Daily Bread

I finally got my old bread machine up from the basement the other evening and made myself a loaf of cracked-wheat bread. I have to get used to using this thing again. I used to tweak the moisture/flour ratio a lot; I didn't do that this time, and the resulting dough was on the soft side -- and it rose so much that, as it began to bake, it hit the lid, creating a bit of an aesthetics issue when the baking was done and I had to tear the crust to remove the loaf. (If the shape of the slice looks odd in the photo below -- my machine makes barrel-shaped loaves that I have to cut in half lengthwise so I can fit the slices in my toaster.)

But, nonetheless, it's mighty tasty bread. I had some tonight, with some chicken soup I whipped up last night (the remains of my Sunday rotisserie chicken, garlic, onion, the last of my carrots and celery, some chopped leek I happened upon in the freezer, thyme, dillweed and a generous fistful of chopped parsley). Homemade bread and homemade soup -- a meal fit for royalty, I'll tell ya.

Here are two recipes for cracked-wheat bread, one for a bread machine (2-pound loaf) and one to make by hand. The bread-machine recipe is from the book that came with the machine; the second recipe is from a book called Uprisings that I bought back in my college days when I was just starting to experiment with bread-baking. They're both delish.

Bread Machine Cracked-Wheat Bread (2-lb loaf)
10-12 oz water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cracked wheat or bulgur
1 1/2 TBS butter or margarine
2 TBS honey or molasses
2 1/4 cups bread flour (or use all-purpose flour made with hard wheat, like Robin Hood brand, and add 1 tsp vital gluten -- not gluten flour! -- per cup of flour)
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

Measure all ingredients into bread pan, starting with liquid and ending with the yeast. Bake according to machine directions for whole wheat bread.

Summer Wheat Bread (2 generous 1-1/2-lb loaves)
1 TBS dry yeast
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
5 TBS molasses
2 cups hard whole wheat flour

Mix together, and let this "sponge" sit covered in a warm place until risen and bubbly.

3/4 cup cracked wheat or bulgur
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 1/2-4 cups hard whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt

Add to sponge. Mix well, adding flour to get soft but kneadable consistency. Knead well until dough is elastic. Let rise in an oiled, covered bowl until dough is doubled in size. Punch down, shape into two loaves, and let rise again in oiled pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.





"Bread of heaven...feed me 'til I want no more..."