By John, on February 9th, 2011 |
 The bread bug that bit me last fall has festered into a full-on case of baker’s obsession. About twice a week I can be found standing at the kitchen counter in front of my standing mixer, measuring out ingredients like a true mad scientist, searching for that next perfect recipe so I can shout out, “It’s alive!”
My experiments always start with the basic Pain a l’Ancienne recipe, 27 ounces of flour, 2 tsp of salt, 1.75 tsp of instant yeast since this reliably yields two loaves. From there, I start changing things up. For this recipe I replace the ice water with tepid low-fat milk; I also add some vinegar and butter. Then I use an entirely different rise and baking technique using Chicago Metallic loaf pans in a much cooler oven. Warm from the oven, this bread is fantastic with a little butter. Once cooled it becomes a fabulous sandwich bread and toasts up great. It is also perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches. …continue reading
By John, on January 30th, 2011 |
 When it comes to making pizza, the toppings are easy, it’s the crust and the baking technique that can make or break you. That’s why frozen pizza and chain store pizza’s always miss the mark compared to the best neighborhood pizza joints. Too many compromises in technique benefit the assembly line, not the product.
From the photo you can see that we are getting much closer to perfecting our pizza crust recipe and baking technique. Sure, it takes some preplanning but only about two hours. With this recipe you can be home at 5:30 and be eating your own home-made oven-fresh pizza by 8:00. …continue reading
By John, on October 29th, 2010 |
 Thank goodness recipes cannot be copyrighted and that Jim Lahey wants the world to use this. How much simpler can a bread recipe get? The only cookware you need is a mixing bowl and a cast iron dutch oven with a lid. The dough can be mixed in less than a minute and is then left to rise at room temperature for 12 hours. A couple of folds, a second rise and it’s ready to go into the oven. The end result is a loaf with a crispy, chewy crust and a nice bubbly soft crumb. You can see there is actually a sheen to the crumb. I used all purpose flour for my first attempt and coated it in sesame seeds before baking. The sesame seeds work wonderfully with the extra crisp crust but I was a bit underwhelmed by the lack of flavor in the crumb, especially compared to the flavor of the Pain a l’Ancienne.
…continue reading
By John, on October 18th, 2010 |
 What to do on a blustery fall day? Make bread of course. Many thanks to Thomas over at A Growing Tradition for posting about this recipe along with some absolutely gorgeous photos. My photos aren’t nearly as pretty but results were quite tasty. The recipe is from Peter Reinhart’s book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.
This is a truly easy bread to make assuming you have a standing mixer to do the kneading for you. Mostly, it just involves waiting for the dough to rise, first overnight in the refrigerator then followed by several hours at room temperature to double in size. …continue reading
|
|
|
The bread bug that bit me last fall has festered into a full-on case of baker’s obsession. About twice a week I can be found standing at the kitchen counter in front of my standing mixer, measuring out ingredients like a true mad scientist, searching for that next perfect recipe so I can shout out, “It’s alive!”
recent Comments