Roaming Buffalo Ranch

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Rustic Potato Bread

In the 18th century, wheat was in short supply for many years due to crop failures in Europe. The rich were able to pay the high prices for imported wheat, but the working poor were not. The working poor demanded, nearly rioting for so called "white bread". Price controls for bread were instituted and in fact remained for nearly 200 years. However, it did not change the fact that the wheat crop was nearly non-existent.

Bakers tried many different ingredients such as peas, barley and corn to replace wheat with, but they did not satisfy the desire for "white bread". Can you imagine the flavor and color of bread made from green peas? However, bakers were able to use potatoes with some success.

I recently purchased French bread from the store. Even though it was a great price it wasn't great bread. It wasn't great bread before, but it is even worse than before. It also turned moldy within a few days. I think they must have figured out how to put more cellulose in the recipe. This is probably why they were able to lower the price from its record price hike. Here is what the AI had to say about it:

Cellulose in bread is often made from wood pulp or cotton lint:

Wood pulp: Cellulose is a plant fiber that's extracted from wood by grinding it up.
Cotton lint: Cotton is a good source of cellulose in its purest form.

Cellulose is a common food additive that's used to add texture and fiber to many foods, including bread, breakfast sandwiches, smoothies, and barbecue sauce. It's also found naturally in fruits, vegetables, and cereals.

Cellulose is a safe, inexpensive carbohydrate that's chemically inert and doesn't break down during digestion. In large quantities, it can provide dietary bulk and may have a laxative effect.

GROSS!!!

I have added various ingredients in the past to my basic bread recipe in small amounts, but nothing that can't be digested. Today I decided to use a large portion of dry instant mashed potatoes in my recipe to make potato bread and it turned out beautifully. I replaced one cup of flour for one cup of instant mashed potatoes. I added the instant potatoes into the milk mixture and mixed it until it was well combined. I had to work the dough for several minutes longer adding more flour until the mixture formed a lovely soft workable dough ball.

I decided to make rustic loaves instead of sandwich loaves due to the added density of the potatoes. The rustic loaves turned out beautifully. The crusty outside and the soft crumb is the perfect combination. I was overly worried because this dough can also be baked in 3 loaf pans for perfect sandwich bread. Just adjust the temperature to 400* and bake for 30 minutes or until done.

I scored both loaves with different designs.

Scoring the loaves allows steam to escape during the baking process.
Loaves are scored in many different ways in communities that use communal ovens
to make the identity of the baked bread known to its' owners.

Here is the link to my Basic White Bread. To make Potato Bread, replace 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of instant mashed potatoes. Plain boiled potatoes mashed can also be used. Just remember, the amount of flour used may need to be adjusted. For crusty loaves, bake in a pre-heated oven in a pre-heated Dutch oven lined with parchment paper at 450* for 30 minutes with the lid on. After 30 minutes, reduce heat to 400*, remove the lid and continue baking until deep golden brown. I baked mine for an additional 4 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing. This recipe makes two rustic loaves or 3 loaves of sandwich bread.

Enjoy,

Mrs. Smith

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Hunting Season and Happenings

Number One Husband mad breakfast this morning. I usually do not eat breakfast, but I couldn't turn it down since he worked so hard on it. We play backgammon while eating most of our meals. We have a longstanding tradition that whoever wins at backgammon has to do the dishes. I won or lost depending on how you look at doing the dishes. It keeps the winner humble...

I keep baked potatoes in the refrigerator that I baked in the sun oven. It makes cooking hashbrowns a lot easier and cuts down on energy usage. I made a big pot of gravy for the weekend. I didn't have time to bake more bread this past week and I knew that we were going to run out, so I bought three .27 cent loaves of French bread at Walmart. I can't bake bread for .27 cents. They were on the marked down shelf. They had obviously baked too many because they had over a dozen loaves.

It was the best deal in the whole store compared to the golf ball sized Roma tomatoes for $1.28 a pound or the .88 cent miniature cucumbers. I do not know what is going on with our produce. After digging through the tomatoes and cucumbers to find the very best ones, my hands were slick with a waxy film. So gross!

Last week was busy with lots of paperwork, taxes and a trip to town. We needed a tank of gas, medicine, very few groceries and a couple of miscellaneous items like a thumb drive and cabinet stops to keep the cabinets from banging. Well, the cabinet stops were just as hard as the wood and the cabinet door still bangs. What a waste of $5 bucks. The trip was upwards of $200. How crazy is that? That is about the average cost of going to town these days.

We have some of the most beautiful sunsets. Last evening was no exception. We also experienced the aurora borealis this past week. It was red. It nearly encircled us. It was Quite beautiful. It was too dark to take pictures. I was unaware of it until my friend in Arkansas sent me pictures and by then it was too late.

The mornings are very cool now. The bluebirds left yesterday. It is also very dry. Gun season is over. We had two cheating hunters who used unethical techniques to bag an antelope. One shot from the road. I have pictures of him shooting from the road into a herd to no avail until he came back a few days later. He killed a female with twins from the road both of which are illegal. I despise hunters who risk the lives of animals and people. They are disgusting humans...

It's the fault of the government who allows hunters to hunt near residential areas with roads and houses in the crossfire. There may be good hunters, but this year there were only bad hunters. The twins took up with a young buck who was orphaned in the same manner two years ago.

According to Lewis and Clark hunting antelope proved to be most difficult due to their speed, awareness to danger and sharp eyesight. They also hunted antelope illegally by today's standards. Our herd stays close to our homestead during hunting season. They leave at dusk for water and return at dawn before the hunters get started. Unfortunately, the heard was scattered and the female became a victim of unsavory hunting practices.