The taming of Anadama

I was indeed hesitant to start the whole bread baking thing again. Last time I tried this recipe it failed miserably. I don’t think I even posted about it, it was that bad. However, like Lewis and Clark in the face of starvation and the threat of attack, I perservered. (Ok a little over dramatic, but you get my point.) When last I tried my hand at this recipe, I recall something of either a hockey puck or door stop coming out of the oven.

Mmmm…fresh baked door stop. You know, the kind that is just a brick with some kind of needlepoint covering.

I reread the whole section on fermeting and the window pane test. Not that I’m going to stretch out my bread evertime like some kind of edible Stretch Armstrong (save that idea for another day) but rather to understand more what is happening with the bread in terms of glueten development.

The recipe started with a soaker a day before. A soaker is nothing more than taking some of the coarse, or whole grains and getting them soft by soaking them in water. This one called for coarse ground cornmeal soaked in water. Using corn will give this bread a heartier texture and more flovor. The next day, just after my morning run, I combined the soaker, ½ the flour, yeast and rest of water to make sponge.

A sponge will further develop the flavor and slowly coax out the shy natural sugars who from a long winters nap will be looking for a party. “Hey is that yeast? Holy crap! Man, it’s been ages, lets get down!” And did they. The sponge was to set until it started to buble, and that is the time we mix together the remaining ingredients, including 4oz of Molasses, Grandma’s Dark Molasses. I mixed everything together in the Kichenaid and when it formed a ball, I transferred the dough to begin the kneading.

One point that I read on the whole kneading front is that “the dough, not the formula, dictat the needs.” And I adhered to that adding nearly 1 and ½ cups of additional flour to the dough. The formula did indicate that you may have to add more and it would take longer to get to the right dough consistency. Holy gucamole did it ever take a long time, but I stuck with it until the dough was pliable, but not sticky. That is the key.

I let the dough rise (for a good three hours) while the family and I went off to a 5year old birthday party. When we got home, I nearly fell over with how much the dough had risen, and the boys were so excited they wanted to touch it. It was beautiful. I punched it down and shaped into the loaf pans. As indicated in the formula I put the pans in the fridge to retard fermentation until the next day when I wanted to bake it. Getting out the pans the next morning and proofing for a good two hours, I think as described in the book “they fully crested the pans.”

The bread turned out wonderful and it had a great hearty feel to it, and slightly sweet. While I don’t know if this would make a good sandwhich, I think it would make a great type of open face type meal, something with cheese and broiled perhaps.

Next week, Greek Celebration bread.