(Mom's recipe. I admit, I've never made it. But I sure have eaten it and it's wonderful. Just one little problem.... no baking time or temperature. Mom says, "Well, it depends on the oven, and whether your pan is glass or metal, and so on." Right, Mom.... If you can make this work, it'll be worth it. One of these days, I'll try the baking instructions from the other recipe that follows.)
1 medium potato
1 quart water
1 heaping tablespoon shortening
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1 cake yeast
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon salt
Flour (approximately ¾ whole wheat and ¼ white)
Cook potato in water. Reserve water. Mash potato and mix into water Add shortening, salt, and sugar, and cool. Break yeast in a cup, cover with water. Scald milk and add to water. Add about 4 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white. Mix in yeast, let rise, and mix in 4 C. whole wheat flour.
(This is my recipe. I like it because you let it rise overnight in the refrigerator, pop it in the oven first thing in the morning, and -- voila -- fresh bread for breakfast.)
3 cup unsifted white flour
3 cup unsifted whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup corn meal
1 tablespoon wheat gluten
3 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 package (4 1/2 tsp.) active dry yeast
2 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine
Peanut or vegetable oil
Combine milk, water, and margarine in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until liquids are very warm (120-130 degrees F.) The margarine does not need to melt.
Combine flours. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix 2 cups flour mixture with wheat germ, corn meal, gluten, sugar, salt, and yeast.
Gradually add milk mixture to dry ingredients. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup flour mixture. Beat at high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and eleastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, then a towel. Let rest 20 minutes.
Divide dough in half. Roll each half to a 14 x 9" rectangle. Shape into loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pans. Brush with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.
When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator. Uncover dough carefully. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes. With a greased toothpick, puncture any bubbles that may have formed.
Bake at 400 degrees F., about 40 minutes, or until done. If using glass pans: Bake at 375 degrees F. for 40 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Brush tops with melted butter if desired.
Note: For crustier bread, spray water inside oven before placing loaves on rack. Spray once more, 10 minutes into the baking time.
About 1/2 cup of raw, unsalted, shelled sunflower seeds are an excellent additon to this recipe.
