Friday, April 11, 2008

Basic Hearth Bread -- Try 1

There is nothing like beginner's luck to give you a false sense of confidence. Ever since I started using Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible, incredibly yummy things have been coming out of my oven. After playing around with focaccia, brioche, pizza, and scones, I decided to finally try a hearth bread. That's Jason's domain. Last time I tried to make a hearth bread (the kind that is supposed to have a crackling crust and holey, chewy crumb) I ended up with something quite pathetic. But that was years ago. It was before I found Rose's book, before I learned to measure flour, before I got over my compulsion to improvise, and before I got over my fear of terribly sticky dough. I was sure it was going to be different now. But it was not to be...

I followed Rose's recipe for basic hearth bread to the letter and couldn't wait to taste my little loaf. But no holes for me :( It was also a tad bland -- easily remedied with a little salt. I'll have to wait for Jason, from the dough forensics department, for a proper hole analysis.

5 comments:

Katy said...

that looks great! i got to your site searching for a definition of "sushi grade" and really like it!

Anonymous said...

Great blog! I found you a few weeks ago and always look forward to a new post! The bread looks great..Congrats!

liberal foodie said...

Glad to know you're baking more these days. Though I'll never bake a delicious hearth bread like yours, I'll come back to your post for the devouring pictures.

Anonymous said...

when I make pizza I kneed it in a food processor until it forms a ball. than I kneed it by hand for 30 seconds.

Helen said...

Hi Anonymous,

About pizza (which is a different post)... As it turns out, you don't need to dirty a food processor. A spoon takes only 20 seconds and is much easier to wash :) That's the cool thing about this dough -- the less you handle it, the better.

Cheers,
-Helen