Posts Tagged ‘bread’
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.
no-knead bread (for high altitude)
Now this is the way to get back to chewing food.
I remember standing in the kitchen of the Lincoln Cafe in 2007 during a lull in dinner service and chatting with Andy the sous chef about recipes we had tried recently. “Have you made ‘the no-knead bread‘ yet?” he asked me. I hadn’t. Andy swore up and down it was the best bread he had ever made, and went on and on about the quality of the crust, the ease of it, the just plain awesome taste. Two weeks later I made the bread and agreed with everything he said.
Flash forward three years and the no-knead bread is legendary. I’ve seen dozens of variations and made my own, but not since moving to Boulder over a year ago. Although I’ve gotten much better about tackling my high-altitude baking fear in the past few months, the no-knead is something I’ve been silly to ignore, since its namesake is the ease of the dough. After a few trials, I finally found the right mix of ingredients, time, and rising. Although this bread is more time consuming than most, it’s probably the best beginning loaf to do since it lacks the intimidating kneading and produces quite possibly the tastiest (and most versatile) bread ever.
buttermilk biscuits
This all started innocently enough. I had just seen “Crazy Heart” and after watching Jeff Bridges make “Bad Blake’s Legendary Biscuits,” I had a hankering I couldn’t ignore. So I turned to my usual goddess of southern cooking, Edna Lewis, and followed her recipe. Unfortunately… this happened:
Wah wah wahhhhhh. They don’t look too good do they? They tasted alright, but obviously they’re small, flat, and well, not very biscuit-y. Every recipe can’t be a winner, even from a trusted cook or source, but you can’t let it get you down. So, like with any challenge, I began to research and play with recipes. Butter vs. shortening, salt amounts, homemade baking powder vs. store-bought. And as always, altitude challenges. Finally, four rounds later, I made these gorgeous things today:
Victory! They taste even better than they look, too. I ended up using salted butter (just gave better flavor), homemade baking powder (from Edna), and just the right ratios to make sure they rose nice and proper here in the mountains. Nice crisp top and bottom, airy and moist on the inside, just begging to be slathered in more butter and strawberry jam.
Nice shaggy dough mess.
