Weiss Brot Recipes

WEISS BROT

Steps:

• In large mixing bowl mix 2 cups flour, the yeast, sugar, sugar, water, salt, and oil.
• Stir with a wooden spoon or flat beater if using a mixer till well blended.
• Work in additional flour 1/2 cup at a time, as dough gets too firm for spoon use hands until you have a dough that will pull from the bowl.
• Dough should be elastic but not sticky.
• Turn dough unto a well floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes.
• If the dough does not hold its shape, work in more flour.
• Clean and grease your large bowl and return dough to the bowl, turn to cover the surface with grease.
• Cover bowl and let rise 1 hour at room temperature, or double in size.
• Punch dough down, cover bowl and let rise an additional 45 to 60 minutes.
• Turn dough on work surface and quickly work out the air bubbles.
• Divide dough in half and place in 2 greased loaf pans.
• Cover with wax paper and let rise til dough peeks over the rim about 2 centimeters.
• Bake in preheated 400ºF oven.
• Reduce heat to 350º after 10 minutes and bake for another 30 minutes or til the loafs are golden.
• You can test for doneness with a toothpick inserted in center of loaf, the fully baked loaf returns a clean toothpick.

GERMAN KASTENWEISSBROT (WHITE LOAF BREAD)

Steps:

• Measure out the milk and add yeast and sugar; set aside for about 10 minutes or until frothy (if it doesn't get frothy, start over- your yeast is dead or your milk was too hot and killed the yeast).
• Mix together the yeast mixture with salt, eggs and egg yolk, creme fraiche.
• Combine the flour and the wet mixture until a dough forms (you may need a little extra flour depending upon the humidity that day).
• Knead on a floured board, adding extra flour if needed to keep from being too sticky, until a smooth ball forms.
• Place in a greased bowl, flip over once, and cover with either a damp clean towel or plastic wrap that has first been srayed with nonstick spray.
• Let rise until doubled in bulk- approx 1 or 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch down and knead again on a floured surface.
• Grease a 30cm long loaf pan well and sprinkle with dry breadcrumbs.
• Set dough into the pan and even out the top.
• Cover as before and let rise another hour.
• Heat oven to 175 C.
• Remove cover and using a sharp knife, make slashes in the dough every 1 cm.
• Spritz with a bit of water (this will make the crust crisp up).
• Bake on the second rack of your oven for about 40 minutes.

FINE SWISS WEISSWURST

Steps:

• Combine veal with salt and sugar. Grind meat and jowl fat through the fine plate of heavy duty grinder.
• Keep meat and jowl fat separate. Chill well. Place ground meat in food processor, add ice. Sprinkle spice mixture over ice. Process mixture till very cold, 30 degrees on thermometer. Stop machine, scrape down sides. Continue processing till temperature rises to 40 degrees (the longer it takes, the finer the sausage.) Mixture should resemble cake batter. Add jowl fat and process till mixture reaches 45 degrees. (emulsion occurs now) Add non-fat milk powder and process till mixture reaches 58 degrees.
• To stuff casings: Fill a commercial sausage stuffer evenly with mixture, making sure there are no air-pockets. Stuff hog casings, not too tight, tie off with fine kitchen string.
• Poach sausages in a shallow pan of simmering water (water should be 165 degrees), un till internal temperature of meat is 155 degrees. (Don't boil, casings can split) Remove sausages to ice bath when cooked. When internal temp. reaches 60 degrees remove from water: Cook, fry or grill and serve.
• Recommended Wine: 1992 Niersteiner Rosenberg Silvaner Trocken, Weingut athildenhof Freiherr Heyl zu Herrnsheim

VOLLKORNBROT

Steps:

• Soak the rye berries in about 6 cups of the hot spring water, or at least enough to cover berries by 1-inch. Let stand 8 hours or overnight (if the water becomes completely absorbed before soaking time has ended, add more hot spring water to cover). Drain and reserve the soaking liquid. Add enough fresh room-temperature spring water to the reserved soaking liquid to measure 6 cups total. Reserve. Combine the starter, rye berries and reserved 6 cups water in a 6-quart bowl. Break up the starter well with a wooden spoon and stir until it loosens and the mixture is slightly frothy. Add 1 cup (5 1/2 ounces) of the rye flour and all the cracked rye. Stir well until combined. Add the salt and remaining flour. Stir until combined and the mixture is wet and sticky. Take the dough's temperature -- the ideal is 78 degrees. Cover with a clean damp towel and put in a moderately warm (74 to 80 degrees) draft-free place.
• Note: If the dough temperature is higher than 78 degrees put it in a cooler than 78 degree place, like the refrigerator, until the dough cools to 78 degrees. If it is lower than 78 degrees, put it in a warmer than 78 degree place until the dough warms to 78 degrees. The point is to try to keep the dough at 78 degrees during its fermentation. If you have to move the dough, be gentle and don't jostle it, or the dough might deflate.
• The dough will become spongy but not springy, distinctly sour-smelling and increased in volume by about 1/4. Generously grease 2 (5 by 9 by 3-inch) loaf pans with vegetable shortening and dust with rye flour. Turn the dough into the prepared pans. Smooth the tops with a wet thin flexible cake spatula. Cover the loaves with a clean damp towel or plastic wrap and put in a moderately warm (74 to 80 degree) draft free place until the dough has domed slightly and increased in volume again by 1/4. Bake on center rack of a preheated 300 degree oven until the loaves have shrunk from the sides of the pan and the tops are dark brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove the loaves from the pans and hold the loaves upside down. Strike the bottoms firmly with your finger. If the sound is hollow, the breads are done. If it doesn't sound hollow, bake 15 minutes longer. Cool the pans for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire racks. Let the bread rest 24 to 36 hours before eating. It is very moist in the center when removed from oven, but as it cools the moisture distributes evenly throughout the bread. It will keep for weeks at room temperature wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

PAN-FRIED WEISSWURST

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Prick holes in sausages with a fork to prevent them from bursting. Cook sausages, turning occasionally, until golden brown and heated through, about 10 minutes. Serve with potato salad.