Beard on Bread by James Beard Read Free Book Online Page B

slicing.
VARIATIONS
    • Before baking, brush the loaves with white of egg, lightly beaten, and slash the tops diagonally in two or three places with a very sharp knife or razor blade.
    • If you are baking a round loaf, slash the top twice to make a cross, which gives the loaf a nicely finished look.
    • Use half whole-meal, whole-wheat, or graham flour.
    • If you wish, you may omit the ½ cup sugar entirely.
George Lang’s Potato Bread with Caraway Seeds
    This fine example of gutsy Middle European peasant bread, from
The Cuisine of Hungary
, is baked free form, rises well, looks appetizing, and has a delicious “nose.” Its pungent flavor is completely different from that of most other breads, and is much better the second day. It also stores well in the refrigerator, and because of its rather tight texture, makes extraordinarily good toast. All in all, it is a most satisfactory loaf of bread, delicious with heavily sauced dishes because it is a perfect dunking bread. It’s also great for a bread, cheese, and wine meal.
    [1 large free-form loaf]
    3 medium potatoes, or enough for 1 cup mashed potatoes
    1 package active dry yeast
    2½ cups warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
    2 pounds unbleached all-purpose flour (approximately 8 cups)
    1½ tablespoons salt
    ½ tablespoon caraway seeds
    Cornmeal (optional)
    Scrub the potatoes and boil them in their skins until tender. Drain them, then peel and mash or put through a potato ricer while they are still warm. Allow the potatoes to cool. Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of the warm water, mix well with 3 tablespoons of the flour in a large bowl, and let this “starter” rise for 30 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cups of warm water, the salt, and the caraway seeds, then add the remainder of the flour and the mashed potatoes and mix well. Turn out on a floured board and knead until the dough is elastic and supple and has great life in it, about 12 to 15 minutes. Shape into a ball. Oil a bowl, put the dough in it, and turn the dough to coat with oil. Place in a warm, draft-free spot for 1 to 2 hours to rise until doubled in bulk.
    Remove the dough, punch down, and knead for 4 or 5 minutes. Shape into a large round loaf, place in a buttered 12-inch ovenproof skillet with rounded sides, and let rise for about 30 to 35 minutes. Brush the loaf with water, and then make a deep incision in the form of a cross in the center. Bake it in a preheated 400° oven for 1 hour, or until it is nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped with the knuckles. (The baking time can vary, taking even as long as 1¼ hours.)
NOTES
    1. If you find the dough is not too soft, you might try letting it rise in a free-form shape on a cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Then slide it directly onto hot tiles to bake.
    2. You may want more salt in this bread the second time you make it; I find that 2 tablespoons is not too much.

Sour-CreamBread
    This is a very rich bread with a slightly acid flavor and a wonderful texture. I invented it one day when I set out to make buttermilk bread and didn’t have any buttermilk. I resorted to sour cream instead, and the results were highly satisfactory. I like it as a fresh bread, with plenty of butter, or as toast, and I must say it also makes delicious sandwiches.
    [2 loaves]
    1 package active dry yeast
    3 tablespoons granulated sugar
    ¼ cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
    2 cups sour cream, at room temperature
    1 tablespoon salt
    ¼ teaspoon baking soda
    4½ to 5 cups all-purpose flour
    Combine the yeast, sugar, and water, and allow to proof for 5 minutes. Put the sour cream, salt, and soda in a mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture. Then add 4 cups of the flour, cup by cup, to make a very wet, sticky dough, beating hard with a wooden spoon after each addition. Scrape out onto a lightly floured board. Using a baker’s scraper or a spackling knife, lift the flour and the dough, and fold the dough over. Turn it clockwise slightly and repeat the