Recipe and Permaculture Tip: One-Minute Bread

An ridiculously easy recipe for a great loaf of bread!

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/kitchen-hack-one-minute-ciabatta-bread.html

Here is the list of ingredients... yes, that is it.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/kitchen-hack-one-minute-ciabatta-bread.html

ONE-MINUTE BREAD

(click here for the recipe)

A good friend of mine (Jake) sent me this link quite some time ago.  This is a simple bread to make, and it is really quite good.  It obviously takes more than just one minute to make the bread, but the active amount of time you are really doing anything with this bread is under ten minutes.

There really are only four ingredients.  I use one bread yeast pack which is the 1/4 teaspoon required.  You can add any number of spices if you want at the end.

I will use this recipe when I want something that is a bit more bread-like than my Beer Bread but less time and quantity than the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  It is great served with a good quality cheese or sliced thin lengthwise and used for sandwiches.

It is so easy!

Permaculture Tip
This tip was told to me by Jake (who sent the link above) a few months after sending me the bread recipe.  

For all you homebrewers out there...  You know when you are done fermenting a batch of beer and you have that stuff left over on the bottom of the carboy?  The technical term is "trub" (it comes from the German word for lees).  Well, this sediment that remains is composed of heavy fats, proteins, and inactive yeasts.  Jake and his friend were sitting in the kitchen cleaning up after bottling a batch of beer.  Jake's friend says, "I bet you that stuff there would be great in bread."  He was right!

This was a brilliant "ah-ha!" moment.

Now, whenever I drain the beer off the trub, I always save it.  I try to use it later that night.  I will substitute one cup of water for one cup of trub in the recipe listed above.  Sometimes I'll use a little more.  I may need to add a bit more warm water to get the consistency of the dough right.  Just experiment and see what works.

We will end up with a richer, more complex-tasting bread that has an amazing flavor.  This is a implementation of Permaculture Principle Six: Produce No Waste.  What we have been throwing away, discarded as waste, is an amazing ingredient in bread adding nutrition and flavor.  What a great idea!

Thanks, Jake!


A Permaculture Tip is an idea that is derived from observing and interacting with nature.  It is simple.  It is safe.  It is effective.  It helps build a sustainable system of agriculture and life in general.  If you have any Permaculture Tips you would like to share, please let me know.  I will post it here, give you the credit, and post a link to your blog or website if you have one.  Email me here: kitsteiner@hotmail.com

Recipe: Beer Bread

Beer Bread... so easy and so delicious!

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/honey-beer-bread11.jpg

After my previous post on the book, Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day, I couldn't resist adding one of my favorite quick bread recipes.  Beer Bread is a thick, hearty bread that is great on its own, but it can also have so many variations and improvisations.  No, it doesn't taste like beer!  However, it will have the essential character of the beer, so a dark beer will give more rich flavor than a light beer.

The beer's carbonation, along with the baking powder, is what gives the bread volume and "rise".  It is not the yeast in the beer (if any are left).  Making this bread with homebrewed beer is especially rewarding.


Here is the basic recipe for Beer Bread:

3 cups All-Purpose Flour (or Self Rising Flour)
3 Tablespoons White Sugar 
3 teaspoons Baking Powder (omit if using Self Rising Flour)
1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self Rising Flour)
1 bottle (12 ounce) Beer

- Preheat oven to 350-375 F (175-190 C)
- Sift the flour.
- Add sugar, baking powder, and salt to flour.  Mix lightly.
- Pour in beer.
- Mix batter with wooden spoon until all dry ingredients are mixed in.  Don't over mix.  Batter will be very sticky.
- Pour into greased loaf pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes.
- Allow to rest for only a few minutes before cutting and serving.
- I have no idea if this bread lasts more than a few days, because it is always gone by then.

A few tips:

• Always sift the flour - I will often sift 2-3 times.  Omit this step and your bread will be a brick!
• Use a good quality beer.  I think the richer and more complex and dark the beer, the more flavorful the bread.  One of my favorites is Blue Moon... but I also really enjoy my own dark ale.
• You can add any spices you would like; it just depends on what you are going to eat with it.  For example, add some rosemary and thyme to make a good bread with a roast.  Add some basil and garlic powder with an Italian meal.  Add some sugar and cinnamon for a dessert style bread. 
• Sprinkle some cheese on the top, or mix it with the batter.
• One of my favorite ways to eat this is fresh and hot, smothered with butter and fruit preserves or honey... amazing!

Book Review: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

This book is a must read for three distinct groups of people:  Anyone who is intimidated about making bread, Anyone who thinks they know how to make bread, and Anyone who enjoys eating great-tasting bread.  If you fall into one of these categories (yeah, that is pretty much everyone) then you should get this book.  Buy it, borrow it, or check it out from the library.  I think it is that good.

Plus, it's a cookbook written by a physician.  I love it!  No, I don't have any stock in this book or author, but I am a huge fan.  The key to making this bread so quick and easy is the "no knead" techniques that the authors perfected.  It is so simple.  Really.  Trust me.

Plus, and I think this is really fantastic, the authors give away their "Master Recipe" on their website.  With this recipe, I was making Boule, Baguette, Batard, Ciabatta, and Couronne loaves... and they tasted amazing.

For me, cooking is a vital part of self-sufficiency and homesteading.  I actually plan on having a few small plots of grains at my Permaculture farm one day so I can make my own bread literally from scratch, but more on that in a few days.  So, give this easy recipe a try!

Boule

French for "ball" - this is a simple free form loaf

http://toxobread.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/20080925boule02.jpg

Baguette

Classic loaf!

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/attachments/11/11195d1236625454-boring-baguette-img_1600.jpg

Batard

Perfect for slicing into sandwich bread.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/files/u14703/Pain%20au%20Levainstiff.jpg

Ciabatta

Slice this loaf down to middle to remove the top half, fill with cheese and meat or veggies, and then bake it again to make amazing panini!

http://www.ciabattarestaurant.com/images/bigstockphoto_italian_and_ciabatta_loaves_of_806313.jpg

Couronne

French for "crown", this is a delicious and decorative loaf perfect to sprinkle herbs on before baking.

http://zebbakes.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/couronne.jpg?w=557&h=418