Sharing the Wealth

One thing I really like to do is bake. Since Kevin and I are on perpetual diets, that means I have to stay away from calorie and fat-laden items. Plus, Kevin is not a big sweets guys, so if I make anything like that I end up eating the whole thing. So I bake a lot of bread. I tend to bake artisan-style loaves, the kind that you dip in olive oil. Kevin has a serious olive-oil habit, and we're already working on addicting Ian. I made the herb fougasse tonight out of The Art and Soul of Baking by Sur La Table. I picked it up at the library. The bread was very good with chicken ravioli (from Trader Joe's) and green beans. Ian just picked at it, though. I think it was too much crust and not enough bread. There seem to be a lot of great recipes in this book. Plus, it is beyond gorgeous. They spent a mint on photos and printing for this baby. If the recipes taste half as good as they look, I may have to invest in it.

I have an active sourdough starter that I made myself. (I killed the one I bought from King Arthur's Flour. That was a real shame. I don't know what kind of beasties took up residence in that thing, but BOY did they stink!) Nancy Silverton is my patron saint of baking. I have her Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery: Recipes for the Connoisseur book. I've been baking out of it for 10 years. She doesn't screw around with sourdough. If you want to bake with her recipes you have to be dedicated. But they're worth it. I make better bread than most of the bakeries around here. The Common Market does sell great baguettes. I can't seem to get my crusts thin and crispy like that. Mine tend to be tough. I've made Nancy's bagel recipe more times than I can count. It is the best bagel recipe ever, hands down. (even better than Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice" bagel recipe. And Peter's recipes rock.) I haven't made the bagels lately because my KitchenAid mixer is broken. I WILL get it to the repair shop soon.

Since there's always a chance that I may inadvertantly contaminate my sourdough and kill it, I'm always looking to give some away to friends who bake/cook. It's a great form of insurance. I am taking some to Alan and Summer at work tomorrow. I haven't decided exactly how to wrap it so that it doesn't leak all over the bottom of my bag, but I'll figure it out. It's important to get it right, because that sourdough smell will NEVER come out. Hopefully, I can spread the sourdough obsession around a little.