People always freak out when it comes to kneading dough, activating yeast and bread in general. I say "NO, don't freak out!", baking is really easy and entertaining once you practice it.
I personally wasn't into baking bread but there was that one day I didn't want to go to the bakery and remembered that time I was at the UK and tasted a kind of bread.. It was delicious, a bit fluffy yet dense, flavorful and so filling. I called for the baker and asked him "What's the secret?" he replied saying "No yeast/quick bread." and left. I started working around the idea and came out with this till I found out its origins and that it already has a name... "Irish Soda Bread". Then, I was dieting so I adjusted my ingredients to whole wheat ingredients.
*Your ingredients should have:
- 3 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tbsp garlic powder (For the salted version)
- 1 tbsp thymes (For the salted version)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/4 cups buttermilk
**NB: If you are in Egypt, you might not find buttermilk but don't panic... It's easy:
Combine the milk and lemon juice. You add 1 tbsp of lemon juice for each cup of milk and let the mixture stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes
*Method:
- Whisk all your dry ingredients properly in a large bowl and make a well in the center then pour in your buttermilk. Stir your mixture in full circles (starting in the center of the bowl working toward the outside of the bowl) until all the flour is well mixed. The dough should be soft but not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Clean dough off your hand.
- Add a bit of flour if your dough is too sticky and knead it for 4 minutes then start shaping it into several ones... I personally made the medium sized Kaiser (round) shape then made an X shape on the top of the bread (it let's the steam out).
- Bake the bread for 20 minutes. Then reduce your oven temperature to 160 degrees and continue to bake (15 more minutes) until your bread is brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer your bread to a wire rack and let cool for about 30 minutes then you can serve it.
**Suggestions - You can pair/top your bread with:
- Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese
- Eggs (boiled, scrambled, poached, anything)
- Beef
- Cheeses generally
- Peanut butter (nut butters generally) and fruits
- Cold cuts
- Serve it with soup
**Now let's come to the DON'TS:
- Dough is science... please use proper measurement cups OR just use one cup to measure your ingredients
- Don't add too much flour
- Don't over knead your dough
Don't forget to ask your questions in the comments section below!
hwa el knead da elly hwa eh ya admin?
ReplyDeleteEl 3agn 7adretak! :D
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