Friday, April 23, 2010

Remember this book?



A few months back, Katie posted about a great book that allowed her to enjoy fresh bread every day. You can re-visit her post here. I thought this sounded like a wonderful book, but wanted to check it out from the library to make sure I would use it before making the purchase. Well, apparently the book is very popular because I was put on a huge waiting list. Finally it was my turn, and Scott picked it up from the library for me on the way home from work yesterday.

I tried my first recipe this morning, and will let it rise and chill all afternoon before baking the first loaf this evening. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Katie- Are there any "must bake" recipes that you and John love most?

5 comments:

Sam said...

I've been using those recipes at least once a week since early fall and haven't had anything fail yet. We almost always have a bucket of dough in the fridge right now. I like the "original" recipe, the light wheat and the honey wheat. We've done boulet's, in loaf pans, as sandwich/burger rolls, pizza crust and as the base for caramel pecan rolls. I haven't bought any sort of bread at the store since before Christmas. Next up to try at our house is the olive oil dough.
I'd love to pick up their other book soon!

Scott and Malisa Johnson said...

Sam, I didn't know this was the book you used!?! I saw all of your gorgeous pictures of bread and thought you were doing something different. Is the only book you use, or others too?

Katie said...

Hey Malisa,
I haven't tried too many recipes out of the book, but we love the original boule and the light wheat. I've noticed that the more wheat flour you have in your dough, the less "fluffy" the bread crumb will be. Probably the same with all bread, but just thought I'd point it out. I plan to experiment more in the future, I'll let you know how it goes. Good luck with the recipes. You will love the book!

Sam said...

I've tried some other bread recipes, but these are so good and so much easier that I keep coming back to it. I'm tackling sourdough from scratch soon, but honestly if you can keep this dough in the container for a week or so it develops a mild sourdough tang.

Whole wheat flour has a higher protein content and does give you a different crumb. Even bleached and unbleached flours give you a slightly different result.

It is a pricey book, but to have the technique there really is worth the cost for me. I do wish it had more photos, but I can live without them (or take my own!). I've had friends ask to buy my bread, but it's so easy I'd feel guilty taking their money.

Scott and Malisa Johnson said...

So good! Scott said it was one of the best things I've ever made. He certainly won't care if I go out and buy the book tomorrow. :)

I loved all the explanations about the reactions with different types of flour. Really helped me figure out why it worked so well this time, and didn't when I've tried in the past!