I learned the basics of bread making by watching Breaking-Bread series by Father Dominic on PBS. His show demystified the whole bread making process for me. I grew up in Andhra Pradesh, the rice bowl of India, where bread is not an everyday food. It is an exotic thing associated with sickness, prescribed by doctors as an easy digestable food for people when they are ill. Only time I had bread was when I was under the weather and that too quite reluctantly.
When we moved to US, it took some time to get know that bread is not a bland tasteless cardboard kind of food that I remembered and also to separate the bread-sickness association from my mind. I was fascinated by the completely unknown world of bread making and different varieties of bread. I was curious and eager to learn the process so I tried the cook books about baking bread. With information overload, the whole process of bread making felt as easy as preparing for an entrance exam or tooth pulling.:)
During that time, Breaking Bread series by Father Dominic started on PBS. This chubby, homely monk with a pleasant, fatherly disposition and witty, calming narrative showed the bread making in such a way, that I felt confident to try out. The bread I first baked was a plain whole wheat bread loaf. We both liked the taste of it and later on I experimented with adding honey, nuts etc., After moving to Ohio, I am using the whole wheat flour, produced in old style – stone grinding powered by water at Lanterman’s Mill (not only the major tourist attraction but also a functioning working flour mill of Boardman, Ohio) for my bread. The difference in taste is tremendous, the close thing I can compare it is that of great harvest bakery whole wheat bread. Lot of texture and full of flavor, just two slices would fill us up good.
Last weekend I tried again my bread making skills. Although the dough behaved with a mind of it’s own because of excessive rainy and humid weather, the loaf cameout good after baking. Here is the recipe and the whole process in images:
Lanterman’s Mill……………..Stone ground Whole Wheat Flour
Recipe:
1 cup coarsely ground whole wheat flour from Lanterman’s mill
1 cup whole wheat flour (King Arthur brand)
1/4 ounce packet of dry active yeast
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup honey
½ cup of golden raisins and chopped walnuts
¼ cup of oil
First Rise:
Dissolve yeast in half cup of warm water. Measure the flours in a big bowl. Mix buttermilk, oil, honey, water and yeast mixture into the flour to make soft, sticky dough. Take the dough on a wooden board and knead it for about 5 to 10 minutes, handling it gently. Use a spatula to pick up the sticky dough and turn it over as you work. Place this kneaded dough back in the bowl, cover and place the bowl in a warm place and let the yeast do the work. Wait until it tripled in size for about 2 to 3 hours.
The Second Rise:
When the dough has finished rising, add nuts and raisins and prepare the dough for the second rise. Take the dough again on flour board, deflate it by pressing the dough flat. Now sprinkle finely chopped walnuts and gloden raisins. Incorporate them into the dough by kneading for few minutes. Place the dough in a loaf plan, cover and let it rise to the top of pan, takes about another two to three hours.
After this final rise, place the loaf pan in preheated oven at 400° F and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove it from oven, bread slides out of the pan easily and let it cool completely before slicing.
The pearls of wisdom, I learned from Father Dominic is ” Let the dough rest and don’t peek and poke it too often”. Very true for successful bread making.
Honey whole wheat bread with walnuts and golden raisins
Our weekend breakfast, lunch and dinner
Recipe Source: Cooking Show on Television.
Wow, that bread sounds delicious. I have had a lot of failures with them. So I don’t try too often. Indira- is there a reason why you use two different flours?
Comment by mika — October 17, 2005 @ 3:50 pm
Hey Indira,
When and what cooking shows are on PBS ?
I live in the central standard time zone.
I don’t watch PBS, so am asking.
Thanks.
Comment by Sakhiya — October 17, 2005 @ 4:20 pm
Mika.. Lanterman’s Flour is very coarse, when I made bread with it alone, the bread turned out hard that’s why I started adding the regular commercial whole wheat flour to the dough.
Sakhiya..The series name is ‘Breaking-Bread with Father Dominic’. Its an old show, I don’t think they are showing the episodes now on PBS. Check your local PBS website for this programme, or local library for shows video cassettes or cook books. Hope this information helps.
Comment by Indira — October 17, 2005 @ 6:57 pm
Hi, Indira. This is first time I’m posting comments. One of my friend suggested me this site and then onwards I became great fan of ur site. Where can I get Lanterman’s Flour, we live in Herndon, VA.
Comment by Rohini — October 18, 2005 @ 12:24 pm
Hi Rohini, thanks!
Lanterman’s Mill flour is locally produced and sold and not avilable nationwide. Substitute it with King Arthur or other brands whole wheat flour. If you want, you can also search the web for any mills that produce whole wheat flour in your area.
Comment by Indira — October 18, 2005 @ 1:20 pm
Hello Indiara gaaru,chaala thanks andi intha manchi site start cheisinanduku. Chaala baga design chesaru site ni. Inka mee vantalu roju try chestunnanu. Konni ma amma recipes kuda unnay, ante ma amma kuda same ingredients use chestaru and same method. Naaku chaala nachindi mee site, roju choostanu. Nenu recent ga US vachanandi, intlo bore kodutundi, so mee vantalatho time pass chestunnanu. Chaala thanks andi. Meetho telugu lo matladalanipinchindandi anduke telugu lo rasanu. Me mail-id teliyadandi, lekapote mail chesedanni.
Comment by Rohini — October 18, 2005 @ 1:50 pm
Wow, that bread looks and sounds delicious! I’m sure it is. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Comment by Beth - The Zen Foodist — October 18, 2005 @ 2:02 pm
The bread looks great!
I am such a fan of bread like that mmmmm
You should have a look in a book on shaping bread as that will help give the bread the more traditional shape 🙂
Comment by clare eats — October 21, 2005 @ 11:55 am
Clare..On that day, weather was horrible here. Very cloudy and high humidity in the air. I tried but the dough wouldn’t keep the shape at all and also I think I did go little overboard with butter milk.
Even in that shape, when baked the bread came out, as you can see, excellent, just like the shaped bakery ones. It also tasted real good and moist.
Comment by Indira — October 22, 2005 @ 7:55 pm
[…] o my cooking? Most Intriguing Recipes I have tap Indira again for this hearty recipe for Honey Whole Wheat Bread. I just wanted to reach th […]
Pingback by Zen Foodism - A Food Blog Emanating from San Diego » Favorite Foodism of the Week — October 23, 2005 @ 3:14 pm
do u have recipe for making naan..
Comment by shanthi — December 16, 2005 @ 4:42 pm
Wow! I’m so very impressed by your bread making skills. The two times I’ve tried baking bread, it turned out horrible. I was so put off that I vowed never to try this again until I took some baking classes by professionals.
Indira replies…
I know, I had quite a few bad experiences. I always blame it on weather though. 🙂
See this recipe works for you Kay.
Comment by Kay — January 25, 2006 @ 8:33 am
Sure, I’ll try this, Indira! With so many things going on here, I might have to probably wait for a month or so, before I try this. but, I plan to try this before giving up and joining a baking class. I have this in my ‘to try’ list so that I wont forget.
Is this plain wholewheat flour that you are using or is this wholewheat bread flour? Will using Swad ‘stone ground wholewheat flour’ spoil the process?
Also, how big is this active dry yeast packet?
Indira replies…
I know, I also have a big list of recipes from other bloggers to try.
I used a local – stonegroud, very coarse whole wheat flour and King arthur’s whole wheat bread flour for this recipe.
Swad works? – I guess it can, again I never tried Swad brand flour before.
I just added the link to yeast. 1/4 ounce packet.
Comment by Kay — January 26, 2006 @ 2:39 pm
Hi Indira,
Am trying to get an easy recipe for bread pudding.I made this once ’bout 4 yrs back i think but can’t remember hw i did it..it actually came out gud too..my bad i dont have the recipe now..have u ever tried making bread pudding?
Indira replies…
Thanks Jeen for your nice words about my blog on ‘About Mahanandi’ page. I’d love to have your mom recipe of fruit cake. My email is – mailmeatmahanandi@yahoo.com.
Bread pudding – Indian Hyderabad type, without eggs, I know the recipe and prepared it before several times. But western style one with eggs, baking etc., I’ve never made that until now. Which one are you looking for?
Comment by jeen — February 15, 2006 @ 12:34 pm
jamie oliver has a great basic bread recipe. always works. you can get it off his website. your bread sounds good too. i’ll definitely give it a shot.
Comment by amit — August 23, 2006 @ 5:11 pm
Awesome information!
Thanks for this!
Bread in the mountains seems to rise and fall with the climate. Has this ever happened to you? Like in seasons?
Comment by Whole Wheats — April 30, 2007 @ 11:08 am
1 cup coarsely ground whole wheat flour from Lanterman’s mill
1 cup whole wheat flour (King Arthur brand)
1/4 ounce packet of dry active yeast
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
Hi Indira,
I need your help. My question may be foolish.. apologies. I did not come across coarsely ground whole wheat flour in the country i stay. But I really wish to make this bread. Any idea if I can substitute the coarsely ground wheat with perhaps oats or coarsely ground rice.
Also can yoghurt be used instead of buttermilk.
Awaiting your guidance.
Thank you so much.
Anils
Comment by anils — December 5, 2007 @ 12:01 pm
Hi Indira,
I need your help. My question may be foolish.. apologies. I did not come across coarsely ground whole wheat flour in the country i stay. But I really wish to make this bread. Any idea if I can substitute the coarsely ground wheat with perhaps oats or coarsely ground rice.
Also can yoghurt be used instead of buttermilk.
Awaiting your guidance.
Thank you so much.
Anils
Comment by anils — December 5, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
Wow ! looks lovely !!
How long does this bread last ?
Do we need the two different wheat flours?
can I just make with indian stores wheat flour?
thanks,
-Deepa
Comment by Deepa — October 22, 2008 @ 2:04 am
You can get Lantermans Mill flour thru the mail just call the mill at 330-740-7115. Though it cost as much to mail as it is to buy its still cheaper than stone ground at a health food store. They are now offering classes to cook with whole grains that they grind.
Comment by Diana — June 28, 2012 @ 6:18 pm
When we moved to US, it took some time to get know that bread is not a bland tasteless cardboard kind of food that I remembered and also to separate the bread-sickness association from my mind.
Comment by best workouts to lose weight checked by findwritingservice.com — March 15, 2018 @ 9:27 am
I have tap Indira again for this hearty recipe for Honey Whole Wheat Bread.It also tasted real good and moist.
Comment by hr solutions india — February 2, 2019 @ 1:25 am