This is a historic milestone we probably should not let pass without note:
In July, one of the longest losing streaks in the history of culinary combat finally came to end. According to the Nielsen Company, 52-week dollar sales of packaged wheat bread topped those of white bread for the first time in U.S. supermarkets. Call it a victory for health -- but nutritional aspects alone don't account for this reversal of fortune.
I grew up in a white-bread culture (being literal here, not figurative), but I inherited my mother's love for all kinds of bread. Don't know if you've noticed, but the bread aisle has become as hard to get through with a quick choice as the cereral aisle, and there are even more wonders in the bigger stores' bakeries. And I love making bread -- somebody gave me a bread-making machine many Christmases ago, but I've used it just a couple of times. Where's the fun in making bread if you don't actually knead the dough? My favorite "white" bread these days is potato bread. I don't know if it's any healthier, but it's tasty and seems to stay fresh about twice as long.
But, really I'm mostly a cornbread and biscuit man. They're the two easiest breads to make from scratch, and they go with just about everything. And you can add herbs and spices and a lot of other things to the corbread mixture or biscuit dough to create a variety of tastes.
Just for kicks, here's the yeast roll recipe I use, passed along by my mother. For all I know, she got the recipe from a cookbook, but the family legend is that she adapted it from one my father brought home from the Army (he was a cook specializing in baking) that was originally designed to feed about 200 people. Warning: Not healthy!
YEAST DINNER ROLLS
In small pot, heat one stick of butter, one cup of milk, one-half cup of sugar and one teaspoon of salt until butter melts.
In mixing bowl, combine one cup of warm water, two packages of dry yeast and one-half cup of sugar.
Combine the two and gradually add six cups of flour, beating into a stiff dough.
Turn out on a floured board and knead. Let rise in buttered bowl until doubled. Knead again and shape into rolls. Let rise again.
Bake at 350 until browned.
