Most people know that I love to make bread. Trouble is, I have managed to get into the habit of only making what I know, a rustic white loaf which, although delicious, is not very exciting. I tend not to experiment in case it goes wrong and I have to feed it to the animals or, worse still, throw it away but today, I was in the mood to do a bit of experimenting with my bread dough. I wanted to make some bread sticks. I had seen some lovely looking ones in the James Morton Bread book that my daughter gave me for Christmas and I really wanted to give it a go so, I made up a batch of basic white dough and after the first rise, I chopped 4 bits off the lump, rolled them into sausages and plonked them onto a floured baking tray. I didn't actually follow the recipe in the book because by the time I had remembered that there was a recipe in there, my hands were covered in bread dough and I didn't want to spoil my lovely book and basically, I was too lazy to wash the bread dough off my hands! I have to say, though, they turned out brilliantly. They were crispy and chewy and soft inside and although they looked ..... shall we say ...... a bit "rustic", they were absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making a whole pile of them tomorrow. I might even be brave and add some garlic and herbs to some of them and maybe some cheese to some of the others.
I also found out that James has a website and a blog so I shall be following him on there so I can get some more recipes and some new ideas. If you want to have a look at it, his website is here. There is a lovely recipe for a pizza pie which looks amazing and may well be something I try on a rainy afternoon when I have nothing better to do.
I've started making a weekly loaf of bread using the no-knead method from Jim Lahey. It is cooked in a big cast iron pot with the lid on and looks like those round French loaves Poulaine? Like you, I enjoy knowing that there is only flour, salt and yeast plus a bit of water in my bread.
ReplyDeleteOooo a no knead recipe sounds good I might have to see if I can find that:-)
ReplyDeleteWhat I would really like to find is a recipe for something that I could make the night before, leave to prove overnight and then cook in the morning.
Then that recipe is the one for you. That's exactly what I do, mix it up, cover and leave overnight for 12-18 hrs, usually the latter, then scrape out onto a floured board and shape into a round. I usually plop it back onto a floured teatowel and leave it covered for an hour. In the meantime I put a round cast iron pot in the oven until it reaches 475 deg F (sorry in USA now so useless at Celsius, but originally from Cornwall).Carefully tip the bread so bottom side is up into the pot. Bake for 30 mins covered, and 15 mins uncovered. If it sounds like you would like to try it, I'll send you a link or e-mail you the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThe look great, I shall pop over to the website, I must say a pizza pie sounds amazing. I really need to start baking again xx
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have some of your bread! It looks delish!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay but here is Jim Lahey's recipe for no-knead bread. Makes a 10 in round loaf. Bake in a 4and a half to 5 and a half quart pot.
ReplyDelete3 cups of bread flour
1 and a quarter tspns of salt
quarter of a tspn of instant or active dry yeast
1 and a third cups (8 oz cup US measure)of cool water.
Directions as in third comment.
Those breadsticks look delicious to me. I love rustic!
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