Rosemary Scented Baguette

Rosemary Baguette

I just bought herbs to plant in my garden. Unlike my girlfriend Anne Phyfe who lives in Seattle and has a hedge of rosemary in her yard, all year round, I have to replant mine every spring and hope for enough to get me through the season. After I planted the rosemary my hands were perfumed with that fresh herbaceous scent. I was moved to cut off some of the new delicate stems and bake it into the baguette that was rising on the counter. The result was a crust that had the light smell and taste of rosemary. Read More

Brioche à Tête on Mother’s Day!

brioche a tete

This is a fabulously simple bread to make, and incredibly quick if you have a bucket of Brioche dough on hand. You can bake the bread in a loaf pan but for the Brioche à tête (tête means head) you really want to have the traditional fluted pan. It will be wonderful served with Lemon Curd (page 228) and jam on Mother’s Day this weekend. Not to mention its shape reminds me of the Venus of Willendorf, the ultimate 25,000 year old symbol of being a mom!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the proud moms!

Now let me show you how to shape the Brioche à tête. Read More

Garlic-parsley roll for one!

garlic-knot-for-web-resized-sharpd.jpg

I’m pretty lucky about lunch.  My wife and I both work at home, and most days, we have lunch together.  Not yesterday; I was on my own, so there was no need for a whole loaf of bread.  I took a cue from Zoe’s mom and made myself a single roll (it’s basically still winter here in Minnesota so it’s not so bad to turn on the oven.  I’m afraid I’m not kidding).

I took a peach-sized chunk of four-day old Light Whole Wheat dough (page 74), and stretched it, knotted it, and shaped it a bit (a round lump would have worked well too).  It turned out more like a Kaiser roll than I’d intended, and I can’t say it was intentional.  More about what I did for shaping in Book #2 (for which we’re busily writing/testing/eating!).  But it was the roll’s toppings that made my leftovers special (see the roasted salmon with red onion compote just north of the roll).  The topping was simple but it elevated the bread to a different level—nothing more than garlic and parsley sauted in olive-oil, with the whole mixture drizzled over the roll before baking for about 25 minutes at 450 (with steam; see page 30).  When there’s a lot of oil or butter in the picture (like here), don’t bake directly on a stone or the fat will smoke– use a greased cookie sheet or silicone pad.  After the roll was drizzled, I sprinked a bit of coarse salt all over the roll, which you can see in the picture.  Salt can be a pretty photogenic mineral.

How to Form Pain d’Epi (wheat stalk bread)

Pain d'Epi (Wheat Stalk Bread) | Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

The classic wheat stalk shaped bread is impressive and somewhat intimidating, until you see how easy it is to make. We love the Pain d’Epi not only for its gorgeous appearance but because it is the crustiest loaf there is. All of those cuts and angles leave more surface to crisp in the oven. Something a little more sophisticated to serve with dinner than ordinary rolls but just as easy!

Here’s how it is done: Read More