Posts Tagged ‘bread’
english muffin bread
We take bread very seriously in the Test Kitchen at work. For many of us, a piece of perfectly toasted bread with a schmear of soft butter and a sprinkling of kosher salt is not only the perfect breakfast, it’s the perfect lunch, snack, or death row meal, even. So when I came across this recipe for bread whose description proclaimed it made “the best toast ever,” I thought “Oh reaaaaally?” and put it on the to-bake list. Although my chewing ability is somewhat handicapped right now, that didn’t stop me from using my ample freetime this weekend to bake up a storm.
This would honestly make a fantastic beginner’s bread for those who haven’t worked with yeast much. You don’t have to knead anything, have only one short rise, and since it’s baked in a loaf pan the shape is pretty much guaranteed to be a winner.
It’s got a great slightly dense texture which makes it easy for slicing, with a wonderful chewy crust that only gets better when you toast it. There’s just a hint of sweetness which really calls for a good sprinkling of salt once you toast and butter up a slice, making it a hearty and delicious breakfast (or anytime) bread.
oat soda bread
It’s been so long! I can’t believe it had been almost 2 weeks since I’ve baked something but it’s sadly true. Last weekend I got sucked into my new part-time job of working in a wine dept at a local gourmet grocer (best PT job ever!) so I had no time to cook. I made sure to make time this weekend to relax and play in the kitchen, and this bread was the counterpart to a wonderful soup I whipped up (and will be posted later this week!)
Chalk it up to St. Patrick’s Day being around the corner, but a quick soda bread sounded like just the ticket when I was perusing some bread recipes online. Easy, fast, and using ingredients I had on hand (the buttermilk was from the soup), I’m so glad I chose it. The bread is hearty and filling with tons of texture and flavor. As I ate it I thought “This is the kind of bread you eat as a meal, not as a side.” Especially slathered in warm, salted butter. Delicious.
On a different note, it feels selfish and almost silly to be posting about bread and complaining about my lack of time to post. The disaster in Japan is unbelievable and things that are larger than life like this really make you value what time you have and how you use it, so please take the time to donate to the millions in need: Red Cross Donation. Keep Japan in your thoughts and prayers, they are going to need them more than ever.
cinnaswirl bread
We all deal with stress differently. Some work out, some go to a gun range, some have a cocktail. Me? I bake.
When I lived in Boulder one of my usual habits was coming home, throwing aside my bag, turning on the oven, and grabbing things from my pantry. I’d throw myself into a recipe with abandon, forget everything else about my day, and just bake. Last Thursday was one of those days. Not enough hours in the day, everyone was tense and overworked, surprise reshoots sprung on us, etc. I came home totally stressed, turned my brain off, and made cinnaswirl bread.
There’s nothing quite like the smell of cinnamon sugar caramelizing on fresh toast, so you can only imagine the awesome smell that permeates every inch of your apartment (or kitchen or house or what have you) when you bake this bread. I will warn you, it is an extremely drawn-out process (almost 4 hours of proofing total, plus 40 minutes of baking, plus 30 minutes of kneading/general prep), so don’t just start this bread without time to finish it. But please finish it. Trust me. Whether it’s for stress relief or just stuffing your face (or both) – it’s well worth the wait.
caraway bread
After a couple miserable months of unending heat and rain, we finally – finally - caught a break last Sunday. The temperature (and humidity) dropped, the sun was still out, and it was as if everyone took a collective sigh in my city. I turned off my AC, opened the windows, and decided to make something hearty and warm for dinner. Kielbasa, sauerkraut, and potatoes roasted in the oven. An old family favorite from growing up. Too easy really to post for a recipe, but since the weather was just nice enough, I decided to froufrou it up and bake some fresh bread to go alongside it.
I’m a caraway fanatic. Growing up, I was obsessed with rye bread – specifically making sandwiches on those obnoxious little loaves of cocktail rye. You can easily see this is not rye bread (no rye flour, for one thing), but caraway seeds are the gateway to rye flavors, and by steeping the water used to make the bread in caraway seeds, it’s a nice mild profile, without the dark earthiness of rye. Total disclosure – I didn’t feel like going to the store to get rye flour and wanted to use what was in my cupboard. Let’s just call this bread a happy product of good weather laziness.
pretzel rolls
Y’know what’s great? Baking bread at sea level. And y’know what’s even better? Baking pretzel bread at sea level.
These rolls came up in conversation at work the other day and I was instantly reminded of one of my all-time favorite sandwiches, the “Twisted O’Quigley” from an Irish pub in KC. It was pretty simple: ham and turkey with melted Swiss cheese and grainy mustard, but the pretzel bread was what made it special. Chewy and salty, but soft and sweet, pretzel bread is my dream foundation for any good sandwich.
Finding pretzel bread can be a little challenging, but thankfully it’s not that complicated to make. Like bagels, the key is to boil the rolls to get that perfect chewy outside and tender bread inside. Sprinkled with course salt and baked to perfection, these make my heart sing and my mouth water.
