Beautiful!
A big slab of farm butter would do the trick.
I've been wanting a baguette pan like that for a loooong time.
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Beautiful!
A big slab of farm butter would do the trick.
I've been wanting a baguette pan like that for a loooong time.
Maybe he'll be slightly happier if you at least tried his machine bread. And in return ask him if he'll clean up the mess. If he doesn't clean maybe you should go ahead and clean it. THEN PUT IT AWAY WHERE HE CAN'T FIND IT. May cause rift but hopefully he gets the message.Quote:
Originally Posted by MyLitespeed
Really sorry to hear about your angst. One should always clean after your own mess.
Bar-B-Q was another real sore spot when I was married. GRRRR!!!! We won't go there and get me started:mad::mad:
SmilingCat- gorgeous!!!!!! :eek: :p :p Oooooohhhh....
When the heck is my book getting here?! DAMN that Media Mail! :cool:
OMG, fresh bread :drool: ~ women after my own heart! As if cycling too, weren't enough! lol.
I have a bread machine in my classroom, believe it or not, but it's the Republic of Davis, so...it's wonderful to smell the bread and makes the day go better, as many of my moods are regulated by my stomach. :p Doesn't make a huge mess. You throw stuff in the removable 'bucket' and hit a button.
Now I've gotta make bread! I tried the Artisan bread once, but the pot I bought had a plastic handle...:eek:. I need to just remove it, but haven't yet. Maybe I will tonight, I'm inspired by this thread!
GLC1968, you're living one of my fantasies! I'm still in suburbia, but I do have the vegetable garden, and the chickens. :D
Edit: Ha! Making my first recipe of artisan bread! It's now in the fridge...can't wait to try it out tomorrow. But it's 1:30am, so off to bed!!
Right now, right out of the oven, butter, apricot preserves...mmmm
We want to know how it comes out!Quote:
Originally Posted by deedolce
I made a loaf of 'regular' kneaded yeast bread last night- came out pretty good.
We had it for dinner- fresh from the oven with butter, and navel oranges. That's it- just bread and oranges and tea for dinner last night! It was like a nice picnic! :)
Tulip- which recipe is that?
It's a variation of a recipe that is an adaptation of a recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 minutes...I got it from the NYT. I substituted some whole wheat flour for some of the white flour. It's soooo good. I make small loaves because it's just for me, and I wouldn't put it past myself to eat a whole regular-sized loaf all by myself. This one will be gone with tonight's soup.
Ok I think I am getting this Artisan bread technique a little better now that I have the book.
My dough batch came out better this time, more elastic, and I understood how to 'cloak the loaf' now.
Look how pretty my simple boule came out this time!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3584/...7354503d10.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3573/...81f304664a.jpg
If I can coax it to puff up a bit more with more bubbles inside the loaf, it'll then be perfect. But it was pretty good, nice and chewy and moist but with a crisp crust.
We ate half of it with chicken soup for dinner just now, and DH said he just LOVED it. :p
This afternoon while my car was getting fixed we went to a couple of good kitchen shops and I bought a few kitchen goodies to help with bread baking...a new bread knife, parchment paper, a peel, dough cutter, some new cutting boards, etc. It's a pleasure to cook when you have the right tools.
That is one beautiful loaf!
I've been slacking. I'd better get back to it.
Karen
Wow, that boule is gorgeous!! Looks like it came from a bread book or food magazine!
I'm sooo hooked on this bread, Lisa! I don't think I'll ever go back to the old recipes I've been doing for decades! This is my 2nd batch :D as the first one turned into 3 mini loaves, now eaten with gusto by my household. This is still the basic recipe, except I changed out 1 cup of Seminole flour and added a sprinkling of brown sugar. I also do less salt, and coated it with olive oil than sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese and sea salt. Yummers! I know I HAVE to get the book soon...as for now, I'm collecting ideas from their site. Seriously, this is the best bread EVER! So easy, it's pure genius!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...read041609.jpg
Lisa and Deedolce - both your loaves look delicious!!
This was my favorite bread from the book so far (rosemary and onion focaccia), but the herb bread (basic boule with fresh rosemary and thyme mixed into the dough) was a close second!
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ON1gXz2esy...ia%2Bafter.JPG
Deedolce- that looks so yummy too! Ooooohhhhh....sprinkled with parm and sea salt- be still my beating heart!!
I was so inspired last night when we ate my bread and my husband was just SO HAPPY and kept saying how much he loved that I made the bread and how good it was. That's what makes me really want to make it regularly now. :p
I love herb bread and cheese bread, olive bread, etc. But I know my husband loves the plain bread best, so I will have to sneak in variations very subtly. :cool: He really went nuts over that simple boule bread from the basic recipe.
I did find the basic recipe that said it makes 4 one pound loaves- well it makes THREE SMALL loaves really. (unless you think a loaf of bread should be the size of a grapefruit). So the next one tomorrow I will work with a larger piece and see if I can get a larger boule yet still have it baked through inside. Maybe I'll make it oval instead of round, to help it bake better.
I love that the ingredients are so cheap that you can feel free to experiment.
We figured it cost about $1.50 a loaf. Our local bakery sells theirs for $3-$4.50 per loaf. Of course there is always CHEAP bread in the supermarket, but that's often kind of a joyless eating experience.
He willingly gave his life to make others happy....
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/...ccec431661.jpg
You're cracking me up, Lisa! Looks delicious, although I try not to eat things that still have their head/face still on.:eek::D
Ha!! So funny, Lisa. :D Reminds me of something from the Wizard of Oz books I read as a kid. :p
Quote:
Originally Posted by deedolce
:mad:
You are officially in violation of the UN Convention Against Torture!
NOW CUT THAT OUT!!!
Ha! Too late! I ate the evidence...:D
I bought the following book & am ready to give breadmaking a shot:). River Cottage Handbook no 3, Bread by Daniel Stevens. (I really should footnote properly shouldn't I...:o)
Well I bought yeast and bread flour yesterday. So I MUST be ready to bake!
Keep us posted! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by ZenSojourner
Well, so far - I still have yeast and bread flour, LOL!
It's still progress over last month! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by ZenSojourner
I have a new loaf rising now to be baked- we'll see how this one comes out. I'm still not confident at all yet, since my results have varied so much with the first 3 batches. Guess I'll report back later today.
Ok, so I finally got around to ordering the breadmaking books suggested here.
What I REALLY want is crusty french baguettes! Hope there's a recipe in one of those books for that.
I'm finding that when I try to make the loaves too big they don't rise as well, something to do with being too heavy and collapsing under their own weight while puffing up, maybe? They are still coming out quite edible, though, but I like the more ball-like boule like I got with the one perfect boule loaf I've produced so far.
So it's back to trying to get 3 loaves instead of 2 out of the standard Artisan bread 'master recipe' batch (the one that starts with about 6 cups flour).
Books are here! So now I have bread, yeast, and recipes.
Maybe I can make something happen this weekend.
As I also posted in my personal blog today:
I made another couple of loaves of white crusty boule bread from the Artisan Bread book basic dough recipe today. Since they were a nice petite 8" round size, I made two at once and placed them side by side to rest/rise and bake together.
They wound up 'kissing' each other in the middle- it was so sweet! My husband and I agreed that they represented us rather accurately. So romantic! :p
We ate one boule this afternoon in ham/cheese/pickle/tomato sandwiches (plus snacking on the irresistible heels later), and we'll eat the other one tomorrow. Now I know I can get three of this ideal size round boules from each basic dough batch (made with 6 cups flour). Not too big, not too small.
As the book said, when the dough ages a few days in the fridge before shaping and baking, it has a nicer flavor, nicer crust, and is more chewy/stretchy. This proved true today as these boules were made from 5 day old dough and they really tasted great, with perfect texture. I've started a new dough batch in the fridge.
My new peel and the parchment paper make handling and transferring the dough much easier than before. I think I ham finally getting the hang of it, though I don't really feel confident yet at all- I am still getting uneven results sometimes.
I tried making some baking powder type bread the other day (no yeast) just for fun, and I think my husband and I have become spoiled by this artisan chewy crunchy yeasty bread. The old baking powder bread I used to like ok just didn't float our boats this time. :cool:
I have ordered a few interesting additional bread baking goodies to try out...some sourdough starter, some 'white' whole wheat flour from King Arthur Flours, a lame for slashing the loaves, and I want to try some semolina/durham flour. I also need to get some black sesame seeds, poppy seed, sun-dried tomatoes, nuts, fresh rosemary, and olives to begin experimenting with other interesting breads.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3350/...a69d2e8837.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/...f21798d59b.jpg
tell him beforehand you will have nothing to do with it. If he asks, tell him you wanted it, YOU use it!Quote:
Originally Posted by MyLitespeed
Arrrgh, Bleeker!
NO BAKING POWDER! I threw mine out awhile ago because it was too old.
I MEANT to get some more.
*grump grump grump*
andQuote:
Originally Posted by ZenSojourner
I'm bit confused now. Ar ya' lookin' for a sodabread? or ar ya' lookin' for a baguette?Quote:
Ok, so I finally got around to ordering the breadmaking books suggested here.
What I REALLY want is crusty french baguettes! Hope there's a recipe in one of those books for that.
For a sodabread, you need acid to make the bread rise. So if you are planning to use baking soda (sodium bicarb), you need to use either buttermilk or milk + TBS of vinegar or ... You need some kind of acid no matter what with soda bread.
soda bread as baugettes. now that's interesting...
Oh for a crusty baugettes, you get that effect with steam in the oven as it's baking. The trick provided in the book that really works is the pan of boiling water underneath (on a lower rack) the pan where the bread is baking. water can not touch the pan. Isn't pan also Spanish for bread??
smilingcat
Baking POWDER
Not baking SODA
I just got confoozled. BleekerStGirl mentioned baking powder and I thought I needed it.
Actually what I need and don't have is unbleached all purpose flour. I have BLEACHED all purpose flour, and I bought BREAD flour, and neither will work well for the recipe in the artisan breads cookbook.
I don't have the book, but I've made plenty of loaves from a recipe adapted from the book (from the NYT). I've used the flour that I have (bleached, and bread flour) and it's worked fine. My recipe does not call for baking powder. I've baked alot of yeasted breads and have never used baking powder. Now for biscuits, it's a must, but not for yeasted bread.
Start where you are...;)
The book says the dough will be too wet with bleached flour due to a lower protein content. It's a wet dough to start with. It's not a regular bread recipe. I think I'd rather make it the way they tell me to to start with and then see if I can change it. They do give a conversion factor for using bread dough, but say the bread will be denser and chewier because of it, I'll probably go ahead and try that.
If you'll give me your adaptation, I could try that too.
And I actually do need baking powder, for the banana bread recipe a friend of mine gave me recently. That's why I've had baking powder on the brain, then BleekerSt_Girl mentioning it made my brain jump a track.
Yeah, baking powder is fine for making biscuits and banana bread and such.
Definitely not in the plan for the crusty yeast breads though. :D
Smilingcat- I have been faithfully using the steam pan under the baking stone as recommended in the Artisan bread book....and it seems to work fine.
When pouring in the water, you have to be very careful not to drop even a drop of water on the extremely hot 450F oven door glass- I hear it can crack the glass window of the oven door if you do that! So I am very careful when I add the steam water.
There is a baguette recipe in the Artisan Bread book, but I can't find my peel anywhere. I think it may have warped in storage and got tossed, but who knows.
I'm getting this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Peel-Sol...1213503&sr=1-1
The manufacturers site has videos of it in use:
http://www.superpeel.com/videos.html
Yeah, it's a little pricey, but apparently the problem I've had with baguettes in the past is picking them up and moving them makes them "degas". Eg collapse and turn into bats.
It's actually a little cheaper than the one they had at Target.
I figure I can do without a bread knife (I should be able to use a steak knife for slashing the loaves, they're serrated too).
I've got the baking stone, don't really have to have parchment paper, but I do need a peel.
Has anybody tried the artisan bread recipe for baguettes?
I just use a wooden cutting board instead of a pizza peel. I have to use both hands and open the oven all the way, but it works just fine.
I didn't want to spend $40 on a peel at Williams-Sonoma (that's the only place I could find one locally when I was looking). So I tried the cutting board and it worked fine.
Karen
No wooden cutting board either. Mine are all poly, and they're either huge or tiny.
I already sprung for the peel, anyway, LOL!
Does anyone else find the basic bread boule recipe a little salty in the final product? I like bread a little salty, but it seemed to salty to me the last two times. I asked my friends who had some this morning--one of whom avoids salt because she has Meniere's disease and thus recognizes salty taste more--and she didn't notice it very strongly in the bread, but her husband said it wasn't "too" salty. I like the bread a lot, but I noticed the salt, and I LOVE salt. I even decreased the salt by half a teaspoon this time.
Karen