Take back the bread

Leftover Rice Bread<br /> <br /> I like to experiment in the kitchen, so lately I have been messing around with using rice in my breads. The other night I had some cooked white rice and some corn niblets leftover from dinner, so I decided to try to make a bread out of it. It turned out quite well, so I thought I would share what I did with you.<br /> <br /> The recipe is the same as a basic white bread, but with a few substitutions:<br /> <br /> Add 2 tsp of instant dry active yeast into a large bowl, added two cups of warm water. Let it sit until it gets scummy on top, about then minutes.<br /> <br /> Then I added:<br /> 2 tsp salt<br /> 2 cups white flour<br /> four handfuls of cooked white rice<br /> 1 cup of mashed up cooked corn niblets<br /> <br /> I mixed that together, then added another 2-3 cups of white flour until I had a good dough.<br /> <br /> From then on, it was a regular white bread recipe:<br /> <br /> I took the dough ball out of the bowl, oiled the bowl with some vegetable oil, placed the dough ball back in, flipping once.<br /> <br /> Covered it with a damp tea towel.<br /> <br /> Let rise for an hour.<br /> <br /> I came back, punched down the dough. In this case, I rolled it out into baguettes, but I could have simply kneaded it in the bowl for two minutes, then placed into an oiled &nbsp;bread baking pan.<br /> <br /> ( If you want to know how to make baguettes, go to the website, where I have two videos that show you how to do it, with and without a special baguette pan: <a href="http://www.takebackthebread.com/baguettenopan.html">www.takebackthebread.com/baguettenopan.html</a><br /> <a href="http://www.takebackthebread.com/fiveminute.html">http://www.takebackthebread.com/fiveminute.html</a><br /> )<br /> <br /> So, after kneading it for a minute or two, place in a bread pan to rise for another hour, covered under a tea towel.<br /> <br /> The bread rose really well after that hour. So I simply preheated the oven to 425 ( since I was doing baguettes - 400F for a regular bread pan), placed some water in a pan so oven would get steamy.<br /> <br /> I baked it for 30 minutes.<br /> <br /> The crust was lovely, nice and crunchy. Inside, you could see the rice if you looked really hard, but the taste was a bit like a heartier white, but with a really light consistency.<br /> <br /> Well worth doing again.<br /> <br /> The reason this worked is that rice, like wheat, is a grain. Having cooked it already, it was nice and soft, so the two hours of rising and then the cooking softened it up even more.<br /> <br /> Very yummy, and a great way to use some leftover rice.<br /> <br /> Give it a try!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

Sourdoughs are one of the older kinds of breads still around. Instead of instant yeast, they rely on a yeast colony called a starter or a 'mother'. This is a container of a liquid flour mixture that already has its own yeast within it, captured from the air months or years before. This starter has been fermenting for a long time, so it gives sourdough breads a distinctive slightly sour taste which is really yummy. It also makes for great crusts and moist insides. You often run across sourdough buns in good restaurants. Now here's your chance to make this time-honoured bread at home. This recipe requires a starter, so if you don't have one, click here and I'll show you how to make one.  Today's video podcast shows you how to  makes one loaf, and like all sourdoughs, it takes a while. I've timed it so you can start it before you go to work, and finish it when you come home. Your time is quite minimal - just a few minutes. The yeast does most of the work. Click here to watch the podcast:http://www.takebackthebread.com/podcasts/sourdough.m4v Ingredients:2 cups of starter 2 tsp of salt 2 tsp sugar 4-5 cups of white flour 2 tbsps of vegetable oil

In this video podcast, Steve the Bread Guy shows you how to make a sourdough starter from scratch. What is a starter? Sourdough breads have been around for many centuries, and all of them start with a 'mother' or starter. It's simply some flour and water that has already been colonized by some yeast. It's kept in the fridge, and some bakeries have 'mothers' which have been alive for over a century.  These starters create breads which have a lovely tang to them, and produce really crunchy crusts. Making one of these 'mothers' is easy, and will use yeast that is floating in the air in your kitchen, so your sourdough breads will be unique to your home. Homemade, indeed! To watch the video, click here:http://www.takebackthebread.com/podcasts/starter.m4v

This is a glorious loaf that looks even better than it tastes. Often served at Easter, it has a sweet rich flavour, and a beautiful appearance thanks to some simple braiding. If you've never tried to shape bread like this before ( or you just don't know how to braid), no worries, just watch the video, I'll show you how. This one takes about 3 hours from start to finish. Ingredients: 1 tbsp of yeast 1/2 cup of warm water 1/2 tsp of sugar 4 eggs 2 tbsps honey 1/4 cup melted butter 4 cups of white flour 3 tbsps of sesame seeds ( optional) Click here to watch the video:http://www.takebackthebread.com/podcasts/eggbread.m4v

Most of us think of dark rye breads as something you buy, not something you can bake at home. Think again! This video will show you that it is easy, taking advantage of the colouring of some chocolate and molasses to get a deep dark brown. So, get your ingredients together, and follow along with me on the video to make some lovely dark rye bread today. You can do it! ( oh, and we'll be using our hands, not any bread machines). Ingredients: 2 tsp active dry yeast 2 cups warm water 2 tsp salt 2 heaping tbsps of cocoa powder ¼ cup of dark molasses 2 cups of white flour 2 cups of dark rye flour  Click here to watch:http://www.takebackthebread.com/podcasts/rye.m4v