What Is Your Go-To Bread?

[KYHeirloomer]

I just had an ephiphany. With all the recipes I have for artisan breads, and the fooling around with retarded fermentation, and pre-ferments, and taking as long as three days to make a proud-standing bread, my go-to bread is a simple oatmeal loaf that came off the back of the King Arthur Bread Flour bag.

Volume measuring, and rising by the clock, and all that stuff that "real" bakers don't do. But it's a great sandwich bread, and, frankly, nothing approaches it for toasting. It's also the base of the mini-hot browns we discussed on another thread.

So, I'm wondering what everyone else's go-to bread is?

Oatmeal Bread

3 cups unbleached bread flour
3 tbls brown sugar or honey
1 cup rolled oats
1 pkt active dry yeast (2 tsp)
2 tbls butter, softened
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup raisins (optional)

Combine all ingredients in bowl of mixer, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Nead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) until smooth. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rest 1 hour. It will become puffy, though may not double in bulk.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled survace and shape into a log. Place the log in a lightly greased loaf pan, cover with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours until it crests 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread ina pre-heated 350F oven 35-40 minutes until an instant-read thermometer inserted in middle registers 190F. If bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil for final 10 minutes of baking.

[jglass]

I will try your recipe.
Here is my favorite.

Italian Bread Recipe (Bread Machine)


1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 head of roasted garlic (optional)
3 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
cornmeal, for baking sheet
1 egg white, slightly beaten

Add flour, oil, salt, roasted garlic, sugar, yeast and water to your bread machine according to its instructions.
Set on dough setting.
Always follow your machines instructions, when mixing open it and keep check on the dough.
Dough should be in a nice round soft sticky to the touch ball.
If it is not add more water, or add flour which ever is needed.
Remove when signal beeps and cycle is done.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Sprinkle cornflour or cornmeal onto a baking sheet.
Punch dough down and form into a long or oval loaf.
Cover and let rise for 25 more minutes.
It should be doubled again by this time.
Uncover and slash the top with a sharp knife or razor.
Brush all over with the beaten egg white.
Bake 25 minutes to 35 minutes, until hollow sounding when tapped on bottom.
Cool before slicing.

I often sprinkle the top with some ground garlic or coarse salt just before baking. This is wonderful with some sharp cheddar for toasted cheese. Stale it makes great croutons or bread crumbs. Sometimes I double the roasted garlic. The other two I make often are Challah and Brioche. Awesome for french toast.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Mine is White Bread, I will not post as it is a simple recipe everyone has for white bread, but I only use milk and I add egg to my mine so I actually alter the recipe anyway! And I use the Quick Rise yeast most of all!

[StickyPirate]

I have an old standby oatmeal bread recipe that I've used for decades (first made it at age 13). It's from the old Mennonite cookbook More With Less and it's very similar to KY's recipe. It's hearty and wonderful.

Lately, I've really been enjoying the new-fangled no-knead methods, especially the Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day recipes. They work for me because they take so little hands-on time. I took a break from bread-baking though because I didn't want to have to buy a new wardrobe in a bigger size!!

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

By the way I am going to bake some fresh bread in my tagine to get a nice round crusty loaf

I want to find every use possible for a tagine.............anyone else got more suggestions on ways they use theirs?