William Penn Life, 2015 (50. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2015-04-01 / 4. szám
A bread dough primer FÁRADJON BE A MAGYAR KONYHÁBA! By the time you read this, we should be seeing all the good signs of spring, including the ground. This was one of the worst winters I can remember. My fellow chefs in New Hampshire got buried with snow, Boston spent weeks digging out, and Philadelphia took seemingly forever to thaw. I used to enjoy winter and all it had to offer, as I was an avid skier. As I grow older, I find myself longing for warmer places, such as a golf course down south or a toasty kitchen where I can prepare food for all my friends and family. A few years back, I wrote a column on basic bread making. Since then, I have studied more and written courses and recipes for artisan breads—lean, rich and basic dough you can prepare easily in your own kitchen. Chef Vilmos has been working tirelessly in the bake shop, and we have put together a series of articles that will help you be a better dough maker. Unfortunately, pasta dough is not on our menu at this time, but in the future, we will have a column sharing our recipes and secrets for making the perfect pasta, ravioli and pierogi dough. First, some housekeeping. Mark your calendar so you don't miss any of the WPA events coming up over the next few months, including all your branch activities. As the weather gets warmer, plan on enjoying camaraderie with other Magyars at the bowling tournament, golf outing, Hungarian Heritage Experience and the WPA Picnic. Now, our monthly trivia: What is the origin of a "baker's dozen" as it applies to bread? The answer is fresh out of the oven, cooling on a rack, and waiting for you at the bottom of the next page. Bread is a staple enjoyed and prepared by many ethnic groups throughout the world. While there are many styles, types and shapes, they all stem from grains dating back to 4,000 B.C. The first breads were unleavened as yeast would not be discovered until a later time in history. Before that, grains were a staple of many cultures and were prepared in different ways by different cultures. Before the discovery of fire as a way of heating grains to make bread, man enjoyed the grains in the form of cereals or in soups as a thickening agent. The first grains consumed by man were wild. After man advanced from "gatherer" to "hunter-gatherer," he would learn to grow grains in season as a regular crop to harvest, grind into flour and eventually make bread and bread products. By the time man started growing his own grains, yeast had been discovered and became a main ingredient in bread making. This happened over centuries as man developed culinary skills. A simple recipe for bread involves a mixture of flour, water and salt-and perhaps a flavoring agent, such as garlic or fresh herbs-which is heated to fixate the protein then cooled so the product could be eaten. The breads we enjoy today are more refined than what early man consumed. The first breads were lean, meaning they contained no fats. Lean Yeast Dough is low in fats and sugar. Yeast is a natural living organism that leavens dough using the fermentation process. Fermentation is a process in which yeast acts on sugars, changing them into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The gas released expands the volume and gives shape and structure to baked goods made from lean dough. There are several types of yeast: • Fresh Yeast is moist and needs to be kept refrigerated. When baking with fresh yeast, your water must be two times the weight of your yeast as the yeast must be hydrated to ensure its proper use. • Active Dry Yeast is granular in form and must be rehydrated with water before any action can occur. For active dry yeast, your water must be four times the weight of your yeast. • Instant Dry Yeast, also called "rapid-rise" or "quick-rise," is dry and granular but does not have to be dissolved in water before using. There are 12 steps to yeast dough production when making bread: (1) scaling ingredients, (2) mixing, (3) bulk fermentation, (4) folding down or punching, (5) scaling or portioning, (6) rounding or shaping, (7) benching or resting, (8) makeup or panning, (9) proofing to give rise to the product, (10) baking, (11) cooling and, finally, (12) storing. Scaling ingredients is very important, so weigh accurately and keep wet with wet and dry with dry until ready to combine all ingredients. The Hungarian Kitchen is a trademark of William S. Vasvary.
