Perfect Bread
Today I decided to bake bread as it is too cold to go out to the store. I am confident to bake big round loaves of whole wheat bread and soft sweet rolls, but I am not satisfied with my loaves of bread baked in a bread pan. So today, I decided to try “Perfect Bread”, a recipe Hiroo often uses.
350 grams bread flour (I used about 40g of home-grown whole wheat as part of it)
6g. dry yeast
13 g sugar
5.5 g salt
240 g water (231-246g depending on the flour you use)
13g butter or margarine
I kneaded it with the bread hook attachment on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. This is the first time I have ever used it but it went OK. Mix water, yeast and then sugar, salt and half the flour.Knead for 2 minutes on speed 2. Add last part of flour and knead about a minute. Add butter and knead another minute or two. I put it in a greased bowl and into my warm and damp bread rising box.
Let it rise about an hour to hour and a half..until double. Punch down and round it out. Put it back in the bowl and let it rise another 50-60 minutes. Now divide the dough into 2 and round it out. Let set covered for ten minutes. Roll out and form into two rolls to place in a greased bread pan. Let rise another 40 minutes or more. Bake at 200 (190) degrees C ( that’s 400 degrees F (375) for 30 minutes. If desired, spray with a little mist of water when you stick it in the oven. Shock drop the pan from a height of eight inches or so to loosen it from the pan and turn it out. Cool on a wire rack.
Kiwi Jam
400 g kiwi
200 g sugar
juice from a lemon or a little fruit juice
Chop up Kiwi after peeling. Mix with sugar in an enamel pot or bowl. Add juice. Cook over low heat, stirring . Skim offthe scum that rises to the top. Cook until slightly thickened and pour into sterilized jars. Put hot jam into hot jars and cover with a hot from the water lid. Immediately turn upside down. This will vacuum-seal the jar.
Vacuum-sealed jars!
Use any amount of kiwi and half its weight in sugar! Tart and delicious!
Japan Journal 