Baking with Voltaire

[lorilei]

“If pleasure-seeking towndwellers only knew just how much work it takes to make their bread they would be horrified.”
--Voltaire in his Dictionnaire philosophique.

Alright, I'm starting a thread for tried & true, crisp and delicious bread recipes. Anyone care to join me?

[RunnerKim]

I'll join in!

I'm not sure how "tried and true" this recipe is as its one I created and have only made a handful of times to date - but I'm very pleased with the results. Well my husband says I didn't really create it as I copied the ingredients off a label from a local bakery. But I couldn't find a Rosemary recipe and so compared several other recipes and came up with this one that worked out great (we liked it better than the loaf from the bakery, but maybe we're biased)

Rosemary Garlic Bread
Recipe by Kim Wier (6/00)

1 ½ cups water
2 tsp yeast
2 ½ tbl honey
1 ½ tbl Italian parsley
1 tbl rosemary
½ tbl garlic powder
¾ tsp salt
3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Prepare yeast by sprinkling yeast into warm (105-115F) water. Let dissolve for 5 minutes. (Foam indicates the yeast is active)

Chop herbs. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Form a well in the center. Pour into the well the water/yeast and honey. Mix with a wooden spoon to form dough. Knead dough for 8 - 10 minutes.

Let rise in a cleaned and oiled bowl covered with a dish towel (or plastic wrap). Place in a cool draft-free location for 1 to 2 hours until doubled in size. Or place in refrigerator overnight, allowing to come to room temperature before going on to the next step (2-3 hours).

Punch down dough. Gently and quickly shape into a ball. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes.

Shape dough into 2 oval loafs. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and cover with a dish towel. Proof in a warm, draft-free environment until doubled in size (1-2 hours).

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400F.
(I'm not sure about temperature - as I'm pretty sure my oven is not accurate - just ordered a oven thermometer).

[Beth]

I'm game, but I'll have to seek out and type up some recipes. I have nearly a dozen books just on bread and sourdough. It became a pet project after I married a guy who said he would have missed SF sourdough and ethnic restaurants most if he had come to Texas instead of me moving there. Took nearly 9 years, but he's in TX now, and we bake sourdough and are doing more ethnic cooking.

I'm rambling, but I will be back.

[Natasha]

Originally posted by Beth:
I'm game, but I'll have to seek out and type up some recipes. I have nearly a dozen books just on bread and sourdough. It became a pet project after I married a guy who said he would have missed SF sourdough and ethnic restaurants most if he had come to Texas instead of me moving there. Took nearly 9 years, but he's in TX now, and we bake sourdough and are doing more ethnic cooking.

I'm rambling, but I will be back.

This has nothing to do with bread, but I'm posting here because I know Beth "will be back" here. Beth, don't know if you saw my message to you on Ohioan's pie crust thread, but you really did give me a chuckle when I needed it. Thanks. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Oh! I'm looking forward to seeing your bread recipes too!

[JeanneW]

The rosemary garlic bread sounds wonderful! I can't wait to try it. Rosemary and garlic are two of my favorite flavorings. Thanks for the recipe.

[RunnerKim]

Oh Beth - do post a sourdough recipe. I have some starter that I've been nursing along for several years now but I must admit I'm not the most diligent with it. I can always tell I've neglected it too long when I end up with a very dense un-risen lump. :-( I'd love to hear sourdough insights!

Kim

[lindrusso]

I posted two recipes for bread on the other bread thread by KimKelly. The Olive Bread from Martha Stewart is VERY good and my husband has been hinting at me to make it again soon. I should have taken advantage of all the cool weather we were having here in Indiana, but now it's hot, so I probably won't get to it for a while!

Now that it's hot, maybe my darned tomatoes will finally get red!!!!! I'm so impatient!!!

[Beth]

Natasha, thanks. Glad to be able to return a chuckle. I have shared many here myself.

[Natasha]

Originally posted by RunnerKim:

Rosemary Garlic Bread
Recipe by Kim Wier (6/00)
[/B]

Kim - looks fabulous! I think I will try to make this on the weekend. Have a great weekend and enjoy that Pacific Northwest weather - perfect for running http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Natasha]

Well, I didn't bake with Voltaire today (his people told me that he was unavailable), but I did bake RunnerKim's bread (see recipe earlier in this thread). It was good! I needed to use a bit more flour, which does happen, and I used crushed garlic instead of garlic powder and added basil (hope that's okay, Kim! I put basil in EVERYTHING!). Anyway, thanks a lot for the recipe. It was a real hit with everyone; even my mother raved about it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Next time I ll make two loaves or more, instead of one. Have a terrific rest-of-weekend.


[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 07-30-2000).]

[RunnerKim]

Glad you liked the recipe! I love basil too and often add it in when I'm making a "plain" Italian loaf.

I probably add more flour in myself as I'm working the bread - as you can tell I'm not a "certified recipe creater" or some such thing. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Kim

[Anne]

I like to add basil, thyme, oregano, marjorim, sage, chives, and sometimes garlic to a regular wheat bread recipe - about 1 tablespoon total fresh herbs for a 2 pound loaf. I use the dough cycle and hand shape the dough into long skinny loaves to bake on cookie sheets or round balls to bake in small cast iron skillets. If you want to be fancy, take a few of the whole herb leaves, place gently on top of almost risen dough and brush with egg white to keep them in place.

[Beth]

Originally posted by RunnerKim:
Oh Beth - do post a sourdough recipe. I have some starter that I've been nursing along for several years now but I must admit I'm not the most diligent with it. I can always tell I've neglected it too long when I end up with a very dense un-risen lump. :-( I'd love to hear sourdough insights!

Kim

I finally got back to post a sourdough starter and pizza crust recipe as well as waffles and panckakes (under the bread recipe thread) and will get back to post a french bread and cinnamon roll recipe as soon as I get a chance.

I have another recipe for an Italian Peasant Bread that I have toyed with sourdough in. I'll post the original recipe, but you really need a KitchenAid to make it.

Sorry for taking so long.