Sunday, January 25, 2009

My Favorite Things: Artisan Bread


ArtisanBread5Mins
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic
I heard about this book on "Splendid Table" (another of my favorite things) and had to get this book. I made the bread for a couple of weeks from the recipe on the radio show website, but when I needed to buy a book for buddy Cassie's birthday, I found myself clicking the button for this one too. (One-click shopping on Amazon is DANGEROUS!)

It is absolutely true that the longer the bread lives in the bowl in the fridge the better it gets. It's great right away, but after about a week or 10 days, it takes on a mild sourdough quality that just can't be beat. I made these two bagettes last night for supper and we had hot meatball sandwiches with them. Another thing I've done is tear off three small lumps and made hamburger buns out of them. Any way you do it, you really need to be careful not to make a lot of bread. Because you will not stop eating it until it is done. So it's best to just make a batch small enough for that meal.

There are other favorites in this photo as well. The wooden cutting board is on the counter at all times and I use it for every bread and veggie and cheese...anything that's not meat. But the greatest thing is the french bread pan. One of us kids gave it to Dad one year for his birthday or Father's Day or something and after he had it for a while he realized he wasn't using it so offered it to me. Every once in a while he tries to ask for it back!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was 10 years old (living in Maryland) my neighbors went to Long Island, NY to prepare their house for moving back. They took me along and stopped at a roadside diner, buying me my first meatball on french with provolone. I truely thought that I had died and gone to heaven. Thanks for the memory--I know what I'm having for diner tomorrow (although this time with a glass of merlot instead of that soda)!

Karen said...

Good story Tom! And yes, I had red zin with mine. Pop is over-rated