Bread Love

The finished garlic-buttery loaves

     The last time I baked was two weeks ago.  It has felt very odd not having my Sunday ritual of flour and yeast and heat.  I was sick last week (still recovering) from one of those colds that makes you realize how lucky you are to be healthy most of the time.  While I was sick, I craved homemade bread.  It's true, I'm not lying, I actually craved a biscuit, or a slice of toast or a muffin, but not just any biscuit, bread or muffin, I wanted something homemade by me, from my own kitchen.  What I really craved most of all, were the loaves that inspired the title "Bread Love."

*

 I am in love.  I am sorry Mireille Guliano, I used to think that your French bread recipe from French Women Don't Get Fat were the bread-loves of my life, but I was wrong.  The French bread from the Tassajara Bread Book is perfect in every way, and I am serious about this.  This crusty loaf with a fluffy interior is hard to beat, but topping these loaves with garlic butter straight out of the oven seals the deal and makes them the loaves-of-my-dreams, hand's down. The mixture of wheat and white flour is divine, giving the bread enough weight without making it heavy.  The crust of the bread gets very golden and, well crusty, because of the moisture you coat the loaves in with a squirt bottle while baking.  In the FWDGF recipe mentioned above, a pan of water is baked in the oven with the loaves to provide moisture, but I think that squirting them or brushing them with water is a much better approach, plus it's way more fun. Introducing water not only keeps the crumb of the bread moist, but it allows the exterior to turn a deep golden color and have a much crustier exterior without burning.

Shaping the dough after rolling out
with new French rolling pin (thanks Mom)

Cutting vents in the loaves
on top of a cornmeal dusted baking sheet

A homemade steam injection oven!

Brushing the loaves, straight from the oven with garlic butter

mmmmm...garlic butter

*

     Next time I make these loaves (and I know there will be many more times)I plan to let them bake a little longer.  The crust was still delicious, but I think it could have been a more golden shade of brown.  This recipe also opened the door to all kinds of savory and sweet butters: butters with fresh herbs like Cilantro or Basil, with cinnamon and orange peel, or with ginger and lime.  I am pretty sure that I could live off of bread and butter, especially now that I have made this recipe.  Well, maybe I'd like to add beer to that list. 

#15 A French Bread

From The Tassajara Bread Book

Crusty, with good wheat flavor.  Try a combination of whole wheat and white flour, or use all white flour if you prefer.

3 cups lukewarm water

3 packages dry yeast

2 tablespoons honey or sugar

2 cups unbleached white flour and 2 cups whole wheat flour

4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

wheat flour for kneading

Proceed with directions for Recipe#1.  With the additional yeast, rising times will probably be somewhat shorter.

To shape the loaves, cut into two pieces, roll each out into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick on a floured board.  Then roll up the dough tightly, as you would roll up a carpet.

Pinch the seam together and roll the loaf about to shape it evenly.  Place the finished loaf, seam down on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.  Let rise for about 20 minutes.

Brush with water.  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, and then spray or brush the loaves with water.  Continue baking at 350 until well browned--another 35-45 minutes.  For added shine and a bit of flavor, brush the tops with garlic butter as soon as the loaves are removed from the oven (a must).

Pop-Pop-Popovers!

The end result; chaotic, spontaneous, popovers.

     After a somewhat hectic week at work, I was looking for an easy recipe that I could knock off my list.  I was looking for something that did not require kneading, rising, or too many ingredients.  Popovers seemed somewhat low maintenance, except for the fact that the only other recipes that I had seen for popovers had been from a Martha Stewart baking cookbook that required the use of a certain popover pan (which I, of course do not have).  I hoped that since none of the other recipes required special equipment, that this one wouldn't either, and I was right.  Turns out that Popovers can be made in a regular muffin tin.  

*

     This recipe seemed dangerously similar to a souffle, which I have never actually made, but from watching several cooking shows with people trying to pull one off successfully, I know that it can collapse at any moment if taken out of the oven too soon, if moved to quickly, or if someone sneezes in the other room.  In that way, a souffle, and to a lesser degree popovers, are like science experiments, all the elements have to come together just right to make it work.  Luckily, popovers are not as temperamental as souffles and if you follow the instructions of this recipe, they are very simple to make.  As long as you keep the oven shut for the first 30 minutes of baking (which is all I needed in my oven)they should bake into perfect puffs of yummy soft baked goods that are like a hybrid creation of croissant, muffin and souffle.  

*

  I normally avoid the word "magical" because it's often used to describe things that have an explanation (therefore, it's not magic!) but, I do feel like the way that these little suckers bake is pretty magical.  They pop up in a chaotic, spontaneous way that is unique for every popover.  The extra amount of eggs in the batter is what makes these rise and bake too fast for their own good which produces a hollow eggy roll which can be filled with any number of ingredients.  The origin of these delicious rolls is somewhat unknown, but apparently, food historians generally agree that the recipe was derived from an American adaptation of Yorkshire Pudding, which has been made in England since the 17th century.  The next time I make these, I want to try out filling them with something; cheese, pesto, hummus, nutella...okay, maybe they are a bit magical...



Popovers, ready for their close up.




Yum!





#44 Popovers

From The Tassajara Bread Book
Makes 12 popovers

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Use a popover pan or  regular muffin tins.  Mix ingredients thoroughly.  Grease the muffin tins and heat in the oven for 5 minutes.  When hot, fill each cup one-third full with popover batter.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 and bake another 10-20 minutes.  DO NOT OPEN the oven until after 30 minutes of baking of the popovers may fall.

Serve with butter, jam, or cheese.  Or serve for dinner with stuffed meat or vegetables in cream or cheese sauce; with grains, vegetables, or stuffing; or with a mushroom filling.  Heck, or just plain buttered.

Everything IS better with Cheddar!

The finished cheesy loaves

     
     As mentioned last week, during my cooking/baking extravaganza, I made chili and cornbread and this lovely cheese bread.  I knew from the start that I would love this bread, seeing as I love pretty much anything with cheese and I like to add cheese to pretty much everything.  This is why it will be important for me to maintain the habit of exercising vigorously  as I am just not the dieting type.  Who trusts a skinny chef right?  Bread is honestly something that I don't think I could live without, this cheese bread included. 

*

     When I was flipping through The Tassajara Bread Book (TBB) deciding what I wanted to bake, I was a little startled to come across this recipe.  I have this feeling when it comes to baking from the TBB, that everything is healthy and wholesome, so it was somewhat shocking to see a recipe that included 3 cups of cheese, 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of melted butter. But, if you are using this bread to make a sandwich and skip the cheese and mayonnaise, (because there is cheese and butter in the bread itself), you have probably balanced things out.

*

     What I am learning more and more as I get older (and I have been feeling a little bit older lately) is not some new nugget of information that I have never heard before, but something that I have heard from almost everyone I know of a certain age; "everything in moderation".  So I guess I will skip adding cheese to a sandwich on a cheesy loaf, or better yet, eat the cheese and walk an extra mile to compensate.

*

The bubbling yeast doing it's magic

Adding the cheddar

Rolling the dough to fit the bread pan

#14 Cheese Bread

From the Tassajara Bread Book

3 cups lukewarm water

2 packages dry yeast

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup dry milk

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups unbleached flour and 2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup melted butter

3 cups grated Cheddar (or other strong favored cheese)

3-5 cups whole wheat flour as required to form the dough and knead it

Proceed with directions for recipe #1, stirring in the beaten eggs after the dry milk, and folding in the grated cheese after the salt and butter.