Having just run out of bread a few weeks ago (and running to the grocery store for one loaf is out of the question in this age of coronavirus), I roamed the internet for a quick bread recipe that did not require yeast. I stumbled on a beer bread recipe with three ingredients –self-rising flour, sugar and beer in Australia’s Daily Mail.* The resulting white bread was delicious – a tender loaf, moist with a good crumb and a faint beer flavor but a bit too sweet. Because the bread is easy to assemble and bake, I tried again this time reducing the sugar and adding salt and it came out better than before. So, I decided to further adapt the Basic Beer Bread by trying another flour combination—substituting part of the all-purpose self-rising flour with a homemade self-rising whole wheat flour–all-purpose flour mix and incorporating cheese and herbs. Thus, this Cheesy Herby Beer Bread came to be.
Cooking in a pandemic presents challenges. Who would’ve thought at the height of last Christmas’ baking that we would face periodic shortages of flour or yeast or even eggs four months later. These shortages are temporary, but they still astound those of us who never experienced empty grocery shelves and only heard about them from our mothers, mothers-in-law and grandmothers, survivors of the Great Depression, World War II or life in the Soviet Union. Those women learned to make do with what they had and adapted recipes to available ingredients. Now, we have to learn as well.
Because I am limited to buying food once a week and often return without all items on the grocery list, I search the internet daily for alternative ingredients to complete a recipe. I am drawn by what cooks did in other periods of food shortage such as the Great Depression and during wartime rationing, and I closely follow quarantine recipes from home cooks and chefs that provide options for substituting ingredients with what is on hand.
Although I would rather not deal with ingredient shortages, I find using a recipe as a template inspiring because it challenges me to find substitutes — one protein for another, one starch for another, one fat for another and to play with a variety of herbs and spices. Without a specific ingredient, I am freed from an established recipe and have license to experiment. If I can substitute some ingredients that a recipe calls for, then hundreds of permutations are possible, creating unique dishes.
When I first tried the Basic Beer Bread recipe, I had no self-rising flour. A quick internet search provided a simple solution from Nigella Lawson: baking powder is the leavening in purchased self-rising flour (usually all-purpose flour) in the proportion of 2 teaspoons baking powder for each 1 cup of (150g) all-purpose flour. So, as I adapted the basic recipe for this Cheesy Herby Beer Bread, I maintained the ratio of 2 teaspoons of baking powder to each cup of flour but created a new self-rising flour mix of ¼ cup whole wheat flour and ¾ cup all-purpose flour. The Basic Beer Bread recipe calls for three cups of self-rising flour so three cups of my whole wheat and all-purpose flour mix required 6 teaspoons of baking powder.
Because the Basic Beer Bread was too sweet for our tastes, I reduced the sugar by half to two tablespoons and added a ½ teaspoon salt.
To add cheesiness, I used 1 cup shredded cheddar and 2 tablespoons grated parmesan. For herby-ness, I added 1 teaspoon each of dried oregano, thyme and parsley. (Substituting with fresh herbs would result in a milder taste.) But I kept the amount of beer (I used a pilsner) the same.
This adaptation turned out better than expected. The resulting Cheesy Herby Beer Bread has a more complex flavor than the Basic Beer Bread and yet maintains tenderness and moistness. Since this bread recipe does not include fat, the two cheeses mixed into the dough and strewn as a topping add a buttery, slightly earthy flavor to this bread and make the crust crunchier. The combination of oregano, thyme and parsley provides a savory fragrance and the beer adds a barely perceptible maltiness. True, I increased the number of ingredients from the three in the Basic Beer Bread recipe to six but baking this Cheesy Herby Beer Bread is rewarding: It still was easy to prepare in one bowl, tastes great and keeps fresh for several days. A toasted, buttered slice of this Cheesy Herby Beer Bread is delicious for breakfast.
The success of this Cheesy Herby Beer Bread has buoyed my interest in further experimentation. As the quarantine period is expected to last through May and I surely will run out of bread again, I will try other combinations of flours and additives that I have on hand. I will swap out whole wheat with either buckwheat or rye flour, experiment with different cheeses such as Swiss or Jarlsberg, add a few tablespoons of butter or bacon or prosciutto in lieu of cheese, top with sesame or pumpkin seeds, explore with other herbs, add minced scallions or garlic, sweeten with honey instead of sugar or add dried fruit and cinnamon for a sweet bread. Although I used a pilsner in this Cheesy Herby Beer Bread because that was on hand, it can be substituted with a stout, an ale, a hoppy beer and even hard cider for different flavor profiles. The creative possibilities for adapting the Basic Beer Bread are limited only by a baker’s imagination.
I provide recipes for both the Cheesy Herby Beer Bread and the Basic Beer Bread below and encourage you to try them and experiment on your own. The Basic Beer Bread recipe is easily adaptable so long as the original proportions of self-rising flour and beer are maintained. Let your creativity loose. Try other combinations of flours and additions. I will definitely do so and hope you do too.
Cheesy Herby Beer Bread
2 ¼ cups (320 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (113 g) whole wheat flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon each dried or fresh oregano, thyme and parsley
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup (100 g) cheddar, shredded2 tablespoons parmesan, grated
12 ounces (375 ml) beer (or substitute with club soda)
Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan and line with parchment and grease again.
Heat oven to 375°F (190°C)
Add flour and baking powder into a large bowl and whisk briskly or sift to assure that the baking powder is dispersed evenly throughout the flour.
Add herbs and sugar, whisking again.
Stir in parmesan and ¾ cup of cheddar, reserving ¼ cup for topping.
Add beer (it will foam up) and fold into flour mixture until well-combined and beer does not pool at edges.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes.
After 30 minutes, sprinkle remaining cheddar on top of the loaf. Continue to bake for another 10-20 minutes until cheese melts and slightly browns. Test bread with a toothpick –bread is done if it comes out clean — or an instant-read thermometer– bread is done at 200°F(90 °C).
Cool to room temperature before cutting.
Makes 1 loaf.
Basic Beer Bread
3 cups (384 g) self-rising flour, purchased
OR 3 cups (384 g) all-purpose flour + 6 teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup (52 g) sugar
1 12 ounce (375ml) beer (may substitute with club soda)
Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan and line with parchment. Grease again.
Heat oven to 375°F (190°C).
Add flour in large bowl (If making self-rising flour at home, remember to add 6 teaspoons baking powder) and stir in sugar. Whisk briskly to assure that the baking powder and sugar are dispersed evenly throughout the flour.
Add beer (it will foam up) and mix with spatula until combined and beer does not pool at edges.
Place dough in the greased loaf pan, smooth top with spatula and bake in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 40 -50 minutes. Test bread with a toothpick –bread is done if it comes out clean — or an instant-read thermometer– bread is done at 200°F(90 °C).
Cool to room temperature before cutting.
Makes 1 loaf.
*I have since found many other similar beer bread recipes on the internet.
One year ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/roasted-beet-and-feta-tart/
Two years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/spicy-rice-cakes-pork-vegetables/
Three years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/baked-cheese-babka/
Four years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/grilled-vegetable-humus-black-pepper-olive-oil-tart/ |
Five years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/chicken-with-olives/