Our New Book, a New Look and a Giveaway! [WINNERS WERE ANNOUNCED 6/15/09, CONTEST CLOSED]
As many of you know Jeff and I have spent the past year working on a new book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients
(HBin5). It is a project that started with you! Because of your questions, comments and requests for breads made with whole grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, veggies and even gluten-free ingredients, we set to work to create new recipes. We liked them so well, we decided to do another book. We’ve been playing with ways to make breads that are not only nutritious, but incredibly tasty and still fit into our busy lives. The methods will still be fast, easy and only take 5 minutes, but the results are wonderful breads made with ingredients that will keep us happy and healthy, no matter our dietary needs. Who better than a pastry chef and a doctor to write such a book?
Writing a cookbook takes a long time, not only to test and retest and then test again the recipes, but the editing and designing of the book after we write it. Although it is nearly done we still have more work to do before it comes out this fall. HBin5 will be available in the book stores on October 27th of this year. In the mean time Amazon has posted it for pre-orders for those of you who want to avoid the mad rush at the book stores! 😉
In honor of HBin5 we’ve launched this new home page on our website. My husband Graham designed and built the site for us and Jeff’s wife Laura, who is also our copy editor, wrote much of it. We are so fortunate to have such a creative and talented team to help us. We want to thank them for all of their work!And THANK YOU for inspiring us to write our second book. As a thank you we are giving away 5 signed copies of our CURRENT book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
Here is a little glimpse into our life of writing HBin5:
On any given day I have about 5-8 buckets of dough in my refrigerators. (Yes, I have two and at the moment there is little room for anything but dough!) I generally wake up in the morning, shape and let rest several loaves of bread and then once I get my boys off to school I bake them. I have a double wall oven, nothing fancy, but having two ovens makes testing a dream. I can bake about six loaves at a time. Jeff is simultaneously doing all of this across town at his house as well. Between the two of us we could qualify as a chain of bakeries.
Once the loaves are baked and cooled, Jeff and I meet and have a tasting. We sample each others breads and do a critique on taste, texture, the look of the loaf and even the sound of the crust. If one of us isn’t absolutely in love with the bread, we discuss how to improve it and go back to the bucket! Sometimes we hit it on the first try and others take several variations. After a tasting we usually walk around the lake, to work off all the sampling and then head back to our kitchens.
As we test and talk and retest and change things and have others test for us, we write everything down. The stack of notes and versions of the recipes that you see here is only my stuff. Jeff has a similar pile in his kitchen, along with a testing schedule and excel spread sheets of all our progress. (It is a blessing to work with someone who loves excel!) This process is a lot of work, but we absolutely love it. I wake up in the morning totally excited to see what my buckets of dough have brought me for the day. As Jeff always says, “if your not having fun the bread won’t taste good!” You are so right Jeff!
Oh and let me not forget the photo shoots with Mark Luinenburg. He did all of the gorgeous photos in ABin5 and this time for HBin5 we have twice as many. He does wonderful work and is so much fun. And Nan the make-up artist who did her very best to make me look like Audrey Hepburn and told Jeff he looks like a young Paul Newman. She will forever be in our good favor!
Leave us a comment about your favorite bread and you will be eligible to win one of the 5 signed copies of our current book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day! We will announce the winners next week.
While we were loading the new front page of the website we ran into a little snag and ended up losing the last 2 days of our comments. So, if you wrote to us in the past 2 days and haven’t heard from us that is why. Please, write to us again and we will get back to you. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks, Zoë and Jeff
I’ve only just discovered your website. Having great succes with the Basic Recipe! I can’t wait for the first book to come from Amazon, and I am so excited to learn you have another on the way!
Saw a short article in Woman’s Day Magazine recently with mention of your book and website. Tried the basic dough recipe and have made 3 of the four loaves it creates and absolutely love it! I’ve tried repeatedly to make a light, soft centered white bread and I usually come out with something tough and dry. Each loaf makes just enough for our small family of three with no leftovers and we can have fresh, warm bread anytime! Will be purchasing your first book and will most definitely be buying the second. Congratulations and I’ll be looking forward to using your recipes!
Very excited about your new book! I am trying to convert completely over to handmade breads, no store bought, and want to go as healthy as possible. The more whole grains, the better, but my all time favorite is anything using authentic, wild yeast sourdough. It feels like alchemy when that dough raises without commercial yeast.
The best pull-quote I can give you is from my wife Monica, who is three months pregnant with our second child: “that raisin bread was the best I’ve ever had in my life”. The raisin bread in question was my first attempt at Judy’s Board of Director’s bread, and my second bucket of dough ever: the baguettes and sandwich loaf from the first boule batch disappeared in two days.
I can hardly wait to dig in to the new book.
My favorite bread (today) is the challah. I made a blueberry/cream cheese ring this morning that has made me so very happy today!
My favorite is the semolina bread. Yum!
Hey Jeff and Zoe!
Had to write and tell you how much I love the new website!! You guys ROCK, and I can’t WAIT until the new book comes out!! It will be unbelievable how easy my holiday shopping will be this year! 🙂
Congrats on it all!! xo Jen
I’ll be honest, i haven’t had much experience yet baking bread because i have just started. My first was the challah i made for my family. I’d be very interested in acquiring your new book so i can expand my horizons! Thanks!
I love your book and have been waiting for this second one. It is hard to name my favorite bread, probably olive bread. We also really enjoy the bread creations like the eggs cups with cheese.
I make your light whole wheat over and over. It is great for so many things. I am really looking forward to your new book.
Hello Jeff and Zoe (next one will be Zoe and Jeff ),.
New site is super.
So far my favorite bread id the original Master Recipe, though I have just mage braided Challah and it turned out superbly, just like the kind I got on Long Island.
as others have said, the Master is so versatile/ I have used it for bread, salt sticks, pizza, cinnamon buns, and garlic knots. Iy is a very forgiving recipe, so if the dough is a little wet or a little dry, your bread will still be successful. I have also taken a loaf out and sfter it has cooled a bit, discovered that it could use some more baking, turned on the oven, out the bread back in, cooked it some more, and it still was tasty as could be.
I can;t wait to try the Challah for cinnamon rolls. and in my search for Long Island Bakery items not available in Vermont (not as good anyway if I can get them) are Deli Rye and Kaiser Rolls (if I could only get Kosher salami, corn beef, or Pastrami). bagels, and soft pretzels (not really a bakery item but sold by street vendors).
Thanks for making it possible for me to be creative, a task that I can do with my disability, and the enlightenment for me to do new things and be successful, even if they don’t apways turn out exactly right.
I am looking forward to the new book because my wife wants healthier recipes, even if I am satisfied with not-so-healthy recipes, we need to make each other happy in life, so I am happy to bake her the healthy stuff! any excuse, right?
Congratulations on the new book! My favorite is definitely sourdough. I have my newest starter sitting on the counter right now!
I love the honey wheat bread from the first book, and I can’t wait to see the second book!
Sounds wonderful! I just bought the original book after drooling on a friend’s copy. I’ll have to put this one on my Amazon wish list if I don’t win a copy.
I love the olive oil dough. I coarsely chop kalamata olives, dredge them in flour and put them right in the dough mix. Then I make Kalamata Olive Loaves and paint them with a cornstarch wash. Delicious! Everyone who tastes them thinks I’m a genius–it’s really you two.
I love to bake, and bake the basic dough bread for my family often. Everyone loves homemade bread! I’m very excited about the second book coming out, as I’ve recently been diagnosed with Celiacs disease, so I have to cut out gluten from my diet- no small feat for someone who LOVES baked goods. I am so excited for your new cookbook so I can bake AND eat the baked goods, gluten free! Thank you!!
I have only just discovered the recipe a couple of days ago. Today I’ve bought my bucket and to make my first loaf. I can’t have a favourite loaf just yet as I haven’t cooked and experimented with any breads yet.
My birthday is in a couple of weeks time and these series of books are high on my birthday wish list!
I love the idea of fresh bread and the look of these loaves is magnificent!
Can’t wait to taste my basic white loaf soon!!
I am looking forward to the new book! My favorite is probably the brioche . . . I bought 16 individual French tins to make one-serving brioche a tete’s . . . . Also, congratulations on the re-designed website. I eagerly and often check zoebakes and ABin5. Thank you for all the recipes, photos and help found on both.
My favourite? Slightly warm, crusty Rye. Would love to be the first in SA to have your new book…
My favorite would have to be the master recipe. It is so versatile. I always have it in the fridge for the impromptu pizza, boule, sweet loaf with cinnamon and sugar, healthy loaf by adding in a whole grain baking blend, wrapping around hotdogs before adding cheese and cooked bacon and a funky veggie loaf by adding some Knor vegetable soup mix. I could go on and on with the many different breads I have tried with the master recipe. I usually have another bucket of the other recipes in the fridge at the same time, but the experiements are great fun! Thanks for all your hard work on the new book. I can’t wait for it to come out to continue expanding my bread baking repertoire.
We LOVE your book. I have a 16 y.o. boy and he cannot get enough of your bread. My husband didn’t like the directions to wait until the bread was cooled to cut it, so he disregarded that part! We love your book and we LOVE bread!
I am so excited about the new book. We’re trying to eat healthier at my house, and bread we make ourselves is a big hit! Our current favorite is the olive oil bread (I’ve been adding fresh rosemary to the dough) because it’s so versatile. We’ve done pizza crust, loaves, and your naan with it… all excellent!
My favorite dough has to be the Master Recipe because I have had so much fun experimenting with variations. I used to think that bread was finicky and your recipe is so forgiving that it has unleashed my creativity. My favorite was fresh rosemary and a sprinking of kosher salt, served dipped in olive oil and parmesan.
I want to avoid preservatives, so I like baking my own bread. However, white bread is more of a treat for me. I usually buy high protein, high fiber, alternative grain breads. I’m really looking forward to the new book so I can start making some of these fresh at home.
I love the bacon and egg in toast. so easy to do….and so quick. Rave reviews in my Sunday School class!!
Man, a good loaf of challah with butter… drool. And the fact that I can turn it into Carmel Pecan Rolls (or Cinnamon Rolls)? Brilliant.
Your book has been the biggest change and innovation in my cooking this year! I mostly make the master dough and use it for different things like bread, pizza, savory breakfast muffins, cinnamon raisin bread.. The most interesting idea was my recreation of a fettucini alfredo pasta bowl like you might find at a popular pizza chain. It turned out great! Thanks!
My favorite bread is your Whole Wheat loaf. I make ours in mini loaf pans. So perfect, with just a hint of earthy, nutty sweetness!
What a nice giveaway! I’ve just started in the bread world, but the light wholewheat is fantastic 🙂
My favourite bread is all of them. I think I have tried most every bread in the book at least once.
So far my favorite is the classic Boule. I’m trying to master that recipe before moving onto the others. Like another poster mentioned, I’m having difficulty adding whole grains on my own so I am VERY EXCITED about the coming book.
My favorite is the Peasant Bread. It is easy customize. Currently I am playing around with adding flax meal and flax seeds. Yummy!
Zoe and Jeff,
Your website looks terrific, you both look terrific – your new cookbook is sure to be terrific too.
Your bread recipe truly has changed my life – I’ve had such joy introducing friends to it! I wish you every success. I just showed a friend who has a B & B – she has been making it ever since and is still AMAZED… she simply cannot believe how simple it is and it has made a huge impact on her B & B.
Well after checking the book out at the library it just will not do any longer. I need to go buy it and now I want your new book too! Thanks for the wonderful ideas and delicious breads.
I ordered your book from Amazon and made my first batch of the plain white dough last night…I baked some this morning with a bit of an amendment…I covered a baking sheet with flax seed and placed the loaves on the sheet to rest, then into the oven placing the baking sheet on top of a flat cast iron griddle (9 X 13) since I didn’t have the recommended utensils…OMG it worked! It was soooo good… I’ve been grinding my own grain and baking bread for years, but this was something new and easy and I wanted to try it…GREAT JOB!
I love the European Peasant Bread. Good luck on this new book.
My favorite these days has to be pugliese bread. I assume it’s Portuegese, I’m not sure, but it sure is yummy! I don’t have either of your books yet but a girl can dream!!
chocolate bread – what could be better?
Love the book! Am on our fourth batch and still experimenting. My husband wants to try the bagels next.
My favorite is the basic dough – I do so many thing with it, including home made hot pockets, fry bread, rolls, and of course a tasty loaf! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for finding a way for me to carve out a place for artisan bread in a truly insane schedule.
My favorite is peasant bread. Can’t wait to see the new book!
ARe you kidding me…I have to choose just one? Well my go to recipe is the european peasant bread, I think I have helped you sell more copies because of that bread alone:) I bring it to book club, bbq’s, new moms, sick people…you name it, it comes with me anywhere I am invited. I love your book and cannot wait, CANNOT, wait for the new one. Congrats on your success, you deserve it.
Caren
Hi guys. I just have to write in to tell you how much I love Artisan Bread in 5. I used to spend easily the entire day baking just a loaf of bread when I was still in school, a luxury I can’t afford now that I’ve started work. Your book has given me the opportunity to enjoy freshly baked bread in almost no time at all.
Congratulations on the new book. I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Congratulations Zoë and Jeff on the new book. You have promoted a great bread making technique and it seems are set to take it to the next level. I would love to win a copy of the book, and will be purchasing it for holiday gifts regardless.
My favorite bread – well it was the original basic dough. Having a fresh boule to devour every day was an amazing experience. I went through an experimental phase of adding every grain and flour I could find, but have now settling into a new period of pizza, fougasse, and foccacia. So the Olive Oil dough is my new favorite – or current first among equals. Sure to be challenged by the breads from the new book.
I JUST received your ABin5 book in the mail! I’ve been so excitedly awaiting it since I first came across your site and ordered it. I have already tried the Bran Enriched White recipe that I found online and loved it. Then I kinda veered off in my own direction and.. well, then I stopped and waited for the book! Okay. so I learned I am not able (yet) to play with the recipe. After much reading, both on this website and others, I have decided that I will do what others are doing: Start at the beginning of the book and try each recipe in turn! I see many many that I’d love to try. So, I’ll go one (or two) at a time and work my way through. THEN I’ll tell you my favourite! Mind you, by then I’m hoping to have HBin5 to start all over with!
So, for now I can only say that I love the Bran Enriched White… and so does my son. (we’ve been doing a little {mature} fighting over the bread I’ve been baking so far: “DID YOU EAT **ALL** THAT BREAD???!!!)
I love the original bread because you can add stuff to it. I’ve used sunflower seeds, Red River cereal (I’m Canadian, ask if you don’t know what it is), olives, left over cheese…
MORE BREADS ARE COMING?! This is wonderful news. We seriously can’t get enough of your bread. My favorite of the moment… baguette! We have become quite the olive oil dipping, bread devouring, dough baking family. Thank you and I can’t wait to get my hands on more recipes!
I LOVE your first book and I make my own bread now (I have used my Le Cruset pot more in the last month than in the last year!). But one of my friends cannot partake because of a gluten allergy…so this is great! I will be getting this book even if I don’t win!
My favorite is still the original, but I have yet to try an egg bread…maybe this weekend!
I love fruit breads, and I love baking bread, but it’s so timeconsuming that I don’t do it often enough. Thanks for your new book!
I think so far my favorite is still the master, and I try to leave the dough in the fridge as long as possible to develop the flavour and sourdoughy-ness, and I don’t wash my container. I made french toast with it the other day and it was spectacular! I’m really looking forward to the whole grain recipes. Do any of them incorporate buckwheat?
Abby
I recently found your blog and love it! I adore the spinach feta braid and never would have tried it without your step by step photos making it look so easy! And it was that easy! I’ve also make a ring with blueberries – although I skipped the curd. Maybe another day! Congrats on the second book. I’d sure love a copy 😉