Using Fresh-Ground Whole Wheat Flour (and some highlights from book tour)

jeff 287 Comments

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The flour on the left (the browner, coarser one) is an organic fresh-ground (aka fresh milled) whole wheat.  On the right, the commercial whole wheat flour is obviously finer-ground and lighter in color (it’s the Dakota Maid brand, a very consistent and tasty product).  So many of you have asked about grinding your own wheat to make whole grain breads, that I decided to try it myself.

OK, I didn’t really grind it myself, I sourced fresh-ground wheat from a local miller. The flavor’s terrific.

It’s not an absolute requirement for whole wheat bread, but here’s a little on my first experiments with this great flour.  Considering how different the fresh-ground product looked compared with commercial whole wheat, I was surprised at how easily this stuff was able to be used in one of my whole-grain Master Recipes— with no changes.  After some whole wheat talk, a little about the West Coast leg of book tour (Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco).  Read More

Authors on KCPQ-TV Seattle (Fox) Monday Morning

jeff 6 Comments

Hey, Seattle friends, check us out on KCPQ-TV (Fox) on Monday morning (November 2, 2009).  We’ll be appearing with anchor Mark Wright in a last-minute TV segment.  Gets more and more interesting every day of this tour.

Then on to FoodPortunity and the UW bookstore for events Monday night, hope to see people there.  Portland November 3, and then San Francisco November 4-November 7

Missing instructions and missing recipes from the website: Some of the web-based recipes don’t have everything I need to make the bread, and some recipes are missing altogether

jeff 33 Comments

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I’m sometimes asked to provide details that don’t appear in a web version of a recipe here on our site.  In many cases, the web versions contain the full recipe, including all baking instructions, temperatures, etc.  But in most cases, I can’t do that.  Why not?

Well, to make a long story short, my publisher would disown me if I put all our full-detail recipes up here on the website, for free. There’d really be little reason for anyone to buy the books.  This site is mainly a way of reaching out to readers, and supporting them as they work on recipes that appear in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day and Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and any of our non-US editions. If the answer to your question appears in one of the books, I’ll probably just refer you there.

I really enjoy connecting with readers this way, and I’m proud to be among the few cookbook authors who personally answer questions from people who’ve bought my books (thank you!).  I hope to talk with all of you about our recipes soon.  –Jeff

Note: BreadIn5.com is reader supported. When you buy through links on the site, BreadIn5 LLC earns commissions.

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Thanks Andrew!

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Andrew Zimmern endorses Healthy Bread in FIve

Andrew Zimmern’s phenomenal career is testament to the way Minneapolis has become a great food town–he got his start right here, at the long-departed (but wonderful) Bravo. And who was his pastry chef? Zoe Francois of course.

So we were flattered when Andrew started baking from an advance copy of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and endorsed the book on the back cover:

“…Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg have amazingly demystified the arcane and delightful world of artisan bread. Now, on the heels of time sensitivity (Hello…5 minutes???  Really?  Yes!), comes a baking book for the health-conscious, and it couldn’t be more timely.  Bottom line, I would crawl across a desert of broken glass to hop into their loaf pan…”

–Andrew Zimmern, Bizarre Foods America

Apple, Ham, and Blue Cheese Tart, plus: the secret to getting really thin crust (and a visit to White Pine Orchard for apple-picking)

jeff 52 Comments

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Apples in a savory tart/pizza?  Absolutely!  One typical combo in a savory fruit tart is blue cheese and pear, but this is the Upper Midwest in October, and our friend Keith Kozub runs the world’s finest organic apple orchard:  White Pine Orchard, near River Falls, Wisconsin.  We went apple-picking with friends and ended up with what seemed like bushels of apples.  This will be the first of many new apple recipes, and it was a chance to play with a better way to get a really thin crust for this kind of tart or pizza… Read More

Sweet Provençal Flatbread with Anise Seeds

jeff 26 Comments

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In our first book, we covered the classic European baking tradition, and that meant lots and lots of bread from France, a country where I love to eat anything, but especially bread.  Sweet Provencal Flatbread with Anise Seeds is a marvelous example of a bread that is  so versatile that it can be split to make great sandwiches today, and then dunked, stale, into strong cafe au lait tomorrow morning.  You can mix a whole batch with the sugar, orange zest, and anise seeds, or roll a little of those three into a plain dough to make just a pound’s worth (see end of post). Read More

Julia Child’s Beef Wellington, With Our Brioche Crust (Filet de Boeuf en Croûte)

jeff 32 Comments

Julia Child's Beef Wellington, With Artisan Bread in Five Brioche Crust (Filet de Boeuf en Croûte) | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking has a terrific French bread recipe, but it takes about three days to prepare—still, it was one of the first loaves I ever was really, really happy with years ago. Back then, I wasn’t thinking about brioche, or brioche-wrapped beef tenderloin, but you can bet that I am now. The brioche recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is one of the most popular ones in our book. Recently I remembered that Julia Child’s Beef Wellington recipe actually calls for brioche rather than the more traditional puff pastry (it’s in Volume Two of “Mastering the Art…”). Voilà! Easy Beef Wellington? Well, all I can tell you is that the pastry part becomes easy if you have our brioche dough in the freezer or fridge. And the result is scrumptious and festive. But five minutes a day? Well… Read More

Apple and Pear Coffee Cake with Brioche

jeff 95 Comments

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The University of Minnesota is a leader in developing new varieties of apples. Among them are the Haralson, Honeycrisp, Prairie Spy and dozens more. The latest to hit the markets is the Sweetango. The new apple is sweet and juicy, like its mother (Honeycrisp), but it has a little more acid to it, from dad (Zestar). The combination is incredibly tasty with a lovely snap.

I moved here from Vermont where the quintessential baking apple was the McIntosh. Now that I live in the land of 10,000 lakes and almost as many apples I like to use a variety of them in my baking. I combine apples that will break down and those that will keep their shape. I also like to use some that are sweet and others that have a bit more acid. To add a bit of perfume and richness to the mix I add a bit of pear.

This coffee cake is a perfect way to show off the autumns best apples. Mixed with brioche and streusel topping the cake is great for brunch or an after school snack. Read More