TomCatt, your post about baking bread again made me feel TOTALLY inferior in the cooking department, so yesterday I tackled the baking of basic breads. Now I'm hooked. OMG -- the smells of that delightful fresh baked bread totally filled my house and made it smell like HOME. Today I'm going to try to vary the recipe a bit and see what happens. I HATE stale, funky store-bought bread. We really enjoy the hearty oat breads, whole wheat breads, nut breads, cinnamon breads, etc., so off I go back to the kitchen!! I baked two small loaves of whole wheat yesterday and OMG -- yummmmmmmm. I normally eat very little bread (because I never bake my own), but this stuff was great. I sliced it last night medium thick and made some garlic butter and served it with my special home made marinara sauce -- WOW. +1 is hooked and went off to work today with thick slices of it in his lunch. Its your fault, TC -- you ruined me.

 

Mmmmm...does sound yummy. I love good bread, but am trying to avoid eating too much of it. I have a bread machine I haven't used in quite awhile. This is inspiring me to make some again.

 

Okay, TomCatt, come on over and help +1 and me eat the two delicious loaves of hot, wonderful, yummmy, delicious cinammon bread that just came out of the oven. Tomorrow I think I'll make another kind of bread hmmmm, maybe something with oatmeal or maybe a nice wholewheat with some rosemary, I don't know. Come on and have some , a nice chunk of cinnamon bread and we'll just chat.

 

Awww man, are you in trouble now.

The cooking forum I hang out on has a number of good bakers. One gave me some very valuable advice: go deep before you go wide.

That means get good at one basic white bread before you're tempted down the path of the fun and funky. If you get really good at a simple bread, by baking it over and over again, you will have smarter eyes and hands when you take on the more challenging.

I've been making a basic white bread from "Baking With Julia" and it is yummy!!!. I also have made a focaccia that is to die for, and you don't have to knead it. You can start it mid-afternoon and have warm focaccia for dinner. Yum!!! I made this the other day, along with a basic home-made vegetable soup found in Jacques Pepin's "Fast Food My Way": basically grated carrot, zucchini, potato and onion (or whatever you have for vegetables) simmered for a few minutes in water, with some baby spinach added near the end. Ladle into mugs, drizzle with a little EVOO and shave some parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano over the top. OMG talk about food heaven...

My next project (maybe I'll try this next week) is to tackle pain a l' ancienne, the classic French baguette. I need to get some unglazed quarry tile for the oven before I do, though...

If you like I can post the link to the forum and you can explore, and I can also post the 2-3 books I got as a result of suggestions on what would be good for a bread-baking beginner (recipes too, if you want).

I'm on my way for bread and coffee. See ya soon. Glad you and +1 are enjoying.

 

You have no idea how I wish you really were on your way over!!

 

^You and me both!

Here's the foodie forum I hang out on. It's hosted by the folks that publish Fine Cooking magazine.

Fine Cooking "Cook's Talk"

Lotsa good people there, many with strong opinions. I avoid the political discussions there. Many many great recipies, and great advice from everyone is available, including some professionals that participate there.

The bread books I've been using as a reference are:

The Bread Baker's Apprentice - Peter Reinhart - Probably the most invaluable resource I've found.

Artisan Baking - Maggie Glezner - A close second to BBA.

Bread Made Easy - Beth Hensperger - Some great fundamental recipies here.

Baking With Julia - Julia Child - What can I say, she is the master.

Crust & Crumb - Peter Reinhart - This one I don't have yet, it's to advanced for me, but it's the next bread book I'll get.

Tom

 

Here is the white bread recipe I've been working on:

White Loaves From Baking with Julia - Contributing Baker Craig Kominiak
Makes two 1

 

Here is the no knead focaccia:

2 cups lukewarm water (85 to 95 deg. F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 cups unbleached bread flour
2 to 3 teaspoons salt
2 to 3 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Measure the water into a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir until dissolved. Stir in 2 cups of the flour and the salt and stir briskly until smooth, about 2 minutes. With a strong wooden spoon or one of those rare mixing spoons with a big hole in the middle, stir in the remaining 2 cups of flour for about 2 minutes longer, just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and the flour is incorporated. The dough will be fairly wet and tacky (sticky), but when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a loose ball, you'll know the dough has been stirred sufficiently. If it seems too sticky, stir in an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour.

Same day method: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 30 to 40 minutes. Proceed with the shaping instructions.

Overnight method: Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight. The dough will rise in the refrigerator and acquire flavor from the slower yeast action. Remove the dough 2 hours before shaping and let stand, covered, in a warm place. The dough will rise for the second time. Proceed with the shaping instructions.

To shape into focaccia: Preheat the oven to 500 deg. F. Oil one or two nonstick 13-by-18-inch baking sheets. [I use a half sheet pan with lightly oiled parchment.] Pour the dough onto the sheet(s), carefully scraping it from the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Brush the dough with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. To make the traditional focaccia with indentations, dip your fingers into cold water or olive oil and insert them straight down into the dough. Make holes in the dough by pulling it to the sides about 1 inch at a time. Pull the holes at random to form little craters all over with the pan showing through where you have put your fingers. As you work, stretch the dough into a 1-inch-thick oval. [For the sandwiches, I pulled it into a big square - less waste when cutting the sandwich pieces.] If you are using just one baking sheet, the focaccia will cover almost the entire sheet. Brush the loaf with another teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle with the rosemary and sea salt. Focaccia does not need to rise, but if you forget it for a few minutes, don't worry. It will bake beautifully despite a little neglect.

To bake the focaccia: Place the pan(s) in the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 450. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the focaccia has a nice, golden-brown color mixed with a little darker brown around the indented area. Cool on a wire rack. Cut focaccia into wedges or rectangles and serve warm.

Source: Suzanne Dunaway, No Need to Knead

 

OK you two owe me for a ruined keyboard. While reading the above, I drooled and shorted out my new keyboard. Using a crummy backup now. A bill is on it's way.

 

^I only reimburse in bread.