Folks, this week I’m pleased to introduce you to my occasional sous-chef, also known as my Sweetie Pie husband. He is quite competent in the kitchen. So competent in fact that he recently signed himself up to be on the snack-volunteer rotation at church. And when his name comes up, he asks me “What should I make?” And then I get to pick out a recipe from my files that I’ve been wanting to try out, and he makes it! I tell you, it’s a wonderful arrangement.
So when that happened last week, I went digging through my copy of More with Less to find a yummy snack recipe. When I asked the Sweetie Pie if he had any comments he’d like to share about his bread, this is what he said:
1. It is not a sweet bread, it is a nutty bread.
2. The size of the pan was critical to the cooking consistency.
3. Actually, I didn’t get a chance to eat any of it and I would like to make some more (to consume with chai). Keep away from children.
4. It was very easy to make.
I made a few changes to the recipe ingredients. I should note that when I put the recipe into my Plan to Eat account, I put it in how I made it. This means that if you import the recipe from my account into your account, you’re not getting the original ingredients. I try to mention whenever I’ve made ingredient changes so that you can change it back if you want to. But if you want to make it how it is in the book, you’d better consult the book.
It’s obvious that my time spent with Sally has left an impression. I kind of “Nourishing-Traditionize” a lot of my cooking these days. Our first swap was trading out the margarine for butter. I haven’t used margarine since I was a poor college student. I’m sure margarine is cheaper, but I value real food with real nutrients.
We also used whole wheat flour. We recently had a friend loan us the use of her grain mill and we’ve been experimenting with grinding our own flour. Everyone really loved the hearty flavor of the fresh whole wheat flour.
Our last substitution was using soured cream in place of the soured milk. It happened that I had half a pint of real, whole cream in the fridge that had soured. I thought it would be in keeping with the spirit of the book (and with our limited grocery budget) to use the ingredients we have on hand whenever possible. You could use the sour milk or the orange juice that is called for, or experiment with whatever else you have on hand–yogurt, buttermilk, apple juice…. Likewise you should feel free to experiment with swapping out the fruit (apples for pears? peaches?) and the nuts (walnuts for pecans? or slivered almonds?)
Also, as the Sweetie Pie mentioned in his comments, we did not use a 9×5″ loaf pan. A few years ago I bought an excellent 12″ long loaf pan. I always use it in place of a 9×5″ loaf pan (same temperature and approximately the same cooking time) and adore the results. The middle of my bread is never undercooked. And I get a nice long, skinny loaf that yields lots more slices than the 9×5″ size.
And so, our More with Less tour is off to a good start. I find it entirely appropriate that our first recipe was made for the purpose of sharing with others. I hope for many more such opportunities to come.
Source: More with Less by Doris Janzen Longacre
Ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 t vanilla
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 t baking soda
- 1⁄2 t salt
- 1⁄3 cup soured cream or milk or orange juice
- 1 c chopped apples
- 1⁄3 cup chopped pecans
Method
Refer to page 81 in More with Less.
