The Things I’ve Leaned in our Kitchen (2011) #3: Bread Isn`t That Difficult
For most of the rest of the year (and perhaps a bit into the next), I’m going to share reflections of the last year and what I’ve learned in the kitchen. Sometimes daily posts miss the flavor of the larger lessons so this is an attempt to take a step back and share the lessons that I’ve taken from the last 365 days. We’d love to know what you’ve learned this year too!
A big lesson from 2011: making bread and pasta by hand isn`t hard, doesn`t take a long time and is relatively easy. I`d told myself that it was `too tough` and that I was `a cook, not a baker.` I now find myself angry that many cookbooks and cooking shows make the task of making bread sound far more difficult than it actually is. The truth is, it couldn`t be much easier.
Here`s some of our best bread and pasta of the year (other than no-knead bread we`d never made bread before):
- Cheesy Jalapeno Guiness Bread
- Roasted Garlic and Dehydrated Onion Savory Bread
- Pizza Dough
- Calzone
- Tortilla
- Pie Crust
- Orecchiette (Pasta)
- Rye Flatbread
- Flaky Piecrust
- Noodles
- Homemade Buns
- The best rolls for ribs
- Mushroom pasta (noodles)
What bread and pasta do you enjoy making – or want to try?
Comments
I grew up with a mom that baked, so I learned how to make bread at an early age. I agree that it is very simple. My favorite thing to do is to raise the bread overnight in the fridge. I work full time so it’s sometimes difficult to find time, but by raising it in the fridge I have plenty of time to finish it the second evening and go to bed at a decent time.
Along the bread line, I’ve been working on Julia Child’s french bread, some of the flat breads of Marcella Hazan, along with one of hers which James Beard commented on. Mostly I find I can make tortillas faster than I thought, with the help of my parents’ old cast iron pancake griddle, which covers two burners. I was inspired and reminded of tortilla making by your efforts at doing it. Thanks.
I love freshly baked bread but life does not allow time for me to always make my own daily loaf. So I developed mini boules from all of my fav recipes. I make the dough for the regular sized loaf then split it up into minis and freeze them. 30-45 mins on the counter to defrost and 20 mins in a 350 degree toaster oven and I have fresh bread. I also do this with focaccia and pizza doughs, cinnamon rolls and even a small french bread baguette. Fresh bread, yum.
We tried pasta for the first time this year – with Kitchen Aid pasta rollers and cutting attachments we got as wedding gifts. It was so much fun and we made sure to make extras. Thanks for the links – can’t wait to try these links!
I have been baking challah for over 15 years now. I have created several “specialty” versions of challah for different holidays, like a jam stuffed “channachallah” for Channukah. People always think that making bread is so difficult and time consuming, but I have figured out how to fit it into my day. Bread can rise for varying times, so I can make the dough, let it rise while I do what I need to in the morning, braid it, let is rise again (and do more things around the house), and then bake. It is a long process, but the work is in spurts. I find it very rewarding, my family loves the finished product and my friends beg me to make it for them!
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