Bread & Babka at GoldStone Farms

  White bread dinner rolls are quick to make and are a little bit more interesting than a plain loaf of white bread. Sometimes they just do the trick - these were ready in under 3 hours.  They were baked for a friend that had surgery this week and is on a temporary low-fiber, lactose free diet.  The hardest part of baking them was controlling myself from adding some whole wheat or artisanal flour or an egg and nuts.   You can make the dough into a medium size loaf if you're looking to make a sliced loaf. The crust is soft, the crumb is tight and reminds me of good quality (an oxymoron?) packaged white bread. The recipe is modified and updated from a Nigella Lawson recipe dating back to the early 2000's.  Choreography: Mix all of the ingredients, either in a stand mixer or in large bowl. Knead until smooth.  Proof (60-90 minutes depending on the ambient temperature)  Shape into rolls, dip into egg, roll in any seeds you like (optional) Short 2nd proofing , pre-heat the oven Bake

    I wouldn't describe the pandemic as having any "upsides," although it undoubtedly  allowed many of us to spend time doing things we'd either never have considered or had thought about as an activity we could pursue "if there was time."  Time suddenly stood still, or at least slowed down, even if were working full time from the dining room table.  And this brings me to my deciding to learn about how to incorporate spent grains into my bread baking. Spent grains are the by-product of beer brewing. I'd heard about using them to bake, but I'm not a beer drinker and never thought about taking the time (time!) to source the grains. Enter the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020-21 and driving past a charming beer garden about 20 minutes from where we live.   Whether or not you consider a liquor store, brewery or distillery an "essential" business, in New Jersey these types of businesses are open, operating more or less on a take-out basis. The opportuni