Wholesome

Note: I recently revised this recipe to make one nicely-sized loaf...it's a little more convenient.

Despite the recent cooking disasters, my kitchen has recently been glowing under the influence of my Christmas present from Mom and Dad. This little contraption has made quite a difference already. I love it with all my bread-baking heart. The hand-cranked version, which I have, gives me quite a pleasant sense of industriousness and freedom from the energy grid (as well as a gentle sheen of perspiration).

I was thrilled to find Prairie Gold wheat berries (grown in Montana very near to my dear old valley) at the local Amish Market for an excellent price. It has traveled through my wheat grinder and become any number of good things - breads and muffins and cookies and pitas - some better than others but all much healthier than before. I baked with whole grains before the grinder, but even King Arthur cannot redeem a whole wheat flour that has been sitting in the grocery store for goodness knows how long. I am amazed at the tenderness that freshly ground flour delivers.

I wish I could put the recipe for an incredible Molasses Rye Cookie here. But I baked it directly out of this cookbook and didn't change a thing. I keep checking this book out from the library and copying a few more recipes...a Cornmeal, Rye and Sesame loaf was another winner. Find it if you can, for it is a treasure chest of transitional whole grain recipes.

I can point you, however, to this recipe for bran muffins. They are made with actual wheat bran rather than the cereal, and take well to the additions of bananas and raisins or berries. Rowan gobbles them up happily.

I can also, without further ado, give you the recipe that raised me and possibly saved my mother's sanity. She was, as I understand it, utterly determined to make a good wheat bread early in her bread-baking career as a young wife. And believe me, "utterly determined" does not quite describe Mom's level of stubbornness and perfectionism. Let us just say that Dad became well acquainted with every species of bread-pudding in existence, for Mom is frugal as well as stubborn, and would not relinquish the leaden loaves to the garbage. Happily for us all, she found this recipe. It is called, appropriately enough:

Heavenly Whole Wheat Bread
(makes 1 loaf)

Mix the following three ingredients and allow to soak for thirty minutes. 

1 and 1/8 cups lukewarm water
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons honey

Add the following:

2 tablespoons oil
1 and 1/2 cups bread flour (all-purpose would work as well)
1 tablespoon gluten
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast (preferably SAF)

Proceed as usual. If you are using a bread machine, just let it do its thing (I use the dough cycle and then shape and bake my own loaves). If you are doing it by hand, then you know what to do. Mix, knead, rest, punch down, shape into loaves, rest and bake.

Mom usually made a much bigger batch of this dough, shaping several loaves. Then, on very, very good days, she would make fry bread by frying disks of the dough in oil until they were chewy and fantastic. Could there be anything better than that? With honey? Probably not, my friends, probably not.