Pumpkin, Apple, Turkey "Chili" Casserole

Stay tuned for tomorrow's recap of tonight's dinner recipe, it might look like pig slop, but it tasted delish!

Oatmeal Wheat Bread

Tracie, one of my owners, has decided that we are not buying bread anymore and that we will make all of the bread that we need from now on (we'll see how long that lasts), so today we spent a loooong time making some wheat bread. It might not look pretty, but it certainly tastes yummy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup boiling water

1/4 cup warm water

2 Tbsp and 2 tsp honey

2 tsp yeast

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup canola oil

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Put 1 1/4 cups of oats into a bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Stir and let sit for 10 mins stirring frequently. (Tracie forgot to stir but it worked out ok).

In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together 1/4 cup of warm water and 1 tsp of honey. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the wet oats, 2 Tbsp honey, oil, both flours, salt, and buttermilk. (Of course my owners did not have buttermilk, so we made some using 1 1/2 cup milk and 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice). With dough hook attachment mix together on low speed for about 2 mins. Turn up to medium speed to knead for 10 mins. The dough will be slightly shiny and sticky.

dough before rising

Place dough in oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in warm area to proof for about 1 hour. The dough should double in size.

dough after rising

Once dough has risen, place on lightly floured surface and press out air bubbles with your hand. Roll dough into a 12 x 6 in rectangle with the long side facing you. Fold the short ends so that they meet in the middle and starting with the end closest to you , roll the dough away from you into a log. Let dough rest on seam for a few minutes.

Place dough into an oiled 9 x 5 loaf pan (our bread got HUGE, so we recommend using either 2 smaller pans or a larger one) and cover with plastic wrap. Let proof in a warm area for about 35 minutes. The dough should rise to slightly above the pan.

loaf after rising in the pan

While dough is proofing, preheat oven to 385.

Once dough has finished rising, mix 1 tsp hot water and 1 tsp honey. Brush over the top of the dough and sprinkle on the remaining oats. Place in oven on middle rack and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool for 3o mins on a wire rack before taking loaf out of the pan. Let cool completely before cutting. The honey will make the top of the loaf look burned, but it comes out fine.

Percy's Thoughts:

This bread came out pretty well, the top looked and felt very dense (kind of like my owners), but it tastes great. We would change a few things though. Once the bread was sliced, the oats on top fell off and made the counter look like a pig sty! We may leave them off next time. Also, our dough rose a lot, so we suggest using two smaller loaf pans or a larger loaf pan. Overall, this bread is a keeper and I sure ate like a pig!

Recipe adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride