How To Grow Your Own Radishes

The radish is a misunderstood and under-appreciated vegetable. Often thought of as being merely a bland salad add-on, the radish is anything but boring. Spicy and peppery when eaten raw, the flavor of radish totally changes when roasted or sauteed, becoming earthy and subtly piquant — a fantastic and unexpected addition to stir-fries and braised vegetables.

One of the best things about radishes however, is that they are remarkably easy to grow. Seriously. And better yet,  they are a rotating crop, so in theory you can have a constant supply of radishes throughout the season. Radishes, because they are a rotating crop, and because they have a fairly shallow root system, can even be grown in a planter box — no digging required. Radishes also require far less sunlight than other vegetables, so they may be a great option for you if you have a small yard that doesn’t get a whole lot of sunlight. Growing seasons do vary according to region, but generally you can plant throughout both the spring and the fall — until it gets too cold (regularly below freezing) or too hot (regularly above 90F).

What You Will Need:

– An area to plant in, or a planter box

– Enriched gardening soil — the quantity will depend on the size of your plot, whether or not you are using planters, etc. (If you are sowing directly into the earth this is optional, but recommended)

– Radish seeds

– A regular source of water

Directions:

1. Prepare your growing space. If you are sowing directly into the earth, you will first need to use a pick and shovel to remove any grass and weeds. Once only dirt remains use a pick or a tiller to loosen soil and make arable. Enriched soil can be worked into the earth here to make it more fertile.

If you are using a planter box, simply add a planting soil recommended for vegetables (it usually will say on the bag) to the planter.

2. Sow thinly in a straight row, one seed at a time, approximately every inch or so.* Cover with 1/2 inch loose soil, firm soil lightly with hands.

* As a rule, when gardening you should over-plant as many seeds do not germinate. Once things get going you can thin out your plants, if need be.

3. Plant rows about six inches apart, keep evenly moist

4. Seedlings emerge in 4-6 days. Here is our garden after 8 days:

5. Once seedlings emerge you will want to thin your plants to stand about 2” apart. To do this, simply start at one end, measure 2”, pull out by the root anything in between, and continue down the line.

Our garden after two weeks:

6. Check your radishes occasionally for weeds, and remove as necessary. Keep soil fairly moist.

7. Most varieties of radish are ready to be harvested in 3-5 weeks. Check your seed packet for harvest time for the variety you decide to plant. If you are unsure whether your radishes are ready or not, you can always pull a couple to see.

8. Harvest a radish, plant a radish. Each time you pull one, put a couple more seeds in the soil in that place to have a constant harvest of radishes throughout the season.

One of my favorite things to do with radishes is to put them on toasted, buttered baguette, with fresh herbs like chervil, parsley, and basil and lots of black pepper and sea salt. They are also fantastic on a spinach salad with avocado, red onion, and honey-mustard dressing. Yum.

Caramel Custard Bread Pudding

Its going to be difficult for me to describe just how delicious this is without using expletives…..Let’s just say that this is the kind of thing that you may want to eat in private because there will probably be sufficient eye-fluttering and moaning to cause some embarrassment in mixed company. It’s what would happen if creme brulee, caramel, and French toast had a menage a trois…Yeah, it’s that good…

I never liked sweets. Given the choice of a cheese plate or popcorn (or a cocktail) versus dessert, the savory option would win every time. And then I got pregnant. Aside from wanting to put cream cheese on everything, I also craved sugar. Hard core. There was a key lime pie phase, a lemon bar phase, a chocolate-raspberry truffle phase, a peanut brittle phase, and a cinnamon ice cream phase. Not that I was turning down any other sweets available amidst the cravings….I had assumed that once my daughter was born the cravings, and the sweet tooth, would go away. Incorrect. It seems that the sweet tooth that was neglected for so many years is here to stay, and wants to make up for lost time…

Now, despite my newfound love of all things dessert, I’ve never been a big fan of bread pudding; but, my sweet, wonderful sister recently brought me some amazing local eggs and raw milk from the farm she works on, and I wanted to put them to good use.

(Quick note: Sea Island Eggs are a much-coveted Charleston delicacy. Known locally as “Celeste Eggs” they are found on the menus of all of the best local restaurants. Why? Because they are delicious — nothing like the eggs you find in the grocery store. Next time you’re at your local farmer’s market, see if you can find a local egg purveyor. You’ll never be able to go back to supermarket eggs again, I promise.) I also just baked a loaf of bread yesterday, so putting the eggs, milk, and bread together for an easy dessert seemed like a no-brainer, but how to make it more appealing was another question entirely. I considered strawberries briefly — and then, out of nowhere, it hit me: caramel.

One of my favorite sweet things in the world is caramel. I LOVE caramel. Like, love it the way peanut butter loves jelly, like Ricky loves Lucy (bad analogy: my love for caramel is waaaay more affectionate), like a fat kid loves cake…or caramel for that matter… Eating caramel is an other-worldly experience, but for all of the complexity of its flavor it is astonishingly simple to make: milk (or cream), butter, brown sugar. That’s it — three simple ingredients. For this recipe the milk, butter, and sugar are all baked together with the bread, rather than separately making a caramel sauce, so it’s just about as easy as could possibly be.

Ingredients:

Yields 6-8 servings

– 2 2/3 c.  whole milk

– 1/4 c. butter

– 1 c. brown sugar, plus 2 Tbsp.

– 3 eggs

– 1 tsp. vanilla

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 3 c. cubed (about 1”) day-old bread — use the rest of that baguette left over from last night’s dinner, or some crusty French bread, or use my easy recipe to bake your own, but don’t use pre-sliced sandwich bread — your results will be disappointing

– 1/4 tsp. vanilla

– 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Cut bread into cubes, removing crusts

2. Toast bread briefly under broiler, until crisp. I tossed mine in about a tablespoon of melted butter, but it’s not necessary

3. Set oven to 350F

4. Scald milk*

*Scalding milk is not a common practice anymore. It used to be crucial when baking, but now that our milk is pretty much all pasteurized there’s not the same concern about bacteria. However, when working with breads it is a good idea to scald your milk to keep the bread fluffy. To scald milk:

– Heat milk over medium-low heat

– Stir frequently

– Cook until just beginning to bubble and steam, but DO NOT boil

– Remove from heat

5. Add butter to scalded milk and let cool

6. Add two eggs, plus one egg yolk to one cup of the brown sugar. Mix well.

7. Place bread cubes in a greased bread tin or a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish

8. Add cooled milk to egg/sugar mixture. Add vanilla and salt. Mix well.

9. Pour liquid mixture over bread cubes

10. Sprinkle cinnamon and remaining 2 Tbsp. brown sugar over top of bread

11. Set casserole/bread tin in a pan containing about 2” of water

12. Bake in oven at 350F for 50 minutes or until a skewer or knife inserted into the center comes out clean

* Be very careful removing the pan from the oven! That water is HOT — strain it carefully into the sink before attempting to remove your casserole or bread tin from the pan.

Serve warm or cold.

I was kicking myself for not having any vanilla ice cream or whipped cream in the house — that would have been unbelievable. I topped it instead with a little bit of powdered sugar and a splash of raw milk. So good I had two pieces and had to stop myself from eating more…

It also occurred to me that adding chopped apple, pear, or banana into this would be absolutely insane. In a good way. Or chunks of dark chocolate?!? Craziness! It might be too much to handle…

Adapted from Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, 1959

Spiced Orange and Fig Preserves

Figs, like dates and apricots, are one of those fruits that many of us are familiar with in its dried form (or its cookie form for those of us who grew up believing that eating sleeves of Fig Newtons was a healthy way to snack), but that we rarely have the opportunity to eat fresh. This is mainly because fig season is so short, but also because figs do not thrive in most places in the States and are extremely perishable.

Moving to the Lowcountry of South Carolina my husband and I were used to the fertile earth and amicable growing conditions of Virginia and our first year here attempted to sow our garden with as little thought to fertilizer and pH levels as we had in previous years. Big mistake. What few plants actually yielded fruit were extremely disappointing: our tomatoes never fully ripened, and even our watermelons were mealy and flavorless. Our sole source of horticultural joy has come from the massive and abundant fig tree in back of our house, which we had absolutely nothing to do with planting…

Fresh figs are incredibly luscious and sweet and are an excellent source of dietary fiber, potassium, and vitamins A, C, and E.  Eating a fresh fig is a study in texture — the toothsome resistance of the skin, velvet juiciness of the flesh, and crunchiness of the seeds. The fig is sensual too, conjuring images of Adam and Eve preserving their modesty only with fig leaves and stands of hair, and when figs become ripe they are purple and swollen and leak a milky substance from their base. I also always think of Hermann Hesse describing Kamala’s lips (in Siddhartha) as being the color of “a freshly cut fig.” What a lovely image….

Anyway (apparently I’m feeling a bit loquacious today), if you can get your hands on fresh figs, do so. They are delicious to snack on, a great way to dress up salads or baked chicken, and are absolutely divine transformed into preserves. This recipe makes a wonderful gift and is a delightful addition to any cheese plate, pairing especially well with funky, robust blues and mellow goat cheeses.

 

Ingredients:

Yields 24 oz. preserves

– One whole orange

– 4 c. fresh, sliced figs

– 4 Tbsp. filtered water

– 1 Tbsp. minced ginger

– 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

– 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

– 1 vanilla bean, scraped (optional)

– 3/4 c. honey

– 2 tsp. fruit pectin*

*Pectin is a thickening agent, usually extracted from citrus fruits or apples and is available in many grocery stores and most health food stores.

 

Directions:

1. Wash and rinse your jars; let stand in hot water. Meanwhile, boil your lids and rings in a large pot to sanitize. Let stand in hot water also.

2. Zest your orange.

3. Chop orange, removing remaining peel, seeds and membrane

4. Remove stems from figs and chop. You do not need to remove skins

5. Place orange, figs, and water in a medium-sized saucepan and cook over low heat

6. Add ginger and spices. Scrape in vanilla, if using. Bring mixture to a boil.

7. Measure out honey. Stir pectin into it, then add mixture to boiling fruit. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes to dissolve pectin.

8. Return to a boil, then remove from heat

9. Remove your jar lid and ring from your large pot and return water to a boil

10. While waiting for water to boil fill your jar(s) to 1/4” of top and wipe clean. Do not overfill or jar will not seal properly.

11. Screw on lid (with ring) tightly. Place jar into boiling water to cover. Boil for 10 minutes. Add 10 minutes boiling time for each additional jar.

12. Remove jar (carefully!) from water. Let cool. Check seal — lid should be sucked down/un-popped.

13. Label and enjoy! Jam should last about 3 weeks once opened.

 

I put one of the jars of preserves in a gift basket I gave to my sister for her birthday, along with a big hunk of blue cheese, a sheep’s milk cheese washed in Prosecco, a goat cheese, fresh pear, toast points, and some baked goods:

I’m a total geek when it comes to birthdays, and a firm believer that nothing can compare to a thoughtful handmade/homemade gift…

 

 

Best Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry pancakes are the perfect lazy Sunday breakfast, though, I would gladly eat these for dinner any night of the week…These pancakes are substantial and yet somehow light at the same time, and showcase one of summer’s best fruits.

 

Ingredients:

Makes about 1 dozen pancakes, depending on size

– 1 c. flour

– 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

– 1/2 tsp. salt

– 2 Tbsp. sugar

– 1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 c. applesauce)

– 1 c. milk (or almond milk) — 1/4 c.  more can be added if you desire thinner pancakes

– 4 Tbsp. melted vegetable shortening or butter

– 3/4 fresh blueberries

*ingredients in parentheses are for vegan recipe

 

Directions:

1. Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar

3. In another bowl, add milk to beaten egg and mix well

4. Stir melted shortening or butter into milk-egg mixture

5. Combine flour and liquids at once and beat until perfectly smooth

6. Fold in blueberries

7. Grease griddle

8. Using a soup ladle or 1/4 measuring cup, pour batter into center of heated pan

9. Bake until you see air bubbles appear on the top of the batter, then flip until both sides are golden brown

10. Continue with remainder of batter

11. Serve immediately with maple syrup, fruit reduction, honey, butter, or jam

12. Enjoy!

Adapted from The Modern Family Cookbook, 1942

Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies

My brother’s birthday is on Monday. Unfortunately (for me, anyway) he is spending the summer working on Nantucket. So, since I will not be able to celebrate the anniversary of his arrival into this world in-person, I’ve opted instead to send him a care package. Along with road atlases of the American Southwest, Chile, and Mexico, a Moleskin journal, and break-away piece of amazing dark chocolate, I am also sending homemade peanut butter cookies; his favorite. I’m a big fan of the sweet/salty flavor combo, so I decided to add some crushed salted peanuts to my usual recipe. These were delicious! I think next time I’ll try making these using cashew butter and salted cashews….and maybe sprinkling a little sea salt over the top before baking too…

Ingredients:

Makes 2 dozen large cookies

– 2 1/2 c. flour

– 1/2 tsp. baking soda

– 1 tsp. baking powder

– 1 c. butter or butter substitute

– 1 c. sugar

– 1 c. brown sugar

– 2 eggs, beaten (or 1/2 c. applesauce if making vegan)

– 1 c. peanut butter

– 2 tsp. vanilla

– 3/4 c. crushed, salted peanuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Measure flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl

3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter (substitute) and both sugars. Beat until well blended, but not fluffy

4. Add eggs (or applesauce), peanut butter*, and vanilla to creamed sugars

* Tip: To prevent peanut butter from sticking to your measuring cup, spray cup first with a little cooking spray — it minimizes mess and frustration!

5. Add peanut butter mixture to your flour and incorporate fully

6. Add crushed peanuts to dough. I just put my peanuts into a large ziploc bag and used a pestle to crush them…

7. Mix well

8. Using your hands and/or a spoon, roll pieces of the dough to form smooth balls. I made these cookies rather on the large side, but the size you make them is totally up to you

9. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet, with at least 2” between each

10. If desired, press tops of cookies with the tines of a fork to get that old-fashioned PB cookie look

11. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden

12. Let cool on cookie sheet about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack or paper towels to finish cooling. I find I get the best results when I bake 1 tray at a time…

And, of course, I had to do a taste test before sending these. Delicious!

Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen

Kuchen is the German word for cake, though it is used to describe an assortment of desserts and pastries. This recipe for Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen is indeed cake-like, but truly has more in common with bread. With coffee or tea this lemony kuchen makes a perfect summer breakfast; with fresh whipped cream it is a lovely light, and health-conscious, dessert.

Ingredients:

– 2 1/2 c. flour

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 2 Tbsp. sugar

– Zest from one whole lemon

– 3/4 tsp. fast-action dried yeast

– 1 egg, beaten

– 2/3 c. warm water

– 2 Tbsp. poppyseed, prepared dessert filling (available in the baking aisle of most grocery stores)

Topping:

– 1 lb. fresh peaches – about three large fruits (though really you could use any stone fruit in this recipe and it would be fantastic)

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 2 Tbsp. raw or demerara sugar

Directions:

1. Put the flour in a large bowl. Rub 2 Tbsp. butter in with fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Stir in the salt, sugar, zest, and yeast.

3. Add the beaten egg, prepared poppyseed, and enough water to make a soft dough.

4. Knead well on a clean and lightly floured surface for at least five minutes — dough should be smooth and elastic.

5. Put the dough back in to the bowl and cover with a piece of oil cling-film. Let rise at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size. It is very important that you place the bowl somewhere warm or the dough will not rise.

6. Once risen, tip dough out onto a floured surface and knead well again. Press dough into a buttered spring-form pan or a loose-bottomed flan tin. I used a 9” pan, but if you have a larger one (like 11”) I think it may better suit this kuchen to be a little thinner.

7. Halve, stone, and thickly slice the peaches. Arrange them over the top of your dough.

8. Leave uncovered to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size

9. Preheat oven to 400F

10. Brush the fruit with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar

11. Bake in oven at 400F for 15 minutes

12. Remove from oven, cover with foil, reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 35-40 minutes.

13. After finished baking, removing from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Using a knife or thin spatula loosen the edges and remove kuchen from tin.

14. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle extra sugar over top, if desired.

15. Serve warm or cold, cut into slices. This is especially good warm with some sweet cream butter slathered over it…but then again, what isn’t?

 

Adapted from The Bread Book by Sara Lewis

Raspberry Jam

This recipe for Homemade Raspberry Jam is not only delicious, but surprisingly quick and easy to make. Raspberries won’t be in season much longer, so preserve some while you can!

This recipe is for a small batch of jam, but you could certainly multiply the measurements to make larger quantities.

Ingredients:

– 2 cups of mashed raspberries

– 1/2 c. honey or 1 c. sugar

– 3 Tbsp. water

– 1 tsp. fruit pectin*

 

*Pectin is a thickening agent, usually extracted from citrus fruits or apples and is available in many grocery stores and most health food stores.

 

Directions:

1.  Select the jar you wish to put your jam in. It can be a mason jar, or an old pickle or jelly jar — whatever you have available. This recipe will yield about 16 oz. of jam, so you do want whatever jar you choose for this to be pint-sized.

2. Wash and rinse your jar; let stand in hot water. Meanwhile, boil your lid and ring in a large pot to sanitize. Let stand in hot water also.

3. Wash and mash your raspberries. You can use a pestle, fork, a hand-juicer — whatever you have handy!

4. Put fruit into a saucepan with the water and cook at medium heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil

 

5. Measure out honey or sugar; thoroughly mix pectin into sweetener

 

6. Add pectin-sweetener mixture to boiling fruit. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.

 

7. Return to a boil and remove from heat

 

8. Remove your jar lid and ring from your large pot and return water to a boil

 

9. While waiting for water to boil fill your jar to 1/4” of top and wipe clean. Do not overfill or jar will not seal properly.

10. Screw on lid (with ring) tightly. Place jar into boiling water to cover. Boil for 10 minutes.

11. Remove jar (carefully!) from water. Let cool. Check seal — lid should be sucked down/un-popped.

12. Label and enjoy! Jam should last about 3 weeks once opened.

Blackberry Shortcakes with Lemon Biscuits

I was so excited to find what appeared to be ripe, gorgeous local blackberries at the market the other today. Upon getting them home however, I discovered them to be horribly sour. Like, so sour as to almost be inedible. I assure you, my disappointment was immense… Since they couldn’t very well be eaten alone, I figured that the best thing to do was to make something sweet and delicious out of them. Inspired, I decided to do a spin on the classic strawberry shortcake. I love citrus in desserts, and berries with citrus are one of my favorite flavor combinations, so I decided to add lemon zest to the biscuits. The result was a bright, and surprisingly light dessert, and incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients:

Yields 6 Shortcakes

Berries:

– 5 c. blackberries

– 2/3 c. powdered sugar

– 2 Tbsp. water

 

Biscuits:

– 3/4 c. chilled buttermilk

– 2 Tbsp. lemon zest

– 2 1/4 c. flour

– 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

– 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

– 1 tsp. baking soda

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 6 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter (3/4 stick)

– 1 Tbsp. raw or demerara sugar

 

Directions:

Berries:

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan

2. Stir over medium heat until berries soften and become syrupy — about 10-15 minutes

3. Remove from heat and let cool. Berries should be served at room temperature. Can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated.

 

Biscuits:

1. Preheat oven to 425F

2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper

3. Combine buttermilk and lemon zest in a small bowl

4. In a large bowl mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Be sure to break up any large clumps of sugar

5. Cut butter into small cubes and add to four mixture

6. Rub butter into flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs

7. Add the buttermilk mixture and combine with a fork until just blended. Dough will be sticky and may seem “loose” but don’t add more flour!

8. Transfer dough to a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead 4-5 times, but be careful not to overwork (over-handling will make your biscuits tough)

9. Pat dough out until about 3/4” thick

10. Using a 3” cookie cutter (you could also use a greased drinking glass or mug if you don’t own a cookie cutter), cut dough into rounds

11. Combine dough scraps, pat out, and cut into rounds until no dough remains. You should have 6-7 in total

12. Place rounds on your lined baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar

13. Bake biscuits at 425F for 15 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean

14. Cool slightly — about 15 minutes

15. Using a serrated knife, cut each biscuit in half. Spread blackberry mixture over each bottom-half, dividing equally. Place top half of biscuits on blackberries, then top each with an equal portion of the remaining blackberry mixture.

16. Top shortcakes with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Serve and enjoy!

Adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2009

Orange-Almond Blueberry Muffins

I’m so super-excited — I finally bought a copy of Country Wisdom & Know-How! In case you don’t know, it’s a collection of small booklets that were published during the 1970s, “during the ‘back to the land era’ when hippies were homesteading  and gas and energy prices were sky-high.” (Sound familiar?) Each booklet addressed some simple skill or piece of country know-how — this book covers everything from how to attract hummingbirds to making your own beer and wine, from drawing maple syrup to making milk soap, and everything in between. I seriously want to try to do everything in this book. Okay, maybe not killing and skinning a rabbit….And I don’t I don’t foresee myself breeding livestock anytime soon…but pretty much everything else I definitely want to do! There are also a ton of wonderful-sounding recipes in here, one of which inspired today’s blog entry.

When berries are in season I go through quarts of them every week. At this point in the summer I’m sure my husband’s starting to get sick of berry-somethings for breakfast every morning….Anyway, I had about three pints of blueberries in my refrigerator when I came across the recipe for Classic Blueberry Muffins in the book. I always like to modify things and make them my own so I first decided to add some nutmeg and shaved almonds to the recipe. Then I started thinking about how nothing enhances the flavor of blueberries more than cinnamon and orange. Berries and citrus are pretty much always outstanding together. Some pairings (Strawberry + Lime, Blackberry + Lemon, Grapefruit + Raspberry) go especially well together, but my favorite combination has to be blueberry and orange. The orange adds an edge and a brightness to the blueberry that is sublime. Yes, sublime…So by the time the muffins were done they had gone from Classic Blueberry to Orange-Almond…typical. I have included vegan alternatives in the recipe if you’d like to make an eggless, non-dairy version of these muffins. Either way, they’re delish!

Ingredients:

– 1 3/4 c. flour

– 1/2 c. sugar

– 1 Tbsp. baking powder

– 1/2 tsp. salt

– 1 tsp. cinnamon

– 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

– 4 Tbsp. butter or butter substitute like Earth Balance

– 1 egg, beaten, or 1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce

– 2/3 c. milk, or almond milk

– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

– 1 c. blueberries

– 1/4 c. shaved almonds

– 1 Tbsp. orange zest

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F

2. In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients together — flour through nutmeg

3. Cut in the butter (substitute)

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, egg, and vanilla (or almond milk, applesauce and vanilla)

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until just moistened

6. Gently fold in the blueberries, almonds, and orange zest

7. Fill greased muffin tins (recipe makes 12 medium-sized muffins)

8. Bake for 20 minutes at 375F, or until a toothpick or a knife inserted into the center comes out clean

9. Cool and remove from muffin tin. Enjoy!

How to Make Bread by Hand

I was really intimidated at first by the idea of making my own bread, but now that I have been doing it for a while I really enjoy it. There is something almost therapeutic about baking — especially about baking breads. The precision and patience it requires is almost zen….and kneading the dough helps to work out a little aggression too! I’ve never used a bread machine and bake bread by hand at least once a week — though sometimes as often as three times (my husband has been known to eat bread with every meal…). This is a really good basic recipe for a farmhouse-style loaf that you can make with white or whole wheat flour, and is a great bread for beginning bakers. Don’t be daunted: making your own bread is really quite easy, much better for you, way cheaper, and how cool is it to be able to say that you bake all of your own bread?! Give it a try!

Ingredients:

– 2 2/3 cups white or whole wheat flour
– 1 tablespoon butter, butter substitute, or oil
– 1 tsp. sugar
– 1 pinch salt
– 1 tsp. active dry yeast
– 3/4 – 1 cup warm water

Directions:

1. Measure flour into a large bowl

2. Add butter or oil. If using butter cut into small pieces and work in to flour with your hands until it resembles fine bread crumbs:

3. Mix in salt, sugar, and yeast

4. Add water slowly while stirring with a spoon. Use 3/4 c. if working with white flour, 1 cup if using whole wheat. It is very important that the water be quite warm as this is what begins to activate the yeast.

5. Flour your work surface.

6. Move dough onto floured surface and knead vigorously for 5 minutes. Dough should become smooth and elastic. You may have to continue to add more flour to prevent dough from sticking

 It’s hard to take a picture of yourself kneading bread!

7. After 5 minutes of kneading, shape dough into a ball and return it to your bowl. Cover with oiled cling-film or a damp dishtowel and place somewhere warm. Again, warmth is very important as you dough will not rise properly if you place it somewhere too cool. Let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

8. Remove from bowl and knead for 2 minutes. Don’t worry — your dough is supposed to shrink back down as you knead it!

9. Place dough in a lightly greased 9in x 5in bread tin. Cover with oiled cling-film or towel and let rise for another 30 minutes or until it reaches the edges and top of the tin.
Before:

After:

10. Remove film or towel, sprinkle top with flour, and bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 25 minutes

11. Let cool for 5 minutes then flip out of tin and finish cooling on a towel or wire rack:

12. Slice and enjoy!

Toasted with some hot pepper jelly….Hello!