Cookistry

I'll confess. I use my bread machine a lot more than most folks would imagine.

As much as I love the process of making bread, I don't always have time, and there are days when there are so many other things going on in the kitchen that there's just no way to find an unused swath of kitchen counter space to make the process pleasant.

I have a few basic recipes that I know will work, and I even wrote some recipes a bread machine (this Gourmia bread machine), so I'm comfortable with creating recipes. But the one thing I learned from my long association with bread machines is that not every traditional bread recipe will work in a bread machine.

But sometimes I throw caution to the wind, like with this recipe from a cookbook. Once again I'm making recipes from a cookbook that's being passed around in a cookbook group I belong to. The book is Small Victories by Julia Turshen.


The recipe, as written was for raspberry jam buns, but the last thing I needed was a batch of sweet buns. There were variations (called spin-offs in the book) for cinnamon rolls, garlic buns, herb goat cheese buns, monkey bread, salami or prosciutto bread, and buttery dinner rolls.

I considered making the dinner rolls, but still didn't want to fuss that much, so I decided to just toss all the ingredients in the machine and let 'er rip. I didn't warm the milk, as the instructions said, and the butter was straight from the refrigerator rather than at room temperature. It all went in, as is.

I used Red Star Platinum Yeast rather than regular active dry, but otherwise I used all the ingredients suggested. If you're using a different brand of active dry yeast than Red Star, you might need to soften the yeast in liquid before kneading since some of the active dry yeasts from other brands have a larger granule size that won't dissolve if it's put directly into the dough. If you use Platinum, Red Star Active Dry or any rapid or bread machine yeast, you don't need to soften the yeast before proceeding.

Bread Machine Egg and Milk Loaf
Inspired by Small Victories by Julia Turshen

3/4 cup whole milk
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star Platinum Yeast*
2 eggs
3 1/4 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt (I suggest 1 1/4 teaspoons)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss it all in the bread machine. I'd suggest cutting the butter into at least 4 pieces so it kneads into the dough easier. If you don't have Platinum yeast, that's fine - just use whatever yeast you like to use in your bread machine.

I used the basic bread setting, 2 1/2 pound loaf, and a medium crust. When I make this again, I'll use a light crust setting so the crust doesn't get quite as dark on the bottom and sides. It wasn't bad, and it wasn't burned, but is was a little darker and thicker that it needed to be.

And that's it. Set the machine, wait until it's done, and remove the loaf when it's done.

A while back, I visited Hope Hummus and saw how they made hummus. It's a small company, and local. That's something I love. At that visit, I got samples of their hummus and their guacamole. Which I ate. Because it was good.

Recently, I got some coupons for their products, and went hunting for the guacamole. Yeah, I can make guac, but avocados are difficult. Usually they're not quite ripe at the store, so they need to sit around for a while. They're ripe for a couple seconds, then they're overripe.

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it seems like you have to use the avocados when they're ready for you, rather than having avocados on hand for when you need them.

But ... I couldn't find the guacamole, and the coupons were burning a hole in my wallet, so I bought hummus. Hey, I like hummus, too.

And then I starting thinking about it. Scooping hummus with a pita chip is great, but I wanted to cook with it. The next thing I knew, I was planning on putting in into bread. I knew it would work. I've used alternative flours, potatoes and potato flakes, peanut butter ... so hummus wasn't a stretch.

I decided to use the hummus flavored with lemon and pepper. It added a pretty yellow color to the bread, and gave it a nice, soft texture. But pretty much any flavor hummus you have should be fine. The Sriracha one might be interesting.

I decided to make it in my bread machine, but of course you can knead by hand or machine and then form and bake in an oven.

Lemon and Pepper Hummus Bread

1 cup water
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
13 1/2 ounces (3 cups) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4  cup Hope Lemon Pepper Hummus

Add all the ingredients to your bread machine and press buttons as appropriate (hey, I don't know what options your machine has, but a basic loaf with a medium crust is what I'd suggest.)

When the bread is baked, remove it from the machine, remove from the pan, and let cool on a rack until it's completely cooled before slicing or storing.

Farro, not pharoah. It's a grain, not an ancient ruler.

Yes, yes, yes, I'm still grinding different grains in my new grain mill. I just can't stop. I ordered MORE grains. But I bought the farro at the grocery store in the section where they sell rice and beans and quinoa. This stuff was meant for cooking as-is. Like you'd cook barley or rice.

But that doesn't mean you can't use it as flour.

Bwaaa haaa ha!

Since it's still a bit warm here, I tossed it into my bread machine. I know some people think a machine is cheating, but I cheat anyway, since most of the time I use my stand mixer or my food processor to knead my dough.

And it's not like a build a fire outside and bake the bread in a handmade brick oven. I use a machine - my oven - to bake the bread.

Yeah, the bread machine is easier and the bread isn't hand-formed into an interesting shape, and then slashed for dramatic effect (and better rising).

The resulting loaf is rectangular and has a hole in the bottom where the paddle gets baked into the dough. But it's good for sandwiches and toast and ... I don't have to stop what I'm doing when the dough needs my attention. I chuck all the ingredients into the machine, push buttons, and let the magic happen. And then I get some work done.

Trust me, there will be more artisan-like loaves again here. Just not today, mkay?

Bread Machine Loaf with Farro Flour

1 cup water
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star active dry yeast (or any bread machine or instant yeast)
4 ounces farro flour (I used fresh-ground)
9 ounces bread flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt

Put all the ingredients into your bread machine in the order suggested by the machine's manufacturer (some suggest that liquids go first, some suggest dry ingredients firs) and press the appropriate buttons.

When the bread is done, remove it from the machine and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.

So, last month I did a review of a Degustabox box. It's a delivery service that sends an assortment of different food products every month.

It's not themed, so you won't get stuck with a box full of items based on a theme you don't happen to like. Some products are things you might find soon in your grocery store and others are a more local or regional.

The item that immediately got my attention was the White Lily All Purpose and White Grape Seed flour. And of course the first thing I thought of was ... bread.

I mean, it's usually the first thing I think of. And it's a really good way to taste the nuances of a flour since there aren't other flavors competing. Bread isn't sweetened like cake or cookies and it doesn't have vanilla or chocolate or nuts or other flavor-forward ingredients.

Well, okay, it could have those things.

But when I'm testing a flour in bread, I like to leave it fairly plain. I just used the basics for this recipe: the White Lily flour, bread flour, water, yeast, and a little bit of sugar, salt, and olive oil. Nothing fancy.

And since it was a warm day, I used my bread machine. Yes, me, the person who wrote a book about bread baking, used the bread machine. Again. It's summer, it's hot, and the bread machine doesn't heat up the house very much.

The bread was interesting. Although the flour was a cream color, the bread had a purple-ish cast to it.

Not the sort of purple where you'd gasp at the weirdness of it, but the sort of purple where you look at it sideways and try to decide if your eyes are playing tricks or if there's something odd about the lighting. It looked a little like a light rye, but with that purple nuance.

The bread didn't have a distinctive flavor, but it wasn't plain bread, either. It was a little richer and deeper, perhaps. I think I'd like to try this flour in cupcakes and see what it's like. For now, I have bread for sandwiches.

White Lily White Grape Flour Bread Machine Loaf

1 cup water
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star active dry yeast (or bread machine yeast)
1 tablespoon sugar
4 1/2 ounces White Lily White Grape flour
7 ounces bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Put all the ingredients in your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (some suggest water first, other suggest water last, for example.)

Press appropriate buttons to knead and bake bread.

When the bread is done, remove the bread from the machine and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.

What's in this month's Degustabox:

Besides the White Lily White Grape flour, there was:


Sir Kensington's Chipotle Mayonnaise
This isn't your regular mayonnaise - it's got chipotle peppers, tomato paste, smoked paprika, and spices. Great on any burger, or a spicy pasta salad, or a chicken salad. Or a marinade. Or deviled eggs. I've got a recipe in mind, so we'll see if it works.

Oregon Chai Tea Latte powdered mix
I've bought this before, and it's pretty darned good . You just add hot water and stir. I also like it chilled - you need to mix it with hot water first, then add ice to chill it down. I'm thinking about using a couple packets to make a chai-flavored ice cream, if I don't manage to drink it all first. Like I said, it's pretty good.


Goetze's Mini Cow Tails candy
I've never had these before, but they remind me of another candy I remember from when I was a kid. These are a nice treat, with caramel and a creamy center. They're the perfect size. They're disappearing fast. There won't be a recipe. Hah!

Loacker Rose of the Dolomites chocolate candies
If you like hazelnut and chocolate, you have to try these. There are little crunchy bits, as well. These are freaking amazing.

Vermont uncured turkey sticks and cracked pepper beef and pork sticks
I'm a huge fan of sausages like summer sausage, hard salami, and similar sausages. These are in that family, They're the perfect snack when I get home and I'm hungry and I need just a little something to tide me over until I have lunch or dinner. The ones I got to sample are 1/2-ounce sticks, but it seems like the ones they sell are 1-ounce, or there are larger 6-ounce sausages that you'd slice.

Popchips Potato Ridges with Cheddar and Sour Cream
I'd seen these in the store, but hadn't gotten around to buying them yet. These are baked, not fried, and have no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. But that's not the important part, right? They taste good. The texture is interesting. They're sort of puffy, but also nice and crunchy. Great for dipping. I'm going to hunt up some other flavors next time I go to the store.


Honey Bunches of Oats with strawberries
I haven't opened this yet - I had a few other cereal boxes open, so I didn't want to have another one opened at the same time. I seldom eat cereal with milk - I either snack on it as-is, or I use it in cooking. This is a new one for me, but I've used plain Honey Bunches of Oats as a coating for chicken.

ALO Allure juice with Mangosteen and Mango with aloe juice
I haven't tried this yet, because it seems like the perfect drink when I need hydration. It's going to hide in the fridge for a while. Interesting thing is that on the side of the bottle is a QR code that leads to some music. That's different. Check it out if you buy some. I have no idea if all the QR codes are different, or if they all lead to the same song.
Goya Maria Cookies
You need to read about these on Buzzfeed. That says more than than I ever could.

That's a pretty impressive lineup of products, right? The box also included recipes, a sheet that showed the products and retail pricing so you know what you'll pay for the goodies when you go to the store (I added it up, and it was $34.53, but they'll cost a bit more if you can't find them locally and have to order online). And, for fun, there's instructions for how to fold an origami swan, and a little quiz.

I have a free subscription to Degustabox.You can get your first box for just $9.99 with the code R7TXK.

As promised, I'm working on more recipes using freshly ground wheat. This time around, I used a hard red wheat that I bought on Amazon.

Actually, I was looking for soft wheat, which I'll be using for biscuits or maybe cake ... but then I saw a 10-pound 2-pack of soft white wheat and hard red wheat from Palouse and decided to get that.

I didn't need biscuits right away, even though I was anxious to try that soft wheat, but I needed a quick loaf of bread. So I decided to open the red wheat and give it a try. It's not actually red, but it's a darker color than the white wheat - which isn't white. It's more of a tan color. Just in case you were curious.

Anyway, I ground some red wheat to make the bread. As usual, I added some bread flour, because that's how I like to make it. And then it went into the bread machine, because I was being lazy.

Okay, I was also a little curious how my freshly-ground wheat flour would behave in the bread machine.

Turns out, the bread worked out just fine. Interesting thing, though, was that I measured a cup of wheat berries rather than weighing. Then I ground it.

Right off the bat, I saw that I had a lot more than a cup of flour. I weighed 5 ounces of flour for this recipe and had a bit over 2 ounces left. So, a cup of wheat berries fluffed up to make a little over 1 1/2 cups of flour.

That's why it's really important to weigh flour an not rely on volumes. And particularly not the volume of wheat berries versus the volume of flour.

Of course, if I had weighed the berries and then ground them, I wouldn't have even thought about the fluffing of the flour. Another interesting lesson about flour learned. That's what I love about cooking. There's always something new.

Bread Machine Freshly-Ground Whole Wheat Bread

1 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Red Star active dry yeast
5 ounces freshly ground red wheat flour
7 ounces bread flour (I use King Arthur)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter

Put it all in your bread machine. Press buttons. You know how you bread machine works. Beep. Boop. Beep.

When the bread is done, remove it from the bread machine and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Note: You certainly can use other types of yeast, but I prefer Red Star Active Dry for most things. If you use a different brand of active dry, you'll probably need to let it soften in the water for a short while before mixing. Red Star's active dry has a very small pellet size, so it doesn't need to be softened first. You can also use bread machine yeast or instant yeast.

Check out my first post about freshly ground flour here.



This is NOT a sponsored. post. I got the grain mill for use in my previous post (but my obligation with them is over now), but I bought the wheat berries with my own cash. Okay, Amazon takes credit cards. But still. My money.

If you were here, you'd never believe this bread came out of a bread machine.

Seriously. If it wasn't for the hole in the bottom of the loaf where the paddle was embedded, no one would know. It's that good. It's a little chewy in the crust, a little dense, the way a good rye is, and really, really good.

I made this bread specifically for corned beef sandwiches, but I might admit to eating a few slices with just a little smear of butter.

And right after the first loaf was gone, I made its twin.

You might think it's weird that I have a bread machine, considering I wrote a cookbook all about bread. But the truth is that I use that bread machine pretty often.

When I've got recipes I need to test, interviews I need to do, deadlines looming, and I want toast in the morning, using that bread machine for a quick loaf of bread makes an awful lot of sense.

I've made enough bread in the machine to know that I'm always going to get a decent sandwich loaf - and that's what I make most often.

Sometimes I experiment, but usually don't go too far from my standard recipes, because I know they won't fail. But I don't expect expect the machine to turn out something stunning.

Sometimes the results are better than I hope for. But this one was ... way better than that.

Dark Rye Caraway Loaf

1 cup water
1 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon active instant yeast
2 cups (9 ounces) bread flour
1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) dark rye flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Place all ingredients in your bread machine, in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Press appropriate buttons for a standard loaf.

When the bread is done, remove it from the bread machine and let it cool completely before slicing. Seriously. It needs to cool. But it's well worth waiting for.

Especially if you've got left over corned beef. Or ham. That would be good, too.

This may be one of the best loaves that has come out of my bread machine in a long time.

To be fair, I usually use the bread machine when I need an emergency loaf of sandwich bread or I need toast in the morning. Or I use it when I need bread for stuffing or bread crumbs.

The bread machine comes in handy, for sure. But I don't really spend a whole lot of time creating recipes for it. I save the fancy stuff for the oven.

This time, though, I had an idea that seemed perfect for the bread machine, and I figured I'd run with it.

The resulting loaf has a crisp crust and a soft, fluffy interior with a fine crumb. Heh. Check out the crumb, close-up:



And it rose very very nicely. Not only is it great for sandwiches and perfect for French toast, but it's great all on its own or with just a little dab of butter.

Bread Machine Buttermilk and Semolina Loaf

1 teaspoon Red Star Active Dry Yeast (or instant)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large egg (plus)
Buttermilk to equal 1 1/4 cups when added to the egg
2 cups (9 ounces) bread flour
1/2 cup (3 ounces) semolina flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter

Put the yeast and sugar in your bread machine.

Crack the egg ito a measuring cup and add enough buttermilk to equal 1 1/4 cups. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Set the bread machine for a basic loaf - whatever that is in your machine.

Beep-beep, boop-boop. Press buttons as needed.

When the bread is done, remove it from the machine and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.

I love vanilla. A lot. I buy it in quart bottles for general use, and I usually have other vanillas hanging around, as well.

So this time I decided to add it to some bread.  It's not that unusual. I've used vanilla in sweet breads before, but really vanilla isn't sweet on its own - we think of it as sweet because it's usually used in dessert. This time, I added vanilla to a loaf that was entirely savory.

The vanilla flavor wasn't in the forefront. In fact, most people probably wouldn't name it if they tasted it.

But then again, it's doubtful people would be able to name most individual ingredients in most dishes. It's not about tasting individual flavors - it's about creating a harmonious finished product.

Sure, you could make this loaf without the vanilla, but give it a try ... you might like it.

Bread Machine Loaf with Vanilla

1 cup water
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups (13 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Please all the ingredients in your bread machine in the order suggested by the bread maker's instructions. Press the appropriate buttons.

When the bread is done, remove it from the machine and let it cool complete on a rack before slicing.