STAFF of Life

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February/March 2001
by John McLure  
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Once you're comfortable with the basic recipe, you may want to try variations. The basic bread dough lends itself easily to additional ingredients, holding its shape and yielding a

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bread with a buoyant texture. An important thing to remember when adding grains is that they must be moist, either soaked or cooked, otherwise they'll absorb moisture from the dough and you'll wind up with an unchewable doorstop rather than a fresh and gratifying treat. You can soak or cook grains during the 12-hour first rise.

RYE BREAD/RYE ONION BREAD

Stir 10 tablespoons of water into 1/2 pound (1 2/3cups) of rye flour (preferably coarse or fine rye flour mixed with chopped rye). Allow it to sit for at least an hour. For onion bread, add in 1/2 cup chopped onion. Mix and knead this rye ball with the basic dough (which has already been through the first rising) and immediately shape, rise and bake.

Figure about 15 minutes baking time for a classic long French bread shape about 30 for round loaves.

PEPPER CHEDDAR

Add to the basic recipe 1 cup grated cheddar and 1 to 2 tablespoons of black pepper. Then shape, rise and bake.

WHOLE WHEAT AND BARLEY

Mix 1/2 pounds (4 3/4 cups) whole wheat flour with 1 1/2 cups of water. Add 1/2 teaspoon yeast (optional) and 1 cup cooked barley to the basic bread dough. Shape, rise and bake. This tender bread is good for sandwiches. It's also nice with walnuts, which you can add (one cup, chopped) along with the barley.

MULTIGRAIN BREAD

Combine 8 tablespoons oatmeal, 4 tablespoons bulgar wheat, 6 tablespoons wheat flakes, 4 tablespoons sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon millet, 2 tablespoons molasses and 7 tablespoons of water. Soak. Combine the grain mix with 1 1/4 pounds (4 3/4 cups) of whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups water. Now, add the whole mixture to the basic bread: shape, rise and bake.

These recipes and others can be found in TheBaba A Louis Bakery Bread Book: The Secret Book of Bread (Chelsea Green, 1993), named for McLure's bakery in Chester, Vermont. The book is available through MOTHER'SBookshelf at (800) 888-9098 for $13.95. Just ask for book #MEB299. And don't forget to ask for MOTHER'S own Living on Less guide for $19.95 (MEB250).

Related info:

Breadbaking Tips to Live By

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