Sunday, January 13, 2008

Back To Bread

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I've been baking again- not that my girlish figure benefits from this! I was inspired from the December 9, 2007 post on the blog by Breadbasketcase http://www.breadbasketcase.blogspot.com/ . She had been baking from the recipe at Cook's Illustrated February 2008 magazine that had a no-knead bread recipe. I gave it a try and substituted my sourdough starter (about a quarter cup) for the vinegar and got what you see above and below. The one on top is olive and Parmesan. I tried the green olive, rosemary and Parmesan and liked it but really thought maybe Kalamata's would be better- I'll let you know. Anyway, this article touted using a Dutch oven to get the crispy crust and we had an old one- see bottom picture- and I found this works much better than the pan and ice cubes or spraying water into the oven! It's a sacrifice if it's a new pan but in the magazine they show one that can be had for under $40. I love this method and have been using it for my other recipes. It's embarrassingly easy!
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6 comments:

Ruth Welter said...

Stephanie, this bread looks so delicious. One of my favorite things to eat, that I could literally just make a meal out of. I'm reading this also, as I'm waiting for dinner to get ready so, it's really making me hungry.

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

Oh this is funny...I was reading your post, admiring the bread and when you wrote "dutch oven", my mind clicked over to a vision of some kind of old fashioned cast iron stove or something. Then I saw the picture and it hit me...DUTCH OVEN. Duh. Just goes to show how slow I am in a kitchen setting. lol I actually NEED pictures to get what you're talking about. (Sheesh-I'm almost embarrassed by this!)

Susie Q said...

Nothing smells better than bread baking...these look so delicious and these photos are wonderful!

Hugs,
Sue

Unknown said...

OOOOOOOOO that bread looks SO YUMMY!

Ditto what Susie Q said: Nothing better than the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven!

Sue said...

Stephanie,
Your bread looks yummy. I love the color of your LeCruset pot.
Hugs,
Sue

Sandy said...

Hi Stepanie - I'm glad I found you because not only do I have that magazine - I love to bake bread.
YUM! (and no knead - woo hoo!)
Sandy