What Is That Growing In That Flower Pot?
Sep 01 '00
Why, that's bread growing in that pot! What a great gift to give to a neighbor moving in next door or down the street. Since you don't know the person you really can't yet determine what they would like, so food is probably your best bet.
What kind of pot do I use?
The kind of pot is pretty important because this will be put into the oven and we don't want anything exploding. A terra cotta pot is what I use. The size is fairly important depending on the bread. I usually use a pot that is about 8 inches in diameter.
What recipes work?
I would say use your imagination like I do. But I will give you a couple of simple common recipes that work for me. I won't get into sourdoughs or anything with fillings etc..because those require more time and effort and we know that bread requires a lot of time anyway. Along with being inexpensive it should be easy as well.
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2LB. Milk And Butter Bread Dough
This make a bread with a tender crumb and soft crust.
About 5 Cups of bread flour
1/4 oz. package dry yeast
About 1 1/2 Cups tepid milk
1 TSP salt
3 TBS soft butter
Stir the yeast into 1/4 cup of the tepid milk and leave in warm place for about 10 minutes.
Sift the flour and salt into the bowl. Pour the yeast mixture and the remaining tepid milk into the flour and salt, and work in the softened butter. The dough will be sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured board, and knead it vigorously for about 10-15 minutes (So if your wanting to vent some frustration this is where ya do it!) or until the dough is elastic, smooth and glossy. The dough should be fairly firm then add more flour if necessary.
Put the dough into a clean, dry bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp cloth, and set it in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume (about 1-2 1/2 hours depending on how warm and draft free the area is).
Ok the dough is ready when the insertion of a finger leaves a dent that does not immediately fill out. Punch down the dough, knead it into a ball and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
Now shape into a ball then spray pot with non-stick cooking spray and put the dough inside of the pot. You may want to put slats in the top of the dough for decoration and brush with egg white. If you would like sprinkle poppy seeds or sesame seeds on top for decoration let rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled, now you are ready for baking.
Bake at about 400 Degrees for about 30-40 minutes until top is golden brown.
Note: Set pot on a baking sheet for extra stability or in case the dough wants to want to seep out the bottom hole..(It shouldn't do that but better to be safe)
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Basic White Bread Dough ( For The Bread Machine)
2 LB Loaf
Water 80 degrees F/27 C - 1 Cup + 5 TBL
oil - 2 TBL
sugar - 2 TBL
salt - 2 TSP
dry milk - 2 TBL
bread flour - 4 Cups
active dry yeast - 1 1/4 TSP
Add ingredients in order as listed for the machine....
Program on dough setting.......
When bread machine beeps dough is ready to shape. Do as before spray with non-stick cooking spray and place into pot. Cut slats into the bread, brush with egg white sprinkle with poppy seeds or sesame seeds if you wish and let rise until doubled.
As noted before you may want to put your pot on a baking sheet for extra stability. Just in case.........
Bake at about 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
These are not necessarily the recipes you should use. These are merely examples........These are just the simple basics.
After cooled you can decorate with ribbon and a red and white checkered cloth around it. Hot glue sunflowers around the top of the lip of the pot. Use your imagination!
Later they can use the pot to grow their own flowers in. Maybe send a packet of flowers seeds with the bread.
Another idea: I use a terra cotta pot to put my cooking utensils in. I decorated it with sunflowers (A theme in my kitchen).....
Most of all be creative and have fun with it!
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wldangels3
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Member: Ruth
Location: Okinawa Japan
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