Vicariously Inspiring

Photo credit: Channi Anand 

I came across this picture earlier today and was immediately taken by it for a few reasons. The first is that I just think it looks beautiful and soothing, but also--I'm sure--is that I was barely outside today (other than using my truck to do errands) and missed being on a bike. Besides that this is the time of year when I start to miss warm weather (which is still months away). So in essence I was living somewhat vicariously through this photo and I thought I'd share it. According to the caption it is a milk delivery person at sunrise in India. I found the photo here, click it for a larger view.

Four Ingredients...

That's right...four ingredients, that's all you need to make really good bread. Anything else is extra. The ingredients I used to make the beautiful loaf pictured above are this: Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Kosher Salt.

Often I'll add olive oil or honey to my breads for richness or sweetness, but this loaf is made with the basic four ingredients that are required for leavened bread. Breads like this are so easy to make, and not only are they delicious they feel healthy for you as you eat them (at least they do to me).

With this knowledge it amazes me that there are so many breads produced that claim to be 100% whole wheat or whole grain, but when you read the label you can see they are clearly not what they claim to be.

As an example I'll use Wonder Bread. I don't mean to single them out (OK, maybe I do a little), but they are the most well-known brand of supermarket bread in North America. I looked on their site and could not find an ingredient listing for any of their breads. Hmmm...I don't know about you but if I were proud of my product and stood behind it I would list the ingredients that went into it...seemed a little fishy to me, and apparently I'm not the only person who thought this (read this blog post to see what I mean). 

Anyhow, I was able to find the ingredient list for their "Whole Grain Bread." They were listed on the website of a local grocery store chain, Wegman's.  The following ingredient list was cut-and-paste from that site:

Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Barley Malt, Ferrous Sulfate (Iron), B Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid)], Water, Whole Wheat Flour, High Fructose Corn Syrup or Sugar, Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Brown Rice Flour, Soy Fiber, Calcium Sulfate, Contains 2% or Less or Soybean Oil, Salt, Vinegar, Cornstarch, Wheat Starch, Soy Flour, Honey, Dough Conditioners (Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, DATEM, Mono and Diglycerides, Ethoxylated Mono and Diglycerides, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Dioxide and/or Azodicarbonamide), Yeast Nutrients (Ammonium Sulfate, Ammonium Chloride, Monocalcium Phosphate and/or Ammonium Phosphate), Enrichment [Vitamin E Acetate, Ferrous Sulfate (Iron), Zinc Oxide, Calcium Sulfate, Niacin, Vitamin D, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (B6), Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1) and Vitamin B-12], Calcium Propionate (to Retain Freshness), Whey, Soy Lecithin. 

...and this is the list of ingredients for whole grain bread? Umm...I don't know about you, but I don't see any whole grains listed. Ok, to their credit, whole wheat flour is listed about a half-dozen ingredients in, and brown rice flour is buried in with the dough conditioners and other stuff. But what is all that stuff? I bake bread all the time and have worked in kitchens my entire adult life and some of those items (many) I have no idea what they are...so I Googled a couple. 

Azodicarbonamide is probably the scariest (read this blog post); aparently this can cause respitory ailments...and foods with Azodicarbonamide in the UK have to have a warning on them that says: “May cause sensitisation by inhalation" (to my UK readers: is this true?).  If food has to have a warning lable on it we probably shouldn't eat it. Another ingredient I chose at randem was Ammonium Chloride...another scary ingredient (click here); in my opinion, if it is corrosive it shouldn't be in food.. And these were just two ingredients chosen at random and Googled...who the hell knows what the rest of them are.

Bread, especially whole wheat and whole grain have been a staple food for many millennium...if your interested to learn more check out this book or this article. In the somewhat newly revamped food pyramid put out by the USDA whole wheat breads and grains still occupy the bulk of it (as they did in previous versions). (Click here to see more about it at the USDA website.) 

Good bread is really easy and satisfying to make. It's a nutrient-rich and healthy food...and it only takes four ingredients.

If you'd like to read an article I wrote explaining the process of whole wheat bread baking, click here. To see earlier posts with pictures showing how to make the bread click here or here. 

 

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Makes 2 loaves

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
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4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups water
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3 teaspoons instant yeast
3 teaspoons kosher salt

In one bowl make a preferment by combining 2 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 cup water and 2 teaspoons of instant yeast. Begin the autolyse in another bowl by combining 4 cups of whole wheat flour and 2 cups water. Stir each bowl just enough to combine the ingredients, taking care not to get yeast into the bowl with the autolyse. Cover both bowls and allow to rest and ferment for 30-90 minutes, during which time the preferment will begin it’s job multiplying yeast and fermenting flour, and the autolyse will soak the grain, swelling the gluten.

After an hour or so, combine the ingredients from both bowls into the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt and remaining 3 teaspoons of yeast (add the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl). Knead the dough on medium speed for about 8 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled container, cover it loosely, and allow to ferment for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. Deflate the dough and allow it to ferment an additional 30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it into 2 or 3 pieces. Shape into loaves and place into lightly oiled pans (or shape them pre-form and place them on baking sheets). Loosely cover the loaves with plastic wrap and allow to ferment for 30-60 minutes, or until double in size and when gently touched with a fingertip an indentation remains.

Bake the breads for about 30-40 minutes, adding steam to the oven a few times (either with ice cubes or a spray bottle) and rotating the breads every ten minutes. The breads are done when they are dark brown and sound hollow when tapped upon. Remove the breads from their pans and allow them to cook on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#258)

A Bike Rev trailer containing $82.57 worth of groceries and a gym bag full of wet clothes.

Two slices of steak pizza on the front rack.

2 Bikes, 2 Short Rides, a Snowy Day, and a Change in Road Conditions

This has been a very odd winter in this region...the month of December was frigid and snowy, then it warmed up. Around new years it rained for three days and all the snow melted, and now it's cold and snowy again. I've been riding the Mundo regularly again because of the lack of snow and when I woke to a blanket of new snow this morning I took it out to run a couple errands. Earlier in the day it was somewhat warm (32F/0C) so the snow was heavy. The Mundo handled well...with it's heavy weight and low gear ratio (or is it high gear ratio? I always get that confused) I plowed right through it. Then this evening I had an appointment to keep and choose to ride my winter bike. I still have not purchased studded tires but that bike handles better in icy conditions (or maybe, because of it's shorter wheel base and lighter weight it's just easier for me to control). Anyhow, the snow that was heavy, wet, and slushy earlier in the day began to freeze by nightfall...the streets were a sheet of ice. I took mostly side streets to avoid traffic and went slowly. There were a couple points when I felt the bike slide a little underneath me (because of my own over-confidence), and it would bring me back to the reality that I was in motion on two wheels on ice. Other then those couple short rides today I had not left the house, nor did I seem to accomplish anything on my personal to-do list (one of those days), and as I slowly and precariously pedaled and coasted home tonight I couldn't help but think how good it felt to be out in the open air on such a crisp winter's night. 

Bay Scallops "Brother Devil Style"

Pasta, as many of you know, is one of my favorite foods to cook and eat. The ingredients and styles are seemingly endless, but I can narrow down the way I usually prepare it to three styles: With homemade tomato sauce, aglio e olio (oil and garlic), or fra diavolo (brother devil); for this particular recipe I included bay scallops. I also topped it with spaghetti squash (cooked with garlic and oil of course). The process in which I made this recipe is pictured below, but if you'd like a printable recipe (made with halibut instead of scallops), and read about the origin and history of the dish, click here. For a recipe for the spaghetti squash, click here.

Pugs Chillin'...

...or more specifically I should say, Pugs Warmin'.

I had to post something a bit more real than the last post...computers and the internet are not real to me, but the love of your pets are. After posting about my netbook problems and feeling annoyed I looked over and my two pugs were laying there looking up at me with they're big bulging and over-sized eyes--giving me that look that only a dog(s) can give his owner. That to me is real. They are, incidentally, laying with their feet almost touching the wood stove...chillin'.

Mass-Produced Cheap Crap

This is a bit of a rant, but first I have to say that at times I feel I am a bit of an oxymoron...or at least a paradox. I say this because I attempt to espouse a simpler way of living in the city through this blog but at the same time I record it on a computer via the Internet...to live truly simply would be to get rid of my computer, kindle, and netbook and just write and read books instead (which I sometimes fantasize about doing). Ahh...but living in the times that we do I--like many--have come to rely on electronics for day-to-day tasks and entertainment (one can only wonder what some of the great writers would have produced if they had access to a computer with spell-check and the internet...maybe they would have ended up simply surfing the net and not writing at all...a little self-analysis I suppose). Anyhow, I'm getting off topic and am jumping ahead of myself...I'll continue with the rant.

About a year-and-a-half ago I purchased a netbook that was on sale...only paid a couple hundred dollars for it...and it is a "quality" name brand. I use it occasionally, but not that often. I had the day off today (which is unusual for me on a weekday) and had an article to write so I thought I'd take my netbook to a local coffee shop to work. But when I turned it on I got the above message. That in itself isn't that odd...one sees these messages on occasion. But no matter how many times I did a disk check or scanned it it would simply repeat itself...never fully booting up, not allowing any sort of safe mode or other over ride.. After doing some of my own research, via Google (on my desktop), I found that it may be that the hard drive has malfunctioned. I phoned a tech person who I trust and he agreed it may be the hard drive. I'll take it to him tomorrow to find out for sure. He also said that he'll be honest with me and say that if it is the hard drive it may not be worth it to have the work done...that with the parts and labor it would cost almost the same amount just to replace the entire machine.

What? It's only 18 months old. Sad but true, he added. He'll take my money (to repair it) if I want him to, he also added, but he's just being honest.

This is the story of our "modern" society I suppose...rather than fix it, throw it in the trash and replace it. But what most of us (including myself) have never seen are one of the countless electronic dumps that dot our precious earth. So I'll find out the prognosis in a day or two and then have a moral and financial dilemma to contend with...do I, being a single dad living week-to-week, spend the extra cash to repair this or just discard it? But I am jumping ahead again...if it is expensive to fix I do know that I will not replace it, probably donate it to someone who wants to repair it. But geeze 'o man does this get my goat...it's almost brand new. Thankfully I do not have any data on it that is not backed up on my desktop (and yes, Sean, this taught me a lesson...I'm getting an external hard drive to back up my desktop). Whatever happened to producing things that are built to last...but then again if things lasted we wouldn't be able to be a consumeristic society (and yes, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek).

If you want to read about the problem with cheaply made electronic trash and how it is filling our landfills, click here. If you are still interested here's a good video (20 minutes) called The Story of Stuff.

Photo found here.

Not-So-Lost Bread with Caramelized Apple and Carrot Syrup

For those that have visited this blog before--and have taken interest in the food/recipes potion of it--you know that my son's favorite breakfast is homemade French toast. In archaic Louisiana French patois this dish is of course referred to as pain purdue, or "lost bread," making reference to the fact that it is often made with stale (or lost) bread. Well with the frequency which I bake bread in my house there is nothing lost about it this bread...this dish was made with fresh 100% whole wheat bread (click here to learn how to make it). The other thing that makes this dish truely delicious, yet still simple to produce, is it's inclusion of homemade syrup...and this is made by simply reducing any fruit juice (or in this case vegetable juice) to a syrupy consistency, sometimes with the aid of a little extra sugar (as was the case of this recipe).

I also sprinkled a bit of sugar in the pan as the bread and apples were cooking, giving it a nice caramelization. Anyhow, this is a restaurant-quality brunch dish that is very easy to replicate at home (at a fraction of the cost). The flavoring ingredients are really up to your taste or what you have on hand. To see a couple other variations on this same recipe, click here and here.