hanseata's blog

My first "Equal Opportunity Bread" (see my last post) had to be a batch of rolls. I like having a supply of rolls in my freezer, when we come home from a trip, and want a bread that thaws faster than a large loaf. So I grabbed one of my most favorite baking books - hey, who said I couldn't include my favorites in my fair baking? - "Brot aus Südtirol". Richard Ploner's breads are all small, mini breads, or rolls.

Like some teachers have their "pets", I have some favorite baking books that I always turn to when I'm looking for new recipes. These books have old envelopes, supermarket receipts, movie tickets, and other odd papers stuck between pages as markers,  my own volume/weight conversions (or corrections), and lots of scribbled comments. And, they are also graded with stars, enthusiastic exclamation marks, or a scathing: "Not that great!"

Last spring Breadsong posted about Alsatian Beer Bread, a formula developed by Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer, published in "Modern Baking", a professional bakers' website http://modern-baking.com/bread_pastry/mb_imp_16940/. I liked the looks of her buns, and was intrigued by the beer crunch crust  (if it's crunchy AND made with beer, it must be good!) so I copied the recipe from "Modern Baking" to my ever growing to-do list.

A few days ago, my lovely stepdaughter, Cat, convinced me to join twitter. As if I didn't spend enough time already on my computer!

Farro, or emmer, an ancient kind of wheat, is popular in some parts of Italy, and, ever since I purchased Maria Speck's wonderful book "Ancient Grains in Modern Meals", also in our family. Creamy farro with honey roasted grapes became our new breakfast favorite that even my picky, normally no-breakfast-type son wolfed eagerly down:

http://daleydish.com/blog/2011/03/creamy-farro-with-honey-roasted-grapes.html

When I visited my cousin Uta in Delmenhorst/Germany, we went into a Turkish bakery with the most beautiful display I've ever seen. Everything was made on the premises, you could see the oven and the work bench, and a wonderful buttery aroma filled the air.

A while ago I bought a really beautiful book with breads from renowned German bakeries. Many rye bread recipes require medium rye types, easily available in German supermarkets, whereas American medium rye is hard to come by. Even my whole grocer carries only a medium grind of rye, not a lighter variety. European flours are numbered for their ash content (what's left after you forget your bread in the oven - just kidding, of course it's a properly conducted scientific incineration).

A while ago, Andy (ananda) - always good for some pretty amazing loaves - posted about the entries of two of his baking students for the "Young Baker of the Year Contest" in Newcastle, England. Much as I love the goodness of a simple crusty white bread, my heart belongs to the complexity of mixed grains and nutty add-ins, therefore I copied those two right away into my recipe program.

Finalist Faye's entry, the Nettle Bread, I already baked - it is as unusual as tasty, and made it straight into my team of "Most Valuable Breads":

In front of the store where I sell my breads I saw a bed of lavender in full bloom. The smell was wonderful, recalling memories of glorious summer holidays as a student in the Provence. It also reminded me of a bread recipe with lavender that I always wanted to try, and some lavender cupcakes I had made last year, but wasn't quite satisfied with.