Joy of Baking

The adventurous recipes tempt me: Tartine's croissants or Montreal bagels. But today I needed a simple one that could be done in the background while I worked on a, well, work project.

Banana bread.  I tarted them up with a nut and some dark chocolate.  I have a mini loaf pan that just won't quit. It makes these ador-a-ble little breads.

The joy of baking is certain.

Fluffy, sweet, tender, doughy, crusty, tangy, tart - a blizzard of taste and emotion.  I'll take any of it and all of it.  I'll swim or walk or run. 

Childhood baking memories include honey, zucchini (my first adult words) and crunchy cornbreads baked in cast iron trays - oh, and fried doughnuts...  I remember the big oven and the swirling smells and the baker's movements.

There once was a special birthday cake with a rainbow on top.  Remember my recent dark chocolate birthday cake? I used the trimmings to make a trifle.  It was incredible.

And then I baked whole wheat bread with my mother.  There were many many loaves coming out of the oven.  Nick drove me around the neighbourhood to deliver to our friends.  I was a bread fairy.

CBC's Spinach & Grilled Cheese Sandwich

 

There it is.  You know it, and you and I both love it.  I learned a couple new tricks to make a simple melted fist of comfort worth sharing.

I was driving an Autoshare to get groceries at 7pm on a recent Thursday.  Listening to CBC to keep me company, they had a short (and fluffy) piece about national grilled cheese day.  There was audio of the host observing as her producer cooked in the CBC "kitchen" (is this true?) making a traditional grilled cheese.  On the line was one of the creators/judges of the grilled cheese championship out there in California.  (Emphasis on 'out there').  But, what is worth sharing is that they were grilling both sides of the bread in butter before adding the filling and grating the cheese for an even melt.  I didn't make the fists of comfort that night for dinner but I did buy cheese at the store, and they did comfort us the next day.  

My choice was to add chopped spinach to the sandwich and serve with roasted broccoli on the side.   

Knife skills & a simple bread technique

Secrets from a food stylist:

No-knead Bread

I've made some straightforward bread recipes in my time but nothing like this.  I was very proud to have made this (other than the white flour aspect) and will definitely try it again and play around with the ingredients (different flours, nut or fruit additions).

I watched this video by Mark Bittman of the New York Times to get prepared for baking.  I followed the ingredient amounts in the video but my experience only produced one smallish loaf in a (much) smaller crock pot (they obviously made multiple recipes).  We found the crust was spectacular as he sells it, if a little tough.  Less cooking time perhaps?