Valtrompia Bread

 I found the pans at a thrift store, forgot what they were called, lost the recipes and instructions that came with them, found the instructions, still couldn't remember the WEIRD name they were called, googled and finally came up with the right thing. VALTROMPIA bread pans. SERIOUSLY? Alrighty.

 I hereby christen thee; MEHITABELL VALTROMPIA! Known to common folk as That-Fancy-Bread-That-Is-Sliced-Real-Thin-And-Used-For-Parties (otherwise known as Hors D'oeuvres). NEVER MIND. We'll call it Mabel bread and get it over with. Shall we?

1 C. + 2 T. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or 1 pkg.)
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 C. flour
Herbs: I used Basil, Thyme, Rosemary & Dill (Just a few sprinkles of each)

 Mix the water, yeast & sugar. Let set for about a minute. Add the salt & flour; mix well. Knead for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour. Divide in half. Roll each half into a smooth roll about 7 inches long... (or skinny enough to slide into the pan without scraping off all the shortening on the sides! ) Place into a WELL GREASED Valtrompia pan. Make sure you grease the tar out of the pans or your bread will live in them indefinitely. And grease the lids too. ;D Bake upright at 400 degrees for 60 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool the rest of the way. I found that an electric bread knife works best for cutting this! Just refrain from making Valtrompia shavings..... like I did on some of the slices.

Irish Soda Bread

This bread is actually really easy!  No waiting for 30 days and 30 nights for it to raise. No kneading for 30 days and 30 nights. You just gotta wait 30 days and 30 nights for it to BAKE. Oh well... it tastes good!!

First you put flour, sugar, baking powder, salt & soda in a bowl. Mix it all together, then cut in the butter.

When the butter is all cut in, add the raisins and caraway seeds.

Beat an egg in a smallish bowl... and mix together with buttermilk.

Pour the egg & buttermilk into the flour stuff.

Mix together to make a sticky dough, dump onto a well floured flat spot and knead 10 or 12 times.

Shape into a ball and brush with beaten egg. Cut a X in the top of the ball to ward off evil spirits. HEY! Don't yell at me! That's what the legend of Irish Soda Bread says!

Bake it and then let it sit in the pan for 10 minutes before you take it out and stick it on your wire rack. While you're waiting, take pictures of something else you're cooking and kill the battery on your camera so you have to wait for 30 days and 30 nights to take the final picture.

Here's the recipe while my battery charges:

4 C. flour

3 T. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. soda

6 T. cold butter

1  1/2 C. raisins

1 T. caraway seeds

2 eggs, beaten

1  1/2 C. buttermilk

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt & soda in a large bowl. Cut in the butter. Add the raisins and caraway seeds. Stir until combined. In a small bowl beat the eggs. Take out 1 T. of beaten egg and set aside. Add the milk to the bowl of eggs; stir into the flour mixture. I use my hands to get everything all mixed up well, but you don't have to if you're scared of dirty hands. ;D Turn onto a well floured surface and knead about 10 times. Shape into a ball, place in a well greased 9" round pan. Cut a 4 inch X, 1/4 inch deep, in the center of the ball. Brush the top with the reserved egg. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If the top starts browning too fast, stick some alunimum foil over the top for the last half hour or so. Remove from oven and let sit in the pan for 10 minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack.

                                                                                                                                                      

And now I want you to tell me which word I misspelled in the directions.

My Bread

I found this recipe a hundred years ago in a family cookbook that mom got from one of her Fuller Brush customers. It was originally called Basic Whole Wheat bread, but I have this slight problem that every time I make pure whole wheat bread it comes out of the oven about the thickness of the sole of my shoe. Well, flip flop I should say, everybody tells me they aren't shoes. Anyway, I think it's a problem that was inherited. The flat bread I mean, not the shoes... because Mom has the same issue with her WW bread. So therefore I adapted and adopted and fiddled around until I came up with this. And it turns out perfect every single time I make it. Unless I'm making it for someone ELSE other than just my family. Like when I made it a couple days ago... but that's another story. The loaf above is sadly misshapen please excuse that, because the flavor is still good! The bread knife in the picture is one of Grandma Stenersen's that I used when we stayed at her house and I loved it dearly so I stole it from mom who had inherited it from Grandma. :D

5 C. warm water
3 1/2 T. yeast
4 tsp. sugar
7 T. oil
2 T. honey
2 T. molasses
2 tsp. salt
6 C. UNbleached white flour
3 C. whole wheat flour
2 C. rye flour
1 C. oat flour (just stick a cup of rolled oats in your blender and blend it up and there's your flour!)

If you want it to be less crummy you can add in 5 T. + 1 tsp. of Gluten.
A tip from the Panera Bread cookbook says to never put the salt directly on the yeast or it will kill it and your bread won't rise.

Pour your water into your Bosch. ;) Add the yeast and sugar, mix it up a little bit, then add the oil, honey & molasses. I always alternate the oil & honey/molasses so it all comes out of the measuring spoon easily. Add the salt and mix it all up. Put in all the white flour first and get that all mixed in, and then add the rest of the flours. Let that knead for a while and then check it. If it's still kinda sticky add more white flour. Knead for 10 minutes. Oil your table or counter or whatever you're raising your bread on, dump the dough out and turn it so it's all oily. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double. Raising it this way takes about half the time it normally would if you raised it in a bowl! Form into 4 loaves, prick the loaves, and let rise to your desired height. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and the pans and butter the tops. If you don't want crunchy crust, butter the sides and bottom also. Put in bags when it's still basically hot but don't shut the bags until it's pretty cool or you just might have soggy bread and that isn't quite as good! ;)