CopyCat Recipe: Outback's Bushman Bread

One of the best parts of going out to Outback Steakhouse is the Bushman bread (you know, that lovely dark brown loaf with sweet butter) which is served complimentary to your party. But, if you're a vegetarian, a STEAKHOUSE isn't going to offer a lot of options that are satisfactory. And, if you have a large family or are on a tight budget, going out isn't really an option. Therefore, making this bread at home and serving it with your meals is a great option. While you may spend a little bit to get the ingredients together initially, you can then make a large number of loaves of bread with the ingredients you now have on hand.

This recipe is designed to make the dough in a bread machine, then finish it off in a conventional oven.








    1 packet active dry yeast
    1 cup warm water [110-120º F]
    2 Tbs. butter or vegan margarine (softened)
    1/3 cup honey or agave syrup
    1/2 Tbs. sugar [brown or white]
    1 1/2 cups wheat PASTRY flour
    1 1/2 cups high-gluten bread flour [I substitute 1/4 cup of wheat gluten for AP flour]
    1 1/2 tsp instant coffee (1 packet Starbucks Via coffee - Breakfast Blend is great)
    1 Tbs. mild molasses
    3 tbsp cornmeal

    1 Tbs Milk or soy-milk
    handful rolled oats

Directions
In a separate bowl, mix together the bread flour, wheat flour, cocoa, sugar, coffee, & salt.
  
 It’s very important you place the ingredients into you bread machine in the following order: Water, butter, honey, sugar, & molasses, then dry mix & yeast.  This will keep the yeast from activating with the warm water until after it’s begun mixing.

    Run your bread machine on the “dough” setting until complete.

    Place the dough in a glass bowl covered with a towel and let rise in a warm dry area for about an hour. A warmed oven, turned off works well.

    Separate the dough into two equal parts and roll out into oval loaves.

    Place on a parchment paper covered baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Brush the tops of your loaves with a little whole milk or half-and-half, and sprinkle with rolled oats.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the crust makes hollow sound when tapped.

Serve warm with softened butter. YUM!

Best White Bread for the bread machine

I love my bread-maker. It is so convenient and easy. I love the smell of baking bread. I love that when I put the ingredients in the little metal bucket, I know a beautiful, smooth, wonderful loaf of bread is going to come out. And seriously, what could be easier?

I tweaked this recipe from AllRecipes.com last night before I went to lay down to rest. The result was a delicious loaf of bread that looked and tasted like a professional baker made it. The secret? I didn't have bread-flour on hand but I did have All Purpose Flour and my vital wheat gluten from the seitan post. So...I substituted in about 3/4 cup of vital wheat gluten into my flour and it came out beautifully. I also substituted grapeseed oil (from Trader Joe's, $3.49 for 16 oz) for the vegetable oil. It's lighter and healthier for you, and organic evaporated cane sugar because it hasn't been (possibly) refined with charred animal bones to make it bright white. I buy mine in the bulk section of my market for a little over $2 a pound, versus upward of $5 to $7 a pound pre-packaged.

* 1 cup warm water (~110º F)
* 2 Tbs. organic evaporated, unrefined cane sugar

(if you have to buy packaged, Florida Crystals is supposed to be a good one. Click on the link and go to page 3 for a 55 cent off coupon)

* 1/4 cup grapeseed or safflower oil (or canola if you must - do not use corn or olive oil)
* 2 and 1/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour
* 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten (all good vegans/vegetarians should have this on hand anyway)
* 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
*1 (.25 oz) package of dry active yeast - don't use the rapid rise

(these directions are specific to my bread machine; if yours has different directions, please follow them)

1) Add the water, sugar, and oil to your bread machine pan.

2) In a bowl, mix the flour, the wheat gluten, and the salt, and whisk together; your flour will now be light and silky (it's kinda fun to feel that smooooooth feeling), and carefully add it to the top of the water/oil mix.

3) Make a small well in one of the corners of the flour being careful not to allow the water to come through, and pour your package of yeast into the well.

4) Shut the lid, and use the Basic or White bread setting with the lightest crust color. Walk away.

5) When the bread is done, use a pot holder to remove the pan and turn the bread out. Slice and spread with butter and/or jam, honey, etc. Snarf it down. Repeat.