De Baking Psychopath

I haven't been baking too much lately, most recently because of the summer heat (no A/C) and the fact I have been playing instead with my precious new ice cream machine(!). And when I have been baking this summer, it has mostly been bread. All of which I have been very very bad at taking pictures of, and thus the lull in writing, but I did get my act together recently to bring you one of my latest installments in home bread baking. While I've been flirting with the whole idea of trying out the natural starter/old-school methods of making bread for awhile now, I think I'm going to do a little more reading and research before embarking on such a commitment. In the meanwhile, I am pretty happy to continue playing with the many variations of no-knead breads that have developed over the last 5 years. The good folks over at Cooks Illustrated tried their hand at developing their take on the technique of no-knead bread. They made several interesting changes, including decre...

I have put off trying Jim Lahey's no-knead bread for a long time, even though Mark Bittman's feature of his recipe that was published in the NYT back in 2006 can be rightfully credited for starting the food-blogger no-knead revolution these past few years. And even though I received Jim Lahey's baking cookbook, My Bread, as a birthday gift! Two main reasons for this delay: 1) I loved the flexibility of the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day refrigeration method so I tried recipes from that book first, and 2) I pored over the introduction and recipes in Jim Lahey's book when I first received it...and to be honest, his writing voice rubbed me the wrong way. The tone of writing came across as arrogant and full of himself.  Something about his writing style, the way he presented his philosophy and life story--I can't identify the exact things that made me feel this way, but it made me procrastinate in trying the recipe out. Several weekends ago on...

A few weeks ago, I officially entered the realm of "late twenties" and promptly heard my biological clock ticking like a time bomb. To herald the next decade of worrying about when to have kids before my risk of having mutant babies becomes too significant for safety, I decided to throw a scrumptious brunch and declare, "To heck with my slowing metabolism and biological clock! I am going to STUFF MY FACE." And I invited my friends to join me. I've been trying very hard to keep the sweet stuff to a healthy minimum. So here are these gorgeous roasted Hasselback potatoes stuffed with lovely slivers of garlic. And this yummy onion, mushroom and cheese frittata that I threw together on a whim and prayed would turn out okay! (It did!) And a loaf of sundried tomato and Parmesan cheese bread, made with the no-knead dough of the week! Soooo good. Moist, flavorful, savory! But of course it wouldn't be a PARTY unless there were some sweets! Front and center ...

For my recent birthday, I requested and was gifted by my most excellent husband a few baking books. Two of these books feature the no-knead, high-moisture dough for making artisan-style bread. I was super excited to try these books, and they have far exceeded our already very high expectations! The first one I've been trying is Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day . The recipes are simple and classic in flavors. It takes just like 10 minutes to mix the dough together (no kneading--it's a very wet, sticky dough), and then you let it rise to doubling at room temperature before storing it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks! Then whenever you want a loaf, you grab a hunk of dough and let it warm up to room temperature, preheat your oven, and bake up some of the most delicious bread ever! I was puzzled at first what to store the dough in (they recommend a 5 quart food-safe plastic container for their multiple-loaf large recipes). I had a stroke of genius and have been using some trust...

You know, one of those days. Where even though you have "more important" things to do (i.e. an application for research funding due by midnight the next day), baking seems infinitely more urgent, and important to your mental health. And you realize you have some pantry cleaning to do. On Sunday, I really wanted a chocolate chip cookie. And while flipping through a few cookie books and finding more chocolate chip cookie variations of interest, I was reminded that 1) I haven't in recent memory given either AB's CCC or the NYTimes CCC a try, and 2) I have some bread flour I really need to start getting rid of. Alton Brown's The Chewy: up close and personal The premise of Alton Brown's The Chewy cookie (and the NYTimes-featured cookie, although I didn't make that recipe this time) is that since bread flour has a higher percentage of protein (gluten) in the flour, the moisture you give it (in the form of water from melted butter) and the time you let it rest t...