So many people have asked about baking dough inside a closed cast-iron pan (see a post on that). The cast-iron pan method is based on a much older method, where bread is baked inside a closed clay pot (or “cloche,” meaning “bell” in French). Both methods depend on trapped steam from the dough to create […]
For what ever reason some ovens just don’t trap steam very well. This is true of professional equipment, but some home ovens behave this was as well. The reason to care…if you don’t trap steam in the oven for the first 10 minutes of baking you will end up with a dull, lackluster crust, even […]
Once again, my gracious friends Jim and Theresa invited my family to their gorgeous cabin, where we needed a warm-up. Jim made fantastic Italian Tomato Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro), which is actually a bread soup usually made from stale Peasant Bread (see page 46). But we decided to use the dough from the Whole Wheat […]
Tis the season for all things festive! This holiday wreath bread is a very simple loaf that is gorgeous and will be the perfect addition to your holiday meal. Despite its impressive appearance I promise it’s easy to make. Check out the video from WMAR Channel 2 in Baltimore (the ABC affiliate) for a demo […]
Years ago, my friend Marco (from Livorno in Italy) made my family a beautiful and simple dinner of buttered pasta with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and this gorgeous bruschetta with fresh tomato. The cheese was brought from his mother’s kitchen in Livorno, but the fruit were perfect locally grown heirloom tomatoes. Someone recently gave my wife and me some heirloom Brandywine tomatoes, […]
People kept asking us whether our very wet, stored dough could be grilled directly on the grates of a hot gas grill, and the answer is a very delicious yes– I stopped lugging my stone outside last summer. Read on if you want to see some highlights on how to grill the pizzas I made for friends […]
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 […]
These days it is a struggle to find something kids want to bring for school lunch. It has to be easy to eat in the 15 minutes they are given, taste good, not produce a huge mess and make them the envy of their peers! Calzones are perfect, because everything’s wrapped up in the pizza […]
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 […]
Keep that scorchy flour off your lens! People have asked how to prevent free-form loaves from spreading sideways, especially if the dough is a little too wet or it’s near the end of its batch-life (two weeks). Using a banneton (or in German, brotform), is one gorgeous solution to the problem, and they work well […]