Recipes & More

Many of you have asked for Farmhouse Kitchen's homemade bread recipe, so here it is! This is my standard sandwich bread, dinner rolls and with a wee bit of adjusting it becomes our pizza crust recipe. I make this bread often, honestly it's nothing fancy. This is a great recipe for smart beginners to enjoy the learning curve of baking fresh bread. This bread should be consumed within a couple of days to keep its peak flavor and texture.

Baking bread is a bit easier if you have a mixer. However I baked bread and homemade pizzas for years without a mixer, so don't let the lack of a mixer keep you from trying to bake bread.

Bread Baking Mindset
Baking simple breads at home isn't hard, but it does take time. If you're ready to try your hand at baking bread I really encourage you to check out some of the many wonderful bread baking books from your local library. Read through them like you would read
a novel, it really helps you understand the chemistry side of bread baking. Reading through the notes and specific bread science lessons was very valuable to me in the early days.
There's a bit of a learning curve on figuring out how best to fit baking bread into your lifestyle.
You need to get to know what makes your new friend thrive!
Bread likes warmth. The little things like the temperature of the water that receivies the sleeping yeast, the temperature of your flour, and the temperature of the room where the dough rises are all important. Warmth = Happiness for your dough.

Makes 2 loaves
Simple recipe is:
Dry Ingredients Mix:
6 cups of unbleached, organic wheat flour other wise known as white flour
2 tsp good quality salt

Wet Ingredients Mix:
2 Tbls good quality honey
2 1/2 cups of warm water
2 tsp baking yeast
2 TBLS olive oil or organic canola oil

The Process:
I begin with setting up the wet ingredients first.
The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of warm water. Temperature is very important. Think very warm bathtub water, not scalding, but your wrist/finger isn't staying in super long. It's hot – 114degrees is ideal. I usually heat up a bit over 1 cup of water in a small sauce pan bringing it almost to a boil. Then I add this very hot water to a glass measuring cup, add the honey, mix and dissolve.Then add the rest of the water – about a cup and a half of cold to balance it out and it will make 2 1/2 cups of warm water that feels like the right temperature. Over time this temperature alchemy will become second nature.
Once the water is just right you will add 2 tsp active baking yeast to this warm, sweet mixture. The yeast is awakened by the warm water and it feeds off the honey. In ten minutes it will become a frothy, foamy slurry. Only mix this mixture when you first add the yeast, let it do its thing after the initial add & stirring.

Wait to add the oil that is one wet ingredient that gets added later .

Once you have your wet ingredients mixed, set them aside and let the yeast awaken. Next measure out the dry ingredients, grease the pans, and find the clean linens you'll need to cover the rising dough.
Get your bread hook attachment hooked up, add your dry ingredients to the mixers bowl and raise the bowl into place. Double check that your splash guard and funnel are lined up correctly, make sure your bowl is snapped into place and turn the mixer on.
I add the frothy yeast mixture to the running mixer and then quickly add my oil right as the dough is forming.

If you don't have a mixer

Simply measure out the dry ingredients into a large bowl, mix them together and then hollow out a hole in the center of the flour. Add your wet ingredients to this crater and slowly with a fork begin to incorporate the flour along the rim of your crater. As you do this the wet area expands eventually coming together as a nice ball of dough.

The dough shouldn't be too wet or too stiff and dry. This is one of those things you just get used to over time the more you bake.

Keep some extra flour near by to fix the consistency if needed.

Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a clean linen and set it in a warm place to rise. If you have a wood stove be careful not to put it too close to the stove, this will dry out the dough and accelerate rising.

Let it rise till doubled in size (about 90 minutes)

.

Shaping the Loaves
Dough likes to be handled very gently, divide it in half and shape each one into a loaf.
I hold the dough in the air as I shape the loaves. I mould the dough into a long rectangle and then roll it upward. I pinch the bottom seam and do the same for each end and tuck it under the loaf to make a pretty shaped loaf and place it in a greased bread pan.

Repeat for the next loaf and then let the dough rise again, covering the pans with a linen towel for about 30 minutes till they look really nice and fluffy.

Place them into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 45 min.

As soon as you can handle them, remove the loaves from the pans to cool otherwise they will sweat in the pans as they cool.

The larger version Makes 3 loaves or 2 loaves & 12 small rolls or 6 large ones

Simple recipe is:
Dry Ingredients Mix:
9 cups of unbleached, organic wheat flour other wise known as white flour
1 TBL good quality salt

Wet Ingredients Mix:
3 TBLS good quality honey
3 3/4 cups of warm water
1TBL baking yeast
4 TBLS olive oil or organic canola oil

Strategic Kitchen Tip
If you hope to have some bread on hand for the following day try to time your baking so the hot bread isn't ready when everyone is super hungry!

Have fun with it and be sure to comment below and share your success!

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by how much there is to learn about our food supply? Harness the power of Netflix to make the process easier on yourself. There’s a lot of good news despite the severity of the bad news about the industrial food supply. For a crash course in all things food check out these 10 informative documentaries. In one cold weekend you can easily learn more about the food you are eating everyday, see where it’s coming from and why.

With this movie list you can head over to Netflix and learn just about everything you need to know about our nations most pressing food issues in a weekend.

Food Inc. is one of my most beloved food movies because they go in hard with facts to the heart of what’s wrong with our food supply.There is no fluff in the entire movie, and they share the the many levels of truth about real cost of cheap food. This is not a light movie, you will laugh, be outraged and especially if you are a parent, you may cry. The environmental toll our current agriculturally food system has on both the external and the internal environment is astounding. I recommend watching it at least three times this winter. Yes, really three times! The reason I make that recommendation is because the content in the movies is overwhelming in its scope. Rather than watching it once and risking the possibility of going into overwhelm, or ridicule. Watch it again to push through any opposition, then the third time you will be prepared to fully accept its documentation of our current food supply issues and create a game plan for staying healthy and finding high quality food to nourish your family.

Genetic Roulette– If you want to know the health science of what’s going on with GMO’s in regard to human and animal health. This film will help ground you in such a way that you will never have a confused moment about the issue of GMO’s again.

King Corn – This film covers the issue of corn and its foundation in our food supply very well. It’s not a really deep movie in its political motives. Basically this film shines light on the depth of the issues with our industrialized food supply with a slightly bizarre innocence. Definitely a film worth watching.

Food Stamped– Tackles the issue of whether or not people on food stamps can afford to eat healthy food. Washington policy makers are interviewed and share their experience of living on a food stamp budget while working out the dollar allotments for the program. The main focus of the movie is a food educator who eats clean foods as the foundation of her own personal diet normally. She embarks on a challenging journey with her partner of eating a healthy, clean foods diet on only a food stamp budget. Very well done, great movie!

Food Fight– This movie is a short but powerful window into the reality of the fight we have at a policy level for funding, the roots of the processed foods industry and original movers and shakers in the fight for clean food. It details the deeds of the misguided politicians and special interests that corrupt the reform of the food bill and keep governmental funding in the form of subsidies flowing towards foods that keep people unhealthy. Throughout is an inspiring narrative about people who are making a real difference and demanding change by showing it can be done on a small scale. With their success they’re seeking to hold the government accountable for funding foods that support health. Very inspiring movie, I highly recommend it!

Ingredients– This movie shares the roots of the local foods movement from the lens of the pioneering chef driven locally grown foods movement. The chefs were in search of the best, most flavorful ingredients. It’s also a tale of innovation, trust, changing the food culture, the roots of the local foods movement and the love of soil. It also sheds light on the loss of farmers, the loss of farmland on which to grow food ,suburban sprawl and land use issues.

Farmageddon – An eye opening look at the state of the methods that are being used to keep the local foods movement in distress. There is big money in clean food and those who don’t produce a quality clean product don’t want farmers drawing attention to the state of food today. This is a very important movie, everyone who eats needs to watch it.

Food Matters-Tackles the issue of how deeply connected what types of food we consume and our overall state of health are .Highlights the profit motives for keeping people ignorant about true wellness in order to have a steady client base for the medical system. They are raising many question about food and health matters and we should too.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John– This is a lighter film about food in some regards, but it tells the story of triumph, salvation and renewal of the family farm to a sustainable model with a big heart. Excellent movie with a touching story, wonderfully highlights the history of the American family farm!

FRESH -Wrapping up the weighty post with the movie that best illustrates the good news about food! Highlights some of the most innovative, go getters solutions driven farmers and food pioneers in America! I love this movie! Uplifting and positive! Solutions abound, are you ready to change the food supply? Great because this movie highlight folks who are already doing it! If you ever get depressed about food supply issues this film is for you!

We’re just getting started, consider this my top ten foodflix picks. There are more movies on this important subject and several more in production. As a small scale food producer I want to take a moment thank you for your interest in the local food movement. Purchasing high quality, local, nutrient dense foods is an investment that goes way beyond your personal plate. Your choices are making a difference, and you’re helping to pave the way for healthy food for all.

Share which of the above movies made your favorites list in the comments below.
 

 

These light and fluffy cinnamon pancakes are a sure fire way to please a hungry crowd! This simple recipe goes together in minutes they’re always a big hit in the Farmhouse Kitchen. Pancakes are also fantastic way to whip up a delicious (and cheap) dinner or snack on the fly. A tasty solution for those times when you find yourself without a plan or when you need something special for spontaneous hospitality.

If you’re using a cast iron skillet preheat it on med-low heat while you mix up the batter.
Pancakes For A Crowd
Serves 8