A Truce Declared, A Partnership Forged

I love the smell of baking bread. And there’s nothing quite like the taste and aroma of a piece of warm crusty bread fresh from the oven. But I don’t bake my own bread - ever. I do not have “bread fingers”. I have always been rather wary, apprehensive even, of working with yeast and bread dough. I don’t even think about making bread. It just seems too difficult, complex and well, hard to get right. Yeast seems like such an unforgiving and exacting thing to work with. I decided, many years ago, that it is best to stay well clear of yeast, and leave all that breadmaking-stuff to others.

My relationship with yeast has been a rather tempestuous and tumultuous affair. In fact, I don’t have a relationship with yeast. We have had probably all of two encounters in my life-time thus far. And on those two occasions, our coming together was, to put it succinctly, unmitigated disasters.

The first occasion was as a pre-teen in Junior High, in Home Economics class. The lesson was about leavening agents, and we had to work with yeast. All I remember of the lesson, to this day, is the musty, almost dank smell of yeast that clung tenaciously to my hair, clothes and fingernails, no matter how much I washed. I remember how I still had the smell of yeast in my nostrils the day after the lesson. As for the bread I was supposed to have produced during that lesson? Let’s just say I could have used it as a murder weapon if I had wanted to. I decided then that yeast and bread-making was not much fun at all.

Fast forward many, many years hence. As a young adult (with no cooking experience whatsoever, and barely any baking experience), I thought I would give bread and yeast another try. No go. Same experience. I managed to produce a loaf that was so hard and dense, and smelling so strongly of yeast that it couldn’t even really be called bread. So, that was it. I declared that I would never work with yeast again.

But never is a long time. A few days ago, I was flipping through the NTUC monthly magazine “Lifestyle” (which for some reason seems to get dropped, free of charge, into our mailbox each month). There was an article on a Spanish lady who came to Singapore to work at the Spanish consulate, but ended up becoming a Singapore resident and starting a culinary school. Included in the write-up were several of her bread recipes for what she said were Spanish Easter goodies. One of the recipes, with its delectable photo of a cheesy loaf, caught my eye. And for some inexplicable reason, I decided I was going to make the bread. The recipe seemed straightforward and simple enough. There was no need to make a starter. All that was needed was just bread flour and yeast. And the bread really did look good.

Ack! Me make bread?! I must be out of my mind. But the strange urge wouldn’t go away. I wanted to make this “cheese and onion country bread” as it was called. It was a foreign feeling, this wanting to bake bread. I tried to ignore it. It persisted. Finally, I gave in. Maybe it was time, after all these years, to call a truce in the stand-off. To build a new bridge of understanding. To establish a brand new working relationship with this thing called yeast.

And so yesterday I decided to conquer two “fears” at one go. I was going to bake again to “get over” Tuesday’s nasty burn – much like needing to get back on the horse immediately after falling off and to just keep riding. And on top of that, I was going to bake bread!

The recipe, as mentioned earlier, was for the making of one loaf of “cheese and onion country bread”. However, I decided I wanted to make both a savory and a sweet bread. So, instead of making one large loaf, I opted to make two smaller loaves. I thus ended up using only the basic dough recipe from the magazine, and experimented with my own fillings.

Basic Bread Dough
½ tablespoon yeast
¼ cup lukewarm water
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 ½ cups bread flour
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten

The recipe called simply for ½ tablespoon of dried active yeast to be mixed with ¼ cup of lukewarm water. I, however, decided to also add a pinch (maybe about ¼ teaspoon) of sugar.

There’s one thing I have never forgotten from that ill-fated Home Economics class back in school. I remember the teacher’s voice going on about how yeast must have food… how we must “feed” the yeast for it to cooperate with us. And that the one food that yeast likes most of all, above all things, is sugar. It’s strange how one remembers certain things so starkly through the fog of history.

I was determined that yeast and I were going to work harmoniously together this time around. If sugar was what it wanted, then sugar was what it would get, regardless of what the recipe said.

I watched anxiously for the yeast mixture to start bubbling. Three minutes passed. No bubbles. Flashbacks to nightmares past started to fill my mind. I decided I should go distract myself by measuring out the flour. A watched pot never boils.

And then it started to bubble, and get all foamy…

Thank goodness. And so we were on our way to home-made bread… hopefully.

Next, the 2 tablespoons of butter were dissolved in the 1 cup of lukewarm water, and set aside.

I measured out the flour using the “swirl, lightly spoon and level” method, rather than the “scoop and level” method, as I was very wary of getting a dense and heavy crumb. And I think it worked well. It gave a rather wet and tacky dough initially, but kneading it with a little additional flour brought it to the right consistency. The final bread texture was also very nicely soft and fluffy.

The flour, sugar and salt were combined together in a large mixing bowl. The beaten egg and the buttery water were added, and mixed well.

The yeast mixture was added. The resulting dough was still rather wet and tacky to the touch…

I turned it out onto a floured surface and kneaded it for about 5 minutes or so. And the dough shaped up well, with a nice springy touch…

The recipe said simply: “let rise for 1 hour or till double in bulk”.

But I was thinking I should maybe do something to help provide a nice warm environment for the dough to proof in, even though it was 34C outside and nearly just as warm inside the kitchen. So, I returned the dough to the mixing bowl and covered the bowl with cling wrap, followed by a slightly damp kitchen towel. (I read this somewhere, a long, long time ago. I do not know why I thought it relevant for proofing bread, but I did).

Meantime, I started on the fillings I had planned for the two bread loaves.

The Fillings
I decided to keep the savory loaf very similar to the original recipe, with just an addition of some ham to the onion and cheese. The sweet loaf was going to be filled with candied orange peel, raisins and almonds.

I used rosemary ham, to give the bread that little extra hint of fragrance. And one medium sized yellow onion.

The ham and onion were diced.

In about 1 tablespoon of butter, the onions were sautéed until soft and translucent. The ham was added, and given a quick sauté. If desired, a dash of pepper could also be added. The mixture was set aside to cool.

I didn’t have candied orange peel at home, so I used candied mandarin peel, which has a slightly stronger and more intense aroma than dried orange peel. I used only a small amount, as I wasn’t sure if its fragrance would overpower the raisins and almonds. And also because a family member had earlier scrunched up his nose when mandarin peel was mentioned, and had declared that it wouldn’t work in the bread. (This same family member later grumbled, upon tasting the bread, that there wasn’t enough candied mandarin peel in the bread!)

The almond slices were gently dry-toasted in a frying pan until a light golden color.

Shaping the Dough
The dough had doubled in size and was ready to go. I punched it down, and divided it into two. Each half was further divided into three pieces.

Each piece of dough was then rolled into a long rectangular shape. I found it easier to roll a piece of the dough, leave it to rest for a minute or two while I rolled the other pieces, and then come back to roll that same piece of dough again. It allowed the dough to relax a little in between rollings, so I could get nicely thin and stretched out long strips of dough.

The fillings were then sprinkled down the center of each strip of dough.

The original recipe filled the inside of the bread with only cheese, with the onions going on top of the bread. I decided to put all the fillings inside the bread (they are called fillings after all).

The onion and ham mixture went on.

Then shredded cheddar was sprinkled over.

The same thing was repeated for the sweet loaf.

Toasted almonds, raisins and candied mandarin peel were piled on. Oh, the colors and aromas. Nice! Yes, I do like to have a generous amount of stuffing in the bread. I mean, if the bread is going to be a filled-bread then I think it should be a well-filled bread.

You will notice that my dough rectangles were far from perfect, and a couple of the strips were rather mishapened even. But they still rolled up nicely and baked out beautifully. So bread is very forgiving in that way (I’ve now since found out ).

Each piece of dough was rolled up lengthwise, to form three long rolls of filled dough.

The three rolls were then pressed together at one end and plaited together.*

The shaped loaves were transferred onto a baking sheet (I used a double-layer insulated baking sheet) that had been sprayed with cooking spray, and left to rise for another half hour.

So far so good. Things were looking mighty positive.

[* Plaiting the dough is exactly like tying hair into a braid. The ladies will probably understand this. For the gentlemen, it is simply taking, alternately, the left and right outermost dough roll and crossing it over the center dough roll. For example, first, cross the left outer roll over the center roll. What was then the left roll has now become the new center roll. Take the right outer roll and cross it over this new center roll. Repeat with the left outer roll, and so forth. Finally, neatly tuck the ends of the rolls under the loaf, and it is done.]

Glazing the Dough
The recipe used one beaten egg mixed with 3 tablespoons of milk as the glazing liquid. I still didn’t have milk in the fridge (see marble cake post). So, I settled for 1 ½ tablespoons of buttermilk instead. I had no idea whether this was an appropriate substitution for a bread glaze. I mean, the last time I made bread was like 8-9 years ago, and it was an utter failure. Still, it was worth a shot. I didn’t think egg alone would be enough. It would probably color the loaf but not give it a nice sheen (at least that was what I figured was the purpose of the milk, although I could, of course, be way off in this). I used half the amount of buttermilk to milk because of its much thicker and richer consistency.

(I’m not sure if it was the buttermilk that contributed to rather darker-colored – almost too dark – final loaves. I liked the color though, even if it was much darker than normal.)

The two loaves of dough were brushed with the glazing mixture. More cheese was sprinkled over the savory loaf. And some untoasted almond slices were sprinkled over the sweet loaf.

Baking the dough
Into the preheated 200C oven they went.

My loaves were done after 25 minutes – 5 minutes shorter than the stipulated baking time. The bread was already a very rich golden brown color. I think the bread would have been ready to come out of the oven even after maybe 20-22 minutes, if I had been around to notice that they were already done.

Eating the Bread
I have to say, I was pretty stunned by the way the breads turned out. I was near speechless. Unbelievable! I made bread. And it turned out well! Woo hoo! I made bread… I made bread… I couldn’t believe it!

This was the almond-raisin-orange loaf…

It was gorgeous! Okay, so the almond flakes on top of the bread were a little charred (raisins would have been a better option for sprinkling on the surface), but the loaf looked absolutely scrumptious. And oh, the smell… the fragrance wafting from the bread!

Inside, it looked like this…

I really liked the texture of the crumb – softly dense and yet nicely fluffy and rather refined.

The raisins were soft, moist and juicy, the almonds were fragrant and crunchy and the mandarin peel… oh, the candied mandarin peel… it worked so well. It added a nice, refreshing, zesty aroma to the bread. I only wished I had put more of it in.

(I think this fruity loaf would make a sensational bread pudding the next day – assuming there is any bread left for the next day).

And here’s the cheese loaf…

On the inside…

The fillings for this bread worked very well too. The sweetness of the onions, the melted softness of the cheese, and the savory meatiness of the ham made a tasty combination.

Suffice it to say that both loaves were pretty much polished off as soon as they came out of the oven.

Further Yeasty Adventures
I like this basic dough recipe alot. It produces a loaf with a fine-textured crumb and a soft, fluffy texture. I found the density well-balanced. None of the airy nothingness of commercially produced bread, and yet not so heavy and dense as to make it heavy-going on the palate. The crust, while not crunchy, is firm with a nice bite.

And I think it can be so versatile. My mind brims with all the different fillings I could put into the loaves. Of course, this would make the bread less of a European-style country bread, but rather, it would become a distinctly Asian incarnation, much like some of the buns and rolls that can be found in our local bakeries - except that the home-baked version will have a much tastier bread surrounding the fillings!

Possible variations for a savory loaf:
• Sardines with fresh chilli and onions
• Sardines with black olives
• Tuna with chilli and onions
• Otak-otak (BBQ pieces of fish paste and coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaves)
• Sambal hae bee (chilli dried shrimps)
• Char siew with sweet wind-dried vegetables (mei cai or mui choy)
• Bak kwa (BBQ sweet meats) and pork floss
• Diced sausage, with or without cheese
• Shredded pork with rosemary
• Mixed mushrooms
• Black olives
• Sundried tomatoes with roasted vegetables like zucchini, bell peppers and mushrooms
• Smoked salmon and cream cheese, with dill or thyme
• And of course, a sure-fire success… bacon and cheese

Possible variations for a sweet loaf:
• Chunks of dark chocolate
• Chocolate chips with peanut butter chips
• Almonds or hazelnuts with chocolate
• Cranberry and candied orange peel
• Mixed candied fruit peels
• Christmas sweet mincemeat
• Raisins and cinnamon sugar
• Apples and cinnamon
• Tau sar (red bean paste)
• Ground peanuts mixed with sugar
• Nonya kaya (coconut egg jam flavored with pandan)
• Chinese-style milk custard (nai you) and sugar

Oh, the potential permutations and combinations are near endless. How exciting!

I now finally understand. I now understand what all the fuss is about. I can see why people can go on and on about baking bread. I can feel how it is possible to become totally hooked on the experience.

Bread making… it is about patience… it is about anticipation… it is about hope… it is about believe… it is about faith… and then it is about jubilation, elation and a deep, deep sense of satisfaction and pride at the sight of a golden brown loaf of bread, fresh out of the oven. It is about the aromas and the taste of that first bite into a piece of warm fresh bread.

Well, it looks like yeast and I, we have finally become friends. It isn’t as scary and menacing as I had thought it to be. I wasn’t expecting such an exhilarating, enjoyable and wonderfully successful outing with it. But it happened. And I am grateful. Hmmm… I think yeast and I will have many more interesting (and hopefully tasty) adventures together in the future.

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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