April 5, 2011 - 2:10pm
Carb Up (with Homemade Bread)!
BY JORDAN KRISTOPIK
- homemade challah bread
Before I begin, let me introduce myself as one of the new food bloggers for the year. I'm a sophomore here, and find myself thinking about recipes, baking, and cooking far more than I should. I live in a small apartment with an even smaller kitchen (one person only), with no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, and no storage. My oven has tilted burners, can't hold normal size cookie sheets, and has a electrocuted me on more than one occasion. However, I'm far from defeated. I'll hopefully be able to deliver a few tips to you on how to cook with, well, limited resources.
But before I head back to Ann Arbor, I make use of my fully-equipped kitchen at home as much as possible. Yesterday, as I was rummaging through a cabinet full of rejected baking equipment looking for a souffle dish, I came across a bread machine. My mom used to make bread in it fairly often when I was younger, but of course, got sick of it quickly. I don't endorse buying a bread machine, but if you happen to come across one, use it! For one thing, it makes your whole house smell fantastic. It makes the lightest, fluffiest bread, with a crunchy flavorful crust, and you can eat it right out of the bread maker, without waiting for it to cool. Although, it does take four looooong hours to bake. Making homemade bread is a far cry from Ramen, and not quite something a college student needs to have in their recipe repertoire, but it does give you a comforting, home-y feeling (and makes for perfect post-New Year's Eve recovery food).
There's not much to using a bread maker-- just dump in all the dry ingredients, followed by the wet ingredients, no need to stir. You put the yeast--the magic ingredient--in its own compartment. I made Challah bread, a traditionally Jewish bread made with eggs and sugar. And that's it. The machine allows the dough to rest, and then the kneading process begins. After the bread is kneaded, it rises and bakes. Take it out, slice it, smother it with butter, and enjoy. There's nothing like hot, fresh bread on the first lazy day of the new year. I didn't even get out of my pajamas.
(The big, white eyesore in the background of the picture is the bread maker.)
