Artisan Bread Bakers

[ali8780]

oooo--I LOOVE baking bread! I have the best recipe for no-knead artisan bread that will knock you to your knees. Actually it was a nationally published recipe, so I guess I can't say that I have it.

Mmmm... I think I'll make some tonight.

Have you all come to the point where you hate store bought bread? Lately it just disgusts me, it tastes so much like chemicals. I guess I've turned into a bit of a bread snob, but once you've had homemade, there is just no going back!

[CDNSushi]

oooo--I LOOVE baking bread! I have the best recipe for no-knead artisan bread that will knock you to your knees. Actually it was a nationally published recipe, so I guess I can't say that I have it.

Well c'mon then. You can't just come out and make such an outlandish statement without backing it up. Not fair! Now that you've admitted to it, you must post the recipe!

[funlvnman]

oooo--I LOOVE baking bread! I have the best recipe for no-knead artisan bread that will knock you to your knees. Actually it was a nationally published recipe, so I guess I can't say that I have it.

Mmmm... I think I'll make some tonight.

Have you all come to the point where you hate store bought bread? Lately it just disgusts me, it tastes so much like chemicals. I guess I've turned into a bit of a bread snob, but once you've had homemade, there is just no going back!

Never be ashamed of demanding quality in your life. Settling for less is how we wind up with all the crap in our lives.


And you're not a snob, you are a connoisseur of fine foods. There's a better term but I can't remember it.

[Smayniac]

Ah, this is one I'll have to stay well clear of - I used to make bread, and see it vanish away in no time at all - with the children at home - snip -
Perhaps if I had to go out into the woods, drag back the firewood, chop it, stack it, then plough the land, sow it, reap the harvest, carry it home on my back then thresh and grind the corn, etc etc, then perhaps I would be able to eat bread again.

Scooby and I have a film by a local filmmaker who sewed his yard with wheat and made bread from it called "Bread Comes to Life". We actually went to the premier over in Santa Cruz some years back. I wish now I'd bought the DVD, I didn't own a player then, so my copy is on VHS.

I own and use the much despised machine, I hope you purists will allow me in. I do bake biscuits from scratch on a regular basis, two or three times a week when Scooby is here; does that make up for my yeast bread defficiancy?

OTOH, I do tend to get experimental with ingredients on occasion when I find myself without one thing or another.

Bob

[piperdbh]

Never be ashamed of demanding quality in your life. Settling for less is how we wind up with all the crap in our lives.

And you're not a snob, you are a connoisseur of fine foods. There's a better term but I can't remember it.

Epicurean is the word.
A friend of mine used to have a magnet or bumper sticker or something with the slogan, "Settle for more." printed on it. If you're capable pf producing or acquiring the best, then go for, especially when choosing body fuel. Homemade is usually best, and if you're not a cook, barter with your neighbor across the street who is a good cook. Mow their yard in exchange for a loaf of bread or whatever. Raise the cucumbers in your garden and trade for X% of the pickles that someone else can make from them. Make their birthday cake for the next 15 years in exchange for the kilt you've been dreaming of. (I wish that one would work!)

[Erisianmonkey]

Epicurean is the word.
A friend of mine used to have a magnet or bumper sticker or something with the slogan, "Settle for more." printed on it. If you're capable pf producing or acquiring the best, then go for, especially when choosing body fuel. Homemade is usually best, and if you're not a cook, barter with your neighbor across the street who is a good cook. Mow their yard in exchange for a loaf of bread or whatever. Raise the cucumbers in your garden and trade for X% of the pickles that someone else can make from them. Make their birthday cake for the next 15 years in exchange for the kilt you've been dreaming of. (I wish that one would work!)

You've hit on why I really want to get out of apartment living and get a house of my own. Somewhere gestap^H^H^H er, HOA free. I want a good veggie garden and a coop full of chickens. There's nothing like a good meal that you've raised 98% of it yourself. I, unfortunately haven't had a meal like that since my early teens. I sure miss it. I didn't realize how much until we found a store called Sunflower market that specializes in fresh produce. The difference in what they sell and the cardboard that the big box stores sell just really underlined for me how lucky I was to get raised how I did. I really think that people who don't like veggies these days are mostly folks who have never truly had veggies fresh from the garden.

At the risk of derailing this thread, one of my pipe dreams is to start a little cooperative venture where everyone gets a few acres next to each other and everyone invests some time and energy into raising wheat, veggies, fruits, and meats (and maybe dairy) for the co-op. It might seem like a lot of work, but it would sure bring everyone involved a much higher standard of living.

[Bugbear]

The county has rezoned this area, so no chickens, goats etc, but there is still a farmer's market a couple of blocks up the street, and I do still here the roosters crowing up the way from time to time.

[ali8780]

Well c'mon then. You can't just come out and make such an outlandish statement without backing it up. Not fair! Now that you've admitted to it, you must post the recipe!

Sorry, I was planning on it

Here is the recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/...d&rsc=header_4

and here is a youtube tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU

have fun! it's delish. And easy even for first timers.

[Heming]

but add gluten to it to soften the bread and make it rise higher.

Another great way to soften your bread is to add some boiled potato! Use potatoes that are quite low in starch, like baking potatoes or other floury potatoes. One medium-sized potato for each loaf of bread, boiled and grated into the dough just before kneading.

When I make my very brown (100% full grain flour plus added bran and wholegrain) breakfast bread, I also add grated carrots (not boiled) to the dough. You can do that to any recipe without worry, because the carrots don't affect the flour to water balance. I use half a large carrot per loaf of bread.

My partner makes all kinds of jokes that I'd put anything into a bread dough so as not to throw away food...

[Bugbear]

Out here, some people put ground mesquite pods in with the flour; it's a lot sweeter. We have carob trees (ST. John's Bread) out here too, I guess you could grind those pods up and throw them in for a coco-ish flavor...