Musings on "Musings on Flavor"

Paul, over at The Fresh Loaf, had some interesting thoughts this morning on why we bake bread, and what it is that makes bread important as bread—especially its flavor.

Which started me thinking. (A potentially dangerous activity, but I risk it from time to time.) I started baking bread again about six months ago, because I missed the experience of baking, but also because I missed the taste and smell of home-made bread. But as I've blogged about the recipes, even with all the descriptions of how to do it, and lovely pictures (or sometimes not so lovely?), I've been leaving out that important point: the resistance, then give, of the crust in your teeth; the warm, sharp tang of the sourdough; the simple "Here I am, feeding you!" of plain white bread. I'm going to change that. I'll start blogging more about what the bread smells like, and feels like, and reminds me of.

As I said when I wrote my About Me page, is part of what I'd like to be sharing with all of you: not just "How do I make this bread?" or "What does it look like?" but "What is it like to make this bread, and eat it?" That's important to me. Bread is not just intended to be something mechanically produced (despite the existence of commercial bakeries); the whole process of bread-making, and certainly the bread itself, is to be savored both literally and figuratively.

So the next time I think to myself, "What am I going to blog about?" I know what one answer will be. Go into the kitchen, cut a slice of bread, close my eyes, and ... aah. The proof of the loaf, and its purpose as well, are in the eating. That's why "all sorrows are less with bread." God speed!

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The Consistency Of Coarse Meal

I decided to make biscuits this afternoon, and as I was following the recipe, I saw that I needed to mix flour, salt, and baking powder, then cut in shortening (butter is better than mar but marge is what we had). The recipe said to cut the shortening in "to the consistency of coarse meal." Now what the heck is that supposed to mean? I mean, I know what (for example) corn meal looks like; but does the casual baker? How are they supposed to know? It means this. Not that you'd go far wrong with these biscuits, anyway. I mean, it's the Pillsbury cookbook. The only problem I had is that, at some time in the past, I put a note in to myself to use 3 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of the recipe's 2. Well, I'm marking that back down. These are edible, but definitely taste of baking powder. Oh well, live and relearn, I guess. The finished product. Yum! Godspeed, and remember, All things are better with bread .

Quick Bread Is Not So Quick

I decided I didn't have the time late tonight to do a rising bread, and then spent about an hour looking for a recipe for Irish soda bread, before Herself reminded me that we had got one from a family friend. I'll comment on how I did in the recipe itself. Irish Soda Bread 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt ½ cup raisins (optional – I don't use them) 1½ cup buttermilk (see below) Okay, so first of all, about the buttermilk. I knew we had some. What I didn't realize was that it was about three weeks past date. So I opened it up to smell it. It smelled fine, but it was the consistency of yogurt—and smelled a bit like yogurt, too. It wouldn't pour out of the container, either; so I added about half a cup of regular milk just to get it liquid again. It seemed to work, and it looked and smelled fine. Now, on to the instructions: Mix all ingredients and knead into a ball. Hmm. That doesn't look much like a ball. Let's try a bit more milk?...

In Sickness and in Health - Sourdough Day 2

Well, I would have posted something last night, but I was feeling pretty ill, and Herself ... let's say gently suggested ... that I call it a night. Today I'm staying home, so here's yesterday's entry. Everything Bread says, "Stir [the sourdough starter] once a day for the next three days." So yesterday, I stirred it the once. It was bubbly and gloppy, just what it's supposed to be. I came out to check on it this morning and saw this: Or in close-up: Which I think is exactly how it's supposed to look at that stage. So I'm happy. (Note: I hope the picture quality is improved; I'm taking pictures with the actual camera rather than with my phone camera.) We're just about out of sandwich bread (the Amish White from Everything Bread ). But on the other hand if I had made two loaves, one would be hanging around forever in the freezer. I just go ahead and make it every week anyway. I might make the biscuits again as well, or maybe use my...

Bread Makes The Meal

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