Kefir Bread

I baked a second loaf of the kefir bread this weekend. I love the golden brown crispy crust that emerges and the moist dense yet sourdough like interior. Plus, I love that I finally have something to use all the leftover whey for!  Usually when I'm making kefir, I let it ferment all the way to curds and strain the cheese out. I have used the whey in a couple of baked goods, but never found a recipe where I could use so much at once. I particularly love that this is a no-fuss no knead bread as well! You simply need to stir flour and kefir whey together and let it ferment/rise for 24-36 hours. Then bake! Voila! You can find the original recipe here.

Dough rising way high up...

Kefir Bread

• 3 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. bread flour
• 2 1/2 c. kefir whey (or kefir milk)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar

1. Stir flour, salt and sugar together. Stir whey in. Dough should be wet and sticky.
2. Cover with a towel and let rise for 24-36 hours. (It will form a slight crusty layer on top).
3. Coat a dutch oven (cast iron pot) with a light layer of canola oil. Place it in the oven. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees F. Let the dutch oven heat for 20 minutes.
4. Scoop the dough into the dutch oven. Cover and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Just out of the oven

First slice

Warning: May Crack Under Pressure

One item of great importance re: my last post on no knead bread. After 4 months of using my corningware ceramic casserole dish for no knead bread, it has developed a huge crack down the centre rendering it unsafe for further bread (or cooking). So this is my warning to the rest of you: a cast iron pot/dutch oven is a necessity! And now I must go buy one in addition to a new casserole dish. If only Le Crueset were reasonably affordable, this is what I would be buying:

Instead I will resign myself to the far more practically priced KitchenAid version and hope they are on sale at Canadian Tire!

Also - I have tried the molasses-oat version by substituting spelt (1/2 c. rolled spelt and ~ 1/4 c. ground spelt soaked with the boiling water and molasses) and very much enjoyed it!

No-Knead Bread

One of my new years resolution was to not buy any more store bread! Firstly, because the ones that I really like, that are hearty and full of grains (and not preservatives), are so expensive ($3.99/loaf). Secondly, because they come in plastic bags (see post # 2).
My mom has become enamored with the NYTimes no-knead bread recipe but has steadily chipped away and added to make the recipe more to her liking. Her newest version is my favorite yet and we recreated it on her last night here for the Tofino visit.

Crunchy exterior, moist interior!

Molasses-Oat No Knead Bread 
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. bread flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
3 Tbs molasses
1 1/2 tsp salt
heaping 1/4 tsp of yeast.
2 c. water

1) Stir together the whole wheat flour and bread flour in a large bowl.
2)Boil 2 cups of water and add to a separate bowl with the oats, molasses and salt. Leave to soak.
3) When the water has cooled to "warm" as opposed to "hot" (ie you can comfortably stick your pinky finger in and leave it there for a bit), add in the yeast and (if it's not instant yeast) let sit for 15 min. There should be little bubbles on the top indicating that the yeast is fermenting!
4) Stir wet ingredients into dry just until mixed. This should be a sticky dough, so you can add a bit more bread flour if needed.
5) Cover bowl with saran wrap (or a towel) and leave in a warm place to rise for 18 hours (so yes you do have to plan in advance with this bread!) After 18 hrs, stir in 2 Tbs bread flour and let rise again for 2-4 hrs.
6) Preheat oven to 450 with the dutch oven or casserole dish INSIDE DURING THE PREHEAT. Leave the dish in the oven, with the lid off, for 30 min.
7) At the end of 30 min, scoop the dough into the dish and cover with lid. Bake for 30 min, then remove the lid and let it finish baking for 15 -20 min. Remove from oven and turn the bread out onto a cooling rack. When cooled, store in a paper bag to keep the lovely crusty edges.