Sunday, January 25, 2009


Have you discovered this new cookbook yet? It is absolutely amazing!

I love to cook and bake, especially bread. However, the time it takes to make a loaf of bread by conventional methods is prohibitive. Who is at home long enough to time and watch two or three rising times? And my results have been disappointing, to say the least (my water was too hot and killed the yeast).

This new book uses a revolutionary technique that significantly reduces kneading and rising time. You mix enough dough for four loaves at a time and refrigerate it until needed. Then, cut a chunk off, let it rest, and pop in the oven.



The loaf above looks like a loaf from a bakery, doesn’t it? A pizza baking stone and a pan of water on the shelf below it makes all the difference.

Yum! My husband’s favorite: crusty on the outside and moist and chewy on the inside. I love a winter dinner of a bowl of soup and a piece of home baked bread.

Friday I made a batch of pecan sticky rolls, but they didn’t last long enough for me to take a photo! Monday will be a rustic loaf with rosemary. Who knows what it will be on Tuesday!

4 comments:

Maggi said...

This book looks amazing. I love home made bread but living alone does not lend itself to bread making. The fact that you can freeze the dough with this method opens up new possibilities. Thank you

George Erdosh said...

I am a cook and a baker and have been baking two artisan loaves about every ten days. In baking (and in most cooking) shortcuts lead to poor quality. There is simply no way of avoiding the kneading process without sacrificing quality. But freezing dough is possible yet after a while in the defrosted dough yeast activities decline.

Now check out this amazing new cookbook(Nov/08). It’s already getting great reviews:

Tried and True Recipes from a Caterer’s Kitchen—Secrets of Making Great Foods

On Amazon, etc.

Beth Wheeler said...

Do I understand correctly you've made bread using this technique and you think the bread is poor quality? Wow! This is the only way I've made artisan bread and we're loving it!

Is the Tried And True Recipes your book George? Guess I need to check it out!

Beth

Beth Wheeler said...

Maggi,

You would love this. You cut off just enough for one loaf any size you want it to be. The rest of the dough stays in the refrigerator for a week or so.

It can be pizza dough, bread dough, sticky buns, focaccia, etc.

See if your library has one. It's well worth a test!

Beth