My favorite recipes

Kelli Myers Collins was “home” in Colfax recently to teach a class at Whitman County Library’s main branch in Colfax. The library offers ACT 2 classes, teaching everything from beginning ukulele to bread making. Kelli taught basics of bread making.

Her father, Bill Myers of Colfax, began to sell grains directly to consumers about five years ago. When he was selling at farmers’ markets, people asked him, “What do you do with it?”

“It’s food!” he answered. But it appeared that the products needed to be more usable to consumers. Soon the family began milling their own grain. Kelli, an agribusiness grad, began developing recipes and mixes and creating Joseph’s Grainery’s blog.

Joseph’s Grainery sells hard red, soft white, barley, lentil, and garbanzo flours, wheat seeds, garbanzos, lentils, cracked wheat cereal, and mixes for pancakes and cookies.

The products are available at Rosauers and Events on Main in Colfax, the Endicott Food Center, Webb’s Empire Foods in St. John and McLeod’s Palouse Market in Palouse, several locations in Pullman and stores and shops all over the state, and online at josephsgrainery.com. Joseph’s Grainery produces whole grain flours, with nothing extracted and nothing added.

Named for Bill’s father and his grandson, Joseph’s Grainery is located in a hanger at the Colfax Airport. They started using large kitchen mills and discovered that they needed more capacity and sturdier equipment. Recently their stone mill went on line and its capacity is much greater.

Kelli said that they are “having fun, learning as we go.” Kelli likes baking, blogging and photography, so her role as test kitchen operator and blogger were set. According to Kelli, “Baking can’t be complicated or busy people can’t do it.”

Breaking the process into easy steps, Kelli demonstrated how to make two different breads with assistance from her students. She recommends reading recipes carefully before beginning. If it doesn’t make sense, try a different recipe. Don’t trust the photos, as food bloggers are notorious “borrowers” of other people’s photos.

The first bread made was honey multigrain bread which includes whole wheat, barley flour and oats. Her student helper followed the directions and they showed the product at each step. Kelli explained the steps involved as she went, answering questions as they worked. Some class members were novice bread bakers while others were bread bakers interested in new recipes and Joseph’s Grainery products.

Next Kelli and a helper made whole wheat artisan bread, the recipe developed by Kelli from other artisan bread recipes that did not use whole grain flours. Some of the whole wheat flour in this artisan bread can be replaced with other flours, up to one-third of the total. Garbanzo and lentil flours can be substituted, but they do add a sort of “beany” flavor, which may taste great with hearty soups. Barley flour is finer and makes a fluffier bread.

The fresh honey multigrain bread was cut and served to the class fresh from the oven. It was delicious plain and absolute heaven with a tiny bit of honey.

Students asked about adding finely chopped onion or garlic to the artisan bread and olives were also mentioned. Caramelizing the onions or roasting the garlic would enhance their flavors and make delicious bread. Kelli advised to use small quantities of added ingredients. Other suggestions were to add raisins or craisins to the honey multigrain bread.

“Don’t be afraid to try something,” Kelli said. “If it doesn’t turn out perfectly, it will probably still be edible.” Kelli has experimented with sourdough starter, but it is not as quick and easy as she likes.

Kelli graduated from Colfax High School in 1998 and from Washington State University in 2002. Her husband, Jason Collins, is a structural engineer and fellow Cougar graduate. They have two sons, six-year old Joseph (Joe), and Brougham, two and a half.

In addition to Bill Myers and Kelli Collins working on Joseph’s Grainery, Kelli’s sister Kendra Trump is their bookkeeper, making use of her accounting degree while being a stay-at-home mother to her and Eric’s two young children. Bill’s wife, Carol, does general errand running and some babysitting to keep the crew going.

For Kelli, being connected to the family farm while living on Bainbridge Island is exciting and fulfilling.

Recipes:

Honey Multigrain Loaf

1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups water, warm

1/2 cup oats

3 Tablespoons honey

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1-2 teaspoons salt

4 cups Joseph’s Grainery Hard Red Whole Wheat Bread Flour

1 cup Joseph’s Grainery Barley Flour

oats, for dusting, optional

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and 1 cup warm water. Allow to set for 5 minutes. Then add the oats, honey, butter, and salt. Mix until butter has melted.

Stir in both flours. The dough will be relatively shaggy. Add water (in 1/2 cup increments) until you have a manageable dough.

In a mixer with a dough hook, knead for about 7 to 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.

Oil a large, clean bowl and form your dough into a ball. Turn dough ball to lightly cover with oil in bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a warm, damp towel and leave for about an hour or until is has roughly doubled in size.

Turn dough ball onto floured surface again and punch down. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough out into a rectangle and fold like a business letter. Turn once and roll out and fold once more.

Fold in the sides to get a nicely shaped loaf. Grease a bread loaf pan and place dough, smooth side up, in pan. Using a pastry brush, brush on enough milk to lightly coat the top. Lightly sprinkle oats on top, if desired. Cover with warm towel and let rise for another 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut 3 diagonal slices on top of bread and place in preheated oven on middle rack. Place a baking sheet under bread pan on a lower shelf and add about 1/2 to 1 cup hot water.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until outside is golden and bread is cooked through.

Quick n’ Easy 100% Whole Wheat Artisan Bread

A super simple bread recipe that will allow you to always have dough on hand for freshly baked bread!

7 cups Joseph’s Grainery Hard Red Whole Wheat Stone Ground Bread Flour

1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated (or active dry) yeast

1 Tablespoon salt

3 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1/2 cup olive oil

In the bowl of your mixer with your bread hook attachment, mix all of the ingredients until well combined and all the flour is incorporated into the dough. Move the dough to a 1.5 gallon Rubbermaid/Tupperware-type food storage container and let rise on the counter for 2 hours. Then place in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake a loaf/boule.

When you’re ready to bake some bread, get the dough out of the fridge and pull off 1/4 to 1/3 of the dough. Form your dough into a boule shape and place on your baking stone (or metal pan), which has been sprayed with cooking spray and a skiff of corn meal. Allow the dough to rise at least 1.5 hours. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Slice a few lines in the top of the dough. Bake at 450 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until the bread is a beautiful deep golden brown.

Prize Winning Whole Wheat Bread

Penny Gilchrist won first prize at the Palouse Empire Fair with this entry.

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups hot water

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 Tablespoons shortening

2 cups Joseph’s Grainery Hard Red Whole Wheat Bread Flour

3 to 3 1/4 cups Joseph’s Grainery Barley Flour

Soften the active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Combine hot water, sugar, salt, and shortening; cool to lukewarm. Stir in whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the barley flour; beat well.

Add enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Turn out on a lightly floured surface; knead till smooth and satiny.

Shape the dough into a ball; place in a lightly greased bowl, cover; let rise in a warm place until it doubles in size (1 1/2 hours). Punch down. Cut into 2 portions; shape each into a smooth ball. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Shape into loaves; place in greased loaf pans. Let rise until double (about 1 1/4 hours). Bake at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes. Turn out of loaf pans and cool on wire racks.