Church Street Brewery Co. Red Rye Lager Bread

We're starting our beer bread journey with Church Street's Red Rye Lager.  When we tasted this, it just screamed rye bread.  No, seriously it did.  :)  It just has that rye taste to it.  Rye is one of my favorite types of bread, but even those that don't enjoyed this loaf.  It's a light rye, not a solid pumpernickel.  This bread has a full bodied tang.

I've learned that yeasted beer bread doesn't really act the same as regular yeasted breads.  They are extremely slow to rise.  We're talking double the amount of time it would take for a regular loaf of bread.  Please, please, please make sure you have 5-6 hours to make this bread.  I started mine at about 11 am this morning and its just now in the oven at 4 pm.  Another thing I've learned about beer breads is that the dough is extremely wet.  So incredibly wet that its almost impossible to knead by hand.  I recommend using either your mixer with a dough hook or your bread machine to mix the dough.  You'll also be tempted to add extra flour.  Don't add extra flour!

It is beyond worth the trouble and time.  The loaf (what's left of it) is still moist after days of sitting loosely wrapped on the counter.  For breakfast, it's the perfect choice as this dense bread made with beer will leave you full.  This bread toasted completely defeats any other.  

Red Rye Lager Bread

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

3 tablespoons raw sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg yolk

1 (12 oz.) Church Street Red Rye Lager

1 cup flour

1 cup bread flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup rye flour

3/4 cup Church Street spent grains

2 teaspoons salt

In mixer add flours, grain, salt, sugar and yeast.  Mix well.  Add beer, egg yolk and melted butter.  Mix until dough comes together.  Stop mixer and change to dough hook.  Mix with dough hook 8-10 minutes until dough appears smooth and elastic.  

Place dough in large greased bowl.  Cover with a towel and allow to sit in a warm draft free place until doubled in size.  Punch down dough, turn out onto floured surface and shape into either one large round or two smaller rounds.  Place on a baking sheet either lined with parchment paper or with a silicon baking mat.  Cover with a towel and allow to rise again, until doubled in size.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450 degrees.  When you turn on the oven, thoroughly spritz the dough with water.  Right before baking slash the dough twice with a very sharp knife and then spritz again with water.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until temperature of loaf is 180 degrees.  Remove from oven and immediately place loaf on a cooling rack.

Wholesome Wednesday: Buttermilk Chocolate Bread Recipe

I have to start this post by saying I am not a fan of anything Taste of Home.  I typically don't like the magazines or the cookbooks because the recipes aren't very good.  If you're a big fan of Taste of Home, I'm sorry if I've offended you.  That said, I look at an ungodly amount of cookbooks.  We're talking stacks and stacks.  I also have bookcases full of cookbooks.

This recipe comes from the new Taste of Home Best Loved Recipes cookbook.  It's a massive tome, think dictionary size, arranged alphabetically by category.  I thumbed through the entire book and found just a few recipes that looked promising.

I love buttermilk breads.  They turn out moist and taste wonderful.  They also don't require fooling around with yeast.  I was hoping this bread would be more of a sandwich bread, but it was like a chocolate loaf cake.  That's not at all a bad thing, just not what I was looking for.  This recipe was a huge hit though.  The entire loaf was gone before the very next day!  Now that's a ringing endorsement!

If you need a quick chocolate dessert, definitely try this bread.  You'll get rave reviews!

Buttermilk Chocolate Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time; beating well after each.  Combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk.

Pour into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing.  Continue to cool on wire rack.

Susie Savors: The best evidence I have that this bread is delicious, is that it did not make it to the second day.  Warm out of the oven, this bread functioned as hot slices of chocolate.  The bread speaks for itself.

Braided Spaghetti Bread Recipe

Let me start off by saying that I'm just as addicted to pinterest as everyone else seems to be.  But I tend to mostly look at food while on there.  I look at a lot of recipes but rarely write anything down, as I've found a lot of them use prepackaged ingredients or have too much fat in them.

Recently I came across this recipe on the Rhodes Bread blog which used Rhodes frozen bread dough.  I'm not a big fan of Rhodes bread dough because it always comes out soft and mushy when you bake it.  I decided to make my own bread dough, because everything is easy with the bread machine.  I also increased the spaghetti sauce, added 1/2 lb ground beef, used different cheese, an entire egg and garlic powder.  Phew!  That's a lot more changes than I thought I'd made.  Adding the garlic powder to the outside made it taste like the spaghetti was encased in garlic bread fresh from the oven.  :)  It turned out really well, everyone liked it.  Mine did expand a lot in the oven though.

Braided Spaghetti Bread

1 loaf bread dough (I can add recipe if anyone wants it)
6 ounces spaghetti, cooked
2 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces shredded touch of Philly mozzarella
1 egg, beaten
grated Parmesan
garlic powder

Roll risen bread dough on parchment paper to 12-16 inches.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10-15 minutes.

Cook pasta and drain.  Meanwhile, brown ground beef in saucepan.  When browned, drain and add minced garlic, stirring till fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add 2 cups spaghetti sauce, allow to come to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Stir in spaghetti, then place mix lengthwise down the dough from top to bottom in a 4 inch wide strip.  Cover with shredded cheese.

Make cuts 1 1/2 inches apart on sides of dough with in 1/2 inch of the filling.

Begin braid by folding up top and bottom strips towards filling.  Then braid left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under.

Place on baking sheet.  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with Parmesan and garlic powder.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Slice and serve.

Susie Savors: You can't go wrong with a one dish meal.  This is spaghetti and garlic bread all in one bite.  The bread to spaghetti ratio is just right, not too dry and not too juicy.  The outside is crusty especially with an extra layer of cheese while the inside is gooey.  Easy to make and this giant hot pocket will deliver the goods.  Overall, a new family favorite because food tastes better inside a fresh loaf of bread!