As promised, here’s a brief write-up on the bread-making experiment. To my great delight, it worked almost exactly as advertised. I’d made bread before (ciabatta-style) with a kneaded dough and while that was OK and the end product very tasty, it did require me to be near the kitchen and at my timer’s beck and call for two or three hours. After reading the intro to the new book, I executed the first recipe, and despite one minor mishap (no cold water in hot Pyrex!) the bread turned out great.
The first loaf required about twenty minutes of my attention, spread over two days. It does require some planning on baking day since you need to get the process started at least an hour before you plan on serving the bread, but that time can be spent getting dinner started. Or, if you’re me, you’ll spend it searching the internet and rummaging in the refrigerator trying to figure out what to make.
The end product of this experiment was much more dense than other bakery breads I’ve had, and also had a more complex flavor. I dare say it might even be better than Le Quartier. You don’t need any fancy toppings, but fresh butter is a wonderful addition. If you’ve been pondering bread-baking, this book
Next up: a recap of the Mother of All Garage Sales.