Posts Tagged: Bread

16
Mar 11

Easy White Bread Recipe

I realized I forgot to buy a loaf of sandwich bread at the store the other day, so I just decided to make my own. I’m glad I did. It came out much firmer and tastier than standard white bread.

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29
Nov 10

Homemade Braided Challah Bread

I’ve been trying to expand my baking repertoire beyond variations on my almost no-knead bread. Since I love the taste of popovers, I thought I’d make an eggy bread that’s somewhere between popovers and French bread. So I made some Challah, a Jewish bread.

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4
Jun 10

Another Tip About No-Knead Bread Baking

One of the reasons my no-knead bread recipe is so successful is the pot it’s baked in. The heavy cast iron traps heat and moisture like an old-world brick oven, causing the bread to develop great texture and a hard crust. To create the perfect baking environment, the pot must be preheated in a 425-475° oven for about a half hour. For whatever reason (fashion, I presume), all the manufacturers of dutch ovens seem to be mimicking Le Ceuset. And since Le Creuset uses a plastic handle that’s only rated to around 375°, so does everyone else. I removed the cheap, plastic handle and replaced it with a solid bronze drawer knob I had laying around the workshop. You can see it in the background here.

If you’re one of those people who cares more about form than function, you can pony up an additional $14 to Le Creuset for a stainless steel replacement knob that “can withstand any oven temperature.”

25
Oct 09

Adding Flavor to (Almost) No-Knead Bread

I know what you’re thinking; you’re finally making pretty good no-knead bread but it’s getting a little boring. You’re wondering if there’s a way you can add flavors to your bread without changing the cooking method. I wondered the same thing. I’ve had much success incorporating various liquids and solids into my bread while maintaining a crisp crust and a light, airy center. As you might expect, there was a pretty steep learning curve. I’ve listed some of my hard-learned lessons below. If you’re using a method similar to mine, then these tips and tricks will work for you too. Check out this asiago cheese loaf:

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22
Oct 09

My Perfect (Almost) No-Knead Bread Recipe

As regular readers know, I’ve been experimenting with homemade bread for months now. In retrospect, I handicapped my learning process by adopting and abandoning several different methods and recipes before perfecting one. After initial success with a no-knead bread technique, I decided to stick with it. Over time, I incorporated techniques and suggestions from several sources and ended up with a pretty foolproof recipe.

Chad Chandler's No Knead Bread

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5
Oct 09

No-Knead Bread Success!

I’ve been baking bread at home for a while now with mixed results. This weekend, I finally made some very good bread:

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I used the no-knead technique made famous by Mark Bittman and Jim Lahaney (video here), but I incorporated some tips from America’s Test Kitchen.

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21
Sep 09

No-Knead Italian Bread

As I recently mentioned, I’ve been trying to get better at making bread. I haven’t been having much luck. I think the kneading is the problem, so I decided to remove that step from the equation. I found this “no-knead ciabatta bread” video/recipe at the Food Wishes blog and decided it was right for me:

It seemed simple enough, so I gave it a try.

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