Harper's Kitchen: Oats and beans and barley grows

[kniteracy]

As you and I and everyone knows,
You and I and everyone knows
How oats and beans and barley grows


(For those of you on my regular friends list, this is a public post, which is why some information you already know will be repeated or consolidated.)

It is October! Deliciously crisp, autumn's-nearly-here, jacket-in-the-morning-sun-in-the-afternoon October. As many of you already know, I have been baking bread on the weekend and freezing it so that we can have fresh bread during the week while I'm working and today, Monday, is bread-making day here at the house on the edge of the park. Now, ordinarily I make a combination of breads, often a hearty brown bread with lots of seeds because we like that at my house, but over the past few days, I've been thinking about autumn and about autumn foods and what things make me feel good and happy and pleased that my favourite season is coming around again, short as it might be. Saturday at Sainsbury's, we found Apple and Blackberry OatSoSimple on sale for two for £2, mostly for my son, and I started thinking about one of my favourite comfort foods ever: good, old fashioned oatmeal. Hooray, for oats.

I recalled having skimmed the King Arthur Flour homepage a few weeks ago, looking for something interesting of which I have no memory now, probably a substitution or a fragment of a recipe that escaped me, or maybe I was just looking for publication information on their cookbook to send to someone-- but I came across an oatmeal bread recipe, and I thought, hm, wouldnt' that be a nice bread to make in the Harper's kitchen sometime, eventually, maybe? Well, in the words of my old friend JD, who used to phone and leave messages that said, "I'll get back to you later," then call again eight or nine months or maybe even a year later and say, "Hey, it's later!" Hey, it's later.

It's time to make oatmeal bread. Now, I've never made an oatmeal bread before, although I've enjoyed them when other people have made them, and I remember thinking they were a pleasant change from other garden-variety store breads I used to buy back when I had all sorts of reasons for not baking my own bread all the time (like, I kid you not, "Well, it's just harder to slice homebaked bread and it's difficult to make sandwiches out of!" --ha! What did I know?). So I thought, that as a sort of experiment, I'd present a few recipes here, all of them from the King Arthur company (though I'm sure there are many other fine oatmeal bread recipes out there), run down an ingredients list of what I have on-hand in my head, and do what I usually do: that is, come up with a variety of oatmeal bread that bears only a little bit of resemblance to the things I'm seeing on this recipe page. Then, I'll spend a goodly portion of the day baking, even though I won't have to do any work at all for most of it, since the beauty of breadmaking is that most of it is done by the yeast, while the baker, um, knits! Yeah: I have a hat to finish, don't I? And of course the umpteen pairs of socks that are backed up, but we'll talk about knitting another day.

So here are some oatmeal bread recipes, three of them, each under its own cut tag, each with some editorial remarks broken out, in case you don't want to bother with reading the actual recipes. I left in the bread machine instructions, in case those of you with bread machines are interested in making tihs in your machines, although those will be cut out of the oatmeal bread recipe I eventually put into my Squishy to have onhand for baking wherever I go.


Oatmeal & Brown Sugar Toasting Bread

INTRO
This take on classic oatmeal bread features the lighter taste of brown sugar, as opposed to the molasses usually used. We feel the flavor of the oats shines through more fully when it’s not masked by molasses.

INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) boiling water
1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) thick oat flakes (rolled oats or old-fashioned oatmeal)
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) steel-cut oats or Irish oatmeal, uncooked
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) lightly packed brown sugar
2 3/4 cups (11 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dried milk
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup (3/4 ounce) milled flaxseed OR 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS
Manual Method: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the boiling water, oats, steel-cut oats and sugar. Stir the mixture once or twice to combine, then set it aside to cool to lukewarm. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. This is a stiff dough, but just keep working at it; it’ll become smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Mixer Method: Combine the ingredients as directed above, using a flat beater paddle or beaters, then switch to the dough hook(s) and knead for 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise as directed above.

Bread Machine Method: Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your machine, program the machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. Take a look at the dough about 10 minutes before the end of the final kneading cycle, and adjust its consistency with additional water or flour, as necessary, to produce a smooth, supple dough. Allow the machine to complete its cycle.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and form it into a loaf. Place the loaf in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pan. Cover the pan and let the bread rise for 1 hour, or until it’s just crowned over the edge of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 375°F oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until it’s golden brown and its internal temperature is about 200°F. Note: This bread has a tendency to brown quickly (and underbake in the center), so plan on tenting it lightly with aluminum foil about 20 minutes before the end of the baking time. Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf.
NUTRITION
Nutrition information per serving (1/2-inch slice, 52g): 135 cal, 1g fat, 5g protein, 22g complex carbohydrates, 3g sugar, 2g dietary fiber, 246g sodium, 123g potassium, 10RE vitamin A , 2mg iron, 38mg calcium, 97mg phosphorus.

This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet (r) (Vol. XI, No3, Early Spring 2000 issue). The Baking Sheet is a newsletter published six times a year by The Baker's Catalogue(r), P.O. Box 876, Norwich, Vermont 05055. (The Baking Sheet and The Baker's Catalogue are both registered trademarks of The Baker's Catalogue, Inc.)

This is the simplest of these recipes, and I'll probably go with something very similar to it, although I suspect I want to add some honey, since honey and oats just go so well together. The downside to following this recipe is that I do not have steel-cut oats in the house. I suspect they are for texture, since the only difference between steel-cut and rolled oats is the fact that rolled oats have apparently been steamed, and steel-cut oats take longer to cook. The recipe calls for less of the steel-cut oats, so I am betting the oaty flavour will come mostly from the rolled oats, and the steel-cut ones are there to make people go, "Hey, there are real live oats in this bread, Harper!" Which, you know, they might do anyway. Right. Next recipe.


Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

INTRO
Oats make a bread which is characteristically tender, moist and just slightly sweet, the perfect foil for sandwich fillings as disparate as peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff or bologna and American cheese. And cinnamon toast made with oatmeal bread -- the smell of toasted oats mingling with the heady aromas of cinnamon and melting butter -- is enough to get anyone's day off to a very good start indeed.

The following recipe includes rolled oats, both in their whole state, and ground in a blender or food processor. Grinding a portion of the oats allows them to disperse more fully throughout the dough, lending it their humectant properties (in plain English, their ability to hold water, thus slowing down the bread's staling process). And leaving a portion of the oats whole gives the bread texture. All in all, the marriage of oats and wheat flour is a happy one, and a boon to sandwich and toast lovers everywhere.

Traditionally, oatmeal bread is sweetened with molasses, which gives it a dark color and pronounced burnt-sugar flavor. We choose to lighten the effect by using brown sugar and honey.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup thick oat flakes (old-fashioned rolled oats)
1/2 cup thick oat flakes, ground*
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon Lora Brody Bread Dough Enhancer (tm)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups King Arthur Special For Machines Bread Flour

INSTRUCTIONS
*Rolled oats are easily ground using a blender or food processor; a mini-processor is the perfect tool, because of the small amount being processed.

Manual Method: In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead the dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) till it's smooth. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, and allow it to rest for 1 hour; it'll become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk.

Bread Machine Method: Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your machine, program the machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. About 10 minutes before the end of the second kneading cycle, check the dough and adjust its consistency as necessary with additional flour or water; the finished dough should be soft and supple.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and shape it into a log. Place the dough in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, cover the pan (with an acrylic dough cover, or with lightly greased plastic wrap), and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, till it's crested 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes of baking. Yield: 1 loaf.

Note: If you prefer oatmeal bread sweetened the traditional way, with molasses, simply substitute 3 tablespoons molasses for the brown sugar and honey. The resultant bread will be darker in color, and slightly stronger tasting.

NUTRITION
Nutrition information per serving (1/2-inch slice, 57g): 140 cal, 3.7g fat, 4g protein, 19g complex carbohydrates, 4g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 8mg cholesterol, 205mg sodium, 78mg potassium, 32RE vitamin A, 1mg iron, 45mg calcium, 65mg phosphorus.

If you're curious, Lora Brody Dough Enhancer is a dough conditioner. It's a combination of gluten, ascorbic acid, and malt. Basically, it keeps baked goods from going stale, and people say that if you use it with heavy ingredients (like honey, oats, brown sugar, various kinds of sweetmeats), it helps bread dough rise better and improves the texture. I have never used a bread dough enhancer, and I'm only using what's on-hand in my kitchen for this bread, so Lora Brody doesn't make it onto my personal ingredient list today. She might never, to tell you the truth. This recipe calls for ground oats, and I don't have a grinder (other than a hand-operated coffee grinder, which I am not about to put oats into, thankyouverymuch!), so I'd have to coarse-grind half a cup of oats manually with a mortar and pestle. It does, however, call for honey, so maybe I'll use the honey measurement out of it and see where the flour measurements are different to produce the Harper Oatmeal Bread.



Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Bread

INTRO
What's a nicer way to begin the day than with a warm, crunchy slice of oatmeal toast? With all the great new artisan breads out there, some of America's favorite pan breads seem to be getting short shrift. Personally, we'd no more give up our white, oatmeal and whole wheat sandwich loaves than we would our favorite baguettes or focaccia. Each has its place in our world, and there's nothing like good old American pan bread for sandwiches and toast.

We've found that many of the recipes we try for oatmeal bread just don't taste much like oatmeal. Either the flavor is so faint as to be indiscernible, or it's overwhelmed by molasses. That isn't the case here; the nutty taste of oats shines through, with just a hint of molasses to augment the grain's natural sweetness.

Two of our favorite things to do with oatmeal toast are spread it with peanut butter, then layer it with bananas; and make broiled cinnamon toast from it, by spreading toast with butter, sprinkling on cinnamon-sugar, then broiling briefly, just till the sugar topping bubbles. Cut it in strips, and serve it in a basket with other breads; it'll remain fairly crisp, because of the extra toasting it got under the broiler.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup + 6 tablespoons boiling water
1 cup thick oat flakes (rolled oats)
2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup non-instant nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses or dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon granular lecithin*
1 tablespoon Lora Brody Bread Dough Enhancer*

INSTRUCTIONS
*While neither of these is strictly necessary, the lecithin will give you a moister, longer-lasting loaf; and the bread dough enhancer will give you a higher-rising loaf, with a better texture.

Manual/Mixer Method: In a large mixing bowl, combine the boiling water and oats, mixing to combine. Allow this mixture to cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients, mixing till the dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough with an electric mixer for 2 minutes; allow it to rest for 15 minutes, then continue kneading it for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until it's smooth. If you're kneading by hand, transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface; knead it for 3 minutes; allow it to rest for 15 minutes, then continue kneading till smooth, an additional 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set it aside to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours; it'll be puffy, if not doubled in bulk.

Bread Machine Method: Place the boiling water and oats into the pan of your bread machine, and gently mix them together by hand, using a spatula. Allow the mixture to cool till lukewarm, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, program the machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. About 10 minutes before the end of the final kneading cycle, adjust the consistency of the dough with additional flour or water; it should be smooth, though still a bit sticky. Allow the machine to complete its cycle.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and gently shape it into a loaf. Place the loaf in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pan, cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap or a dough-rising cover, and allow the bread to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until it's crowned 1 to 1 1/2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for about 35 minutes, or until the center registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Check the bread about 10 minutes before the end of its baking time; if it appears to be browning too quickly, tent it loosely with aluminum foil. Remove the bread from the oven, transfer it from the pan to a wire rack, and brush the crust with butter (or spray it with Vegalene or butter-flavored pan spray), if you like; this will help keep the crust soft. Yield: 1 loaf.

Granular lecithin? Sounds like something big bakeries put in bread to make their ingredients lists longer.... Ugh. It's a moistener/preservative of some kind? Ew. It's apparently used in some diet foods as well. I think I'll pass, unless someone who comments would like to clue me in on the wondrous benefits of something with such an unfortunate name? And again with the dough enhancer. This recipe also calls for molasses or dark corn syrup, neither of which I have (and it's hard to get corn syrup in the UK, at least as far as I know).

So here's what I know from reading these recipes. When you bake with oats, people mostly use boiling water, which doesn't surprise me. Doing all these things doesn't leave any yeast-proofing space, which makes me a wee bit nervous, though I suppose I could cut down on the amount of water in the boiling water mixture and proof yeast in another bowl. I'm always a little nervous when a bread recipe tells me to add yeast along with things like salt or powdered milk, so I'm going to go mostly with the second recipe, since that one doesn't call for boiling water. In the future, I should probably try it with the boiling water, just to see if it changes things and if so how. Probably I'll just make a substitution with some of the brown sugar for the honey in recipe number one, and we'll be good to go. Oh, and that milk will want to be room temperature or near it, so better go do that before we start anything else. I'll set out the ingredients while I'm doing that. You don't have to worry about that thing: just wait here and I'll take care of all the preparation. Also, I'm very likely to make a double batch, since the yield for this recipe is only one loaf. It's something like 11:00 now, and I don't expect it to take too long to put it all together.

A little more than an hour later, the bread is rising. Aside from forgetting the milk and having to put it in later, I think everything went all right. I ended up using the mortar and pestle to grind a cup of oats (remember, I'm doubling this recipe) after all; it wasn't that much extra work. In an hour and a half, we'll see what has happened with the bread dough. It took a little longer to get things together than usual because I had a few interruptions, and while grinding the oats didn't take much extra time, it did take a little extra time.

Comments

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

I have a good one, but it's at home. I'll post it for you this evening. If you don't try it now, you'll have it for another time. I've made it with and without a cinnamon swirl, and it's good both ways.

Bonus: My recipe is measured in cups and stuff. Hee.

[telynor.livejournal.com]

I really can read UK measurements, but I did bring a set of cups and spoons from the US, and it helps when I'm reading recipes from American companies, like King Arthur Flour. :)

[otherdeb.livejournal.com]

I will have to try these the next time I feel like baking.

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Cool! Since we live in the land of King Arthur I keep meaning to visit their store. I hear it's great. We buy 25 pound sacks of King Arthur. Although, I am keepign a small container of Pillsbury GOld Medal because the "Getting Fat and Loving it" (New Best REcipes) Cookbook often says this:
This recipe was developed using Gold Medal unbleached all purpose flour; best results will be achieved if you use the same or similar flour, such as Pillsbury unbleached. King Arthur flour has more protein; if you use it, add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.

Here's Ed's canonical (his mom's) 'famous' Oatmeal Bread recipe. It's quite good but I have to admit, though it may be sacriledge (: I want to try some of the others.

• 2 cups boiling water
  
• 1 cup oatmeal
  
• 1/2 cup molasses
  
• 1/2 tblsp salt
  
• 1 tblsp melted butter
  
• 1/2 yeast cake
  
• 5 cups flour
  Mix oatmeal and boiling water and let stand for 1 hour. Dissolve yeast cake in water. Add molasses, salt, butter, and yeast to oatmeal. Add flour. Mix well until sticky. Let rise overnight and then turn out onto floured board and knead. Place in 2 well greased bread pans and let rise to double its bulk. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, cover the loaves lightly with foil to keep the tops light. When done, butter the tops while hot. Makes 2 loaves.
  
  Let me know if you try it how you think it compares. Ed's actually quite into comparing version, even of family sacred recipes. ;-)

[ohiblather.livejournal.com]

Oh DROOL. Just reading these bread entries is making me fat.
I like the phrase "seedy brown bread." Makes me thinks of hobbits for some reason.