bread

Bread sticks

In my quest for perfect bread recipes I’ve made a lot of duds. You know the type – dull, dry altogether unappealing?

I’ve been meaning to try the recipe for “Sabrina’s Breadsticks” ever since I was fortunate enough to be given someone’s “spare copy” of Stephanie Alexander’s “The Cook’s Companion” (spare copy – can you imagine?!!)

Anyhow, the long proving times had put me off up until today when I decided to give it a go. These breadsticks used to be served in Stephanie’s restaurant.

The result was 2 beautiful breadsticks that rival anything I’ve bought from an Italian bakery. A truly marvellous taste, a crust with crunch, yet not too hard and a moist, flavoursome interior.

Although it requires a fair time investment the recipe is quite effortless and very enjoyable to make.

The children pounce on one stick as soon as it was cool enough and ate the pieces smeared with a little melty butter.

I will absolutely be making this again and again and again…..

Bread baking

by Kelly Leave a Comment

I don’t get nearly enough time for baking bread these days, I can’t wait to get back to baking instead of buying again. The very cool and wintery conditions here have me pining for baking (and eating) hot bread again so I thought I’d try some online recipes.

First up was the essential winter indulgence, raisin bread. I used a recipe from here. I made a few modifications. The recipe says for two loaves, however there was only enough dough for one loaf. The result: a nice tasting loaf but very crumbly (you can see it falling apart a little after being cut). The children like it though, and we all had raisin toast for breakfast. Very nice!

Now here is something I’ve never tried – Challah, a traditional Jewish bread. This one is good if you have surplus eggs, as I do at the moment. Mine turned out a little less attractive than some, but you have to love that shine on the crust! The recipe was from here and was very nice when eaten warm – moist and sweet. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a write off today, but still ok for toast.

This one's a keeper!

by Kelly 2 Comments

I’m always on the lookout for a good bread recipe. In my travels I’ve found there are many bad recipes and just a few gems. This one comes under the latter category. It’s the Basic No- Knead recipe from “My Bread” by Jim Lahey. His method is like no other I’ve tried before, though some of the ideas and techniques are the same. I read the whole book as it was so interesting to read about his life leading up to now.

One word. Marvellous!

It’s a long process but so worth it. Think delicious, Italian artisan and gourmet. Drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, it is absolutely dreamy. My husband said it tasted like it had been baked in a wood fired oven.

My loaf vanished within hours.

The only downside would be if you have difficulty chewing a dense crust, it gives the jaws a workout.