Breads, etc.

Contents

• Pancakes à la Sue's Mom
• Potato Pancakes
• Irish Bread
• Challah
• Whole Wheat Bread
• Biscuits
• Bran Muffins

Pancakes à la Sue's Mom

Mix ingredients. The trick to cooking these pancakes is to use lots of shortening in the pan (veg. shortening is okay, bacon grease is even better, but veg. oil is right out) and to use an ordinary pan, not a non-stick one. Heat the pan until a drop of batter sizzles when you drop it in. Medium-high is about the right heat. Pour in ~1/2 c. batter and tilt the pan to spread the batter thinly over the bottom of the entire pan. Flip when ready. Replenish the grease in the pan often. If you are doing it right, the pancakes will be light and fluffy but quite thin and with yummy crispy edges all around. You can make lots of silver dollar sized pancakes if you want more crispy edges. These pancakes can be stacked with syrup like ordinary, inferior pancakes, but are especially good eaten one at a time, flat or rolled up, with butter and sugar and/or jam.

Makes 6-8 5" pancakes.

Grate potatoes, chop onion. Mix all ingredients together. Cook in greased pan.

I said grate, not shred. Yes, I mean it. If you want to save time, you can shred half and grate half, but the texture is all wrong if you just shred the potatoes. Drain or squeeze out some but not all of the liquid from the grated potatoes.

Irish Bread

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Add raisins, if any. Beat egg, add milk to egg. Add all but a tsp. of this to dry ingredients to make a stiff, moist dough. Roll out (use lots of flour on rolling pin) or else form into ball with well-floured hands. Put in a round pan. Make a cross on top & brush top with leftover egg & milk mix. Bake in 350°F oven for 1 hour.

(from Colleen's Mom)

Colleen says: You have to flour the pan first. Very important. When I make Irish bread I always mix it with my hands because you can't possibly mix it any other way and your hands get all sticky and gloppy and have webbed fingers and then you pick up the glob of dough and drop it in the pan scraping the side of the bowl with your fingers. Then you have to scrape your fingers off into the bowl. This takes about a day and a half.

Sue says: Personally, I just use a spoon and don't roll out the dough or form it into a ball with my hands. I just dump the glob of dough into the (greased and) floured pan. The top comes out a smidgen lumpy, but who cares?

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 c. water with salt and 1 T. sugar. Set aside in warm place 15 minutes. This is called sponge (the dough, not the warm place). Sift flour into large bowl, add sponge, oil, 2 eggs, and remaining sugar, adding enough water to make soft dough. Knead until fat and smooth. Put dough in large greased bowl, cover with damp cloth, and set in warm place to double. Punch down. Divide into two or four parts. Knead each part until smooth. Divide each piece into fourths. Roll three of the fourths into rope and braid out to each end starting from middle, pinch ends together well. Divide fourth part into three parts, like Gaul. Roll and make a smaller braid. Press this braid into top of larger braid and tuck the ends in nicely. Grease large cookie sheet. Place on with room to grow. Cover with damp cloth. Let rise half an hour away from draughts. Brush with remaining egg, sprinkle with optional poppy seeds. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes for small loaf, 1 hour for large.

(from Abe's Mom)

Whole Wheat Bread

Combine flours; in large mixing bowl thoroughly mix 2 1/2 cups of this flour mixture with the sugar, salt & undissolved dry yeast. Combine water, milk, molasses & margarine in saucepan. Heat oven to low heat just enough to warm the liquid and soften the margarine. Margarine does not need to melt. Gradually add to dry ingredients & beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer. Add 1/4 c. flour mixture, or enough to make a thick batter. Beat at high speed 2 minutes. Stir in enough additional flour mixture to make a soft dough. Use additional white flour if necessary.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured board. Knead until smooth & elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; turn out onto lightly floured board, divide in half, shape into loaves. Place in greased pans. Cover; let rise as before about 1 hr. Bake at 400°F for 25-30 min. Brush with margarine. Cool on wire racks.

--Cindy

For cut biscuits, knead until smooth.

For drop biscuits, add more milk.

Bake at 450°F 10-15 minutes.

Try whole wheat, cornmeal, dry mustard, sage.

Bran Muffins

Put 1 c. of bran in bowl and pour boiling water over it. Sift flour, soda and salt & sugar into large bowl. Make well in center and pour in beaten eggs, oil & buttermilk. Stir quickly -- add moistened bran, dry bran & raisins. Stir just enough to mix. Cover and store in fridge. Bake 400°F, 10-15 min (wait till they look cooked). Use greased muffin tins.

(from Sue's Mom)

Makes about one dozen muffins.

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