Fresh From The Oven

[tiltjlp]

Growing up in the 1950's in Cincinnati’s Fairmount neighborhood provided me with endless memories. Possibly the sweetest of those images are the aromas of Mouck’s Bakery, only a half-block away from our house. Many a morning would begin with me going to Mouck’s for a loaf of fresh bread, and maybe a cherry stollen for our family’s breakfast. A stollen is a ring pastry, filled with chopped nuts and sweetened cherries, topped with sugary icing.

Mouck’s Bakery started out with a different name, Poopky’s, which they pronounced Pop-Key. But when they heard some people calling it Poop-Key, they changed it to Mouck, which was Mrs. Poopky’s maiden name. I once asked why they didn’t just changed the way they spelled their name, but they said people would still use the wrong version. By either name, that family of bakers were some of the nicest and friendliest folks I have ever known. Even now, I can remember the flavor of their thumbprint cookies.

Mouck’s thumbprint cookies were sweet and crumbly, topped with colored icing in a small recess that was made with a thumb. Or maybe they would add a gumdrop or a bit of chocolate to the top of the cookie. This was the cookie that the Bakery Lady always to give to us kids whenever she saw us rough housing or having foot races pass the bakery. In exchange for a cookie, she asked us to play somewhere else, so not to disturb her customers.

The bakery lady, which is what all of us called her, was like an extra grandmother, complete with wire-rim glasses and her grey hair covered by a net. I always enjoyed visiting the bakery for our loaves of bread. What I liked best was watching her put the bread through the slicing machine. In those days, they stuck a paper label of some sort on each loaf. I imagined it was good luck if that label survived the slicer in one piece. I amused my parents by laying claim to the heel with that paper label.

Whenever we had company over for Sunday visits, I would be sent to Mouck’s Bakery for something special; custard filled eclairs, an apple-butterscotch pie, or maybe a devils food cake with white frosting. My favorite, which I would buy with money I earned by doing errands, was a devils food brownie with sour cream icing. On Fridays, Mouck’s baked hundreds of loaves of dark rye bread, which St. Leo’s used for its fried fish sandwiches.

I tried to stay near the fried fish booth when they were starting to close up, so that I could get all the heels of rye bread that were left over. For some reason, the heels were never used for a fish sandwich, and they would give them to us kids, rather than throwing them away. I would eat them either with sliced onions, or with peanut butter and sliced apples.

Maybe the best item in any bakery is their cheese cake, which is nothing like those you can get frozen at the grocery store. The cheese cake I grew fond of as a boy was dense and chewy, dusted with cinnamon, and so sweet with cheese and eggs that one slice never was enough. With fewer bakeries around, it is hard to find those wonderful tastes of bygone days, but they will live on, in the taste buds of my memory.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i will sometimes break my no-bread rule for fresh-baked bread, especially if it's euro-style... crusty outside, tender and moist inside. it's truly unbelievable how good the fresh stuff can get.

when i get a lift over to trader joe's these days, i might buy a baguette or something, but know in advance to give half the loaf to a friend or even just the birds or a trash can. i know that as soon as i get home, no power on earth can prevent me from gobbling it all up... usually dipped in extra-virgin olive oil... or in olden days of yore, warmed in the oven with some salty butter and crushed garlic.

baking bread was fun, if hilarious in the results. in any case the place always smelled fantastic afterwards no matter what the result, no matter how crappy the bread. actually i got fairly decent at making pizza dough from scratch, and should probably try that again some time. i know how to make it brick-oven style now and have half the stones i need, so am actually pretty curious to see how it comes out. four minutes or so in the oven if the heat carries properly.

did you know that beer was actually the first 'bread'? i.e., the first method of processing grains, creating a product out of it, and storing the result for periods of time.

 

[sleepy]

You remind me of the original Ford City Bakery White Bread. It had a sweet dairy cream flavor from nothing but the quality flour used, always baked fresh daily and never used the commercial "water-method", not until they went cheap in the late 1990's, at which point it became irrelevant to even go there when all they were doing was the same crap as the mass-produced shelf bread.

And there was Smith's Bakery at Hughes Market in Burbank, Ca. in the 60's. They made the same quality fresh bake white bread as was the Ford City version, but Hughes was bought and Smith's Bakery closed.

When Kroger/Ralph's is baking the high-quality white Italian bread with the sweet flour like a magnolia blossom, that is Nirvana blowing over the parking lot, but anymore their frozen dough is too often dry or rancid with a dusty additive that seems like traditional Flea Powder. An Abominable Disgrace that one is.

 

[sleepy]

And Mead for your Supper, at least in middle-ages England.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

almost any source of calories you could get to sustain life, and as much beer / mead / etc as possible to replace the poor-quality drinking water... especially for kids.

those were some pretty nasty times that ppl today like to completely romanticise, just like the 'golden age of pirating' and such.

 

[faralos]

Beer Bread recipe:
3 cups self-rising flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 12 oz beer (any type but darker ones taste better!)
preheat oven to 350F
mix all ingredients into a greased one quart meatloaf(bread) pan
bake for 45 minutes
this is one of my easier recipes and it only takes 3 ingredients!
no reason to let the bread rise as the beers yeast does that while baking!!
and for extra flavor I have at times put into it, sliced pepperoni and black olives

going back to good cheesecake though
my sister has a recipe that calls for making one that takes eight hours
but it is the best melt-in-your-mouth cheesecake I have yet to eat

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Chasing Cheese Cake

Beer Bread recipe:
3 cups self-rising flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 12 oz beer (any type but darker ones taste better!)
preheat oven to 350F
mix all ingredients into a greased one quart meatloaf(bread) pan
bake for 45 minutes
this is one of my easier recipes and it only takes 3 ingredients!
no reason to let the bread rise as the beers yeast does that while baking!!
and for extra flavor I have at times put into it, sliced pepperoni and black olives

going back to good cheesecake though
my sister has a recipe that calls for making one that takes eight hours
but it is the best melt-in-your-mouth cheesecake I have yet to eat

Man I have been looking for the perfect cheese cake for over forty years. I had my first taste of amazing cheese cake in New York City. In 1968 my dad took me on a train trip to New York. We climbed out of the subway and went to the first cafe we saw. Dad said "Try the cheese cake" At 11 years old the notion of 'Cheese cake' sounded pretty far out. It was one of the best things I have ever had! The tangy-ness and mouth feel... Wow what a surprise. I have been chasing after a cheese cake that good ever since. Faralos, Maybe you could ask your sister for that recipe and send it along in a future post....C_S

 

[faralos]

Cheesecake recipe

okay here is her shorter version
which still takes up to four hours to complete
here is a jpeg scan or a zip file whichever you prefer

 

[Coil_Smoke]

"Dense But Radiant"

Beer Bread recipe:
3 cups self-rising flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 12 oz beer (any type but darker ones taste better!)
preheat oven to 350F
mix all ingredients into a greased one quart meatloaf(bread) pan
bake for 45 minutes
this is one of my easier recipes and it only takes 3 ingredients!
no reason to let the bread rise as the beers yeast does that while baking!!
and for extra flavor I have at times put into it, sliced pepperoni and black olives

Ok I Had to try the beer bread recipe. The result reminds me of a Frank Zappa song "The Muffin Man". "A Dense But Radiant Muffin Of His Own Design" I hadn't baked bread in quite a while but this looked irresistibly simple. I include the 'Fresh From The Oven' song and lyrics below...C_S

The muffin man is seated at the table in the laboratory of the utility muffin
Research kitchen... reaching for an oversized chrome spoon he gathers an
Intimate quantity of dried muffin remnants and brushing his scapular aside
Procceds to dump these inside of his shirt...
He turns to us and speaks:

Some people like cupcakes better. I for one care less for them!

Arrogantly twisting the sterile canvas snoot of a fully charged icing
Anointment utensil he poots forths a quarter-ounce green rosette (oh ah yuk
Yuk... lets try that again...!) he poots forth a quarter-ounce green rosette
Near the summit of a dense but radiant muffin of his own design.
Later he says:

Some people... some people like cupcakes exclusively, while myself, I say
There is naught nor ought there be nothing so exalted on the face of gods grey
Earth as that prince of foods... the muffin!

Girl you thought he was a man
But he was a muffin
He hung around till you found
That he didn't know nuthin

Girl you thought he was a man
But he only was a-puffin
No cries is heard in the night
As a result of him stuffin

Bruce fowler on trombone, napoleon murphy brock on tenor sax, and lead vocals,
Terry bozzio on drums, tom fowler on bass, denny walley on slide, george duke
On keyboards, captain beefheart on vocals, and soprano sax, and madness. thank
You very much for coming to the concert tonight. hope you enjoyed it. goodnight
Austin, texas, where ever you are.
Frank Zappa - Muffin Man - YouTube
​

 

[sleepy]

Uhhh, I dunno about that. The yeast in beer is Dead. Deactivated. Else you run the risk of yeast infections. So that yeast is not active to rise the dough.

There are three ways to kill 'em. Either you ferment to full strength and the yeast die in their own wastes, else you use a chemical yeast stop such as Bi-Sufite that does it, otherwise you pasteurize the brew using heat to kill the yeasts and any accidental bacteria.

And in traditional beer breads you let the brew go Flat at room temperature before adding it to the dough or batter because the carbon dioxide in the beer behaves differently in large and sudden quantity from that of the CO2 produced by the yeasts acting on the dough or batter. The use of sudsy beer is probably safe to eat, but doesn't produce a good texture in the result. It is the Slow Production of CO2 by yeast that produces a successful bread.

A Great Use of flat malt liquor or flat beer is in making hamburger or hot dog buns.
They turn out light and semi-dry in taste, but Boy, do they taste Good!

 

[sleepy]

I found this recipe for Pizza Dough. It works pretty good, but back when I found it,
I used it and added 1 tablespoon of white sugar to the dough. The original recipe didn't use sugar.

Damn family snoops...

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pizza-dough-i/

I added the sugar to duplicate the sweet pizza dough of Numero Uno Pizza, known in Los Angeles for their light sugar crust. They were 5 stars in the 70's...Damn Hollywood Family Snoops...

I like the above site because it offers a Serving Calculator (click the "Change servings" link on the recipe) which can adjust the recipe according to desired final amount, serves 1, serves 12, etc.

Damn family snoops...

EDIT: The recipe at the website uses "all-purpose flour". Forget that.
Use White Wheat flour for pro results. I use Pinã white wheat flour. The Gold Medal and Pillsbury brands don't offer it, though they do offer "Bread Flour" which is mostly white wheat, if not in total.

You can also try Whole Wheat flour and substitute 1 tablespoon of Honey in place of the white sugar.
Don't forget to adjust the amount of sugar or honey when reducing the recipe size.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

re: pizza dough,
i've seen bread flour recommended quite a bit for the high gluten content. this makes the dough nice and elastic to work with and helps prevents the frequent rips we mortals are always getting when trying to spin it like the pros. therefore when i get my stones all set up i aim to try bread flour first. i mean my pizza stones.

bread flour is also the key to making asian noodles from my readings, in which you basically keep stretching and cutting the same piece of dough over and over until physics and repetition creates surprisingly thin, consistent noooodles. you've all seen those cool videos where the asian chef makes thousands of noodles out of a bread lump in 60 seconds, right?

of course i don't like the idea of using white flour for anything, but for pizza one doesn't have much choice. pizza made with whole wheat flour only works if you're a master pizza man IME.

re: honey,
i've consistently read that it's not good to eat it after being baked. one should apparently not eat honey-baked goods for health purposes. too many chemical changes occur in the carb molecules, apparently. *shrug* but you're the chemistry man here, sleepy... can you research that a lil and come back with an opinion?

damn family snoops!

 

[sleepy]

I don't know a darned thing about toxicity from baking honey, though I have heard that cooking orange juice turns it toxic, so maybe an orange blossom honey is the culprit?

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

just doing a smidgen of research right now it's a very interesting subject. for example, we know that many plants are toxic to us, and it follows that some of those have the toxin in their flowers. and of course bees would not care a whit about that situation, only about the lovely pollen content. so honey in the wild can apparently be quite toxic, depending.

still that's a side-subject. the injunction against heating honey (which has already been done when we buy it from supermarket shelves) apparently comes from ayurvedic medicine, which needless to say does not always line up with scientific studies.

still, it's probably worth keeping in mind that raw honey bought at a farmer's market is considerably different from supermarket honey for a variety of reasons. in any case, something to be aware of if you're a regular honey eater!

 

[Shockman]

Some scientific minded people say that the human body is designed to last 200 years, which suggests that over half of 'aging' is actually a result of environmental and consumer toxins.

The fact that we live as long as we do, I think, is pharmaceutical, a business that is not structured in large part to make you well, but to keep you alive.

 

[sleepy]

And sometimes, pharmaceuticals milk us like a cow.