bad blogger!

I have been delinquent in my blogging duties! Doing my taxes, trying to find a new pair of running shoes, and searching for a job were my priorities this week, so writing here took a backseat. Still, I've been in the kitchen a bit. Last weekend I made a foray into baking yeast bread, and while it feels like a step up from the quickbreads I've done in the past (banana, pumpkin, honey whole wheat) in terms of Kitchen Seriousness--and this is only because it required yeast, which I've never used before--it still doesn't feel like bona fide bread-baking because there was no kneading, punching, folding or proofing.

However, it did yield some amazing, carby deliciousness. Which is really all I needed. The original recipe called for all whole wheat flour; as this was my first time using whole wheat flour (rather than whole-wheat pastry flour, which I use in almost all my baked goods), I didn't know if it would be too intense, or bitter, or something. And because I love the textural variety that cornmeal adds, I thought I'd throw in some of that as well.

Whole wheat bread
Adapted from ZestyCook
Yield: one gargantuan loaf
Time: About 1 hour

1 tsp. honey
2 2/3 c. lukewarm water, divided
4 tsp. dry active yeast
3 Tbsp. molasses
3 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. medium-grind cornmeal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. wheat germ
1 T. rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil a not-too-small loaf pan. (I have two sizes, and I opted for the larger one, whose dimensions I don't know. This is probably the world's least helpful note.)
2. Stir honey into 2/3 c. water. Sprinkle yeast over mixture, and set aside for 10 minutes. All yeast should be dissolved into the liquid. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, sift together flours and cornmeal.
3. Stir molasses into 2/3 c. water, and combine with yeast mixture.
4. Stir yeast mixture into dry ingredients. Add salt, wheat germ and remaining 1 1/3 c. water, and stir until incorporated. Dough will be sticky.
5. Pour dough into prepared pan, smooth top with a spoon or spatula, and sprinkle rolled oats over dough. Allow dough to rise to top of pan.

(dough before rising)



(after about 15 minutes)

6. Bake 30-40 minutes.
7. Cool loaf while still in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Then turn loaf out of pan and allow to cool completely on the rack.

The large size of the loaf combined with my utter lack of knife skills meant that I could only hack off thick pieces from the loaf. So I used this to dunk into soups and to make open-faced peanut butter and banana sandwiches. And I loved it!

This was how I spent last Friday morning, and there was minimal cooking for the rest of the day. Saturday, I had dinner out with my parents and favorite aunt and uncle, and Sunday we cooked simple grilled chicken and broiled eggplant with a Middle Eastern recipe from How to Cook Everything for lentils with rice and caramelized onions. I'm not sure whether I made it properly--I was expecting discrete, defined lentils but instead got a mass of mush--so until I know I won't be posting it here.