Bread Made Easy

There is something about a freshly-baked, warm loaf of bread that reminds me of my childhood. Sometime in the '90s my dad received a bread machine for Christmas. Him or my grandmother used to make a fresh loaf of bread overnight or while we were away at school. On those days our house smelled amazing. I think my parents still have that bread machine somewhere, gathering dust. I enjoy baking for my family. I don't own a fancy mixer or a bread machine, but I can still make delicious bread from scratch. 
This week I adapted a recipe from one of my favorite recipe books to create a bread dough that can be made in bulk and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Refrigerator Bread Dough
Makes about 3 pounds of dough

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar 
2 cups warm water
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
4 Tbsp. melted butter
2 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 cups white bread flour

Directions: Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water together and let dissolve. Add the salt, beaten egg, and melted butter. Mix in the whole wheat flour and enough of the bread flour until it becomes hard to stir. Turn the dough out and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Wash the bowl out and grease it and place the dough in the bowl, rolling it around. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. Punch down the dough and recover with plastic wrap and a plate. Place in the refrigerator and pinch off the dough as you need it.




Day 1, Butter-top dinner rolls: I pinched off 8 2-ounce balls (I weighed them using my kitchen scale) and shaped them into dinner rolls and placed them into a buttered 8x8" Pyrex dish. I covered them with a clean towel and let double in size. I brushed the tops with some more melted butter and baked them at 425 for about 15 minutes.

 



Day 2, Sandwich bread: Now this isn't your average sandwich bread! I took an 8 ounce piece of refrigerated dough and rolled it out into an 18" log, folded it in half and gave it a twist. I dusted the top with a bit of flour and let double in size. I baked it at 425 for 15 minutes.

 

 



Day 2, Hamburger buns: I weighed out four 2 1/2 ounce balls of dough and rolled them into balls. I placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart, covered and let rise until double in size. I put brushed a bit of egg wash on the top and sprinkled them with a combination of poppy and sesame seeds. Well, at least I sprinkled 3 of the 4 with seeds and left the last one naked for my step-daughter. I then baked them at 425 for about 15 minutes.

 





Day 3, Garlic knots: I weighed out the remaining dough into 1 1/2 ounce portions and rolled each piece into a log about 10 inches log. I then formed them into knots. I let them rise while I made a garlic infused butter. Basically I took half a stick of butter, 6 smashed garlic cloves, and a pinch of kosher salt and let sit over low heat for about 30 minutes. When the knots were doubled in size, I brushed them heavily with the garlic butter and sprinkled a bit of garlic powder and kosher salt onto each one, and (again) baked at 425 for 15 minutes.



As the dough sits in the fridge it develops a yeasty aroma, almost like a sourdough. Since I was making rolls for 5 everyday, the amount of dough this recipe makes didn't last a whole week. Next time I will experiment with doubling the recipe, or maybe switching it up a little. Stay tuned!

Sunday Dinners, Marinara Sauce

My little vegetable patch has been giving me some beautiful tomatoes this summer. I have 2 Black Krim heirloom variety plants and a Roma tomato plant along one edge of a 4x8' raised planter. They have been wonderful in salads and on burgers and sandwiches, but I was left with a growing pile of uneaten tomatoes on my countertop, so tonight I made a big batch of marinara sauce to use them up. Homemade tomato sauce is so rewarding, and with the right tools, not even that much work. Start with sautéing your base vegetables and some garlic, add chopped tomatoes and a splash of white wine, season, simmer, and process and finish. That's basically all there is. You can make a lot or a little based on the amount of tomato you have available, and it keeps wonderfully in the freezer to have homemade tomato sauce when flavorful summer tomatoes are long gone.

Marinara Sauce
Makes about 2 quarts
 Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions
3 ribs celery
1-2 carrots
Garlic, 4-8 cloves, minced
Tomatoes- I used around 16 Roma and 10 Heirlooms
1 cup leftover white wine
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
Salt and Pepper
Optional: fresh basil, red chili flakes

Directions: Heat a large pot over medium-low heat, add olive oil. Dice the onion, celery, and carrots and add to the pot to sweat. I use a mirepoix ratio with these vegetables, with 2 parts onion to 1 part celery and carrot. After the onion is translucent and just starting to caramelize, I add the minced garlic. Depending on how much garlic you like depends on how much you add. We really like garlic in our tomato sauce, so I probably added about 1/2 a head. Next add the wine to deglaze the pan and add all the tomatoes, roughly chopped.

My little one loves tomatoes, and was underfoot during this process, so it took a little longer than usual.

Since I own a food mill, I don't bother blanching/shocking/peeling my tomatoes and just add them to the pot diced up. The food mill separates the skin after the sauce is made, eliminating a couple steps and a few hours of prep work. If you don't own a food mill, removing the skin before adding to the sauce is necessary, since it won't break down while cooking and can negatively affect the texture of your sauce. I season the sauce with a little dried oregano, salt, and pepper, and let it cook down for about an hour, or until its reduced by about a third.

Pass it through the largest hole setting of your food mill and taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary. If you don't own a food mill you can pulse though a food processor or a blender in batches, but the texture will be a bit smoother. If you find that your sauce is a little too watery after you pass it through the food mill, feel free to return it to the stovetop to let reduce a bit more.

Tonight we used our fresh marinara sauce over some store-bought cheese tortellini. I ladled about 2 cups of sauce into a large pan and added some fresh basil and let it reduce a bit more while the tortellini were cooking to al dente. I then tossed the tortellini into the sauce with a ladle of the starchy pasta water and grated some fresh parmesan on top. We topped our pasta with a little extra sauce and cheese and ate it with a crusty loaf of garlic bread.

I put the extra tomato sauce in pint containers since I plan to share, but you could also freeze it flat in gallon bags to have your own tomato sauce year-round or for middle-of-the-week suppers.