Wednesday, September 19, 2007

who's the boss?

basic hearth bread from "The Bread Bible
no story, but isn't she pretty?

Before my baby was born, I was going to post about how "bread is the boss of me," detailing the grueling schedule of pre-ferment, kneading, resting, rising, proofing, shaping, baking, and cooling. Bread-making is a serious task master. Now of course, baby is the boss of me. But serendipitously, making bread and raising baby are quite compatible. Each require a few minutes of interaction every couple hours, all day and often all night (particularly if I start my bread making late in the day - I've eaten many a fresh loaf after midnight).


Pane Siciliano

I made this fun discovery while making Pane Siciliano from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart. The bread had a lovely, moist chew, which made me want to try it in a loaf pan next time so it's more appropriately shaped for sandwiches and toast. It was so cute, I just had to post some pics.


pre-rise


after an overnight rise in fridge


baked and cooling


the lovely holey crumb


As with all my breads, I must sample a bite with
a wide array of spreads to determine its usefulness.
This one tastest great dipped in olive oil
or spread with peanut butter.

4 comments:

Astrid said...

Beautiful! I've never seen bread shaped like this, looks lovely. I'm glad you're able to combine baby and bread! I also find that some of my long involved baking projects with multiple steps work well around children, as long as there's enough space in the fridge or freezer to hold work in progress...

etalon said...

Amazing post!

Alice said...

I was referred to your blogs by Roberta. All I can say is YUM< YUM< YUM< I LOVE BREAD! I used to make it quite often. Everything looks beautiful.

-Alice

ps 4 days new to Zürich!

Tanya D said...

Welcome Alice. Thanks for the nice comments on my bread. I hope you like Zurich. Good luck getting settled :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...