Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café—Poofy Bread

The fact that there are so many different ways to make bread with just a couple of ingredients still amazes me.  Just altering the leavening, amount of liquid, cooking method, or rise time yields an entirely different product.  Then adding in various conditioners (milk, eggs, sugar in all its forms, and oil are all considered conditioners) or things like fruit and nuts gives you a multitude of other options.  The following recipe, however, is extremely basic, as well as tasty.

As I was toodling around YouTube sometime earlier this summer, probably watching one of SouthernPrepper1’s videos, I noticed a video on the side claiming to show how to make bread from just flour and water.  I had to go check it out.

Of course, the title was a bit misleading.  The recipe also calls for salt, sugar, and oil.  However, it looked very simple and quick, two of the essentials for a great food storage recipe.  The third, naturally, is that the dish actually tastes good.  And fortunately, this bread recipe wins on all counts. 

I don’t know for sure what this bread is actually called.  The chef behind the video, which has over four million views and over four thousand comments, didn’t provide a name for this bread, at least not in English.  I am guessing the native language is Turkish, but again I’m not sure.  One of the comments said it was very similar to a bread served in India called Poori.  I’m going to go with a different name.  It sounds similar.

Poofy Bread

7/8 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2.5 cups of all-purpose flour

Oil for frying

In a mixing bowl, dissolve the salt and sugar in boiling water.  Stir in the flour and knead without adding any additional flour.  Roll into a log and divide dough into 8 pieces.  Form each into a ball, cover, and let rest 10 minutes.  Roll each ball into a 6” circle, lightly flouring counter and top of dough ball as needed.  Cover with plastic and let rest another 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan.  Cook bread about 1 minute on each side until golden brown.  As the bread cooks, spoon oil onto the top to prevent it from drying out and cracking.

Notes:  Make sure to roll each ball to just 6” in diameter.  If it is rolled out more than that, the dough will not poof up into a nice pillow like you see in the video.  It will still taste good, however.  Especially topped with cinnamon sugar.

The video commenter who noted that this was known as Poori bread in India stated that it was commonly served with curry dishes and mixed vegetables.  I think it would go really well with soups and stews, minus the cinnamon sugar.

Family reviews:  Lydia, Becky, and I were the only ones home at the time.  Becky said she could easily become addicted to it.  Lydia and I just scarfed it down.  We didn’t leave leftovers for Aaron.  We didn’t even tell him what we had done.  Some things are best left unsaid. 

Links to related posts:

Tortillas  

Navajo Fry Bread  

Basic Food Storage—Flour  

Basic Food Storage—Oil 

 

References:

Video showing exactly how to make Poofy Bread:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=s300YVAVMqE

Build Your Own Muffin Recipe

"If you build it, [they] will come."--Field of Dreams

Well, Shoeless Joe Jackson may not make it, but your family will.   

You never know what leftovers are going to be waiting to be used the next morning, or what bounty of produce or grains may fall into your lap.  So here’s a recipe that’s been tweaked by women over the years to let you use whatever you’ve got on hand.

How it works:  The left column of the table is the basic recipe.  If you just follow that recipe you will have a basic, simple muffin.  The right column contains suggestions for optional substitutions.

2 – 2 1/2 cups flour	Substitute whole wheat flour, cornmeal, quick oats, or flake cereal for up to one cup of the flour. If using whole wheat flour, increase baking powder by 1/2 teaspoon.  If using quick oats, substitute 2 cups oats for 1 cup flour.  Bran may be used in place of one-fourth of the flour.  Leftover cooked grains may also be used (puree in blender first and substitute up to one cup of puree for 1/2 cup of flour).
2 tablespoons to 1 cup sugar	Range varies based on the type of muffin you are making.  Sweet morning muffins need more sugar than savory dinner muffins.  Or substitute up to 1/2 cup honey or molasses for one cup of sugar, but decrease milk to 3/4 of a cup.  Up to 3/4 cup brown sugar may be substituted for white sugar.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder	If you are using acidic ingredients like buttermilk, sour milk, mashed fruit, or a lot of brown sugar, use 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 to 1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder instead of the 1 tablespoon of baking powder.
1 cup milk	Substitute 1 cup water (with the wet ingredients) plus 1/4 cup dry milk (with the dry ingredients), fruit juice, buttermilk, or sour milk.
2 eggs	Use 2 egg whites, egg substitute, 2 tablespoons egg powder plus 1/4 cup water, or 2 heaping tablespoons of soy flour plus 2 tablespoons of water.
1/3 cup oil	1/3 cup melted butter or peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla	Omit for savory muffins
1 teaspoon cinnamon	Omit for savory muffins
Up to 1 1/2  cups total of optional additions	1/2 to 1 cup of chopped apples, mashed bananas, blackberries, blueberries, grated carrots, cranberries, peaches, raisins, strawberries, or grated zucchini. 1/2 to 1 cup of nuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, or coconut
Spices	1/2 to 1 teaspoon of spices to complement the flavors in your muffin.  Also, 1-2 teaspoons of grated orange or lemon peel may be added.

Instructions:

Combine dry ingredients.  Combine wet ingredients.  Stir the two together just until moistened.  Do not over mix.  Spoon into muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, just until golden brown. 

Toppings to add before baking:

• Sugar:  Sprinkle each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon sugar for a sparkly, crunchy top. 
• Streusel:  1 tablespoon softened butter, 2 tablespoons sugar (white or brown), ¼ cup flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. 
• Coconut:  1 tablespoon softened butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 cup coconut.
• Nuts:  If you sprinkle the nuts on top of the muffin rather than adding them to the batter, only the people who like nuts will have them, and they don't get wasted on people who don't appreciate them.

Toppings to add after baking:

• Brush with melted butter and then dip tops in cinnamon and sugar. 
• Brush with maple syrup. 
• Drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons of milk and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Here are some different versions of the basic muffin recipe.

• Apple:  Substitute 1 1/2 cups of applesauce for the milk and add in 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. 
• Banana:  Mash 1-2 ripe bananas and reduce milk to 1/2 cup.  Use 1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.  Sprinkle tops with chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. 
• Blueberry:  Reduce sugar to 1/2 cup.  Add 1 cup blueberries and ½ teaspoon nutmeg. 
• Chocolate raspberry:  Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup raspberry jam to wet ingredients, or 3/4 cup fresh raspberries, and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. 
• Carrot, pumpkin, or zucchini:  Add 1 cup pumpkin puree or grated carrots or zucchini.  Use 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar.  Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ginger, or cloves. 
• Jelly filled:  Fill muffin cups halfway.  Add 1-2 teaspoons of jam or jelly to the center of each.  Carefully spoon two more tablespoons of muffin batter on top. 
• Savory muffins:  Reduce sugar to 2 tablespoons.  Add some of the following:  1/2 cup grated cheese, 3 strips crumbled bacon, 2 tablespoons grated onion, 1/2 cup shredded zucchini, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. 

For further reading:

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1aisBUs3v4tkcA8sseRSs5ELjP2pHMZpZ-qqEbIp9jVQ&hl=en

Amy Dacyczyn, The Tightwad Gazette.

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