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Community Corner

A Simple Formula for Making Breads

It's easy to get consistent results when using this ratio.

Editor's note: Warren resident Frank DeVico has been following his son, Teddy, 15, as Teddy learns about gourmet cooking and fine restaurants. Teddy launched his own blog at teenchefteddy.blogspot.com, and he and Frank will be sharing their experiences in this column.

Readers with questions about cooking, restaurants and new flavors for Frank and Teddy to explore are welcome to email them to john.patten@patch.com, then check back every Friday for the DeVicos' Culinary Quest.

100 parts flour, 60 parts water, 3 parts salt, 2 parts yeast ...
So what is the ratio posted above? Could it be the ratio for a simple bread dough? Of course!

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Teddy: This was my first go with it and the results were pretty good.

After the dough was made by measuring everything with a digital scale by weight and mixing it together I let it proof for a couple hours over my heated toaster oven. (You must have a digital scale if you want to become a serious cook, without it you cannot get exact measurements, which are a necessity in baking.)

So after my dough was fully proofed I let it "rest" in the fridge. Once chilled I stretched out some dough and layered some butter, brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and a little salt. I let this proof again overnight in the fridge. Then I rolled the dough up and baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Once I took the bread out of the oven I let it rest for a good 15 minutes. One of the things alot of people do wrong when making bread is eating it right when it comes out of the oven. Just like when you remove a roast from the oven it still cooks out of the oven with the residual heat. It has to rest, don't be tempted!

Ooey, gooey goodness. If I had put some chocolate chips in the mix it would have been even better, but I did not have any :( Never the less,
it was still tasty.

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I again streched out the dough, but this time seasoned it with salt, pepper, and rosemary. I got my grill pan blaizing hot and added some canola oil, and threw on the seasoned dough. I used a rosemary twig to baste the bread in butter, rosemary, and garlic. This was incredible, it had tons of flavor and was crispy and moist at the same time. I loved this preparation of the dough and will 100 percent sure be making it again.


For the pretzel I rolled the dough out into logs and twisted them together to form the pretzel shape. I seasoned the dough with salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme. Now, I was not expecting a great pretzel because this is not a pretzel dough and I did not pre blanch it in a baking soda and water mixture. The crust on the dough I did not care for, it was too hard, but the flavors were nice.


For my "mini-loaf" I seasoned the bread with salt, pepper, and sage. I baked it at 350 degress until golden brown, and then let it rest. The bread was very good, besides the bottom crust which again was too hard.

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