and turn it on high. That flushes out most of the heat from the oven.

RAG - I don't actually include an egg in the dough - just as an egg wash before I bake. The bread ends up with a very soft texture, but if you made it where you live, it may not come out the same. Warmth and almost 100% humidity (even when it is not raining) make a big difference in how my bread turns out here. As "winter" approaches, the humidity goes all the way down to around 25-35%, and I'll have a different product. Still good, but more substance.
 

Red Apple Guy

New member
I love King Arthur whole wheat. Though King Arthus doesn't grow or grind any wheat, they have the best specificaitons in the industry and consistency is excellent. The whole wheat is hard spring wheat and runs 14% in protein - more like bread flour proportions. Any hard spring wheat product will have that level of protein, but it's the consistency and repeatability of their flour that I appreciate.

Red Apple Guy
 
Last edited:

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
I love King Arthur whole wheat. Though King Arthus doesn't grow or grind any wheat, they have the best specificaitons in the industry and consistency is excellent. The whole wheat is hard spring wheat and runs 14% in protein - more like bread flour proportions. Any hard spring wheat product will have that level of protein, but it's the consistency and repeatability of their flour that I appreciate.

Red Apple Guy
I just bought a bag of King Arthur Unbleached White Whole Wheat. I have never used KA or white whole wheat flour (just the regular WW flour) what is your review on it?

I forgot I had just filled my flour canister with unbleached AP Flour!! YIKES now I have to wait to use that. I keep my flour in the freezer till I use it so it should be ok but I don't use flour to often any more so it will take awhile till it is used up. OR I guess the family will be getting treated to some baked goods!! LOL
 

Red Apple Guy

New member
I love it. My wife....not so much. It acts just like regular whole wheat but tastes better in my opinion. Pre-soak the white whole wheat and it acts very much like all purpose or bread flour and fakes folks out.
Red Apple Guy
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
I love it. My wife....not so much. It acts just like regular whole wheat but tastes better in my opinion. Pre-soak the white whole wheat and it acts very much like all purpose or bread flour and fakes folks out.
Red Apple Guy
Pre-soak?
 

Red Apple Guy

New member
Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads produces the lightest loaves of whole wheat bread (even better than in his last book) and he uses a soaker and a biga. You basically split the flour and water into 2 bowls, add a little salt to one and a little yeast to the other and put the yeasted bowl in the fridge and leave the soaker out on the counter (both covered) for 8 to 24 hours. Then you mix the rest of the ingredients and proceed as usual. Great bread - as light as the white flour loves I make but tastier. See http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16271

RAG
 

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
goatherder said:
I have been using this recipe for several months now and is my current favorite

Thanks for the link...I, of course, cannot buy King Arthur flour here (don't even ask about how difficult it would be to order online and have it shipped). I have finally found a brand of AP flour here that I like to use, but the whole wheat flour is a little iffy - very rough milled. I often use 2 cups of whole wheat to 4 cups of white AP when I make regular bread, but 100% whole wheat might not work...but I might just try it, anyway.
 

recipes4me

New member
"wow...so beautiful and it looks very delicious i hope i can taste them karen.. thanks for posting the recipe of this bread i will try this to cook to my husband because he loves bread.." recipes4me
 

recipes4me

New member
I want to learn more about bread guys..can you help me? Because its a little bit hard for me guys to understand more about bread coz i'm from the country who loves rice and my husband is from the country who loves bread, i want to make a delicious bread to my husband so that i can impress him...
 
Top