"Guess what!! I made bread and it doesn't suck!!"

I left that on Miss Dick's answering machine Sunday afternoon. It's Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread. It rose. I didn't burn my kitchen down. It made a hollow sound when I rapped it with my knuckles like the recipe told me to do. And it doesn't taste half bad.

The recipe came from the book I'm reading, Going with the Grain by Susan Seligson. It comes from her chapter on the Ballymaloe House in Shanagarry Ireland where a man named Tim and his wife Darina are making really awesome traditional breads. (Did you know that to get Irish Soda Bread to rise you have to cut an 'x' in the top and they call it "letting the fairies out"?!)

But it's his mother, Myrtle, who is famous for her brown wheat bread. Seligson describes it as "at once dense and airy...it's got the kind of wholesome wheaty aroma that makes you want to rub your nose in it like a dog.". Well I guess you could call this loaf dense and airy. And I do keep smelling it...I think it could be a little sweeter though. Just a bit. More molasses? Honey? Or maybe its just a bread that requires you to serve it with butter or jam. How terrible.

I ate mine with some apple butter from good old Legend Hills Orchard from last fall. (And English Breakfast Tea....oops! Whatever, they're supposed to be friends now right?) Later that night I tried it with the dregs of my Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserve, and that is hands down a delicious pairing! I usually find raspberry jam to be too sweet, but this bread is so hearty its not a problem. Will have to buy some more jam...

I put half the loaf aside for a dinner later in the week (riding the bus with a loaf of bread in your purse is pretty special) and ate a slice for tea every night of the week. Tastycakes.

My Auntie M has recommended I get this book, Savory Baking from the Mediterranean, and who knows, maybe I'll keep breading. I mean this time there wasn't a yeast-icide and I only almost melted a plastic bowl and set a towel alight. Improvement?? Back in college Dr K apparently tried his hand at baking which produced "a pair of rye loaves that hybridized turd and brick" and "several pies that both looked and tasted like wet cardboard". Good job dad. Mine at least are edible, my kitchen may just end up being collateral damage some day. Is this baking evolution at work?? I wonder...

Ballymole Brown Yeast Bread from Going with the Grain

Ingredients:

4 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp molasses

2 c warm water (I ended up using 2 1/2 c since it was too dry when I mixed it all together)

1 tbs active dry yeast

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix flour with salt and warm it slightly in an oven just beginning to heat (don't be a dumbass and use a plastic bowl like me).

In a small bowl mix the molasses with some of the water and mix in the yeast. Put the bowl in a warm place (e.g., stove top). Let yeast grow for about five minutes or until the mixture is creamy and slightly frothy on top.

Grease a loaf tin and put it in the oven to warm, also warm a clean towel (as the oven is so hot this does NOT take long!!! Be careful!)

Stir yeast mixture well and pour it, with most of the remaining water, into the flour to make a wettish dough. The mixture should be too wet to knead (here's where I had to add 1/2 c more water). Put mixture into the greased, warmed tin. Put the tin in a warm place and cover it with the tea towel.

Let the loaf rise for about 40 minutes or so, until it rises to twice its original size (ok it took me like an hour for it to double in size, my yeast might suck so just add time as necessary).

Remove the tea towel and bake the loaf for 45 to 50 minutes, or until it appears nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped. At Ballymaloe the loaves are removed from their tins about ten minutes before the end of cooking and immediately placed back in the oven to crisp all around. If you prefer a softer crust leave bread to finish baking in the pan.

Serve with butter, jam or honey and of course tea....and maybe an Irish movie.