Country Lore December/January 2007
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Rickerts’ whole-wheat bread.
MICHAEL W. RICKERT
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December/January 2007 Issue #219
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Wholesome Bread
I have baked bread for more than 30 years. I developed this recipe to get as much whole wheat as possible into a light, moist bread. I use coarse-ground wheat and high-protein, high-gluten premium whole-wheat flour from Dakota Prairie Organic Flour Co.
The keys to this recipe are the high-protein, high-gluten whole-wheat flour, the coarse-ground wheat that keeps the bread moist, and the six hours it takes for the dough to rise, absorb the moisture and build a strong yeast.
Rickert’s Whole-wheat Bread
3 cups coarse-ground wheat
5½ cups fresh whole-wheat flour
5 tsp yeast
6¼ cups water
½ cup honey
? cup canola oil
3 tbsp ground flaxseed (optional)
5 tsp salt
About 7 to 8 cups white bread flour
First, mix the coarse-ground wheat, whole-wheat flour, yeast and water in a large bowl. Cover and let rise for six hours. Then, stir in the rest of the ingredients, except for the white bread flour. Add the white bread flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring with a heavy wooden spoon until the dough becomes too thick to stir. Now, knead the dough, adding the remainder of the white bread flour.
Next, cover the dough with a towel and let it rise until it doubles—about 1½ hours.
Sprinkle a little white flour on the countertop, then punch down the dough and form five equal loaves. Place one dough loaf on each end of a cookie sheet, and three dough loaves lengthwise in the middle.
Make three cuts in the top of each loaf. Let the loaves rise in a warm place until a dimple made with your finger won’t bounce back.
Last, bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. After baking, place each loaf on a rack and let cool for six hours or more.
Eat one loaf, freeze one loaf and you’ll still have three loaves to give as gifts.
MICHAEL W. RICKERT
Reinbeck, Iowa
Jiffy Jeans Purse
I have been making purses out of blue jeans my children have outgrown. I find that children’s size eight or smaller works best. I line the purses with a new bandanna, about 21 inches square, or other leftover material I have on hand. The handles are available at craft stores in a variety of styles and colors.
Make the purse: Depending on how long you want the purse to be, cut off the jeans legs somewhere below the crotch and above the knees (which probably have holes in them anyway). Cut off the inside-leg seam all the way up one leg and down the other leg. You want the inside edges of the two legs to be fairly parallel so you can sew them together to make a square bottom to the purse.
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